Telegram-herald., 1890-07-07
YOUTHFUL HEARERS
Rev. DR.. Graham's Sermon 70
Them Last evening.
LIFE Is A MISSION, sOT 4 CAREER
A Great Subject GFaBdiy HaRdisd-Dis-
Taeli, shaftsbarSs oiadst0ns And
Argyle Point the DInereaee Be
tween Aission ahd Career

Rev. DR.. John Graham addressed
specially the young. at tie Division
street Methodist Church last evening.
Ia point of numbers and interest mani
tested, the congregation maintained the
standard of the former monthly meet
ings al this church.
The text was st. John ix;4. 81 must
work the works of Him that sent me,
while II is day" Some Of the leading
thoughts of the sermon are given be-
low:
"In announcing the line of my
thought, what want 20 bring ont Is
that life is a mission ana not career.
| The text manifestly shows that. Every
! person VINO has ever been affected wiIa
any deep seriousness OF purpose IN lite,
/ has been lm5ued with tile thought.
! Some men regard life as a great gaEie
| 10 be played, and are not particular
about the manner in which the game
proceeds, SO long rs the ont
come is what commonly passes
/ for success. We of this country hssyr
/ been saved from the despotic prlnclpse
| of hereditary rule. We are not asket
| to bow 10 any king. Yet we do reserve
much alteration for men who have sue
/ ceeded. No matter how he hos sue
| ceeded, he IS the heroic man, and has
our alteration. Carlyle, IN his criticism
| OF modern life, has said: One man Is
| crowdlng on another, and woe IS ne
who stops 10 tie up his snoc-string.'
| And SO It really comes about that the
small thing u which we have presumed
to give the large name success, is often
/ contingent upon the accident OF an ua-
! tied shoe.
! "ln order, now, TO arrive most direct
! ly at the lesson | want TO impress to-
night, pass before you some English
/ characters whose careers illustrate the.
contrast | wish to make. First, let me
| bring before you one life that Is a ca
/ reer and not u mission"
! Here the preacher invited MS hearers
! TO 60 III Imagination to the vestibule OF
/ the English Parliament dozen years
| ago. He then pointed out an earl IN an
! imaginary group, and described with
| great cloquence his physical, moral and
intellectual traits. The man was Dis
raeli. "That man was on the crest of
/ power. He is held today in England as
one of her idols. If life is a career, this
would have been one of the most brll-
liant successes of modern history. He
lived for power, and lost it. He lost
| that to which he had devoted his life
The audience were then invited to
/ look upon another earl of the realm.
| when the character and course OF
Shafts ury were vividly portrayed. His
! philanthropy, his brOadand liberal hea =
and mind, his devotion to what was
| pure and high, his eagerness 10 do for
! the unfortunate and wretched, were
! exhibited. "Now put these two men
! together" said he, "and you have my
/ ideals. The one Is my ideal OF a career;
| the other is my ideal of mission"
"TheTe Is stall another character that
| hold out for your examination. The
! best mind of his nation and the best
| mind across the water has declared him
| to be the most colossal man of hIs day"
| Here followed L fine word picture OF
/ William K. Gladstone. He told of has
grandeur and of his simplicity.
''This man." said he, "has held
power, and ne has fallen from power,
but he has held pewer with the con-
sciousness of the truth of the text. In
power or out OF power, he had done the
work of HIM that sent him."
The preacher told his regret that he
was unable to tarry long enough to re-
view the Characteristic life of John
| Bright, and passed TO his last lllustra-
ton in the brilliant life of the Duke of
| Argyle. He showed, with Thrilling elO-
| quence, how the Teyercp$ scientific
pursuits of Argyle had made conquest
! in the natural universe and laid 1t at
the feet of God. Ii was impossible, he
| said, TO look upon any of these three
grand lives in the lightof a mere career.
! The thought of a mission tofultill was IN
/ separable from the contemplation of
/ what these men have been and what
they have done for their fellow-men.
The remainder of the sermon was an
| enforcement, through much wealth of
| illustration, of the two following
points
!. You can toll in the direction of the
best energies OF your life.
.. Iou can follow the highest ideals
that come to your knowledge.
4 single example is given OF the rev.
! crend doctors facility and aDtness of
illustration. He had SAID that "every
man comes at the point Of reflection"
But promising that not every one would
at once perceive hls meaning, he told
the anecdote of Bishop WIlberforce
I being usnercd. once. into Il room whose
wall were completely covered with MIR
rors. Being the only occupant of the
| room. he glanced from one mirror TO
another, but saw everywhere only bis
own double. Afably bOwing and smil-
ing TO All the four walls, a gathering
ofthe clergy.I perceive, said he. Now, -
said the preacher, every man born
into the world comes 10 that identical
point Of reflection. Everything with
winch he has to do paYtakes of ais own
character. If ne himself be an ava
rCi0us man. the world will be 10 him
merely a crowd of m0ney-getters. IF
he be- a self-seeker and politician the
world Will be for him filed with Office
/ seekers. Il be himself b. high-m.nded,
the world wiI be filed WITH men-not
small men with empty and coiorless
careers. hut large men. good men wlth
hlgh and lofty missions % fulfil. BE
not oppressed with fhe thought that
yOu must be doing some large thing n
your small ray. bat 10 the small things
that lie az hand Z a good and noble
wsy"
Atthe close Of the sermon, Dr. era
ham announced q hope that he would
vet have another opp0rtun ~ 90 adj
dress the voHnc before hrs hnal denar-
I iure from Grand Rapids 70 other fields
~ labor- Hls approaching vacation n
I August and BIS departure ln the
autumn. would couspre t0 defeat hls
wsa. vet Be saond endeavor to ind a
+ IaV for 4 l7sf a.r~a nr the srl~7r-t tnat