People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 February 1897 — TALMAGE’S SERMON. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TALMAGE’S SERMON.

*‘A KING EATING GRASS” SUNDAY'S SUBJECT. From the Text —“And He Was Driven from Men and Did Eat Grass as Oxen, and His Body Was Wet With Dew from Heaven.” —Daniel 4:33.

ETTER shade your eyes lest they be D put out with the p splendor of Baby- ) VCx? Jfl some morng ing you walk out I with Nebuchadnez- . gy—zar on the suspenKjjfef) sion bridges which pwul hang from the wz housetops, and he shows you the vast-

ness of his reaim. As the sun kindles the domes with glisterings almost insufferable, and the great streets thunder up their pomp into the ear of the monarch, and armed towers stand around, adorned with the spoils of conquered empires, Nebuchadnezzar waves his hand above the stupendous scene and exclaims: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” But in an instant all that splendor is gone from his vision, for a voice falls from the heaven, saying, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee; and they shall drive thee {from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven years shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth In the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." One 'hour from the time that he made the boast he is on the way to the fields, a maniac, and rushing into the forests he becomes one of the beasts, covered with eagles’ feathers for protection from the cold, and his nails growing to birds’ claws in order that he might dig the earth for roots and climb the trees for nuts. You see there is a great variety in the Scriptural landscape. In several discourses we have looked at mountains of excellence, but now we look dqwn- dark chasm of wickedness as we come to speak of Nebuchadnezzar. God in His Word sets before us the beauty of self-denial, of sobriety, of devotion, of courage, and then, lest we should not thoroughly understand him, he introduced Daniel and Paul, and Deborah, as illustrations of those virtues. God also speaks to us in His Word as to the hatefulness of pride, of folly, of impiety, and lest we should not thoroughly understand him, introduces Nebuchadnezzar as the impersonation of these forms of depravity. The former style of character is a lighthouse, showing us a way into a safe" harbor, and the la'tter style of character is a black buoy, swinging on the rocks, to show where vessels wreck themselves. Thanks unto God for both the buoy and the lighthouse! The host of Nebuchadnezzar is thundering at the gates of Jerusalem. The crown of that sacred city is struck into the dust by the hand of Babylonish insolence. The vessels of the temple, which had never been desecrated by profane touch, were ruthlessly seized for sacrilege and transportation. Oh, what a sad hour when those Jews, at the command of the invading army, are obliged to leave the home of their nativity! How their hearts must have been wrung with Anguish, when, on the day they departed, they Heard the trumpets from the top of the Temple announcing the hour tor morning sacrifice and saw the smoke of the altars ascending around {the holy hill of Zion, for well they {knew that in a far distant land they {would never hear that trumpet call, nor behold the majestic ascent of the sacrifice. Behold those captives on the road from Jerusalem to Babylon! Worn and weary, they did not dare halt, for roundabout are armed men, urging them on with hoot, and shout, and blasphemy. Aged men. tottered along on their staves, weeping that they could not lay their bones in the sleepingplace of their fathers, and children wondered at the length of the way and sobbed themselves to sleep when the night had fallen. It seemed as if at every step a heart broke. But at a turn of the road Babylon suddenly springs upon the view of' the captives, with its gardens and palaces. A shoult goes up from the army as they behold their native city, but not one huzza is heard from the captives. These exiles saw no splendor there, for it was not home. The 'Euphrates did not have the watergleam of the brook Kedron or the pool of Siloam. The willows of Babylon, on which they hung their untuned harps, were not as graceful as the trees which at the foot of Mount Moriah seemed to weep at the departed glory of Judah, and all the fragrance that descended from the hanging-gardens upon that great city was not so sweet as one breath of the acacia and frankincense that the high priest kindled in the sanctuary at Jerusalem. On v a ceilfldji<nlgh.t, a > little iwjhlle after these captives had been brought to his city, Nebuchadnezzar is scared with a night vision. A bad man’s pillow is apt to be stuffed with deeds and forebodings which keep talking in the night He will- find that the eagles’ down in his pillow will stick him like porcupine quills. The ghosts of old transgressions are sure to wander about in the darkness and beckon and hiss. Yet when the morning came he found that the vision had entirely fled from him. Dreams drop no anchors, and therefore are apt to sail away before we can fasten them. Nebuchadnezzar calls all- 11 the wise men of the land into his presence, demanding that by their necromancy they explain his dream. They, of course, fail. Then their wrathful king issues an edict with as little sense as mercy, ordering the slaying of all the learned men of the country. But Daniel the prophet

