Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-04-05
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE GOSPEL SHIP A MOST INTER-
EsIING DI>COIrRsE
SHbjeei; The Gospel Ship"

TIIT: Thou shah cone into the ark.
thou a. thy sons snd thy wife and thy s0Is'
wive- with thee. '-Gehesis Vi. Is
In this day q the steamships Lucanla and
Majestic and the Paris / will show YOU a ship
that In some respects eclip-ed them all, and
which sailed cut, AZ ocean underneath and
smother ocean falling upon Il. Inhdel -eien-
lists ask Us % believe that In the formation
Of the earth there have been a half dozen de-
luges, and Yet they are not willing u be-
lieTe the Bible story % one deluge.
In what way the catastrophe came We know
n0t-whe;her by the stroke Of a comet. or by
flashes Of lightning. changing the air into
water. or by a stroke % the hand OF God. like
the stroke Of the Ak between the horns Ofthe
OK, the earth staggered. To meet the catas-
trophe God ordered a great ship built. IL
was 20 H. without prov, Tor IL was TO sail %
no shorr. II was 10 he without helm, for no
human hand should guide it. IL was vast
structure. probably a. large a. two or three
modern steamer Il was the Great Eastern
Of olden time.
The ship is done. The door H. open. The
lizards crawl In. The cattle walk in. The
grasshoppers hop 10. The birds fly In. The
invitation goes forth 10 Noah. Come thou
and all thy house into the ark. Just one
human family embark on the strange YOy
age. and hear the door slam shut. A great
3 sAtTul rNNf-th~ atNh- AAN ma anu HNhA~
the cedsrs until all the branches snap in the
gale. There i moan In the wind like
unto the moan of diving world. The
blArkness of the heay n is shattered by
the flare Of lightniugS. that look down into
the waters and throw q cbastlness on the
face Of the mountains. How strange IL looks,
How sufoeating the air seems, The big
drops Of rain begin TO plash upon the up
. turned faces OF those who are watching the
lhf h.. in a1nt-plsfaU
Boom 20 the bursting heavens The inhabi-
tants Of the earth. instead Of iyingto house
top and mountain top, n men have fancied,
sit down in dumb, white horror 20 die. For
when God grinis mountains TO pieces and
lets the ocean slip its cable there is no place
for men 10 fly TO. See the ark pitch and tum-
Die in the surf, while from its windows the
passengers look out upon the shipwreck 81 a
race and the car'asses Of a dead world. Woe
TO the mountains, Woe to the sea
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 eguinoCtial storm i coming, you
simply state fact not 10 be disputed.
Neither am ] al alarmst when / say that q
storm is coming, compared with which Noah :
deluge was but al April shower. and that IL i
wisesi and safest for YOU and for me 10 get
safely housed Tor eternity. The invitation
Come 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 so, II We get in
TO the ark Of Gods mercy. it will be through
Christ, the door. The entrance 10 the ark Of
old must have been u very large entrance.
We know that il was from the fact that there
We're monster animals In the earlier ages
a a., .H.rla =. ham INF "a al
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 a
large door. We go in. not two and two but
by hundreds, and by thousands ami by mill.
ions Yea all the Nations Of the earth NAV
~ in. ID. 900 600 abreast
The door Of the ancient ark was In the
side. SO now it l. through the side Of Christ
the pierced side, the wide open side, tbs
heart side-thAt We enter. Aha, the Roman
soldier, thrusting his spear into the Saviour:
side. expected only TO let the blood out, but
he opened the way to let all the world in
Oh, what a broad gospel TO preach II q
man is about to give an entertainment, ht
issues 200 or 800 invitations, carefully put W
and directed to the particular persons whom
he wishes TO entertain. But God, our Father
makes banquet and goes out to the from,
door OF heaven and stretches out His hand.
over lhlll anu sea anu Win a voice InA
penetrates the HindOo jungle, and the Green
land ice castle, and Brazilian grove, and Eng
lish factory, and American home, cries out
Come, tor all things are now ready II
is wide door The old cross has been
taken apart, and its two pieces are stood VI
for the doorposts, so far apart that all tbs
world can come in. Kings scatter treasure,
on days Of great rejoicing So Christ, oul
King comes and scatters the jewels ofheaven
Rowland Hill said that he hoped to ge
into heaven through the crevices Of tn,
door. But 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 man come in
The dying thief went In. Richard Baxter
and Robert Newton went in. Europe. Asia
Africa, North and South America may ye
go through this wide door without crowd
ing. Ho! every one--ali conditions. al
ranks, all people! Luther said that thi
truth was worth carrying on ones knee
from Rome to Jerusalem but think it worti
carrying all around the globe and all arount
the heavens, that God so loved the worlt
that He gave His only begotteD Son. tina
whosoeyer belieyeth in Him should no
perish, but have everlasting life Whosoeve
will, let him come through the large door
Archimedes wanted fulcrum on which /,
ri place MS lever, ana thtn ne said he coult
move the world Calvary Is the iucrum
and the cross Of Christ Is the lever. and by
that power all Nations shall yet be lifted.
Further. 1t is a door that swings boil
ways. do not know whether the door o
the ancient ark was lifted or rolled OF
hinges but this door Of Christ opens botE
ways. 1t swings out toward all our woes il
swings in toward the raptures Of heaven. l
swings in to let Us in; 1t swings out TO let Gu
ministering ones comes out. All are one IL
Chfst-Christians on earth and saints il
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, blessed door, until all tn
earth shall 60 in and live. Swing out unit
all the heavens come forth to celebrate tn
victory
But, further. it is door with fastenings
The Bible says of Noah, THE Lord shut hin
In" vessel without bulwarks or door
would not be safe vessel to 60 In. Whel
Noah and his family heard the fastening o
the door OF the ark they were very glad
Unless these doors were fastened the frs
heavy surge Of the sea would have whelme
them, and they might as well 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 tn