Sharp County record., 1890-03-27
THE EARTH QUAKED.
A Sermon on the Historic Earth
quake at Philippi.
The Differences Between Faith and Behoi
Exemplified by Practical lHustra-
tions-The Influence of Christs
Death on Mankind.

Rev. L. Dewitt Ialmagc prepareu Oilo
following sermon for delivery in Lon
don on his return journey from the Holy
Land His text was:
Relieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved.-Acts xvi, 81.
Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even now; but they were worse
in tho apostolic times. | imagine TO-
day we are standing IN the Phlllpplan
dungeon. Do you not feel the chlil'
Do YOU not hear the groan OF those IN
carcerated ones who for ten years nave
not seen the sunlight, and the deep sign
of women who remember their lather
house, and mourn over their wasted eS-
tates? Listen again. 1t is the cough
of the consumptive, or the struggle Vi
one in a nightmare of a great horror
You listen again, and hear aculprlt' ms
chains rattling as he rolls over IN MS
dreams, and you say: "God pity the
prisoner" But there is another sound
in that prison. 1t is a song OF JOY ana
sladness. What place to sing in! Inc
music comes winding through the corrl-
dors of the prison, and in all the dark
wards the whisper is heard: 'Whats
that? What's that?"
1t is the song of Paul and Silas. Thcy
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 havo they been put IN
here? O, they have been trying tomako
the world better Is that all? That Is
all A pit for Joseph. A lions cave
for Daniel. A blazing furnace for Shad-
rach. Clubs for John Wesley. An anath-
ema for Philip Melancthon. A dun
geon for Paul and Silas. But while we
are standing in the gloom OF that
Philippian dungeon, and we hear the
mingling voices of sob, and groan, and
blasphemy, and halleluiah, suddenly an
earthqualle The iron bars of the prison
twist, the pillars crack off, the solid
masonary begins to heave and rock till
all the doors swing open, and the walls
fall with a terrible crash. The jailer,
feeling himself responsible for these
prisoners, and feeling suicide to be hon
orable-since Brutus killed himself, and
Cato killed himself, and Cassius killed
himself-puts his own sword to his own
h., proposing with one strong, keen
thrust to put an end to the excitement
and agitation.
But Paul cries out; "Stop! stop! Do
thyself no harm. We are all here. "
Then l see the jailer running through
the dust and amid the ruin Of that
prison, and | see him throwing himself
down at the feet of those prisoners, cry
ing out: "What shall do? What shall
| do?" Did Paul answer: "Get out of
this place before there is another earth
quake; put handouts and hobbies on
these other prisoners, lest they get
away?" No word of thai kind. Com
pact, 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 earth
quake in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo
and in Caracas; but we live in lati-
tude where, in all our memory, there
has not been one severe volcanic dis
turbance. And yet we have seen fifty
earthquakes. Here is man who has
been building up large fortune. His
bid on the money market was felt in all
the cities lie thinks he has got be-
yond all annoying rivalries in trade, and
he says to himself
"Now am free and safe from all pos
sible perturbation. But national
panic strikes the foundations of the
commercial world, and crash! goes all
that magnificent business establish
ment. He is a man who has built up a
very beautiful 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 un-
broken 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 under the foundation of that
beautiful home. The piano closed the
curtains dropped, the laughter hushed.
Crash 90 all those domestic hopes, and
prospects, and expectations. So, my
friends. we have all felt the shaking
down of some great trouble, and there
was a time when we were as much ex-
cited 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:
Relieve 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 initial, but there
are some documents of so great impor-