Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-06
KNOWING THE TIME.
Jerusalem Fell Because It Thought
the Hour Had Not Yet Come.
OPPORTUNITY COMES TO ALL.
Even Temptation Offers the Chance Of q
Coming Out for Right.
THE PRESENT THE ACCEPTED TIME
WRITTEN FOR THE prspArcH.I

able to tell time. To know when it is time
to act and when it is time to wait, when it
is time to speak and when it is time to re-
frain from speaking, is to be possessed of
some of the most valuable knowledge in the
world. Timeliness is part Of the secret oil
all good success.
We have learned great deal about man
when we have discovered how much he can
do in an hour. 1t is only in arithmetic and
on the faces of clocks that an hour is made
up Of 60 minutes. The length Of an hour,
the number of minutes in it, depends not on
any pendulum, but on the heart beats of the
man into whose life it comes. He gets the
most out of life who is able to get the most
number of effective minutes into an hour.
One of the lessons of experience is the
lesson of the value of time 1t is only
people of experience, only those who have
already lived considerable portion of their
life who "know the time"-know how val
liable it is. The longer we live, the more
we realize that the weeks never come back.
"The mill will never grind again with the
water that is past" The book of the Sibyl
Is the book of human life; every page that
is torn out makes the pages that remain
more ValuaDle.
The Value OF Time.
It is wise man who knows what to do
with his time. Time, like money, is valu-
able only for what we can do with it. The
mere occupation of time is no great matter,
but to employ each hour with its most att
vantageous occupation, to do at certain
time exactly what ought to be done at Just
that time-that is where we all make more
or less of a failure of it.
Sunday, for example, comes and goes
week after week without bringing any great
profit to great many people, not because
they have no time-they have "a hours of it
but because they do not "know the time;"
do not know, that is, what to do with the
time. They who have clear definition of
the meaning Of the first day of the week, who
know what Sunday is really for, and who
have learned by experience how to get the
most good out of it. these are the only peo-
pie who understand why the keeping of q
day was set among the Ten Commandments.
To everybody else, that is one of the puz-
zlcs of religion. 1t is no wonder that, in
many peoples estimation, Sunday is the
dullest dav of the seven. 1t is dull because
people do not know what to do with them
selves.
Making the Best of Sunday.
Everybody who wants to make the best
of Sunday, who wants to get good start on
that day to carry him straight through till
Saturday night, who wants to turn day of
dullness into day of daylight, makes ont
for himself an unwritten code Of Sunday
laws. They need not be ''blue laws"
Thus and thus will L occupy my
self upon the Christian holiday.
will go to certain best places: will read
certain best books; 1 will devote myself to
certain worthy deeds. L will be as definitely
employed on Sunday as I am on Monday.
There is no refreshment in laziness No
permanent profit ever grows out of leaving
things to chance. 1t is of little avail for a
man to guess at the time. We ought to
"know" the time.
Time is only another name for oppor-
tunity. To know the time is to recognize
the opportunity. And that recognition de-
pends on preparation. Unprepared people,
people who leave things to
chance, ignorant people who cannot tell
time, miss all the opportunities. Fore
thought and preparation are the two eyes
with which to see opportunities. The un-
are blind.
Jerusalem Missed Her Opportunity.
There was once a great city which, for
lack of knowledge of the time, fell into
that CITY, did His works of marvel there,
spoke His words of revelation and of bene-
diction there. The city was given every
sort of spiritual chance. 1t seemed for a
that the city would recognize its
opportunity and know the time. AS Jesus
went along the street crowds went along
with Him, before and after, heads were
thrust out of all windows, everybody was
asking 'Who is this?" 'sTh1s is Jesus, the
Prophet of Nazareth. in Galilee," was the
answer. But somehow, after that, the city
seemed to have no further interest. Pres
emily, when Jesus was again conducted
through the streets, not now In triumphal
procession, but as a prisoner, with hands
tied and hostile faces turned against Him,
the city that had asked that question and
got that answer, paid no heed; except that
many of the citizens cried "Crucify Him.
1t was for this that Jesus wept over that
city. The supreme opportunity had come
and been rejected. Jerusalem knew not the
time of her visitation. By and by she paid
the penalty, which in some degree every
city and every individual must pay for lack
of knowledge of the time.
The Judgment of the World.
This is the season of the year at which,
for these many centuries, the thoughts of
Christian people have been especially di-
rected 10 the coming of our Lord. The
in of the harvest suggests that
harvest in which the angels will be the
reapers at the end of the world. The death
of the plants puts sober thoughts into our
hearts. The anniversary of Christ's COM
ing in the old time, taking our flesh upon
Him for our salvation, suggests the antici-
patton of His coming in the unknown new
time, in power and great glory, for the
Judgment of the world.
But all the circumstances of that second
coming are overhung with mystery. Moth
ing is seen clearly. When it will be, where
It will be, how it will be, we may ask as
ong as we will; there is no answer. Even !
n what is recorded, the line between |
prophecy and symbol is so family drawn |
hat no man knows the real meaning. We |
know that some time the Lord Christ will |
De the ruler of all the nations of the earth. |
We know that some time there will be.a |
livision between the evil and the good. |
We know that whatsoever man soeth that |
le shall also-some time-reap. We know |
hat "God does not pay at the end of the |
week, but He pays!''
The Time Is Not Set.
The time of this inevitable payment, |
however, is not that time of which St. Paul |
avs that all good people ought to know it.
knowing the time mas no application |
lere. SIT is not for you to know the times |
II the seasons, which the Father hath put
n His own power"
The best time for us to think about, the |
,est time for us to get acquainted with, to
NOW, is now. The coming of Christ that
We ought most to dwell upon is His coming
low.
A good while ago some people in Thessa-
onica were so much occupied in studying
he future, in imagining the end of the
world, and the advent of Christ, and the