The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1903-03-14
copyright. 1903. by A. N. Kellogg News
paper Col

copyright. 1903. by A. N. Kellogg News
paper Col
Chicago. March q. 1904
Text.-"If the Son therefore shall make
you free. ye shall be free indeed John.
s:3s.
Grim, high walls. with massive iron
doors and grated windows rise be-
fore us as we speak of prison. and
behind these strong walls and barred
windows in the dingy, bare cell. with
its low. hard bunk and its single
wooden chair, we find the despond-
ent, desperate, hopeless man. The
Man in Prison, ali, what a sad, sad
sight. Dead to the world, shut into
a living tomb, the narrow confines OF
the prison walls his world, the
cramped, dark cell his home; oh,
what miserable, distressing condi.
ton. This is the picture you draw
as we speak to you of the Man in
Prison, and it is the picture of "a
condition which the eye of man may
behold in any state or large city OF
this land. But all prisons are not
built of wood, stone and iron by the
hand of man, and all prisoners are
not found locked in narrow cells, Let
the eye of the soul look in the direc-
ton which God points, and it will be.
hold prison walls rising which arc
more awful than any which state or
nation can rear, and behind which
there are more hopelessness, and
despair, more biackness and suffering
than were ever able to crowd into a
man-made prison. Sin has buildcd
walls over which the soul cannot
climb, il has rooted over those walls
so that Heaven is shut out, il has
bolted the great iron gates and given
Satan the key. The Man in Prison
whom we wish to talk about is the
man whose soul is shut within the
Jesus Christ can set free.
Our text is Christ's own words. He
had Just been in conversation with
the Jews, who had been Boosting
that they were Abraham's seed, and
had never been in bondage to any
man. His reply was: "Verily, verify,
l say unto you, Whosoever commit
teth sin is the servant (bond slaye)
of sim" And then He went on so
declare that, "if the Son shall make
you free, We shall be free indeed"
Isaiah, the prophet, in foretelling the
coming of Christ, plainly said that
the Lord was to anoint Him at His
coming "to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound" And
this word of Isaiah Jesus used as His
text when he formally began His
ministry, and He said: This day is
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears"
And then he set to work breaking
down prison walls and setting cap
tives free. Wherever He went prison
doors yielded instantly to His touch,
and the prisoners were set at liberty.
The devil-possessed were unfettered
from their cruel bondage. Eyes shut
in the dark dungeon of blindness
were brought out to rejoice in the
light. Limbs and bodies shackled by
and disease were deliy
tions which bound them. Dead bod
les heard the authoritative summons
which split the prisonhouse of death.
and they came forth To new life and
liberty. Dead souls buried under the
awful weight of sin which was crush
ing them into hell heard the words:
THY sins are forgiven thee" and the
of :.,s-
away forever. And then they felt the
throb Of eternal life surging through
the soul, as the same voice babe
them go in His strength and sin n"
more. And this same Jesus is with
us to-day, mighty to deliver the soul
from the prisonhouse of sin.
We wish to use our text to throw
light upon prison scene at Philippi.
as described in the sixteenth chapter
of Acts. And in turn we wish to IL
illuminate our text by the wonderful
events which made IL memorable
night to Paul and Silas and to the
jailer and his family, and probably
to others.
A Puzzle Picture.-Let us briefly
Sketcn lot you a Pictuic VI thdt jan
scene at Philippi and underneath we
will write: Find the Man in Prison."
Paul and Silas in the dark. damp, foul
smelling hole called the inner prison.
Their feet are fast in the stocks, their
hands are shackled, their backs are
bleeding. Outside the bolted and barred
doors, in his comfortable quarters, free
to go where he pleased and when he
pleased, was the jailer. Find the Man
in Prison. All, you say, that's easy.
Paul was the Man in Prison. Silas was
the Man in Prison. 1t needs but q glance
to prove that. But wait. Let us look
again. What is that we hear? Strange,
but instead of cursings and abusive
language, and groans and cries of pain
because of the anguish suffered, which
generally come from prison cells, there
rises on the midnight air the soft,
sweet song of praise. II reaches the
ears of the other prisoners in the outer
prison. 1t cleaves tho night cir, and,
mounting on the starry heights. reach
es the ear of God. AS the prisoners
listen, Paul's pleading voice is heard
asking God to forgive and save the
jaiier who has so cruelty dealt with
him. Then Silas follows. Without in
the jailer's quarters the sound of heavy