The Penn's Grove record., 1897-02-26

been warming myself by tue bright EFe on
the shore ever since.
While l am talking to another man about
his soul he tells me, ~ do not become Q
Christian because l do not believe there Is
any hell at ALL" Ali, don't your Do AL the
OF all beliefs and no belief at all, OF
good morals aud bad morals go straight TO q
happy heaven? Do the holy and the de-
hauched have the same destination? At mid
night, in d hallway, the owner OF
house and a burglar meet. They both
fire, and both nro wounded, but the
burglar dies In five minutes, and the owner
of the house lives a week after. Will the
burglar be at the gate OF heaven, waiting,
when the house owner comes inP VIII Inc
debauchee and the libertine go right In
among the families OF heaven? wonder II
Herod is playing Oh the banks OF the river
Of life with tho children he mastered. 81
wonder II Charles Guiteau and John Wilkes
Booth are up there shooting Of a mark.
do not now controvert 1t, although l must
say that for such a miserable heaven
have no admiration. Bat tho Bible does not
say, ''Believs in perdition and be saved.
Because your theory OF light is different
from others do not refuse to open your eyes.
Because your theory Of air Is different you
not refuse to breathe. Because your
theory about the stellar system is different
you do not fefuse 10 acknowledge the north
fluI. why SuOuiAA bo ln-b hhNh INNh hSSAS
glcal theories are different hinder you from
acting Upon what you know II you have
moi d wbois ship fastened in tho theological
drydocks to bring you TO wharfage, you have
at le..st a plank. "Somo on broken pieces
Of the ship"
'But Idon't believe in revivalsY' Then
goto your to6mJ and all alone, with your
door locked, give your heart to God, and
Join some church where h Thermometer
newer gets higher than fifty in the shade.
''Rut I do not believe it bnptismF' Come
in without 1t Ind settle thdt matter after-
ward. "But there are so many IN
consistent, Christians!" Then come
in and allow them by d good example
how professors should act! "But l 9
believe in tho OLD Testament Then
III on tho New. "But l don't like tne
book Of Romans Then come In on Mat
thew or Like. Refusing TO come TO Christ
whom you admit to be tue Saviour OF the
lost; BECAUSE you cannot admit other things,
you are like d man out there I'M that Me1itCr-
ranean tempest and tosse1 Id the Melita
breakers; refusing to some ashore until Lie
can mend the pieces Of tho broken ship. l
hear him say ~ Won't so in on any Of these
planks until l kheNs Id what part OF the
ship they belong. When | can get tic wind.
tnat keel piece where 1t belongs, and that
floor timber right ehi the ropes untahSledi
[ will 20 Ashore. / am an old sailor; end
know all about ships for forty wears, n as
as l can get the vessel ahoat in good
shapo I will 6ome I'M" A mar drifting by on
a piece 81 wood overhears lin and says:'"You
will drown before you get that ship reS
constructed. Better do as I nun doing. l
know nothing about ships, n never saw
one before l came on board this, and l can
not swim d stroke, but ! am going ashore on
this shivered timber" The man Id the
oflng; while trying 10 menl his ship; goes
down. The man who trusted to the plank
is saved Oh; my brother, let your smashed
up system OF Theology go TO the bottom;
while you come IN on q spliGtercl sparl
'fSone on broken pieces Of the ship"
II you can believe nothing else, you GER
tainlJ believe 10 vlcarious suffering, for you
see it almos. every day IN some shape. The
steamship Kniekerbocker, OF the Cromwell
line, running between New Orleans and New
York, was In great storms, and the captain
and crew sdw the schooner Mary D: Gram
mer, Of Philadelphia; in distress. The
weather cold, the waves moGatain high tue
first officer OF the steamship and four men
put out In a lifeboat to save tho crew OF the
schooner, anil reached the vessel and
towed 1t out Of danger; the wind shifting SO
that the schooner was saved. But the five
men Of the steamship coming back their
boit earsized; yet rightei again and came
on, the sailors coated with Ice. The boat
capsized again, and three times upset md
was rlghted; and a line was thrown the poor
fellows; but theft hands were frozen so they
over theri, aud they went down, never
to rise again fill the sea gives up its
dead. Appreciate that heroism and sell
Sacrifices Of the bravo fellows all who can,
and can We not appreciate the Christ who
put out into d more biting cold aud into q
moro Overwhelming surge to bring us out OF
peril into everlasting safety? The
wave VI human hate rolled over him from
one sido and the waved OF hellish fury rolled
over him on the other side. Oh, the thick
ness Of the night and the thunder of the
into which Christ plunged for our
~
Come In on the narrow beam Of the cross.
