Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-13
PREACHING In PARIS.
DR.. Talmage Takes as a Text a Leaf
From JOash's Experience.
STRIKING INCIDENTIN JERUSALEM.
The Necessity of His Hiding in Order to
Prepare for the Throne.
COMPARISONS FOR THE CHURCHES
rsrrc1Ar 10 TEE prsrArcH.,

part OF February. DIR. Ialmage's 6 text was:
"Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram,
sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son Of
Ahaziah, and stole him from among the
kings sons which were slain; and they hid
him, even him and his nurse, in the bed
chamber from Alfalfa, so that he was not
slain. And he was. with her hid in the
house of the Lord six years. III Kings,
H, ., 5. He said:
Grandmothers are more lenient with their
children's children than they were with
their own. At 40 years of age, if discipline
be necessary, chastisement is used, but at 20
the grandmother, looking upon the misbehav-
ior Of the grandchild, is apologetic and disposed
to substitute confectionery for whip There is
nothing more beautiful than this mellowing of
old age toward childhood. Grandmother takes
out her pocket handkerchief and wipes her
spectaeles and puts them on, and looks down
into the face of her mlschievous and rebellious
descendant, and says: Il don't think he meant
to do it; let him off this time; III be response
bic for his behavior in the future" Mymother,
with the second generation around her-a bois-
ferrous crew-said one day: II suppose they
ought to be disciplined, but 1 can't do it.
Grandmothers are not fit to bring up grand
children" But here, in my text, we have
grandmother of a different hue.
vIvIDLY RECALLING sACRED SCENES.
I nave within few days been at Jerusalem,
where the occurrence of the text took place
and the whole scene came vividly before me
while was going over the site of the ancient
temple and climbing the towers of the kings
palace. Here in the text it is old Athaliah the
queenly murderess. She ought to have been
honorable. Her father was a king Her hus-
band was king. Her son was a King And
yet we find her plotting for the determination
of the entire royal family, including her own
grandchildren The eXecutioners' knives are
sharpened. The palace is red with the blood
Of princes and princesSes On all sides are
shrieks, and hands thrown up, and struggle.
and death groan. No mercy! Kill! Kill! But
while the ivory floors of the palace run with
carnage. and the whole land is under the
shadow of a great horror, feet footed woman,
= clergyman's wife. JehOsheba by name
stealthily approaches the imperialnurseTy, ,seizes
upon the gTandchild that had somehow as vet
bnt In haste snngees II against beE ies deIT55
the palace stairs, her heart in her throat lest
she be discovered in this Christian abduction.
Get her out of the way as quick as you can, for
she carries precious burden, even a young
king. With this youthful prize she presses into
the room of the ancient temple, the church of
olden time, unwraps the young king and puts
him down. sound asleep as he is, and uncon-
sciOus Of the peril that has been threatened:
and there for six years he is secreted IN that
church apartment Meanwhile old Athaliah
smacks her lips with satisfaction and thinks
that all the royal family are dead.
But the six years expire, and it is now time
for young Joash to come forth and take the
throne, and to push back into disgrace and
death old Athaliah The arrangements are all
made for political revolution. The military
come and take possession of the temple swear
loyalty to the boy Joash and stand around for
his defense! See the sharpened swords and the
FURNISHED shields! Everything is ready.
SCENE OF A CLIMAX.
Now, Joash. half affrighted at the armed
tramp of his defenders. scared at the vocifera-
ton Of his admirers is brought forth in full
regalia. The scroll of authority is put in his
hands, the coronet Of government is-Put on
his brow, and the people elapped, and waved,
and huzzsed, and trumpeted. What is that?"
said Athaliah. what is that sound over in
the temple?' And she flies to see. and on her
way they meet her and say: why, haven't
you heard? You thought you had slain all the
royal family, but Joash has come to light"
Then the Queenly murderess frantic with
rage, grabbed her mantle and tore it to tatters,
and cried until she toamed at the mouth: You
have no right to take the government from nv
shoulders. TreasonI Treasonr' While she
stood there crying that, the military started
for her arrest and she took short cut through
back door of the temple and ran through the
ROYAL stables: but the battle axes of the mill
tary fell on her in the barn yard, and for many
day, when the horses were being unloosed
from the chariot, after drawing out Young
Joash, the fiery steeds would snort and rear
passing the place, as they smelt the place of the
carnage.
