Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-09-01
REV, DR., TALMAGE
The EAlaent Dlvine's Suodsy
0aDcouf10.


sands of Others May BE Similarly Save,
TEXT: Il am escaped with the skin o
my teeth. job xix, 20.
Job had it hard. What with boils ant
bereavements and bankruptcy and foo
OF wife he wished he was dead, and I dc
not blame him. His flesh was gone, ant
his bones were dry. His teeth wasted
away until nothing but the enamel seemed
left. He cries out, Il am escaped with tn,
skin OF my teeth"
There has been some difference o.
Schu'tens and Drs. Good and Poole and
Barnes have all tried their forceps or
Jobs teeth. You deny my Interpretation
and say, what did job know about the
enamel Of the teeth2" He knew every.
thing about 1t. Dental surgery is almost
AS old as the earth. The mummies Of
Egypt thousands OF years old are found to-
day with gold filling in their teeth. Ovid
and Horace and Solomon and Moses wrote
about these important factors of the body
To other provoking complaints Job,
think, has added an exasperating tooth
ache, and, putting his hand against the
infiamed face, he says, II am escaped with
the skin of my teeth
A very narrow escape. you say, for Jobs
body and soul, but there are thousands OF
men who mako just as narrow escape fol-
their soul. There was time when the
partition between them and ruin was no
thicker than tooth's enamel, but as job
finally escaped SO have they. Thank God
Thank Godl
Paul expresses the same idea by differ
ent figure when he says that some people
are saved rs by fire." A vessel at sea Is
in flames. You 20 to the stern of the yes.
sci. Tho boats have showed OF. The
flames advance. You can endure tho heat
no longer on your face. You slide down on
the side of the vessel and hold on with your
fingers until the forked tongue of the Gro
begins to lick the back of your hand, and
you feel that you must fall when one OF
the lifeboatS comes back, and the passen-
gers say they think they have room for one
more. The boat swings under you. You
drop into ii-yGJ: are saved. so some men
are pursued by temptation until they are
partly consumed, but after all get of
saved rs by fire..
But like the figure of Job little bette,
than that of Paul, because the pulpit has
not worn it out, and want to show you, II
God will help, that some men make narrow
escape for their souls and are saved as
with the skin of their teeth"
1t Is as easy for some people to look to
the cross rs for you to look to this pulpit
Mild, gentle, tractable, loving, you expect
them to become Christians. You go over
to the store and say. '.Grandon joined the
church yesterday Your business com.
rades say: THAT is just what might have
been expected. He always was Of that
turn of mind" In youth this person whom
l describe was always good. He never
broke things. He never laughed when II
was improper to laugh. At seven he could
cit an hour in church, perfectly quiet, look
ing neither to the right hand nor the left
but straight into the eyes Of the minister,
as though he understood the whole dis.
cussion about the eternal DEGREES. He
never upset things nor lost them. He
floated into the kingdom Of God so gradually
that it is uncertain just when the matt Ell
was decided.
Here is another one, who started in life
with an uncomfortable spirit. He kept the
nursery in an uproar. His mother found
him walking on the edge of the house roof
to see IL he could balance himself. There
was no horse that he dared not ride no tree
he could not climb. His boyhood was a
long series of predicaments, his manhood
was reckless, his midlife very wayward
But now he is converted. and you go over
to the store and say, cartwright joined the
church yesterday" Your friends say: 1T
is not possible. You must be joking" You
say: No; tell you the truth. He Joined
the church" Then they reply. 'There IL
hope for any of us if old Ark wright has be-
come Christian In other words, we
will admit that it is more difficult for some
men TO accept the gospel than for others.
L may be preaching to some who have cut
loose from churches and Bibles and Sun
days, and who no intention of becoming
Christians themselves, and yet you may
find yourself escaping before you leave this
house rs with the skin OF your teeth"
do not expect to waste this hour. l have
seen boats so off from Cape May or Long
Branch and drop their nets and after awhile
come ashore, pulling in the nets without
having caught a single fish. 1t was not a
good day, or they had not the right kind OF
n net Iuf ay Snrh ion
to-day. The water is full of fish, the wind
is in the right direction, the gospel net is
strong. o thou who didst help Simon and
Andrew to fish, show us how to cast the net
on the right side of the shipl
Some of you In coming to God will have
to run against sksptical notions. 1t Is use-
less for people to say sharp and cutting
things to those who reject the Christian re.
ligion. 1 cannot say such things. By what
process OF temptation or trial or betrayal
you have cometo your present state l know
not. There are two gates to your nature
the gate OF the head and the gate Of the
heart. The gate of your head Is locked
with bolts and bars that an archaneel
could not break, but the gate OF your heart
swings easily on its hinges. II assaulted
your body with weapons, you would meet ma
with weapons, and II would be sword stroke
for sword stroke and wound for wound and
blood for blood, but IL l come and knock at
shC uook VI youE HOust you OD6u u 0nQ
give me the best seat In your parlor. II
should come at you now with an argument.
you would answer me with All argument;
II with sarcasm, you would answer me with
sarcasm-blow for blow, stroke for stroke
but when come and knock at the door
OF your heart you open It and say. Come
In, my brother, and tell me all you know
about Christ and heaven"
Listen to two or three questions. Are
you AS happy as you used to bs when you be-
lieved I'm the truth OF the Christian relfgion7
Would you like to have your children travel
on In the road in which you are now travel
ing2 You had relative who professed to
be Christian and was thoroughly consist
ert, living and dying in the faith ofthe gos-
pei. Would you not like to live the same
quiet life and die the same peaceful death?
hold In my hand letter. sent me by one
who has rejected the Christian religion. 1t
says: Il am old enough to know that the
joys and pleasures of lite are evanescent
and to realize the fact that 1t must be com
Portable In old age to believe in something
relative to the future and to have n faith
In some system that proposes to save. /
am free to confess that would be happier
II could exercise the simple and beautiful
faith that is possessed by many whom I
know. / am not willingly out of the church
or out of the faith. My state of uncertainty
is one OF unrest. Sometimes l doubt my
INN ortality and look upon the deathbed as
the closing scene, after which there Is moth
ing. What shall l do that / have not
done2" All, skepticism Is dark and dole
ful landi Let me say that this Bible is either
true or false. II it be false, we are as we'll
of as you; II it be true, then which of US Is
safer?
Let me also ask whether your trouble has
not been that you confounded Christianity
with the inconsistent character of some
who profess 1t? You are a lawyer. In your
profession there are mean and dishonest
men. Is that anything against the lsw2
You are a doctor. There are unskilled and
contemplate men in your profession. Is
that anything against medicine? You are
a merchant. There are thieves and de-
frauders in your business. Is that anything
against merchandise? Behold, then, the
unfairness OF charging upon Christianity
the wickedness of its disciples. We admi,
some OF the charges against those who pro-
fess religion. Some Of the most gigantic
swindles oft present day have been car
ried on by members Of the church.
There are men standing in the front rank
In the churches who would not be trusted
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