Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1892-02-06


half hours. Tell me the history of
your half hours and will tell you
the story of your whole life ON earth
and the story of your whole life i'll
eternity. The right or wrong things
you can think in thirty minutes. the
right or wrong things you can say in
thirty minutes, the right or wrong
things YOU can do in thirty minutes
are glorious or baleful, inspiring or
desperate. Look out for the frag
ments of time They are pieces of
eternity.
1t was the half hours between shoe
ing horses that made Elihu Burritt
the learned blacksmith, the half
hours between professional calls as n
physician that made Abercromhie the
Christian philosopher, the half hours
between his duties as schoolmastcr
that made Salmon p. Chase chief jus
tice, the half hours between shoe
lasts that made Henry Wilson vice
president of the United States. the
half hours between canal boats that
made James A. Garfield president.
The half hour day for good books
or bad books, the half hour Il day for
prayer or Incidence, the half hour a
day for helping others or blasting
others, the half hour before You go
to business, and the half hour after
you return from business: that
makes the difference between the
scholar and the ignoramus. between
the Christian and the infidel, be-
tween the saint and the demon. he
tween triumph and catastrophe. be-
tween heaven and hell The most
tremendous things of Your life and
mine We're certain half hours.
The half hour when in the parSon-
age of country minister | resolved
to become a Christian then and there
the half hour when decided To he
come preacher of the Gospel; the
half hour when | realized that my
son was dead; the half hour when
stood on the top of my house i'll Ok
ford street and saw our church burn !;
the half hour i'll which | entered
Jerusalem; the half hour i'll which
ascended Mount Calvary; the half
hour in which | stood on Mars hill {:
the half hour i'll which the dedicatory
prayer of this temple was made. and
about ten or fifteen other half hours
are the chief times of my life.
You may forget the name of the
exact years or most of the important
events of your existence. but those
half hours. like the half hour of my
text, will he immortal do not
query what you will do with the
twentieth century. do not query
what YOU will do with 1892. but
what will you do with the next half
houri Upon that hinges your dies
tiny And during that some of you
will receive the Gospel and make
complete surrender. and during that
others of you will make final and
fatal rejection of the full and free
and urgent and impassioncd offer of
life eternal.
oh. that the next half hour might
be the most glorious thirty minutes
of your earthly existence. Far back
in history great geographer stood
with sailor looking at a globe
that represented our planet. and he
pointed to place on the globe where
he thought there was an undiscov-
cred continent The undiscovered
Tho
rapher who pointed where he
thought there was new world was
Martin Behaim. and the sailor to
whom he showed it was Columbus
This last was not satisfied till he had
picked that gem out of the sea and
set it in the crown of the worlds
geography.
Oh, ye, who have been sailing up
And down the rough seas of sorrow
and sin, let me point out to you an
other continent. yea. another world.
that You may yourselves find Il rap
turous world. and that is the world a
half hour of which we now study
Oh, set sail for it, Here is the ship
and here are the compasses. In other
words, make this half hour. begin
ming at twenty minutes of twelve by
my watch, the grandest half hour of
your life and become a Christian.
Pray for a regenerated spirit.
Louis XIV. while walking i'll the
garden at Versailles. met Mansard,
the great architect. and the architect
took off his hat before the king.
Put on your hat" said the king.
''for the evening is damp and cold "
And Mansard the architect. the rest
of the evening kept on his hat. The
dukes and marquis".' standing with
bare heads before the king expressed
their surprise at Mansard. but the
king said. Il can make duke or Il
marquis, but God only can make Il
Mansard And say to you. my
hearers, God only by his convicting
and converting grace can make Il
Christian, but he is ready this very
half hour to accomplish it.
\ STUDY OF HEAVEN.
h@oiis tN-Nb StArSStSAR "a NRH va
studying heaven SO that we can bet
ter understand it. The word "eterni-
ty" that we handle so much Is an
immeasurable word. Knowing that
we could not understand that word
the Bible uses it only once. We say
Forever and ever" But how long
is Forever and everi" am glad that
my text puts under our eye heaven
for thirty minutes As when you
would see great picture. you put II
sheet of paper into a scroll and look
through it, or join your foreiinger to
your thumb and look through the
circle between, and the picture be
comes more intense, so this master
piece of heaven by St John is more
impressive when we take only thirty
minutes of it at a time.
Now we have something that we