Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-25
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Crises in Life" the Subject of An
Eloquent Discourse,
Delivered at the First Co~nrreeationol
Church Of Columbus, Ohio The
Young Man of the Present, Like
= Absalom Of Old, Not Safe.

Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage visited Colum.
bus, o., recently and delivered n sar,non
in the First Congregational Church of t,ot
city tafore an audience that comnletalv
filed every available portion of tho ad;.
fee. and many hundreds were unable -
gain admlttance. The subject Of the dis.
course was "Crises in Life.n Mr. To1,,s..
taking for his text: "so
Is the young man Absalom s,foo-u
uel, xviii, 80. e"lh'
DR.. Talmage said two ore,+
istics Of Absalom were world,,, a.aa:t:a-
and splendid hair. By the ono bo maaao
passed. oy the other hung. He was a bad
ooy anu broke his fathers heart, He
Mai.eo TO get his fathers throne before
me aecease OF the father. He wanted To
Set IL Immediately. He got an army. He
started out IN q great instruction. David.
.he iaoner, Sits at the palace waiting for
'ne news OF the battle to come. not 90
anxious about whether Absalom,s hosts
won the day, or whether his own hosts
won the day, as he is anxious about the
SAFETY OF his boy. The father in him
mightier than the King.
"hlie he sits there waiting for the COM
ing OF the messenger from the battlefield.
ne sees the dust rising in the highway, and
long before the messenger comes nm.
bringing the swift dispatch, David cries
out TO MN: us Absalom alive? Is Absa.
ION dead? Is the boy wounded? Tell me
qulckly-ls the young man Absalom
sa1e'" But as the messenger had
no very decisive intelligence to give he
stood aside. There David sat waiting for
another messenger, and after a while he
saw the dust rising on the highway. and
long before the messenger had come nm
David shouted to him again-shouts TO tb;s
one as he had to the others; "Have Won
heard anything from my boy? Is he wound.
ed! Is he alive? Is he dead? Is the youno
man Absalom safe?n
Alas! He was not safe. Absalom, riding
on a mule-the meanest animal in all tho
world on which to ride, the hardest at the
bit and the stiffest at the neck-Absalom
riding on q mule, had gone under q tree
branch, and his hair had caught on the
tree branch, and the mule, true to his char
acteristics, had gone on, he not able to stop
it, and Absalom was suspended, and so he
died. With an awful negative the words
OF my text were answered: us the Young
man Absalom safe?" No, he was not safe.
Destroyed for this life; destroyed for the
life to come.
L want to utter a few words this morning
III regard to the safety of young men; in
deed, of all men, While men may get
along tolerably well without the religion
OF Christ in some circumstances of life,
there are three OF four turning points
where a man must lave God or perish, or
if he does not come to such a crisis as that,
to such an extreme as that, he must have
God or make a mistake that will last for
ever. l propose this morning to speak to
you of three or four of these turning points
in life.
The first turning point is the choice of an
occupation or profession. it is a very seri-
GUS time when a young man comes from
the chool or the college, and has COM
pleted his education, or has received all
the education from the schools he will re-
ceive, and says: But what shall it be?
For what occupation, for what profession
am i prepared" Mechanism will spread
before him a hundred different occupa-
tions. Professional life will spread before
him seven or eight different callings. In
deed, perhaps, i'll all there may be 500 diff
erent callings and occupations. For only
one of those 800 is he fitted and prepared.
IT he does not have divine direction, 400
chances to one he will get in the wrong
business. In other words, the most ire
mendous crisis in a mans life, or one of
the most tremendous, is the tim when he
chooses his occupation or profession, and
he needs God to tell him how to choose.
lo., n ,,,o,, x,Iba et,rtaJ il, rp,,, =, arcin1
life with bright prospects. He crossed
over from commercial life into the medical
profession. He went from the general
medical profession into specific surgery.
He went from surgery into the ministry.
Then he passed from the ministry into
surgery, and so his life has been a COM
plcte vacillation. How much better it
would lave been if that man could have
got the right profession Or occupation at
the start. He was particularly qualified
for surgery, and l believe ii he had gone
before God and asked for his direction he
would nave received it, and instead OF
going from one occupation to another,
making his life a mistake, he would nave
gone on to great usefulness and success.
l meet many young men IN this mousse
this morning who have not perhaps thor
ouahly decided upon the work OF occu-
patton for which the lord fitted nm.
Before you leave the house to-day ask
Gods direction, that you may make no
mistake. Blunder here and hlunder for
ever. You know It great many men "'fo
have been ruined for two worlds because
they got in the wrong business.
Another important pass IN ones NE Il
turning point i'll ones history, is the time
when he establishes his own home. "heh
Il man builds his home he builds 1or
eternity. Is it not amazing that a1liancins
in life is so often a matter OF me'Ilheho
and Of JOKE, when it decides so mtcn lof
this world and the world to M 40
not put the case too strongly wheh l
say that when a man marries he marrles
for Heaven or for hell. Oh, bulld ho0
your home on earth upon the sparkle o m "
bright eye or the color OF a IAN cheeA. .n,,
time will come in your history when you
will want in your home not a pet or Il 10y,
but a heroine, and you will find tiilV NE 10
not a gay romance, but a tremendous
ality; and coming home from your sVoe'
or office, or shop, or factory Ha,.
most of all YOU will need some one ~ oa'