Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-08-28

sTooped upon him. The drowning u:an.
brought to his Senses, seized hold cf the al
bstross and held on. The fl,tt-ring of the
bird kept him on the wave until relief could
rnus. Would now the dave of G. de con
virting, coavsr'irg and saving spirit might
dash from the throne upon your soul, q, d
that yon, taking beld Of it's potent wiac,
might live and live forever.
l want to persuade you to lay hold of this
strong swimmer. mo" you say, "it is al
ways disastrous FIR downing msp to Law
bold of a SKINNER There is not river
or take bnt has 2 calamity resultant from
the fact that when strong winner went
cut to save n sinking man, the drowning
man olutched him, threw his arms around
him, pinioned his arms, and they both
went down together. When you are saving
man in the water you do not want to
come up by his face; you want to come up
by his back. You do not want him to take
hold of you while you take hold of him.
But, blessed be God, Jesus Christ is go
strong swimmer, he comes not to our
back, but TO our face, and he asks US to
throw around him the arms of our love, and
then promises to take us to the beach, and
he will do it. Do not trust that plank of
good works. Do not trust that shivered
spar of your own righteousness. Christ
only can give you transportation. Turn
your face upon him as the dying martyr did
in o!den days when he cried ont: "None
but Christ! None but ChristI' Jesus has
taken millions to the land, and he is willing
to take you there. Oh, what hardness to
shove him back when he has been swim
ming all the way from the throne of God to
where you are now, and is ready to swim
all the way back again, taking your re-
deemed spirit. have sometimes thought
what spectacle the ocean bed will present
when in the last day the water is all drawa
of. 1t will be line of wrecks from beach
to beach. There is where the harpooners
weLt down. There is where the line of
battle ships went down. There is where
the merchantmen went down. There is
where the steamers went down, long line
of wrecks from beach to beach. What
spectacle in the last day when the water is
drawn off! But oh, how much more solemn
if we had an eye to see the spiritual wrecks
and the places where they foundered. You
would find thousands along cur roads and
streets. Christ came down in their awful
catastrophe, putting out for their souls,
spreading forth his hands as a swimmer
spreadeth forth his hands to swim;" but
they thrust him in the sore heart, and they
smote his fair cheek, and the storm and
darkness swallowed them up. I ask you to
lay hold of this Christ, and lay hold of him
now. You will sink without him. From
horizon to horizon not one sail in sight.
Only one strong swimmer, with head flung
back and arms outspread. l hear a great
many in the audience saying: "Well, l
would like to be Christian. I am going
to work to become Christian" My bro
ther, you begin wrong. When a man is
drowning, and strong swimmer comes out
to help him, he says to him: "Now be
quiet. Put your arm on my arm or on my
shoulder, but don't struggle, don't try to
help yourself, aud I'll take you ashore.
The more you struggle and 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 swim
mer, comes out to save soul the sinner
says: "That's right, / am glad to see
Christ, and I'm going to help him in the
work of my redemption. l am going to
pray more and that will help him, and l am
going to weep extravagantly over my sins
and that will help him." No, my brother,
it will not. Stop your doing. Christ will
do all or none. You cannot lift an ounce,
you cannot move an inch 10 this matter of
your redemption.
This is the difficulty which keeps thous-
ands of souls out of the kingdom of heaven.
1t is because they cannot consent to let
Jesus Christ begin and complete the work
of their redemption. "Why," you say,
''then is there nothing for me to do?" Only
one thing have you to do, and that is to lay
hold of Christ and let him achieve your
salvation and achieve it all do not know
whether make the matter plain or not.
simply want to show you that man cannot
save himself, but that the Almighty Son of
God can do it, and will do it, il you ask
him. o. fling your two ar Is, the arms of
your trust and love, around this omnipoteut
swimmer of the cross.
That is thrilling time when some one,
swamped in the surf, is brought ashore and
being resuscitated. How the people watch
for the moment when he begins to breathe
again, and when at last he takes one full
inhalation, and opens his eyes upon the by
ISLANDERS, shout of joy rings up and down
! the beach. There is joy because life has
been saved. o, ye who have been swamp
ed 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 Christ steps down, He gets on His
knees, He puts His lip to your lip, and
would breathe pardon and life and heaven
into your immortal SOU. God grant that
this hour there may be thousands Of souls
resuscitated. stand on the deck of the
old Gospel ship amid crowd fpassengers,
all of them hoping that the last man over
board may be saved. May the living Christ
this hour pat out for your safety, -'spread-
ing forth His hands in the midst of you, as
swimmer spreadeth forth his hands to
SWIM"