The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-10-27


ness concern by his triekery 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 cracked and water logged
and gaping scanned lifeboat the incon.
sistencies Of others! Put me ON shingle
mid-Atlantic and leave me there rather
than in such a yawl of spiritual conf.
dence. God forbid that l should get
aboard it, and lest some of you make the
mistake of getting into it / do as the
mariners did ON that Mediterranean ship
when the sailors were about to get into
the unsafe lifeboat Of the text and lose
their lives in that way. "Then the sol.
diers cut off the ropes of the boat and
let her fall off,"
NOT LEFT TO CHANCE.
"Well," says some one, "this subject
Is very discouraging, for we must have
q lifeboat if 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. Twill not
allow you to be deceived and get on to
the wild waves and then capsize or sink.
Thank God, there is 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 a
tree that was set up on a bluff back of
Jerusalem good many years ago. Both
of the oars are made out of the same
tree The rowlocks are made out Of the
same tree. The steering gear is made
out of the same tree. The planks of it
were hammered together by the ham,
mers of executioners who thought they
were only killing Christ, but were
really pounding together an escape for
all imperiled souls of all ages.
1t is an old boat, but good as new,
though it has been carrying passengers
from sinking ships to firm shore for ages
and has never lost passenger. These
old Christians begin to smile because it
is dawning upon them what l mean.
The fact is that in this way years ago
they got off wreck themselves, and
do not wonder they smile. It Is not d
senseless giggle that means frivolity
but it is smile like that on the face of
Christians the moment they leave earth
for heaven-yea, like the smile of God
himself when he had completed the plan
for saving the world.
Right after that big tumble of the At.
lantic ocean six or seven weeks ago on
the beach at East Hampton 1 met the
captain of the life saving station and
said, Captain, do you think lifeboat
could live in a sea like that" Although
the worst of it was over, the captain re-
Piled, mo, do not think it could" But
This lifeboat of which / speak can live
N any sea and defies all breakers, and
Ill cyclones, and all equinoxes, and all
iarth, and all hell. In 20 years the life
saving apparatus along our Atlantic
coast saved the lives of over $4,000 of
the shipwrcc!led, but this lifeboat that
commend has saved in 20 years hundreds
of millions of the shipwrecked. Like
those newly invented English lifeboats,
It is insubmergible, self righting and
self bailing
All along our rocky American coast
things We're left to chance for centuries,
Ind the shipwrecked crawled up on the
leach to die unless some one happened
to walk along or some fisherman's hut
might be near. But after the ship Ayr
shire was wrecked at Squan beach, and
the Powhattan left her 300 dead strewn
along our coast, and another vessel went
On the rocks, 400 lives perishing, the
United States government woke up and
made an appropriation of 100000 for
life saving stations, and life lines from
taking box are shot over the wild surf,
and hawsers are stretched from wreck
to shore, and what with Lyle's gun
and six cared surfboat, with cork
1t the sides to make it unsuitable
and patrolmen all night long walking
The beach until they meet each other and
exchange metal tickets. SO as to show
the entire beach has been traversed, and
the Coston light flashes hope from shore
to sufferer, and surfmen, incased in
Merriman life saving dress, and life car
rolling on the ropes, there are many
probabilities of rescue for the unfortu.
nate of the sea- But the government Of
the united heavens has made better pro
vision for the rescue Of our souls. Sc
close by that this moment we can put
our hand on its top aud swing into it il
this gospel lfeboat. It will not take
you more than a second to get into it.
A sTANCH CRAFT.
But while in my text we stand watch
ing the marines with their cutlasses, pre-
pairing to sever the ropes Of the lifeboa
and let her fall off, notice the poor equip
ment. Only one lifeboat. Two hundred
and seventy-six passengers, as Pau
counted them, and only one lifeboat
My text uses the singular and not thu
plural, "Cut off the ropes of the boat.
/ do not suppose it would have hell
more than 80 people, though loaded tt
the waters edge.
think by marine law all our moderl
vessels have enough lifeboats to hold al
the crew and all the passengers in cas-
of emergency, but the marines Of m.
text were standing by the only boat, ant
that small boat, and yet 276 passengers
But what thrills me through and through
is the fact that though we are wrecked
| by sin and trouble and there is only on
lifebott, that boat is large enough t.
hold all who are willing to get into it
The gospel hymn expresses it:
All may come, whoever will;
This Man receives poor sinners still.
But must haul that statement
little. Room for all in that Efeboat
with just one exception. Not you'll d
not mean you, but there is one excer
ton. There have been cases where ship
were in trouble, and the captain got al
the passengers and crew into the life
boats, but there was not room for tn
captain. He, through the sea trumpet
shouted: "Shove off now and pull 70
the beach. Goodby" And then tn
captain, with pathetic and sublime sci
sacrifice, went down with the ship. S
the Captain of our salvation, Christ tn
Lord, launches the gospel lifeboat an
tells us all to get in, but he perishes.
"It behooved Christ to suffer-" Wa
it not so, we who witnessed his agonizin
expiration? Simon of Cyrene, was it nj
L.