The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-04-17
REV, DIR. TALMAGE.
SUNDAYS SERMON IN THE NEW
!. YORK ACADEMY OF MUSIC.
Subject: "The Gospel Ship"

lQOu 6Q tQy SOILS tlku ILL., WIZ e.A~ W.
wives with thee. ."-GeneSiS W., 10.
= In this day OF the steamships .Lucsnia and
Majestic and the Paris | will show you snip
that in some respects e'upsed them eii, anu
which sailed out. an ocean underneath anu
another ocean falling Tpon 1t. !ntdel sclen-
tists ask US to believe that in the formation
of tbe earth there have been O half dozen de-
lupes. and vet they are not willing to De-
lieye the Bible story of one deluge.
In what way the catastrophe came we know
not-whether by the stroke of comet, or by
flashes Of lightning. changing the air into
water. or by d stroke OF the hand Of God, like
the stroke OF the az between the horns OF the
or. the earth staggered. To meet the catas-
trophe God ordered a great ship built 1t
was to be without prov. for 1t was to sail to
no shore. 1t was to he without helm, for no
human hand should guide it. 1t was vast
structure, probably as large as two or three
modern steamers. It vas the Great Eastern
OF olden time.
. The ship is done. The door is open. The
lizards crawl in. The cattle walk in. The
grawhoppers hop in. The birds fly in. The
Invitation goes forth to Noah, Come thou
and all thy house into the ark" just one
human family embark on the strange voy-
age, and hear the door slam shut. A great
storm sweeps along the hills and bends
theicedars until all the branches snap in the
gale. There is a moan in the wind like
unto the moan of dying world The
Iblackness Of the heavens is shattered by
the flare Of lightnings, that look down into
the waters and throw ghastllness on the
face Of themountains. How strange it looks!
How suffocating the air seems! The big
drops of rain begin TO plash upon the up
turned faces Of those who are watching the
tempest. Crash! 60 the rocks in CONFUSION.
Boom! 90 the bursting heavens. The einhabi-
tants Of the earth, instead Of fyingto house
top and mountain top, as men have. fancted.
sit down In dumb, white horror to die. For
when God grinds mountains 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 surf, while from its windows the
passengers look out upon the shipwreck OF
race and the carcasses Of dead world. Woe
to the mountains! Woe tothe sea!
I am no alarmist. When on the Goth OF
September, after the wind has for three days
been blowing from the northeast, you proph-
,esy that the equinoctial storm is coming, you
simply state fact not to be disputed.
Neither am an, alarmist when I say that a
storm Is coming compared with which Noah's
deluge was but an April shower, and that it Is
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,
"ComS thou and all thy house into the ark. !"
= Well how did Noah and his family come
into the ark? Did they climb in at the win
dow, or come down the roof No; they went
through the door. And just 80, If we get in
to the ark of Gods mercy, it will be through
Christ, the door. The entrance to the ark Of
old must have been a 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 door must have been very wide and very
high. So the door into the mercy Of God Is
large door. We 60 in, not two and two. but
by hundreds, and by thousands and by mill
ions. Yea. all the Nations of the earth may
go in, 10,0O0,O 600 abreast!
The door of the ancient ark was in the
side. So now it is through the side Of Christ
the pierced side, the wide open side. the
heart side-that we enter. Aha, the Roman
soldier, thrusting his spear into the Saviour's
side, expected only to lot the blood out, but
he opened the way to let all the world In |!
Oh, what broad gospel to preach If a
man is about to give an entertainment, he
issues 200 or 800 invitations carefully put up
and directed to the particular persons whom
he wishes to entertain. But God, our Father,
makes a banquet and goes out to the front
door Of heaven and stretches out His hands
over land and sea, and with a voice that
penetrates the Hindooi jungle, and the Green
land ice castle, and Brazilian grove, and Eng
nsh factory, and American home, cries out,
"Come, for all things are now readym It
Is wide door! The old cross has been
taken apart, and its two pieces are stood up
for the doorposts, 30 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 of heaven.
Rowland Hill said that he hoped to get
into heaven through ths creyices Of the
door. But he was not obliged thus to 60 in.
After having preached the gospel in Surrey
Chapel. going up toward heaven, the gate
keeper cried, "Lift up your heads, ye ever
lasting gates, and let this man come in"
The dying thief went in. Richard Baxter
and Robert Newton went in. Europe, Asia,
60 through this wide door without crowd
ing. Ho! every one-all conditions, all
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
whosoever 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 his lever, and then he said he could
move the world. Calvary is the fulcrum,
and the cross Of Christ is the lever. and by
that power all Nations shall yet be lifted.
Further. it is a door that 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
swings In toward the raptures Of heaven. It
swings in to let us in; it swings out to let our
ministering ones comes out. All are one in
Christ-ChristianS On earth and saints in
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 the
earth shall so in and live. Swing out until
all the heavens come forth to celebrate the
victory.
But, further, it is door with fastenings.
The Bible says OF Noah, The Lord shut him
In" A vessel without b;liwarks or doors
would not be a safe vessel TO go in. 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-
ished outside the ark as inside the ark.
"The Lord shut him in" Oh, the per-
feet safety Of the ark! The surf Of the
sea and the Ightnings 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.
"God shut him in." There comes upon the
good man deluge Of financial trouble. He
had his thousands to lend. Now he cannot
borrow dollar. He once owned store in
New York and had branch houses in Boston.
Philadelphia and New Orleans. He owned
four horses and employed man to keep the
dust of his coach, phaeton, carriage and cur
riole; now he has hard work to get shoes in
xyhich to Tho crraot dam of oorp roaroio I