The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1907-01-11

Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmage, d. D.

Los Angeles, Cal, Jan. Elm this
sermon the preacher, taking the unre-
corded life of Christ as an illustra ton,
shows that consistency demands that
Christian principles should govern us
in our private and domestic affairs as
well as in public. The text is John
xxi, %, "The which if they should be
written every one"
"Have you ever heard of our buried
treasure" a gentleman asked me some
time ago. mo What treasure"
"Well," said he, 81 will come around
this afternoon with my team and take
you out for drive, and then l will tell
you the story"
That afternoon my friend drove up to
where l was stopping in the country,
and off we went. We drove through
the vineyards Of that region; then we
climbed a small hill which overlooked
the valley for miles around. There,
upon the top, we found the ruins of the
foundation of an old home. Then, as
the horses rested, he told me that many
years ago one of the old Spanish set.
tiers owned this home. He built it
there not only for its wonderful view,
but also for protection. Like many of
those old houses, his home was a fort
as we'll as a domicile. This old settler
lived here for many, many years He
grew enormously wealthy, and as there
were no banks in those days, like Mon
tie Cristo he gathered most Of his gold
into a chest and buried it. No one
knew where that gold was hidden. The
old man was without family, so he
talked about his gold to no one. He
was taken suddenly sick and died be-
fore he could tell this secret When he
felt himself going he gasped, "Gold
hidden" and he was gone.
mo sooner did his breath leave the
body than the people began to hunt for
his hidden gold. Lawyers, doctors,
merchants, as well as common labor
ers, have been digging for it ever since. |
You can see how all the land around |
this foundation is filed with holes. |
Every tree, every rock, every land
mark, as far as the eye can see in this
valley, has also been dug about, in or
der to find this buried treasure. The
gold seekers have been hunting every
where for this gold of the old man.
And l suppose men will continue to dig
for this treasure in this region for cen
turtles to come" Thus was the story
told me as l sat in the wagon by the
ruins of that old Mexican home upon
the hilltop overlooking the Cucamonga
valley.
But on my way back to the city that
afternoon l soliloquized thus in the
train: Are not most acts of a man
hidden away from the eyes of the pub
lie at large as that treasure chest of the
old California pioneer was secreted
and hidden from prytng eyes? Are not
the recorded actions of mans career
only an infnitesimal part of his life?
Can it not be said of us what st.
John wrote about Jesus in the last d:
verse of his gospel? and there are e,
llso many other things which Jesus
lid, the which, if they should be writ 9
en- every one, suppose that even the ;
world itself could not contain the :
books that should be written"
The biographies ON our library :
shelves are all of that kind. A long :
story is told, sometimes in three vol =
lines, and we suppose it tells all about =
he man, but how much there must =
AVE been in that life that was never .
ecorded! How much there is in our =
Ives that we never reveal even to our =
most intimate friends! So it was, as
ohm tells us, with Jesus. We wish
We could know all he did and said,
ven if it had multiplied volumes, as d
ohm supposed. We can never know d
ow, but we can imagine from what q
We do know something of the facts
hat were never revealed. Let us try y
o think this morning what those facts
nay have been.
st. Johns Biography. '
/ was struck. in the first place, with =
be fact that Johns gospel opens with :
he fully developed physical. mental !,
nd spiritual Christ 'Tis true the first :
erse of the first chapter begins with \
he words, 'In the beginning was the :
Word, and the Word was with God, :
nd the Word was God" but almost =
after st. John introduces
D us John the Baptist and the Jordan )
, baptism. In other words, the biog-
Apply of st. John opens with a fully =
eveloped Christ. What Christ did y
uring the formative physical period II
etween infancy and young manhood
J entirely omitted. OF what he did "
uring the springtime of his childhood, Il
yhen life was in the blossom, as the "
tile bud changes into the rounded II
Orm of fruit, there is not word said. =
# course we read in another gospel u
bout Jesus in the temple with the u
octors. But outside of that all the Ii
Biographies are silent about Christ's
hildhood days. And yet, my friends,
] all a mans life l do not believe {
lere is a time when in his own realm q
r sphere a person has more influence Il
)r good than does the gOdly child s
'ithin the four walls of a home \
oh, the patience and the gentleness &
a holy spirit filled little child! v
here is nothing like unto it this side d
heaven. Christ said, ''If you want u
become the greatest in the kingdom L
heaven. then you must become like 81
lie of these little children" And most
us know that there is no one who W
IN walk closer with God than do G
me of our children. Some time ago 81
was my privilege to call upon one of 81
v Sunday school boys. The lad was
bout ten years Of age. There he lay
bed, bound up with bandages, suffer 1t
Ig the most excruciating pain from II
Yet not one complaint tr
lme from his lips. AS / left the sick. of
.or,, 4ba fotber caid to mo. ssrTbat how al