Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-26

lew nours you would have H1eneu you nau poeh
invited there. and could sit at the feast "Ohl
the grandeur of Belshazzar's feastr' you would
have said: but you look IN at the close OF the
banquet and your blood curdles with horror.
The King of Terrors has there assghastlier pan
0uet; human blood is the wine. and dying
groans are the music, Sin has made itself a
King in the earth. 1t has crowned ltseI. ~
has spread banquet 1t invites all the woIIo
hall the spoils of all Kingdoms and the banners
OF all nations. 1t has gathered from all MUSIC. SIC
II has strewn from its wealth the tables ana sne
floors and arches. And yet how often rs tnas
banquet broken up; and how horrioie Is us
end! Ever and anon there is Handwriting on
the wall: A king falls A great culprltl Is ar
rested. The knees of wickedness KNOCK To-
getner. Gods Judgment, like an armeo n"s..
breaks in upon the banquet; and that nlgnt Is
Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain.
Here is young man who says, Il cannot see
ing cup. Why, it is celebrating! 1t makes me
feel well. can talk Utter, thiuk better, feel
better. l cannot see why people have such
prejudice against it." A few years pass on, ana
he wakes up and finds himself in the clutches
of an evil habit which he tries 10 break, ont
cannot: and he cries out. "Oh Lord God! help
me!' 1t seems as though God would not near
his prayer;' and in an agony of body and soul
he cries out 1T biteth like serpent, and u
stingeth like an adder" How bright it was at
the startl How black it was at the last!
Here a man who begins to read corrupt
novels. They are so charming" says he; Il
will go out and see for myself whether all these
things are So" He opens the gate of sinful l;tL
with her wand. She waves her wand. and 1t is
all enchantment Why. il seems as if the an
gels of God had poured out phials of perfume
in the atmosphere. As he walks On, he finds
the hills becoming more radiant with foliage,
and the ravines more resonant with the falling
water. Oh! what charming landscape he
seesi But that sinful sprite, with her wand,
meets him again; but now she reverses the
wand, and all the enchantment Is gone. The
cup is full of poison. The fruit turns to ashes.
All the leaves of the bower are forked tongues
of hIssing serpents. The flowing fountains fall
back in a dead pool, stencnful with corruption.
The Turing songs became curses and screams of
demoniac laughter. Lost spirits gather about
him and feel Tor his heart, and beckon him on
with Hail. brotheri Hail, blasted spirit. hailr'
He tries to get out. He comes to the front
door where he entered and tries to push it
back, but the door turns against him; and in
the jar of that shutting door he hears these
words: This night is Belshazzer, the king of
the Chaldeaus slain" Sin MAY open bright as
the morning. 1t ends dark the night
Dearh at the Banquet.
Ilearn further from this subject that Death
sometimes breaks in upon a banquet. Why
did he not go down to the prisons IN Babylon?
There were people there that would like to
have died. 1 suppose there were men and
women in torture in that city who would have
welcomed death. But hecomes TO the palace:
ami just at the time when the mirth is dashing
to the tiptop pitch. Death breaks in at the ban
quet We have often seen the same thing IL
Illustrated. Here is young man just come
from college. He is kind. He is loving. He
is enthusiastic. He is eloquent. By one spring
he NAV bound to heights toward which many
men have been struggling for years. A pro-
fession opens before him. He is established in
the Law. His friends cheer him. Eminent
men encourage him. After awhile you may
see him standing in the United States Senate
or moving a popular assemblage by his elo-
quence. as trees moved in a whirlwind.
Some night he retires early. fever is on him.
Delirium, like reckless charioteer, seizes the
reins of his intellect. Father and mother stand
by and see the tides OF his life going OUT to the
great ocean. The banquet Is coming to an end
The lights of thought, and mirth, and eloquence
are being extnguished. The garlands are
snatched from the brow. The vision is gone
Death at the banquet
The Red Sea was divided. The Egyptians
tried to cross it. There could be no danger.
they had gone why not the Egyptians? Ohl it
was such a beautiful walking place! A pave
ment of tinged shells and pearls, and on either
side two great walls of water-solid. There can
lie no danger. Forward, great host of the
Egyptiansl Clap the cyinbals. and blow the
trumpets of victory! After them! We will
catch them yet, and they shall be destroyed.
But the walls begin to tremble. They rock!
They fall The rushing watersi The shrek of
drowning meni The swimming of the war
horses IN vain for the shore! The strewing of
the great host on the bottom of the sea, or
pitched by the angry wave on the beach-a bat
tered, bruised and loathsome wreck, Suddenly
destruction came. One-halI hour before they
could not have believed it. Destroyed; and
without remedy.
1 am just setting forth fact, which you
have noticed as well as |. Ananias comes to
the land for so much?" He says. YES" 1t
was a lie. Dead! as quick as that! Sapphira,
his wife comes in. Did you sell the land for
50 much?' Yes" 1t was lie; and quick as
that she was deadl Gods judgments are upon
those who despise him and defy him. They
come suddenly.
Do you suppose that any OF the people knew
that he was comingf Did they hear the flap of
his great wingf No! No! Suddenly, unex-
pectedlY, he came.
Death Compared to a Sportsman.
Skilled sportsmen do not like to shoot bird
standing on a sprig near by. If they are
skilled, they pride themselves on taking it on
the wing; and they walt till il starts. Death is
an old sportsman; and he loves to take men fly
ing under the very sun. He loves to take them
on the wing.
Are there any here who are unprepared for
the eternal world? Are there are any here who
have been living without God. and without
hope? Let me say to you that you had better
your last chance be gone. The lungs will cease
to breathe; the heart will stop. The time will
come when you shall 60 no more to the office.
OF to the store, OF to the shop. Nothing Will be
left hut Death, and Judgment. and Eternity.
Oh! flee to God this hour! II there be one in
this presence who has wandered far away from
Christ. though he may not have heard the call
of the Gospel for many year, invite him now
to come and he saved. Flee from thy sinl Flee
to the stronghold of the Go,pel! Now is the
accepted time; now is the day of salvation.
Good night, my young friends! May you
have rosy sleep, guarded by Him who never
slumbersi MAY you awake in the morning
strong and well! But OIL art thou q despiser of
God? Is this thy last night on earth? Shouldesr
thou be awakened in the night by something,
thou knowest not what. and there be shadows
floating in the room, and handwriting on the
wall, and you feel that your last hour is come,
ami there be fainJing at the heart. and
trenor In the limb, and a catching of the breath
then thy doom would be but an echo of the
words of the text: I'm that night was Belshaz-
Ear, the King of the CEaldeans, slain.'
Hear the invitation of the gospel! There
may be someone in this hou<e to whom shall
never speak again, and therefore let 1t be in the
words of the gospel, and not in my own. with
which L close: 'Ho, every one that thrssethl
Come ye to the waters. And let him that hath
no money come, buy wine and milk without
money, and without price" Come unto Me,
all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and
will give you rest"