The Penn's Grove record., 1892-02-12
REV. DR.. TAEMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DfvINE's SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject:ASSinking to khe Level Of
B%rutes."

says that the exhumed bricks not only OF
Babylon, but Of a hundred towns in an area
Of one hundred miles in length and thirty in
breadth, are inscribed with the name of
Nebuchadnezzar. He was a great warrior
and at the glance of his sword nations pros
trated themselves. He was q great king
and built a city reservoir ninety miles in cir
conference and one hundred and twenty
feet deep, and constructed a hanging garden
four hundred feet square and seventy-1ve
feet high, some say TO please Amuhia, his
wife, who had been born among the hills,
and others say to get a pleasure ground free
from the mosquitoes, which affiict the levels.
l think from his character the latter
reason may have impelled him as much as
the former. When he conquered King Zed-
ekiah, so as to have no more trouble with
him, he put his eyes out-a most barbarous
way Of incapacitatiug an enemy. But Babylon
was a great place, the houses surrounded by
gardens and the housetops were connected
with each other by bridges, and one day
Nebuchadnezzar walked out on those sus-
pension bridges and showed, perhaps to a
royal visitor, the vastness OF his realm as
the sun kindles the domes with glistenings
almost insufferable and the great streets
thunder up their pomp into the ear of the
monarch, and armed towers stand around
adorned with spoils of conquered empires.
Nebuchadnezzar waves his hand above the
stupendous scene and exclaims, SIS not this
l kEtdb pdDllOn udb L uhNc DuuU IOT I06
house Of the kingdom by the might of my.
power and for the honor OF my majestyf'i
In other words. "What a great man l am.
Babylon was not anything until I adorned
it. See those water works, see those gar
dens; see those forts. l did all this. 1 shall
never be forgotten. Why. my name is on
every brick in all those walls. Just look at
me. l am more than a man
But in an instant all that splendor is gone
from his vision, for a voice falls from
heaven, saying, 10 King Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken. the kingdom is departed
from thee, and they shall drive thee from.
men and ny dwelling shall be with thebeasts
Of the fields; they shall make thee to eat
grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass
over thee, until thou know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdom OF men and
giveth it to whomsoever He will"
One hour from the time he had made the
boast he is on his way to the fields a maniac.
and rushing into the forests he becomes as
one of the beasts, and is after awhile COW
cred with eagles feathers for protection
from the cold, and his nails grow to look like
birds claws, in order hat he may dig the
earth for roots and climb the trees for nuts.
The mental disaster that seized him was
what the Greeks called lycanthropy, by
which a man imagines himself q beast and
prefers to go out and mingle with brutes. He
who had been eating pomsgranates andapri-
cots of OF plates Of gold inlaid with
amethyst and diamond, and drinking the
richest wines from the royal watts, now brow
sing on grass. and struck by the horn of the
OK as he contends for a better tuft Of the
pasturage, and instead Of an orchestra on
benches of ivory playing ths national airs,
now listening to the moan and below and
grunt of the beasts. This Is not hard for me
to believe, for the forms Of dementia are in
Vulnerable.
A few years 60. arriving in a city on a
summer afternoon, while waiting for my
engagement in the evening 1 sauntered forth
into what seemed to be q park in front of a
large public building, the use Of which l knew
not. | met a gentleman, with whom I fell into
delightful conversation, and..he seemed INTEL
ligent on all subjects. After awhile l said,
'Iet us sit down on this bench and rest
s sounasi ssd enjoy 1So. the ssi sss ss' Of ay ysrs D, So and
but | cannot. 1 am made of glass, and il |
should sit down 1 would break to pieces"
Then | saw that he was insane and belonged
to the large building just behind US.
After such an interview as that l can easily
believe this account Of my text. Here Ia
Nebuchadnezzar on all fours. He once
prided himself on being more than a
man, and now be turns out less than a man.
The courtiers look out Of the windows upon
hin as he moves among the royal herds and
cry, "A beastp Seven years pass when sud.
denly his reason returns and he comes back
to Babylon a humble worshipsr of the God
of heaven.
What must AVE been the excitement in
in the royal court as this restored maniac
emperor walks into the palace. What a time
they had in cutting his nails and his hair,
which bad grown for seven years without
being interfered with by any shears. What
a scrubbing down must have taken place In
| the imperial baths. What a Transformation
necessary in order that he who had been
herding with camels and goats and swine
may be made fit to associate with princes.
What a change from sty to throne rooml
While walking from his Babylonian palace
down to the pasture field. and from the pas
ture field back to the palace, the first thing
| that impresses me is what an in%congruous
thing 1t is for a king to DO eating grass. It
is good for cattle, but not fit for man. And
then for one to prefer it to a royal table to-
ward whose bounty the orchards and pad
docks and streams and vineyards In all the
earth might contribute-what an amaze
menti And yet the scene Is as common as
the daylight.
When | see a man of regal nature, made
to rule in realms of thought. capabls of all
moral elevation, bestowing his faculties, at
tempting out OF low sensualities to satisfy
his immortal energies, coming down of Of
his throne OF power into ~brutalities, ~sacri1c-
ing his higher nature to his lower nature,
STOPPING and STOPPING, coming down and
coming down until all his influence for good
is gone, l cry out, There is a king eating
grass like an OK
And there are tens of thousands of such
acknowledgements. So there are queens who
dedicate themselves to the same humiliation.
What power for good God gave that woman.
Magnetism Of personal presence. Influence
more than imperial. By her intelligence, by
her tenderness, by her charm Of smile and
manner, capable of soothing so much sor-
row, and reforming so much waywardness,
and welding so much elevated power; yet
at the call of worldliness. coming out Of the
throne room of good influence where God
would have her reign, coming down over
the ivory stairs of mortal power, coming
down and coming dow until she has no
more soul than the dead bird transfixed in
her millinery or the chinchilla that was
slain to afford her warmth, or the kid that
furnished her the glove, and finding her only
delight in batteries of brsinless men and
NOVELTIES. say, There is one who might
have been a queen unto God forever, yet
eating straw like an OK"
look over the pasture fields of folly and
sin and find many groveling who ought to
be erect. oh, men and women, go back to
your thrones! A young mar ran away from
home and broke his widowe mothers heart.
Fourteen years passed, and he returned and
came TO the window at which his old mother
was sitting. She looked up and immedi-
ately recognized him and said: 'Oh, Robert
Robertl Come inF' mop said he. Moth,
er, l shall never colne in till l hear you say
you forgive me-" Her answer was: Robert,
l have forgiven you long ago. There is
nothing to forgive now except that you
stayed away so long"
My hearers, forgiveness has been ready
for you a good while. With more than a
mothers tenderness God will take you back.
They are waiting for you up in the palace.
Nebuchadnezzar was the son of Nabopolas.
sar, who ruled before him, and you are tbs
child Of a Kingi
The next thought that passes into my
mind from the contemplation Of this Incl
dent is that conviction is not conversion.
Who is this monar that makes the boast
about Babylons The very man who, under
the revelation Of dreams that Daniel made
from heaven, deeply BUNDLED himself, while
he confess ed that God is a God of Gods aud
q Lord OF Lords yet behold that that hum
bling and ~arousing which he before felt did
not result in a radical change.
There is no mistake more frequent than Of
supposing conviction a synonym for con-
version. Conviction IL merely q night OF
alp; ceaysrdon ss visw Of pardon. nn1-