Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1900-06-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
REWARDS OF ENDEAVOR SUN
DAYS SUBJECT.
From the Following Text - Have
Finished the Work Which Thou Gavest
NE to Do"-John XVII. 4-The Fruits
of Well Won Victory.
Copyright. 1900. by Louis Klopschl

Copyright 1900, by Louis Klopsch]
There is a profound satisfaction In
the completion of anything we have
undertaken We lift the capstOne with
exultation. while. on the other hand.
there is nothing more Disappointing
than after having tOiled in certain
direction to find that our time is vast
ed and our investment prohtless-
Christ came TO throw mp highway on
which the whole world might, If II
chose. mount into heaven. He did it,
The foul mOuthed crew who attempted
70 tread on him could not eXtinguish
the sublime satisfaction which he eX-
pressed when he said Il have finished
the work which thou gavest me TO
do.
Alexander the Great was wounded.
and the doctors could not medicate his
wounds.and he seemed TO ~ dying. and
IN his dream the sick man saw plant
with a peculiar flower. and he dream
ed that that plant was put upon MS
wound and that immediately ii was
his dream told this to the physician,
and me physician wandered out until
he found just the kind of plant whlch
the sick man had described. brought
il TO him. and the wound was healed
Well. the human race had been hurt
with the ghastliest of all wounds
that of sin II was the business OF
Christ to bring a balm for that wound
the balm of divine restoration. In
carrying this business TO success
full issue the difficulties were stupen-
dous
The Spiritual pbuiiding.
In many of our plans We have our
friends to help us: some TO draw a
sketch of the plan. others to help us
in the execution. Bat Christ fought
every inch of his way against bitter
hostility and amid circumstances ali
calculated TO depress and defeat
In his fathers shop no more inter
course was necessary than Is ordlnar-
iIy necessary in bargaining with men
that have work to do: yet Christ. with
ldQOS nara IFOD1 uS' vi jOolS VI tidu'1.
was called forth to become public
speaker. TO preach in the face of mObs.
while some wept and some shook their
fists and some CRASHED upon him with
their teeth and many wanted him out
of the way To address orderly and
respectful assemblages is not so easy
as it may seem. but it requires more
energy ard more force and more con-
centration to address an exasperated
mob. The villagers of Nazareth heard
the pounding of his hammer. but all
the wide reaches OF eternity We're to
hear the stroke of his spiritual up
building
So also the habits of dress and diet
were against him. The mighty men of
Christ's time did not appear in appare:
without trinkets and adornments.
None of the Caesars would have APP
peared in citizens apparel Yet here
was man here YVES professed king.
who always wore the same coat. In
deed il was far from shabby. for after
ne had worn it long while the gam
blers thought il worth rafting about
but still 1t was far from being an
imperial robe 1t was a coa. that any
ordinary man might have worn on an
ordinary occasion.
Neither was there any pretensiOn in
his diet No cupbearer with golden
chalice brought him wine to drink
On the seashore he ate fish, first hav-
ing broiled it himself. No one fetched
him water TO drink; but. bending over
the well in Samaria. he begged
drink He sat at only one banquet.
and that not at all sumptuous. for 70
relieve the awkwardness of the host
one of the guests had TO prepare wine
for the company.
Man without a Diploma.
All this was against Christ So the
fact that he was not regularly gradu-
ated was against him. If man come
with the diplomas of colleges and
schools and theological seminaries.
and ne has been through foreign trav-
Ell. the world is disposed TO listen. But
here was man who had graduated
at no college, had not in any acad-
envy by ordinary means learned the
alphabet of the language he spoke. and
vet he proposed to talk to instruct in
subjects which had COMPOUNDED the
mightiest intellects John says: The
Jews marveled saying How hath this
man letters. having never learned?"
We. in our day. have found out that
a man without diploma may know
as much as man with one and that
a college can not transform a slug
gard into philosopher or a theOlog-
zeal seminary teach fool to preach
An empty head after the laying on If
hands of the presbytery is empty still
But it shocked all existing prejudices
in those olden times for a man with
no scholastic pretensions and no grad
uation from a learned institution TO set
himself up for teacher 1t was
against him.
So also the breyity of his life was
against him. He had not come to what
We call mid-life But very few men do
anything before 80 years of age and
yet that was the point at which
Christs life terminated The first -
years YOU take i'm nursery and school.
Then it will take you six years TO get
into your occupation or profession.
That will bring you to 81 years. Then
it will take you ten years at least to
get established in your life work. cor