The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1897-10-01

power. LutherS sermons haze been /
forgotten. but his Judgment hymn Sings /
on through the ages and will keep on
singing until the blasts Of the arch |
angels trumpet shall bring about that
very day which the hymn celebrates
would to God You would take these
songs OF salvation as messages from
heaven; for just as certainly as the |
birds brought food 20 Elijah by the |
brook Chcrith. 50 these winged harmo-
mics. God-sent, are flying 70 your soul
with The bread OF life Open your
month and take IL, o hungry Elijah.
have also noticed the power ot sa-
cred song TO sootli perturbation. You
may have come in here with great
many worriments and anNietics, yet
perhaps In the singing Of the iirt hymn
You have lost them all 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 were
all closed. lie sat in the dark
ness Nothing could bring him forth
until Franeli came and discOurse,l nu-
sic for three or four days I" him. On
the fourth day he looked up and wept
and rejoiced, and the windows were
thrown open and that which all the
spleudOrs Of the conrt could not 10. the
power 81 song accomplished II you
have anxicties and worriments Try this
Heavenly charm upon them Dn not
sit down on the bank OF the hymn. lut
plunge in that the devil Of earr may be
brought out Of you
II also arouses 10 action Do YOU not
/ know that a single church IS always
a triumphant church? u u congrega
tion is silent during the exercise OF
partially silent. il is the silence Of
death when the hymn IS given out
YOU hear the faint hum OF here and
there a father and mother in Israel.
while the vast majority are silent. that
minister OF Christ WIN is presiding
needs 10 have . very strong eonsti-
tuition IL he does not get tho
chills lie needs moi only the grace Of
God but nerves like whalcl0ne 1t is
amazing how some people with voicc
enough to discharge all ilieir duties in
J the world when they come into the
house Of God have NO voice 10 discharge
this duty. J really believe that II the
church Of Christ could rise up and sing
as IL ought 10 sing. where we have n
hundred souls brought into the king
dom Of Christ there would he thou
sand How was IT in olden timer Caje-
tan said; ''I.uther conquered Us by
his songs
hut must now speak Of some OF the
obstacles in the way of the advance
rnent Of this sacred music, and the first
is that II has been impressed into the
service Of Satan.
am far from believing that music
ought always TO be positively religious.
Refined art has opened places where
music has been secularized, and law
fully so. The drawing room, the con-
cert. by the qualification Of the pure
taste and the production OF harmless
amusement and the improvement OF
talent have become very forces In the
advancement OF our civilization.
Music has as much right 10
laugh in Surrey Gardens as IL has
TO pray in st Paul's In the kingdom
Of nature We have the glad fling Of the
wind as well as the long meter psalm
Of the thunder But. while all this is
50, every observer has noticed that this
art. which God intended for the i'm
provcment OF the car, and the voice,
and the head and the heart, has often
been impressed into the service Of err
ror. Tartini, the musical composer
dreamed one night that Satan snatchcd
from his hand an instrument and
played upon it something very sweet
, dream that has often been fulfilled in
our day, the voice and the instrument,
that ought TO have been devoted Il
| Christ, captured from the church anc
applied TO the purposes Of sin.
Another obstacle has been an inordi
nate fear Of criticism. The vast ma
jority of people singing in church
! never want anybody else To hear then
sing. Everybody is waiting for some
body else ~ do his duty IL we at
sang, then the inaccuracies that ar
evident when only few sing would b
drowned out God asks You 10 do a
well as you can, and then If you &c
, the wrong pitch or keep wrong tim
, lie will forgive any deficiency OF tn
ear and imperfection of the voices
Angels will not laugh If you shoul'
!. lose your place in = the mnsiea
scale or come in at the close
bar behind There are three school
Of singing, am told-the Germa
school, Italian school and the Frenc
, school OF singing. Now, | would lik
!. TO add fourth school. and that is tn
: school Of Christ The voice of a cor
I trite, broken heart although IL ma
not be able 10 stand human criticism
makes better music for Gods ear tina
the most artistic performance whe
!, the heart is wanting. God calls ON III
= beasts. on the cattle, on the dragons
: praise Him, and we ought not to be b
J, hind the cattle and the dragons
Another obstacle to the advancement
of this art has been the erroneous nj
: tion that this part Of the service coul
!, be conducted by delegation. Churchs
4 have said, %, what an easy time "
y shall have. The minister viii do III
preaching and the choir will do II
singing and we will have nothing
do" And you know as well as | III:
= there are a great multitude {
! churches all through this land whei
Z the people are not expected 10 sim
The whole work is done by deleg
tion Of four OF six or ten persons. an
the audience are silent In such
church in Syracuse an old elder pc
sisted in singing. and so the choir a
i pointed committee to 90 and ask Il
elder II he would not stop You kno
that in many churches the choir Al
expected TO do all the singing, and u
! great mass OF the people are expccts
= 10 be silent. and II you utter your vol
q You are interfering. In that ehur'
!. they stand. the four. with opera-glass
: dangling at their side. singing 'Ro'
Of Ages. Cleft for Ne, with the san
q spirit that. 'thc night before on Il
a stage, they took their part in IT
Grand Duchesse or Don Giovanni.
= My Christian friends, have we rig
/. TO delegate to others the discharge
this duty which Coi demands Of a
=. Suppose that four wood thrushes pr
Il pose to do all the singing some brig