The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1897-02-24

He Uses q Weird and Strange Scene TO
Enforce q Useful Lesson-The' Desecra-
ton of Sacred Things-Use of the Sab
bath.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14.-Dr. TalmaSe
In this sermon uses weird and strange
scene of ancient times to illustrate tie
behavior Of modern people who desecrate
sacred things, and for their arrogance
get bad tumble. His subject was "A
King Eating Grass" and the text
Daniel iy, SS, "The same hour was the
thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar,
and he was driven from mcl, and did
eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet
with the dew of heaven, till his hairs
were grown like eagles feathers, and
his nails like birds claws. -
Better shade your eyes lest they be
put out with the splendor of Babylon,
as some morning you walk out with
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ON the suspension
bridges which hang from the house tops
and he shows You the vastness Of his
realm. As the sun kindles the dones
with elisterings almost insufferable and
the great streets thunder up their pomp
into the ear of the monarch, and armed
towers stand around, adorned with the
spoils of conquered empires, Nebuchad-
nezzar waves his hand above the stu
pendous scene and exclaims, 'Is not
this great Babylon, thatI have built for
the house of the kingdom by the might
of my power and for the honor OF my
majesty" But in an instant all that
splendor is gone from his vision, for
voice falls from TIE heaven, saying: 80
King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it IS
spoken. The kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee from
men, and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts Of the field. They shall make
thee to cat grass as oxen and seven
years shall pass over thee, until thou
know that the Most High ruleth in the
kingdom of men and giveth it to whom
soeyer he will" One hour from the
time that he made the boast he is on the
way to the fields, a maniac, and, rush
ing into the forests, he becomes cne of
the beasts, covered with eagles feathers
for protection from the cold, and his
nails growing to birds claws in order
that he might dig the earth for roots
and climb the trees for nuts.
5. On the Road to Babylon.
You see there is great variety in the
SScriptura1 landscape. In several dis
canssss we have apoked at mountains OF
excellence, but n5w we look down into
q gceat, dark chasm of wickedness as we
come to speak of Nebuchadnezzar. God
In his Word sets before US the beauty OF
self denial, of sobriety, of devotion, OF
courage, and then, lest we should not
thoroughly understand him, Re intro
duced Daniel and Paul and Deborah as
Illustrations of those virtues. God also
speaks to Us in his Word as to the hate
fulness Of pride, of folly, Of lmplety
and lest we should not thoroughly un
derssand him, INTRODUCES Nebuchadncz-
zar as the impersonation Of these forms
Of depravity. The former style Of char
acter is lighthouse, showing Cs way
into a safe harbor, and the latter style
of character is black buoy, swinging
on the rocks, to show where vessels
wreck themselves. Thanks unto Gcd
for both the buoy and the lighthouse!
The host of Nebuchadnezzar is thunder
ing at the gates Of Jerusalem. The
crown of that sacred city is struck into
the dust by the hand of Babylonish IN.
science. The vessels of the temple,
which had never been desecrated by pro-
fame touch, were ruthlessly seized for
sacrilege and transportation. Oh, what
a sad hour when those Jews, at the
command of the invading army, are
obliged to leave the home Of their ma
tiyity? How their hearts must have
been wrung with anguish when, on the
day they departed, they heard the trum-
pets from the top of the temple an
nouncing the hour for morning sacrifice
and saw the smoke of the altars ascend
ing around the holy hill of Zion; for
well they knew that i'll a far distant
land they would never hear that trumpet
call nor behold the majestic ascent OF
the sacrifice! Behold these captives on
the road from Jerusalem to Babylon!
Worn and weary, they dare not halt,
for roundabout are armed men urging
them on with hCot and shout and bias
phemy.
Aged men tottered along on their
slaves, weeping that they could not lay
their bones in the sleeping place OF
their fathers and children, wondered at
the length Of the way and sobbed them
selves to sleep when the night had fall
en-. It seemed as if at every step heart
broke. But at turn Of the road Baby
len suddenly springs upon the view Of
the captives, with its gardens and pal
aces. A shout goes up from the army as
they behold their native city, but not
not one huzza is heard from the cap
tives. These exiles saw no splendor
there, for it was not home. The Eu-
pirates did not have the water gleam OF
the brook Ke;iron or the pool of Sloan.
The willows of Babylon, on which they
hung their untuned haTps, were not as
graceful as the trees which at the foot
of Mount Moriah seemed to weep at the
departed glory of Judah, and all the
fragrance that descended from the hang
ing gardens upon that great city was
not so sweet as one breath of the acacia
and frankincense that the high priest
kindled in the sanctuary at Jerusalem.
On certain night, a little while after
these captives had been brought to his
city, Nebuchadnezzar is scared with a
night vision. A bad mans pillow Is apt
to be stuffed with deeds and forcbodlngs
which keep talking in the night. He
will find that the eagles down Ill his
pillow will stick him like porcupine
uuills. The ghosts of old transgresslons
are sure to wander about III the dark
ness and beckon and hiss. Yet when
the morning came he found that the
vision had entirely fed from him.
Dreams drop no anchors, and therefore