The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-11-10
A FINISHED WORK.
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt Tai
~. mage, D. D.

Image, ~. ~.
Christ's Earthly Misslon-The Stupendous
Difficulties Which He Had to Meet and
OyercOme-His Triumph Over Nat
. .,. ure, the Grave and Death.
BROOKLYN, Oct. 24.-Rev. Dr. Talmage
preached this morning at the Tabernacle
from the text John l1:4) 81 have finished
the work which Thou gavest me to do"
The eloquent divine said: ..,.
There is profound satisfaction in the
completion Of anything we have UNDER
taken We lift the capstone with exulta-
ton, while, on the other hand, there is moth
ing more disappointing than, after having
toiled in certain direction, to find that our
time is wasted and our investment profit
less. Christ came to throw up highway
on which the whole world might, if 1t chose,
mount into Heaven. He did it. The foul
mouthed crew who attempted to tread on
Him could not extinguish the sublime salts
faction which He expressed when He said:
81 have finished the work which Thou
gavest me to do"
Alexander the Great was wounded, and
the doctors could not medicate his
wounds, and he seemed to be dying, and in
his dream the sick man saw plant with
peculiar flower, and he dreamed that that
plant was put upon his wound, and that i'm
mediately it was cured. And Alexander,
waking from his dream, told this to the
physician, and the physician wandered out
until he found just the kind Of plant which
the sick man had described, brought it to
him, and the wound was healed.
Well, the human race had been hurt with
the ghastliest Of all wOunds-that of sin. 1t
was the business Of Christ to bring balm
for that wound-the balm Of Divine resto-
ration. In carrying this business to sue
cessful issue the difficulties were stupen-
dous.
In many of our plans we have our friends
20 help US; some to draw sketch of the
plan, others to help US in the execution.
But Christ fought every inch Of His way
against bitter hostility, and amid circum-
stances all calculated to depress and de-
feat. In the first place, His worldly occu-
patton was against Him. I find that He
earned His livelihood by the carpenters
trade-an occupation always TO be highly
regarded and respected. But you know as
well as do, that in order to succeed in any
employment, one must give his entire time
to it, and have to declare that the fatigues
of carpentry W . unfavorable to the exc
cution Of mission which required all men
tai and physical faculties. Through high,
hard, dry, husky, insensate Judaism, to
hew q way for new and glorious dispen-
| satlon was stupendOus undertaking that
was enough to demand all the concentrated
energies even Of Christ We have great
many romantic stories about what men with
physical toll have accomplished in intel
lectual departments; but. you know that
after man has been tOiling all day with
| adze and saw and hammer, plane and axe,
about all he can do Is to rest A weary
body is an unfavorable adjunct to toiling
mind. You whose upbuilding Of a king
dom, or the proclamation Of a new code Of
morals, or the starting Of revolution
| which should upturn all nations, could get
some idea of the indifference Of Chrst's
worldly occupation with His Heavenly mis-
sion. .l- ..
In His fathers shop no more intercourse
was necessary than is ordinarily necessary
| in bargaining with men that hav6Wprk to
do; yet Christ, with hands hard fpGR touch
Of tools Of trade, was called forth t6become
. public speaker, to preadA in the face Of
mobs, while some wept, and some shook
their fists, and some CRASHED upon him with
their teeth, and many wanted Him out of
their way.
To address orderly and respectful assem-
blASes Is not % easy q 1t may seem, but 1t
requires more energy and more force, and
more concentration to address an exasper-
ated mob. The village of Nazareth heard
the pounding Of His hammer, but all the
wide reaches of eternity were to hear the
stroke Of His spiritual upbuilding.
30, also, his habits of dress and Of diet
were against Him. The mighty men Of
Christ's time did not appear in apparel with,
out trinkets and adornments None Of the
Caesars would have appeared In citizens
apparel Yet here was man, here was q
pretended King, who always wore the same
coat. Indeed 1t was far from shabby, for
after he had worn it long while the gam
blers thought it worth raining about, but il
still was far from being On imperial robe
It was coat that any ordinary man might
have worn on any ordinary occasion.
Neither was there any pretension in His
diet No cup-bearer with golden chalice
brought Him wine to drink. On the sea
shore He ate fish, first having broiled II
Himself. No one fetched Him water tc
drink, but bending over the well in Samaril
He begged q drink. He sat at only one
banquet, and that not at all sumptuous, for
TO relieve the awkwardness of tho host, ont
Of the guests had to prepare wine for thu
company.
Other Kings ride in o chariot; He walked
Other Kings as they advance have herald'
| nj ovv,1a,,dtnn oyhincta hnhinh
Christ's retinue was made up OF sunburnet
fishermen. Other Kings sleep under EN-
broidered canopy; this one on shelterles'
hill. Riding but once, as far as / now re
member--on q colt, and that borrowed.
Again, His poverty was against Him. 1
requires money to build great enterprises
Men of means ore afraid Of pennies
protector, lest Q loan be demanded. 1t re
Quires money TO print books, build institu
tons, to pay instructors. No wonder tn
wise men Of Christ's time laughed at thi
pcnniless Christ. "Why," they said, "wh'
Is to pay for this new rehgiona Who Is +
charter the ships 10 carry the missionaries
Who Is 10 pay the salaries Of the teachers
Shall wealthy Judaism be discounted by
penniless Christf'
The consequence was that most Of tn
people that followed Christ had nothing Il
lose. Wealthy Joseph, OF Arimathea, bur
led Christ, but he risked no social position
In doing that. II is always safe TO bury
dead man. Zaccheu risked no wealth o
social position in following Christ, but too
position in tree to look down as H
passed. Nicodemus, wealthy Nicodemus
risked nothing Of social position in follow
ing Christ, for he skulked BY night to TIN
Him.
All this was against Christ. So the fac
that He was not regularly graduated wa
| against Him II man comes with the d
plomss Of colleges and schools and theoloe
| ical seminaries, and he has been throug