The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-11-20
"A THREE-FOLD CHORD
Sunday Sermon by DR.. Chapman the
Noted Evangelist.
Points Out Why Even Seemingly Unfortunate
MortaIs Have Better Reasons for Thanks
giving Than fauItflndlng.

bur chapman mas furnished to the press q
most striking and popular sermon which
is intended for all those who would rise to
better things. II is entitled "A Three.Fold
Cord and was preached from the text, "a
three-fold cord is not quickly broken" Ec.
cesiastes 4: H.
Did You ever stop to think how many
things you have in your life for which YOU
ought to be grateful to God? Doubtless
some OF my readers may pause and say Il
have very little for which / need to be
thankful and then, as a matter of fact
we have had more of joy than of sorrow
more days OF sunshine than of storm, and
if we were honest we should be Obliged to
say that there is more reason for thanks.
giving than faulthnding.
An old friend OF mine, blind from his
birth, told me that he had never seen the
sun rise and had never looked upon his
sons face, and then he said to me, ."Have
you ever thanked God for your eve sigh"
and I never had up to that time. In the
city OF Hartford, going through an insane
hospital with the attending physician /
stopped with him at the door of a room
where young girl frantically said, doc.
tor, must have breath of fresh air, for
l am being consumed with an inward
fire" The doctor gently closed the door
and said, This has been her mania for
year, and then we entered room where
in close confinement was kept a man who
was reckoned one of the most brilliant
journalists in the city, who said, "These
walls are coming nearer together, and the
floor and ceiling are every day approaching
each other, and my enemies have kept me
here until my life is to be crushed out" L
doubt not but that he suffered as much as
j it were an honest fact. | turned away
from the hospital with heavy heart, but
condemned, too, because up to that time I
had never thanked God for my reason
There are so many things for which we
ought to be grateful, but most of all to nv
mind there is cause for gratitude in the
way God has sought for the lost world ever
since men have begun to wander from
Him. Adam no sooner sins than God seeks
him in the garden and cries out. "Where
art thou! God will not unlock the foun-
tains of the deep and bring the flood until
he sends Noah for 100 years as the preach.
er OF righteousness to warn the people. nor
VIII ne let sodom be DESTROYED until the
angel visitors take hold of Lot and drag
him forth from the city and also strive in
every way to bring the inhabitants forth
to place of safety. Every representative
OF father in the Old Testament is pic.
ture OF God; Jacobs concern for his chill.
Ahsaiom, are but hints as to Gods con.
Germ for His own lost children. and He is
IN every way seeking them and calling
upon them to return In the C'l Testa.
ment He gives the law that they may be.
hold His precepts written upon tables of
'N'ANf uhu Mhtu men VIII not neeu Ills
written word He opens the windows of
heaVen and with an angel choir sends His
only Son and locates the place of His birth
by the star of Bethlehem and leads the
shepherds to adore Him with sounds of
angels music, and this Son of God. Jesus
Of Nazareth went up and down the land
teaching and preaching but most of all liv-
ing IN order that men might one day
through Him come back to the Father,
When, the world became so skilled in
wckedness that they would not have Him
live in theirv presence because their lives
were q condemnation in themselves He
made His way to Calvary and died upon
the cross, the Just for the unjust. that He
might bring us to God, and when He had
been crucihcd, placed in the tomb and
had risen lie dwe,t with them at ,lerusa-
n lem until they should be endowed with
power from on high. They kept His com. COM
mands, and when the fulness of time had
n come with q rushing sound as of a mighty
WIND the Holy Ghost came upon them
They were Immediately changed men; they
eeegan to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave them uttcrance. From that
4 day to this the Holy Ghost has heen in the
4 word, and so that half the trinity of God
mas been all but repelled in the interests of
sinful man. The God of law. the God Of
grace, the God OF power This tbree-fold
vision we have had of the Divine One and
IN every disposition He is seeking. This is
inls IN the dispensation of the Holy Ghost,
the last cord as it were of the trinity.
= When the Octlre went down on the Eng
IlSh coast, one boy. Stewart Holland, by
name, became hero because while the
4 passengers were frantic and the other sea.
men and officers were otherwise engaged
4 ne broke into the powder magazine and
again and again fired off the ships cannon
mat lie might arouse the life savers and
. ,et them know of the perilous condition OF
tue snip and her crew. 1t would seem to
me That this is the time when those who
preach the gospel ought simply to stand
and cry aloud. Flee from the wrath tc
come flee from the wrath to come" be
Guse cause we arc in the dispensation of The
This is solemn subject because of the
peculiar kind of sin which may drive away
Iod spirit. In the Old Testament the
s,h OF the people was largely idolatry
ihey would not have God rule over them,
any SO they bowed down to gods OF wood
trouble to-day. In the New Testament
envy and jealousy bounded Christ to the
rross; men feared Him and because they
nele Jealous or Him they hated Him, but
sin shsl Is not our special sin to-day The
fa en- oI TINS present day seems to be indif'
Il ;t'vtiTme' v,im ana II Is dangerous sin because
n Wlll drve from our presence the Holy
Dnt oI God who pleads and waits for us
70 tilrn' Every time one saws no to Christ
~, ~ - IN danger OF saying it for the last
SnJ, SnJJ, ana every time he says no he but
tuLaruehs his heart the more. until at last
4 cowo rae very plsadings OF God Himself be
In IN me days when the plague swout over
ouon LINTON and funeral professions by the
ssISore wended their way to the grave. and
tona was scarcely home that was moi
Soeneu with death, ministers, indeed.
r;HoIIhed rrr;aI as dying men to dying men, they
sao.s eu aloud and spared not Old time
ii ttbeiieu ~ u 70 say to them Strike now" and
q not ahRel Re death seemed to say 'if YOU do
are % sIrlke | will.' These demands to-day
q utmost as serious. Mems hearts are
mouI moohlhg hardened. their wills more and
n aIouJ Stubborn. IL is the time to cry
a'Ouu with no uncertain tone.
q bnt tthhree'fold cord is not quickly broken.
4. unty;nt ;;neiv Is one way to break it easily:
II senarato .he cord and break the strands
n prisonse W and 1t YOU are bound as o
a resent you can easily go free. The rep.
Il to.dav w oil the Godhead in tie world
Il against = .he Holy Ghost. We may sin
-. gyeness "'ner' ana there Is ior-
Il Nortb, b,ather tn in the South sent his son
Il he n car 20 college, and when he graduated
s but with 'alk tl not only with his diploma,
vi fastened r ehe hablt OF intemperance so
n father upon him, that he disgraccd his
n heart ond name aais aud broke his mothers
ters went s sselll MS father loved him. Mat.
Il they met o' ron Dad to worse until one day
made reoness street, and when the son