The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-09-15
SERVING HUMANITY.
d.. Taimage on What We Can
Do for Our Own Generation.
The Reward Of Administering TO Eel
low Man Is Giorious-The sleep
Of Death and Its BIiasfuI
Awakening.

In his recent discourse DR.. Talmage
changes or lifetime from d meaning
less generality to practical heIpfulness
70 the people now living; text, Acts Is,
55: David, after he had served his
own generation by the Will of Cod, fell
on sleep"
That is a text which has for a long
time been running through my mind.
Sermons have a time 10 be born as well
as a time to die, a cradle as well as a
grave, David, cowboy and stone sling.
er aud 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 bill Of Jerusalem in that
sound slumber which nothing but an
archangelie blast can startle. David,
after he had served his W genera
tion by the will Of God, fell on sleep"
1t was his own generation that he had
seryed-that is, the people living at
the time he lived. And have you ever
thought that our responsibilities are
chiefly with the people now walking
abreast of us2 There are about four
generations to a century now, but in
olden time life was longer, and there
vas 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 human family.
With reference to them we have no re-
sponsibility. We cannot teach them,
we cannot correct their mistakes, we
cannot soothe their sorrows, we cannot
heal their wounds. Their scpulchers
are deaf and dumb TO anything we
might say to them. The last regiment
Of that great army has passed ont Of
sight, We might halloo as loud as we
could, not one of them would avert
his head to see what we wanted. adj
NIT that l am in sympathy with the
child whose father had suddenly died,
and who in her little evening prayer
wanted to continue to pray for her fa-
ther, although he had gone to Heaven,
and no more needed her prayers, and,
looking up into her mothers face,
said: "Oh, mother, 1 cannot leave him
all out. Let me say: Thank God that
had a good father once so / can keep
him in my prayers"
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 conversations,
their elections, their revolutions, their
catastrophies, their t~riumphs. We vii
in nowise affect the $50 generations
gone or the 1870 generations to come,
except as from the galleries ofHeayen
the former generations look down
and rejoice at our victories, or as
we may by u behavior start infu-
ences, good or bad, that shall roll on
through the advancing ages, But our
business is, like David, to serve u
own generation, the people now living
those whose lungs-now breathe and
whose hearts now beat, and mark you,
it is not a silent procession, but moving,
II is a forced march" at "A miles a
day. each hour being a mile. Going
with that celebrity, 1t 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 on the stage will soon
be off, and we ourselves will be off
with them. The fact is that you and I
will have to start very soon for our
work or it will be ironicaI and sarcastic
for anyone 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"
Well, now, let us lock around ear
nestly, prayerfully, in a common sense
way and see what we a do for our
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 so
constituted that three times a day the
body needs food as much as a lamp
needs Oil, as much as a locomotive
needs fuel. To meet this want God has
girdled the earth with apple orchards
orange groves, wheatdelds and oceans
full Of fish and p~rairies full Of cattle,
and notwithstanding this I viii under
take to say that the vast majority Of
the human family are now suffering
either for lack of food or the right kind
of food. Our civilization is an askew,
and God only can set It right. Many Of
the greatest estates of to-duyh have been
built out Of the blood aud bones of UNI
requited toil. In olden times, for the
building of forts and towers, the inhab-
itants of Ispahan had to contribute TO-
200 skulls, and Bagdnd 10000 human
skulls, and that number Of people
were compelled to furnish the skulls.
But these two contributions added to-
gether made only 100000 skulls, while
into the tower Of the worlds wealth
and pomp have been wrough; the skel-
etons Of u%ncounted numbers Of the
half-fed popula ions Of the earth-mil-
lions of skulls.
Dau't sit down at your table with
FIVE or six courses Of abundant supply
and think nothing Of that family in the
next street who would take any one
of those Eve courses between soup and
almond nuts and feel they we're in
Heaven. The lack Of the right kind Of
food is the cause Of much Of the drunk
enness. After drinking what mary
OF u grocers call coffee, sweetered
what many call sugar. and eat
ing what many Of our butchers call
meat, and chewing what many Of our
bakers call bread, many Of the labor
ing classes feel 50 miserable they are
tempted to put into their nasty pipes
what the -tobacconist calls tobacco or
90 into the drinking saloons for what
the rumseIlers cali beer. Good coffee