Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1889 — THE EARTHQUAKE. [ARTICLE]

THE EARTHQUAKE.

TROUBLES LIKENED UNTO AN r. - EARTHQUAKE. They Come to All Men and Shake Them Up—Business and Domestio Afflictions. Rev. Dr. Talmage preached at St. Paul, Minn., Sunday. Subject “The’ Earthquake,” Text- Act xvi., 31. He said: Jails are dark, dull, damp, loathsome places even now; but they were worse in the apostolic times. I imagine to-day we are standing inthe Philippian dungeon. Do you not (eel the chill? Do you not hear the groan of those incarcerated ones who for ten years have not seen the sunlight, and the deep sigh of women who remember their father’s house and mourn over their wasted estate? L sten again. It is the cough of a consumptive, or the straggle of one in the nightmare of a great h orror. You listen again and hear a culprit,his chains rattling as ho rolls over in his dreams, and you say: “God pity the prisoner.” But there is another sound m that prison. It is a song of joy and gladness. What a place to sing in! The music comes winding through the corridors of the prison, and in all the dark wards the whisper is heard: “What’s that? What’s that? * It is the song of Paul and Silas. They Cannot Bleep. They have been whipped, very badly wh toped. The long gashes on their backs a e bleeding yet. They lie fiat on the cold ground, their feet last in wooden socket*, and, of course, tbey can net s e ip. Bat they can ting. Jailer, what are you doing with these people? Why have they been putin here? Oh, they have been trying to make tbe world better. Is that all? Tbat is all. A pit for Joseph. A lion's cave tor Daniet. A blazing furnace for Siadrsfch. Clubs for John Wesley. An anathema for Pailip Melancthon. A dungeon for Paul aud Silas. Bat while we are standing in the gloom of the Pnilippian dungeon, aud we hear the miug.ing voices of sob and groan and blasphemy and hallelujah, suddenly an earthquake! The iron bars of the prison twist, ih 3 pillars crack off, the solid masonry begins to heave aud all the doors swing open. Tne jailer, ieeling ui inself responsible for these prisoners, and believing, in his pagan ignorance, silicide to be nonorabie— aince Bratus killed himself, aud Cato killed himself, kid Cassius killed himself—put his tword to his own heart, proposing with one strong, keen thrust to put an end to his excitement and agitation. But Paul criee out: “Stop! Stop! Do thyself no harm. We are all here.” Tnen I see the jailer running through the dust and amid the rutos of the prison, and I see him throwing himself down at the feet of the prisoners, crying ou'; “What shall I do? What shall I do? ’ Did Paul answer: “Get out of ttis place before there is another earthquake; put handcuffd and hopples on these other prisoners lest they get away?” No word of that kind. His oomp&ct, thrilling, tremendous answer, answer memorable all through earth and heaven, wa : “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Well, we have all read of the earthquake in Lisbon, in Lima, in Aleppo and in Caraccas, but we live in an attitude where severe volcanic disturbances are rare. And yet we have seen fifty earthquakes. Here is a man who •has been building up a large fortune. His bid on the money market was felt in all the cities. He thinks he has got beyond all the annoying rivalries in trade, and he says to himself: “Now I am free and safe from all possible perturbation.” Blit in 1837, or in 1857, or in 1873 a national panic strikes the foundations of the commercial world, and crash! goes all tkat magnificent business establishment. Here is a man wno has built up a beautiful home. Hiß daughters have just come from the seminary with diploma* of graduation. His sons have started in life, honest, temperate and pare. When the evening lights are struck, there is a happy and unbroken family circle. But there has been An accident down at Long Branch. The young man ventured too fair out in the surf. The telegraph hurled the tarror up to the city. An, earthquake •truck under the foundations of that besatifnl home. The piano closed; the curtains dropped; the laughter hushed. Crash! go all those domestic hopes and prqppqcts and expectations. So, my triaads, we have all felt the shaking down of some great trouble, and there was a time when wo were as much excited as this man of the text, and we cried out a* he did, 4 What shall I do? Wnat tbs i i do? ’ The same reply that the ap >*t<e mi le to him is appropriate to u&: “iL-iitvd on the Lord Jesus Chnst and thou shiftt be saved.” There are some documents of so little importance that yon do not care to pnt any more than your last name under them, or even your initials; but there are some documents of so great importance that yon write out yoar fall name. Se the Savior in soipe parts of the Bible is oalled “Lord,” and in other parte of the Bible is called “Jesus,” and in other parti of the Bible he is