Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-08-16
NARl.u
At Various Times Job Had Some
Very Close Calls.
but He Paused Through 1t All and Came
Out the Winner in the End-sernon
by Rev t. DE Witt Tia
mage, ID. ID.

new Dr. lalmage selected as the SUBJ
1eet for his sermon for Sunday through
the press, Marrow Escapes the text
being taken from Job xix. 20: Il am
escaped with the skin of my teeth"
Job had ii hard. What with boils,
and bereavements. and bankruptcy,
and fool of a wife, he wished he was
dead; and ! do not blame him. His
flesh was gone and his bones were dry.
dis teeth wasted away until nothing
but the enamel seemed left He cries
out, u am escaped with the skin of my
teeth"
There has been some difference of
opinion about this passage ST. jerome
and Schultens, and Drs. Good, and
Poole, and Barnes, have all tried their
forceps on Jobs teeth. You deny my
Interpretation, and say: What did
job know about the enamel of the
teeth?" He knew everything about it,
Dental surgery is almost as old as the
earth. The mummies of Egypt, thou
sands of years old, are found to-day
with gold filling in their teeth. Ovid,
and Horace, and solomon, and Moses,
wrote about these important factors of
the body. To other provoking COM
plants job, / think, has added an ex-
asperating toothaehe, and, putting his
hand against the infiamed face, says:
i am escaped with the skin of my
teeth"
A very narrow escape. you say, for
Jobs body and soul; but there are
thousands of men who make Just as
narrow escape for their soul There
was time when the partition between
them and ruin was no thicker than
tooth's enamel;but, as Job finally escap-
ed, SO have they. Thank God thank
God! Paul expresses the same idea by
different figure when he says that some
people are saved as by fire." A vessel
at sea is in flames. You go to the stern
OF the vessel. The boats have showed
of. The flames advance; you can en-
dure the heat no longer on your face
You slide down on the side of the YES
sci. and hold on with your fingers until
the forked tongue of the fire begin to lick
the back of your hand and you feel that
you must fall, when one of the life
boats comes back. and the passengers
say they think they have room for one |
more. The boat swings under you
you drop into it-you are saved. So |
some men are pursued by temptation |
until they are partially consumed, but
after all get Off saved as by fire.
But | like the figure of job little
better than that of Paul, because the
pulpit has not worn it out: and | want
to show you, if God will help, that some
men make narrow escape for their
souls and are saved as with the skin
of their teeth"
1t is as easy for some people to look
to the Cross as for you to look to this
pulpit Mild. gentle, tractable, loving,
you expect them to become Christians.
You 90 over to the store and say:
Brandon joined the church yester-
day" Your business comrades say:
THAT is just what might have been
expected, he always was of that turn
IF mind" In youth. this person whom
describe was always good. He never
broke things. He never laughed when
1 was improper to laugh. At Z, he
.ould sit in church, perfectly quiet,
cooking to the right hand nor
o the left, but straight into the eyes
# the minister, as though he under
TODD the whole discussion about the
,ternal degree. He foated into the
of God so gradually that it is
just when the matter was
Iecided.
Here is another one, who started
With an uncomfortable spirit. He kept
he nursery in an uproar. His mother
ound him walking on the edge of the
Iouse roof to see if he could balance
himself. There was no horse he dared
Tot ride-no tree he could not climb.
lis boyhood was long series of pre-
icaments; his manhood was reckless;
lis middle life very hayward. But
ow he is converted, and you go over
o the store and say, ''Arkwright /.
oined the church yesterday" All
our friends say, at is not possiblel
you must be jokingl" You say, "No: /,
tell you the truth. He Joined the
hurch." Then they reply, There is :
ope for any of us If old Arkwright :
as become a Christian"
In other words, we all admit that it :
more d1mculJ IOr sOiilc men W aSSCPs .
he Gospel than for others. l
| may be addressing some who have :
ut loose from churches, and Bibles,
nd Sundays, and who have at present =
o intention of becoming Christians :
themselves, but just to see what is go :,
10 on: and yet you may find yourself :,
scaping, before you hear the end, as !,
with the skin of your teeth" | do :
OF expect to waste this hour. have I
zen boats go off from Cape May or =
ong Branch, and drop their nets, and :
fter awhile come ashore, pulling in :
,e nets without having caught single y
sh. 1t was not a good day, or they !,
ADJ not the right kind of net. But =
q expect no such excursion to-day. =
he water is full of fish; the wind is in :,
,e right direction; the Gospel net is =
rong. o, Thou, who didst help Simon Il
nd Andrew to fish, show us to-day how =
a. =. ,,at ON the RIGHT side of the |