Let all else go and cling to that put that
under yot, and with the earnestness OF d
swimmer struggling for his life put out for
shore. There Is a great warm fire oil well
come already built, and already many,
who were as far out as you are
heavenly glow. Tho angels OF Gods
rescue are wading out into the surf to clutch
your hand, and they know how exhausted
YOU are, aud all the redeemed prodigals OF
heaven are on The beach with new white
robes to ciothe all those who come in on
broken pieces OF the ship.
My sympathies are for such all the
more because I was naturally skeptieai.
disposed to question everything about
this life and the next, and was in dan
ger OF being farther out to sea than any
OF tho 276 in the Mediterranean break.
ers, md I was sometimes the annoyance
of my theological professor because 1
asked so many questions. But / came
in on a plank. knew Christ wasthe SAVIOUR
Of sinners and that l was a sinner, and / got
ashore, and I do not propose to go out on
that sea again. Ihave not for thirty minutes
discussed the eontroverted points orthodoxy
In thirty years, and during the rest OF my
life | do not propose to discuss them for
thirty seconds.
/ would rather in a mud scow try TO
weather the worst cyclone that ever swept
up from the Caribbean, than risk my immor-
tai soul In useless and periious discussions
in which some of my brethren in the minis-
try are INDUCING. They remind me OF a
company Of sailors standing on the Rams
gate pier head, from which the ifeboats are
usually launched, and coolly discussing the
different styles of oarlocks aud how
deep a boat ought TO set In the water while a
hurricane Is In full blast and there are three
steamers crowded with passengers going to
pieces In the offing. An old tar, them muscles
OF his face working with nervous excitement,
cries out: "This Is no time to discuss such
things. Man the llfeboatl Who will volun-
teeF2 Out with her into The surf Pull, my
lads; pull for the wreck! Ha, ha! Now
VIC have them. Lift them in aud lay them
down on the bottom of tho boat. Jack, you
try to bring them to. Put these hannels
around their heads and feet, and l Will pull
for the shore. God help me! Therel Landed
Huzzal" When there are so many struggling
in the waves Of sin and sorrow and wretch
edness. let nil else 90 but salvation for time
and salvation forever.
You admit you arc NIL broken up, n de-
cade OF your life gone by, two decades, thret
decades, four decades, a half century, perhaps
~three-quarters of a century. gone. Thu
hour hand and the minute hand OF YOU
clock OF life are almost parallel, and soon 4
will be IL and your day ended. Clear dis
couraged. are you? admit 1t is a sad thiut
10 give all of our lives that are worth any
thing to sin and tho devil and then q
last make God q present OF n first rat,
corpse. But tho past you canno recover
Get on board that old ship you never will
Have you only one more year left, me NOR
month, one more week, one more day, on
more hour-come in on that. Perhaps j
you get TO heaven God may let you go GU
on some great mission to some other world
where you can atone for your lack OF ser
vice in this.
From many a deathbei 1 have seei
the hands thrown up in deploratiol
something like this: shy life has been
wasted. l had good mental facultie,
and fine social position and great oppor
iuntty, bur through worldliness and neg
lect all has gone to waste save thes
few remaining hours. j now accept o
Christ and shall enter heaven through
Ills mercy, but alas, alas, that when l Nigh
have entered the haven OF eternal rest Will
n full cargo. and been greeted by tho way