The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-12-23
'A,SERMON FOR SUNDAY
BEAUTIFUL DISCOURSE BY THE REV
DR.. HOWARD puFFlELD.

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. .;sDr. Howard Dufheld. pastor, The
text was from John, xiv: (Revised Yer,
sionl: ,:"Let not your heart be troub,ed
Ye believe in God, believe also in Me"
.'r. Dufield said:
Let not their hearts be troubled? How
could they help it? They were not men
who knew the world well and they we we're re
going out to face the world alone. Ihey
were not men versed in the wisdom
C. the schools, and they were to be the
teachers of novel, profound d and revolution
ary truths. They were impulsive, undis'
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 untrlended
to mission such as men never attempted.
and they must enter upon their adventure
broken with bereavement and crushed with
a consciousness of helplessness. How could
they be otherwise than "troub bled?" 1t Is
simple mockery to say to the heart which
is harried with the mystery OF pain ana
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" The op;;
pressed soul is ready, to reply, Pour aeld @
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 troubl led Either
you have not measured my grief or the iron
has never entered your soul"
But he who spoke This sel l.ence had
taken the exact measure OF the woe OF
those to whom He spoke, and He knew
the wormwood tang of sorrows b!ackest
draught. His acquaintance with grief
was lifelong, He knew grief not as "a a
casual passerby upon the streets. lie
knew grief not as we know some neigh
Dor by occasional sight. He was the ln.
innate and inseparable associate OF that
grim companion. 1t was just because lie
knew the secret sorrow, its strange MIN
:atry and its woudrous outcome, that when
He saw His friends standing at the thres,
hold of'the very life which He Himself had
lived. a'life wrought out IN loneliness
and suffering and defeat and scorn. llte
of utter sacrifice to t., uplifting OF 9TH
e.S, life rejected by the world tor 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 harrow and the
cold, dark burrows of the s:edtime, as the
rladsome company of the reapers. laden
,u,&b oo1Ja,, eboo,oe apd ohoufinp tho cnDp
of the harvest. He was looking across the
storm.swept 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
only the death which was TO separate. but
the death which was to unite. So He said:
"Let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid. During the strange, sad
hours and the hard and weary days. that
are coming. believe in God; believe also in
Fathers house shall open wide for your
entrance upon a larger. holier, purer min.
istry for which the disc.plines Of time
shall have evoked the capacity. If it were
not so. would have told you"
Believe" is Christ's talisman tor charm
ing away the specter of trouble froll the
haunted heart. Beileve in the Fathers
plan for His child. Believe in the Father
care of His child. There is no speculative
process by which, the mind may unravel
the sore :ongles Of. mortal experience: A
condemned heart cannot find relief in a
logic book. The cold bloodless hand of
reason never wiped ava a tear. The IN.
tellect has never discovered any balm for
it is no time to discuss the process by
which -four is prepared. When one is
pinched with poverty, it is not the hour
=, 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 of
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
endure. the strain in yonr unaided
strength. Lean on God "Cuddle down" in
Ills arms. Be not afraid. Believe. That
' is the way Christ would take the sting
from mortal sorrow.
To attempt to analyZe such an act Of be-
lief as the Master here prescribes would be
like endeavoring to learn to sing by study
ing picture OF the larynx. One may
master the anatomy of the throat and
lever utter note of song. Think your
self back into Inc situation. Jesus was
moi, a theological professor sitting at His
desk and lecturing to class with refer
ence to a neatly articuiated system Of
dogmas. The shadow of lfe's mystery
was chilling to the hearts of those He
loved, and He was, striving to kind;e in
their breasts vivid. luminous, unquench.
able consciousness of the divine sympathy
His word to. them is "Realze God in
stead of theoriziag about God" Al though
He said: Peter, James, John and all
the rest. you have lisped sentences con-
cernlng God sir 'e YOU were little children.
David's holy hymns were your cradle songs.
The sacred roles Of the synagogue have
spoken to you their Sabbath day messages
from the Infinite One. Your hearts were
burned asS- Tou participated in the SOL
emnites Of Passover and Pentecost, which
celebrated the august scvereignties with
which God had shaped your nations life.
With an irrepressblc wistfulness ycu have
pondered the grandeur of Jehovah as you
felt Him present in the graadeurs of
nature, while the quiet watches of the
night sto.e over YOU AS You lay in your
fishing boats beneath the ursleeDing stars.
That God is your God. He thinks. He
plans, He works for YOU. He marks your
stems. He treasures your tears. He
weighs III Ills heafC every cross before
He lays it upon your shoulder. The
march of the tribes through the desert. the
progress, OF humanity through the. CEN
turies. the swing Of the stars through the
sky is no more to Him than the passing
of the days of your life. There is moth
ing hetter known to God than the things
which hefall YOU. There is no one nearer
to the heart Of God than you are. Believe
in Him. -
The reason trouble is so troublesome is
that we seldom put God in the present
tense We trarspose Him into the dim
past and dwell upon the wonders He
transpose Hi: into the remote future