The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-10-11
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE RROoKLYN DIvINEs SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: The Earthquake. preached
at ST. Paul, Mimi
TEXT: "BelieUe on the Lord Jesus Christ
aud thoM shalt be sared.n-Acts xvi. 81.

Hftu ItOu 9ftUttOo SWte1. AUS XVI d.
Jails are dark, dull, damp Ioathsome places
even now; but they were worse in the apos-
tolic times. / imagine to-day we ART stand
ing in the Philippian dungeon. Do you not
feel the chill? Do you not hear the groan of
those incarcerated ones who for ten years
have not seen the sunlight, and the deep sigh
of women who remember their fathers house
and mourn over their wasted estate2 Listen
again. 1t is the cough Of a consumptive, or
the struggle of one in the nightmare
Of q great horror. You listen again and hear
a culprit, his chains rafting as he rolls over
in his dreams, and you says; God pity the
prisoner" But there is another sound in
that prison. 1t is a song of JOY and gladness.
What place to sing inl The music comes
winding through the corridors of the prison,
and in all the dark wards the whisper is
heard: whats that? What's thatg'
1t is the song Of Paul and Silas They
cannot sleep. They have been whipped, very
badly whipped. The long gashes on their
backs are bleeding yet. They lie fiat on the
cold ground, their feet fast in wooden sock
cts, and Of course they cannot sleep But thcy
can sing. Jailer, what are You doing with
these peOples Why have they been put in
here2 Oh, they have been trying 10 make
the world better. Is that ang That is all.
a pit for Joseph. a lions cave for Dan
lei. A blazing furnace for Shadrach.
Gibbs for John Wesley. An anathema
for Philip Melancthon. A dungeon
for Paul and Silas. But while we are stand
ing in the gloom of the Philippian dungeon,
and we hear the mingling voices Of sob and
groan and blasphsiDy and hallelujah sud
prison twist, the pillars crack Of the solid
masonry begins to heave and-an- the doors
swing open. The jailer, feeling himself re
sponsible for these prisoners, and believing
in his pagan ignorance, suicide TO be honora-
be since Brutus killed himself, and
Cato killed himself, and Cassius killed
himself-puts his sword to his own heart
proposing with one strong, keen thrust to
put an end to his excitement and agitation.
But Paul cries out: "Stopi Stopi Do thy
self no harm. We are all here Then 1 sea
tho jailer running through the dust and amid
the ruin Of that prison, and see him throw
ing himself down at the feet of these prison
ers, crying out: "What shall 1 do? What
shall dor Did Paul answer: Get out of
this place before there is another earthquake;
put handouts and hopples on these
other prisoners, lest they get away''
No word Of that kind. His com
pact, thrilling. tremendous answer, an
swer memorable all through earth and
heaven, Was: believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be savedn Well, We
have all heard Of the earthquake in Lisbon,
IN Linn, In Aleppo, and il Caracas, but we
live IN a latitude where severe volcanic dis
turbances are rare. And vet we have seen
fifty earthquakes. Here IS a man who has
been building up a large fortune. His bid on
the money market was felt in all the cities.
he thinks he has got beyond all annoying
rivalries In trade, and he says to himself:
Nov am free and safe from all
possible perturbation But in 1881, or
in 1857, or in 1873 . national panic
strikes the foundations of the commercial
world, and crash goes all that magnificent
business establishment. Here is man who
has built up a very beautiful home His
daughters have Just come from ahe seminary
with diplomas OF graduation. His sons have
started in life honest temperate and pure.
When the evening lights are struck there Isl
happy and unbTolzen family circle. But
there has been an accident down at Long
Branch. The young man ventured too far
out in the surf. The telegraph hurled the
terror up to the city. An earthquake struck
under the foundation OF that beautiful home.
