The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-09-11
Copyright 1901


copyright 1901
WASHINGTON, d. CA Bible incident
not often noticed is here used by DR.. Tai,
mage to set forth practical and beautitul
truth; text, II. Corinthians Xl, IS.
Through window in basket was let
down by the WALL
Sermons on Paul in Jail, Paul on Mars
hill, Paul in the shipwreck, Paul before
the sanhedrin, Paul before Felix, are
plentiful, but in my text we have Paul IN
basket.
Damascus is city of white and glisten-
ing architecture, sometimes called the
eye of the East" sometimes called "a
pearl surrounded by emeralds," at one
time distinguished for swords of the, best
material called Damascus blades and up
holstery of richest fabric called damask.
A horseman of the name of Saul riding
toward this city had been thrown from
the saddle. The horse had dropped under
q fash from the sky which at the same
time was so bright it blinded the rider for
many days, and I think so permanently
Injured his eyesight that this defect of
vision became the thorn in the flesh he
afterward speaks of. He started for Da-
mascus to butcher Christians, but after
that hard fall from his horse he was q
changed man and preached Christ in Da-
Indscus I'LL tae cltJ "oS Su"AeH w ~
foundation.
: The mayor gives authority for his ar
rest, and the popular cry is, Kill HIM,
kill him!" The city is surrounded by
high wall, and the gates are watched by
the police lest the Cilician preacher es-
cape. Many of the houses are built on the
wall, and their balconies projected clear
over and hovered above the gardens out
side. It was customary to lower baskets
out of these balconies and pull up fruits
and flowers from the gardens. 70 this
Sinai are lifted and let down in baskets.
Detectives prowled around from house to
house looking for Paul, but his friends
hid him now in one place, now in another.
He is no coward, as fifty incidents in his
life demonstrate, but he feels his work is
not done yet, and so he evades assassina-
ton. 'Ts that preacher here? the foam
ing mob shout at one house door. "Is
that fanatic here?" the police shout at an
other house door. Sometimes on the
street incognito he passes through crowd
of clinched fists, and sometimes he secretes
himself on the house top. At last the in
furiate populace get on sure track of him.
They have positive evidence that he is in
the house Of one of the Christians, the bal
cony of whose home reaches over the
wall. "Here he is! Here he isl" The vo-
ciferation and blasphemy and bowling of
the pursuers are at the front door. They
break in. Fetch out that gospelizer and
let us hang his head on the city gate.
Where is he" The emergency was terri:
BILE. Providentially there was a good
stout basket in the house. PauPs friends
fasten a rope to the basket. Paul steps
into it. The backet is lifted to the edge
Of the balcony on the WALL and then while
Paul holds the rope with both hands his
friends lower away carefully and cautious.
ly, slowly but surely, farther down and
farther down, until the basket strikes the
earth and the apostle steps out and afoot
and alone starts on that famous mission
airy tour the story of which has astonished
earth and heaven. Appropriate entry in
Paurs diary. of travels: Through a win
dow in basket was I let down by the
wall"
observe first on what slender tenure
great results hang. The ropemekers who
twisted that cord fastened to that lower
ing basket never knew how much would
depend upon the strength. of it. How if it
had been broken and the apostles, life
become of the Christian Church? All that
magnificent missionary work in Pamphy.
liza, Cappadocia, Galatia, Macedonia, would
never have been accomplished. All his
writings that make up so indispensable
and enchanting part of the New Testa-
ment would never have been written.
The story of resurrection would never
have been so gloriously told as he tod it.
That example of heroic and triumphant
endurance at Philippi. in the Mediterra::
mean Euroclydon, under fagellation and
the courage of 10000 martyrdoms. But
that rope holding that basket, how much
depended on it! So again and again great
results have hung on slender circum-
stances.
Did ever ship of many thousand tons
crossing the sea have such an important
passenger as had once boat of leaves
from taffrail to stern only three or four
feet, the vessel made waterproof by coat
of bitumen and floating on the Nile with
the infant lawgiver Of the jews on board?
What if some crocodile should crunch it?
What if some of the cattle wading in for
drink should sink it?
Vessels of war sometimes carry forty
guns looking through the portfolios, ready
to open battle. But the tiny craft on the
Nile seems to be armed with all the guns
of thunder that bombarded Sinai at the
lawgiving. On how fragile a craft sailed
how much of historical Importance!
The parsonage at Epworth. England. is
on fire in the night, and the father rushed
through the hallway for the rescue of his
on the ground. but one remains in the
consuming building. That one awakes
and, finding his bed on fire and the build.
ing crumbling, comes to the window, and
two peasants make ladder OF their bod
les, one peasant standing on the shoulder
of the other, and down the human ladder
the boy descends-John Wesley.
If you would know how much depended
on that ladder of peasants. ask the mill
ions of Methodists on both sides of the
sea. Ask their mission stations all around
the world. Ask their hundreds of thou
sands already assembled to join their foun-
der, who would have perishcd but for the
living stairs Of peasants shoulders.
An English ship stopped at Pitcairn
Island, and right in the midst of surround
ing cannibalism and squalor the passen
gers discovered a Christian colony of
churches and schools and beautiful homes
and highest style of religion and civiliza:
tion. For fifty years no missionary. and
no Christian influence had landed there.
Why this oasis of light amid desert Of
heathendom: Sixty years before ship
had met disaster, and one of the sailors,
unable to save anything else, went to his
trunk and took out a Bible which his
mother had placed. there and swan ashore,
tine Bible held in his teeth The book was
read on all sides until the rough and vi
cious population were evangelical, and a
church was started, and an enlightened
commonwealth established and the worlds
history has no more brilliant page than
that which tells of the Transformation of
a.nation by one book. 1t did not seem of
much Importance whether the sailor con-
tinued to hold the book in his teeth or
let II foil in the hreaE hut uDon that
small circumstance depended what mighty
results?
Practical inference: There are no insig-
pi6cancea in life The minutpst thing ia