Milford chronicle., 1888-10-26

Tho Figure seSen Crowned Above All
Others-An Imperial and 7IultipOtent
Numerai.
BROOKLYN, Oct 2L-This morning at the
Tabernacle, the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage,
D. D., gave a running commentary on the
twentieth chapter Of Revelations, concerning
the chaining q the old dragon. The con-
gregation joined in singing the familiar
hymn Of Paul Gerhart, beginning;
Give to the winds thy fears,
Hope and be undismayed-
DR.. Talmage's sermon was on "Seven in
the Bible" and his text Genesis ii, %: God
blessed the seventh day" The Doctor said.
The mathematics of the Bible is noticeable;
the geometry and the arithmetic; the square
In Ezekiel; the circle spoken Of in Isaiah: the
curve alluded to in Job: the rule Of fractions
mentioned in Daniels tho rule Of loss and
gain in Mark where Christ asks the people to
cipher out by that rule what il would "proht
@ man II he gain the whole world and lose
his soul" But there Is one mathematical
figure that Is crowned above all others
in the Bible; it Is the numeral seven,
which the Arabians got from India and all
following ages have taken from the Arabians.
It stands between the figure six and the fig
ure eight. In the Bible, all the other pumar-
ais bow to It, Over three hundred times Is
Il mentioned In the Scriptures, either alone
or compounded with other words. In Gene
sis the week is rounded into seven days and
use my text because there this numeral is
for the first introduced in a journey which
halts not until In the close of the Book Of
Revelations its monument is built into the
wall Of heaven in orysolite which In the
strata Of precious stones is the seventh. In
the Bible we find that Jacob had to serve
eeyen years to get Rachel, but she was
we'll worth it; and foretelling the years
Of prosperity and famine in Pharaoh's
time the seven fat oxen were eat
en- up of the seven lean oxen; and
wisdom Is said to be built on seven pillars;
and the ark was left with the Philistines seven
years; and Naaman for the cure OF his lep-
rosy plunged In the Jordan seven times; the
dead child, when Elisha breathed into its
mouth, signaled its arrival back into con-
sciousness by sneezing seven times; to the
house that Ezekiel saw in vision there We're
seven steps; the walls Of Jericho before they
fell down were compassed seven days;
Zachariah describes a stone with seven eyesi
to cleanse a lepEpus house the door must be
sprinkled with pigeons blood seven times; in
Canaan were overthrown seven nations; on
one occasion Christ cast out seven devils; ON
on a mountain he fed multitude Of people
with seven loaves, the fragments left filling
seven baskets; and the closing passages Of the
Bible are magnificent and overwhelming
with the imagery made up of seven churches,
seven stars, seven candlesticks, seven seals,
seven angels, and seven heads, and seven
crowns, and seven horns, and seven spirits,
and seven vials, and seven plaques, and seven
thunders.
Yea, this numerical seven seems q favorite
with the divine mind outside as well as inside
the Bible for are there not seven prismatic
eolorsl And when God with the rainbow
wrote the comforting thought that the world
would never have another deluge, he wrote
it on the scroll of the sky In ink Of seven
colors. He grouped into the Pleiades seven
stars. Rome, the capital Of the world, sat
on seven hills When God would make the
most intelligent thing on earth, the human
countenance, he fashions it with seven tea-
tures-the two ears, the two eyes, the two
nostriis and the mouth. Yea, our body lasts
only seven years, and we gradually shed 1t
for another body after another seven years,
and so on, for we are, as to our bodies, sep
tennial animals. So the numeral seven
ranges through nature and through revela
ton. It is the number Of perfection, and so
use it while l speak Of the seven candle
sticks, the seven stars, the seven Seals and
the seven thunders.
The seven golden candlesticks were and are
the churches. Mark you, the churches never
were, and never can be, candles. They are
only candlesticks. They are not the light,
but they are to hold the light. A room in
the night might have In it Eve hundred can
dlesticls, and yet you could not see your hand
before your face. The only use Of a candle
stick, and the only use of a church, is to hold
up tho light. You see it is a dark world, the
night Of sin, the night Of trouble, the night
Of superstition, the night Of persecution, the
night OF poverty, the night Of sickness, the
night Of death; aye, about fifty nights have
interlocked their shadows. The whole race
goes stumbling over prostrated hopes and
fallen fortunes, and empty -four barrels, and
desolated cradles, and death beds. Oh, how
much we have use for all the seven candle
sticks, with lights blazing from the top Of
each one of theml Light Of pardon for all sinl
Light Of comfort for all troubled Light Of en-
couragement for all despondencyl Light Of
eternal riches for all povertyl Light Of rescue
for all persecutionI Light Of reunion for all
the bereftl Light Of heaven for all the dyingl
And that light is Christ who is the Light that
shall yet irradiate the hemispheres. But
mark you, when I say churches are not
candles but candlesticks, cast no slur on
Oandlesticks. l believe in beautiful can
dlesticks The candlesticks that God or
dered for the ancient tabernacle were some
thing exquisite. They were dream Of beauty
carved out Of loveliness. They were made Of
hammered gold, stood in foot of gold and
had six branches Of gold blooming all along
In six lilies Of gold each, and lips Of gold from
which the candles lifted their holy fire. And
the best houses in any city ought to be the
churches-the best built, the best ven
tilated, the best swept, the best win
dowed and the best chandeliered Log
cabins may do in neighborhoods where most
Of the people live in log cabins; but let there
be palatial churches for regions where many
Of the people live in palaces. Do not have q
better place for yourself than for your Lord
ind King. Do not live in q parlor and put
your Christ in q, kitchen. These seven can
ilesticls of which speak were not made out
OF pewter or iron; they were golden candle
sticks, and gold is not only valuable but
bright metal Have everything about your
church bright-your ushers with smiling
faces, your music jubilant, your hand-shaking
cordial, your entire service attractive. Many
people feel that in church they must look
dull in order to be reverential, and many
whose faces IN other kinds Of Rssemblase
show all the different phases Of emotion,
have in church no more expression than the
back wheel of q hearse. Brighten
up and be responsive. If you feel
Ike weeping, weep. If you feel like
smiling, SMILE II you feel indignant
at some wrong assailed from the pulpit,
frown. Do not leave your naturalness and
resiliency home because It is Sunday morn
ing. If, as officers Of church, you meet
people at the church door with black look,
and have the music black, and the minister
in black preach black sermon, and from in
vocation to benediction have the impression
black, few viii come, and those who do connS
will wish they had not come at all
Golden candlesticksl Soour up the SIX
lilies on each branch, and know that tho