called “Christ;” but that there might be no mistake tb >ut this passage all three names ourns togetaer—“The Lord Jesus 0 irist.” No 0, who is this being that you want mo to ttnst in and believe w? Men s ime times come to ms with credentials and certificates of good character, but 1 .can not trust them. There is some dishonesty in their looks that makes me know I shall be cheated it I confide in them. Yon can not "put your heart’s cinddenc iiu a man until you know what stud he i» made of, and am 1 unreasonable t » iay when I stop to ask you wno this is that you want me to trust in? No rnau would th nk es venturing his lite ff n a veast-1 going out to sea tiiit had nsver bte tinvacted. No, you must have the < trufieate hung amidships tailing i o r many tons it oair.es, an i ho v mug ago it was built, and who built it an t all about ih And yon can n)i,tx..eami to risk the cargo of mv immoitai interests oa b >ard any cra'tti l you tail me what it is made ot, and wuere it was mad- an i wbat it is. Wh a, then, I ask yon who this is yoa want me to trust in', you till me he was a very attractive person. Con e nporary writers describe his whole ance ss being resplendent. There was no nee t foe onr.se to tell the children t-> come to Him. 4 Suffer little children to come unto Me” wa* n t spoken to tne children; it was sunken to Itie dbciples. Toe children came readily enough wiCh-

out any invitation. No sooner did Jeans appear toan the little ones jumped from their mother’s arms, an avalanche of beauty and love, into His, lap. Christ did not ask John to put his head down on His bosom; John could not help bnt put his head there. I suppose to look St Christ was to love Him. Oh, how attractive His manner. Why, when they saw Christ coming along the street they ran into their houses; and they wrapped up their invalids as quick a 9 they could, and brought them out that He might look at them. There was something so pleasant, so inviting, so cheering in everything He did, in His very look. When these sick ones were brought out did He say: “Do not bring me these sored; do not trouble me with these leprosies?” No, no, there wa3 a kind look, there was a gentle word, there was a healing toueh. They coaid not keep away from Him. In addition to this softness of character there was a fiery Momentum. How the kings of the earth turned pale. Here ti a plain mau with a few sailors at his bock, coming off of the Sea of Galilee,. ?oing up to the Palace of tae-Csesars, making that paiace quake to the inundations, and uttering a word of mer:y and kindness which throbs through ill the earth aud through all the heavins, and through all ages. Oh, He was i loving Christ. Bat it was not effeminicy orinsipidiiy of character; it was aciompanied with majesty infinite and nnuipotent. Lest the world should not realizs His earnestness, this Christ mounts the cross. You say: “If Christ has to die, why not let Him take some deadly potion tnd lie on a couch in some bright and , beautiful home? If He must die, let dim expire amid aU-kindly attentions.” No, the world mußt hear the hammers m the heads of the spikes. The world must listen to the death rattle of the mfferer. The world must feel His warm slood dropping on each cheek, while it looks up into the face of His anguish. And so the cross must be lifted and a hole is dug on the top of Calvary. It Hast be dug three feet deep, and then she cross is laid on the ground and the mfferer is stretched upon it, and the ; nails are pounded through nerve and muscle and bone, through the right hand; through the left hand, and then they shake His right hand to see if it is fast, and they heave up the wood, half a boz 3Q shoulders under the weight, and they put the cross in the mouth of the hole, and they plunge it in, all the weight oi His body coming down forthe first time on the spikes; and while some held the cross upright others throw in the dirt and trample it down and trample it hard. Oh, plant that tree well and thoroughly, for it is to bear fruit such as no other tree ever bore. Why did Christ endnre it? He could have taken those rocks and with them crashed His crucifiers. He could have reached up aud grasDed the sword of the omnipotent God, and with one clean cut have tumbled them into perdition. Bat ao, He was to die. His life for yoar life. Oh. such a Christ as that—so loving, so patient, so self-sacrificing—can yon not trust Him? I think there are many under the influence of the Spirit of God who are saying: “I will trust Him if you will only tell me how;” and the great question asked by thousands is: “How? how?” And while I answer yoar question I look np and utter the prayer which Rowland Hill so often uttered in the midst of his sermons: “Master, help!” How are you to trust in Christ? Just as you trust any one. You trust your partner in business with important? things. If a commercial house gives you a note payable three months hence