The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-05
THE KINGS BUSINESS"
Talmage's Discourse on the Subject Of
federation Yesterday.
The Difference Between the Creator and
Other Kings-The Danger of Putting Off
Preparation for 1.-The Kings Business"

preached this morning in the Brooklyn Taber-
nacle on the subjec: "Acceleration. The open
Ing hymn was:
my days are gliding swiftly by,
, And /, q pilgrim stranger,
Would not detain them as they fly.
These hours of toil and danger"
Before the sermon DIR. Talmage read passages
Of Scripture contrasting ancient longevity with
the brevity of modern human life. The text
was. 1 Samuel, xxi. 8: 1.-THE Kings business
required haste" Following is the sermon in
full:
The cradle Of 1885 rocked on the grave of
1884 All intelligent people. whether Christian
or unchristian, thoughtful about the closing of
one volume of time and opening of another.
The striking of a clock q is always suggestive, but
the most tremendous stroke the clock ever gives
is-when, on the night of the 31st of December, it
strikes twelve. 1 think all of us who have any
thing TO do feel that we must swiften our pace.
EAecelerationl In my text David appears before
Abimelech without sword, or food, or usual at
ttendants, and gives as his reason for this IN
EseemIy appearance that he was OF urgent, inn
sperisl business, and had no time to properly
accouter or equip himself. 1.-THE Kings bust
ness required haste"
My friends, we are all intrusted with some
part Of the Kings business; and our great need
lie to have our speed accelerated God seems to
be a being of infinite leisure. He sometimes
takes twenty-five hundred years to do one thing,
though la six days he put on the world the final
touches that made itinhabitable for man. Geolo-
gists tell US that uncounted ages passed between
the laying Of the cornerstone of the earth and
its fnal completion. God took this unimagin-
able reach Of time for work that he could have
done ia three months. he has plenty of time
for everything. With an eternity behind Him
and an eternity before Him, there is no furry,
no precipitation, no haste. But so far as we are
concerned, what we do must be done in briefest
time aud in quickest way. ''rhe Kings bust
ness requires haste
Christ is our King; King of glory, King of
Zion, King of saints, King over all earth, King
over heaven. He is a King that shall never die.
Where is Louis XIy4 Dead Where is Richard
IIT2 Deadl Where is Ferdinand Dead! Where
is Peter the Greatl Deadl AT the door of the
grave lies a whole sheaf of sceptres. Death sits
ia the palace of the sepulchre and the potentates
of earth are his cup-bearers; and, as the old
blind monarch staggers around his palace, ever
and anon he trips on some new-fallen coronet.
They sat up Charlemagne in his grave and put a
crown on his pulseless temples and a sceptre in
his lifeless hand, yet that could not bring back
his kingdom, But our Emperor lives. He ex-
listed before the world was made. He shall con
tinue after it is burned up. King immortal!
The French government thought itself rich in
having so many palaces-St Cloud, and The
Tuileries, and the Versailles, and the Palais
Royal. aud the Luxembourg; but our King has
tho whole earth for His palace-the mountains,
its picture gallery; the ocean, its fountain; the
sun, It's chandelier; the midnight heavens, it's
O~aadeiabra; ilimitable forests, it's park; the
glories of the sunrise and sunset, the tapestry
about the windows; the storms, the lightning
hoofed coursers dashing up and down the
heavens; all the glories of the land, and sea, and
sky. His wardrobe; all the flowers of the field.
His conservatory; all the ish of the sea, His
aquarium; all the birds Of the spring morning.
His orchestra But, better than all these, the
hearts of His people on earth and of his saints In
heaven. are the palaces in which He delights to
reign King universal!
Like other kings, He has His army and navy.
Fighting on His side are the hurricanes of the
great deep-as in the breaking up of the Spanish
armada; the volcanoes of the earth-as in the
burial of infamous Herculaneum; the 6re-as
when Sodom was deluged with confederation;
the roeks-as when they crashed their terrors
about the crucifxion. The Psalmist counted the
flaming artillery of heaven, as it came rushing
down the sky, and cried: 'sThe chariots of God
are twenty thousand" Elijah's servants caught
n ~tt,oaea &c tlar, orooa~ Az oul:
cavalcade of flame. The cherubim on His side:
the seraphim on His side; the archangels on His
side. King omnipotent!
THE PEOPLES BUSINESS.
Our King is wrapped up in the welfare of His
subjects. The Sultan of Turkey had a rule that,
when riding out on horseback, any of his sub
jeots might approach him and state their wrongs
and suferings; and the people pressed so close
up to the stirrups that it was sometimes impos-
sible for the Sultan to proceed. But we have a
more merciful King. We do not have TO wait
for public occasions. Any hour of the day or
night without introduction. we may press into
His palace, tell our wants and secure His help.
Going before other kings, we must have a court
drees, rightly cut and rightly adorned; but beg.
gars may come before this King in their rags;
and the ~prodigal, filthy from the swines' herd is
Immediately ushered in. A pardoning King! A
condescending King! A merciful King! @, Jesus,
live forever
It is on the business of such a King that we
are all sent. 1t is the business of bringing the
world to God. Compared with it. all other bust
ness ia q holiday and a sport If a man 60 into
some financial operation by which he loses a
hundred thousand dollars, and his house and
estate drop out of hs possession, and his fai lure
upset the next man, and his the next, and the
next, until the whole land quails under the
panic, the disaster is insignificant compared with
the ruin Of that man who despoils his W soul,
and by example takes down another, and another.
until all worlds feel the defalcation. William
the ConQueror pulied down fortv.a;v of cha