Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1895-08-22
USES OF AFFLICTTON.
DR.. TALMAGE FINDS CONSOLATION i,4
GODS WORD.


Text "And God Shall wlpo Away Az
Tears From Their Eyes"-The Comforts
of I,oligion.
NEW YORK, Aug 1S.-Rcv. DR. Tai
mage could not havo selected more APP
proprihtc subject than the ono Of today,
considering the bereavement that ha, come
upon him and his households Ho had al
ready prepared his sermon for today, select
ing rs u topic "Comfort' and taking rs
his text, "And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes, " Revelation vii, II.
Riding across u western prairie, wild
flowers mp to the hub of the carriage wheel,
and while a long distance from any shell
tcr, there came "a stliidon shower. and
while the rain was falling in torrents the
sun was shining as brightly az ! ever saw
It shine and [ thought What u beautiful
spectacle this isl So the tears Of the Bibo
are not midnight storm, but rain on pan
sled prairies in Gods sweet and golden
sunlight You remember that bottle which
David labeled rs containing tears and Ma
rvs tears, and Paui'' tears, and Christ
tears, and the harvest of JOY that is to
spring from the sowing OF tears. God
mixes them. God rounds them. Sod
shows them where to fall God cxhalcs
y
there r. n record as To the moment when
they are born and as to the place of their
grave
Tears OF bad ineN are not kept. Alex
andcr IN his sorrow had the hair clipped
from his hoTses and mules and made
great ado about his grief, but in all the
Vases of heaven there is not one of Alcxan-
der y tears I speak of the tears of God $
childrcn. Alas. me, they arc falling all
the time In summer you sometimes hear
the growing thunder and you see there is
a storm miles away but you know from
the crift Of tho clouds that it will not como
anywhere near you. So though it may
be all bright Around about you, there is u
shower Of trouble somewhere at the time,
Tears TeaTs
rho Uses of Tears.
What is the lse of them, anyhow? Why
not substitute laughter: Why not mako
this a world where all the people arc well
and eternal strangers to pain and achos9
What Is the use of an eastern storm when
we might have n perpetual nor wc>tri:
Why, when a family is put together j..
have them all stay or if they must 3
transpiertcd to mako other homes, tn,
have them all live the family record tell
ing story of marriages and births, but Of
no deaths? Why mot have the haIvcsts
chase each other WITHOUT latiguing toll?
Why the hard pillow the hard crust, the
hard struggle? 1t is easy enough to cx-
plain a smile or Z success, or u cungEatN-
lation; but, come now, and bring all your
dictionaries and al your PHILOSOPHERS and
al! your religions, and help me explain q
tear. A chemist will tell you that it is
mado up of salt and limo and other com
ponent parts; but he misses the chief in
grcdients-the acid of u sOurod life, the
vipcrinc sting of IL bitter memory, the
fragments of n broken heart. | will tell
you what u tear is; it is agony in solution.
Hear then, while discourse of the uses Of
trouble
First, it is the design of trouble to keep
this world from being too attractive.
Something must be done to make us will
ing to quit this existence. If it were net
for trouble this world would be Il good
enough heaven for me. You and l would
he willing to take lease of this life Tor q
hundred million years if there wcre no
trouble. The earth cushioned and up
holstered and pillared and chandclicred
with such expense, no story OF other worlds
could GnchanG us.
We would say: Let well enough alone.
If you want 20 die and have your body dis
out ON celestial adventure, then you can
GO but this world is good enough for mc!'
You might as well 60 to u man who has
just entered the Louvre at Paris, and tell
him to hasten off to the picture galleries
of Venice or Florence. "Why, he would
say, "What is the use of my going thereg
There are Rcmbrandts and Rubcuscs and
RaphaelS here that | haven looked at
yet.
No man wants to go out of this world or
out of any house until he has a better
house. 70 cure this wish to stay here God
must somehow create a disgust for our
surroundings How shall he do it, He
cannot afford to defacc his horizon. or to
tear off a fiery panel from the sunset, or
to subtract an anthem from the water lily,
or to Danish the pungcnt aroma FROM the
mignOnette, or to drag the robes oil the
morning il mire. Gou cannot expect u
Christopher Wren to mar his own st.
Paul ; cathedral or q Michael Angelo to
dash ouU his own Last Judgment " or a
Handel to discord his Israel III Egypt. -
and you canrot expect God to spoil the ar
chitcctUro and music of his own world.
How, then, are we to be made willing to
leave? Here is where trouble comes in
After man has had good deal of trou-
bic he SAYS: 'Well, | am ready to 60. II
there is a house somewhere whose roof
doesn't leak, / would like to- live there
If there is an atmosphere somewhere that
does not distress the lungs, ! would like
TO breathe it, If there is a society some
where whore there is no little tattle
would like TO live there. If there is u home
circle somewhere where ! can find my lost
friends, I would like to go there
From Genesis to Revelation.
He used to read the first part Of the Ri
bic chiefly, now he reads the last part uf
the Rihle chiefly. Why has he changed
Genesis for Revelation? Ali he used to
be anxious chiefly to know hOw this world
was made and all about its geological con
struCtiOn. Now he is chiefly anxious to
know how tho ncxt world was made, and
how it looks, and who lives there, and
how they dress. He reads Revelation ten
times now where he read Genesis once.
The old story I'm the beginning God ere
nted the heavens and the earth, - does not
thrill him half as much MS the other sto-
ry, Il saw a new heaven and a new earth. "
The old mans hand trembles as he turns
over this apocalyptio leaf, and he has 70
take out his handkerchief to Wipc his spec
tacles, That book of Revelation is a pro-
spectus now of the country into which ne
is soon to immigratc the country in which
he has lots already laid out and avenues
opened and mansions built.
Yet there are people hero to whom this
world is brighter than heaven. We'll, dear
Il. i