The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-08-15
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Narrow Escapes"


teeth" Job XIX, 20.
Job had it hard. What with hollis an5 be-
reavements and bankruptcy and n TOOL OF
wife he wished he was dead. AMI 40 not
blame him. His flesh was gone. and his
bones were dry. His teeth wasted away un-
I'll nothing hut tho enamel seemed left. he
cries out, IL am escaped with the SKIN OF my
teeth"
There has been some difference OF opinion
about this passage. st. jerome and Schulz
tens and Drs. Good and Poole aud Barnes
have all tried their forceps on Jobs teeth.
You deny my Interpretation and say, what
did Job know about the enamel ottheteethr
He knew everything about It, Dental
surgery is almost as old as the earth. The
mummies OF Egypt, thousands OF years old,
are found to-day with gold lllinS in their
teeth. Ovid and Horace and Solomon and
Moses wrote about these important factors
of the body. To other provoking complaints
Job. I think, has added an exasperattng
toothache, and putting his hand against the
infamed face he says, II am escaped with
the skin OF my teeth"
A very narrow escape, you say, Tor JOBS
body and soul, but there are thousands OK
men who make just as narrow escape for
their soul. There was time when the par
tftion between them and ruin was no thicker
than a tooth's enamel but, rs JOB finally
ESCAPED, so have they. Thank Goi! Thsnk
God!
Paul expresses the same idea by differ
emit figure when he says that some people are
| sssayed as by fire." A vessel at sea Is IN
flames. You 70 to the stern Of the vessel.
The boats have showed of. The flames ad-
vance. You can endure the heat no longer
on your face. You slide down on the side OF
the vessel and hold on with your fingers un-
~ h6p1na
lick. the back OF your hand, and you feel that
you must fall, when one Of the ufeboats
comes back, and the passengers say they
think they have room tor one more. Inc
boat swings under you; you drop into 1t /;
You are saved. So some men are pursued Dy
Temptation until they are partially con-
sumed. but after all get ofr-''saved as by
fre." But like the figure OF JOB little
better than that OF Paul, because the pulpit
| has not worn 1t out, and want to show you,
| II God will help, that some men make nar-
| row escape for their souls and are saved as
"with the skin of their teeth"
tis as easy for some people to look to the
cross as for you to lookt to this pulpit. Mild,
gentle, tractable. loving, you expect them
| to become Christians. You 20 over to the
store and say, "Grandon joined the church
Yesterday" Your business comrades say ::
ssThat is Just what might have been EXPECT
ed" He always was Of that turn OF mind.
: In youth this person whom describe was
ALWAYS good. He never broke things. He
3hever laughed when 1t was improper to
laugh. At seven he couldsit an hourln church.
perfectly quiet, looking neither to the right
hand nor to the left, but straight into the
eyes of the minister, as though he under
stood the whole discussion about the eternal
DEGREES, He never upset things nor lost
them. He fioated into the kingdom OF God
90 gradually that it is uncertain Just when
the matter was decided.
Here Is another one, who started In life
with an uncomfortable spirit. He kept the
nursery In an uproar. His mother found him
Valking on the edge OF the house roof to see
3f he could balance himself. There was no
Morse he dared not ride, no tree he could not
climb. his boyhood was long series of pre-
dicaments his manhood was reckless his
midlife very wayward. But now he Is con-
verted, and you 60 over to the store and say,
"Arkwright joined the church yesterday"
Your friends say: ''It is not possible! You
must be joking."' You say: "No ; I tell you
the truth. He joined the church." Then
they reply, "There is hope for my OF US II
old Arkwright has become Christian"
In other words, we all admit that It Is
more difficult for some men TO accept the
gospel than for others.
may be addressing some who have cut
loose from churches and Bibles and Sundays
land who have at present no intention OF be-
looming Christians themselves, but just to
yourself escaping before you hear the end,
las s.with the skin OF your teeth" l do not
expect to waste this hour. I have seen boats
go of from Cape May or Long Branch and
drop their nets and after awhile come ashore
pulling in their nets without having caught
IA single fish. 1t was not u good day, or they
had not the right kind OF net. But We e1-
pect no such excursion to-day. The water
Is full OF fish the wind is In the right direc-
don the gospel net is strong. thou who
didst help Simon and Andrew 10 fish, show
side OF the ship!
Some of you, in coming to God, will have
to run against skeptical notions. 1t Is USE
less for people to say sharp and cutting things
to those who reject the Christian religion.
cannot say such things. By wnat process
OF temptation or trial or betrayal you have
come to your present state 1 know not.
There are TWO gates to your nature-the CUTE
of the head ana the gate OF tue heart. The
gate OF your head il locked with bolts and
bars that an archangel could not break, but
the gate Of your heart swings easily on It's
hlnges. II assaulted your uody with wea.
pons, you would meet me- with weapons, and
lt would be sword stroke for sword stroke
. and wound for wound, and blood for blood
but II I come and knock at the door OF You
house you open il and give me the best sea
IN your parlor. II should come at you to
day with an argument, you would answe
me with an argument II with sarcasm, 20,
answer me with sarcasm. blow for blow
stroke for stroke, but when come am
knock at the door of your heart you open 4
and say, "Come in, my brother, aud tell m
ali You know about Christ and heaven"
Listen to two or three questions: Areyor
as happy as you used to b. when you believed
In the truth Of the Christian religion2 Would
you like to have your children travel on ir
Ehe road in which you are now travelling;
You had relative who professed to be q
Christian and was thoroughly consistent,
living and dying iu the faith OF the gospel
Would you not like to live the same quiet
life and die the same peaceful death? re-
celveda letter sent me- by one who has re-
ected the Christian religion. 1t says: 90
bm old enough to know that the joys ant
pleasures OF life are evanescent and to realiz'
he fact that II must be comfortable in olt
hge to believe in something relative to tht
future and to have a faith in some system
that proposes to save. am free to confes:
hat would be happier II I could exercise
J. The simple and beautiful faith that Is
possessed by many whom know. I am moi
willingly out OF the church or out of the
aith. Ny state Of uncertainty Is one OF un-
est. Sometimes I doubt my Immortality
md look upon the deathbed as the closing
Gene, after which there Is nothing. What
hall do that I have not done. All, skeptL
ism is dark and doleful land! Let me
az that this Bible Is either true or false. Il
be false, we are as we'll of a. you II It be
rue them which OF US is safer?
Let me also ask whether your trouble has
ot BEEN that you confounded Christianity
nth the inconsistent character OF some who
70 Heaa II Ynn ara a laHyar In YoIr nno-