The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-02-15

-~@OJ AA AA"h w. HDNA
ing in for many a day. Gods inviting
mercy. Gods ~pardoning mercy. Gods
all c%onquering mercy. Gods everlasting
mercy. But, you say, the window is so
high. All, there is a rope, h very one
with which the cross and its victim were
lifted. That was strong enough to hold
Christ, and it Is strong enough to hold
you. Bear all your weight upon it, all
your hopes for this life, all your hopes
for the life that Is to come. Escape now
through the window. But" you say,
that cord Is too small to save me; that
salvation will not do at all for such a
sinner as / have been" Isuppose that
the rope with which Rahab let the two
spies to the ground was not thick enough;
but they took that OF nothing. And, my
dear brother, that Is your alternative.
There is only one scarlet line that can
save you. There have been hundreds
and thousands who have been
borne away in safety by that
scarlet line. and 1t will bear you away
in safety. Do you notice what q very
narrow escape those spies had? j sup
pose they came with clustered cheeks
and excited heart. They had u very
narrow escape. They vent in the broad
door OF sin: but how did they come out?
They came out of the window. They
went up by the stairs Of stone; they
came down on q slender thread. And
so, my friends, we go easily and una
bashedly into sin, and all the doors are
open; but II we get out at all II will be
by being let down over precipices, wrig-
Cling and helpless, the strong grip above
keeping US from being dashed to pieces
on the rocks beneath. 1t Is easy to get
into sin, young man. 1t is not so easy
to get out OF 1t.
A young man goes to the marble coun-
ter Of q hotel. He asks for a brandy
smash-called so, suppose, because it
smashes the man that takesit. There Is
no in~toxication In 1t. AS the young man
receives 1t he does no seem to be at all
excited. It does not give any glossiness
to the eye. He walks home in beauti-
full apparel. and all his prospects are
brilliant That drink ia not going +
destroy him, but It Is the first step on a
bad road. Years have passed on, and l
see that young man after he has gone the
whole length Of dissipation. 1t Is mid
night, and he is In q hotel-perhaps the
very one where he took the first drink. A
delirium is on him. He rises from the
bed and comes to the window and IL Is
easily lifted; so he lifts it. Then he
pushes back the blinds and puts his foot
on the window sill. Then no gives one
spring, and the Waterman finds his dis
figured body, unrecognizable. on the
pavement. o, II he had only waited o
little-if he had come down on the soar
let ladder that Jesus holds from the
wall for him. and for you, and for me;
butno, he made n Jump and wss gone.
And when I see the temptations that
are about us In all countries, and when
| know the proclivitles to sin that are in
every mans heart, I soc that il any of
US escape 1t will be q very narrow escape.
o, II we have, my friends, got of from
our sin, let US tie the scarlet thread by
which we have been saved across the
window. Let US do 1t in praise of Him
whose blood dyed II that color. Let it
be in announcement of the fact that we
shall no more be fatally assaulted.
Still further, we must 1take this red
cord of the text and stretch 1t across the
window of our households. When the
Israelitish army came up against Jeri-
cho, they said: What IL that in the
Window" Some one said: THAT is a
scarlet line" 90" said some one else,
shat must be the house that was to be
spared. Don't touch t." That line was
thick enough to ave Rahab. her father,
her mother, her brothers and her sisters
the entire family. Have our house,
holds as good protection? You have
bolts on the front door, and on the back,
and ~fastenings on the window, and per-
haps burglar alarms, and perhaps an
especial Waterman blowing his whistle
at midnight before your dwelling; but
all that can not protect your household.
Is there On our house the sign of a
S~aviour's sacrifice and mercy? Is
there q scarlet line in the window?
Have your CHI ildren-been consecrated to
Christ? Have you been washed in the
blood of the atonementP In what room
do you have family prayers? Show me
where you have been accustomed TO
kneel. The sky is black with the com.
ing deluge. Is your family inside or
outside OF the arkp It is a sad thing for
a man to reject Christ, but to lie DOWN.
the night OF sin, across the path to
Heaven, 80 that his family come up and
trip over him-that Is terrific.
II is n sad thing for a mother to reject
Christ. but to gather her family around
hor and then take them by the hand and
lead them out into the paths OF worldli.
moss, away from God and Heaven, alas
alas! There may be geranium and cactus
In that family window and upholstery
lowering over IL and childish faces look
Ing out Of 1t, but there is no scarlet
thread stretched across 1t. Although
that house may seem to be on
the best street in all the tow
or city it Is really on the edge
of . marsh across which sweep most
poisonous malarias, and IL has Q sandy
foundation and It's splendor will come
down and great will be the fall OF 1t. A
home without God. A ,prayerless
father! An undevout mother! Awful!
awfulI VIII you keep on. my brother.
on the wrong road. and take your loved
ones With you7. Time Is so short that
we can not waste my Of II on APOLOGIZE,
or indirecaons, or circumlocutIons. You
owe to your children, o father, o
mother. than food, more than
clothing, more than shelter-you W
them the example OF q p~rayerful, conse-
Grated. pronounced. out and out Chris-
tisn life. You can not afford 70 keep 1t
away from them.
Now. rs l stand here. you DO not see
any hands outstretchcd toward me, and
yet thbfe are hands on my brow and
hands on both my shoulders. They are
hands of parental benediction. II Is
quite a good many years ago now since
we folded those hands as they began the
last sleep on the banks VI the Raritan
in the village ceInetery; but those hands
are stretched out toward me to-day, and
they are just rs warm and they are
just rs gentle as when | sat on her knee
at FIVE years OF age. And | shall yer
shake of those hands. 1 do not rant to.
They have helped me so much q thou
sand times pheady, and I do not expect
to haze q trouble or trial between this
and my grave where those hands will
not help me. 1t was not very splendid
home as the world calls IL; but we had a
family Bible there, we'll worn by tender
perusal; and there was u family altar
there, where we melt morning and
night; and there was a holy Sabbath
there: and stretched in o straight line or
hung In loops or f~estoons. there was .
scarlet line In the window.
o the tender, precious. blessed mem
DRY OF q Christian homel Is that the
impression YOU are making upon your
children When o are dead-and IL
viii o be long before you are-when
yo,, ara Hand will ua,r child aav. uIf