Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-12-11
REI. DR.. TaLuaGE.
The Eminent Divine'S SUNDAY
Sermon.
Subject: {" A Welcome - Congress- -


TEXT: "And the Lord opened the eyes o.
the young man, and he saw. and. behold,
the mountain was full OF horses and chariots
OF fire round about Elisha. III Kings vi II
The American Congress is assembling.
Arriving or already arrived are the repre-
sentatives OF all sections OF this beloved
land. Let US welcome them with PRAYERS
and benediction. nobler group Of men
never entered Washington than those who
will tomorrow take their places In the Sem
ate Chamber and the House Of Representa-
tives. Whether they come alone or leave
their families at the homestead far away
may the blessing OF tho Eternal God be upon
them! We invite them to our churches. and
together they in political spheres and we in
religious circles will give the coming
months to consideration OF the best interests
OF this country which God has blessed 50
much In the past that purpose to show you
and show them, so far as I may now reach
their ear or tomorrow their eye through the
printing press, that God will be with them to
help them as in the text He filled the noun.
tains with help for Elisha.
As 1t cost England many regiments and
%, ,000, 900 a year to keep safely a trouble
some captive at st. Helena, so the king OF
Syria sends out a whole army to capture one
minister Of religion-perhaps SO, 900 men to
take Elisha. During the night the army OF
Syrians came around the village Of Dothan,
where the prophet was staying. At early
daybreak the man servant of Elisha rushed
In and said: "What shall we do? There is
a whole army come to DESTROY you! We
must die! We must die!" But Elisha was
not scared a bit, for he looked up and saw
the mountains all around full Of super
natural forces and he knew that if there
were 50, 900 Syrians against him there were
100. 900 angels for him aud in answer to the
prophets prayer in behalf Of his affriShted
man servant the young man saw it too.
Horses OF fire harnessed to chariots of fire,
and drivers OF fire pulling re1ns Of fire on
bits of fire. and warriors of fire with brand
ished swords of fire, and the brilliance of
that morning sunrise was eclipsed by the
galloping splendors of the celestial caval-
oade. "And the Lord opened the eyes Of
the young man. and he saw, and behold the
mountain was full Of horses and chariots OF
fire rouni about Elisha" speak Of the
upper forces of the text that are to fight on
our side as Nation. If all the low levels
are filled with armed threats, have to tell
you that the mountains of our hope and
courage and faith are full Of the horses and
chariots Of divine rescue.
You will notice that the divine equipage is
always represented as a chariot Of fire.
Ezekiel and Isaiah and John, when they
come to describe the divine equipsge. always
represent It as a wheeled. a harnessed, an
upholstered confiagration. 1t is not a char
lot like kings and conouerors of earth
mount, but an organized and compressed
fire. That means purity. Justice. chastise-
ment, deliverance through burning escapes.
Chariot of rescue? Yes, but a chariot Of fire.
All our National disenthrallments have been
through scorching agonies and red disasters.
Through tribulation the individual rises.
Through tribulation Nations rise. ChariotS
OF rescue. but chariots Of fire. But how do I
know that this divine equipage Is on the side
OF our institutions? know Il by the history
Of the last 119 years. The American Revolu-
ton started from the pen Of John Hancock
In Independence Hall in ,776. The colonies,
without ships, without ammunition, without
guns, without trained warriors, without
money, without prestige. On the other side,
the mightiest Nation of the earth, the larg-
est armies. the grandest nsvies and the
most distinguished commanders, and re-
sources inexhaustible. and nearly all Ma
tions ready to back them up In the fight
Nothing. as against i'm nensity.
The cause OF the American colonies. which
started at zero, dropped still lower through
the quarrslling of the generals, and through
the jeaiousies at small successes, and through
the winters which surpassed all predecessors
in depth OF snow and horrors Of congeals
ment Elisha surrounded by the whole
Syrian army did not seem to be worse OF
than did the thirteen colonies encompassed
and overshadowed by foreign assault. What
decided the contest in our favor? The upper
White Mountains Of New England, tho
Highlands along the Hudson. the mountains
of Virginia, all the Appalachian ranges
were full Of re-enforcements, which the
young man Washington saw by faith, and
his men endured the frozen feet AMI the
gangrened wounds, and the exhausting
hunger, and the long march because 1.-THE
Lord opened the eyes Of the young mau, and
he saw, and, behold, the mountain was full
of horses AID chariots Of fire round about
Elisha" Washington himself was miracle.
What Joshua was In sacred history the first
American President was in secular history.
thousand other men excelled him In
different things, but he exoelled them all in
roundness and completeness Of character.
The world never saw his like, and probably
never will see his like again, because there
probably never Will be another such e1.
igency. He was let down . divine inter.
position. He was from God direct.
/ do not know how many can read the
history Of those times without admitting the
contest was decided by the upper forces.
Then in 1881, when our Civil War opened,
many at the North and at the South pro.
nouncsd It National suicide. II was mot
courage against cowardicc, It was not wealth
against poverty. It was not large States
against small States. 1t was heroism against
heroism. 1t was the resources Of many gen.
erations against the resources Of generations.
1t was the prayer Of the North against the
Nation in armed wrath meeting the other
half Of the Nation in armed indignation,
What could como but extermation7
At the opening OF the war the commander
in-chief Of the United States forces was
man who had been great in battle, but old
age had come, With many inflrmities, and he
had q right to quietude. He could not
mount . horse, ard he rode on the battle
field in q carriage. asking the driver not to
jolt 1t too much. During the most Of the
four years of tho contest on the Southern
side, was a man in midlife, who had in his
warriors, himself ono of the heroes OF
Churubusco and Cerro Gordo, Oontreras and
Chapultepec. Az the years passed on and
tho scroll OF carnage unrolled there came
out from both sides heroism, and q strength,
and q determination that tho world had
never seen marshaled. And what but ex.
termination could como when Philip
Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson met, and
Nathaniel Lyon and Sidney Johnston rode
In from North and South, and Grant and
Lee, the two thunderbolts Of battle, clashedi
Yet, we arc . Nation, and yet We are at
conflict The upper forces of the text-they
toll US there was battle fought above the
clouds on Lockout Mountain, but there was
something higher than that.
Again, the horses and chario1 Of God
came to the rescue of this Nation In 1876, at
the close of Presidential election famous
orferocity. Adarker cloud yet settled down
upon this Nation. The result of the election
was in dispute, and revolution, not between
two or three sections, but revolution in everJ
town and village and city Of tho United
States seemed imminent. The prospect wa
that New York would throttle New York, and
New Orleans would grip New Orleans, and
Boston, Boston, and Savannah, Savannah
and Washington. Washington. Some sale
Mr.. Tilden was elected, others said Mr.. Hayes
was elected, and how near We came to uni,
versal massacre some Of us guessed, but God
only knew. I ascribe our escape not to thu
honesty and righteousness of infuriated poll
hcians, but ascribe it to the upper force
OF the text. Chariots Of mercy rolled In, ant
though the wheels weFe not heard and tv
flash was not seen. yet all through the noun.
tn rs of the North. and the South, and the
East, and the West. though the hoofs did NOT
claiter, the cavalry Of God galloped by. !
tell you God is the friend Of this Nation. In