Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-29
TRIBULATIONS BRING
REWARD, SAYS PASTOR
Rev. Robert Burdette breaches
on Strengthening Influence of
Pain TriumphantIy Borne

The Rev. Robert j. Burdette, pastor
emeritus, preached at both services in
Temple Baptist church yesterday. In
the evening he took for his topic,
Honey Out of the Rock" his text be-
ing II Corinthians, IA, 81 am filled
with all comfort; I am exceeding joy
full in our tribulation.''
"Why do 1 believe in tribulations and
their reality and their uses?" he asked.
"Why do / believe in headache and
heartache, sorrow and pain, anguish
and trouble? Not because / want to,
| but because I have to. / believe in
| them because they are. Because be-
lieve in quinine, which isn't half so
! sweet as sugar, but is a much better
i febrifuge. Because 1 don't believe that
an athlete can train for a marathon
race on ice cream soda and fudge. Be
| cause l don't believe that pickles and
| cake are muscle builders for the ten-
mis- girl. Because I believe that the
greatest victory of the Revolutionary
war was Valley Forge, its sufferings
| and endurance.
IT believe In the strengthening influ-
! ence of pain and trouble triumphantly
borne, because men don't go into rose
garden to look for ship timbers.
believed that Napoleon was defeated by
Il
Washington was victorious through his
many defeats. l believe that America
| was discovered while a starving navi-
! gator was being turned away from
| palace doors under the smarting sneers
| of scientific geographers. / believe in
| the beneficent effects of trials because
sorrow in the soul of man today is
as real as was the agony in Geth-
! semane.
| ANGUISH sWEETENED BY LOVE
1.-THE fire of human anguish is
now as real as was the suffering that
made Job curse the day of his birth
1 and srnote his sympathizing friends
| dumb with heartache. The flesh still
! quivers where the pincers tear; the
| blood will follow where the knife is
| driven Pain is real as pleasure. Sor-
| row Is absolute as joy. If we would
! see the crown we must look at the
cross, which 1t enwreaths as halo
Anguish is made sweet by love. Pain
endured and conquered. Suffering
made holy by submission. Peace
acquired through affliction. Human
courage crowned by divine compass
sion. And always the human as real
as the divine.
"There is no virtue in mere suf-
fering. There Is no goodness inherent
in pain. Had there been nothing on
| the cross ut the human figure OF tne
Son of God writhing in mortal agony
the spectacle had been repulsive. The
| submission to the reality of the cross
was it's glory. The endurance of ac-
tual bodily pain, positive agony OF
mind and body and soul-this set the
| brilliants in the crown of victory.
REWARDS IN REMUNERATION
''What do l know about pain and
sorrow, heartache and heartbreak? /
know only what everybody else knows.
l know what grows out of the soul
! field torn and SCARED by the plow and
| the harrow. search the world over,
all it's continents. islands and seas, for
fhe sweetest holiest, tenderest spot II
holds, and 10! l kneel beneath the
gnarled olives of dark Gethsemane. MY
soul is made stronger, my thought
purer, my life nobler by its agony of
renunciation. look upon the cross-a
Roman instrument of torture and
shameful death. Lo! it shines above
every crown In the world with ra-
dance more enduring than the sun
an emblem of authority, by which
princes reign
"Not unto Him who put the cup
aside at Gethsemane; not unto Him
! who came down from the cross and
saved Himself. But unto Him who
| endured the cross-'unto the lamb that
was slain That's why 1 believe in
the joy and the peace and the glory OF
! suffering"