The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-15
PROVIDE NOE.
Sermon Delivered by Rev. j. A. seIss.
DID,, at Sc. Johns Lutheran Church,
/ Last Evening.

Il L
The Young Mems Christian Association lave. |
for some time past, requested the orthodox
clergy of our city to deliver Sunday evening
lectures under their auspices; and sinoe the
of this system there has not been
one lecture that has ever failed TO draw a large
congregation of Gods people. and from their
nature and deep interest connected with the
subjects and the manner OF their delivery. the
youthful classes have been gathered in, when
otherwise they would not have set foot within
Gods house. Last evening, by the request OF
this Association, the Rev. ]. A. Seiss, ID. D. Of
st. Johns Lutheran Church, on Race street.
above Fifth, delivered a sermon, taking as his
subject, Goods overrullng Providence, whereby
He guideth and shapeth events to His will and
for His glory" At the opening of the services
the large ediflce was filled, and throughout the
evening services, and the delivery of the
sermon, the congregation was rapt in atten-
tion, and impressed by the truths which fell
from the speakers lips. ..
The preacher took for his TEXT
81 thought 10 good 10 Sho1O he signs and lOonders
that the hiGh cod ndtb Urooght toBdrds me-
IIoiO greut are HiSSgnS, and holO mighty are HtS
onderS."-Daniel iv, 2 3
These words are from one of the sublimest of
this worlds monarchs. He was the golden
head of the image of earthly power, and to
which all other dominions are only as silver
brass, iron, and clay. He was the ruler of the
world that then was, the centre of its authority
and power WnereSOeVer Jne Cnlluren OF men
dwelt his kingdom extended
AS Daniel has said, "He was ruler over them
all ~ And in addition TO his earthly greatness,
he was also vested with the spirit of prophecy.
He, like most men blest with worldly glory,
sometimes forgot Goo, and in his pride and
vanity did wiclledly For this he was miracu.
ously rebuke ed and severely punished. Having
sent his his wrath upon certain Hebrew youths
who would not worship his image he cast them
into furnace heated to whiteness; he was
made tosee them preserved in one heated with
fiji seven-fold, and saw them come out with
not thread OF their garments singed. 1t was
so marvellous and expressive miracle that he
felt bounu TO acknowledge the hand of God in
it, and confessed to all his vast empire that the
Goa of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was
the only God, and that He alone was to be wor-
SHIPPED throughout his realms. 1t was to this
and such-like marvellous man ifes tatiouS of the
Divine power of the Godhead that he referred
IN the teXt:-"Signs and wonders, great and
mighty, which the high God hath wrought
towards me.
But we are not to suppose that this was an
isolated case in relation TO these deeds. 1t is
mistake to look upon Gods doings with the
people of the world as if the same Divine Inter
ference in the affairs of men was no longer
what it then was. Jehovah's hand is just
really at work now in what is Transporting
every day as in the wonders that Nebuchad-
neZZar experienced. What it did then, He
does still for the,Same ends. Those miraculous
interventions often related in the Scriptures
were not meant simply to excite the wonder
of those who saw them or OF the after ages; but
in illustration of Divine government, from
which TO learn how things are governed and
conducted continually. They were simply to
time. Ordinarily we see things coming after
wards IN uniform and settled order and we
forget that God has charge in its coming, as in
deeds rare and miraculous.
We see Him putting forth the divine hand to
call saul to the Kingdom, David to the throne,
Isaiah to the prophets chair, and Jonah to be
missionary in Nineveh j just that we may
know and see how the same hand is employed
in seeking and setting up every earthly ruler,
and in commissioning every preacher of right
eousnesS who appears in the world. We may
be slow to learn the great lesson, and still
slower in taking 1t tOOur hearts. but 1T is
theless true that God is in everything.
Men devise, but God disposes. His hand is in
the election of President who is to rule as
much as it was in the calling of Moses from the
burning bush. His providence has as much
the cruise of the widow at Serapta, or in the
feeding of Elijah by the ravens in the noun
tains. He is as much in the troubles and dis
tresses of families and nations now,
as he was in the miraculous judgments
which afflicted the King of Egypt, or in the
hand that wrote Belshazzar's doom upon the
wall of Babylon's royal banquet house, AS
much in every vineyard and every harvest
field as in the miracle of Cana or in the produc.
Jon of the mamma which rained into the camp
of the pilgrim Hebrews. AS much in the pull
sations OF each heart as in that life thrill which
in every death as in the stroke which smote
down Nacab or Ananlas, or in the chariot OF
triumph from earth. AS much in every cir
cumstance in life as in the hand which took
/ up Ezekiel by bis hair from Kedar's banks, or
preserved the Hebrew children in Nebuchad-
nezzar's furnace. Neither can it be matter OF
material moment for us to understand to what
intent and with what moral purpose God has
thus dealt with men. OF the effect 1t has there
can be no doubt. 1t is agreeable to reason, and
1t Is affirmed and reaffirmed in revelation.
1t is traceable in all human history, and is
manifest in every ones own experience, If man
Will look closely. Indeed, from the very nature
or things, it cannot be otherwise. God is with
everything that He has made even in the most
minute bering the very hairs
OF our heads, and in suffering not even q spar
row TO tall without His will. The exact pur-
pose Whlch GOD has In particular circumstances
or His more marked dealings with us, we are
not always able TO understand. They doubt
Iess are manifold, complicated, and in some de,
gree, inscrutable. who hath known the mind
OF the Lord? Unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out" But we are
not lett in total ignorance. Since the fall IL
Eden, 1t has ever been one of the greatest fail
1ngs Of mankind to excel in outward things
without due regard to the spiritual and divine
People are prone TO rest contented without
penetrating sufficiently into the things of that
Invisible and hidden world from which out
ward things take their rise and shape. There
Is need that God should discover TO man, ano
discover man to himself; and out of these dis
coveries TO lay afresh the foundations for spl
ritual and pious life. To effect this is, perhaps
dealings with men. 1t is plainly traceable IL
ali the great transactions to which the scrip
IL was in them that the eternal soul and spiri
OF things broke from its outward covering
anu Threw OIL in part the mask Of secrecy v
snow the duty unto man, and demonstrated GU
true relations TO Him. For this the dry rod II
Moses hand became moving serpent; the rive
turned suddenly to blood; the dust became
living and animal; the clouds were TRANSMITTED
lnlo magazines of death and destruction; Int
at ar sh0ok putreiaction from its dewy winsI
20 man. the Mount shook like thlhl
OF niei and from its summit a flame CAV
oo oeS .lts great builders words the dark e roc
! gave OUT cool streams in the deserts the mover
8 lhg cloud guided the pilgrim hosts, ana tl
! / very sun stood still at the command OF joshua
anu the moon in the valley OF Ajalon, so ina
d All VINO saw could know that There is q GOO ii