The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-02-06
TALMAGE ABROAD
ELOQUENT SERMON PREACHED
BY HIM IN LONDON.


the Bla1tuE Furnace, the stake aud th'
Prison fer Christians.
The Rev. r. De Witt Talmage, d
d., Of Brooklyn, preached in London
Sunday, taking for his text Acts xvi
81: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and th&u shalt be saved" He said:
Jaiis are dark, dull, damp, loathsomo
places even now; but were worse in the
apostolic times. l imagine to-day we
are standngin the Philippiau dungeon.
DO you feel the chill? Do you hear the
groan of those incarcera ed ones who
for ten years have not seen the SUM-
light, and the deep sigh Of women
wiz" remember their fathers house,
and mourn over their wasted estates?
Listen again. 1t is the cough'ofa con-
sumptiVe, or the struggle or one in a
nightmare ofa great horror. You lis
ten aNain. and hear a culprt. his chains
1StLlei < as he rolls over in his dreams.
slaAyCu say: God pity the prisouer."
Bu& there is another sound in that
nrison. 1t is song of JOY and glad.
hess What place to sing in! The
nusic comes winding through the cor
rIdors OF tho prison and in all the dark
wards the whisper is heard: WHAT'S
tha ? What's that" II is the song Of
Paul nd Slas. They cannot sleep.
They have been badly whipped The
long gaskes on their backs are bleedS
i~g YET They lie fiat on the cold
ground, their feet fast in wooden sock.
cts, and of course they cannot sleep.
But they can sing. Jailer, what are
you doing with these people? Why
have they been put in here? O, they
have been trying to make the world
better. Is it that? That is all A pit
or Joseph. a Ions cave for Daniel.
A hlaziug furnace for Shadrach. Clubs
for John Wesley. An aDathema for
Philip Me]ancthon. A dungeon for
PAUL and Silas. But while we are
standing in the gloom Of chat Philipp-
an duRgeo0, and we hear the mingling
voices OF sob, and groan, and BIAS
phem, and hallelujah, suddenly an
earthquake! The iron bars of tho
prison twists, the pillars crack off, the
solid ma oury begins to heave and
rock ill ali the doors sM ing open, and
the walls fall with "a terrific crash. The
jailcr, feeling himself responsible for
these prisoners, and feeling suicide to
be honorable-since Brutus killed
himself, and Cato killed himself, and
Cassius killed himself--puts his sword
to bis own heart, proposing with one
strong, Keen thrust to put all end to his
excitement and agitation. But Paul
cried out: stop! Stop! Do thyselt no
harm. We are all here Then SEQ
the jailor running through the dust
amid the ruin of that prison, and see
him throwing himself down at the feet
N hOGR Ul,>@
shall do? What shall I do?', Did
Paul answer: "Ge. out Of this place
before there is another earthquake:
put handouts and hobbies on those
other prisoners. lest they get away"
Not II word of that kind. Compact,
thrilling, tremendous answer; answer
memorable oil through earth and
heaven: "BelieVO on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
Wei, we have all read of the earth
quake in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo
and in Caracas but we live ia latitude
where in all our memory there has not
been one severe volcanic disturbance.
And set Wo laVc seen fifty earthquakes.
Here !3 a man who has been buildiMg
Up large For'unH. His bid on the
money market was felt in all the cities.
l@e thinks lie has got beyond all annoy
ing riVa!ri1S in trade, and he SAYS 10
himself. Nov I an free and safe from
all possible perturbation. But a nat
iona1 panic strikes the foundation Of
the commercial werld, and crash! goes
all that magnificent business establish
lnGnt. He is II man who has built up
a very beautiful home. His daughters
have come home from the seminary
with diplomas Of graduation. His
sons have started in life, honest, tenn
peIAtc and pure. When the evening
lights are struck, there is Il happy and
an unbroken family circle. But there
has heen m accident down at the
beech. The young man vcntured too
far out in the surf. The telegraph
hurled the terror up to the city. An
earth. .uake struck under the founda-
tions OF chat beautiful home. The
piano closed the curtain dropped; the
laughter hushGd. Crash! 90 all those
domestic hopes and prospects, aud ex-
pectatiOns. so my friends, we have
all telt the shaking down Of some great
trouble, and there was n time when
we were as much excited as this man
Of the text, and we cried out as he did:
"What shall do? What shall do?"
The same reply that the apostle made
TO him IS appropriate to us: "Believc
in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved" There are some documents
Of SO little importance thai you do not
C2re to put any more than your last
name under them, or even your ini-
tin s; but there are somo documents of
40 great importance thai You write
out your full name. SO tao Saviour in
some parts Of the Bible is called, "Lord"
aud in othor parts Of the Bible he is
called Jesus" and in other parts Of
the Bible ho is called "Christ," but
that there might be no mistake about
this passage, all three names come in
together-"the Lord Jesus Christ. -
Now, who i this. Being that YOU
want nae to trust and believe il? Slen
sometimes come to me with credentials
aud certificates Of good character; but
cannot trust them. There is some
dishonesty in their looks that makes
mo know [ shall be cheated if I con-
tide in them. You cannot put Your
neart's confidence in man until YOU
know what stuffhe is made of, and am
| unreasonable this morning, when
stop to ask you who this is that YOU
want mo to trustiu No man would
think Of yenturing his life on a vessel
going out to sea, that had ueyor been