The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-01-03

REV. DR.. TALMAGE'S CALL TO THE
UNCONVERTED.

Ouestion-How Pardon Flashes From the
Throne of God to the Earnest Seeker
For 1t.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29.-For the clos
tng discourse of the year Kew. LII. IaI
mage chose a subject which appeals TO
khe unconverted everywhere-vlz, line
Pbilippian Jailer." The text selected
WAS "Sirs, what must l do to be
saved?" Acts xvi, 30.
Inoarcerated in Philippian peniten-
tiary. a place cold and dark and damp
and Ioathsome and hideous, unillumlned
~aye by the torch of the official who
comes to see if they are alive yet, are
two ministers of Christ, their feet fast
IN instruments Of torture, their shoulders
dripping from the stroke of leathern
thongs, their mouths hot with inf1am-
NATION of thirst, their heads faint be-
aause they may not lie down. In COM
fortable room Of that same building and
amid pleasant surroundings is a PAID
officer of the government whose business
A is to supervise the prison. 1t is night,
and all is still in the corridors OF the
dungeon save as some murderer strug-
,ules with horrid dream, or rutfian
turns over in his chains, or there ls the
Icoueh of dying consumptive amid the
dampness, but suddenly, crash go the
walls. The two clergymen pass out
free. The Jail keeper, although familiar
with the darkness and the horrors hover
ing around the dungeon, is startled be-
yond all bounds, and f1ambeau III hand
he rushes through, amid the falling
walls, shouting at the top of his voice,
~Sirs, what must / do to be saved?"
I stand now among those who are
asking the same question with more or
less earnestness, and accost you in this
crisis of your soul with message from
heaven. There are those in this audience
who might be more skillful in argument
than I am; there are those here who can
dive into deeper depths OF science or
have larger knowledge; there are in this
audience those before whom l would
willingly bow as the inferior to the su-
perior, but yield to no one in this as
semblage in desire to have all the peo-
pie saved by the power of an omnipotent
gospel
The Jail Keepers Question.
I shall proceed to characterize the
question of the agitated Jail keeper.
And first characterize the question as
courteous. He might have rushed in and
said "Paul and Silas, you vagabonds.
are you tearing down this prison? Aren't
you satisfied with disturbing the peace
of the city by your infamous doctrinesf
And are you now going to destroy pub
lie property? Back with you to your
places, you vagabondsP' He said no
such thing. The word of four letters,
Osiris" equivalent to Lords, recog-
nized the majesty and the honor OF their
mission. Sirs If a man with captious
spirit tries to find the way to. heaven,
he will miss it, If man comes out and
pronounces all Christians as hypocrites
and the religion of Jesus Christ as
fraud and asks irritating questions about
the mysterious and inscrutable, saying,
"Come, my wise man, explain this and
explain that; if this be true, how can
that be true?" no such man finds the
way to heaven. The question of the text
was decent, courteous, gentlemanly
deferential. Sirs!
Again, characterize this question o.
the agitated Jail keeper by saying that i
was practical question. He did not ash
why God let sin come into the world
he did not ask how Christ could be Goo
and man in the same person; he did no
ask the doctrine of the DEGREES explained
or want to know whom Cain married
or what was the cause of the earth
quake. His present and everlasting wei
fare was involved in the question, ant
was not that practical? But l know
multitudes of people who are botherlni
themselves about the nOnessentials o
religion. What would you think of
man who should, while discussing tn
question of the light and heat of tn
sun, spend his time down in coal Gel
lar when he might come out and Sc
the one and feel the other? Yet Their
are multitudes of men who, in discuss
ing the chemistry of the gospel, spen
their time down in the dungeon of thei
unbelief when God all the while stand
telling them to come out into the noon
day light and warmth of the sun
righteousness. The question for you, IN
brother, to discuss is not whether Ca
win or Arminius was right, not whethe
a handful of water in holy baptism or
baptistery is the better, not whethe
foreordination and free agency can b
harmonized. The practical question fo
you to discuss and for me to discuss Ii
"Where will spend eternity?"
"what Shall L Do?"
Again, characterize this question
the agitated Jail keeper as one persons
to himself. l have no doubt he ha
many friends, and he was interested
their welfare. l have no doubt
found that there were persons in th'
prison who, if the earthquake had d.
stroyed them, would have found the
case desperate. He is not questioniI
about them. The whole weight of h
question turns ON the pronoun IL
"What shall do?" OF course when
man becomes Christian he immediat
" becomes anxious for the salvation
other people. but until that point
reached the most important question
about your own salvation. What is
be my destiny?' "What are my pro