Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-04-25
SUNDAYS SERMON.
r Of REV. DIR TALMAGE6
W. srERLING DISCOURSES
,,;ect: rounding up the Century


,r he step. it will be gone into the eterni-
70 In a short time we shall be in the last
lsosde If this century, which fact makes the
uslemnest book outside the Bible the al
Ssnac and the most suggestive and the
- tremendous piece of machinery in all
y. ~ sarth the clock The last decade of this
I'm unon which we shall soon enter will
e he grandest. mightiest and most
g,.sre decade in all the chronologies. am
"a Il is not TO come Immediately, for we
- bv new baptism of the Holy Ghost to
nssnqre for it. That last ten years of the
Eiaeteenth century, may we all live to see
.Ssml Does any one say that this division
4 time is arbitrary? oh, no; in other ages
~ divisions Of time may have been arbi-
.-.rr but our years date from Christ. Does
sny one saw that the grouping of ten together
Z N arrangement arbitrary? Oh, no; next
u the figure seven, ten is with God a favorite
srnher Abraham dwelt ten years in
csanan. Ten righteous men would have
ssvsd Seldom In the ancient tabernacle were
IAN curtains. their pillars ten and their sock
- fen In the ancient temple were ten Law
49, md ten candlesticks and ten tables and a
rolten sea of ten cubits And the command
rsrts written on the granite of Mount
Sinai we're ten, and the Kingdom of God was
5Eeued to ten virgins, and ten men should lay
Nh Of him that was Jew, and the reward
4 fac greatly faithful is that they shall reign
aver ten cities, and in the effort to take the
rsrsls Of the New Jerusalem the number ten
wings around the thousands, crying 60 ten
tEonsands times ten thousands So / come
h ook toward the closing ten years of the
Nineteenth century with an intensity of in
terest can hardly describe.
Ihaye also noticed that the favorite time
in many Of the centuries for great events was
tbs closing fragment of the century. Is
America to be discovered, it must be 10 the
ht decade of the Fifteenth century, namely,
M Was free constitutional government 30
h well established in America. the last years
n the Eighteenth century must achieve it.
We're three cities to be submerged by one
ptch Of Noria. Herculaneum and Strabim
and POmpeii in the latter part of the First
century must go under The Fourth cen
hry closed with the most agitating eeclesi-
Ntcal war Of history, Urban the Sixth
sgainst Clement the Seventh Alfred the
Great closes the Ninth century and Edward
Ironsdes the Eleventh century with their re-
pmding deeds. The Sixteenth century closed
with the establishment of religious in
iependence in the United Netherlands. Ave.
4nost every century has had its peroration
doyertowering achievements. As the clos
ng years of the centuries seem a favorite
time for great scenes of emancipation or dis
sser and as the number ten seems a favor
lie 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
tlry what does the world proposes What
does the church of Christ propose? What do
retormers proposey | know not: but now in
The presence of this consecrated. assembly /
propose that we make ready. get all our bat
eres planted and all our plans well laid in
what remains of this decade. and then in the
last decade OF the Nineteenth century march
Pand take this round world for God.
When | say we, l mean the five hundred
million Christians now alive But, as many
" them will not have enough heart for the
SOrk let us copy Gideon, and as he had thirty
,Eo thousand men in his army to fight the
MidanteS but many of them were not made
the right stuff and he promulgated mill
ary order saying: Whosoever is fearful
md afraid let him return and depart early
Irom Gilead and twenty-five thousand
we're afraid of getting hurt and went
home and only ten thousand were left and
iod told them that even this reduced number
vas too large a number, for they might think
hey had triumphed independent of divine
help and 50 the number must be still further
reduced and only those should be kept in the
tank who in passing the river should be so
haste for victory over their enemies that
mough very thirsty, they would without
aoppng second Just scoop up the water
q the palm of their right hand and
cop up the water in the palm of their
Ell hand, and only three hundred men did
nat and those three hundred men with the
altle shout THE sword Of the Lord and of
lldeon. scattered the Midianites like leaves
y an equinox, so out of the five hundred mil
4n nominal Christians of to-day let all UNI
believers and towards go home and get out
atne way. And suppose we have only four
eunared million left, suppose only two hun
ma million left, suppose only one hundred
ni Ii left, yea, suppose we only have fifty
allloneft with them we viii undertake the
aHle crusade, and each one Just scooping up
ipamfull of the river of Gods mercy in one
aand and palm full of the river of Gods
M sTn IN the other, let us with the cry,
Inc sword of the Lord and Gideon" the
f1ofd of the Lord and of John Knox, the
Nofqot the Lord and of Matthew Simpson,
Eord of the Lord and of Bishop Nell
tile, The sword of the Lord and of Adoniram
ssulsoh, the sword Of the Lord and of Martin
A'aef SO into the last decade of the Nine
tenth century
M audacious for me to propose it? Oh.
y captive servant in the kitchen of
sanan told the commauder-in-chief where
Y could get rid OF the blotches of his awful
NHesy and his complexion became as fair as
sa0es. And didn't Christ in order to take
= 0phthaimia out of the eyes of the blind
lan use mixture of spittle and dusts And
'lS showed Blucher short cut for his army,
S'nat instead of the regular road by which
would have come up too late, he came up
une to save Waterloo and Europeg
va u not an unknown lad, who perhaps
S 1l not write his own names And so |,
Alo am less than the least of all saints"
upose short cut to victory and am willing
oe the expectoration ON some blind eye
Tl iel some of the brigadier generals of the
~ nra Of host how this leprosied world may in
~ maj n. decade of the Nineteenth century
little child
AZ there anything in prophecy to hinder
q - speedy consummations No. Some one
~ slk to quote from Daniel about ''time,
~ 49, ana a half time, and takes from Re
!, e-tiOn the seven trumpets blowing them all
49, Ol i m my ear. But with utmost rever-
a. take up all the prophecies and hold
S.s coward heaven and say God never
e.. ana never will stop consecrated
ra ny and holy determination and
- llhcent resolve and that if
m church OF God viii rise up to its
~ Nofk 1t can make Daniels time
MI, .s.l years and his half time ten years
y. Isaiah, nor Ezekiel, nor Micah,
Z !, Malachi, nor Jeremiah, nor any
/, '.e MAJOR OF minor prophets viii hinder
~. second. Suppose the Bible had an
SS Sleeq the millennium to begin the year
u that would be no hindranee In
-. sense God never changes His mind,