The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-15

to take it for granted that the intellect
which has served us so well, will always
he faithful. We forget that an eng ne Of
such tremendous power, where the wheels
have such Nastness of circle aud such
swiftness of motion, and the least impede
ment might put il ont of gear, can only
be kept in proper balance by a divine
hand. No human hand could engineer the
train of immortal faculties. How strange
~ Is that our memory, ON whose Shout
ders all the mistortunes aud successes and
occurrences of "A lifetime are placed,
should not oftencr break down. and that
the scales Of judgment. which have been
we Ching so much and so long, should
not lose their adjustment. and that fancy
which holds dangerous wand. should
not some times maliciouslY wave Il, bring
ing into the heart fOrcbodings and hallu-
cinatiOnS the most appalling. is IT not
strange that this mind, which hopes so
much ma its mighty leaps for the attain
ment of It's objects. should not he dashed
to pieces on its disappOintments2 Though
so delicately tuned, this instrument of
shakes it and VeXations rack IT, and sOr-
row and JOY and loss and gain in quick
succession beat out of II their dirge or
toss from Z their anthem. Al morning
and at night, when in your payer you
rehearse the causes of your thanksgiving,
next to the salvation by jesus Christ,
praise The Lord for the preservation of
your reason.
See also in this story of Nebuchadnoz-
Ear the use that God makes OF bad men.
The action of the wicked are used as in
strumentS for the punishment OF wicked
ness i'm others or as the illustration of
some principle in the divine government,
Nebuchaduczzar subserVed both purposes.
Even so / will go back with you to the
history OF every reprObate that the world
has ever seen, and ] will show you how to
great extent his WickedncSs was limited
in its destructive power and how God
glorifed himself in the overthrow and dis
grace of Ills enemy: Babylon is, full OF
abominatiou. and wicked Cyrus destroys
il. Persia fills the cup of its inquity, ana
vile Alexander put an end to it, Mace
don must be chastised. and bloody Emil
Jus does it, The baStlllC is to be destroy
ed, and corrupt Napoleon accompanies
1t. Even so selfish ana wicked men are
often made to accompl sh great ana glo-
rious purposes. Joseph's brethren were
guilty of superatiVe per1dy aud mean
ness when they sold him into slavery for
about seven dollars yet how they must
have been overwhelmed with the truth
that God never forsakcs the righteous
when they saw he had become the prime
minister of Egypt! Pharoah o"presses
the Israclites with the most diabo."al tyr
amy yet stand still and see the aviation
of God The plaques descend, the locusts.
and the hail, and the destroying angel,
showing that there is God who Will de
fend the cause Of HIS people and finally,
after the Israelites have passed through
the parted sea. behold in the wreck of
the drowned army that Gods enemies
are chaff In a whirlwind! In some fnan
cial panic the righteous suffered with the
wicked. Houses and stores and shops in
a night foundered on the rock of bank
ruptcy. and healthy credit without warn
ing dropped dead in the street and
money ran up the long ladder of twenty
five per cent, to laugh down upon those
who could not climb after it. Dealers with
pockets full of securities stood shouting
in the deaf ears of banks. Men rushed
down the streets with protested notes af-
ter them. Those. who before found it hard
to spend their money, were left without
money to spend Laborers went home for
want of work, to see hunger in their chair
al the table and upon the hearth. WINTER
blew his breath of frost through fingers
of icices, and Sheriffs with attachments
dug among the cinders of fallen store
houses. and whole cities Joined in the long
funeral procession, marching to the grave
of dead fortunes and a fallen commerce.
Verify. the righteous suffered with the
wicked. but generally the wicked had the
worst of it. Splendid estates that had come
together through schemes of wickedness
were dashed to pieces Ike a potter Vessel,
and God wrote with letters of fire. amid the
ruin and destruction of regulations and
estates that were thought impregnable,
the old-fashoned truth, which centuries
ago he wrote in his Bible, The way OF the
wicked he turneth upside down" As the
stars of heaven are reflected from the wa
ters Of the earth, even so God great and
magnificent purposes are reflected back
from the boiling sea of human passion and
turmoil. AS the voice of sweet song ut
tered among the mountains may be utter
ed back from the caVernOuS home OF wiz
beast and rocks split and thunder-scarred,
so the great harm onies of Gods providence
are rung back from the darkest caNerns
Abimclech and HerOd, and Judas, and
Nero and Northumberland, though they
struggled like beasts unbroken to the load,
were nut into a yoke, where they We're
compelled TO help draw ahead Gods great
projects of mercy.
Again, let us learn the lesson that men
can be guilty of polluting the sacred Ves-
sells of the temple and carrying them away
to Babylon The sacred vessels in the
temple at Jerusalem were the cups and
plates of gold and silver with which the
ri nd celebrated.
laying of heather hands upon them and
the carrying them off as Spoils was an IN
bounded offense to the Lord of the temple
Yet NebuchadnezZar committed this very
sacrilege. Though that wicked king is
gone, the sins he inaugurated walk up and
down the earth, cursing 1t from century
to century. The sin of desecraUng sacred
things is committed by those who on sac
ramental day take the communion cup,
while their conversation and deeds all show
that they live down in Babylon. How
solemn Is the sacrament! 1t is a time
for VOWS, time for repentance, time for
faith. Sinai stands near, with its fire
split Clouds and Calvary. with it's Vic
tim. The Holy Spirit broods over the
scene, and the glory of heaven seems to
gather in the sanctuary. Vile indeed
must that man be who will come in from
his idols and unrepented foliies to take
hold of the sacred vessels of the temple.
o. thou Nebuchadnezzar! Back with you
to Bahylonl
Those also desecrate sacred things who
use the Sabbath for any other than re-
ligious purposes. This holy day was let
down from heaven amid the intense Sec
ularties of the week to remind us that we
are immortal. and H. allow us preparation
for an endless state of happiness 1t is a
green spot in the hot desert of this world
that gushes with fountains and waves
with palm trees. This is the time to shake
the dust from the robes of our piety and
in the tents of Israel sharpen our swords
for future conflict Heaven. that seems
so far off on other days. aights upon the
earth, and the song of heavenly choirs and
the hosannah of the white-robed seem
to mingle with our earthly worship. We
hear the wailing Infant of Bethlehem
and the hammer-stroke OF the carpen-
ter's weary son in Nazareth, and the
prayer Of Gethsemane, and the bitter cry
of Golgotha. Glory be unto the Lord of
the Sabbath! With that one day in seven
God divides this great sea of business and
gatoty, so that dry-shod we may pass be-
tween the worldly business of the past and
the worldly business Of the future
But TO many the Sabbath comes only as
q day for neighborhood visiting, field ram
bling, hotel loungng, and political cau-
cusing. This glorious Sabbath which was
intended only as a golden chaice from
which the thirsty should drink is this
moment being carried down to Babylon
l do not eNaggCrate the truth when / saw
that TO tens OF thousands there Is no
distinction between the Sabbath and the
week days, except that on the Lords dav
they do not work, while they eat more