The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1888-07-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
a Homily on the Sour Portion of
Life's Experiences.
The Successes of Life Counterbalanced
by the Disappoint ents-The Saw
iosr's Love and sympathy
Will Swecten All.

The subject Of a recent sermon by Rev.
+. De Witt Talinage was "SOur Expert
ences," his text being:
When Jesus, therefore, had received the
| vinegar.-John, xix, 81
The brig Ands OF Jerusalem had done
their work. It was almost sundown. and
Jesus was dying. Persons IN cruciixion
often fingered on from day to day-cry-
! ing, begging, CurSing; bat Christ had
been exhausted By years OF maltreat-
mcnt. PllOwless, poorly fed, logged
as bent over and tied to n low post His
bare back was infamad with the
scourges, intensified with pieces Of lead
and bone-and now for whole hours the
weight of His body hung on delicate
tendons, and. according to custom, vio-
lent stroke under the arm-pits had been
given by the cxecutioner. Dizzy, swoon-
| ing, nauseated, feverish-a world OF agony
| IS compressed in the two words, 81
| thirst" o skies of Judea, let n drop OF
| rain strike His burning tongue. o, world,
with rolling rivers and sparkling lakes,
and sparkling fountains. give Jesus
something to drink. II there is any pity
in earth or Heaven, or hell, let it now be
demonstrated in behalf OF this
royal sufferer. The wealthy wo-
men Of Jerusalem used to have
fund of money with which they provided
wine for those people who died in cruel
fixion-a powerful opiate to deaden the
pain; but Christ would not take it. He
| wanted to die sober, and so he refused the
wine. But afterward they go to cup of
vinegar and soak a sponge in 1t, and put
it on a stick OF hyssOp, and then press it
against the hot lips of Christ. You say
the wine was an anRsthetic. and intended
| 60 do adam tho main Rnt the
vinegar was an insult | am disposed to
| adopt the theory OF the old English COM
mentators, who believed that, instead OF
| its being an Opiate to sOOthe, it was vim
| egar to insult. Malaga and Burgundy for
Grand Dukes and Duche sses, and costly
wines from royal vats FOR bloated impe-
| ralists; but stinging acids for dying
| Christ He took the vinegar.
| In some Ilves the sacCharlne seems to
| predominate Life is sunshine on bank
| of flowers a thousand hands to clap APP
| proval. In December or in January,
| looking across their table, they see all
their family present. Health rubicund.
| Skies flamboyant. Days resilient But
in great many cases there are not so
many sugars as acids. The annoyances,
and the vexations, and the disappoint-
| ments of life overpower the successes.
There Is a gravel in almost every shoe.
An Arabian legend says that there was a
worm in Sololnon's staff, gnawing its
strength away; aud there is a weak spot
in every earthly support that man leans
on King George OF England forgot all
the grandeurs of his throne because, one
| day, in An interview, Beau Brummel,
called him by his frstname, and addressed
| him as a servant crying: George,
| ring the bell" Miss Langdon, hOnored
| all the world over for her pOetical genius.
| is so worried over the evil reports set
afioat regarding her that she is found
dead, with an empty bottle of prussic acid
in her hand. Goldsmith said that his life
was a wretched being, and all that want
and contempt could bring to it had been
| brought, and cries out: "What, then, IS
there formidable in jail" Corregglo's
fine painting is hung up for tavern sign.
| Hogarth can not sell his best painting,
except through a rattle. Andrew Delsart
| makes the great frescO in the Church OF
the AnnunciatiOn, at Florence, and gets
for pay sack of corn; and there are an
noyance and vexations in high places as
we'll as in low places, showing that in
great many lives the sours are greater
than the sweets
| When Jesus therefore, had received the vim
egar.
1t is absurd to suppose that man who
has always been we'll can sympathize
with those who are sick; or that one who
| has always been hOnOred can appreciate
the sorrows of those who are despised; or
| that one who has been born to great
| fortune can understand the distress and
| the straits of those who are destitute.
| The fact that Christ Himself took the vim
| egar makes Him able to sympathiZe to.
| day and forever with all those whose cup
is filled with sharp acids of this life. He
| took the vinegar!
In the first place there is the sourness
of betrayal. The treachery of Judas hurt
| Christ's feelings more than all the friend
ship of His disciples did Him good. You
have had many friends; but there was
one friend upon whom you put especial
stress. You feasted him. You loaned
him money. You befriended him
| in the dark passes of life, when
he especially needed friend. After.
ward, he turned upon you, and he took
advantage of your former intimacies. He
wrote against you. He talked against
you. He microscopized your faults. He
| flung contempt at you when you ought TO
have received nothing but gratitude. At
first you could not sleep at nights. Then
you went dpOuI WIFI q sCAoC VA hc'AhS
been stung. That difficulty will never be
healed. for, though mutual friends may
| arbitrate in the matter until you shall
| shake hands, tine old cordiality will never
| come back. Now, commend to all such
the sympathy of a betrayed Christ Why,
| they sold Him for less than our twenty
dollars They all forsook Him and fed.
They cut Him to the quick. He drank that
cup of betrayal to the dregs. He took the
vinegar.
There is also the sourness Of pain.
There are some of you who have not seen
a well day for many years. By keeping
out of draughts, and by carefully study
| ing dietetics, you continue to this time;
but oh, the headaches, and the sideaches,
and the backaches, and the heartaches
which have been your accompaniment all
the way through! You have struggled
under a heavy mortgage of physical dis
abilities; and instead of the placidity that
once characterized you, it is now only
with great effort that you keep away
from irritability and sharp retort. Diff
fculties of respiration, of digestion, OF
iocOmotion, make up the great obstacle
in your life. and you tug and sweat along
the pathway, and wonder when the ex-
haustion will end. My friends, the
brightest crowns in Heaven will not be
| given to those who, in stIrrups, dashed
TO the cavalry charge, while the General
| applauded, and the sound of clashing
sabres rang through the land; but the
brightest crowns in Heaven, l believe,
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