The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1895-09-28

Yon say: "Send for the minister"
But no; he does not believe in minis
tiers. You say: ''Read the Bible to
him." No; he does not believe
in the Bible. A lawyer comes
in, and, sitting by his bedside,
writes a document that begins: 'In
the name of God, amen. ], being OF
sound mind, do make this my last will
and testament" 1t is certain where
the sick mans body will be in less than
a week. 1t Is quite certain who viii
get his property. Bat what will be
come of his soui2 It will go into 'the
great to be-" or "the everlasting now
or 1.-THE infinite what as it." His soul
is in deep waters, and the wind is
GLOWING great guns" Death cries:
"Overboard with the nnbeliever!' A
splash! He goes to the bottom. He
paid five dollars for his ticket to
Tarshish when he bought the infidcl
books. lie landed in perditionl
Every farthing you spend in sin ga
tan will swindle you ont Of He prom
Uses you shall have thirty per cent. or =
great dividend He lies. He will sink
all the capital. Yon may pay full fare
to some sinful success, but you will
never get to Tarshish.
Learn how soundly men will sleep
in the midst of danger. The worst
sinner on shipboard, considering the
light he had, was Jonah. He was a
member of the church, while they
were heather. The sailors were en-
gagged in their lawful calling, following
the sea. The merchants on board, l
suppose, were going down to Tarshish
to barter; but Jonah, Notwithstanding
his Christian profession, was flying
from duty. He was sonnd asleep in
the cabin. He has been motionless for
hours--his artrs and feet in the same
posture as when he lay down-his
breast heavipg with deep respiration.
Oh! how could he sleep? What if the
ship struck rockl what If it sprang
aleakl what If the clumsy oriental
craft should capsize! What would be-
come of Jonah?
In the year ITS, the captain of q
Greenland whaling vessel found him
self at night surrounded by icebergs,
ard ''lHy to- Until morning, expecting
every moment to be ground to pieces.
In the morning he looked abort, and
saw a ship. near by. He hailed it. No
answer Getting into boat with
some of the crew, he pushed out for
the mysterious craft. Getting near
by, he saw through the port hole a
man at stand, as though keeping a
l. l. IL l.
lie went on board the vessel and found
the man sitting at the log book frozen
to death. The log book was dated
| 1862, showing that the vessel had been
| wandering for thirteen years among
| the ice. The sailors were found frozen
among the hamneclss, and others in
| the cabin. For thirteen years this
ship had been carrying its burden OF
| corpses.
| So. from this Gospel craft to-day
descry voyagers for eternity / cry;
''ship. ahoy! ship, ahoy!" No answer.
They float about, tossed aud ground by
| the icebcrgs of sin, hosting no sail foi
Heaven. I go on board. l find ali
asleep. 1t is a frozen sleep. o, thai
my Lord Jesus would come aboard, and
| lay hold of the wheel, and steer the
craft down into the warm Gulf Stream
of His mercyi Awake, thou that sleep
est! Arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee life.
| Again: Notice that men are aroused
by the most unexpected means. Il
Jonah had been told one year before
that heather sea captain would cyei
awaken him to a sense of danger ht
would have scoffed at the idea; but
here it is done. SO now. men in
strangest ways are aroused from spirit
ual stupor A profane man is brought
to conviction by the shocking bias
phemy of eomrade. A man at
tending church and hearing a ser
mon from the text: THE o.
lsnoweth its owner etc. goes home
unimpressed; but, crossing his barr
yard, an OK comes up and ticks hi:
hand, and he says: There it Is now
the OK knoweth his owper. and tn.
ass his masters crib. but do mo-
know God" The careless remark OF 9
| teamster has led a man to thoughtful
ness and Heaven. The cbild's remar,s
Father, they have prayers ut unele'
house-why don't we have them?" has
brought salvation to the dwelling.
BY strangest way and in the mos
unexpected manner men are awak
cncd. The gardener of the Counties
of Huntington was convicted of SIN b,
hearing the countess on the opposite
side of the wall talk about Jesus. JOIN
Hardoak was aroused by dream II
which he saw the last day, and TIL
Judge sitting. and heard his own NAM
called with terrible emphasis; "Johl
Hardoak, come to Judgment" Th,
Lord has thousand ways OF waltin,
| up Jonah. Would that the message
of mercy might now find their wa.
down into the sides OF the ship, an.
that many who are uuconsciousl.
rocking in the awfni tempest of thei
sin might hear the warning: "Wha
neauest thou, O, sleeper? Arise, AM
call upon thy God!'
Il Again. Learn that man may wax
up too late. IT. instead OF sleeping
Jonah had been on his. knees confess
ing his sins from the time he went o.
board the craft, I think that TO
would have saved him from beini
thrown overheard. But he woke u
too late. The tempest is in full blast
and the sea, in convulsion. is lasliin,
i itself, and nothing will stop 1t now
but the overthrow of Jonah.
i So men sometimes wake mp too late
, The last hour has come. The man ha
no more idea OF dying than hav
of dropping down this moment. Tn