you expect the payment of that note at the end of three months. You have perfect confidence in their word and in their ability. Or, again, you go home expecting there will be food on the table. You have confidence in this. Now, I ask you to have the same confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, He says: “You believe I take away your sins, and they are taken away.” “What!” von say, “before *1 pray any more? Before I read my Bible anymore? Before I cry over my sins any more?” Yes, this moment. Believe with all yoar heart, and you are saved. Why, Christ is only waiting to get from yon what yon give scores of people every day. What is that? Confidence. If these people whom you trust day by day are more worthy than Christ, if they are more faithful than Christ, if they have done more than Christ ever did, then give them the preference; but if you really think that Christ is as trustworthy as-theyare, then deal with him as fairly. Oh, says some one, in a light wav, “I believe that Christ was born in Bethlehem, and I believe that He died on the cross.” Do you believe it with your head or your heart? On this hinge turns my sermon, aye, the salvation of yoar immortal soul. Yon often go across a bridge yoa know nothing about Yon do not know who built the bridge, you do not know what material it is made of; bnt you come to it and walk over it and ask no questions. And here is an arched bridge blasted from the “Rock of Ages.” And bnilt by the architect of the whole universe, spanning the dark gnlf between Bin and righteousness, and all God asks yon is to wslk across it; and yon start, and yon come to it, and yon stop, and yon go a little way on and yon stop, and yon experiment. Yon say, “How do I know that bridge will hold me?” instead of marching on with a firm step, asking no questions, but feeling that the strength of the eternal God is under yon. Oh. was there ever a prise offered so cheap as pardon and heaven are offered yon. For how much? A million dollare? It is certainly worth more than that. Bnt cheaper than that you can have it Ten thousand dollars? Lass than that Five thousand dollars 7 Less than that. One dollar? Less than that One farthing? Less than that “Without money and without price.” No money to pay. No journey to take. No penance to' suffer. Only just one decisive action of the soul: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Bhall I tell you what it is to be saved? I can not tell yon. No man, no angel can tell you. But I can hint at it For my text orings me to that point “Thon shalt be saved.” It means a happy life here, and s peaceful death and a flliasfal eternity. It is a grand thing to go to sleep at night and |to get up in the morning, and to do Ibusinesi all day feeling that all is right between my heart and God. No accident no sickness, no persecution, no peril, no sword can do me any permanent damage. lam a forgiven child of God, and he U boned to see me through. The mountains may depart, the earth may bora, the light of the stare may be blown ont bv the blast of the Judgment hurricane; ba t life rad death, things present rad things to coma, are mine. Yes, farther . .... \ A ...

than that—it means a peaceful death. Mrs. Homans, Mrs. frigoumey, Dr. Young rad almost all the poets have said handsome things about death. There is h Ahing more beautiful about it When we stand by the white and rigid features of.those whom we love, and they give no answering pressure of the hand and no returning kiss of the lip, we dp not want auv body poetizing around about ns. Death is loathsomeness and midnight rad the ringing of the heart until the tendrils snap and curl inthe torture, unless Christ shall he with ns. I confess to you an infinite fear, a consuming horror of death, unless Christ shall be with me. I would rather go down into a cave oi wild beasts or a jangle of reptiles than into the grave unless Christ goes with me. I point you« to-day to the eternal Dakn of heaven. Are there any here that lam missing this morning? Oh, yon poor waiting maid! your heart’s sorrow poured in no human'ear, lonely and sad! how glad you will be when Christ shall disband all your sorrows and crown you queen unto God and the Lamb forever! Aged men and women, fed by His love and warmed by His grace for threescore years and tra! will not your decrepitu le change for the leap of a hart when you come to look face to face Boon Him whom having not seen you love? That will "be the Good Shepherd, not ont in the n ght and watching to keep off the wolves, but with the lamp reclining on the sunlit hill. That will be the Captain of our salvation, not amid the roar and crash and boom of battle, but amid hiß disbanded troops keeping victorious festivity. That will be the Bridegroom of the Church coming from afar, the bride leaning upon His arm, while He looks down into her face, and says: “Behold, thou art fair, my love! Behold, thou art fair!”