Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-03-16
THE PERIODS OF LIFE.
ASERMON YOUNG, MIDDLE
AGED AND OLD FOLKS,
Inc Plans of the Twenties, the Dis
appointments Of the Thirties,
the Discoveries of the For
ties, and the Harvest
of the Fifties.

Brooklyn, N. y, Special.-Dr. Tai
IMAGES subject was From Twenty to
Seventy" The text selected was Psalm
&c, 10: THE days of our years are
three score and ten."
i The SEVENTEEN milestone of life is
here planted as ut the end of the Jour
ney. A few go beyond it; multitudes
never reach it. The oldest person of
h modern times expired at 1853 years
4 a Greek, by the name Of Stravarnde
4 nved to 132 years. An Englishman
by the name of Thomas P:lrr lived
4 To- years. Before the time of Moses
people lived $50 years. and if you go
4 1ar enough back they lived 500 years
n wen, that WAS necessary, because the
\ story of the world must come down
II by tradition, and it needed long life
u safely to transmit the news of the
II past. II the generations had been
snort lived, the story would so often
have changed lips that it might have
n got all astray. But after Moses began
to write it down, and the parchment
told 1T from century to century, it was
a not necessary that people live so long
n IN order to authenticate the events of
n the past. If, in our time, people lived
" only twenty-five years. that would not
Il anect history. since it is put in print
y ana IS no longer dependent on tradi-
& ton. Whatever your age, l will to-
H day directly address you, and l shall
speak to those who are in tho twentieS.
I the thirties, the forties. the tiftics. the
4 sixties, and to those who are in the
seventies and beyond
First, then. | accOSt those of YOU who
are i'll the twentics. You are full Of
Y expectation You are ambitolls-tllat
is, II you amount to anything - for
some kind of success commercial or
mechanical, or professional. or lite
rary, or agricultural, or social. or
moral If find some one in the TWEEN
ties without any sort of ambition.
feel like saying: My friend. you have
got on the wrong planet. This is not
the world for you. You are going to
be in the way. Have you made your
choice of poor houses? lou will never
be able to pay for your cradle. Who
is going to settle for your board? There
is a mistake about the fact that you
were born at ALL" But s,pposng YOU
have ambition, let me say to all the
twc1lties. expect everything through
divine manipulation, and then you will
get all YOU want or something better.
Are you looking for wealth? Welt re-
member that God controls the money
markets. the harvest. the drOuthS. the
caterpillars. the locuSts. the sunshine.
the storm. the land the sea. and YOU
will get wealth. Perhaps not that
which is stored up in banks. in safe
deposits, in United States securities.
IN houses and lands. but your clothing
and board and shelter. and that is
about all you can appropriate. anyhow.
You cost the lord Il great deal. TO
Il feed and clothe and shelter you for 4
h lifetime requires big sum of money.
and if YOU get nothing more than the
absolute necessities you get an cnOr-
h nous amount of supply. Expect as
Il much as YOU will of any kind of sue
cess, if you expect it from the Lord
you are safe. Depend on any other
h resource and you may be badly chag-
rlned. but depend on God and all will
be we'll. 1t is Il good thing in the crisis
of life to have Il man of large means
back you up. 1t is Il good thing to
have mOncycd institution stand be-
hind YOU in your undertaking. But it
is a mightier thing to have the God of
heaven and earth your coadiutor. and
you may may have him. I am So glad
that / meet YOU while you are IL the
tWcntics. You are laying out your
plans and all your life in this world
and the next for 5OO,OnnOOO years of
your existence will be affected by those
plans 1t is about s o'clock in the
morning of your life, and you are just
starting out. Which way are you go
ing to start? Oh. the twenties!
'"TWenty' is Il great word in the
Bible. Joseph was sold for twenty
pieces Of silver. Samson judged Israel
twenty years Solomon gave Hiram
twenty cities. The flying roll that
Zechariah saw was twenty cubits.
When the sailors of the ship on which
Paul sailed sounded the Mediterranean
sea it was twenty fathoms. What
mighty things have been done in the
twenties! Romulus founded Rome
when he was twenty. Keats finished
life ut twenty-five. Lafayette was a
world renowned soldier at twenty
three. Oberlin accomplished his chief
work by twenty-seven. Bonaparte was
victor over Italy at twenty-siX. Pitt
was prime minister Of England ut
twenty-five. Calvin had completed his
immortal 'Institutes'' by the time he
was twenty-six. Grotius was attorney
general at twenty four Some of the
mightiest things for God and eternity
have been done in the tWcntieS. AS
long rs you can put the figure so" be-
fore the other figure that helps to de-
scribe your age. l have high hopes
about you. Look out for that figure
80" Watch its continuance with as
much ealneStnesS as you ever watched
anything that promised you salvation
or threatened you demolition. What
critical time. the twenties! While they
continue you decide yonr occupation
and the principles by which you are
guided. You make your most abiding
friendships. You arrange your home
life. You fix your habits. Lord God
Almighty, for Jesus Christ's sake, have
mercy on all the men and women in
the twenties!
Next I accost those in the thirties.
You are at an age when you find what
a tough thing it is to get recognized
and established in your occupation or
profession. Ten years ago you thought
all that was necessary for success
was to put on your shutter the sign