Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-01-04
THOU SHALT DIE
THIS YEAR. WAS DR. TALMAGE'S THEME
YESTERDAY.
The Eminent Divine Disposed to Serious Rsaec-
ions On the Flight Of Tims-Antsdelayian
longevity and the Short Lives
Of Io-day Compared.


BROOKLYN, N. Y, January 3.-This
morning the Tabernacle congregation,
meeting for the first Sunday service of
he new year, found the pastor disposed
10 serious reflections on the flight Of
lime. The opening hymn gave the key
tote in the familiar words:
Ny DAYS are gliding swiftly by
And l. q pilgrim stranger.
Would not detain them AS they ny,
Those hours OF toll aud danger.
DR.. Talnage read several passages
relating TO antediluvian longevity,
making characteristic comments as he
read, and then preached from the omi-
nous words, Jeremiah 2s;lO-'ThiS year
thou shalt de-"
jeremiah, accustomed TO saying bold
things, addresses Hanauiah in these
words. They prove true. In sixty days
Hananiah had departed this life.
This is the first Sabbath OF the year.
IT is time for review and for anticipa-
tion. A man must be a genius at stu
pidity who does not think now. The
old year died in giving birth to the
new, as the life OF Jane Seymour, the
English queen, departed when that Of
her son, Edward VI, dawned. The
old year was a queen. The new shall
be a king. The grave Of the one and
the cradle OF the other are side by side.
We can hardly guess what the child
viii be. Ii is only two days old, but l
prophesy for it an eventful future.
Year of mirth and madneSS Year OF
pageant and cOnhagration! 1t will
laugh; it will sing; it will groan; it
will die.
Is it not a time for earnest thought?
The congratulations have been given.
The Christmas trees have been taken
down, or have well nigh cast their fruit.
The friends who came for the holidays
are gone In the rail train. While we
are looking forward 20 another twelve
months of intense activities, the text
breaks upon Us like bursting thunder
heal: This year thou shalt die"
The text will probably prove true OF
some of US. The probability is aug
mented by the fact that all of US who
are over thirty-fve years Of age have
gone beyond the average Of human life.
The note is more than due. 1t is only
by sufferance that il is not collected.
Is
''three DAYS grace" of the banks. Our
race started with nine hundred years
for a lifetime.
In the nearly
TWO THOUSAND YEARS
before the flood, considering the lon
gevity Of the inhabitants, there may
have been near.y as many people as
there are now.
AT that time God started the race
with a shorter allowance Of life. The
nine hundred years were hewn down
until, in the time of Nespasian, census
was taken, and only one hundred and
twenty-fCu- persons were found one
hundred years old, and three or four
persons one hundred and forty years
old.
Rapid climate changes threaten our
lives. By reason Of the violent fits Of
the thermometer, within two days we
live both 10 the arctic and the tropic.
The warm south wind finds US with our
furs on. The wintry blast cuts through
our thin apparel. The hoof, the wheel,
the firearms, the assassin, wait their
chance 10 put upon Us their quietuS. l
announce 10 as an impOSSiOility aad
three hundred and SiXty-hye days should
pass and leave US all as We now are. Ia
what direction to shoot the arrow l
know not. and so / shoot it at a ven
ture:" This year thou shalt die"
In view Of this l advise that You have
your temporal matters adjusted. Do not
leave YOUR worldly affairs at the mercy
of administrators. Have your receipts
properiy pasted, and your letters filed,
: sd your books balanced. II you have,
crust funds" see that they are rightly
G.posited and accounted for. Let no
widow or orphan scratch on your tomb
stone. '"ThiS man wr9nged me OF my IN
beritance." Many a man has died, leav-
ing a competency, whose property has,
through his own CareleSSuCSS, atterWard
been divided between the adminiStra-
tors. the surrogate, the lawyers aud the
sberiHs. I charge you, before many
DAYS have gone, as far as possible, have
Am your worldly matters made straight
for ''this year thou shalt die"
What You now leave uadOne for
Christ will forever be Undone. "IhiS
year thou shalt die
In view OF the probabilities men,
toned. / advise all the men and women
Dot ready for eternity TO get ready. II
the text be true, you have no time to.
talk about nOa-eSSentialS, asking why
Cod let sin come into the world; or
whether the book of Jonah is Inspired;
- who MelchiSedeC was, or what about
.sfbS eternal DEGREES. II you are as near
etfrnity as some Of you seem 10 be,
fSlre IS 40 time for any thing but the
Question. what must l 90 to be
savede" The drowning man, when
plank is thrown him, stops not 20 ask
what saw-mill made it, or whether it is
oak or cedar, or who threw it.
AN1ANIAC WAS FOUND
pacing along the road with torch in
one hand and 4 pail Of water in the
other, and some one asked him what he
meant to 90 with them. He answered,
.With this torch mean to burn down
heaven and with this water / mean 10
put out the fires Of hell" He was a
maniac. lie could do the one thing
inst as well as he could do the other.
No time TO lose il you want TO escape
-our sins, for "this year thou shalt
die"
Let me announce that Christ, the
Lord. stands ready to save any man
who wants to be saved. lie waited Tor
Won sll last year, and all the year be-
fore. and all your life. He has waited
Tor Won with blood on his brow, and
tears in his eye, and two outstretched,
mangled hands Of love.
tL 80, ,,,i~ht EnOw what q lob