Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-02-23
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: stRubies Supposedly

TEXT: '' Wisdom is better than ,,lJies. "
! Proverbs viii, II.
| You have all seen the precious stone COM
monty called the ruby. 1t is of deep red
color. The Bible makes much of it. It
glOWed in the first row Of the high priest .
breastplate Under another hame it stood
in the wall of heaven. jeremiah COMPARES
the ruddY cheek ofthe NaS4fites to the ruby
Ezekiel points it out Ill the robes Of the king
OF Tyre. Four times does Solomon use it as
a symbol by which to extoI wisdom or relig-
! ion, always setting its value as better than
rubieS.
The world Goes not agree as 10 how the
precious stones were formed. The ancients
| thought that amber was made of drops Of
! perspir3tiOn Nfthe goddess Ers. The thun.
derstOhe was supposed to have dropped from
a stOrmcloud. The emerald was said to
have been made of the ffrefv. The lapis
Iazuli was thought to have been born of the
cry Of an Indian giant. And modern min
eralOgists say that the precious stones were
made Of gases and liquids. To me the ruby
seems like spark from the anvil Of the set
ting sun.
The home of the genuine ruby is Burmah,
and sixty miles from its capital, where lives
and reigns the ruler, called Lord of the
RubIes." Under a careful Governmental
guard are these valuable mines OF ruby kept.
Rarely has any foreigner visite them. When
a ruby of large value was discovered, it was
| Il
procession was formed, and with all BAN
nered pOmp, military guard aud princely at
tcndants, the gem was brought to the kings
palace.
OF great value is the ruby. much more so
than diamond, as l8pidarie8 and jewellers
will tell you. An expert On this subject
writes, "A ruby Of perfect color weighing
fVe carats Is worth at the present day ten
times as much as diamond of equal weight"
1t was disaster when Charles the Bold lost
the ruby he was wearing at the battle OF
Grandson. 1t was a great affluence when
Rudolph III of Austria inherited ruby from
his sister, the queen dOwager. 1t was thought
to have had much to do with the victory of
Henry V. as he wore j. into the battle of
AgincOurt.
the largest ruby of the world. presented by
Gustavus III to the Russian Empress. Won
drOus ruby 1t has electric characteristics,
and there are lightnings compressed in its
double six sided prisms. What shall l call
t2 1t is frozen fire 1t is petrifled blood!
In all the world there is only one thing more
valuable, and my text makes the comparison,
"Wsdom is better than rubies."
But 1t is impossible to compare two things
together unless there are some points of sim
ilarity well as of difference. [ am glad
there is nothing lacking here. The ruby is
moro beautiful in the night and under the
lamplight than by day. 1t is preferred for
evening adornment. How the rubies glow
anu htITn anu 0aSH as the l1SntS ll1t the dark
ness Catherine of AragOn had Oh her finger
a ruby that fairly lanterned the night.
Sir John Vaudeville. the celebrated trav-
eler of 400 years ago. s1id that the Emperor
OF China had ruby that made the night as
bright rs day, The probability is that Solo
mon under some of the lamps that ilumined
his cedar palace by night. noticed the pecu-
liar glow of the ruby as it looked in the hiIt
of a sword, or hung in some fold of the up
hOlstcry, or beautined the lip of some chalice.
whiio he was thinking at the same time of
the exceilency of our holy religion as chiefly
seen in the night of trouble, and he cries out,
wisdom is better than rubies."
Oh, yes. it is a good thing to have religion
while the sun of prosperity rides high and
everything is brilliant in fortune, in health,
in worldly favor. Yet you can at such time
hardly tell how much of it is natural exuber-
ance and how much of it is the grace OF God.
Bat let the sun set. and the shadows ava
laDche the plain, and the thick darkness OF
sickness or poverty or persecution or mental
exhaustion fill the soul and fill the house
and fill the world then you sit down by the
lamp of Gods word, and under its light the
consultations of the gospel come out ; the
peace of God which paSSeth all understand
ing appears. You never fully appreciated
their power until in the deep night oftrouble
the Divine Lamp revealed their exquisite
ness, Pearls and amethysts for the day, but
rubies for the night
All of the books of the Bible attempt in
some way the assuagement of misfortune
OF the $50 psalms Of David at least ninety
allude to trouble. There are sighings in
every wind, and tears in every brook, and
pangS in every heart. II was originally pro-
posed to call the Presidents residence at
Washington The Palace or ''the Execu-
tive Mansion, but after it was destroyed III
the war of 1914 and rebuilt in was painted
white to cover up the marks of the smoke
and fire that had blackened the stone walls.
Hence it was called The White House.
Most of things now white with hattractiveness
were once black with disaster.
What the world most needs is the consOla-
tory, and here it comes, our holy religion,
with both hands full of anodynes and seda-
tives and balsams. as in Daniels time to stop
mouths lCOnine as in Shadrach's time to
cool blast furnaces; rs in EzekieIs time to
console captivity; as in st. Johns time to
unrOll an apocalypse over rocky desolattOns.
Hear its soothing voice as it declares
weeping may endure for a night, but Joy
cometh in the morning" The montains
shall deDart and the hills he removed hut
My loving kindness shall not depart from
YOU" Whom the Lord Ioveth He chas-
teneth." They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more. neither shall the
sun light on them, nor any heat. for the
Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall lead them to living fountains of water
and God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes
The most wholesome thing on earth is
trouble, if met in Christian spirit. To make
Paul what he was it took ship wreck. and
whipping onthe bare back. and pententiary,
and pursuit OF wild mObs. and the sword of
decapitatiOn. To make David what he was
it took all that Ahithophel and Saul and Alb
salon and Goliath and all tho Philistine
hosts could do against him. 1t took Robert
ChambersS s malfOrmatiOn of feet to make
him the literary cOnquerOr.
1t was bereavement that brought William
Haworth. of Wesley time. from wickedness
to an evangelism that won many thousands
for heaven. The world would never have
known what heroic stuff Ridley was made of
had not the fires been kindled around his
feet and not liking this slow work he cried
81 cannot burn. Let the fire come to me. [
cannot burn" Thank God that there are
gems that unfold their best glores under the
lamplight! Thank God for the ruby.
Moreover, | am sure Solomon was right in
saving that religion or wisdom is better than
rubies, from the fact that thing is worth
what it will fetch. Religion will fetch solid
happiness, and the ruby will not. In ell
your observation did you ever find a person
thoroughly felicitated by an lncrustment OF
jewels? As'you know more of yourself than
any one else, are You happier now with
worldly adOrnmentS and successes than be
fore you won them? Does the picture that
cost you hundreds or thousands otdOllnrs on
your wall bring you as much satisfaction as
the engraving that at the expense of 50 was
hung upon the wall when you first began to
keep house?
Do all the cutlery and rare plate that gilt
ter on your extension dining table. surround
cd by fatterng guests, contain more of rea=
bliss than the plain ware OF your first table,
at which sat only two! Does a wardrobe
crowded with costly attire give you moro
satisfaction than your first clothes closet
with its four or five pegs? Did not the plain
ring set on the third finger of the left hand
on the day of your betrothal give more glad
fbp rnbN that now entnrOn6Q On
the third finger of your right hand?
II IN this journey of life we have learned
anything, we have learned that this world.
neither with its eniouments nor gains, can
satisfy the SOUL Why, here come as many
witnesses as l wish to call to the stand to
testify that before high heaven and the
world, in companionship with Jesus Christ
and a good hope of heaven they feel a Joy