The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-12
 DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
ev THE REV. FRANK DE WITT TALMAoE. D. O.

N certainly rich provider for his ehll-
 dren." Yes" answered my companion but did you ever stop to think that theSSc Go s wealth is unlimited. he
 gives but few of the necessities to man
 unless man is ready to work for them? God gives us the soil; God gives us the seeds But the essential food products which come from that soil must be de-
 veloped by unceasing toll. This fact is emphatically true of all the cereals. Then I commenced to ponder over the words of my friend. and I said: Yes you are right. Never since the fall of
 man has God provided for man wheat or
 corn or rye unless man as a farmer will cultivate those cereals All kinds of weeds may grow wild. all kinds of thorns
 and thistles certainly do grow wild. :"
 From the earth man must obtain his | bread He must work or starve. The soil
 must be prepared; the seed must be sown;
 the harvest must be gathered.
 His Power Limitless.
 Let me remird you, too. how limtless
 are the energies which God has in his control. Everywhere are power and force. but man must patiently study and dis cover for himself how to apply them to | his purposes Very sloly has he learned
 the secrets of the world in which he is | placed. God might have revealed the whole to him at the outset but he wish ed man to find 1t out for himself, and as | each source of power was discovered he must learn how to harness 1t arIght that | it may do his bidding and relieve him of | toi Go to Niagara Falls and take your | stand on the ledge of rock called Obser- | vttion point and watch that rush of | water descending from the heights. What ' power is there 10 light our cities. to hear our burdens. to illuminate oud habta- tions! Yet for countless ages 1t has been | running to waste because man did not | know how to harness it alright. Stand on | the seashore and see the power i1 the in- | coming tide. Quietly and resistlessy | wave succeeds wave. breaking impotently ! on the rocks. yet there Is power there | that might be turn ed to account The 1 little streamlet that turns the wheel of
 the village mill grinding the corn and l wheat for a whole valley, is feeble be- l sides the pillows of the sea. Thls, too 1 man may yet lear to harness that it may
 work for him. The secret is with the | Lord Man must plan and contrlve and l design before h. can master 1t. So long | as he sits at ease and makes TO effort it | Is useless to him. Why should God have
 not given man this knowledge at the be- | ginning? Because he wished him to de- velop his intellect. He wished to teach | him that there was a reward for his labor | By the sweat of his brow he must gain | his bread.
 l An, my friends. this problem that per- | plexes us, this distressing question of | why God permits us to struggle along in | poverty and hardship. finds it's solution in | the Bible. It was not in vlndictiveness or | for his own sake that he cursed the ground The sentence was beneficial and
 remedial, Cursed is the ground for thy sake God Is allowing the thornsa and 1 thistles to grow wild instead of the wheat 1 and the barley. Why? By the bayonet
 thrusts of those thorns God ts driving us l closer and closer to himself. By putting | us in the trcadmill of unceasing daily toll 1 God Is teaching us to turn our eyes away | from temptation. He is also teaching us l to turn them towards himself. Work | serves a useful purpose. Our toll and l difficulty and sorrow are intended to l draw us nearer to himself. When trust 1 in God and love of him have filled the l hearts of men. Wen the knowledge of l God covers the earth as the waters cover | the sea, then poverty will have fulfilled l It's mission and will be eliminated from l this weary world. for then. says Isaiah, | Instead of the thorn shall come up the | fir tree. and instead of the brier shall
 come up the myrtle tree. and 1t shall be | to the Lordfor a name. for an everlasting | sign that shall not be cut off, Oh. sin | ner. thank God today that he makes your | callous hand stick to the blow of daily l toll in order that your feet shall follow
 the straight and narrow groove of virtue l and truth and purity and gospel conse- | cration and right
 | God could easily take out of this world all physical ailments if he would. He l could change the invalid chairs of the | homes. the operating tables of the hos 1 pitals, the medicine bottles of the drug l stores the ear trumpets of the deaf. the | ambulance wagons and the anaesthet- | les and the splints and bandages of a | military surgeons outfitand make them | as unsuitable and antfquated articles for
 modern use as the chopsticks of the
 Chinese would be for the Caucasian race or the sandals of an Arab chief would be | for the short legged Eskimo of the artic. | He could at mere word straighten the l crooked limbs and loosen the dumb lips | and strengthen the weak lungs. God did l it in the past: he can do it now. God Is 1 the same yesterday. today and for ever l more" But God does not take all sick ness out of this world because he does
 not wish physical pain and suffering to | cease to perform their spiritual mission l in the world
 Must Perform Their Mission.
 1 "A beneficent influence for pain and physical ailments" "Oh," says some | Can any good come from a flushed | fevered cheek or from a hacking cough | or from a sleepless night? God is 1 good God is love. Therefore a good | and loving God does not wish his | children to suffer any more than an l earthly parent would want his children | to be physically sick or in pain Ask | that mother as she gets up in the mid | dle of the night to put cool banGages 1 upon the hot brow of her child if she | sees any blessing in the sickness. Ask | that father who takes his lovely daughter | down to southern climes to burn out | with the hot rays of the sun the microbes | of a diseased lung if he can see any bless | ing in one of his dear children slowly l fading away as a beautiful flower will | fade and wther before the chilling breath 1 of the autumnal frosts Ask that child if | she sees any blessing in pain when night after night she must hear her mother gran under the gnawing advancement of a fatal cancer. When Christ was upon | earth he nevr heard the suppliant cry l of leper but his hands cleansed away l the scales. He never saw one possessed | with the devils of disease, mental or | physical, unless he cast them forth, even l though they were legion. How can there ] be any blessing in physical pain when | Christs mission on earth was to heal the
 sick and be a divine physician to the body
 as well as to the soul | Yes, my brother. blessings can come and | do come from physical pain in two ways. | First in the influence of sickness upon l those who are sick. You can read this