The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-03-25
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
THE END OF TIME"
The Rev. DR.. David j. Burrell Diseour"es
IustructveIy ON . Theme That IN Less
Eioqusnt Mouths Might Seem Thread
h.re-Ecouo,nize Fragments OF Time.

bare-Econoni.e Fragments OF Time.
New YORK CIrY.-The Rev: DR.. David
! James Burrei!, pastor of the Marble Cole
| piate Church. Fiftl, avenue and Twenty:
ninth street. preached on The End OF
| Time" He took his text from Revelations
! =: S and 6: And the angel which ! saw
, stand upon the sea and upon the earth
lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware
by Him that liveth forever and ever, who
| created heaven, and the things that therein
are, and the earth, and the things that
! therein are, and the sea, and the th!ngs
which are therein, that there should be
| time no longer"
Our theme is q triRe threadbare, but per-
haps none the less profitable on that ac-
count. 1t is a. easy matter to make a
! bomily on time, but not all homiiies are as
much to the point as that Of the court jes-
ter Jacques: .
Good morrow, fool" quoth ].
"No, SIR" quoth hei
fortune"
! And then he drew a dial from his poke,
| And. looking on it with lack.luster eye,
SAYS very wisely. 1T is ten O'Clock;
Thus may we see" quoth he, how the
IT'S but an hour ago since it was nine;
And after one hour more twill be eleven,
| And so. from hour to hour, We ripe and
'ipe, 9,
And then. from hour to hour, We rot and
rot;
And thereby hangs a tale"
Let this melancholy "tale" engage Us for
NAV dcpcnd upon the attention we give to
| the circling hands on the dial. He who
lparns Alright the lessons OF time il ready
40 met the responsibilities OF eternity.
But what is time? Time is money
they say. So far 80 good, il we would real.
lie it. A man went into BENJAMIN Frank:
Inns book store and inquired the price OF
q volume. Zone dollar" was the clerks
answer. Call your employer" said the
would.be purchaser. When Franklin was
as1es a shf price ssS # , the Sa, ys,"?s he *w sR;T. gcSt
clerk eJs .sIed only a dollar" ITO be sure,
but you called me from my PRINTING, press
and / am charging you for my time" The
man argued and demonstrated in vain.
| Presently he said, Now, Mr.. Franklin,
really what IL your lowest figure for this
book" Zone dollar and a half" "Pre.
posterous!. You only aAked me q dollar
and a quarter" Eyes. but my time is val.
liable, and every minute sends the book
up" This was sound philosophy and good
business. II our days and hours were all
marked with a price in plain figures we
We have no 3uch scrup,e about wasting
| time as se would have in throwing gold
eagles into the sea.
But time il more than money. 1t is the
stuff that life il made Of" 1t stands for
privilege, opportunity. responsibility, judg-
| ment, heaven or hell. You may throw
away a dollar and earn another, but no
two moments overlap. The last one said
farewell forever: the next is-::already gone;
Time is q talent, a talent OF gold stamped
with the image. and superscripttion OF the
| King. God made it. as He made the trees
and mountains, and He own it. He bias
entrusted il to US. to- be PIT at usury for
Him. Twill a man rob Cod? Yet We have
robbed Me. saith the Lord OF hosts" The
| instrumentation or misuse OF days and
hours and moments is as really dishonest
ns the tapping of an employers til. This
is a serious matter, and gives US sufficient
food for thought, if our question were
pushed no further. But we cannot stop
here.
asked an aged man with hoary hairs,
Wrinkled and curved with many worldly
Thine is the warp of life" he said. 20 tell
The young; the fair, the brave to use 1t
we'll"
I asked the mighty angel and silvery
spheres,
Those bright chronometers Of passing
They answered, Cline is but a meteor's
glare"
And babe me for eternity prepare.
I asked The mighty angel who shall stand
| One foot on sea. the other on the land;
Mortal" he cried. "the mystery il Ger;
Time war, time is, but time shall be no
more"
A step further brings US to the inquiry,
| What is time for? or to what end has this
| momentous trust been reposed in Us: Let
| it be understood that time is not for rs to
live in. We are not e%phcmera; We live for.
ever. Time is given us for preparation.
| Thu is only the antechamber OF life, where
We stand waiting until the door opens and
We pass in. Death is the angel that opens
| the door. The only reason why we fear
death is because we know that as time
leaves US eternity finds us. Death ends
probation. We cross the line with our
| Characters chrystalized: He that is unjust,
| let him be unjust still; he that is holy, let
him be holy STILL" These are our school.
days; death is commencement" Here
We serve an apprenticeship; death is going
to work.
The ,ther day a young newspaper re-
porter said to me, on my. refusing an inter
view: i wish you would help me along.
engagement or not depends upon my sue.
cess in this sort Of thing" ! wonder how
some OF the people who are now wasting
| their probation can expect to be taken
| into service in the kingdom Of God. What
| can they do! Let the great Employer ask
| them, ''What can you do" How will it
seem to answer, Il can sell dress goods; !
can lead the german; l can make money or
spend it; l can drive q bargain; ! can sail
q sch 1oner or run a n engine; ! can re.
| ceive' and entertain ] can make money!"
These may De good as far as they go, but.
preparation for the tasks of heaven? Do
you know, friend. how to comfort the grief
stricken and rescue the wandering: How
to minister to the need OF the wounded
traveller on the Jericho road? How to give
the cup of cold water to one OF Gods little
ones? How to point a penitcnt sinner to
the lamb Of God? How to speak the
praises Of the One altogether lovely! How
to sing "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God al.
mighty" If not. what q bewildering sort
of place heaven would be to you! What
are you fiji for? Heaven is no place for
unskil ed labor. What can you do! Time
Il given you for this very purpose, to get
ready for the things further on.
Bit how much time have We? Enough;
no more, no less. 1t is distributed Ito
every one according to his several ability.
A short life is long enough, and the long
est life is short enough for what must be
done n it," Seneca said. wv. complain
of the shortness Of time and yet we have
more than VIC know what to do with. Our
lives are spent in doing nothing at all.
nothing to the purpose or nothing that We
ought to do. We are ever complaining
that our days are few and acting as If they
,.aro ,,,kho,,t and