The Penn's Grove record., 1899-03-10
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
-iVlNE.

Subject: Bundles of Life"-Insplratlon
Drawn From a HomeIy Phrase-Life,
Spiritual and Physical, is Divinely Pro-
tected-Bundies Which Are Blessings,
TEXT: 1.-THE soul of my Lord shall be
bound In the bundle of life with the LORD
thy God, III Samuel ky, 20.
Beautiful Abigail, in her rhythmic plea
for the rescue of her inebrlate husband,
who died within ten days, addresses David,
tho warrior, In the words of the text. She
suggests that his life, physically and In
tsllectually and spiritually, Is a valuable
package or bundle, divinely bound up and
to be divinely protected.
The phrase "bundle of life" 1 heard many
times In my fathers family prayers. Fam
lily prayers you know, have frequent repeti-
tions, because day by day they acknowl-
edge about the same blessings and deplore
about the same ~frailties Inc sympathize
with about the same misfortunes, and L do
not know why those who lead at household
devotions should seek variety of compost
tion, That familiar prayer becomes the
household liturgy. l would not give one
of my old fathers prayers for fifty elocu-
tionary supplications. Again and again,
in the morning and evening prayer, l heard
the request hat we might all be bound up
in the bundle of life, but l did not know
until a few days ago that the phrase was a
Bible phrase,
During the last spell of cold weather
there were bundles that attracted the at
tentioh and the plaudits of the high heav-
ems, bundles Of clothing on the way from
comfortable homes to the door of the
mission room, and Christ stood In the
snowbanks and said as the bundles passed.
"Naked, and ye clothed mo, Inasmuch as
ye have done 1t into one OF the least Of
these my brethren we have done 1t
unto me-" Those bundles are mnltibly-
ing. blessings on those who pack them.
Blessings on those who distribute them.
Blessings on those who receive them,
With what beautiful aptitude did Abigail
In m text speak of the bundle OF lifel Oh,
what a precious bundle is lifel Bundle of
memories, bundle of hopes, bundle OF
ambitions, bundle of destinies! Once in
a while a man writes his autobiography,
and 1t is OF thrilling interest. The story of
his birthplace, the story of his struggles,
the story of his sufferings, the story of HE
triumphst But II the autobiography OF the
most eventful life were well written 1t
would make many chapters of adventure,
of tragedy, of comedy, and there would
not be an embarrassing step from cradle
to grave.
Bundle of memories are. you, Boyhood
memories, with all Its injustices from play
mates, with all its game with ball and bat
and kite and sled. Manhood memories,
VA ui lOul SLluSblts III wv
%stacles, opposition, accidents, misfortunes,
losses, successes. Memories Of the first
marriage you ever saw solemnized, OF the
first grave you ever saw opened, OF the
ilrst mighty wrong You ever suffered, of
the first victory you ever gained, Memory
Of the hour when you were a~ffianced, mem
DRY of tho first advent In YOU home, mem
DRY OF roseate cheek faded and OF blue
eyes closed in the last sleep, memory OF
anthem and Of dirge. memory of great
pain and of slow convalescence, memory of
times when all things were against you,
memory OF properties that came in like
the full tide of the sea, memories of a life
time. What n bundlei
Bundle OF hopes and ambitions also Is nt-
most every man and woman, especially at
the starting. What gains he will harvest,
Or what reputation he will achieve, or
what bliss he will reach, or what love he
will win. What "a college commence
ment day 80 enhancing to all of us as we
see the students receive their diplomas and
take up the garlands thrown to their feet2
They will be Faradays in science; they will
be Tennysons In poesy; they will be Willard
Parkers In surgery they will be Alexander
Hamiltons In national finance; they will be
Horace Greeleys in editorial chair; they
will be Websters In the Senate. Or she
will be a Mary Lyon In educational
realms, or a Frances Willard on reforma-
tory platform, or a Helen Gould In military
hospitals. Or she will make home life
radiant with helpfulness and self-sacrihce
and magnificent w~omanhood. oh, what n
bundle of hopes and ambitionsl 1t Is a
bundle of gariands n scepters frpm
which l would not take one sprig Of
mignonette nor e%xtinguish one spark of
b%rilliance. They who start life without
bright hopes and inspiring ambitions
might as well not start at all, for every
step will be a failure. Rather would l add
to tho bundle, and if l open it now 1t will
be because l wish to take anything from
1t, but that may put intoit more coronets
and ~hosannas.
Bundle of faculties in every man and
every womani Power to think--to think
of the past inc through all the future, to
think upward and higher than the highest
pinnacle of heaven, or to think downward
until there Is no lower abysm to fathom.
Powerto think right, powerto think wrong,
power to think forever, for, once having
begun to think, there shall be no terminus
for that exercise, and eternity itself shall
have no power to bid it halt. Faculties to
love-hlial love, copjugal love, paternal
love. maternal love. love OF country, love
of God. Faculty OF judgment, with scales
SO delicate and yet so mighty they can
weigh arguments, weigh vnotions, weigh
worlds, weigh heaven and hell. Faculty OF
will, that can climb mountains or tunnel
them, wade season bridge them, accepting
eternal enforcement or choosing ever
lasting exile. Oh, what IL is to be a mani
oh, what it Is to be a womanl Sublime and
Infinite bundle of facultiesl The thought
of 1t staggers me, swamps me, stuns me,
bewilders me, overwhelms me, Oh, what
abundle of life Abigail of my text saw In
David and which we ought to see in every
human yet immortal beingl
Know, also, hat this bundle OF life Is
properly directed. Many a bundle has
Kissed its way and disappeared because
the address has dropped, and no one Gun
or neighborhood 1t was intended. All great
carrying companies have SO many misdi-
rected packages that they appoint days of
vendue to dispose Of them. All Intelligent
people know the Importance of having a
valuable package plainly directed, the
name of the one to whom it is to go plainly
written. Baggage master and expressman
ought to know at the first glance to whom
to take 1t.
The bundle of life that Abigail in my
text speaks of is plainly addressed. By
divine ~penmanship 1t Is directed heaven
ward. However long nay be the earthly
distance It travels its destination Is the
goes away from that direction is by some
human or Internal fraud practiced against
1t. There are those who put 1t on some
other track, who misplace 1t in some wrong
conveyance, who send 1t off or send it back
by some diabolic miscarriage. The value
OF that bundle is so well known all up and
down the universe that there are 1000, 00C
dishonest hands which are trying to detain
or divert it or to forever stop its progress
In the right direction. There are so many
influences abroad to ruin your body, mind
and soul that my wonder is not that sc
many are destroyed for this world and the
next, but hat there are not more who sc
down irremediably.
Every human being Is assailed at the
start. Within an hour Of the time wheI
this bundle of life is made up the assault
begins. First Of all there are the infantile
disorders that threaten the body jus
launched upon earthly existence. Scarlet
fevers and ~pneumonias and diphtherias ans
influenzas and the whole pack OF epidemici
surround the cradle and threaten its occu
pant; and infant Moses in the ark Of bull
rushes was not more imperlled by the mon
sters of the Nile than every cradle is imper
lied by ailments all d~evouring. In afte.
years there are foes within end foes with
out. Evil appetite joined by outside NJ
lurements. Temptations that have utterly
destroyed more people than now inhabi
the earth. Gambling saioons and RUNNER
les and places where dissoiuteness reign
supreme, enough in number to go rount