The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-03-13
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
The END or TIME"
The Rev. Dr. David j. Burreii Discourses
Instruetively on a Theme That In Less
Eloquent Months Might seem Thread
bare EcopoIniIe Frseme nts OF Time.

James Burrel, pastor Of the Marble Cole
gate Church, Fifth avenue and Twenty.
ninth street, preached on The End OF
Time" lie took ms text from Revelations
K: 8 and @: And the angel which l saw
stand upon the sea and upon the earth
lifted up hrs hand 10 heaven, and sware
by Him that lIyeth forever and ever, who
created heaven, and the things shat there n
are, and the earth, and the things that
therein are, and the sea, and the things
which are therein, that there should be
time no longer"
Our theme is a trfe threadbare, but per-
haps none the less profitable on that ac-
count. Jt Is an easy matter 10 make a
homiy on time. but not all hOmilies are as
much 20 the point as that OF the court les-
ter Jacques:
Good morrow fool" quoth /.
"No, sir" quoth he;
"Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me
fortune
And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And looking on il with laek.luster eye,
Says very wisely, 1T Is ten o'clock;
Thus may we see" quoth he, "how the
world wags;
'Tis but an hour ago since II was nine;
And after one hour more twill be eleven;
And so. from hour 70 hour, we ripe and
'lpe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and
rot;
And thereby hangs a tale"
Let this melancholy tale" engage us for
while. The issues OF intermlnable aeons
may depend upon the attention we give 20
the circling hands on the dial. He who
learns Alright the lessons OF time is ready
70 me-t the responsibilities OF eternity.
But what IL time? Time is money"
they say. SO far so good, if we would real.
ize. II; A man went into Benjamin Frank:
Inns book store and inquired the price OF
volume. One dollar" was the clerk :
would.be purchaser. When Franklin was
asked the price Of the volume he answered,
zone dollar and a quarter" "Why, your
clerk asked only dollar" "To be sure,
but You called me from my printing press
and am charging you for my time" The
Presently he said, Now, Mr.. Franklin,
really what Is your lowest figure for this
book" One dollar and half" Pre-
posterous! You only asked me a 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. If our days and hours were all
marked with a price in plain figures we
should probably be less prohigate of them.
We have no such scrupe about wasting
time as we would have in throwing gold
eagles into the sea.
But time is more than money. II is "the
stuff that life is made Of II stands for
privilege, opportunity. responsibility, ludg-
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 a talent, a talent Of gold stamped
with the image and superscrlption OF the
King. God made 1t, as He made the trees
and mountains, and He owns It. He has
entrusted II 20 Us, TO be put at usury for
Him. will a man rob God? Yet We have
robbed Me- saith the Lord OF hosts" The
misappropriation or misuse Of days and
hours and moments is as really dishonest
as the tapping OF an employers till. 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
cares,
"Timc Is the warp of life he said, 40 tell
The young. the fair, the brave to use 1t
we'll"
I asked the mighty angel and siiveTy
Those bright chronometers of passing
They answered, Time is but a meteor's
glare
And bade me for eternity prepare.
asked the mighty angel who shall stand
One foot on sea. the other on the land;
Mortal" he cried. "the mystery is o'er;
Time was, 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 reposcd in us? Let
il be understood that time Is not for us to
live in. We are not ephemeTa; we live for
ever. Time Is gwen us tor preparation.
TIL : 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 other day a young newspaper re-
porter sad TO me, on my refusing an inter
view: i wish you would help me along.
I'm on probation, and whether l get an
engagement or not depends upon my sue
cess in this sort of thing l 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 doy' How will II
seem to answer, Il can sell dress goods; ]
can lead the german; | can make money or
spend IL; | can drive bargain; | can sail
a schooner or run an engine; | can re
ceive' and entertain; can make money
These may be good as FAR as they go, but.
in all sooerness. how far do they 60 as a
raporattoy, for tho tasks If heaven Do
you know, friend. how 20 comfort the grief
stricken and rescue the wandering How
TO minister TO the need OF the wounded
traveller on the Jericho roadg How 20 give
the cup of cold water to one OF Gods little
ones? How TO point a penItcnt sinner TO
the lamb OF Godg How TO speak the
praise5 Of the One altogether lovely How
to sing Holy, Holy. Hoy, Lord God Al
mighty" III not. what a bewilderinc sort
of place heaven would be to you, What
are YOU fit for? Heaven Is no place for
unskil ed labor. What can you do? Time
Is given YOU for this very purpose, to get
ready for the things further on.
Bat 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 IN it Seneca said, We complain
of the shortness Of time aud yet we have
mo-e than VIC know what 10 do with. Our
lives are spent IN doing nothing at all.
nothing 10 the purpose or nothing that We
ought TO do. We are ever complaining
that our days are few and acting as II they
were without end
we have time enough for work. An
"eight-hour day i a purely artificial.
thing. God never made IL Are there
now twelve hours in the day" Gods day
in which man goeth TO his work is from
morning until evening, and there is not too