The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-01-24
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE NOTED DIVINE's SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
Subject "rho i'huIDpian Jalicr.'

Trz7, nBlrs. what must DO 70 DO saysdg
Acts XVII. 80.
Tn0arcorated Ga q phlllpplan penileniinry
4 place cold AMI dark nud damp and lolth-
some and hideons, uulNumlnad save by tho
torch of the official who comes Co SOC NJ thoy
ace alive yet, ara two ministers OF Christ,
their feet fast IN instruments OF torture. thoir
shoulders dripping from The stroke OF
ioathern thongs. their mouths hot with in-
nnmmatl0n Of thiut their heads faint bee
cause they may not No down. In @ com.
Portable room Of that same building and
amid pleasant surroundings is a paid officer
oi the Government whose business 10 is Co
supervise the prison. 10 is night. aud an i8
SIN in the corridors OF the dungeon sayo H8
some murderer struggles with a horud
dream, on @ ruflan turns over IN his chnius,
or tboro ls the cough OF % dying consumWiv0
amid Che dampness, but suddenly, cushl so
the walls The two cIergymen pass out
Free Tho ilii keeper, although familiar with
thu darkness and tho horrors lowering
around tho dungeon, is startled beyond an
bounds, Gud famboau in hand he PUSHES
through. amid the falling walls. shouting NJ
the top OF us voice, "Sim what must do 10
be s1vedf'
stand nowamong those who are asking
the same question with more or less oJruest-
soul with "a message from heaven. Ihgre aro
.h0se I'm this audiences who might bo moro
sigill'ul I'm argument than / ami there arc
sho3e hora who can dive into deeper depths
o. science or have larger knowledge; there
ar8 Ina this audience those before whom ]
would willingly bow as the inferior TO tho
superior but yield 20 no one In this ussom-
b.agoin q desire TO have all the people saved
0y the power OF an OmnipOtent gospel.
IA tHn "a uFff ga
ION OF the agitated jail keeper. Aud iirst 1
characterize the question as courteous. He
might have rushed On and said. "paul and
Silas, YOU vagabonds, are you tearing down
this prison? Aren't you satisfied with dis
turbing the peace OF the city by your In
famous doctrines2 And are you now going
to destroy public property Back vita YOU
to your places, you vagabondsi" He said no
such thing. The word Of four letters, "sirs,
equivalent 10 "lorls," recognized the maj
esty and the honor oftheir mission. Sirsl IL
"a man with captions spirit tries 70 find the
way TO heaven, he will miss It. If a man
comes out ana pronounces all Christians as
hypoorites and the religion Of Jesus Christ as
a fraud and asks irritating questions about
the mysterious and inscrutable, saying,
"Oome, my wise man, explain this and ex-
plain that; II this be trne, how can that be
trueT" no such man finds the way to heaven.
The question of the text was decent, cour-
teOus, gentlsmanly, deierential. Sirs
Again, / characterize this question OF the
agltated jail keeper by saying that It 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 aud 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 involved in the question, and
was not that practical? But I know multi
tudes of people who are bothering thtm-
selves about the nOnessentials Of religion
What would you think Of man who should.
/ while discussing the question of the light
and heat Of the sun, spend his time down in
a coal cellar when he might come out and
see the one and feel the other? Yet there are
mulHtudes OF men who, in discussing the
! chemistry Of the gospel, spend their time
/ down in the dungeon of their unbelet when
/ God all the withstand telling them 10 come
out into the MONDAY light and warmth Of
the sun of righteousness. 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 harmonized.
The practical question for you to discuss and
for noe to discuss is, "Where will l spend
eternityY'
Again, I characterize this question Of the
agitated Jail keeper as one personal to him
self. have no doubt he had many friends,
and he was interested in their welfare. l
have no doubt he found that there were per-
sons in that prison who. il 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 81" "What shall
| do?" OF course when a man becomes a
Christian he Immediately becomes anxious
for the salvation 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 the futureP "Where am go
ing?" "What shall L do?" The trouble is
we shuttle the responsibility off upon others.
We prophesy bad end to that inebriate, and
terrific exposure to that defaulter, and aw-
full catastrophe to that profligate. We are
so busy in Weighing other people we forget
ourselves to get into the scales. We are 50
busy Watching the poor gardens of other
people that we let our own dOoryard go
to weeds We are 50 busy sending of other
people into the lifeboat we sink in the
wave We cry "hre" because our neigh
boris house Is burning down and seem
to be uninterested although our own house
is in the confiagration 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? A mightier
earthquake than that which demolished the
Philippian 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 childs 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 Of the prison, but the fall
ing OF 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, annihiated in this
one question Of the text! "What must l dc
l. L