The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-05-07
MARROW. ESCAPES.
How gJob lidscspsd VDsath Fwith
alu the skin OF His Teeth!shlil
There are Thousands Rof Men To-day
\ Whose Souls Have Just as Marrow s
Escapes-Temptations Along the "A
U Road to Salvation-Dr. Tai
Al IMAGES Sermon.

Inc SuDJecb OI Dr. IalmaReb rec0nt
discourse in the Brooklyn Academy OF
Music was Marrow Escapes" and his
text, Job XIX, 20, 81 am escaped with
the skin Of my teeth" Following is the
sermon: gF
Job had It hard. What with boils and
bereavements and bankruptcy, and fool
Of wife, he wished he was dead; and
do not blame him. His flesh was gone,
and his bones were dry. His teeth
wasted away until nothing but the en-
aniel seemed left. He cries out: "I am
escaped with the skin Of my teeth. y"
There has been some difference Of opin-
ion about this passage. st. Jerome and
Schultens, and Doctors Goode and Poole
and Barnes have all tried their forceps
on Jobs teeth. You deny my interpre-
tation and say: "What did Job know
about the enamel OF the teeth?" he
knew every thing about 1t. Dental sur
gerry is almost as old as the earth. The
mummies Of Egypt, thousands Of years
old, are found to-day with gold filling
in their teeth. Ovid and Horace and
Solomon and Moses wrote about these
important factors Of the body. To other
provoking complaints Job, think, has
added an exasperating toothache, and
putting his hand against the inHamed
face, he says: II am escaped with the
skin Of my teeth"
A very narrow escape, you say, for
Jobs body and soul; but there are thou
sands of men who make just as narrow
escape for their soul. There was time
when the partition between them and
ruin was no thicker than the tooth's
enamel; but as Job finally escaped, 50
have they. Thank God! thank Godl
Paul expresses the same idea by diff
ferent figure when he says that some
people are Saved as by fire." A vessel at
sea is in flames. You go to the stern Of
the vessel. The boats have showed of.
The flames advance; you can endure the
heat no longer on your face. You slide
down on the side of the vessel, and hold
on with your fingers, until the forked
tongue Of the fire begins to lick the back
Of your hands, and you feel that you
comes back, and the passengers say they
think they have room for one more.
The boat swings under you-you drop
into it-you are saved. So some men
are pursued by temptation until they
are partially consumed, but, after all,
get off-"saved as by fire." But | like
the figure Of Job little better than
that Of Paul, because the pulpit has not
worn 1t out; and want to show you, II
God will help, that some men make mar
row escapes for their souls, and are
saved as with the skin OF their teeth"
tits as easy for some people to look to
the Cross as for you to look to the pull
pitt Mild, gentle, tractable, loving, you
expect them to become Christians. You
60 over to the store and say, Grandson
Joined the church yesterday" Your busi-
ness comrades say, "That is just what
might have been expected; he always
was that turn of mind" In youth, this
person whom I describe was always
good. He never broke things. He never
laughed when 1t was improper to laugh.
At seven, he could sit an hour in church,
perfectly quiet, looking neither TO the
right hand nor to the left, but straight
into the eyes OF the minister as though
he understood the whole discussion
about the eternal decrees He never
upset things nor lost them. He foated
into the kingdom Of God so gradually
that II is uncertain when the matter was
decided. F-sr4 q. n e4H
Here is another one, who started In
life with an uncomfortable spirit. He
kept the nursery in an uproar. His
mother found him walking on the edge
OF the house roof to see II he could bal
ance himself. There was no horse that
he dared not ride-no tree he could not
climb. His boyhood was long series
OF predicaments; his manhood was reck-
less; his mid-life very wayward. But
now he Is converted, and you 60 over to
the store and say, "Arkwright joined
the church yesterday" Your friends
say, 'Tt is not possiblel You must be
joking" You say: "No; tell you the
truth. He joined the church." Then
they reply: There is hope for any Of
us II old Arkwright has become Chris
tianr In other words, we will admit
that II Is more difficult for some men TO
sccept the gospel than for others.
imay be preaching TO some who have
cut loose from the churches and Bibles
and Sundays, and who have come here
with no intention Of becoming Chris.
tians themselves, but just to see what
is going on; and yet you may find your.
self escaping, before you leave this
house, a. with tho skin Of your teeth"
do not expect TO waste this hour. ]
have secn boats 90 of from Cape May or
Long Branch. and drop their nets and
after awhile come ashore. pulling In the
nets, without having caught single
fsh. II was not a9ood day, or they had
not the right kind Of anet But we ex.
pect no such excursion to-day. The
water is full Of fish, the wind is in the
right direction, the gospel net is strong.
0 tnou who didst help Simon and An.
drew TO fish, show US to-day how to cast
the net on the right side Of the shipl
Some Of you, in coming to God, will
have to run against skeptical notions.
II Is useless for people to say sharp and
cutting things to those who reject the
Christian religion. can not say such
things. BY what process Of temptation
or trial or betrayal you have come 10
your present state, know not. There
are two gates TO your nature: the gate
of the head. and the gate OF the heart.