The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-06
HATH THE RAIN A FATHER
TALMRGE COUPLES THE GOSPEL
AND THE WEATHER.


Pu2iliem-God's Minute Supervision.
BROOKLYN. N. Y. July 5.-Dr. Tai.
mage's sermon to-day is on kind of gospel
in which few people believe The weather
is a common object of complaint and fault
finding, but DR.. Talmage finds gospel il
1t, which to-day ne proclaims from the text;
Hath the rain a tatherp-Job xxxviii, o.
This Book of Job has been the subject OF
unbounded theological wrangle. Men have
| made it the ring in which TO display thelk
| ecclesiastical pugilism. Some say that the
| Book of Job is true history; others, that
it is an allegory; others, that it is an epic
| poem others, that it is drama. Some say
that job lived eighteen hundred years be-
| fore Christ, others say that he never lived
at all. Some say that the author of this
! book was Job, others, David; others, Solo.
mon. The discussion has landed some in
! blank infidehty. Now, have no trouble
with the oks of job or Revela-
tion-the two most mysterious books
| in tue Blble-because OF rule ]
| adopted some years ago. | wade down
into scripture passage as long as | can
touch bottom, and when l cannot, then ]
wade out. i used to wade in until it was
over my head, and then | got drowned. ]
study passage Of scripture so long as it il
a comfort and help to my soul; but when ii
| becomes q perplexity and u 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 divins truth. | 60 down into that ocean
as / go down into the Atlantic ocean al
East Hampton, Long Island, just far enough
to battle; then | come out. l never had
any idea that with my weak hand and fool
l could strike my way clear over to Liver.
pool
4 \
! gepealogy You know something about
your parents, your grandparents. your
great-gTaDdparents Perhaps you know
where they were born or where they died
Have you ever studied the parentege of the
shower: "Anth the rain a fatherp This
| question Is not asked by q poetaster or
scientist but by the head of the universe.
To humble and to save Job, God asks him
fourteen questions; about the worlds arohi-
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 Interrogation of the
text: "Hath the rain a fatherW With the
scientific wonders OF the rain have nothing
to do. A minister Rets through with thai
kind OF sermops within the first three years,
and II be has piety enough he gets
through with II in the first three months. A
sermon has come to me to mean one word
of four letters: "Helpp You all know that
the rain is not an orphan. You know it is
| not cast out OF the gates Of heaven found
Ing. You would answer the question Of
my text in the affirmative. Safely housed
during the storm, you hear the rain beating
against the window pane, and you find II
searching all the crevices Of the window
sill. IL first comes down in solitary drops,
patterinR the dust, and then 1t 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 is
"A 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 ouI
murmuring about climatic changes. The
first eleven .bbaths after | entered the
ministry IL stormed. Through the week il
was clear weather, but on the Sabbaths the
old country meeting-house looked like
Noah's Ark before ii landed. A few
dTenched people sat before drenched pas.
tor; but most Of the farmers staid at home
and thanked God that what was bad for the
church was good for the crops. committed
a good deal of sin in those days in denouno'
ing the weather. Ministers Of the Gospel
sometimes fret about stormy Sabbaths, or
hot Sabbaths, or inclement Sabbaths. They
forget the fact that the same God who or.
dained the Sabbath and sent forth his min.
tsters to announce salvation, also ordained
the weather. Hath TIE rain fatherw
Merchants also, with their stores filled
with new goods and their clerks hang
ing idly around the counters, commit the
seasons when the whole spring and fall
trade has been ruined by protracted vet
weather. The merchants then examined
the weather probabilities" with more
interest than they read their Bibles. They
watched for patch Of blue sky. They
vent complaining to the store and came
complaining home again. In all that
season of wet feet and dripping garments
and impossible streets, they never once
asked the question: Hath the rain
fatherf'
So egriculturists commit this sin. There
Is nothing more annoying than to have
planted corn rot in the ground because Of
too much moisture, or hay all ready for the
NOW dashed of a shower, or wheat almost
ready for the sickle spoiled with the rust.
How dark it is to hear the agricultural dis
appointments. God has infinite resources,
but do not think he has capacity to make
weather TO please all the farmers. Some
times it is too hot, or it is too cold; il is too
wet. or it is too dry; it is too early, or it is
too late They forget that the God who
promised seed time and harvest, summer
and winter, cold and heat, also ordained aE
the climatic chsnges. There is one guess
ton that ought TO be written on every
bsrn, on every fence, on every hay-stack,
on every farmhouse: Hath the rain q
fathsr"
If we only knew what a vast enterprise
it is 70 provide appropriate weather for this
world, we would not be so critical OF the
Lord. Isaac Watts. at 10 years OF age,
complained tha. he did not like the hymns
that were sung in the English chapel.
well, !" said his father, Isaac, instead OF
your complaining about the hymns, go and
make hymns that are better" And he did
go and make hymns that were better.
Nov, 1 say to you, il you do not like the
weather, get UP a weather company, and
have a president, and a secretary and a
treasurer, and board Of directors, and
$4,000 of stock, and then provide weather
that will suit all of u.s. There is man
who has a weak head, and he cannot
stand the glare of the SUI. You must
have cloud always lowering over him.
like the sunshine; l cannot live without
plenty of sunlight, so you must always
| have enough light for me. Two ships meet
In mid. Atlantic. The one is going to South.
ampton, and the other is coming TO New
York Provide weather that, while it is
abaft for one ship, it is not q head wind for
the other. There is a farm that is dried up
for the lack of rain, and here is pleasure
party going out for field excursion. Pro-
vide weather thai will suit the dry farm
and the pleasure excursion. No. sirs. / will
not take one dollar Of stock in your weather