The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-12-17
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AeEAUTlFuL DISCOURSE BY THE REV
DR.. HOWARD puEFlEtO.
Subject: Hearts Ease-The Iron Has Never
Entered the Soul of Thcso Who Ex-
pect Happiness to Be Matter Of Per-
sonal Choice.

pect Happiness to Be q Matter OF Per-
sonal Choice.
New YORK C1TY.-"Heart's Ease was
the subject Of the sermon Sunday morning
in the Old First Presbyterian Church,
Fifth avenue and Twelfth street, by the
Rev. Dr.. Howard Dufheld, pastor. Ihe
text was from John, xiv: l (ReVsed Yer
sion): "Let not your heart be troubled;
Ye believe in God, believe also IN Me-
Dr. Du&eld said: =,
Let not their hearts be troubled! how
conld they help it? They were not men
who knew the world we'll and they we're
going out to face the world alone. They
were not men versed in the wisdom
OF the schools, and they were to be the
teachers of novel, profound and revolution
airy truths. They were impulslve, undls'
ciplined and without social influence.
Hitherto in every hour of difficulty a di-
vine friend had stood at their side to
blunt upon the shield of His love every
dart which was launched at them. Now
they must address themselves unfrlended
to mission such as men never attempted.
and they must enter upon their adventure
a consciousness of helplessness. How could
they be otherwise than "troubledw 1t ls
simple mockery to say to the heart. which
is harried with the mystery Of pain! and
haunted with the bitterness O. loneliness
and stung with the keen sense Of its ina.
bility to cope with the responsibilities OF
existence, Don't be troubled. ~ Inc op,,
pressed soul is ready to reply, Pour aclo
upon alkali and say do not terment.' But
when wishes are thwarted and hopes are
withered, and endeavor has its upshot
in disappointment, and the light of life
has gone into eclipse. do not say to me,
let not your heart be troubled Either
you have not measured my grlef or the iron
has never entered your soul"
/. But he who spoke this sentence had
taken the exact measure OF the woe OF
those to whom He spoke, and He knew
the wormwood tang of SORROWS biackest
draught. His acquaintance with grief
was lifelong. He knew grief not as
casual passerby upon the streets. he
knew grief not as we know some neigh
Dor by occasional sight. He was the IN
timate and inseparable associate OF that
knew the secret sorrow, its strange MIN
istry and its woudrous outcome, that when
He saw His friends standing at the thres.
hold of the very life which He Himself had
lived, life wrought out in loneliness
and suffering and defeat and scorn, hte
of utter sacrifice to t., uplifting OF 9TH
e.s, life rejected by the world for whose
enrichment they were. to give up every
thing that made their years sweet to
them. He said. "Let not your. hearts be
troubled" In thought He was looking far
forward from that unknown house in Jeru-
salem beneath whose roof they then Were
seated, to another mansion, not made with
hands, eternal and glorious in the city of
God. Present to His gaze was not SO
much the plow and the narrow and the
cold, dark burrows of the s-2dtime, as the
gladsome company of the reapers. laden
with golden sheaves and shouting the song
Of the harvest. He was looking across. the
stormswept sea of the safe and sheltered
harbor where the troubled waves were
sleeping. He was thinking not only OF
the wrench of parting, but of the clasp Of
greeting. Present to His. mind was not
ouly the death which was to separate, but
the death which was to unite. So He said:
tIet not your heart be troubled. neither
let Il be afraid. During the strange, sad
hours and the hard and weary days that
are coming. believe in God; believe also in
Me: and by and by the aoors of your
Fathers house shall open WIDE for your
entrance upon larger, holer, purer min
istry for which the disciptines of time
shall have evoked the capacity. If it were
not 80. I would have told you.''
"Belieye" is Christ's talismau Tor charm
ing away the specter of trouble from the
haunted heart. Believe in the Fathers
plan for His child. Believe in the Fathers
care of His child. There is no speculative
process By which the mind may unravel
the sore sangles of mortal experience. A
condemned heart cannot find relief in a
logic book. The cold bloodless hand o.
reason never wiped awav a tear. The IN
tellect has never discovered any balm for
heartache. When one is dying of hunger
-, &o tho hS
which flour is prepared. When one Ii
pinched with poverty, it is not the houl
:, broach the tenets Of political economy
The famine-stricken soul cries for bread
the bankrupt debtor demands coin. The
troubled heart yearns for God Himself
and not for any theoretical discussion o.
the nature of deity. When the problem
of the cross becomes too sore and the
weight of the burden becomes too heavy
G., not struggle to express your experience
in theological formula; do not strive K
strength. Lean on God. "Cuddle down. II
His arms. Be not afraid. Believe. Thai
is the way Christ would take the stinl
from mortal sorrow.
To attempt to ana)yze such an act of be
lief as the Master here prescribes would b.
like endeayoring to learn to sing by study
ing a picture of the larynx One ma,
master the anatomy of the throat ant
never utter note of song. Think your
self back into the situation. Jesus wa
not theological professor sitting at Hi
desk and lecttring to class with refer
ence to neatly articulated system O
dogmas. The shadow of life's myster,
was chilling to the hearts of those Fl
loved, and He was striving to kindle il
their breasts a vivid. luminous, unquench
able consciousness of the divine syrnpath
His word to them is tsRealize Gcd in
stead OF theorizing about Cod As thoug
He said: esPeter, James. John and al
the rest you have lsped sentences: cor
cernms God since you were little children
David's holy hymns were your cradle songs
TIE sacred roles of the synagogue hav
sp9Sen to you their Sabbath day message
from the Infinite One. Your hearts wer
burned as you participated in the. So
: emnities of:Passover and Pentecost, whic
celebrated the august ,sovereignties wit
which God had shaped your nations life
With an irrepressible wistfulness you hav
pondered the grandeur of Jehovah as 20
felt Him present in the grandeurs q
nature, while the quiet watches of tn
night stole over you as you lay in you
fishing boats beneath the unsleeping sstarl
That God is your God. He thinks, II
plans, He works for YOU. He marks YOU