The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-09-14
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DivINE's Sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "A Bottle OF Tears"

| q
| years hat has not contained letters saying
! that my sermons have ccnforted the writers
ofthO5e letters. ! have not this summer neI
! for twenty wears spoken On the platform OF
\ any outdoor meeting bot coming down |
| have been told BIZ hundreds Of people tho
I same thing. So think will keep on trying
| to be a ''son Of consolation.
| The prayer OF my text was pressed out Of
| David's soul by innumerable calamities, but
| II is just as appropriate for the distressed OF
| all ages. Within the past century travellers
| ana artiquarians have explored the ruins OF
| many Of the ancient cities. and from the very
| heart OF those buried splendors of other days
| have been brought up evidences OF customs
| that long ago vanished from the world.
| From among tomos OF those ages have been
| brought up lachrymgtories} or lachrymals,
| which are vials made Of earthenware. 1t
| was the custom for the Gncients to catch me
| tears that they wept over their dead in bot
| tie, and to place that bottle in the graves OF
the departed, and we have many specimens
| of the ancient lachrymatories, ortear bottles,
/ in our musuems.
When on the way from the Holy Land our
| ship touched at Cyprus, we went back into
| the hills of that island and bought tear bot
| ties which the natives had dug out OF the
| ruins OF tae old city. There is nothing more
| suggestive to me than the tear bottles which
| | brought home and put among my curios1-
| ties. That was the kind of bottle that my text
! alludes 10 when David cries, Put thou my
| tears into thy bottle"
| The text intimates that God has an init
mate acquaintance and perpetual remem-
| brance OF ellour griefs, and vial, or lachry-
| matory, or bottle. il which He catches and
| saves our tears, and | bring to you the con-
| dolence of this Christian sentiment Why
| talk about grief? Alas, the world has its
| panSs, and now, while [ speak, there are
| thick darknesses Of soul that need to Do
s-rl,r hon IN
| break under the assault Of temptation, and
| perchance, il no words appropriate to their
| case be uttered, they perish. 1 come on no
| FOOLS evrGnd. Put upon your wounds no
| salYe compounded by human q1ackery but,
pressing straight to the mark, hail you asa
! vessel midsea cries TO passing craft,
| "Ship nhov :" and invite you on board Il
vessel which has faith for a rudder, and
| prayer for sails, and Christ for captain, and
heaven for an eternal harbor.
Catherine Rheinfeldt, Prussian, keeps a
| boat with which she fescues the drowning
When storm comes on the coast, and other
people GO to their beds to rest, she puts out
in her boat for the relief Of the distressed,
and hundreds OF the drowning has she
brought safely to the beach. In this lifeboat
of the Gospel l put out to-day, hoping, by
Gods help, 20 bring ashore at least one soul
that may now be sinking in the pillows OF
temptation and trouble The tears that were
once Caught i'll the lachrymatories brought
up from Herculaneutn and Pompeii are all
gone. and the bottle is as dry as the scoria OF
the volcano that submerged them. but not so
with the bottle il which God gathers all our
tears.
| First, remark that God keeps perpetually
the tears OF repentance. Many man mas
awakened in the morning so wretched from
nights debaueh that he has sobbed and
wept. Pains in the head, aching in the eyes,
sick or heart and unfit to step into the light.
He grieres. not about his misdolng, but only
about its consequences. God makes no rec
ord OF such weeping. OF allthe million tears
that have gushed as the result Of such mis-
demeanor, not one ever got into Gods bot
tie. They dried on the fev9red cheek or
were dashed down By the bloate1 hand or
fell into the red wine cup as it came again to
the lips foaming with still worse intoXica-
ton
But when a man is sorry for his past and
tries TO do 6etter-when he mourns his wasted
advantages and bemoGns his rejection OF
Gods mercy, and cries amid the decorations
OF an aroused conscience for help out Of his
terrible predicament, then God listens teen
heaven bows down then scepters OF pardon
are extended from the throne then his cry
ing rends the heart OF heavenly compassion
then his tears are caught in Gods bottle
On when l seq the heavenly Shepherd
bringing q lamb from the wilderness when
tening nome to'lni his father when l see
sailor boy coming on the Wharsand hurrying
away to peg his mother : pardon Tor long
neglect and unkin1ness when l see the
houselcss coming to God for shelter, and the
WrstcaeG. and the vile. and the Sin burned,
ana the passion Blasted appealing Tor mercy
to = commensurate GOD. 1 eXcialm IL ecstasy
ana triumph: More tears Tor Gods bottle ~
Again, GOD keeps tender remembrance OF
all your siekn-sses. How nanny OF you are
thoroughly SOUND in body: Not one out OF
ten! / do not eNaggeTate. Ihe vast majority
OF the race are constau. subject OF ailments.
There rs sU.ce one form Of disease that you
are particularly subject TO. You have weak
side or back or are subject 10 headaches or
| la,ntness5s or lungs easily distressed. 1t
would not take very strong blow to SILVER
the golden bowl OF ! fe or break the pitcher
at the fountain. Mnny OF you have kept on
in life through sheer force OF Will. you
think 10 one can understand your distresses.
Perhaps you look strong, and it is suppos I'd
that you are a hypochondrae. They say
you are nervous rs if that were nothing
God have mercy upon any man or woman
that Is nervous
At times you sit alone il your room.
Friends do n)ts come. You feel an indie
scribable lonllngss in your sdiferin2s, but
God knows; God feels; God compassion
ates He counts the sieepless nights. He
regards the acuteness OF the pain. He
estimates the hardness of the breathing.
While you pouc out the medicine from the
bottle and count out the drops, God counts
all your falling tears. As you look at the
walls filed with naUseous drafts and at the
bottles of distastefu tonic that stand on the
sholi. remember that there is a larger bottle
than these which is flied with no mixture by
earthly apothecaries, but it is Gods bottle, in
which he hath gathered all our tears.
Again, God remembers all the sorrows OF
poverty. THERE'S mucn want that never comes
10 inspection. The deacons OF the church
never see it. The comptrollers OF the aims
houses never report it. II comes not to
church, for il has no appropriate apparel.
1t makes no appe.! for help, but chooses
rather to suffer than expose its bitterness.
Fathers who fail 10 gain livelihood, so that
they and their children submit to constant
priyation sewing women. vino cannot ply
the needle qulck enough TO earn them shei.
ter and bread.
But whether reported or accomplishing,
whether ia seemingly comfortable parlor, or
in damp cellar, or liz hot garnet, God sangels
OF mercy are on the watch. This moment
those CRIES are being collected. Down on
the back streets in ali the alleys. aInid shan