Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-01-04
AN AGITATED JAILER
REV. DIR. TALMAGE'S CALL TO THE
UNCONVERTED.

REV. DR.. IALMAGE'S CALL ~ IriC
UNCONVERTED.
Tho Phnippinn Sheriff and His Burning
Ouestion-uovT Pardon Flashes From tho
Throne OF God to the Earnest Seeker
For 1t.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29.-For the clos
ing discourse of the year Rev. DR.. Tai
mage chose subject which appeals to
the unconyertcd eyerywhere--viz, Tho
Philippian Jailer Tho text selected
was, "Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?" Acts xvi, 80.
Incarcerated i'll a Philippian peniten-
tiary, place cold and dark and damp
and loathso.le and hidcous, unillumined
save by the torch of the official who
comes to soc if they arc alive yet, are
two ministers of Christ, their feet fast
in instruments of torture, their shoulders
dipping from the stroke OF leather.
thongs, their mouths hot with inflam-
nation of thirst, their heads faint be-
cause they may not lie down. Ina COM
Portable room of that same building and
amid pleasant surroundings Is q paid
officer of the government whose business
it is TO supervise tho prison. Il is night,
and all is still III the corridors Of the
dungeon save as some murderer struS-
giles with a hon.id dream, or ruifian
turns over i'll his chains, or there IS tho
cough of dying consumptivo amid the
dampness, but suddenly, crash 90 tho
walls. The two clcrsymen 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 tiambeau i'll hand
he ruahos through, amid the falling
walls, shouting at the top OF his voice,
"Sirs, what must do to he saycd:'
stand now among those who are
asking the same question with moro or
less eurnestness, and l accost you in this
crisis of your soul with message from
heaven. There are those i'll this audience
who might DO moro skillful in argument
than am; there are those here who can
dive into deeper depths Of science or
have larger knowledge; there are III this
audience those before whom / would
willingly bow as the inferior to tho su-
perior, but 1 yield to 10 one i'll this as
semblago in desire to have all the peo-
plo Saved By the power of IN omnipotent
gospel.
The Jail Keepers Question.
shall proceed TO characterize the
question Of tho agitatcd jail keeper.
And first I characterize the question as
courteous. He might have rushed in and
said: Paul and Silas, you yagabonds,
are you tearing down this prison? Aren I
you satisfied with disturbing the peace
of the city by your infamous doctrines:
And arc yon now going TO destroy pub
lie property: Back with you to yonr
places, you vagabonds3' He said no
such thing. The word Of four letters,
"sirs," equivalent TO Lords, " recos-
nizcd the majesty and the honor of their
mission. Sirs If man with captious
spirit tries to find the way to heaven,
he will miss it. If a man comes out and
pronounces all Christians as hypocrites
and the religion of Jesus Christ as il
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 of
the agitated Jail keeper by saying that it
was Il practical question. He did not asl;
why God let sin como 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 whom Cain married
or what was tie cause Of the earth
quake. His present and everlasting vel
fare was involved i'll the question, and
was not that practical: But l know
multitudes Of people who arc bothering
themselves about the nonessentialS Of
religion. What would yon think of Il
man who should, while discussing the
question of the light and heat Of the
sun, spend his time down III coal Gel
lar when he might come out and see
Che one and feel the other? Yet there
are multitudes of mon who, i'll discuss
ing the chemistry Of the gospel, spend
Il ti,o Il #
mbelief when God al tho while stands
telling them to come out into the noon
day light and warmth of the sun OF
righteousness. The question for you, my
brother, to discuss is not whether Cal
vim Or Arminius was right, not whether
handful Of water i'll holy baptism or a
baptistery is the better, not whether
foreordination and free agency can be
harmonized. The practical question for
you to discuss and for me to discuss Is,
"Where Will spend eternity"
"What Shall Do"
Again, ] characterize this question Of
the agitated jail keeper as one personal
to himself l have no doubt he had
iHduy 1IlehuS, anu HC was HtS4C|tCu III
their welfare. J. have no doubt he
found that there were persons in that
prison who, if the earthquake had de-
stroyed 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 I do:" Of course when Il
man becomes a Christian he Immediate
II becomes anxious for the salvation of
other people, but until that point is
reached tho most important question is
about your own salvation. "What is to
be my destiny:" "What are my pros
poets for the future?" "Where am 60
ing?" "What shall do:" The trouble
is we shuttle the responsibility off upon