The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-09-18
FOUND WANTING.
Rev. 7. De Witt Talma0e breaches
q Sermon at Omaha, Neb.
now the People Of This World Arc
Weighed in the Christian Balances
TOO Light to Make Their Side
Come Down without
Chrlst's Help.

Rev. DR.. Talmage preached to an immense
congregation at Omaha, Neb., recently from
the text: ''Thou art weighed in the bal
ances, and art found wanting"-Daniel ",
n. The eloquent divine spoke as follows:
Babylon was the paradise of architecture,
and driven out from thence the grandest
buildings of modern times are only the evil
dence of her fall. The site having been Sc
lected for the city, 1900, 600 men were en-
ployed in the rearing Of her walls and the
building of her works. It was city of
sixty miles in circumference. There was
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
tower Of defense springing into the skies;
from each gate on the one side 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
overfowed 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
water would stream down over the city. At
either end of the bridge spanning this Eu-
pirates there was a palace-the one palace
mile and a half around, the other palace
seven and a half miles around.
The wife of Neduchadnezzarh had been born
and brought up in the country, and in q
mountainous region, and she could not bear
this f1atdistrict of Babylon; and so, to please
his wife, Nebuchadnezzar built in the midst
Of the city mountain four hundred feet
high. This mountain was built out into ter
races supported on arches. On the top of
these arches layer of fiat stones, on the top
Of that layer Of reeds and bitumen, on the
top of that two layers Of brick closely &C.
mented, on the top Of that heavy sheet of
lead, and on the top Of that the soil 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
garden as it was called, so that there were
fountains spouting into the sky.
Standing below and looking up it musv
have seemed as if the clouds were in blossom,
or as though the sky leaned on the shoulder
Of cedar All this ACKNOWLEDGMENT 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 that city also the temple. of
Belus, with uOwers-one tower the eighth of
mile high, in which there was an observa-
tory where astronomers talked to the stars.
There was in that temple an image, just one
image, which would cost what would be our
e52, OO0, 900.
what ethyl The earth never saw any
thing like it, never will see any thing like
1t. And yet have to tell you that it is
going to be destroyed. The King and his
princes are at feast. They are all intoxi-
Gated. Pour out the rich wine into the
chalces. Drink to the health of the King.
Drink to the health Of Babylon. Drink to
great future.
A thousand lords reel intoxicated. The
King, seated upon a chair, with vacantlook,
as intoxicated men will-with vacant look
stared at the wall. But soon that vacant
look takes on intensity, and it is an af-
frighted look; and all the princes begin to
look and wonder what is the matter and
they look at the same point on the wall.
And then there drops darkness into the
room and puts out the blaze of the golden
plate, and out of the sleeve of the darkness
there comes fnger-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. A thousand
cleaning knives strike into a thousand
quivering hearts, Now death is king and
he is seated on throne of corpses In that
hall there is balance lifted. God swung
It, On one side Of the balance are put Bel
shazzar's opportunities, on the other side Of
the balance are put Belshazzars sins. The
sins come down. His opportunities go up.
| Weighed in the balanccs-found wanting.
| There has been great deal of cheating in
our country with false weights and meas
ures and balances, and the Government, to
change that state of things, appointed COM
missioners, whose business it was to stamp
weights and measures and balances, and a
great deal of wrong has been corrected.
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 equipose 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 an
other; but Ia the balance which is sus-
pended to the throne of God, q pound is
pound, and right is right and wrong is
wrong, and soul is soul, and eternity is
eternity. God has perfect bushel and
perfect peck and perfect gallon. When
merchants weigh their goods in the wrong
way. then the Lord weighs the goods again.
II from the imperfect measure the mer-
chant pours out what pretends to be gal
lon Of oil and there is less than gallon,
God knows it, and he calls upon His record
ing 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 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
few, an imperfect measure" We may
cheat ourselves 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 learned in boyhood at school
is correct; that twenty hundred weight
make q ton, and one hundred and twenty
solid feet make a 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, 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