Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1901-10-17
HIS LOVES BEAUTY
DR.. TAlMAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON.
The Charm of the Christian Religion
1T Brightens and Eliminates All
Things.
copyright. 1901. ]


exalted religion is by DR.. Talmage in this
discourse illustrated and commended;
text, JOB xviii, II, "The crystal cannot
equal it."
Many of the precious stones OF the
Bible have come to prompt recognition ons
valuable crystal. JOB, in my text, com.
pares SAVING wisdom with specimen of
topaz. An infidel chemist or miDera!ogist
would pronounce the latter worth more
than the former, but Job makes an intel
ligent comparison, looks at religion and
then looks at the crystal and pronounces
the former a OF far superior value 70 the
latter, exc,aiming in the words of my
text, The crystal cannot equal 1t"
Now, it is no, part of my sermonic de-
sign to depreciate the crystal, whether 1T
be found in Cornish mine or Harz Mount
ain or Mammoth Cave or tiukiing among
the pendants o. the chandeliers OF a pal
ace. The crystal is the star OF the mount
ain: it IS the queen Of the cave: 1t 10 the
eardrOp Of the h,iIs; it finds it's heaven IN
the diamond. Among all the pages Of nat
ural history there is no page more inter
csting to me than the page crystallogra-
phic But / want to show you tlat JOB
was right when, taking religion in one
hand and the crystal IN the other, he de-
cared that the former is of far more value
and beauty than the latter, recommending
it to all the peop,e and to all the ages,
declaring. The crystal cannot equal it"
In the first place | remark that religion
is superior to the crystal IN exactness.
That shapeless mass Of crystal against
which you accidentally dashed your foot
is laid out with more eXactness than any
earthly city. There are six styles OF crys-
tallizTtion and all Of them diyinely or
dainel Every crystal has mathematical
precision. Gods geometry reaches through
il, and it is a rhomboid or in some way 1t
has mathematical figure. Now, religion
Iao hot IN bo civ T,la fac that SnirIfnpl
accuracy is more beautiful than material
accuracy Gods attributes are exact,
Gods law 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
ard the cycles. His providence never
dealing with perpendiculariy when
those Drovidences ought to be Obhque nor
lateraliy when they ought to be vertical.
Everything in our life arranged without
any possibility of mistake. Each life
siZ-headed prism. Born at the right time,
dying at the right time. There are no
"happen SOS" in our theology. If l
thought this was siipsnod universe l
would be in despair. God is not an An
archist. Law, order, symmetry, precision,
perfect rhomboid, a perfect circle. The
edge of Gods robe OF government never
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 one day. 1t did not just
happen that john Thomas, the mission
airy, on a heather island, waiting for an
outfit and orders for another missionary
tour, received that outfit and those Or
ders in a box that foated ashore, while
the ship and the crew that carried the box
were never heard of. | believe in partic-
ular providence. l believe Gods geometry
may be seen il all our life more beauti-
fully than III crystaliography. Job was
right, The crystal cannot equal 1t"
Again. | remark that religion is supe-
ror to the crystal in transparency. We
know not when c-- by whom glass was first
discovered. Beads Of it have been found
III the tomb OF Alexander Severus. Vases
of it are brought up from the ruins of
HcrcuIaneum. There were female adorn-
ments made out of it 5000 years ago
those adOrHTcnts found now attached to
the mummies of Egypt. A great many
cOmmcnta iors believe that my text means
glass What would we do without the
Crystalline crystal in the window to keep
out the storm and let IL the day, the crys-
tai over the watch, defending its delicate
machinery, yet allowing us to sec the hour;
the crystal Of the telescope, by which the
astronomer brings distant worlds SO near
he can inspect them?
o. the triumphs of the crystals in the
celebrated windows Of Rouen and Sails
bury! But there IS nothing so transpar-
ent in crystal as in orr holy religion.
1t is 4 transparent religion You put it
to your eye, and you see man-nls sin,
his soul, his destiny. You look at God,
and you see something OF the grandeur of
His character. 1t is a transparent rcii-
Gion. Jntide's tell us it is opaque. Do
You know why they tell us 1T Is Opaque?
1t is because they are blind. The nat
ural man receivcth 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 il We pray for vision, Lord,
that our eyes might be opened! When
the eve save cures cur blindness then we
find that religion is transparent.
It is Il TRANSPARENT BlO'e. All the mount
aims OF the Bible come out-Sinai, the
mountain of the law; Piseah, the mount
ain of prospect; Oiivct, the mountain of
instruction.; Calvary, the mountain of sac
rifle" All the rivers of the Bible come
out-Hidelel, or the river Of pa7adisaical
beauty; Jordan, or the river OF holy
chrism; Cherith or the river of rophetic
supply; Me, or the river of palaces, and
the pure. river Of life. from under the
throne. clear as crystal. While reading
this Bible, after eyes have been
touched by grace, we find it all transpar-
ent, and the earth rocks. now with cru
cihXon agony and now with judgment ter
cor, ana Christ appears III some 1T His 256
titles. as far as l can count then-the
Bread, the Rock, the Captain, the Com
mander, the ConquerOr, the Star, and on
and beyond any capacity or mine to re-
hearse. Transparent religion
The providence that seemed dark before
becomes pellucid. Now you find God is
not trying to put you down. Now you
understand why YOU lost that child and
why You lost your property. 1t was to
prepare. YOU for eternal treasures. And
why sickness came, it being the precursor
or immortal juvenescence. And now You
understand why the" lied about You and
tried to drive you hither and thither. 1t
was to put you in the glorious company
OF such men as Ignatius, who when he
went out to be destroyed by the lions said,
Il am the wheat, and the teeth Uf the
wild beasts must first grind me before |
can become pure bread for Jesus Christ, "
or the company of such men as that an
cient Christian martyr" who, standing
IN the midst OF the amphitheatre wait
ing for the lions to come out of their cave
and destroy him, and the people in the
galleries jeering and shouting, The
sp!inters of hoarfrost and corals and
wreaths and stars and crowns and conste!-
lations of conspicuous beauty. The fact is
that crystal is so beautiful that 1 can
think of but one thing in all the universe
that is as beautiful. and that is the reli-
Rlon of the Bible. No wonder this Bible
represents that religion the daybreak,
NltS ''pN'AG '''pSSo'hS- as the RilllST OF 4
KINGS banquet 1t is the Joy of the
whole earth.
People talk too much about their cross
and not enough about their crown. Do
You know that the Bible mentions cross
but twentv-seven times, while it mentions
crown eighty times? Ask that old man
what he thinks of religion. He has been
a close observer. He has been cultivating
an aesthetic taste. He has seen the sun
rises of half a century. He has been an
lions!" replied Let them come on" and
then, stopping down toward the cave
where the wild beasts were roaring to get
{ t, again cried, Let them come on!'
All, yes, it is persecution to put you il
glorious company, and, while there are
many things that you will have to post
I tell YOU that it is the whole tendenc,
OF your religion to unravel and explain
80,