Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1889 — TALMAGE IN NEBRASKA. [ARTICLE]

TALMAGE IN NEBRASKA.

THE MASSES ENCHANTED BY HIS SPIRITUAL ENDEAVOR. He Grasps Hie Sacred Topio and Wields It With Fervor. His Able Discourse “Thou Art Weighed in the Bal&noes, and Art Found Wanting,” Deceived in Awed Silence. The Rev. Talmage discourses to an immense audience at Omaha His text was: i "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art ; found wanting.”—Daniel v, 37. The preacher said: j Babylon was the paradise of architecture, and driven out from thence the grandest buildings of modern times are only the evidence of her falL The site having been selected for the city, two million men were employed in the rear of her walls and the building of her works. It was a city sixty miles in circumference. There was a trench all around the city, from which the material for the building of the city had been digged. | There were twenty-five gates on each Bide the city; between every two gates a tower of defense springing into the skies; from each gate on the one side, a street running straight through to the corresponding street on the other side, so that there were fifty streets fifteen mrles long. Through the city ran a branch es the River Euphrates. This river sometimes overflowed its banks, and -to keep it from the ruin of the city a lake was constructed into which the surplus water of the river would run during the time of freshets, and the water was kern in this artificial lake until time of drought, and then this water would stream down over the city. At either end of the bridge spanning this Euphrates there was a palace—the one palace a mile and a half around, the other palace seven and a half miles around. The wife of Nebuchadnezzar had been born and brought up in the country, and in - a mountainous region, and she could not bear this flat district of Babylon; and so, to please his wife, Nebuchadnezzar built in the midst of the city a mountain four hundred feet high. This mountain was built out into terraces supported on arches. On the top of these arches a layer of flat stones, on the top of that a layer of reeds and bitumen, on the top of that two layers of bricks closely cemented, on the top of that a heavy sheet of load, and on the top of that the soil placed—the soil so deep that a Lebanon cedar had room to anchor its roots. There were pumps worked by mighty | machinery fetching up the water from the Euphrates to this hanging garden us it vva3 called, so that there were fountains spouting into the sky. Standing below and looking up it must have seemed as if the clouds were in blossom, or as though the sky leaned on the shoulder of a cedar. All this Nebuchadnezzar did to please his wife. Well, she ought to have been pleased. I suppose she was pleased. If thut would not please her nothing would. There was in that city also the temple of Belus, with towers—one tower the eighth of a mile high, in which there was an observatory where astronomers talked to the stars. There was in that temple an image, just one image, which would cost what would be our fifty-two million dollars. O what a city! The .earth never saw anything like it, never will see anything like it And yet I have to tell you that it is going to be destroyed. The king and his princes are at a feast They are all intoxicated. Pour out the rich wine into the chalices. Drink to the health of the king Drink to the glory of Babylon. Drink to a great future. A thousand lords reel intoxicated. The kiug, seated upon a chair, with vacant look, as intoxicated men wHI-with vacant look stared at the wall. But soon that vacant look takes on intensity, and it is an affright- i ed look; and all the princes begin to look and wonder what is the matter, and they look at the samo point on the wall. And then there drops a darkness into the room &nd puts out the blaze of the golden plate and out of the sleeve of the darkness there comes a finger-a finger of fiery terror circling around and circling around as though it would write; and then it comes up and with a sharp tip of flame it inscribes on the 1 plastering of the wall the doom of the king: 1 “V\ eighed in the balances, aud found warning.” The bang of heavy fists against the fates of the palace are followed by the reaking in of the doors. A thousand gleaming knives strike into a thousand i quivering hearts. Now Death is king, and he is seated on a throne of corpses. In that hail there is a balanoe lifted. God swung : it On one side of the balance are put Belshazzar s opportunities, on the other side of the b dance are put Belshazzar's sins. The i sins come down. His opportunities go up i Weighed in the balances—found wanting I There has been a great deal of cheatin'* 1 in our country with false weights and meas- 1 nves and balances, and the government to change that state qf things appointed com- i missioners whose business it was to stamp weights and balances, and a great deal of ' the wrong has been corrected. But still after all, there is no such thing as ilpeflooi balance on earth. The chain may brake, or some of the metal may be clipped, or in some way the equipose may be a little disturbed. You cannot always depend upon earthly balances. A pound is not always a pou ;d and you may pay for one tning 'and get another: but in the balance which is suspend- [ ed to the throne of God. a pound is a pound, and right is right, and wrong is wrong, and' ; a soui is a soul, and eternity is eternity God Has a perfect