Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-01-10
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME BY THE
WASHINGTON PREACHER.
Subject: "The I'hnIpplan Jailer.
Tar: "sirs, VIVA, mus, 1 do to be sarels"

TCIr. "Sirs. what must DO to be sayeIg'
! Acts XVI. 50.
Incarceratei In a PhilippiGn penitentiary,
a place cold ami dark and damp and loath-
! some and hideOus. uuillumined save by the
| torch Of the Official who comes to see ii they
are alive vet, 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 IN
I flammation 81 Thirst. their heads faint be-
, cause they may not lie down. In a COM
Portable room ~ that same building and
amid pleasant surroundings is paid officer
Of the Government whose business II is 10
supervise the prison. II j. night, and all 4
still in the corridors ~ the dungeon save o.
| some murderer struggles with horrd
! dream, or a rglhan turns over m ms chains,
| or there is the cough Of dying cOnsumptive
amid the dampness, but suddenly. crash, 90
the walls. The two clcrgymen pass out
| free. The Jail keeper. although familiar with
| the darkness and the horrors hoNerlng
| around the dungeon, l. startled beyond all
/ bounds, and famheau in hand he PUSHES
/ through. amid the falling walls, shouting AZ
| the top Of his voice, "Sirs, what must DO to
| be sayed?n
stand now among those who are asking
| the same question with more or less earnest
] ness, and accOst YOU In this crisis OF your
soul with a message from heaven. There are
those in this audience who might he more
skillful in argument than | am; there ars
! those here who can dive into deeper depths
I of science or have larger knowledge; there
/ are in this audience those before whom i
would willingly bow rs the inferior to the
! superior, but yield TO no one in this assem-
hlace in 4 desire to have all the people saved
blythe power Of an omnipotent gospel.
( | shall proceed to characterize the ques-
ton of the agitated Jail keeper. And first l
characterize the question as courteous = He
might have rushed in and said paul and
Silas, YOU vagabOudS, are you tearing down
this prison? Aren't you satisfied with dis
turbing the peace Of the city by your in
famous dOctrineSy Aud are YOU now going
to destroy public property? Back with YOU
TO your places, you vagabonds' lie said no
such thing. The word Of four letters, 'sirs.
equivalent TO lords recognized the maj
esty and the honor Of their mission. Sirs! II
/ man witha captious spirit tries to find the
way to heaven, he will miss it. II man
. comes out and pronOuures all Christians "a
| hypocrites aud the religion of Jesus Christ As
afraud and asks irritating questions about
the mysterious and inscrutabe, saying.
"Come my wise man, explain this and eN-
plain that; il this be trne. how can that be
4 truc2' no such man finds the way 10 heaven.
The question Of the text was decent cCur-
=
Again. characterize this question Of the
agitated Jail keeper by saying that il was a
practical question. He did not ask why
God LET sin come into the world; he did not
ask how Christ could be God and man in the
same person: he did not ask the doctrine OF
. the DEGREES explained or want to know VIII ON
/ Cain married or what was the cause Of the
earthquake. His present and everlasting
welfare was involved in the question. and
was not that practical! But l know multi
tudes of people who are bothering thu m
selves about the noueSsentiGlS Of religion.
What would You think ola man who should.
while discussing the question Of the light
aud heat Of the sun, spend his time down in
coal cellar when he might come out and
. see the one and feel the other? Yet there are
mutiudes of men who. in discussing the
chemistry Of the gospel. spend their time
down in the dungeon OF their unbehct when
/ God all the while stands telling them TO come
out into the MONDAY light aud warmth of
/ the sun OF righteousness. The question for
/ YOU, my brother. to discuss is not whether
. Calvin or Arminus was right. not whether
handful OF water in holy baptism or a hap
! tisterv is the better not whether fOrrordi-
nation and free agency can be harmonizsd.
/ The practical question for you TO discuss and
for me to discuss j., "Where will l spend
eternity?'
Again. characterize this question Of the
agitate1 Jail keeper "a one personal to him
self have no doubt he had many friends,
and he was interested in their welfare. 1
1 have no doubt he found that there were per-
sons 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 prOnoun Il 'What shall
do?' OF course when Il man becomes a
Christian he Immediately becomes anxious
/ for the salvation o5 other people, but until
I that point is reached the most important
/ question is about your own salvation.
what is TO be my de,tiny:' What are my
! prospects for the future?' "Where an. / go
, tng?" "What shall | do?' The trouble is
We shuttle the responsibility of upon others.
I We prophesy bad end to that incbriate. and
/ terrific exposure to tina: deiaulter, and aw-
! FIJI catastrophe to that pre- iiigate. We are
so busy in weighing other people We forget
| ourselves to get into the scales. We are so
busy watching the poor gardens Of other
1 people that we let our own doorYard 20
to weeds. We are so busy sending of other
people into the lifebOat we sink in the
wave We cry sire" because our neigh
hor's house is burning down and seem
to be unintetested although our own house
is in the confiagrati0n. Oh. wandering
] thoughts, disappear to-day. Blot out this
| entire audience except yourself. Your sin,
is it pardoned? Your death. is it provided
for? Your heaven, is it secured? mightier
earthquake than that which demolished the
Philppian penitentiary will rumble about
your ears. The foundations Of the earth
will give way. The earth by one tremor will
fling all the American cities into the dust.
Cathedrals and palaces and prisons which
have stood for thousands of years will top
pie like child's blockhouse. The surges Of
the sea will submerge the land and the At
lantic and Pacific Oceans above the Alps and
the Andes clap their hands. What then will
become Of me? What then will become OF
you? Idonot wonder at the anxiety of this
man of my text for he was not only anxious
about the falling the prison, but the fall
ing of a world.
Again. | remark. characterize this ques-
ton OF the agitated Jail keeper as one OF in
comparable importance. Men are alike,
and suppose he had scores OF questions on
his mind, but all questions for this world are
hushed up, forgotten, annihllated in this
one question Of the text: "What must | do
to be saved?' And have you, my brother.
any question of importance compared with
that question? Is it a question of businessl
Your common sense tells you that you will
soon cease worldly business. You know very
well that you will soon pass out OF that part
nership. You know that, beyond a certain
point, of all the millions OF dollars worth OF
goods sold you will not handle yard Of cloth
or pound OF sugar, or penny worth
After that, if conhagration should
sweep all Washington into ashes, il
would nor touch you. and wOuld MOI
damage you. If every cashier should alb
scond and every bank suspend payment anC
every insurance company fail. it would moi
affect you. Oh, how insignificant is. bust
ness this side the grave with business on the
other side the gravel Have you made an,
purchases for eternity? Have you any secu
rites that will last forever? Are you Job
bling for time when You might be wholesal