The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-11-07
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: 1.-THE Clouds His CharioS.'

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 picture
gallery, a Dusseldorf, Louvre, Luxem-
bourg, q Vatican that eclipses all that Ter
man, or French, or Italian art ever accom-
plished But God has failed so far to attract
the attention Of most of us by the scenery OF
the sky, We go into raptures flower overs
in the soil, hut have little or no appreciation
Of the ''morning glories" that bloom on the
wall of the sky at sunrise or the dahlias in
the clouds at sunset. We are in ecstasles
over a gobelin tapestry or a bridal veil OF
rare fabric, or suowbank 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 TOUR
inches and open the two TELESCOPES when
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, that they
are the angels of the mist, that they are
great cathedrals Of light with broad aisles
Tor angelic feet to walk through and bow at
altars Of amber and alabaster, that
they are the mothers of the dew,
that they are ladders for ascending
and descending glories, Cotopaxls OF
belching fame, Niagaras Of color, that they
are the masterpieces Of the Lord God AL
mighty. The clouds are fa'orite Bible
simile and the sacred writers have made
much use of them. After the deluge God
hung on q cloud in concentric bands the
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 blotted out as thick cloud
thy transgressionS." David measured the
divine goodness and found it so high he
apostrophized: Thy faithiulness 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, las clouds and as doves" !"
AS in the wet season no sooner
does the sky clear than there comes
another obscuration, SO, says Solomon,
one ache or ailnent of old folks has no more
than gone than another pain comes las
clouds return in the rain" 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 cloudS!" When I read my text it Sug-
gests to me that the clouds are the Creators
eauipage, 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 T,aketh
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 brilliancy
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 a traitorous charioteer
had inserted Inch pin OF wax instead Of
Inch pin of iron. All of the six hundred
chariots Of Pharaoh lost their Inch pins in
the Red Sea, for the Bible says: 'The Lord
took of their wheels" Look at the long
flash Of Solomon's fourteen hundred char!ots,
and the thirty thousand chariots of the
Philistines If you have ever visited the
buildings where king or queen keeps the
coaches of state. as 1 have, you know that
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 the day he took the throne" "In this the
Queen went to open Parliament" This is
the coach in which the Gar 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 re;ns 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-
casons into insignificance, as it represents
the King OF the Universe coming to the door
of his palace, and the gilded vapors of the
heavens rolling up to His feet and He stop
ping in and taking the reins Of the galloping
winds in His hand starts in triumphal ride
under the arches OF sapphire, and over the
atmospheric highways Of opal and chrysolite,
the clouds His chariot.
NV hearers, do not think that God belit-
ties Himself when he takes such conveyance.
Do YOU know that the clouds are among the
most wondrous and majestic things in the
whole universe? Do you know that they are
flying lakes and rivers and oceans? God
ND higher" and they oheyed the mandate.
That cloud instead Of being. as it seems. a
small gathering Of vapor few yards wide
and high is really seven or eight miles across,
and is mountain, from its base to its top,
5000 feet, $4,000 feet, 10000 feet, and cut
through with ravnes 5000 feet deep No,
David did not make a fragile or unworthy
representation of God in the text when he
spoke of the clouds as His chariot. But as
suggested in the case of an earthly king, He
has His morning cloud chariot and evening
cloud chariot-the cloud chariot in which
He rode down to Sinai to open the law, and
the cloud chariot in which he rode down to
Tabor to honor the gospel, and the cloud
chariot in which He will come to judgment.
When He rides out in His morning chariot
at this season. about six O'Clock, he puts gol-
den coronets 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 to invalids who in
the night said: "Would God it were morn
ing" From this morning cloud chariot He
distributes light, light for the earth and light
for the heavens, light for the land and light
for the sea, great bars of it, great wreathes
of it, great columns of it. a world full of it.
Hail Him in worship as every morning He
drives out in His chariot Of morning cloud,
and cry with David:
"My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning;
in the morning will direct my prayer unto
Thee and look up" I rejoice in these Scrip.
ture calculations: "Joy cometh in the morn
ing" MY soul waiteth for Thee more thar
they that watch for the morning" "1f take
the wing of the morning." THE eyelids Of
the morning." "The morning cometh, WHO
is she that looketh forth as the morning.
''His going forth is prepared as the morn
ing" "As the morning spread on the mount
ans" THAT thou snouIosr v1slr MIN every
morning. What mighty thing the kinf
throws from His chariot when He throws u
the morning!
Yea: He has his evening cloud chariot. 1
is made out Of the saffron and the gold ant
the purple and the orange and the vermlllol