comes in with the interpretation just in time to save the wise men and the Jewish captives. My friends, do you not see that pride and ruin ride in the same saddle? See Nebuchadnezzar on the proudest throne of all the earth, and then see him graze with the sheep and the cattle! Pride is commander, well plumed and caparisoned, but it leads forth a dark and frowning host. The arrows from the Almighty’s quiver are apt to strike a man when on the wing. Goliath shakes his great spear in defiance, but the smooth stones from the brook make him stagger and fall like an ox under the butcher’s bludgeon. He who is down cannot fall. Vessels scudding under the bare poles do not feel the force of the storm, while those with all sails set capsize at the sudden descent of the tempest. Remember that we can be as proud of our humility as of anything else. Antisthenes walked the streets of Athens with a ragged cloak to demonstrate his humility, but Socrates declared he could see the hypocrisy through the holes in his cldak. We would all see ourselves smaller than we are if we were as philosophic as Severus, the emperor qf Rome, who said at the close of his life: “I have been everything, and everything is ; nothing.” And when the urn that was to contain his ashes was, at his com- : mand, brought to him, he said: “Lit- ! tie urn, thou shalt contain one for whom the world was too little.” Do you not also learn from the misfortune of the king of Babylon what a terrible thing is the loss of reason. There is no calamity that can possibly befall us in this world so great as derangement of intellect; to have the body of man, and yet to fall even below the instinct of a brute. In this world of horrible sights, the most horrible is the idiot’s stare. In this world of horrible sounds, the most horrible is the maniac’s laugh. A vessel driven on the rocks, when hundreds go down never to rise, and other hundreds drag their mangled and shivering bodies upon the winter’s beach, is nothing compared to the foundering of intellects full of vast hopes and attainments and capacities. Christ’s heart went out toward those who were epileptic, falling into the fire, or maniacs cutting themselves among the tombs. We are acqubtomqd .-to be more grateful for physical health than for the proper working of our mind. We are apt to take it for granted that the intellect which has served us so well will always be faithful. We forget that an engine of such tremendous power, where the wheels have such vastness of circle and such swiftness of motion, and the least impediment might put It out of gear, can only be kept in proper balance by a Divine hand. No human hand could engineer the train of immortal faculties. How strange It is that our memory, on whose shoulders all the misfortunes and successes and occurrences of a lifetime are placed, should not oftener break down, and that the scales of judgment, which have been weighing so much and so long, should not lose their adjustment, and that fancy, for the attainment of its objects, should not sometimes maliciously wave it, bringing into the heart forebodings and hallucinations the most appalling! Is it not strange that this mind, which hopes so much in its mighty leaps for the attainment of its objects, should not be dashed to pieces on its disappointments? Though so delicately tuned, this instrument of untold harmony plays on though fear shakes it and vexations rack It and sorrow and joy and loss and gain in quick succession beat out of it their dirge or toss from it their anthem. At morning and at night, when in your prayer you .rehearse the causes of your thanksgiving, next to the salvation by Jesus Christ, praise the Lord for the preservation of your reason. See also m this story of Nebuchadnezzar the use God makes of bad. men. The actions of the wicked are used as instruments for the punishment of wickedness in others or as the illustration of some principle in the Divine government. Nebuchadnezzar subserved both purposes. Even so I will go back with you to the history of every reprobate that the world has ever seen, and I will show you how to a great extent his wickedness was limited in its destructive power, and how God glorified himself in the overflow and disgrace of his enemy. Babylon is full of abomination, and wicked Cyrus destroys it. Persia fills the cup of its iniquity, and vile Alexander puts an end to it Macedon must be chastised, and bloody Emilius does it. The Bastile is to be destroyed and corrupt Napoleon accomplishes it. Even so selfish and wicked men are often made to accomplish great and glorious purposes. Joseph’s brethren were guilty of superlative perfidy and meanness when they Bold him into slavery for about seven dollars, yet how they must have been overwhelmed with the truth that-God never forsakes the righteous when they saw that he had become the prime minister of Egypt! Pharaoh oppresses the Israelites with the most’ diabolical tyranny; yet stand still and see the salvation of God. The plagues descend, the locusts, the hail and the destroying angel, showing that there is a God who will defend the cause of his people, and Anally, after the Israelites have passed through the parted sea, behold, in the wreck of the drowned army, that God’s enemies are chaff in a whirlwind! In some financial panic the righteous suffered with the wicked. Houses and stores and shops in a night foundered on the rock of bankruptcy, and healthy credit without warning dropped dead in the street, and money ran up the lon# ladder of twenty-five per cent to laugh down upon those who could not climb after it. Dealers with pockets full of securities stood shouting in the deaf ears of banks. Men rushed down the streets with protested notes after them. Those who before found it hard to

