Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1889 — “NEW SPRINGS OF JOY.” [ARTICLE]

“NEW SPRINGS OF JOY.”

THE SUNNY SIDE OF .UFB OF A CdHISTIANt' .Weil-Springs of Joy for the True Believer and a Satisfaction to all Who Work Uniter God’s Guidance. Rev. Dr. Talmage preached at the Brooklyn tabernacle last Sunday. Subject: “New Springs of Joy.” Text: Joshua xvi., 19. He said: The city of Debir was the Boston of antiquity—a great place for brain and books. Caleb wanted it, and he offered his daughter Achsah as a prize to any ohe who would capture that city. It was a strange thing for Caleb to do, and yet the man that could take that could take that city would have, at any rate, two elements of manhood—bravery and patriotism. With Caleb’s daughter as prize to fight for, General Othniel rode into the battle. The gates of Debir were thundered into the dust, and the city of booxs lay at the feet of the conquerors. The work done, Othniel comes back to «laim his bride. Having conquered the city, it is no Kt job for him to conquer the girl’s t; Tor however faint hearted a woman herself may be, she always loves courage in a man. I never saw an exception to that. The weddinz festivities having gone by, Othniel and Achsah are about to go to their new home. However loudly the cymbals may clash and the laughter ring, parents are always sad when a fondly cherished daughter goes off to stay; and Achsah, the daughter of Caleo, knows that now is the time to ask almost anything she wants of her father. It seems that Caleb, the good hearted old man, had given as a wedding present to his daughter a “piece of ißndthatwas mountainous and sloping southward toward the deserts of Arabia, swept with some very high winds. It was called a “south land.”. But Achsah wants an addition Of property; she wants a piece of land that is well watered and fertile. Now, it is no wonder that Caleb, standing amid the bridal party, his eyes so full of tears because she was going away that he could hardly see her at all, gives her more than she asks. She said to him: “Thou hast given me ,a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.” What a suggestive passage! The fact is, that as Caleb, the father, gave Achsah, the daughter, a south land, so God gives to us his world. I am very thankful he has given it to us. But I am like Achsah in the fact that I want a larger portion. Trees, and flowers, and grass, and blue skies are very well in their places, but he who has nothing but this world for a portion has no portion at al). It is a mountainous land, sloping off toward the desert of sorrow, swept by fiery siroccos; it is “a south land,” a poor portion for any man that tries to put his trust in it What has been your experience? What has been the experience of every man, of every woman that has tried this world for a portion? Queen Elizabeth, amidst the surroundings of pomp, is unhappy because the painter sketches to minutely the wrinkles on her face, and she indignantly cries out: “You must strike off my likeness without any shadows!” Hogarth, at the very height of his artistic triumph, is stung almost to death with chagrin because the painting he had dedicated to the King does not seem to be acceptable; for George 11. cries out, “Whoin this Hogarth? Take his trumpery out of my presence.” Brinsley Sheridan thrilled the earth with his eloquence, but had for his last words, I am absolutely undone.” Pick me out ten successful worldlings —without any religion, and you know what I mean by successful worldlings—pick me out ten successful worldlings, and you can not find more than one that looks happy, care drags him across the bridge; care drags him back. Take your stand at 2 o’clock at the corner of Nassau and Wall streets, or at the corner of Canal and Broadway, and see the agonized physiognomies. Your bankers, your insurance men, your importers, your wholesalers,and your retailers, as a class—as a class, are they happy? No. Care dogs their steps; and, making no appeal to God for help or comfort, they are tossed every wither. How has it been with you, my hearer? Are you more contented in the house of fourteen rooms than you were in the two rcoms you had in a house when you started? Have you not had more care and worriment since you wonthat $50,000 than you did before? Some of the poorest men I have ever known have been those of great fortune. A man of small means may be put in great business straits, but the ghastliest of all embarrassments is that oi the man who has large estates. The men who commit suicide, because of monetary losses are those who can not bear the burden any more, because they have only SIOO,OOO left Blessed be God! We have more advantages given us than we can really appreciate. We have spiritual blessings offered us in this world which I shall call the nether springs, and glories in the world to come which I shall call the upper springs. Where shall I find words enough threaded with light to set forth the beauties of religion? David, unable to describe it in words.played it on sharp. Mrs. Hernans, not finding enough power in prose, sings that praise in a canto. Christopher Wren, unable to describe it in language, sprung it from the arches of St. Paul’s. John Bunyan, unable to present it in ordinary phraseology, takes all the fascination of allegory. Handel, with ordinary music unable to reach the height of the theme, rouses it up in an oratorio. Oh, there is no life on earth so happy as a really Christian life. Ido not mean a sham Christian life, but a real Christian life. Where there is a thorn there is a whole garland of roses. Where there is one groan there are three aoxologies. Where there is one day of cloud there is a whole season of sunshine. Take the humblest Christian man that you know —angels of God canopy him with their white wings; the lightnings of heaven are his armed allies; the Lord is his Shepherd, picking out for him green pastures by still waters; if he walk forth, heaven is his body guard; if he .lie down to sleep, ladders of light, angel blossoming, are let into hia dreams; if he be thirsty the potentates of heaven are his cup bearers; if he sit down te food, his plain table blooms into the King’s banquet. Men say: “Look at that old fellow with the worn eat coat;” the angels of God cry: “Lift

