Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-08-10
1.-THE EARTHQUAKE"
The Brooklyn Divine Visits
the Northwest.
He Discourscs to st. Paul SINNERS Oh
the Subject OF the Earth
uuake-A Great Com
p%arisOn.

he took for his text: Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved Acts xvi, 81. The sermon was
follows
Jails are dark, duh, damp, loathsome
places even now; but they were worse in
the apostolic times. imagine today that
we are standing in the Phllippian dun
geon? Do you not feel the Chill? Do
you not hear the groans Of those incarcer-
ated 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 es-
tate? Listen again. III 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 lie rolls over in his dreams,
and you say; God pity the prisoner.
But there is another sound in that prison.
II is a long of JOY and gladness. What
a 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 that2 What
THAR"
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 flat on the cold ground, their feet fast
IN wooden sockets, and Of course they
cannot sleep. But they can sing. Jtller,
what are you dong with these people2
Why nave they been putin hereY On, they
have been trying to make the world better.
Is that ALP That is all. A pit for JOS
eph. A lions cave for Daniel. A blaZ-
ing furnace for Shadrach. Clubs for
Jrhn 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 earthquakel the iron oars
of the prison twist, the pillars crack off,
the solid masonry begins t. h2ave and all
the doors swing open. The jaiier, feel
ing himself responsible for these prison
ers, and believing, in his pagan ignor-
ance, suicide to be ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Brutus killed himself, and Cato killed
himself. and Cassius killed himselt-puts
his sword 10 his wi heart, proposing
with one strong, keen thrust to put an
end TO his excitement and agitation.
But Paul cries out: Stop Stop. do thy
thyself no harm. We are all here.
Then | see the iailer running through
the dust and amid the ruin Of that prison,
and | see him thro wing himself down at
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 hopples on these other
prisoners, lest they get away2' No word
of that kind. HIS compact, thrilling,
tremendous, answer, answer mem
orable all through earth and
heaven, was: Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and hon shalt be
saved" Well, we have al read Of the
earthquake in Lisbon, in Lima, in
Aleppo and in Caracas, but we live III a
latitude where severe volcanic disturb
ances are rare. And yet 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 cities. He thinks he has got beyond
all annoving rivalries in trade. and he
saws to himself, Now | am free and
safe from all possible perturbation"
But In 1927, or in 1878 a national panic
strikes the foundations of the commercial
world, and crash goes oil that magnif.
cent business esta blishment. Here is a
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 q
happy and unbroken family circle. But
there has been an accident down at Long
Branch. The young man ventured toe
far out in the surf. The telegraph hurled
the terror up TO the city. An earthquake
struck under the foundations OF that
beautiful home. The piano closed; the
curtains dropped; the laughter husbed.
Crash 90 oil those domestic hopes and
prospects and expectations. SO, my
friends, we have ell felt the shaking
down of some great trouble, and there
was a time when we were as much ex
cited as the man in the text, and we cried
out az he did, VIVA shall | do? What
shall | dor" The same reply that the
apostle made TO him is appropriate to us
''Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ anC
thou shall 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. 81
the Saviour in some parts of the Bible il
called Lord" and in other parts Of tn,
Bible he is called Jesus" and in othe'
parts of the Bible he is called Christ
but that there might be M mistake abou
this passage, all three names come to
gether, 1.-The Lord Jesus Christ"
Now, who is this being that you wan
me to trust in and believe in2 Men some
times come TO me with credentials ant
certificates Of good character, but | can
not trust them. There is some dishonest,
in their looks that makes me know | shall
be cheated if I confde in them. Yo'
cannot put your hearts confidence in
man until you know what stuff he !
made of, and am | unreasonable toda,
when l stop to ask you who this is tina
you want me to trust inf No Ea woul,
think Of venturing his life on a vessel 90
ing out to sea that had never been in
spected. No, you NUT have the certif
cate hung amidships, telling how man,
tons it carries, and how along ago it wa
built, and who built it, and all about il
And you nno expect me to risl
the cargo Of my immortal interest
on board any craft till you tell me wha
ii is made of, and where it was mad
and what it ia. When, then, / ask yo'