Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1891-07-25
REV. DIR. I'ALMAGE
The Brooklyn Divine's
Sunday Sermon

TEXT Hath The rain q father2-Job
xxxvlii. q.
This Book Of job mas been the subject of
unbound.d theological urangle Men have
made it the ring In which 10 utspiav their
ecclesiastical p~u2iiism >oulf say tina. the
Book Of job is q trae history. others, that it
j. an ali-gory. others. that 1t Is an epic
POEM: others, tia Il i a drama. Some say
that Job lived eighteen hundred years lie
fore Christ, others ~aE that he neverllyed at
all Some say that the author OF this fooE
was job: otn-r-, Dayl3 others, solomon
The discussion L"a~isnleI some IN Ilanh IL
fidelity. Now. | have no trouble with the
Book, Of job Or K ye.atior-the two most
mysterious, took. III the BIblc-tecause Of a
rule | aiOpte1 sonna wears ago.
vale down int, a Scripture passage IS
long as ! can touch bottom. and when can
not then | wade out used t. wade IN until
It was over my head ana then got irowned
study a passage OF Scripture 50 long as 1t
Is a comfort ana help - my soul, but when
IL Lecolnes a pelpIeslty and a spiritual up
turning | quit In other words. We ought 10
wade III up 70 our heart. bat never wade in
until II Is over or head. NJ man should
ever expect u SWIM across this great OCEAN
of divine truth. | 70 DOWN into that ocean
a. 60 down into the Atlantic Ocean at
East Hampton, Long Island, Just far enough
to battle, then | cone out. never had any
idea that With my weaa hand and foot |
could strike my way clear over TO Liverpool.
suppose You understand Your family
genealogj You know something about your
parents, your grandparents, your great
grandparents. Perhaps yCn know wher-
they whore born, or uhere they died. Have
you. eyer studied the pafentase OF the show
Il Hath not the ram 4 father" This que.
ton Is not asked b, u poet ester or a scieu-
tIrt but bH the head 0: the universe. To hum
tle and II save job God asks him fourteen
questions About the worl Is architecture.
about the refractlon of the sun rays, about
the tides, about the snow crystal, about the
lightning, and then He arraigus him With
the interrogation of the text. Hath the rain
u father
WITH the scientific wonders of the ralua,i
have nothing to do. A minister gets through
With that kind Of sermons within the fKt
three years, and If he has piety enough he
gets through with it in the first three
months. A sermon has cometo me to mean
one word Of four letters. ''help!' You ali
kno" that the ram IS not AL Orphan You
know 1t l. not east out of the gates of heaven
a founding. You would ans-7er ths>ques-
ton Of my text in the affirmative.
Safely housed duilrg he st IN, you hear
the ram beating against the window pane,
aud you tind 1t searching all the crevicesof
tue window Sill. 1t first comes down in soil
thry drops, pattering the dust, and then it
deluses 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
1t Was born OF thecloud. You know it was
rocked III the cradle of the wind. You know
IL Wa sung to sleep by the storm. You know
that it Is flying evangel from heaven t.
Earth, You know it Is the gospel Of the
weather, You know that God Is its father.
IT this be true, then how wicked is our
murinurlng about climatic changes. The
hrst eleven SabbathS after | entered the
ministry 1t >tormei. Through the week it
was clear weather, tut on the Sabbaths the
Old country meeting house looked like Noah's
ark before it Landed. \ few drenched p.D-
pie sat before a drenched pastor; but most of
the farmers stayed at home and thanked
bod that what was bad for the church was
good for the crops. | committed a good deal
OF SIN III those days III denouncing the
weather. Ministers OF the Gospel sometimes
fret about stormy Sabbaths or hot SabbathS.
or Indictment Sabbaths. They forget the
TACT that the same God who ordained the
Sabbath and sent forth his ministers to an
nounce salvation also ordained the weather.
Hath the rain ii father
Merchants, also, with their stores file |
with new goods, and their clerks hanginy
idly around the counters. commit the sam
tranSresslon. There have been seasons when
the Whole spring and fall trade. has been
ruined by protracted wet weather. The
merchants then eHamlnei the weather.
pa III IhTr hIGr5S ~ an fBAA
read their Bibles The, W. bsi' ~, -
patch of blue Sky. They Went cornn1aini,r
to the store and came COMMA min bn,,an
again. In all that season of wat feat .D1
dripping garments and imna.sahIa ,traa+.
they never once asked tha Question .,UotL.
the rain n father.
So ayr,rnlturi.t, -, ~,
Is NOTHING mora .n,,,inr a.
pl,nte,i Corn ~ ~ - ~ va
too mucb uoiI,nr, ~ u
NOV aa.had - : na' an ie"'t ioi III
ready for the sIe,la ,,Yn,I -
How hard II i :, t,a, -. -in -
anno,ptn.,@ 81 ! u q II
hnt IA ~ tb,,l -. - soul's>
vpathr, =, 49,, ~ 10 't'''y mar
tiu4sl II i. r., ~ - : - SON
WI ,rit : - 'of'' ! ! too
~, ~. NJ -" = - cart. or i =
,,rnnII. fWo,t 'ha' me 'oa WflC
n,rt,, 5.,, ~ ! - - -, @'iithSi az
u,.t,. ~. =, a. 'uo 'ei an Gil
,nnh- -, [S,,.. - : ohF question: thar
t.prs 'is,t'' "' eEert oaih- On every
InIl. IL, on every lafi1-
If ( nnn I" .''hst
If - nc ! 'dat thteEuflse
worlt -" = appropriate Weather 10! TINS
-" y i''t ot - critical oI the Lord