The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-29
A NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
THE RELEASE OFPAUL AND sILAs
FROM THE DUNGEON.

and Thou Shalt be Saved"
ST PAUL, MINI, July 2s.-The Rev. T.
De Witt Tslmage. D. D.. of Brooklyn, n.
y, preached in this city to-day. His sub
ject was "The Earthquake" aud he took
for his text: believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved.n Acts xvi.
81 The sermon was as follows:
Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even now; but they were worse ia
the apostolic times. | imagine to-day we
are standing in the Philippian dungeon.
Do you noe fael the chiil2 DO YOU not hear
the groan of those incarcerated ones who
FOR ten years have not seen the sunlight.
and the deep sigh Of women who re-
member their fathers house and mourn
over their wasted estate7 Listen again It
Is tue cough Of a consumptive, or tho
struggle OF one in the nightmare Of great
horror. You listen again and hear a culprit
his chains rafting as he rolls over In bls
dreams, and You say, God pity the pris-
oner," But there is another sound In that
prison L. is song Of joy aud gladness.
Nhat place to sing inl The music comes
winding through the corridors of the prison,
ana IN al the dark warts the whisper is
heard: "What's that} What's thatg y,
IL is the song Of Paul and Sias. They
cannot sleep They have been whipped.
very badly whipped The long gashes on
their backs are bleedipg vet. They lie fat
on the cold ground, their feet fast in
wooden sockets, and Of course they cannot
Sioep, But they can sing. Jailer, what are
you d ing with these peoplei Why have
they oeen put IN heres Oh, they have been
trying 70 make the world better.
Is that alll That is all. A pit for
Joseph; A lions cave for Daniel.
A blaziug furnace for Shadrach.
Clubs Tor John Wesley An anathema
Tor Philip Melancthon, dungeon for
Paul and Silas. But whilo we were stand
ing IN the gloom of the Philippian dungeon.
and we hear the mingling voices Of sob and
| groan aud hlasphamy d haleuiah, sud
denly an earthquake The iron bars OF the
prison twist, tue pillars crack Off. the solid
masonry begins TO hoave aud all the doors
swing open. The jailer, feeling himself re-
| sponsi 10 for these prisoners, and believing
IN hs pagan ignorance, suicide TO be hon-
orabe- since Brutus killed himself. and
| Cato killed himself. and Cassius killed
| himsalt-puts his sword to his own heart.
! proposing with one strong, keen thrust to
| put an eud 30 his excitement and agitation.
| But Paul cries o4u: ''Stopl Stopl Do
| thysolf no harm. We are all here Then
] SEQ tho Jailer running through the dust
and amid the rum of that prison, and | sea
him throwing himself down at the feet Of
| dot What shall dor Did Paul answers
Get out of this place before there is another
| earthquake; put handouts and hopples on
| these other prisoners, lest they get awaygf
! No word Of that kind. His compact.
thrilling, tremendous answer answer mem
orable all through earth and heaven, was:
"Belieys on tho Lord Jesus Christ and tboti
shalt be saved" Well we have all read Of
the earthquake Lisbon. IN Lima. in
Aleppo and in Caraccas, but we live in a
| latitude whore severe volcanic disturbances
are rare And yet wo have seen fifty earth-
| quak9s. Here Is man who has Eeen build-
ing up largo fortune. His bid on The
money market was felb in all the citios
| he thinks ho has got beyond all ANNOYING
| rivaIries in trade, and he says TO himself
Now | am free and safe from ali
possible perturbation But in 1887. or
in-slS51 or in 1873 a national panic
strikes the foundations 6f the commercial
world aud crash goes all that nagnihcenc
business establishment. Here is a man who
has built up very beautiful home, His
daughters have just come from the semi
nary with diplomas Of graduation. Hia
| sons have started Ia life, honest, temperats
and pure. When tho evening lights are
struck, there is q happy and unbrokeu
| family circle. But there has been an aeci-
dent down at Long Branch The young
man veutured too far out in the surf.
! city An earthquake struck under the
| foundations of that boautiful no ne. Tho
piano closed; tho curtains dropped; the
| laughter hushed. Crsshl 90 ai thosa
domestic hopss and prospects and expecta-
lions. SO, my friends, we have all felt the
shaking down Of some great trouble, aud
| there was time when we were as mucn ex-
cited a. this man Of the text, and we cried
out as he did, "What shall I dol lVhab
shall do" The same reply that the apos-
tlo made TO him is appropriate 30 us: "Bs-
sieve on tho Lord Jesus Christ and thoa
shalt bo saved"
There are some documents of so little inn
| 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 Won write
out your full name. SO the Saviour in some
parts OF the Bible is called Lord. y and i'm
other parts Of the Biblo he is called 'Jesus.s
| and in other parts OF tho Bible be Is called
| Christ" but that there might be- no mis-
tako about this passage, ali three names
come together-"The Lord Jesus Christ"
Now, who is this being thab you want
me to trust in and believe ini Men some
| times come to me with edentials and cep-
! tificstes Of good character but | cannot
| trust them. There is some dishonesty in
! their looks that makes me know | shall be
! cheated li / cou1de in them. You cannot
put your hearts confidence in a 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 in' No man would think Of ven
| turing his lie on a vessel going out to sea
that had never been inspected M. you
must have the certificate hung amidships,
| telling now many tons it ca ries, and how
| long ago 1t was built, and who built 1t, and
ali about it. And you can not expect me
! to risk the cargo OF my immortal interests
on board any craft ill you tell me what it
| is made of, and where it was made and
/ what it is. When, then, / ask you who
! this is you want nee to trust in, you tell me
| he was very attractive person. ContempO-
rary writer's describe hi5 whole appearances as
| being resplsndent. There was no need for
| Christ 70 tell the children to come to MIN.
| "Sutfer little children to come unto me,n
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
! jumped from their mothers arms, an ava
lanche of beauty and love, into his lap.
Christ did not ask John TO put his head
| down on bis bosom; John c 3nId not help
but put his head there. | suppose to look at
| Christ was to love him. Oh, how at
tractive 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 thev
could, and brought them out tnat be might