The Monitor-register., 1897-09-03
A ROUGH SEA VOYAGE
LOWERS MUST EXPECT 1T.

He breaches a Sermon of Solace to People
Who Are In Trouble-The Storm and
the Calm on the Sea of Gennesaret-The
Harbor.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29.-This sermon
by Rev. DR.. Talmage will be of great
solace to people who are finding their
life q rough voyage. Text, Mark iv, So:
"And there were also with him other
little ships, and there arose a great
storm of wind. And the wind ceased
and there was a great calm"
Tiberias, Galilee, Gennesaret-three
names for the same lake. No other gem
ever had so beautiful a setting. 1t lay
in q scene of great luxuriance-the sur
rounding hills high, terraced, sloped,
groved, so many hanging gardens of
beauty; the waters rumbling down be-
tween rocks of gray and red limestone,
flashing from the hills and bounding
into the sea. On the shore were castles,
armed towers, Roman baths, everything
attractive and beautiful, all styles Of
vegetation in shorter space than in al
most any other space in all the world,
from the palm tree of the forest to the
trees Of a rigorous climate.
Smooth Sailing.
1t seemed as if the Lord had launched
one wave of beauty on all the scene,
and it hung and swung from rock and
hill and oleander. Roman gentlemen in
pleasure boats sailing the lake and
countrymen in fish smacks, coming
down to drop their nets, pass each other
with nod and shout and laughter or
singing idly at their moorings. Oh,
what a wonderful, what a beautiful
lakei
1t seems as if we shall have a quiet
night. Not a leaf winked in the air,
not a ripple disturbed the face of Gen
%nesaret, but there seems to be a little
excitement up the beach, and we hasten
to see what it is, and we find it an en-
barkation.
From the western shore a f1otilla
pushing out, not a squadron or deadly
armament, nor clipper with valuable
merchandise, nor piratio vessels ready
to destroy everything they could seize,
but a f~1otilla, bearing messengers Of life
and light and peace. Christ is in the
front of the boat. His disciples are in
a smaller boat. Jesus, weary with much
speaking to large multitudes, is put in
to somnolence by the rocking of the
waves. If there was any motion at all,
the ship was easily righted; if the wind
passed from one side, from the star
board to the larboard or from the lar
board to the starboard, the boat would
rock, and by the gentleness Of the mo-
ton putting the master asleep. And
they extemporized a pillow made out of
a fisherman's coat. l think no sooner is
Christ PROSTATE and his head touching
the pillow than he is sound asleep. The
breezes of the lake run their fingers
through the locks of the worn sleeper,
and the boat rises and falls like a sleep
ing child ON the bosom of a sleeping
mother.
A Change of Weather.
Calm night, starry night, beautiful
night. Run up all the sails, ply all the
oars, and let the large boat and the
small boat glide over gentle Gennesaret.
But the sailors say there is going to be
a change of weather. And ever the
passengers can hear the moaning of the
storm as it comes Oh with long stride,
with all the terrors Of hurricane and
darkness. The large boat trembles like
a deer at bay trembling among the
clangor of the hounds; great patches Of
foam are flung into the air; the sails of
the vessels loosen, and the sharp winds
crack like pistols; the smaller boats
like petrels poise on the cliff Of the
wav and then plunge. Overheard go
cargo, tackling and masts, and the
drenched disciples rush into the back
part Of the boat and lay hold of Christ
and say unto him, Master, carest thou
not that we perish?" That great per-
sonage lifts his head from the pillow of
the fisherman's coat, walks to the front
of the vessel and looks out into the
storm. All around him are the smaller
boats, driven in the tempest, and
through it comes the cry Of drowning
men. By the flash of the lightning ]
see the calm brow of Christ as the
spray dropped from his beard. He has
n word for the sky and another
word for the waves. Looking upward,
he cries, "Peacel' Looking downward,
he says, BE stillr'
The waves fall fiat ON their faces, the
foam melts, the extinguished stars re-
light their torches, the tempest falls
dead. and Christ stands with his foot
on the neck of the storm. And while
the sailors are bailing out the boats and
while they are trying to untangle the
cordage the disciples stand in amaze
ment, now looking into the calm sea,
then into the calm sky, then into the
calm of the Saviour's countenance, and
they cry out, "What manner of man is
this, that even the winds and the sea
obey him?"
The subject in the first place impress
es me with the fact that it is very i'm
portant to have Christ in the ship. for
all those boats would have gone to the
bottom Of Gennesaret if Christ had not
been present. Oh, what a lesson for you
and for me to Learnt Whatever voyage
we undertake, into whatever enterprise
we start. let us always have Christ in
the ship. Many of you in these days of
revived commerce are starting out in
new financial enterprises. l bid you
good cheer. Do all you can do. Do it
on as high a plane as possible. You
have no right to be a stoker in the ship
if you can be an admiral of the navy.
You have no right to be a colonel of a
regiment if you can command a brigade,
you have no right to be engineer of a
boat on river banks or near the coast il
you can take the ocean steamer from
New York to Liverpool. All you can dc
with utmost tension of body, mind and
soul, you are bound to do; but. oh, have
Christ in every enterprise, Christ in
every voyage, Christ in every shipl
There are men who ask God to helr
them at the start of great enterprises.
He has been with them in the past. Nc
trouble can overthrow them. The storms
might come down from the top of Mount
Hermon and lash Gennesaret into foam
and into agony, but it could not hurt
them. But here is another man who
starts out i'll worldly enterprise, and he
depends upon the uncertainties of this
life. He has no God to help him. After
awhile the storm comes and losses of
the masts of the ship. He puts out his
lifeboat. The sheriff and the auctioneel
try to help him off. They can't helI
him off. He must go down-no Christ
in the ship. Here are young men just
starting out in life. Your life will be
made up of sunshine and shadow. There
may be in it arctic blasts or tropical
tornadoes. l know not what is before
you. but / know if you have Christ with
you all shall be we'll.
You may seem to get along without
tho ralioiou IF Cbricf xubilo evprv.