spend their money were left without money to spend. Laborers went home for want of work, to see hunger in their chair at the table and upon the hearth. Winter blew his breath of frost through fingers of icicles, and sheriffs with attachments dug among the cinders of fallen storehouses, and whole cities joined in the long funeral procession, marching to the grave of dead fortunes and a fallen commerce. Verily, the righteous suffered with the wicked, but generally the wicked had the worst of it. Splendid estates that had come together through schemes of wickedness were dashed to pieces like a potter’s vessel, and God wrote with letters of fire, amid the ruin and destruction of reputations and systems that were thought Impregnable, the old-fashioned truth, which centuries .ago he wrote in His Bible, "The way of the wicked he turneth upside down.” As the stays of heaven are reflected from the waters of the earth, even so God’s great and magnificent purposes are reflected back from the boiling sea of human passion and turmoil. As the voice of a sweet song uttered among the mountains shay be uttered back from the cavernous home of wild beast and rocks split and thunder-scarred, so the great harmonies of God’s providence are rung back from the darkest caverns of this sin-struck earth. Sennacherib, and Abimelechy and Herod, and Judas, and Nero, andNebuchadnezzar, though they struggled like beasts unbroken to the load, were put into a yoke, where they were compelled to help draw ahead God’s great projects of mercy. Again, let us learn the lesson that men can be guilty of polluting the sacred vessels of the temple and carrying them away to Babylon. The sacred vessels in the temple at Jerusalem were the cups and plates of gold and silver with which the rites and ceremonies were celebrated. The laying of heathen hands upon them and the carrying them off as spoils was an unbounded offense to the Lord of the temple. Yet Nebuchadnezzar committed this very sacrjlege. Though that wicked king is gone, the sins he inaugurated walk up and down the earth, cursing it from century to century. The sin of desecrating sacred things is committed by those who on sacramental day take the communion cup, while their conversation and actions all show that they live down in Babylon. How solemn-is (he, sacrament! It is a time for vows, a time for repentance, a time for faith. Sinai stands near, with its fire split clouds, and Calvary, with Its Victim. The Holy Spirit broods over the scene, and the glory of heaven seems to gather in the sanctuary. Vile indeed must that man be who comes in from his idols and unrepented follies to take hold of the sacred vessels of the temple. O, thou Nebuchadnezzar! Back with you to Babylon! * * •

He who breaks the Sabbath not more certainly robs God than robs himself. Inevitably, continuous desecration of the sacred day ends either in bankruptcy or destroyed health. A great merchant said, “Had it not been for the Sabbath 1 have no doubt I should have been a maniac long ago.” This remark was made In a company of merchants, and one of them said, “That corresponds with the experience of my friend, a great importer. He # often said, ‘The Sabbath Is the best day of the week to plan successful voyages/ He has for years been in an insane hospital, and will probably die there.” Those also repeat the sin of Nebuchadnezzar who in any way desecrat* the Holy Scriptures. There are men who use the Word of God as instrument of angry controversy. Bigots at. heart, and zealots in the advocacy of their religious peculiarities, they meet other sects with the fury of a highwayman, thrusting them through and through with what they consider the sword of the Spirit. It is a wonder to me that some men were not made with horns to hook with, and hoofs to kick with, and with claws to grab with. What Christ said to rash Peter, when he struck off the ear of Malchus, he says to every controversialist: “Put up again thy sword into its place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with th* sword.” Rev. William Jay met a countryman who said to him, “I was ektremeiy alarmed this morning, sir. It was very foggy and I was going down to a lonely place knd I thought I saw a strange monster. It seemed in motion, but I could not discern its form. I did not like to turn back, but my heart beat; and the more I looked the more I was afraid. But as I approached, it was a man and who do you think it was?” “I know not.” “Oh, it was my brother John." Then Mr. Jay remarked, “It was early in the morning and very foggy, and how often do we thus mistake our Christian brethren.” Just in proportion as men are wrong will they be boisterous in their religious contentions. The lamb of religion is always gentle, while there Is no lion so fierce as the roaring lion that goes about seeking whom he may devour. Let Gibraltars belch their- war flame on the sea, and the Dardanelles darken the Hellespont with, the smoke of their batteries, but forever and ever, let there be good will • among those who profess to be the subjects of the Gospel of gentleness. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men.” What an embarrassing thing to meet In heaven if we have not settled our controversies on earth. So I give out for all people of all religions to sing, John Fawcett’s hymn, in short metre, cumposed In 1772, but Just as appropriate for 1897: Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts In Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above. % From sorrow, toil and pain, And sin we shall be free, And perfect love and friendship reign Through all eternity. , Nothing but faith in Christ can give a peace that the world cannot tak* away.