The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1895-09-13
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE NOTED DIvINE's SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
Subject; "comfort."


ors mp 90 the hub 81 tho carriage Wheel aud
while a lone distance from any shelter, there
came a sudden shower, and while the rain
was falling In torrents. the sun was shining
as brightly as ] over Raw II shine, and
thought what q beautiful spectacle this isl
So the tears OF the Bible are not midnight
storm, but rain on pansied praluea In Gods
sweet and golden sunlight You remember
that bottle which David labeled aq contain
ing tears. and Mary's tears, and paul's tears,
and Chrst's tears, and the harvest OF Joy
that s. 10 spring from the sowing OF tears.
God mixes them. God rounds them. God
shows them where 10 fall. God exhnles
them. A census is taken Of them, and thoro
is q record az TO the moment when they are
born and as 20 the place Of their grave.
Tears Of bad men are not kept. Alex
nndor In his sorrow had the hair clipped
from his horses and mules and made n great
ado about his grief. but In all the vases Of
heaven there Is not one Of Alexander tears.
/ speak OF the tears OF Gods children. Alas,
me. they are falling an the timel In SUM
mer YOU sometimes hear the growing
thunder, and you see there IS a storm miles
away but you know from the drift OF tho
clouds that II will not come any
where near you. So though Il may be all
bright around about you. there is shower
Of trouble somewhere all the time. Tears!
Tears!
What Is tho use Of them anyhow Why
not substitute laughter Why not make this
a world where an the people are we'll and
eternal strangers to pain and aches2 What
Is the use of an eastern storm when we
might have n perpetual nor westerl Why
when a family Is put together, not have
them all stay. or itthey must be transplant
cd TO make other homes. then have them all
live-the family record telling a story Of
marriages and births, but OF no death2 Why
not have the harvests chase each other With
out fatiguing toi2 Why the hard pillow,
the hard crust. the hard struggled It Is easy
enough to explain a smile, or a success, CT q
cOngratulation, but come now and bring all
| your dictionaries, and all your philosophers,
and all your religions, and help me explain
| a tear. A chemist will tell you that II is
made up Of salt and lime and other compo-
nent parts. but he misses the chief ingredients
the acid OF soured life, the Yiperlne
sting OF a bitter memory. the fragments OF
] broken heart. / will tell you what a tear is.
] It is agony IN solution. Hear, then, while
! discourse OF the uses OF trouble:
First, 1t is the design Of trouble TO keep
/ this world from being too attractive. Some-
| thing must be done to make us willing to
] quit this existence If 1t were not for
trouble, this world would be good enough
! heaven for me. You and would be willing
to take a lease Of this life for 100. 900 900
years If there were no trouble. The earth
cushioned and upholstered and pillared and
chandeliered with such expense, no story OF
other worlds could enchant us.
We would say; ''Let we'll enough alone.
II you want to die and have your body dis
integrated in the dust and your soul 90 out
on a celestial adventure, then you can go,
but this world is good enough for me-" You
! might as we'll 90 to a man who has Just en-
tered 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 there? There are
Rembrandts and Rubenses and Raphaels here
that / haven't looked at yet" No man
wants to 60 out of this world, or out of any
house, until he has better house. To cure
this wish to stay here God must somehow
create q disgust for our surroundings. How
shall He il? He cannot afford to deface
His horizon, or to tear of a fiery panel from
the sunset, or to subtract an anther from the
water lily, or to Danish the pungent aroma
from the mignonette, or to drag the robes Of
the morning in mire. You cannot expect a
Christopher Wren to mar his own st. PauPs
Cathedral. or a Michael Angelo to dash out
his own aLast Judgment" or a Handel to
disoord his "Israel in Egypt, and you can
not expect God to spoil the architecture and
music of His own world. How, then, are we
to be made willing to leave2 Here is where
trouble comes in.
After man has had good deal Of trouble
he says: "Well, am ready to 60. II there
is house somewhere whose roof doesnt
leak, would like to live there. II there Is
an atmosphere somewhere that does not dis
tress the lungs, would like to breathe it.
"If there Is society somewhere where
there is no title tattle would like to liy'
there. If there is a home circle somewhere
where can find my lost friends, 1 would
like to 20 there" He used to read the frs
part of the Bible chiefly. now he reads tn
last part of the Bible chiefly. Why has hi
changed Genesis for Revelation? All, h,
used to be anxious chiefly to know how thi
world was made, and all about its geological
construction. Now he is chiefly anxious t.
know how the next world was made, an
how it looks, and who live there, and hoy
they dress He reads Revelation ten time
now where he reads Genesis once. The oil
story, Gin the beginning God created tn
heavens and the earth" does not thrill hin
half as much as the other story, II saw
new heaven and q new earth. The OIL
mans hand trembes as he turns over thi
apocalyptic leaf, and he has to take out hi
handkerchief to wipe his spectacles. Tina
book Of Revelation is a prospectus now
the country into which he is soon to INN
CRATE; the country in which he has lots a
ready laid out, and avenues opened, an
mansions built.
Yet there are people here to whom th
world is brighter than heaven. Well, DEF
souls. I do not blame you. It is natura
But after awhile you will be ready to go.
was not until Job had been worn out vii
bereavements that he wanted to see God.
was not until the prodigal got tired Of livlI
! among the hogs that he wanted to go to h
fathers house. 1t is the ministry OF troub
, to make this world worth less and heayt
worth more
Again. it is the use of trouble to make
: feel our dependence upon God. Men thir
that they can do anything until God shoV
2 them they can do nothing at all. We lay O.
r our great plans and we like to execute thei
: 1t looks big. God comes and takes us dow
d AS Prometheus was assaulted by his enem
I when the lance struck him it opened gre