The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-01-16

10 Dack anu minu MS own Duslncss.
tell you there were more bitter things
said against Noah than Is said against
any minister in our day. don't believe
we know anything about 1t. One OF your
citizens said he knew Moody and Sankey
had been in prison together when they
came out and commenced to preach.
Noble citizens you have herel IL there
were saloons in those days land haven't
any doubt but that there were), Noah was
the song Of the drunkard, and they had a
good many Jokes about Noah's madness
and folly. In the sight of those men
Noah was the maddest man in the world.
have no doubt about that. And II they
had theaters (and i have no doubt but
that they had theaters) they probably
had Noah's ark represented on the stage.
And SO all manner of sport was made OF
Noah and his ark. And the business
men went on buying and selling, while
Noah went on preaching and toiling.
They perhaps had some astronomers, and
they were gazing up at the stars and say
ing, 'Don't you be concerned, there is no
sign of O coming storm in the heavens.
We are very wise men, and IL there was a
storm coming we should read it in the
heavens" And they had geologists dig
ging away, and they said, "There is no
sign in the EARTH"
Time rolls on; one hundred years have
passed away, and some OF the old men have
passed away and gone and they died say
ing "Noah is wrong. And then, fsuppose
there was a large class that took the
ground that Noah must be wrong be-
cause he was so in the minority. That Is
great argument now, you know. Noah
was greatly In the minority. But he
goes on working. One hundred ard
twenty years have passed, time flies, and
he hasn't got a single convert outside of
his family, Poor Noah! he must have had
hard time oft. j don't think l have
the grace to go 120 years and not have
convert. No, sir! That is hard work.
Bliss, you would have been discouraged,
wouldn't you? (Mr. Bliss responds in the
affirmative.) am afraid should. Not
convert outside his own family! That
is grace for you? Noah must have had
lot of it to have held on. But he just
toiled on. The ark is finished and i tell
you, the day it was completed 1T was
looked upon as the most contemplate
thing in the world. They wouldn't have
had their names connected with that old
ark for anything.
ing, not cloud to be seen, perhaps in the
spring, Noah has got his communication.
He has heard the voice that he heard one
hundred and twenty years before-the
same old voice. Perhaps there had been
silence for one hundred and twenty years.
But the voice rang through his soul one
night, "Noah, come thou and all thy
aouse into the ark" And you can see
Noah and all his family NOV
ing into the ERIK. They are
bringing the household furniture The
neighbors are talking. They say, "Every
year before he has planted, but this year
he thinks the world is going TO be
destroyed and he hasn't planted any
thing.n They think he will come to want.
This morning when they see him moving
some of his neighbors say, "Noah, what
is your hurry? You will have plenty of
time to get into that old ark. What is
your hurry? There are no windows, and
YOU cannot look out TO see when the
storm is coming" But he heard the voice
and obeyed. "Come thou and all
thy house into the ark" Then they see
the fowls OF the air flying in pairs toward
the ark, all manner OF beasts coming up
from their dens and caves as II sent by
some unseen hand, and Noah standing at
the door to receive them. And / can
imagine some of them crying out, "Merci-
full Godl what does this mean?" and
the wise men say, "We don't
know Just what it means, but
there Is no danger. Don't you be
alarmed. Be quiet, il the flood comes, we
can build RATS better than that ark" And
do you know, when they had all gone in,
God gave the world seven days grace.
Did you ever know that? II there had
been cry during those seven days be-
lieve it would have been heard. But
there was none. At length the last day
had come, the last hour, the last minute,
ayi the last second. God Almighty came
down and shut the door of that ark.
No angel, no man, but God himself
shut that door, and when once
the master of the house has risen and shut
to the door, the doom of the world is
sealed; and the doom of that old world
was forever sealed. The sun had gone
down upon the glory of that old world
for the last time. You can hear away off
in the distance the mutterings Of the
storm, of the coming judgment, you can
hear the thunder rolling, the lightning
begins to fash and the old world reels.
The storm bursts upon them, and that old
ark of Noah's would have been worth
more than the whole world to them.
want to say to any scoffer that has
come in here today you can Taught at
that old Bible, you can scoff at your
mothers God, you can laugh at ministers
and Christians, but the hour Is coming
when one promise in that old book will be
worth more to you than ten thousand
worlds like this.
have no doubt that those antedilu-
vans rushed to the door Of that ark and
shouted, "Noah, Noah, let us in. Harkl
Noah speaks, al cannot open the door
God has shut it." Isn't it sad? There is
no trifing now, no levity now, no mock
ing now, no dcrision now. Mark vel don't
forget it; the last hour isgoing to come to
each one OF us. Some of US are
spending our last week OF prayer
on earth. To me this week has been
very solemn. i have thought
IL may be my last week OF prayer. 4