The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-01-22

Christ was born In Bethlenem, ana pe-
lieve that He died on the cross" Do you !
believe 1t with your head or your hearth
! will illustrate the difference. You are
IL your own house. In the morning You
open newspaper, and you read how
Cartain Braveheart on the aca
risled his life for the salvation
of his passengers. You say: what
grand follow lie must have beenI
His family observes very we'll Of the
country" You fold the newspaper and
sit down at the table, and perhsps do
not think OF that incident again. That
is historical faith. But now you are on
the sea, and 1t is night, and you are
asleep, and are awakened bv the shrek
Of "Fire" You rush out on the deck.
You hear, amid the wringing of the
hands, and the fainting, the cries: "No
hopel we are lostl we are lostl" The
sail puts on 1t wings Of fire, the ropes
make a burning ladder in the night
heavens, the spirit of wreck Kisses in the
waves, and on the hurricane deck shakes
out It's banner Of smoke and darkness.
"Down with the life boats" cries
the captain. "Down with the life
boats" People rush into them. The
boats are about full. Room only for one
more man. You are standing on the
deck beside the captain. Who shall it
be? You or the captain? The captain
says, "You." You jump and are saved.
He stands there, and dies. Now, you
believe that Captain Brayeheart sacri-
fced himself for his passengers, but you
believe 1t with love, with tears, with
hot and long continued ordinations,
with grief at his loss and with Joy at
your deliverance. That Is saving faith.
In other words, what you believe with
all the heart, and believe in regard to
yourself. On this hinge turns my SER
mon; aye, the salvation Of your i'm
mortal soul.
You often go across bridge ysu know
nothing about. You do not know who
built the bridge, you do not know what
material II Is made Of; but you come to
it, and walk over 1t, and ask no ques-
tions. And here is an arched bridge
blasted from the "Rock Of Ages" and
built by the architect OF the whole uni
verse, spanning the dark gulf between
sin and righteousness, and all God asks
you is to walk across it; and you start,
and'you come to 1t, and you stop, and
you go little way on and you fall back
and you experiment. You say: "How do
know the bridge will hold me?" in
stead Of marching on with firm step,
asking no questions. but feeling that
the strength Of the eternal God is under
you. o, was there ever q prize offered
so cheap as pardon and Heaven are
offered to you? For how much? A mil
lion dollars? 1t is certainly worth more
than that. But cheaper than that you
can have 1t. Ten sousand dollars?
Less than that. Five thousand dollars?
Less than that. One dollar? Less than
that. One farthing? Less than that,
without money and without price"
No money to pay. No journey to take.
No penance to suffer. Only Just one de-
cisive action Of the soul: Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved" Shall try to tell you what IL is
TO be saved? j can not tell you. No man,
no angel can tell you. But / can hint
at It. For my text brings me up TO this
point: Thou shalt be saved" It
means happy life here. and a peaceful
death, and blissful eternity. II is q
grand thing to go to sleep at night, and
to get up in the morning, and TO do busi-
ness all day feeling that all is right be-
tween my heart and God. No accident,
no sickness, no persecution, no peril, no
sword can do me any permanent dam
age. j am forgiven child Of God, and
he is bound TO see me through. He has
sworn he will see me through. The
mountains may depart, the earth may
burn, the light OF the stars may be
blown out by the blast Of the Judgment
hurricane, but life and death. things
present and things 10 come, are mine.
Yea, further than that-it means a
peaceful death.
Mrs. Hemans, Mrs. Sigourney, DIR.
Young, and almost all the poets have
said handsome things about death.
There is nothing beautiful about 1t.
When we stand by the white and rigid
features Of those whom we love, and
they give no answering pressure Of the
hand, and noreturning kiss OF the lip, we
do not want anybody poetizing around
about u.s. Death Is loathsomeness, and
midnight, and the wringing of the
heart until the tendrils snap aud curl in
the torture unless Christ be with US. !
confess 10 you TO an infinite fear, a con-
suming horror OF death unless Christ
shall be with me. I would rather 90
down into q cave OF wild beasts or q
Jungle OF reptiles than into the grave,
unless Christ goes with me. Will you
tell me that am TO be carried out from
my bright homo, and put away in the
darkness? can not bear darkness. Al
the first coming Of the evening must
have the gas lit, and the further ON in
life get the more ] like 70 have my
friends around about me. And am ]
TO be put OF for thousands OF years in
dark place, with no one 10 speak
TO? When the holidays come, and the
gifts are distributed, shall add no Joy
to the "Merry Christmas" or the
Happy New Year97 All, do not point
down TO the hole in the ground, the
grave, and call II q beautiful place; un.
less there is some supernatural illumin.
alton. shudder back from II. My
whole nature revolts at II. But now
this glorious lamp is lifted above the
grave, and all the darkness Is gone,
and tho way Is clear. I look into II
now without single shudder. Now
my anxiety is not about death; my
anxiety Is that may live Alright. for
/ know that II my life Is consistent