Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1901-10-24
HIS LOVES BEAUTY
DR.. 1ALMAGE's SUNDAY SERMON.
The Charm Of the Christian Religion
1t Brlghtens and llluminates AN
Things.
ICopyright, 1901. ]

WASHINGTON, D. C.-The charm of an
exalted religion Is BY DR.. Talmage in this
discourse illustrated and commended;
text, JOB xviii; II, ''The crystal cannot
Many of the precious stones Of the
Bible. have come to prompt recognition,
but for the present I take up the less
valuable crystal. Job, in my text COM
pares saving wisdom with specimen Of
topaz. An infidel chemist or mineralogist
would pronounce the latter worth more
than the former, but Job makes an intel
then looks at the crystal and pronounces
the former as of far superior value to the
latter, exclaiming in the words of nay
text, 1.-THE crystal cannot equal it"
Now, it is not a part OF my .sermonic de-
sign to depreciate the crystal; whether it
be found in Cornish mine or Harz Mount
ain or Mammoth Cave or tinkling among
the pendants Of the chandeliers Of pal
ace. The crystal is the star Of the mount
eardrop of the hills; it finds ito heaven in
the diamond. Among all the pages Of nat
ural history there is no page more inter-
esting to me than the page crystallogra-
phic. But want to show you that Job
was right when, taking religion in one
hand and the crystal in the other, he de-
clared that the former is of far more value
it to all the people 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-
tallization and all of them divinely or
dained. Every crystal has mathematical
I'D! ot,, hos, tNro ,rb
it, and it is a rhomboid or in some way 1t
has mathematical figure. Now, religion
beats that in the simple fact that spiritual
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
and the cycles. His providence never
dealing with lis perpendicularly when
those proyidences ought to be obiiQue. nor
laterally when they ought to be vertical.
Everything in our life arranged without
any possibility OF mistake. Each life a
six-headed prism. Born at the right time,
dying at the right time. There are no
happen sos in our theology. If
thought this was a slipshod universe l
archist. Law, order, symmetry, precision,
a perfect square, perfect rectangle.. a
perfect rhomboid, 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
happen that John Thomas, the mission
ary, on 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 boz
! were never heard of. I believe in partic
ular providence. I believe Gods geometry
fully than in crystallography. Job was
right, ''The crystal cannot equal it.
Again, I remark that religion is supe
rior to the crystal in transparency. We
know not when or by whom glass was first
discovered. Beads of it have been found
in the tomb of Alexander Severus. Vases
| Of it are brought up from the ruins OF
ments made out of it 5000 years ago
| those adornments found now attached to
the mummies of Egypt. A great many
| commentators believe that my text means
! glass; What would we do without the
Crystalline crystal in the window to keep
! out the storm and let in the day, the crys
| tai over the watch, defending its delicate
! the crystal of the telescope, by which the
astronomer brings distant worlds $50 neal
| he can inspect them?
| Oh, the triumphs of the crystals in the
| celebrated windows of Rouen and Sahs
bury! But there is nothing. so transpar
cnt in crystal as in our holy religion
It is transparent religion. You put II
his soul, his destiny. You look at God
and you see something of the grandeur O
His character. It is transparent reli
! zion. Infdels tell us it is opaque. Dc
You know why they tell us it is opaque
! It is because they are blind. "The nat
ural man receiveth not the things Of Goo
| because they are spiritually discerned.
There is no trouble with the crystal; tn
| trouble is with the eyes which try to lool
through it. We pray for vision, Lord
that our eyes might be opened! Whe1
| the eve salve cures our blindness then w
find that religion is transparent.
It is a transparent Bible. All the mount
aims of the Bible come out-Sinai, tn
mountain Of the law; Pisgah, the mount
ain of prospect; Olivet, the mountain
| instruction.; Calvary, the mountain OF sac
| rifce. All the rivers of the Bible com
out-Hidekel, or the river of paradlsaica
beauty: Jordan, or the river of hol.
chrism; Cherith, or the river of prophet
supply; Nile, or the river of palaces, an
the pure river Of life from under tn
throne. clear as crystal. While readln
this Bible, after our eyes have beer
touched by grace, we find it all transpa1
ent. and the earth rocks, now with crr
cifxion agony and now with judgment tel
ror, and Christ appears in some OF His p
titles. as far as / can count them-th
Bread, the Rock, the Captain, the Con
mander, the Conqueror, the Star, and
and beyond any capacity of mine to n
hearse. Transparent religion!
The providence that seemed dark befor
becomes pellucid. Now you find God
not trying to put you down. Now yo
understand why you lost that child an
why you lost your property. 1t was
prepare you for eternal treasures. An
wny sickness came, it being the, precurse
of Immortal juvenescenee: And now yo
understand why they lied about you an
tried to drive you hither and thither
was to put you in the glorious compan
went out TO be destroyed by the lions sal.
| Il am the wheat, and the teeth OF tt
wild beasts must first grind me before
can become pure bread for Jesus Christ
or the company OF such men as "that a.
Gent Christian martyr" who, standir
| in the midst of the amphitheatre wal
ING for the lions to come out of their ca,
j &1,a 1,oov.1a IN r.