Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-11-28
A SERMON ON SEA AND WIND.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage Talks Of the
Wrecks of Life.
Earnest Discourse Delivered at BriRdisl,
Itaiy-Those Who Lead Into TEMPTATION
but Refuse To Help When the storms
Come. Referred to Strongly.

Rev. T. Dewitt Talmagr, d. D., preached
in Brudisi. Italy, on the 18th. Ills subjec
| was "a Mediterranean Voyage" and be tool
| for his text Acts xvii, ~ "And so il cams
To pass that they escaped all safe to land
DIR. Talmage said Having visited your his
torical city, which we desired TO see becaus,
| It was the terminus of the most famous road
OF the ages. the Roman Appian Way, and fol
lis mighty fortress 0vcrshadowing q city
/ which even Hannibars hosts could not tbun.
| der down, we must tomorrow morning
leave your harbors and, after touching nj
| Athens aud Corinth, voyage about the Med
| iterranean to Alexandria, Egypt
have been reading In my New Testament
of a Mediterranean voyage in AN Alexandrian
ship. II was thia very month Of November.
| Tbs vessel was lying in a port net very far
| from here. On board that vessel were two
distinguished passengers: One, J0sephus,
the historian, ~ we have strong reasons to
believe; the other, convict, one Paul by
name, who was going 10 prison for upsettiug
| things. or, as they termed IL, .'turning tie
world upside down" This convict had
gained the confidence of the captain. Indeed,
think that Paul knew almost as much about
the sea AS did the captain. He had been
| shipwrecked three times already; he had
dwelt much Of his life amidst capstans, and
yardarms, and cables, and storms; and he
knew what he was talking about.
and, perhaps noticing something unsea-
worthy in the vessel, he advised the captain
to stay in the harbor. But hear the captain
and the first mate talking together. They
say: eve cannot afford to take the advice
OF this landsman, and he minister. He
may be able TO preach very well, but / don't
believe he knows marline-spike from lufr
tackle. All aboard Cast OFF Shift the
helm for headway Who fears the Mediter-
ranean" They had gone only little way
out when n whirlwind, called Euroclydon
made the torn sail it, turban, shook the mast
as you would brsndish spear, and tossed
the hulk into the heavens. Overheard with
the cargoi II IL all washed with salt water,
and worthless now and there are no marine
insurance companies. All hands ahoy and
out with the anchors:
Great CONSERVATION comes on crew and
passengers. The sea monsters snort in the
foam, and the pillows clap their hands In glce
of destruction. 1t Is the chain OF the great
apostle rs he walks the deck, or holds fast 10
the rigging amids. the lurching of the ship
the spray dripping from his long beard as he
cries out to the crew: snow, | exhort YOU
to be of good cheer: for there shall be no
loss of any mans life among you, but Of the
ship. For there stood by me this night the
angel of God, whose ! am, and whom |
serve, saying, Fear not. Paul; thou must be
brought before Caesar; and, 10, God hath
given thee all them that sail with thee"
Fourteen days have passed and there is no
abatement of the storm. 1t Is midnight.
Standing on the lookout the man peers into
the darkness, and by flash Of lightning,
sees the long white line of the breakers and
knows they must be coming near to some
country and fears that in a few mo
ments the vessel will be shiv-
cred on the rocks. The ship flies like chat
in tornado. They drop the sounding line
md Inv fha lf0I.t NJ
fathoms. Speeding along a little farther,
they drop the line again and by the light of
the lantern Ihcy see II Is - fathoms. Two
hundred and sevcnty-six souls within few
feet of an awful shipwreckl
The managers of the vessel, pretending
they want to look over the side of the ship
and undergrad it, get into the small boat, ex-
pecting In it TO escape; but Paul sees through
the sham, and he tells them that If they 20 Off
in the boat it will be the death of them. The
vessel strikes The planks spring! The
tlmbcrs crack The vessel parts in the
laundering surge! Oh. what wild struggling
for life Here they leap from plank TO plank.
Here they go under as If they would never
rise, but catching hold of a timber, come
floating and painting on it 10 the beach. Here,
strong swimmers spread their arms through
the waves until their chins pillow the sand,
and they rise and wiring out their wet locks
on the beach. When the roll OF the ship Is
called, 276 people answer to their names.
"And So" says my text, ''it same to pass that
they escaped all safe 10 land,
learn from this subject: First that those
who get us into trouble will not stay to help
us out. These shipinen got Paul out of Fair
Ravens into the storm; but MS soon as the
TEMPEST dropped upon them, they wanted to
go OF In small boat, caring nothing for
what became Of Paul and the passengers All
mel human nature is the same In all ages
They who get us into trouble never stop to
help us out. They who tempt the young
man into life of dissipation viii be the first |
to laugh at his imbeeility, and to drop him |
out Of decent society. Gamblers ALWAYS
make fun of the losses Of gamblers. They |
who tempt you into the contest with fists. |
saying, 81 will back YOU" will be the first TO |
run. Look over all the predicaments of your
life, and count the names of those who have |
got you into those predicaments, and tell me |
the name OF one who has ever helped you |
out. They were glad enough to get YOU out |
from Fair Ravens, but when, with damaged |
rigging, you tried to get into harbor, did they |
hold for you plank or throw you a ropeY |
Not one.
Satan bias got thousands of men into
trouble, but he never got one out. He led |
them into theft, but he would not hide the
goods or bail out the defendant The spider 1
shows the fly the way over the gossamer |
ptiuSe lllo inc ccDWeD; but IL never shows /
the fly the way out of the cobweb over
the gossamer bridge. think that there were
plenty OF fast young men to help the prodi- |
gal spend his money; but when he had
wasted his substance in riotous living, they
let him go to the swine pastures, while they /
betoOk themselves to some other new conner.
They who take Paul out of Fair Ravens will
be Of no help to him when he gets into the
breakers of Mclita.
remark again, as Il lesson learned from
the text, that il is dangerous to refuse the
counsel of competent advisers. Paul told
them not to go out with that ship. They
thought he knew nothing about ii. They
said: "He is only ministern They went.
and the ship was destroyed. There are a
great many people who now say of ministers:
'They know nothing about the world. They
cannot talk TO 81" All, my friends it is not
necessary to have the Asiatic cholera before
you can give it medical treatment in Others.
lt IS not necessary to have your own arm
broken before you can know how to splinter
fracture. And we who stand in the pulpit.
md IN the Office of Christian teacher. know
mat there are certain styles of belief and GER
ain kinds Of behaviour that will lead to de-
'truction as certainly as Paul knew that il
nat ship went out of Fair Ravens It would
20 TO destruction. "Rejoice. o Young man.
n thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in
he daVe of fllv Youth. h,,f l-,,o,,. a..