The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-09-16
IN OUR GENERATION.
GLORIOUS REWARDS OF WORKING
FOR OUR FELLOW len
Or. TaImage Points Out the Lesson Of
the Life Of David-Service Which Suf-
fering Humanity Now "A BlIss-
fuI A~Wakening.

changes our lifetime from a
less generality to practical helpfulness
to the people now living, text, Acts
xiii, SO, David after he had served ms
own generation by the Will Of God, fell
on sleep"
That is a text which has for a long
time been running through my mind.
Sermons have a time to be born as well
as a time to die, a cradle as we'll as a
grave. David, cowboy and stone sling
or and fighter and dramatist and blank
verse writer and prophet, did his best
for the people of his time, and then
went and laid down on the southern
hill Of Jerusalem in that sound SUM
Der which nothing but an a~rchangellc
blast can startle. David, after he had
served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep" 1t was his own
generation that he had served-that is,
the people living at the time he lived.
And have you ever thought that our re
sponsibilities are chiefly with the peo-
pie now walking abreast of US? There
are about -four generations to a centu-
~ HOW buL III "a ii4'C IN '""
longer, and there was perhaps only one
generation to a century. Taking these
facts into the calculation, | make a
rough guess and say that there have
been at least $50 generations Of the hui
mar family. With reference to them
we have no responsibility. We cannot
teach them, we cannot correct their
mistakes, We cannot sOOthe their sOr-
rows We cannot heal their wounds.
Their sepuIcherS are leaf and dumb to
anything we might say to them. The
last regiment Of that great army has
passed out Of sight. We might hallOO
as loud as We could, not one Of them
would avert his head to see what we
wanted. | admit that [ am in SYM
pathy with the child whose father a
suddenly died, and who in her little
evening prayer wanted to continue to
pray for her father, although he a
gone into heaven, and no more needed
her prayers. and, looking up into her
mothers face, said "Oh, mother, /
cannot leave him all out. Let me say
thank God that l had a good father
once, 50 | can keep him in my pray
crs."
But the $50 generations have passed
off. Passed up. Passed down. Gone for
ever. Then there are generations to
come after our earthly existence has
ceased. We shall not see them. We
shall not hear any of their voices. We
will take no part in their COnVOcatiOns,
their elections, their revolutions. their
CatSastrOphies, their triumphs. We will
in noWise affect the $50 generations
one or the $50 generations to come,
except as from the galleries of HEAVIER
the former generations look down and
rejoice at our Victories, or as we may
by our behavior start influences, good
or bad. that shall roll on through the
advancing ages. But our business is,
like David, to serve our own genera
ton, the people now living, those whose
lungs now breathe and whose hearts
now beat, and mark you it is not q 81
lent procession, but moving. 1t is q
forced march" at tWenty-fOur miles a
day. each hOu being a mile. Going
with that celebrity, it has got to be a
quick service on our part or no service
at all. We not only cannot teach the
$50 generations past and will not see
the $50 generations to come, but this
generation now or the stage will 500
be by, and we ourselves will be off with
them. The fact is that you n /
will have to start very soon for our
work or it will be ironical and sarcas-
tic for any one after our exit TO say of
us, as it was said of David, After he
had served his own generation by the
will of God, he fell on sleep"
OUR OWN GENERATION.
Well, now, let us look around ear
nestly. prayerfully, in a common sense
way and see what we can do for ou1
own generation. First of all, let us see
to it that, as far as we can, they have
enough to eat. The human body is sc
constituted that three times a day the
body needs food as much as a lamI
needs oil, as much as a locomotive
needs fuel. To meet this want God has
girdled the earth with ample orchards
orange groves, Wheatfields and oceans
full of fish and prairies full of cattle
and Notwithstanding this I will under.
take to say hat the vast majority OF
the human family are now suffering
either for lack of food or the right kline
of food. Our civilization is all askew
and God only can set it right. Many OF
the greatest estates Of today have beer
built out of the blood and bones of un.
requited toll. In Olden times. for thu
building of forts and towers, the inhab
itants of Ispahan had to contribute 20.
600 skulls and Bagdad 900 human
skulls. and that number of people wer,
compelled to furnish the skulls. Blu
these two contributions added tOgethe
made only 100. 900 skulls, while int,
the tower of the worlds wealth anC
pomp have been wrought the skeleton
of uncounted numbers of the half fee
populations of the earth-millions o
skulls.
Don't sit down at your table witt
five or six courses of abundant suppl,
and hin nothing of that family in tn
next street who would take any one o
those five courses between soup an,
almond nuts and feel they were il
heaven. The lack of the right kind o
food is the cause of much of the drunk
enness. After drinking what nan o
our groCerS call coffee. sweetened wit
what nan call sugar and eating wha
man Of our butchers call meat. an,
chewing what many of our bakers ca
bread, many of the laboring class fee
so miserable they are tempted to pu
into their nasty pipes what the tobac
COniSt calls tobacco or go into drink
ing saloons for what the rumseller
call beer. Good coffee woul do niue
in driving out bad rum.
How can we serve our generatio
with enough to eat? By sitting dow
in embroidered slippers and loungin
back in an armchair. our mouth puck
cred up around a Havana of the bes
I,.-I cd 0JI claude n 1,1 ~ -