The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-04-15
CLOSE OF THE CENTURY.
TRELAsTDECAD TO BE THE MOST
DECISIVE IN HISTORY.

Seven In Gods Favor-Great Events
of the Last Decade in Previous Gem
turtles.
BROOKLYN, April l4-At the Brooklyn
tabernacle to-day, after expounding pas
sages descriptive of the world as it shall be
when gospelized, DIR. Talmage gave out the
| hymn;
People and realms Of every tongue
Dwell on bis love with sweetest song.
Text, Revelations xix, A. "Amen; Allie
lula"
The nineteenth century is departing.
| After it has taken a few more steps if each
year be step, it will be gone into the
eternitles In short time we shall be in the
last decade OF this century, which lct makes
| the solemueSt book outside the Bible the
almanac, and the most suggestive and the
| most tremendous piece of machinery in ALI
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 chrouolo-
| gies. | am glad it is not to come
| immediately, for we need by n 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 ia
arbitraryl Oh, no; in other ages the
divisions of time may have been arbitrary.
but our years date from Christ Doe; nnv
one say that the grouping OF ten together IL
an arrangement arbitraryl On, no; next
| TO the figure seven, ten is with God favor
| ite number. Abraham dwelt ton Years i'm
Canaan. Ten righteous men would have
saved Sodom. In the ancient tabernacle
| were ten curtains, their pillars ten
and their sockets ten. In the ancient
temple were ten LAYERS and ten candesticks
and ten tables and IA molten sea Of ten
| cubits. And the commandments wrttteu
on the granite Of Mount Sinai we're 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 shall reign
over ton cities, and In the effort TO take the
| census OF the New Jerusalem the number
ten swings around the thousands. CRYING
Ten thousand times ten thousandn Sol
come to look toward the closing ton years
| Of the nineteenth century with an in
tensity of interest 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, il must be In
the last decade Of the fifteenth century.
namely, l492. Was free constitutional
government to be well established in
America. the last years Of the eighteenth
century must achieve 1t. We're three cities
to be submerged by one pitch Of scorie,
| Heroulaneum, and Strabia9 and Pompeii in
the latter part Of the first century must
60 under. Tho fourth century closed
| with the most agitatinR eccesi-
astical war Of history, Urban
the Sixth against Clement the Seventh.
Alfred tho Ggeat closes the ninth century.
and Edward Ironsides the Eleventh century
with their resounding deeds The Sixteenth
century closed with the establishment OF
| religious Independence in the United Meth
erlands. Aye, almost every century has
had its peroration of overtowerinR
achievements. As the closing years OF
the centuries seem a favorite time for
great scenes Of emancipation or disaster.
and as the number ten seems a favorite
number In the scriptures, written by di.
| vine direction, and as we are soon To euIeE
upon the last ten years of the nineteenth
century, what does the world proposel
What does the church OF Christ proposei
What do reformers proposel / know not;
| but now in the presence OF this consecrated
assembly ! propose that we make ready,
| get all our batteries planted and all our
plans well laid in what remains of this
decade, and then in tho last decade Of the
nineteenth century march up aud take this
round world for God
When say we, mean the Eve hundred
| million christians now alive But. az MANY
Of them will not have enough heart for the
| work lot us copy Gideon and as he had
| thirty-two thousand men in his army to
fight the Midianites, but many OF tnem
were not made OF the right stuff, and he
promulgated military order saving,
"Whosoever is fearful and afraid lei
him return and depart early from
| Gilead,n and twenty-five thousand yyers
afraid Of getting hurt and went
home and only ten thousand were left,
and God told them that even this re.
duced number was too large a number. foI
/ rtfer IA fbiulr fhaxy ha.I
| pendent Of divine help, and so the number
must be stu further reduced, and only
| those should be kept in the ranks who. 10
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 ~ theiI
left hand and only 300 men did that. aud
those 300 men with the battle shout "fns
sword Of the Lord and of Gideon" scat
tered the Midianites like leaves in an
equinox, so out Of the five hundred million
nominal christians Of to-day let all DO
levers and towards 20 home aud get out Of
| tine way. And suppose we have only four
hundred million left, suppose only two hu1-
dred million left, suppose only one hundred
million left, Yea, suppose we only have
fifty million left, with them we will UNDER
| take 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 strongh In tho other, LEI
uE with the cry, "Tho sword OF the Lord
and Of Gideon" the sword OF the Lord aud
OF John Knox, the sword OF the Lord and
Of Matthew Simpson. tho sword Of the
Lord and OF Bishop McIlvaine the sword
OF the Lord and Of Adoniram Juds1n, the
sword Of the Lord aud Of Martin Lnsher,
| 70 into tho last decade Of the nineteeuth
| century.
Is it audacious for me 20 propose NJ oh,
| no; captive servant in the XII chen oi
| Naanan tOld the commander Ia chief
where he could get rid OF the blotcnes
Of bis awful leprosy and his complexion DO
! came as fair as babes. And didn't Chl1si
IN order 10 take the ophthalmia ouJ OF The
| eyes Of the blind man use mixture VI
| spittle and dustg And who showed Ruc et
a short cut for is army SO that ins cad Of
taking the regular road by which h5 would
have come up too late, he cane up 10
time 30 save Waterloo aud Euroyel Was
| IL not an unknown lad, who perhaps could
not write his own namel And so "nhc
am less than the least Of oil saints" pr0pose
a short cut TO victory and am wiliin to be
the expectoration on some blind eye aud
tell some of the brigader general Of the
| Lord of host how this leprosled world may
| in the final decade OF the nineteenth cen
/ turV have its neah cona agaiu A. fba 0a1k