Democratic messenger., 1894-11-24
THE CURE OF NAAMAN
REV. OR. TALMAGE breaches UPON
The SICK GENERAL"

REV OR. TALMAGE breaches UPON
The SICK GENERAL"
This Life IL but the VestibuIe Of Grand
Temple What General Naaman Was
E.mesly.
BROOKLYN, Nov. lS-Rey Dr. Tai
mage has chosen as the subject of to-
days sermon through the press THE
Sick General. tho text selected being
ii Kings V. /. He was a leper
Her. we havo warrior sick, net
with pleurisies or rheumatisms or con-
sumptions, but with a disease worse
has come ont on the forehead, precursor
of complete Disagreement and dissolu-
zion. / have something awful to tell
You. General Naaman. the commander
in chief of all the Syrian forces, has the
leprosy! 1t is on his hands. on his face,
On his feet, on his entire person. The
leprosy! Get ont of the way of tho pes
thence! II his breath strike you, you
are dead man. The commander in
chief of all the forces of Syria! And yet
he would be glad to exchange conditions
with the boy at his stirrup or the hos
tier that blankets his charger. The news
goes like wildfire all through the realm,
and the people are sympathetic. and
they cry ont. 'Is it possible that our
great hero, who slew Ahab and around
whom we came with such vociferation
when he returned from victorious bat
tle-can it be possible that our grand
and glorious Naaman has the leprosy:"
All Are Afflicted.
Yes Everybody has something he
wishes he had not-David. an Absalom
to disgrace him; Paul. a thorn to sting
him; job. carbuncles to plague him;
Samson, Delilah to shear him; Ahab,
Naboth to deny him; Haman, a Nor
decai to irritate him; George Washing
ton, childlessness to affiict him; John
Wesley, a termagant wife to poster him;
Leah, weak eyes; Pope. crooked back;
Byron, club foot; John Milton, blind
eyes; Charles Lamb. an insane sister,
and you and you and you something
which you never bargained for and
would like to get rid of. The reason of
this is that God does not want this
world to be too bright Otherwise we
would always want to stay and eat these
fruits and lie on these lounges and shake
hands in this pleasant society. We are
only in tho vestibule of n grand temple.
God does not want rs to stay on the
doorstep. and therefore he sends aches
and annoyances and sorrows and be-
reavements of all sorts to push us on
and push us up toward ripper fruits and
brighter society and more radiant pros
perities. God is only whipping us ahead.
Tho reason that Edward Payson and
Robert Hall had more rapturous views
of heaven than other people had was
because, through their aches and pains,
God pushed them nearer up TO it. II
God dashes out one Of your pictures, it
is only To show to you brighter one.
If he sting your foot with gout. your
brain with neuralgia. your tongue with
an inextinguishable thirst. it is only be-
cause he is preparing TO substitute bet
ter body than you ever dreamed of, when
the mortal shall put ON Immortality.
Ii is to push you ON and TO push you
up toward something grander and better
that God sends upon you. as he did upon
General Naaman, something you do
not want. Seated in his Syrian man.
sion, all the walls glittering with the
shields which he had captured in bat
tie, the corridors crowded with admir-
ing visitors who just wanted to see him
once, music and mirth and banqueting
filling all the mansion from tessellated
floor to pictured ceiling, Naaman
would have forgotten that there was
anything better and would have been
glad to stay there 10, 900 years. But. oh,
how tho shields dim, and how the visit
ors fly the hall. and how the music drops
dead from the string. and how tho gates
Of the mansion slam shut with sepul-
chral bang as you read the closing words
of the eulogium! ''Hc was a leper! He
was leperv'
Must Have Sympathy.
There was one person more sympa-
thetic with General Na;.nan than any
other person. Naaman's wife walks the
floor, wringing her hands and trying to
think what she can do to alleviate her
husbands suffering. All remedies have
failed. Tho surgeon general and the
doctors of the royal staff have met, and
they have shaken their heads. as much
as to say. mo cure. no cure" think
that the Office seekers had all folded up
their recommendations and gone home.
Probably most Of the employees of the
establishment had dropped their work
and were thinking of looking for some
other situation. What shall now become
of poor Naaman's wife: She must have
sympathy somewhere. In her despair
she goes to little Hebrew captive. a
servant girl i'll her house. to whom she
tells the whole story, as sometimes,
when overborne by the sorrows of the
world and finding no sympathy any
where else, you have gone out and found
in the sympathy of some humble domes-
tic-Rose or Dinah or Bridget-a help
which the world could not give you.
What a scene il was-one of the
grandest women in all Syria in cabinet
council with waiting maid over the
declining health of the mighty general
II know something" says the little
captive maid, Il know something" as
she bounds TO her bare feet. I'm the
land from which was stolen there is
- certain prophet known by the name
of Elisha, who can cure almost any
thing. and shouldn't wonder if he
could cure my master. Send for him
right away" ''Oh. hushn' you say
IF the highest medical talent i'll all the
land cannot cure that lepr. there is no
need os your listening to any talk of a
servant girl" But do not scoff, do not
sncer. The finger of that little captive
maid is pointing in the right direction
She might have said: This is q judg-
ment upon you for stealing mo from
my native land. Didn't they snatch me
off in the night. breaking my father q
and mothers hearts. and many time