The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-11-25

leys OF the New Jersey bar, and as as
sistant Of the county clerk. at sixteen
years Of age, / searched titles, natural |
lied foreigners, recorded deeds, receiv- |
ed the confession of judgments, swore |
witness and juTies and grand juries.
But afterawhile | felt a call to the Cos |
pei ministry and entered it, n l felt
some satisfaction in the work But
one ummer when 1 was resting at
Sharon Springs. and while seated in the
park of that village, l said To myself.
If ] have an especial work 10 do in
the world I ought 10 find il out now"
and with that determination l aye
as I had never prayed, and got the di-
win direction, and wrote ii down in
my memorandum book. and | saw my
life work then as plainly as L see il
now. Oh. do not be satisfied with gen
eral directions, Get specific directions.
Do not shoot at random- Take aim
and fire. Concentrate. NapoleOn's
success in battle came from his theory
of breaking through the enemy's ranks
at one point. not trying TO meet the
whole line of the enemy force by a
similar force. One reason why he lost
Waterloo was because he did not work
his usual theory. and spread his force
out over a wide range. O Christian
man, o Christian woman, break
through somewhere! Not a general
engagement for God, but a particular
engagement, and made an answer 10
prayer If there are 1905 900, 900 peo-
pie in the world. then there are 800
900, 900 different missions TO fulfill diff
ferent styles of work to do. different
orbits in which to %revOlve. and if you
do not get the divine direction there
are at least 1888, 600. 900 possibilities
that you will make a mistake. On
your knees before God get the matter
settled so that you can firmly say, ITO
this end was l born"
ETERNAL LIFE.
And now l come to the cIimacteric
consideration AS near as L can tell,
you were built for d happy eternity,
all the disasters which have happened
to yOur nature to be overcome by the
blood Of the Lamb if you will heartily
accept that Christly arrangement. We
are all rejoiced at the increase in hu-
man longevity. People live, as near as
| can observe, about ten years longer
than they used to. The modern doc
tors do not bleed their patients on all
occasions as did the former doctors.
In those times if a man had fever they
bled him, if he had consumption, they
bled him; if he had rheumatism, they
bled him, and if they could not maxi
out exactly what was the matter they
bled him. Olden time ~phlebOtOmy was
Deaths cOadjutOr. All his has chang
ed. From the way | see people skip
ping about at so years of age | con-
clude that life insurance companies
will ave to change their table of risks
and charge a man no more premium
at 20 than they used to do when he
was go, and no more premium at so
than when he a 40. By the advance
ment of medical science and the wider
acquaintance with the laws of health
and the fact that the people know bet
ter how to take care Of themselves,
human life is prolonged. But dc you
realize what, after all, is the brevitv
of our earthly state? In the times
when people lived 700 and 800 years,
the patriarch Jacob said that his years
were few. Looking at the life of the
youngest person in this assembly and
suDpOsing that he will live to be a
nOnagenarian, how short the time n
soon gone, while banked up in front of
us is an eternity so vast that arithme-
tic has not figures enough to express
it's length or breadth or depth or
height. For a happy eternity you
were born, unless you run yourself
| against the divine intentions. If.
standing in your presence, my eye
SHOULD fall upon the feeblest soul here
as that soul will appear when the
world lets it up and heaven entrances
it, I suppose I would be 50
ed that I should drop down as one
dead.
You have examined the family Bible
and explored the family records, and
you may nave seen daguerreOtypeS of
some of the kindred of previous gen
erations, you have had photographs
taken of what you were in boyhood or
girlhOOd, and what you were ten years
later, and it is very interesting to any
one to be able to look back Upon pic
lures of what he was 10 or 20 or 80
years ago. But have you ever had a
picture taken of What you may be and
what you will be if you seek after God
and feel the spirits regenerating pow
er? Where shall 1 plant the camera
to take the picture? l plant it on this
platform. l direct it toward you. Sit
still or stand still While 1 AXE the
picture. 1t shall be an instantaneous
picture. There. 1 have it. 1t is done.
You can see the picture in its imDer-
feet state n get some idea of what
it will be when thoroughly developed.
There is your resurrected body, so
brilliant that the noonday sun is a
patch of midnight compared with it.
There is your soul, so pure that all. the
forces of diabolism could not spot 1t
with an imperfectiOn. There is your
being, so mighty and so swift that
flight from Heaven to Mercury or
Mars or Jupiter and back again to
heaven would not weary you, and
a world on each shoulder would not
crush you. An eye that shall never
shed a tear. An energy that shall new
er feel a fatigue. A brow that shall
never thrOb with pair. You are young
again, though you died of decrepitude.
You are we'll again, though you cough
ed or shivered yourself into the tomb.
Your everyday associates are the apos-
ties and prophets and martyrs, and
most exalted souls, masculine and fe-
minnie, of all the centuries. The arch
angel to YOU no embarrassment. God
himself your present and everlasting
joy. That is an instantaneous picture
of what you may be and what / am
sure some Of you will be.
ONLY A LITTLE WHILE.
II you realize that it is an Imperfect.
picture, my apology is what the apos-
tie John said, 1t doth not vet appear
what W. shall be-" To this end was
l born If | did not think so l would
be overwhelmed with melancholy. The
yI-n 1 9nn- $1,000 --zIJ