The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-12-01
"Hark the song Of jubilee,
Loud as mighty thunder's roar"

Loud mighty thunder's roar"
The subject of DIR. Talmage's sermon
was paul iu Basket" and his text was
taken from IL. Corinthians, XII, 32.
Through "A window in basket was L
let down by the wall"
Sermons, said he, on Paul in jail, Paul
on Mars Hill, Paul i'll the shipwreck,
Paul before the Sanhedrin, Paul before
Felix, are plentiful but IN my text we
have Paul in basket Damascus Is a
city of white and glisteDing architec-
ture, sometimes called "The eye of the
East" sometimes called "A pearl sur
rounded by emeralds," at one time dis
tinguished for works of the best ma
terial, called Damascus blades, and up
hOlstery of richest fabric called damasks.
A hOrseman by the name of Paul riding
toward this city had been thrown from
his saddle. The horse had dropped un.
der flash from the sky, which at the
same time was so bright 1t blinded the
rider for many days, and L think so per-
manently injured his eyeslght that this
defect of vision became the thorn In the
flesh he afterward speaks of. He start
ed for Damascus to butcher Christians,
but after that hard fall from his horse
he was a changed man, and preached OF
Christ in Damascus till the city was
shaken to its foundation. The mayor
gives authority for his arrest, and the
popular cry is, Kill himl Kill himp
The city is surrounded by q high wall,
and the gates are watched by the police
lest the Cilician preacher escape. Many
of the houses are built on the wall and
their balconies projected clear over and
lowered above the gardens outside. Ii
was customary TO lower baskets out of
these balconies and pull up fruits
and flowers from the gardens. To this
day visitors at the monastery of Mount
a nr.A a H.. r.s.lr
cts. Detectives proWled around from
house to house looking for Paul. But his
friends hid him now in one place, now
in another. He is no coward, as fifty
incidents in his life demonstrate. But
he feels his work is not done yet, and so
he eVades assassination. rs that prea-
cher hereP" the fOaming mob shouts at
one house door. rs that fanatic heTew
the police shout at another door. Some
times on the street, incOgnitO, he pass
es through crowd of clinehed fists, and
sometimes he secTetes himself on the
hOusetOp. At last the infuTiate pOpulace
get on sure track of him. They have
positive evidence he is In the house of
one of the Christians, the balcony of
whose home reaches over the wall.
"Here he isl Here he isl" The VOcif-
Grafton and blasphemy If the pursuers
are at the front door. They break in.
Fetch out that gOspeliZer, and let us
hang his head on the city gate. Where
is hep" The emergency was terrible,
and prOvideHtially there was good,
stout basket in the house. Paul's friends
fasten a rope to the basket; Paul steps
into it; the basket is lifted to the edge
of the balcony on the wall, and then
while Paul holds on to the rope with
both hands, his friends lower away eau
tiOusly and carefully, slowly but surely
further and further down, and the bas
ket strikes the earth and the Apostle
steps out afOot and alone; starts on that
famous tour, the story of which has as
tOnished earth and heaven. ApprOpri-
ate entry in PauPs diary of travels:
''rhrOugh window in a basket was |
let down by the wall"
Observe first on what slender ten
ure great results hang. The TOpe-ma-
ker who twisted that cord fastened to
that lowering basket never knew how
much depended on the strength of 1T.
How if it had been broken and the ApOs-
ties life had been dashed Outp What
would have become of the Christian
church, All that magnificent mission
ary work in Pamphilia, CappadOcia, Ga
lacia, Macedonia, would never have been
accomplished. All his writings that
make up so indispensable and enchant-
ing part of the New Testament would
never have been written. The story of
the resurrection would never have been
so glOriOusIy told as he. told it.
That example of heroic and Triumph
ant endurance at Phlllippi, in the Med
iterranen eurOplydOns, under hagella-
tiOn, and at his beheading, would have
kindIed the courage of 10000 martyr
doms. But that rope holding that Bap-
tist, how much depended on itp SO
again and again, great results have
hung on what seemed slender clrcum-
stances. Did ever ship of many thOuS-
and tons crossing the sea have such i'm
pOrtant passenger as had once boat OF
leaves, from tatfrail to stern only three
or four feet, the vessel made water
proof by coat of 0itumen, and floating
on the Nile with the infant lawgiver of
the Jews on board? What If some
crocodile should crunch itp What If
aome of the cattle Wading in for drink
shOuId sink 1t? Vessels of war some
times carry forty guns looking through
the PORTFOLIOS, ready to open battle. But
that tiny craft on the Nile seemed TO be
armed with all the guns of thunder that
bOmbarded Sinai at the law giving. On
how fragile craft sailed how much OF
historical impOrtancel
The parsonage at EpwOTth, England,
is on fire in the night, and the father
rushed through the hallway for the res
cue of his children. Seven children are
out SaI6 on Ln6 BTOunu, DuL one remhlnS
in the consuming building. That one
wakes, and finds mis- bed on fire and the
building crumbling, comes to the win
dow and two peasants make a ladder of
their bodies, one peasant stands on the
shoulder of the other, and down the hu
man ladder the boy descends-JOhn
Wesley. If you would know how much
denended on that ladder of peasants
ask the millions of MethOdists on both
sides of the sea. Ask their mission sta
tiOns all around the world. Ask their
hundreds of thousands already ascended
TO Join their founder who would have
perished but for the living stairs of
peasants shoulders.
An English ship stopped at Pitcairn
Island, and right in the midst of sur
rounding cannIbalism and squalor the
passengers discovered Christian colo
nv of churches and beautiful homes and
highest style of religion and CIVILIZATION.
For fifty years no missionary and Chris