The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-05-23


ions OF ages past and the millions of ages
to come not one il especially measured OF
In the Bible But the half hour of my
text is made immortal.
The only part Of eternity that was ever
measured by the earthly timepiece was
measured by the minute hand OF my text.
Oh, the half hours They decide every.
thing. / am not asking what you win do
with the years or months or days Of your
life, but what Of the half hours! Tell me
the history Of your half hours and 1 will
tell you the story Of your whole lie IN
eternity.
The right or wrong things you can think
in thirty minutes, the right or wrong
things you can say in thirty minutes, the
right or wrong things you can do IN thlr-
~ minutes are glorious or baletul, lnspir-
ing or desperate.
Look out for the fragments Of time.
They are pieces of eternity. 1t was the
half hours between shoeing horses that
made Elihu Burrtt, the learned black.
smith, the half hours between professional
calls as a physician that made Abercrom-
| bic the Christian philosopher, the half
| hours between his duties as schoolmaster
| that made Salmon p. Chase Chief Justice,
the half hours between shoe lasts that
made Henry Wilson Vice-President OF the
United States, the half hours between
canalboats that made James A. Garfield
| President.
The half hour a day for good books OF
| bad books, the half hour a day for prayer
or Incidence, the half hour day for help
| ing others or blasting others, the half hour
| before you 20 to business and the half
| hour after you return from business-that
makes the difference between the scholar
| and the imoramus, between the Christian
and the infdel, between the saint and the
/ al ka
| between heaven and hell.
The most tremendous things Of your
life and mine were certain half hours. The
| half hour when in the parsonage of
! country minister / resolved to become
! Christian then and there, the half hour
when / decided to become a preacher Of
the gospel, the half hour when ! first re-
allied that my son was dead, the half hour
when / stood on the top OF my house IN
Oxford street and saw our church burn,
the half hour in which / entered Jerusa-
lem, the half hour in which / stopped on
Mount Calvary, the half hour in which l
stood on Mars Hill and about ten or
fifteen other half hours are the chief times
of my life.
You may forget the name of the exact
years or most Of the important events of
your existence, but those half hours, like
the half hour of my text, will be lmmor-
tai. / do not query what you will do with
the twentieth century, l do not query
what YOU will do with this year, but what
win you do with the next half hour?
Upon that hinges your destiny, and dur
ing that some of you will receive the gospel
and make complete surrender, and during
that others of you will make final and ia
tai rejection Of the full and free and urgent
and imprisoned offer of life eternal.
Oh, that the next half hour might be
the most glorious thirty minutes OF your
earthly eXistencel
Then there are those whose hearing is
so delicate that they get no satisfaction
when you describe the crash of the eter-
nal orchestra, and they feel like saying, as
a good woman in Hudson, n. T., said af-
ter hearing me speak of the mighty chorus
of heaven, THAT must be a great heaven,
! but what will become of my poor head ~
Yes, this half hour of my text is still
experience. There was silence in heaven
} for half an hour"
You will find the inhabitants all at
; home. Enter the Kings palace and take
} only a glimpse, for we have only thirty
minutes for all heaven. us that Jesus%
: yes" Just under the hair along His
! forehead is the mark of a wound made by
a bunch OF twisted bTambles, and His foot
, on the throne has on the round of Hill
3 instep another mark of a wound made by
a a spike, and scar on the palm of the
Il right hand and scar on the palm of the
!. left hand. But what a countenance!
: What smile! What q grandeur! What
: a loneliness! What an overwhelming lool
s of kindness and grace Why, He looks al
e if He had redeemed a world! But CONF
L on, for our time is short. Do you see tha
e row of palaces? That is the Apostolic
t row. Do you see that long reach CT archi
4 tectural glories? That is Martyr row. d.
d you see that immense structure? That i
I h, Aoo - ,As
i house of many mansions" DO you SCI
that wall? Shade your eyes against it
e burning splendor, for that is the wall o
e heaven, jasper at the bottom and amethys
v at the top See this river rolling through
# the heart of the great metropolis? That i
:. the river concerning which those who ono
n lived on the banks of the Hudson or tn
Q Alabama or the Rhine or the Shannon
t say, We never saw the like of this TO
clarity and sheen" That Is the chief rive
0 Of heaven-so bright SO wide, so deep
d But you ask, where are the asylums TO
v the old?" / answer. "Phe inhabitants ar
Il all young" Where are the hospitals TO
y the lame? ''They are all agile" 'Wher
d are the infrmaries for the blind an,
Il deaf" 'They all seq and hear" "Wher
e are the almshouses for the poor" The.
g the inebriate asylums?" ''Why, there ar
S no saloons" Where are the graveyards?
% Why, they never die"
I, ooh, let me go in and see theml" yo
e say. No you cannot go in. There ar
4. those who would never consent to let yo
d come out again. You say, LET me sta
/. here in this place where they never sin
!, where they never suffer, where they neve
i. part" No, no. Our time is short, GU
le thirty minutes are almost gone Come on
n We must get back to earth before thi
,e half hour OF heavenly silence breaks up
for in your mortal state you cannot en-
L dure the pomp and splendor and resonanc
10 when this half hour Of silence is ended
n The day will come when you. can see heay
# en- in full blast, but not now. | am nov
10 only showing you heaven at the dulles
n half hour Of all eternities Come on
"A There is something in the celestial ar