The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-11-11
DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON,
AGAINST ALL ODDS.

wiz hit ~ 10 u Ia illie, OT 10 make u pTOuU-
less investment. Christ came to build
highway on which the whole human race
might, If they chose, mount into heaven. He
did 1t. All the foul mouthed crew who trod
en- Him could not hinder him fIom the
sublime satisfaction expressed in the text:
II have finished the work which thou gavest
me to do.n
Alexander the Great was wounded, and it
was supposed that he was dying, and the
physic ans were powerless But in S dream
Ale ander thought he saw certain plant
with very peculiar flower, and that the
Hover W S brought and put upon his wound
md it entirely cured him. Ava ling from
his sick dream he told his doctor, and the
Iysician sent out to fiud the flower that
Alexander had described, and he found the
peculiar plant and the peculiar blossom, and
he brought them home and he put them upon
the wound, and Alexander recovered Well,
the human race was suffering with the
worst of all wounds, the ghastliest Of all
W unds, the wound of sin. Christ comes to
bring balsam for divine restoration He
brou. hit it, but in the ap plication of it, oh,
how many obstacles He found; how much
resistance; what bitter hostilities; what tre-
mendous opposition. Now, when we have a
great enterprise, we call our friends around
us and they help us draw out the sketch, and
perhaps they help us in the execution. Christ
all alonestarted out on His mission with all
the forces of this world against Him, and l
propose this morning, if the Lord will help
me, to tell you some of the obstacles that
Christ had to overcome before He could in
triumph utter the words of tie text: 81 have
finished the work which thou gayest me tc
do"
First of all, there was His worldly occupa.
zion. He had to earn his living by carpentry,
trade always respected and always honored
for its usefulness But you know cry well
hot in. fr,u 4 A.
patton, or profession, there must be entire
concentration upon that one thing, and these
fatigues of car entry We're hindranCe, must
have been hindran @ to this work o, Christ.
know We read a great deal about what men
nave achieved in intellectual dire tons and
in moral reform, who at the same time were
compelled to carry on some worldly ocrupa-
ton But you know as well as
| do that fatigued body is poor
adjunct to a TOLL mind Here came Christ
forth to do, what. To upbuil q kingdom,
to introdu new code OF morals to start q
rellgl glon which was to revolut.oniZe all ma
tions. You know as well as | know that if
we are going to acco npllsh anything In ,he
world We must cuncentr to upon one 90 ect.
Yet here Christ had all the atlgues of car
pentry while at the same time He had this
tremendous mission, and the IA t that he had
80 much worldly work to do must have been
ndran g. In His fathers carpenter shop
He had only to talk with men VIII bro Ight
things to mend, or who wanted SO ae
a tlcle for agriculture manu- acture |,
and it was a worldly conversation:
and right out from this carpenters shop
Christ is called to be pubic speaker, to
stand in the face of the mobs while some
blasphemed and some sh Ok their fists at
Him. To address an ordry AMI respet ttful
assemblage is not as >a'y as ssme might sup
pose, but to speak to an exas Grated mob,
what courage, what concent. alton were des
manded of Christ While the villagers of
Ma areth heard he thumpins of His ham
mer, all nations were to hear the stroke of
in those times Always had some
thing in their apparel to indi ate
that they were distinguished - some
epanlet, something in their robe some
adornment of apparel, so those people see
ing such an one coming would say: make
way for him; here comes dignitary, or an
officer OF the government None of The
Cesars would have dared to appear in ordi-
nary citizen dress. But here comes Christ
in a plain coat. 1t was far rom shabby be-
| cause l find that after He had worn it great
while even then the gamblers Thought it
worth Ia Fling about, the question being
whose shall it be. But still it was a plain
coat, just as you and l might wear, and He
went out like an ordinary man, oittimes,
: Uu WUdG SeeUltu an OIuludif HilSSlOu.
