Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-06-18
REV. DIR. TAIN


place of hnnIe7 ."-Psalms xxx. :
II IS past midnight. and two O'Clock in TIE
morning, far enough from sunset and sun.
rise to make the carEne>s very thick. and the
Egyptian army in pursuit OF the escaping
lsrael.tes are on the lotion Of the Red Sea
is waters having been set 40 on either side
IN masonry Of sapphire, for God can make a
wall as soliG out Of water as ont OF granite.
and tie trow-'s with which these two walls
were built were none The less powerful BE-
cause invisible. Such walls had never before
been lifted.
When / saw the waters Of the Red Sea roll
Ing through the Suez Canal they were blu
and beautiful and flowing like other waters
hut tonight, as the Egyptians look up u
them built into walls, now on one side an
now on The other. they must have bean
frowning waters, for it was probable that
the same power that lifted them UP might
suddenly fling them prestrate. A great Ian
tern Of cloud hung over this chasm between
the two walls. The door of that lantern was
opened toward the Israelites ahea1, giving
them light. and tho bacE Of the lantern was
toward the Egy ptlans. and it growleI AMI
rumb.ei and iarrei with thunder, not thun.
der ike that which cheers the earth after a
drought, promising the refreshing shower.
but charged ani sUrcharged with threats 0:
doom.
The Egyptian CAPTAINS lost their presence
of min I. and the horses reared and snorta!
ana would mo- answer 10 their blt-, and tna
chariot wheels got interlockel AMI torn off.
and the characters were hur!eihea iion-,
and the Red Sea fell on all the host. Tn
confusing an COufounding thunder was in
answer 70 the prayer OF the fsraelites. With
their hacks cut by the lash, and their feet
hie"dln-. and their bodies decrepit with the
suffering Of whole generations. they hal
asked Almighty God to enscpulcher their
Egyptian pursilers IN one great sarcophag gus,
and the splash ana the roar OF the Red Sea
- "a II slrCDuCI IN lis NATURAL bed Usra only
the shutting % the sarcophagus on a dead
host. That Is the meaning of the text when
God says, Il answered taee in the secret
placeof thunder"
Now thunder, all up and down the Bible.
is the symbol of power. The Egyptian
plague Of hail was accompanied with this
tull d~iapason Of the heavens. Nhile Sam
uel and his men were making a burnt offer
ing of a lamb, and the Philistines were about
10 attack them, it was by terrorizin1 thu.-
der they were discounted. JOB, who was a
combination Of the Dantesque and the Mill
tome, was solOmnizel on this reverbaration
o. the heavens, and criei, The thunder Of
His power. who can understands and he
CT challenges the universe by saving. 'Canst
thou thunder with a voice like Him. and he
throws Rosa Ponheur'S Horse Fair into
the shade by the Bible photograph OF a war
horse, when he describes his neck as clothed
with thunder because of the power OF
James and john, they were called 'the son,
OF thunder" The law given or the basaItic
craes of Mount Sinai was emphasized with
this cloudy ebuliition. The skies all aroun T
about st. John at Patmos were full Of the
thunder of war, ard the thunder OF Christly
triumph, and tho thunder of resurrection.
ana the thunder of eternity.
But when my text says, II answered thee
In the secret place of thunder it suggest
there IS some mystery about the thunder.
To the ancients the cause OF this lombard
ing the earth with loud sound must have
been more OF a mystery than 1t is to us. The
llghtnings, which We're to them wild mon
sters ranging through the skies, in our time
!. have been domesticated. We harness cleo
tric.ty TO vehicles and we cage it in lamps,
and every schooltoy knows something about
the fact that it is the passage of electricity
!. from clouito cloud that makes the heavenly
: racket which we call thunder. But, after
all that chemistry has taught the world.
there are mysteries at out the skyey reson-
/. nnce and my text, true in the time Of the
Psalmist, Is true now and always will be
. true. that there Is some secret about the
place Of thunder.
To one thing known about the thunder
there are a hundred things not known
Alter all the scientific batteries have been
doing their work for n thousand years tc
3 come and learned men have discoursei tC
8 the utmost about atmospheric electricity an
magnetic electricity and galvanic electricity
= and thernlotic electricity and frictiona
fl'Nt 81 dlOt lOSltlNt ChctLA INttJ dlIl IlSeG-
tive electricity my text will he as suggestive
as it is to-day, when it speaks Of the secre,
place Of thunder.
Now right along Icy a natural law Their.
is always a spiritual law, as there is
secret place of moral thunder. In othe,
words. the religious power that you Sc
abroad i'll the church in the world has q HID
ing place, ana III many cases 1t is never dis
covered at all. | will uSe Il simi!ltude.
can gave only a dim outline of a particula
case, for many of the remarkable circunl
stances | have forgotten. Many years az
there was alarIe church. 1t was characte,
z.dh y strange and uuaccountahle CONVEX
SONS. There were no great revlvalS. bu
individual cases Of spiritual arrest and tran.
formation.
young man sat in one OF the front pew,
He was a graduate II Yale, brilliant as tn
north star and notoriorsiy diS-olute. Ever,
hoiy knew him and likeu hun for MS gem
ality, bat d~eplorei III, moral errantry. /
please his parents be was every Sabbat
II morning IN cnurcn. Une nay tnere was
ringing OF tie door-bell OF the pastor Of tina
. church, andthaI v0unC man, whelmed wat
=" repentance, mplorel prayer and advice, an
= passed into complete reformation of hear
~ ana life. All the neighborhood was aston
ishe1 and asked. why was thisf' y
= father and mother ha said nothing to hi
atcut his souls welfare.
Il On another aisle Of the sama church Sc
4 an old miSer. H. laii his pew rent, bl
; was hard on the poor. anl had no inter st
/. any philanthropy Plies of money! Al
people said. "Nna:a struggle he will he
~ when he quitSthls HE - part with his bon
.e, ami mortgages" 90 Gay be wrote to |
minister Please to call Immediately.
have a matter OF great Importance abo
Y which, | Want u see YOU. hen the past
came in the man c5uli not speak for EN-
ton, but after annie he gathered self CO
troi enough - say: "ihave lived for Il
world too long. want = know If Y
think | can lie sa.ef. ana. # 50. l wish '
4. would tell me how Upon his soul I
light soon ~iawne', ani the old miser. /
only revo,utiouI1el III hes.re but i'll life, /
gan 10 scatter ben. 81 stl.l>. and toward
the great charities al tus Gay he becaml
cheerful and t!QunI,ui a}nnons IT. What v
!! the cause tf this change everybody ask
and no one Was capable q giving an Int
gent answer
Of lnanoth-r partot Tie .uurcn sat, Sabb;
% Nv Saht AN, a t-,G. t;d+ an tllentet woni
, who WAS {. great .#c.-ty eater. She w
10 church becau>- ;.l.t MAS II reSpec,a
thing 70 do. ana IA ~ .alsabcrEoo1 WI
she lived X was J. tra4Nt >ytc.ahle not to
q Worldly Was - - 4. as degree. and
x her la:nlly wCr4tty. ~as n1i Al iler G.
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