Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

Name: Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy
Author: De Courcy, Richard

De Courcy, Richard

Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 18th century

Belshazzar, distracted and amazed, cries aloud to bring in the
astrologers and soothsayers.  A considerable reward is offered to those,
who should read and interpret the writing.  They try, but in vain.  The
queen advises to consult Daniel.  He is brought before the king.  The
honest Hebrew tells him of his pride, idolatry, and sacrilege.  He reads
the writing, and gives the interpretation; which was, that “God had
numbered his kingdom and finished it; that he was weighed in the balances
and found wanting; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the
Medes and Persians.”  Verse 26–28.  The interval between the writing of
this awful prediction, and the accomplishment of it, was very short.  For
“in that night” was Belshazzar surprised by an army headed by Cyrus, “and
slain,” and the kingdom of the Chaldeans transferred by conquest to that
of the Medes and Persians.  Thus judgments tread close upon the heels of
guilt, and are sometimes as swift in their progress, as they are sure in
their arrival; the commission of sin, and the infliction of punishment,
happening, not seldom, at the same instant.

Let us now, first, make some practical observations on the history
referred to in the text; and, secondly, accommodate the images in it to
the purpose of forming a scrutiny into the hearts and lives, the
principles and pretensions, of sinners.

I. 1.  The profanation of things sacred is highly affrontive to the
Divine Majesty; incurs great guilt, and exposes to danger in proportion;
because God himself is virtually dishonored in the abuse or contempt of
what relates to his service.  The men of Bethshemesh only look into the
ark, and Uzzah only touches it, and God instantly punishes the
presumption of the one, and the profane curiosity of the other, with
judicial chastisement.  And it is not so much the act as the intention of
the agent, that God regards in such a case.  Under circumstances of
peculiar necessity, David “eats the shewbread, which it was not lawful
for any to eat but the priests.”  And yet this infringement of a positive
ceremony passes with impunity, because God considered the nature of the
case, and saw the purity of David’s intention.  But when the king of
Babylon sent for the vessels of the temple, it was evident, that he meant
studiously to affront the God of the Jews, and to make the people and
their religion objects of malicious triumph, and “cruet mockery.”  By
thus blending the cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, Belshazzar
filled up the measure of his iniquity, and provoked Jehovah to make his
punishment as conspicuous as his impiety was public.  As sacrilege is a
sin of very comprehensive application, let us beware how we rob the Most
High of the honor due to his _truths_, his _ordinances_, his _name_, and
his own _day_.  And particularly, let us see to it, that we profane not
that sacred institution, which is commemorative of the death and passion

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de CourcyDe Courcy, Richard

Religion

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

De Courcy, Richard

Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 18th century

Belshazzar, distracted and amazed, cries aloud to bring in the
astrologers and soothsayers.  A considerable reward is offered to those,
who should read and interpret the writing.  They try, but in vain.  The
queen advises to consult Daniel.  He is brought before the king.  The
honest Hebrew tells him of his pride, idolatry, and sacrilege.  He reads
the writing, and gives the interpretation; which was, that “God had
numbered his kingdom and finished it; that he was weighed in the balances
and found wanting; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the
Medes and Persians.”  Verse 26–28.  The interval between the writing of
this awful prediction, and the accomplishment of it, was very short.  For
“in that night” was Belshazzar surprised by an army headed by Cyrus, “and
slain,” and the kingdom of the Chaldeans transferred by conquest to that
of the Medes and Persians.  Thus judgments tread close upon the heels of
guilt, and are sometimes as swift in their progress, as they are sure in
their arrival; the commission of sin, and the infliction of punishment,
happening, not seldom, at the same instant.

Let us now, first, make some practical observations on the history
referred to in the text; and, secondly, accommodate the images in it to
the purpose of forming a scrutiny into the hearts and lives, the
principles and pretensions, of sinners.

I. 1.  The profanation of things sacred is highly affrontive to the
Divine Majesty; incurs great guilt, and exposes to danger in proportion;
because God himself is virtually dishonored in the abuse or contempt of
what relates to his service.  The men of Bethshemesh only look into the
ark, and Uzzah only touches it, and God instantly punishes the
presumption of the one, and the profane curiosity of the other, with
judicial chastisement.  And it is not so much the act as the intention of
the agent, that God regards in such a case.  Under circumstances of
peculiar necessity, David “eats the shewbread, which it was not lawful
for any to eat but the priests.”  And yet this infringement of a positive
ceremony passes with impunity, because God considered the nature of the
case, and saw the purity of David’s intention.  But when the king of
Babylon sent for the vessels of the temple, it was evident, that he meant
studiously to affront the God of the Jews, and to make the people and
their religion objects of malicious triumph, and “cruet mockery.”  By
thus blending the cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, Belshazzar
filled up the measure of his iniquity, and provoked Jehovah to make his
punishment as conspicuous as his impiety was public.  As sacrilege is a
sin of very comprehensive application, let us beware how we rob the Most
High of the honor due to his _truths_, his _ordinances_, his _name_, and
his own _day_.  And particularly, let us see to it, that we profane not
that sacred institution, which is commemorative of the death and passion

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy

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