The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-10-17

because the band had stopped He ordered
the musicians TO play again, and the effect
was marvellous III there would only be a
song IN our souls to-day and IN the church
there would be power. A mother saw her
child standing upon the edge OF a preci-
pice. She knew II she shouted she might
atartle the child so that he would fall. SO
she attracted his attention by familiar
song she sang. There are men and women
standing on the very brink Of perdition to-
day without hope but IL the church were
but singing her song as she ought the lost
could be saved and if one had a song oth-
ers would join with II. On the battlefield
Of Shiloh fainting and suffering a Christian
soldier began 20 sing, when / can read
my title clear" In a few moments an
other soldier with weak voice joined in
and then another until a score OF voices
were taking up the song. Oh, If we could
but set on fire one church for God the
whole city might soon be under the touch
Of His mighty life.
Second, what did Hezekiah do? We
have only TO read the story to find out
~. He opened the doors, as indicated
in the third verse
(2). The priests were santifed, the 18th
verse.
(S). They went into the inner part of
the house and made it clean, the 10th
verse
az. They sanctifed the entire house,
the 18th verse,
(5). They restored the vessels which
had once been used in the temple.
(B). "And Hezekiah commanded to Of
fer the burnt offering upon the altar And
when the burnt offering began the song Of
the Lord began again, also with the trum-
pets and with the instruments ordained by
David, king of Israel And all the congre-
CATION worshiped, and the singers sang
and the trumpeters sounded, and all this
continued until the burnt offering was
finished"
Third, all this is typical. We have no
song in the church to-day as once we had
I do not wish to be pessimistic in my view
Of the condition Of things; it is my great
desire to inspire the church with a new
hope and a conception of better things,
but no one Is so blind to-day but what he
can see that the church is without the old
song she used to have, and beyond all ques-
ton it is because the temple must needs
be cleansed. Why should not the work be-
gin now?
! O. It ought to begin with the priests
| themselves as in the Old Testament story.
| Christian Evans tells of the time when
one day riding through a wood he dis.
mounted from his horse, bitched it to the
tree and made his way into the darkening
shadows and stayed upon his face before
| God for hours waiting for his special bless
ing or his special work, and when he re-
turned to his horse and mounted it and
the next day began his preaching service a
revival was started which swept the whole
country. Maze spent day and a night in
a New York hotel asking for Gods special
blessing because he needed it, and at last
must needs rise and say, ooh, Lord, stay
| Thine hand I can hold no more" Murray
McCheynne was so filed with God that as
he laid his hands upon a boys head and
said, Il am very much concerned about
| your soul" the boy remembered it and
| when he forgot McCheynne's sermons he
| felt the touch of his loving hand upon his
! head, and it pushed him into the kingdom.
! ~. And the inner part of the house
] needs also to be cleansed. There is in
! every church circle into which God has
seemed to call certain persons. To these /
now direct my message, to the officers of
the church of whatever name, to the Sun.
! day-school teachers and to those who have
become spiritually minded is the searching
! question, "Is thine heart right in the sight
! of God% In the SD chapter of Isaiah
and the 18th verse the prophet says, BE
ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord I"
! God pity the man whose life is unclean
while his Office is one the angels might
cOvet to fill. The searching power of Gods
word ought to touch the Sunday-sChool
teacher. One of Mr.. Moody's teachers in
Chicago was dying of consumption. He
must leave his Western home and return
to the home of his boyhood in the East,
but before he would leave, entering a car.
riage he drove to every home and besought
the members of his class to yield to God,
and said Mr.. Moody, "When the time
oouon for hin, 70 Loo no Cb;ooro b;c III
class, every one of them saved, gathered
at the platform of the station to wave him
a farewell, and they all sang, 'Blest be the
tie that binds our hearts in Christian
love-" In Galatians, the 9th chapter and
the LIST verse, it is commanded, eye which
are spiritual restore the wanderers in the
spirit of meekness," and alas, it is true that
men have wandered in multitudes from the
church, and we have done nothing to re-
strain them, let the work of cleansing go
on.
(3). The church as whole ought to be
set right with God. In Zechariah, the 30
chapter and the first seven verses, we have
the picture Of Joshua, the high priest
standing before the angel o. the Lord
He was clothed with filthy garments, and
the word of the Lord came saying, Put of
the filthy garments and / will clothe thee
with a change of raiment." These filthy
garments upon the nigh priest are ike the
habits which cling to some of us. They
have sapped our spiritual life, and we arr
powerless in the presence of the world
We ought to put them off and then put or
Christ, so that living among men VIZ
might win them to Him by the very way
we live. This will not be easy, for the pic
ture Of Joshua is with Satan resisting
him l doubt not he is resisting us nov
in the presence Of God, doubtless calling
attention to the way we have sung ou
hymns this morning and uttered our pray
ers but this picture in Zechariah als'
/ tells us that Joshua, the high priest, haC
+ a fair mitre set upon his head, and tn
bands showed that service was hard. Tha
fair mitre is like the descent of the Hol.
Ghost, for which there is a great need to