The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-10

long time to live. but most of US VIII
never live so long. Aye. most Of US will
never reach even middle life. If you
speak to an aged Christian, you will find
that he is like a November leaf, hanging
almost solitary and alone after the thou
sands and the tens of thousands OF au-
tumnal leaves have been torn from their
branches by the equinoctial winds You
will find that most Of his contempora-
ries died when he was comparatively
young. that nearly all the rest died when
he was in middle life and that only
very few companions of his youth are
alive to walk by his side. The statisti-
clans declare that a third of the human
race die In infancy. At least one-thirn
of the remainder die before twenty-one
years of age have been reached. and
only or per cent Of the human family
live to be sixty years Of age or over So
the mere presence in this world Of an
aged Christian, with 95 or "a Of his con-
temporaries gone. is a perpetual warm
ing that we must be about our Fathers
business or the death summons will come
and we shall find that we have accom-
plished nothing
The Present Is the Time.
The aged Christian ought to appeal to
US In the same way that the final review
of the Potomac army appealed to the
spectators in Washington In 1865 In that
passing army the places of the dead
were kept vacant. AS regiment after reg
iment and brigade after brigade marched
past the president of the United States
there were In some lines only ten or fif-
teen men. The vacant places showed
that hundreds upon hundreds and thou
sands upon thousands OF soldiers who
went forth to battle never came back.
Those ragged lines ana those torn bat
tie flags showed that there was another
great army of the Potomac that day
sleeping in its grave trenches. AS the
little band of aged Christians MARCH past
us today we see that It is a mere rem.
nant of a great host which once started
out marching side by side. The white
lips of the dead as well as the trembling
lips Of the living Christian veterans be-
side us are speaking entirely different
words from those with which the Gre
clan philosopher frightened the tremb-
ling Athenians. The dead lips of the aged
Christian contemporaries are saying to
u.s. Most of you will never be old men,
Most of you will never be old women.
Most of you will die in your youth or in
middle life. Therefore, what you are to
do for Christ you are to do soon or you
will never do 1t at ALL
Perhaps this may be chimerlcal fam
cy, but I believe that some of aged
Christians now living may be lingering
upon this side of the river Of death in
order to carry to heaven to our depart
ed loved ones the latest news about the
dear ones on earth. You know the Bible
declares that the celestial messengers
are continually ascending and descend
ing between earth and heaven. Jacobs
dream was not all a fanciful dream. The
sleeping son of Isaac saw the angels as
cending and descending the ladder which
connected earth with heaven. So / be-
lieve that the aged Christians are lnger-
ing this side of the Jordan for awhile
In order to carry the gospel news about
ourselves to our loved ones. I remember
well when a dear old elder of the Brook
lyn Tabernacle was dying my father
turned to him and said: ''Well, Mr..
Nichols goodby for little while. We
shall soon meet again. But, as you are
going ahead of me to the celestial land,
will you hunt up my boy De Witt and
give him my lover" And the old dying
elder said: Yes. DR.. Talmage, I will, 1
will" When the widower Bishop Haven
was dying. he turned to his mother and
said: Mother after I have first seen
the Lord I shall want to hunt up my
dear wife. I shall give to her your love-
Then I shall want to rest for the first
thousand years In the green pastures
by the side of the still waters, with my
head In the lap Of my Mary"