The piano closed; the curtains dropped tho
laughter hushed. Crash! 90 all those domes-
tic hopes and prospects and expectations. So
my friends, we have all felt the shaking
down of some great trouble, and there was a
time when We were as much excited as this
man Of the text and We cried out as he did:
what shall 1 dog What shall I doy' The
same reply that the apostle made to him is
appropriate to US: ''Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved"
There are some documents of 50 little i'm
portance that you do not rare to put any
more than your last name under them, or
even your initials; but there arc some docu-
msnts of 50 great Importance that you write
out your full name. So the Saviour in sor1a
parts of the Bible is called Lord" aul
other parts OF the Bible He is called jess
m ~ oh g
Christi hut that there might be no mist
about this passage. all three s:anes come
gsther-''Ine Lord Jesus Christ
Now, who IS this being that YOU want me
10 trust IN and believe in? Men sometimes
come to me with credentials and certificates
OF good character, but cannot trust them.
There Is some dishonesty in their looks that
makes me know 7 shall be cheated If con-
hde in them. You cannot put your hearts
in man until You know what
"A y he IS made of, and am
.sas.rcs nable today when 1 stop 10
'A0'00 w+o this is that YOU want mo
his life, fSo man would think Of ventur-
=, a vessel going out to sea that |
rant IN them inspected. No. YOU must
H.. ~ .cate hung amilships, telling
uOtS uOt N e r c1rT-ia= a1l i.--r i1pe- ayf !
him one Ald who built it. ana all about |
4u cannot expect me 10 risk |
err. Tbs of my immortal interests
any craft till you tell me
e to- made of, and where it was made /
nat it Is. When, then, ask YOU who |
lS5 is you want me TO trust in, you tell me 1
e was very attractive person. Cont5m- |
'orary writer's describe His whole appear
nee as being Respondent There was no |
eed for Christ to tell the children TO come |
0 Him. Suffer little children to conc |
INTO Me," was not spoken to the children: it /
7as spoken to the disciples. The Children |
ane readily enough without any invitation
10 sooner did Jesus appear than the lit5le |
mes jumped from their mothers arms an
Of beauty and love, into Hi
'p. Christ did not ask John to put his head |
own on His bosom; John could not hcip lut
ut his head there. suppose % look II Christ
as TO love Him. Ga, how attractive His
tanner. Why, when they saw Christ com
g along thestreet theyran into their E9usaz
nd they wrapped up their invalls as quic..
; they could, and brought them out that
3 might look at them. There was some
ing 50 pleasant, 50 inviting, SO cheering ia
7e1.ytbing He did, in His very look. When
lese sick ones were brought out did Ho say:
Do not bring Ne these sores; do not trouble
.e with these iepTosicsy' No no; there was
kind look, there was a gentle word there
as a healing touch. They could not keep
way from Him.
In addition to this softness Of character.
ere was fiery momentum. How the kings
the earth turned pale. Hero is Il plain
an with few sailors at his back, coming
the sea Of Golilee going up to the pllace
the Caesars, making that palace quake TO
e foundations, and utterins q word %
Grey and kindness which throis through all
e earth, and through all tho heavens, and
rough all ages. Oh, He was loTing Christ.
ut it was not elfeminacy or jnsiDidity Of |
Iaracter; it was accompanied VITA ma esty,
finite and omnip0tent Lest the world
Ould not realize His carnestness, this Christ
cunts the cross.
You say: "If Christ has to die, why not
him take some deadly potion and lie on Il
UGH in some bright and beautiful home2 II !
e must die let Him expire amid all kindly
tentions." No, the world must hear the
.mmers on the heads of the spikes. The |
lrld must listen to the death rattle Of the
mercr. The world must feel His warm
pod dropping on each check while il looiss
into the face OF Bis anguish And SO the
Dss must be lifted and a hole dug
the top OF Calvary. Il must be dug three
t deep, and thcn the cross is laid on the
Dund, and the sufferer IS stretched upon it,
d the nails are pounded through nerve and
Iscle and bone through tho right hand, ,
rough the left hand, and then they .llaka ,
S right hand to SEQ if it is fast, aud they /,
ave up the wood, half u dozen shoulders
der the weight, and they pat the eiil Of
cross in the mouth OF the hole,
J they plunge is in, all the weight
His body coming down for the
It time on the spikes; and whilo
nc hold tho cross upright, others throw in !
dirt aud tl-o ru,,Io il down aud ff-lrnDla IL L