The Red Cloud chief., 1889-08-02
THE CHRISTIAN q
Dr.. Talmage on Faith az the Only
Means of Salvation.

Earthquakes That Are Liable to Occur In
the Life Of All In Christ-
Grand Trust Of the Re-
deemed
Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage, OF Brooklyn,
In . recent sermon at 81. Paul. MIMI. dis.
coursed upon ''The Earthquake" and
took for his text ''Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ Inc thou shalt b saved"
Acts xvi 81. The sermon was as follows:
Jails are dull, damp. lOathsome places
even now; but they were worse in the Ap.
ostolic times. I imagine to-day We are
standing ON the Philippian dungeon. Do
| you not feel the chill: Do you not hear
the groans Of those incarcerated ones who
| for ten years have not seen b sunlight
and the deep sigh Of the women who 70.
member their fathers house q mourn
over their wasted estate? Listen again.
IL is the cough OF . consumptive. or the
| struggle Of one in the nightmare Of . great
horror. You listen again and hear . cul.
! prit, his chains rafting Al he rolls over in
his dreams. and you say: God pity the
| prisoner" But there is another sound in
that prison. 1t is q song Of joy and glad
ness. What q place to sing in! The music
comes winding through the corridors OF
| the prison, and in all the dark wards the
| whisper is heard: What's that? What's
that"
1t is tho song OF Paul and Sila& They
can not sleep. They have been whipped,
very badly whipped. The long gashss on
their backs are bleeding yet They lie
dat on the cold ground, their feet fast in
wooden sockets, and of course they can
not sleep. But they can sing. Jailer.
what are you doing with these people?
Why have they been put in here: O. they
have been trying to make the world better.
Is that all: That is all. A pit for Joseph.
A lions ave for Daniel A blazing fur.
mace for Shadrach. Clubs for John Wes-
Icy. An anathema for Philip MelancthOn.
A dungeon for Paul and Silas. But while
We are standing in the gloom Of the Phil.
ippian dungeon, and we hear b mingling
voices OF sob and grOsn. and blasphemy
and hsllelujsh, suddenly an earthquake!
The iron ba:s of the prison twist the pill.
! lars crack of. the solid masonry begins to
heave and all the doors swing open.
The taller, feeling himself responsible
for these prisoners, and believing. in his
pagan Ignorance. suicide to be honorable
since Brutus killed himself and Cato
killed himself, and Cassius killed himself
puts his sword 10 his own heart prOpos-
ing with one strong, keen thrus to put an
end to his excitement and agitation. Blu
Paul cried out: ''Stop! stop! Do thvself
no harm. We are all here" Then I see
the jailer running through the dust and
| amid the ruins OF that prison. n l see
him throwing himself down at the feet Of
these prisoners, crying out: "What shall
I do? What shall l dot" Did Paul answer:
Get out of this place before there 10
another earthquakes; put handouts and
hopples on these other prisoners lest they
get away" No word OF that kind His
compact, thrilling, tremendous answer
answer memorable all through earth and
| Heaven, was: '.Believe or the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved"
Well. We have all read Of the earthquake
in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo, and in
Caracas, but We live in . latitude
where severe volcanic. disturbances
are rare. And yet We have
seen fifty earthquakes. Hero 10 q man
who has been building up . large fortune.
His bid on the money market was felt in
all the cities. He thinks he has got be-
yond all annoying rivalries in trade and
he saws to himself: NOW I am free and
safe from all possible perturbation" But
in 1887 or in 1857 or in 1879 q national panic
strikes the foundations Of the commercial
world and crash! goes the magnificent
business establishment Here is a man
who has built up q very beautiful home.
His daughters have just come from the
seminary with diplomas of graduation.
| His sons nave started in life. temperate
and pure. When the evening lights are
struck there is q happy and unbroken
family circle. But there has been an ac-
cident at Long Branch The young man
ventured too far out in the surf. The tel.
egraph hurled the terror up to the city.
An earthquake struck under the founda-
tons Of that beautiful home. The piano
closed. the curtains dropped. the laughter
hushed. Crash! 60 all those domestic
hopes and prospects and expectations.
So. my friends, We have all felt the
shaking down of some great trouble and
there was q time when we were as much
excited as this man OF the text. and we
cried out as he did,: "What shall I dOf
What shall I do2" The same reply that
tue Apostle m8u0 10 DIM Is appropriate 10
US: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved" There are some
documents Of SO little Importance that
you do not care to put any more than
your last name under them, or even your
initials; but there are some documents of
so great Importance that you write out
your full name. So the Saviour in some
parts Of the Bible is called Lord" and in
other parts of the Bible He is called
"Christ," but hat there might be no mis-.
take about this passage all three names
come together-'The Lord Jesus Christ. -
Now. who Is this being that you want
ME to trust in and believe i'm: Men some.
times come to me with credentials and
certificates of good character. but ! can
not trust them. There 10 some dishonesty
in their looks that makes ms know / will
be cheated il l confide in them. You can
not put your hearts confidence in . man
until you know what stuff he is made OF.
and am I unreasonable to-day when /
stop to ask you who Is this that you want
mt to trust in: No man would think Of
venturing his life on q vessel going out to
sea that had never been inspected. No.