The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-05-14
THE PATIENT NAN.
A PRACTICAL LESSON TAUGHT BY
TIE STORY OF JOB.

iEE SlOHl OF Jus.
Sermon by Rev. DR.. Talmage on the
Christian Religion-Is it to be Condemned
Because Some Of Its Professors are Not
What They Shoald Be:
On Sunday Dr.. Talmage preached !
on Marrow Escapes, taking as ms |
text Job xiv, 20: Z am escaped with
&e skin of my teeth. Following IS
his sermon in full:
Job had it hard. When with bolls
and bereavement and bankruptcy,
and fool of wife, he wished ne
was dead; and I do not blame hlm.
His flesh was gone, and his bones
we're dry. His teeth wasted away
until nothing but the enamel seemed
left. He cries out, u am escaped
with the skin of my teeth. There
has been some difference Of opinion
about this passage. St Jerome and
Sehultens, and Doctors Good and
Pool and Barnes, have Ill tried their
forceps on Jobs teeth. You deny
my Interpretation, and say, ''N hat
did Job know about enamel OF tae
teeth!" He knew everything about
i. Dental surgery is almost as OLD
as hearth. The mummies OF Egypt,
thousands Of years old, are found to-
day with gold-flling IN their teeth;
Ovid and Horace and Solomon and
Moses wrote about those important
fac.ors of the body. To other pro
VoAng complaints, Job, think, has
adsed an e1asperatlng toothache,
az ( putting his head against the Ill,
famed face, he says, Il am escaped
with the skin Of my teeth.
A very narrow escape, you say, Tor
Jobs body and soul, but there are
thousands of men who make Just as
narrow escape for their soul. There
was q time when the partition be-
tween them and ruin was no thicker
than q tooth's enamel; but as JOB
finally escaped, so have they. Thank
God! thank God!
Paul expresses the same idea by a
different figure when he says that
some people are saved as by tre.
a vessel at sea is in flames. You 60
to the stern of the vessel. The boats
have showed off. 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 hand, and you feel that you
must fall, when one OF the hfeboatS
comes back, and the passengers say
they think they have room tor one
more. The boat swings under you
you drop iato it-you are saved. sc
some men are pursued by Temptation
until they are partially consumed, but
after all, get off-"saved as by ire;
But I like the figure Of Job little
better than that of raul, because the
pulpit has not worn it out; and
want to show you, if God Will help
that some men make narrow escapt
fos their souls, and are saved as ''Wltr
the skin Of their teeth.
Il is as easy for some people te
look to the Cross as for you to loos
to this pulpit. Mild, gentle, tract
able, loving, you expect them to be
come Christians. You so over 20 tae
store and say, "Grandon joined the
church yesterday" Your bushes:
oonorsdes cav. THAT is lust what
might have been expected; he always
was of that turn Of mind" In youth
this person whom I describe was al
ways good. He never broke things
He pexsc laughed when it was IN
proper so lsugh At ssszeyAe~eoulo
sit an hour in church perfectly quiet
looking neither to the right hand nol
the left, but straight into the eyes o!
the minister, as though he understood
the whole discussion about the eter
nal DEGREES. He never upset things
nor lost them. He foated into the
kingdom of God 80 gradually that il
is uncertain just when the matter was
decided
Here is another one, who started
in life with an uncomfortable spirit
He kept the nursery Ii an uproar
His mother found him walking on the
edge of the house-roof to see if he
could balance himself. There was nc
horse that he dared not ride-no tree
he c,uld not climb. His ooyhood
was long series ofpredicaments; his
manhood was reckless; his mid-ife
very wayward. But now he is CON
verted, and you go over to the store
and say, "Arkw1ight Joined the church
yesterday" Your friends say: ''It is
not possible! You must be joking.
You say: ssNo; I tell you the truth.
He joined the Church" Then they
reply, s.There is hope for any OF US j
old Arkwright has become a Chris
tian!n In other words, we will admit
that it is more difficult for some men
to accept the Gospel than for others.
I may be preaching to some who
have cut loose from churches and
Bibles and Sundays, and who have
come in here with no intention Of be-
coming Christians themselves, but
Just to see what is going on; and get
you may find yourself escaping, be-
fore you leave this house, as with
the skin Of your teeth" I do not eS-
poet to waste this hour. I have seen
boats go of from Cape May or Long
Branch, and drop their nets, andafter
awhile come ashore, pulling the nets,
without having caught single fish.
It vas not good day, or they had
not their ghtkind of q net But we
expect no such excursion to-day. The
water is full of fish, the wind is In the
right direction, the Gospel net is
strong. Oh thou who didst help
Simon and Andrew to fish, show US