The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1899-01-19
THE LORDS ''SHUT IN"
Conversations of Sickness as Seen
by DR.. Talmage.
Asermon for lnvaIids from the Story
of Noah and the Ark-GOd's
Designs for Our Bet
terment.

Washington. Copyright
This discourse of DR.. Talmage, which
is helpful to all who find life struggle,
isespecially addressed to a class of per-
sons probably never before addressed
in sermon The text is Genesis Vii. IL,
"The Lord shut him ill.,"
Cosmogony has no more interesting
chapter than the one which speaks Of
that catastrophe of the ages, the sub
mersion of our world in time of Noah
the first ship carpenter. Many Of the
nations who never saw a Bible have a
food story Egyptian flood story
Grecian food story. Of which Ducalloa
was the Noah; Hawaiian flood story.
New Zealand flood story, Chinese fool
story. American Indian flood story-aii
of which accounts agree in the INNER
sion of the continents under universal
rains, and that there was ship floating
with a select few of the human family
and with specimens of geological and
ornithologcal and reptilian worlds, al
though could have wished that these
last had been shut out of the ark and
drowned
All of these food stories represent
the ship thus ahoat as finally stranded
on a mountain top. Hugh Miller in his
"Testimony of the Rocks" thinks that
all these food stories were in!irm tradi
tons of the Biblical account, and | be-
lieve him. The worst thing about that
great freshet was that it struck Noah'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 falling
columns of water which roared and
thundered on the roof of the great ship
for a month and ten days. There was
one door to the ship. but there were
three parts to that door. one part for
each of the three stories. The Bible ac-
count says nothing about parts of the
door belonging to two of the stories.
and do not know on which floor Noah
and his family voyaged, but my next
tells us that the part of the door of tina:
particular floor on which Noah staid
was CloSSu d1ttI Hc Hdu tHlSItu. lie
Lord shut him in" So there are many
people now in the world who are as
thoroughly shut in, some by sickness.
some by old age. some by special duties
that will not allow them to go forth.
some surrounded by deluges of misfor
tune and trouble, and for them often
receive messages, and this sermon,
which I hope may do good to others. is
more especially intended for them. To-
day l address the shut in. "The Lord
shut him in
Notice first of all who closed the door
so that they could not get out. Noah
did not do It. nor his son Shem, nor did
Ham, nor did Japheth, nor did either of
the four married women who were en-
shipboard. nor did desperadoes who had
scoffed at the idea of peril which Noah
had been preaching close that door.
They had turned their backs on the ark
and had in disgust gone away. l will
tell you how it was done. A hand was
stretched down from heaven to close
that door. It was divine hand as we'll
as kind hand. The Lord shut him in"
The world has no statistics as to the
number of invalids. The physicians
know something about it, and tn,
apothecaries and the pastors. hut who
can tell us the number of blind eyes.
and deaf ears, and diseased lungs. and
congested livers, and tangled nerves,
and neuralgia temples, and rheumatic
teet. or how many took no food this
morning because they had no appetite
10 eat or digestive organs to assimilate,
or have lungs so delicate they cannot
60 forth when the wind is in the east,
or there is fog rising from the river,
or there is dampness on the ground
or pavement because of the frost COM
ing out? 1t would be easy to count the
people who every day go through
street, or the number of passengers
carried by railroad company in a year.
or the number of those who cross the
ocean in ships. But who can give US the
statistics of the great multitudes who
are shut in? call the attention of all
.uch to their superior opportunities OF
doing good.
those of us who are well, and can see
ciearly, and hear distinctly. and par
'ake OF food of all sorts, and questions
OF digestion never occur to US, and we
can wade the sDowbanks, and take an
equinox in our faces, and endure the
thermometer at zero, and every breath
oi ar is tonic and a stimulus, and
sound sleep meets us within five min
stes after our head touches the pillow,
uo not make so much of an impression
"nen we talk about the consultations Of.
.s .ehslon. The world says right away:
guess that man mistakes buoyancy
VI natural spirits for religion. What
soes he know about it? He has never
oeen tried But when one goes out
ana reports to the world that tha.
morning on his way to business be
.s.ied : to see you and found you, after
oeing kept in your room for two
months. cheerful and hopeful. and that
you had not one word of complaint and
.Aed ali about everybody and rejoiced
!" the success Of your business friends,