The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-02-12
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

subject: The Milestones Of Life-Dutles
and Trials Which Belong to the Diffcr-
ent Decades-Advice to the Twentles-
The Waiting Age-The Last Haven.
WASHINGTON, D. C.-From an unusual
standpoint DR.. Talmage in this discourse
looks at the duties and trials which be-
long to the different decades of human
life; text, Psalms &c, 10, "The days of our
years are threescore years and ten"
The SEVENTEEN milestone of life is here
planted as at the end of the journey. A
few go beyond it. Multitudes never reach
it. The oldest person of modern times ex.
pired at l69 years. A Greek of the name
of Stravaride lived to 1872 years. An Eng
lishman of the name of Thomas Psrr lived
l52 years. Before the time of Moses peo-
pie lived $50 years, and if you 60 far
enough back they lived 900 years. Well,
that was necessary, because the story OF
the world must come down by tradition,
and it needed long life safely to transmit
the news of the past If the generations
had been short lived the story would so
often have changed lips that it might have
got all astray. But after Moses began to
write it down and parchment told it from
century to century it was not necessary
that people live so long in order to au-
thenticate the events the past. If in
our time people lived only twenty.f five
years, that would not affect history, since
it is put in print and is no longer depend.
ent on tradition. Whatever your age, |
will to-day directly address you, and l
shall speak to those who are in the twen-
ties, the thirties, the forties, the ffties,
the sixties, and to those who are in the
seventies and beyond.
First, then, I accost those of you who
are in the twenties. You are full of eX-
pectation. You are ambitious-that is,
if you amount to anything-for some kind
of success, commercial or mechanical or
professional or literary or agricultural or
social or moral. If find some one in the
twenties without any sort of ambition, l
feel like saying, my friend, you have got
on the wrong planet. This is not the
world for you. You are going to be in
the way. Have you made your choice of
poorhouses? You will never be able to
pay fo: your cradle. Who is going to set
tie for your board? There is mistake
about the fact that you were born at all. -
But. supposing you have ambition, let
me say to all the twenties, expect every.
thing through divine manipulation, and
then you will get all you want and some
thing better. Are you looking for wealth! !
Well, remember that God controls the
money markets, the harvests, the droughts,
the caterpillars, the locusts, the sunshine,
get wealth. Perhaps not that which IS
stored up in the banks, in safe deposits.
in United States securities, in houses and
lands, but your clothing and board and
shelter, and that is about all you can ap-
propriate anyhow. You cost the Lord O
great deal. To feed and clothe and shelter
you for lifetime requires big sum OF
money, and if you get nothing more than
the absolute necessities you get an enor-
NOUS amount of supply. Expect as much
as you will of any kind of success. if you
expect it from the Lord you are safe. De-
pend on any other resource, and you may
be badly chagrined, but depend on God
and all will be we'll. 1t is good thing in
the crisis of life to have man of large
means back you up. 1t is great thing
to have moneyed institution stand be-
hind you in your undertaking. But it ls
mightier thing to have the God of heaven
and earth your coadjutor, and you may
have Him. I am so glad that l met you
while you are in the twenties. You are
laying out your plans, and all your life
in this world and the next for 500 million
years of your existence will be affected by
those plans. 1t is about 8 o'clock in the
morning of your life, and you are Just
starting out. Which way are you going
to start? Oh, the twenties!
"Twenty" is a great word in the Bible.
Joseph was sold for twenty pieces or Sill
yer; Samson Judged Israel twenty years;
Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities; the
aying roll that Zechariah saw was twenty
cubits; when the sailors of the ship on
which Paul sailed sounded the Mediterra-
mean Sea. it was twenty fathoms. What
mighty things have been done in the
twenties! Romulus founded Rome when
he was twenty; Keats finished life at
twenty-five. Lafayette was, world re-
nowned soldier at twenty-three; Ooerlln
accomplished his chief work at twenty,
seven; Bonaparte was victor over Italy at at
twenty-six; Pitt was prime minister OF
England at twenty-two; Calvin had com
pleted his immortal Institutes" by the
time he was twenty-six; Grotius was at.
torney general at twenty-four. Some OF
the mightiest things for God and eternity
have teen done in the twenties. AS long
as you can put the figure before the
other figure that helps describe your age l
have high hopes about him. Look out for
that figure 9. Watch its continuance with
as much earnestness as you ever watched
ANYTHING that promised you salvation or
threatened you demolition. What crltl-
cal t,me-the twenties.
While they continue you decide your
occupation and the principles by which
you will be guided; you make your most
abiding friendships; you arrange your home
life; YOU fix your habits. Lord God Al
mighty, for Jesus Christ's sake, have
mercy on all the men and women in tie
twenties!
Next 1 accost those in the thirties. You
are at an age when you find what tough
thing it is to get recognized and estab-
lished in your occupation or profession.
Ten years ago you thought all that was
necessary for success was to put on your
shutter the sign of physician or dentist or
attorney or broker or agent and you would
have plenty of business. How many hours
YOU sat and waited for business, and
waited in vain. three persons only know
God. your wife and yourself. In CONNER
cial life you have not had the promotion
and the increase in salary you anticipated,
or the place you expected to occupy IN the
firm has not been vacated. The produce
of the farm with which you expected to
support yourself and those depending on
you and to pay the interest on the mort
gage has been far less than you anticipated,
or the prices were down, or speclal cA-
penses for sickness made drafts on your re-
sources that you could not have expected:
In some respects the hardest decade Of
life is the thirties, because the results are
generally so far behind the anticipations.
It is very rare indeed that young man
does as did the young man one Sunday
night when he came to me and said: Il
have been so marvelously prospered since
I came to this country that l feel as mat
ter of gratitude that 1 ought 10 dedicate
myself to God"
Nine-tenths of the poetry of life has
been knocked out of you since you came
into the thirties. Men in the different