The first thought hand you from this sub
ject is that the determination of righteousness
is an impossibility When woman is good,
she is apt to be very good, and when she is bad
she is apt to be very bad, and this Athalish was
one of the latter sort. She would extermlnate
the last scion of the house of David, through
whom Jesus was to come. There was plenty of
work for embalmers and undertakers. She
would clear the land of all God fearing and
God loving people She would put an end to
everything that could in anywise interfere
with her imperial criminality. She folds her
hands and says: THE work Is done; it is COM
pletely done" Is it? In the swaddling
clothes of that church apartment are wrapped
the cause of God, and the cause of good gov
ercment
WORTHY OF KNDEST SOLICITUDE.
That is the scion Of the house of David:-it is
Joash, the Christian reformer; it is Joash, the
friend of God; it is Joash, the demolisher of
Baalitisb idolatry. Rock him tenderly, nurse
him gently. Athaliah, you may kill all the
other children, but you cannot kill him,
Eternal defenses are thrown all around him, and
this clergyman's wife, Jehosheba, will snatch
him up from the palace nursery. and will run
up and down with him into the house Of the
Lord, and there she will hide him for six years
and at the end of that time he will come forth
for your dethrOnement and obIiteration.
Well, my friends Just as poor botch does
the world always make of exrnguishing right
eousness. Superstition rises up and saws; II
VIII Just put an end to pure religion" DOmi- |
uan slew 10000 Christians, Diocletian slew S44-
OOO Christians And the scythe of persecution |
has been swung through all the ages and the |
flames hissed, and the guillotine chopped and |
The Baste gTOaned: but did the foes of Christi |
anlty eXterminate it? Did they exterminate |
Alban, the first British sacrifice; or ZuinPlius |
the swiss reformer; or John Oldcastle, the |
Christian nObleman; or Abdallah, the Arabian i
martyr: or Anne Askew, or Sanders OF Gran |
mer? Great work of determination they made /
oi u. Just at the time when they thought they |
had siam all the royal family Of Jesus some |
JOash would spring up and out and take the /
throne OF power, and weld very seepter of /
christian dominion.
I Infdelity says: "rn Just exterminate the
p8ible" and the Scriptures were thrown into |
ythe street for the mob to trample on and thew
were piled up IN the public squares and set on
7 fire. and mountains of indignant contemnt
we're hurled on them, and learned universities
decreed the Bible out of existence Thomas
Paine said: 'In my age of Reason / have an
initiated the scriptures. Your Washington is
a pusillanimOus Christian, but 1 am the foe of
Bibles and of churches" o, how MANY assanlts
upon that World
ALL AssAILING THE BIBLE.
All the hostillties that have ever been created
on earth are not to be compared with the hos
tilities against that one book. Said one man
in his infidel desperation, to his wife: "You
must not be reading that Bible" and he
snatched It away from her. And though IN
that Bible was lock of hair of the dead child
the only child that God had ever given them
he pitched the book with it's contents into the I
fire, and stirred it with the toBgs, and spat on
it. and cursed it, and said: ''Susan. never have
any more of that damnable stuff hereT
How many individual and organized attempts
have been made TO exterminate that Bible? /
Have they done itP Have they exteTminated
the American Bible Society? Have they ex-
terminated the British and Foreign Bible So
ciety? Have they exterminated the thousands
Of Christian institutions, whose only object it
Is to multiply copies of the Scriptures and
throw them broadcast around the world? They
have exterminated until instead of one or two
copies Of the Bible in our houses we have eight
o. ten, and we pile them up in the corners Of
our sabbath school rooms and send great
boxes of them everywhere. II they get
on as well as they are now going on |
IN the work of exterminatIon do
not know but that our children may
live 10 see the millennium Yea If there
should come time of persecution in which all
the known Bibles Of the earth should be de-