Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1903-01-24
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMhGE. DID,.
Pastor Of Jefferson Park Preoby-
terian Church, Chicago

are passing through period Of trouble
may obtain consolation and encourage
ment from the doctrine Rev. +. De
Witt Talmage teaches in the following
sermon on the text Matthew xiv, %,
Jesus constrained his disciples to get
into a ship"
There 1t isl See! Yonder Is the diSci-
ples' boat, tossed about on the waves
Of Lake Galilee Those men seem to
be in rs critical situation as was the
captain Of an Atlantic coal barge some
time ago. The barge had been caught
in a storm and was sinking under his
feet. The captain slgnaled to the tug.
Then, as 1t drew near he picked up
first one and then another of his little
children. He raised them above his
head and hurled them through the air
into the arms of the rescuers. Then he
turned and fastened n rope, thrown to
him from the tug, around the waist or
his wife and another around his own
waist, and both leaped into the sea.
Two minutes after he and his wife had
been dragged into the rescuing boat
his own coal barge made q plunge and
disappeared. Every moment the dlsci-
pies. like that captain, expected their
boat to founder. Some Of them were
veteran fishermen, yet they had given
up nll hope OF ever reaching land again.
The danger Of drowning in Lake Gal
lice was not the only danger, nor indeed
the greatest danger, which threatened
the disciples. They were in spiritual
danger. Having seen Jesus only few
hours before feed multitude OF 5000
persons with five loaves and a few fish
es. they had lost sight Of his spiritual
mission and were about to hall him as
a temporal leader Like the multitudes
which had been fed. they began to
whisper among themselves: "Why not
make Christ our king? Such miracle
working leader as this could not only
feed US and clothe us without any work
upon our part, but he also could liber-
ate US from Roman tyranny and be to
US another Moses, another Joshua or
another David" In order to counter
act this design Of making him merely
a temporal king. which would have
brought him into collision with the
Roman power and have degraded his
mission into a mere insurrection, he
determined to teach the disciples their
weakness and helplessness. He com
pelled them to launch their boat and
enter into q fearful combat Of at least
ten long hours with the Galilean tenn
pest. So in order to compel you and
me to look away from our worldly IN
teresss, which are absorbing our
thoughts and desires, and lead us to
seek from him the higher spiritual
blessings he has to bcstow God clouds
our skies and brings upon us a tidal
wave of crushing disaster, that we may
be driven to climb into his loving, pro
tecting arms.
The dark. tempestuous nights Of re-
ligious persecution have often been, In
Gods sight. the brightest and the most
blessed OF sunshiny days for the
church. 1t was by having his eyes TEN
porarily blinded that Paul gained spir-
itual sight 1t was by being lowered
in basket by a few friends over the
Damascus wall in order to escape the
murderer's dagger that Paul was set
free to embark OH his missionary ca
reer. 1t was by exile to a lonely island
of the Mediterranean that John was
enabled to see his marvellous apocalyp-
tic visions 1t was not until Rome had
been burned by the bloody Nero, who
laughed and fiddled while the confia-
grafton ragged: not until the Christians
had suffered under the false charge OF
being the incendiarles, that the church
was purified and fully launched on its
great evangelistc work. 1t was when
Martin Luther had TO face the diet OF
Worms and had been imprisoned for
months In the Wartburg that the refor-
nation was started. When the pilgrim
fathers on account Of religious perse'
cution had to leave England, then the
first foundation stone OF Christian
America was laid. And in no time of
church history can you find that great
religious awakening has occurred or
great religious leader has come forth
without the previous roar OF the Call
lean tempest, as it yawned to destroy
the church and engulf Christian faith.
Purity Through Persecution.
Some time ago l heard a great minis
ter of our country developing this
thought. In part, he said, "The reason
we do not have Savonarolas and John
Knoxes and John Husses in the present
day Is because we do not have the an
cient prosecutions which purified and
ennobled the ancient church" Some
people are foolish enough to suppose
that the best and greatest day of the
early Christian church was when the
Emperor Constantine joined the church
with the state and had thousands upon
thousands Of his subjects baptized by
the priests in the different rivers. But
want to tell you that when Constan-
tine Joined the church with the state
1t was sad day for the history OF
the Christian church. With the regal
power of the church 1t became a
corrupt church. With the regal power
of the church there came the sins
Of q licentious and mercenary mind
ed church. Then came the sins OF
the dark ages. 1t is by persecution that
the Christian church Is purified, not by
the commendation Of sinful kings and
fawning mobiles. The church by its
past history ought to know that Coda
loving and saving voice can be heard
tn the grow ling thunder as well as IN
the whispering summer wind. His di
vine love can often be seen in flood Of
heartrending tears as well as in the
smile Of an April shower or in the gen.
tie glow OF June sunrise.
What tempestuous struggles have ac-
complished for the church as whole
they may also accomplish for the hum
bic individual workers In the church.
Cd f4e vnopv ~ tbo humhiQr WARRIORS