Connecticut western news., 1900-09-20
NATIONS ARE JUDGED
COO REWARDS AND PuNlshEs THEM ON EARTH.

Hsv. Dr. r~lAsse Likens Gods r J1Asiaslats ts sAs Swift Sweep of . | Hs.Sr-NAsasnaa Sins Call Down the ElSs1's w-sstA.
 k WAsutsoreN, Sept. 18.-Dr. Talmage, ih, his joufney westward through Flu rope, has recently visited scenes of thrfN1ng historic events. He sends this sermon, h which he shows that na- nons are judged h this world and that God rewards them for their virtues and ,punishes them for their crimes. The text is Isaiah vi, 20, ''In the same day shall the Lord shave with razor tffht k hired: ::hamely, by them beyond the river. by the king of Assyria."
 The. Bible is the boldest book ever written. There are no similitudes in Ossaan CT. the Had or the Odyssey So daring Its inaGsry sometimes seems sn the vergesof the reckless, but only seems 90. The fact is that God would starts end aroase and ,Rropei men and nations. A tame and limping simili- rude would fail to accomplish the ob- 5hsA While there are times when he splioys in the Bible the gentle dew. o9d tAs morning cloud, and the dove. a{Pthe daybreak'in the presentation of truth we often find the iron chariot, the Ashtning, the earthquake, the sysat, the sword and in my text the ra3oE. Thin keen bladed instrument has advanced h usefulness with the ages. In Bible times and lands the nkard remained uncut save in the sea- sons of mourning and humiliation, but the razor was always a suggestive Symbol David said of Doeg, his an- tasonist, ''Thy tongue is sharp razor working deeeitfully"-that is, 1t pre- tends to cler the face. but Is really used for deadly incision.
 In this striking text this weapon of the toilet appears under the following circumstances: Judea needed to have some, of It's prosperities cut off, and God sends against 1t three Assyrian kings Enrst Sennacherib, then Esarhaddon and a fterward Nebuchadnexxar. These three sharp invasions, that cut down the glory of Judea, are compared to so many sweeps of the razor across the face of the land. And these devasta- tions were called hired razor because God took the kings of Assyria. with whom he had no sympathy, to do the work and paid them In palaces and spells and annexations. These kings were hireAxto execute the divine be- nests. And now the text. which on its nrst reading may have seemed trivial or inapt, is charged with momentous import "In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that Is hired, na1Asly. by them beyond the river, by tho king of Assyria."
 Well, if Gods judgments are razors, we had better be careful how we use them on other people. In careful sheath these domestic weapons are put away. where no one by accident may touch them and where the hands of children may not reach them. Such Instruments must be carefully handled or not handled at all. But how reck- lesaly some people wield the judg- ments of God! If a man meets with business misfortune, how many there are ready to cry out: "That Is a judg- ment of God upon him because he was interruptions or arrogant or overreach- ing or miserly. thought he would ret cut down! What a clean sweep of everything! Ills city house and coun- try house gone. His stables emptied of all the fine bays and sorrels and grays that used to prance by his door: All his resources overthrown, and all that he prided him self on tumbled into demolition. Good for him!" Stop. my brother. Don't sling around too freely the judgments of God. for they are ra- Eofs.
 Two Sides ts Every Story.
 Some of the most wicked business men succeed. and they live and die in prosperity, and some of the most hon. est and conscientious are driven into bankruptcy. Perhaps the unsuccessful mans manner va. unfortunate and he was not really as proud as he looked to bs. Some of those who carry their beads erect and look imperial are hum- ble as a child. while many a man in eeedy coat and slouch hat and unblack- d shoes Is as proud as Lucifer. You cannot tell by q mans look. Perhaps he was not interruptions In business, for there are two sides to every story, and everybody that accomplishes any thing for himself or others gets indus tfiOusiy lied about. Perhaps his busi- ness misfortune was not punishment. but the fatheriy discipline to prepare him for heaven. and God may love him far more than he loves you, who caH ray dollar for dollar and are put down In the commercial catalogues as Al" Whom the Lord loveth he gives $4O0- 800 and lets de on Embroidered pill lows9 No; whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. Better keep your hand of the Lords fazors lest they cut and wound people that do not deserve 1t If you want to shave off some of the bristliug pride of your own heart. dc 90. but be very careful how you put the sharp edge on others. How I do dis like the behavior of those persons who when people are unfortunate, say, q told you 70; getting punished; served him right" If those told you so'i got their desert. they would long agt have been pitched over the battle ments. The mote in their neighbori eyes, 90 small that 1t takes a micro scope to find it, gives them more trou ble than the beam which obscures theil own optics. With air sometimes su percflious and sometimes pharisaica and aIways blasphemous they take tn. aazor of divine Judgment and sharper 1t on the hone of their own hard heart and then 70 to work on men sprawle< out at full length under disaster, cut ting mercilessly. They begin by sof expressions of sympathy and pity an, half praise and lather the victim al over before they put on the sharp edge
 Let us be careful how we shoot a 0tbers lest we take down the wron Ohe. remembering the servant of Kim William Rufus who shot at deer. bu the arrow glanced against a tree an, killed the king. Instead of going ou with shafts to pierce and raxors to cut