The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-10-03
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Salvation Through Belief in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
The One Condition that Embraces A. the
Requisites for Eternal Life-Th
Full Meaning of the Word
''SalyatiOn."

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be sayed.-Acts vi, 81.
Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even now, but they were worse in
the apostolic times. imagine to-day we
are standing 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 sun
light, 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, or the
struggle of one in the nightmare of a
great horror. You listen again, and hear
a culprit, his chains rafting as he rolls
over in his dreams, and you say: "God
pity the prisoners % But there is another
sound in that prison. 1t is a song of joy
and gladness. What a 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 thatp
It is the song of Paul and Silas. They
can not sleep. They have been whipped,
very badly whipped. The long gashes on
their backs are bleeding yet. They lie
fat 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 here? Oh, they
have been trying to make the world bet
ter. Is that all? That is all. A pit for
Joseph. A lions cave for Daniel. A
blazing furnace for Shadrach. 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 Philippian 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 jailer,
feeling himself responsible for these
prisoners, and believing, in his pagan ig-
norance, 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 excitement and agitation,
But Paul cries out: "Stop! StoLI Dc
thyself no harm. We are all here.'
Then see the jailer running through the
dust and amid the ruin of that prison,
and I see him throwing himself down al
the feet of these prisoners, crying out:
''What shall do? What shall dor"
Did Paul answer: 'Get out of this
place before there is another earthquake
put handouts and topples on these other
prisoners, lest they get away?" No word
of that kind. His compact thrilling, tire.
mendous answer, answer memorable al
through earth and Heaven, was:
shalt be saved.
Well, we have all read of the earth
quake in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo anC
in Caracas, butwe live in a latitude where
severe volcanic disturbances are rare.
And yet we have seen fifty earthquakes
Here is man who has been building VI
q large fortune. His bid on the MONEY
market was felt in all the cities. Fl,
thinks he has got beyond all annoyin,
rivalries in trade, and he says to himself
'sNow am free and safe from all pos
sible perturbation"
But in 1887, or 1857, or 1873, a Nationa
panic strikes the foundations of the com
mercial world, and crashl goes all tina
magnificent business establishment
Here is man who has built up a yer,
beautiful home. His daughters havt
just come from the seminary with diplo
mas of graduation. His sons hav,
started in life, honest, temperate, an,
pure. When the evening lights ar,
struck, there is a happy and unbrokel
family circle. But there has been an &C
cident down at Long Branch. The youn)
man ventured too far out in the surf
The telegraph hurled the terror up to tn,
city. An earthquake struck under thu
foundations of that beautiful home. Tn
piano closed; the curtain dropped: tn,
laughter hushed. Crashl go all thos
domestic hopes and prospects and expec
tations. So, my friends, we have all fel
the shaking down of some great trouble
and there was time when we were a
much excited as this man of the text, an
we cried out as he did: ''What shall
do? What shall 1 do?'' The same re
ply that the apo site made to him is ap
propriate to us:
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and tho
shalt be saved.
There are some documents Of so littl
Importance that you do not care to pu
any more than your last name unde
them, or even your initials; but there ar
some documents of so great importanc
that you write out your full name. So tn
Saviour in some parts of the Bible j
called Lord" and in other parts of th
Bible Ha is called "Jesus,n and in othe
parts of the Bible He is called Christ;
but that there might be no mistake abou
this passage, all three names come to
gether-"The Lord Jesus Christ"
Now, who is this Being that you wan
me to trust in and believe in? Me
sometimes come to me with credential
and certificates of good character, but
can not trust them. You can not pU
your hearts confidence in a man unit
you know what stuff he is made of, an,
am / unreasonable to- day when stop {
ask you who this is that you want me t
trust INF No man would think OF ventur
ing his life on vessel going out to SCI
that had never been inspected. No. vo
must have the certificate hung amid
ships, telling how many tons it carries
and how long ago it was built. and VIII
built it and all about it. And you can No
expect me to risk the cargo of INV i'm
mortal interests on board any craft til
you tell me what it is made of, and wher
itwas made and what it is. When. then
ask you who this is you want me t
trust in, you tell me He was a very at
traetive person. Contemporary writer
describe His whole appearance as bein
Respondent. There was no need 70
Christ 30 tell the children to come To Hin