The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-05-26
4 SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. DONALD SAGE MAcKAf.
Subject: "The Value of Day "e
Should Not Waste Effort i'll Talking
Platitudes About the ShortnesS or
Time-Let Us BE Up and Doing.

Should Not Waste Efort III Talking
Platitudes About the ShortnesS OF
Time-Let Us Be Up and Doing.
NEw YORK ClTy.--A sermon pCescaedl
Sunday evening by the Rex: Er. Dona!a
Sage MacKay in Collegiate Churca. fi1th
avenue and Forty eighth street. nao ~, Ief
its subject The Value OF Day. Inc
text was from john Ni:9: Are tGsre not
twelve hours in the day" DR.. Machay
said:
My text this evening is Cnrists detinl-
ton OF dav: Are there not twelve hours
in the day:'' And what OF it: You as!;
This much 1T least: TIE day is 4 great deal
longer than some people seem to imagine
1t is indeed ono OF the dreariest, as it Is
one OF the Oldest OF moral reflections.
which forever 6wciiS upon the shortness
OF time and the swiItncss OF its fight
More lnoarniHi e.c9ueacG and do:sIui
poetry have been inspired by tha: o:ie
theme than by any other in ;ne catalogue
OF human thought. OF couvse. Tine iS
short. and its All sht is swift. but ere ;hcrc
not twelve hours in the day: TO each
man sufficient time has been given to do
the task assigned to him. That is the sol
enln practical, truth emphasized by or
Saviour here. ard it is one tha: perhaps
we hardly ever think OF; not the snoreneSS
OF time, but its sUfEc;ency ior the tasks oi
life Are there not twelve hours III the
day? That is Our subject. tho value or Il
day. abundance OF tirlc to 90 the duties
which must be done, to bear the burdens
which must be borne. TO face the trials
which Cod sends.
At the outset I want to see how these
words OF Christ rcDake two very opposite,
but very common. teE,perS which laci: as
sumo in regard to time and its opportunl-
ties. On the orc hand. Christ reb:lkes
here that morbid spirit which III hopeless
irapotence is forever bcwai:ilS the shoTt-
ness OF t:rlc, It's loss OF opportunities IN me
past and its smaiiness Of opportunities III
the present, ~. if had only done so end
so twenty years ago, how muca better OK |
had been to day one man eNcla!ms. ara
he sits down in q SORT Of sentimental 1a:a!-
ism, oewailins his unhappy! LOT, making no
real effort to better It. To sach man
Christ says in effect, Never mind the past;
there not twelve hours in the day? Do the
best you can with this day and its precious
hours" Vain regrets for the past are the
worst kind OF dissipation OF the present.
But. on the other hand. these words not
less strongly febuke that opposite spirit,
which. because life seems to stretch through
a long vista of seventy OF eighty years. IS
prodigal OF its time, thinks that the duties
OF the present can well enough be mort
:-aced or the opportunities OF tie future.
What Goes it matter, after all, If i Young
nan soranders (. lew years IN sowing MS
wid oats: Nature is generous. 70" can
bank on her resources. a few years OF
snis-spent time-wcll it won't matter twen-
ty years after this So in eject many
men argue So They stake lie and imn,cr-
tality On tie chances of the future. And
to that temper Christ says: Are there not
twelve hours IN the day." Only twelve!
Steal ten O; them for sin to-day and You
cannot give twenty-five of them 1or God
tomorrow. Only twc.vc hours! Sufficient
to do lies duties in, bat not sufficient to
serve God and the devil IN. Twelve hours!
Abundance CT time, but not moment tcc
much. not a second too many.
Care there not twelve hours IN the day
It was Jesus Christ who asked that cues
ton. Have YOU never been struck with
what I must call the frugali{y Of Christ.
not oniv in respect OF time, but OF every
thing else? Christ was pre-cmlnent.y
frugal man, rot rrod!gal with HIS re-
sources. not srendthrift with His powers.
He had the riches OF the universe IN Ills
grasp. No millionaire that ever lived
could command such resources: and yet
when OFT OF these resources He lad led 3
multitude o: 5000 people, whe: was 1t lie
said to His disciples: Gather up the frag-
ments, that nothing be lost He was an@-
ious foi' the crumbs. Frugal, not parsmo-
nious, He realized the value o. the little
things in lie.
So, too. n this M tier o. time. From
everlasting to everlasting Hc is God. be
fore Abraham was, [ am the Eeic oi all
the ages. And ves He counts life by its
hours. Twelve hours in tie day, while We,
the fra;l, heln.ess children of day, pre-
s:ue to measure life by its years. How
cd are YOU: And tic yoang man in the
eyubsrance OF his vitality counts If, by its
years, and repiias: ''Tweaty, thirty years
old" How Old art taou:' said Pharaoh
to the aged Jacob. Ard the patriarch.
though lie WIS l33 gears Old at the time,
counted his lie by its days, and Jacob
said unto Pharaoh: Few and evil have re
days OF the Years OF my pilgrimage teca:
1t was Oy It's days that the Old man rcck-
ened life.
So, too, YOU remember the prayer OF
Moses: 80 teach Us to number" nc. our
years, but our days, that We may app.y
our hearts unto wisdom
Have YOU ever noticed how mach more
kceaiv this sansc OF the ra.re ef {. Cay is
forced home uoon Us the nearer &c cc.?e
to eternity? l: IS when the so1l stand:
Gpo2 the shore OF bouncicss eternity
that it begins to think OF how Iauch 4 day.
IN hour, L moment means. ''A million cE
money for an inch OF time cried the great
English queen. after s:G.7 long years on
throne A million Of money for an inch OF
time: The nearer &c Sc to eternity the
more precious TIE moments become. And
Christ. VINO lived IN the atmosphere OF
eternity and VINO aione hath Immortality,
counted lie bv il; hours. twelve hours III
the day-eloCgn. out rot eaaHsa and to
spare.
/ want, OF course. this evening to en-
paasixc eSpec:s;y TIE spiritual aspe"t CT
This suhiec, al;i yet it cannoS be Oh: %
pace 2!tosetAer to remember that THIS
power CT using the hours oi day and
gathering up ti:cse precious fragments ci
time. frequently called odd moments" Is
really the secret OF some OF the most SIC
Ccsslul lives. One OF the striking teStimc-
mails oi biography. indeed, IS this. that
great many enduring regulations IN the
weird have i>sen bulls out Of the ''odt. mo
meats' O: Lie. Men otherwise long since
forgotten a-e remembered today tov TnaS
they achieved in odd moments, in tic
twelve hours Of ire day. One OF the best
tra:,;'aticrs OF Lucretius. the great Latin
; %f 1,,.v I r.,Io->