The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-08-21
GODS LOVE.
DR.. Telmage breaches on It's Eff
t1cacy.
He Assures His Hearers Tint God viii
Remove Their Burdens, and Comfort
Them, and Wipe the Tears From
the Eyes of the Afl l,cted IL
They Ask Him.

God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes,"
Riding across q western prairie, wild
flowers up to the hub of the carriage
wheel, and while long distance from
any shelter, there came sudden
shower, and while the rain was falling
in torrents, the sun was shining as
brightly as l ever saw it shine; and
thought, what beautiful spectacle
this is! So the tears of the Bible are
not midnight storm, but rain on pan
sled prairies in Gods sweet and golden
sunlight. You remember that bottle
which David labeled as containing
tears, and Mary's tears, and Paul's
tears, and Christ's tears, and the har-
vest of joy that is to spring from the
sowing of tears. God mixes them.
God rounds them. God shows them
where to fall. God eXhales them A
census is taken of them, and there is
O record as to the moment when they
are born, and as to the place of their
grave.
Tears of bad men are not kept. Alex
ander, in his sorrow, had the hair
clipped from his horses and mules, and
made great ado about his grief; but
in all the vases of Heaven there is not
one of AleXander's tears. Alas! me!
they are falling all the time. In sum-
mer you sometimes hear the growing
thunder, and you see there is storm
miles away; but you know from the
drift of the clouds that it will not come
anywhere near you. So, though it may
be all bright around about you, there
is shower of trouble somewhere all
the time. Tears! Tears
What is the use of them, any how?
Why not substitute laughter? Why not
make this world where all the people
are well. and eternal strangers to pain
and aches? What is the use of an east
ern storm when we might have q per-
petual nor'wester? Why, when fam
lily is put together, not have them all
stay, or if they must be transplanted to
live?-the family record telling u
story of marriages and births, but of
no deaths. Why not have the harvests
chase each other without fatiguing
toll? Why the hard pillow, the hard
crust, the hard struggle? 1t is easy
enough to explain smile, or Il success,
or congratulation; but, come now,
and bring all your dictionaries and all
your PHILOSOPHERS and all your religions
and help me explain tear. A chemist
will tell you that it is made up of salt
and lime and other component parts:
but he misses the chief ingredients
the acid of a soured life, the vlperine
sting of bitter memory, the frag-
ments of broken heart. will tell
you what tear is, it is agony in solu-
ton. Hear then, while l discourse OF
the uses Of trouble.
First, it is the design of trouble to
keep this world from being too attrac-
tive. Something must be done to make
us willing to quit this existence. If it
were not for trouble this world would
be good enough heaven for me. You
and would be willing to take lease
of this life for hundred million years
if there were no trouble. The earth
cushioned and upholstered and pillared
and chandeliered with such expense,
no story of the other worlds could en-.
chant u.s.
We would say: "Let well enough
alone. If you want to die and have
your body disintegrated in the dust
and your soul go out on celestial adj
venture, then you can go, but this
world is good enough for me!'
After man has had good deal OF
trouble, he says: "Well, l am ready tc
90. If there is house somewhere
whose roof doesn't leak, would like tc
live there. If there is an atmosphere
somewhere that does not distress the
lungs, l would like to breathe it.
"If there is society somewhere
where there is no tittle-tattle, would
like to live there. If there is home
circle somewhere where can find my
lost friends, would like to go there.
He used to read the first part of tho
Bible chiefly, now he reads the last
part of the Bible chiefly. Why has he
changed Genesis for Revelation? All
he used to be anxious chiefly to know
how this world was made, and all about
its geological construction. Now he i:
chiefly anxious to know how the neXt
world was made, and how it looks, anC
who live there, and how they dress
He reads Revelation ten times now
where he read Genesis once. The ole
story, Sin the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth, does no.
thrill him half as much as the other
story. 81 saw new heaven and new
earth The old mans hand tremble.
as he turns over the apocalyptic leaf
and he has to take out his handkerchie
to wipe his spectacles. That book O.
Revelation is u prospectus now of The
country in which he is soon to immi
CRATE; the country in which he has lott
already laid out, and avenues opened
and mansions built.
Yet there are people here to whom
this world is brighter than Heaven
Well, dear souls, do not blame you
It's natural. But after awhile yol
will be ready to go. 1t was not unit
Job had been worn out with bereave
ments that he wanted to see God l
was not until the prodigal got tired o
living among the hogs that he wanted
to go to his fathers house. 1t is tn,
ministry of trouble to make this work.
worth less and Heaven worth more.
Again, it is the use of trouble to max,
us feel our dependence upon God. Mei
think that they can do anything unit
God shows them they can do nothing
at MI We Law our great nlans md w,