Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-05-11
q ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
: SUNDAY SERMON :
n y Y = Y q
q A Scholarly Discourse BY n
= the Rev. DR.. John Love. 9
SsSs&S&S&S&S&S&&&&&&&&S&&a

Asbury Park, N. 1.-THE Rev. DR.,
John Love Jr., preached on THE Mys-
tic Stone and the Broken Image in the
First Baptist Church here. He took as
his text David ii:34: "A stone cut out
without hands which smote the i'm
age" DR.. Love said:
In the poem called "Giles Corey" the
great author has said: "DO you believe
in dreams? Why, yes and no. When
they come true, then | believe in them,
when they come false l don't believe
in them" This is doubtless fair eX-
preston of our own feelings concern
ing these mysterious visitors in our I'M
conscious hours. Whatever harmony
there may be between them and events
which thereafter transpire we can
never be sure at the time that they are
prophetic.
In the Old Testament economy. how
ever, dreams were recognized method
of divine communication with man
kind. Not only were Abmeloch and
Jacob, Joseph and Solomon thus ad-
dressed from heaven, but the prophets
received revelations in and through
them, designed for the warning, the
comfort and the instruction of the race.
Few dreams narrated in sacred writ
are of such profound interest as the
one of which our text makes mention.
In the second year of his reign "Nebu
chadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
dreamed dreams wherewith his spirit
was troubled and his sleep brake from
him." SO profound was the impression
made upon him. so agitatcd his mind
on awakening, that he commanded the
presence Of magicians, aStrOlogcrS and
sorcerers, who were supposed to pos
sess the powers of Interpretation. The
dream of the king had, however. so far
gone from him when the wise men en-
tered into his presence that he could
give them no hint of its nature Not
even the bare outline remained. only
the sense of terror and the fear of i'm
pending i'll. With the cruelty peculiar
to himself he demanded that they
should at once reproduce the dream by
their mystic arts and give the correct
Interpretation. Protest was in vain,
and in the heat of his passion he
voiced the decree of death on all the
wise men of the kingdom.
Daniel, the prophet, captive at the
time in Babylon, learning of the mani
festo of the king petitioned for an OK
tension of time and promised the
sought for Interpretation. 1t was an
awful crisis, but from the quartet of
Daniel and his three companions went
up cry that reached the very heart Of
God and won the secret that nu!lilied
an infamous decree. Within the ap.
pointed time the prophet is ready for
the presence chamber Of the king. An
ambassador from heaven, he brings in
clear outline, by his vivid description,
the mystical image which had dis
turbed the Slumbcrs of NchuchHdnCZ-
Zar and then intcrprctS its significance
as may be traced in the second chapter
of the book of Daniel verses II to SO.
BY the head of gold" was represented
the kingdom Of Babylon, the domain
of ACKNOWLEDGMENT for forty-tvc years,
The breast and arms of silver signi-
fled the Kingdom in which the McdcS
and pcrSianS held sway, and was
known as the Medo-pcrSian reign, in
augurated by Darius, the Melc. and
Cyrus, the Persian. between whom an
alliance had been formed. The third
kingdom represented by the "belly and
thighs of BRASS was the Grccian,
founded by Alexander the Great on his
victory over the last of the Persian en-
perors. The JOY of his conquest, how
ever. was mingled with sadness, for,
boastng that he had conquered the
world. he sat down and Wept because
there was not another world to con-
quer."
The fourth kingdom SymbolZed, in
the image, by "the legs and feet Of
iron" is commonly believed TO be the
Roman kingdom. Toward its close it
became weak and dlSintcgratcd, branch
ing out into ten Kingdoms. represented
by the ten toes of the image. 1t could
hardly be shown by an appeal to his
tory how exactly all the events and the
succession of events SymbOliZed in the
spectral image came to pass but we
concentrate our attention on the sig
niticance of the mystic StOne,' which
by some unseen agency and in some
unaccountablc manner was seen to be
detached from the mountain near by
and to Smte the image upon the feet
breaking into pieces the iron and the
clay of which they We're composed.
Nor was this all, for the stone which
had Smitten the image seemed to be-
whole earth That the reference is to
| the kingdom of the Messiah and a
vivid prophecy of its power and growth
| there can be no doubt, and yet the
vision and its Interpretation date back
to COG b. c. There is to be noticed,
first. the assurance of the establish
ment of a divine kingdom in the world
Not only have we the symbolism OF the
mystic stone, but the definite language
of prophecy, for in his memorable i'll
teryiew with the king Daniel declared
"In the days of these kings shall the
God of Heaven set up 4 kingdom Wnlcf
shall never be destroyed" Similar anC
contirmative prophecies might easily
be culled from the sacred record Many
empires in the world have owed theil
origin, or at least their eminence, tt
successes in war. Britain owes its
prestige to Waterloo, Germany tt
Sedan, the United States to Gettysburg
Japan to Mukden. Power has beer
purchased at the point of the swort
and sustained often through tyranny
and cruelty. The strength of the pow
ers of nations has been guaged by TIT
roster of their armies and navies. Ar
senals. fleets and military stores hav'
been their pride and boast. Not Sc
with the kingdom whose design, cod
and symbols date from all eternity
1t is spiritual and not martial. 1t hatl
weapons before which stronghold
crumble, but they are not carnal. l
wins triumphs, but on silent, bloodles
battle fields. Not in the catalogue o
nations does this Kingdom claim
place. Alone it stands, without peer o
counterpart. 1t bears the name an
owns the sway of the Omnipotent
was not to enter into conflict with eA
listing government. 1t was to be az
votional, not political. The cross wa
to be its sacred symbol, not crow
Its laws were to be transcribed not !