The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1895-04-01


whelmed them; and they might as well
have persisted outside the ark as inside the
ark: THE Lord shut him in" Oh, the
perfect safety of the ark The surf of the
sea and the lightning5 of the sky may be
twisted into garland of snow and 1lre-
deep to deep, storm to storm, darkness 10
darkness; but once in the ark all is WELL
"God shut him in"
There comes upon the good man a deluge
of financial trouble. He had his thousands
to lend; now he cannot borrow a dollar.
He once owned a store in New York, and
has branch houses in Boston. Philadelphia
and New Orleans. He owned four horses,
and employed a man to keep the dust of
his coach, phaeton, carriage and curricle;
now he has hard work to get shoes in
which to walk. The great deep of CONNER
ciai disaster was broken up, and fore and
aft and across the hurricane deck the
tered from the storm 1.-The Lord shut him
in!' a flood of domestic troubles fell
him. Sickness and bereavement came. The
ram pelted. the winds blew. The heavens
are afiame. All the gardens of earthly de-
light are washed away. The mountains of
joy are buried fifteen cubits deep. But
standing by the empty crib, and in the
desolated nursery. and in the doleful hall,
once once airing with merry voices, now silent
forever. he cried: The Lord gave, the Lord
hath taken away; blessed be the name of
the Lord" The Lord shut him in" All
We SINS 0I d IleIlile cIamoreoi Tor ms over
throw. The broken vows, the dishOnOred
Sabbaths, the outrageous profanities, the
misdemeanors of twenty years, reached up
their hands to the door of the ark to pull
him out. The boundless ocean of his sin
surrounded his soul bowling like n
smoOm raving like an eurocIytion But
looking out of the window he saw his sins
sink like lead into the depths of the sea.
The dove of heaven brought olive
branch to the ark. The wrath of the bill
low only pushed him toward heaven. THE
Lord shut uim in!'
The same door-fastenings that kept Noah
IN Keep the troubles out. | am glad to
know that when man reaches heaven all
earthly troubles are done with him. Here
he may have had il hard to get bread for
there a. huO
more. Here he may have wept bitterly:
there THE Lamb that is in the midst of
of water, and God viii wipe away all tears
from his eyes" Here he may have hard
work TO get house; but in my Fathers
never comes. Here there are deathbeds
and collins, and graves; there no sickness.
no weary Watching no choking cough, no
consuming fever, no Chattering chill, no
tolling bell no grave. The sorrows of life
shall come up and knock at the door, but
shall come up and knock the door. but
no admittance. Safe forever, All the
the bulwarks of the ship of celestial light
shall not break them down. Howl on, ye
winds and rage We seas! The Lord-''the
Oh, what a grand old door, so wide. so
easily swung both ways. and with such
sure fastenings. No burglars KEY can
pick that lock. No swarthy arm of hell
can shove back that bolt. | rejoice that
do not ask YOU to come aboard crazy
and unfastened door; but an ark fifty
cubits wide, and 800 Cubcs long. and q
out grazing the post. might be bowled in!
Now, If the ark of Christ is so grand a
place in which TO live, and die, and tri-
umph, come into the ark. Know well that
the door that shut Noah in shut others
out; and though, when the pitiless storm
came peltng on their heads they beat
upon the door saying, Let me in! let me
i'm the door did not open. For one hun
dred and twenty years they were invited
diluvians said. I'VE must cultivate these
fields; must be worth more fiOcOs of
sheep and herds of cattle; we Will wait I'M
til we get Il little older: Will enjoy our
farm a little longer" But meanwhile the
storm brewing. The fountains of
heaven were filling up. The pry was being
great deep. The last year had come, the
last month, the last week. the last day,
the last hour. the last moment. In an aw-
full dash, an ocean dropped from the Sky;
and another rolled M from beneath; and
God rolled the earth and Sky into one
wave of universal destruction.
SO men now put Off going into the ark.
They say they Will wait twenty years first.
They will have little longer time with
their worldly associates. They VIII wait
untt they set Older. They say, "EcN can
not expect a man of my attalumCEt5 and
of my position to surrender myself Just
now. But before the storm comes, / VIII
so in. Yes. / will. l know what L am
about. Trust met After while, one
night about twelve o'clock, going home,
wind strikes il, and a plank falls. Dead!
and outside the ark! OR, riding in the
park, reckless vehicle crashes INTO MN;
and his horse becomes unman1geable, ana
he shouts. whoa! Whoa and takes an
other twist in the reins. and plants his
feet against the dashboard, and pulls back.
But no use. 1t is not so much down the
avenue that he flies as on the way 20
eternity out of the wreck OF the crash
his body is drawn, but his soul is not
picked up It fled behind a swifter cOurser
into the great future. Dead! and outside
the ark! or, some night, he wakes up WIN
q distress that momentarlly increases,
until he shrieks out with pain. The doc
tors come in, and they give him twenty
drops but no relief: forty drops. fifty
for prayer. No time to read one of the
promises. No time to get n single SIN
pardoned. The whole house is aroused
in alarm. The children scream. The VIE /
faints. The pulses fail. The heart Stops;
The soul flies. Dead! and outside the ARK!
l have no doubt that derlsion kept MANY,
ppople out of the ark. The world laughed
to see Il man so in ana said, Here Is q
man starting for the ark why, lheIG VIII
be no deluge. If there is one, that mSera-
BILE ship will not weather il. Ana! gong
into the ark! Well, that is too GOOD 10
news? This man is going into the ark
Under this artillery Of scorn the man
good resolution persisted.
And so there are hundreds Kept our ~
the fear of derision. The young man asks
himself what would they say AT LIie /
store tomorrow morning II should UecoihIs
clubhouse they viii shout, Here comes
that new Christian. Suppose you VIII not
have anything to do with US now sup
YOUR knees ana let us hear YOU pray. /
Come, now, give US a touch. VIII not 90 /
It Ell? Pretty Christian you are! Is II /
not the fear of being laughed at that Keeps /
you out of the kingdom OF God? Nnlcn /
of these scorners will help you at the last! /
When YOU lie down on dying pillow I
which of them will he there? In the DAY !
of eternity will they bail you QUIT Il
NV friends and neiChbors. come in right /
away Come in through Christ. the wide !
door-the door that swings out toward ,
you Come in, and be saved: Come ana be /
happy 1.-The spirit and the bride say /
come" Room in the ark! Room i'll the /
ark!
But do not come alone. The text invites
Won TO bring your family. 1t says: Thou I
and thy sons and thy wife" You cannot /
drive them in. If Noah had tried to drive
the pigeons and the doves into the ark 1
he would only have scattered them. some
parents are not wise about these things.