Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-11-08

four Of the sheep to this poor man. so
he shall always be fed and clothed. lie
! sees man so emaciated and worn out
and sick he needs stimu,ants. and he
gives him q little Of the wine that he
brought from the Amalekites. Ionder
is man who has no appetite for the
rough ratiOns of the army, and he gives
him rare morsel from the Amaiekit-
ish banquet, and the two hundred Grip
pied and MANNED and aged soldiers who
tarried on garrison duty get just as
much of the spoils of battle as any OF
! the two hundred men that went TO the
front, ''As his part is that goeth down
! TO the battle. 80 shall his part be that
tarrieth by the stuff"
The impression is abroad that the
Christian rewards are for those who
do conspicuous service in distinguished
piaces-great patriots, great preachers,
great philanthropists. But my text sets
forth the idea that there is just as much
reward for a man that stays at home
and minds his own business, and who,
crippled and unable to go forth and lead
III 6iNoi lhoN anu III buC Aiioh
places of the earth, does his whole duty
just where he is. Garrison duty is as
| important and as remunerative as serv-
ice at the front ''As his part is that
goeth down to the battle, so shall his
part be that tarrieth by the stuff.
The Earl of Kintore said to me in an
English railway, Mr.. Talmage, when
you get back to America | want you 10
preach sermon on the discharge of
ordinary duty in ordinary places, and
then send me copy of it." Afterward
an English clergyman coming TO this
land brought from the Earl of Kint0re
the same message. Alas! that before !
got ready to do what he asked me to do,
| the good Earl of kintore had departed
| this life. But that man, surrounded by
| all palatial surroundings, and in dis
| tinguished sphere, felt sympathetic
with those who had ordinary duties to
| perform in ordinary places and in or
binary ways. A great many people are
| discouraged when they hear the story
| of Moses, and of Joshua. and of David,
and of Luther, and of John Knox. and
of Deborah, and of Florence Nightn-
gale. They say: "Oh, that was all good
and right for them, but / shall never be
called to receive the law on Mount ST.
mai, shall never be called to command
the sun and moon to stand still, l shall
never preach on Mars Hill, l shall
never defy the Diet of Worms. | shall
never be called to make a queen trem-
BILE for her crimes, / shall never pre-
side over hospital" There are wom-
en- who say, IF l had as brilliant a
sphere as those people had, l should
be as brave and as grand; but my bust
ness is TO get children off to school, and
to hunt up things when they are lost,
and to see that dinner is ready, and to
keep account of the household expenses,
and to hinder the children from being
strangulated by the whooping cough,
and TO go through all the annoyauces
and vexations of housekeeping. Oh, my
sphere is so infinitesimal, and so insig-
nificant. am clear discouraged. Won
an, God places you on garrison duty,
and your reward will be just az great
as that of Florence Nightingale, who
moving so often night by night with a
light in her hand through the hospitals.
was called by the wounded the lady
of the lamp" Your reward will be just
as great as that of Mrs. Hertzog, who
built and endowed theological seminary
buildings. Your reward will be Just
as great as that OF Hannah More, who
by her excellent books won for her ad-
mirers Garrick and Edmund Burke and
Joshua Reynolds. Rewards are not to
be given according to the amount OF
noise YOU make in the world, nor even
according to the amount OF good you
do. but according to whether or not you
do your full duty in the sphere where
God has placed you.
Suppose you give to two of your chill
dren errands, and they are TO 90 off to
make purchases, and to one you give
one dollar and to the other you give
twenty dollars. Do you reward the boy
that you gave twenty dollars TO for pur-
chasing more than that amount oil
money than the other boy purchased
with one dollar? OF course not. If God
| give WEALTH. VI ooNioi pooItlou vi elD-
ouence or twenty times the faculty to
a man that he gives to the ordinary
man, is he going to give to the favored
man a reward because he has more
power and more influence? Oh, no. In
other words, if you and l were to dc
our whole duty, and You have twenty
times more talent than have, you vii
get no more divine reward than l win
Is God going to reward you because he
gave you more? That would not bt
fair, that would not be right. These
two hundred men of the text who faint
ed by the Brook Besor did their whol'
duty; they watched the baggage, the!
took care of the stuff; and they got al
much of the spoils of victory as th'
men who went to the front. LAS hi
part is that goeth down to the battle, 50
shall his part be that tarrieth By thu
, stuff"
There is high encouragement in Thu
| for all who have great responsible!
and little credit for what they do. Yot
know the names of the great CONNER
ciai houses of these cities. DO 80,
know the names of the confidential
clerks-the men who have the key Il
the safe, the men who know the com
bination lock? A distinguished mer
-