Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-22
and three-fourths Of the business

uncertainty. and three-fourths of the business
| of our great cities is only one huge species of
| gambling, and society is upturned by false
assignments, and regulations, and imperilled
| trust funds, and fraudulent certificates of
/ stock, and wild schemes in railroads without
any track. and banks without any capital, and
| cities without any houses, and joint stock
/ companies without any consciences? And why
| are ten thousand of our business men ridden
| with nightmare enough to crush Hercules
and PrOmetheus? 1t is the want of a right
kind of store lamp. What ruined the mer-
| chant princes of Tyre-that great CITY of fairs
and bazaars and palaces; her vessels of trade
with cedar masts and embroidered sails and
ivory benches driven by fierce blasts on north
ern waters and then dropping down on CLASSY
indian seas; bringing wine from Helbon, and
charlot cloths from Dedan, and gold and
spices from Rahmah, and emerald and
agate from Syria; her waters foam
ing with lnnumerable keels. her storehouses
bursting with the treasures of all nations
that queen OF cities on thrOne'of ivory and
ebony, under crown of gold and pearl and
diamond and carbuncle and chrysophraseg
The want of right kind of store lamp. Ii
the principles of religion had ruled in her
tfade, DO you suppose that dry rot would
have sunk the ships, and that vermin would
nave eaten up her robes, and that Gods mills
would have ground up the agate. and that
fishermen would dry their nets on rocks which
once were aquake with the roar and tread of
a great metropolis? Oh, what thrones have
fallen, what monuments have crumbled
what fleets have sunk, what statues have been
defaeed, what bar6arisms have been created,
what civilization retarded, what nations
damned, all for the want of the right kind of
a store lamp!
Still further, the Bible is the best church
lamp. care not how many chandeliers there
may be in church, how many brilliant
best church lamp. Oh, is there ANYTHING
more beautiful than an audience Gathered d
the Sabbath for Christian worssH Thel
may be no dazzle of theatric assem-'S Sge, the
m CrlII of foot 1f.l,N, Il
no alleg0ric images blOssOming from foot ~
dome; but there is something in the places
and In the occasion that makes it super
natural. In the light of this lamp l see your
faces kindle with a great joy. Glorious
church lamp, this Bible Luther found it in
the clolster at Erfurt, and he lifted it until
the monasterles and cathedrals of Germany
ana italy and France and England and the
world saw its illumination. II shone under
the breastplate of sacerdOtal authority; and in
the mosques OF Turkey and in the pagOdas
OF India, and in the ice huts of Greenland.
and in the mud novels of Africa, and in the
temples of China, Gods Tegenerated
children, in sweet Italian, and ma
sal Chinese, and harsh ChOctaW, cried ont:
THY word is a lamp" 1t throws its light on
the pulpit, making a bulwark of truth; on
the baptlsmal cup, until Its waters glitter
IKE the crystals OF heaven. 1t strikes peni-
tence into the prayers and gladness into the
thanksgiving. 1t changes INTO a church John
Bunyan's prison, and Covenanters' cave and
Calyln's castle, and Huss' stake. and Hugh
hckaiPs scafold of martyrdOm. Zwinglius
carried it into Switzerland, and Jock Wick
field into EnglBnd, and John Knox into Scot
land, and Jehud Ashmum into Africa.
Begone ye scOffers! Down to the lowest
pit ye emissaries of darkness! for bV the
throne of an omnipotent judgment | declare
1t that all iniquity shall fall, and all bondage
be broken, and all wounds be healed and all
darkness be dispelled when Gods truth shall
go forth las lamp that burneth." We want
no sappers or miners to level the wall; we
want no axmen or engineers to prepare the
r arafrlff ffar.f
gun or bowling HOtchkiss shell TO get rs the
victory, for the mountains are full of horses
and chariots of fire. Hallelujah! for the king
dOms of this world are become the Kingdoms
Of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Still further, the Bible is a sepulchral lamp.
You know that the ancient Egyptians used to
keep lights burning in the tOmbs of their
dead. These lights were kept up for scores
even hundreds of years. Friends would come
from generation to generation and put oil in
the lamps. and it was considered a disaster if
those lamps went out. You and | will some
day go down into the house of the dead. Some
have looked upon it as an unknown land, and
when they have thOught.of it their knees have
knocked together and their hearts tainted.
There were whole generations of men that
had no comfort about death, no view of the
eternal world; and whenever they brought
their friends and put them away into the
dust, they said without any alienation.
''This is hOrrid! This is hOrrid!" And it wae
The grave Is the deepest, ghastliest pit that a
man ever looks into, unless the lamp of Gods
word flashes into it. For whole ages men
thought that the sepulchre was a den where q
great monster gorged himself on human car
casses. II will put an end to that" said Jesus
Of Nazareth. II will with mine own voice go
down and make darkness flee," and as he
stepped out from the gate of heaven all the
graveyards of earth cried: "Come! comet"
and he came down bringing "a great many
beautiful lights, and above this babes grave
he hung light, and over this mothers tomb
he hung light, and over this wife's grave ne
hung light; ithen he uttered his voice
and 1T ran along under the ground
from city to city, and along under the
sea from continent to CONTINENT until
mausoleum and sarcOphagus and sepulchre
thrObbed with the joy: 81 am the resurrec-
ton and the life; he that beleveth in Me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live" And
now, If Greenwood and Laurel Hill and
Mount Auburn could break their beautiful
silence and should speak, their lips OF bronze
and granite would break forth in the strains
OF my text: "Thy Word is a lamp
o, ye bruised souls! o, ye who have been
cutting yourselves among the tOmbs! o, We
who have been sowing seed for the resurrec-
tiOn day! o, ye of the broken heart! l come
out tonight and put in your hand this glori-
GUS gospel lamp. 1t will throw a glow of
consolation over your bereft spirit. ''Weep-
ing may endure for night, but joy cometh
in the morning" ''They that sow in tears
shall reap In JOY"
Rabbi Mier went of from home to be gone
few days and left two beautiful boys While
he was gone the two lads died. RABBI Kier
returned not knowing that anything had hap
pened. His Christian wife knew he would be
overcome with grief, and she met him at the
door and said to him: ''My husband | once
had two beautiful jewels loaned to me. | had
them for little while. And, do you know.
while you were gone the owner came for
them. Ought l to have given them?" "Of
course" said Rabbi Mier. F'you ought to have
given them up; you say they were only
loaned" Then she called her husband to the
side room and removed the cloth that covered
the dead children. After Rabbi Mier had for
a few moments given way to his grief, he rose
up and said: "NOw know what you meant
by the borrowed jewels. The Lord gave and
the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the
name OF the Lord.'" And so Rabbi Mier was
comforted.
Let this sepulchral light gild all the graves
OF your dead! May this lamp Of the text be
set in all your parlOrs, in all your streets, in
all your stores, in all your churches, in all
your sepulchres! Amen!