The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-20
DIR. TALMAGE IN LONDON.
HIS SERMON ON "rHE PHILIPPIAN
EARTHQUAKE"

dlJu IN OnFl5J l5 bu0 oalVablOn o.
the soul-The Loathsomeness OF
the Grave Unless He Is With Us.
LONDON, Jan. 19.-Ths Rev.,T. Dewitt
Talmage, d. d., of Brooklyn, preached in
this city to-day, taking for his text Acts
XVI, 81: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved" He said:
Jails are dark, dull, damp. loathsoma
places even now; but they were worse id
the apostolic times. / imagine, to-day, we
are standing in the Philippian dungeon.
Do you not feel the chilli Do you not hear
tho groan of those incarcerated ones who
for ten years have not seen the sunlight,
and the deep sigh of women who remem-
ber their fathers house, and mourn
over their wasted estates Listen
again. 1t is the cough Of a oonsumptive,
or the struggle of one in nightmare of 3
great horror. You listen again, and hear
culprit, his chains rafting as he rolls over
in his dreams, and you say, "God pity the
prisoner But there is another sound in
that prison. 1t is a song Of joy and gladness-
What place to sing inl The music comes
winding through the corridors Of the prison,
and in all the dark wards the whisper Is
heard: whats thatl What's thatq IL
is the song Of Paul and Silas. They
cannot 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 sockets, and Of course they cannoe
Sleep But they can sing. Jailer, what ars
you doing with these peoples Why have
they been put in here4 o, they have been
trying to make the world better Is thau
allq That is all. A pit for Joseph. A
lions cave for Daniel. A blazing furnace
for Shadrach. Clubs for John Wes-
ley. An anathema for Philip Melanc-
thOn. A dungeon for Paul and Silas.
But while we are standing in the gloom
of that Philippian dungeon, and we heaa
the mingling voices OF sobs, and groan, and
blasphemY, and hallelujah, suddenly an
earthquakel The iron bars of the prison
twist, the pillars crack off, the solid mason4
ry begins TO heave and rock till all the doors
swing open, and the walls fall with a terS
rife crash. The jailer. feeling himself re
sponsible for these prisoners, and feeling
suicide to be honorable-snce Brutus killed
himself, aud 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; "Stopl stopl Do thy.
self no harm. We are all here" Then
see the jaier running through the dust and
amid the ruin of that prison, and see him
throwing himself down at tho feet of Theses
prisoners, crying out: "What shall dos
What shall dom Did Paul answer: Sect
out OF this place before there is another
earthquake; put handouts and hopples on
these other prisoners, lest they get awayr
No word of that kind. Compact, thrilling.
tremendous answer; answer memorable all
through earth and heaven: "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved.n
Wall xua ba,,o all rad ~ +ho oowtt,~,,.I.o
in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo and id
Caracas; but we live In latitude where
in all our memory there has not been one
severe volcanic disturbance. And yet va
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 all
the cities. He thinks he mas got beyond all
annoying rivalries In trade, and he says I'd
himself: "Now am free and safe from al
possible perturbation But 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 boau4
tiful home. His daughters have just come
home from the seminary with diplomas Of
graduation. His sons have started in life
honest, temperate and pure. When the
evening lights are struck there is happy
and an unbroken family circle. But there
has been an accident down at the beach.
4HS young inhu VBUbuT6u zoo I0r out In the
surf. The telegraph hurled the terror uu
to the city. An earthquake struck undel
the foundations of that beautiful home. Thu
piano closed; the curtains dropped; the
laughter hushed. Crash go all those do
mestic hopes, and prospects, and expecta
tions, So, my friends, we have all felt tin
shaking down Of some great trouble, and
there was time when we were as much eu
cited as this man of tho text, and we cried
out, as he did, "What shall l dos What
shall doP The same reply that the apostll
made to him is appropriate to us, "Believl
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt b,
saved" There are some documents Of Sc
little Importance that you do not care II
put any more than your last name undei
them, or even your initials; bu
there are some documents Of 81
great Importance that you wrih
out your full name. So the Savioui
in some parts OF the Bible is called "L.ord,t
and in other parts of the Bible he is called
Jesus" and in other parts Of the Bible ht
Is called "Christ;" but that there might b,
no mistake about this passage, all thres
names come in together-''the Lord Jesu
Christ" Now, who is this being tha
you want me to trust in and be
lieve inf Men sometimes come to mn
with credentials and certificates q
good character; but cannot trus
them. There il some dishonestytin thel
looks that makes me know shall be cheated
If confide in them. You cannot put YOU
hearts confidence in man until you know
what stuff he is made of, and am unreas
sonable this morning. when / stop to asI
you who this is that you want me to truss
Ia? No man would think OF venturing his
life on vessel going out to sea, that ha6
never been inspected. No, you mus
have the certificate hung amidshipa
telling how many tons il carries, and how
long ago it was built. and who built it, ana
all about it. And you cannot expect me b
risk the cargo of my immortal interests on
board any craft till you tell me what it 4
made of. and where it was made, and wha
it is. When, then, ask you who this is yot
want me to trust in, you tell me he was |
very attractive person. You tell me tina
the contemporary writers describe him, ant
they give the color of his eyes, ana
the color Of his hair, and thor
describe his whole appearance as be-
ing resplendent. Christ did not tel
the children to come to him. Suffer little
children to come unto me" was not spokes
TO the children; it was spoken TO the Pha
risees. The children had come without am
invitation. No sooner did Jesus appear thai
the little ones pitched from their mothers
arms an avalanche Of beauty and love
into his lap. "Suffer little children to com
unto men That was addressed to the Phal
..sa 49, ,,l,f