The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1899-10-28

70 shore' Oh, that this moment our cry
u'Rht he litt,d long, loud and slrul Til
'hr'sI the swimmer, shall come and
'aN' us hest We drop thousand faith
/ oms uudeE
~ you nave been much hy the wafer.
you Know very well that when one Is in
peru help must come very quickly, or il
""l ht of no use, One minute may de-
cue everything, Immediate helm the
'hau wants or no help at all, Now. that
Is just the kind Of relief we want. The
case Is urgent, imminent, instantaneous.
see that soul sinking! Son Of God. Law
holu OF him, BE quick, be quick! Oh. /
WlSh You all understood how urgent
thiS Gospel is. There was a man In the
navy at sea who had been severely
whipped for bad behavior, and he was
lhaddened by II and leaped into the sea.
ana no sooner had he leaped into the
sea than, quick as lightning, an albat.
ross swooped upon him, The drowning
man. brought TO his senses, seized hold
OF the albatross and held on. The fut.
tering OF the bird kept him on the wave
untA relief could come. Would now
mat the dove of Gods convicting. con.
verung and saving spirit might flash
from the throne upon your soul aud
that you, taking hold of its potent wing,
might live and live forever.
] want to persuade you to lay hold of
this strong swimmer NO" YOU say;
ut is always disastrous for drowning
man TO lay hold Of swimmer There
is not river or lake but has calamity
resultant from the fact that when
strong swimmer went out to save sink
ing man the drowning man cutched
MIN, threw his arms around him, min
Toned his arms, and they both went
down together. When you are saving a
man in the water you do not want 10
come up by his face. You want TO come
up by his back. You do not want him
to hold you while you take hold of him.
But, blessed be God, Jesus Christ is SO
strong a swimmer He comes not to our
back, but to our face, and He asks us to
throw around Him the arms of our love
and then promises to take us to the
beach, and He will do it.. Do trust
that plank of good works. Do not trust
that shivered spar of your own right
eousnesS. Christ only can give YOU safe
transportation. Turn your face upon
Him, as the dying martyr did in olden
times when he cried out: "None but |
Christ! None but Christi" Jesus has |
taken millions to the land. and lie is |
willing to take you there. Oh, what |
hardness to thrust Him back when lie |
has been swimming all the way from
the throne of God, where you are now,
and is ready to swim all the way back |
again, taking your redeemed spirit
! have sometimes thought what a
spectacle the ocean bed will present |
when in the last day the water is all |
lrawn off. 1t win be a line of wrecks
from beach to beach, There is where
he harpooners went down. There is
where the line of battleships went
Town. There is where the merchant
men went down. There is where the
teamers went down, a long line of
wrecks from beach to beach. What a
pectacle in the last day. when the wa
er is drawn off! But, oh. how much
more solemn if we had an eye to see the
pirituaI wrecks and the places where
hey foundered! You would find thou
ands along our roads and streets.
'hrist came down in their awful catas-
rophe putting out for their souls,
spreading out His hands as a swimmer
preadeth forth his hands to swim, =" but
hey thrust Him in the sore heart and
hey smote His fair cheek, and the
torn and darkness swallowed them
Up. ask you to lay hold of this Christ
nd lay hold of Him now. You will sink
Without Him. From horizon to horizon
OF one sail in sight, only one strong
winner, with head flung back and
rms outspread.
| hear many saying: "Well, | would
Ike to be a Christian. | am going TO
ork to become a Christian" My broth
r, you begin wrong. When a man is
ROWING, and a strong swimmer comes
ut to help him, he says to him; Nov
e quiet Put your arm on my arm or
n my shoulder, but don't struggle,
ont try to help yourself, and I'll take
on ashore. The more you struggle and
le more you try to help yourself the
ore you impede me. Now, be quiet,
nd I'll take you ashore" When Christ,
he strong swimmer, comes out TO save {
soul, the sinner says: That's right. I
n glad to see Christ, and am going to =,
Zip Him in the work of my redemp-
on. am going to pray more, and that
i'll help Him, and am going to weep
,travagantly over my sins, and that
i'll help Him" No, it will not. Stop |
,ur doing. Christ will do all or none. :
Oh cannot lift an ounce, you cannot
owe an inch, in this matter of your re-
mption. /
This is the difficulty which keeps h
ousands of souls out of the Kingdom d
Heaven. 1t is because they cannot y
nsent to let Jesus Christ begin and
mpete the work of their redemption.
yhy," YOU say. then is there nothing v
+ me to do?" Only one thing have Y
u to do, and that is to lay hold of !,
rist and let Him achieve your saliva Il
N and achieve it all. | do not know il
neither make the matter plain or mot !
simply want to show you that a man
mot save himself, but that the Al ..
ghty Son of God can do it and will do $,
if YOU ask Him. Oh, fling your two W
ms. the arm of your trust and the arm y
your love, around this omnipotelt
INNER of the cross!
Have you ever stood by and seen some f
e under process of resuscitation after II
10 submergence? The strong swim a,