The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-12-14
GRACE OF PATIENCE.
DR.. TALMAGE SPEAKS ON ONE OF THE
CHIEF CHRISTIAN VIRTUES
Need ofIts Exercise I'm the Affairs
OF Daily LiIe-Turns Discord Into
Harmony-Ffnal Reward fPafience.

InlS ulSCOuTC[
full length portrait Of a virtue whicn
all admire, and h lessons taught are
very heIpful;text, Hebrews Z, &c. We
have need Of patience"
> Yea we are in awful need OF II.
Some of us have a little OF H., ana
some of US have none at all. There Is
less of this grace in the world thar Oh
almost any other. Faith. hope and
charity are all abloom in hundreds OF
souls where o find one specimen OF
patience with a coworker, and from the
he urges this virtue upon the he
brews, upon the Corinthians, upon the
Thessalonians, upon the Romans Upon
the Colossians, upon the young theo-
logical student Timothy. I conclude he
was speaking out Of his own need OF
more of this excellence. And L only
wonder that Paul had any nerves left.
Imprisonment, fagellation, M~edlterra-
mean cyclone, arrest for treason anu
conspiracy, the wear and tear OF
preaching to angry mobs,those at 1he
door of a theatre and those on the
rocks of Mars hill, left him emanclated
invalid and with a broken voice
and sore eyes and nerves a-1angie:
He gives US a snap shot OF nlmSelI
when he describes his appearance and
his sermonic delivery by saying, In
bodily presence weak and in speech
contemplate" and refers to his in
famed eyelids when speaking or the
ardent friendship of the Galatians he
saws. IF it had been possible, We
would have plucked u your eyes and
have given them to me.
We admire most that which We have
least of. Those of us with unimPres-
siye visage most admire beauty; those
of us with d~iscordant voice most extol
cadece; those of us with
stammering speech most wnder at
eI%ouuence; those of us who get pro-
voked at trifes and are naturally
irascible appreciate in others the
e~quipoise and the endurance OF pa
thence. So Paul, with hands tremulous
with the agitationS of a lifetime, writes
OF the God of patience" and of min
listers of God in much patience" and
OF patience of hope" and tells them TO
follow after patience" and wants
them to run with patience, and
speaks of those strengthened with all
patience" and looks us all full in the
face as he makes thestartling charge.
''Ye have need of patience"
PATIENCE UNDER TESSISISM.
Some of the people ordinarily most
tACCllCIAI IdNS O SAS - 1870 OSHNN
That man who is the impersonation of
amiability, his mouth full of soft words
and his face a spring Ornln III a
passing wheel splash the mud across
his ~broadcloth, see how he colors up,
and hear him denounce the passing
jehu. The Christian oman an angel
of sauvity, now hat some social slight
is put upon her or her family, hear
how her utterance increases in intens-
ity. One of the ablest and best min
listers of the gospel in America, stop
pin at a hotel in a town where he
had an evening engagement, was inter-
rupted in his afternoon a by a KNOCK
at the door by a minister who a come
to welcome him, and after the second
and third knock the sleeper opened the
door and look the invader of his repose
by the collar and twisted it with a force
that, if continued, would have e
strangulation. Oh, it is enough to
be PATIENT when there is nothing TO
be patient about. When the bank
account is good and in no danger OF be-
ing overdrawn, and the wardrobe Is
crowded with apparel appropriate for
the cold, or the heat, or the wet, ana
all the family have atteSted their
health by keen appetites at a loaded
table, and the newspapers, If they men
ton us at all, put right construction
upOn what we do or say, and we can
walk ten miles without getting tired,
and we sleep eight solid hours without
turning from side to side. the most
useless grace 1 can think of is patience.
1t has no business anywhere In your
house, you have no more need OF II
than Of a life preserver while you are
walking the pavements OF a c1ty, no
more need Of it han an umbrella
under a ~cloudless sky, no more need OF
it than of Sir HumphryDavy's safety
lamp for miners while you are
breathing the tonic air of an OCTOBER
morning.
Do not boast that you are placid and
optimistic and free from the. spirit OF
scold. If those who are unfortunate
could change lots with YOU they would
be lust as %sunshiny. 1t is not religion
that makes you SO happy, but capacity
to digest your GOD in three hours and
enough upo cut off to meet all your
and complimentary mention,
and capacity to leave your horses In the
stable because you need a brisk Walk
down the avenue. The recording angel
making a pen out OF some plume of a
bird OF paradise is not getting ready to
write opposite your name anything APP
~plaudatory. All your sublime eQuilib-
rum of temperament Is the result OF
worldly ness. But suppose things
nightly change with you. as they
sometimes do change. You begin to &c
down hill, and it is amazing how many
there are to help you down when o
begin to go in that direction. A great
investment fails. The Colorado silver
mine ceases to yield. You get land
Door. Your mills, that yielded marvels
Of wealth, are eclipsed by mills with
under the feet OF the bears of Wall
street. For the first time in your life
YOU needto borrow money, and no one
Is willing to lend. Under the harrow
@worrfment you get a distressful
feeling at the base of you brain. In
somnia and ervou dyspepsia lay hold
Of o Your health GOES down with
your fortune. Your circle Of acquaint-
ances narrows; n where once you
We're oppressed by the fact nat o
had not time enough to return one
half Of the social calls made upon you,
now the card basket in o hallway is
empty, and your chief callers are your
creditors and the family physician, who
comes to learn the effect of the last
prescription
CAUSES OF PESSTMISM.
Now you understand how people can
becdfne pesSimistic and cynical and