The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-04-27
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
CEE BROOKLYN DTvTNEsS GUEo
DAY SERMON.
: Subject: s'The Gospel shlp.''

Subject: "The Gospel Ship"
TEXT: sThou shalt come into the ark,
thou AMI thy sons and thy wife and thy sons
wives with thee-"-Gerests Vi, IS.
In this day Of the steamships Lucanis and
Majestic and the Paris will show you a ship
that In some respects ecipsed them all, and
which sailed out, an ocean underneath and
another ocean falling upon 1t. ln6del scien-
tists ask us to believe that in the formation
Of the earth there have been half dozen de-
luges, and yet they are not willing to be-
HsYe the Bible story Of one deluge.
In what way the estastroph came We know
eot-whether by the stroke OF q comet, or by
Sashes Of. lightning, changing the air into
water, OF by stroke Of the hand of God, like
the stroke Of the az between the horns otthe
OK, the earth staggered. To meet the catss-
frophe God ordered great ship built. It
Tss to be without PROV, for 1t was to sail to
no shore. 1t was to be without hslm, for no
human hand should guide 1t. It was vast
modern steamers. It was the Great Eastern
Of olden time.
The ship is done. The door is open. The
lizards crawl In. The cattle walk in. The
grasshoppers hop in. The birds fly in The
4n7ItsAon goes forth to Noah, "Come thou
and ali thy house into the ark" Just one
human family embark on the strange voy-
age, and hear the doo- slam shut. A great
storm sweeps along the hills and bends
tho ceda,s until ali the branches snap In tbs
gale. There IS moan IN the wind like
blsckness Of the heavens Is shattered by
the fare Of Eghtnings, that look down into
the waters and throw a ghastiness on the
faee Of ithenountains. How strange it LOOKS!
how Sunocating the air seemsi The big
drops Of rain begin to plash upon the up
turned faces Of those who sre watching the
tempest. Crash! 20 the rocks In convDlsion.
Boom! 60 the bursting heavens. Thei einhabt-
tants OF the earth, instead CT flying to house
top and mountain top, as men have fancied,
sit down IN dumb, white horror to die. For
when God grinds mountsins to pieces and
lets the ocean slip its cable there Is no place
for men to fly to. See the ark pitch and tum-
BILE In the sur, while from its windows the
passengers look out upon the shipwreck OF g
race and the carcasses Of dead world. Woe
80 the mountairsi Woe to the seal
I an no alarmist. When on the 20th OF
September, after the wind has for three days
been blowing from the northeast, you proph-
esy taat the equinoctial storm Is coming, you
simply state a fact not to be disputed.
Naither am an alsrmist when say that a
Storm Is coming, compared with which Noah's
deIuse was but an April shower, and thatit IN
wisest and safest for you and for me to get
safely housed for eternity. The invitation
that went forth to Noah sounds In our ears,
"Come thou and all thy house into the ark."
Well, how did Noah and his family come
into the ark2 Did they climb in at the win
dow, or come downthe root? No; they went
through the door. And just so, il we get in
TO the ark Of Gods mercy, twill be through
sr& 10 16an na+H IN ho pNf
old must have been very large 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 Gcor must have been very WIDE end very
high. So the door into the mercy Of God is a
Large door. We 50 in, not two and two. but
by hundreds, and by thousands and by MILL
Ions. Yea. all the Nations OF the earth may
90 in, 1o, ,0oo, 900 abreast!
The door OF the ancient ark was In the
ide. So now it is through the side OF Christ
the pierced side, the wide open side, the
heart side-thst We enter. Aha, the Roman
soldier, thrusting his spear into the Ssviour's
side, expected only to let the blood out, but
he opened the way to let all the world in
Oh, what broad gospel to preach Il
man is about to give an entertainment, he
issues 200 or 300 Invitations, carefully put up
ala OlI ICCIo0 W LILO pdIL4SNleSS HCAoOu5 nAONs
he wishes to entertain. But God, our Gather,
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 Green
land ice castle, and Brazilian grove, and Eng
Gsh factory, and American home, cries out,
"Come, for all things are now ready" 1t
Is a wide door! The old cross has been
taken apart, and its two pieces are stood up
Sor the doorposts, so far apart that all the.
world can come in. Kings scatter treasures
on days Of great rejoicing. So Christ, our
King, comes and scatters the jewels ofheaven.i
Rowland Hill said thst he hoped to get
Into heaven through the creTices Of the
door. Bnt he was not obliged thus to go in
After having preached the gospel in Surrey
Chapel. going up toward heaven, the gate.
keeper cried, "Lift up your heads, We ever
lasting gates, and let this ma1 come inr'
The dying thief went in. Richard Baxter
and Robert Newton went In. Europe, Asia,l
Africa, North and South America may yet
90 through this wide door without crowd
ranks, all people! Luther said that this
truth was worth carrying on ones knees
from Rome to Jerusalem. but Think it worth
carrying all around the globe and all around
the heavens, that ''God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoeTsr believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life" Whosoever
will, let him come through the large door.
Archimedes wanted fulcrum on which to-
place bis lever, and then he said he could
move the world. Calvary is the fulcrum.
and the GROSS Of Christ IS the lever, and By
that power all Nations shall yet be lifted.
Further. it is door thst swings both
WAYS. do not know whether the door Of
the ancient ark was lifted or rolled on
hinges, but this door Of Christ opens both
ways. It swings out toward all our woes; it
swlngs in toward the raptureS OF heaven. 1t
swings in to let US in; 1t swings QUITO let our
ninistering ones comes out. All are one in
Christ-Christians on earth and saints In
beaven.
One army Of the living God,
At His command We bow.
Part OF the host have crossed the flood,
And part sre crossing now.
Swing in, O blessed door, until all the
earth shall 60 in and live. Swing out until
all the heavens come forth to celebrate the
victory.
But, further, 1t Is door with fastenings
Ehe Bible says Of Noah, ''The Lord shut him
In" L vessel without bulwarks or doors
would not be safe vessel to go n. When
Noah and his family heard the fastening Of
the door Of the ark, they were very glad.
Unless these doors were fastened the first
heavy surge OF the sea would have whelmed
Them, and they might as we'll have per-
lshed outside the ark as inside the ark.
1.-THE Lord shut him in" Oh, the per-
feet safety Of the ark! The surf OF the
sea and the hghtnings Of the sky may be
twisted into garland OF snow and fire
deep to deep, storm to storm, darkness to
darkness-but once in the ark all is we'll.
Ut3od shut him in" There comes uDon the
good man deluge Of financial trouble. He
had his thousands to lend. Now he cannot
borrow dollar. Ee once owned store in
New York and had branch houses In Boston.
Philadelphia and New Orleans. He owned
four horses and employed a man to keep the
dust off his coach, phaeton, carriage and cur
riele; now he has hard work to get shoes in
which to walk. The great deep Of commercial
disaster was broken up, and fore and aft and