Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-09-12
THE JUDGMENT SCALES.
A Sermon By DR.. Talmage on
Worldly Shortcomings
The Divine Weighing Always True-The
Churches Often Found wanring-The
MOralist Light wetght-Christ's
Power to Save.

y. Y, in a recent sermon at Omaha, Neb.,
took for his text: Thou art weighed in
the balances and art found wanting. -
Daniel v. q. Following is the sermon:
Babylon was the paradise Of architect
ure, and driven out from thence the
grandest bull dings Of modern times are
only the evidence of her fall. The site
having been selected for the city, 3. 0O0, 900
men were employed in the rear of her
walls and the building of her works. 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 were twenty five gates on each
side of 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 cor
responding street on the other side, so that
there were fifty streets fifteen miles long.
Through the city ran branch of the river
Euphrates. This river sometimes over
flowed its banks, and to keep it from the
ruin Of the city lake was constructed
into which the surplus water of the river
would run during the time of freshets, and
the water was kept in this artificial lake
until the time of drought and then this
would stream down over the city. At
either end of the bridge spanning the
Euphrates there was q palace-the one
q palace a mile and half around, the
other palace seven and a half miles
around.
The wife of Nebuchadnezzar had been
born and brought up in the country, and
in a mountainous region, and she could
not haor no Aot diSfrict If Rah apd
so, to please his wife, Nebuchadnezzar
built in the midst of the city a mountain
400 feet high. This mountain was built
out into terraces supported on arches. On
the top of these arches a layer of fat
stones, on the top of that layer of reeds
and bitumen, on the top of that two layers
of bricks closely cemented, on the top of
that heavy sheet of lead and on top of
that the soil was placed-the soil so deep
that 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 gar
den, as it was called, so that there were
fountains spouting into the sky.
Standing below and looking up it must
have looked as if the clouds were in bios
som, or as though the sky leaned on the
shoulder of a CEDAR
Ali this Nebuchadnezzer did to please
his wife. Well, she ought to have been
pleased. If that would not please her
nothing would. There was in that city
also the temple of Belus, with towers-one
tower the eighth of mile high, IN 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 $52, =
900, 900.
o, what ethyl The earth never saw
any thing like it, never will see any thing
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
intoxicated. Pour out the rich wine into
the chalices. Drink to the health of the
King. Drink to the glory of Babylon.
Drink to great future.
A thousand lords reel intoxicated. The
King, seated upon a chair, with vacant
look as intoxicated men will-with vacant
look stared at the wall. But soon that
vacant look takes on intensity and it is
an affrighted look, and all the princes be-
gin to look and wonder what Is the mat
ter, and they look at the same point on
the wall. And then there drops dark
ness into the room and puts out the blaze
of the golden plate and out of the sleeve
of the darkness there comes a finger-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 fame it inscribes on the plastering of
the wall the doom of the King: weighed
in the balances and found wanting" The
bang of heavy fists against the gates of
the palace are followed by the breaking in
of the doors. Athousand cleaning knives
strike into a thousand quivering hearts.
Now death is king, and he is seated on a
throne of corpses. In that hall there is a
balance lifted. God swung II. On one
side of the balance He put Belshazzar's
opportunities, on the other side Of the bal
ance are put Belshazzar's sins. The sins
come down. His opportunities go up.
Weighed in the balances-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 it
was to stamp weights and balances, and a
great deal of the wrong has been correct
ed. But still, after all, there is no such
thing as perfect balance on earth. The
chain may break, or some of the metal
may be Clipped, or in some way the
eQuipoise may be little disturbed.
You can not always depend upon earthly
balances. A pound is not always pound,
and you may pay for one thing and get
another; but in the balance which is sus-
pended to the throne of God, pound is a
pound, and right is right and wrong is
wrong, and a soul is a soul, and eternity
is eternity. God has perfect bushel and
a perfect peck and perfect gallon. When
merchants weigh their goods in the wrong
way, t en- the Lord weighs the goods
again. If from the imperfect measure
the merchant pours out what pretsnds to
be a gallon, God knows it, and He calls
upon His recording angel to mark It: $50
much wanting in that measure OF oil "
The farmer comes in from the country.
He has apples to sell. He has an imper-
feet measure. He pours out the apples
from this imperfect measure. God recog-
nizes it He says to the recording angel:
Mark down so many apples too few-an
imperfect measure" We may cheat our
selves and we may cheat the world. but
we can not cheat God, and in the great
day of judgment it will be found out that
what we harmed in boyhood at school Is
correct; that twenty hundred weight
make q ton, and one hundred and twenty
eight solid feet make q cord OF wood No
more, no less, and g religion which does
not take hold of this life as well as the
life to come is no religion at all But, my
friends, that is not the style of balances
am to speak of to-day, that is not the kind
OF weights and measures am to speak
of that kind of balances which can weigh
principles, weigh churches weigh men,
weigh nations and weigh worlds "WhatP
you say, ais it possible that our world Is x
ha weiohedtO Yes WHY, YOU would