The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1880-10-19
OUR SUNDAY SERMON.

The lightning is 6t representative oi
the unsivxIsd sovereignty Of the HhLite
Gvd. We have, indeed, leaned something
Of TIA Dys,erious powers and properties
We proudly sI~sk OF making II our post
buy 10 carry nsss gees around the earth.
We have stretch. q our iron thread over the
mouu,.Ins, across the plains and under the
sea. By calling the lightning TO GU aid
ve have % sde the SLENDER wire thrill with the
pui-ss Of thought through our nation. nnd
from Continent TO Continent. Bat what l.
the amour, Of el-ctric f"rce which man
Can control COMPARED with the lightniDg-
which sn.wer TO the Divine call in The
heavens wiih q voice which .h~kes the
esrth, s.ying, 'H-re We .r~." The battery
which sends . puisaiion oil electric force
under the whole breadth Of the Atlantic
ocean may be 10 email that you can weaf
Il On th,mble upon your finger. Tho bat
terv Of Gud's thunder winch ~ answering
60 Gud's thunder in the heavens spreads
over usuusands If miles Of charged clouds.
IL stretches away w~stwsrd TO the Ale
enemies and souihwsrd TO tie zen, and any
particle OF nm, in the black cloud which
dsrk%ns the sky holds The concealed fire of
the uncUnQuera bic lightning. Nothing Can
st.nd b~IUre the fiery bolt which
shoots down upon the defen-eIess earth.
The substance which il strikes the more
sure il "a To he melted or ahivered Ia
atoms. The more Resistance il encounters
the more certain IL is TO move on Its way
and r~nd or burn its own path M Il goes.
4, IL il not, therefore, simply from . con-
cession TO the ignorance and superstition at
the time that the bible Sd often made the
light, ines the Represent etiOn Of tie power
and sover~ignty Of the in6nre u d. When
the Almighty would plague the Egypti.n-
for their pride and their UnwIil,nsnes. 10
let his people GO, he Numbered marvri"u-ly
with his voice from the heavens and the
FIRE of hia liehinings ran along the ground.
When the Phiiisiines came up from the
plains of Sharon and laid waste the borders
Of Ephr.im and Benz amin the prophet,
Samuel cried upon the Lord for help
against the heather. TIE Lord shundsred
With q great thunder upOn the Phi:isiine..
and they were smirten before the armies OF
Isrsel. For a whole generation the giants
of Gath and The primers Of A-calon did not
recover from the ierrore of that day when
the liehlnings of Jehovsh sm"te them at
the heights of Gibeon and drove them
down the rock pass of BethOron- When
SAMUEL would show the propie that they
hid acted presumptuously in asking for
king to reign over them, he cried unto the
Lord in the time of the wheat harvest.
when rain never falls in the land of l-rael,
and behold The heavens were darkenrd with
clouds and mighty thunier- shook the
hills. When the Most High came down
upon Ain.i with the ten Thousand Of HE
angels for the proclamation of his f-rv
Law before all the tribes OF I-rxei, thu
earth trey, blrsi and the eternal hiiis shook !,
and there were thunder. and lIgh'nng.
and thick cloud upon the mount. When
the Apne,ie John was c.uehi mp TO Para
dice, in the vision Of the apocalypse. he .. ~
the throne of the Lsmb b-fore the sea of
ela-e, archpd With rainboss md eirt wiih
Tampa of Err, snd out of the throne pro
c~eded Iightnings and thunderings and
vOices.
II is not difficult to zee a profound and
eupessiise reason Why the bible so often
makes thoae most ~~ful phenomena of ma
ture accompany he most gracious and IN
eiruciive manifestations Of the if finite
Gid. Il il undoubtedly Ia teach "a. Ih-i
while We love ne should fear while W.
trna' W should ir~mhlr; while We come
boldly Ia q throne Of grace and COZ Gdentlv
aak our Father help in every time of need
~ ne are lnslied and comm .ndrd To do in
his word, we should not forget that r
einfnl ere .tures like ia il Ia q iesrfni
thing to fall into the h.nd- of the living
God.