The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-11-08
experience, rotating through the uni

| take YOU off the rough sea Of doubt into ever
| lasting quietude. How do you Like the lie
boat? My opinion is you had better Initiate
tae mariners of my text and cut of the ropes
of that boat and let her fall of.
Another hfeboat tempting us to enter is
made of many planks OF good works. 1t IS
really beautiful boat-almsgiving, practi-
cal sympathies for human suffering, right
eous words and righteous deeds. I must
admit I like the looks OF the prov, and Of
the rowlocks and of the paddles, and OF the
steering gear, and OF many who are think
ING to trust themselves on her benches. But
the trouble about that lifeboat is It leaks. I
never knew a man yet good enough to earn
heaven by bis virtues or generos1t1es.
II there be one person here present on this
blessed Sabbath all OF whose thoughts have
been always right, all of whose actions have
always been right and all Of whose words have
always been right, let him stand up, or IL al.
ready standing let him lift his hand, and
will know that he lies. Paul had it about
right when hessid, "By the deeds OF the Law
It about right when he said, 'There Is none
that doeth good, no not one" -.
The old book had 1t about right when 1t
said, "All have sinned and come short OF the
glory OF God" Let q man get OF that little
steamer called The Maid OF the Mist, which
sails up to the foot of Niagara Falls, and then
climb to thetop OF the falls on the descending
foods, for he can do 1t easier than any man
ever will be able to climb to heaven by his
good works.
Ifyour thoughts have always been exactly
right, and your words exactly right. and
your deeds always exactly right, you can
90 up to the gate OF heaven, and you need
not even knock tor admittance, but open 1t
II fho
and 90 up and take one OF the front seats.
But You would be 80 unlike any one else that
has gone up from this world that you would
be curiosity In heaven and more TT for
heavenly museum than for place where the
Inhabitants could look of you free OF charge.
No, sir, Iadmire your good works, and tha
lifeboat you are thinking OF trusting In ls
handsomer than any yawl OF pinnace OF
yacht or cutter that eyer sped out ola boat
house or hoisted sail for q race. But she leaks
Trust your soul in that, and you Will go to
the bottom. She leaks. So initiate the
mariners ofthe text. andwith cutlass strike
the ropes Of the boat and let her fall of.
Another lifeboat Is Christian Incon-
sistencies. The Splankstsof this boat are
composed Of the split planks OF shtpWrecks.
That Prov Is msdesout q hypocrisy from
the life of a man who professed one thing
and really was another. One oar OF this
lifeboat was the falsehood Of q church MEM
ber. and the other oar wast the wickedness
of some minister otthe Gospel, whose IN
iouities were not for long while found out.
Not one plank from the oak OF coos
eternal truth I'M all that lifeboat. All tne
planks, by universal admission, are decsyea yeo
and ,crumbling and fallen apart and rotten
and ready to sink.
swell, well, ,"you say, ''noione will want
m oet into that ifeboat." Oh, my friend,
YOU are mistaken. That IS the most popular
iifeboat ever constructed. That ls the most
oonnlar hfeboat ever launched. Millions OF
peopIe want to get into it. They jostle escn
other to get the best seat In the boat. You
could not keep them back though you stooo
at the gunwales with club. as on our snip
Greece in hurricane, and the steerage pas
seneers were determined to come up on deck,
where they would have been washed on, ana
tho oflcers stood at the top Of the stairs
clubbing them back. Even by such violence
as that you could not keep people from
jumping into the most popular lifeboat, ,mace
of church member inconsistencies.
In times of revival when sinners flock into
the inquiry room the most OF them are Kept
from deciding Alright because they know 30
MANY Christians who are bad. The inquiry
room becomes Worlds Fair for exhibition
of all the frailties or church members, so that
il you believe all is there told you you would
be afraid to enter church lest you get your
pockets picked or set knocked down.
This Is the way they talk: 81 was cheated
out OF $500 BY leader Of a Bible class" "a
Sunday-school teacher gossiped about me
and did her best to destroy my good name. .
az had a partner in business who swamped
our business concern by his trickery and then
rolled up his eyes In Friday night prayer
meeting, as though he were looking for
Elijah's chariot to make second trip and
take up another passenger.
But what a cracked and water logged and
gaping scanned lifeboat the inconsistencies
of others! Put me on shingle mtd-Atlantic
and leave me there rather than In sucn
yawl of spiritual confidence. God forbid that
/ should get aboard it, and lest some OF you
make the mistake OF getting into 1t 90 as
the mariners did on that Mediterranean ship
" hen the sailors were about to get into the
unsafe lifeboat OF the text and lose their
lives in that way. "Then the soldiers cut
off the ropes Of the boat and let her fall of. !"
WELL" says some one, "this subject Is
yery discouraging, for We must have life
boat II we are ever to get ashore, and you
have already condemned three" All. it Is
because want to persuade you to take the
only safe lifeboat. will not allow you re DO
deceived and get on to tho wild waves and
lIfeboat that will take you ashore In safety,
| as sure as God is God and heaven Is heaven.
| The keel and ribs OF this boat are made out
| Of O tree that was set up on bluff back
| Of Jerusalem good many years ago. Botn
| Of the oars are made out OF the same tree.
| The rowlocks are made,out OF the same tree.
The sreerlzg gear ID made our OF the same
trte. The planks Of It were hammered to-
gaher by the hammers OF executioners who
thought they were only Killing Christ, but
wete really pounding together an escape 1or
all tmperiied souls Of all ages. -
Itis an old boat, but good as new, though
| Il has been carving passengers from sinking
shipt to firm shore for ages and has never
| lost passenger These old Christians begin
to smile because It is dawntng upon them
whatI mean. The fact is that In this way
yearsiago they got of wreck themselves,
and Iio,not wonder they smile. 1t Is not
| sensehss giggle that means tivoHty. but 1t
! is saile like that on the face OF Christians
the mtment they leave earth for heaven
yea, lie the smile OF God Himself when He
had Completed the plan for saving the world.
Righi after that big tumble OF the Atlantic
| Ocean Hx or seven weeks ago on the beach
at EastiHampton met the captain OF the
| life saving station and said, "Captain. do
| Won Think lifeboat could live in a seq like
4 that2" IAlthough the worst Of It was over,
| the captain replied, "No, I do not think 1t
could."| But this iifeboat Of which I speak
can livean any sea and deaes all breakers,
and all cyclones, and oil equinoxes, and an
earth, and oil hell. In twenty years the life
saving APPARATUS along our Atlantic coast
saved thl lives of over $4,000 OF the ship.
| wrecked but this lifeboat that I commend
| has saved IN twenty years hundreds OF mill
ions Of tie shipwrecked. Like those newly
inventedEnsEshh hfeboats, It is unsubmers-
ible, self lighting and self bailing. ...s.
All alols our rocky American coast things
were leftto chance for centuries, and the
shipwrecfed d crawled up on the beach to die
i hnx ,,od IN aln