bushel and a perfect peck &nd & perfset jr&llon. When merchants i wetgh their goods in the wrong way, then the Lord weighs the goods again. If from the imperfect measure the merchant pours I out what pretends to be a gallon of oil and there is less than a gallon, God knows it, and He calls upon His recording angel to mars “j "So much wanting in that measure of oil.” The farmer conus in from the I country. He has apples to sed. He has au imperfect measure. He pours out 1 the apples from this imperfect measure God recognizes it. He says to the recording angel: "Mark down so many apples too few—an imperfect measure.” We may 1 cheat ourselves and we may cheat the 1 world, but we cannot cheat God. and in the ‘ great day of judgement it will be found out that what we learned in boyhood at school Is correct; that twenty hundred weight make a ton, and one hundred and twenty solid feet make a cord of wood. No more, ; no less, knd a religion which does not take hold of this life as well as the life to come fa no religion at aIL But, my friends, that is not the style of balances I am to speak of today, that. Is not the kind of weightsi and Measures. I am to speak of that kind of balances which can weigh weigh churches, weigh men weigh nations and weigh worlds. "What!” you say, “is it possible that our World is to be weighedf” Yes. Why, you Would think if God put on one side the balances suspended from the throne the Alps, and the Pyrenees, and the Himalayas, and Mount Washington, and all the c>ties of the earth, they would crush it No, no. The time will come when God will sit down on the white throne to see the world weighed, and on one side will be the world’s opportunities, and on the other side the world’s sins. Down will go the sins and away will go the opportunities, and God will say to the messengers with the torch: "Burn that world! weighed and found wanting!” So God will weigh churches. He takes a great church. That great church, according to the worldly estimate, must be weighed. Be puts it on one side the balances, and the minister and the choir and the buflding that cost its hundreds of thousands of dollars. He puts them on one side the balances. On the other side of the scale be puts what that church ought to bo, what its consecration ought to be, what ita sympathy for the poor ought to be, what its devotion to all good ought to he That is on one side. That side comes down, and the church, not being able to

does not make’ any magnificent machinery. A church U built for one thing—to save souls. If it haves* few souls when it might save a multitude of souls, God will spew it out of his mouth. Weighed and found wanting! So God estimates nations. How many times he has put the Spanish monarchy into the scales, and found it insufficient and condemned it! The French empire was placed on one side the scales, and God weighed the French empire, and Napoleon said: "Have I not enlarged the boulevards? Did I not kindle the glories of the Champs Ely sees! Have I not adorned the Tuileries? Have I not built the gilded Opera house?” Then God weighed the nation, and he pnt on one side the scales the emperor, ana the boulevards, and the Tuileries, and the Champs Elysees. and the gilded Opera house, and on the other side ne puts that man’s abominations, that man’s libertinism, that man’s selfishness, 4hat man’s godless ambition. This last came down, and all the brilliancy of the scene vanished. What is that voice coming up from Sedan? Weighed and found wanting! But I must become more individual and more personal in my address. Some people say they do not think clergymen ought to be personal in their religious address, but ought to deal with subjects in the abstract. I do not tnink that way. What would you think of a hunter who should go to the Adirondacks to shoot deer in the abstract? Ah! no. He loads the gun, he pfits the butt of it against the breast, he runs his eye along the barrel, he takes aim, and then crash go the antlers on the rocks. And so, if we want to be hunters for the Lord, we must take sure aim and fire. Not in the abstract are we to treat things in religious discussions. If a physician comes into a sick room, does he t reat disease in the abstract? No; he feels the pnlse, takes the diagnosis, then he makes the prescription. Ana if we want to heal souls for this life and the life to come, we do not want to treat them in the abstract. The fact is, you and I have a malady which, if uncured by grace, will kill us forever. Now, I want no abstraction. Where is the balm? Uhere is the physician? People say there is a day of judgment coming. My friends, every day is a day of judgment, and you and I to day are being canvassed, inspected, weighed. Here are the balances of the sanctSary. They are lifted; and we must all be weighed. Vv ho will come and be weighed first? Here is a moralist who volunteers. He is one of the most upright men in the country. He comes. Well, my brother, get in—get in the balances now, and be weighed. But as he gets into the balances, I say: “What is that bundle you have along with you?” "Oh,” he says, that is my reputation for goodness, and kindness, and charity, and generosity, and kindliness generally.” “O my brother! we cannot weigh that; we are > going to weigh you—you. Now, stand in I the scales—you, the moralist. Paid your i debts?” “Yes,” you say, ‘paid all iny ! debts.” Have you acted in an upright way ■ in the community?” "Yes, yes.” “Have you been kind to the poor? Are you faithful in a