Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-04-24
THETABERNACLEPULPIT
BRILLIANT SUBJECT ExPOUND-
ED BY DR.. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Divine Holds Forth In MS
Usual Bright Vein Comparing Re
ligion to Uig ,iy Transrar-
eaI crystal


crystal. Job, IN my text, compares saving
wisdom with a specimen OF topaz. An in-
ndel chemist or mineralogist would pro-
nounce the latter worth more than The
former, but Job makes an intelligent COM
parison, looks at religion and then looks at
the crystal and pronounces the former rs
OF far superior value 10 the latter, eXclaim-
ing In the words OF my text 1.-THE crystal
cannot equal H."
Now, IL is not part OF my sermonic de-
sign TO depreciAte the crystal, whether it be
found In Cornish mine or Hartz mountain,
or Mammoth Cave, or tinkling among the
pendants of the chandeliers OF palace.
The crystal Is the star OF the mountain; IL
is the queen OF the cave; it is the ear-drop
OF the hills; it finds Its heaven in the dia-
mond. Among all the pages OF natural his
tory there ID no page more Interesting 10
me than the page crystallographlc. But
want to show you that Job was right when
taking religion in one hand and the crystal
In the other, he declared that the former Is
OF far more value and beauty than the lat
ter, recommending it to all the
people and to ull the ages, de-
claring: "'rhe crystal cannot equal it," In
the first place L remark that religion is SIT
perior TO the crystal In eXactness. That
shapeless mass OF crystal against which you
accidentally dashed your foot is laid out
with more eXactness than any earthly city.
There are six les of crystalliZatiOn ana all
of them divinely ordained. Every crystal
has mathematical precision. Gods geome-
try reaches through IT, and 1t Is square or
1t is rectangle or IL is rhOmboid or III
some way it hath mathematical figure.
Now religion beats that i'll the simple fact
that spiritual accuracy is more beauli-
full than material accuracy. Gods attrib-
utes are exact. Gods law exact Gods
DEGREES exact. Gods management OF the
world exact. Never counting wrong,
though he counts the grass blades and the
stars and the sands and tho cycles. His
providences never dealing with us perpen-
dicularly when those prOvidences ought 10
lie oblique, nor lateral when they ought to
be vertical. Everything in our life ar
ranged without any possibility of mistake.
Each life Il siX-sided prism. Born ut the
right time; dying at the right time. There
are no "happen-sO's" in our theology. IL
thought This was q slipshod universe l
would 30 crazy. God is not IN anarchist.
Law, order symmetry, precision,
perfect square, perfect rectangle,
perfect rhomboid, a perfect circle. The
edge of Gods robe OF government never
frays out. There are no loose screws in the
worlds machinery. IL did not just happen
that Napoleon was attacked with indlgcs-
ton at BorodinO so that lie became incom-
petent for the day. IL did not Just happen
that John Thomas, the missionary, on II
1t athen island, waiting for an outfit and or
ders for another missionary tour, received
that outfit and those orders In box that
floate1 ashore. while the ship and the crew
that carried the box were never heard OF.
The barking OF +. w. RobertsOn's dog, he
tells us, led to line Ofevents which brought
him from the army into the Christian NM
stry, where he served God with world-re-
nowned usefulness. 1t did not merely hap
pen So believe in particular providence.
L believe Gods geometry may be seen IN all
our life more beautifully than in crystal
Biography. job was right The crysta!
cannot equal Il"
Again remark that religion is superior
to the crystal In transparency. We know
not when or by whom glass was first dis
covered. Beads OF IL have been found in
the tomb OF Alexander Severus. Vases of
1t are brought up from the ruins of Hercu-
laneum. There were female adornments
made out OF IL 5000 years ago-those adorn-
ments found now attached to the mummies
OF Egypt. A great many commentators be-
iieve that my text means glass. What
would we do without the crystal The
crystal in the window TO keep out the storm
and let in the day--the crystal in the watch,
defending its delicate machinery yet allow
ing US to see the hour - the crystal OF the
telescope by which the astronomer brings
distant worlds so near he can inspect them.
Oh, the triumphs OF the crystals in the cele-
brated windows OF ltouen and Salisbury
But there is nothing so transparent in a
crystal as in our holy religion. When the
eye-salve cures our blindness then we find
that religion is transparent
People talk too much about their cross
and not enough about their crown. DO you
know the Bible mentions cross but
twenty-SeYen times while 1t mentions Il
crown eighty times? Ask that old man
what he thinks OF religion. lie has been "a
close observer. lie has been culturng an
aesthetic taste. lie has seen the sunrises OF
a half century. lie has been an early riser.
lie has been an admirer OF canoes and
corals and all kinds Of beautiful things.
Ask him what he thinks OF religion and he
will tell you, at Is the most beautiful thing
ever saw" 1.-The crystal cannot equal
it."
Beautiful in its symmetry. When 1t
presents Gods character 1t does not pre-
sent Him as having love like great pro-
tuberance on one side OF his nature,
but makes that love In harmony
with his justice-a love that will accept all
those who come TO him, and justice that
will by no means clear the guilty. Beauti-
ful religion in the sentiment IL impants
Beautiful religion In the hope 1t kindles
Beautiful religion in the fact that It pro-
poses to garland and enthrOne and empara-
disc an immortal spirit. Soloman says it is
lily. Paul says IL Is u crown. The Apoca-
lypse saws IL Is u fountain kissed OF the sun.
Ezekiel says il is foliaged cedar. Christ
SAYS il Is n bridegroom come to fetch home
n bride. While Job In the text takes ND a
whole vase OF precious stones-the topaz
and the sapphire and the chrysoprasus- aud
he takes out of this beautifui vase jlIst one
crystal and holds IL up until IL CLEANS in
the warm light OF the eastern sky, and lie
exclalms: "The crystal cannot equal IT,"
Again religion is superior 10 the crystal
I'm its transformations. The diamond Is
only a capitalization OF coal. Carbonate
Of lime rises till IL becomes calcite or ara
gonte. Red oxide of copper crystaliIzes
into cubes and octachedrons. Those crys-
tails which adorn our persons and our
homes and our museums have only been
rcsurrected from forms that were lar from
lustrous. Scientists for ages have been eX-
aiming these wonderful transformations.
But tell you in the Gospel OF the Son OF
God there is more wonderful transforms
ton. Over souls by reason OF sin black as
coal and hard rs iron, God, by bis comfort
ing grace stoops and says: "They shall be
mine in the day when l make up my
Jewels"
"what," say you, "will God wear jew
elry!" II he wanted IL, I've could mako the
stars of heaven his belt and have the even
ing cloud for the sandals of his feet; but
he does not want that ndornment. He will
not have that iewelry. When God wants
jewelry he comes down and digs 10 out of
the depths and darkness OF sin. These
souls are all crystallIzations OF mercy. lie
puts them on and wears them in the pres
ence OF the whole universe. lie wears