The Penn's Grove record., 1892-09-02
REl. DR.. IALNAGES sermon.
me Brooklyn Diyisels sunday
Sermon.


TEXT. "Iffh ftrdin he covered hrs Jace,
10Th train he covered his feet. and tcitb
teain he did fN."-Isaiah VI, 9.
In a hospital of leprosy good King Uzziah
had died, and the whole land was Swallowed
with s~olemnity, and theological and prUphs
etc Isaiah was thinking about religious
things, as one Is apt to do IN time Of great
national bereavement. and forgetting the
presence OF his wife and two sons who made
up his family. he la q dream, not like the
creams OF ordinary character. which gen
orally come from indigestion. but a vision
most instructive, and under the touch OF
the hand OF the Almighty.
The ~place-the ancient temples; builling
--srand, awful, majestic. Within that
temple q throne higher and grander than
that occupied by any car, or sultan or em-
peror. On that throne the eternal Christ.
In lines surrounding hat throne the bright
est celestials, not the c~herubim, but hi cher
than they, toe most exquisite and radiant
OF the heavenly inhabitants, the ssraphim.
They are called burners because they Look
like fire. Lips Of fire, eyes OF fire, feet OF
fire. In addition to the features and the
limbs, which suggest a human being. there
are p,nions, which suggest the highest. the
swiftest, the most buoyant and most in
spring of all intelligent creation-s bird.
Each seraph had six wings, eacn two of the
wings tor a different purpose. lssiah's
dream quivers and flashes with these
pinions. Now folded, now spread, now
beaten in locomotion. with twain he COW
cred his feet, with twain he covered his face,
and with twain he did iy."
The probability is that these wings were
not all used at once. The seraph standing
th~erenear the throne overwhelmed at the In
significance of the paths his feet had trodden
as compared with the paths trodden by the
feet of God, and with the lameress of his
Iocomotion amounting almost to decrepitude
as compared with the divine velocity. with
feathery veil Of angelic mo lesty hides the
feet. with twain he did cover his feet.m
Standing there ~overpowered by the over
matching splendors OF Gods glory, and un
ahie longer with the eyes TO LOOK upon them,
and wishing those eyes shaded from the in
siderable glory, the pinions gather over the
countenance. with twain he did cover the
face Then as God tells this seraph to go to
the farthest outpost of immensely on message
Of light and love and joy, and get back be-
fore the first anthem, it does not take the
seraph a great while TO spread himself upon
the air with u~nimagined celebrity; one stroke
of the VIE equal to ten thousand leagues of
air. with twain he did fly"
The most practical and useful lesson for
you and me, when we see the seraph
spreading bis wings over the feet. is a lesson
OF humility at imperfection. Tn bright ct
angels OF God are SO far beneath God that
He charges them with folly. The seraph 30
far beneath God. and we SO far beneath the
seraph in service we ought to be plunged in
humility, utter and complete. Our feet, how
laggard they a been in the divine servicei
Our feet, how many missteps they have
takeni Our feet, in how many paths Of
w~orldhness and folly they nave walkedt
, Neither God nor seraph intenied to put
any dishonor upon that which is one Of the
masterpieces OF Almighty God--the human
foot. Ply Biologist and anaIomist ars over
whelmed at the wonders of its organization.
.'The Bridgewater Treatise" written by Sir
Charles Bell, on the wisdom and goodness Of
God, as Illustrated in the human hand, was
q result OF the $40. 600 bequsathed in the last
will and testament of the Earl of Bridge
water for the encouragement of Christian
literature. The world could afford TO for
give his eccentricities, though he had two
dogs seated at his table. and though he put
six dogs alone in an equlpage drawn by four
horses and attended by two footmen.
With his large bequest inducing Sir
Charles Bell TO write SO valuable a book on
the wisdom or God in the structure OF the
human hand. the world could afford to for
give his oddities. And the world could now
afford to nave another Earl of Bridgewater.
however idiosyncratic, II he would induce
some other Sir Charles Bell to write a voc
on the wisdom and goodness OF God in the
construction OF the human foot-the ar
IculhlOn OIL It's Donts1 tue iuuTicAtiou u ~
joints, the gTacefulness of its lines, the in
genuity OF lis carriages, the delicacy of its
VEINS, the rapidity OF its muscular contrac-
ton, the sensltiveness of its nerves.
/ sound the praises of the human foot.
With that we halt or climb or march. It's
the foundation Of the physical fabric. 1t Is
the base OF a tod poised column. With it
the warrior braces himself for battle. With
1t the orator plants himself for eulogium.
With it the toiler reaches his WORK. With
it the outraged stamps his indignation. Its
loss an irreparable disa ster. Its health an
invaluable equipment. II you wan to
know its value, ask the man whose foot
paralysis hath ~shriveled, or machinery hath
crushed, or surgeons knife hath amputated.
The Bible honors it. Especial care, Lest
thou dash thy foot against a stone" "he
will not suffer thy foot to be moved" THY
feet shall not stumble" Especial charge,
Keep thy foot when thon goest to the
house of God.p Especial peril, Their fees
shall slide in due time" Connected with
the worlds dissolution, H shall set ons
foot on the sea and the other on the earth.
Give me the history of your foot and l VII
give you the history Of your lifetime. feu
me up what steps it hath gone, down wha,
d~eclivities, and in what roads and in what
directions, and | will know mora about yor
than | want to know. None OF us could en-
dure the scrutiny. Our feet not always in
paths OF God. Sometimes in paths OF
worldiizess. Our feet. a divine n glorious
machinery for usefulness and work, 50 often
making missteps, so often going in the
wrong direction. God knowing every step,
the patriarch saying, +rhou settest a print
on the lisels OF my feet" Grimes OF tbs
hand, crimes OF the tongue, crimes of the
eye, crimes OF the ear not worse than tbs
erifnss Q M foot. Oh. we want the wings
OF immunity 70 cover the feet. Ought we moi
70 go INTO SELF anesnation before the all
searching all scruttnizing,. all trying eye OF
IN serapns do. How muca more
WEI WIN twain ne covered the feet"
An rms taik about the dignity OF hutnsn
nature IS oraggadoclo and a sin. Our pa
turs started at the hand OF s3od regal, but
Il mas been pauperizsd, There is a well in
Belgium wnich once had very pure water;
and ~ was stoutiy masonef with stone and
brick; but that well afterward became the
centre OF the battle of Waterloo. AT the
opening Of the battle the soldiers with their
sabersc compelled the gardener. William Vou
Kyisom, to draw water out of the well for
them, and il was very pure water,
But the battle ragged, and three hundred
dead and halt dead were flung into the well
for quick aud easy burial, 81 that tue we'll
OF reireshment became the we'll Of death.
and long alter people looked down into the
well, and they saw the hleached skulls but
no water. So the human soul was q we'll OF