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4 THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907. The Time Is Short "But this I say, Brethren, the time Is short.”—I Cor. 7.29. By REV. RICHARD ORME FLINN, Pastor North Avenue Presbyterian Church T HE time In short!" These words arrest us—God Brant , they may arouse us. Like a rain, drop falling from a fathomless sky to a shoreless ocean, like a bubble float ing upon the bosom of a boundless sea, soon t^> be gone forever, so Is time. There are Immeasurable reaches of eternity behind us, and unthinkable reaches of eternity' beyond, while be tween, tSr a rmsncnt, Is time with Its flux and change. But think of time as It relates to life, and how true the text. The dura tion of our existence here Is brief In deed. And as though the appeal of our environment and experience were not jmough, Scripture employs the moil striking symbols to Impress this thought that “Time Is short.” Job said It Is a "few years;” Moses, "a shadow;” James, “a vapour that vantsheth away;" and again It Is likened to the flower of the grass that In the morning groweth up, at noon is cut and at eve Is withered, and to "a watch In the night.” It Is os the beat of a pulse, the sweep of a pendulum; the flight of a second, and It Is gone. “The grave Is near the cradle seen; The moments swiftly fly between, And whisper as they lly. Immortal man, remember this. Though toner of sublunary bliss Thou soon mujt gasp and die. Time, like the tide. Its portion keeps Till we shall launch through bound less deeps While endless ages roll.” if............................... REV. RICHARD ORME FLINN. But Brief Periods. But'brief as time may be, regarded In Its entirety, It Is briefer still when considered In Its periods. * We are not born us mature men, but us babes. For a little while we coo on our moth eFs breast; then play about our moth- * er’s knee; then comes childhood. Its guinea and sport ;■» fast following Is youth, and then maturity, from which we swiftly liass to age, and on Into decrepitude, and death—that Is, pro vided all tile course Is run. Each period of life Is unique, distinct, a product of the past, a prophecy of the future, and—brief. What Is to be done In childhood inust in childhood be accom plished; that which la programed for the active hour of manhood's prime, can never be postponed until Ihe tires are cooled und the Infirmities of age abate* our powers, and so In view of life's period* and their brevity we will do well to recognise that "The Time Is short." Yea, more, as the Greek has It—"The Time is shortened," us al ready many of these periods for us are passed. How shall we treat the thought? The Epicurean Way. There are three ways of taking It —that Is, If we feel Ita thrill. \Ve may take It, first, us the epicurean, and say as some men do, "If lime be short let us then lead a mad and merry life, for we must be a long time dead. Let us, like the butterfly, sip the nec tar from every bloom of pleasure. Let us snatch from evCry passing moment all It holds of sensuous gain." Is this your philosophy? Then. Indeed, are you a brother to the ox or to the swine, fattening In the men anil awaiting all unconsciously thn hour of slaughter. Yea. better may the ox or swine thus live than thou, for to thee beyond life's rim there stands the Bar of God. and beyond that "Bar two doors, through one of which thou soon must enter upon an eternity of cither glory or despair. The Ascetic Way. Dr, we nof adopt the philosophy of the ascetic, which says "Because the rose will fade 1 will not love the rose; because the human Joys are fleet I will not try them, but wait my hour of dissolution tn gloomy. Joyless, stoi cism.” as though all human pleasure were defiling. Jn WestmasI, near Antwerp, there Is n convent of Trapplst monk* whose lives strikingly Illustrate this attitude. Thirty-six of them live there In the convent under the vow of perpetuul silence. They dress In roughs sack cloth with a rope about their waists, their heads shaven, and. their beards undressed, subsisting on bread, sour milk, and vegetables, and sleeping on hard boards. There time Is spent in a frigid and solemn silence. If a vis itor speaks -to one of them he draws Ids cowl closer ubout his head and moves away. Each day they walk In the garden and look Into a grave open and ready for the on* of their num ber who will be the next to die. Th* Christian Way. This Is their response to the thought of our text, telling of the brevity of tfme. Shall this be ours? Nay. nay. for there Is another philosophy, the philosophy of Paul. Paul had been at Corinth on a mis sionary tour, and when he passed tm from Corinth lie left behind a little band of believers. After his departure there arose among them serious ques tions, which. In their spiritual Immatu rity, they did not feel themselves capa ble of answering. They accordingly wrote to their preceptor, asking him. "Is It Right to Marry?” Among their questions was this one: “Is It right fo marry? Shall we en ter Into the Joys of domestic felicity?” Paul answers readily: "Yes, It is right to marry, and not only to. but It Is right to taste of any wholesome pleas ure, and to enter Into any legitimate activity, to touch life at every tangent.” Loyalty to Christ, ho says, does not confilct with our living like red-blood ed men. but we should meet and mingle with our kind, nnd not seclude our-' selves, or leave the stage, but plunge Into life and feel its throb, assume Its task, fulfill its duty. God has made us'rapuble of enjoy ment, und the world about us beautiful and good, and He'bejolccs to see Hla children happy. But, us Paul warns us. “The time Is short." We are on a Journey. These temporal things about us are but the wayside pleasures, and