Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-04-08
Caln1age
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. ID. ID.

ress and how these may be overcome
are the theme of today's sermon, the
preacher choosing as his text Mark X !
25. THAN for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom Of God"
am thankful that l was so fortu-
nate as to visit Palestine before the
railroad engineers had made their sur
veys and built their bridges and erect
ed their depots and profaned the sa-
cred hills with the shriekings OF an
onrushing locomotive. How can lne
Holy Land remain much longer ols-
tiaguished by the habits and customs,
the usages and conventionalisms or
Abrahamic and Davldic and Solomonic
and prophetic and apostolic days wneh
the iron rails have been run near tne
family burying ground OF the Mach-
neIah cave. when the freight cars Drlng
the luggage formerly carried III the
camels' packs and when the oraso-
mans strange, weird, thrilling stories
and midnight tales have given place 10
the harsh and metallic voice OF the
conductors who call: Next stauon ls
Rethlehemw Change cars for Jericho
and the Dead sea" "All ABOARD Ior
the Grand Trunk line for Sychar ana
Damascus Passengers for Caper-
naum and Magdala take forward cars
"Tan minutes for refreshments at Jerl-
cho,s wellr' "All aboard! All aboard.
Almost sacrllegious does 1t seem TO
mention a railroad train In connection
with these sacred places. In order 10
interpret the literature Of the Bible
Alright YOU must read it by the customs
and the habits and the lives OF the peo-
ple of past centuries. You must nave
tho sandals and the walled in towns
and the robbers upon the hillsides ana
the shepherds and the wild beasts. You
must have lust such Holy Land as L
visited few years ago and the HOLY
Land which hope you may yet be able
to visit before the railroad tracks nave
honeycombed the sacred bills, as they
are now running up and down the
length and breadth Of our own land.
But il you are to see the Holy Lana
as 7 saw It you must hasten there
Even now there are railroad trains
running from Joppa to Jerusalem anu
from Damascus to Beirut. Soon all
those eastern cities will have their dll-
ferent depots and their rival railroad
lines.
We would not use today the railroad
depot for a pulpit. By the ancient cam
els pack, and not by the modern
freight car. would interpret the words
kof my text. l see in the evening hour
two merchants coming over the west
ern hills toward Jerusalem. They are
pounding and prodding and driving
their camels along as fast as they can
i make them travel. But the camels are
very heavily laden. The road Is steep
The pace Is slow. l hear one or the
drivers turn to the other and say
Isaac, l doubt If we will get to tue
, clty walls before the gate is shut
TOO bad" says the other man. THAT
means we are going to have an awtu
struggle making the old cameis &c
: through the needles eye" Yes" an
swered the first speaker, "but we mus
do IT. or else the robbers will stea
from us all we have. There, see, thu
gates are shut. We will have a hare
lob ahead Of u.s."
A Cry to the Watchman.
The two men approach the city wal
with It's shut gates. "Ho, watchman
hor they cry. "Open unto us; opei
unto usw NAY, nay," says the watch
man: that is against the law. But
will open for you the needles eye
YOU wish" "All right" answer tn
merchantmen; 1--WE will come in by tn
needles eye"
With that the watchman descend
from his lookout tower, and within tn
gate he opens door. This heavy doc
is cut into the gate as panel can b
cut out Of q door. 1t is called ID
needles eye. In the meantime til
% camels are unloaded. Then the OWL
ers command the big stupid brutes t
kneel, and by coaxings and beating
!. and growlings and cursings the can
els on their knees are compelled [
u drag themselves through this sma
door, All the baggage which was pact
ed upon the camels' backs Is carrie
within the city walls in the arms OF tn
merchantmen. Then the door, or 10
needles eye, is shut, and the great cit.
fearless Of outside foes, sleeps on. Al
1t was no easy matter to make came
20 through the needles eye. IL Is Il
v easy manner for rich man to entt
into the kingdom Of God. Christ say
II. In the one case as in the other III
difficulty is almost insurmountapI
Why? Why is it "easler for CAM
to 90 through the eye Of a needle tina
for a rich man to enter the kingdom
Godr
The rich man, in the first place,
loath to bend the knee and come
Christ as a suppllant pauper. He di
likes to surrender his gold and silv
and railroad bonds and warehous
and a big bank account and to unloi
all at the mercy seat. He hates
.. say. Lord, all that l am and all I'd
0' 7 have Is thine" And yet that is 1u
the way the rich man must come
must come exactly in the same WI
and with the same spirit which Chrl
indicated when he told the rich youl
ruler of the east to surrender his pc
. sessions. Christ practically said
this would be disciple: Young ma
unloose your gold and silver yo
farms and plantations and your her
from off your back. Go and sell
tnat thou hast and give to the po
Then down on your knees at the mel
seat, as an unloaded camel cray
. through the needles eye, and IL
shalt have treasure in heaven and CO
g. and follow me-" 0 man, today
you ready to lay your open pocketoc
1ts at the Masters feet as well as y