The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-06-30

ness and service, so often misdirected,
so often on the wrong road, so often cul-
pable. The crimes of the tongue, the
crimes OF the hand, the crimes of the
eye, the crimes Of the ear, "nO greater
than the crimes of the feet. Surely we
have need of Gods pardOning grace to
hide them. We need both wings of Chris
tian humility to spread clear over them.
Surely we ought to be .self-abnegatized
and abashed In the presence of an all
searching, all-seetng, all-trying, ALTAR
raigntng God. The seraphs are. How
much more ought wep with twain he
covered his feet" All this talk about
the dignity of human nature is bragga-
dOciO, and a sign that our nature, regal
at the start, has degenerated. There was
well of pure water In a yard In BelRi-
um. Stout masonry of brick and stone
surrounded 1t. But afterward that yard
was the center of the battle of Water
lao. At the opening Of the battle the
soldiers with their swords Compelled
William Won KlysOm, q gardener, to
draw water theTefrOm and give them to
drink, and the water was good. But the
awful conflict ragged, and 300 dead and
half dead were flung Into the we'll for
quick and easy burial, and the fountain
OF refreshment to this day is the fOun-
tain OF death. Look down In 1t and you
see no water, but a few bleached skulls;
but whole armies of sin have marched
around 1t, and across 1t, and been slain,
and the soul Is a we'll of skeletons, of
dead hopes, dead opportunities, dead res
OlutlOns, dead ambitiOnS-an abandoned
we'll unless Christ reopen and purify
and ill 1t as the we'll in Belgium never
was. Uncleanl 'unclean
Notice in the text another seraDhic
posture, the buried cOuntenanee. with
twain he covered his face" That meant
reverence. IrreVerence never so wide
spread as today. 1t mutilates statuary
chips piece off a monument as a me-
mentO, cuts figure out of fine paint
ing, and makes necessary guard at the
graves of Lincoln and Garfield, puts q
butcher shop under Fanueil Hall, heWs
down old shade trees for firewOOd, thO'h
fifty George p. MOrrises should beg
them ''spaTe that tree;" substituting for
the words father" and mother" the
terms ''Old man" and "Old woman, "call
ing corpse cadaver; speaks of dying
as going over to the majority" sees
nothing impressive In the ruins of Baal-
bee or the columns of Karnac; considers
the Sabbath no different from any other
day, except as an opportunity for more
dissipation; reads the Bible In what is
called the spirit Of "higher criticism, +"
not as the Divine word, but as a book
having much good in it. Hear how
many take the name of God In vain. See
what trivial things are said about the
Almighty; many, not willing God should
have much place In our world, make
their own God. They roll up an idea of
sentimentality and humanitarianism
and tmpudence and call 1t God. No
wings of reverence over their face. No
taking Off Of shoes on holy ground. You
can hear from the way they talk they
think they could have made a better
world than this, and organized better
gOvLrnment of human affairs, and the
GOd OF the Bible Is an Offense to their
sense Of prOpriety. They talk about the
love of God in a way that shows they ex-
pect that love will let man do as he
pleases and yet gain bliss eternal, and
that this love will be a general delivery,
0anishing all idea of punishment here
after for misdOings here Now, there
are in the Bible two descriptions of God
exactly opposite, and yet both true. One
says God is love, the other says God is a
CONSUMING fire. The explanation is
plain as plain can be. God through
Christ Is love. God out Of Christ is fire.
To win the former and escape the latter
we have only to throw ourselves, body,
mind and soul, into Christ's keeping.
III
no such thing. want no atOnement. |
want no pardon. want no revelation.
| can stand without any Intervention
and look God in the face, and ask him
what he wants of me, and defy him."
SO the finite cOnfrOnts the infinite. So
the tack-hammer strikes at the thunder
bolt. SO the breath in human nOstrils
det1es the everlasting, while the hier-
archs of heaven bow the head and bend
the knee when the kings chariot passes,
and the archangel turns away, unable
to endure the tnsufferable brightness,
and the chorus of empires calls up with
full diapasOn of hOlyl hOlyl hOlyl with
twain he covered his face" Reverence
for sham, reverence for the old merely
because 1t is old, reverence for stupidity
however learned, reverence for incapac-
tty, however grandly surrounded, have
none. But cultivate we ought more rev.
erence for God, more reverence for the
Scripture, more reverence for the sacra-
ments, more reverence for the good, for
the pure, reverence characteristic of
all the great natures. You hear 1t In the
roll of great OratOriOs. You see 1t In all
the Raphael5, 'Titians and GhirlandiOs.
You study 1t In all the architecture OF
the AhOliabs and Christopher Wrens. Do
not be tlippant about God. Do not joke
about death. Do not make mirth about
the Bible. Do not quote Scripture in
fun. Bright and shining and princely
seraph takes no familiarity with God.
InvOluntarily the wings are lifted be-
fore the throne. with twain he covered
his face" Who is the God before whom
the arrogant and untractable refuse
reVerencep There was an engineer by
the name Of Straucrates In the service
OF Alexander the Great, who offered to
hew mountain into the shape of his
master, the enormous figure hold city
Of 10000 Inhabitants In the left hand,
and in the right huge basin, large
enough to collect all the mountain tor
rents. But Alexander thought it too
costly an undertaking and forbade it.
Yet our God holds In one hand all the
cities, and in the other all the oceans,
and has In his crown all the stars.
Earthly power passes along from Henry
l. to Henry III. and to Henry Ill. and to
Henry ", and from Charles 1. to Charles
III. and Charles III. and Charles w.; but
from everlasting to everlasting he is
God. God the first, God the last,
and God the only. With one tel
escOpe he sees everything-his
Omniscience. With one bridge he
crosses every thing-His omnipres-
ence. With one hammer he bolts every
thing-His OmnipOtence. Two table,