Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1902-08-25
TALMAGE
SERMON
BY Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE. DID,,
Pastor of Jefferson Park Presby-
terrain Cnurch, Chicago


position to meet trouble is shown to be
unwise and un-Christian in this dis
course by Rev. Frank De Witt Tai
mage on the text Matthew vi, "a,
Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof
Christ is giving counsel, which re-
calls the advice the dying man once
gave to his children. After calling his
sons and daughters to his bedside the
dying father said: MY children, l have
seen q lot of troubles in my time. l
have seen so many troubles that they
have completely worn me out, and that
is the reason that / am now dying,
when l ought to be in my physical and
mental prime. But the saddest part
of it is that most of my troubles have
been imaginary troubles. They have
been unnecessary troubles. They have
not been troubles of the imminent to-
day, but the visionary tomorrow. They
have been troubles which would never
have bothered me unless l had gone
forth and hunted them out of their
lairs and troubled them. The things
that have given me most concern have
been the things that never happened
So charge you, my dear children, if
you would serve God with your best
physical, mental and spiritual powers.
always obey the words which Christ
spake in his famous sermon: Take,
therefore. nc thought for the morrow,
for the morrow shall take thought for
the things of itself Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof"
My glorious text teaches almost ex-
actly the same lesson that Mr.. Beecher
once presented when he said: "All
time is divided into three parasitic
past. the present and the future. The
past belongs to gratitude and regret,
the present to contentment and work,
the future should belong to only hope
and trust" 1t teaches that dread of
future evil is dishonoring to Cod be-
cause it implies q doubt whether the
good God will be true to the trust we
have placed In him and whether he
will really keep the promises he has
made to his people. 1t teaches that
his level and conscientious best. he
should then joyfully and confidently
leave the future in Gods hands, and
in Gods hands alone 1t teaches that
no matter how hopeless, humanity
speaking, may be the outlook, if we
know and trust God we should let our
gospel faith chase away all the doubts
and worries and fears that fret and
tease and tantalize us in reference to
the future, even as the rising sun scat
ters the darkness and the impene-
trable gloom of the night. 1t teaches
that no matter how dark and threat
ening may be the shrieking tornadoes
of trouble the gospel rainbows should
be big enough to arch the widest of
horizons and bright enough to smile
through even shower of falling tears.
Anticipated troubles rarely happen.
BY this statement | do not mean that
II a man would cease to worry he
could get divine passport which
would protect him forever from the
rough hand of trouble. The cup of
sorrow must be pressed against every
human lip. The old eyes, as well as
the young eyes, must become fountains
or tears. Death angel as well as birth
angel must flap the wing over q Pha-
raoh's palace as well as over the poor
mans hut. 1t is by the broken heart
that God is able to make the songsters
and songstresses sing their sweetest
music.
But. though troubles must and will
come to the rich and the poor. the old
and the young. alike, yet make this
assertion about your past life: The
troubles and misfortunes which you
anticipated and worried over rarely if
ever happened. AS our own philos-
opher poet said:
Some of your Ills you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have sur
vived,
But what torments of pain you've en-
dured
From evils that never arrived!
The Evils You Look For.
In ninety-nine cases out of q hun
dred the troubles which did you the
most serious damage were those
troubles which, as a tiger. leaped upon
you unexpectedly from ambush. not
the troubles that lay crouching and
glaring and threatening you in broad
daylight in the open pathway JUS
ahead. Those serious troubles came
to you as the little pygmy was sup
posed to have come to the king of old
When the pygmy asked the great mon
arch for permission to rule over al
the lands which his little. short limb!
could cover in three steps, the roya
consent was derisively given. Ther
the insignificant dwarf immediatel,
sprang up into the stature of q hug,
giant. With ore stride the gian
stepped across the land: with anothe
stride the giant stepped across til,
Eeas. and with third stride the gian
lifted his sledge hammer fist and swep
the trembling king off his throne. You
troubles. to use familiar comparison
came like a clap of thunder and
stroke of lightning out of a clear sky