Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-06-22
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ssThe Excited Governor. -

Text: 'Felix trembled and answered, Go
thy way for this time. When / have con-
venicnt season I will call for thee. Acts
! xiv, %.
A city of marble was Caesarea-wharves of
| marble. houses of marble, temples Of mar
! BILE. This being the ordinary architecture OF
| the place, you may imagine something otthe
| splendOr of Governor Felix's residence. In
! room Of that palace, floor tessellated, win
! dows curtained, ceiling fretted, tho whole
| scene Gffiupnt with Tyrian purple and stat
ues and pictures and carvings, sat n very
| dark cOmpleXoned man OF the name Of Fe-
| liX, and beside him q woman of eXtraordi
| nary beauty, whom he had stolen by break
| ing up another domestic circle. She was
only eighteen years of age. princess by
| birth, and uuwittingiy waiting for her doom
! that of being buried alive in the ashes and
| scOriR OF Mount Vesuvius, which in sudden
eruption one day put an end to her abomi-
| nations.
Well one afternoon Drusilla, seated in tho
| palace, weary with the magnificent stupidi-
| ties of the place, says to Felix "You have
| very DISTINGUISHED prisoner, [ believe, OF
| the name of Paul. Do you know he is one
! OF my cOuntrymen? | should very much like
! to see him, and 1 should very much like to
hear him speak for have heard 80 much
| about his elOqUence. Besides that the other
| day, when he was being tried in another
! room Of this palace and the windows wero
J open, u'tdru inc applause lIlll SE6cltu iIic
| speech OF Lawyer TertulIus as he denounced
| Paul. Now, very much wish I could hear
| Paul speak. Won't you let me hear him
| speak," "Ges,' said Felix, 81 will. | will
| order him up now from the guardroom.
Cl&nk, cIank, comes a chain up the marble
stairway, and there is a shuttle at the door,
and in comes Paul, n little old man, prema-
| turely old through exposure, only sixty years
! of age, but looking as though he were eighty.
| He bows very courteOusly before the COVER
md tln if1Il hHyh cir fR
| They say: "Paul, we have heard great deal
about your speaking. Give us now speci-
men OF your eloquence." Oh, if there ever
was a chance for man to show off, Paul
had a chance there! He might have har-
angUed them abCu Grecian art. about tho
wonderful watarworks he had seen at COrinth,
about the AcrOpOliS by moonlight, about
prison life in Philippi, about ''what saw in
ThessaIOnica," about the old mythOlogies,
but "NOW Paul said to himself, Il am now
on the way to martyrdOm, and this man and
woman will soon be dead, and this is my
only opportunity to talk to them about the
things of eternity"
And just there and then there hroko in
upon the scene peal Of thunder. 1t was the
voice of Il judgment day speaking through
the words Of the decrepit apostle AS that
grand old missionary proceeded with his re-
marks the stOop begins to go out OF his
shoulders, AMI he rises up, and his cOunte-
nance is iliumned with the gIOries of a future
ilit', anu HIS STIMULATES IdlllT 'tul SIull dS liC
lifts his fettered arm and with it hurls u1on
his ahashed auditors the bolts of Gods in
dignatiOn. Felix grew very white about tho
lips His heart beat unevenly. He put his
hand to his brow as though to stop the
Quicknpss ana violence OF his thoughts. He
drew his robe tighter about him, as under Il
sudden chill. His eyes glare and his knees
shake, and as he clutches the side of his
| chair in a very parOXysm Of terror he orders
| the sheriff to take Paul back to the guard
I saIN g,l. nj
for this time. When 1 have a convenient
season, [ will call for thee"
4 young man came one night to our SER
| vices. with pencil in hand, to caricature the
| whole scene and make mirth of those who
| should express any anxiety about their souls,
| hut [ met him at tho door, his face very
! white. tears running down his cheek, as he
! said do you think there IS any chance for
| me?' Felix trembcd, and so may God grant
! it may be so with others.
