The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1888-09-13
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
An Interesting Sermon on An
Every Day Subject:
"PIasters That Will Not stick" or World
ly Philosophers Versus Christ's Dis
slpIes a. Ministers to Troub-
led Spirits.

The following sermon was delivered by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage at East Hamp-
ton, N. Y, where he is spending his sum
mer vacation. His text was:
Miserable comforters are ye all-Job, xvi, ;.
The man Of Cz had great many triols
the loss Of his family, the loss Of his
property, the loss Of his health; but the
most exasperating thing that came upon
him was the aptalzing talk Of those who
ought to have symp pathizel With hi II.
Looking around upon them, and weigh
ing what they had said, he utters the
words OF my text.
Why did God let sin come into the
world? 1t is question l often hear dis
tusstd, but never satisfactorily an
swered God made the world fair ard
beautiful at the start. II our first par
ents had not sinned in Eden they might
have gone out OF that garden and found
ftty parad!sss all around the earth-Eu-
rope, Asia, Africa, North and South
America-so many flower gardens, or
orchards Of fruit, redolent alI luscious.
suppose that when God poured out the
tiihon and the Hiddskel, he poured
out al tho rame time the Hud-
son, and the Susquehannal the
whole earth was very falr and beautiful
TO look upon. Why did it not stay SO!
God had the power to keep back sin and
woe. Why did He not keep tn EN- back!
Why not every cloul poseate, and every
steI' Joy, aud every sound music, and
all the ages long jubilee of sinless men
and sinless women? God can iRaFe
rose as easily as He can make a thorn.
Why, then, the predominance Of thornss
He can make good, fair, ripe fruit as well
as gnarlcd and sour fruit Why so much,
then, that is gnarled and sour: He can
make m3n robust in health Why, then,
are there so many invali1sF Why not
have for our whole race perpetual leisure;
instead of this tn aud toll and tussle for
livelihood?
will tell you why God let sin come into
the world-when | get on the other side Of
the RIVER of Death. That is the place
where such questions will be answered
and suLk rvstnries solved. He who this
side OF that river attempts 10 an"wer this
question, only illustrates his own igno-
rance and lncompetency. All know Is
one great act, and that is, that herd Of
woes have come in upon US, trampling
down every thing fair and beautiful A
sword at the gate Of Eden, and sword
at every fat6 More people under the
| ground than on IT, The eraveyards in
/ vast majority. The six thousand winters
/ have made more scars than the
! six thousand summers can cover
! hp, Trouble has taken the tender
! heart Of this world in its two rough hands,
and pinched it until the nations wall &itf
the agony. If all the mounds Of graye'
| yards that have been lifted were put side
/ ht- do iTh
nothing else, going all around the world,
and around again, and around again.
| These are the facts. And now | have to
say that, in world like this, the grand
est occupation is that Of giving condo
lence. This holy science OF imparting
comfort to the troubled we ought all Of
US to study. There are many Of you who
could look around upon some OF your
very best friends who wish you we'll and
are very Intelligent, and yet be able
truthfully to say to them in your days Of
trOublei
Miserable coUforteTs are ye all.
| remark. in the first place, that very
,oube people are incompetent for the
work of giving comfort. Bildad and
Elphaz had the gift of language. and
with their words almost bothered Jobs
life out. Alas for these voluDle people
that go among the houses Of the afflicted
and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk!
They rehearse their own sorrows and
then they tell the poor sufferers that they
feel badly now, but they will feel worse
after awhile. Silence! Do you expect,
with thin courtplaster Of words, to heal
a wound deep as the soul? Step very
gently around about broken heart
Talk very softly around those whom God
| In, Ia ri
sympathy has not mulch to say. A firm
grasp of the hand, a compassionate look,
lust one word that means as much as
whole dictionary, and you have given,
perhaps, all the comfort that soul
needs. A man has a terrible wound in
his arm. The surgeon comes and binds
it up.
Now" he says, "carry that arm in
sling and be very careful OF it Let no
one touch it."
But the neighbors have heard Of the ac-
,ident, and they come in, and they say:
LET US see it" Aud thu bandage is
pulled Off and this one and that one must
feel il, and see how much it is swotlel;
and there is irritation, and inf animation,
and exas peration, where there ought to be
healing and cooling. The surgeon com es
In and says
"What does all this mean? You havo
no business to touch these bandage'.
That wound will never heal ualess you
let it alone"
So there are souls broken down in sor-
row. What they most want is rest, or
very careful and gentle treatment; but
the neighbors have heard of the bereave-
ment or of the loss and they come in to
sympathize, and they say:
"Show Us now tho wou ID. What were
scene. How did you feel when you found
you were an Orphan:"
Tearing off the bandages here, nlpuu-
ing them off there, leaving a CHASTITY
wound that the balm of Gods grace had
already begun 10 heal. Oh, let no loqua-
cious people with ever rafting tongues so
into the homes of the distressed.
Again, l remark that all those persons
are incompetent TO give any kind of COM
fort who act mel ely as worldly philoso-
pliers. They come in and say:
"Why, this is what you ought to have
expected. The laws of nature must have
their way;" and then they get eloquent
\ over something they have seen in the
post-mortem examination. Now, away
| with all human philosophy at such a time |!
What difference does it make to that
father and mother what disease their son
died of? He is dead, and it makes no dIf :
| ference whether the trouble was in the
epigastric or hypogastrIo region. If the
| philosopher be of the stoical school he
will come and say:
! You ought TO control your feelings.