Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1892-07-01
REV. DIX. TALMaGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE's SIN.
DAY SERMON.
SUBJECT: 1.-THE TINE OF DEPART
URE.n

iEAi' me tme OF my departure is a
hand. I'll Timothy iv., d.
Departurei That is a wori usei onl,
twice In all tbz Bible. But it is a worI Offer
used In the courtroom AMI means tn
deseruon OF one couSse OF pleading for an
other. IL is used in navigation to describ
the distance between two meridians passin.
through the extremities OF n course 1t is /
word have recently heard applied to III,
departure from America to Europe for
preaching tour to last until September. Ii
smaller and less significant sense than tha
implied in the text can say, Tho time o
my departure is as hand"
through the printing press | address this
sermon To my readers all the world over. an 4
when they read it | will be in miiocean, aud
unless something new happens in my ma.
| rlne experiences ! will be in no condition u
| preach. but how unimportant the word de
parture when applied TO exchange OF cont.
nents as when applied to exchange OF worlds
as wnen Paul wrote, THE time of NV de
| parturei is at hand"
NOW departure implies a starting place
and place of destination. When Paul left
! this world, what was the starting pont7 II
was a scene OF great physical distress. 1t
was the Tullianun, the lower dungeon OF
the Mamertine prison, Rome, Italy The top
dungeon was bad enough, it having no
| means OF lugreSs or egresS but through an
opening in the top. Through that the pr j.
oner was lowered, and through that came
all the food and air and light received. It
| was terrible place, that upper dungeon,
but the Iulllanum was the lower dungeon.
and that was still more wretched, the only
light and the only air coming through the
roof, and that roof the floor of tho upper
dungeon. That was PauI's last earthly ros.
! idence.
was in that lower dungeon in November
| 1889 1t is made Of volcanic stone. Imeas.
urod 1t, and from wall to wall it was fifteen
| feet. The highest of the roof was seven feet
from the floor ami the lowest of the roof five
feet seven inches. The opening in the roof
through which Paul was let down was three
feet wide. The dungeon has a seat of rock
two and half feet high and shelf of rock
fou. feet high. 1t was there that Paul spent
his last days on earth, aud it is there that |
see hlm now, Ill the fearful dungeon, shiver-
| ing, blue with the cold, waiting for that Old
overcoat which he had sent up for to Troas
and which they had not yet sent down, not
outstanding that he had written for it.
IL some skillfuI surgeon should go into that
dungeon where Paul is iucarcerated we
might hni out what are the prospects OF
PauFs living through the rough imprlson.
ment. In the first place he is an old man,
only two years short OF seventy. At that
very time when he most needs the warmth,
ana the sunlight, and the fresh air he is shut
put from the sun. What are those scars on
his anklesi Why, those were got when he
was fast his feet III the STOCKS Every time
! be turned the flesh on his ankles started.
What nre those scari on his back? You
Snow he was whipped five tunes, each time
getting thirty nine strokes-ona hundred an |
ninety five bruises on the back count themy J.
made with rods OF elmwoo1, each one of the
one hundred and ninety-fv strokes bringing
the blood.
Look at Paus face and look at his arms.
Where did he get those brulses2 | think it
was when he was struggling ashore ami
the shivered timberS of the shipwreck |
see a cash in PauPs side. Where did he get
that! think he got that in the tussol with
hghwaymen, for he had been in peril OF
robbers and he had money OF his own. He
was mechanic as well as an apostle, and |
think the tents he made were as gooi as his
sermon.
Hark what is that shufEling OF feet in the
| upper dungeon? Why, Paul has an invita-
ton TO a banquet. ana he is gong to diue
to-day with the King. Those shutiiing feet
are the feet of the execution rs. They come
and they cry down through the hole of the
dungeon: Hurry up. old man. Come
now; gst yourself ready" Why, Paul was
ready. he had nothing to pack up. He had
no baggage TO take. He had been ready
good while. see him rising up, and straight
ening out his limbs, and pushing back his
white hair from his creyicet forehead, and
see HIM looking up through the hole in the
roof of the dungeon into the face of his ex-
ecutioners, and hear hfm say. II am now
ready TO be offered, and the time of my de-
parture is at hand"
Then they lift him out OF the dungeon, AMI
they start with him to the place of execution.
They say: Hurry along, old man, or you
will feel the weight of our spear. Hurry
| along" "dow far is H." says Paul. 1--WE
have to travelr' Three miles" Three
miles is good way for an old man to travel
after he has been whipped and crippled with
maltreatment. But they soon get to the
| place of execution-Acque Salvla-and ht
Is fastened to the pillar OF martyrdom. Il
does not take any strength to tie him fast
| He makes no resistance.
PAUL. why not now strike for your
lfef You have great many friends here.
With that withered hand just launch the
| thunderbolt of the people upon those IN
famous soldiers. Mol Paul was not going
to interfere with his own coronation. II,
was too glad to go. l see him looking uE
In the face of his executioner, and, as th'
grim official draws the sword, Paul calmI,
says II am now ready to be offered, ant
the time of my departure is at hand" Bu
| PeS huht ONCA any y 49, '@s A~N
see that last strugglh One sharp, kesl
stroke, and Paul does go to the banquet
and Paul does dino with the King.
What a transition 1t wa | From the ma
laria of Rome to the finest climate in all tn
universe-the zone OF eternal beauty an
health. His ashes were put in the catacomb
OF Rome, but in ons moment the air o
heaven bathed from his soul the last ache
From shipwreck from dungeon, from th
| hitinfr min pF tba al, ~ rNls /,
sharp sword Of the heads nan, he goes int
the most brilliant assenblage OF heaven.
king among kings mutitu les OF ths saint
hood rushing out and stretching forth IAN |
of welcome, for do really think that as o.
the right hand Of Col is Christ, so on tn
right hand oil Christ is Paul, thu secon
great in heaven.
He changed kings likewise. Before tn
hour of death an | up to the last moment h
was under Nero, the thick neckei, the cruel
eyed, the flthy-lippei and sculotured fea
lures Of that man bringing down to us thi
very day the horrible possibilities of hi
nature-seated as he was among picture
marbles of Egypt under a roof a1orhe.
with mother .of-pearl, in q dining-rooa
which by machinery was kept whirling da
and night with most bewitching magnit
cence his horses standing in stalls of soil
gold, and the grounds around his palac
hbh'od ho hiSue oJ iSs FiSbiths, muo hf
been bedaubed with tar and pitch and the
set on fire to illumine the darkness. Tha
WAS Paurs king.
But the next moment he goes into th
realm of Him whose reign Is love, an
whose courts are paved with love, and who's
throne is set on pillars of love and who's
scepter is adorned with jewels OF love, an
whose palace Is lighted with love, AMI who's
lifetime Is an eternity OF love. When Pau
J was leaving SO much on this side the pilla
Of martyrdom to gain SO much on the othe
, side, do you wonder at the cheerful valediC
tory of the text "rhe time of my departur
is at handW
/ Now, why cannot all the old people lav
, the same holy gee as that aged man had
Charles l., when he was combing his hail
found gray hair, and he sent it to I'll
l queen as great joke; but old age is relll
i, | no inka at all For the last forty vears Va