The southern argus. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Cherokee County, Kan.) 1891-1???, 1891-07-09
LESSON OF THE RAINS.
DR.. Talmage Finds Much Good in
the Storms.
The Rain a Child of od-The lords super
vision Over the Smallest Thngs-Relief
In the Rain of Tears Weeping
For Joy.


the rain a fathcr?" Job, xXxviii %.
He said;
This Book Of Job has been the sub
ject Of unbounded theological wranglc.
Men have made it the ring in which to
display their ecclesiastical pugilism.
Some say that the Book of Job is true
history; others at it is an allegory;
Others that it is an epic poem; others
that it is a drama. Some say that Job
lived 1880 years before Christ, others
that he never live at all. Some saw the
author Of this book was Job; others
David; others Solomon. The discussion
has landed some in blank infidelity
Now, | have no tronble with the Books
of Job or Revelation-the two most
mysterious books in the Bible-because
ot rule ! adopted some years ago.
wade down into -~1ipture passage as
long as | can touch bottom, and
when I cannot, then / wade out
4 used to wade in it until it was over
my head, and then | got drowned.
study passage of scripture SO long as
~ IS q comfort and help to my soul; but
when it becomes a perplexity and a
spiritual upturning, / quit. In other
words, we ought to wade in up to our
heart, but never wade in until it is
over orr head No man should ever ex-
pect to swim across the great ocean Of
divine truth.
l suppose you understand your family
gencalogy. You know something about
your parents, Your grandparents, your
t-grandpare Perhaps you know
where they were born, or where
they died Have you ever studied the
parentage of the shower? 'Hath the
rain father?" This question is not
asked by poetaster or a scientist but
by the head Of the universe. TO humble
and to save Job, God asked him four
teen questions; about the worlds archi-
lecture, about the rcfraction of the
suns rays, about the tides, about the
snow crystal, about the lightning, and
then he arraigns him with the interro-
cation of the text: Hath the rain
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. sermon
has come to me to mean one word Of
four letters: help You all know
that the rain is not an orphan You
know it is not cast out of the gates Of
heaven a founding. You would an
swer the question Of my text in the
affirmative. Safely housed during the
s. >rm. YOU hear the rain beating against
the window pane. and Won find it
,sI +rc!.ing al the crcvices of the windc w
sill 1t first cowes down in solitary
drops, pattering the dust, and then it
delugcs the fields and angers the noun
tain torrents, and makes the traveller
lmplore shelter. You know that the rain
is not an accident Of the worlds econ
omy. 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 flving 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 eli
matte changes.
The first eleven Sabbaths after en-
tered the ministry it stormed. Through \
the week it was clear weather, but
the Sabbath the country meeting ho
looked like Noah's ark before it vi.
ed few drenched people sat befo;,
drenched pastor, but most Of the
farmers stayed 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 de-
nouncing the weather. Ministers of
the Gospel sometimes fret about stormy
Sabbaths or hot Sabbaths or inc'ement
Sabbaths. They forget the fact that
same God who ordained the Sabbath
and sent forth His ministers to an
nounce salvation also ordained the
weather. Hath the rain a father"
Merchants, also, with their stores
tiiled with new goods and their clerks
hanging idly around the counter, com
NIT the same transgression. There
have been seasons when the whole
spring and fall trade has been ruined
by protracted wet weather. The mer-
chants then examined the weather .
probabilities" with more interest than |
thc~ their Bibles They watched |
for patch Of blue sky They went
complainirE 70 the store, and came com !
planning home again. In all that sea |
son Of wet feet and dripping garments !
and impossible streets they never once ,
asked the question: Hath the rain a l
father?" !
SO agriculturists commit this sin. |
There Is nothing more annoying than to l
have planted corn rot in the ground be- I
cause Of too much moisture, or hay all !
ready for the NOV dashed of shower J
Or wheat almost ready for the sickle I
spoiled with the rust How hard 1t il I
70 bear the agricultural disappoint- |
ments God has infinite resources, but J
90 not think he has capacity to make I
weather 70 suit all farmers. Some j
times II Is too hot, or it IS too cold: II i ]
Too wet or IL is too dry; it is too early. \
pr 1t Is too late They forget that HI ]
iod who promised seed time and har- !.
rest summer and winter, cold and heat. I
also ordained all the climatic changes. 4
There is one question that ought III a