St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-09-21
PAUL IN A BASKET.
Dr.. Talmage Draws His Sermon
from This Bible Incident.

from This Bible Incident.
story of the Disciples Providential
Escape from the Infatuated Mob !.
and the Lesson 1t
Teaches.
copyrighted 1901, by Louis Klopsch. n. VI
Washington,
A Bible incident not often noticed is
here used by DR.. Talmage to set forth
practical and beautiful truth; text, II.
Corinthians :33: "Througha 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 glis-
tening 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 uph OILS terry 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 flash from
the sky, which at the same time was SO
bright it blinded the rider for many
days, and, think, SO permanently IN
jured his eyesight that his defect OF
vision became the thorn in the flesh he
afterward speaks of. He started for
Damascus to butcher Christians, but
after that hard fall from his horse he
was changed man and preached
Christ in Damascus till the city was
shaken to it's foundation.
The mayor gives authority for his
arrest, and the popular cry is: Kill
him! Kill him!" The city is surround
ed by high wall and the gates are
watched by the police lest the Cilician
preacher escape. Many of the houses
are built on the wall, and their balco-
MES projected clear over and lowered
above the garden outside. It was Gus
tomary to lower baskets out OF these
balconies and pull up fruits and flow
ers from the gardens. To this day vis-
itors at the monastery of Mount Sinai
are lifted and let down in baskets. De-
tectives 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 so in
cidents in his life demonstrate, but he
feels his work is not done yet, and SO
he evades assassination. ''Is that
preacher here?" the foaming mob
shout at one house door. is that ia
natic here?" the police shout at anoth-
er house door. metimes on the street
incognito he passes through cloud OF
clinched fists and sometimes he Sc
cretes himself on the house top.
Atlast the Infatuated populace get on
sure track of him. They have positive
evidence that he is in the house of one
of the Christians, the balcony of whose
home reaches over the wall. "Here he
is! Here he isl" The vociferation and
blasphemy and bowling of the pursu-
ers 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 ter
rib1e. Providentially there was good
stout basket in the house. Paups
friends fasten rope to the basket.
Paul steps into it. The basket 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 cautiously, slowly
but surely, farther down and farther
down, until the basket strikes the
earth and the apostle steps out and
afoot and alone starts out on that IA
nous missionary tour the story OF
which has astonished earth and Heav-
en-. Appropriate entry in PauPs diary
of travels: Through a window in q
basket was let down by the wall"
Iobserve first on what slender ten
ure great results hang. The rope
maker who twisted that cord fastened
to that lowering basket never >knew
how much would depend upon the
strength of it. How if it had been brok-
en- and the apostles life had been
dashed out? What would have become
of the Christian church? All that mag
nificent missionary work in Pamphy lia,
Cappadocia, Galatia, Macedonia would
never have been accomplished. All his
writings that make up so indispensa-
BILE and enchanting a part of the New
Testament would never have been
written. The story of the resurrection
would never have been SO gloriously
toldas he told it. That exampleof hero
ic and triumphant endurance at Philip
pi, in the Mediterranean Euroclydon,
under fagellation, and at his behead-
ing would not have kindled the courage
of 10000 martyrdoms. But that rope
holding that basket, how much depend
ed on it! So again and again great re-
suits have hung on slender circum-
stances.
Did ever ship of many thousand tons
crossing the sea have such an impor-
tant passenger as had once boat of
leaves, from taffrail to stern only three
or four feet, the vessel being water
proof by coat of bitumen and floating
on the Nile with the infant .lawgiver of
the Jews on board? What if some croc-
odile should crunch it? What if some
IF the cattle wadinu in for a drink