St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-04-29
LAST HOUR OFCHRIST
Lessons Of Comfort in the Scenes
Found by Dr.. Talmage.
Heaven's Brightest Crowns Shall
Adorn the Broyys OF Those Who
Bear Life's Burilens with
Christian FOrtitude.
Copyright. lsse.l

Christian EOftituae.
washington, Copyright, 1885. J
From the pathetic scene of Christ
last hour of suffering DR.. Talmadge il
this sermon draws lessons of comfor
for people in trouble; text. John 10: 30
When Jesus therefore had received tn
vinegar"
The brigands of Jerusalem had don
tEeirwork. 1t was almost sundown, an,
Jesus was dying. Persons in crucifixiol
often fingered on from day to DAY, cry
ing, begging. cursing. but Christ ha,
been exhausted by years of maltreat
ment. Pi,lowless, poorly fed. fioggcd
as bent over and tied to a low post hi
bare back was inaamed with th
scourges intensified with pieces o
lead and bone. and now for whole hour
the weight of his body hung on delicat,
tendons, and. according to custom. ;
violent stroke under the armpits hat
been given by the executioner. Dizzy
nauseated, feverish. a world Of agony i
compressed in the two words: -.
thirst" Oh, skies of Judea. let a dro]
of rain strike on His burning tongue
Oh, world. with rolling rivers ant
sparkling lakes and spraying fountains
give Jesus something to drink! i
there be any pity in earth or Heaven ol
he'll. let it now be demonstrated in be
half of this royal sufferer.
The wealthy women of Jerusalem
70 ho, o%
which they provided wine for those
people who died in crucifxion-a pow
erful opiatc to deaden the pain-bu1
Christ would not take it. He wanted tc
die sober, and so he refused the wine
But afterward they go to cup of vim
egar and soak a sponge and put it on a
stick of hyssop and then press it agains,
the hot lips of Christ. You say the wine
was an anaesthetic and intended to re-
lieve or deaden the pain. But the vine
gar was an insult.
In some lives the saccharine seems 10
predominant. Life is sunshine on a
bank of flowers. A thousand hands to
clap approval. In December or in Jan
uary, looking across their table, they
see all their family present. Health
rubicund, skies ilamboyant, days re-
silent. But in great many cases there
are not SO many sugars as acids. The
annoyances and the vexations, and the
disappointments of life overpower the
successes. There is gravel in almost
every shoe. An Arabian legend says
that there was a worm in Solomon s
staff gnawing its strength away, and
there is weak spot in every earthly
support that man leans on King
George of England forgot all the
grandeurs his throne because one day
in an interview Beau Brummel called
him by his first name and addressed
him as servant. crying: George. ring
the bell." Miss Langdon. honored all
the world over for her poetic genius. is
so worried over the evil reports set
afloat regarding her that she is found
dead with an empty bottle of prussic
acid in her hand. Goldsmith said that
his life was wretched being, ard that
All that want and contempt could bring
to it had been brought. and cries out:
what, then. is there formidable in a
jail?" Correggio's fine painting is hung
up for tavern sign. Hogarth cannot
sell his best painting except through a
rattle. Andrea del Sarto makes the
great fresco in the Church of the An
nunciata at Florence and gets for pay
sack of corn. and there are annoy
ances and veSations in high places as
well as in low places. showing that in a
great many lives are the sours greater
than the sweets. "When Jesus there
fore had received the vinegar"
1t is absurd 10 suppose that man
who has always been well can sympa-
thize with those who are sick. or that
one who has always been honored can
appreciate the sorrow of those who are
despised. or that one who has been born
to a great fortune can understand the
distress and the straits of these who are
destitute. The fact that Christ Himself
took the vinegar makes Him able to
sympathize to-day and forever with all
those whose cup is filed with the sharp
acids of this life. He took the vine
gar!
In the first place, there was the sour
ness of betrayal. The treachery of
Judas hurt Christ's feelings more than
all the friendship of His disciples did
Him good. You hare had many friends.
but there was one friend upon whom
you put special stress. You feasted
hiin. You loaned him money. You be-
friended him in the dark passes of life.
when he especially needed a friend.
Afterward, he turned upon you. ard he
took advantage of your former intima-
cies. He wrote against you. lie talked
against you. lie microscopized your
faults. He flung contempt AT you. when
you ought 10 have received nothing but
gratitude. At frs. you could not sleep
at night. Then you went about with
sense of having been stung. That diff
calty will never be healed. for though
mutual friends may arbitrate in the
matter until You shall shake hands.
the old c6rdiality viii nevercome hack
Now 1 commend to all such the sympa-
thy of betrayed Christ. Why. they
sold Him ior less than cur $50! They all
forsook Him and fled. They cut Him to
the quick. He drank that cup 10 the
dregs. He took the vinegar.
There is also, the sourness of pain.
There are some ct You who have not
seen a we'll day for many years. BY
out of drafts. and by carefully
studying dietetics. you continue to this
time. but. oh. the the headaches. and
the side aches, and the baslaches, and
the heartaches which have been your ac-
all the way through. You
have struggled under a heavy mortgage
Of physical disabilities, and instead of
the placidity that once characterized
you, it is now only with great effort
that you keep away from irritability
md sharp retort. Difficulties of respira-
ticn. of digestion. of locomotion. make
up the great obstacle in your life. and
you tug and sweat along the pathway
md wonder when the exhaustion will
eud. NV friends. the brightest crowns
n Heaven will not be given to those
who, in stirrups, dashed to the cavalry
charge, while the general applauded.
md the sound of clashing sabers rang
the land. but the brightest
crowns in Heaven, believe. will be
l.