The Brookhaven leader., 1889-08-08
SALVATION.
rna Blessed Boon thu All May
Have for the Asking.
..rmon by Rev. t. Dewitt Talmage on
the Faith that Il Necessary to
Secure Eternal Life-Christ
Our Only Hope.

,balt be saved.-Acts vi, 81.
fails are dark, dull, damp, loathsom
,loces even now, but they were worse in
ihs anostolic times. l imagine to-day we
we standing in the Philippian dungeon.
No Won not feel the chill? Do you not
Laar the croan of those incarcerated ones
wbo for ten years have not seen the sun
Iigbt and the deep sigh OF women who
remember their fathers house and mourn
over their wasted estate? Listen again.
his the cough of O 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
ritv the prisoners !" But there is another
sound in that prison. 1t is song of joy
and gladness. What place to sing in!
The music comes winding through the
corridors Of tho prison, and in all the
dark wards the whisper is heard:
"Wbat's that? What's that?"
II 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 herey Oh, they
have been trying to make the world bet
fer. 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. \ dungeon for Paul and
Sas. But while we are standing in the
gloom OF the Philippian dungeon, and we
hear the mingling voices of sob and
goan and blasphcmy and hallelujah,
suddenly an earthql lake! 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. suicido 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! Stop! Do
thyself no harm. We are all here"
Then see the jailer running through the
dust and amid the ruin of that prison,
and see him throwing himself down at
the feet of these prisoners, crying out:
'What shall | do? What shall do?"
Did Paul answer: Get 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, tre-
mendOus answer, answer 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 earth
quake in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo and
in Caracas, but we live in a latitude where
severe volcanic disturbances are rare.
And yet we havo seen fifty earthquakes.
Here IS man who has been building up
alarge fortune. His bid on the money
market was felt in all the cities. He
thinks he has got beyond all annoying
rivalries in trade, and he says to himself:
"Now am free and safe from all pos
slble perturbation"
But in 1887, or 1857, or 1878, q National
panic strikes the foundations of the COM
mercial world, and crash! goes all that
magnificent business establishment.
Here is a man who has built up very
beautiful home. His daughters have
Just come from the seminary with diplo-
mas 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. But there has been an ac-
cident 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 beautiful homo. The
piano closed; the curtain dropped; the
laughter hushed. Crash! go all those
domestic hopes and prospects and expec-
tations. SO, my friends, we have all felt
me shaking down of some great trouble,
and there was a time when we were as
much excited as this man of the text, and
We cried out as he did: "What shall l
do' What shall l do?" The same re-
ply that the apo stle made to him is APP
pr0priate to us:
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved
There are some documents of so little
Importance that you do not care to put
any more than your last name under
uem, or even your initials; but there are
some documents of so great Importance
mat you write out your full name. So the
called Lord" and in other parts of the
Bible Hs is called Jesus" and in other
parts Of the Bible He is called ''Christ;"
gut that there might be no mistake about
ms passage, all three names come to-
sether-"The Lord Jesus Christ"
Now, who is this Being that you want
me 10 trust i'll and believe in? Men
sometimes come to me with credentials
anu certificates of good character, but /
ean not trust them. You can not put
!our hearts confidence in a man until
!ou know what stuff he is made of, and
-, unreasonable to- day when | stop to
sA you who this is that you want me to
sust Ia! No man would thiak of ventur-
us NE on vessel going out to sea
a1 haa never been inspected. No, you
lust lust nave the certificate hung amid
sn' ' telling how many tons it carries,
I".i au now long ago it was built, aud who
a' II and all about it. And you can not
pect me to risk the cargo of my i'm
WI TAI interests on board any craft till
;;ou 'ell me what it is made of, and where
I WAS made and what it is. When, then,
. asA You who this is you want me to
,.sst.' st ln' You tell me He was very at
Sa"e Setye person. Contemporary writers
rss',i iios his whole appearance as being
cbpiienoent. cbIpi There was no need for
s. sSrst 70 tell the children to come TO Him.
M. uaer little children to come unto
eb;,aus was not spoken to the disciples. The
AM en came readily enough without
rss s invitation. No sooner did Jesus APP
bsi. b .han the httie ones jumped from
beam moener's arms, an avalanche OF
NOT y ny, ana love, Into His lap. Christ did
bosan,A 'onn to put his head down ON His
hes9 ; y John could not help but put his