The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-11-08
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIYINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: what Sea Captains Say
preached at Portland, Oregon1

IEXT: "LeSt utdt ~ any means HtyScs
should be cast GlUdy."-Cor. tx, q.
In the presence of you who live on the Pa
ciic coast, I who live on the Atlantic coas
may appropriately speak on this marine allu
sion of the text. for all who know about the
sea know about the castaway. Th'
text implies that ministers Of re
hgion may help others into heaven and
yet miss it themselves. The carpenters that
built Noah's ark did not get into it them.
selves. Gown and surplice, and diplomas
and canonicals are no security. Cardinal
Wolsey, after having been petted by kings
1 and having entertained foreign ambassador:
! at Hampton Court, died in darkness
| One of the most eminent ministers OF
| religion that this country has even
| known, plunged into sin and died; hi:
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 consecrated assem-
blages, but that is no reason why we shall
necessarily reach the realm celestial. The
clergyman must 90 through the same gate
Of pardon as the layman. There have Deen
| cases of shipwreck where all on board
escaped excepting the captain. Alasl If,
! having preached to others, l myself should
be castaway" God forbid it.
I have examined some of the commentaries
to sec what they thought about this word
to the figure used, while they agree in regard
to the meaning. So l shall make my own So
| lection, and take it in a nautical and seafar-
ing sense, and show You that men may be-
come spiritual castaways, and how finally
they drift into that calamity.
You and / live in seaboard cities. You
have all stood upon the beach. Many Of Y0d
have crossed the ocean. Some Of you have
managed vessels in great stress of weather.
Vho1-a ie n son ufaiu and tla.a f- ouofba,-
and YOnder is another, and there are goodly
number of you who, though once you did net
know the difference between brig and @
bark, and between a diamond knot and a
spirit sheet sail knot, and although you could
not point out the weather cross jack brace,
aid though you could not man the fore clew
gaTnets, now you are as familiar with a
ship as you are with your right hand
and if it were necessary you could take a
vessel clear across to the mouth of the
MeTsey without the loss of a single sail
Well, there is a dark night IN your memory
of the sea. The vessel became unmanageable
You saw it was scudding toward the shore.
You heard the cry: Breakers ahead
Land on the lee bowF' The vessel
struck the rock and you felt the deck
breaking up under your feet, aud you were
a castaway, as when the Hercules drove on
the coast of Catfraria, as when the Portu-
guese brig went staying splitting, grinding,
crashing on the Goodwins. 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 helplessl Driven
before the galei Wrecked for two woridsl
Castaways! Castawaysl
By talking with some sea captains, have
found out that there are three or four causes
for such 4 calamity to a vessel have been
told that it comes sometimes from creating
false lights on the beach This was often so
in olden times. Il is not many years ago,
indeed, that vaCabonds used to wander up
and down the beach, getting vessels ashore
in the night, throwing up false lights in their
presence and deCeivng them, that they may
despoil and ransack them. All kinds Of
internal arts were used 20 accomplish 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 sea
captain in the oiling saw it, and made up his
mind that he was not anywhere near the
shore for he said: There's q vessel-that
must be vessel, for it has a movable light
and be had no apprehension till he heard the
rocks grating on the ships bottom. and it
went TO pieces and the williams on shore gath
cred Up the packages and treasures that were
washed TO the land And I have to tell you
that there are multitude 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
lookoH and take that Pickering and expiring
wick as the signal Of safety, and the cry is:
''HeaFe the main topsail to the mastl All is
FyeilIa when sudden destruction cometh aDou.
them, and they shall not escape. SO there
are alAkinds OF lanterns swung on the beach
eai lanterns, educational Ian
aaaar-a H4.-. L.. IL -
w ra deceived when there is Moth
M - anis eternal Lighthouse Of the Cos
lc' ~ can keep them from becoming casta-
waEE Once, on Wolf Crag light
houe they tried to build cop
per hgEro- 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 q failure.
And so all new inventions for the saving of
mans soul ere uDavailing. What the human
race wants is a light bursting forth from the
cross standing on the great head
lands-the light of pardon, the light
Of comfort, tho light of heav-
en-. You might better 90 tonight, and de
stroy all the great lighthouses on the dan
gerUus cossts-the Barnegat lighthouse the
Festnet Rock lighthouse, the SlI-rryvnre
lighthouse, the LOugsuIps ngnUnouse. the
Hollyhead lighthouse than to put out God.
great ocean lamp-the Gospel Woe to those
who swing false lanterns on the beach till
men crash into ruin. Castawaysl Casta.
Uaysl
By talking with sea captains l have heard
also that sometimes ships come to this calam-
ity by the sudden swoop Of a tempest For
vessel Is sailing along in the East
Indies, and there is not a single cloud on the
sky; but suddenly the breeze freshens. and
there are swift feet on the retlines, and the
cry is: Way, haul away theren but before
they can square the bOoms and taTDaulin
the hatchways, the vessel is grooming and
oreaking in the grip of a tornado, and
lals over into the trough of the sea,
and broadside it rolls on to the beach
and keels over, leaving the crew to struggle
N the merciless surf. Castawayl Castawayi /
And so have to tell you that there are thou
sands OF men destroyed through the sudden /
5Woop Of temptations. Some great induce |
nent TO wOrldliness, or to sensuality. or to /
high temper, or to some form OF dissipation /
comes upon them. If they had time to ex- |
anime their Bible, if they had time to consult 4
with their friends, if they had time to DELHI |
rate, they could stand it: but the tempta-
ion came 50 sudde1Iy-an euroclydon on the
a whirlwind Of tho Carib-
1ean- One awful surge Of temptation and
hey perish. And so we often
lear the old story: II hadn't
cen my friend in great many years. We
we're very glad TO meet He said l must
rink and he took me by the arm and pressed
ne along, and filed the cup until the bub-
lies ran over the edge and in an evil moment
II my good resolutions were swept away.
nd to the outraging of God and my own
oul, fell" Or tie story is: Il had hard
Fork to support my family. thought that
y one false entry, by one deception by one
nbezzlement, might spring out free from
Il my trouble; and the temptation came
pom me so fiercely l could not deliberate.
did wrong and having done wrong
nee could not stop" o,
Is the first step that costs; the
econd IS easier; and the third; and on to the
Isl; Once having broken loose from the
nchor, it is not so easy to tie the parted
-rands- How often it is that men are
llnedY for the reason that the temptation
omes from some unexpected quarter. As
esSels lie in Margate Roads, safe from south
'est winds, but the wind changing to the
ortheast they are driven helpless and 20
own that God would have mercy upon
lose upon whom there comes the sudden
Noop OF temptation, lest they perish, becom-
e castaways! castawaysi
by talking with sea captains, have found
a. also that some vessels come to this cal
NIFTY through sheer recklessness. There are
hee million men who follow the sea for a
wing. IL IS simple fact that the average
human life on the sea is less than twelve
ears. This comes from the fact that men
familiarity with danger sometimes be-