The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-06-26
DIVINE SUPERVISION.
Dr.. Talmage Discourses on Mans
AllotmentsL
There IL . Large Difference Between the
Divine and the Human Estimate
as 90 What il Enough In
This World.

L. OC WIN 4hAmhRc o1scOuIscO upOh
the mission of man in this life, his text
being taken from Matthew, x:s9: Are
not two sparrows sold for 9 fsrthing?
and one Of them shall not fall upon the
ground without your Father" The
sermon follows:
You see the Bible will not be limited
In the choice of symbols There 10
hardly beast, or bird, or insect, which
has not been called to illustrate some
divine truth-the ox's patience, the
ants industry, the spiders skill, the
kinds sure-footedness. the eagles
speed, the doves gentleness, and even
the sparrow's meanness and insigpifi-
canoe In Oriental countries none but
| the poorest people buy the sparrow and
eat it-so very little meet is there on
the bones, and so poor is it, what there
is of it. The comfortable population
would not think of touching it any
more than you would think of eating
bat or a lsmprey. Now, says Jesus,
if God takes such good care of a poor
bird that is not worth a cent, will he
not care for you, an immortal?
We associate God with revolutions.
We can see a divine purpose in the dis
covery of America, in the invention of
the art of printing, in the exposure OF
the gunpowder plot, in the continuance
of the needlegun, in the ruin of an
Austrian or Napoleonic despotism; but
how hard it is to see God in the mi
mute personal affairs of our lives! We
think of God as making a record of the
starry host, but cannot realize the
Bible truth that he knows how many
hairs are on our head. 1t seems a
grand thing that God provided food
for hundreds of thousands of Israelites
in the desert; but we cannot appreciate
the truth that, when a sparrow is hun
cry, God stoops down and opens its
mouth and puts the seed in. We are
struck with the idea that God fills the
universe with his presence, but can
not understand how he encamps in the
crystal palaces of dewdrop, or finds
room to stand between the alabaster
pillars of the pond lily. We can see
God in the clouds. Can we see God in
these flowers at our feet?
We are apt to place God on some
great stage-or to try to do it-expect-
! ing Him there to act out His stu
pendous projects, but we forget that
the life of Cromwell, an Alexander,
or Washington, or an archangel, is
not more under divine inspection than
your life or mine. Pompey thought
there must be mist over the eyes of
God because He so much favored
! Caesar. But there is no such mist. He
sees everything. We say Gods path
is in the great waters True enough;
but no more certainly than He is in
the water in the glass on the table.
We say God guides the stars in their
courses. Magnificent truth! but no more
certain truth than that He decides
which road or street you shall take in
coming to church. Understand that
God does not sit u pom au Indifferent or
unsympathetic thrown, but that He
sits down beside you to-day, and stands
beside me to-day. and no affair of our
lives is so insignificant but that it is of
Importance to God.
In the first place, God chooses our
occupation for Us. am amazed to see
how many people there are dissatisfied
| three-fourths wish they were in some
other occupation, and they spend a
great deal OF time in regretting that
they got in the wrong trade or profess
sion. / want to tell you that God put
into operation all the influences which
led you to that particular choice
Many of you are not in the business
that you expected 70 be in. You start
ed for the ministry and learned mer-
chandise; you started for the law and
you are physician; you preferred ag-
riculture and you became a mechanic
You thought one way: God thought
another. But you ought not to sit
down and mourn over the past You
are to RENE m Der that God arranged all
these circumstances by which you
were made what you are.
Hugh Hitler says: II will be stone
mason" God says: You will be
geologist" David goes out to attend
his fathers sheep; God calls him to gov
ern a nation. Saul goes out to hunt
his fathers asses, and before he gets
back finds the crown of regal domin-
ion. How much happier we would be
IL we were content with the places
God gave us! God saw your tempera-
ment and all the circumstances by
which you we're surrounded, and be-
lieve nine-tenths of you are in the
work you are best fitted for. ! hear
great racket in my watch, and l find
that the hands and the wheels
and the springs are getting out
of their places 1 send it down to
the jewelers. and say: Overhaul that
watch and teach the wheels, and the
spring, and the hands to mind their
own business" You know a man hav-
ing a large estate. He gathers his
working hands in the morning, and
says TO one: You go and trim
that vine;" 20 another, You go and
weed those flowers" TO another, You
pillow that tough glebe;" and each one
goes TO his particular work. The owner
of the estate points the man to what
he knows he can do best, and SO it is
with the Lord.
/ remark further that God has ar
ranged the place of our dwelling.