Year: 1876

is gone mad" 1t may have been in the
spring of the year that he moved in when


his neighbors were planting, plowing, and
sowing. Noah don't plant any this spring.


He tells them the world Is going to perish.


This is the last spring. The day of grace
| is closing. can imagine some of his neigh
bors asking him ''what he is going to do
with his house" He says: ANY of you
can have it, if you wan it." And if his
ark had been put up at auction, it would
not have brought as much as it WAS worth


for kindling wood What change soon


came over the people 1t was not long be
fore 1t was worth more than the whole
earth. And the time is coming when Christ


will be worth more than TO- 900 worlds like
this. These scofing infdels are now try
Ing to keep you out of the ark. Oh ! may
| God open your eyes to-day and make you
wise; Noah moves in. can imagine the
! first thing that alarms and arouses them,
although they had made great sport of it
he had made it so large. When he had
only three sons, with their wives-only
! eight sous-what did he want such a biz
building for? He tells them there were
! going to come into that ark all kinds of
animals and fowls of the air and the creep
! ing things Of the earth. | can imagine the
! SIX, ptics wanting to know how he Was 90
ing to get them in-how he was going 10
get the wild beasts of the forest, the lion
and the tiger, into that ark But that he
has nothing to do with He has simply to
make room for them. God is going to do
that | can imagine the first thing that
arouscs them. One morning they rise
and 10 and behold the heavens are black
with the fowls of the air They are flying
into the ark, two by two. They come from
the mountain. They come from the four
corners Of the earth. There they are 60
| ing into the ark 1t must have been cur
ious sight. | can hear them say; Great
| God what does this mean? Merciful God!
what does this mean % And they look
down on the earth and with great alarm
and surprise they see little insects crawling
into the ark, two by two coming from all
parts Of the world And 10 and behold
there come the elephant, the lion, and tiger;
and they come from the different parts Of
the world. They move in two by two. The
! lion and the lamb walk in together. What
does it mean ?" cry the people. | can
! imagi some of them get little alarmed.
! They 90 to the wise men, and say: "What
| does this mean 2" The wise men say We
can't account for it. 1t is strange freak
Of Nature. We do not understand it. We
| know it is contrary to reason but we
are not going TO believe that there is &C
ing to be Il delugc We are not boing to


be guided by this insane man. We do not


know how to explain it, There is no sim


of coming storm What has made these
insects and these wild beasts of the forest
90 into the ark we do not know We can


not understand it we cannot exIlain it but
there is no danger Don't you see the sun
shines Us bright as it has ever done? Don't
you see that business is better than Is has


been for hundreds of years We never were


more prosperous If God was going to de-
stroy this world, he would not let us 90 on
and have such prosperity. But the lambs are
skipping upon the hillside and everything
moves on as it has been moving. You
can hear the children playing in the
street, you can hear the voice Of the
bride and bridegroom in the land,
and all is merry Us ever" They are
not alarmed. Or, if they are alarmed,


when they see all these animals moving in
the ark, they soon ret over it. They 90
on again with their iniquity. But now the
door is shut Did YOU ever read that, my
| friend God shut that door Mr. Sankey


has been singing about the gate ajar; but


the time is coming when the Master Of the


house will rise up and shut to the door, and


you may knock aud knock for admittance,
and it will be too late


The door is shut SO the door of the
ark is shut They mock on. They are


not alarmed. They laugh on; but God


gives them seven days grace. After all is


done to that ark, there is no sign Of COM
ing storm. | can imagine one night us


they retired as usual, the sun goes down


behind the mountains, and they will never


see it again. They have seen that sun for


the last time The last month has gone. The


last week has gone. The last day has gone.


Yea, the last hour is fast rolling away


Solemn thought Did you ever stop and


think, dear friends that the last week is
coming To you and the last day is coming;


and the last hour yea, the last minute 1t


was coming to them. That night [ can


see tne mothers putting thelr chLureh 10


bed, as usual. Perhaps some Of them were


mocking and laughing at the thought that


Noah was shut up in that old ark. But


at midnight" we read in the New Testa


ment, ''behold the bridegroom cometh. .


1t NAV be that tonight death will come to


YOU. But this change don't come gradual
!, ". 1t is one shock after another. Instead


Of one flash of lightning after another, it is
one binding sheet of lightning The earth


is beginning to roll and rock. The founda-
tiuns of the deep are breaking up. The
great sea breaks its borders and leaps over
its walls The great rivers begin to swell.
Those living in the lowlands begin to es-
cape to the mountains and to fee up on the
hiilsides. Undoubtedly the great men of