Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1890-01-25
HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST.
THE REV. I. DE WITT TALMAeE
breaches IN LONDON.

breaches IN LONDON.
Pnul and silas aud the Philippian Earth
quako-No One Is safe-All Must Trust
the LORD. If They Would BE saved-How
to Do 1t.
LONDON, Jan. 19.-The Rev. 7. De
Witt Talmage, D. D., of Brooklyn,
preached in this city today, taking for
! his text Acts xvi, 81: believe OH the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be.
saved" He said:
Jails arc dark, dull, damp, loath-
some places even now; but they were
worse IN the apostolic times. | inn
agine, today, we are standing in the
I.Philippian dungeon. Do you not feel
.the.chill9 Do you not hear the groan
Of those incarcerated ones who for ten
sears have-not seen the sunlight, and
The deep sighsof women who remem
lE3their fathers house, and mourn
over their wasted estatcs2 Listen
again. tits the coughtof consump-
tive, or the struggle OF one in a night
marc Of a great horror. You listen
again, and lear9a culprit, his chains
rafting as he rolls over i'll his dreams,
and you say: God pity the prisoner. "
But there is another sound in that
prison. It isa song of joy and glad
ness. What place to sing inl The
music comes winding through the cor
ridors of the prison. and III all the
dark wards the whisper is heard:
whats that2 What's that?" 1t is
the song of Paul and Silas. They can
not sleep. They have been whipped.
very badly whipped. The long gaslles
on their backs are bleeding yet They
lie fiat OH the cold ground, their feet
fast in wooden sockets, and Of course
they cannot sleep. But they can sing.
Jailer, what are you doing with these
people2 Why have they been put i'll
shere2 o, they have been trying to make
the world better. Is that allY That is
all. A pit for Joseph. A lions cave
for Daniel. A blazing furnace for
iShadrach. Clubs for John Wesley.
An anathema for Philip Melancthon.
A dungeon for Paul and Silas. But
while we arc standing in the gloom of
that Philippian dungeon, and we hear
the mingling voices of sob, and groan,
and blasphemy. and hallclujah. sud-
denly all earthquakel Tile iron bars
of the prison twist, the pillars crack
off, the solid masonry begins TO heave
and rock till all the doors swing open,
and thewalls fall witha terrific crash.
The jailer,; feeling himself responsible
for these prisoners and feeling suicide
| to be honorable-since Brutus killed
himself, and Cato killed himself, and
Cassius killed Eimself-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 stop! Do thy
self no harm. We are all here. :" Then
I see the jailer running through the
dust and amid the ruin of that prison,
and I see him throwing himself down
at the feet of these prisoners, crying
out: "What shall do2 What shall
7 do2" Did Paul answer: Get out of
this place before there is another earth
quake; put handouts and topples on
these other prisoners lest they get
iraway2r No word of that kind Com
pact, thrilling, tremendous answer;
answer memorable all through earth
and heaven: "Believe on tho Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 7"
EVERY ONE IN DANGER.
Well, we have all read of tho EARTH
quake in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo
and in Caracas; but we live in lat
itude 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. He thinks he has got be-
You'd all annoying rivalries in trade,
and he says to himself: Now l
am free and safe from all possible per-
turbation" But a national panic
strikes the foundations of the COM
mercial world, and crash! goes all
that magnificent business establish
ment. He is man who has built up
very beautiful home. His daughters
have just came home from the semi
nary with diplomas of graduation.
His sons have started in life, honest,
temperate and pure. When the eveu-
ing lights are struck, there is a happy
and an 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 under the founda-
lions of that beautiful home. The pi-
ano closed; the curtains dropped; the
laughter hushed. Crash go all those
domestic hopes, and prospects, and ex-
pectations. So, my friends, we have
all felt the shaking down OF some
great trouble, and there was time
when we were as much excited as this
man of the text, and we cried outas be
did: "What shall I do? What shall l
do2" The same reply that the apostle
made to him is appropriate to us:
Believe 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 docu-
ments of so great importance that you
write out your full name. So the
Saviour in some parts of the Bible is
called Lord and IN other parts OF
tine 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 passage, all three
names come in together-"the Lord
Jesus Christ" Now, who Is this Be.
ing that you want me to trust in and
believe in2 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 l shall
libe cheated if cenfde in them. You