Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-12-02
REV. DR., TALMAGE.
The Eminent Div:ne's Sunday
Discourse.
Subject: .sYounx Men Challenged %
Nobility"

Subject: .sYounx Men Challenged %
Nobility"
TEXT: "And the Lord opened the eycs Of
the young man. I'll Kings VI, II.
One morning in Dothan . young theo-
logical student was scared by finding himself
and Elisha the prophet, upon whom he
waited, surrounded by o whole army Of
enemies. But venerable Elisha was not
scared at all because he saw the mountains
full Of defense for him in chariots made OF
hre, drawn by horses OF hre-a supernatural
appearance that could not bo seen with the
natural eye. So the old minister prayed
that the young minister might SO them also,
and the prayer was answered, and the Lord
opened the eyes OF the young man, and he
what. suppose, like tho AdirondackS OF tho
Alleghanies In autumnal resplendence.
Many young men. standing among the
most tremendous realities. have their eyes
half shut or entirely closed. May God grant
that my sermon may open wide your eyes to
your safety, your opportunity and your des-
tiny!
A mighty defense for q young man is q
good home. Some a my hearers look back
with tender satisfaction to their early home.
1t may have cen rude and rustic, hidden
among the hills, and architect or upholsterer
never planned or adorned II. But all the
fresco on princely walls never looked 30 en-.
ticing to you as those rough hswn rafters.
You can think OF no park or arbor of tress
planted on fashionable country seat 90 at
tractive as the plain brook that ran In front
OF the old farmhouse and sang under the
weeping Willows. No barred gateway
adorned with statue of bronze and
swung open by obsequious porter in
full dress has half the glory OF the old
swing gate. Many Of you have a second
also ts sacred forever. There you built the
first family altar. There your children were
torn. All those trees you planted. That
room Is solemn because once in 1t, over the
hot pillow, tapped the wing Of death. Un-
der that roof you expect when your work is
many words to tell the excellency Of the
place, but you fall. There is only one word
In the language that can describe your
meaning. It is home.
Now. declare It, that young man Ia COM
paratively safe who goes out into the world
with q charm like this upon him. The mem
ory Of parental solicitude, watching, plan
ming and praying will be to him shield and
q shelter. Inever knew a man faithful both
to his early and adopted home who at the
same time was given over to any gross form
Of dissipation or wickedness. He who seeks
his enjoyment chiefly from outside associa-
ton rather than from the moro quiet
and unpresuming pleasures Of which
have spoken may be suspected to be
on the broad road to ruin. Absa-
iom despissd his fathers house. and you
know his history OF sin and his death Of
shame. II you seem unnecessarily isolated
from your kindred and former associates is
there not some room that you can call your
own2 Into 1t gather books and pictures and
harp. Have a portrait over the mantel.
Mako ungodly mirth stand back from the
threshold. Consecrate some spot with the
knee Of prayer. By the memory of other
days, fathers counsel, and mothers love,
and sisters confidence. call 1t home.
Another defense for young man is indus
trious habits. Many young men in starting
upon life IN this age expect to make their
way through the world by the use Of their
wits rather than the toll Of their hands. A
boy now goes to tho city and fails twice be-
fore he Is as old as his father was when he first
saw the spires Of the great town. Sitting in
some office rented at $1,000 year, he is
waiting for the bank to declare its dividend,
or goes into the market expecting before
night to be made rich by the rushing up Of
the stocks. But luck seemed so dull he re-
solved on some other tack. Perhaps he
borrowed from his employers money drawer
and forgets to put 1t back, or for merely the
purpose OF improving his penmanship makes
Q copy plate OF a merchants signature.
Never mind. All is right In trade. In some
dark night there may come in his dreams
. vision OF the penitentiary, but it
soon vanishes. In Q short time he will be
ready to retire from the busy world, and
amid his flocks and herds cultivate the do
nestle virtues. Then those young men who
once were his schOolmates and knew no bet
ter than to engage in honest work will come
with their OK teams to draw him logs and
with their hard hands to help heave up his
castle. This is no fancy picture. 1t is
everyday life. should not wonder IL there
were some rotten beams In that beautiful
palace. 1should not wonder II dire sickness
should smite through the young man, or II
God should pour into his cup of life
draft that would thrill him with unbearable
agony; II his children should become to him
a living curse. making his home a pest anc
disgrace. l should not wonder If he goes to
= miserable grave and beyond # into the
gnashing Of teeth. The way Of the ungodly
shall perish.
My young friends, there is no way to
genuine success except through toll either
Of head or hand. At the battle Of Crecy in
1876 the Prince of Wales finding himself
heavily pressed by the enemy, sent word to
his father for help. The father, watching
the battle from windmill. and seeing his
day IL he would, sent word: "No, I will not
come. Let the boy win his spurs. for, If God
will, desire that this day be his with all its
honors. Young man, fight your own battle
all through and you shall have the victory.
oh, 1t is battle worth fighting! Two
monarchs Of old fought a duel, Charles v
and Francis, and the stakes were Kingdoms,
Milan and Burgundy. You fight with sin
and the stake Is heaven or hell.
Do not get the fatal idea that you are
genius and that; therefore. there is no need
OF close application. 1t Is hero where null
titudes fail. The curse Of this age is the
geniuses-men with enormous self conceit
and egotism aud nothing else. had
rather be an OK than an eagle; plain and
plodding and useful rather than high fly
ing and good for nothing but to pick out
the eyes oil carcasses. Extraordinary ca
pacity without work is extraordinary fail
ure. There Is no hope for that person who
begins life resolved to live by his wits, for
the probability Is that he has not any. 1t
was not safe for Adam, even In his unfallen
state, to have nothing 10 do, and therefore
God commanded him to be a farmer and
horticulturist. He was to dress the garden
and keep it, and had he and his wife obeyed
the divine Injunction and teen at work they
would not have been saunteripg under the
trees and hankering after that fruit which
destroyed them and their posterity-a proof
positive for all ages to come that those who
do not attend their business are sure to get
into mischief.
do not know that the prodigal In Scrip
ture would ever have been reclaimed had he
not given up his idle habits and gene to
feeding swine for n living. The devil does
not so often attack the man who Is busy
with the pen, and the book, and the trowel,
and The saw, and the hammer. He is afraid
of those weapons. But woe to the man
whom the roaring lion meets with his hands
In his pockets.
Do not demand that your toll always be
elegant and cleanly and refined. There is a
certain amount of drudgery through which
we must all pass whatever be our occupation.
You know how men are sentenced a ceri ain
number OF years to prison, and after they
have suffered and worked out the time then
they are allowed to go free. So it Is with all
us. God passed on us the sentence. "By the
sweat Of thy brow shalt thou eat bread" We
must endure cur time of drudgery, and then
after awhile, We will be allowed to go into
comparative liberty. w. must be willing to
endure the sentence. We all know what
druigery Is connected with the beginning OF
any trade or profession, but this does not
continue all our lives. II II be the students
os the merchants, or the mechanics life.
know you have at the beginning many n hard