The Progress., 1898-12-24
DIR, TAIN AGES SERMON.
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE DELIVERED
BY THE ABLE DIVINE.
Subject, eight in Darkncss'-a Dis
course That VIII Re Comforting Ia the
Sick and UeIpless--shut In For an ALI
Wise PURPOSE.

Sick ana Ueipless-Shnt IN foi M ar
Wise Purpose.
Trxr. "The Lord shut him in. "-Gencsis
viii, 16.
COsmogony has no moro interesting
chapter than tho one which speaks of that
catastrophe Of tho ages. tho submeraiou Of
our world in time Of Noah. the first ship
carpenter. Many Of the nations who never
saw n Biblo have u food story-ECvptian
flood story GrCcIan flood story. Of which
DucaliOn was tho Noah. Hawaiian food
story, New Zealand food story. Chinese
food story, American Indian flood story
all OF which accounts agree in tho INNER
sion Of the continents under universal
rains and that there was ship floating,
with select few of tho human family aud
with specimens Of geological and Ornitho-
logical and reptiian worlds although |
could have wished that these last had been
shut out OF the ark and drowned.
All Of Ahess food stories represent tho
ship thus atoat rs finally stranded on n
mountain top. Hugh Miller. in his "TpsH-
mony Of the Rocks" thinks that all these
food stories were innrm traditions of the
Biblical accounAand / believe him. Tho
worst thing about that great rreshet was
that 1t struck Nonh's Great Eastern from
above and beneath. The seas broke the
chain of shells and crystal and rolled over
the land, and the heavens opened their
clouds for fnlllDg columns OF water which
roared and Numbered on tho roof OF tho
great ship for month and ten DAYS.
There was one door to the ship, Tut there
were three parts 60 the door, one part for
each OF three stories. Tho Bible account
says nothing about parts of tho door DO.
longing to two of the stories, aud | do
not know on which floor Noah and his
family voyaged, but my text tells IA TINT
the part OF tho door Of that particular # Dor
on which Noah stayed was closed after he
had entered "The Lord shut him in" So
there arc many people now In the world
who are rs thoroughly shut in, some hy
sickness, some by old age, some by special
duties that will not allow them to 60 forth.
some surrounded by deluges of msror-
tune and trouble, and for them my sympn-
thies arc aroused, aud from them often
receive messages. and this sermon, which
hope may do good to others, Is more es-
pecially intended ~ them. To-day | ad-
dress the shut In. "The Lord shut him in.,
The world has no statistics rs to tho
number Of invaids. The physicians know
something about 1t, and the apothecarics
and the pastors. but who can tell US the
number of blind eyes, md deaf ears. and
diseased lungs and congested lvers. and
tangled nerves, and neuralgia temples, and
rheumatic feet, or how many took no food
this morning because they had no appetite
to eat, or digestive organs to assimilnte, or
have lungs so delicate they cannot go
forth when the wind Is i'm the east, or there
Is dampness on the ground or pavement
because OF the frost coming out? 1t would
be easy to count the people who every dGy
60 through street. or the number of
passengers carried by II railroad company
IN year, or the number of those who cross
the ocean In ships, but who oan give us the
statistics OF the great multitudes who are
shut INF Gull the attention of all such to
their superior opportunities Of doing good.
Those OF us who dire well and can see
clearly, and hear distinctly, and partake
OF food OF all sorts, and Questions OF diges-
tion never occur to US, and we can wade
the snowbsnks and take m equinox in our
faces, and endure the Thermometers at zorro,
and every breath Of mir Is tonic and u
stimulus, and sound sleep meets US within
five minutes after our head touches the pill
low, do not make so much Of an impression
when we talk about the consultations Of reli- |
gion. The world says right away: IL guess
that man mistakes buoyancy of natural !
spirits for religion. What does he know |
about it2 He has never been tried.'' But |
when one goes out and reports to the world '
that that morning on his way to business |
he called to see you and found you, after |
being kept In your room for two months, |
cheerful and hopeful. and that you had not |
ono word Of complaint, and asked all about |
everybody. and rejoced in the success |
OF your business friends, although your |
own business had almost come to u stand |
still through your absence from store or |
office or shop, and that you sent your love |
to all your old friends, and told them that |
II you did not meet them again in this |
world you hoped to meet Thorn in dominions
seraphic, with quiet word OF advice from
you to the man who carried t.e message |
about the Importance of his not neglectng |
his own soul, but through Christ seeking
something better than this world could |
give him-why, all the business men In the
counting room say: "Goodl Now that is
religionl" And the clerks got hold of the
story and talk It over, 50 that the weigher
and cooper and hackman standing on the
doorstep say: "That Is splendid Now,
that Is what call rellgonl"
No doubt while on that voyage Noah
and his three sons and M the four ladies
OF the antediluvian world often thought of |
the bright hlllsldes and tho green fields
where they had walked and Of the homes
where they had lived. They had had many
years OF experiences. Noah was 600 years
old at the time OF this CONFUSION Of nature.
He had seen 600 springtimes, 600 summers,
600 autumns, 600 winters. We are not
told how old his wife was Mt this wreck
OF earth and sky. The Bible tells the age
Oh great many men, but only once gives a
Womhn's age. At one time It gives Adams
age as $50 years and Jared's age as 162
years and Enoch's age as 365 years, and all
up and down the Bible 1t gives the age Of
men, but does not give the age OF women.
Why2 Because, suppose, u woman's age
Is none OF our business. But all the men
and women that tossed in that oriental
craft had lived long enough TO remem-
Der great many Of tho mercies and
klndnosses OF God, and they could not
blot out, and think they had no DISPOSE
tion to blot out, the memory OF those bright
nesses, though now they were shut In.
Neither should tho shut in of our time for