Sharp County record., 1888-08-30
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
"Trouble on Both Sides" and How
to Meet 1t.
The Financial and Domestic TribUlations
which Beset Hankind-Fhe Cos
pei of Jesus "a sure Bull
varlI OF Defense.

Rev r. Dewitt TaImage took for his
subject of d recent sermon: Trouble
ON Both Sides" His text was:
There was u sharp rock on the one side, and
o sharp rock on the other side.-L samuel
xiv, 4.
The cruel army Of the Philistines must
be- taken and scattered There is just one
man. accompanied by his body guard, TO
do that thing. Jonathan is the hero OF
the scene. I know that David cracked the
skull Of the giant with a few pebbles we'll
gung, and that three hundred GideOnltes
scattered ten thousand Amalekites by the
crash Of broken crOckerv; but here is o.
more wonderful conflict, Yonder are the
Philisttnes on the rocks. Here is Jonathan
with his body guard in the valley On
the one side Is a rock called Bozez, on the
other side is p rock called Seneh. These
two we're as famous in Olden times Us In
modern times are Plymouth Rock and Gil
braItar. They were preCiDitOus, unscal-
able and sharp. Between these two rocks
Jonathan must make his ascent. The day
comes for the scaling Of the height, jon
athan. on his hands and feet begins the
ascent With strain and slip and brulse,
I suppose, but still on and up, first Zses
Jonathan. and then goes his body guard,
Bozez on one side, Seneh on the other
After p sharp tug, and push,
and cIingtug, I see the head Of
Jonathan above the hole in the
mountain; and there is q challenge and
a fight and a supernatural CONSERVATION.
these two men. Jonathan and his body
guard drive back and drive down the
Philistines over the rocks, and open q
campaign which demoIishes the en8mies
of Israel. I suppose that the Overhang-
ing aud Overshadowtug rocks on aather
side did not balk or dishearten Jonathan
or his body guard, but only reused and
flled them with enthusiasm as theyweut
mp.
There was O sharp rock on the one sidB and
sharp rock on the other side
NY friends. you have been, or are now
some Of you, in this crisis. Of the text. 1t
a man meets one trouble he can go
through IT, He gathers all his energies,
concentrates them upon one point and in
the strength of God, or by his own natur-
al determination, goes through it, But
the man who has trouble to the right of
him. and trouble to the left of him is 10
be Ditied. Did either trouble come alone
he might endure it, but two troubles, two
disasters, TWO OvershadOwing misrOrt-
1nes, are Bozez and Semen. God pity him.
There IS a sharp rock on the one side, and a
sharp rock on the other side
In this crisis Of the text is that man
whose fortune and health fail him at the
same time. Nine-tenths Of all our mer-
chants capsize in business before they
come eOrty-fve years Of age. There is
some collision in commercial circles, and
shev stop payment. 1t seems Us II every
man must put his name on the back Of a
note before he learns what n fool q man
Is who risks all his own property on the
prospect that some man will tell the
truth. II seems as if o man must have a
large amount Of unstable goods on his
own shelf before he learns how much
easier it is to buy than to sell. 1t seems
as If every man must be cOmeojisH
burrpd out before he learns the Imbor-
tance Of always keeping fully insured.
. It seems as if every man must be wrecked
in a financial tempest before he learns to
keep snug in case Of sudden eurOcly-
don. When the calamity does come, it is
awful. The man goes home in despair
and he tells his family:
''We'I have to 60 to the poOr-hOusa."
He takes a dOlOrOus view Of every
thing. 1t seems as If he never could rise.
But little time passes and he says:
why. am not 50 badly off after all;
have my family left"
Before the Lord turned Adam out Of
Paradise he gave him Eve, so that when
he lost Paradise he could stand it, Por-
nit one who has never read but p few
novels in all his life, and who has not q
great deal Of romance in his composition,
to say, that if, when mans fortunes fail
he las 70 good wife-a good Christian wife
he ought not to be Respondent,
"Oh. " you soy, that only increases the
embarrassmeut since you have her also
to lake care OFF,
You are an migrate, for the woman rs
often supports the man as The man sup
0Orts the woman. The man may bring all
the dollars, but the woman generally
brings the courage and the faith in God.
Well this man of whom [ am speaking
looks around. and he finds his family is
left and he rallies, and the light comes
20 his eyes, and the smile TO his face, and
the courage TO his heart In two years he
Is quite over it. He makes his iuan cial
calamity the first chapter in new era Of
prosperity. He met that one trouble
conquered lr. He sat down for p little
while under the grim shadow Of the rock
B0zez: vet he soon rose and began, like
Jonathan. to climb. But how often it is
that physical aiIment comes with financial
ambarrassment When the fortune
failed it broke the mans spirit. His
nerves were shattered. His brain was
stunned. 7 can show you hundreds Of
men in New York whose fortune and
health failed Mt the same time. Their
hand trembIed with incipieut paralysis.
They never saw a we'll day since the hour
when thev called their creditors together
for u compromise. If such men are I'M
patient. and peculiar. and irritable, eX-
cuse them. They bad two troubles, either
one Of which they could have met suc-
Cessfulv. If. when the health vent the
fortune had been retained, it would not
have been so bad. The man could have
bought the very best medical advice, and
he could have had the very best attend
ance. and long lines of carriages would
have stopped at the front door to inquire
as 10 his welfare. But poverty on the