Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-20
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Brooklyn Divine Compares Re-
ligion and the Crystal.
BEAUTIFUL AND TRANSPARENT.
People Consider Their Crosses Too Much
and Not the Crown.
ALL PERSONS CAN EASILY BE SAVED

Sunday evenings in this city, continues un-
sbsted. As usual, there was this evening
dense mass of people waiting outside the
Academy of Music long before the hour for
commencement and every seat in the huge
building was occupied in a few minutes
after the doors were opened. DR.. Talmage
had preached to an immense audience in the
morning in the Brooklyn Academy of
Music. His text was: "The crystal cannot
equal it." Job 2S:7.
Many OF the precious stones of the Bible have
come TO prompt recognition. But for the pres
ent take up the less valuable crystal Job, in
my text, compares saving wisdom with speci-
men Of topaz. An infdel chemist or mineral
Ogist would pronounce the latter worth more
than the former, but Job makes intelligent
comparison, looks at religion and then looks at
the crystal and pronounces the former as of
far superior value to the latter, eXclalning in
the words Of my text, ''the crystal cannot equal
It"
Now, it is not part of my sermonic design
10 depreciate the crystal, whether it be found
in Cornish mine, or Hartz Mountain, or Nam
moth Cave, or tinkling among the pendants of
che chandeliers of palace. The crystal is the
star of the mountain; il is the queen of the
heaven in the diamond. Among all the pages
OF natural history there is no page more inter-
esting 10 me than the page crystallographic.
But want to show you that Job was right
when, taking religion in one hand and the crys-
tai in the other he declared that the former is
of far more value and beauty than the latter,
recommending il to all the people and to all
the ages, declaring: The crystal cannot equal
it."
Exsctness in Religion.
In the first place remark that religion is su-
perior to the crystal in exactness. That shape
less mass OF crystal against which you accident
ally dashed your foot is laid out with more ex-
actness than any earthly city. There are six
styles Of crystallizstion and all of them divlnely
ordained. Every crystal has mathematical
precision Gods geometry reaches through it.
aud it is a square or it is rectangle or it is a
rhOmbod or in some way il hath mathematical
figure Now religion beats that in the simple
fact that spiritual accuracy is more beautiful
than material accuracy. Gods attributes 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 the cy-
Cles.
His providences never dealing with us per-
pendiCu arly when those providences ought to
be ObllQue nor lateral when they ought to be
vertical. Everything in ouf life arranged with
out any possibility OF mistake. Each life six
sided prism. Born at the right time; dying at
the right time. There are no 'happen-sos' in |
our theology. II l thought this was a slipshod |
universe l would 90 crazy. God is not an An |
perfect square, perfect rectangle, a perfect |
Thomboid, perfect circle. The edge of Gods |
robe of government never trays out There |
are no loose screws in the worlds machinery.
1t did not just happen that Napoleon was at |
tackled with Indigestion at BorOdino so that he |
became incompetent for the day. 1t did not |
just happen that John Thomas, the missionary, |
on a heathen island waiting for an outfit and |
orders for another missionary tour received |
that outfit and those orders in box that |
hoated ashore, while the ship and the crew that |
-1s,1r In fnN N.uara -arh ord nF
A Transparent Religion.
Again / remark that religion is superior to
the crystal in transparency. We know not |
when or by whom glass was first discovered. |
Beads of it have been found in the tomb of
Alexander Severus. Vases of it are brought |
up from the ruins of Herculaneum. There /
were female adornments made out of it 5000 |
years ago-those adornments found now at
tached TO the mummies of Egypt. A great |
many commentators believe that my text means /
glass. What would we do without the crystal? /
The crystal in the window to keep out the
storm ANA let in the day-the crystal over the
watch defending its delicate machinery, yet al
lowing us to see the hour-the crystal of the I
telescope by which the astronomer brings dis
tant worlds so near he can inspect them. Oh:
the triumphs of the CRYSTALS in the celebrated |
windows of Rouen and Salisbury
But there IS nothing transparent in a crys-
tai as our holy religion. 1t is a transparent
religion. You put it to your eye and you see
at God and you see something of the grandeur
of his character. 1t is a transparent religion.
lnfdels tell US it is Opaque? Do you know why
they tell us it is opaque? 1t Is because they
are blind. The natural man receiveth not the /
things of God because they are spiritually dis
cerned. There is no trouble with the crystal;
the trouble is with the eyes which try to look
through 1t. We pray for vision, Lord, that
our eyes might be opened. When the eye
salve cures our blindness then we f1nQ that
religion is transparent
Surpasses Crystal in Beauty.
The providence that seemed dark before be-
comes pelucid. Now you find God is not try.
ing to put you down. Now you understand
why You lost that child and why you lost your
property; it was to prepare you for eternal
treasures And why sickness came; it being
the precursor OF immortal iuyenescence. And
you understand why they lied about you
and tried to drive you hither and thither- 1t
was TO put YOU in the glorious company of such
men Ignatius, who when he went out to be
destroyed by the lions. said: Il am the wheat |
and the teeth OF the wild beasts must first grind
me before can become pure bread for Jesus
Christi or the company of such men as Poly
carp, who when standing in the midst of the
amDhitheater waiting for the lions to come out
Of their cave and destroy him. and the people
IN the galleries leering and shouting. "The |
lions for Polycarp." replied: Let them come
on" and then STOPPING down toward the cave |
where the wild beasts were roaring TO get out.
Let them come on" All, yes, il is persecution
to put you IN glorious company; and while |
there are many things that you will have to
postpone |
! tell you that it is the whole tendency of your
religion to unravel and explain and interpret /
and illumine and irradiate. job was right 1t
IS q glorious transparency. 1.-The crystal can
not equal it,"
1 remark again that religion surpasses the
crystal in its beauty. The lump of crystal Is
put under the magnlfying glass of the crystal
lOgrapheT and he sees IN ii indescribable beauty
-snowdrift and splinters of hoar-frost and
Corsls and wreaths and stars and crowns and
consultations OF conspicuous beauty. The fact
IS iEat crystal is so beautiful that l can think
OF but one thing IN all the universe that is SO
beautiful, and that is the religion of the Bible.
No wonder this Bible represents mat religion
as tte daybreak, as the apple blossoms, as the
glitter OF Il kings banquet. Ii is the JOY of the
wAOie earth.
The Cross and tho Crown.
People talk too much about their cross and
NOT enOugh about their crown. Do you know
the Bible mentions i cross but q times while il
mentions a crown so umesH Ask that old man
what he thinks of religion. He has been a close
observer. He has been culturing an aesthetic
taste. He has seen the sunrises of a half GEN.
fury. de has been an early riser. He 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, cit is
The most beautiful thing / ever saw" "The
crystal cannot equal it"
Beautiful in its symmetry When il presents
Gods character it does not present Him as hav-
ing love like q great protuberance 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 a Justice that will
by no means clear the guilty. Beautiful re-
lgion in the sentiment it implantsl Beautiful |
religion in the hope 1t kindlesl Beautiful re-
hgion in the fact that it proposes to garland
and enthrone and emparadise an immortal
spirit Solomon says 1t is a lily. Paul saws 1t is
crown. The Apocalypse says it j. fountain
kissed of the sun. Ezekiel says it is foliaged
cedar. Christ says it is a bridegroom come to |
fetch home a bride.
Tals a. 1