Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-07-20

star. Il wa - black 40 tie plaeus oi
darkness In Egypt From a adjacent
farmhouse We borrowed q hntezn. Ths
way became % black that even the
horses could not see the road. Tho lit.
tie children In the stage crept up Gloss
to their mothers In fear. The silence
became a. still as the famous half hour
Of silence in heaven when the celestial
hosts, horror struck, could not utter a
whisper Immediately after the dying
agony Of Calvary's tragedy was ended
Then came the rushing Of mighty
Winds. It seemed as though oil the
spirits demoniac as well a. celestial
were sweeping past me and meeting
In mighty conflict. Then the whole
heavens became sheets of fire. North,
east. south and west, everywhere the
heavens were ablaze. The flames seem.
ed to mount higher and higher, o.
though they were climbing up thou.
sand story building. Then It seemed
as though the clouds with their mighty
Niagaras rushed toward them and
drowned out those Kissing furnaces Of
NebuchadneGzar, seven times--aye, sew.
enty Unrestricted. Then the huge trees
alongside the road would bend and
groan like shuddsring LAGOON In dealt,
grip Of huge monsters. Ahead Of the
horses walked with the lantern to
show the way. Now I could see tho
big stage following after me. Now,
after the thundcrs had rolled and swell.
al mud f1tod ouvov no~l., N,o~. -
faint cry of child or the soothing
tones Of mother trying u quiet hor
babe. she, the mother, just as fright
ened as the child. Then suddenly ev.
cry tree. every rock. every hillsid"
would come out as clear In outline a.
during the day. Then midnoon In Oh
instant would b changed into mid
night. Power. power, omnipotent in
finite powerl DO you wonder that the
glory and tho majesty of the coming
Christ werc symbolised by Jesus him.
self In the sublime scenic effects Of
tho llghtuiugs coming ont Of the east
and aiming even unto the wcst?"
Swiftcr Thnn a Bullet.
fear that our artists and poets and
religious teachers have too often dwelt
upon tho humanity and the humility
and the helplessncss Of Christ and have
not empha sized enough his glory and
majesty and power ms symbolized in
the lightnings and the chariot clouds
Of his second coming. 1t Is right md
just that we should impress upon our
hearers and scholars the helplessncss
Of Christ incarnated In the flesh Of n
little child. The master artist drew a
true lesson for us when he made Mary
and the divine infant sleep between
the great paws OF the old Egyptian
statue. There was the moon lowering
over the silent. bleak desert as the
omniscient eye Of God the Father
watching bis only begotten Son.
There was Joseph, the carpenter. grim
and silent as q sentinel. keeping guard
There In the background rises the huge
statue. half man. half beast. chiseled
and anchored to its foundations thou-
sands Of years before Christ was born
aud still there watching watching,
waiting. waiting thousands Of years
after Christ Is dead. Christ the help
less Christ there, became helpless in
sympathy with US. But older than the
Oldest rocks Of the pyramids was the
same life Of that divine Christ Longer
than those rocks shall ever exist shall
the eternal existence Of Christ endure.
Greater than the power of Herod, who
made Bethlehem a slaughter house Of
innocent blood, aud greater than the
splendors Of Rapeses H.. whose palace
grounds were once Tapped by the wa
ters Of the river Nile and whose work
men made the desert blossom IA the
rose. are the strength and the power
and splendor Of that sleeping child.
Cbrist's second advent shall reveal
him an omnipotent, an omniscient and
an Omnipresent God. Christ's next
coming shall be visible to all people
as he is girded with glory and majesty.
BY the flaming swords Of the light.
nings my text In symbol pictures
glorious. sublime. Respondent,
celestial panorama. Let me repent for
you the glorious message OF my text
Hear how the sublimity Of that mil
lennial day echoes down the halls of
time, "As the lightning cometh out OF
the east and shineth into the west, 80
shall the coming OF the Son Of man"
Lightning travels swiftcr than the
birds wing, swifter than rifles bull.
let, swifter than hunters halloo.
Cwifter than my other agency of life
or death IN the world. Within n few
seconds it can belt the whole globe and
come back to the place from which 1t
started. 1t Is 90 swift IN its motions
that the swiftcs: moving objects OH
earth seen by the CLEAN Of the blazing
lightntngs always appear to he stand
ing still. For the light that you sec
flashing across the heavens only ap.
pears before your eyes in the small
est part Of second.
Clsrist's Second Coming.
The Rev. Mr.. Butler some years ago
gave an account Of the death of ten
rcapers he had seen killed under a
tree. where they had gone to find shel.
ter during q thunderstorm. There they
were, eating their noon meal. One OF
the dead mon at the time, DR.. Butler
found. had been feeding his pet dog.
Every one Of the men was dead In ex.
actly the same position in which the
lightning had found him. Some were
biting their food: some held their
hands filled with food halfway to their
mouths. The man who had the pot