Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-09-07
THE GREAT RESCUE.
PEACEFUL DEATH AND BLlSSFUL
ETERNITY COST NOTHlNG.'

Rev. DIR. Talmage breaches Another Re
markabIo Sermon Through the Press
Historical Faith and Faith In the Rock
of Ages-.Tho Lamp Above the Grave.
BROOKLYN, Sept. Rev. Dr. Tai
mage, who is still absent in the south
Pacific, has selected as the subject Of
today's sermon through the press 1.-THE
Rescue" the text chosen being Acts
xvi, 81, "Believe ON the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome
places even now, but they were worse in
the apostolic times. / imagine today we
are standing in the Philippian dungeon.
Do you not feel the chill? Do you not
hear the croans Of those incarcerated ones
who for 10 years have not seen the sun
light and the deep sigh Of women who
remember their fathers house and
mourn over their wasted estates? Listen
again. 1t is the cough of a consumptive
or the struggle of one in the nightmare
of q great horror. You listen again and
hear a 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 the
song Of joy and gladness. What a place
to sing in! 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;'
It 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 cannot sleep. But they can sing.
Jailer, 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 MelanchthOn. 4
dungeon for Paul and Silas.
An Earthquake Shock.
But while we are standing III the
gloom of the Philippian dungeon, and
we hear the mingling voices of sob and
proan and blasphemy and halleluiah,
/ suddenly an earthquake! The iron bars
of the prison twist, the pillars crack of,
the solid masonry begins to heaye, and
all the doors swing open. The jailer,
feeling himself responsible for these
prisoners and believing, in his pagan
ignorance, suicide to be honorable
since Brutus killed himself, and Cato
/ killed himself, and Cassius killed HIM
self-puts his sword to his own heart,
proposing with one strong, keen thrust
to put an end to his excitement and agi-
tation. But Paul cries out: "Stop, stop
Do thyself no harm We are all her! u
Then l see the jailer running through
the dust and amid the ruin Of that prls-
on. and l see him throwing himself
down at the feet of these prisoners, cry
ing out: "What shall l do? What shall
l do" Did Paul answer: "Get out Of
this place before there is another earth
quake. Put handouts and hOpples on
these other prisoners lest they get
awav?" No word of that kind. His
compact, thrilling tremendous answer,
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, i'll Lima, in Aleppo
and in Caracas, but we live in latl-
tude where in all our memory there has
not been one severe volcanic disturb
ance And yet we have seen 80 earth
ouakes. Here is q man who has been
building up a large fortune. His bid on
the money market was felt in all the
cities. He thinks he has got beyond all
annoving rivalries in trade, and he says
TO himself, "NOw l am free and safe
from all possible perturbation. But III
1857 or in 1878 q national panic strikes
the foundation Of the commercial world,
and crash goes all that magnificent bust
ness establishment!
Here is man who has built upa very
beautiful home. His daughters have
lust 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 a happiness and I'M
broken family circle. But there has been
an accident down at Long Branch The
young man ventured too far out in the
surf The telegraph hurled the terror
I'D TO the city, An earthquake struck
under the foundation Of that beautiful
home.
Trust and Believe.
The piano closed; the curtains drop
ped; the laughter hushed. Crash go all
tLoeo do,,,ost;o homes and nrOenpcfs and