Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-08-19

shTill, till Christ the swimmer shall come
and take Us lest We dIop thousand faith
oms down.
II you have heen much by water, you
know very we'll that " hen one is in peril
help must come very quickly, or it will be
Of no use. One minute may decide every
thing. Immediate help the man wants or
no hep st ell. Now, tbst is lust the kind
of relief We want. The Gaze is urgent,
imminent, instantaneous. Sse that soul
sinking Sen of God, lay hold of him
Be quick be quick Oh, l wish you all
understood EOW urgent this Gospel is
There was q man Ia the navy at sea who
had been severely whipped for bad beha-
viOr, and ne was maddened By it, and he
leaped into the sea, and no sooner had he
leaped into the sea than, quick "a light
ming, an albatross sWoopsd upon him
TIE drowning man, brought TO his senses,
seiz'd hold of the albatrOss aud held OIL.
The futteriHg of the bird kept him on the
wave until relief could come. Would now
the dove of Gods convictipg, converting
ard saving spirit might flash from the
throne upon your soul, aud that you, tax
ing hold Of its potent wing, might live
snd live forever.
] want 10 persuade you to
LAY HOLD OF THIS STRONG SWIMMER.
No." yOu say, "it Is always disastrous
for drowning man TO lay hold Of swim
mer.n There is not Q river or lake but
has a calamity resultant from tie fact that
VIXEN q strong SKINNER went cut to saves
sinking man, the drowning man clutched
him, threw his arms around him, pinioned
his arms, and they both went down to-
sether. When you are saving a man IN
ID water you DO rot want to come up by
his face; You want 10 cone up by his back
You do not want him 70 take hold Of you
while You tske hold Of him. Bat, blessed
he God. Je,us Chrilt is q strong swimmer.
be comes not t. our back, bat to our face,
and he asks ne 10 throw around him the
arms of our love, and then promises to
take Us to the beach, and he will do 1t
Do rot trust that plank of good work. Do
rot trust that shiyered spaT OF
YOUR owo righteousness. Christ only
can give you transportation. Turn
your face upon him as the
diving martyr did in olden days when he
cried out: None but Christ. None but
I
land, and he is willing to take you there.
On, what haIdDess to shove him back when
ne has heea swimming all the way from
the thrOrs OF Gcd 10 where yen are now,
and is really to swim all the way bacs
again, tsking your redeemed spirit. ]
have sometimes thought what a spectacle
the ocean bed will present when in the last
day the water is all drawn off. 1t viii be
line of wrecks from beach TO beach.
There is where the haTpocners went down.
There is where the ius of battle ships
vent down. There is where the merchant
men went down. There is where the
steamers went 60wY, long lice OF wrecks
from beach TO beach. What q spectacle
in the last dsy when the water
is drawn of. Bat oh, how
much more solemn if We had an eye 70 see
the spiritual wrecks and the places where
they fOnndered. You would find thous-
ands along our roads and styeets Christ
came down in their awful catastrophe, put
ting out for their souls, spreading forth
his hands as q swimmer spTesdeth forth his
hands 10 aHim;" bat they thrust him in
the sore heart, and they smote his fair
cheek. and the storm and darkness swal-
lowed them up. I ask you to 10y held of
this Christ ard lay hold OF him now. You
will sink without him. From horizon 20
horizon not one sail in sight. Ohly one
strong winner, with head flung back and
arms ou;spresd hear a great many 10
the audience saying: "Weil, l would like
to be a Christian. l am going TO work TO
become a Christian"
NY BROTHER YOU BEGIN WRONG.
When a man IS drowning, and strong
swimmer comes ont to help him, he Gays
20 him: "Now, be quiet. Put your arm
on my arm or on ray shoulder, but don't
atruggle, don't try to help yourself, and
PH take you ashore. The more you atrug-
gle aud the more you try to help yourself,
the more you impede me. Now be quiet
and I'll take YOU ashore" When Christ,
the strong swimmer, comes out 70 save
soul. the elmer says: That's tight. l
am eled TO see Christ, and l SIN going 20
help Him in the work Of my redemption.
l am going to pray more and that will help
Him; and ] am going to weep extrava-
gantly over my sing, and that will help
Him" No, my brother, it will not
Stop your doing. Christ will do sill or
none. You cannot lift an ounce, you can
not move an inch, in this matter Of your
RECEPTION.
This is the difficulty which keeps thou
sands of souls out of the kingdom Of
heaven. Il is because they cannot consent
10 let Jesus Christ beg and complete the
work of THAR redemption. Why" you
say. "then is there nothing for ME to dor"
Only one thing have you to do, and that
ia to lay hold of Christ and let him achieve
il all. do not know whether l make the
meter plain or not. l simply want 10
show YOU that q man cannot save himself,
but that the Almighty Son of God can do
II and will do it, if you ask him. o, fling
vour two arms, the arms Of your trust and
love. around this omnipotent swimmer Of
the cross.
That is thrilhng time when some one
svamped in the surf is brought ashore and
heirq resuscitaiei. How the people watch
for the moment when hs begins TO breathe
sgain. and when ST last he takes one full
Inhalation. and opens bis eyes upon the by
ISLANDERS. a shout OF joy rings up and
down the beech. There is joy because
life has been saved. 0, ye who have been
swampsd in the seas Of trouble and sin
we gather around you. Would that this
might be the hour when you begin TO live.
The lord Jesus Ohrist steps down, he gets
on his knees, be put his lips to your lip,
and would breathe pardon and lite snd
heaven into your soul. God grant that
tbis bour there may be thousands of souls
r res I stand on the deck Of the
old Gospel ship amid q crowd Of passeng-
ers ali of them hoping that the last man
overheard may be saved. May the hVln9
Christ this hour put ont icr your safety,
spreading forth his hands in the mldst OF
YOU. as a swimmer spreadeth forth his