Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1891-08-28
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Sin of Borrowing
Trouble"

The life of every man, woman and child
as closely under the divine care as though
such person were the only man, woman OF
child. There are NO accidents. As there
a law of storms in the natural world, s
there is law Of trouble, a law of disaster
a law OF misfortune, but the majority of tn,
troubles OF life are imaginary, and the most
or those anticipated never come At any
rate, there Is no cause of complaint against
6od. See how mucn He hath done to make
thee happy; His sunshine filling the eartt
with glory, making rainbow for the storm
ana halo for the mountain, greenness for the
moss, saffron for the cloud and crystal fOI
the hiliow, and procession OF hammered flame
through the opening gates Of the mornin :,
cnamnches to sing, rivers to glitter, seas to
cnSnt, and springs TO blossom, and over.
poWer1ng all other sOunGs with its song and
overarching all other splendor with its tri
umph, covering up all other beauty with its
garlands and publishing all other thrones
with its Observation-Disclosures for lost
world through the Great Redeemer
discourse of the sin of borrowing trouble.
First, such habit Of mind and heart is
wrong, because it puts one into despon-
dency that i'll fits him for duty l planted
two rose bushes in nv garden. The one
thr1ved beautifully, the other persisted. L
found the dead one on the shady side of the
house. Our dispositions like our plants, nesd
sunshine. Expectancy of repulse is the cause
of many secular and religious failures. Fear
or bankruptcy has uptOrn many q fine bust
ness and sent the man lodging among the
note shavers. Fear of SANDER and abuse has
often invited all the long beaked vultures of
scorn and backbiting. Many of the misfor-
tunes of life, like hyenas flee if you courage
ously meet them.
How poorly prepared for religious duty is
man who sits down under the gloom of ex-
pected misfortune! If he pray, he SAYS, ~
do not think shall be answered" It he
give, he says, II expect they will steal the
money" Helen Chalmers told me that her
father, Thomas Chalmers, in the darkest
hour of the history of the Fre9 Church OF
Scotland, and when the woes of the land
seemed to weigh upon his heart, said to the
children, Come, let us go out and play ball
Or fly kite, and the only difficulty in the
play was that the children could not keep up
with their father. The McCheynes and the
Summertields of the church who did the
most good, cultivated sunlight. Away with
the horrors! they distill poison; they dig
graves, and if they could climb so high, they
would drown the rejoicings of heaven with
sobs and wailing
You will have nothing but misfortune in
che future II you sedulousIy watch for it,
How shall man catch the right kind of fish
II he arranges his line and hook and bait to
catch lizards and water serpents? Hunt for
bats and hawks and bats and hawks YOU will
lind. Hunt for robin redbreasts and you will
and an owl got into fierce battle: the eagle
unused to the night was no match for an
Owl, Which is most at home in the darkness,
and the king Of the air fell helpless; but the
rose, and with it rose the eagle; and
the owls and the night hawks and the bats
came second time to the combat; now, the
eagle in the sunlight, with a stroke of his
talons and a great cry, cleared the air, and
his enemies, with torn feathers and splashed
with blood, tumbled into the thickets Ye are
The children of light In the night of de-
spondency you will have no chance against
your enemies that flock up from beneath,
but, trusting in God and stan ing in the sun
shine OF the promises, you shall "renew your
youth like the eagle
Again, the habit of borrowing trouble is
wrong because it has a tendency to make us
overlook present blessing. To Stake mans
thirst, the rock is cleft, and cool waters leap
INTO his Drumming cup. To feed his hunger
the fields bow down with bending wheat.
and the cattle come down with full udders
rom the clover pastures to give him milk
and the orchards yellow and ripen, casting
heir juicy fruits into his lap. Alas! that
amid s1lch exuberance of blessing man
should growl as though he were soldier OF
half rations, or a sailor on short allowances;
hat man should stand neck deep in har-
rests looking forward to famine; that one
hould feel the strong pulses of health march
ng with regular tread through all the ave
AuOS VI me anu yeG CfolnOi0 al Cno eApeCCo1
ASSAULT OF sickness; that man should sit in
lis pleasant home, fearful that ruthless want
viii some day rattle the broken window sash
with tempest, and sweep the Goals from
he hearth. and pour hunger into
he bread tray: that a man fed by
Him who Owns all the harvests should ex-
'ect to starve: that one whom God loves
md surrounds with benediction, and attends
With angelic escort, and hovers over with
more than motherly fondness, should be
ooking for heritage of tears!
Has God been hard with thee that thou
houldst be foreboiing? Has He stinted thy
oOard? Has He covered thee with rags? Has
lie spread traps for thy feet, and CALLED thy
up, and rasped thy soul, and wrecked thee
With storm, and Numbered upon thee with a
lie full OF calamity? If your father or
BROTHER come into your bank where gold and
liver are lying about you do not watch
hem, for You know they are honest; but if
n entire stranger come by the safe you
'eep your eye on him, for you do not know
lis designs. SO some men treat Cos; not as
! Father, but stranger, and act suspic-
ousy toward Him, as though they were
fraid He would steal something.
1t is high time you began to thank God
or your present blessing. Thank Him for
our children. happy, buoyant and bound
rs Praise Him for your home with its
ountain of song and laughter. Adore Him
or morning light and evening shadow.
raise aim Tor fresh, cool water bubbllng
rom the rock, leaping in the cascade, soar .
az in the mist, falling in the shower, dash
rs against the rock and clapping its hands
4 the tempest. Love Him for the grass
nat cushions the earth, and the clouds that
urtain the sky, and the foliage that waves
/ the forest. Thank Him for a Bible to
Fad, al cross to gaze upon. and Saviour
} deliver
Many Christians think it a bad sign to be !
lbilant, and their work of determination
a hewing down of their brighter expert .
lces Like a boy with a new jackknife,
acking everything he comes across, so their /!
If examination is religious cutting to
eCP. o. the est thircrS thnx l,.,