Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-11-17
THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
Or. TALMAGE ON THE AIM AND OBJ
JEcT OF EXISTENCE.

The End of Life should Re Action.
Premonitions of Usefulness - The
Necessity of spcoiniixtnE-Pnrad
shall Tie the Reward of Labor.
copyright, 1928. by American Press Asso-
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13.-To all those who
ger sinr,, .ia1's ~ especial mission In tho
world, this sermon of DIR. Thlmage will
rome as n cheering revelation; text, John
xviii, 81, ITO this end was born -
After PLATE had suicided, tradition says
that his body was thrown into the Tiber,
and such storms ensued on and about that
river that his body was taken out and
thrown into the Rhone and similar dis
turbances swept that river and Its banks.
Then the body was taken out and moved
to Lausanne, and put in deeper pool,
which Immediately became the center of
similar atmospheric and aqueous disturb
ancos Though these nro fanciful and
false traditions, they show the cxecration
with which the world looked upon PLATE.
II was before this man, when he was In
full life and power, that Christ was ar
raigned as in a court Of oyer and tcrminer,
plate said TO his prisoner, Art thou
king, them" and Jesus answered "To this
oil earth and hell arose to keep him down,
he Is today einpslaccd, enthroncd and
coroneted king of earth and king OF heav-
en- That is whnt no came for and that is
what he accomplished.
BY the time child reaches 10 years OF
age the parents tegin To discover that
childs destiny, but by tho timo he OF she
reaches IL years of age, the question is on
the childs lips: what shall l dor What
nm going to bcS What was | made forp''
1t is n scr siblc and righteous question, and
the youth ought to keep asking II until
IL Is so fully answered that the young man
or young woman can say with rs much
truth rs its author, though on less ex-
psnsivo scale. ITO this end was born"
The Divine Purpose.
There is too much divine skill shown in
che physical, mental and moral constitu-
ton of the ordinary human being to sup
pose that ne was constructed without any
divine purpose. II you take me out on
some vast plain and show me n pillarcd
temple surmourtau by dome like st
Peters and having floor Of precious
stones and arches that must have taxed
the brain ot the greatest craftsman to de-
sign, and walls scrolled and niched and
paneled, and wainscotod and painted, and
/ should Hsk you what this building was
put up for and you answered, For moth
ing az all, " how could believe your And
1t is impossible for mo to believe that any
ordinary human being who has in his
muscular, nervous and cerebral organiza-
ton moro wonders than Christopher Wren
lifted in St. Paul's, or Phidias ever chisel-
ed on the Acropolis, and built in such u
way that It shall last long after St. Paul's
cathedral Is rs much ruin as tho Parthe
non-that such being was constructed
for no purpose, and to execute no mission,
and without any divine intention toward
some end. Tho object of this sermon is to
help you to find out what you are made
for and help YOU find your sphere and as
sist you Into that condition where you can
say with certainty and emphasis and en-
thusiasm and triumph. ITO this END was
l born"
First, I discharge you from all RESPONSE
bility for most OF your environments You
are not responsible for your parentage or
Rrandparentage You are not responsible
for any Of the cranks that may have lived
In your ancestral line and who n hundred
years before you were born may have lived
style of life that more or less affects you
today You are not responsible for the fact
that your temperament is sanguine, or
Inelancholio, or bilious, or lymphntic, or
nervous Neither are you responsible for
the place of your nativity, whether among
the granite hills of New England, or the
cotton plantations Of Louisiana, or on tho
banks Of the Clyde, or the Dne!per, or the
Shannon, or the Seine Neither are you
responsible for the religion taught in your
father house, or the irreligion. DO not
bother yourself about what you cannot
help or about circumstances that you did
not decree.
Take things as they are and decide the
question SO that you shall be able safely
TO say, ITO this end was l born How
will you decide itr BY direct application
to the only Being in the universe who ID
competent to tell you-tho Lord Almighty
Do you know the reason why he is the
only one who can tellp Because he can sec
everything between your cradle and your
grave, though the grave be so years of
And besides that he is the only Being who
can soc what has been happening in the
last 500 years in your ancestral line, and
for thousands of years clear back to Adam
and there Ia not one person in all that an
cestral line Of 5000 years but has some
how affected your character, and even OLE
Adam himself will sometimes turn up il
your disposition. The only Being who car
take all things that pertain to you int
consideration Is God, and he is the on,
you can ask Life is SO short we have n,
time to department with occupations ant
professions. Tho reason we have SO man,
dead failures is that parents decide fo
children what they shall do or children
themselves, wrought on by some within O
fancy, decide for themselves, without an,
imploration Of divine guidance So w
have now in pulpits men making sermon
who ought TO be in blacksmith shops max
ing plowshares, and we have in the Law
those who instead of running the cases U
their clients ought 20 be pounding sho
lasts, and doctors who are the worst hin
ORANGES to their patients conyalescence
and artists trying to paint landscapes VIII
ought to be whitew ASKING board fences
while there are others making bricks VIII
ought to DO remodeling constitutions o
showing planes who ought to be trans
forming literatures Ask God about wha
worldly business you shall undertake unit
you aro so positive you can in earnestnes
smite your hand on your pillow handle o
your carpenters bench or your Black
stones commentaries, or your medics
dictionary, or your DIR. Dicks "Didacti
Theology saying. For this end was
born" There are children who early ds
velop natural afflnities for certain style
OF work. When the father of the astroI
omer Forbes was going to London, b