The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1900-06-18
TH0UR0UGH-
NESS.
Was the Subject of a De-
Iightful Sermon Preach
ed by DR.. McCurdy.

Church last evening. DR.. McCur-
dy took his text from 2 Chron 1921:
"And in every work that he began
in the service of the house of God,
and in the law, and in the COM
mandments, to seek his God, he did
1t with all his heart, and prosper
ed"
In other words, Hezekiah threw
himself heart and soul into every
thing he undertook, did it we'll and
prospered. He was a real man of
God; and his wonderful energy OF
character sprang out OF his fervid
piety. In the second book Of Kings
we read OF him as follows: "And
the Lord was with him; and he
prospered whithersoever he went
and in the chapter succeeding the
text, we read: "God gave him sub
stance very much: and Hezekiah
prospered in all his works. Three
times over we read that he was
yeey prosperous man.
He was one of the best kings that
reigned over Judah; but he sprang
from very discouraging conditions.
His father, Ahaz, was VIGOROUSLY
wicked. His youth was cursed by
most polluted parental example.
The moral atmosphere he breathed
was tainted with all the abomina.
tiohs of Oriental idolatry; and he
grew up amid the sensual luXuries
and splendid corruptions of licen-
tious court. He had bad blood in
his viens. There cannot be doubt
that certain forms of vice are here
ditary, and In this way, much, if
not ALL OF moral evil repeats itself
in recurring generations.
But how such magnificent and
splendid man from so degenerate a
sire? How is it that Hezeklah is
bracketed with David and Josiah,
these three, as being the only kings
of Judah that did not torsake the
law Of their God? Divine grace can
root out the foulest desire and make
the brightest saint of the most pro-
f1igate sinner. But back of this
grace was a godly mother; that is
the secret Of nearly all of the piety
that is in the world; that is the
bond which binds the most OF us to
the throne; and because of this,
nothing so touches and melts man
as the thought of mothers love,
and the memory OF her life. 1t was
Hezekiah S mother that held him to
the law of God. Cody mothers save
the church and leaven the world.
But ungodly mothers are demo-
niacal. The fend that first pro-
posed to Charles TX of France, the
massacre of the Hugenots, was the
mother that murdered him. The
infamous Nero was the offspring OF
a woman who murdered her own
husband; and but tor Herodlas,
Philips wife, and mother of Salome,
John the Baptist had not been be-
headed. An ungodly mother is
demon; godly mother an angel,
even though her husband be devil.
1t was from his mothers side that
Hezekiah started towards the
throne OF God, but on the way stop
ped awhile on the throne of Judah.
l. In thefirst place ne began low
down, commenced life under pecu-
liarly y.unfavorable conditions. 1t is
rather the exception than the rule,
that any one having the advantages
of wealth, rank and educ alton. ever,
by dint of his own pluck and ener-
gy, forces his way to the front, and
commands success. The long list
OF nota BILE men, never to be forget
ten in history, and without whom
history could not be written, who
rose from the humblest ranks to the
very top, and who rose by sheer
thoroughness and perseverance, is
a brighter galaxy in the armament
of stern endeavor than any starry
cluster in the illimitable blue. The
immortal Homer was a beggar;
ALsop, slave; so was Fred Doug
lass; Demosthenes, the son OF a
sword maker; Jeremy Taylor, the
son OF poor barber; Hugh Miller,
mason; DR.. Livingstone, a work.
er in factory; Faraday, a book
binders apprentice; DR.. kitto, a
shoemaker; so was Moody; Henry
Clay, the boy of the hut and of the
"slashes''; Lincoln, a rail splitter;
Garfield, the driver of a canal boat;
the world has been bound together
and kept moving by men of unto
ward conditions. but who, with en-
ergy, pluck and push, have gone
upwards from nothing to much.
Every man has the chance to make
himself a power in any sphere he
may choose. Let a man put him
sell into Hczeklah's mould, and do
with all his heart what he begins
to do, and when Time shall knock
down the mould, there will stand
the man of energy, the man of
character, the man OF purpose, the
man of success, and the man OF
God.
II O. The text speaks OF work
under the broad term, service.
Work dcslgnates particular thing
a man may be doing, or having to
do; but service includes, when ap-
piled to character, not only contn-
uous work, but the whole man en-
gagged in it. Hezekiah had work
which began in the service of the
hosts OF God; then in the law; then
IN the commandments; a work of
worship, Of government, and of af-
fection; a service which united the
secular with the religious, which
develops the physical, the mental.
the moral and the spiritual man,
and makes out OF him whole man,
well rounded and developed. Heze-
kiah was an nideal laborer. He was
a busy man. an occupied man, a