The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-05-01
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
TIE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: grounding Up the Century,

TEXT: "Amem; Alleluia." Revelations
xix, 4.
The Nineteenth century is departing. At
ter 1t has taken a few more steps, If each
year be step, it will be gone into the eterni-
ties In short time we shall be in the last
decade of this century, which fac. r.akes the
solemnest book outside the Bible the al
manac, and the most suggestive and 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. mightiest and most
decisive decade in all the chronologies. I am
glad it Is not to come Immediately, for we
need by a new baptism of the Holy Ghost to
prepare for it. That last ten years of the
Nineteenth century, may we all live to see
them Does any one say that this division
of time is arbitrary? Oh, no; in other ages
the divisions Of time may have been arbi-
trary, but our years date from Christ Does
any one say that the grouping Of ten together
is an arrangement arbitrary? Oh, no; next
to the figure seven, ten is with God favorite
number. Abraham dwelt ten years in
Caanan. Ten righteous men would have
saved Sodom. In the ancient tabernacle were
ten curtains, their pillars ten and their sock
cts ten. In the ancient temple were ten Law
ers and ten candlesticks and ten tables and q
molten sea of ten cubitS. And the command
| ments written on the granite of Mount
Sinai were ten, and the kingdom Of God was
ikened to ten virgins, and ten men should lay
hold Of him that was a Jew, and the reward
| of the greatly faithful is that they shall reign
over ten cities, and in the effort to take the
census Of the New Jerusalem the number ten
swings around the thousands, crying s'ten
! thousands times ten thousands" So I come
to look toward the closing ten years of the
Nineteenth century with an intensity of in
terest 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 constitutional government to
be well established in America, the last years
Of the Eighteenth century must achieve it.
Were three cities to be submerged by one
pitch of scorife, Herculaneum and Strabi9
and Pompeii in the latter part Of the First
century must go under. The Fourth GEN.
tury closed with the most agitating ecclest-
astical war of history, Urban the Sixth
against Clement the Seventh. Alfred the
Great closes the Ninth century and Edward
ronsides the Eleventh century with their re-
sounding deeds. The Sixteenth century closed
with the establishment of religious in
dependence in the United Netherlands. Aye,
almost every century has had its peroration
of overtowering achievements. As the clos
ing years of the centuries seem a favorite
time for great scenes of emancipation or dis
aster, and as the number ten seems a favor
ite number in the Scriptures, written by di-
vine direction, and as we are soon to enter
upon the last ten years of the Nineteenth cen
tury, what does the world propose? What
does the church of Christ propose? What do
reformers propose? I know not; but now in
the presence of this consecrated assembly
propose that we make ready. get al our bat
teries planted and all our plans well laid i'll
what remains Of this decade, and then in the
last decade of the Nineteenth century march
up and take this round world for God.
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 thirty
two thousand men in his army to fight the
Midianites but many of them were not made
of the right stuff and he promulgated mill
tary 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 a number, for they might think
they had triumphed Independent of divine
help, and so the number 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
stopping 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 MidianiteS like leaves
in an equinox, so out of the five hundred mil
lion nominal Christians of to-day let all I'M
believers and towards go home and get out
Of the way. And suppose we have only four
hundred million left, suppose only two hum
dred million left, suppose only one hundred
million left, yea, suppose we only have fifty
million left, with them we will undertake the
divine crusade and each one just scooping up
palm full of the river of Gods mercy in one
| hand and palm full of the river of Gods
| strength in the other, let US with the cry,
''The sword of the Lord and Gideon the
sword of the Lord and of John Knox, the
sword of the Lord and of Matthew Simpson,
| the sword of the Lord and of Bishop Nell
vaine the sword of the Lord and Of Adoniram
Judson, the sword of the Lord and Of Martin
Luther, 60 into the last decade of the Nine
teenth century.
Is it audacious for me to propose it? Oh,
| no; a captive servant in the kitchen of
Naaman told the commander-in-chief where
| he could get rid of the blotches of his awful
leprosy and his complexion became as fair as
babes. And didn't Christ in order to take
| the ophthalmia out of the eyes of the blind
man use mixture of spittle and dust? And
who showed Blucher Short cut for his army,
so that instead of the regular road by which
he would have come up zoo late, he came up
| in time to save Waterloo and Europe?
| Was it not all unknown lad, who perhaps
! could not write his own name? And so L,
"who am less than the least Of all saints"
propose a short cut to victory and am willing
| to be the expectoration on some blind eye
and tell some of the brigadier generals of the
| Lord of host how this leprosied world may in
| the final decade of the Nineteenth century
| have its flesh come again as the flesh Of
| little child
Is there anything in prophecy to hinder
this speedy cons:lmmation? No. Some one
begins to quote from Daniel about slime,
times and a half time" and takes from Re
velation the seven trumpets blowing them all
at once in my ear. But with utmost rever-
ence take.up all the prophecies and hold
them toward heaven and say God never
effort and holy determination and
magnificent resolve, and that if
the church of God will rise up to its
full work it can make Daniels time
twenty years and his half time ten years.
Neither Isaiah, nor Ezekiel, nor Micah,
nor Malachi, nor Jeremiah, nor any
of the major or minor prophets will hinder
us second. suppose the DlDle nau du-
| nounced the millennium to begin the year
$3.50, that would be no hindrance. In
one sense God never changes His mind,
being the same yesterday, to-day and for
ever. 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 the mer-
H. -, {l,4, tso1