Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-08-01
DR.. Talmage'S Sermon.
His Subject Is Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ"
The Preacher Shows Why This Belief Is
Necessary in Order that the Sinner
May Be Saved

and thou shalt be saved. Acts xvi, 81.
The sermon was follows:
Jails are dark, dull, damp loathsome
places even now; but they were worse in the
apostolic times. i imagine are standing
in the Philippian dungeon. Do you not feel
the chill2 Do you not hear the grOan of
lncarcerated 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 estate? Listen
again. 1t is the cough of a cOnSumptive,
the struggle of one in the nightmare of q
great horror. You listen again and hear
culprit, his chains rafting as he rolls over in
prisoner" But there is another sound in
that prison. 1t is a song of joy and gladness.
What 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 the song of Paul and Silas. They car
not sleep. They have been whipped, very
badly whipped The long gashes on their
backs are bleeding yet. They lie fiat on the
sockets, and of course they cannot Sleep
But they can sing. Jailer, what are you do
put in here? Oh, they have been trying to
make the world better. Is that all? That N
all a pit for Joseph. A lions cave for
Clubs for John Wesley. An anathema for
Philip Melancthon. A dungeon for Paul and
Silas. But while we are standing in the
gloom of the Philfppian dungeon, and we
hear the mingling voices of sob and groan
and blasphemy and hallelujah, suddenly an
earthquake! The iron bars of the prison
twist, the pillars crack off, the solid masonry
begins to heave, and all the doors swing
open. The jailor, feeling himself responsible
for these prisoners and believing, in hds
pagan ignorance, suicide to be honorable
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 ex-
citement and agitation. But Paul cries out:
'Stop! Stop! Do myself no harm. We are
all here" Then / see the taller running
through the dust and amid the ruin of thas
prison and / see him throwing himself down
at the feet of these prisoners, crying out:
f'What shall do? What shall / dO!" Did
Paul answer: sect 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
compact, thrilling, tremendous answer, an
swer memorable all through earth and
heaven, was: Believe on 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 a latitude where severe volcanic disturb
ances are rare. And yet we have seen fifty
earthquakes. Here is n man who has been
building up large fortune. His bid on the
money market was felt III the cities. lie
thinks he has got beyond all annoying rival
ries in trade and he says to himself: Now L
free and safe from all possible perturba-
ton" But in 1887 or in 1857 or in 1873 ma
tional panic strikes the foundations of the
commercial world and crash goes all that
magnificent business establishment. Here Is
n man who has built up a very beautiful
home. His daughters have just come from
the seminary with diplomas of graduation.
His sons have started in life honest, temper
ate, and pure. When the evening lights are
struck there is a happy and unbrollen 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 foundations of that beaut
full home. The piano closed; the curtains
dropped the laughter huShed Crash! go all
those domestic hopes and prospects and eX-
pectationS. So, my friends we have all felt
there time when we were as much eX-
cited us this man of the text, and we cried
out as he did: wv hat shall dO?" The same
reply that the apostle made to him is appro-
pirate to us: 'Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved.
There are some documents of so little i'm
portance that you do not care to put any
more than your last name under them, or
even your initials, but there are some docu-
mentS 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 Jesus"
and in other parts OF the bible he is called
Christ" but that there might be no mistake
About this passage all three names together
1.-The Lord Jesus christ
Now who is this being that you want me
to trust in and believe in Men sometimes
come to me with credentials and certificates
of good character but / can not trust them.
There is some dishonesty i'll their looks that
makes me know shall be cheated If contide
in them. You can not put your hearts con-
ffdence in man until you know what stuff
he is made of, and am unreasonable to-day
when stop to ask you who this Is that you
want me to trust in2 No man would think
of venturing his life on a vessel going out to
sea that had never been inspected. No, you
must have the certificate hung am1dShlpS,
telling how many tons 1T carries, and how
long ago it was built, and who built It. and
all about it. And you can not expect me to
risk the cargo of my immortal interests on
board any craft till you tell me what 1t Is made
of and where it was made and what 1t Is.
When then, ask you who this is you want
me to trust in you tell me he was very at
tractiVe person. Contemporary writers de
scribe his whole appearance as being res
plendent. There was no need for ChLISl to
tell the children to come to him. suffer
little children to come unto me, was not
spoken to the children; it was spoken to the
disciples. The children came readily enough
without any invitation. No sooner did Jesus
appear than the little ones jump from their
mothers arms, an avalanche OF beauty and
love- into his lap. Christ did not ask John
to put his head down on his bosom; John
could not help but put his head there. l sup
pose to look mt Christ was to love him. On,
how attractive his manner! Why, when they
saw Christ coming along the street they ran
into their houses, and they wrapped up
their invalidS as quick as they could and
brought them out that he might look at
them. There something so pleasant, so
inviting, so cheering in everything he did,
in his very look. When these sick ones were
brought out did he say: do not bring me
these, sores; do not trouble me with these
leprosies?' No, no; there was kind look,
there was n gentle word, there was healing
touch. They could not keep away from him.
In addition to this softness of character
there was fiery momentum. How the kings
of the earth turned pale! Here IS plaln
man with few sailors ut his back, coming
off the sea of Galilee, going up TO the palace
of the Caesars, making that palace quake to
the foundations and utterlng a word OF
mercy and kindness which throbs through
all the earth and through all the heavens and
through AL am ages on NE was t0 r ing
sipidity of character, it was accompanied
with majesty, infinite and omnipotent.
Lest the world should not realize his earnest
You say: If Christ has to die why not let
him take some deadly potion and lie on a
couch in some bright and beautiful home?
If he must die let him expire amid all kindly
intentions" No, the world must hear the
hammers on the heads of the spikes. The
world must listen to the death rattle of the
sufferer. The world must feel his warm
blood dropping ON each check while 1t looks
up into the face OF his anguish. And so the
cross must be lifted and Il hole is dug on the
top of Calvary. 1t must be dug three feet
deep and then the cross is laid on the ground,
ana the sufferer is stretched upon it, and the
nails are pounded through nerve and muscle
and bone through the right hand, through
the left hand, and then they shake his right
hand to see II 1t i fast, and they heave up
the wood, half dozen shoulders under the
weight, and they put the end of the cross il
the mouth of the hole. and they plunge it in
all the weight of his body coming down for
the first time on the spikes; and while some
hold the cross upright others throw in the
dirt and trample 1t down, and trample it
hard. Oh. plant that tree well and thor
oughly for it is to bear fruit such as no
other tree ever bore. WY dld Christ en-
dure it? He could have taken those rocks
and with them crushed his crucifierS
He could have reached up and grasped
the sword of the omnipotent God and with
one clean cut have tumbled them into perdi-
ton. But no: he was to die. He must die.
His life for your life. In European city a
Young man died or the scaffold for the crime
If murder. Some time after the mother OF
this Young man was dying and the priest
came in and she made confession to the
nriest that she was the murderer and not her
Son: in a moment of anger she had struck
her husband a blow that slew him The son
a., Il