The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-08-25

The lights of thought and mirth ana eio'
quence are being extinguished. The gar
lands are snatched from the brow. Tho
vision is gone. Death at the banquet!
We saw the same thing on larger scale
illustrated at the last war in this country.
Our whole Nation had been sitting at a
National banQust-North, South, East and
West. What grain was there but we grew
it on our hills: What invention was there
but our rivers must turn the new!wheel
and rattlethe strange shuttle! what warm
furs but our traders must bring them from
the Arctic! What fish but our nets must
sweep them for the markets! What music
but it must sing in our halls' what eio-
quence but II must speak in our senates!
Ho! to the National banquet, reaching
from mountain to mountain and from sea
to sea! To prepare that banquet the sheep
folds and the aviaries of the country sent
their best treasures. The orchards
piled up on the table the sweetest
fruits. The presses burst out with new
wines. To sit at that table came the yeo'
many Of New Hampshire, and the ium'
bermen Of Maine, and the tanned Caro-
linian from the rice swamps, and the har'
vesters of Wisconsin, and the Western
emigrant from the pines Of Oregon, and
we were all brothers-brothers at ban.
quet. Suddenly the feast ended. what
meant those mounds thrown up atChicKa-
hominy Shiloh. Atlanta, Getty South
Mountain? What meant those golden
grain fields turned into pasturing
ground for cavalry horses! What meant
the corn fields quilted with the wheels OF
the heavy supply trains? Why those
rivers Of tears, those lakes OF BLOODY. God
was angry. Justice must come. A hand
writing on the wall! The Nation had beeb
weighed and found wanting. Darkness!
Darkness! Woe to the North! Woe to
the Soulful Woe to the East! Woe to tina
West! Death at the banquet!
1. have also to learn from the subject
that the destruction of the vicious and OF
those who despise God will be very sud.
den. The wave Of mirth had dashed to
the highest point when that Assyrian
army broke through. It was unexpected.
Suddenly, almost always, comes the doom
of those who despise God and defy the
laws Of men. How was it at the Deluge!
Do you suppose 1t came through long
northeast storm, so that people for days
before we're sure it was coming? No;
suppose the morning was bright; that
calmness brooded on the waters; that
beauty sat enthroned ON the hills, when
suddenly the Heavens burst, and the
mountains sank like anchors into the sea,
that dashed clear over the Andes and the
Himalayas
The Red Sea was divided. The Egyp.
tians tried to cross it. There could be no
danger. The Israelites had just gone
through. Where they had gone why not
the Egyptianss Oh, it was such beauti.
full walking place! A pavement of tinged
shells and pearls, and OH either side two
great walls Of water-solid. There can
be no danger. Forward, great host Of the
Egyptians! Clap the cymbals and blow
the trumpets of victory! After them! We
will catch them yet, and they shall be de.
stroyed! But the walls of solidified water
begin to tremble. They rockl They fall !!
4uo IuSuiuB W6VcIbs 1uo ouTl0k VI
drowning men! The swimming Of the
warehouses in vain for the shore! The
strewing of the great hest on the bottom
Of the sea, or pitched by the angry waves
on the beach-a battered, bruised and
loathsome wreck! Suddenly destruction
came. One.half hour before they could
not have believed it. Destroyed, and
without remedy.
l lam just setting forth fact which you
have noticed as we'll as l. Ananias comes
to the apostle. The apostle says:
ibid you sell the land for so much?"
He says, Eyes"
1t was lie.
Dead! Asquick as that!
Sapphire, his wife, comes in.
"Did you sell the land for so much!"
eyes"
1t was lie, and quick as that she was
dead! Gods judgments are upon those
who despise and defy him. They come
suddenly.
The destroying angel went through
Egypt. Do you suppose that any of the
people knew that he was coming9 Did
they hear the flap Of his great wing' No,
no. Suddenly, unexpected he came.
Skilled sportsmen do not like to shoot a
bird standing on sprig near by. If they
are skilled they pride themselves on tax.
ing it on the wing, and they will wait till
it starts. Death is an old sportsman, and
he loves to take men flying under the
very sun. He loves to take them on the
wing.
Are there any here who are unprepared
for the eternal world? Are there any here
who have been living without God and
without hope? Let me say to you that
you had better accept of the Lord Jesus
Christ, lest suddenly your last chance be
gone. The lungs will cease to breathe,
the heart will stop. The time will come
when you shall 60 no more to the office, or
to the store, or to the shop. Nothing will
be left but death, and judgment, and
eternity. Oh, fee to God this hour! If there
be one in this presence who has wandered
far away from Christ, though he may NOT
have heard the call of the gospel for many
year, invite him now to come and be
saved. Flee from thy sin! Flee to the
stronghold of the gospel!
To-day l invite you to a grander ban.
quet than any 1have mentioned. My Lord
the King, is the banqueter. Angels art
the cup-bearers. All the redeemed arc thu
guests. The halls of eternal life
frescoed with light and paved with
joy, aud curtained with unfading beauty
are the banqueting place. The har,
monies of eternity are the music
The chalices of Heaven are the plate; ant
l am one of the servants coming out with
both hands filed with invitations, scat
tering them every where; and of that, fo'
yourselves, you might break the seal o
the invitation and road Tho words vritte,