The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-03-22
Ann Iet me tell YOU. people

disasters clear on into the seventies II you
live to the threescore and ten Of the text.
Next accost the forties. Yours is the de-
cade Of discovery. do not mean the dls,
covery Of the outside, but the discovery OF
yourself. No man knows himself untll ne
is 40 He overestimates or underestlmaees
himself. By that time he has learned wnae
he can do or what he cannot do. He thought
he had commercial genius enough to become
a miIlionaire, but now he is satisfied to make
q comfortable living. He thought he had
rhetorical power that would bring him into
the United States senate, now he IS content
il he can successfully argue common case
before petit jury. -,
He thought he had medical skill that
would make him Mott or Crosse or
Willard Parker or Sims: now hs hnds ms
sphere is that OF q family physician, pre-
scribine for the ordinary ailments that af'
fiict our race. He was sailing on In fog
and could not take reckoning, but now IL
clears up enough to allow him to find out his
real latitude and longitude. He has bean
climbing, but now hs has got to the top OF
the hill, and he takes long breath. De IS
half way through the journey at least, anu
he is in a position to look backward or ror-
ward. He has more good sense than he ever
had. He knows human nature, for ne mas
been cheated often enough to see tne pau
side Of it, and he has met 50 many gracious
and kindly and splendid souls ne also knows
the good side Of it.
mast and deliberately set your compass Tor
another voyage. You have chased enough
thistleiown. You have blown enough soap
bubbles You have seen the uusatlsfying
nature Of all earthly things. Open new
chapter with God and the world. This de
cade OF the forties ought to eclipse all Its
predecessors in worship. in usefulness and IN
happiness. "Forty'' is great word in the
Bible. Gods ancient people were 40 years
in the wilderness. Eli judged Israel ~
years David and Solomon and Jehoash
reigned 40 years. Wnen Joseph visited his
brethen, he was 40 years old.
On, this mountain top OF the forties! You
have now the character you will probably
have for all time and ali eternity. God, By
His grace, sometimes changes a man after
the forties, but after that a man never
changes himself. Tell me- oh men and
women who are in the forties. your habits
Of thought and life, and will tell you what
YOU will forever be. I may make mistake
once in a thousand times, but not more than
in that proportion.
NV sermon next accosts the ffties. How
queer it looks when in writing your age you
make the first Of the two figures a "5."
This is the decade which shows what the
other decades have been. It young man
has sown wild oats and he has lived to this
time. hs rsaps the harvest Of it in the hftles,
or if by necessity he was compelled to over
toll in honest directions he is callel to settle
up with exacting nature soma time during
the fifties. p.
MANY have it so hard in early life that
thew are octogenarians at so. Sciaticas and
rheumatisms and neuralgias and vertigos
and insomnias have their playground in thu
fifties. A mans hair begins to whiten, and,
although he may have worn spectacles be-
fore, now he asks the optician for No. IA or
No. IL or No. 10. When he gets a cough
and is almost cured, he hacks and clears his
throat a good while afterward. Oh, ye who
are in the fifties, think OF it'll A half century
of blessing to be thankful for, an1 a half
century subtracted from an existence
which in the most marked cases Of longevity
hardly ever reaches a whole century
By this time you ought to be eminent for
piety. You have been in 50 many >battiet
YOU ought to be b brave soldier. You have
made so many voyages you ought to be
good sailor. So long protected and blessed
you ought to have soul full OF doSoiogy.
In Bible times in Canaan every 5oyears was
by Gods command year OF jubilee. Inc
people did not work that year. II property
sion on the fiftieth year it came back 10 aim:
II ha had fooled it away, it was returned
without farthiug to pay.
II man had been enslaved, he was IN tnat
year emancip ated, A trumpet was SCUM leo
loud and clear and long, and 1T was tne
trumpet of jubilee. They shook hands, they
laughed, they congratulated. Waat Time
it was chat fiftieth year! And If under the
old dlspeusation it was such glad time,
under our new and more glorious alspensa-
ton let all who have come to the htttes hear
the trumpet Of jubilee that l now DOW.
That was the allusion made by Mr.. TopladY,
the great hymnologist, when ne wrote:
Blow ye the trumpet blow
The gladly solemn sound; e..
Let all the nations know, - -
10 eartn's remotest bound,
The year OF jubilee is coms.
Return ye ransoned sinners home.
Ye who have sold for nauzhs
Your heritage above
Shall have 1t back uubought-
The gift Of Jesus's love.
The year Of jubilee has come
Return ye ransomed sinners Loms.
Nv sermon next accosts the sixties The
beginning Of that decaie is more startling
than any other. In his chrono logical jour
ney the man rides rather smoothly over the
figures 70" and '.3" and Il" and IS, !" but the
figure "6' gives him big jolt. He says:
1T cannot be that am 81. Lat me ex-
anime the old family record Igusss they
made mistake. They got my name down
wrong in the roll Of births" But, no; the
older brothers or sisters remember the time
Of his advent, and there is some relative
year older. and another relative q year
younger, and, sure enough, the fact is estao-
lished beyond all disputation.
Sixtyl Now your great danger is the
temptation to fold up your faculties and
quit. You will feel a tendency to reminisce.
II you do not look out you will begin al.
most everything with the words, "When l
was boy" But you ought to make the
sixties more memorable for God aud the
truth than the fitties or the forties, or ths
thirties. You ought to do more during the
next ten years than, you did in apy,0 years
of your life because Of all the experiences
you have had. You have committe enough
mistakes in life TO make you wise above
your juniors. Now, under the accumulatet
light OF your past experimenting. 60 10 Work
for God as never before.
When q man in the sixties folds up his
energy and feels he has done enough, 1t is
the devil OF Incidence to which he is sur
rendering, and God generally takes the man
at his word and lets him die right away.
His brain, that under the tension o. hard
work was active, now suddenly shrivels.
Men, whether they retire from secular or
religious work, generally retire to the grave.
No well man has right to retire. The
world was made for work. There remainetn
a rest for the people o. God, but it IS in a
sphere beyond the reacu of telescopes. Tae
military charge that decided one OF the
greatest battles OF the ages-the battle of
Waterloo-was not made until s o'clock in
the evening, hut some o. you propose to 60
into camp at o'clock in the afternoon.
My subject next accosts those in the
seventies and beyond. My word to them is
congratulation. You have got nearly if not