Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-02-25
A SHATTERED FAITH.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE TO THOSE BUR-
DENIED WITH DOUBT.

DENIED WITH DOUBT.
He breaches an Eloqusns Sermon Show
ing tho Fooiishness Of Questioning the
Plan OF salvation-He overeomes Many
Objections Raised'by the skeptic.
DE FUEIAK SPRINGS, Fla, Feb a1.-Aft-
,r many years of invitation DR.. Talmagc
breaches today at this great Chautauqun
From all parts of the south the people are
assembled. The sermon is nightly help
full for those who find 1t hard to believe ey-
erything. DR.. Talmage returns this week
to Washington. The subject of this sermon
is "a Shattered Faith" and the text
Acts xvii, |.'And some on broken pieces
Of the ship"
Never off Goodwin sands or the Skier
ries or Cape Hatteras was ship in worse
predicament than, in the Mediterranean
hurricane, was the grain ship on which 276
passengers were driven ON the coast of
Malta, five miles from the metropolis of
that island, called Citta Vecchia. After a
two weeks tempest, when the ship was
entirely disabled and captain and crew
had become completely demoralized, an
old missionary took command, Of the YES
sell He was small, crooked backed and sore
eyed, according to tradition. 1t was Paul,
the only unscared man aboard. Hey no
more afraid of a. Euroclydon tossing the
Mediterranean sea, now up to the gates of
heaven and now sinking it to the gates of
hell, than he was afraid of kitten playing
with a string. He ordered them all down
to take their rations, first asking for them
a blessing. Then he insured all their lives,
telling them they would be rescued, and,
so far from losing their heads, they would
not lose SO much of their hair as you could
cut off with one click of the scissors-nay,
not thread of it, whether it were gray
with age or golden with youth. "There
shall not hair fall from the head of any
of you"
Knowing that they can never get to the
desired port, they make the sea on the
fourteenth night black with overthrown
cargo, so that when the ship strikes it will
not strike SO heavily. At daybreak they
saw a creek and in their exigency resolved
to make for it. And so they cut the cables,
took in the two paddles they had on those
old boats and hoisted the mainsail so that
they might come with such force as to be
driven high up on the beach by some for
tunate billow. There she goes, tumbling
toward the rocks, now prov foremost, now
stern foremost, now rolling over to the
starboard, now over to the larboard; now
q wave dashes clear over the deck, and it
seems as if the old craft has gone forever
But up she comes again. Paul's arms
around q mast, he cries: "All is well. God
has given me oil those that sail with me.
Crash went the PROV, with such force
that ii broke off the mast. Crash went
the timbers till the seas rushed through
from side to side of the vessel She parts
alnidships, and into thousand fragments
the vessel goes, and into the waves 276 NOR
tails are precipitated. Some Of them had
been brought up on the seashore and had
learned to swim with their chins just
above the waves, and by the strokes of
both arms and propulsion Of both feet they
put out for the beach and reach it. But
alas for those othersl They have never
learned to swim, or they were wounded by
the falling Of the mast, or the nervous
shock was too great for them. And others
had been weakened by long seasickness.
Oh, what will become of .themP "Take
that piece of a rudder," says Paul to one
Take that fragment of spar," says Paul
to another. "Take that image of Castor
and Pollux." "Take that plank from the
lifeboat." ''Take anything and head for
the beach" What a struggle for life in the
breakersl Oh, the merciless waters, how
they sweep over the heads of men, women
and childrenl Hold on there! Almost
ashore Keep up your courage Remember
what Paul told you. There the receding
wave on the beach leaves in the sand a
whole family. There crawls up out of the
surf the centurion There another plank
comes in, with life clinging fast to it
There another piece of the shattered yes
sci, with its freightage of an immortal
soul They must by this time all be saved
Yes, there comes inlast of all, for he had
been overseeing the rest, the old mission
ary, who wrings the water from his gray
beard and cries out, "Thank God, all are
herep'
Gather around fire and call the roll.
Paul builds fire, and when the bundle of
sticks begin to crackle and standing and
sitting around the blaze the passengers
begin to recover from their chill, and the
wet clothes begin to dry, and warmth be-
gins to come into all the shivering pas
sengers, let the purser of the vessel go
round and see If any of the poor creatures
are missing. Not one of the crowd that
were plunged into the sea- How it relieves
our anxiety as we read: tSome on broken
pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass
that they escaped all safe to land"
Having on previous occasions looked at
the other passengers, / confine myself to-
day to an examination of those who came
in on broken pieces of the ship. There is
something about them that excites in me
an interest. am not SO much interested
in those that could swim. They got ashore,
as I expected A mile of water is not o
very great undertaking for strong swim
mer, or even two miles are not. But can
not stop thinking about those on broken
pieces of the ship. The great gospel ship
Is the finest of the universe and can carry
more passengers than any craft ever con-
structed, and you could no more wreck it
than you could wreck the throne Of God
Almighty. wish all the people would
come aboard of her. could not promise q
smooth voyage, for ofttimes it will be
tempestuous or chopped sea, but I could
promise safe arrival for all who took pas
sage on that Great Eastern, SO called by
me because its commander came out of
the east, the star of the east badge Of his
authority
But vast multitude do not take regu-
lar passage. Their theology is broken in
pieces, and their life is broken in pieces,
and their habits are broken in pieces, and
their worldly and spiritual prospects are
broken in pieces, and yet believe they
are going to reach the shining shore, and
am encouraged by the experience of those
people who are spoken of in the text,
"Some on broken pieces Of the ship"
One object in this sermon is to encour-
age all those who cannot take the whole
system Of religion as we believe 1t, but
who really believe something, to come
ne et.,,n ~, ftot loro v,larl .