The Russellville Democrat., 1888-10-11


set. That Is the place where the splen-
doris that have marched through the day,
having ended the procession. throw down
their torches and set the heavens on fire.
That is the only hour Of the day whom the
atmosphere Is clear enough to let us see
the wall of the Heavenly City with its
twelve manner OF precious stones, from
foundation Of jasper to middle strata of
sardius and on up to the coping Of anne
thyst At that hour, without any of
Elisha's supernatural vision, we see
horses of fire, and chariots of fire, and
banners of FIRE, and ships OF fire, and
cities of fire. seas of fire, and Ii seems as
II the last confagration had begun and
there Is a world on fire. When God makes
these clouds His chariot let us all kneel.
Another day past what have we done
with itp Another day dead, and this Is
its gorgeous catafalque. Now Is the time
for what David called the "evening
sacrifice" or Daniel called the "evening
obligation" OIL OIL what a chariot
made out Of evening cloudi Have you
hung over the taffrail on the ocean and
seen this cloudy vehicle roll over the
pavements of q calm summer sea, the
wheels dripping with the magnifcencef
Have you from the top Of Ben Lomond or
the Cordilleras, or the Berkshire hills seen
the day pillowed for the night, and yet
had no aspiration of praise and homage?
Oh, what a rich God we have that He can
put on one evening sky pictures that ex Gel
Michael Angeles Last Judgment" and
Ghirlandjo's elaboration of the Magi,"
and whole galleries of Madonnas, and
for only an hour, and then throw them
away, and the next evening put on the
same sky something that excels all that
the Raphaels and the Titans, and the Rem
brandts, aud the Corregios, and the Le-
onardo da Vincis ever executed. and then
draw a curtain of mist over them never
again to be exhibited How rich God
must be to have new chariot of clouds
every evening.
But the Bible tells us that our King
also has a black chariot. Clouds and
Darkness" we are told "are round about
Him" That chariot is cloven of night,
and that night is trouble. When He
rides forth in that black chariot pesti :
lence and earthquake and famine and
hurricane and woe attend Him. Then let
the earth tremble. Then let nations pray.
Again and again He has ridden forth in
that chariot of black clouds, across
England and France and Italy and
Russia and America and over all
nations, That which men took for the
sound of cannonading at Sebastopo1, at
Sedan, at Gettysburg, at Tel-el-Kebir, at
Bunker Hill, were only the rumblings
of The black chariot Of the Almighty
Aye, 1t is the chariot of Storm
cloud armed with thunderbolts, and
neither man nor angel nor devil nor
earth nor hell nor Heaven can resist Him.
IN 10, H. L. - r. Il, "A. 4
never turns out for any thing Aye, no
one else drives there. Under one wheel
of that chariot Babylon was crushed and
Baalbeck fell dead and the Roman EN-
pire was Frustrated, and Atlantis, whole
continent that once connected Europe with
America, sank clear out of sight so that
the longest anchor of ocean steamer can
not reach the top of its highest mount
aims. The throne of the Caesars was less
than the pebble under the right wheel OF
this chariot and the Austrian despotism
less than a snowflake under the left
wheel. And over destroyed worlds on
worlds that chariot has rolled without a
Jar or Jolt.
This black chariot of war cloud rolled
up to the Northwest Of Europe in 1912, and
four hundred thousand men marched to
take Moscow, but that chariot OF clouds
rolled back, and only twenty five thou
sand out of the four hundred thousand
troops lived to return. No great snow
storm like that had ever before, or has
ever since, visited Russia. Aye the
chariot of the Lord is irresistible. There
is only one thing that can halt or turn
any of His chariots, and that Is prayer.
Again and again 1t has stopped it, wheel.
ed it around, and the chariots OF black
clouds under that sanctified human breath
has blossomed into such brightness and
color that men and angels have to vail
their faces from its brightness.
Mark you, the ancient chariot which
David uses as symbol in my text had
only two wheels, aud that was that they
might turn quickly, two wheels taking
less than hale the time to turn that four
wheels would have taken. Aud our
Lords chariot has only two wheels, and
means instant reversal, and instant help,
and instant deliverauoe. While the COM
bined forces OF the universe in battle
array could not stop His black chariot a
second or diverge 1t an inch, the driver of
that chariot says. "Call upon Me in the
day of trouble and I viii deliver thee;"
while they are yet speaking l will
hear" Two-wheeled chariot, one wheel
Justice, and the other wheel mercy. Aye,
they are swift wheels. A cloud, whether it
belongs to the CIRCUS, the clouds that float
the highest; or belongs to the stratus, the
central ranges; or to the cumulus, the
lowest ranges, seems to move slowly
along the sky, If it moves at all. But
many OF the clouds go at speed that
would seem lethargic to a vestibuls lin.
tied lightning express tram, so swift Is
the chariot Of our God, yea, swifter than
me storm, swifter than the light. Yet a
child ten years old has been known to
reach up, and with the hand of prayer
take the oourser of that chariot by the bit
and slow it up, or stop it, or turn it aside,
or turn it back. The boy Samuel stopped
it Elijah stopped it. Hezekiah stopped
it, Daniel stopped it. Joshua stopped
ii. Esther stopped it. Ruth stopped it.
Hannah stopped 1t. Mary stopped it Ny
father stopped it. My mother stopped it.
My sister stopped it We have in our
Sabbath schools children who again, and
again, and again have stopped it,
Notice that these old time chariots,
whic my text uses for symbol, had what
we would call high dash board at the
front, but were open behind. And the
King would stand at the dash board and
drive with his own hands. And / am
glad that He whose chariots the clouds are
drives Himself He does not let natural
law drive, for natural law is deaf. He
does not let fate drive, for fate is merci-
less. But our Father King drives Him.
self, and He puts His loving hand ON the
reins of the flying coursers, and He has a
loving ear open to the cry of all who want
to catch His attention, Oh, am so glad
that my Father drives, and never drives
too fast and never drives too slow, and
never drives off the precipice, and that
He controls by bit that never breaks,
the widest and most raging circum-