thousand relat.ons in .life'” "Yes.” “So far, so good. But now, before you get out of this scale, I want to ask you two or three quest ions. Have yonr thoughts always oeen right!” “Wo,” yciu 1 say; “no.” Put down one mark. “Haveyou loved tho Lord with all your heart, and siiM, and mind and strength •” "b o,” you say. 1 Make another mark. "Come now, be frank, \ and confess that in ten thousand things you ! i have come short—have you not?” “Yes.” ! Make ten thousand murks. Co ne now, got ■ me a book largo enough to make the record ! | of that moralist s deficits. Y y -brother-, j stand in the scales, do not fly away from ; them I put on your side the scales all the good deeds you ever did, all the kind no ds you ever ut’.ered; but on the other side the scales I put this weight which God says I must put there-on th<r other side the scales and opposite to yours I put tmis I weight: “By the deeds of the law shall no ! flesh living be justified.” Weighed ;.nd ‘ found wanting. j Still, the balances of tho sanctuary' are suspended and wc are ready to weigh any j who come. Who shall be the next! V, ell. i here is a formalist He comes and hs gets : into the balances, and as ho g:ts in I'Ve that all his re !gion is in genuflexions an 1 }ti -outward observances. As he gets into the scales I say: “What is that you have in this pocket!” “Oh!” he says, ‘that, is i V\ estminster Assembly Catechism.’ isay : i “Very good. What have you iu the other pocket,'” “Oh!” he says. “that is the Heidelberg Catechism.” "Very good. ! \N hat is that you have under your arm, j standing in this balance of the sanctuary!” “Oli!” be says, “tlnil is it church re : ord.” “Very good. What are these books on your j sde the balances?” "Oh!” he says, " hose 1 are ‘Calvin s Institutes.’ ” “My brother, we are not weighing books; we are wei-rh-isgryou. It cannot be that you are depending for your salvation upon our orthodoxy Do you not know that the creeds and the forms of religion are merely the scaffolding for the buildin g? You certain--I.Y are not going to mistake the scaf- i folding for the temple. Do yon not know that men have gone to perdition with a catechism in their pocket!” “But, 1 says the man, “I cross myself often.” “Ah! that will not save you.” "But,” says the man, "I am sympathetic for the poor.” "That will not save you.” Says the man, “I sat at the communion table.” That will not; save you. “But,” says the man, “I have had my name on the church re< ora.” "That will not save you.” "But I have been, a professor of religion forty years, ” ‘‘Taat will not,-save yen. rfetand thcrc-ow your side tiro balances, and I will give you t-.e advantage —I Will let you have all the creeds, all the church records, all tho Christian conventions that were ever held, all the communion i tables that were ever built, on yoar side ! the balances. On the other side the balances I must put what God says I I must put there. I put this million poind I weight on the other side the balances: “.- aving the form of godliness but denying the power thereof, 4 rom sueh turn away.” \ eighed and found wanting! Still the balances are suspended. Are < there any others who would like to be | weighed or who will bo weighed! Yes; t here comes a worlding. He gets into the sca.es. I can very easily see what his whole life is made up of. Stocks, dividends. percentages, “buyer ten days,” * buyer thirty days.” Get in, my friend, get into these balances and be weighed— , weighed for this life, and weighed for the 4 life to come. He gets in. I find that the • two great questions in his life are. “How : cheaply can I buy these goods!” and “How dearly can 1 sell them?” I find ho admires heaven because it is a land of gold, and money must be “easy.” I find from talking with him that lyffigieo and the Sabbath are an interruption, a vulgar interruption, and he hopes on the way to church to drum up a new customer! All the week he has been weighing fruits, weighing meats, weighing ice, weighing coals, weighing confections, weighing I worldly and perishable commodities, not realizing the fact that he himself has been [ weighed. On vour side the balances, O woriJUng! I will give you full advantage. I put on your s de all the banking houses, | all the store houses, all the cargoes, all the insurance companies, all the factories, all the silver, all the gotd, all the money vaults, all the Bare deposits—all on your side. But it does not add one ounce, for at the very moment we are congratulating you on your fine house and upon your princely income, God aud the angels are writing iu regard to your soul: “V\ eighed and found wanting I” But I must go faster and speak of the final scrutiny. The fact is, my friends, we are moving on amid astounding realities. These pulses which now are drumming the march of life, may, after a while, call a halt. We walk on a hair hung bridge over chasms. All around us are dangers lurking ready to spring on us from ambush, w 0 He down at night, not knowning whether we shall arise in the morning. VVe start out for our occupations, not knowing whether we shall cotgQ back. Crowns being burnished fot'-thy'brqw or bolts forged for Thy,Prison. Angels of light ready to shout at thy deliverance, or Jlbuds of darkness stretching out skeleton”hands to pull thee down into ruin consummate. Suddenly the judgment will be here. The angel with one foot on the sea and the other foot on the land, will swe ir by him that liveth for ever and ever that time shall lie no longer: “Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall‘see him.’’ Hark to the jarring

