The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-01-24
BELIEF IN CHRIST.
Sermon Preached at London
by the Rev. DR.. Tai
mage.
Paul and SilaS in the Gloom
of the Phillipian
Dungeon.

LONDON, Specialize Rev. T. Dewitt
Talmage, D. D., of Brooklyn, preached in
this city, taking for his text Acts xvi, 81:
s'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved" He said:
Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even now; but they were worse in the
apostolic times. l imagine, to-day, we are
standing in the Phillipian dungeon. Do you
not feel the chill? Do you not hear the groan
of those incarcerated ones who for 10 years
have not seen the sunlight, and the deep sigh
of women who remem Der their fathers house,
and mourn over their wasted estates? List
en- again. 1t ia the cough of q consumptive,
or the struggle of one in anightmare ofgreat
horror. You listen again, and hear a culprit,
his chains rafting as he rolls over in his
dreams, and you say: "GOd pity the prs-
oner." But there is another sound in that
prison. 1t is song ofjoy 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 that?' It
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 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 that all? That is all.
A pit for Joseph. lions cave for Daniel.
A blazing furnace for Shadrach. Clubs for
John Wesley. An anathema for Philip Me-
lancthon. dungeon for Paul and Silas.
But while We are standing in the gloom of
tAat Philippian dungeon, and We hear the
mingling voices Of sobs. and groa6s, and
blasphemy, and hallelujah, suddenly an
earthquake! The iron bars of the prison
twist, the pillars crack of, the solid masonry
begins to heave and rock till all the doors
swing open, and the walls fall with terrific
crash. The jailor, feeling himself responsible
for these prisoners. and feeling suicide to
be honorable-snce Brutus killed himself,
and Cato killed himself. and GASEOUS killed
himself-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 l see the
the ruin of that prison, and see him throw
ing himself down at the feet OF these prison.
ers crying: what shall l do?" What shall
do?" Did Paul answer: "Get out of this
place before there is another earthquake;
put handouts and hobbies on these other
prisoners lest they get away?" No word of
that kind. Compact, thrilling, tremendous
and heaven: "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved"
Well, we have all heard of the earthquake
in Lisbon, in Lima, in Alleppo and in Carac:
cas-, but we live in a latitude where in all our
memory there has not been one severe vol
canic disturbance. And yet we have seen
80 earthquakes. Here is O man who has
been building up a large fortune. His bid ON
the money market vas felt in all the cities. He
thinks he has got beyond all annoying rival
ries in trade, and he says to himself Nov
am free and safe from all possible perturb.
ation." But q national panic strikes the
foundation of the commercial world, and
crash! goes all that magnificent business es-
tablishment. He is q man who has built up
very beautiful home. His daughters have
Just come home from the seminary with d.
plomas of graduation. His SONS have
started in life, honest, temperate and pure.
When the evening lights are struck. there is
happy and unbroken family circle. But
there has been an accident down at the
beach. The young man ventured TOO far out
in the surf. The telegraph hurled the terror
up to the city. An earthquake struck I'M
der the foundation of that beautiful
home. The piano closed; the curtains drop
ped; the laughter hushed. Crash! go all
those domestic hopes, and prospects. andex
pectations. So, my friends, We all felt the
shaking down of some great trouble. and
cited as this man of the text, and we cried
out as he did, "What shall 1 do2 What
shall do?" The same reply that the apos-
The made to him is appropriate to us: BE
lieve 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
some documents of SO great Importance
that you write out your full name. So the
Savior in some parts OF the Bible is called
Lord" and in other parts Of the
Bible he is called ''Jesus," and in other parts
of the Bible he is called Christ" but that
there might be no mistake about this rassnge,
all three names come in together-''the Lord
Jesus Christ" Now, who is this Being
that you want me to trust in and be-
lieve 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 if confde
in them. You connot put your hearts con-
idence in a man until you know what stuff
he is made of, and | am unreasonable this
morning when stop to ask you who this
is that you want me to trust in? No man
would think of venturing his life on q 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 it was built, and
who built it, and all about it. And you can
not expect me to risk the cargo of my i'm
mortal interests on board any craft till you
tell me what it is made Of and where it was
made, aud what it is. When, then, l ask
you who this is you want me to trust in, you
tell me he was q very attractive person.
You tell me that the contemporary writer's
describe him. and they give the color of his
eyes, and the color of his hair, and they de-
scribe his whole appearance as being resplsn-
dent Christ did not tell the children to
come to him. ''Suffer little children to come
unto me-" was not spoken to the children,