The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-02-18
AT THE TABERNACLE.
DR.. TALMAGE ON THE lBESTIAL PRO
PENSlTlES OF A SINFUL NATURE.

nezzar and Shown It's Agreement with
HiStory and Natural Law.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 7.-With ii mighty
acclaim the long meter doNology rose
at the beginning of the service. The
lnestlmablc value of Christianity as an
elevating and ennobling influence on the
nature of man formed the subject of DR..
Talmage's sermon this morning. The
brilliant and original preacher chose as
his text the humiliation Of The Babylon-
!sh king, who, being destitut of reliy-
ion, sank to the level of the brute.
Daniel iv, %. "All this came upon the
King Nebuchadnczzar."
Colonel Rawlinson, The oriental trav-
eier, says that the cXhumed bricks, not
only OF Babylon, but of hundred towns
In an area OF one hundred miles in length
and thirty in breadth, arc inscribed with
the name of NebuchadneZZar, He WAS
great warrior, and at the glance of his
sword nations Frustrated themselves.
lie was a great king and built city re-
servolr ninety miles in circumference
and one hundred and twenty feet deep,
and constructed q hanging Garden four
hundred feet square and seventy.iive
!eet nigh, some say to please AmuhIa,
his wife, who had been born among the
hills, and others say to get a pleasure
ground iree from mosquitoes which ar-
tiict the levels.
think, from his character. the latter
reason may have impcllcd him rs much
as the former. When he conquered
King Zedekiah, so rs TO have no more
trouble with him, he put his eyes out
most barbarous way of incapdcitatinu
an enemy. But Babylon was q GREAT
place; the houses surrounded by car
dens and the housetops were connected
with each other by bridges, and one day
NebuchaGneZzar walked out on those
suspension bridges and showed, perhaps
70 royal visitor, the vastness of his
realm as the SUD kindles the domcs
with gllstenings almost insutlerablc. aud
the great streets thunder up their Domp
into the ear of the monarch, and aimed
towers stand around adorned with spoils
OF conquered empires.
Nebuchadnczzar waves his hand above
the stupendous sc"fc and eAclains. us
not this great Bali Ylon that have built
for the house of the kingdom by the
might of my power end for the honor Of
my majesty" In other words: ''What
great man L AM. Baby Ion was not
anything until l adorned il. See those
water works; see those gardens; see
those forts. l did all this. | shall never
be forgotten. Why, my name is on
every brick in all those walls. just
look at me. am more than man.n
But IN an instance all that splCndor
is gop; iro.l, hie vision, for voice falls
irom the heavens, saying, SO King Ne
puchadnezZar, to thee it is spoken. the
Kingdom Is departed from thee, and thew
snail !rlVe thee from men and thy dwell.
ing snail be with the beasts of the field:
tneY snail make thee TO eat grass as
oxen, ana seven times Shall pass over
tnee. until thou know that The Most
HlSh ruleth IN the kingdom of men and
glVeth IL to whomsOevcr he wlll.n One
nour from the time he made the boast
he IS on his way to the fields q maniac,
ana rushing into the forests he becomes
as one OF the beasts and is after awhile
covered with eagles feathers for prott c.
tlon from the cold. ana his halls grow to
look IKE Dlrds' claws, in order That he
may dig the earth for roots and climb
the trees Tor nuts. The mental disaster
mat seized him was what the Greeks
cailed lycanthropv, by which man i'm.
agnes himself beast and prefers TO 90
out and mingle with brutes. "a beastun
seven years pass, when suddenly his
reason returns and he comes back TO
BabYlOn humble wOrshirer of the God
of heaven.
what must have been the excitement
IN the royal court as This restored man
lac emperor walks into The palace.
what time they had in cutting his
nails and his hair, which had grown for
seven years without being intcrtrrcd
with by any shears. What scrubhioo
down must have taken place in the i'm,
perial baths. What a tronsfornot;on
nece ssary in order that he who had been
herdlng with camels and goats and SWINE
may be made tit to associate with prir-
ces. What change fiom sty to throne
room.
While walking from this Babyionian
palace down to the pasture field and
from the PASTURE field ba TX to the pal
ace the first thing that lmprcssGs me is
mnat an lncon@ruous thing it is for a
kng 10 DC eating grass. 1t is good for
caItle' Dut not fit for man. And then
lor one 20 prefer 1T to royal table to-
ware whose bounty the orchards and
PnuuocKs ana stlcams and vine ards in
'' ~-> WI o'i iiissilI COnIflDutC---Nh hat an
amazement! And yet the scene ;e 40
common as the daylight.
The next thought that presses into
my mind from the contemplation Of his
incident is that conviction is not c0rvcr-
sion. Who is this monarch ;iiat makes
the boast about Babylon? The very
man who, under the revelation Of dreams
that Daniel made from heaven, deeply
humbled himself, while he confessed
that God is God OF Gods and Lord of
Lords, yet behold that that humb;ny
and arousing which he before felt did
not result In radical change.
There is no mistake more ireouc:.t
thnn OF supposing conviction a syno.
nYm for conversion. Conviction is
merely sight Of sin; conversion is :,
view OF pardon. CONVICTION is merely
alarm; conversion ls confidence. Con-
Vlctlon Is dissatisfaction with deprayily:
conversion conversion ls a turning away from il,
Convlctlon is O. sword wound: convcr.
SION ls the healing. Conviction is the
ieVer OF thirst; conversion is The rlok.
luX Oh LDat thirat