The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-08-13
DIR. CHAPMAN'S SERMON
AsuNpAY DISCOURSE eY THE NOTED
pASToR.sVANcEusT.

Subject: Tho Nearness Of Cod Aiphnoet
Of Divine Love q. Not Enough OF Cod
In Nature TO Satisfy Our souls - Neeo
OF the Lords "Neafness."
NEW YonK Crrr.-The Rev. j. wilbur
Chapman's sermvas continue TO eScte tus
greatest interest and to give the greatest
satisfaction to that large body OF American
people who demand striking discourse loi
their weekly reading. The distinguished
pastorevanselist has prepared the Loi,T"J .'~J
ING sermon for the press. IL Is ent't'eI
"The Nearness of Cod" and Is preacneni
from the text, Thou art near, y Loro.
This text is taken from one OF the long
est Psalms in the Bible. but it IS remarka. IA
BE not only on account OF its iengtn, Sui
because Of It's teaching. Like the ee,es.'a;
city it lieth four square; the helenth ana
the depth and the length and the oreaa.n
OF it are the same. There u but one tnsms
in ali the Psalm and that is the word o.
God and reminds one Of nothing 10 much
"a a diamond which as you hold it as the
lieht touches it from every side u senos
ont 70 all beholders the evidences OF its
beauty and of its worth, and this ilstn
Palm il the makeup Of the word OF God,
for every verse except two, namely, tue
i2od and the l32d refer in some way 70
Gods word, and it 10 mentioned either un'
der the figure Of law, or Testimonies OF
word, or precepts.
The writer Of this Psalm must hsve been
inspired with the word Of God as he knew
il. have heard OF an old Christian Wno
meditatcd his why through the Bible three
times. Surely this IS the secret OF wnony
happy life. In 1889 At the t'ms .,o o. fseas s
made this note in his diary, 81 have walked
this morning from Hyde Park corner re-
beating the 10th Psalm. and having great
comfort" Martin Luther said on com.
mentins on this Psalm. David must have
shaken every frui. tree in Gods garden
and gathered fruit therefrom." Like other
portions of the Scripture this Psalm has
been generally named. It has been called
the alphabet Of divine love, perhaps De-
cause Of its division. because 1t u separ'
ated into groups Of eight verses: and eacn
group is under letter OF the heorew a..
phsbet until the alphabet Is exhausted. IL
Is really the Alpha and Omega o. the WORD
Of God. In the New Testament the inear-
nate word or Saviour is represented as the
Aloha and Omega. May it not be because
the alphabet has beca exhausted in display
ing to us His graces. and also because IN
the Old Testament the alphabet ha8 been
exhausted in speaking Of His glorious word;
h has also been called the paradise OF all
doctrines. and I have been amazed to see
how many are here presented. Pardon;
justification, sancti6cation. they are all
here. Il also has been represented as the
storehouse Of the Holy Spirit. for really IN
no part Of the Bible is He more wonder:
fully presented. and it has been spoken OF
a. the school Of truth, for really nothing 10
omitted. We might lose all the rest OF the
Bible, but il we had this we would know
Throuah i5O verses David has been speak.
ing Of an these things and has been talk
inS Of God, when suddenly as 1t he were
impressed with the fact that He OF whom
he had been speaking was near he bursts
ont In the cry Of our text. "Thou art near.
o Lord" Il Is a possible thing for one to
preach 90 profoundly that he loses sight OF
Him Of whom he speaks; or Sunday
school teacher to teach her lesson and al:
most TO be unconscious OF the presence OK
Christ Of whom she has been teaching. 1t
is a good thing for Us all to stop again and
again and say, Thou art near, y Lord,
for he Is indeed nearer to rs than any
earthly friend.
Kindred texts. There are certain texts
in the Scripture which are akin to the one
have chosen, as, for example, Psalm ~:
S, "The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord IS
thy shade upon thy right hand" II the
Lord Is our keeper why need we 60 astray,
for BE neither slumbers or sleeps; Psalm
unto them that are Of broken heart; and
sayeth such a. be Of q contrite spirit" !
am sure I am speaking for you all when !
say there never has been a heartaehe we
have accepted our discipline as BE intend
ed, that He has not been graciously near to
us. Philippians the fourth chapter and the
fifth verse, the last clause. is another Illus
tration, and is very much like the text,
"Let your moderation be known unto all
men. The Lord is at hand" Paul has
been speaking Of peace and the JOY OF
Christian fellowship, when suddenly he
speaks out like David Of old. The Lord Is
at hand" and Immediately he begins with
this vntence, "Be careful for nothing VI
course we need be careful tos nothing II
the Lord is at hand. for He will bear every
evesy eUsrSA trial. ' The ed Psalm is another
beautiful illustration. Il has been my
privilege within the past few days to sit BY
the death bed of q young man who may
even now be passing out into the eternity,
and when I told him that the end had
come for him he said, 1T is long journey
to make alone, is it not" Ny only answer
was this sd Psalm, "Yea, though I walk
through the valley Of the shadow Of death,
I will fear no evil. for Thou art with me-
and he brushed the tears out Of his eyes
and said. Then I am not afraid, nor
need we be at any time, for He 10 always
with Us. We learn by contrast to admire
many things. Those who have studied the
of G;r NnaI pakop yynuak he 0b-
served that part of their peculiar beauty
lies, by trick Of art, in their partial usli.
ness. There are flowers and birds.
knights and ladies. gossamer winged fairies
and children of seraphic beauty, but in the
corner Of the canvas. or just at their feet,
some uncouth and loathsome form-a toad,
= lizard, q Shiny snail-to lend, by con.
trast with its repu!siveness, o lovelier
beauty to the rest. So in ancient sculp.
ture the griffin and the dragon grin among
the angel faces on the cathedral front,
heishsenins the surrounding, beauty OF
their deformity. Many Of the literary sit
nations of the New Testament powerfully
exhibit this species Of contrast. The twelve
disciples-one of them is devil. Jesus
upon the cross, pure and resal-on either
side thief And here, as conspicuously,
10 this fifteenth chapter Of Luke, the most
exquisite painting in the Bible Is touched
of at the foot with the black thunder
cloud OF the elder brother-perfect as a
mere dramatic situation. And 90 here we
understand better that the Lord is by our
side when we imagine for o moment ali He
10 away from US. In Palm ll8: 8, we
read, The Lord is on my side; will not
fear; what can man do unto me" This.
Of course. is for the child Of God, but in
Proverbs Is: %. We read, The Lord is far
from the wicked hut He hea reth the nrav.
er Of the righteous" God pity Us II We
stand in this position. In Psalm l5: Is.
we read, The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon Him To all that call unon