Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-03-03
NO. l2.


from others do not refuse to open your ewes.
Because your theory of air is different you
do not refuse to breathe. Because your
theory about the stellar system is different
you do not refuse to acknowledge the north
star Why should the fact that your theolo-
gical theories are different hinder you from
acting upon what you know? II you have
not whole ship fastened in the theological
drydocks TO bring you to wharfage, you have
at least plank. "Some on broken pieces
of the ship"
"But l don't believe in revivalsi" Then
60 to your room, and all Alone, with youI
door locked, give your heart to God, 'aDd
Join some church where the thermometer
never gets higher than fifty In the shade
''But do not believe in baptismr' Come
In without it and settle that matter after
ward. "But there are many in.
consistent Christians" Then come
In and show them by good example
how professors should act 'But | don't
believe in the Old Testament Then
come in on the New. "But don't like the
book Of Romans" Then come in on Mat
thew or Luke. Refusing TO come to Christ,
whom you admit to be the Saviour Of the
lost, because you cannot admit other things,
you are like a man out there in that Metitcr-
ranean tempest and tossed in the Melita
breakers, refusing to come ashore until he
can mend the pieces Of the broken ship. l
hear him say; 81 won't go in on any of these
planks until l know in what part OF the
ship they belong. When can get the wind
lass in the right place, and the sails set, and
tnat keel piece where it belongs, and that
door timber right. and the ropes untangled,
I will 20 Ashore an an old sailor, and
know all about ships for forty years, and as
soon as l can get the vessel afioa, in good
shape will come In" A man drifting by on
apiece of wood overnear- him and says: You
Will drown before you get that ship re-
constructed Better do as / am doing. l
know nothing about ships, and never saw
one before l came on board this, and can
not swim stroke, but l am going ashore on
this shivered timber" The man in the
Off1ng, while trying TO mend his ship, goes
down. The man who trusted to the plank
is saved On, my brother, let your SMASHED
up system OF theology go to the bottom.
while you come in on a splinterei spar
''Some on broken pieces OF the ship"
II you can believe nothing else, you GER
tainly believe in vlcarious suffering, for You
see 1t almost every day in some shape. The
steamship Knfckerbocker, of tho Cromwell
line, running between New Orleans and New
York, was in great storms, and the captain
and crew saw the schooner Mary ID. Gran
mer, of Philadelphia, in distress. The
weather cold, the waves mountain high, the
first officer OF the steamship ami four men
put out In a lifeboat to save the crew of the
schooner, and reached the vessel apS
towed 1t out OF danger, the wind shifting
that the schooner was saved. Bat the
men of the steamship coming back,
boat caasized, yet righted again and
on, the sailors coated with ice. Th
capsized again, and three times up,
was righted, and a line was thrown II
fellows, but their hands were frozen
could not grasp II, and a great wav
over ther., and they went down,
to rise again till the sea gives
dead. Appreciate that hero!sn ana
sacrifice Of the brave fellows all who
and can We not appreciate the Christ wny
put out into a more biting cold aud into a
more overwhelming surge to bring us out oN
infinite peril into everlasting safety? -
wave of human hate rolled over him
one side and the wave of helish fury r. a
over him on the other side Oh, the thir
ness of the night and the thunder of
tempest into which Christ plunged for o
rescued
Come in on the narrow beam OF the or
Let al: else go and cling to that: put s..t-
under you, and with the earnestIxssc-1 a
swimmer struggling for his life pht out for
shore. There is great warm ..-e of well
who We're as far out as you are,
are standing in Its genial and
heavenly glow The angels of Gods
rescue are wading out into the surf to clutch
your hand, and they know how exhausted
you are, and all the redeemed prodigals OF
heaven are on the beach with new white
robes to clothe all those who come in or
broken pieces of the ship.
My sympathies are for such all the
more because l was naturally skeptical.
disposed to question everything about
this life and the next, and was in dan
ger of being farther out to sea than any
OF the 276 in the Meiit arranean break
ers, and L was sometimes the annoyance
of my theological professor because ]
asked so many questions. But L cams
in on plank. knew Christ was the Saviour
Of sinners and that was n sinner, and got
ashore, and do not propose to 70 out on
that sea again. / have not for thirty minutes
discussed the coDtroverted points ot theology
in thirty years and during the rest OF nv
life do not propose to discuss them 10,
thirty seconds.
would rather in mud scOw Try TO
weather the worst cyclone that ever swept
up from the Caribbean than risk my immor-
tai soul in useless and perious discussions
in which some of my brethren in the minis
try are indulging. They remind mo Of
company OF sailors standing on the Rams
gate pier head, from which the liieboats ara
usually launched, and cooly discussing the
different styles of oarocks and how
deep a boat ought TO set in the water while
hurricane Is i'll full blast and there are three
steamers crowded with passengers going to
pieces in the Offing. An old tar, the muscles
of his face working with nervous excitement,
cries out: This IS no lime to discuss such
things. Man the lfeboatl Who will volun-
teer' Out with her into the surf Pull, my
lads; pull for ths wreck Ha ina, Now
we have them. Lift them in aud lay them
down on the bottom of the bost- Jack, you
try to bring them to. Put these q nnels
around their heads and feet, aud viii pull
for the shore. God help mel Theral Llnded
Huzza!' When there are so many struggling
in the waves Of sin and sorrow and wretch
edness. let ali else go but salvation for time
and salvation forever
You admit you are all broken up, one de-
cade OF your life gone by, two decades, three
decades, four decades, a half century perhaps
three-quarters Of century gone The
hour hand and the minu'e hand of your
clock of life almost parallel, and soon 1t
will be IL and your day ended. Clear dis
couraged. are your l admit 1t Is a sad thing
to give all of our lives that are worth any
thing to sin and the devil and then at
last make God present of a first rate
corpse. But the past you cannot recover.
Ger on board that old ship you never will
Have you only one more year lett, one more
month, one more week, one more day, one
more hour-come in on that. Perhaps IL
you get TO heaven God may let you go out
on some great mission to some other world,
where you can atone for your lack of ser
vice in this.
From many deathbeI l have seen
the hands thrown up in depOraton
something like this: "My life has been
wasted. L had good mental faculties
and fine social position and great oppor-
tunity, but through worldlness and neg
lect all has gone TO waste save these
ew remaining hours. l how accept of
Christ AMI shall enter heaven through
His mercy, but alas, alas, that when l might
have entered the haven OF eternal rest with
a full cargo, and been greeted by the wav-
| ing hands ofa muithuds in whose salvation
l had borne blessed part. must confess 1
| pi ces Of the ship"
/ Weigh we'll all criticism concerning