National Republican., 1875-11-23
BELsHAzzAR,s FEAST.
Sermon by Rev. David Wills, D. D.

W AAoNs OogA0 AAAos ~ ~
By special request, Rev. DR.. Wills, pastor OF
the Western Presbyterian church, delivered
sermon on Sunday evening on Belshazzar's feast.
The announcement Of the subject in the morning
drew out good audience. After reading the
fifth chapter of Daniel, descriptive of the scene,
Dr. Wills took for his text the first verse: "Bel
shRZZar, the King, made great feast to thou
sand Of his lords and drank wine before the thou
sand." He said: Babylon was the capital OF the
Chaldean monarchy, and the centre Of its wealth,
msgnincence and military glory. Isaiah, In q
burst OF poetic rapture, pronounced 1t "the
golden city" and "the beauty of the Chaldees'
excellency," and Herodotus, who visited It In per-
son, has given a glowing account Of its msgni-
tude and splendor. He describes 1t as fifteen
three hundred and fifty feet high and eighty
seven feet thick, with one hundred braZen gates,
snG s "a gardens were one ot the seven
in the textwas attended by the lords and ladies
of the court who appeared in all their gayety
mOnds, and humor flowed with the flowing wine.
But in the midstof the loudest revelry q strange
the King with HpnFnown % dread. and having called led
on his wise men to solve the mysterious lnscrip-
tiOP, and their skin g having isilsd, Daniel the
nish key 70 t. His explanation was that it was
sprophecy Of the DOWNFALL Of the kingdom and
There is nothing wrong in q feast, in itself con-
sidered. Any public or private man has right,
at any time TO invite his friends to share the hos
pitalities Of his board: But when feast is con-
ceived In the spirit of idolRtry, attended by pro-
taneness and intemperance, It always provokes
sons We deduce from this narrative, are
l. Luxury, levtty and excess are sure causes Of
national degeneracy and decay: What Cyrus
years was accomplished by one nights abandoned
revelry. Nations are rarely overthrown by for
When ali classes become corrupt; when there Is
education without religion, profession without
principle, form without substance in short, when
there is no distinct recognition Of God and his
government, and no practice Of purity, truth,
temperance, problty and piety, then It requires
2 The second lesson is, the impiety and danger
Of desecrating holy things Belshazzar used at |
this feast the sacred vessels brought by his grand
salem, and thus profaned what was holy to the |
Lord, and also fnsulted the captive Jews We |
have no SSITthSrty ST1 from Heaven to Persscute any
hammedan. We are guilty OF desecrating holy /
things when we join the Church from sinister |
motives, when We take the communion to OBTAIN |
civil oftce or literary degree; when we convert /
the pulpit into political forum; when the music /
Of the sanctuary is made more pleasing to man
Bible are used to point jest or adorn tale, and
when tSe Sabbath is devoted to purposes Of |
consumed by councils, cabinets, congresses or /
courts
8: The power Of q guilty conscience to punish
by the strange handwriting? He did not know It's /
meaning, and yet the sight OF IL made him turn
pale and tbiver with fear. The explanation Is
that the wicked read all supernatural events in L
the light Of guilty Coincidence. The fall OF leaf
startles the sinner; he sees o ghost in every /
shadow, and in every sound he helrs the trump Of
doom. Thus does .conscience make towards Of /
us ALL"
4. We should lay to heart the solemn warnings /
Of Provtderee. NebuehadnezZsr, for refusing 70
acknowledge that the 'heaveus rule, " was driven |
from his thrones and doomed 70 eat grass with the
Hsase ol tne field. Though bis grandson mad I
been warned by the tragic fate Of his ancestor, he
fell into the same sin and condemnation. WeWill |
not be condemned on the day Of Judgment because |
We have honestly believed o lie, but because we /
have not used the means to arrive at the truth |
The deist viii not be condemned for his deism |
but for not searching the Scriptures till he became
convinced Of their Divine inspiration. The man OF
the world VIII not be condemned for his worldli- |
ness but for giving more atter ion to his farm |
and merchandise than to the solution Of the great
problem, "What must do to be sayed?n /
s. Finally God overtakes the wicked at time |
and in q way that they do not anticipated AS n Il
was in the days OF Noah and Lot so viii IL be Al |
the end Of the world. Men will be eating and |
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, |
when, IN the midst Of their revelry and mirth they
will be suddenly swept into eternity. "Be ye,
therefore, also ready for In such an hour Rs ye
think not the Son Of Man cemeth.n
The above Is but q bare outline OF the discourse |
which was delivered, as usual with Dr. Wills,
without notes, in most impressive style, and
abounded In eloquent passages.