The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-02
SIN TIPS THE SCALES.
WHY MEN ARE FOUND WANTING
IN TIE BALANCE.

Balances Frequently Unreliable
Christ the Weight That Overbal.
ances Sin in Behalf of the Christian.
OMAHA, NEB., Sept. 1.-Great interest
was manifested here to-day, tho Rev. 7. De
Witt Ialmage, DID, preaching to an inn,
mense congregation. His text was: s"Thou
art weighed in the balances, and art found
wanting. daniel V, q. The preacher
said:
Babylon was the paradise of architecture.
and driven out from thence the grandes6
| buildings of modern times are only the evil
dence OF her fall. The site having been SCI
lected for the city, two million men were
employed in the rearing of her walls and
| the building of her work. 1t was a city
| sixty miles in circumference. There was q
| trench all around the city, from which the
material for the building of the city had
been digged.
There we're twenty-five gates on each side
| the city; between every two gates a tower
of defense springing into the skies; from
| each gate on the one side a street running
straight through to the corresponding street
| ON the o, her side, 30 that there were fifty
| streets fifteen miles long Through the city
ran brancn of the river Euphrates Tnis
river sometimes overiiowed its banks, and
to keep it from the ruin Of the city lake
was constructed into which the surplus
water of tine river would run during the
time of freshets, and the water was kept In
this artificial lake until time of drought,
and then this water would stream down
ovor ths city. At either end of the bridge
spanning this Euphrayes there was palace
the one palace mile and a half around.
the other palace seven and a half miles
around.
The wife of Nebuohadnezzar had been
born and brought up in the country, and in
mountainous region, and she could not
bear this Hat district Of Babylon; and so.
to please his wife, Nebuchadnezzar built in
The midst of the city mountai four hum
| dred feet high. This mountain was built
out into terraces supported on arches On
| the top of these arches layer of fat stones.
on the top of that a layer of reeds and
bitumen on the top Of that two layers of
bricks closely cemented, on the top of that
heavy shest of lead, and ON the top OF
that the soil placed-the soil SO deep that o.
Lebanon cedar had room to anchor its
roots There were pumps worked by
| mighty machinery fetching up the water
from the Euphrates to this hanging garden,
as it was called, so that there were fountains
spouting into the sky
Standing below and looking up it must
have seemed as If the clouds we're in blos-
SON, or as though the sky leaned on the
shoulder of a cedar All this NeDuchad-
nezzar did to please his wife. Well she
| ought to have been pleased / suppose she
was pleased. If that would not please her
nothing would. There was in thab city
also the temple Of Belus. with towers-one
| tower the eighth Of a mile high, la which
there was an observatory where astrono-
mers talked to the stars. There was in that
temple an Image, just one image, which
would cost what would be our fifty-two
million dollars.
o what a city The earth never saw
anything like it, never will see anything like
it, And yet have to tell you that it is
going to be destroyed. The king and his
princes are at a feast. They are all intoxi-
Gated. Pour out the rich wine INTO the
chalices. Drink to the health of the king.
Drink TO the glory Of Babylon. Drink to q
great future.
A thousand lords reel, intoxicated. The
king, seated upon chair, with vacant look.
as intoxicated men will--with vacant look
stared at the wall But soon that vacant
look takes on intensity, aud it is an af-
frlghted look; and all the princes begin to
look and wonder what is tae matter, and
they look at the same point on the wall.
And then there drops a darkness into
the room and puts out the blaze of tho
golden plate, and out of the sleeve OF
the darkness there comes a fngsr-a finger
Of fiery terror circling around and circling
around as though it would write; and then
it comes up and with sharp tip of flame 10
inScribes on the plastering of the wall the
doom of the king: "Weighed in tho balan-
ces, and fou u1d wanting" The bang OF
heavy d its against the ga,es OF the palace
are followed by the breaking in of the
doors. A thousand cleaning knives strike
into a thousand quivering hearts. Now
Death Is king, and ne is seated on throne
of corpses. In that hall there i, a ba ance
lifted. God swung it. On one side of tie
balance are put Belsnazzar's opp tuni5ies,
on the other side of the balance are put
Belshazzar's sins. The sins come down. His
opportunities go up. Weighed in the ball
ances--found wanting.
There has been a great deal of cheating
in our country with false weights and
measures and balances, and the govern
ment to change that state of things, ap-
pointed commissioners whose business il
was to stamp weights and measures and
balances, and great deal of the wrong has
been corrected. But still, after ALL there Is
no such thing as a perfect balance on earth.
The chain may break or some of the metal
may be clipped, or in some way the eQuip0se
may be IA little disturbed.
You cannot always depend upon earthly
balances. A pound is not always pound,
aud you may pay for one thing and get
another, but in the balance which is sus-
pended to the throne Of God pound is
wrong. and a soul is a soul, and eternity il
eternity. God has perfect bushel, and a
perfect peck, and perfect gallon. Whe1
merchants weigh their goods in the wronf
way, then the Lord weighs the goods again
Iffrom the imperfect measure the merchant
pours out what pretends to be gallon Of
oil and there is less than a gallon, God
knows it, and he calls upon his recording
angel to mark it: $50 much wantin in that
measure Of oil.n The farmer comes in from
the country. He has apples to sell lie has
an imperfect measure. He pours out the
apples from this imperfect measure. God
recognizes it. He says to the recording
angel: MARK down so many apples too tew
an imperfect measure We may cheat
ourselves and we may cheat the world, but
we cannot cheat Gcd, and in the great
day of Judgment it will be found out that
what we learned in boyhood at school is
correct; that twenty hundred weight mako
a ton, and one hundred and twenty solid
feet make cord of wood. No more, no
less, and religion which does not take
hold of this life as well as the life to come
is no religion at all. But, my friends, thaf
is not the style Of balances am TO speak q
to-day, that is not the kind of weights and
measures / am to speak OF that kind OF
balances which can weigh prin-
ciples, weigh churches, weigh men.
weigh nations and weigh worldss
'sWhatin you say, ''is lt pos.
sih1a that n1rr world Il to ha xvasf1lasSs 81