The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-09-16
ENCOURAGING WORDS,
Rev. DR.. Talmage Delivers a Dis
course to the Downcast.
Inc story of job Used TO Illustrate the
fAet that Man May 10 to the Very
Brink and May Yet be saved
Through Faith.

The following discourse by Rev. T
peNlt Ialmage contains words Of ON
conrngement to those who. through
worldly troubles, are depressed il
; spirit. 1t is based on the text: 3
/ am escaped with The skin OF my tn 10,
JOB had IT hard. What with boils
ana pereaVements, and banilruptcv.
Y ana a 1ooi Of a wife, he wished he wa,
v dead; and | do not blame him. nj,
. nesh was gone, andhis bones were drv.
/ nus teeth wasted away until nothing
4 but the enamel seemed left. He cried
OUT am escaped with the skin of
my teeth"
lhere has been some difference of
opinion about this passage. st. Jerome
!, ana Schultens, and Doctors Good. and
fooie, and Barnes, have all tried their
iorceps on Jobs teeth. You deny my
Interpretation, ard say: What did
'oo know about the enamel Of the
teethS' He knew everything about il.
Dehtai surgery is. almost as old as the
earth. The muminies Of Egypt, thou
sahds OF years old, are found te-dav
with gold filling in their teeth. ovid
and Horace. and Solomon, and Moses
wrote about these important factors of
the BODY. To other provoking COM
plants, Job, l think, has added an ex.
asperatlng toothache, and putting his
name against the intlamed face, he saws:
II am escaped with the skin of my
teeth" ~
a very narrow escape, you say for
JOBS body and SOU; but there ar,
thousands of men who make inst aS
narrow escape for their soul. There
was Il time when the partition he
tween them and ruin was no thicker
.han a tooth's enamel; but, as job
nhaily escaped, 50 have they. Thank
God! thank God.
faul expresses the same idea bv n
Inherent figure when he saws that
SONG people are saved as by fire. A
vessel at sea is in flames. The boats
nave showed OFF. The flames advance.
can endure the heat no Longer on
yourface. You slide down on tbe side of
the vessel, and hold on with vonr fp.
gers until the forked tongue of fire ;
oegins to HEX the back of your hands. |
anu you feel that you must fall, when r
one OF the lifebouts comes back. and &,
inc passengers say they think they /
nave room Tor one more. The boat n
wings under you--you drop into it &
you are saved. So some men are mr. :
by temptation until they are par ~
',aliy consumed, but after all get Off t,
saved as by fire" '
But 1 like the figure of job a little ;,
better than that of Paul, because the ~
'uiplt mas not worn it ont: and [ want =,
0 snow you, if God will help, that II
ONE men make narrow escape of their
ouis' ana are saved as with the skin Il
+ their teeth" ~
1T Is easy for some people to look to W
he cross as for you TO look to this mil al
IL. MILO, gentle, tractable, loving. y,
ou expect them to become Christians. ~
go over to the store and say: ~
joined the church ~yester- ~ ~
ay% Your business comrades saw. ~
Ihat Is just what might have been
ipected; he was always of that turn 81,
mind In youth this person whom w.
was always good. He never 'o
'oke things. He never laughed when -
was improper to laugh. At seven, H.,
could SIT an hour in church. per- ~,
ctly quiet, looking neither to the |
gnu hand nor to the left, but straight n'
10 the eyes of the minister, as -"
ough be understood the whole dis -"
o the eternal DEGREES. He ~
yer upset things nor lost them. He "n -
into the kingdom of God so =
iuually that tits uncertain just when I,o
; matter was decided. "'e
ierf Is another one, who started in ' ~,
with an uncomfortable spirit, He ,.
the nursery in an uproar. His Nv
ther found him walking on the edge W.
the house-roOf to see if he couid va,
ance himself. There was no horse .'''
t he dared not ride--no tree that he arg
ID not climb. His boyhood was a Ss'
3 series OF predicamcnts; his man
ID reckless; his midlife very way SUI
d. But low he is con verified, and o"'
go over to the store and saw; a."
'kwrlght joined the church yester- -
:" Your friends say: 1T is not "a
able; you must be joking" You s.;u.
No; tell you the truth. He u
ed the church." Then they replv: oacN
ere is hope for any of us if old 10Y
wright has become a Christianm In .i"t
II words, we will admit that it is iora
e ditiicult for you &
than for others. give
may be preaching t o some who ou.
cut loose from ,b,..L.a powe
es. ana Sundays. and who have no V'
1tion OF becoming Christians them 'ihea
's' and yet you may find yourself ,e"'
oing' before you leave this house, D"'
With the skin of your teeth" | do ',eti'
to waste this hour. | have "hch
boats go off from Cape MAY or If,
!, Branch, and drop their nets. and for a
awhile come ashore, pulling in mista
Iets without having caught a single Tor IN
1t was not a good day, or they iron
not the right kind of a net Hnt tongu
tpect no such excursion to.dav hands
water is full Of fish, the wind is circun
rlght direction, the Gospel net wlll b
ong. y, Thou who didst help holida
rand Andrew to fish, show Us which
20 cast the net on the richt sida side, a
ship. for an
o. you, in coming TO God, will stroke,
10 run against skeptical notions. which
useless for people to say sharp the "
nttlng things to those who reject startA
iristan religion. l can not say the KIN
'hlngs. ny what process Of temp as wi
% trial, Or betrayal. you have The
l. 80 A-LA
70 youf present state j know not. burg t.
are TWO gates TO your nature; the ma
.e oi .he mead and the gate Of that he
art Inc gate OF your head is There
WIN Doits n bars that an like . 81
ieei coptd break, but the to be q
T! your al swings easily On small b
inges. assaulted ,,ou. ,rxaL