Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-08-10

tho Ice rho sailors wero round frozen
among the hammocks and others in the
cabin. For 10 years this ship had been
carrying its burden OF curpscs
so from this gospel craft today descry
voyagcrs for eternity cry: ship ahoy!
Ship ahoy" No answer They float
about, tossed and ground by the iccbcrgs
Of sin, hosting no sail for heaven. go
on board | find all asleep. II is a frozen
sleep. oh, that my Lord Jesus would
come aboard aud lay hold of the wheel,
and steer the craft down into the warm
gulf str,am Of his mercy, Awake, thou
that slccpcst, Arise from the dead and
| Christ shall give thee life
Again, notice that men arc aroused by
/ the most unexpected means. IL Jonah had
been told one year before that heather
sea captain would ever awaken him to
sense Of danger, he would have scoffcd at
the idea, hut here IL Is done. - now men
In strangcst ways arc aroused from spirit
ual stupor. \ profane man Is brought
To conviction by the shocking blasphcmy
OF comradc 4 man attending church
and hearing u sermon from the text " The
OK knowcth his owner, etc. goes home
unimprcssc,l; but, crossing his barnyard,
an OK comes up and lickS his hand, and he
SAYS. There IL is now-'the OK knuwcth
his owner. and the ass his masters crib,
hut do not know God. The careless re-
mark Of "A tcamster has led n man To
thoughtfulness and heaven. The child's
remark Father, they have prayers ut
unclc's housc-why don't we have them.'
has brought salvation To the dwelling
BY strongest way and in the most un-
~ a rtst Ng he
gardener of the Countess of Huntington
was convicted of sin by hearing the count
ess on the opposite side of the wall talk
about Jesus. John Hardoak was aroused
by dream In which he saw the last day,
and the judge sitting. and heard his own
name called with terrible emphasis, John
Hardoak, come to Judgment The Lord
has thousand ways Of waking up Jonah
Would that the messengers Of mercy might
now find their way down into the sides Of
| the ship, and that many who are uncon-
sciously rocking in the awful tempest of
their sin might hear the warming: What
meancst thou, o sleeper? Arise and call
upon thy Cod
Again, learn that u man may wake up
too late. II. instead of sleeping, Jonah
| bad been on his knees confcssing his sins
from the time be went ON board the craft,
| think that God would have saved him
from being thrown overheard. BUT he
woke up too late The tempest is in full
blast. and the sea, in conyulsion, Is lash
ing itself. and nothing will stop ii now
but the overthrow Of Jonah.
Too Late.
so mon sometimes wake up too late
! Tho last hour has come The man has no
more idea OF dying than have Of dropping
down this moment. The rigging is all
white with the foam OF death. How chill
the night is II must die, he says, yet
not ready. ] must push out upon this
awful sea, but have nothing with which
TO pay my fare The white capsl The
dark ness. The hurricane! How long have
been slecpingy Whole days and months
and years. l am quite awake now. sec
everything, but IL is too late" Invisible
hands take him up. He struggles to get
loose. In vain. They bring his soul 10
the verge. They let IL down over the side
The winds howl The sea opens its froth-
ing jaws to swallow. lie has gone forever.
And while the canvas cracked. and the
yards ratified, and the ropes thumped the
sea took up the funeral dirgc, playing with
open diapason II midnight storm: Be
cause have called. and We refused, l have
stretched out my hand and no man regard
cd, but We have set at naught all my coun-
sci and would none of my reproof. l also
will laugh at your calamity, will mock
when your fear cometh.
Now, lest any of you should make this
mistake, / address You in the words of the
Mediterranean sea captain: What mean
est thou, q sleeper Arise, call upon thy
God, IL so he that God will think upon us,
that we perish not. II you have "a God,
you had better call upon him. DO you
say, Il have no God.'' Then you had bet
ter call upon your fathers Sod. When
your father was in trouble. whom did he fly
tos You heard him. in his old days, tell
about some terrible exposure in snow
storm, or at sea, or in battle, or among mid
night garrotcrs, and how he escaped. Per
haps 90 years before you were born your
father made sweet acquaintance with God.
There is something in the worn pages Of
the Bible he used to read which makes you
think your father had IA God. In the old
religious books lying around the house
there are passages marked with a lead PEN
cil-passages that make you think your
father was not "A goddess man, but that, on
that dark day when he lay In the back
room dying, he was ready-all ready. But
perhaps your father was bad man-pray-
erless and blasphemcr and you never
think Of him now without a shuddcr. He
worshiped the world or his own appetites.
Do not then, beg of you, call upon your
fathers God, but call on your mothers
God. think she was good. You rcmcm-
Der when your father came home drunk
late on cold night, how patient your
mother was You often heard her pray
She used Ia sit by the hour mcditating, rs
though she were thinking Of some good,
warm place, where IL never gets cold and
where the bread does not fail and staggcr-
ing steps never come. You remember her
now, as she sat. in cap and spcctacles,
reading her Bible Sunday afternoons.
What good advice she used To give youl
How black and terrible the hole in the
ground looked to you when, with two
ropes, they let her down TO rest in the
graveyard, All, think from your looks
that l am on the right track, Awake, o
sleeper and call upon thy mothers God.
But perhaps both your father and moth
er were dcpravcd. Perhaps your cradle
was rocked by sin and shame, and il is
wonder that from such a starting you have
/ come To respcctability Then don't call
upon the God of either of your parents,
| beg Of you.
But you have children. You know God
kindlcd those bright eyes and rounded
those healthy limbs and set beating with
! in their breast an Immortality. Perhaps
/ in the belief that somehow il would be for
the best you have taught them To say an
evening prayer, and when they kncel beside
/ you, and fold their little hands, and look
up, their faces all innocence and love. you
know that there is a God somewhere about
/ in the room
think am ON the right track at last
Awake, o sleeper. and call upon the God
of thy children! May he set these little
ones To pulling at thy heart until they
! charm thee to the same God to whom to-
night they will say their little prayers
But alas, alas some Of these men and
women are unmoved by the fact that their
father had n God, that their mother had
n God. and their children have God, but
! they have no God. All pious example to
! them for nothing All the divine good
ness for nothing. All warming for moth
ing. They are sound asleep in the side Of
the ship, though the sea and sky are in
mad wrestle.
/ Home at Last.
Many years ago "a man, leaving his fam.
! lily in Massachusetts, sailed from Boston to
I China 10 trade there. On tho coast Of
/ China in the midst of night Of storm,
/ he made shipwrcck. The advcnturcr was
! washed I'M on the bench ScnSeleSs-all his