The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-05-19

At his command we bow;
Part OF the hosts have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now
Again I remark, in regard to the door
of the ark, that it was q door with fasten'
Iings, Without them Noah and his fami.
ly might have rs well been outside the
ark as inside the ark. Anybody that has
been out at sea- knows that the door OF 8
ship without lustenings is of no use at all
because the first strong wind will SWEEP
them away. Noah might as well have
been outside the ark as inside the ark
without the ~iastcnings. The Lord shu'
him in. And the door shut is what gives
us our safety in Il Christian life. Sorrow:
may come. Here is II man who has hat
n great financial danger; the waves dasl
over the hurricane deck; they don't dt
that man any damage; he has treasure:
laid up in heaven. Lord, who shut hin
in? Hero arc two who have gone through
q great bereavement, a great sorrow anC
sadness; and they come and take the dtr'
ling child. You arc a better mar thar
YOU used to be; it is 10 egotiSm for yol
20 say that. He blessed you and lilteo
YOU up i'll your sorrow. The Lord shu'
you in.
am glad to know that this door of thu
ark of Gods mercy will finally not only
SHUT us in, but will shut out all the sor
rows, and vcXations of thl:
life. In this world we cry q great deal
we have Il great many sorrows, Il Src;l
many misiOrtunes, but he ami i'll tilt
midst of the throne shall lead us to TIN
fountains of living water, and he shall
wipe away all tears from our eyes.
Perhaps it is hard work for us to pay
our rent when due. but i'll our "Fatlcr':
l. il, r}n,r tbora r tnpnU rluiSlnNS ~ aDU
no rent day ever comes. Perhaps it is
hard for some to get their broad, bu
"lhcy shall hunger and thirst 10 more
II all the sorrows Of life come up ant
knock Mt the gate of heaven, there is M
admittancc. II all the b~crcavements o
this life come up and knock ut the cato o
heaven, there is no admittancc.
"The Lord shut him ill.," Blessed art
they who put their trust in Him.
Oh, I am glad tonight that I do no
invite you on board a leaking craft, will
Il broken helm ind q leaking door, bn
into an ark so cubits wide, $50 cubits lon!
and the posts so wide apart that the Who'll
earth, without grazing the posts, may b'
bowlcd in!
Is it not strange whore such an ark IL
provided, that people will not come in
How was it that when that ark of Noal
was building; it continued for fifty, eighty
n hundred and ten, and a hundred anC
twenty years, and yet so many did not s.
in? l suppose one reason was that peo'
pie thought there Vas ''timc enough yet
AZ the end of forty years they said, This
threatening has not been fulfilled. LIE
us get larger tlocks. Let US cultivate thu
soil; we are going in; it Is only a ques'
ton Of time Meanwhile the fountains
- ln,,,nt, - fllt,,,y ttp. fI,n y,p1vn 1tvuy
placed under tho mountains; the las
year, the last month, tho last week, tho
last hour, the last minute, and the grea
ocean dashed from above, and another
ocean rolled from beneath, and God bur
led all with II great wave of universa
destruction !! Tina. a.: rhe very reason peo'
pie don't 60 into the ark now, there il
time enough yet" Here il q man who
says, You cannot expect a man Of my
prospects to 80 into the ark. 1expcct tc
enjoy the world. 1 shall look over TIT
whole field. Am going into the ark, bu'
1t is a question of time. Sometimes he
goes on the streets ut night, there is a gus
of wind, q plank Is loosencd from n scat
folding and the plank falls on him. Dead
and outside of the ark! Or he is taking
a ride on a pleasant day, u vehicle crashes
into his, he cannot control his horse; hi
plants his feet against the dashboard ant
shouts "whoa! whoa!' but he an
stop. His body is picked up from thu
wreck OF the carriage, but where is his
soul? Dead Dead and outside the ark
Or passing Il house at night, you sec ligh
from room to ROOM. \ sudden yell,
physician is sent for; twenty drops-nt
help; thirty d%rops-no help; forty drops
no help; liz time to repeat the promises
no time to pray. All agitation and alarm
the pulses tlutter, the heart drops. Dead
Dead! and outside tho ark
Or, I think, perhaps, the people in the
olden time did not get into the ark be
cause they were afraid Of being laughed
ut. Some people said there was to be NJ
flood; nor others, If there was to DO {
flood, the ark would not stand; then SOM
started in, and others derided them; 9th
crs said, "Just look at them; it is u story
too good to keep. they arc going into tn,
ark;' and they never got in and were
never saved. And 1 verify believe tina
thousands of men in this house are o
kept out of the kingdom of God because
they don't like to be laughed at. 4 thou
sand men can stand III front Of q cannon
and not finch, and yet not one can bcal
to be laughed ut. 4 young man says
"What will tl."y do at tho club, or ut th'
store when they hear of this? They vii
say here m your Christian. You art
no better than we. You're just pretend
ing to be. Get down ard pray; you durs
not pray, do you? a pretty Christian
you are ="
1t is the fear of being laughed nt which
keeps people away from their duty
What will those people do for you whcI
you go to die? Do you think you vii
,,,,,l f,, tI,,p, Won yyn,,lI r,f boi
have the plaincst Christian man in At
lanta to come and pray for you titan TIT
most brilliant infidel within the United
States. They may laugh you out o
heaven but they can't laugh you out o
hell.
"Come thou and all thy house into thu
ark" My friends, this is very large
invitation. 1t is not a selfish matter; it i:
not merely yourself to whom it refers
How does it read: "Come thou and al
thy house, into the ark" What doc.
this mean? Your wife and your children
You can get them in only i'll n way,
How did Noal, get his family in the ark /!
BY going in himself. Suppose he stood
outside tho ark, and told his family: at
is very important that you should 60 in
to the ark" His children would say;
1--WE will not go; father stays outside Of
the ark; he is q wise man; il must be safe
to stay outside, and we will wait until he
goes in" The way Noah got his family
in was by going in himself, and that
shows fathers and mothers that they
should lead the way. And you can
drive them in. Suppose Noah had tried
to drive the doves and pigeons into the
ark? He would only have scattered them
he invited them in, q very easy way.
-, -, l,,,, ,,>,, Dl>s11s1- -, Irf ,-,,
can't drive them ut the butt end OF u cate
chism. How does the passage go, "If
he lifted up I will drive all men unto
me?" No. eff I be lifted up I will
draw all men unto me-" Go into the ark
and.iust as soon rs you get in, invite your
family in. Noah, when he first heard the
rain on the roof, had thought of the fact
that his wife was outside. Must she stay
there? Oh, no! lie must have her in the
ark. And, oh ! you. How long is it now
ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years since
that day, you remember, when You stood
at the altar, and with an oath before high
heaven, swore that you would be faithful
until death did you part; and you arc 60
ing to keep that oath! l look into your
faces tonight and I know you are going
to keep that oath. You will keep that
oath as long as you remember tho orange
| blossoms and sound of tho wedding
march. You remember that III that day
there was n marriage ring placed upon her
finger. That marriage ring has never
fallen off. Sickness came, and tho round
finger shrivclcd, but tho ring fell
OIL. Poverty came, and there. was hard
work for that finger, but it did not wear
OIL the ring, 1t only wore it brighter; it
still stayed on; and after a while the twain
20 and stand ut Il grave, and in that grave
spo buried Il Thousand hODcS. but the ring