Sharp County record., 1891-07-23
SUNSHINE AND RAIN.
A Weather Discourse Delivered by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage'
The Drops OF Rail, as Also the Tears of
Mankind Have All their Origin In la
Benencent Providence that
Makes No Mistakes.

The following discourse, incidentally
upon the weather but with broad hui
man application, was delivered by ReV'
r. Dewitt Talmagc in the new Brook,
lyn tabernacle, from the tekt'
Hath the rain tathcr,-job 1x1viii, a.
This Book of Job has been the sub
iect of unbounded Theological wrangie.
Men have made il the ring in which TO
display their ecclesiastical pugilism.
Some say that the Book of Jobi is true
history; others, that it is an allegoy;
Others that it is an epic poem; others,
that it is drama, Some say that job
lived eighteen Hundred years before
Christ, others say that he never lived at
all. Some say that the author % the book
was Job; others, David; others. Sol
omOn. The discussion has landed some
in blank infidelity. Now, have 40
trouble with the Books of Job or Rere-
lation-the two most mysterious books
in the Bibe-becausa of a rule
| adopted some years ago. l wade
down into Scripture passage as
long as can touch bottom, and when
can not, then | wade out. | used Is
wade in until It was over my head, and
then got drowned. | study passage
of Scripture SO long as it is a comfort
and help to my soul; but when it be-
comes perplexity and a spiritual up
turning, | quit. In other words, we
ought to wade in up to our heart, but
never wade in until it is over our head.
No man should ever expect to swim
across this great ocean of Divine truth,
go down into that ocean as l go down
into the Atlantic ocean at East Hamp-
ton, L. l., just far enough to bath; then
| come out never had any idea that
with my weak hand and foot | could
strike my way clear over to Liverpool.
| suppose you understand your fami-
ily genealogy You know something
about your parents, your grandparents,
your greatsgrandparents. Perhaps you
know where they were born, or where
they died. Have you ever studied the
parentage Of the shower? "Hath the
rain d father?" This question is not
asked by d poetaster or a scientist, but
by the head of the universe. To hum
ole and to save Job, God asks him four
teen questions; about the worlds archi-
lecture, about the refraction of the
suns rays, about the tides, about the
snow crystal, about the lightnings, and
then He arraigns him with the inter-
rogation of the text: "lIath the rain a
father?" With the scientific wonders
of the rain have nothing to do. A
minister gets through with that kind
Of sermons within the first three years,
and if he has piety enough he gets
through with it in the first three
months. A sermon has come to me to
mean one word of four letters help"
You all know that the rain Is not an ols
phan, You know it is not cast out oS
the gates of Heaven founding. You
would answer the question of my text
in the affirmative. Safely housed dur
ing the storm, you hear the rain beat
ing against the window pane and you
find it searching all the crevices of the
window sill. 1t first comes down in
solitary drops, pattering the dust, and
then it deluges the fields and angers
the mountain torrents, and makes the
traveller implore shelter You know
that the rain is not an accident of the
worlds economy. You know it was
born of the cloud. You know it was
rocked in the cradle of the wind. You
know it was sung to sleep by the storm,
You know that it was flying evangel
from Heaven to earth, You know it is
the gospel of the weather. You know
that God is its father.
If this be true, then, how wicked is
our murmuring about climatic changes.
The first eleven Sabbaths after | en-
tered the ministry it stormed Through
the week it was clear weather, but on
the Sabbaths the old country meeting
house looked like Noah's ark before it
landed. A few drcnched people sat be-
fore u drenched pastor; but most of the
farmers staid at home and thanked God
that what was bad for the church was
good for the crops. committed good
deal of sin in those days in denouncing
the weather, Ministers of the Gospc!
sometimes fret about stormy Sabbaths,
or hot Sabbaths, or inclement Sabbaths.
They forget the fact that the same God
who ordained the Sabbath and sent
forth His ministers to announce saliva
ton also ordained the weather "llath
the rain father?'
Merchants also with their stores filed
with new goods, and their clerks hang.
ing idly around the cotnters commit
the same transgrcssion. There have
been seasons when the whole spring
and fall trade has been ruined by pro.
tructed wet weather. The merchants
then examined the weather probdbili.
ties with more interest than they read
their Bibles They watched for patch
of blue sky. They went complaining
to the, store, and came complaining
home again, In all that season OF wet
feet, and dripping garments and i'm.
pOssoblc streets, they never once asked
the question; "llOth the rain fathcr?"