Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-02-10

where there is one cloud thunder
charged there are hundreds th&, stray
ecross the heavens, the glory OF lani
aud sky asleep in their bosom, be
cause death came and took your child
away, did you Immediately forget all
the five years, or The ten years, CT the i;
years, in which she came every night for
q kiss, all the tones Of your heart peal
ing forth at the sound of her voice or
the soft touch of her hand? Because in
sCme financial Euroclydon your fortune
went into the breakers. did you forget
ell those years in which the luxuries
aud extravagances of life showered on
your path? Alas, that is an unwisr
man, an ungrateful man, an unfai. mar,
IN unphilosophic man, ard, mos; all,
an un-Christian man, who measures his
life on earth by gronns and tears and
dyspeptlc fit and abuse and scorn aod
terror and neuralgia thrust.
Again, remark that there are many
people who estimate their life on earth
by the amount of money they have ac-
cumulated. They say: "Ihe year 1866
or 1870, or 1898. was wasted" WhyP
"Made no money" Now It is all cant
and ins,ncerity to talk against money,
as though 1t had no value 1t may rep
resent refinement and education and
1o,COO blessed surroundings. 1t is
the spreading of the table that feeds
the children's hunger II is the lighs-
ing Of the furnace that keeps you
warm. 1t is the making of the bed on
which you rest from care and anxiety
1t is the carrying of you out at last TO
decent sepulcher and the putting up
Of the slab on which Is chiselcd the
story OF your Christian hope, 1t is
simply hypocrisy, this TRADE in pulpit
and lecture hall against money.
But while all this is SC, he who uses
money or thinks Of money as anything
hut a means to an end will find out his
mistake when the glittering treasures
slip out of his ncrveless grasp and he
yoes out OF this world without shii-
ling of money or certificate of stock.
lie might better have been the Chris
iian porter that opened his gntc, or the
begrimed workman who last night
heaved the coal into his cellar. Bonls
and mortgages and leases have their
use, but they make POOR ynrdstick
with which to measure life. They
that boast themselves in their wealth
and trust in the multitude OF their
riches, none of them can, by any means
redeem his brother or give to God g
ransom for him that he should not SET
corruption
But remark there arc nany-l wisl
| there were more-who estimate then
life By the mora and spiritual develop
| ment.
remark again, there are many-and
| wish there were more--who are es
timating life by the good they can DO
John bradford said be counted that
day nothing at all in which he had not
by pen or tongue, done some good. j.
man begin right, l cannot tell how
many tears he may wipe away, how
many burdens he may lit, how many
orphans he may comfort, how man,
outcasts he may reclaim. There have
been men vino have given their whole
life in the right direction, concentrat
ing all their wit and ingenuity ano
mental acumen and physical force ant
enthusiasm for Christ. They climbed
the mountain and delved into the mine
and crossed the sea and dropped at las
into martyrs graves waiting for thu
resurrection of the just. They meas
ured their lives by the chains the,
broke off, by the garments they put up
on nakedness, by the miles they trav
eled to alleviate every kind OF suffer
ing. They felt in the thrill of every
nerve, in the motion of every muscle
in every throb OF their heart, in ever.
respiration of their lungs the magnifi
cent truth. "No man llveth unto him
self" They went through cold ant
through heat, foot blistered, cheel
smitten, back scourged, tempes
lashed, to do their whole duty. That j
the way they measured life-by tn
amount of good they could do.
Do you want TO know how o.!
Luther was; how old Richard Baxte
was; how old Philip Doddridge was
Why, you cannot calculate the lengtl
of their lives by any human arithmetic
Add TO their lives 10000 times 1000
years and you have not expressed it
what they have lived or will live. or
what a standard that is to measure
mans life by! There are those In thi
house who think they have only live
80 years. They will have lived LOCO
they have lived 1000. There are tbos
who think they are so years of ag'
They have not even entered upon thei
infancy, for one must become babe j
Christ TO begin at nll.
Now, do not know what your az
vantages or disadvantages are; l d
not know what your tact OF talent Is
do not know what may be the fascini
tion of your manners or the repulsiv'
ness OF them; but know this-there
for you, my hearer, field 10 culture,
harvest to reap, tear to wipe ava.
soul TO save. II you have world
means, consecrate them to Christ.
you have eloquence, use 1t on the sid
that Paul and Wilberforce used their
II you have learning, put It all into tt
poor box of the worlds suffering. Bt
If you have none of these-neith,
wealth. nor eloquence, nor lear
ing-you. at any rate, have
smile with which you can encourae
the disheartcned; frown with whic
you may blast injustice; voice vii
which you may call the wanderer bac
TO God. oh" you say, that is ver
sanct monious view of Iife!" II is no
1t Is the only bright view of life, and
is the only bright view Of death. Coz
frast the death scene OF man who hi
measured life by the worldly s,an'
ard with the death scene OF man wi