[ prOpOSe to give YOU two or three reasons
| why | think Felix sent Paul back to tho
! Suardroom and adjourned the whole subject
of religion. The first reason was, he did not
want to give up his sins. He looked around.
| There was Drusilla. He knew that when he
| became a Christian he must send hCr back to
! A4zius, her lawful husband, and he said to
! himself, II will risk the destruction of my
| immortal soul sooner than [ will do that. "
| How many there are now who cannot get to
| be Christians because they will not abandon
thtlI SlllS LII NdiIl an lllSiL Htii 'tlt
! their churchgoing. You cannot keep these
darling s,ns AMI win heaven, and now some
| Of you Will have to decide between the vino
| cup and unlawful amusements and laSciv.-
| Gus qualifications on the one hand and eter-
| mai salvation on the other.
| Deliah shearei the locks of Samson Sa
lOme danced HeroI into the pit; DruSiIla
| blocked up the way to heaven for Felix. Yet
| when present the subject now tear that
some OF you will say; Not quite yet. Don't
.+,i h.lI
! few tickets vet that | have to use. l have Il
| few engagements that I must keep. want
to stay a little longer in the whiri of con-
| Viviahty-a few moro OUTLAWS of unclean
lauS SIter, Il few moro steps on the road to
! death, and then, sir will listen to what you
say. go thy way for this time. When [
! have convenient season, will cali for
| thee"
Another reason why Felix sent Paul to tho
| guardrOOm and adjourned this subject was
he was SO very busy. In ordinary times he
! found the affairs Of state absorbing. but
! those were extraordinary times. The whole
! land was ripe for insurrection. The Sicarii,
| band of assassins, were already proWlinS
around the palace, and suppose he thought,
Il can't attend to religion while | am 50
pressed by affairs Of state" 1t was business
among other things that ruined his soul, and
! l suppose there arc thousands of people who
are not children of God because they have 50
/ much business. 1t is business in the store
1t is business in your law Off1ce-sub-
| pCGnaS, WritS you have to write out, papers
/ you have to file, arguments you have to
| make 1t is your medical profession, with
| its broken nights and the exhausted ankle
| ties of life hanging upon your treatment. II
| is your real estate office, your business with
! landlords and tenants and the failure of men
| to meet their obligations with you. Ave,
! with sOme of those who are here it is the an
| noyance OF the kitchen, and the sitting room,
fb,NyN
| ing to meet large expenses with small in
! come. Ten thousand voices of ''business.
! business. business" drown the voice of the
! eternal Spirit, silenciny the voice of the ad-
! YancInG Judgment day, overcoming the voice
! OF eternity, and they cannot hear they can
/ not listen. They say, $50 thy way for this
! time" Some of you look upon your goods,
| look upon your profession, you look upon
| your memorandum books. and you see the
| demands that are made this very week upon
| your time and your patience and your
! money. and while am entreating you about
| your soul ana the danger of procrastination
! You say: $50 thy way for this time. When
| l have convenient season, will call for
/ thee"
Oh, Felix, why be bothered about tho af-
| fairs of this world so much>more than about
| the affairs of eternity? Do you not know
that when death comes you will have to stop
| business, though it be in the most eXactinS
| period OF it-betweon tho payment of the
| money and the taking of the receipt? The
! moment he comes you will have to go. Death
waits for no man, however high. however
! low. Will you put your office, will You put
! your shop i'll comparison with the affairs of
| an eternal world, affairs that involve
! thrones, palaces, dominions eternal? VIII
! you put 20O acres of ground against inn
| mensity? VIII you put forty or fifty years of
| your life against millions of ages? On, Felix,
| you might better postpone everything else,
| for do you not know that the upholstering
/ in 10
! and the marble blocks of Cip Sarea wilt
crumble, and the breakwater at the beach,
made of great blocks of stono sixty feet
| long, must give way before the per-
! that Paul offers you will be forever? And
| Yet md vet and vet Won Wayn him hack to