Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-05
ss1ss5 TO BE A FATAL YEAR.,

l Trinity M. E. church last evening to listen
 to the New Years sermon by the pastor, Rev.
 Dr. Peck. The discourse, which was an able
 one, was based on the words found in Jere-
 miah, 2sth chapter, 18th verse: ''This year
 thou shalt surely die." Dr. Peck's remarks
 were in substance as follows
 Hananiah, false prophet, had been de-
 ceiving the people and undermining the
 words and work of Gods chosen prophet.
 He had been proclaiming that all would be
 peace and prosperity despite the fact that
 God had foretold the wicked people that de-
 struction awaited them. Therefore God
 commissioned Jeremiah to go to the false
 man and tell him of the end of his wicked
 career, "This year thou shalt die" Within
 two months those lying lips were sealed by
 death, that deceitful tongue was
 speeches. and that proud, wicked heart
 was cold and dead. God closed
 his accounts with the man unexpectedly. In
 the full tide of his defiant wickedness the
 twang of deaths bow was heard and the
 man fell The text arrests our thought by
 its solemnity. It presents a tremendous pos
 1tlVe certainty to some, and the very uncer-
 tainty as to whom it shall meet makes it a
 serious matter for everyone. In the year
 1873 minister in New England wrote to
 Zion's Herald on this text and when his ar ! ticle was printed foot note by the editor
 said he had deceased since writing it. may
 be announcing my own destiny. I am as l ignorant of what is hidden in the New Year
 as any. The year that has swept into eterni- l ty bore away thirty millions of immortal l souls. Many of them went up with joy and | k~s,- IL s-s-- glory; many others went down to people the | regions of despair bewailing the delusion and l | doom of life of sin. All have passed to | l fixed and changeless destiny. The bliss of l one class and the woe of the other is eternal | They each chose the course that fixed the 1 fate of endless ages. Had God permitted some weeping Jeremiah to say to those mil
 lions, 'EThis year thou shalt die," how many
 would have lived differently But, by
 every broken family around them, by every
 crape on the door-ben of neighbors, by every
 passing hearse, by every form missed in bus | mess and in the social circle and by the whole
 history of human life, he forewarned them that it might be so, and what has been will
 be. Another year has come and rolled away
 like huge hearse, bearing thirty millions more
 I ence or blindness will fatally deceive the liv-
 ing of to-day. Despite the ravages of death
 that meet our eyes and thoughts as we re- 1 view the past year, and the further more
 personally solemn fact that the grim reapor
 will go on cutting down the living this year,
 multitudes will not give any practical heed
 to the dread possibility of the coming of death to them individually. With the great 1 multitude of our fellow beings, the thought of death, as 8 personal fact, is banished. Eternity and the tremendous realities in Volved are treated as fable or troubled dreams
 '.An men think all men mortal but themselves; Strikes thro' their wounded Hearts the sudden
 dread; But their hearts wounded, like the wounded air, When passed the shaft no trace is found; As from the wing no scar the sky retains, The parted wave furrows from the keel,
 So m dies i11 in human hearts the thought of death
 Der those we love, we drop it in the grave.'' l.,
 The facility with which we exempt our C selves from the fate of others is only as re- markable as it is dangerous. The point of these words is lost on almost all, t'This year thou shalt die." Thirty millions won't die | t this year as glittering generality. It will t be thirty millions of individuals. As all the , properties of matter belong to each particle, so all the glories of heaven woes of he'll I afe involved in each individuals death It | V is all the if ''thou' vert the sole in- V habitant of earth. or the only one to die. ' Each one has an immortal soul at stake; whether we live or die is not the | important factor in the problem. Death in itself is not anything dreadful I h The destiny that follows is the tremendous issue To the faithful disciple death is un- s speakable gain, but to the unprepared it is e an awful catastrophe. I would not sound e any alarm at the mere possibility of death, c but would raise the alarm against the possi- f, against such dreadful contingency is the sole . object of this discourse.
 I have been reviewing the past year and :. ind that I have attended many funerals. II Most of the persons dying had no expecta- U U 5ion of 1884 being their last year. A few n were advanced to middle life and " " beyond. Several were members of s' he church and died as the right sous die. Some were converted tt ast winter and had just time to get ready for |, II still who died with no hope. They refused ie ite o heed the spirit of God and took the II II chances, and so will it be this year. Some u u ,f the church will go. They have seen their .. ast New Years day; They will do their last o' finishing work of grace. All the good they 9i 1 will do and get will be between January and z. H December. Some of the older members will ol t1 70 this year. Some of the young and strong el et will be cut down by the reaper. There will ce ext and its warning, will see the work of Mai M 4od progressing, feel the convictions of '" luty and the strivings of the spirit, but se Fill put on bravado and resist the call of trance men tell me, they say that am 0 rst-class risk. Out on the gloomy talk. ssthis year thou shalt die" You may laugh at the absurdity. Death is he king of absurdities. You may summon D defiant spirit. Death on the pale horse WI ides down resistlessly on such impotent de an ance. His dart strikes through the stoutest eiance and pierces the heart; then all is e. yer. I do not know that any given sI, ,dividual will die this year and you M sI' o not know that you will not; but we fri r oth know that 1t IS among the contingencies, III nd such being the contingency you cannot ford to take the risk unprepared. Count rie p those that started with you on the jour no ey and how many are left? Don't you some F" mes feel lonely as you think over the fla Ve liliar names! he The storms and snows of life are nearing Nil ,eir close What part are you nearing9 Are sel ou secure in Christ? If not you have uch to do and little time left. This year +o1 le grey heads will find the level of earth. E. . he king of terrors likes handful of white Fr Fl his boquet of death. Who shall th' .rnish the almond blossoms. There that happy family whose plans reach far at own the future. Members of that family AM, ould grow pale could they see what is in o'' ore, what is written in the book of fate. usband and wife and beautiful child or rul lildren are in the happy group, Against Ge 1e name is written, ''This year thou shalt res e.'' The widowed man will sit alone weep I g with his motherless children; the idow will be draped in her weeds; or griev hc' g parents will miss one darling face at the ble. It has been so in the past; it will be he, in the future. The main question is, Will ha ,u get ready for the long journey oe
 the bereft 1onelinessg You need walk very near to God this year. It will un anever-to-be-forgotten year. You cannot is ford to be off duty for day. All the bus T ess you do or ever do will be finished this ! ar You will take account of stock next Ye ar in eternity. The great question will be bee ,w the books stand with God The dread h