Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-09-04

James vi. OF Scotlands He took for his text,
James l.. d. He that wavereth is like a
wave of the sea driven with tbs wind and
tossed" Hugh Latimer offended the King
by sermon ne preached, and the King SAID:
'Hugh Latimer, come and apologize II
will, said Hugh Latimer. So the day was
appointed. and the Kings chapel was
full Of Lords and Dukes, and the
mighty men and women OF the country, for
Hugh Latimer was to apologize. He began
think thee! Thou art in the presence of thine
earthly King, who can destroy thy bodyl
But bethink thee, Hugh Latimer tnat thou
art in the presence of the King OF Heaven
and earth, who can destroy both body and
soul in hell fire. oh. King, cursed be thy
crimeSn
=. Another lesson that comes to us: There
is great difference between the opening of
the banquet of sin and its close. Young man,
ii you had looked in upon the banquet in the
first few hours, you would have wished
you had been invited there and could sit at
the feast "Oh, the grandeur of Belshazzar's
feast" you would have said; but you
look in at the close of the banquet
and your blood curdles with horror
The King of Terrors has there a ghastlier
banquet; human blood is the wine and dying
groans are the music. Sin has made itself
King in the earth. 1t has crowned ITSELF 1t
has spread banquet. 1t invites all the
world to come to it, 1t has hung in its ban
quoting hall the spoils of all kingdoms and
the banners of all nations. It has strewn
from its wealth the tables and floors and
arches And yet how often is that banquet
broken up and how horrible is its endl Ever
and anon there is a handwriting on the wall.
a King falls. A great culprit is arrested.
The knees of wickedness knock together.
Gods judgment, like an armed host breaks
IN upon the banquet, and that night is Bel
shazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, slain.
Here is young man who says 81 can
not see why they make such fuss about the
Intoxicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating.
1t makes me feel well. / can talk better.
think better, feel better. l cannot see why
people have such prejudice against itn A
few years pass on and he wakes up and finds
himself in the clutches of an evil habit which
he tries to break, but cannot; and he cries
out: "Oh Lord God, help mel" Itseems as
though God would not hear his prayer, and
III an agony OF body and soul he cries outs
ut biteth like a serpent and it stingeth like
an adder" How bright it was at the start
How black it was at the lastl
Here is a man who begins to read French
novels. ''They are so charming" he says; 81
will go out and see for myself whether all
these things are So" He opens the gate of
sinful life. He goes in. A sinful sprite meets
him with her wand. She waves her wand,
and it is all enchantment. Why, it seems as
IL tlO uuSOio VI OOu HUI Oub Duittto
of perfume in the atmosphere. AS he walks
on he finds the hills becoming more radi-
ant with foliage, and the ravines more
resonant with the falling water Oh, what
charming landscape he sees! But that
sinful sprte with her wand meets him
again; and now she reverses the wand
and all the enchantment is gone. The cup
is full of poison. The fruit turns to ashes
All the leaves of the bower are forked
tongues of kissing serpents. The flowing
fountains fall back in dead pool stenchful
with corruption. The Turing songs become
curses and screams of demoniac laughter.
Lost spirits gather about him and feel for
his heart, and beckon him on with "Hail,
brotherl Hail, blasted spirit hall" He
tries to get out. He comes to the front door
where he entered and tries to push it back,
but the door turns against him: and in the
jar of that shutting door he hears these
words: "This night is Belshazzar, the King
of the Chaldeans, slainw Sin may open
bright as the morning; it closes dark as the
night.
8. learn further from this subject that
death sometimes breaks in upon banquet.
Why did he not go down to the prisons in
Eabylon' There were people there that
would like to have died / suppose there
were men and women in torture in that city
who would have welcomed death. But he
comes to the palace, and just at the time
when the mirth is dashing to tie tilNtop
pitch, death breaks in at the banquet We
have often seen the same thing iGlrsrated q
Here is a young man just come from col
lege. He is kind. He is loving. He IS en-
thuslastic. He is eloquent By ore; spring
he may bound to heights toward which many
men have been struggling for years. A pro-
fession opens before him. He is established
in the law. His friends cheer him. Eminent
men encourage him After awhile you may
see him standing in the American Senate, or
moving a popular assemblage by his eio.
quence, as trees are moved in q whirlwind.
Some night he retires early. A fever is on
him. Delrum, like reckless charioteer,
seizes the reins Of his intellect. Father and
mother stand by and see the tides of life
going out to the great ocean. The banquet
is coming to an end. The lights of thought
and mirth and elo1uence are being extin-
guished. The garlands are snatched from
the brow. The vision is gone.
We saw the same thing on larger scale
illustrated at the last war in this country.
Our whole nation had been sitting at a ma
tional tanquet-North, South, East and
West What grain was there but we grew
if on our hillsl What invention was there
but our rivers must turn the new wheel and
rattle the strange shuttle! What warm furs
but our traders must bring them from
the Arctic! What fish but that our
nets must sweep them for the markets.
What music but it must sing in our
tldliss w udJ clOlueUc6 DuU IL must
speak in cur Senates! Hol to Ythe national
banquet, reaching from mountain to noun
tain and from sea to seal To prepare that
banquet the sheepfolds and the aviaries OF
the country sent their best treasures The
orchards piled up on the table their sweetest
fruits The presses burst out with new wines.
TIE sit ut that table came the yeomanry of
New Hampshire, and the lumbermen of
Maine, and the tanned Carolinian from the
rice swamps and the harvesters of Wisconsin,
and the Western emigrant from tho pines OF
Oregon; and we were all brothres-brothers
at banquet Suddenly the feast ended
What meant those mounds thrown np at
ChickahOminy Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg,
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 train! Why those rivers of tears,
those lakes Of bloodl God was angry. JUS
tice must come. A handwriting on the wall
The nation had been weighed and found
wanting Darkness Darkness Woe to
the North! Woe to the South Woe to the
East Woe to the Westl Death at the BAN
quetl
f. have also to learn from the subject
that the destruction of the vicious and of
those who despise God will be very sudden.
The wave Of mirth had dashed to the highest
point when that Assyrian army broke
through. 1t was unexpected. Suddenly. al
most always comes the doom of those who
despiso God and defy the laws of men. How