The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-06-13
AT THE TABERNACLE.
THE "THRESHING MACHINE" WAS
TALMAGE'S SUBJECTSUNDAT.
It Is No Compliment to Us if We Escape
Great Trials in This w orld-An
Eloquent Sermon.

instrument, neither is II card wheel turned
about upon the cummn; but the itches
are beaten out with Il staff, and the cum
min with Il rod. Bread corn is bruised;
because he will not ever be threshlng it.
There are three kinds of seed mentioned;
ftchcs cummin and corn. Of the last we
all know. But it may be well to state that
the titches and the cummin were small
seeds. like the carraway or the chick pea
When these grains Or herbs were to be
threshed, they We're thrown on the floor,
and the workmen would come around with
staff. or rod. or fail and beat them until
the seed would be separated; but when the
corn was to be threshed that was thrown
on the floor and the men would fastcn
horses or oxen to Il cart with lrOn-dented
wheels; that cart would be drawn around
the thrcshing floor, and so the work would
be accomplished. Different kinds of thresh-
ing for different products. "Thc titchcs are
rot threshed with Il thrcshing instrument,
neither is 4 cart wheel turned about upon
the cummin; but the titches are beaten out
with a staff. and the cummin with Il rod.
Bread corn is bruised, because he will not
ever be thrshing it.
The great thought that the text presses
upon souls is that we all go through
'NAiS
that YOU may be deyotng your life to hon
orable and noble purposes will not win
you any escape. Wilberforce, the Christian
einanclpatoir, was in his day derislvely
called DIR. Cantwcl." Thomas BabinS-
ton Macaulay, the advocate of ali thar
was good long before he became the most
conspicuous historian of his day, was ear
featured IN one of the quarterly reviews
as BabbletOngue Macaulay." Norman
Mcleod, the great friend OF the Scotch
poor, was lndustriousy inaIigned in all
quarters, although on the day when he
was carried out to his burial Il workman
stood and looked at the funeral procession,
shd sad: 1T he had done nothing for any
BODY more than ne has done for me, he
should shine as the stars forever and ever"
All the small wits of London had their
hing at John Wesley, the father of Meth
odism.
If such men could not escape the malign-
ing OF the world, neither can you expect to
get rld OF the sharp, keen stroke of the trib-
uluIn. All VINO VIII live godly in CHRIST
Jesus must suffer persecution. Besides that
there are the slcknesses and the bankrupt
eleS ana the lrrltatlons and the dsappoint-
ln"nts which are ever putting IL cup OF
aloeS to your lip. Those wrinkles on your
face are hleroglyphics, which, if deciphered,
would make out Il thrilling story of trouble
The footstep of the rabbit is seen next
morning on the snow and on the white
where swift trouble alighted.
Even amid the joys and hlarities of life
trouble will sometimes break in. As when
the people We're assembled III the Charles
town theater during the revolutionary war,
and while they were Witnessing a farce
and the audience was i'll great era tulatlon
the guns of an advancing army We're heard
and the audience broke up i'll wild panic
and ran for their lives, SO oftimes while
you seated amid the joys and festvi-
ties of this world you hear the cannon
AIDE of some great disaster. All the htcheS
and the cum!uln and the corn must come
down on the threshing floor and be pounded.
My subject, i'll the first place, teaches Us
that it is no compliment to us II we escape
great trial. The titches and the cummin Oh
the threShing floor might look over 10 the corn
on another threshing floor and say: Look
at that poor miserable, bruised corn. We
have only been Il little pounded, but that
has been almost destroyed Well, the corn,
If it had lips, would answer and say: DO
YOU know the reason You have not Deen as
much pounded as l hayeI 1t IS because
YOU are not of so much worth as | am; II
YOU were YOU would be as severely run over
Yet there are men who suppose they are
tho Lords fayortes simply because their
barns are full and their bank account Is
liush and there are no funerals III the house
1t may be because they are htcheS ana
cummin. while down at the end of the lane
You are but little pounded because you are
but little worth and she bruised and ground
because she is the best part OF the harvest
The heft Of the threshing machine IS ac-
cording to the value OF the gram. Ill you
have not been mucn threshed i'll life per-
hans there is not much to thresh. If you
have not been much shaken of trouble, per
haps it is because there is going to be very
small yield When there are plenty of
blackberries the gatherers go out with large
baskets. but when the drought has allnoSt
consumed the fruit then a quart measure Will
do as well. 1t took the venomous snake on
Paul's hand and the pounding OF MN
with stones until he was taken up Tor dead.
and the jamming against HIM OF PRISON
gates. and the Ephesian yociferation, and
the skinned ankles of the painful stocks, ana
thc laundering of the AleXandian corn
shin, and the beheading stroke of the Ro-
nan sheriff to bring Paul to his proper
development.
Lady Rachel Russell and Frederick Oberlln
were worse than other peonle that tn''E ti'ln
TO suffer. it was because they were better
and God wanted to make them best. ~
thn rarefulness of the threShng you may al
WAYS conclude the value of The grain.
Next, my text teaches us that God pro-
portions our trials, to what we can bear
The staff for the ttches The rod for the
cummin The iron wheel for the corn.
Sometimes people in great troube say:
ooh. I can't bear it," But you did bear
If God would not have sent ii upon YOU
if He did not know that YOU could bear
II You trembIed and you swOoned; but
Won rot through. God will not take from
your eyes one tear too many, nor from
your lungs one sigh too deep, nor from
your temples one throb too sharp. The per-
plexities of your earthly business have
not in them one tangle too intricate.
You sometimes feel as if our world were
full of budgeons flying haphazard. Oh,
no: they are threshing instruments that
God lust suits to your case. There is not
a dollar of bad debts on your ledger. or
n disappointment about goods that you
expected to go up but that have gone down.
or a swindle of your business partner. or a
trick Oh the part of those who are III the
same kind of business that you are, but
God intended to override for your immortal
help. oh" you say, there is no need
talking that way to mel don't like to be
cheated and outraged" Neither does the
corn like the corn-thrcsher; but. after it
has been thrcshcd and winnowed it has Il
great deal better opinion of winnowins
mills and corn-thrcshers.
''Wel,' you say, IF I could choose my
troubles l would be willing to be troubled
All, my brother, then it would not be
trouble. You would choose something that
would not hurt. and unless it hurts it does
not get sanctificd Your trial, perhaps,
may be childessncss. You are fond of
children You say: why does God send
children TO that other household where they