The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-18
w Washington, D. c.

with religion. II may be that you have
associates who have talked against Chris
tianity in your presence until you are all
at sea- and you dwell more on things that
you do not believe than on things you do
believe. You are in one respect like Lord
Nelson, when a signal was lifted that he
wished TO disregard, and he put his sea-
glass to his blind eye, and said: 1 really
do not see the signal oh. my hearer, put
this fieldglass of the gospel no longer TO
your blind eye, and say, l cannot see, but
put il 10 your other eye, the eye of faith,
and You will see Christ, and He is all you
need to see.
certainly believe in vicarious suffering,
for you see ii almost every day in some
shape. The steamship Knickerbocker of
the Cromwell line, running between New
Orleans and New York. was in great
storms and the captain and crew saw the
schooner Mary ID. Cranmer. of Philadel-
phia, in distress. The weather cold, the
waves mountain high, the first officer Of
the steamship ard four men put out in a
lifebOat TO save the crew of the schooner,
and reached the vessel and toWed il out
OF danger. the wind shifting so that the
schooner was saved. But the five men OF
the steamship coming back, their boat
capsiZed, yet righted again and came on,
the sailors coated with ice The boat cap
sized again. and three times upset and
poor fellows, but thei" hands were frozen
so they could not grasp IL, and a great
wave rolled over them, and they went
down, never to rise again till the sea
gives up its dead Appreciate that hero
ism and self-sacrifice OF the brave fel-
lows all who can, and can We not appre-
ciate the Christ who put out into more
biting cold and into more overwhelming
surge, to bring Us out of Infinite peril into
everlasting safety? The wave of human
hate rolled over him from one side and
the wave of hellish fury rolled over him
on the other side. On. the thickness of
the night and the thunder of the tempest
into which Christ plunged for our rescue!
sure OF n Hearty Welcome.
"Come In on one narrow beam of the
cross. Let all else go and cling to that;
uut that under you, and with the earnest
ness of a swimmer struggling for his life
,jut out for shore. There Is a great
warm fire of welcome already built, and
already many who were as far out rs
You are are standing in its genial and
heavenly glow. The angels OF God
rescue are wading out into the surf to
clutch your hand, and they know how
exhausted YOU are, and all the redeemed
rrodigaIs OF heaven are on the beach
with new white robes TO clothe all those
who come in on broken pieces OF the snip.
"My svmpathies are for such all the
r,ora hecause | was naturally skeptical
dispOsed to question everything ABOUT
this life and the next, and was IN danger
Of being further out 10 sea than any Oh
the two hundred and seventy-six In the
Mediterranean breakers, and / was some
times the annoyance OF my theological
professor. because / asked so many ques-
tions. But | came In on plank. / knew
Christ was the Saviour OF sinners, and
that / was a sinner, and / got ashore, and
| do not propose TO go out on that sea
again. nave not for thirty minutes dis
cussed the contrOverted points OF theology
in thirty years. and during the rest or my
life / do not propose 10 discuss them Tor
thirty seconds.
II would rather in a mud-scow, try TO
weather the worst cyclone that ever swept
up from the Caribbean than risk my i'm
mortal soul in useless and perilOus dis
cussiOns in which some of my brethren In
the ministry are indulging. They remind
me of a company OF sailors standing on
the Rdmsgate pier-head, from which the
life-bOats are usually launched, and cOOliy
discussing the different styles OF 0ar-locks
and how deep a boat ought 10 set in the
water while a hurricane Is in fun blast.
and there are three steamers crowded
with passengers going 10 pieces In the
offing. An old tar, the muscles 0f his
face working with nervous excitement.
cries out: This is no time 10 discuss such
things. Man the iifebOat Who Will vol
unteeT? Out with her into the surf, Ptii
ny lads: pull for the wreck Hai hai
low We have them. Lift them IN and
lay them down on the bottom Of the boat.
Jack, you try 10 bring them TO- Put these
fiannels around their hands and feet, and
I will pull for the shore. God help me,
TheFel Landed HuZZar When there are
so many struggling In the waves OF sin
and sorrow and wretchedness. let all else
90 but salvation for time and salvation
forever.
Te fHier the HnTbsr Of Heaven.
Il bethink myself that there are some
here whose opportunity Sr whose life is ?
mere wreck. ana they have only a small
piece left You started in youth with AN
sails set. and everything promised a grand
voyage. bat you have sailed ~ the wrong
direction, or have foundefed On rock
You have only a fragment Of time left
Then come In on that one plank. Some
on broken pieces OF the ship
You admit you are all broken 40. one
decade Of your life gone BY. two decades
three decades, four decades, a half cen.
tury, perhaps three-quarters OF a cen
tury gone. The hour hand and the min.
Ute mana OF your clock OF life are alrnoss
parallel, and soon IL will be twelve and
your day ended. Clear discouraged are
your 1 aefnti u Is q sad thing 10 give
all OF our lives that are worth anythiuz
70 SIN and the devil. and then al lasf
make God present Of a first-rate eorDse
bot tne past you cannot recover Get on
hoard that Old ship you never viii. Have
you only one more year left. one more
Haontn. one snore week. one more day. one
more nonr-come in on that PeFhaDs n
you get 10 heaven God may let you go osIf
on some great mission TO come other
world. where you can somewhat afons for
your lack OF service in tn.s
from many deafhbed | have seen
the kAnds thrown Up In deploratIon soYne-
thing HE this. Ny life has been ssaSTsd
had good mental faculties and sine 40.
elal position and great Opportunity. but
through WoFlessness and neglect an has
gone 10 waste save these !ew reuaIninc
nogFs. ! now accept Of Christ and shall
enter heaven through his mercy: buf aias
ALAS that when ] might have entered ths
maven OF eternal rest with 4 full cargo
and been greeted by the waving hands ~
q multitude In whose salvation i hsd
borne q blessed part. I must confess i
noS enter the harbor Of heaven on broken
pieces Of the ship"