Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-10-26
A VIVID ILLUSTRATION.
Who Maketh the Clouds His
Chariot"

of the Har 2 ,n-A Ny hical Inspiration is
Gwen TO Those Of Sinful l-nod-
BRooKLYS. Sept, 80 The hymn suug nc
the opening Of the services in the Brooklyn
Tabernacle this morning was:
Welcome. sweet day OF rest
That the Lord arise"
After expounding a. propriate passages OF
scripture, the Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage d. D.,
took the text: Psalm civ. 3: "WhO malleth
the clouds His chariot" DR.. Talmage said;
Brutes are constructed so as to look down
Those earthly 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
look up God makes the sky u picture gallery,
a Dusseldorf, a Louvre, a Luxembourg, =
Vatican that ecipses all that German or
French or Italian art ever accomplished But
Cd has has failed so far 10 attract the at
tentiOn Of most OF US by the scenery OF the
sky. We 90 into raptures over flowers in the
soil, but have little or no appreciation Of the
morning glorIes" that bloom on the wall Of
The sky NJ sunrise or the dahlIas In the clouds
at sunset We are in ecstac es over Il gObeiin
tapestry or a bridal veil Of rare IA brlc, or a
snowDHnk OF exquisite curve, but see not at
all, or see without emotion, The bridal wells
OF mist that cover the face OF the CutslIlls
or the swaying upholstery around the couch
OI the dying day, or the snOwbanks Of VapOr
piled up In the heavens.
Ny lext bids US lit our chin three or four
Inches and open the two telescopes which
under the forehead are put on swivel easily
turned upward and see that The clouds are
not merely unInterestiug signs of wet or dry
weather, but that they are embroidered caHO-
pies Of shade. that they are the conserYutOries
OF the sky, that they are thrones of pOmn
that they are crystalline bars, that they are
paintings In wa ter color, that they are the
angels of the mis-, that they are great calhe-
drals OF light with broad aisles for angelic
feet to walk through aud bow at affairs OF
amber and alaUastcr, that they the moth
ers or the dew, that they are ladders for
ascending and descending glOries, COtOpaXis
OF bleaching flame NIaguIas or color, that
they are the masterpieces of the Lord God
Almighty. The clouds are favOriJe Bible
siInile and the sacred writers have made much
use of them. Alter the deluxe God hung on
cloud In cOncentric bands the cOlors of the
spectrum saying: i do ret my bow in the
cloud" As IA mountain is sometimes entire
" hidden by the VapOrs So saws God. II have
blOttei out as Dc thick clOa1 thy tFausgres-
slOns." David measures The divine goodness
aud found IL so high he apOsLrOuhizcd: "IhY
Iaithiulness reacheth unto the clouds" AS
sometimes there are thousands of neeces OF
vapOr scurryiug across The heavens, 50, says
Isaiah, viii be the converts iu the millennium
''as clouds and as doves" As IN The wet
season no Sooner does the sky clear than
there comes another observation, so. saws
Solomon, one ache or ailmeut OF Old folks has
no more than gone than another pain comes
las clouds return in The rain" A column OF
Mumlued cloud led the lsraelites across
the wilderness. In the book OF job Eiihu.
stand why they did not fall why they
dld not all roll together, the laws OF eVapOr-
atom and condensation then not being under
STOOD, ana lie cries ont: "Dost thou know
the balancing Of The cOudsP When I read
my text IL suggests TO me that the clouds are
the Creators equipIge, aud their WhIrling
masses are the wheels, and the tongue of the
cloud Is the pole OF the celestial vehicle aud
the winds are The harnessed steeds, aud God
Is the Royal occupant aud driver ''whO
ma<eth the clouds HIS chariot
To understand the Lsa misL's rHean ny in
the text yOu must know tEat the Ct aciot of
oid was some times ii sculptured b1lliancy
made out OF IVORY, sometimes of solid silver.
and rolled on two wheels which were fastened
10 The axle by stout pins. and The awful de-
1eat of OeuOmuus by Pe'Ops caused by
the fact that traitUrOus charioteer had in
serted a Inch pin OF wax instead of "a Inch
piH Of iron Al of the six hundred charOts
OF LhhruOh lost Their Inch pins IN the Keel
Sea, for the Bible SuvR: ~ he Lord took of
their wheels" Look at the long flash OF
SOomon's fourteen hundred chariots. and the
thirty thousand churIOts OF the Philistines. II
yUu have ever VISITED the buildings where n
king or queen keeps the coucnes of state as
have, You know tuat kings and queens have
great varieties OF turnout. The Keeper tells
you: This Is the Stale carr aye and used
only great Occus. OuS." This is the COZ o.
nation carriage and ia it the king no lie on the
day he took the throne" In Tn S the Que II
went to open parliament" This is the
couch In which the Gar und the Sultan rode
on the occasion of their visit" All costly
ana JetSclateu anu enriched AMI cmblaZOueu
are they, aud when the driver takes the reins
of the ten white horses in his hands
and amid mounted troops ami bands in
full force sOuldiig the nat on Il air, the
SD endOr starts and rolls on .nder arches ell
twIned with tanners AMI amid the huZZa of
hundreds OF thousands of spectators the scene
Is memorable. But my text puts all such Oc-
cas- Ons into insigulhcaucG. AS it represents
the King OF the Universe coming TO the door
OF has palace, and the gidcd vapOrS Of the
NFa4a4V all mr. Lis
ping In and taking the reius OF the gnllODiug
winds ia Ills hands starts in triumphal ride
under the arches of sapphire, and over the at
mospheric highways of opal and chrysOliIe,
the clouds His chariot
My hearers do not think that God belittles
Himself when lie takes such CONVEYANCE.
Do you know that The clouds are among the
most wundrOus ami majestic things IN the
whole univers6f Do you know that they are
hrug lakes and rivers and Oceans2 God
waved His hand over them and said: ''COme
no higherl and they ubeyed the mandate
That cloud instead Of being, as it seems, a
small gathering of vapOr a few wards wide
and high is really seven or eight miles across
and is a mountain, from It's base to its top,
fifteen thousand feet, eight thousand feet
twenty thousand fcer, aud cut through with
rnvlneS five thousand feet deep. No, David
did not make fragile or unworthy repre-
scntatiOn OF God in the text when he spoke
OF the clouds as his chariot But as 1 sug-
gested in the case of earthly king He has
ID is morning cloud chariot and His evening
cloud churiOt-the cloud chariot in which He
rode down 10 Sinai TO open the law, and To e
cloud chariot Ia wh ich lie rode down TO Ia
Dor to honor the gospel, and tire cloud chariot
in which lie viii come 40 Judgement
When He rides out in HIS morning chariot
at this season, about six O'Clock, lie
puts 90 den cOruets ON the dome of cities.
and siivers the rivers, aud out OF the dew
makes diamond RIM for the finger Of every
grass blade, and bids good cheer to inyalids
who in tile night said: Would God 10 were
morning" From this morning cloud chariot
He distributes light lighJ for the earth and
light for the heavens, light for the land aud
light Tor the sea, great bars of IL, great
wreathes OF 10, great columns OF it, world
ful of a.. Hail Him in worship ms every