Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-08-30
PAUL IN A BASKET.
DR.. Talmage Draws HiE Sermon
from This Bible Incident.
Story of the Disciples Providentiai
Escape from the Infatuated Mob
and the Lesson 1t
Teaches.

Teaches.
Copyrighted, 1901, by Louis Klopsch. N. VI
Washington, Aug. 25.>
A Bible incident not often noticed is
here used by DR.. Talmage to set forth
practical and beautiful truth; text, II.
Corinthians 1913: ''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 ba sket.
Damascus is city of white and glis-
tening architecture, sometimes called
1.-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 upholstery of richest ia brio
called damask. A horseman of the
name of Saul, riding toward this city,
had been thrown from the saddle. The
horse had dropped under fash 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 file sh 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 its 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
fnh cd Ixyf ha r1o1soa 1oc he Ci1inio n
preacher escape. Many of the houses
are built on the wall, and their balco-
mics 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 Wis
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 ASA ssination. Us that
preacher here?" the foaming mob
shout. at one house door. els that IA
natic here?" the police shout at anoth-
err house door. Sometimes on the street
incognito he passes through a 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
IL = - +
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 hep" The emergency was ter
rible. 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
sfoot and alone starts out on that IA
nous missionary tour the story of
which has astonished earth and Heav-
en-. Appropriate entry in Paul's diary
"a - o'SAS" Ii OoSA q "iAoOW LII q
basket was let down by the WALL
I observe first on what a 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
~
niicent missionary work in Pamphylia,
Cappadocia, Galatia Macedonia would
never have been accomplished. All his
writings that make up so indispensa-
bic and enchanting a part of the New
Testament would never have been
written. The story of the resurrection
would never have been so gloriously
told as he told it. That exampleof hero
&c and triumphant endurance a t Philip
pi, in the Mediterranean Euroclydon,
under fiagellation, 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 lmpor-
tant passenger as had once boat of
leaves, from ia ffrail 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
of the cattle wading in for a drink
should sink it? Vessels of war some
times carry 40 guns looking through
the portfolios ready to open battle, but