Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1901-10-10
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE CHAIN OF EXALTED RELIGION
THE SUBJECT.
From Job XXyIII-"The Crystal Cannot
Equal It-Preparation for Eternal
Treasures should Begin Early in the
Material worid-Open the Door to
Christ.

Treasures should Begin Early In the
Material worid-Open the Door to
Christ.
copyright, 1901, by Louis Klopsch, N. VI
Washington, Oct. 6.-The charm Of
an exalted religion is by Dr.. Talmage
in this discourse illustrated and COM
mended; text, Job xviii, II. The cry
tai cannot equal il"
Many OF the precious stones OF the
Bible have come to prompt recogni-
ton. But for the present | take up
the less valuable crystal. Job. in my
text, compares saving wisdom with a
specimen of topaz. An inidel chemist
or mineralogist would pronounce the
latter worth more than the former,
but Job makes an intelligent COMPARE
son, looks at religion and then looks
at the crystal and pronounces the
former as of far superior value to the
latter, exclaiming, in the words of my
text, "The crystal cannot equal 1t.
Now, it is not part of my sermonic
design to depreciate the crystal,
whether 1t be found in Cornish mine
or Harz mountain or Mammoth cave
or tinkling among the pendants OF the
chandeliers of palace. The crystal
is the star OF the mountain; 1t Is the
queen of the cave; 1t is the eardrop OF
the hills; 1t finds its heaven In the
diamond. Among all the pages OF
natural history there Is no page more
interesting to me than the page crys-
photographic But want to show you
that Job was right when. taking re-
ligion in one hand and the crystal In
the others, he declared that the for
mer is OF far more value and beauty
than the latter, recommending it to all
people and to all the ages. declaring
THE crystal cannot equal it."
Gods Immutabie Laws.
In the first place, remark that re-
ligion is superior to the crystal in ex-
actness. That shapeless mass Of crys-
tai against which you accidentally
dashed your foot is laid out with more
exactness than any earthly city
There are SIX styles OF specialization
and all of them divinely ordained.
Every crystal has mathematical pre-
cision. God S geometry reaches through
1t, and 1t is a square, or 1t is rect
angle, or 1t is rhomboid, or In some
way 1t has a mathematical figure. Now,
religion beats that in the simple fact
that spiritual accuracy is more beauti-
full than material accuracy. Gods at
tributes are exact, Gods laws exact,
Gods DEGREES exact, Gods management
of the world exact. Never counting
wrong, though he counts the grass
blades and the stars and the sands and
the cycles. His providences never
dealing with us perpendicularly when
those provinces ought to be oblique,
nor laterally when they ought to be
vertical. Everything in our life ar
ranged without any possibility OF mis-
take. Each life a six-headed prism.
Born at the right time; dying at the
right time. There are no happen
SOS" in our theology. II l thought
this was a slipshod universe. would
be In despair. God is not an anarchist.
Law. order, symmetry. precision, a
perfect square, a perfect rectangle, a
perfect rhomboid, a perfect circle. The
edge of Gods robe Of government new
er trays out. There are no loose
screws in the worlds machinery. 1t
did not just happen that Napoleon was
attacked with indigestion at Borodino
so that he became incompetent for the
day. /! did net just happen that John
Thomas, the missionary. on a heather
island, waiting for an outfit and orders
for another missionary tour. received
that outfit and those orders in a box
that fioated ashore, while the ship and
the crew that carried the box were
never heard of. believe in a particu-
lar providence. believe Gods geo.
metry may be seen in all our life more
beautifully than in crystallography.
Job was right. THE crystal cannot
equal it."
More Transparent Than Crystal.
Again | remark that religion is SUI
perior to the crystal in ansparency
We know not when or by whom glass
was first discovered. Beads OF 1t have
been found in the tomb of Alexander
Severus. Vases of 1t are brought UP
from the ruins of Herculaneum. There
were female adornments made out OF
it 3 900 years ago-those adornments
found now attached to the mummies
CT Egypt. A great many commenta-
tors believe that my text means glass.
What would we do without the crys-
tai? The crystal in the window to
keep out the storm and let In the
day; the crystal over the watch, de-
Tending its de icate machinery yet al
lowing US to see the hour; the crystal
Of the telescope, by which the astrono-
mer brings distant worlds so near he
can inspect them. Oh the triumphs of
the crystals in the celebrated windows
Of Rouen and Salisbury! But there Is
nothing so transpar5 mt in crystal as in
our holy religion. 1t is transparent
religion. You rut 1t to your eye and
you see man-his sin. his soul, his
destiny. You look at God and you
see something of the grandeur of his
character. 1t is transparent religion
Infldels tell US it is Opaque. Do you
know why they tell US it is opaque?
1t is because they are blind. THE
natural man receiveth not the things
of God because they are spiritually
discerned." There is no trouble with
the crystal. The trouble is with the
eyes which try to look through it,, We
pray for vision. Lord. that our eyes