The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-09-08
THE RESCUE"
Row. T. Dewitt Talmage on u Well
Worn Theme.
Faith In Christ the Only PASSPORT TO Eter-
nal That Faith That
Lishtened the fortunes of
tho Martyrs.

The following sermon by Rev. T. De-
Witt Talmage was selected by him for
publication this week. Its subject:
The Rescue" is based on the text:
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt he savcd.-Acts xvi, 81.
Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even now; but they were worse
in the apostolic times. | imagine, to-
day, we are standing in the r%hilippian
dungeon. Do You feel the chill? Do
you not hear the groans of those in
generated ones who for ten years have
not seen the sunlight, and the deep
sigh of women who remember their
fathers house, and mourn vcr their
wasted estates? Listen again. 1t is
the cough of n consumptivc, or the
struggle of one in n nightmare OF great
horror. q listen again, and hear a
culprit, his chains rattling as he rolls
over in his dreams, and you say: God
pity a prisoner" But there is another
sound in that prison. 1t is the song
of JOY n gladncss. What n place
to sing inl The music comes winding
through the corridors of the pris-
o"y III III an az nv ~
per is heard: whats that? What's
that?"
1t 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 bleed
ing yet. They lie fiat on the cold
ground, their feet fast in wooden
sockets, and of course they can not
sleep. But they can sing. Jailcr,
what are you doing with these people?
Why have they been put in here? Oh,
they have been trying to make 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
anathema for Philip Mclancthou. A
dungeon for Paul and Silas.
But while we are standing in the
gloom of the Philippian dungeon, and
we hear the mingling voices of sob and
groan and blasphcmy and hallclujah,
suddenly an earthquake! The iron
bars of the prison twist, the pillars
crack off. the solid masonry begins to
heave, and all the doors swing open.
The jailcr, feeling himself responsible
for these prisoners, and believing, in
his pagan ignorance, suicide To be hon
orable-since Brutus killed himself, and
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;
''Stop! stop! Do thysclf no harm. We
are all here"
Then see the jailer running through
the dust and amid the ruin of tina,
prison, and ! see him throwing himself
down at the feet of these prisoners,
crying out: what shall | do? What
shall doc" Did Paul say: "Get out
of this place before there is another
earthquakes; put handouts and hop.
pies on these other prisoners. lest they
get away?' No word of that kind.
His compact, thrilling, tremendous an,
swer, answer memorable all through
earth and Heaven, was: 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
n in Caracas; but we live in a lati
tude where in all our memory there
has not been one YER volcanic dis
turbancc. And vet we have seen fifty
earthquakes. Here is a man who ha,
been building up n large fortune. Hi,
bid on the money market was felt il
all the cities. lie thinks he has got
beyond all annoying rivalrics in trade
and says to himself: Now ! am FIRE,
and safe from all possible perturba
ton" But in 1857 or in 1878 a n~ationa
panic strikes the foundation Of tho
commercial world, and crash goes al
that magnificent business establish
mcnt. Here is n man who a built M
n very beautiful home. His daughter
have Just come home from the seminary
with diplomas of graduation. His son
have started in life, honest, tcmperat,
and pure. When the evening light
are struck, there is a happy and un
broken family circle. But there ha
beer an accident down Mt Long Branch
The young man vcntured too far out il
the surf. The telegraph hurled TIL
terror up to the city. An earthquake
struck under the foundation of tina
beautiful home.
The piano closed; the curtains
dropped; the laughter hushed. Crash
go all those domestic hopes and pros
poets and expectations. So, my friends
we have all felt the shaking down O
some great trouble, and there was
time when we were as much excited a
this man of the text, and we cried GU
as he did: what shall ] do? VIVA
shall / do?" The same reply that tn
apostle made to him is appropriate t
MS: 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved"
There are some documents of so lii
tie Importance that you do not are I
put any more than your last name III
der them, or ever your initials; bu
there are some documents of so grea
Importance that you write out You
full name. So the Saviour in som
parts of the Bible is called Lord,
and in other parts of the Bible He
called "Jcsus," and.in other parts of tn
Bible He is called Christ" but tina
there might be no mistake about TIL
passage, all three names come togethe
Tho Lord Jesus Christ"