Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-03-24

she sickcncd unto death. Just before
she was about To pass away she turned
10 her Hebrew father aud said. Papa,
when go to heaven aud meet my Saw
Jour he will say. Why does your ia
Their hate me- Then what shall say.
papa" With that the father said,
TELL him did hate him once. but that
love him now" Al that may be the
story of our own life. II you will you
ean win your whole family for Christ.
| No one has greater influence than you
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 CONVEX
sion Is no sham whatsoever W shall
ask In my name that shall ye receive"
| Is II too much TO test Gods promises
in the salvation Of your own dear
ones.
But ! learn another fact from Rn.
hab's reward. \ man or u woman may
make II complete social wreck Of life
ana start all over agan. They may be
moral Outcasts and yet reform as did
Jerry McAulcy or John Is. Cough or
John Newton or Richard Baxter or
I Rahab. and r,'habllitatc 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. hut also from
I ,.fIt .l.tr ~.
Some time ago ! read n powerful dis
course by the greatest Of English
| preachers Its title was "Shaven and
Shorn. but Not Beyond Hope" Its
| hero was Samson. This sermon de-
scrihed 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 il showed
Samson with his hair growing and
getting back his great strength Old
Samson never got back his eyeslgit
but he was able again 10 put forth that
old strength. and In his own death he
slew more of mis- Lords enemies than
he ever slew In his life. Cannot you
see the old grizZle1 giant. shaggy
bearded and his hair like lions name
and the old ruuScles again knotting
themselves out in their strength! Now,
my text says Rahab was "A harlot She
was n social outcast. But Rahab the
depraved not only became Rahab the
| viriuous. but she also became Rahah
the anccstreSs of Jesus Christ
Rnhab's After Life VIrtuous.
| Let me read you something that |
found in my Investigations. This is
what II great Bible student once wrote
! IN reference to this heroine of my
| text: AS regards I,ahab herself. we
learn from Matthew /. ). that she be-
came the wife of Salmon. the son Of
/ Manson. 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, II
IL certain. on the authority of Matthew,
that Rahab became the mother of the
line from which sprang David and
eventually christ. and there can be no
doubt that II was 50 stated Ia the pub
| lie archives from which the evangelist
extracted our Lords genealogy, In
which only four women are named
That the itahnb mentioned by Matthew
Is Rahab the harlot Is rs certain as
that David IN the genealogy Is the
same person as David In the books OF
Samuel Is not this glorious trans
formation? liahab the outcast could
become Rahub the pure. liahab the
God honorcd. the ancestress of Jesus
| And is il not also glorious thought
that though You may have wandered
away from christ. wandered as far
away as did l,ahab. yet by the grace
OF God and through the cleansing blood
of Jesus Christ YOU can be purged un-
Ill you are clean and washed of your
sins. until you become whittier than the
driven snow
| Thus IN closing this sermon | am
| glad TO say that every Rahab. every
| Mary Magdalene, every Peter and ev-
cry prodigal son can he saved by Gods
grace. aS well as all the Marys and all
the Enochs and all the Joshuas who
never ceased to walk with God In
the midst OF the Atlantic ocean. half
way between Brazil and Africa there
is II sea Ia the midst of many cur
rents 1t Is sea or lake within an
ocean II is called the Sargasso sea
II is formed 10y many different cur.
rents converging. and there, in the
midst OF these currents. the water Is
still and quiet, The student of ocean
geography tells Us that these great
ocean currents create In the middle
Atlantic Il dead quiet spot about as
large as Europe. into which is sucked
/ all the refuse Of the ocean. just as
when you stir basinful OF water rap
idly the corkS gather In the center
and stay there This kind of process
has been going ON for centuries Ia the
Sargasso sea. throwing into it quaint
ties OF seaweed and all sorts of rub
bish, which stay there in thick i'm
penetrable mass. through which no
ship can pass and In which any ship
would surely perish All. the sea OF
Sargasso may be collector OF the
/ q a.,