The Progress., 1898-12-24

ihcofcerated In the sick room. rcslIzp that
every hour Of the day you spend looking
out OF the window. or gazing n, Tho por,
tlcular figure on tho wall, or Disteninr ia
the clocks ticks men are being wrecked
by the allurements and uncertainties or
business lifeH How many Gorgerips nrp
committed, how many trust funds nr,
swamped, how many public moneys arc be-
ing mlsappropriated. how many bapkrupt
cies suiferedl 1t may be. it is. very uncorr-
lortable for Noah inside the ark. for tine
apartment Is crowded aud tho air Is vita,cr
~ t'' breathing OF so much human md
.. 80, JuC 1t Is not half rs bad for him
W. tDough ne were outside tho ark There
IL not an OK. or n camel. or an antolope. or
sheep inside tho ark as badly off "a tho
pfoudest king outside. While you arc ON
the pillow or lounge you will make no bad
bargains, you will rush into no rash in
vestments. You will avoid the mistakes
that thousands of mon as good ag YOU arc
every day making.
Notice also that there was u limit to the
shut In experience Of those ancient marin
ers suppose the forty days Of tho de-
scending and uprising floods and tho $50
daVs before the passengers could 90
ashore must have seemed TO those eight
people In the big boat like small eternity.
Tain, rain, rainl" said tho wife Of Noah
"'i u never Stop For forty mornings
tnoy looked out md saw not one patch Of
blue sky. Floating around amid the
peaks OF mountains Shem and Hmm md
Japhet had to hush the fenrs OF their wives
lest they should dash against tho project
Ing rocks. But after awhile It cleared Off,
Sunshine, glorious sunshine The as
;,I.
clouds. which instead Of darken-
ing tho sky only ornamented It.
AS they looked out Of tho windows these
worn passengers cIappod their hands and
rejolced that the storm was over. and
think 1t God could stop such storm rs
tnat lie could stop any storm in your life
time experience. IT He can control vul-
tnre In midsky, He can stop summer bat
That ilies in Mt your window. At the right
time he will put tho rainbow on the cloud
ana tho deluge OF your misfortunes will
"ry up. preach tho doctrine of lmita-
Ion, relief md observation-disclosures A. lust
tho right time tho pain will cease. the
bondage will drop. tho imprisoned will be
liberated. tho fires will 90 out, the body
and mind and soul will be FREQ. Patiencel
Notice also that on tho cessation of tho
delllge tho shut ms came out, aud they
built their houses and cultured their gnr.
dens and started q new world on the ruins
or the old world TINT had been drowned
out. Though Noah lived $50 years after
this worldwide accident and no doubt his
Fellow passengers survived centuries I
warrant they never got over talking about
that voyage. Now / have seen Dore's
pictures and many other pictures of tho
entrance into the ark, two and two, of tho
human family, and the animal creation
into that ship which sailed between two
Observation-Disclosures world and the post
diluvlan word-but never saw a pict-
ure OF their coming out; yet their en-
barkation was not more important than
their disem barkution. Many n crew has
a ship that never landed Wit
ness the steamer Portland, few DAYS
ngo, with 100 souls on board, going do yn
with all Its crew and passengers. VIII
the line OF sunken ships, reaching like a
submarine cable OF anguish across the
ocean depths from America to Europe. II |
any ship might expect complete wreckage,
the one Noah commanded might have ex-
pected it. But no; those who embarked |
Over the plank reaching |
down the side of the ark to the Armenian |
cliffs on which they had been stranded the |
descended. No other wharf felt |
so solid or afforded such nttractveness ~ |
hat height Of Ararat when the eight pas
3enger put their feet on 1t. And no sooner |
had the last one, the invalided wife OF
Japheth, been helped down the plank upon
he rock than the other apartments OF the |
ship were opened, and such dash OF bird |
music never filed the air as wien the entire
OF robin redbreast, and morning.
ark, and chafilncb, and hooking bird, and
house swallow took wing into the bright
ky, white the cattle began to low and the
sheep to bleat and the horses to neigh for
Tho pasture, which from the awful SUBJ
nergence had now begun to grow green
md aromatic. tell you plainly nothing
interests me more In that tragedy from the
lrst to the last act than the "exlt" and tho
'exeunt," than the fact that the "shut-
ns' became the "got outs" And | now
'heer with this story all tho inmates OF tho
'lckrooms and hospitals, ind those prisons
where men and women are uniustly endun-
,eoned, and all tho thousands who are
pounded on tho North and South and East
md West by floods, by deluges OF mlsfor.
une and disaster. The ark OF your trou.
de. IL 1t does not land on some earthly
height OF vindication and rescue, will land
IN the heights celestial.
BY strange providence, for which l
hall be forever grateful, circumstances
With which think you are all familiar, I
lave admission through the newspaper
,ress week by week to tens OF thousands OF
iod's dear children who cannot enter
hurch vn the Sabbath and hear their ex-
ellent pastors because OF the age OF the
ufferers. or their illness, or the lameness
# foot, or their incapacity to stay In one
position an hour aud q half, or their
,overties, or their troubles OF some sort
will not lot them 60 out OF doors, and to
hem rs much as to those who hear me I
'reach this sermon, as / preach many
# my sermons. the Invisible audience
Ilways vaster than the visible, some Of
hem tossed on wilder seas than those
hat tossed the eight members Of Noah's
amily, and instead Of forty days Of storm
md five months OF being shut In, as they
we're, 1t has been with these invalids five
ears OF "shut In" or ten years OF "shut
a." or twenty years OF 'shut In" Oh,
omforting Godl Help me to comfort themi
Hive me two hands full of salve for their
Wounds. When we were 500 miles out at