Then His diet was against HIM. No
cupbsa sarer brought, in a golden chalice, the
wine for Him to drink He beakfasted on
the seashore, first having broi!ed the fish.
He went out not entertained. l now think
Of only one case where He was a. banquet,
and that was far from sumptuous, because, to
relieve the awkwarkness of the host, one of
the guests had to provide some wine for the
company. Other kings rode; He walked.
hoI oh nd n q
subjects behind; He went among those who
were not influential. Other kings slept un-
der an embroidered canopy; He on shelter
less hill. He rode but once-on a colt, and
that borrowed Aye, His poverty was
against him. It takes money to es
tablish institutions; it takes money tc
forward revolutions, whether for good or
His tax was due He had to perform miracle
in order t pay the tax. The piece of money
found in the fish Men of means are afrad
Of a penniless protector lest loan lie de
n,anded OF them. Here comes Christ with
out dollar in the world, Christ who wa:
born i'll another mans barn, and to be buriec
in another mans serulchre. And | suppose
reople said: 'Who is to pay for this re
ligion: Who is to charter the ship:
that are to carry the missionaries
Who is to pay the salaries # the
religion! Can it be done by pennlless pro
iectorN More than that | want you tt
notice the fact that the onsideration tina
He had never graduated from any schoo
was aga nst Him. Ii man has come witt
diploma from a college, or a certlfi ate fron
a seminary or has travelled through loreigl
lands we say to ourselves: He ought Il
know great deal, anyhow; he ou sht to hav'
some information. But here was Christ
VINO hH no di ,,loma. He had not ATTENDED
any ademy where he tould have lea nel
the alphabet of the Ian suage lie spo&e. Th
Jews were sensible when they cried ont
"How hath tn man letters having neve
learned!' And yet, here. with no phiioso ID.
backing at all, He Just comes out and Ht
expects these white haired these gra,
bearded men who lad stIded theology al
their lives long to bow before him. We ha !.
learrei in our d " that man may be as ig
norant with diploma as without it, an;
thai college cannoj turn sluggard into
philosopher, and that a seminary canno
teach fool to prea b. An empty head afte
the laying on OF the han Is of the Presbyte',
is empty stu. Eut it chokel al the pr ju
dices of those reople in old en- times that
naa without any sch plastic oDportun tie
should come forth to tea new theolo =
and new religion. audb it revol itionize a
nations Beside that, my friends, we wan
t. notice that the brevity of His life wa
dRdIuSb Ill1I. btt iuusb ltlituihtl OIldt II
di not live TO en- what we call mid lii,
At thirty three years of age he expired
Well, now, but very few men accomplis
much for the churtn or for the world besoi
thirty three years of age. The first fiftee
years a given to the nursery aud the schoo
then perhaps six years to getting into SON
trade, business or occupation. That brlns
YOU to twenty-one. Tnen after that if in te
years you correct all your early mistakes an
get thoroughly established, you are the e.
ception. The men who are thoroughly e
tablished in business, occupation, profeSslo
or trade, at thirty-three years of age, are IL
exception, aud that is the me at whlc
Chr st quit life The brevity of His life W;
against Him. Men in military life hay
achieved great success, and fought great ba
ties before thirty-thTss years Of age. but yo
never heard of great legislator under thlrt
three or at thirty three. 1t takes prolongt
,xperience Aristotle was old, Lycurgus w
Old, Sene a wa, old. ell the great legislato
Of the worl were o.d Ca -ist was youn.
1t was -ainst Him. People sa d: at canlt
be this young mac knows more about the
things than those wh) have been ssudyi
them for twenty, thirty, forty an even to SCI
ty or eighty years of age. Itwas all again
Hum. Thee were obs,a les He ha to owe
come. Ave. the fact that H. reversed Il
worlds maXimS was againSt Him. Publ
theory said: "Ble5sed Is the merchant WI
Gowns castle down on the hank; OF the la
-.-liiea Christ sa Il: BLESSED are ii