The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-30
PAUL'S RESCUE FROM PRISON.
TALNAGE breaches or THE PHIL
LIPPIAN JAILER.

Question: "sirs. What Must Do TO
Be saved .'-First Il Is Noticeable
for Its Courtesy-Ttter Lack OF
Doubt as 40 Gods Power 10 save
Another Characteristic.
washington. Dec. 2e-For the closing
discourse Of the year. Rev. Dr. Talmage
chose a subject which appeals TO the
unconverted everywhere, viz The Phil
ipp.an Jauer." The text selected was
..Sirs. what must do 10 be saved2' Acts
16
Inearcerated in a Philippian penitenu-
arr. a place cold, and dark, and damp.
and Ioathsome. and hideous, unillumined
save by the torch Of the official who
comes 10 see il they are alive yet, are
two ministers Of Christ their feet fast
in instruments Of torture, their shoulders
drippius from the stroke Of leathern
thongs, their mouths hot with infiamuaa-
ton Of thirst, their heads faint because
they may not lie down In a comfortable
room Of that same building, and amid
pleasant surroundings. is a paid officer
Of the government whose business il is
to supervise the prison. It is night and
all is still in the corridors of the dun
geon save as some murderer struggles
with a horrid dream, or a ruftian turns
over in his chains, or there is the cough
OF a dying consumptive amid the damp
ness; but suddenly, crash. so the walls.
The two clergymen pass out free. The
5ailkeeper, although familiar with the
darkness and the horrors lowering
around the dungeon. is startled beyond
all bounds. and, hambeau in hand, he
rushes through amid the falling walls.
shouting at the top Of his voice: ''Sirs,
what must l do TO be saved?'
I stand now among those who are ask
ing the same question with more or less
earnestness, and accost you in this crisis
of your soul with a message from heaven.
There are those in this audience who
might be more sEilful in argument than j
am; there are those here who can owe
into deeper depths Of science, or nave laI-
ger knowledge, there are IN TINS aluleIlce
those before whom ] would willingly bow
as the inferior TO the superior; but ylGd
10 no one in this assemblage in desire
Of an omnipotent Gospel
shall proceed to characterize the ques-
tion of the agitated Jall-keeper Ana hrst'
characterize the question as courteous.
He might have rushed in and said; Paul
and Silas, you vagaDOnds, are you tearing
down this prison? Aren't you sausned
with disturbing the peace of the city by
your infamous doctrlnesE ANA are you
now going TO destroy public property!
Back with you to your places you Naga-
bondsW He said no such thing. Inc WORD
Of four letters, ''SirsW equivalent to
lords recognized the majesty and the
honor of their mission. Sirs! II a man
with a captious spirit tries 10 find the
way to heaven. he Will miss II. In man
comes out and pronounces al CHRISTIANS
as hypocrites and the religion OF Jesus
Christ as a fraud, and asks irritating Ques-
lions about the mysterious and the IN
scrutable, saying, Come my wise man,
explain this and explain that; II THIS be
aaf feaf hn TrIfq
finds the way to heaven. The question or
the text was decent. courteous, gentle
manly, deferential. Sirs!
Again, / characterize this question OF
the agitated jail-keeper by saying that II
was a practical question lie ola not ask
why God let sin come into the world, ne
did not ask how Christ could be God ana
man in the same person, he did not ask
the doctrine of the DEGREES explained or
want to know whom Cain married, or
what was the cause OF the earthquake.
His present and everlasting welfare was
i7i-clyed in the question, and was not that
practical2 But 1 know multitudes Of peO-
pie who are bothering themselves about
the non-essentials of religion. What would
you think of a man who should, While
discussing the question OF the nght ana
heat of the sun, spend his time down IN
coal cellar, when he might come out and
see the one and feel the other2 Yet there
are multitudes of men who, in discussing
the chemistry Of the gospel, spend their
time down in the dungeon of their I'M
belief, when God all the while stands
IellnE them to come Out into the noon
day light and warmth of the sun of right
eousness The question for you, my
brother, to discuss Is not whether Calvin
or Arminius was right, not whether
handful of water in holy baptism or a bap-
tistery is the better, not whether foreordi-
nation and free agency can be harmon
lied. The practical question for you to
discuss, and for me to discuss, is, Where
will ! spend eternity"
Again, l characterize this question Of
the agitated jail-keeper as one personal to
himself / have no doubt he had many
friends, and he was interested in their
welfare. have no doubt he found that
there were persons in that prison who, if
the earthquake had destroyed them, would
have found their case desperate. He is
not questioning about them. The whole
weight OF his question turns on the pro-
noun Il" What shall ] do?" OF course
when man becomes a Christian he i'm
mediately becomes anxious for the saliva
uon OF other people, but until that point
IS reached the most important question is
about your own salvation. What is to be
my destiny What are my prospects for
What shall I do?" The trouble is we
shuttle the responsibility off upon others
we prohesy a bad end to that inebriate
and terrific exposure to that defauIfer'
and awful catastrophe to that prohigate
we are so busy in weighing other people
We forget ourselves to get into the scales
we are so busy watching the poor gar
9ens OF other people that we let our own
oooryard 60 to weeds. We are so busy
sending off other people into the lifeboat
We sink in the wave. We cry fret he
cause our neighbours house is burning
down and seem TO be uninterested al.
though our own house is in the conflaera-
uon. Q wandering thoughts, disappear
to-day. Blot out this entire audience ex-
eept yourself Your sin, is it pardoned?
Your death, is it provided for? Your
heaven, is it secured? A mightier earth
quake than that which demolished the
Philippian penitentiary viii rumble about
your ears. The foundations of the earth
Will give way. The earth by one tremor
VIII fling all the American cities into the
DUST Cathedrals and palaces and pris-
ons which have stood for thousands Of
years viii topple like a child's blockhouse.
The surges of the sea viii submerge the
land, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
ABOVE the Alps and the Andes clap their
hands. What then will become Of me?
what then will become of YOU? | do NOT
wonder at the anxiety of this man of nv
text, for he was not only anxious about
me falling Of the prison, but the falling
Again. l remark: I characterize this
question of the agitated iail-keeper as
one Of Incompatible Importance. Men
are alike. and suppose he had scores
OF questions on his mind, but all ques-
lions FOR this world are hushed up. for
gotten, annihilated in this one question
OF the text: What must / do to be
sayedF' And have you, my brother. any
"a INN fl.s