Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-09-05

I i have f0T71I
out also that some vessels come to this cal
amity through sheer recklessness. There ! -
tnree million men who follow the sea fo,. =
living. 1t is a simple fact that the evera oe
OF human life on the sea is less than twelve
years This comes from the fact that men
oy familiarity with danger sometimes be-
come reckless-the captain the belmsman
the stoker, the man on the lookout. become
reckless and in nine out of ten shipwreclrs II
Is found that some one was awfuilv
to blame. So l have to tell Won that
men are morally shipwrecked through sheer
recklessness. There are thousands who do
not care where they are in spiritual things
They do not know which way they are sail
ing and the sea is black with piraticaI huIks
that would grapple them with hooks of steel
and blindfold them and make them .swal-
the plank They do not know what the
next moment may bring forth. Drifting in
their theology. Drifting in their habits.
Drifting in regard to all their future.
No God, no Christ, no settled antici-
pations Of eternal felicity; but all the time
| coming nearer and nearer to a danperous
coast Some of them are on fire with evil
habit, and they shall burn on the sea. the
charred hulk tossed up on the barren beach.
Many OF them with great troubles, financial
| troubles, domestic troubles, social troubles:
but they never pray for comfort With an
! aggravation OF sin they pray for no pardon.
They do not steer for the lightship that dances
In gladness at the mouth of heavens
harbor; reckless as to where they
come out drifting further from God, further
from early religious influences. further from
happiness; and what is the worst thing about
it Is, they are taking their families along
with them, and the way one goes the proba-
biity is they will all go. Yet no anxiety. As
unconscious of danger as the passengers
aboard the Arctic one moment before the
Vesta crashed into her. Wrapped up in the
of fhf
soon they must quit all their earthly pos
sessions. Absorbed in their social po-
sition, not knowing that very soon they win
have attended the last levee, and whirled in
the last schottishe. They do not deliberately
choose to beruined; neither did the French
frigate Medusa aim for the Arguin banks
but there it went to pieces. wish could
wake you up. The perils are so augmented,
you will die just as certainly as you sit there
unless you bestir yourself. Are you willing
to become castaway' You throw out no
oar You take no surroundings. You watch
no compass. You are not calculating your
bearings while the wind is abaft,
and yonder is a long line of foam
bounding the horizon, and you will
be pushed on toward it. and thou
sands have persisted there. and you are driv-
ing in the same direction. Ready about
Down helm Hard down. Man the life boat
Pull, my lads, pull 'He that being often
denly destroyed and that without remedy"
But some of you are saying within your
selves: what shall dog' Dog Dog Why,
my brother, do what any ship does when
it is in trouble. Lift distress signal. On
the sea there is a flash and boom.
You listen and you look vessel is
in trouble. The distress gun is sounded,
or a rocket is sent up or blanket
is lifted, or a bundle of rags-any
thing to catch the eve of the passing
craft. So If you want to be taken of
the wreck of your sin, you must lift dis
tress signal. The publican lifted the dis
tress signal when he cried: 'God. be
merciful to me a sinnerr Peter lifted the
distress signal when he said: Lord save
me- l perishr The blind man lifted the
distress signal when he said: Lord thatmy
eyes may be opened The jailer lifted the
distress signal when he said; What must
do to be savedr' And help will never come
to your soul until you lift some signal You
must make some demonstration, give some
sign, make some heaven-piercing cutlery for
help lifting the distress signal for the
church's prayer, lifting the distress signal
for heavens pardon. Pray Prayl The |
voice of the Lord now sounds in your ears
I'm Me is thy help Too proud TO raise
such signal, too proud 70 be saved.
There was an old sailor humping about in
a small boat in tempest. The larger vessel
had gone down. He felt he must die. The
surf was breaking over the boat, and he said |
II took off my life belt that it might soon be |
over, and thought somewhat indistinctly |
about my friends on shore and then | bid |
them good-by like, and ! was about sinking |
back and giving it up, when | saw bright |
star The clouds were breaking away, and
there that blessed star shone down on me, |
and it seemed TO take right hold ON me; and
somehow. / cannot tell how 1t was, but some |
how, while / was trying to watch that star,
a oil al ma
o. sinking soul, see you not the glimmer be
tween the riffs OF the storm cloudY That Is
the star of hope.
peathstruck, ceased the tide to stem,
When suddenly star arose.
1t was the star Of Bethlehem
If there are any here who consider them
selves castaways let me say God is doing |
everything to save YOU Did you ever hear |
of Lionel fukeny He was the inventor of the |
insubnlergible life boat All honor is due 10 |
his memory by seafaring men, as Wen as py |
landsmen How many lives he saved by ms |
invention In after days that invention was |
improved and one day there was a per1ect
life boat. the Northumberland, ready at |
Ramsgate. The life boat being ready, to- test |
IL the crew came out and leaped on the gun
whale on one side to see il the boat would
upset; it was impossible TO upset
it. Then amid the huzzas OF e1,
cited thousands. that boat was launched, and
n has gone and come, picking up great
many Of the shipwrecked- But have to tell
YOU now of a grander launching, and from
The drv docks of heaven WORD came UP /
that world was beating on the rocks IN
the presence of the potentates OF heaven the
life boat of the worlds redemption was
launched. It showed off the golden sands
amid angelic hOsannas The s suTges SOLE. q dark on
and II comes in sight of us this hour. IL
comes for you, it comes for me; Soul soul
get into it. Make one leap for heaven. Let
the boat go past and your opportunity
gone. - ill ha whole
families here who will get into that Ire boat
In 1888. the Isabella came ashore on na sst
ings. England The air was nllea wis "
so1nds-the hoarse sea trumpet, the crash OF
tbe ares and the believing of the tornado
a boat from the shore came under the stern
~ tbe disabled vessel. There were women
and children ON board that vessel; some OF
the sailors Jumped into the sa D0a father anq
said: ''Now give us the cnlior ni e,st born horn
and md threw him to the boat. The sailors .s
caught him safely, and the next, anu t ehe