are to be held not fust, but loose, for all Is on the wing. Home Is ahead. Christ Is coming, and the time Is short ened before we meet Him. Now, If this be the Import of our text what does It mean to us? What ever be our creed or station. It should mean to all a stimulating appeal to ac tion, an lntenser eonrcplion of oppor tunity. But there are two classes— those who accept Christ and those who reject Him. Consider what-It means to the Christian. To what should It en ergize Him! > First, to be what God intends him to he. The Christian Is spoken of ns a saint. They are "cajled to bo salnta.” And what God calls us to we should endeavor to attain, no matter how far short we may be. The devil has Illus trated In us what he can do, and now that the time Is shore let us make sure that God shall have a chance t Illus trate In ns what He can do. Something to Do. In the second place, there Is some thing tor a Christian to do, os well as to be. We have been’ called to service, os well as to sanctity, and If we are to finish the work He has given us to do, our text assures us that there is no time to trifle. Nor can we postpone the doing of It tilbtomorrow, for— “Tomorrow's a myth; Get busy forthwith. Today Is a fact— Then act, man! act!’-’ v Do you ask what It Is Christ wants us to do? I don’t know—ask Him, and He will tell you. But this I know, that whatever He may huvo planned for you. this one thing you may be sure of. that If you are a saved soul you are such In onler that you may become a soul-saver. If you are gripped of God you have been gripped by Him that you may grip the man next you for Him. Are you doing this? Borne years ugo at Northfleld I heard a young man, the son of a former gov ernor of Pennsylvania!, who had been a speaker In the Young Men’s Confer ence which had closed the week be fore. Everybody was talking of him. He had been the magnetic center, at tracting old and young alike. Every body had words of appreciation for him. Borne one had asked him: "Mr. Beaver, how Is It that you seem to be so much on fire—so eternally after fielks seeking to win them to Christ?" He had answered—“Some time ago we had a protracted service In our college, and as 1 passed through the campus one day I saw a young man whom the boys called ‘Dutchy.’ Every body In college loved Dutchy, but no body thought that ho would ever be Interested In religion. He was just the kind of fellow you would not think of In connection with the church. As I passed him I saJd, ‘Dutchy, come along and go to chapel with' me,’ and, to my utter amazement. Dutchy came. A t the rp,s. ,,r the service I wae Impressed that I should speak to him about Ills soul, but I did not do It. It Was Only a Dream. “That night I found It hard to study; I felt that I had foiled to do my duty. I tried to sleep, but my sleep was fit ful, and I was* burdened with the thought that I had failed to do what God wanted me to do In not speaking to Dutchy. Presently, as I slept, I dreamed. My dream was that I was dying. I was not afraid to die. And then I dreamed that I was dead, and thought I was In heaven, but I was not happy there, os I had expected to be. Looking up, I saw the face of my Mas ter, and It was sad. He said to me: 'Hugh, where Is Dutchy?" I hung my head and said; ‘Lord, he Is down In college.’ He asked me; ‘Did you speak to him and tell him about Me?’ ‘No, Lord.’ He asked me again, ‘Hugh, would you rattier stay In heaven or go back after Dutchy?’ and I said, ’Oh, Lord let me go back!’ "Then I awoke, and, friends, It was nothing but a dream. But I shall nev er forget the look on my Savior’s face, and os long as I live I am determined never again to lose a chance to speak for Him.” IF YOU HAVE any old gold, silver or stamps, send it to us and you will receive cash by return mail. STONE & CO., 630 Candler Bldg. WILL MEET YOU AT THE Atlanta Wreckage Co., 37-39 Mitchell 8t, where I can buy Furniture and House hold Goods for half what it will cost me elsewhere. They buy* sell and exchange for everything, Ola Books, Confeder ate Money and Stamps. ROOFING - ROOFING - ROOFING The Crowning Triumph of Years of Research THE PHILIP CAREY MFG. CO. CINCINNATI, OHIO. The oldest manufacturers of Roofing in the United States. Established 35 years and has grown from a few hundred square feet of floor space to a plant now covering over 32 acres of ground. Over forty branch houses and warerooms through out the United States and Canada thoroughly equip ped for the purpose of taking contracts to fur-, nish or apply Carey’s Roofing on any class of construction. SEVEN REASONS WHY CAREY’S ROOFING IS THE BEST: Only the highest grade and most durable materials enter into its manufacture. These first choice materials are subjected to our own secret chemical treatment, which renders the farey roof practically indestructible. The Carey roof is unaffected by the extremes of hjeat and cold, moisture, acids, gases, fumes, etc., and offers greater fire protection to your building than any other roofing. Because of the peculiar construction of tho roofing sheet itself and its equally peculiar applica tion to the sheathing board, i. e., the use of the patent Carey lap, the Carey roof is proof against wind and in times of storm it will out-stick any roof in the world. It is light weight, equally adapted to flat or steep surfaces and easily laid, requiring only knife ’ and hammer as tools. _ s It is sold at the lowest possible price consistent with its quality. It is freely used and recommended by architects, engin</ir», contractors and builders, and is preferred by those who have tried it in competition with other roofing. SOUTHERN BRANCH, 36 West Alabama Street, C. H. FRESHER, Manager. ATLANTA, GA. • ■ 1 I i S555B^^BEB8S3B^5B5B53E553B n i ■ i II