Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-09-14

l will illustrate the difference. You are in
your own house. In the morning you open
newspaper, and you read how Captain
Braveheart On the sea risked his life for the
salvation OF his passengers. You say "What
a grand fellow he must have been His fam
lily deserves very well OF the country" You
fold the newspaper and sit down at the table
and perhaps do not think of that incident
again. That is historical faith.
But now you are on the sea, and 1t Is night
and you are asleep, and you are awakened
by the shrek Of dire" You rush out on
the deck. You hear, amid the wringing of
the hands and the fainting, the cry, "No
hope, nc hope! We are lost, we are lost p
The sail puts out its wing Of fire, the robes
make burning ladder in the night heavens.
the spirit of wrecks Kisses In the waves, and
on the hurricane decks shakes out its banner
or smoke and darkness. Down with the
lifehOatS!" cried the captain. ''Down with
the IifebOats % People rush into them. The
boats are about full. Room for only one
moro man. You are standing on the deck
beside the captain.
Who shall it be2 You or the captain?
The captain says, "You." You Jump AMI
are saved. He stands there and dies. Now,
you believe that Captain Braveheart sacr-
feed himself for his passengers, but you
believe it with love, with tears. with hot
and long continued ordinations with
grief at his loss and JOY at your deIiverance.
That Is saving faith-in other words, what
you believe with all tho heart and believe
in regard to yourself. On this hinge turns
my sermOn-aye, the salvation of your i'm
mortal soul. You often go across a bridge
YOU know nothing about. You do not
know WHO built the bridge, you GO not
know what material it is made OF, but
you como to it and walk over it
and ask no questions. And here Is al
arched bridge blasted from the Crock of
Ages" and built by the Architect of the
whole universe, spanning the dark gulf be-
tween sin and righteousness, and all God asks
you ts to walk across it, and you start, and
you come to it, and you stop, and you go
q little way on, and you stop, and you fall
back, and you experiment. You say, "HoW
do | know that bridge will hold mel in
stead of marching on with firm step, asking
no questions, but feeling that the strength
of the eternal God is under you.
Oh, was there ever a prize proffered SO
cheap as pardon and heaven are offered to
you2 For how much? A million dollars2
1t Is certainly worth more than that But
cheaper than that you can have 1t. Ten
Thousand dollars? Less than that. Five
thousand dollars? Less than that One
ing? Less than that. without money
an without price" No money to pay. No
journey to take. No penance to suffer
Only Just one decisive action of the soul,
"Beleve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved"
IL
saved? I cannot tell you. No man, no
angel, can tell you. But can hint at it, for
my text brings me up to this point, ''Thou
shalt be saved" 1t means happy life here,
and q peaceful death, and q bltssful eternity
1t is grand thing to go to sleep at night,
and to get up in the morning, and to do bus
1ness all day feeling that all Is right between
my heart and God. No accident, no sick
ness, no persecution, no peril, no sword,
can do me any permanent damage.
1 am q forgiven child of God. and
He is bound to see me through. He has
sworn He will see me through. The mount
aims mty depart, the earth may burn. tho
light OF the stars may be blown out by tho
blast of the judgment hurricane but life and
death, things present and things to come,
are mine. Yea, further than that, 1t means
n peaceful death. Mrs. Hemans, Mrs. ST.
have said handsome things about doath.
There is nothing beautiful about it. When
we stand by the white and rigid features Of
those whom we love, and they give no an
sworing pressure of the hand and no re.
turning kiss OF the lip, we do rot
ua. Death is loathsomehess and
midnight and the wringng of the heart un-
til the tendrils snap and curl In the torture
unless Christ shall be with us. l confess to
you an infinite fear, consuming horror of
death unless Christ shall be with me. /
would rather go down into q cave of Wild
boasts or a jungle of reptiles than into tho
grave unless Christ goes with me. VIII you
tell me that / am to be carried out from my
bright home and put away in the darkness2
of the evening must have the gas lighted,
and the farther on in life I get tho moro l like
to have my friends round about me.
And am l to be put off for thousands Of
years in a dark place, with no one to speak
TOP Whom the holidays como and the gifts
1l1k..l 1 IL, 4 L A.
"AIerry Christmas" or the "Happy New
Year?" All, do not point down to the hole
in the ground, the grave, and call it n beau
tiful place. Unlessther be some supornatu-
raj illumination / shudder back from it. My
whole nature revoIts at it. But now this
glorious lamp is lifted above the grave, AMI
all the darkness is gone, and tie way is
clear. look into it now without single
shudder. Now my anxiety is not about
death my anxiety is that may live Alright.
What power is there in anything to chill
me in the last hour if Christ wraps around
me the skirt of His own garment? What
darkness can fall uponmy eyeids then, amid
the heavenly daybreak2 O death, will not
fear thee then. Back to thy cavern Of dark
ness, thou robber Of all the earth. Fly, thou
heW thee In twain from helmet to sandal,
the voice of Christ sounding all over the
earth and through the heavens 80 death,
will be thy plague o grave, will be thy
destruction"
To be saved is to wake up in the presence
of Christ. You know when Jesus was ur IN
the earth how happy Ho madC every house
He went into, and when He brings us up to
His house in heaven how great shall be our
glee His voice has more music in it than is
to be heard in all the oratorios OF eternity.
Talk not about banks dashed with ef1lor-
escense. Jesus is the chief bloom of heaven.
We shall see the very face that b9amed SYM
pathy in Bethany aud take the very hand
that dropped its blood from the short beam
Of the cross. Oh, want to stand in eternity
with Him, Toward that harbor L steer.
Toward that goal | run. l shall be satisfied
when / awake in His likeness.
Oh, broken hearted men and women how
sweet it will be in that COOL land to pour all
of your hardships and bereavements AMI
losses into the loving ear Of Christ and then
have Him explain why it was best for you
to be sick and Why 1t was best Tor you to be
and why 1t was best for you to be
prosecuted, and why it was best for you to
be tried and have Him point to an elevation
to your disquietude here, say
ing, "You suffered with Me on ear,h ; come
up now and be gloritied with Me in heaven"
Some one went into house where there
had been a good dea! of trouble AMI said to
the woman there, You seem to be lonely"
'Yes," she said 4 am lonely" "How
many in the famiIy?' "Only myself"
Have you had any children?" "Ihad seven
chtldren. Nnefe are tney! 'TOne.
'Al gomez" "An." ''AlI dead! ''All."
Then she breathed a long sigh into the lone
illness and said, "Oh, sir, l have been good
mother g the grave"
And so there are hearts here that are ut
terly broken down by the bereavement of
life. point you to- lay to the eternal balm
Of heaven. Oh. aged men and women who
have knelt at the throne of grace for three
score wears and ten will not your decrepi-
tude change for the leap of a heart when
you come to look face TO face upon Him
whom having not seen you love? Oh, that
will be the Good Shepherd, not out in
the night and watching to keep
off the wolves, but with the lamb re-
clining on the sunlit hill. That will be the
Captain of our salvation, not amid the roar
and crash and boom of battle, but amid His
disbanded troops keeping victorious festiv-
ity. That will be the Bridegroom of the
church coming from afar. the bride leaning