Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-01-11

thon, who took learned professors chair
at twenty one years of Luther who had
conquered Germany for the Reformation
by the time he was thirty five years. And
it is ~ very well for us to show how early
in lile one can do very great things for God
and the welfare of the world, but some of
the mightiest work for God has been done
by septuagenarians and octGgenarians and
nOnagenarians Indeed, there is work
which none but such can do. They pre-
serve the equipoise of senates, of religious
denominations of reformatory movements.
Young men for action, old men for coun-
sci. Instead of any Of you beginning to
foldIp your energies, arouse anew your
energies With the experience you have
obtained and the opportunities of ohserva-
ton you have had during long life. you
ought to be able to do in one year now
more than you did in ten years right after
you had passed out of your teens Physical
power less, your spiritual power ought to
be more. Up to the last hour Of their lives
what power for good old DR. Archibald
Alexander, old DR. Woods, old Dr.. Halves,
old DR. Minor, old DR. Mcllvaine, old DR..
Tying, old DR. Candlsh old DR.. Chalmersl
What have been Bismarck to Germany,
and Gladstone to England, and Oliver
an advanced age? Let me say to those in
the afternoon OF life: Don't be putting Off
the harness. when God wants it off he will
take it off. Don't be frightened out Of.
life by the grip as many are. At the first
sneeze of an influenza many give up all as
lost. No new terror has come on the earth.
The microbes as the cause of disease were
described in the Talmud seventeen hun
dred years ago as "invisible legions of dan
gerous ones" Don't be scared out of life
by all this talk about heart failure. That
trouble has always been in the world.
That is what all the people that ever
passed out Of this life have died of-heart
failure. Adam had it and all of his de
scendants have had it or will have it, Do
not be watching for symptoms or you viii
have symptoms of everything. Some Of
you will yet die of symptoms. Symptoms
are often only what we sometimes see in
the country-a dead owl nailed on a barn
door to scare living owls. Put your trust
in God, go to bed at ten O'clock have the
window open six inches to let in the fresh
air, sleep on your right side, and fear moth
ing. The old maxim was right, Get thy
spindle and distaff ready, and God will
send the flax"
81 SEE THE SHADOW MOVE"
But while looking at this sundal of
Ahaz and | see the shadow of it move | no
tice that it went back toward the sunrise
instead of forward toward the sunset-to
ward the morning instead of toward the
night. That thing the world is willing
now to do, and in many cases has done. |
There have IA great many things been writ
ten and spoken about the sunset of life, /
have said some of them myself But my
text suggests Il better idea The Lord who
turned back that day from going toward
shutdown and started it toward sunrise is
willing to do the same thing for all of us
The theolOgians who stick to old religious |
technicalties until they become sopOrfics |
would not call it anything but conversion !
| call it change from going toward sun |
down to going toward sunrise. That man
who never tries to unbuckle the clasp of !
evil habit and who keeps all the sins of the |
past and the present freightng him and |
who ignores the one redemption made by |
the only one who could redeem, if that man |
will examine the sundial he will find thaO
the shadow is going forward and he is on /
the way to shutdown. His day is on the |
road to night All the watches that tick, |
all the clocks that strike, all the sand !
glasses that empty themselves, all the |
shadows that move on all the sundials in
dictate the approach of darkness. But now,
in answer to prayer, as in my text the |
change was in answer to prayer, the par
doning Lord reverses things and the man |
starts toward sunrise instead of sunset. .
He turns the other way. The captain Of |
salvation gives him the military command, /
"Attention Right about iaCe" He was |
marching toward Indifference, marching
toward hardness of heart, marching to-
ward prayerlessness, marching toward sin, .
marching toward gloom, marching toward |
death. Now he turns and marches toward |
peace, marches toward light and marches
toward comfort and marches toward high
hope and marches toward a triumph stu
pendous and everlasting, toward hosannas
that ever hoist and halleIujuhs that ever
roll Now if that is not the turning of the
shadow on the dial of Ahaz from going to-
ward shutdown to going toward sunrise
what is it?
DAYBREAK ON THE MOUNTAINS.
| have seen day break over Mount Blame