The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-10-18

paddles broken at the midile of
the blade, how can YOU pull him ns,ore2
throw YOU one oar now with which believe
you can bring him into harbor. I IL tho
glorious promise, ar wilt be a Col 10 thee
and to thy seed after thee." oh. broken
heart cd father and mother, you hdre tried
everything else now make an albe1i for
the help and omnipotence OF the ibvenant
Keeping God, and perhaps Mt yotr next
family neutrality-suspicious. on Than %yivIng
Day. perhaps next Christmas Dty-the
prod0al may be home. aud II vou crowd
on his plato more iuxurles than en any
other plate at the table am strs the
brothers viii not 90 Jealous. but they
will wake up all tho music in the house,
'.bocause the dead Is alive again an ibscause
tho lost Is found" Perhaps yonr VT -ers
have been answered alrea iy. The N ssl
may be coming homewari. and by the light
/ OF this nights stars that absent son Innv be
! pacing the deck OF the ship, anxious fer the
| time TO come when he can throw ht arm
around your neck and ask for forgiveness
for tnnt ne mas been wrinyiny your old heart
| so long. Glorious reunion, that will he too
sacred for Outsiders to look upon, but |
would just Ike to look through the window
when you have ali got together ag lin and
are seated at the banquet.
Though parents may In coverantbo
! And have their ,aven In view,
They are not ha1py Till they see
! THIS chill rem happy too.
Again, remark that the unavaillng efort
OF the Mediterranean oarsmen has II coun-
terpart In the effort which we are making to
/ bring this world back to God, His pardon
and safety. Ifths world could have been
saved by human effort, Il would have been
done long ago. John Howard took hold OF
one oar, and Carey took hold OF another oar
and Adoniram Judson took hold OF another
oar, and Luther took hold - another oar,
and John Knox took hold OF another oar and
tney pulled until they tell back dead from
the exhaustion. Some dropped in the ashes
| OF martyrdom, some on the scnlplng
knives OF savages and some into tho
plague struck room OF the lazireito.
AMI still the chains arc not broken,
and still the despotisns ara not demolished,
and still the world Is unsavei. What then?
| Put down the oars and make no effori2 I
do not advise that. But want you. Chris
tian brethren, TO understand that the church,
and the school and the college. and the mis-.
sionary society are only the instrument1li-
ties, and II this work IL ever done at all God
must doit, and Ho will do Il In answer to
our prayer. "They rowed hard to bring Il TO
the land, but they could not, wherefore they
| cried unto the Lord
Again, the unavailin; effort ofthose Meii-
/ tcrranean oarsmcn has u counterpA IN
every man that Is trying TO row h,s own soul
into safety. When the eternal splr, lssh,s
ur2a-ns our condition. we try to say, QUO
]
right hand. give mo a stou. onr lot ny ,,r
hand. and | will pull myself into sa'e'y' No.
| A wave of sin comes and dnshes yoI ore wnr,
/ and n wave of temptation comes hhi tkshes
/ you in another way, and there are plenty OF
rocks on which To foun Ier but seemingly no
harbor into whichto sail. Sin must be thrown
overheard, or we must perish. There
are men who have tried for years to become
/ Christians. They believe all | say In regard
TO IA future world. They believe that re-
lglon is the first, tho last, the iunnte ne
csssity. Tney do everything but trust In
Christ. They make sixty strokes In min
ute. They bend forward with all earnest
ness. and they lie back until this muscles arr
l.disendeS. and yes they hag5 nyt n Iafs cat :
inch in ten years toward heaven. What Is
| the reason? That IL not the way to 20 to
work. You might as we'll take frltl
skin and put II down mt the foot OF Nj
agara and then head il up toward the
churn!ng thunderbolt OF waters aud ex-
| pect TO work your way up through the
| lightning OF the foam into calm Lake Erlo
as for you TO try TO pull yourself through
the SURF OF your sin into tho hope an ipar lon
and piacidity OF the gospel. You cannot DO
1t in that way. Sin is rough sea, and
lon;boat, yaw, pinnacc AMI gonlola go
down unless the Lori deliver, but II you
/ will cry to Christ AMI lay hold OF divine
mercy you are as sale from eternal con-
| demnation aS though you had been twenty
! years in heaven.
But glory be to God that Jesus Christ is
| able to take US up out OF our shipwrecked
| and dying condition and put US on the Shout
der Of His strength. and by the omnipotence
| of His gospel bear us on through all tho
| Journey otthis life and at last through tho
opening gates OF heaven H. is mighty to
save. Though your sin be long an | black
an 4 inexcusablo and outrageous. ths very
moment you believe Will proclaim plrlon
quick, full, grand, unconditional, uncom-
promising. illimitible, infinite. Oh, the grace
of God I! | am overwhelmed when | come to
think OF 1t. Give me "A thousand ladders lash
ed fast to each other, that | may scale tho
height. Let the line run out with the an.
chor until all the cables OF the earth are ex-
hausted that we may touch the depth. Let
the archangcl fly in circuit OF eternal ages In
| trying to sweep around this theme. Oh, the
grace OF Col! 1t Is so high. II Is so broad.
II Is so deep. Glory be to my God. that
where mans oar gives out Gods arm begins !
Why will ye carry your sins and your sor-
rows any longer when Christ offers 10 take
them? Why will you wres,le down your
| fears when this moment you might give up
aah bc savsi? Do you not know that every
sASRG Is ready?
| fFSniy OF room nj the feast. Jesus has tho
ring OF His love all ready TO put upon your
hand. Come now and sit down. yc hungry
ones. at the banquet le who are in ra -
OF sin, take the robe OF Christ. le who are
swamped by the breakers aroun you. cry
TO Cnrist TO pilot YOU into smooth, still
waters. On account OF the peculiar phase
OF the suoject l have drawn my present
! illustrations, you see, chiefly from tho
water. | remember that vessel went to
pieces on the Bermudns great many years
| ago. Ii had n vast treisure on board.
But the vessel being sunk. no effort WAS
mace TO raise II. After many years mad
passed company OF adventurous wont
| out from England, AMI after q long yoy.
age they reached ths place where the vessel
was said 10 havs sunk. Tney got into q
small boat and hovered over the place. Then
the divers went down, and they broke
through what looked like u limestone cover
ing, aud the treasures rolled out--waat wa3
found aiterwari TO be, in American money,
worth 81 800 900, and the found1tion ota
great business house. At that time tho
whole world rejoiced over what was clllel
| the luck OF these adventurers. o. go wno
have been rowing toward tho shore
and have not Ueen aOlo 10 Roach
il, want to tell you tonight that your boat
hovers over Infinite treasure! All tho riches