The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-05-19
Talmag;e in Atlanta.
HIS LECTURE AND SERMON.
1000 People Turned from the Doors,

1000 People Turned from the Doors
: (S,mny Huth.)
Our people have certainly enjoyed s
grand treat in the visit of tho great Tab
crnacle preacher of Brooklyn. HIS lee
turc in the Opera house on Saturday eve
ming last was immensely appreciated by
every oncpresent, and the announcement
that he would preach the next night il
the First Methodist Church created a gen
uinc sensation throughout the city. Sucl
Il rush and jan, for seats has never beer
seen here OH any occasion. Before darR
the immense building WAS packed, an(
vet streams of people rushed towards it,
portals, and it is estimated that 1000 o.
more failed to gain udmittance. Every
foot Of space inside the walls was occu'
pied by people sitting or standing.
Sermon.
"Come thou and all thy house into tho
ark.'-tieneSis vii, l..
We need no Bible to tell US there was ;
dclugc. The biologists hammer atlirlns
it.. The Sel-sllclls and the marine tOrina'
ton on the tops of the highest mountains
prove that the waters Of the ocean once
washed the tops of The Alps and Tho
Andes. Just how this accident occurred
we know not; whether by flashes o.
lightning changing the air into water, OF
bV collision of the clouds, Of by direct
stroke from the hand Of God. Like az
axe between the horns Of az OK, the cartl
staggered. To prepare people iorthat ca.
tastrophc, there WIS a large ship ordered
to he built. 1t should have no Prov, fol
it was to sail to 10 port; it was to haycn nc
| helm, for no human hand was to guide
1t was to be two or three times fs large as
one of our Cunard ships; it was the GrcaI
Eastern of Oldcn times. The ship was
I done. the door stood open; the lizards
crawlcd in, tho ~grasshoppcrs hoppcd In
the birds flew in, tho cattle walked in
and then the invitation went forth tC
Noah, Come thou AMI all thy house int
the ark"
Only one family embarks on tina
strange voyage. Thcyg get inside the ship
and l hear the door shut. A great storm
meanwhile gathers around the place. AT
ter awhile tie cedars of Lebanon crack il
the gale; there is q moaning i'll the vino
like unto the moan of dying world
The inhabitants OF tho earth stand on
doors with upturned faces, and feel thu
great splashcs Of rain upon their checks
Crash! 90 the mountains; boom! so til,
bursting h%cavcns!
1t is often said that in that crisis people
must have gone to the tops of the houses
or higher places to escape. I don't be-
tains to pieces and the ocean slips its cable
there is no place to fly to. I suppose the
people sat down in q damp, white horror
to die. How the ship losses and pitches
in the wild surf, while the passengers
look out Of the window at the shipwrcck
of a race and the carcasscs of a dead world,
Woe to the mountainS! Woo to the seas
Now l an no alarmist. II, after tho
tw%entv-tirSt of September, after the wind
has been blowing from the northeast some
four or five days, somebody gives tho
opinion that tho equinox is coming, no.
body will deny that; they say it is almost
certain. And / am no alarmist when ]
say there is q storm coming, compared tc
which NOah'S flood was as an April show.
err; and the cry that went forth in the old.
Ell time sounds forth tonight; Come
thou and all thy house into the ark
Aud while we feel tonight that people
can't got inside this building, blessed be
God, that in his ark Of mercy there is
room; room in tho generations of tho
present and the generations to come; nno
without any discrimination, wo tonight
sound the invitation of the gospel, and
say, Come thou and all thy house into
the ark" Now, how did Noah and his
family get into the ark? Did they come
through tho windows? Did they come
through tho roof? No; they came
.L,,r1 fl,, ,Onnr and - v.o pof i,,fn fhr
ark Of Gods mercy, it will be through
Christ the door. Now, the door of the
ancient ark was a very large door. How
. do | know it? There We're e%lephantine
monsters in those days that went into the
ark two abreast larger than at any time
in our day. We can hardly imagine theil
size; they required a very large door OF
they could not have gotten into the ark,
Therefore, 1 tell You Tonight with conf.
dence, the door of Gods mercy is Il very
wide door. We do not go in TWO by two
but by thousands and millions, fourteen
millions abreast. "Whoevcr will, let hin
come" I pat that silver trumpet of tho
gospel to my lips tonight and blow ont
long blast: "Whoever will, let hin
come"
But I notice that this door in the ark
was in the side of the ark; it was n side
door; we are distinctly told so in The
Scriptures; and I have to tell you tina,
the door Of this ark of Gods mercy is in
the side; it is through the pierced side
the bleeding side; the wide-open side o
the Son Of God. That is the side door
Now, when Il man gives an invitation to {
great banquet. he directs a number of let
tiers to certain individuals, and only
those persons who arc invited arc expect
al +o ,nrpn Rnt that 10 nnf thn waX
Christ makes q banquet. When lie
makes a banquet He comes to the front
door Of heaven, and filings II hand over
the land and n over the sea, and with
voice which sounds over Icelandic noun.
tain and Borncsi:n grove. II English
factory and American home, cries, Come
for now all things are ready"
You know the cross was made Of two
piece, and a perpendicular piece, and they
were boltcd together, but they are now
broken apart, and make two posts of the
side door in the ark Of Gods mercy.
Rowland Hill said he would be glad to
get into heaven, if he had to get in
through the crack of the door; but That is
not the way Rowland Hill went into
heaven. When he reached there the an
gel said: lift up your heads, on, We ever
lasting gates, and let the child of glory
in.'
Martin Luther said this was so grand a
gospel that it was tit to he carried OH ones
knees from Rome to Jerusalem, I will
go further, and say 1t is grander gospel;
it is a gospel fit to be carried on ones
knees all round the world. whatsoever
/ believeth in Him, shall not perish, but
shall have everlasting life."
Archimides said that il he could find a
g., lam, m, ,rnn Iyhirh IN rnyf Dis 1aynr En
| could raise the world. Eureka! I have
found it. The cross is the fulcrum and
Christ is the lever who will raise the
world to where the light of the breaking
day shall light up the spires of the new
Jerusalem. Oh, what a gospel! II I
wished one word to express it, that word
would be mercy! mercy!! mercy!!!
The world knows nothing Of mercy, OK
ccpt as they learn it from the gospel.
Suppose a man has gone astray, the
world says: "Out with him ! out with
him from the bank, from the social circle,
from domestic life, from every place at
tractiye." And the more he goes away
from duty, tho harder society is against
him. How does God do? Why. you can
tell how far a man has gone off, by the
emphasis Of Gods voice. When q man
hasgone a little astray, God says softly:
"Colne back" When he has gone a
hundred miles, He calls louder, Come
back!' When he has gono five thousand
miles, God thunders from the sky: "Come
back! Come back !!
Oh, the mercy of God! Tho world
knows nothing about mercy; and If it is
hard for a man when he has gone astray,
to get back, how much harder is it for II
woman to get back? What though she
starved, no bread for her: what though
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