The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1889-08-08
AT ST. PAUL
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine Deliv.
ers . Discourse at the Mime.
1 sofa Capital,
Subject IL from the Words Of the
Appstle PARls. ssBelieye on the 4
kQr1 JNSTEnFfStsSs 9

er4 - CnE1Dtss
81, PAM. Mlnn.s 51g aa-IAAJksv =. De
WittsTaInaeA y. II, 81 Brooklyn, N. Y,
preaShs1 ~ city to-day. Hissubject was
''The Earthquake" and ia took for his text:
'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt bs saved.s-Acts xvi, 81. The sermon
was as follow3r
Jails arsdark, dull, damp, loathsome places
even now; but they we're worse in the apos'
tolic times. I imagine to-day We are stand.
in the Philipian 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 thedeep sigh
Of women who remember their fathers house
md mourn over their wasted estate? Listen
again. II il the cough of q consumptive, OF
the struggle of one in the nightmare Of O
great horror. You listen again and hear q
culprit, his chains rafting as 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 o.
Joy and gladness. WhatvnTplacesto sinl
lnl .T1bhs p8Yfi6Se fpi fissssy isding throssh ths
words the whisper Is heaf9a y ~ - s sss.
It is the song of Paul and silas. They can
not sleep. They have besn whipped, very
badly whipped. The long easnss On their
backs are bleeding yet. NFhsy u Aat~ on the
cold ground, their feet fast in wooden
sockets, and OF course they can not sleep.
But they can sing. Jaiier; what are you
doing with these people2 Why have they
been put in here? oh, they have been trying
to make the world better. Is that all7
That il all, O pit for Joseph. ATOMS rave
for Daniel. A blazing furnace for Shadrach.
Clubs for John Wesley. An anethema for
Philip Melancthon. A dungeon for Paul and
gloom Of the Philippian dungeon, and we
hear the mingling voices of sob and groan
and b~lasphemy and hallelujah, suddenly
an earthquake! The iron bars of the prison
twist, the pillars crack of, the solid masonry
begins to heave, and all the doors swing
open. Thejailer, feeling himselfresponsible for
these prisoners md BELIEVING, in his pagan igno-
killed himself and Cato killed himselfand Cas-
sius 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: "Stopl
Stop! Do thyself no harm. We are all here"
Then I see the jailer running through the
dust and amid the ruin of that prison and 1
these prisoners. crying out: what shall I
do? What shall 1 do2" Did Paul answer:
"Get out of this place before there is another
earthquake; put handouts and hopples on
these other prisoners lest they get awuy?"
No word of that kind. Hiscompact, thrilling,
tremendous answer, answer all through
earth and heaven, was: believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"
Well, we nave all readlof the earthquake in
Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo, and in Caracas,
hut we live in a latitude where severe volcan-
ic disturbances ore rare. And yet We have
seen fifty earthquakes. Here Ii q man who
has been building up O large fortune. His
bid on the money market was left in all the
cities. He thinks he has got beyond all an
noying r~ivalries in trade and he says to him.
self: "Now l am free and safe from oil posi-
BILE perturbation" But in 1887 or in 1857
or in 1878 q national panic strikes the
foundations Of the commercial world and
crash goes all that magnificent business
establishment. Here is q 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, temperate, and pure.
When the evening lights are struck there is a
happy AND unbroken family circle. Butthere
has been al accident down at Long Branch.
The young man ventured too far out in the
surf. The telegraph hurled the terror up to
foundation. of that beautiful home. The
piano closed; the curtains dropped; the
laughter hushed. Crashl go 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 az much excited az this man of
kho %4-% H-l ,ro orsol D,,k cu ~ Al. (kyUl-A
shall l do7 What shall l dol" The same re-
ply that the apostle made to him ia. 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
your initials, but there are some .docu-7
out your full name. s. Inc savior in some
parts of the bible is called Lord" and in
other parts Of the bible he Ia called "Jesus,"
IN other parts of the bible he is called
Christ" but there might be no mistake
about this passage all three names come to-
gether-"the Lord Jesus Christ"
Now, who is this being that you want me
come to me with credentials and certificates
OF good character, but l can not trust them,
There is some dishonesty in their looks that
makes me know l shall be cheated If I confde
in them. You can not put your hearts con-
6dence in a mau until you know what stuff
he ia made of, and am I unreasonable to-duy
when ! stop to ask you who this is that ,you!
of venturing his lite on a vessel going out to
sea TINT had never been inspected. No, you
must have the certificate hung amidBhips,
telling how many tons it 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 it is
made of and where it was made and what it
in. When, then, I ask you who this is you
want me to trust in you tell me he was q very
attractive person. Contemporary writer's
describe his whole appearance as being re-
s~plendent. There was no need for Christ to
tell the children to come to him. 'Suffer lit
en- to the children; it was spoken to the dis
ciples. The children came readily enough
without any invitation. No ooner did Jesus
appear han the little ones jumped from their
mothers arms, On 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:
him. Oh, how attractive his mannerl Why,
when they saw Christ coming along the
street they IN 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 was something so
pleasant. 80 inviting, so cheering In every
thing he did, in his very look. When these
sick ones were brought out did he say; EDO
not bring these sores; do not trounle me with
these leprosies?" No, no.; there was q kind
look, there was q gentle word, there was a
healing touch. They could not keep away
from him.
In addition to this softness of character
there was a fiery momentum. How the
kings Of the earth turned palel Here is a
plain man with o few sailors at his back,
coming of the sea Of Galilee, going up to the
quake to the foundations, and uttering o
word of mercy and kindness which throbs
through all the earth and through all the
bnc voYo or1 fhr0uUhs al noaa M no roa