The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1890-02-06
TALMAGB'S SERMON.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE IN LON.
DON, ENGLAND.
Subject of Discourse: sThe Phillip.
plan EarthQuakc.'

places even now; but they were worse IN the
apostolic times. l 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 sunlight, and the deep sigh
Of women who remember their father S house,
and mourn over their wasted estates? Listen
again. 1t is the cough Of a conSumptive, or
the struggle of one in nightmare of a great
horror. You listen again, and hear culprit,
his chains rafting as he rolls over in his
dreams, and you say: God pity the pris-
oner" 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 the prison,
and in all the dark wards the whisper is
heard: whats that! What's thatm 1t is
the song of Paul and Silas. They can
OF sleep. They h We been whipped, yer
b-dly whip, ed. The log gashes on the I
bac, are bleedin. yet. They lie fiat Oh the
cold roun !, their feet fast in wooden sock
et>, nd of course tn y cannot sleep. But
they can sing. Jailer, what are you doing
with these people? Why have they en- put
in here? o, they have been trying to make
the world bettsr. Is that all? That is all.
A pit for Joseph. A lions cave for Daniel.
A blazing furnace for Shadrach. c ubs for
John WeSlcy. An auat ema for Philip Mel
a~cthon. A dungeon for Paul and Silas.
But while we are sta ding in the gloom OF
that Philippiar du geoo, and We hear the
minsling voices of sob, and groar, and BIAS
phemy, and hallelujah, Su ldeny all earth
quake. The iron bars of the prison twist,
the pillars crack off, the solid masonry begins
to heave and rock till al the doors Sing
open, and the walls fall with rrifc crash.
The jailer, feeling himself respons bic
for these prisoners, and feeling suicide to be
honorable-since Brutus killed himself, and
n.l a,,l 1-i11 11oJl
self-putS his sword to his own heart, pro-
posing 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
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 an
there is another earthquake; put hand
cuffs and hopples on these other prisoners,
lest they get away?" No word of that kind.
Compact, thrilling, tremendous answer; an
swer memorable all through earth and
heaven: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved"
Well, we have all read of the earthquakes
in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo and in Carac.
cas-; but we live in q latitude where in all
VIVA
volcanic disturbance 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 oil 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 possible
nerturbation." But national panic strikes
the foundations of the commercial world,
Ind crash goes all that magnificent business
establishment. He is a man who has built
up very beautiful home. His daughters
have lust came home from tue semi
nary with diplomas of graduation.
His sons have started in life, honest, temper
ate and pure. When the evening lights arc
struck, there is happy and an unbroken
family circle. But there has been an acci-
dent down at the beach. The young man
ventured too far out in the surf. The tele-
graph hurled the terror up to the city. An
earthquake struck under the foundations of
that beautiful home. The piano closed; the
curtains dropped; tho laughter hushed
Crash go all those domestic hopes, and pros
poets, and expectations. So, my friends, we
have asf-fseeIi asi-seIs the shaking down Of some great
trouble, and thcro " time when we were
as much excited as tins man &c. OF the ,, text,
and we cried out as he W Jau; naG
shall I do? What shall doi
The same reply that the a2Ss.ie
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 them, or even
your initials; but there are Somo documents
Of so great Importance that you write out
your full name. So the Saviour in somo
parts of the Bible is called Lord, y and in
other parts of the Bible He is called Jesus"
and in other parts Of the Bible He is called
Christ" Lut that there might be no mistake
about this passage all three names come IN to-
gcther-"the Lord Jesus Christ" Now, who
is this Being that you want me to trust i'll
and believe in? Men sometimes come to
me with credentials and certificates Of good
character; but cannot trust them. There
is some dishonesty in their looks that makes
me know shall be cheated il confide in
them. You cannot put your hearts conf
dence in man until you know what stuff he
is made of, and am l unreasonable this
morning, when stop to ask you who this is
that you want me to trust in? No man would
think of yenturing his life on a vessel going
out to sea that had never been inspected. No,
you must have the certificate hung amidships,
telling how many tons it carries, and how
long ago 1t was built, and who built it, and
all about it. And you cannot 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 is. When, then, ask you who this is you
want me to trust in, you tell me he was
very attractive person. You tell me that
they give the color Of his eyes, and the color
of his hair, and they describe his whole ap-
pearance as being reSplendent. Christ did
not tell the children to come to Him. "Suf-
fer little children to come unto Me-" was
not spoken to the children; it was spoken to
the Pharisses The children had come with
EXT any invitation. No sooner did Jesus ap-
pear than the little ones pitched from their
mothers arms, an avalanche Of beauty and
love, into His lap. "Suffer little children to
come unto Me-" That was ddddis essed to tic
Pharisees; not to tfne Children. Christ did
not ask John T. put his head down on His
bosom; John could not help but put his head
DHch eyes, such cheeks, such chin,
Zilair, such physical condition and ap-
peSt&hce-why, it must have been COM
pletely captivating and winSome. l sup
pose a look at Him was Just to love
Him. o, how attractive His manner!
Why, when they saw Christ coming along
the street, they ran into their houses, aud
they wrapped up their invalids as quick rs
they could, and brought them out that He
so pleasant so inviting, so cheering in every
thing He did, in His very look. When these
sick ones were brought out did He say:
Take away these sores; do not trouble Me
with these leprosies:" No no: there was
kind look, there was gentle word, there was
healing touch. They could not keep away
from Him.
In addition to this softness of character,
there was fiery momentum. How the old
hypocrites trembled before Him. How the
Kings Of the earth turned pale. Here is a
plain man with q few sailors at His back,
coming off the sea of Galilee, going up to the
palace of the Caesars, making that palace
quake to the foundations, and uttering a