The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-09-05

You watch no compass. You arr not calcu.
lating your bearings while the wind IL abaft,
and .yonder IL q long line Of foam bounding
ward it, and thousands have persisted there,
and you are driving in the same direction.
Ready about Down helmI Hard down. Man
the lifs-boatl Pull, my lads, pull HE that
being often reproved bardeneth his neck
shall be suddenly destroyed and that with
within yourselves: "What shall dor" DOT
Why, my brother, do what any ship
does when it il in trouble. Lift a distress sig
nal. On the sea there Ia q fash and q boom.
You listen and you look. Avessel is in trouble.
The distress gun is sounded, or q rocket in
sent up, or q blanket lifted, or q bundle of
ing craft. So II you want to be taken OF the
wreck Of your sin you must lift q distress
signal. The publican lifted the distress sig
nal when he cried; "God be merciful to me q
sinner!' Peter lifted the distress signal when
he said: Lord save me I perishl" The
blind man lifted the distress signal when he
said: Lord, that my eyes may be opened"
The jailer lifted the distress signal when he
said: "What must l do to be saved?" And
help will never come toyour soul unless you
lift some signal. o must makesome DEM
o~nstration, give some sign, make some
heaven piercing cutlery for help, lifting the
uiSoFoSs 5!Shdi ior heaven pdfuOn. EFayl
Prayl The voice OF the Lord now sounds in
your ears: "In me is thy help" Too proud
to raise such q signal, too proud to be
saved.
There was an old sailor humping about in
a small boat in q tempest. The larger vessel
had gone down. He felt he must die. The
surf was breaking over the boat, and he
500 be over, and l thought somewhat dis
tinctly about my friends on shore. and then
I bid them good-by like, and I was about
sinking back and giving it up when saw q
bright star. The clouds were breaking away,
and there that blessed star shone down on
me, and it seemed to take right hold of me-;
and somehow, l cannot tell how it was, but
somehow, while I was trying to watch that
star, it seemed to help me and seemed to lift
me-" Oh, sinking soul, see you not the
glimmer between the riffs of the storm cloud?
This Is the star of hope.
"Death.struck. I ceased the time to stem,
When suddenly a star arose
1t was the star of Bethlehem"
If there are any here who consider them
selves castaways, let me q God is doing
hear: Of Lionel Luken? He was the inventor
of the insubmergible lifeboat. All honor is
due to his memory by seafaring men, as well
as by landsmen. How many lives he saved
by his inventionl In after days that inven-
ton was improved, and one day there was d
perfect life-boat, the Northumberland, ready
at Ramsgate. The life-boat being. ready, to
test it the crew come out and leaped on one
side to see if the boat would upset. 1t was
impossible to upset it. Then, amid the huz-
zas OF excited thousands, that boat was
launched, and it has gone and come, picking
up a great many of the shipwrecked. But l
have to tell you of O grander launching, and
from the dry docks of heaven. Word came
nm that a. world waa hootinu on tho rnalu
In the presence of the potentates of heaven
the life-boat of the worlds redemption was
launched. T. showed or the golden sands
amid angelic hosanna. The surges of dark
ness beat against it's bow, but it sailed on,
and it comes in sight of us this hour. 1t
get into it. Make one leap for heaven. Let
that boat go past ard your opportunity is
gone.
I'm expecting that there will be whole
families here who will get into that life-boat.
In 1882 the isabella came ashore of Hast
ings, England. The air was filed with sounds
tho horse sea-trumpet, the crash OF the
boat from the shore came under the stern of
the disabled vessel. There were women and
children on board that vessel. Some of the
sailors jumped into the small boat and said;
"Now give us the children" A father who
stood on deck took his arst-born and threw
LII ~ JUG uOdU. uo SulIOTb ChuRuO ulm
safely and the next and the next, to the last.
Still the sea rocking, the storm bowling.
"Now." said the sailors, ''no the MOTHER
and she leaped and was saved, The boat
went to the shore, but before it got to the
shore, the landsmen we're so impatient to
help the suffering people that they waded
clear down into the surf with blankets and
garments and promises of help and succor.
So there are whole families here who
are going to be saved md saved nj.
together. Give US hat child for
Christ, that other child, that other. Give
US the mother, give us the father, the whole
family. They must all come in. All heaven
wades in to help you. l claim this whole
audience for God. I pick not
one man here nor one man there: I claim
. all. There are some of you who
thirty years ago were consecrated to Christ
by your parents in baptism. Certainly l am
not stepping over the right bound when l
claim you for Jesus. Then there are many here
who have been seeking God for q good while,
and am I not right in claiming you for Jesus?
Then theirs are some here who nave been
farther away, and you drink and o swear
and you bring up your families without any
God to take care of them when you are dead.
And I claim you my brother; I claim oil of
you. You will have to pray some time:
why not begin now while all the ripe and
purple clusters of divine promise bend over
into your cup, rather than postpone your
prayer unit il your chance is past and the
night drops and the sea washes you out and
the appalling fact shall be announced that
Notwithstanding all your magnificent op-
portunities you have become q cast
away.