Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-12-01

Souls Tor hDd. l am gIau tlhl Tue tnlCl
work Of the church in this day is being
done by the men of one talent. Once in
awhile. when a great fortress is TO be
taken. God will bring out a great field
piece and rake all with the fiery hail of
destruction. But common muskets do
most of the hard fiyht.rg 1t took only
Il Joshua and the thousands Of common
troops under him TO drive down the walls
Of cities, and under wrathful strokes to
make nations fly like sparks from the
anvil. II only took one Luther fer Ger
many, one Zwinglius for Switzerland,
one John Knox for Scotland, II Calvin
for France, and one John Wesley Tor
England. Dorcas as certainly has a mis-
sion to serve as Paul has a mission TO
preach. The two mites dropped by the
widow into the poor box will be az much
applauded as the endOwmcntof q college,
which gets q mans name into ne news
papers. The man who kindlcd he tie
under the burnt Offering in the ancient
temple had a duty as imperative as that
Of the high priest. in magnificent robes,
walking into the Holy Of Holes under
the cloud Of Jehovan's presence. YES,
the men with one talent are 70 save the
"ollAAs VI IL w. ~ y '
The men with five or ten talents are
tempted to toll chiefly for themselves, TO
build up their own great name, and work
for their " ACKNOWLEDGMENT, Il do
nothing for the alienation Of the worlds
woes. The cedar Of Lebanon standing
on the mountain seems 10 hand down the
storms out of the heavens 10 the earth,
but it bears n9 fruit. while some dwarf
800, t~,. bnr. nA,, E.r,fs nN tfS branches
than il can carry. Better 10 have one
talent and put il TO full use than five
hundred wickcdly neglected,
THE DAY or SETTLEMENT, ETC.
Ny subject teaches me that there is
going to come a day of solemn settlement.
When the old farmer Of the text got
home, he Immediately called AL the ser
wants about him AID said: Here is the
little account | have been keeping. !
want 10 see our account, n we viii
first compar them, and III pay you
what ] owe you, and you'N pay me what
you w me Let us have IA settlement.
The day will come when the Lord Jesus
Christ will appear, and will say to you;
What have you been doing with my
property? What have YOU been doing
with my faculties What have YOU been
doing with what | gave you for accumu
lative purposes?'' There will be no es-
cape from the settlement. Sometimes
YOU cannot get a settlement with a man,
especially if he owes you. He %postpones
and procrastinates, and says: I'm see
YOU next week" or 'Ill see you next
month" The fact is, he does not want
to settle. But when the great day comes
of which | am speaking, there will be no
escape. We will have to face all bills. |
have sometimes been amazed to see how
an accountant will run up or down a
long line of figures. If | see ten or fifteen
figures in a line, and | attempt to add
them up, and | add them two or three
times, ! make them diiferent each time,
But | have admired the way an account
ant will take a long line Of figures, and
without a single mistake, and with great
celebrity, the aggregate. Now,
in the last great settlement, there WILL be
a correct account presented. Cod has
kept "A long line Of Uns, a
long line Of broken Sabbaths, a
long line Of profane words, a long line OF
discarded ~sacraments, a long line OF mis-
improved privileges, They will all be
added up, aud before angels, and devils,
and men, the aggregate Will be announc-
ell. Oh, that will DC the
GREAT DAY OF SETTLEMENT.
have to ask the question: Am |
ready for it2" II is of more importance
to me TO answer that question in regard
10 yourself than in regard to me. Every
woman for herself in that day. IF thou
be wise. thou shalt be wise for thyself; il
thou soonest, thou alone shall bear IT,
We are apt to speak of the last day as an
occasion Of vocifcration-a great demon
stration Of power and pomp; but there
will be on that day, | think, a few
moments OF entire silence. | think a
tremendous, an overwhelming silence. |
think it will be such Il silence as the
earth never heard. 1t will be at the mo
ment when all nations are listening for
their doom.
/ learn also from this parable of the
text that our degrees of happiness IN
heaven will be graduated according TO
| our degrees Of usefulness on earth. Sew
eral of the commentators agree IN making
| this parable the same one as in Luke,
where one man was made ruler over HVe
cities and another made ruler over two
cities. Would il be fair and right that
the professed Christian man who has hved
very near the line between the world and
! the church-the man who has often com
| promised his Christian character-th
man who has never spoken out Tor God
the man who has never been known as
Christian only on communion days-the
man whose great struggle has been to see
how much of the world he could get ana
| yet win heavens it right to suppose
! that that man will have as grand and
glorious q seat in heaven as the man who
| gave all his energies Of body, mind and
| soul to the service of God? The dying
thief entered heaven, but not with the
same startling acclaim as that which
| greeted Paul, who had gone under scorch
| ings, and across dungeons. and through
~maltreatments into the kingdom of glory
One star differs from another star II
glory, and they who toll nightly 10
Christ on earth shall have a far create
reward than those who have rendere'
only half a service.
REWARD THAT WATTS.
Some of you are Fastening on towar
the reward Of the righteous. ] want
cheer you up at the thought that ther
will be. some kind of a reward waiting fo
you. There are Christian people in thl
house who are very near heaven Ihl
week some of you may pass out into tn
light of the unsetting sun. ] saw a bin
man going along the road with his staff