The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-11-07
TALMAGES SERMON.
Weekly Discourse of tho Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subject, "what rronole :. For"

The Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, ID, D.,
preached to an oyeraowing congregation at
the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Before preaching he said that a mistaken
notion was abroad that the insurance ON his
destroyed church was enough TO rebuild. The
repetition Of disasters left lis in debt We
have practically built three churches since I
came to Brooklyn First, the original 1aber-
nacle, Soon after that we made an enlarge
nient that cost almost as much as q church.
A few years after II all burned. Then we
put up the building recently destroyed, and
reared 1t In a time when the whole country
was IN its worst financial distress,
~ was these repeated disasters that
lett us in debt My congregation have
done magnitlcently, but any church would be
n debt after so many calamities Now for
the nrst time We are out OF debt, But we
need at least one hundred thousand dollars To
build church large enough and we call
on people of all creeds aud all lands to help.
Before help dedicate new church we must
have every dollar of it paid. will never
a,sain be pastor of a church in debt. 1t has
crippled us in all our movements, and i
shall never again wear the shackles. | have
fer the last sixteen years preached TO
about 5000 people sitting and stand
irg twice n Sabbath, but everybody knows
that we need place that will hold 5000 /
shall not be surprised il some man of wealth
shall say; Here are 500, 900 if you will
Rnt up memorial structure, and call it after
tae name Of my departed father or child
whose memory l want put before all naIions
and for all time" And so it will be done.
TEXT; GOD shah tpipe array all tears
from their eyes, Rev. vii, II.
Riding across a western prairie, wild
flowers up to the hub of the carriage wheel,
and while long distance from any shelter,
there came a sudden shower, and while the
rain was falling in torrents, the sun was
'lri4g as brightly as ever saw it shine;
u ! thought, what q beautiful spectacle
this is, SO the teais cf tho bible are
MOB midnight Storm but rain on panSied
prairies in Gods sweet and golden sunlight.
You remember that bottle which David
labeled as containing tears, and Marys
tears, and the harvest of joy that is to
spring from the sowing of tears. God
mikes 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 l speak of the tears of
the good, Alas me! they ale falling all the
Tune. In summer, you sometimes hear the
growing thunder, and you see there is a
storm miles away; but you know from the
CRITIC the clouds that it will not come any
where near you. So though it may be all
bright around us there is shower of trouble
somewhere all the time Tears! Tears!
What is the use of them anyhow? Why
rot substitute laughter? Why not make THIS
a,world where ali the people are we'll and
eternal strangers to pain and achess What
Is the use of an eastern storm when we might
have perpetual nor wester? Why when a
family is put together, not have them all
stay or if they must be transplanted to make
other homes, then have them all live2 the FAM
births but of no deaths. Why not have the
harvests chase each other without
fatiguing toll? Why the hard pillow,
the hard crust, the hard struggled
1t is easy enough to explain smile, or a
success, or congratulation: but, come now
and bring all your dictionaries and all your
phllosophes and all your religions, and help
me explain a tear. A chemist will tell you
that it is made up of salt and lime and other
component parts; but he misses the chief
fngredients-the acid of soured life the
viperlne sting OF bitter memory, the frag-
ments of a broken heart. I will tell you
what tear is: it is agony in solution.
Hear me, then while discourse to YOU OF
the uses of trouble.
Flrst--lt is the design Of trouble to keep
this world from being too attractive Some
thing must be done to make us willing 10
quit this existence. If it were not for trouble
this world would be a good enough heaven
for me. You and would be willing to take
alease Of this life for hundred million years
If there were no trouble. The earth cusii-
Toned and upholstered and pillared and chan
deferred with such expense, no story Of other
worlds could enchant us. We would say:
LET well enough alone If you want
TO die and have your body disntegrated in
ths dust, and your soul go out on celestial
adventure then you can go; hut this world
is good enough for me-" You might is well
go 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 of
my going there? There are Rembrandts and
Rubens 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 better house.
To cure this wish to stay here, God must
somehow create disgust for our surround
ings. How shall He do ite He cannot afford
to deface His horizon, or to tear off fiery
panel from the sunset, or to subtract an an
ther from the water lily, or to Danish the
pungent aroma from the mignonette, on to
drag the robes Of the morning in tile niire.
You cannot expect a Christopher Wren to
mar his own st. Pauls cathedral or Mich
Judgment, " or Handel to discord his sIsrael
In Egypt and you cannot expect God to
spoil the architecture and music of His own
world. How then are we to be made willing
to leave? Here is where trouble comes in.
After man has had good deal of trouble,
he says: We'll, am ready to go. If there
is house somewhere whose roof doesn't leak,
would like to live there. If there is an at
mosphere somewhere that does not distress
the lungs, | would like to breatheit it. If there
tsasociety somewhere where there is no title
tattle, / would like to live there If
there is a home circle somewhere where
can find my lost friends, |
the first part Of the Bible chiefly, now he
reads the last part of the Bible chiefly Why
has he changed Genesis for Revelations Ali
he used to.be anxious chiefly to know how
this world was made, and all about its geo.
logical construction. Now he is chiefly anx-
Ious to know how the next world was made.
and how it looks, and who live there and
how they dress. He reads Revelation ten
times now where he reads Genesis once The
old story In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth" does not thrill
him half as much as the other story.
II saw new heaven and new eartho
The old mans hand trembles as he turns
over this apocalyptic leaf, and he has to take
Out his handkerchief to wipe his spectacles.
That book of Revelations is prospectus now
OF the country into which he is to soon immi.
CRATE; the country into which he has lots al
ready laid out, and avenues opened, and trees
planted and mansions built.
The thought of that blessed place come.
over me nightly, and declare that if this
house were a great ship, and you all were
passengers on board it. and one hand could
launch that ship into the glories of heaven,
should be tempted to take the response
bility and launch you all into glory
with one stroke holding on to the side of tn,
boat until | could get in myself And ye
there are people here to whom this world i
brighter than heaven. Well, dear souls,
do not blame you. 1t is natural. But afte
q while you will be ready to go. 1t was no
until Job had been worn out with bereave
ments and carbuncles and pest of a wifi
that he wanted to see God. It was not unit
the prodigal got tired of living among tn
hogs that he wanted to go to his Father
house. 1t is the ministry of trouble to max
this world worth less and heaven wort
more.
Again, ii Is the use of trouble to make u
feel our complete dependence upon God
King Aiphonso said that if he had been pres
ent at the creation he could have made a BET
III