The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-01-25
BELIEF IN CHRIST.
rssa-
Sermon Preached at London
by the Rev. Dr. Tai
mage.
Paul and Silas in the Gloom
Of the Phillipian
Dungeon.

Jnils are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even nov but they were worse in the
apostolic times. / 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 remember their fathers house,
and mourn over their wasted estates? List
en- again. 1t ia the cough of o consumptivc,
or the struggle of onein 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 pris-
oner." But there is another sound in that
prison. 1t 10 a song ofjoy and gladness.
What a 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 that? What's that?" 1t
is the song of Paul md Silas. They 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 sock
cts, and of course they cannot sleep. But
they con sing. Jailer, what are you doing
with these people? Why lave they been put
in here? o, they have been trying to make
the world better. Is that allP That is oil.
a PIT IOr JOSepn. a non cHVe ZOE Ddnlei.
Astls1ing furnace for Shadrach. Clubs for
John Wesley. Ar anathema for Philip Me-
lancthon. A'dungeon for Pau and Silas.
But while We are standing in the gloom of
that hilippian dungeon, and We hear the
minghng voices of sobs. n groans, 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 q terrific
crash. The jailor, feeling himself responsible
for these prisoners, and feeling suicide to
be honorable-since Brutus killed himself,
and Cato killed himself, and GASEOUS killed
hims.lf-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! stopl Do thyself no
harm. We are oil here" Then I see the
iailor running through the dust and mid
the ruin of that prison, and / see him throw
ers crying: What shall l do?" What shall
l dot" 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 ave seen
30 earthquakes. Here is a man who has
been building up alarge fortune. His bid on
the money market was felt in all the cities. He
thinks he has got beyond all annoying rival
ties In trade, and he says to himself: Nov
l am free and safe from all possible perturb-
alton. But o national panic strikes the
foundation of the commercial world, and
crash goes all that magnificent business es-
tablishment. He is a man who has built up
Q very beautiful home. His daughters have
Just comehome from the seminary with di.
plomas OF graduation. His sons have
started in life, honest, temperate and pure.
Whom the evening lights are struck, there is
o happy and unbroken family circle. But
there has been an accident down at the
beach. The young man ventured too lar out
in the surf. The telegraph hurled the terror
mp to the city. An earthquake struck un-
der the foundation of that beautiful
home. The piano closed; the curtains drop
ped; the laughter hushed. Crashl 60 all
those domestic hopes, and prospects, and ex.
pectations. So, M friends, We all felt the
shaking down of some great trouble, and
there wa q time when We were rs much ex-
cited as this man of the text. and We cried
out as he did,: "What shall l do? What
shall / dor" The same reply that the apos-
tie made to him is appropriate to us: "Bs-
ieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved" There are some documents
of SO little Importance that you do not carr
to put any more than your last name under
them, or even your initials; but there are
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 aboutthis passage,
NJ &A-HA - - rr~An ~w~> z tAh~ -
Jesus Christ" Now, who Is this Being
that you want ne to trust in and be-
lieve in? Men sometimes come to
me with credentials and certificates of
good character; but I cannot trust them.
There is some dishonesty in their looks that
In them. You connot put your hearts con-
6dence in q man until you know what stuff
he is made Of, and I 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 o 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, and what 1T is. When, then, I ask
III - ~ VAO OhAAO . Nh WGSAA AAS W. w. . ~ w
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
unto me" was not spoken to the children,
Il was spoken to the Pharisees. The children
had come without any invitations No soon
er did Jesus appear than the little ones
pitched from their mothers arms, an ava
1anche Of beauty and love, into his lap.
That. was addressed to the Pharisees; not to
the children. Christ did not nsk John to
put his bend down on his bosom; John
could not help but put his head there. Such
eyes, such cheeks, such o chin, such hair,
such physical condition and appearance
Why, y must have been completely captiyat-
was just to love him. 0fhow attractive bis
manner. Why, when they saw Christ COM
ing along the street, they ran into their
houses, and they wrapped up their. invalids
as quick as they could, and brought them
out that he might look at them. OF there
was something SO pleasant, 80 inviting, SO
cheering in everything he did, IN his very
look. When these sick ones were brought
ont did he say: Take away these sores; do
not trouble me with these leprosies2" No,
no; there was q kind look, there was q gentle
word, there was . healing touch. They
couldsnot keep away rom him.
/ think there Was many under the spirit Of
God who are saying: 81 will trust him ifyou
will only tell me how and the great ques-
tion asked BY thousands in this nssemblagr
lis: "How? hoW7" And while I answer your
question ! look up and utter thOprayer which
Rowland Hill SO often uttered in the midstof
his sermons: Master, helpl"7s How are you
to trust in Christ? Just as you trust any
one. YOu trust your partner In business
with fmportantthings. fla commericalhouss
give yousa note payable three months hence,
you expect the payment Of that note at the
end Of three months. You have perfect com