The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-10
DIR. Talnlage's Sermon.
BY The REV. FRANK DE WITT TALMAeE. D. D.

have passed lifes meridian is contained
In this discourse by Rev. Frank De Witt
Talmage on the text Psalm xcii, a.
They shall still bring forth rruit in old
age"
Old age is a haunting specter 1t has
terrorized the generations past more
hated and feared of all the Grecian
philosophers was he who used to stand
upon the street corners OF Athens fright
ening the passersby with THESE solemn
words: You will be an old man. You
will be an old woman" He frightened
the passersby because most people do
not want to become old. They are afraid
of coming to the time when they will be
a buroen to their children and their
friends. They are afraid of the time
when their earning capacity shall cease,
for then, in the race of life, they will be
jostled and left far behind by the speed
and the strength Of the younger genera
ton. They are afraid of the years when
they shall have to walk with a cane or
crutch or sit In an invalid chair waiting
for the time when the coffin maker will
finish their easket and the undertaken
will order. their grave to be dug. To
show how depressed some people are
over the fact Of growing old 1 would
read letter which I received some time
ago from one of my people:
Dear Mr.. Talmage-Last night In your
sermon you stated that this is the age
for young men. You did not have time
to speak one word In favor of the use
fulness Of the old people. I was sorry.
l knew of some sitting near to me who
would be heavy hearted on account OF
their old age. This morning an aged
member Of your. church calico upon ms.
He said he was so depressed over your
remarks last night that he could not
sleep. With tears In mis- eyes, he saIo,
IT wonder II old people will be wanted
In heaven Now, my dear pastor, I
would like you, If possible, to preach a
sermon upon the blessings of old age. l
would like you to preach a sermon to
cheer up those who have passed the
zenith of their earthly life and are slid
ing down the other side and nearing the
landing place of eternity. You will, will
you not?
1t is In answer to the request IN this
letter that am going to speak this
morning to the old folks. l will gladly
try to refute the popular fallacy that
old age for the Christian rs merely a
time for tears. for physical and mental
pains, and for depressing ne1piessness.
ter said to Jacob A Riis. the New York
retormer, MY son, am on the sun
shiny side of sixty, because I am near
to the glories Of heaven" The words OF
my text do not state that an aged
Christians twilight of life upon earth
Is gloomy and a sullen sunset. They
do emphatically imply that the last
days of an aged Christians earthly life
should be among his happiest and most
useful days. Those days should be COM
pared to the time when the orchards
branches are bending under the heavy
load Of the ripened autumnal fruit.
Old Ages Testimony.
The aged Christian is able from his
own experience to testify of the protect
ing care Of Divine's Fathers love- The
difference between the testimony OF an
old man and very young man is the
difference between knowledge and sup
position, between fact and surmise. 1t
is the difference between the words OF
a veteran who carries the scars, the
sword cuts and the bullet wounds of
many battlefelds and the word of the
ruddy-faced youth who has not yet won
his shoulder straps or seen anything but
the recruiting officers papers 1t is the
difference between the experience of an
old pilot of the Hugh river the most
dangerous navigable river IN the world,
boats up to the wharfs of Calcutta, and
the experience OF the cabin boy who has
not yet learned how to handle wheel.
1t Is the difference between the diagno-
sis of the old, gray haired physician who
has prescribed for hundreds of fever pa
TENTS and the diagnosis of the young
medical graduate who has just received
his diploma. 1t is the difference between
the words of the young statesman just
elected to congress and the words of the
first president of the United States when
he was about to leave the presidential
chair for the last time. When George
Washington delivered his farewell ad-
dress at the Inauguration of John Adams,
the American people did not reverencs
his words because he welded a more
trenchant pen than Thomas Jefferson
or because he was more impassioned
orator than Patrick Henry. They rever-
enced his words because he spoke as one
having authority. He spoke as one who
had led the American armies during the
darkest days of the revolutionary war.
He spoke as one who had stood at the
helm when the ship of state was just
launched. He spoke as one who had
been willing to offer his life as a sacri-
fee for his country's good. The Ameri-
can people listened to him In the same
spirit with which the French audience
heard the aged patriot Lafayette when
the chairman introduced him with these
beautiful words Fellow citizens,
would have you listen reverentially to
the speaker of the day because sixty
years of a noble life are about to adj
dress you"
Gods Promise True.
My aged Christian friend, there may
be other brains just as keen as yours.
There may be other hearts Just as will
ing to make sacrifice for their Lord and
Master as yours. but no Christian can as
powerfully testify of the protecting care
Of a Heavenly Father as you can tes-
tify, unless he can truly speak out Of
his own experience. The saint who Is
nearing the end of life has the clearer
view of heaven. You can speak about
the goodness of God from personal ex-
perience, as my father spoke to me a
few years before his death by telling me
this remarkable incident: When he was
a young minister he used to keep a
the requests he made to God concern
ing matters which were then weighing
upon his heart. BY some mishap he lost
that diary, and he forgot about those
prayers he had offered. Some twenty
or thirty years later he found that diary.
When he opened II and read the many
requests that he had made nearly quar-
ter of a century before. ne FOUND OUT
that God had answered every one of his
PRAYERS. God had answered them with
better results than even his faith at that
m 10 0nd