News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-10-11
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR. TALMAGES
STERLING DISCOURSES.
Subject: The Clouds His Chariot.
TEXT: "Yho maketA the clouds HIS

CHdftOt. '-tSdlin CIV, =.
Brutes are constructed so as to look down.
Thoss earthly creatures that have wings
when they rise from the earth still lcok
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, Dusseldorf, Louvre, a Luxem-
bourg, Vatican that eclipseS all that Ger
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, but 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 ecStaSies
over gooelln tapestry or bridal veil of
rare fabric, or a snowbank of exquisite curve,
. but see not ut ALL or see without emotion,
the bridal veil OF mist that covers the face of
the CatSklllS, 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 TELESCOPES which
under the forehead are put on swivel easily
turned upward, and see that the clouds are
not merely unlntereSting signs of wet or dry
weather, but that they are embroidered
canOpies of shade that they are the con-
ssrvatorieS 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
for angelic feet TO walk through and bow at
altaIs OF amber and alabaster. that
they are th3 mothers of the dew.
that they are ladders for ascending
and descending glories, Cotopaxis of
belchinT fame. NiayaraS of COLOR that they
are the masterpieces of the Lord God AL
mighty. The c,OuiS are fayorite Bible
simile and the sacred writers have made
much use of them. After the deluge God
hung on cloud in Concentric bands the
n Il
bow IN the clouds As mountain is some
times entirely hidden by vapors, SO, says
Col, Il have blotted out as 4 thick cloud
thy transgreSsiOnS.n David measured the
divine goodness and found it so high he
apOStrophize1: Thy faithtulness reaches unto
the clouds. As sometimes there are thou
sands of heeceS of vaPOr scuTTying across the
heavens. so. says Isaiah, viii be the converts
in the millennium, ''as clouds and as doves"
AS IN tie wet season no sooner
does the sky clear than there comes
another ObsCUration, SO, says Solomon,
one ache or ailment of old folks has no more
than gone than another pain comes ''as
clouds return in the rain A column of
illTmined 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 h.
cries out: ''Dost thou know the balancing of
the cloudS.n When | read nv text it Sug-
gests to me that the clouds are the Creators
equipage, and their whirlng masses are the
wheels, and the tongue of the cloud is the
pole of the celestial vehicle, and the winds
are the haTneSsed StesdS, and God is the
Royal Occupant and driver "who maketh
the clouds His chariot"
To understand the pSalmistS 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 pms and the |
awful defeat of OeuOmauS by Pelops was |
caused By the fact that a traitorous charioteer |
had inserted a Inch pin of wax instead of a |
Inch D n of iron All of the six hundred |
chariots of Pharaoh lost thsir Inch pins in
the Red SEA- for the Bible saws: THE Lord |
took of their wheels" Look at the long |
Hash of Solomon's fourteen hundred chario's,
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
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
on the day he took the throne" In this the
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 1t represents |
the King OF the Universe coming to the door
of his palace and the gilded vapoTS of the /
heavens rolling up to HIS feet, and He stop I
ping IN 'nI tax ny the reins OF the galloping
"ln''9 ~ Ills band starts IN trIumphai ride
undeF tho arch o. sapphire, and over the /
atmosphere highways of opal and chrySolite,
the clOu Is HIS chariot
NV hearers. do not think that God BELT
les 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
lying lakes and rivers and oceans? God
waved His hand over them and said: 'Coma
up higher,n and they oheyed the mandate |
That cloud instead of being, as it seems, a
small gather ng of vapor few yards Wide
and high Is really seven or eight miles across,
and IS mountain, from its base to its top
l5,COJ feet. 5000 feet, 20nO0 feet, and cut
through with ravines 800 feet deep No. |
David did not make a fragile unworthy
of God in the text when ne
spoke of the clouds as His chariot. But as /
suggesi ed in the case of an earthly king. He
has His morning cloud chariot and evening
cloud chariot-tbe cloud chariot in which
He rode down TO Sinai to open the law. and
the cloud chariot in which he rode down to |
I
chariot in which He will come to Judgment
When He rides out in His morning chariot
at tn season, about SIX O'c.Ock, he puts gOi-
den coronets on the dome of cities and sill
vers the rivers and out of the dew makes
diamond ring for the fn-r" - every grass
blade. and bids good cheer .IIvaids who III
the night said: Would Cot it were morn
ing" From this morning cloud chariot He
distributes ght, light for the earth aud light
for th- heavens. light for the land AMI light
for the sea. great bars of it, great wreathes
of it. great columns of it, world full of it.
Hail Him IN worship every morning He
drives out N His chariot of morning cloud,
and cry with David:
''AIy voice shalt Thou hear in the morning:
in tie morning will direct my prayer unto
Thee aud look up" rejoice in these Scrip
ture CALCULATIONS: Joy cometh in the morn
ing. My soul waiteth for Thee more than
they that watch for the morning, " "lf | take
the wing of the morning. The eyelidS OF
the morning" THE morning cometh p WHO
is she that lOoEelh forth as the morning.
CHS going forth is prepared as the morn
ing, "As the morning spread on the mount
aims" THAT thou shouldst visit him every
What mighty thing the King
throws from His chariot when He throws us
the morning
Yea; He has his evening cloud chariot 1t
IS made out of the saffron and the gold and
the purple an the orange and the vermilion
and upShOt flame OF the sunset That Is the
place where the splendors that have marched
through the day, having ended the process
sion, throw doyn the torches and set the
heavens on fire. That is the only hour OF the
law when the atmosphere is clear enough to
let US SEE the wall OF the heavenly city with
It's twelve manner of precious stones, from
foundation of Jasper to middle strata |
Of sardjus and on up to the CO.
ping of amethyst At that hour with
but any Of EIsha's supernatural vision
we see horses of fire and ChaTiotS of fire and |
tanners of fire and ships of fire and cities OF
ire, seas of fire, and it seems as if the last |
;onfagratiOn had begun and there is a world !
IN fire. When God makes these clouds His
chariot let US all kneel Another day past,
What have we done with it! Another day
lead and this is its gorgeous catalogue. |
Now is the time for what David called the
evening sacrifice" or Daniel called the
evening obat;on.n OH OH what a chariot |
made out of evening cloud. Have you
lung over the tafrail on the ocean
nd seen this cloudy vehicle roll over
he pavements of calm summer
ca, the wheels dripping with the magnif-
ence? Have You from the top of Ben
.omond or the Cordilleras or the Berkshire
ills seen the day pillowed for the night. and
et had no aspiration of praise and homage?
III, what a rich God we have that He can
ut on one evening sky pictures that
keel Michael Angeles Last Judg-
nent" and GhiilandiO's "Adoration of
he Magi' and whole galleries of
isdOnnaS, and for only an hour, and then
way, and the next evening put on the same
Ky something that excels all that the
sapbaels and the Titans and the Rembrandts
nd the COrregiOs and the Leonardo da Nincis
yer executed, and then draw a curtain of
asst over them never again to be exhibited!
low rich God must be to have new chariot
f clouds every evening"
But the Bible tells us that our King also
as a Hack chariot kCloy11s and darkness. u