The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-12-18


you are bound to do; but OIL have Christ
in every enterprise, Christ in every voy-
age: 3 kssas4 " gsdA
There are men who ask Gods help at
the beginning Of great enterprises. He
has been with them in the past; no
trouble can overthrow them: the storms
might come down from the top Of Mount
Hermon, and lash Gennesaret into foam
and into agony, but 1t could not hurt
them. But here is another man who
starts out into worldly enterprise, and
he depends upon the uncertainties Of
this life. He has no God to help him.
After while the storm comes and tosses
of the masts of the ships; he puts out
his life boat and the long boat; the
sheriff and the auctioneer try to help
him off; they can't help him of; he must
go down-no Christ in the ship. Your
life will be made up Of sunshine and
shadow. There may be In 1t Arctic
blasts or tropical tornadoes; I know not
what is before you, but ! know II you,
have Christ with you all shall be we'll.
You may seem to get along without the
religion Of Christ while every thing goes
smoothly, but after awhile, when sor-
row hovers over the soul, when the
waves Of trial dash clear over the hur-
ricaue deck, and the decks are crowded
with piratical disasters-oh, W hat would
you do then without Christ in the ship?
Take God for your portion, God for your
guide, God for your help; then all is
we'll; all is we'll for time, and shall be
we'll forever. Blessed is that man who
puts in the Lord his trust. He shall
never be confounded. 4s iA
But my subject alsoimpre ssesme with
the fact that when people start to follow
Christ they must not expect smooth sail
ing. q, .f-ay.
These disciples got into the small
boats, and Il have no doubt they said.
'what a beautiful day this isl What a
smooth seal What bright sky this Isl
How delightful is sailing in this boatl
And as for the waves under the keel Of
the boat, why they only make the mo-
tion Of our little boat the more delight
I.fnl." But whom the winds swept down,
and the sea was tossed intoiwrath, then
they found that following Christ was not
smooth sailing. SO you have found it;
90 Ihave found 1t Did you ever notice
the end Of the life Of the apostles Of
Jesus Christ? You would say, II ever
men ought TO have had smooth life, a
smooth departure, then those men, the
disciples OF Jesus Christ, ought to have
had such departure and such life.
st. James lost his head. st. Philip was
Ihung 70 death on pillar. st. Matthew
had his life dashed out with q halbert.
| st. Mariwas dragged 10 death through
the streets. st. James the Less was
beaten to death with fuller's club. st.
Thomas was struck through with a
spear. They did not find following
Christ smooth sailing. o, how they we're
tossed in the tempestl John, Huss in the
fire; Hugh McKail in the hour Of martyr
dom; the Albigenses, the Waldenses, the
Scotch Covenanters = did they find
1t smooth sailing? But why go into
history when we can draw from our own
memory illustrations of the truth Of
what / say9 Some young men in . store
trying to serve God, while his employer
SCOTS at Christianity; the young man In
the same store, antagonistic to the Chris
tian religion, teasing him, tormenting
him about his religion, trying to get him
mad. They succeed In getting him mad,
saying: "You're pretty Christianp
Does that young man find 1t smooth sail
ing when he tries to follow Christ? Oh
YOU remember q Christian girl. Hel
father despises the Christian religion
her mother desplses the Christian relig
ion; her brothers and sisters scof at the
Christian religion; she can hardly find
quiet placein which to say her prayers
Did she find II smooth sailing when she
tried TO follow Jesus Christ? o, no! AL
who would live the life Of the Christian
religion must suffer persecution; II yoi
do not find 1t in one way, you will get 4
IN another way. The question wa
asked: "Who are those nearest th'
:hrone?" And the answer came back
'These are they who came up out o
great tribulation-great failing, as thu
original has 1t; great failing, grea
poundlng-and had their robes washe'
and made white in the blood Of tn
lamb" o, do not be dishearte nedl TAX
courage. You are In glorious compan
ship. God will see you through all trial
and He will deliver you. My subjec
also. impresses me with the fact tina
good people sometimes get very muc
frightened.
In the tones of these disciples rs the
rush into the back part Of the boat,
find they are frightened almost TO death
They say: master, carest Thou nc
> that we perishP' They had no reason :
, be frightened, for Christ was in the boa
4 I suppose II we had been there we woul
!, have been Just as much affrighted. Pc
l haps more. In all ages very good pei
a pie get very much aifrighted. 1t Is ofte
= so in our day, and mon say: i'Why. loo
+ at the bad lectures, look at the variou
errors going over the church OF GOD; v
. are going TO founder; the church Is 8,
8 ing 70 perish; she is going down" (
I how many good people are affrighted D
. iniqpity In our day, and think the churc
: Of Jesus Christ Is going 10 be owe
! IS Is were the Disciples of my text Don
3 worry, don't fret, as though iniqwt
0 were going TO triumph over righteou
9 ness. A lion goes into q cavern TO sleel
r He lies down, with HIS shaggy man
|. covering the paws. Meanwhile th
!. spiders spin aweb across the mouth
= the cavern and say: 1--WE have capture
him. Gossamer thread after gossams
o thread, until the whole front Of II
y cavern is covered with the spiders wei
q and the spiders say: "The lion Is don
n the lion IL FAST After while the lie
9 has got through sleeping; he rouses hin