Democratic messenger., 1905-07-22

my text sy mbolize ii.
The Heavens sheets of Fire.
Could we find Il more Respondent
pageantry for the second coming Of
Christ than in the chariots of clouds,
with the flashlights of dazzling light
nings? "Gird the sword upon thy thigh,
y most mighty, with thy glory and thy
majesty" cries the psalmist Yes. we
have seen Christ in symbol girding on
his sword and clothing himself in the
glory and in the majesty Of the storm.
Some years ago we took long drive
of some fifty miles over the Michigan
hills. Before we got back 10 our sum-
mer cottage an awful storm overlook
Us. The night settled in. The black
star. 1t was as blacksas the plague Of
darkness in Egypt. From an adjacent
farmhouse we borrowed u lantern The
way became SO black that even the
horses could not see the road. The lit
tie children in the stage crept up close
to their mothers in fear The silence
became as still rs 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. II seemed as though all the
spirits dcmoniac as well as celestial
in mighty conflict Then the whole
heavens became sheets of fire North.
east. south and west. everywhere the
heavens were ablaze. The flames seem
ell to mount higher and higher. as
though they We're climbing up a 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
NebuchadnezZar. seven times-aye sew
enty Unrestricted. Then the huge trees
alongside the road would bend and
groan like shuddering Laocoon in death
grip of huge monsters. Ahead of the
horses | walked with the lantern to
show the way. Now | could see the
big stage following after me. Now,
after the thunders had rolled and swell
cd and died away. ] could hear the
faint cry of child or the soothing
tones of a mother trying to quiet her
babe. she. the mother. just as fright
ened as the child Then suddenly ev-
cry tree. every rock. every hillside
would come out as clear in outline as
during the day. Then midnoon i'm an
instant would he changed into mid
night. Power. power. omnipotent. in
finite power. DO you wonder that the
glory and the majesty of the coming
Christ We're symbolized by Jesus him
self in the sublime scenic effects of
1.-The lightnings coming out of the east
and shining even unto the west?'
Swifter Than "a Bullet.
| fear that our artists and poets and
religious teachers have too often dwelt
upon the humanity and the humility
and the helplcssness of Christ and have
not emphasized enough his glory and
majesty and power as symboliZed In
the lightnings and the chariot clouds
of his second coming. 1t is right and
just that we should impress upon our
hearers and scholars the helplessness
of Christ incarnated in the flesh of a
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 silen bleak desert as the
omniscient eye of God the Father
yV-.lf lfs.Iti hi I.nsr
There was Joseph. the carpenter. grim
and silent as sentinel. keeping guard
There i'm the back ground rises the huge
statue. half man. half beast. chiselcd
and anchored TO its foundations thou
sands of years before Christ was born
and 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 Il slaughter house Of
innocent blood. and greater than the
splendors of Rameses H.. whose palace
grounds were once Tapped by the wa
ters of the river Nile and whose work
men made the desert blossom as the
rose. are the strength and the power
and splendor of that sleeping child.
Christ'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, resplendent, a
celestial panorama. Let me repeat 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. so
shall the coming Of the Son OF man."
Lightning travels swifter than the
birds wing. swifter than rifles bul.
let. swifter than II hunters hailoo,