of the mountains. tVhy, that is the setting down of the scales, the balances. And then there is a _ flash as from a cloud, but it is the glitter of the shinning balances, and they are hoisted, and all nations are to be weighed. The unforgiven get in on this side the balances. They may have weighed themselves and pronounced a flattering decision. The world may have weighed them and pronounced them moral. Now they are being weighed in God’s balances that can make no mistake. All the property gone, all the titles of distinction gone, all the worldly success gone; there is a soul, absolutely nothing but a soul, an immortal soul, a never dying soul, a soul stripped of all worldly advantages, a soul—on one side the scales, on the other side the balances are wasted Sabbaths, disregarded sermons, ten thousand opportunities of mercy and pardon that were cast aside. They are on the other side the scales, and there God stands, and in the presence of men and devils, cherubim, and archangel, be announces while groaning earthquake, and crackling conflagration, and judgment tram net, and everlasting atorni repeat it: “Weighed in the balance, and found wanting.” • ” But, say some who are Christians: “Cer tainiy you don’t mean to say that we will have to get in the balances? Our sins are all pardoned, our title to heaven is secure. Certainly you are not going to put us in the balances?” Yes, my brother. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and on that day you are certainly going to be weighed. i O follower of Christ! you get into tha balances. The bell of the judgment is ring- j in g. You must get into the balances. You I get in on this side. On the other side the balances we will place all the opportunities of good which you did not improve, all the j attainments in piety which you might have had, but which you refused to take. We place them »)! on the other side. They go down, and your soul rises in the scale. You cannot weigh against all those imperfections. W ell, then, we must give you the advantage, and on your side the scales we will place all the good deeds you have ever done, and all the kind words you have ever uttered. Too light yet! Well, we must put on your side all the consecration of your life, all the holiness of your life, OH the prayers of your life, all the faith of your Cnristi&n life. Too light yet! Come, mighty men of the past, and get in on that side the scales. Come, Payson, and Doddridge, and Baxter, get in on that side the scales and make them come down, that this righteous one may be saved. They come and get in the scales. T'oo r light yet! Come, the martyrs, the Latimer s, the Wickliffes, the men who suffered at tho stake for Christ. Get on this side the Christian’s balances, and see if you cannot help him weigh it aright. They come and get in. Too light! Come, angels of God on high. Let not the righteous perish with the wicked- They get in on this side the balances. Too light yet! I put on this side the balances all the scepters of light, all the thrones of power, all the crowns of "lory. Too light yet. But just at that point, Jesus, the son of God, comes up to the balances, and he puts one of his scarred feet on your side, and the balances begin to tremble from top to bottom. Then he puts both of his scarred feeton the balances, and the Christian's side come down with a stroke that sets all the Hells of heaven ringing. That ro.k of Ages heavier than any other weight. But says the Christian: "Am I to he allowed to get off so easily?” Yes. If some one should come and put on the other side the scales all your imperfections, all your envies, all your jealousies, all your in- i con -isteneies of life, they would not budge , the scales with Christ on your side the spites. Go free! There is no condemna-1 tion to them that are in Christ Jesus. I Chains broken, prison houses opened, sins pardoned. Go free! eighed in the balances, and nothing, nothing wanted. Oil! what a glorious hope. U ill you accept it this day! Christ making up for. what you lack, Christ the atonement for all your sins. \\ ho will accept him? vv ill not this whom audience say: “I am insufficient, I am a sinnbr, l am lost by reason of my tr-nsgressions, but Christ has paid it all. My i ord, aud my God, my life, my pardon, my heaven. Lord Jesus, I hail theo.” Oh! if you could only understand the worth of that sacrifice, this whole audience would this moment accept Christ and be saved. j We go away off, or back into history, to get some iilustr ition by which vve may set forth what Christ has done for us. We need not go so far. I saw a vehicle behind a runaway horse dashing through the street, a mother and her two children in the carriage. The horse dashed along as tkoug i to hurt them to death, and a mounted policeman with a shout clearing the wav, and the horse at full run, attempted to seize tho-e runaway ho -ses and to save a calamity, when his own horse fell and rolled over him. He was picked up half dead. Why were our 1 sympathies so stirred? Because he was badly hurt, aud hurt for others. But I tell you to-day of how Christ, the Son of God, on the f lood red horse of sacrifice came for our rescue, and rode down the sky and rode unto death for our rescue. Are not your hearts touched? That was a s icrifice for you and me. D thou who didst ride on the red horse of sacrifice! come th s hour, and ride ihrough this assemblage on the White horse of. victory.