Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1891-02-05

snazzar, the king OF the Chaldeans slain y
II go on 70 learn that when God writes any
oning on the wal, a man had better read /
a. ltls; Daniel did not misinterprct or modi
1 ~ me handwriting on the wall. 1t is al
/ robustness to expect a minister of the Cos
pei to preach always things that the peopl
| nke OF the people choose. Young men, wha
snail preach to you tonight? Shall / tel
you OF the dignity of human natures Shal
| Tell you OF the wonders that our race I'm
accomplishment ''Oh, nor you say; 'tel m,
the message that came from Godb / will
II there IS any handwriting on the wall, it 4
th1s lesson, Accept of Christ and be savedy
1 might talk of a great many other things
PUP That is the message, and so l declare it
| Jesus never flattered those to whom III,
preached. He said to those who did yrono
and who were offensive in His sight. ''Ya
| generation of vipersi ye whited sepulebers
| how can ye escape the damnation of hell p
Raul the apostle preached before man who
was not ready to hear him preach. What
subject did he take? Did he say, ''Ohl vou
are a. good man, very fine man, very no.
Die manY' No; he preached of righteous.
| ness to a man who was unrighteous: OF tenn
perance to a man who was the victim of bad
appetites; Of the Judgment to come to a man
VINO was unit for it. So we must ALWAYS
declare the message that happens to come to
us. Daniel must read it as it is minister
preached before James I. of England, who
was James vi. of Scotland What subject
did he takey The king was noted all over the
world for his being unsettled and wayering
in his ideas. What did the minister preach
about to this man who was james |. of Eng
land and James VI. of Scotland? He took
for his text James l., g. He that wayereth
is like wave of the sea, driven with the
wind and tossed.n
Hugh Latiner offened the king by q SER
mon he preached, and the king said s'Huoh
Latimer, come and APOLOGIZE 81 will y
said Hugh Latinler. SO the day was an
pointed, and the kings chapel was full Of
lords and dukes, and the mighty mon and
women or the country, for Hugh Latimer
was to apologize. He began his sermon by
saying: "Hugh Latimer, bethink thee
Thou art in the presence Of thine earthly
king, who can destroy thy body. But be.
think thee, Hugh Latimer that thou art in
presence OF the King Of heaven and earth
who can destroy both body and soul in he'll
fire." Then he preached with appalling
directness at the kings crimes
Another lesson that comes TO us. There is
great difference between the opening of the
banquet of sin and its close. Young man, if
you had looked in upon the banquet in the
first few hours, you would have wished you
had been invited there, and could sit at the
feast. ''Oh the grandeur of Belshazzar's
feast~ you would have said but you look in
etb ttiO CfOSC VI bilb bduqu6b, duu your plOOQ
curdles with horror. The King of Terrors
has there ghastlier banquet; human blood
is the wine, and dying groans are the music.
Sin has made itself a king in the earth. 1t
has crowned itself. 1t has spread a banquet.
1t invites all the world to come to it, 1t has
hung in its banqueting hall the spoils of all
kingdoms and the banners of all nations. 1t
has gathered from all music 1t has strewn
from its wealth. the tables and the floors and
arches. And yet how often is that banquet
broken up, and how horrible is its end
Ever and anon there is a handwriting on the
wall A king falls. A great culprit is ar
rested. The knees of wiekedness knocked to-
gether. Gods Judgment, like an armed host,
breaks in upon the banquet and that night
is Belshazzar, the king OF the Chaldeans,
slain.
Here is young man who says: II cannot
see why they make such fuss about the in
toxicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating! 1t
makes me feel we'll l can talk better, think
better, feel better. | cannot see why people
have such prejudice against it." A few
years pass on, and he wakes up and finds
himself in the clutches of an evil habit
which he tries to break, but cannot and he
cries out: 'Oh, Lord God. help mef' 1t
seems as though God would not hear his
prayer, and in an agony of body and soul he
cries OUT ut biteth like a serpent, and it
stingeth like an adder" How bright it was
at the start! How black it was at the last
Here is man who begins to read corrupt
novels. "They are SO charming" says he,
81 will go out and see for myself whether all
these things are So" He opens the gate of
a sinful life He goes in. A sinful sprite
meets him with her wand She waves her
wand, and it is all enchantment Why, it
seems as if the angels 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 seesl 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.
AL the leaves of the bower are forked
tongues of kissing serpents The flowing
fountains fall back in dead pool, stenchfui
with corruption. The Turing songs become
laughter. Lost spirits gather about him and
feel for his heart, and beckon him on with
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 the words,
This night Is Belshazzar, the king of Chal-
deans, slain" Sin may open bright as the
morning. It ends dark as the night
Ilearn further from this subject that Death
did he not go down to the prisons in Babylon?
There were people there that would like to
have died. ! suppose there were men and
women in torture in that city who would
have welcomed Death. But he comes to the
palace; and just at the time when the mirth
is dashing to the tip-top pitch Death breaks
in at the banquet. We have often seen the
same thing Illustrated Here is a young man
just come from college. He is kind He is
loving. He is enthusiastic. He is eloquent
BY one spring he may bound to heights
toward which many men have been strug-
Cling for years. A profession opens before
him. He is established in the law His
friends cheer him. Eminent men encourage
him.
After while you may see him standing
in the United States senate, or moving a
popular assemblage by his eloquence, as
trees are moved in whirlwind. Some night
he retires early. A fever is on him. Delirium
like a reckless cbarioteer, seizes the reins OF
his intellect. Father and mother stand by
and SEQ 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
eioquence are being extingiiished The II
JANUS are snatched from the brow I.ae
VISION Is gone Death at the BANQUET
we saw the Same thing on a larger scale
illustrated at the last war in this eo,,ntrv
Our whole nation had been sitting at 4 ma
tionAl banquet--north, south, east and yvast
What grain was there but we grew it on e,,,,
hills. What invention was there hut ON,
rivers must tuyn the new wheel and rattle
the strange shuttle What warm furs but