Bradford County telegraph. (Starke, Fla.) 1888-current, 1895-04-12
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
The Great Preachers Sunday
Discourse.
subtects ''The Gospel Ship"

TEXT: ''Thou shalt como into the ark.
thou an thy sons and thy wife and thy sons
wives with thee. "-Genesis vi, Is.
In this day OF the steamships Lucania and
Majestic and the Paris will show you ship
that 10 some respects eclipsed them al, and
which sailed out, an ocean underneath and
another ocean falling upon it, Infidel scien-
lists ask us 10 believe that in the formation
of the earth there have been half dozen de-
lnges. and yet they are not willing TO be-
lieye the Bible story Of one deldSe.
In what way the catastrophe came we know
hot-whether by the stroke of a comet, or by
flashes Of lightning, changing the air into
water, or by a stroke Of the hand of God, like
the stroke Of the ak between the horns OF the
OK, the earth staggered. To meet the eatas-
trophe God ordered a great ship built. It
was to be without prov, for it was to sail to
no shore. 1t wasko be without helm, for no
human hand should guide II. 1t was a vast
structure, probably as large as two or three
modern steamers. 1t was the Great Eastern
Of Olden time
The ship IS done The door Is omen. The
lizards crawl in. The cattle walk in. The
krasshCppers hop in. The birds fly in. The
invitation goes forth TO Noah, Come thou
and all thy house into thc ark" Just one
human family embark on the strange vow
age, and hear the door slam shut. 4 great
storm sweeps along the hills and bends
tho cedars until all the branches snap In the
gale. There IL q moan In the wind Ike
unto the moan Of diving world. THO
blackness ~ sho heav,n ms is shattered bv
the Nero 81 lightnings, that look down into
the waters and throw n Ghastlinees on the
lace OF themOuntains How strange il looks!
How sutfOcating the air seems! The big
drops OF rain begin to Dlrsh tpUh the up
| turned facen Ct those who are watching the
tempest. crash 20 the rocks In CONFUSION.
| Boom! 60 the bursting heavens. Theinhabi-
tants OF the earth, instead Of flying to house
TOP aud mountain top, as men have fancied,
SIT down in dumb, white horror to die. For
when God grlnds mountains to pieces and
lets the ocean slip Its cable there ia no place
for mon TO fly 60, Beo the crk pitch and trmz
bic in the SURF while from lis windows the
paesohsere l00k out upon the shipwreck OF a
face and the carcaSses Of q dead world. Woe
TO the mountainsl Woe othe seal
am no alarmist. When on the Goth OF
september, after the wind has for three DAYS
| been blowing from tho northeast, YOU propl-
esy that tho equlnOctial storm is coming, you
simply state fact net TO he disputed:
Neither nm l mn nlarmist when I say TINT d
storfn is coming, compared with which Ndah's
ueluSe was but April shower, and that II il
safely housed for eternity. Tho Invitation
that went forth to Noah sounds In our ears,
Come thou and all thy house into the ark. y
Well how did Noah ard HIS idmilf coms
into The ark? Did they climb in at the win.
dow, or come down the roof? No; they went
through the door. And Just SO, If we get in.
| to tho ark OF Gods mercy; IL will DO through
Christi tho dOch The entraiiCe to the ak oil
Ola must have been n very largo entrance
We know that it was from the fact that there
were monster animals In the earlier ages
and in order to get them into the ark, two
and two, according to the Bible statement
the. door rruGt hate been Very wide and very
high. 80 the door into the mercy Of God is q
large door. We go In, not two and two, but
by hundreds, and by thousands ind by mill
Ions. Yea, all the Nations Of the bsrtH rtdJ
| 20 in, 10000, 900 abreast
The door Of tho ancient ark was I'm the
| side. SO now it is through the side OF Christ
| tho pierced side, the wide open side, the
heart side-that we enter. Aha, the Roman
soldier, thrustiDg his spear into the Saviour's
side, expected only to let the blood out, but
he opened the way to let all the world I'm
Oh, what broad gospel 20 preHch II G
| man Is about to give an entertainment. be
Issues 200 or 800 invitations, carefully put VII
| and directed to tho particular PERSONS whom
no wishes to ehtertaih. But God, Otir Father
makes banquet and goes out to the front
door OF heaven and stretches out His hands
over land and sea, and with voice that
| penetrates the Hindoo Jungle, and the Qreeu-
land ice CASTLE and Brazilian grove, Gud Eng
liSh factory, and American home, cries out
Come, Tor all things are now rcadyw II
Is wide doorl Tho old cross has been
taken apart, and its two pieces are stood VI
Tor the dOorpOsts, so far apart that all the
Il world m
on days OF great rejoicing, so Christ OIL
Hing, comes rsthe jewelg Of heaven
Rowland Hill Slid that he hoped to gel
! into heaven through the Brevices Of tho
door. But he was not obliged thus to 60 IN
Alter having preached the gospel in Surrey
Chapel. going up toward heaven, the gate.
keeper cried, 'Tift Up your heads, va ever
lasting gates, and let this man coms int
The dying thief went in. Richard Baxter
and Robert Newton went in. Europe. Asia
| Africa, North and South America NAV vel
go through this wide door without crowd,
ing. Ho! every One-all conditions, al
ranks, all peOplel Luther said that thi,
| truth was worth carrying on ones knees
l from Home to Jerusalem, but Think Il worth
carrying all around the globe and all around
the heavens, that "God 80 loved the wcrIl
that He gave His only begotten Son. thai
whatsoever belleveth In Him should no
4 POIlsu, OUT nave everlasting lll6. MhOSOeye
will, let him come through the largo door
Archimedes wanted fulcrum on which (,
place his lever, and then he said he could
move the world. Calvary is the fulcrum
and the cross Of Christ is the lever, and b,
that power all Nations shall yet be lifted.
Further. it Is a door that swings boil
ways. 1 do not know whether the door O
the ancient ark was lifted or rolled OF
hinges, but this door of Christ opens bOtt
ways. 1t swings out toward all our woes; &
swings in toward the raptures of heaven. /
swings in to let us in; il swings out to let on
ministering ones comes out. All are one Il
Christ-Christians on earth and saints II
heaven.
One army Of the living God,
/ At His command we bow
Part OF the host have crossed the food,
And part are crossing now.
Swing in, o blessed door, until all tn
earth shall go in and live. Swing out unit
all the heavens come forth to celebrate I'll
| victory.
But, further, it is door with fastenings
The Bible says OiNoah, '"The Lord shut hin
In" A vessel without buIwarks or door
would not be safe vessel to 20 in. Whe
Noah and his family heard the fastening q
the door Of the ark, they were very glad
Unless these doors were fastened tho frs
n hE 0NA -.