News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-07-26
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR. TALMAGE'S
STERLING DISCOURSES.
Subject: Some Experiences"
delivered at Chicago, I'LL

Subject: some Experiences"
delivered at Chicago, I'LL
TEXT: When Jesus therefore hal re-
ceiUed the CiJIPgGE xix, 80
The brigands Of Jeru3ale,n had done their
work. 1t was almost sundown. and ,Jeus
was dying. Persons in Crucilictol often lin
gered on from day to day-crying, begging,
curSing; but Christ had been exhausted by
years maltreatment. PillowlesS, poorly fed
foggei-aS bent over and ii I'd to a low post
His bare back was infamed with the scourges
intensified with pieces of lead and bone
and now for whole hours, the w light
OF his body hung on delicate
tendons, and, according to custom,
violent stroke under the armp:ts had been
given by the executioner. Dizzy, swooning,
nauseated, feverish-a world of agony is
compressed in the two words: 81 thirstl"
q skies of Judea, let drop of rain strike on
HIS burning tongue. world, with rolling
rivers, and sparkling lakes and spraying
fountains, give Jesus something to drink. II
there be any pity in EARTH or heaven, or hell
let it now be demonstrated in behalf of
this royal sufferer. The wealthy women of
Jerusalem used to have fund of money with
which they provided wine for those people
who died i'll crucifxion-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 tc
cup of vinegar and soak sponge in it, and
| put 1t on n stick of hyssop and then press it
against the hot lips of Christ. You say
the wine was an anaesthetic, and intended
to relieve or deaden the pain But the vine
! gar was an insult. | am disposed to adopt
! the theory of the old English commentator
who believed that instead of Its being an
! oplate 10 soothe, it was vinegar to insult.
Malaga and Burgundy for grand dukes and
| duchesSes, and costly wines from royal watts
for bloated imperials; but stinging acids for
! a dying Christ. He took the vinegar.
! In some lives the saccharne seems to pre-
! dominate. Life is sunshine on a bank of
! flowers A thousand hands to clap approval
In December or in January looking across
! their tables, they see all their family present
| Health rubicund. Skies iamboyant. Days
resilient. But in a great many cases there
are not so many sugars as acids.
The annoyances and the vexations
and the disappointments of life
overpower the successes. There is a
gravel in almost every shoe. An Arabian
legend says that there was a worm in Solo
mons staff, gnawing its strength away; and
| there is a weak spot in every earthly support
that man leans on. King George, of Eng
land, forgot all the grandeurs of his throne
because, one day in an interview, Beau Bum
nell called him by his first name,
and addressed him as a servant,
crying: George, ring the bell!'
Miss Langdon, honorel all the world
over for her poetic genius, is so worried over
the evil reports set ailoat regarding her,
that she is found dead with an empty bottle
of prussic acid in her hand. Goldsmith said
that his ilIe was wretrhed being, and that
all that want and contenDt could bring to it
had been brought and cries out: "What
then, is there formidable il jailf' Correg-
Glos fine painting is hung up for q tavern
sign. Hogarth cannot II his best paintings
except through raftie. Andrew Delsart
makes the great frescoe in the Church of the
Annunciata at Florence, and gets for pay
sack of corn; and there are annoyanCeS and
veXations i'll high PAGES rs we'll as in low
places showing that in great many lives
the sOurs are greater thll the sweets "When
Jesus therefore hal received the vinegar"
1t IS absurd to suppose that man who has
always been well can SynI uthize with those
who are sick; or that one who has always
been honored can appreciate the sorrow of
| those who are despise /; or that one who has
| been Torn to a goeat fortune can understand
1e!S th Inc tGet thgt Christ Himself
I,t;io +ck, a., f,. hr nifb &c oii 10 - - m m
| whose cup is 1lIed with sharp acids OF thh
In the nTSS 1siase, fiiero is the sourness of
betrayal The treachery OF Judas hHrt
ChrisUs feelings more than all the friendship
of His disciples did Him good. You have
had many friends; hut there was one friend
upon whom you put especial stress. nou
feasted him. You loaned him money. You
befriended him in the dark passes of life, when
he especially needed friend. Afterward he
turned upon you, and he took advantage OF
your former intimacieS. He wrote against
pied 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 about with sense OF
having been stung. That difficulty will
never be healed, for though mutual friends
may arbitrate in the matter until you shall
shake hands, the cd cordiality will never
come back. Now, l commend to all such the
sympathy of a betrayed Christ. Why, they
sod Him for less than our twenty dollars!
