Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1902-08-29
DIR. CHAPMAN'S SERMON
A SUNDAY DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
PASToR.EVANcEuST.


|
New York CIN.-The Rev. ]. Wilbur
| Chapman. ID. d.. the popular pastor OF the
Fourth Presbyterian Church, who is re-
markedly successful as an evangelist, has
prepared an interesting sermon upon the
subject "a Lost Saviour" 1t Is preached
from the text, They have taken away my
| Lord" John 20; 49,
One of the masterpieces in the Louvre
presents to us a picture of Christ upon the
cross. His head is upon His hroast un-
| derneath His arms the little birds are fly
ing for a place OF refuge, and in the deep
ening shadows there is seen woman
kneeing with loving lips and hands
pressed against His bleeding feet. Travel
srs stand before this painting with tear-wet
cheeks and 60 away with burning hearts.
If ! were an artist I should paint a COM
panion piece with this text as the theme.
| would not put tears upon her cheeks
who speaks the word because the flowing
of tears would prove a relief. When we
cannot weep our grief Is severest, but l
would represent her with agony in her
eyes and deepest sorrow in every express
sion of her face. If l could | would paint
the sob as she cries out, They have taken
away my Lord" | have seen the distress
of a mother bird when her little one was
gone. the despair Of the deer when its com
panion was killed, the agony Of the wife
when her husband was TAKEN the sorrow
of mother when her baby was dead, but
this text represents all these distresses put
together, and we have a story which can
not be expressed in words.
The speaker is Mary Magdalene, one of
the inhabitants of Magdala, she who was
possessed of seven devils. She was the
sinner in the house of Simon, the Phari-
see, who washed the Saviour's feet with
her tears, anointed them with precious
ointment and covered them with kisses
When Simon objects the Master rebukes
him with the story of the two debtors,
one forgiven much, of the other little She
became one of the attendants Of the Mas
ter. She followed Him from Calvary to
Jerusalem to the scene of the crucifxion.
Early the third after the crucifxion with
the wife of Cleophas, she goes to the sep
ulcher to see His body She finds the tomb
empty, and then cries out in agony They
have taken away my Lord What a
change there is wrought in Mary Magda-
lene. She has been a sinner of the worst
sort. Tradition makes her a servant in
the house of sin in the place where she
lived, but she has become a saint, and
wherever the gospel has been preached her
story has been told What a Saviour we
have; One who calls out the best there is
in us always Saul, of Tarsus, by nature is
bitter and cruel, but he catches a vision of
Il
livering his message with tears of real sor-
row because of the lost condition of the
world. Peter is an ignorant fisherman, but
catches a vision of his Master and becomes
one of the greatest preachers in the worlds
history. The thief on the cross is profane,
and doubtless causes Christ a new pang Of
agony with his profanity, until turning his
head he catches vision OF that blessed
face and cries out, Lord, remember me-"
!.
Kindred texts. / have been looking up
the Bible these past days and have been
greatly interested to see how many kin
bred subjects to this are to be found in
Gods word.
First Adam and Eve. They are in para
disc; everything about them is beautiful.
Even God Himself saw that it was very
good The music of the birds is the sweet
est, the fragrance of the flower is the best /;
there is no curse upon Eden, when sudden
~ the cloud appears, the moving of the
erpert is heard and there is a great
change. Adam and Eve are driven thither
from the garden. Genesis 3: 1924, There
fore the Lord God sent him forth from the
Garden of Eden to till the ground from
whence he was taken. So He drove out
the man, and He placed at the gate Of the
Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming
sword which turned every way, to Keep
the way OF the tree OF lie.
Second the Ark of the Covenant This
was a small chest overlaid with gold. four
and half feet long, two feet nine inches
wide and the same measure in heghth.
Within it were the tables of the law. 1t
was carried by the priests as occasion re-
quired from place to place. So sacred was
it that it was death for any one to look
upon 1t but the priests and so it was care
fully covered. 1t represented to them the
visible presence of Jehovah. 1t was car
ried about by the children of Israel on
their travels through the desert as they
entered the channel of the Jordan, and
was taken thirteen times around Jericho
in six days, but now the Philistines have
come up against the children of Israel and
the ark is taken. Old Eli is waiting for
tidings of the conflict. His seat is by the
road side that he may hear the more
speedily. At last there is a great shout Of
horror, and man of Benjamin is seen run
ming, with his clothes rent and earth upon
his head. There is trouble, but who can
imagine the extent of it. Listen to him as
he cries out Israel has fed before the
Philistines," and the face of old Eli pales
Hophni and Phinehas are slain, and the
old man begins to shake in an agony, but
horror of horrors, the ark of God is taken
|. Samuel 4 Is, and it came to pass
when he made mention of the ark Of God
the side of the gate, and his neck brake
and he died; for he was an old man and
heavy And he had judged Israel forty
years" Tell us that the sun will not shine
again, that the rain will not fall, that the
stars are dead, that the moon win refuse
to shine, but you will bring to us no such
tidings as came to Israel when the news
was carried that the ark was taken. 1t is
as if God had departed from our own land.
1t is an awful thing to be without hope
and without God in the world.
Third, the Lost Bible. During the reign
Of Josiah, who began to reign when he was
eight years old, the repairs to the temple
were begun, and in the midst of this work
the book of the law was found 2 Kings
%: 8, And Hilkiah the high priest. said
unto Shaphan, the scribe, have found the
book of the law in the house OF the Lord I"
And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan
and he read it. This was doubtless the
very book which Moses had commanded to
be placed in this sacred spot Deutero-
Monty 81: %, Take this book of the law
and put it in the side of the ark of the
covenant OF the Lord, your God, that it
may be there for a witness against thee"
1t might have been carelessly mislaid or it
may have been maliciousy concealed, but
what a narrow escape. However, we need
not tremble, for He who cared for Moses
when he was in the ark and for His own
Son when He was Graded in the manger
viii care for His book Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but Ny word shall
never pass away" However, some of us
have lost our Bible We have lost it be-
cause we have been absorbed by fiction or
worldliness, or we have permitted some
sin to lay hold upon us. We have lost our
Bible, and if we have our position is as sad
as Mary in the garden when she said,
'They have taken away my Lord"
Fourth, Lost Fellowship. Luke 2; 4245,
"And when lie was twelve years old they
went up to Jerusalem, after the custom
of the feast, and when they had fulfilled
the days, as they returned, the child Jesus