Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1902-09-11
DIR, CliAPMAN'S SERMON
SUNDAY DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
PASTCR.EVANcELiST

PASTCR.EVANCELiST.
The Song Of h Lord-If Our
Hearts VIII But Sing Right Christ
Will Help Us to Counterfeit Our Bias
to Sin.
NEW YORK CITY.-The Rev. DIR. j. WI
bur Chapman's sermons continue TO eAcite
the ~profoundest interest and to give the
satisfaction to that large nu atr;I-
American people who demand a stTlk-
ing discourse for weekly reading. Inc
popular pastor-evangelist has prepared the
following sermon for the press. 1t Is en-
'"The Song of the Lord" and is
preached from the text, "The song OF the
Lord began also" II. Chronicles ~: Il.
The difference between the 18th and the
29th chapters Of II. CHRONICLES presents 70
us an illustration of that difference when
we frequently see in the church as she
passes from times Of enthusiasm to days
of depression and back again, and tor
which there seems to be no human eNpla-
nation. So also is it the picture OF many
families where the godly father has an un-
godly son and an ungodly father a godly
son, which is entirely contrary to the rules
which in our own house we nave oeter-
mined should abound. So also IS 1t a pic
tire Of MANY individuals who after weeks
and months and even years are found reg
ularly in the house of God the most devout
of worshipers, and then suddenly stop un-
able almost to explain to themselves how
thew have lost interest and why their zeal
is ouenched. The wicked reign OF Ahaz
and the reign Of his righteous son Heze-
kiah thus furnish us with practical illus
tratlon. ~ - -"
Ahaz was the eleventh king. Of Judah,
the son of lothian. His example was holy
and his reign was peaceful and prosper
Gus. Not so of his son. He was a gross
idolator, actually sacrificed his children to
the gods, remodeled the temple that it
might be fit for idolatrous uses and owned
chariot horses that were dedicated to the
son. Upon all of this the Judgment OF God
falls, but because of it the condition of the
people is something dreadful. He is an il
lustration of the power of sin. First, IN its
infatuation. We find him robbing the
palace and plundering the temple, places
which had always been sacred both to the
king and to the people, but which he pre-
sents as dishonored in the 2lst verse OF
the 28th chapter, to the king OF Assyrla,
but somehow sin seems always to present
who walk for any length of time in it's way.
Second, in it's degradation. There could
be no worse sin than that described IN
verses "a and % of the 28th chapter, where
Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the
house of God, shut up the doors of the
house, and in all the cities of Judah made
high places to burn incense to other gods.
A picture very much like it is found in
the 5th chapter of Daniel the Sd and 9th
verses, where the temple vessels are taken
by the king and used in midnight revelry,
when suddenly the fingers of a mans hand
are seen writing on the wall, "Thou art
weighed in the balance and found want
ing" However, it is true that any man
who uses his powers of body Or Of mind to
sin is as defiantly sinful as was Ahaz the
king.
Third, in his death he is a picture of the
end Of sin. He died when only thirty-six
sleeps in a dishonored grave, for they
would not bury him in the tombs Of the
kings, a perfect illustration of the text,
"Sin when it is finished brings forth
DEATH" In the city of Paris in burning
letters of fire a certain place of dangerous
sin greeted the passer-by with these words,
all Of them written in fire, "Nothing to
door will find that the wages of sin is
death. This has always been true. Heze'
kiah, the son of Ahaz, began to reign
when he was twenty-five years old. In
his parental heritage he had everything
against him, but his mothers name wa
Abizah, and she was the daughter c1
Zechariah, a man who had understanding
in the views Of God: This is undoubtedly
the secret of Hezekiah's goodness. Boys
frequently go right when their fathers are
wrong, but when the mother is wrong very
rarely do they walk in the paths of recti
tude.
For sixteen years there had been no son,
in the temple. This was a great loss, be
cause the people had always been accus
toned 20 sing from the time at creation
when the morning stars sang together an(
all the sons of God shouted for Joy to tn
marching through the Red Sea where thu
sons of Israel were led by Miriam in thu
singing, and the birth Of the Saviour wher,
the angels were the choir, the last suppel
where the Lord Himself was one of tn
singers, up to the new heaven and the new
earth where they sing the new song tn
world has had much to do with music. Th'
temple service when men lived in right re
lations with God and the house was clear
was beautiful. Some Psalms were writer
people chanted them to the accompani
ment of the consecrated instruments, tn
~antlphonal cholrs answered each other, a
for example, in the oath Psalm, one choi
would say, "Lift up your heads, O y
gates, even lift them up, ye everlastin
doors, and the King of glory shall com
in and the other choir would respond
WHO is this King of glory?" only to hav
the other singers reply, 'The Lord O
Hosts, He is the King Of glory" But 70
sixteen years there had been no song.
First. why was this? The best expla
nation is given in the 2Sth chapter of II
Chronicles, the Oath and 25th verses
And Ahaz gathered together the vessel
Of the house Of God, and cut in pieces tn
vessels of the house Of God, and shut u
the doors Of the house of the Lord, an
he made him affairs in every corner 9
Jerusalem. And in every several city 9
judah he made high places to burn il
cense unto other gods and provoked to az
ger the Lord God Of his fathers" Their
IS many a life to-day without a song, an
to all such | give my message. The reaso
tor this is found in the fact of sin. We 81
IN our outward acts, but God can keep U
from that if we will let Him and give u
the song once more. We sin in our d,
slres, but He can remove these desires
we will but permit Him to do so, and on
affections may be set on things above. W
SIN IN our motives, but if we are His the1
Is a new pivot to our life, and the motive
which were most impure may become our
indeed. We have also a bias to sin whic
oroo~ -