Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-08-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME ny THE
MN YORK PREACHER.
Subject plain People"

TExT, "Salute Asyncritus. phlegon. Her
mas. Patrohas, Hermes. PhilolOgus AMI
Julia. "-Romans xvi, II, Il.
Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes. Adam
| Clark. Thomas Scott aud all the commenta-
! tors pass t,V these verses without any especial
] remark. The 0thertwenty people mentioned
I In the chapter were distinguished for some
/ thing and were therefore discussed hy the
/ illustrious expositors, hut nothing is said
| about ASvncriius, phleg1n. Hermas, patro-
] las. Hermes. Philologus aud Julia. Where
were they born? No one knows. Where did
theydieY There isnO record Of their decease.
For what were they distinguished Also
lutelv for nothing, or the trait Of character
would have been brought out 10y the apostle.
I IL they had been very intrepid or opulent or
/ hirSute or musical of cadence or Grass OF
| style or in anywise anomalous, that feature
would have been caught by the apostolic
camera. Butthey were good people, because
/ Paul sent to them his high Christian regards.
| They were ordinary people, moving IN "rdi-
nary sphere, attending to ordinary duty ana
meeting ordinary responsibilities.
What the world wants is religion FOR
ordinary people. Ii there lie In the United
States Sc. 000, 001 people, there are certainly
not more than 1000, 600 extraordinary, and
| then there are "a, 00D, 900 ordinary, and We do
we'll to turn our backs for little while upon
| the distinguished and conspicuous people OF
| the Bible aud consider in our text the seven
! ordinary. We spend too much Of our time
in twisting garlands for remarkableS and
| building thrones for magnates and sculptur-
ing warriors and apotheosi2ing philanth-
| ropiSts. The rank and file Of the Lords
! sOldiery need especial help.
The vast majority of people to whom this
sermon comes will never leal an army, will
never write State constitution, will never
electrfy Senate, will never make an i'm
portant invention, will never introduce
a new philosophy. will never decide
the fate of Nation. You do not eX-
pect to: You do not want to. You will not
be Moses to lead n Nation out of bondage.
You will not be a Joshua to prolong the day.
light until Won can shut five kings in a cav
ern. You will not be a St John to unroll an
apocalypse You will not be a Paul to pre-
side over On apostolic college. You will not
he Mary to mother a Christ. GOu will more
probably be Asyncritus or Phlegon or Her
mas or Patrobas or Hermes or PhilOlogus or
Julia.
Many of you are women at the head OF
households. This morning you launched the
family for Sabbath observance. Your brain
decided the apparel. and your Judgment was
final on all questions Of personal attire
Every morning you plan for the day. The
culinary department OF your household is in
your dominion. You decide all questions of
diet. All the sanitary regulations OF your
house are under your supervision. To regu-
late the food. and the apparel, and the habits
and decide the thousand questions of home
life is Il tax upon your brain and nerve and
general health absolutely appalling ii there
be no divine alienation.
1t does not help you much to be told that
Elizabeth Fry did wonderful things mid the
| criminals of Newgate. 1t does not help YOU
much to be told that Mrs. Judson was very
brave among the Bornesian Cannibals. 1t
does not help YOU much TO be told that Flor
ence Nightingale was very kind to the
wounded in the Crimea. 1t would be better
for me to tell YOU that the Divine Friend OF
Mary and Martha is your friend. and that He
sees all the annOyances and Disappointment
aud aHrasons aud eXasperations OF an Ordin-
airy housekeeper from morn till night,
and from the first day Of the year to the last
day OF the year and at your call He is ready
with help and re-enforcements.
They who provide the food OF the world
decide the health of the world. One Of the
greatest battles OF this century was lost be-
cause the commander that morning had a fit
of indigestion. You have only to 90 on some
errand amid the taverns ana the hotels of
United States and Great Britain to appre-
clate the fact that vast multitude of the
human race are slaughtered by incompetent
cookery. Though young woman may have
taken lessons in music and may have taken
lessons in painting and lessons in astronomy,
she is NOT well educated unless she has taken
lessons in dough. They who decide the APP
parel of the world and the food of the world
decide the endurance Of the world.
An unthinking man may consider it mat
Ter of little importance-the cares of the
household and the economies of domestic life
but tell you the earth is strewn with the
martyrs of kitchen and nursery. The health
shattered womanhood of America cries out
for a God who can help ordinary women in
the ordinary duties OF housekeeping. The
wearing, grinding, unappreciated work goes
on, but the same Christ who stood on tht
bank of Gallee in the early morning ant
kindled the fire and had the fish already
cleaned and broiling when the sportsmel
stepped ashore, chilled and hungry, will hell
every woman to prepare breakfast, whether
by her own hand or the hand of her hiret
help.
The God who made inde5tructible eulogy
of Hannah, who made a coat for Samuel
hersOn, and carried it to the temple every
year, will help every woman in preparing the
family wardrobe. The God who opens the
Bible with the story of Abraham's entertain.
ment of the three angels on the plains Of
Mamre will help every woman to provide
hospitality, however rare and embarrassing
| Ii Is nlRn time mat some OF the attention W,
have been giving to the remarkable WomeI
of the Bible--remarkable for their virtue o.
want of it or remarkable for their deeds
Deborah and Jezebel and Herodia and Atha
liah and Dorcasand the Marys, excellent anC
abandoned-it is high time some of the at
tention we have been giving to these con
spicuous women of the Bible be given T.
Julia of the text, an ordinary woman ami
ordinary circumstances, attending to ordi
| I,tiap md inn al
bilities.
Then there are the ordinary business men
They need divine and Christrian help
When we begin to talk about business life
| we shoot right off and talk about men VIII
did business on large scale, aud who sol,
millions Of dollars of goods n year, but tn
vast ma ority of business men do not sell
million dollars of goods, nor half million
nor quarter of million, nor the eight
part of million. Put all the business mel
7 of our cities, towns, villages and neighbor
hoods side by side and you will find tina
they sell less than $50 900 worth of goods
All these men in ordinary business life wan
divine help. You see how the wrinkles ar
printing on the cOuntenance the story {
worriment and care You cannot tell ho'
old a business man is by looking at hin
l Gray hairs at thirty. A man ut forty-tiy
| with the StOop of a nonOgenarian. No tim
to attend to improved dentistry, the grinder
cease because they are few. Actually dyin
of old age at forty or fifty when they ougt
to be at the meridian.
Many of these business men have bOdie
re like Il neglected clock to which you COM
and you wind it up and it begins to bul
:. and roar. and then the hands start aroun
- very rapidly, and then the clock strikes fl,
, or ten, or forty, and strikes without III
sense, and then suddenly stops SO is IL
body of that wornout business man. 1t is
neglected clock. and though by some sun
mer recreation it may be wound up, still IL
machinery is all out of gear. The hands tul
around with II velocity that exctes the a
constituent of the world Men cannot II
derstand the wonderful activity, and the
is roar, and buzz, and a rattle about the