The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-02-27

ments and capacities. ChriSt'S hear
went ont toward those who were cpl
| leptic, falling into the fire. or maniacs
cutting themselves among the tombS
See also in this story of Nebuchad
neZZlr the use that God makes of bac
men. The actions of the wicked are
used as instruments for h punish
ment of wickedness in others or as the
illustration of some principle in the
| Divine government. Nebuchadnezzal
subserved both purposes. Even so
will go back with you to h history oil
every reprobate that the world has
ever seen. and l will show you how tC
a grent extent his wickedness was linn
tied in its destructive power, and how
God glorificd Himself in the overthrow
and disgrace of His enemy. Babylon
is full of abomination, and wicked
CYRUS DESTROYS it. Persia fills the cup
of it's iniquity and vile Alexander puts
an end to it. Macedon must be
chastised, and bloody Emilius does
it. The Bastile is to be de-
stroyed, and corrupt Napoleon accom-
plishes it. Even SO selfish and wicked
men are often made to accomplish
great and glorious purposes. Joseph's
brethren were guilty of superlative
perfidy and when they sold
him into slavery for 81, yet how they
must nave been overwhelmed with the
truth that God never forsakes the
righteous when they saw he had be
come the prime minister of Egypt!
Pharaoh Expresses the Israelites with
the most diabolic tyranny; yet stand
still and see the salvation of God. The
plaques descend, the l~ocusts, and the
hail, and the destroying angel, show
ing that there is a God who will defend
the cause of his people, and finally,
after the Israelities have passed
through the parted sea, behold, in the
wreck of the drowned army, hat Gods
enemies are chaff in n whirlwind! In
some financial panic the righteous
suffered with the wicked. Houses
and stores and shops in a night found
cred on the rock of bankruptcy, and
healthy credit without warning
dropped dead in the street, and money
ran up the long ladder of % per cent,
to laugh down upon those who could
not climb after it. Dealers with pock-
cts full of securitits stood shouting in
the deaf ears of banks. Men rushed
down the streets with protested notes
after them. Those, who before found
it hard to spend their money, were left
without money to spend, to see hunger
in their chair at the table and upon
the hearth. Winter blew his breath of
frost through fingers of i~cicles, and
sheriffs with attachments dug among
the cinders of fallen storehouses. 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 like
a potter's vessel, and God wrote
with letters of fire, amid the ruin and
destruction of regulations and estates
that were thought impregnable, the
old-fashioned 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 waters of the earth, even 10
Gods great and magnificent purposes
are reflected back from the boiling sea
OF human passion and turmoil. AS the
voice of a sweet song uttered among
the mountains may be uttered back
liOLA ~ iNIAiiS "a NlAd oCstoI
and rocks split and thunder-scarred,
so the great harmonies of Gods provi-
dence are rung back from the darkest
caverns of this sin-struck earth. Sem
nacherib, and Abimelech, and Herod,
and Judas, n Nero, and Nebuchad-
pezzar, though they struggled like
beasts unbrokep to the load, were put
into a yoke, where they were compelled
- 14I- 1.a-y ahaal Id, ou,. -
jects of mercy.
Again, let us learn the lesson that
men can be guilty of p~olluting the
sacred vessels of the temple and carry
ing them away to Babylon. The sa-
cred vessels in the temple at Jerusalem
were the cups and plates of gold and
silver with which the rites and cere-
monies were celebrated, The laying
of heather hands upon them and the
carrying them off as spoils was an un-
bounded offense to the Lord of the
temple. Yet Nebuchadnezzar COM
mitted this very sacrilege. Though
that wicked king is gone, the sins he
inaugurated walk up and down the
earth, cursing 1t from century to CEN
tury. The sin of deseeratipg sacred
things is committed by those who on
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, a
time for repentance, a time for faith.
Sinai stands near, with its ire-split
and Calvary, with its victim,
The Holy Spirit broods over the scene,
and the glory Of Heaven seems to
in the sanctuary. Vile indeed
that man be who will come in
from mis- idsls end unrepented follies to
take hold of the sacred vessels of the
o, thou Northumberland
Back with you to Babylonl
Those alsq ~desecrate sacred things
who use the Sabbath for any other
than religious purposes. This holy day
was let down from HEAVIER amid the in
s~ecularities of the week to re-
mind us that we are immortal, and to
allow us preparation for an endless
of happiness. 1t is a green spot
in the hot desert of this world that
with fountains and waves
With palm trees. This is the
time to shake the dust from the
robes OF u piety and in the tents
Of Israel sharpen our swords for future
Heaven, that seems so far off
on other days, alights upon the earth,
and the song OF the heavenly choirs
and the hosannah of the white-robed
to mingle with Il earthly
worship. We hear the wailing Infant
Of Bethlehem, and the hammer-stroke
of the carpenters weary Son in Naza-
and the prayer of Gethsemane,
and the bitter cry of Golgotha. Glory
unto the Lord of the Sabbath
With that one day in seven God divides
great sea of business and gayety,
50 that dry-shod we may pass between
the worldly business of the past and
the worldly business Of the futurel
But to many the Sabbath comes only
as o day for neighborhood visiting,
field rambling, hotel lounging and po-
Iitical caucusing. This glorious Sab
bath which was intended only as a
chalice from which the thirsty
should drink, is this moment being
down TO Babylon, ! do not
the truth when | say that
10 tens of thousands there is no dis
between the Sabbath and the
week days, except that on the Lords
lay they do not work, while they eat
more largely and diSSipate more