The Penn's Grove record., 1896-11-27
REV. DR. TALMAGE,
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Discourse.
Subject: "Young Men Challenged TO
Nobility"

SuDJeCts AounE MON AhtNhcn&00 w
Nobility"
TEXT: "And the Lord opened the eyes Of
the young man."-II Kings vi, II.
One morning In Dothan a young theo.
logical student was scared by finding himself
and Elisha the prophet, upon whom he
waited, surrounded by q 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 oil
fire, drawn by horses Of fire-a supernatural
appearance that could not be seen with the
natural eye. So the old minister prayed
hat the young minister might see them also,
and the prayer was answered, and the Lord
opened the eyes OF the young man, and he
also saw the fiery procession, looking some
what, / suppose, like the A~dirondacks or the
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 a young man Is q
good home. Some II my hearers look back
with tender satisfaction to their early home.
It may have been rude and rustic, hidden
among the hills, and architect or upholsterer
never planned or adorned II. But all the
fresco on princeiy walls never looked so en-
ticing to you as those rough hewn rafters.
You can think of no park or arbor of trees
planted on fashionable country seat SO at
f~ractive 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 n
swung open by ~obsequious porter in
full dress has half the glory Of the old
swing gate. Many of you have a second
-l1 -1--@ 80. L~-.. 49,
also Is sacred forever. There you built the
flrst family altar. There your children were
born. All those trees you planted. That
room Is solemn because once in II, over the
hot pillow, tapped the wing OF death. Un-
der that roof you expect when our work is
done to lie down and die. You try with
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. 1t is home.
Now, / declare 1t, that Young mar il COM
paratiyely safe who goes out Into the world
with a charm like this upon him. The mem
DRY Of parental solicitude, watching, plan
ming and praying will be 10 him a shield and
a shelter. never knew a man faithful both
10 his early and adopted HON who at the
same time WAS given over to any gross form
OF dissipation or wiekedness. He who seeks
his enjoyment chiefly from outside associa-
tion rather than from the more quiet
and unpresuming pleasures Of which I
haye spoken may be suspected to be
on the broad road to ruin. Absa-
ION despised his fathers house. and you
know his history Of sin and his death Of
shame. III you seem unnecessarily isolated
from your kindred and former associates ia
there not some room that you can cali your
own? Into 1t gather books and pictures and
q harp. Have a portrait over the mantel.
Make ungodly mirth stand back from the
threshold. Oonsecrate some spot with the
knee OF prayer. By the memory of other
days, a fathers counsel, and a mothers love,
n a sisters confidence. call it home.
Another defense for a young mar 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 the city and falls twice be-
fore he Is as old as his father was when he first
saw the spires Of the great town. Sitting In
som office rented at $1,000 a year, he Ii
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 ~penmauship makes
a copy plate OF a merchants signature.
Never mind. All is right in trade. In some
dark night there may some In his dreams
a vision OF the peniteDtiary, but 1t
soon yanishes. In a short time he will be
ready TO retire from the busy world, and
amid his fiocks and herds cultivate the do
mestio virtues. Then those young men who
once were his schoolmates and knew 10 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 II there
were some rotten beams In that beautiful
palace. IRhould not wonder II dire sickness
should smite through the young man, or II
God should pour into his cup Of life a
draft that would thrill him with unbearable
agony; II his children should become to him
n living curse, making his home a pest and a
disgrace. / should not wonder II he goes to
q miserable grave and beyond 1t into the
gnashlng 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
1346 the Prince OF Wales, finding himself
heavily pressed by the enemy, sent word to
his father for help. The father, watching
the battle from a windmill, and seeing his
son wa not wounded and could gain the
day IL be would, sent word: mo. I will not
come. Let the boy win his spurs, for, II God
will, / desire that this day be his with ali its
honors." Young man, fight your own battle
all through and you shall have the victory.
Oh, it is q battle worth fighting! Two
monarchs Of old fought a duel, Charles Y
and Francis, and the stakes were Kingdoms,
Milan and Burgundy. You fight with sin
and the stake 10 heaven or hell.
Do not get the fatal idea that you are q
genius and that. therefore, there Is no need
OF close application. 1t Is here where null
titudes fail. The curse OF this age is the
geniuses-men with self conceit
and egotism and nothing else. I had
rather be an OK than an eagle; plain and
plodding and useful rather than high 1y-
Ing and good for nothing but to pick out
the eyes OF 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 TO do, and therefore
God commanded him to be q farmer and
hprticulturist. He was to dress the garden
and keep Il, and had he and his wife obeyed
the divine Injunction and teen at work they
would not have been sauntering under the
trees and hankering after that fruit which
destroyed them and their posterity-a proof
positive for all ages to some that those who
do not attend their business are SURE to get
into mischief.
lido not know that the prodigal in Scrip
ture woul ever have been reclaimed had he
not given up his idle habits and gene to
feeding swine for a 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 Hon meets with his hands
10 his pockets.
Do not demand that your toll always be
elegant and clearly and refined. There is q
certain amount Of drudgery through which
we must all pass whatever be our occupation
You know how men are sentenced a Ger, ain
number OF years to prison, and after they
have suffered and worked out the time then
they are allowed to go free. So 1t is with all
US. God passed on us the sentence, .tBy the
sweat OF thy brow shalt thon eat bread" VIZ
must endure cur time OF drudgery and then,
after awhile, we will be allowed to go into
comparative liberty. We must be willing &c
endure the sentence. We all know whal
drudgery IS connected with the beginning o.
any trade or profession, but this does no
continue ali our lives. II II be the students
oe the merchants, or the mechanics life.
know you have at the beginning many q har'
time, but after Q while those things will be
come easy. You will be your OWL master
Gods sentence will be satisfied. You will b
discharged from prison.
Bleee God that You have a brain to thfnI