Milford chronicle., 1892-10-07

= were AhtAfe auu hufug ne nOumo
! less Sea Of Gods wOrd-DO Not Hu
5 the shore. but Sail Out Boldly.
e BROOKLYN, Oct. 2-Since his return fror
> Europe DR.. Talmage has faced audience
1 unusually large and enthusiastic, who ar
: attracted to the Tabernacle no less 10y TIA
r potent eloquence of the preacher thai
through desire to hear from : own lip
! the message Of thanks intrusti - lfim b,
the czar to the contributors OF The Chrk,
: tian Herald famine cargo, which he an,
: Mr.. klOpseh conveyed to Russia in tn,
: steamer Leo. It is understood that DR.
Talmage has in preparation full account
/ Of the mission to Russia, as well Of hi,
own preaching tour to Germany, England
Scotland and Ireland. The text this morn
ing was taken from Luke v, 4. Launch
out into the deep"
Christ, starting on the campaign Of the
worlds conquest, was selecting his staff
officers. There were plenty of students
with high fOreheads, and white hands, and
intellectual faces, and refined tastes in
Rome and in Jerusalem. Christ might
have called into tho apostleship twelve
bOOkwOrms, or twelve rhetoriciana, OF
twelve artists. Instead he takes group
of men who had never made = speech; never
taken a lesson in belles-lettres; never been
sick enough to make them look deEcate
their hands broad, clumsy and hard
knuekled. He chose fishermen, among
other reasons, think, because they were
physically hardy. Rowing makes strong
arms and stout chests. Much climbing Of
ratlines makes ones head steady. A Cali
lee tempest wrestled men into gymnasts.
The opening work Of the church was
rough work. Christ did not want twelve in
valids hanging about him, complaining all
the time how badly they felt. He leaves
the delicate students ut Jerusalem and
Rome for their mothers and aunts to take
care Of, and goes down to the seashore and
out Of the toughest material makes an
apOstleship. The ministry need more cor
poreal vigor than any other class. Fine
minds and good intentions are important,
but there must be physical force to back
them. The intellectual mill wheel may be
well built and the grist good, but there
must be enough blood in the mill race to
turn the one and to grind the other.
THE APOSTOLICAL FISHERMAN.
He chose fishermen also because they
were used to hard knocks. The man who
cannot stand assault is not fit for the min
istry. It always has been and always will
be rough work, and the man who at every
eensure or caricature, sits down to cry
had better be at some other work. 1t is no
place for ecclesiastical doll babies. A man
who cannot preach because he has for
gotten his manuscript or lost his spec
tacles ought not to preach at all. Heaven
deliver the church from a ministry that
preach in kid gloves and from sermons in
black morocco covers! These fishermen
were rough and ready. They had been in
the severest of all colleges
When they were knocked over by the
main boom of the ship they entered the
Sophomore; when washed off by great
wave they entered the Junior; when
floating for two days without food or drink
on a plank they came to the Senior, and
when at last their ship dashed on the beach |
in midnight hurricane they graduated |
with the first honor.
My text finds Jesus on shipboard with |
one Of these bronzed men-SimOn by name. |
This fisherman had been sweeping his net |
in shoal water. "Push out" says Christ
''What is the use of hugging the shore in 4
this boat? Here is lake twelve miles
long and six wide, and it is all populated |
just waiting for the sweep of your net.
Launch out it into the deep"
The advice that my Lord gave to Simon
is as appropriate for us all in a spiritual
sense. The fact is that most of us are just
padding along the shore. We are afraid
to venture out into the great deeps of God
and Christian experience. We think that
the boat will be upset. or that we cannot
'clew down the mizzen topsail," and our
cowardice makes us poor fishermen. ]
think hear the voice of Christ command
ing us, as he did Simon on that day when
bright Galilee, set in among the green
hills of Palestine, like water flashing in an
emerald cup, Launch out into the deep"
DEEP STUDY OF THE BIBLE
This divine counsel comes first to all
hose who are padding in the margin of
Bible research. Ny father read the Bible
through three times after he was eighty
Years of age, and without spectacles-not
or the mere purpose of saying he had been
through it so often, but for lis eternal
profit. John Colby, the brothef-in-law Of
Daniel Webster, learned to read after he
gas eighty-fOur years of age, in order that
le might become acquainted with tho
Scriptures. There is no book in the world
hat demands so much of our attention rs
he Bible. Yet nine-tenths of our Chris
ian men get no more than ankle deep.
They think it is a good sign not to venture
W AAAs AEE nGNEE aAA AAbN VI Nn1g anu 2
+ they see some Christian becoming in /.
uisitive about the deep things of God !
hey say, "Be careful; you had better not
% out so far from shore"
My answer is: The farther you go from :
hore the better, if you have the right kind !
ship. If you have mere worldly phi !
DsOphy for the hulk and pride for a sail
nd self conceit for tho hdm, the first
quail will destroy you. But if you take
be Bible for your craft the farther you 60
be better, and after you have gone ten q
housand furlongs Christ will still com =
land, Launch out into the deep" Ask :
Dme such question as, rWhQ is GOdN' :
nd go on for ten years asking it. Ask Il :.
t the gate of every parablei amid the Z
xcitement of every miracle; by the solita= =
ness Of every patriarchal thrashing foorI =
mid the white faces OF Sennacherib's "
ain turned up into the moonlight; amid =
le flying chariots of the Golden City. !. !,
Ask who Jesus is and keep ON asking It q
every Bible lily, Of every raven, of every =. -
ar, Of every crazed brain eured Of every :.
ind man come to sunlight, Of every coin a.
a fsh's mouth, Of every loaf that got to :.
: five loaves, of every wrathful sea paei
ed, of every pulseless arm stretched forth
graduation; ask it of his mother, Of a.
ugusUusf OF itefOu, OF tAe S3fOpnuenlcldn r,
oman, Of the damsel that woke up from u
e death sleep Of Joseph who had him ei
iried, OF the angel posted as sentinel at li'
S tomb, OF the dumb earth that shook u
ID groaned and thundered when he died. u
a missionary in France offered a Bible a.
an humble dwelling. The man took 10, y
re out dozen pages, and with them be- u
IN to light his pipe, Some years after Do
e missionary happened In the same hOuse. u
he family had just lost their son in the d'
'imean war, and his Bible had been sent
me. The missionary took it up and saw e
at it was the very same Bible that he u
d left in the house. and from which the ne
aves had been torn. The dying soldier Of
nd written on one 81 the leaves Of the ne
ible Rejected and seoffed at, but finally dr.
slieved in and saved" The Bible may be is
sed to light the pipe of witticisln by some, sh
TO-. sa 4,,I Ill -, in