The Brookhaven leader., 1889-04-25
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Gradual Rounding Up of the
Nineteenth Century.
rhe Golden Opportunities of the Present
are Ours; the Future We May Notl
Count Upon Unless We Make
Preparation for 1t.


The pineteenth century IL departing.
After 1t has taken a few more steps, If
each year be step, 1t will be gone into
the eternities. In a short time we shall
be in the last decade of this century.
which fact makes the sulrnnest book ont.
SIDE the Bible the almanac, and the most
suggestive aud the most tremendous
piece OF machinery in all the earth
the clock. The last decade of this
century, upon which we shall soon
enter, will be the grandest, nights
est and most decisive decade in all
tie chronologles. am glad 1t is not to
come Immediately, for we need by new
baptism of the Holy Ghost to prepare for
1t. That last ten years of the nineteenth
century-may we all live to see them!
Does any one say that this di-
vision of time Is arbitrary? Oh,
no; in other ages the divisions
OF time may have been arbitrary, but our
years date from Christ Does any one
say that the groupings of ten together is
an arrangement arbitrary Oh, no; next
to the figure seven, ten is with God IA.
vorite number. Abraham dwelt ten years
in Canaan. Ten righteous men would
have saved Sodom. In the ancient taber-
nacle there were ten curtains, their bill
lars ten and their sockets ten. In the
ancient temple were ten LAYERS and ten
candle-sti and ten tables and a molten
sea OF ten cubits. And the command.
ments written on the granite of Mount
Sinai were ten, and the Kingdom of God
was likened to ten virgins, and ten men
should lay hold Of him that was Jew,
and the reward Of the greatly faithful is
that they should reign over ten cities, and
in the effort to take the census of the New
Jerusalem the number ten swings round
the thousands, crying; "ten thousand
times ten thousand" So l come to look
toward the closing ten years OF the nine-
teenth century with an intensity of inter.
est can hardly describe.
have also noticed that the favorite
time in many of the centuries for great
events was the closing fragment of the
century. Is America to be discovered, it
must be in the last decade of the fifteenth
century, namely, 1892. Was free consti-
tutional government to be we'll estab-
Hshed in America, the last years of the
eighteenth century must achieve it. Were
three cities to be submerged by one pitch
OF scorie, Herculaneum and Strabi8 and
Pompeii in the latter part of the first cent
ury must go under. The fourth century
closed with the most agitating ecclesias-
teal war of history. Urban the Sixth
against Clement the Seventh. Alfred the
Great closes the ninth century aud Ell.
ward lrOnsides the eleventh century with
their resounding deeds. The six
teenth century closed with the es-
tablishment of religious inde-
pendence in the United Netherlands.
Aye. almost every century has had its
peroration of overtowering achieve
ments. As the closing years of the cent
uries seem a favorite tins for great
scenes Of emancipation or disaster, and
as the number ten seems a favorite num-
Der in the Scriptures, written by Divine
direction, and as we are soon to enter
upon the last ten years Of the nineteenth
century, what does the world proposey
What does the Church of God propose?
What do reformers propose: | know
not; but now in the presence of this con-
secrated assembly, | propose that we
make ready, get all our batteries planted
and all our plans we'll laid in what re-
mains Of this decade, and then in the last
decade OF the nineteenth century march
up and take this rough world for Col.
When say we, mean the five hundred
million Christians now alive. But as
many OF them will not have enough heart
for the work, let US copy Gideon, and as
he had thirtytwo thousand men in his
army to fight the Midianites, but many of
them were not made of the right stuff,
and he promulgated a military order'
saying: ''Whosoever is fearful and
afraid let him return and depart early
from Gilead," and twenty-five thousand
were afraid Of getting hurt and went
home, and only ten thousand were left,
and God told them that even this reduced
number was too large number, for they
might think they had triumphel inde-
pendent Of Divine help, and SO the num-
Der must be still further reduced, and
only those should be kept in the ranks
who in passing the river should be so IN
haste for victory over their enemies that,
though very thirsty, they would without
stopping a second just scoop up the water
in the palm of their right hand and scoop
up the water in the palm of their left
hand, and only three hundred men did that.
and those three hundred men, with
the battle shout 1.-The sword Of
the Lord and Of Gideon" scattered
the Mechanics like leaves in an
equinox, so out Of five hundred million
nominal Christians of to-day let all un-
believers and towards go home and get
out of the way. And suppose we have
four hundred million left, suppose only
two hundred million left, suppose one hun
dred million left, yea, suppose we have
only fifty million left, with them We will
undertake tho Divine crusade, and each
one just scooping up palm full of the
river of Gods mercy in one hand and
palm full of Gods strength in the other,
let us with the cry, "The sword of the
Lord and of Gideon" the sword of the
I, rrd and of John Knox, the sword of the
Lord and of Matthew Simpson, the sword
OF the Lord and of Bishop McIlvaine, the
sword of the Lord and of Adonirem Jud-
son, the sword of the Lord and of Martin
Luth er, go into the last crusade Of the
nineteenth century.
Supp, 9 the Bible had announced the
millennium to begin the year 1889, that
would be no hinderances In one sense
God never changes His mind. being the
same yesterday, to-day and forever. But
In another sense He does change His mind
and times without number every day, and
that is when His people pray. Didn't He
change His mind about Nineveh? By
Gods command Jonah, at the top of his
voice, while standing on the steps OF tne
Merchants Exchange ana the paialai
residences Of that city, cried out; fet
forty days and Nineveh shall be over
THROWN" Was 1t overthrown In forty
daysi No. The people gave up their SINS
and cried for mercy, and though Jonah
oot mad because his whole course or SER
mons had been spoiled and went Ia dis
graceful pouting, we have the record SO