up your heads, ye everlasting gates,and let him come in!” Fastidious people cry: “Get off my front steps;” the doorkeepers of heaven cry: “Come, yon blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom!” When he comes to die. though he may be carried out in a pine box to the potter’s field. WthJJt potter’s fleld“ the chariots, of Christ will come down, and the cavalcade will crowd all the boulevards of heaven. . I bless Christ for the present satisfaction of religion. It makes a man all right with reference to the past; it makes a man all right with reference to the future. Oh! these nether springs of comfort! They arg perennial The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal. “The Lord knbweth them that are His.” “The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,” saith the Lord, who hath mercy upon them. Oh, cluster of diamonds set in burnished gold! Oh, nether springs of comfort bursting through all the valleys of trial and tribulation! When you see, you of the world, what satisfaction there is en earth in religion, do you not thirst after it as the daughter of Caleb thirsted after the water springs? It is no stagnant pond, scummed over with malaria, but springs of water leaping from the Rock of Ages! Take up one cup of that spring water, and across the top of the chalice will float tne delicate shadows of the heavenly wall, the yellow of jasper, the green of emerald, tne blue of sardonyx, the fire of jacinth. I wish I could make you understand the joy religion is to , some of us. It makes a man happy while he lives, and glad when he dies. With two feet upon a chair and bursting with dropdes. I heard an old man in the poor house cry out: “Bless the Lord, oh my soul!” I looked around and said “What nas this man gut to thank God foi?” But I have something better tot el I you, suggested by this text It seems that old father Caleb, on the wedding day of his daughter, wanted to make her just as happy as possible. Though Othniel was taking her away, and his heart was almost broken because she was going, yet he gives her a “south land, not only that but the nether springs; not only that, but the upper springs. O, God, my Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast given me a “south land” in this world, and the nether springs of spiritual comfort in thia world; but, more than t»H, I thank Thee for the upper springs in heaven. It is very fortunate we can not see heaven until we get into it. Oh! Christian man, if you could see what a place it is we would never get you back again to the office or si ore or shop, and the duties you ought to perform would go neglected. I am glad I shall not see that world until I enter it. Suppose we were allowed to go on an excursion into that good land with the idea of returning. When we got there and heard the song, and looked at their raptured faces, ana mingled in the supernal society, we would cry outi “Let us stay! We are coming here anyhow. Why take the trouble ofgoing back again to that old world? We are here now; let us stav.” And it would take angelic violence’td put us out of that wond if once we got there. But as people who can not afford to pay for an entertainment sometimes come around it and look through the door ajar or through the openings iu the fence, so we come and look through the crevices in that good land which God has provide ! for us. 'We can just catch a glimpse of it. We come near enough to hear the rumbling of the eternal orchestra. Though not near enough to hear who blows the cornet or fingers the harp. My soul spreads out both wings and claps them m triumph at the thought of those upper spriaga. One of them breaks from beneath the throne; another breaks forth from beneath the altar of the temple; another at the doer of “the house of many mansions.” Upper springs of gladness! Upper springs of light! Upper springs of love! It is no fancy of mine “The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water.” Oh, Savior divine, roll in upon our souls one o f those anticipated raptureral Pour around the roots of the parched tongue one drop of that life. Toss before our vision those fountains oi God, rainbowed with eternal victory. Hear it! They are never sick there; not so much as a headache, or twinge rheumatic, or thrust neuralgic. The inhabitant never says: “I am sick.” They are never tired there. Flight to furthest world is only the play of a holiday. They never sin there. It is as easy for them to be holy as it for us to sin. They never die there. You might go through all the outskirts of the great city ana find not one place where the ground was broken for a grave. The eyesight of the redeemed is never blurred with tears. There is health in every cheek. There is spring in every foot. There is majesty on every brow. There is joy in every heart. There is hosanna on every lip. Unforgiven man, unpardoned man, will you not to-day make a choice between these two portions, between the “south land” of this world, whichelopes to the desert, and this glorious land which thy Father offers thee, running with eternal water-courses? Why let your tongue be consumed with thirst when there are the nether springs and the upper springs, comfort here and glory- hereafter? Let me tell you, my dear brother, that the silliest and wickedest thing a man ever does is to reject Jesus Christ. The loss of the soul is a mistake that can not be corrected. It is a downfall that knows no alleviation; it is a ruin that is remediless; it is a sickness that has no medicant; it is a grave into which a man goes but never comes out. Therefore, putting rayhand on your shoulder as one brother puts his hand upon the shoulder of a brother, I say this day be manly and surrender your heart to UhnsL You have been long enough, serving the world; now begin to serve the Lord who bought you. You have tried long enough to carry these burdens; let Jesus Christ put his shoulder under> your burden. Do I hear any one in the audience say, “I mean to attend to that after awhile: it is not just the time.” It is the time, for the simple reason that you are sure of no other, and God sends Jon here this morning, and He sent me ere to confront you with this message; and you must hear now that Christ died to save your soul, and that if you want to be saved you can be saved. “Whosoever will, let him come.” You will never find any more convenient season than this. Some of you have been waiting ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty and sixty years. On some 'of you the snow has fallen. I see jt on your

brew, and yet you have not attmded to those duties which belong to the very springtime of life. Itb September with you now, it fa October with you, ft fa Decernher with you. lam no alarmist. I simply know thi* if a man does not repent in this world he never repents at alfand that now fa the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation. Oh, put off this matter no longer. .To not turn your backs on Jesus Christ, who comes to save you, fast you should lose yourwul. On Monday morning a friend of mine started from New York to celebrate her birthday with her daughter in Virginia. On Saturday of the same week, lust after sunrise, I stood at the gate of Greenwood, waiting for her silent form to come in. It is a long journey to take in one week—from New York to Philadelphia, from Philadelphia to Baltimore, from Baltimore tn Washington, from Washington to from Virginia into the great eternity. “What thy band findeth to do. oo it ”