Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1897-10-13
REVERENCE THE AGED.
a Sermon by Few. Or. Talmage to the
Younger Generation.
He Urges Respect aud Obedience for tn.
oid-rhcy Are blessed I'm the sight OF
the Iord-AEed Parents Look With
Joy ON Their Offspring.


the People were distinguished for lon
gevity. In the centuries after t,ople
lived TO great age. Galen, the most
"eleI rated physician of his time. took
80 little of his own medicine that he
hVed To l40 years. \ man of undoubted
NcracltN on the witness stand in Eng
land Sworc that he remembered an
event 100 years before. Lord Bacon
speaks of n countess who had cut three
sets OF teeth, and died ut iIO wears. In
1897 book was printed containing the
names of 3; persons who lived l4O
years, and the names OF IL persons who
lived $50 years
Among the grand old people of whom
we have record was Jacob, the shep-
herd of the text. But he had bad lot
of boys. They were jealous and ambi-
tious and every way unprincipled. Jo-
seph, however, seemed To Ice an excep-
ton; but he had been gone many years.
and the probability was that he was
dead. As sometimes now in "A house
you Will find kept ut the the table va
cant chair, plate, knife. n
fork, for some deceased member
OF the family, SO Jacob kept in his
heart place for his beloved Joseph
There sits the old man, the flock Of i4o
years in their flight having alighted
long enough tn leave the marks of their
claw on forehead and cheek and tenn
pie. His long beard SHOWS down over
his chest. His eyes are somewhat dim.
and he can see farther when they are
closed than when they are open, for he
can see clear back into the time when
beautiful Rachel, his wife. was living.
and his children shook the Oriental
abode with their mcrriment.
The centenarian is sitting dreaming
over the past when he hears "A wagon
rumbling to the front door. lie gets
up and goes To the door To see who has
arrived, and his long absent sons from
Egypt come in and announce To him
that Joseph, instead of being dead. is
living in an Egyptian palace. with all
the investiture of prime minister, next
To the king in the mightiest empire of
all the world! The news was too sud
den and too glad for the old man. and
his cheeks whitcn. and he has "a daZcd
look, and his staff falls out of his
hand, and he would have dropped had
not his sons caught him and led him to
lounge and put cold water on his
face, and famed him "A little
In that half delirum the old man
mumbles something about his son
Joseph. lie says: You don't mean
Joseph, do you? NV dear son who has
been dead so long? You don't mean
Joseph. do you?' But after they had
fully resuscitatcd him and the news
was confirmed, the tears begin their
winding way down the crossroads of
the wrinkles, and the sunllen lips of
the old man culver, and he brings his
bent fingers together ms he saws:
Joseph is yet alive. | will go and see
him before die
IL did not take the old man a great
while to get ready, | warrant you lie
put on his best clothes that the shep-
herds wardrobe could afford He got
into the wagon, and though the aged
are cautious and like TO ride slow. the
wagon did not get along fast enough
for this old man; and when the wagon
with the old man met JoscpE's chariot
coming down TO meet him, and Joseph
got out of the chariot and got into the
wagon and threw his arms around his
fathers neck, It was an antithesis of
royalty and rusticity. of simplicity and
pomp. of filial affection and paternal
love. which leaves Us 30 much in doubt
whether we had better laugh or cry
that we do both. So Jacob kept the
resolution of the text will go and
see him before / die"
What strong and unfailing thing ia
parental attachment. Was IT, not al
most time for Jacob to forget Jose phi?
The hot sun of many summers had
blazcd on the heath, the river Nile had
overilowed and rcccdcd overlooked
and rcccdcd again and again: the seed
had been sown and the harvcsts reap
ed; stars rose and set; years of plenty
and years OF famine had passed on;
but the love of Jacob for Joseph in nv
text is Overwhelmingly dramatic. Oh.
that is a cord that is not snapped.
though pulled on by many decades,
Though when the little child expired
the parents may not have been more
than % years Of age. and now they are
-, yet the vision Of the cradle. and the
childish face. and the first Mt
terances Of the infantile lips
are fresh to-day i'm spite
IF the passage Of half century. Jo-
,cph was as fresh in Jacobs memory as
ever, though at u years Of age the boy
mad disappeared from the old home
,tead. ! found in our family record
the story Of an infant that had died 30
years before, and said 90 my parents:
What is this record. and what does IL
mean Their chief answer was long.
deep sigh. IL was yet 90 them "a very
tender sorrow. What does that all
mean? Why. il means that our chill
1ren departed are ours vet, and that
cord Of attachment reaching across the
years will hold us until il brings Us to-
gether in the palace. as Jacob and .Io-
scph were brought together. That is
one thing that makes old people die
happy. They realize that IL is reunion
with those from whom they have long
been separated
am often asked a. a pastor and
every pastor is asked the question
"Will my children be- children in Hcav-
en- and forever children" Well. there
was no doubt great change in Joseph
:rom the time Jacob lost him and the
time when Jacob found him-bctwccn
the boy Of II years Of age and the man
in mid-life his forehead dcvclopcd
with the great business Of state. but
Jacob was glad 30 get back Joseph.
anyhow. and IL did not make much diff
ference 10 the old man whether the
boy looked older or looked youugor