Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-10-20
REV Or. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE's SUNDAY
SERMON.


Chariot Palm civ, 8,
Brutes are constructed so as to look down.
Thoss elrthly creatures that have wings
when they rise from the earth still look
down, and the eagle searches for mice in the
grass and the raven for carcasses in the field.
Man alone is made to look UP. To induce
him to lool up God makes the sky a picture
gallery, q dusseldorf. Louvre. Luxem-
bourc. q Vatican that eclipses all that Ger
man or French, or Italian art ever accom-
plis.ed But God has failed so far to attract
the attention Of most of US by the scenery of
She sky, We go into raptures flower overs
in the soil. but have little or no appreciation
of the morning gloriesp that bloom on the
wall OF the sky at sunrise or the dahlias in
the clouds at sunset. We are in ecstasies
over a gobelin tapestry or a bridal veil of
rare faoric, or a snowbank of exquisite curve,
but see not at all, or see without emotion
the bridal veil OF mist that covers the face of
the Catskills, or the swaying upholstery
around the couch of the dying day, or the
snowbanks of vapor piled up in the heavens.
My text bids us lift our chin three or four
inches and open the two telescop S which
under the forehead are put on swivel easily
turned upward, and see that the clouds are
not merely uninteresting signs of wet or dry
weather. but that they are embroidered
canopies of shade, that they are the con-
servatories of the sky, that they are thrones
of pomp, that they are crystalline bars. that
they are paintings in water color. tuat they
are the angels of the mist. that they are
great cathedrals of light with broad aisles
for angelic feet to walk through and bow at
they are the mothers Of the dew,
that they are ladders for ascending
and descending glories, Cotopaxis Of
belching flame, Niagaras Of color, that they
are the masterpieces of the Lord God Al
mighty. The Clouds are a fay orite Bible
eli. nv.1 1,fnxr Ia
much use of them. After the deluge God
hung on cloud in concentric bands thu
colors of the spectrum, saying: Il do set my
bow in the clouds" As mountain is some
times entirely hidden by vapors, so, says
God, II have botted out as thick cloud
thy transgressions." David measured the
divine goodness and found it SO high he
apostrophized: THY faithfulness reaches unto
the clouds As sometimes there are thou
sands of heeces of vapor scurrying across the
heavens so, says Isaiah, will be the converts
in the millennium, ''as clouds and as doves.n
As IN the wet season no sooner
does the sky clear than there comes
another observation. so, says Solomon,
ono ache or ailment of old folks has no more
than gone than another pain comes 'as
clouds return in the rain.s A column of
illumined cloud led the Israelites across the
wilderness In the book of Job, Elihu, watch
ing the clouds, could not understand why
they did not fall or why they did not all roll
together, the laws of evaporation and con-
densation then not being understood, and he
cries out: ''Dost thou know the balancing Of
the cloudsin When | read my text it sug-
gests to me that the clouds are the Creators
equipage, and their whirling masses are the
wheels, and the tongue of the cloud is the
pole of the celestial vehicle, and the winds
are the harnessed steeds, and God is the
Royal OCCUPANT and driver who maketh
the clouds His chariot"
To understand the psalmist's meaning in
the text you must know that the chariot of
old was sometimes a sculptured brillancy
made out of ivory, sometimes of solid silver,
and rolled on two wheels which were
fastened to the axle by stout pins. and the
awful defeat of Oenomaus by Pelops was
caused by the fact that traitorous charioteer
had inserted Inch pin of wax instead Of a
Inch pin of iron. All of the six hundred
chariots Of Pharaoh lost their Inch pins in
the Red Sea, for the Bible says: 1.-The Lord
took Off their Wheels Look at the long
fash of Solomon's fourteen hundred chario s,
and the thirty thousand chariots OF the
Phiistines. If you have ever visited the
buildings where king or queen keeps the
coaches Of state, as | have, you know that
kings and queens have great varieties of
turnout The keeper tells you: "This is the
state carriage. and used only on great
occasions "This is the coronation
carriage, and in it the king rode
On TIE u1y ne LOOK Tue bHfOHc. Ill DnlS Tue
Queen went to open Parliament ''This is
the coach in which the Car and the Sultan
rode on the occasion OF their visit" All
costly and tesselated and enriched and EN-
blazoned are they, and when the driver takes
the reins of the ten white horses in his hands,
and amid mounted troops and bands in full
force sounding the national air. the splendor
starts and rolls on under arches entwined
with banners, and amid the huzza of hun
dreds of thousands of spectators the scene is
memorable But my text puts all such oc-
casions into insigniicance. as it represents
the King Of the Universe coming to the door
of his palace and the gilded vapOrs of tha
heavens rolling up to His feet, aud He stop
ping in and taking tho reins of the gall0ping
winds in HIS hand starts in trumph1l ride
under the arches o. sapphire. and over the
atmospheric highways Of opal and cArysol:te,
the clouds His chariot
NV hearers do no. think that God helit
Ties Hiins " when he takes such CONVEYANCE.
Do YOU know that the clouds are among the
most wonarous ald ma iestic thinss in the
whole universe. Do YOU know that they are
flying lakes and river, and oceans. God
waved His hand over them and said: "Come
up higher.n and they oteyed the mandate.
That rlcud Instead Of being as it seems. a
small gathering OF vapor few yards widl
and high is really seven or eight miles across
and is n mountain, from its base to its top
5000 feet, $1,000 feet, 10000 feet, and cu
through with ravines $3.50 feet deep No
David did not make q fragile or unworth,
representation of God in the text when III
spoke OF the clouds as His chariot. But rs
suggested in the case of an earthly king II,
has His morning cloud chariot and evenin.
cloud chariot-the cloud chariot in which
He rode down to Sinai to open the law, anc
the cloud chariot in which he rode down tt
Tabor to honor the gospel, and the cloud
chariot in which He will come to Judgment
When He rides out in His morning chario
at tn si-on. about SIX O'c'o.R, he put col
den cornBets on the dome OF cities. and sill.
vers the rivers. and out Of the dew makes a
diamond ring for the finger Of every grass
blade and bids good cheer 70 inva.ids who in
the night said: "Woud Col IL were morn
ing From this morning Cloud chariot lie
distributes light. light tor the earth aud light
for the heavens. light for the land AMI light
for the sea. great bars Of it. great wreathes
of it. great columns OF il. n world fGl OF it.
Hail Him in worship as every morning lie
drives out n His chariot Of morning cloud,
and cry with David:
My voice snnlt Thou hear in the morning:
IN the morning VIII direct my prayer unto
Thge and look up l rciocc IN these Scrip
ture CALCULATIONS: "Joy comrih in tho morn.
ing" MY sonl watch for Thee more than
they that watch for The nornin, = III take
the wing Of the morning. .'Thc eyeids oi
the morning n-'Tbe morning cometh. ~Who
is she that looteih forth ~ the morn ny 7
sftf. fl.ufr fDfih d. f.afIor4i a. Ina tno.n