The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-11-13
THE USES OF TROUBLE.
Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai.
gp mage, D. D.
Trouble II Designed to Keep the World
From Being Too Attrsctive-HoW
Human Beings are Fitted for
Heaven by Their suf-
ferings on Earth.

The text of DR.. Talmage's recent SER
mon at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
was: "God shall wipe all tears from
their eyes"-Rev. viii, II. The eloquent
divine spoke as follows:
Riding across Western prairie, wild
flowers up to the hub of the carriage
wheel, and while long distance from
any shelter, there came sudden shower,
and while the rain was falling in tor
rents, the sun was shining as bright
as l ever saw it shine; and thought
what beautiful spectacle this is!
So the tears of the Bible are not
midnight storm, but rain on pansied
pfairies in Gods sweet and golden sun
light. You remember that bottle which
David labeled as containing tears, and
Mary's tears, and Pauls tears, and
Christ's tears, and the harvest of Joy
that's to spring from the sowing of tears.
God mixes them. God rounds them. God
shows them where to fall. God exhales
them. A census is taken of them, and
there is record as to the moment when
they are born, and as to the place of their
grave. Tears of bad men are not kept.
Alexander, in his sorrow, had the hair
clipped from his horses and mules, and
made great ado about his grief; but in
all the vases of heaven there is not one
Of Alexander's tears. speak of the
tears of the good. Alas me! they are
falling all the time. In summer, you
sometimes hear the growing thunder,
and you see there is a storm miles away;
but you know from the drift of the clouds
that 1t will not come anywhere near you.
So, though it may be all bright around
about us, there is shower of trouble
somewhere all the time. Tears! Tears!
What IS the use Of them anyhow?
Why not substitute laughter? Why not
make this a world where all the people
are well and eternal strangers to pain
and aches? What,is the use of an east
ern storm when we might have per.
/ petual nor wester. Why, when family
is put together, not have them all stay,
or If they must be transplanted to make
other homes, then have them all alive?
the family record telling story of mar
riages and births, ,butlof no deaths.
j Whynot have the harvests chase each
other' without fatiguing toil?f Why the
hard pillow, the hard crust, the hard
struggle? 1t is easy enough to explain
smile, or success, or a cOngratula-
ton; but, come now, and bring all your
dictionaries and all your PHILOSOPHERS
and all your religions, and help me ex-
plain tear. A chemist will tell you
that it is made up of salt and lime and
other component parts; but he misses
the chief ingredients-the acid Of a
soured life, the viperine sting Of bitter
memory, the fragments Of broken
| heart. / will. tell you what tear is; it
is agony in solution.
Hear me, then, while discourse to
you of the uses of trouble.
First-It is the design of trouble to
keep this world from being too attrac-
tive. Something must be done to make
us willing to quit this existence. If it
were not for trouble this world would
be good enough heaven for me. You
and l would be willing to take lease of
life for hundred million years If there
were no trouble. The earth cushioned
and upholstered and pillared and chan
! deliered with such expense, no story of
other worlds could enchant us. We
would say: "Let we'll enough alone. If
you want to die and have your body dis
integrated in the dust, and your soul go
out on celestial adventure, then you
can 60; but this world is good enough
for me-" You might as we'll 60 to man
who has just entered the Louvre at
Paris, and tell him to hasten off to the
picture galleries of Venice or Florence.
"Why," he would say, ''what is the use
brandts and Rubenses and Raphaels here
! that haven't looked at yet"
No man wants to go out of this world,
or out of any house, until he has a bet
ter house. To cure this wish to stay
here God must somehow create a dis
gust for our surroundings. How shall
He do it? He can not afford to deface
His horizon, or to tear off fiery panel
from the sunset, or to substract an an.
/ ther from the water lily, or to Danish
the pungent aroma from the mignonette
or to drag the robes of the morning in
mire. You can not expect a Christopher
Wren to mar his own st. Paul's cathe
dral, or a Michael Angelo to dash out his
own "Last Judgment" or a Handel to
: discard his "Israel in Egypt" and you
can not expect God to spoil the archi
| lecture and music of his own world
How then are we to be made willing tt
, leave? Here is where trouble comes in
After man has good deal of trouble
he says, "Well, am ready to go. i
! there Is house somewhere whose roo
doesn't leak, would like to live there
If there is an atmosphere somewhere
that does not distress the lungs would
like to breathe it. If there is a society
where there is no tittle-tattle, would
like to live there. If there is home
5 circle somewhere where l can find my
= lost friends, would like to 60 there.
He used to read the first part Of the Bible
+ chiefly, now he reads the last part of tn,
=, Bible chiefly. Why has he changed
Genesis for Revelation? All! he used tt
$ be anxious chiefly to know how thi
world was made, and all about its geOlog
ical construction. Now he is chief,
8 anxious to know how the next world wa
q made, and how 1t looks, and who liv,
> there, and how they dress. He read
: Revelation ten times now where HI
: :. reads Genesis once. The old story, "Il
the beginning God created the heaven
and the EARTH" does not thrill him hal
y rs much as the other story, 81 saw new
= heaven and q new earth" The oil,
! mans hand trembles as he turns owe
this apocalyptic leaf, and he has to TAX
/. out his handkerchief to wipe his spec
/ tacles. That book of Revelation Is
prospectus now Of the country into whicl
9 he ia to soon immigrate; the country il
i which he has lots already laid ont, an
!. 4 avenues opened, and trees planted, an
mansions built.
The thought Of the blessed plac
Q osmes over me nightly, and declar
y that ii this house were one great ship
l. and you all were passengers on board il
I and one hand could launch that shi
A into the glories of heaven, I should b
: tempted to take the responsibility an
= launch you all into glory with on