The Brookhaven leader., 1888-08-30
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
"Trouble on Both Sides" and How
to Meet It.
Ths Financial and Domestic Tribulations
Which Beset Mankiud-Thc Gos-
pei of Jesus a sure Bull
vark OF he fcnsss

There was sharp rock on the one side. and
= sharp rock on the other side. Il Samuel,
~,
The cruel army OF the Phiis,ines must
b. taken and scattered. There l. lust one
nan, accompanied by his body guard, to
40 that thing. Jonathan Is the hero Of
she scene ! know that David cracked the
skull Of the giant with few pebbles we'll
Elung, and that three hundred Gideonltes
-,attered ten thousand Amalekitcs by the
Trash ~ broken croCkcry; hut here Is n
IAore wonderful conflict Wonder are the
rhiiistincs on the rocks. Here Is jonathan
with his body guard in the valley, Tn
enc one side Is rock called II 'ZaZ, on the
other side is a rock called Soueh. These
two were as famous in oldeu times as in
Fsodern times are Plymouth Rock and Gil
traltar. They were PERCEPTIONS, 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,
! suppose, but still On and up first goes
Jonathan, sHd then goes his body guard,
B0zeE on one side, Seueh on the other.
After sharp tug, and push,
and clinging, | see the head Of
mountain: and there is a challenge, and
O Aght, sud 8 supernatural CONSERVATION.
These two men, Jonathan and his body
guard, drive back and drive down the
Philistlnes over the rocks, and open a
campaign which demolishes the enemies
of Israel. suppose that the overhapG.
ing and oyerShadowing rocks on either
side did not balk or dishearten Jonathan
ar his body guard, but only reused and
filed them with enthusiasm as they went
Up.
There was a sharp rock on the one side, and
sharp rock on the other side
My friends, You have been, or are now,
come Of YOU, in this crisislof the text. II
4 man meets one trouble he can go
through it He gathers ali his energies,
concentrates them upon one point and in
the strength of God, or by his own natur-
nj determination, goes through it. But
the man who has trouble to the right Of
lin, and trouble to the left Of him is to
be pitiel. Did either trouble como atone
he might endure ii, but two troubles, two
disasters, two overShadowing misfort-
uneS, are Bozez and Seneh God pity him I!
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 tho
same time. Nine-tenths OF all our lner-
chants capsize in business before they
come forty-fve years % age. There IS
come collision in commercial circles, and
they stop payment, 1t seems as T. every
man must put mis- name on the back CT a
note before he learns what fool man
Is who risks all his own property on the
prospect that some man viii tell the
truth. 1t seems as Il man mast have q
large amount OF unstable goods on his
own shelf before he learns how much
easier il IS to buy than to sell. II seems
As if every man must be completely
burned out before he learns the impor.
lance of always keeping fully insured.
1t seems as if every man must be wrecked
in financial tempest before lie learns 10
keep snug in case of a sudden euroclv-
don. When the calamity does core, It is
awful The man goes home IN despair
and he cells his family:
"Well have to 70 to the poor house"
lie takes u dolorous view Of every
thing. Ii seems as if he never could rise.
Bat little time passes and NJ says:
why am not SO badly eff after all; l
have my family LETT
Before the Lord turned Adam ont of
Paradise he gave him Eve, so that when
he lost Paradise he could stand it. Per-
nit one who has never read but few
novels in all his life, and who has not a
great deal Of romance in his composition,
to say, that it. when mans fortunes fail,
he has good wife-a good Christian vito
he ought not TO be respondent.
"Oh," you say that only increa ses the
embarrassment, since you have her also
to take care Of"
You are an Migrate, for the woman as
often supports the man as the man sup
0orts the woman. The man may bring all
the dollars, but tie 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
10 his eyes, and the smile to his face. ard
the courage to his heart In two years he
is quite over it, He makes his financial
calamity the first chapter in a new era OF
prosperity. He met that one trouble
conquered it. He sat down for a little
while under the grim shadow Of the rock
Bozez; yet he soon rose and began, like
Jonathan, to climb. But how often it is
that physical ailment comes with financial
embarrass When the fortune
failed it broke the mans spirit. His
nerves were shattered. His brain was
stunned. I can show you hun dreds of
men in New York whose fortune and
health failed at the same time Their
hand trembled with incipient paralysis.
They never saw a we'll day since the hour
when they called their creditors together
for a compromise. If such mon are i'm
patient, and peculiar, and irritable, ex-
cuse them. They had two troubles, either
one Of which they could have met sue
cessfully. If, when the health went, 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 TO his welfare. But poverty on the
one side, and sickness on the other, are
Bozez and Semen, and they interiock their
shadows and drop them upon the poor
mans way. God help him!
There is a sharp rock on the one side and a
sharp 70 k on the other side.
Now, what is such man to do? In the
name Of Almighty God, will tell him
what TO do. Do as Jonathan dfd-cIimb,
climb up into the sunlight Of Gods favor
and consolation. | can go through the
churches and show you men who lost fort
me and health at the same time, and vet
who sing all day and dream of Heaven al
night. If you have any idea that sound
digestion, and steady nerves, and clean
evesight, and good hearing, and plenty o.
friends, are necessary to make a mar
happy, you have miscalculated. | sup.
pose that these overhanging rocks only