Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-08-10
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ssNarrow Escapes"

Fp1VGImUUTS
wife he wished he was dead, and do No.
blame him. His flesh was gone. and his
bones were dry His teeth e~-+. .,.sted away un-
til noth'n" IuI tho enamel seemed left. He
cries out, II am escaped with the skin OF my
teeth"
There has been some difference OF opinion
about this passage. st. Jerome and Schul-
tens and Dr- 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 otthe teethE
He knew everything about 1t. DenIai
surgery is almost as old as She earth Inc
murnmies of Egypt, thousands Of years Old,
arc found to-day with gold filling IN their
teeth. Ovid and Horace and solomon ana
Moses wrote about these important factors
of the body. To other provoking complaints
job, I think, has added an eXasperatlnS
toothache. and putting his hand against the
infiamed face he says, 81 am escaped Win
the skin Of my teeth.
A very narrow escape. you say, 1or JoD
body and soul, but there are thousands OF
men who mako Just as narrow escape LOT
their soul. There was time when the par
t;tfOn between them and ruin was no thicker
than toOth's enamel but, as JOB 1lnaliy
escaped, so have they. Thank God! IhanK
God!
Pnuf expresses the same idea by differ
ent figure when he says that some people are
'ssavei as by fire." A vessel ut sea Is in
flames, You 90 to the stern of tho vessel.
The boats have showed oil. The names an-
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-
til the fOrked tongue of the fire begins 10
lick the back of your hand, and you feel that
you must fall, when one of the lIfeboats
comes back, and the passengers say tney
Gthink they have room tor one more. Inc
boat swings under you; you drop into II
you are saved. So some men are pursued by
temptation until they arc partially con-
sumed, but after all get of-'saved as by
fire" But | like the figure OF JOB Httle
better than that of Paul. because the pulpit
has not worn it out, and want to shOWyou,
if God will help, that some men make mar
row 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 lookto this pulpit. Mild,
gentle, tractable. loving, you expect them
to become Christians. You go over to the
store and say, "Grandon joined the church
Yesterday" Your business comrades say
E'That 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
never laughed when it was improper 10
laugh. At seven he could sit an hourin 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
SO 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 nm
walking on the edge of the house roof to see
if he could balance himself. There was no
horse he dared not ride, no tree he could not
climb. His bOyhOOd was long series OF pre-
dicaments his manhood was reckless MS
80 ord Vny n Ia
verted and YOU go over to the store and say,
| cartwright Joined the church yesterday.
Your friends say: "It is not possible! You
must be Joking" You say: 'No l tell you
the truth. He joined the church. Then
they reply, "There is hope for any OF US II
old Arkwright has become Christian"
In other words, we all admit that 1t 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
and who have at present no intention or be-
| coming Christians themselves, but just to
| see what is going on. And yet you may find
yourself escaping before you hear the end,
as with the skin of your teeth" l do not
! expect to waste this hour. | have seen boats
60 off from Cape May or Long Branch and
! drop their nets and after awhile come ashore
| pulling in their nets without having caught
| a single fish. 1t was not a good day, or they
| had not the right kind of Il net. But we eX'
| IS full of fish the wind is in the right dlrec-
| tion ;the gospel net is strong. o thou who
! didst help Simon and Andrew to fish, show
us to-day how to cast the net on the right
! side ofthc 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 what process
of temptation or trial or betrayal you have
! como to your present stat : know not.
! There are two gates to your nature-the gate
! of the head and the gate of the heart. The
! gate of your head is locked with bolts and
| bars that an archangel could not break, but
! the gate Of your heart swings easily on its
hinges. III assaulted your body with Wea-
| pOns, you would meet me with weapons, and
1t would be sword stroke for sword stroke
and wound for wound. and blood for blood
but if como and knock at the door of your
! house you open it and give me the best seat
i'll your parlor. If should come at you to-
day with an argument, you would answer
me with an argument; if with sarcasm, you
answer me with sarcasm. blow for blow
stroke for stroke, but when I come and
knock at the door of your heart you open it
and say, "Come in, my brother, and tell me
all you know about Christ and heaven"
Listen to two or three questions Areyou
| as happy as you used to bs when you believed
| in the truth of the Christian religion? Would
| you like to have your children travel on in
| the road in which you are now travelling?
! You had relative who professed to be a
Christian and was thoroughly consistent,
| living and dying in the faith of the gospel
Would you not like to live the same quiet
| life and die the same peaceful death? I re-
celveda letter sent me by one who has re-
jected the Christian religion. 1t says: 81
am old enough to know that the Joys and
| pleasures of life are evanescent and to realize
thefact that it must be comfortable in ole
age to believe in something relative to the
future and to have faith in some system
that proposes to save. l am free to confess
that would be happier if l could exercise
tho simple and beautiful faith that is
| possessed by many whom l know. am not
willingly out of the church or out of the
faith. My state of uncertainty is one of un.
rest. Sometimes | doubt my immortality
and look upon the deathbed as the closing
scene, after which there is nothing. What
shall do that have nor done. Ah, skepti-
cism is dark and doleful land Let me
say that this Bible is either true or false. II
II be false. we are as we'll Off as you; II It pc
true, then which of US is safer!
Let me also ask whether your troupie has
not been that you confounded Chrlstlah!lS
with the inconsistent character OF some Who
profess it. You are a lawyer. in your pro-
fession there are mean and dishonest men Is
that ANYTHING against the law2 You are q
doctor There are unskilled and contemptl-
BILE men in your profession. Is that anything
against medicine2 You are merchant.
There are thieves and defrauders in your
business Is that anything against merchan-
| disc? Behold, then, the untaIrness OF charg-
inc upon Christianity the wickedness OF its
disciples. 100.
those who profess religion. Some OF the most
gigantic swindles of the present day nave
been carried on By members OF the churcn;
There are men in the churches who would
not be trusted for SIS without goo 1 collateral
security. They leave their business dlshon'
estes in the yestibule of the church as they
go in and sit at the communion. Having con
cluded the sacrament, they get up, wipe tn
wine from their lips, go out and taSe ~
! their sins where they let off. To serve The
devil is their regular work to serve God. d
sort of play spell. With a Sunday spong'
| 4hn,. yZrir,s off from their husineS