The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-10-12
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Chariot of the Lord Which
Rolls Upon the Clouds.
The wheels, Representing Justice and
Mercy, Ready to Turn on the In
slant In Response to the Cry
of the Perturbed Soul.


In a recent Sabbath sermon at the
Brooklyn Tabernacle Rev. T. Dewitt
Talmage preached from the following
text:
Whomalreth the clouds His charlot-Psalms,
civ. g.
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 skies a picture gallery,
Dusseldorf, Louvre, a Luxembourg,
Vatican that eclipses all that German or
French or Italian art ever accomplished
But God has failed so far to attract the
attention of most of us by the scenery or
the sky. We go into raptures over how-
ers in the soil, but have little or no ap-
probation of the 'tmorning glories" that
bloom on the wall of the sky at sunrise or
the dahlias in the clouds at sunset We
are in ecstacies over gobelin tapestry,
or a bridal vail of rare fabric, or a. snow
bank of exquisite curve, but see not at
all, or see without emotion, the bridal
walls of mist that cover the face Of the
Catskills, or the swaying upholstery
around the couch of the dying day, or the
snow-b banks of vapOr piled up IN the
heavens.
NV text bids us lift 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 unlnterest1ng
signs of wet or dry weather, but that they
are embroidered canopies of shade; that
tbev are the conservatories of the sky;
| that they are thrones of pomp; that they
| are crystalline bars; that they are paint
| ings in water color; that they are the an
gels of the mist; that they are great ca
| fhedrals Of light with broad aisles for
angelic feet to walk through and bow at
| affairs of amber and elabaster; that they
| are mothers of the dew; that they are
| ladders for ascending and descending
pIories, Cotopaxis of belching flame.
| Niagaras of color; that they are the
| masterpieces of the Lord God Almighty.
The clouds are favorite Bible simile,
| and the sacred writer's have made much
use of them.
After the deluge God hung on cloud
! in concentric bands the colors of the
spectrum, saying; 81 do not set may DOW
| in the cloud" AS mountain is some
times entirely hidden by the vapOrs so,
saws God, ''I have blotted out thick
| cloud. thy transgressions." David meas
ures the Divine goodness, and found 1t SO
| high he apostrophized: ''Thy fatthfulness
| reached into the Clouds" AS sometimes
there are thousands of feeces of vapor
scurrying across the heavens, so, says
Isaiah. will be the converts in the millen-
MUM Gas clouds and as doves"
As in the wet season, no sooner does
! the sky clear than there comes another
| cbscuration, so, says Solomon, one acne
or ailment of old folks has no more than
gone than another pain comes ''as clouds
return in the rain"
A column of illumined ol oud led the Is
raeIites across the Wilderness. In the
Book of Job, EIihu, watching the clouds,
could not understand why they did not
fall, or why they did not all roll together
the laws Of evaporation and condensa'
ton then not being under stood, and he
cried out: sDost Thou know the balanc
ing of the clouds?" When read my tex
it suggests to me that the clouds are th'
Creators eduipage, and their whirltnl
masses are the wheels, and the tongue o.
the cloud is the pole of the celestial We
bicle, and the winds are the harnesseC
steeds, and God is the royal occupant anC
driver syyho maketh the clouds His char
lot"
To understand the PsalmisPs meaning
In the text you must know that the chario
of old was sometimes q sculptured brill
iancy made out of ivory, sometimes o
solid silver. and rolled on two wheel
which we're fastened to the axle by stou
pins. and the awful defeat of GnOnau
| bv Pelops was caused by the fact that
traitorous charioteer had inserted
| Inch. .pin of wax instead OF a linch- p1l
of iron. All of the SIX hundred chariot
of Pharaoh lost their hnch-pins in tn
| Red Sea, for the Bible says: "The Lor'
, took off their wheels"
4 Look at the long fash OF Solomon
fourteen hundred chariots, and the thirty
f thousand chariots of the Philistines.
Won have ever visited the building
where a King or Queen keeps the coaches
of state, as I have, you know that Kings
f and Queens have great varieties OF turn
3 out. The keeper tells you:
: This is the state carriage, and us se
: only on great occasions" This is tn
r coronation carriage, and in it the Kin
| rode on the day he took the throne" 81
!, this the Queen went to open Parliament.
spThis is the coach IN which the Car ant
the Sultan rode on the occasion Of thei
9 visit"
All costly and tesselated and enriche
@ and emblazoned are they And when tn
:, driver takes the reins OF the ten whit
: horses in his hands, and amid mounte
g troops and bands in full force soundin
the national air, the splendor starts an
| rolls on under arches entwined with ban
a ners, and amid the huzza OF hundreds {
] thousands of spectators the scene
: memorable. But my text puts all sue
n occasions into insignificant as it repre-
, sents the King Of tho Universe coming
1 the door of His palace, and the glide
yapors of the Heavens rolling up to II
g feet, and He stepping in and taking Il
f reins of the galloping winds in His hand
# starts in triumphal ride under the arche
IS of sapphire and over the atmospher
= highways of opal and chrysolite, q
Q clouds His chariot.
q My hearers. do not think that God b.
d titles Himself when He takes such coz
: veyance. Do you know that the clout
o are among the most iwonderous and m'
iestic things in the whole unfverseg {
you know that they are flying lakes an
r rivers and oceans2 God waved His haI
a over them and said: ''Come up higher
l. and they obeyed the mandate. III
d cloud, instead Of being, as it seems,
. small gathering OF vapor a Few yards wiz
p and high, is really seven or eight mll'
across, and is mountain from / Is base
le its top. fifteen thousand feet, eightee
ID thousand feet twenty thousand feet, al
eut through with ravines hVe thousaE
1f feet deep No. David did not make
=, fragile or unworthy representation OF %
20 in the text when he spoke OF the clouds
" | His chariot But, as l suggested IN u
10 case Of an earthly King He has His morl
fng cloud chariot and HIS evening ciot
! cbarfof-the cloud chariot In which
y rode down to Sinai to open the law, az
soe cloud chariot in which He rode dov
An ~ Tabor TO honor the Gospel, and &
in cloud chariot in which He viii come
u Judgment.
be when He rides out in HIS morning cha
VI lot at this season, about O'Clock, J
40 puts golden oOrOnets on the dome
ey cities. and sllvers the rivers, and out
@ the dew makes a diamond ring for 2
hager or every grass blade and bids 90
st ,heer to fnyalids vino. il the night, sal
y, awould God IL were raarnlng.'s FEe
on this morning cloud chariot he distrippi