The Bossier banner., 1890-02-20

have Christ in the ship. All you car
do with utmost tension Of body, mind
and soul, you are bound to do; but oh
have Christ in every voyage.
There are men who ask Gods help al
the beginning Of the great enterprises
He has been with them in the past; nc
trouble can overthrow them; the storms
might come down from the top of Mount
Hermon, and lash Gennesaret into foam
and into agony, but it could not hurt
them. But there is another man who
starts out in worldly enterprises, and he
depends upon the uncertainties of this
life. He has no God to help him. After
awhile the storm comes and tosses of
the masts of the ship; he puts out his
lifeboat and the longboat; the sheriff
and the auctioneer try to help him
off; they can't help him off; he must
go down-no Christ in the ship. Your
| life will be made up of sunshine
and shadows. There may be in it
Arctic blasts or tropical tornadoes;
know not what is before you, but I
know if you have Christ with you all
shall be well. You may seem to get
|
while every thing goes smoothly, but
after awhile, when sorrow hovers the
soul, when the waves of trial dash clear
over the hur ricane deck, and the decks
are crowded wi tn piratical disasters
oh, what would you do without Christ
in the ship? Take God for your por-
tion, God for your guide, God for your
helm Ghnn n 10 oil 30 co.
time, all shall be well forever. Blessed
is the man who puts in the Lord his
trust He shall never be confounded.
But my subject also impresses me with
the fact that when people start to fol-
low Christ they must not expect smooth
sailing. These disciples got into small
boats, and have no doubt they said:
What beautiful day this is! What a
smooth sea! What a bright sky this is!
How delightful is sailing in this boat!
And as for the waves under the keel of
the boat, why they only make the mo-
| ton of our little boat the more delight
full" But when the winds swept down
and the sea was tossed into wrath, then
they found that following Christ was
not smooth sailing. So you have found
it; so have found it. Did you ever no.
tice the end of the life of the apostles
of Jesus Christ? You would say, if ever
men ought to have had a smooth life, a
smooth departure, then those men, the
disciples of Jesus Christ, ought to have
had such departure and such life.
St James lost his head. ST. Philip was
hung to death on pillar. ST. Mat
thew had his life dashed out with hal
bert. st. Mark was dragged to death
through the streets. St. James the
Less N.-s beaten to death with fuller's
club. ST. Thomas was struck through
with spear.
They did not find following Christ
smooth sailing. Oh, how they were
al tossed in the tempest! John Huss
in the fire; Hugh McKail in the hour of
martyrdom; the Albigenses, the Wal
| denses, the Scotch covenanters did
they find it smooth sailing? But WHY
go into history when we can draw from
our memory illustration OF the truth of
what say? Some young man in store
trying to serve God, while his employer
SCOTS at Christianity; the young men in
| the same store, antagonistic to the
Christian religion, teasing him, tor
menting him about his religion, trying
to get him mad. They succeed in get
ting him mad, saying: you're pretty
Christianp' Does that young man find
it smooth sailing when he tries to fol-
low Christ? Or you remember Chris
tian girl. Her father despises the
| Christian religion; her mother despises
the Christian religion; her broth
ers and sisters scoff at the Chris.
tian religion; she can hardly find
quiet place in which to saw her
prayers. Did she find it smooth sailing
when she tried to follow Jesus Christ?
Oh, no! All who would live the life of
the Christian religion must suffer per
secution; if you do not find it in one
way, you will get it in another way.
The question was asked: ''Who are
those nearest the throne?'' And the
answer came back: These are thew
who came up out of great tribulation~
great failing, great pounding-and had
their robes washed and made white in
the blood of the Lamb" Oh, do not be
~ASAO-A OOAOu' 4dho courage. You are
IN glorious companionship. God will
see you through all trials and He will
deliver you. My subject also impresses
me with the fact that good people some
times get very much frightened.
In the tones of these disciples as thew
rushed into the back part of the boat I
find they are almost frightened to death.
They say: ''Master, carest Thou not
that we perish?" They had no reason
to be frightened, for Christ was in the
boat. 1 suppose if we had been there
we would have been just as much af-
frighted. Perhaps more. In all ages
very good people get very much af-
frighted. It is often so in our dav, and
men say: why, look at the bad lect-
ures, look at the various errors going
over the hurch of God; we are going to
founder; the Church is going down: she
is going down" Oh, how many good
people are affrighted by iniquity in our
day, and think the Church of Jesus
Christ is going to be overthrown, and
are just as much affrighted as were the
disciples of my text. Don't worry,
don't fret. as though iniquity were GO
ing to triumph over righteousness.
linn crnoc into 20 ro-,, ~ cIoo-