The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-12-21
CROSSING THE FERRY
DR.. TALMAGE TELLS OF DAVIDS PAS
SAGE OVER THE JORDAN
From an Almost Unnotfced Incident
of OIden Times Are Drawn Lessons
of Comfort and Hopelulness TO All
Gods Children.

From an unnoticed incident Of olden
time DR.. TaImage in this discourse
draws some comforting and rapturous
lessons. The text is III Samuel xix, Is,
"And there went over a ~ferryboat to
carry over the kings household"
which of the crowd is the king?
That short man, sunburnt and in ia
tigue dress. 1t is David, the exlied
king. He has defeated his enemies
is now going home to resume his place.
Good! 1 always like to see David
come out ahead. But between him
his home there is the celebrated river
Jordan which has to be passed. Inc
king is accompanied to the bank OF
the river by an aristocratic old gentle
man of so years, Barzillai by name,
who owned a fine country seat at Roge-
linn. Besides that, David has his fami-
ly with him. But how shall the go
across the river? While they are stan
ding there I see q ferryboat coming
from the other side, and as 1t cuts
through the water / see the races VI
David and his household brighten up
al the thought of so soon getting nome.
No sooner mas the 1erryooat struck the
shore than David and his family ana
his old friend Barzillai from Rogeilm
get on board the boat. Either with
splashing oars at the side or with one
oar sculling at the stern of the Doat
thew leave the eastern bank Of the
Jordan and start for the western bank.
That western bank is black with
crowds of people, who are waving and
shouting at the approach OF the king
and his family. The military are all
@aa h INV hPen
David's worst enemies now shout untli
they are hoarse at his return. NO
sooner has the boat struck the shore
On the western side than the earth
uuarkes and the heavens ring With
cheers of welcome and congratulation.
David and his family and Barzillai
from Rogelim step ashore. King David
asks his old friend to go with him and
live at the palace, but BarZillai apollo
gizes n intimates that he is infirm
with age and too deaf to appreciate the
music, and has a delicate appetite that
would soon be cloyed with luxurious
living, and so he begs that David would
let him go back to his country seat.
DISLIKE OF EXCITEMENT.
I once heard the father of a president
of the United States say that he had
just been to Washington to see his son
in the White house, and he told me OF
the wonderful things that occurred
there and of what Daniel Webster said
to him, but he declared: Il was glad
to get home. There was too much go
ing on there for me-" My father, an
aged man, made his last visit at my
house in Philadelphia, and after the
church service was over, and we went
home, some one in the house asked the
aged man how he enjoyed the service.
well" he eplied, Il enjoyed the serV-
ice, but there were too many people
there for me. 1t troub ed my head very
much" The fact is that old people do
not excitement. If King DaVid
had asked Barzillai so years before to
go to the palace, the probability is that
Barzillai would have gone, but not now.
They kiss each other goodby, a custom
among men oriental, but in vogue yet
where two brothers part or an aged
father and a son go away from each
other never to meet again No wonder
that their lips met as King David n
old Barzillai at the Prov of the ferry
boat, parted forever.
This river Jordan, in all ages and
among all languages, has been the sym
Dol of the boundary line etwee earth
and heaven. Yet when on q former
occasion, 1 preached to you about the
Jordanic passage / have no doubt that
some of you d~espondingly said, The
Lord might have divided Jordan for
Joshua, but not for poor me-" Cheer
up! l want to show you that there Is
a way over Jordan as we'll as through
it. My text says, And there went over
a ferryboat to carry over the kings
household"
All our cities are familiar with the
ferryboat. 1t goes from San Francisco
to Oakland and from Liverpool to
Birkenhead, and twice every secular
day of the week multitudes are on the
ferryboatS of our great cities, so that
you will not need to hun up a classical
dictionary to find out what I mean
while / am speaking to you about the
passage of David and his family across
the river Jordan
My subject, in the first place, impress
ses me with the fact that when we
cross over from this world to the next
the boat will have to come from the
other side. The tribe of Judah, we are
informed, sent this ferryboat across to
get David and his household. I stand
on the eastern side Of the river Jordan.
and / find no shipping at all, but while
I am standing there / see a boat plow-
ing through the river, and as / hear
the swirl Of the waters n the boat
comes to the eastern side of the Jor-
dan and David n his family and his
old friend step on board that a /
am nightly impressed with the fact
that when we cross over from his
world to- the ext the boat will have to
come from the opposite shore.
AN UNSTABLE CRAFT.
Every day I find people trying to ex-
temporize a way from earth to heaven
They gather up their good works and
some sentimental theories, and they
make a raft, showing it from this shore
n poor, deluded souls get on board
that raft, and they go down. The fact
is that skepticians n infdelity never
yet helped one man to die. / invite all
the ship carpenters OF worldly philos-
ophy to come and build one o that
can safely cross this river. / invite
them all to unite their skill, and b.
l~ingbroke shall lift the stanchions, and
Tyndall shall shape the bowsprit, and
Spinoza shall make the manitopgallant
braces, and Renan shall go to lacking
and wearing and boxing the ship. All
together in 10000 years they will never
be able to make a o that can cross
this Jordan. Why was il that Spinoza
and Blount and Sh~aftesbury lost their
-@,I-0 t. -r.- naorr-@ 80 10 80