They al forSooz Him, and fled. They cut
Him to the quick. He drank that cup of be-
trayal to the dregs He took the vinegar
There is also the sourness of pain. There
are some of you who have not seen well
day for many years. By keeping out of
draughts, and by carefully studying daetetlcS,
you continue to this time; but, q, the head
aches, and the sideaches, and the backaches,
and the heartaches which have been your
accompaniment all the way through You
have strugg ell Under heavy mort
gage of physical disal ilitieS, and in
stead of the placidty that once char
acterized you, it is now only with great
effort that you keep away from irritability
and sharp retort Difficulties of respiration,
of digestion. of locomotion, make up the
great obstacle in your life, and you tug and
sweat along the pathway, and wonder
when the exhaustion 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 applaudel, and the sound of clashlng
sabres rang through the land; but the
brightest crowns in heaven, L believe,
will be given to those who trudged on
amid chronic ailments which unnerved
their strength yet all the time main
tanning their faith in Col. 1t is
comparatively easy to fight in regiment of
a thousand men, charging upo1 the parapetS
to the sound of martial music; but 1t Is not so
easy to endure when no one but the nurse
ami the doctor are the witnesses of the
Christian fortituie, Besides that you never
had any pains worse than Christs. The
SharpnesSeS that stung through Ills brain,
through His hands, through His feet, through
His heart, were as great as yours certainly
He was as sick and as weary Not a nerve,
CT muscle, OF igament escaped. All the
pangs of all the nations of all the ages com
pressed into one sour cup. He took the vine
gar!
There is also the sourness of poverty. Your
income does not meet your outgoings, and
that always gives an honest man anxiety,
There is no sign of destitution about you
pleasant appearance, and cheerful home
for you; but God only knows what time
you have had to manage your private
finances. Just as the bills run up,
the wages seem to run down. But
you are not the only one who has
not been paid for hard work. The great
Wilkie sold his celebrated piece, "The Blind
Fiddler" for fifty guineaS, although after
ward it brought its thousands. The world
hangs i'll admiration over the sketch of
GainsbOrOugh yet that very sketch hung for
years in the shop window because
there was not any purchaser. Oliver
Goldsmith sold his "Vicar of Wake
field for a few pounds in order to
keep the bailif out of the door; an1 the vast
maiG"ity of men in all occupations and pro-
fessions are not fully paid for their work.
You may say nothing, but life to you is a
hard push; and when you sit down with your
wife and talk over the expenses you both rise
up discouraged You abridge here, and
you abridge there, and you get things
snug for smooth sailings, and 10! suddenly
there is large doctors bill to pay, or you
have lost your pocket book, or some creditor
has failed, and you are thrown a-beam end
Well, brother, you are in glorious company.
Christ owned not the house in which he
stopped, or the colt on which He rode, or the
boat in which he sailed. He lived in a
borrowed house; He was buried in a bor-
rowed grave Exposed to all kinds of
weather, yet He had only one suit of clothes
He breakfasted in the morning, and no one
could possibly tell where He could get any
thing to eat before night. He would
have been pronounced a financial fail
ure. He had to perform miracle
to get money to pay a tax-blll
Not a dollar did He own. Privation of
domesticity; privation of nutritious food;
privation of a comfortable couch on which
to sleep; privation of all worldly resources.
The kings of the earth had chased chalices
out OF which to drink; but Christ had moth
ing but plain cup set before Him, and it
was very sharp, and it was very sour. He
took the vinegar.