The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1899-01-06
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
"A NEW YEARS GREETING"
THE SUBJECT.
From Book of Genesis, Chapter Xviii,
Verse q, as Follows: How Old Art
ThOu2" Some Lessons from Life.


from India frankincense and CHINA
mon and ivory and diamonds; from
the north, marble and iron; from Sy-
! ria, purple and silk; from Greece some
OF the finest horses of the world, and
some of the most brilliant chariots;
and from all the earth that which
could best please the eye, and charm
the ear and crafty the taste. There
were temples aflame with red sand
stone, entered by the gateways that
were guarded by pillars bewildering
with hieroglyphics and wound with
brazen serpents and adorned with
winged creatures-their eyes and
beaks and pinions glittering with pre-
cious stones. There were marble col
umns blooming into white fiowerbeds;
there were stone pillars, at the top
bursting into the shape Of the lotus
when in full bloom.
Along the avenues.lined with sphinx
and fame and obelisk, there were
princes who came in gorgeously up
holstered palanquins, carried by SER
wants in scarlet or elsewhere drawn
by vehicles, the snow-white horses,
golden-bitted, and six abreast, dashing
at full run. On floors o, mosaic the
glories Of Pharaoh where spelled out
in letters of porphyry and beryl and
lame. There were ornaments twisted
from the wood of tamarisk, embossed
with silver breaking into foam. There
were footstools made out of a single
precious stone. There were beds fash
Toned out Of a crcuched lion in bronze.
There were chairs spotted with the
sleek hides Of leopards. There were
sofas footed with the claws OF wild
beasts, and armed with the beaks
or birds. AS You stand on the level
beach OF the sea on n summer day,
and look either way, and there are
miles of Breakers, white with the
ocean foam, dashing shoreward. so it
seemed as IL the sea OF the worlds
pomp and wealth in the Egyptian car
ital for miles and miles flung itself hg
Into white breakers Of marble temple,
mausoleum and obelisk.
1t was to this capital and the palace
OF Pharaoh that Jacob, the plain shep-
herd, came to meet his son Joseph,
who had become prime minister in the
royal apartment. Pharaoh and Jacob
met. dignity and rusticity, The grace
fulness of the court and the plain
manners of the field The king, want
Ing to make the old countryman at
ease, and seeing how white his beard
is and how feeble his step, looks ia
miliarly into his face and says to the
aged man: How old art thou?"
Last night the gate OF Eternity open
ed to let in, amid the great throng OF
departed centuries, the soul of the dy-
Ing year. Under the twelfth stroke OF
the brazen hammer of the city clock
the patriarch fell dead, and the stars
Of the night were the funeral torches.
1t is most fortunate that on this road
OF life there are so many mile-stones,
on which we can read just how fast
We are going toward the journeys end.
l feel that 1t Is not an Inappropriate
question that l ask today, when | look
into your faces, and say, as Pharaoh
did to Jacob, the patriarch, How old
art thou?"
People who are truthful on every
other subject lie about their ages, so
that l do not solicit from you any
literal response to the question | have
asked. l would put no one under
temptation, but l simply want, this
morning, to see by what rod it is we
are measuring our earthly existence.
There is a right way and q wrong way
Of measuring a door, or a wall, or an
arch, or a tower, and so there is a
right way and a wrong way of meas
uring our earthly existence. 1t Is
with reference to this higher meaning
that l confront you this morning with
the stupendous question OF the text.
and ask: How old are thou?" .
1t Is not sinful egotism for a Chris
tian man TO say, II am purer than l
| used to be. l am more consecrated to
Christ than / used to be. I have got
over a great many Of the bad habits
In which l used to indulge in. am n
great deal better man than l used to
be-" There is no sinful egotism In
that. 1t is not base egotism for a
soldier TO say, II know more about
military tactics than / used to before
took musket in my hand and learn
ed to present arms and when / was a
pest to the drill officer" 1t is not base
egotism for sailor to say, II know
better how to clew down the mizzen
topsail than 1 used to before had
ever seen a ship" And there is no
sinful egotism when a Christian man.
| fighting the battles of the Lord. or. IL
you will have 1t, voyaging toward
haven of eternal rest, say, 81 know
more about spiritual tactics and about
voyaging toward heaven than l used
to-"
Why, there are those in this pres
ence who have measured lances with
many foe and endorsed II. There
are Christian men here who have be-
come swarthy by hammerlng at the
forge of calamity. They stand on an
entirely different plane of character
from that which they once occupied
They are measuring their life on earth
| l.