The Red Cloud chief., 1891-02-06

- 49, aUCAG0 000 W0Wk
oied E Of . dead King. For III
me- hight was BelsAaaxar, The King d
the Chaldcana. alain.s
60 on 70 learn that when God write,
any thing on the wall . mar he'd bette,
read Il as Il t. Daniel did not misin,
terpret or modify ths Handwriting OF
the wall TIN al foolishueas 70 expec,
. minister Of the Gospel to preach Il
ways things that the people Ike or Tn
people choose. Young men, what alall
l preach to you tonight? Shall I tel
you OF the dignity Of human naturel
Shall l tell you of the wonder that ous
race has accomplished 20. no." you
say, tell me the message that came
from God" / will. II there II any
handwriting on the wall. II h this lea,
son: accept Of Christ and be saved"
I might talk of . great many othes
things but that Is the message and "a
I declare It. Jesus never nattered those
to whom he preached. He said TO those
who did wrong and who were often.
sive in his sight: "Ye generation OF
vipersi ye whited sepulchres! how
can ye escape the damnation Of hell!'
Paul, the apostle, preached before
a man who was not ready TO hear him
preach. What subject did he take? Did
he say: 20! you are . good man, a very
fine man, . very noble MANI" No; he
preached Of righteousness TO man who
was unrighteOus; Of temperance 70 q
man who was the victim to bad appc-
tites; Of the Judgment to come 70 q man
who was unfit for it. So we must al
ways declare the message that happens
to comes to us. Daniel must read it as
it is.
A minister preached before James I.
Of England, who was James vi. of
Scotland What subject did he take?
The King was noted all over the world
for being unsettled and wavering in his
ideas. What did the minister preach
about TO this man who was James !. Of
England and James VI. of Scotland?
He took for his text (James, i. g.: "He
that wave-eth is like a wave Of the sea,
driven with the wind and tossed"
Hugh Latimer offended the King by q
sermon he preached. and the King said:
"Hugh Latimer, come and apologize"
II will" said Hugh Latimer. So the
day was appointed: and tho Kings
chapel was full Of lords, and dukes.
and the mighty men and women OF the
country, for Hugh Latimer was 70 apol-
Ogize. lie began his sermon by saying:
"Hugh Latimer. bethink thee! Thou art
in the presence Of thine earthly King,
who can destroy thy body. But bethink
AAa, ll,rl~ V--. AA.k Ill.,. "a -
the presence Of the King of Heaven
and earth, who a destroy both body
and soul in hell ftre?" Then he
preached with appalling di~rectness At
the Kings crimes.
Another lesson that comes to us:
There is a great difference between the
opening of the banquet of sin and its
close. Young man, il you had looked
in upon the banquet in the first few
been invited there and could sit at the
feast. 'IOh! the grandeur of Balshaz-
zar's FEAST" you would have said; but
you look in at the close of the banquet
and your blood curdles with horror.
The king Of tcrrors has there a ghastlier
banquet; human blood is the wine and
dying grOans r the music. Sin has
made itself q king in the earth. II has
crowned itself. Il has spread q BAN
quet- It invites all the world to come
to it.
1t has hung in its b~anqucting hall the
spoils of all Kingdoms and the hammers
of all nations. It has gathered from
all music. It has strewn, from its
wealth the tables, and the floors and
the arches. And yet how often is hat
banquet broken up and how horrible is
its end! Ever and anon there is a hand
writing on the wall. A King falls. A
great culprit Is arrested. The knees of
wickcdness knock together. Gods
judgment, like an armed host, breaks
in upon the banquet and hat night is
Belshazzar. the King of the Chaldcans,
slain.
Here is q young man who says: 81
a not see why they make such q fuss
about the Intoxicating cup. Why. it Is
exhilarating! 1t makes me feel well.
! can talk better. think better, feel bet
ter. can not see why people have
such n prejudice against it." A few
years pass on and he wakes mp and
finds himself in the clutches of an evil
habit which he tries to break, but can
not; and he cries out: '1Oh. Lord God!
help met" 1t seems as though God
would not hear his prayer: and in an
agony of body and soul he cries ont:
ut biteth like a serpent and it stingeth
like an adder" How bright it vas at
the start! How black it was at the last!
Here is a man who begins to read cor
rupt novels. They arc SO charming"
says nc. IL will go out and see for my
self whether all these things are So"
He opens the gate to a sinful life. He
goes in. A sinful sprite meets him with
her wand. She waves her wand and it
is all e~nchantment- Why, it seems IA
If the angels Of God had poured out
phials of perfume in the atmosphere.
As he walks on he finds the hills be-
coming more radiant with foliage and
the ravines more resonant with the fall.
ing water. O, what q charming land
scape he sees!
But that sinful spritc. with her wand,
meets him again; but now she ~reverses
the wand and all the enchantmcnt is
gone. The Turing songs become curses
and Ear of demoniac laughter.
Lost spirits gather about him and feel
for his heart, and beckon him on with
Hail. brother! Hail, blasted spirit,
hail!' 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 Linn. and in the jar of that
shutting door he hears these words:
This night is Belshazzar. the King of
the Chaldeans, slain" Sin may open
bright as the morning; it ends dark as
the night!
l learn further from this subject that
death sometimes breaks in upon . ban-
quet. Why did he not go down to the
prisons in Babylon? There were people
there hat would like to have died. I
suppose there were men and women IN
in that city who would have
death. But he comes to the
palace, and just ut the time when the
mirth Is dashing to the tiptop pitch
death breaks in at the banouet We