The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1895-02-15
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Opportunity One Of tho Versatile
Words in Our Language.
At Once One of the Lovoliest and O1e of
the Most AwfuI-The Scriptural
Significance of the Word
ExpOunded.

/
city, basing it on the text:
As We have therefore opportunity, let us do
good--Galatians vi, TO-
At Denver, Col, years ago, an au-
dience had assembled for divine
worship. The pastor of the church,
for whom I was to preach that night,
interested in the seating of the people,
stood in the pulpit looking from side
to side, and when nomore people could
\ be crowded within the walls he turned
to me and said, with startling emphasis:
What an opportunity" Immediately
that word began to enlarge, and while
a hymn was being sung, at every
stanZa the word opportunity" swiftly
and nightly unfOlded, and while the
opening prayer was being made, the
word piled up into Alps and Himalayas
OF meaning, and spread out into other
latitudes and longitudes of significance
until it became hemisphere, and it
still grew in altitude and circumfer-
ence until 1t ens ircled other worlds,
and swept out, an / on, and around un-
til 1T was as big as eternity. Never
since have I read or heard that word
| without being thrilled with its magni.
tude and momentum. Opportunity
| Although in the text TO some it may
seem a mild and quiet note, in the
great Gospel harmony it is staccato
passage. It is one of the loveliest and
awfulest words in our language of
more than one hundred thousand words
of English vocabulary.
Gas we have opportunity, let us do
good"
What is an opportunity? The lexi-
cographer would coolly tell you it is q
conjunction of favorable circumstances
for accomplishing a purpose; but
| words can not tell what it is. Take a
thousand years to manufacture def
milton, and you could not successfully
describe 1T. Opportunity! The meas
uring with which the Angel of the
, Apocalypse measured Heaven could
not measure this pivotal word of my
text, Stand on the edge of the preci-
pice of all time and let down the faith
oming line hand under hand, and
lower down and lower down, and for
a quintilliOn of years let it sink, and
the lead will not strike bottom OPP
pOrtunityl But while do not attempt
TO measure or define the word, / will
God helping me, take the RESPONSE
bility of telling you something about
| opportunity.
First, 1t is very swift in its motions
Sometimes within one minute it starts
from the throne of God, sweeps around
the earth, and reascends the throne
from which it started. Within less
than sixty seconds it fulfilled it's mis-
sion. In the second place opportunity
never comes back. Perhaps an oppor-
tunity very much like it may arrive,
but that one never. Naturalists tell
us OF insects which are born, fulfill
! Sheir mission and expire in an hour,
but many opportunities die so soon
after they are born that their brevity
| of life is incalculable. What most
amazes me is that opportunities do
such overshadowing, far-reaching and
tremendous work in such short earth
ly allowance. You are a business
man of large experience. The past
eighteen months have been hard on
business men. A young merchant at
his wits end came, into your office
or your house, and you said: ''Times
are hard now, but better days will
come. / have seen things as bad, or
| worse, but we got out, and we will
get out of this. The brightest days
that this country ever saw are yet to
come" The young man to whom you
said that was ready for suicide, or
something worse, namely, a fraudulent
turn to get out of his despairful posi-
| ton. Your hopefulness inspired him
for all time, and thirty years after you
arc dead he will be reaping the adj
vantage of your optimism. Your op-
portunity to do that one thing for that
young man was not half as long as the
time l have taken TO rehearse it. In
| yonder third gallery you sit, man of
the world, but you wish everybody
well. While the clerks are standing
round in your store, or the men in
your factory are taking their noon
spell, some one says: "Have you heard
that one of our men has been converted
at the revival meeting in the Metho-
dist church?" While it is being talked
over you say: "Well, do not believe
in revivals. Those things do not last.
People get excited, and join the
church, and are no better than they
were before. wish our men would keep
away from those meetings." Do you
know, on man, what you did in that
minute of depreciation? There were
two young men in that group who that
| night would have gone to those meet
| iags and been saved for this world and
the next, but you decided them not to
| go. They are social natures. They
already drink more than is good for
them, and are disposed to be wild.
| From the time they heard you say that
they accelerated their steps on the
! downward road. In ten years they will
be through with their dissipations, and
pass into the Great Beyond. That lit
tie talk of yours decided their destiny
! for this world and the next. You had
an opportunity that you misimproved,
and how will you feel when you con-
l front those two immortals in the last
| judgment, and they tell you of that
/ unfortunate talk of yours that flung
them over the precipice? Oh, man of
| the world, why did you not say in that
| noon spell of conversation: Good! l
am glad that man has got religion.
wish had it myself Let US all go to-
night. Come on; 1 will meet You at
the church door at eight o'clock" You
see, you would have taken them all to
! Heaven, and you would have got there
I yourself Opportunity missed forever!
/ We all recognize that commercial
and literary and political successes de-
! pend ppQB taking advantage 0f eppoT.