Milford chronicle., 1888-09-07
MISERABLE COMF0RTERS.
REV. DR.. TALMAeE plscoURsEs
AT EAST HAMPTON, l. !.

why Did God Let Sin Como Into the
worid?-No One Can Ten Until He Gets
on the other Side Of the River of Death.
Imparting Comfort to tho Troubled.
EAST HAMPTON, N. Y, Sept. 2.-The Rev.
7. De Witt Talmage, D. D., who spends a
good part of his summer rest here, took for
the subject of his vacation sermon Of this
date, ''Plaspers That WI Not Sticz.n His text
was, miserable eomforters are ye all"-
Job xvi, 2. Following is the sermon:-
The man of Uz had great many trials
the loss of his family, the loss of his prop
erty, the loss Of his health; but the most ex-
asperating thing that came upon him was
the tantalzing talk Of those who ought to
have sympathized with him. Looking
around upon them, and weighing what they
had said, he utters the words of my text.
Why did God let sin come into the worldl
1t is question / often hear discussed, but
never satisfactorily answered God made
the world fair and beautiful at the start If
our first parents had not sinned in Eden,
they might have gone out Of that garden
and found fifty paradises all around the
earth-Europe, Asia, Africa, North and
South America-so many flower gardens, or
orchards Of fruit, redolent and luscious.
suppose that when God poured out the Gihon
and the Hiddekel he poured out at the same
time the Hudson and the Susquehanna; the
whole earth was very fair and beautiful to
look upon Why did it not stay so2 God
had the power to keep back sin and woe.
Why did he not keep them bacbg Why not
every cloud roseate, and every step Joy,
and every sound music, and all the ages a
I'll
men9 God can make q rose as easily as he can
make thorn. Why, then, the predominance
Of thorns2 He can make good, fair, ripe
fruit as well as gnarled and sour fruit Why
so much, then, that is gnarled and sourl He
can make men robust in health Why, then,
are there so many invalids2 Why not have
for our whole race perpetual leisure, instead
of this tug and toll and tussle for a livelihood
will tell you why God let sin come into the
world-when I get on the other side Of the
River Of Death. That is the place where such
questions will be answered and such myster-
les solved. He who this side that river at
tempts to answer the question only Illustrates
his own ignorance and incompetency. All
know is one great fact, and that is, that a
herd of woes have come in upon us, tram
pling down everything fair and beautiful. A
sword at every gate. More people un-
der the ground than on it. The grave
yards in vast majority. The six thousand
winters have made more scars than the six
thousand summers can cover up. Trouble
has taken the tender heart Of this world in
its two rough hands, and pinched it until the
nations wall with the agony. If all the
mounds Of graveyards that have been lifted
@f1 rfT frshN cfar
them and on nothing else, going all around
the world, and around again, and around
again. These are the facts. And now have
to say that, in q world like this, the grandest
occupation is that Of giving coincidence.
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 well and are very intelligent,
and yet be able truthfully to say to them in
your days Of trouble, Miserable comforters
are ye all"
I remark, in the first place, that very volu-
BILE people are incompetent for the work Of
giving comfort Bildad and Eliphaz had the
gift Of language, and with their words almost
bothered Jobs life out. Alas for these volu-
ble people that go among the houses of the
afflicted and talk, and talk, and talk, and
talki They rehearse their own sorrows, and
then they tell the poor sufferers that they
feel badly now, but they Will feel worse after
a while. Silencei Do you expect with a
thin court plaster Of words to heal a wound
deep as the souli Step very gently around
about a broken heart. Talk very softly
around those whom God has bereft Then
go your way. Deep sympathy has not much
to say. A firm grasp of the hand, a compass
sionate look, just one word that means as
much as a 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.
Snow, he says, ''carry that arm in a sling and
be very careful of it. Let no one touch it. !"
But the neighbors have heard Of the accident,
and they come in, and they say, 'Let US see
it," And the bandage is pulled off, and this
one and that one must feel 1t, and see how
much it is swollen; and there is irritation,
and Inflammation, and evaporation, where
there ought to be healing and cooling. The
surgeon comes In, and says; "What does all
this meant You have no business to touch
those bandages. That wound will never heal
unless you let it alonen So there are souls
broken down in sorrow. What they most want
is rest, or very careful and gentle treatment
but the neighbors have heard of the bereaye-
ment or Of the loss, and they come in tc
sympathize, and they say; "Show is now the
wound. What were his last wordsl Re.
hearse now the whole scene. How did you
feel when you found you were. an orphanf
Tearing OFF the bandages here, and pulling
them off there, leaving CHASTITY wound that
the balm of Gods grace had already begun &c
heal Oh, let no loquacious people, with even
rattling tongues, go into the homes of the
distressed
Again remark, that all those persons ars
incompetent to give any kind Of comfort whC
act merely as worldly philosophers. They
come in and say. "Why, this is what yot
ought to have expected. The laws Of nature
must have their way;n and then they get elo
quent over something they have seen in post
mortem examinations. Now, away with al
human philosophy at such timel What diff
ference does it make to that father ant
mother what disease their son died Of He i
dead, and it makes no difference whether thl
trouble was in the epigastrie or hypogastrii
region. II the philosopher be of the stoica
school he will come and say; "You ought Il
control your feelings You must not cry so
You must cultivate a cooler temperament
/ You must have self reliance, self govern
ment, self control an iceberg reproving
hyacinth for having a drop Of dew in its eye
/ A violinist has his instrument and b
sweeps his fingers across the strings, nov
evoking strains Of Joy, and now strain
Of sadness He cannot play all the tunes Oh
one string. The human soul is an instrumen
Of thousand strings, and all sorts Of emo
tions were made to play on it. Now Al
anthem, now dirge. 1t is no evidence o