Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-03-24
NUMBER 81

with that father, that mother, that SIS
ter, that brother. Like Rahab, are you
converted through and through, so that
your dear ones know that your conyer-
sion is no sham? Whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name that shall ye receive"
Is 1t too much to test Gods promises
in the salvation Of your own dear
ones?
But | learn another fact from Ra-
haEs reward. A man or a woman may
maze a complete social wreck Of life
and start all over again. They may be
moral outcasts and yet reform, as did
Jerry McAuley or John b. Cough or
John Newton or Richard Baxter or
Rahab. and rehabllitate themselves and
become useful servants Of Jesus Christ
and mighty messengers for the better
ment Of the worlds salvation. You can
find this gospel truth not only taught in
the character Of my text, but also from
many other characters Of the Bible
Some time ago / read a powerful dis
course by the greatest Of English
preachers. Its title was "Shayen ana
Shorn, but Not Beyond Hope" Its
hero was Samson. This sermon de-
scrlbed Samson betrayed by Delilah;
Samson with his hair cut; Samson
shorn Of his strength; Samson with his
eyes out; Samson grinding in the prison
house. But after awhile it showed
Samson with his hair growing and
Il, ctr
Samson never got back his eyesight,
but he was able again to put forth that
old strength. and in his own death he
slew more Of his Lords enemies than
he ever slew in his life. Cannot you
see the old grlzzled giant shaggy
bearded and his hair like lions name,
and the old muscles again knotting
themselves out in their strength? Nov,
my text says Rahab was harlot. She
was a social outcast But Rahab the
depraved not only became Rahab the
vlrtuous, but she also became Rahab
the ancestress Of Jesus Christ.
Rahab's After Life VirtuOus.
Let me read you something that 1
found in my investigations. This Is
what a great Bible student once wrote
IN reference to this heroine of my
text: "As regards Rahab herself, we
learn from Matthew /, ., that she be-
came the wife of Salmon, the son OF
Naasson. and the mother Of Boaz,
Jesse's grandfather. The suspicion
naturally arises that Salmon may have
been one Of the spies whose life she
saved. But, however this may be, 1t
is certain. on the authority OF Matthew,
that Rahab became the mother Of the
line from which sprang David ana
eventually Christ, and there can be no
doubt that It was so stated In the pub
lie archives from which the evangelist
extracted our Lords genealogy, in
which only four women are named.
, That the Rahab mentioned by Matthew
, is Rahab the harlot is as certain as
that David in the genealogy Is the
same person as David IN the BOOKS OF
. Samuel Is not this glorious trans
formation? Rahab the outcast could
become Rahab the pure, Rahab the
God honored, the ancestress OF Jesus
And is it not also glorious thought
that though you may have wandered
away from Christ, wandered as far
! away as did Rahab, yet by the grace
: Of God and through the cleansing blood
/ of Jesus Christ you can be purged un-
i til you are clean and washed OF your
, sins until you become whittier than the
r driven snowW
, Thus In closing this sermon l am
. glad to say that every Rahab, every
| Mary Magdalene, every Peter and ey-
ery prodigal son can be saved by Gods
, grace. as well as all the Marys and all
the Enochs and all the JOshuas who
. never ceased to walk with Goo. In
2 the midst Of the Atlantic ocean, half
; way between Brazil and Africa, there
, Is q sea IN the midst of many cur
I rents. 1t Is a sea or lake within an
:. ocean. 1t is called the Sargasso sea.
. IT is formed by many different cur
n rents converging, and there, In the
, midst of these currents, the water Is
. still and quiet. The student Of ocean
7 I geography tells us that these great
o ocean currents create in the middle
6 Atlantic a dead quiet spot about as
9 large as Europe, into which IS sucked
y all the refuse Of the ocean, just as
- when YOU stir a basinful Of water rap
4 idly the cOrks gather in the center
10 and stay there. This kind Of process
has been going on for centuries IN the
Sargasso sea, throwing into it quaint
-, ties of seaweed and all sorts of rub
y, bish which stay there in a thick, i'm
~ penetrable mass, through which nc
- shin can pass and in which any shiE
- would surely perish. All, the sea OF
u Sargasso may be a collector Of the
~ refuse Of the ocean, but my christ Is
u more than that in the spiritual sea OF
- life. He IS a Sargasso sea for the
- immoral outcasts Of the human race
~ If we only come as penitent sinners tC
le his cross. No matter how low we
II may sink. we can all come to him II
~ we will. He has been collecting the
y sinners as well as the saints through
all the past centuries. As | go today
le and look into heaven | find that those
): who are now wearing the brightes
'u robes were once as we are. They have
oi been the Rahabs and the Mary Magda
lenes and the prodigal sons of earth
II Oh. my friends like Rahab receiving
as the messengers Of Joshua, will you no
lu start your life over again in Christ
III So may it he to all Of us through tn
III blood Of Jesus Christ. May we no
lis only be saved ourselves, but, througl
er, Christ. may we. like Rahab, be able f
We bring all our dear ones with us Z
'e' glory.
copyright, 1906 by Louis Klopsch.l
We
yn A Jewel of Wife.