The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-11
HIS NAME A STRONG TOWER.
Rev. DIR. Fairs Impressive Sermon
at the Independent Church.

at the Independent Church.
At the Independent Presbyterian Church
yesterday morning Rev. DR.. Fair preached
from the text, The name of the Lord is
a strong tower; the righteous runuefh in
to 1t and is safe" Proverbs 1910.
In ancient times, when Iife and prop
erty were insecure, said Dr. Fair, men
built strong towers for protection. When
practicable they selected some high hill
or mountain peak. and there on the mac
cessible summit reared a structure which
was both a fortress and a home Then,
~hen predatory bands roamcd abroad,
Wheh fed-handed murder pursued him to
the walls, or even death knocked a his
castle gates, mans only security was the
strength of his tower. 50, said solomon,
the name of the Lord is a strong tower.
Even the cursory reader must have no
tceu that God is not mentioned in the
Bible by one name, but various titles are
applied TO Him. This is not accidental,
but IL expresses the gradual unfolding of
the wonderful character of God. In
some of the castles of the old world" said
Dr. Fair, you can trace the work of sue
cessIve generations and different types of
architecture, mingled in one structure,
yet all built of the same material and on
the same foundation. cemented into one,
W. Se-AiC iICd running through all, not
only strength, but beauty. SO men have
gone TO The great quarry of language, and
under the guidance of the spirit they have
taken the symbols of thought, squared
ana polished them, used them to express
the perfectbons of God tin His name has
become a strong lower of revelation of
doctrine and of faith. which is The believ-
er's security and hope. Or. Fair then
o"elt upon this gradual unfolding of Gods
nature, through the revelations Of the va
rlous titles of deity. He said the first
name ascribed to God was Elohim. This
Word meant the Awful One, who is mys-
terlous and is 10 be feared. 1t revealed
Goa as creator, working i'm matter, the
nghtnlng was the fash of his eye the
thunder echoed His voice. His footsteps
were IN the great waters He spreadeth out
me heavens as a tent TO dwell in and
rideth on the wings of the wind The next
name given TO God was Jehovah. This was
His redemption name
It represented Him as redsenoinpr HE
people out of Egyptian bondage. leading
them through the wilderness to the Land
Vi Frofnise, type of the greater re-
demptlon from the bondage of sin. gath
eIihs MS people out of the world and Law
nB the foundation of the church. But
the name of God received its culmination
az the touch of Christ when He taught US
to call God our Father in Heaven. This
IS the last and highest stone placed in the
tower or Gods name, hewn by the hand
OF Chr1st out of the mountain of eVerlast-
lnS ruth. This name is TO Stand forever
TO ring from the happy lips of the redeem
ed and echo Coos nature through all
eternity. Thus we see the gradual devel-
opment of the name of God and how it
was built up into this strong tower which
is refuge to man
The foundation stone is laid in awe: the
cap stone is laid in love. 1t begins with
God as awful Creator; it ends with God
as loving Father. It begins in trembling
before Ills boundless power; it ends in le-
Joicing before His infinite mercy. In con-
clusion DIR. Fair said entrance was effect
ed into those ancient castles by means Of
draWbrdge let down across the inoat
bugle hung by the gate, and if a man
were pursued, he put the bugle to his
dips and sent his plea for entrance ech-
DING through the castle halls and the gate
was opened.
So Gods mercy is the drawbridge which
with golden chains of love He lets down
to us from His Heavenly home Let us
enter and ever rest in this strong tower
1t rises up higher than the loftest OBJ
servatory ever reared for science. From
its summit faith commands a wider pros
pect than was ever swept by the most
powerful telescope. It's view penetrates be-
You'd the shadows of life, beyond the hor-
lion of earth and the circumference of
time.
1t looks beyond even the river of death
and catches the flash of a crown and the
sparkle of the river of life where the
righteous rest forever under the shade OF
the trees