The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-08-27
JOBS ACHING TOOTH.
We ALSO HAD BOlLS, BANKRUPTCY
AND A FOOL OF A WIFE.


But He Finally Escaped, Body and Soul
From His Troubles, and Rev. DR.. Tai
mage Shows That Thousands of Others
May Be Similarly Saved.
New YORK, Aug. 22.-In this dis
course of DR.. Talmage is mighty en-
Couragement for many who consider
their own case hopeless. His text is job
xix, 20, 81 am escaped with the skin of
my teeth"
Job had it hard. What with boils
and bereavements and bankruptcy and
a fool of wife he wished he was dead,
and I do not blame him. His flesh was
gone, and his bones were dry. His teeth
wasted away until nothing but the
enamel seemed left. He cries out, II
am escaped with the skin of my teeth. "
There has been some difference of
opinion about this passage. ST. Jerome
and Schultens and Drs. Good and Poole
and Barnes have all tried their forceps
on Jobs teeth. You deny my interpre-
tation and say, "What did Job know
about the enamel of the teeth?" He
knew everything about it. Dental sur
gerry is almost as old as the earth. The
mummies of Egypt thousands of years
old are found today with gold filling in
their teeth Ovid and Horace and Solo
mon and Moses wrote about these i'm
portant factors of the body. To other
provoking complaints Job l think, has
added an exasperating toothache, and,
putting his hand against the infamed
face, he says, 81 am escaped with the
skin of my teeth"
A very narrow escape, you say, for
Jobs body and soul, but there are thou
sands of men who make just as narrow
escape for their soul. There was time
when the partition between them and
ruin was no thicker than a tooth's
enamel, but as Job finally escaped SO
have they. Thank God! Thank Godl
Saved as by Fire.
Paul expresses the same idea by
different figure when he says that some
people are "saved as by fire." A vessel
at sea is in flames. You go to the stern
of the vessel. The boats have showed
off. The flames advance. You can en-
dure the heat no longer on your face.
You slide down on the side of the YES
sci and hold on with your fingers, until
the forked tongue of the fire begins to
lick the back of your hand, and you
feel that you must fall, when one of the
lifeboats comes back, and the passengers
say they think they have room for one
more. The boat swings under you. You
drop into it-you are saved. So some
men are pursued by temptation until
they are partially consumed, but after
all get Off" saved as by fire. ="
But like the figure of Job little
better than that of Paul, because the
pulpit has not worn it out, and | want
to show you, if 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 as 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 yester-
day" Your business comrades say:
"That is just what might have been
expected. He always was of that turn
of mind" In youth this person whom
describe was always good. He never
broke things. He never laughed when
it was improper to laugh. At he could
sit an hour in church, perfectly quiet,
looking neither to the right hand nor
the left, but straight into the eyes of
the minister, as though he understood
the whole discussion about the eternal
DEGREES. He never upset things nor los,
them. He foated into the kingdom of
God so gradually that it is uncertain
just when the matter was decided.
Difficulties In the Way.
Here is another one, who started in
life with an uncomfortable spirit. He
kept the nursery in an uproar. His
mother found him walking Oh the edge
of the house roof to see if he could bal
ance 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 reck-
less, his midlife very hayward. But
now he is converted, and you go over
to the store and say, cartwright joined
the church yesterday" Your friends
say: at is not possible. You must be
joking" You say: "No; 1 tell you the
truth. He joined the church." Then
they reply, "There is hope for any of
us if old Arkwright has become Chris
tian.' 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
Sundays, and who have no intention Of
becoming Christians themselves, and
yet you may find yourself escaping be-
fore you leave this house as with the
skin of your teeth l do not expect to
waste this hour. / have seen boats go
off from Cape May or Long Branch and
drop their nets and after awhile come
ashore, pulling in the nets without hav-
ing caugv5 a single fish. 1t was not
good day, or they had not the right kind
of net But we expect no such excur-
sion to day. The water is full of fish,
the wind is in the right direction, the !
gospel net is strong. o thou who didst