Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-09-05
MORAL CASTAWAYS.
Dr.. Talmage on the Moral Wrecks
of Life.
False Religious Lights Lead Many on the
Shoals of Destruction-The Gospel the
Only True Light-SaIvation For
the Family.

by any means / myself should be cas-
away" The preacher said:
In the presence OF you who live on the
Pacific coast, who i've on the Atlantic
coast may appropriately speak on THU
marine allusion of the text for all who
know about the sea know about the cast.
away. The text implies that ministers Of
religion may help others into Heaven anC
| yet miss it themselves. The carpenter:
that built Noah'S ark did not get into il
| themselves. Gown and surplice, and di-
plomas and canonicals are no security
Cardinal Woolsey, after having been pet
ted by kings and having entertained for
| eign ambassadors at Hampton Court died
! In darkness. One of the most eminent
ministers of religion that this country has
ever known plunged into sin and died
| his heart, by post-mortem examination,
found to have been, not fguratively, but
literally broken. We may have hands OF
ordination on the head and address conse.
Grated, assemblages but that is no reason
| why we shall necessarily reach the realm
celestial The clergyman must go through
the same gate of pardon as the layman.
There have been cases of shipwreck where
all on board escaped excepting the cap
| tain. Alas! if having preached to others
| myself should be cast away" God for
| bid it
l have examined some Of the comment
| aries to see what they thought about this
word "castaway" and find they differ in
regard to the figure used, while they agree
| in regard to the meaning. So l shall
make my own selection and take it in a
nautical and seafaring sense and show
you that men may become spiritual casta-
ways and how finally they drift into that
calamity.
You and live in seaboard cities. You
have all stood on the beach, Some of you
have crossed the ocean. Some of you
have managed vessels in great stress of
weather. There is sea captain, and
there is another, and yonder is another,
and there is goodly number of you who,
though once you did not know the differ
ence between a brig and bark, and be-
tween a diamond knot and a spirit sheet
sail knot and although you could not
point out the weather cross jack brace,
and though you could not man the fore
clew garnets, now you are as familiar
with a ship as you are with your right
hand, and if it were necessary you could
take vessel clear across to the mouth
u
Jingle sail. Well, there is a dark night
in your memory of the sea. The vessel
became unmanageable. You saw it was
Guiding toward the shore. You heard
the cry: Breakers ahead! Land on the
lee boww The vessel struck the rock and
you felt the deck breaking up under your
feet, and you were a castaway, as when
the Hercules drove on the coast of Caffra-
ria, as when the Portuguese went staying,
splitting, grinding, crashing on the Good
wins. But whether you have followed the
sea or not you all understand the figure
when 1 tell you that there are men who,
by their sins and temptations, are thrown
helpless Driven before the gale! Wrecked
for two worlds! Castaways! Castawaysl
By talking with some sea captains l
have found out that there are three or four
causes for such a calamity to vessel l
have been told that it sometimes comes
from creating false lights on the beach
This was often so in olden times. 1t is
not many years ago, indeed, that vaga-
bonds used to wander up and down the
beach getting vessels ashore in the night,
throwing up false lights in their presence
and deceiving them that they may
despoil and ransack them. All kinds
of Internal arts were used to accom-
plish this. And one night on the
Cornish coast when the sea was coming in
fearfully some villains took lantern and
tied it to horse and led the horse up and
down the beach, the lantern swinging to
the motion of the horse, and a sea captain
in the offing saw it, and made up his mind
that he was not any where near the shore,
for he said: There's a vessel, for it has
a movable light" and he had no appre-
hension till he heard the rocks grating on
the ships bottom, and it went to pieces
and the villains on the shore gathered up
the packages and treasures that were
washed to the land.
And l have to tell you that there are
multitudes of souls ruined by false lights
on the beach In the dark night of mans
danger, false religion goes up and down
the shore shaking its lantern, and men
look off and take the Pickering and ex-
piring wick as the signal of safety, and
the cry is: "Heave the main topsail to
the mast! All is wellw when suddenly
destruction cometh upon them and they
shall not escape. So there are all kinds
of lanterns swung on The beach-philo-
sophical lanterns, educational lam
terms, humanitarian lanterns. Men
look at them and are deceived, when
there is nothing but Gods eternal light
house of the Gospel that can keep them
from becoming castaways. Once on Wolf
Craig lighthouse they tried to build cop
per figure of wolf with its mouth open,
so that the storms beating into it the wolf
would howl forth the dangers to mariners
that might be coming anywhere near the
coast OF course it was a failure. And
so all new inventions for the saving of
mans soul are unavailing. What the hui
man race wants is light bursting forth |
from the cross standing on the great head |
landslide light of pardon, the light OF
comfort the light Of Heaven. You might |
better go tonight and destroy all the |
great lighthouses on the dangerous coasts |
the Barnegat lighthouse. the Fastnet |
lighthouse, the Sherryvore lighthouse, the |
lighthouse, the Hollyhead |
than to put out Gods great |
ocean lamp-the Gospel. Woe to those |
who swing false lanterns on the beach till |
men crash into ruins. Castaways! Cast |
awaysi
By talking with sea captains Ihave heard
also that sometimes ships come to this
by the sudden swoop Of tenn
pest For instance, a vessel is sailing |
along in the East Indies, and there is not
q single cloud in the sky; but suddenly
the breeze freshens. and there are swift
feet on the ratlines, and the cry is: Way, |
haul away therel" but before they can
square the booms and tarpauiin the hatch
ways the vessel is grooming and creaking
in the grip of tornado, and falls over
into the trough Of the sea, and broadside
it rolls on to the beach and keels over,
leaving the crew to struggle in merciless
surf. Castaway! Castawayi And so j