, 1886-05-09

neS fhey sang ''Woodstockp Were
they wrapped in visions OF tic glory of the
church they sang "zion.n Were they over
borne with the love and glory OF Christ they
sang Ariel" And in those days there were
certain tunes married to certain hymns, and
they have lived in peace a great while, these
two old people, and we have no right to dt-
vorce them. "What God hath joined to-
gether let no man put asunder." Born rs
we have been amid this great wealth Of
church music augmented by the compoii-
tions OF arts $ in our day, we ought not to
be tempted out of the sphere OF Christian
harmony AMI try 70 seek unconsecrated
sounds 1t Is absurd for d millionaire to
steal
Many ~ you arc illustrations OF VIVA.
Racred song eau do. Through It You were
brought into the kingdom OF Jesus Christ
You stood out against the warning and the
argument Of tho pulpit. but when in the
sweet words Of Charles Wesley or John New
ton or Toplndy The love Of Jesus was sung 10
your soul, then you surrendered, as an armed
castle that could not be taken by a host lifts
its window 10 listen to a harpis trill.
There was a Scotch soldier dying in New
Orleans md a Scotch minister came in 10
give him the consolaiio7s OF the gospel. The
man turned over on his pillow and said:
Don't talk to me about religion Then
the scotch MINISTER began TO sing n ianiiinr
hymn OF scotland that was composer ~
DAVID Dickinson, beginning with the words;
o mother. dear Jerusalem.
When shah l come TO ihee1
He sung it to the tune OF Dundee. and
everybo ly in Scotland knows that; and rs
he began to sing the diving soldier turmoil
over on his pillow and said 10 the minister;
"Whcre did you learn thatf' why re
piled the m Mister, my mother TAUGHT mt
that" $50 d d mine, ~ sail tn ,dying Scotch
soldier; and tie very founda ion OF his heart
was upturn7d, and then and there he
yielded himself TO Chr st. Oh. it hns
an irresistible poweri Luther's sermons have
been forgotten. but his Judgment
Hymn" sing, on through the ages and will
keep ~ singing until the blnst Of the arch
angels trump t shall bring about that very
day which the hymn celebrates. l would 10
God that these who hear me to-day would
take these songs of salvation as messages
from heaven; for just as certainly as the
birds irou ght fool TO Elijlh by the brook
Cherith. so these winged hnrmonies God
sent are hying to your soul with the bread
Of life. Open your mouth ind take 1t, q
hungry Eliiahl
l have also noticed the power of sncred
SOL & to soothe perturbation. You may have
come in here with n great many worTiments
and nnxieties, vet perhaps in the sing NJ Of
the first hymn you lost ali those worriments
and anxieties. You have read in the Bible
of Saul and how he was sad and angry, and
how the boy David came in and played the
evil spirit out Of him. A Spanish king was
melancholy. The windows we're all closed.
He sat in the darkness. Nothir- eesi1
bring him forth Al -Franeli came
md diScoursed music for three or
four davs TO him. o, the fourth day he
looked up and went md reioicel md the
windows wore thrown omen. and that which
all the splcndors Of the court could not do.
The power Of song ACCOMPLISHED. II YOU have
nnxieties and worriments try this heavenly
charm upon them. Do not sit down ON the
bank of the HYMN Lut plunge in that the
devil of care may be brought out of YOU.
It also arouses to nction. Do YOU not know
that n singing church is always a triumphant
churchl II a congregation is silent during
the exercise, or partially silent, it is the 81.
lence of death. II. when the hymn is given
out, you hear the faint hum Of here and
there n father and mother In Israel. while
the vast minority are silent. that minister OF
Christ who Is presiding needs to have a very
strony constitution If he does not get the
chills. He needs not only the grace OF
Col. but nerves like whalebone. 1t Is
amnzing how some people with voice enough
to discharge ali their duties in the world,
when they come into the house Of God have
no voice to discharge this duty. l really
believe that If il, ciurch Of Christ could
rise up and sing rs &c ought to sing, that
where we have a hun red souls brought into
the kingd IN Of Christ there would be q
thousand. How was il in olden t.mef
Caietan said: Luther conquered US by his
songs
But l must now speak Of some of the
obstacles in the way OF the advancement
OF this sacred music; and the first
is. that it las been Impressed into
the service OF superstition. | am far from
believing that music ought always TO be posi-
lively religious. Refined art has opened
places where music has been secularizsd. aud
lawfully 50. The drawing room. the musical
club. the orchestra. the concert, by the graft
n~cation Of pure taste anil the production of
harmless amusement aud the Improvement
Of talent, have becoms very force, in the al
vancement OF our civilization. Music has as
much right to laugh IN Surrey gardens as it
has to pray IN st Paurs. In the kingdom
Of nature We have the glad fling of the wind
as well as tho long metre psalm Of the thun-
der. But while all this Is 80, every
observer has noticAd that this art.
which God inten led for the improve
ment Of tho ear and the voice and the
head and the heart, has often been impressed
into the service Of error. Tartini, the muSi-
cal composer, dream-d one night that satan
snatch.d from his hand an instrument and
played upon it something very sweet-a
dream that has often been fulfilled in our
day, the voice and tho instruments that
ought TO have been dcvot d to Christ cap
ture1 from the church and applied to pur-
poses Of sin.
Another obstacle has been an inordinate
fear of criticism The vast majority Of
people singing in church never want anybody