Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1902-09-11

b,,+ s;ro;no her song as she ought the lost
oo,,,5 he ssved. and if one had a song 9TH
ers would ioin with it. On the battlefield
Shiloh fainting and suffering a Christian
solder began to sing, "When | can read
nv 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. On; if we could
but set on fire one church for God the
whole city might soon be under the touch
His mighty life.
Second, what did Hezekiah do? We
have only to read the story to find out.
Q. He opened the doors, as indicated
in the third verse.
c1 The nriests were santifed, the 18th
(3). They went into the inner part Of
the house and made it clean, the 10th
verse.
the I'll 18th t 7sFse. s"ne'''eu 'D' 'N''i' n'D''
(5). They restored the vessels which
had once been used in the temple.
(6). "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
contlnueu until tne pulA' oAeiAAs was
finished"
Third, all this is typical. We have nc
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
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?
~. 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, hitched it to the
tree and made his way into the darkening
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 a day and a night in
a New York hotel asking for Gods special
! blessing because he needed it, and at last
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, II I'm 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.
(2N. And the inner part of the house
needs also to be cleansed. There is in
every church a circle into which God has
seemed to-call certain persons. 10 these l
now direct my message, to the Offices OF
the church Of whatever name, to the Sun
d~ay-school teachers and to those who have
ooo-,o ~,,,4 IT, -o.oIol - Alo oo~o11
question. "Is thine heart right in the sight
Of God:" In the SD chapter of Isaiah
and the 18th verse the prophet says, "Rs
We clean that bear the vessels of the Lords
God pity the man whose life is u~nclean,
,, while his Office is one the angels might
co7e5 to III; The searching power of Gods
word ought to touch the Sunday-school
teacher. One Of Mr.. Moody's teachers in
must leave. his Western home and retTrn
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 hts class to yield to God,
and said Nj. Moody, "When the time
came for him to leave Chicago his whole
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, aye which
are spiritual restore the wanderers in the
spirit of m~eekness," and alas, it is true that
men nave wandered in multitudes from the
church, and we have lone nothing to re.
strain them, let the work of cleansing so
(3). The CHURCH as a whole ought to be
set right with God. In Zechariah, the Sd
chapter aud the first seven verses. we have
the picture Of Joshua, the high priest,
f S. bffor9 thg sngel of the Lord
the filthy garments and I will clothe thee
with a change of raiment." These filthy
garments p the high priest are like the
habits which cling to some of us. They
have sapped our spiritual life, and we are
powerless in the presence Of the world
We ought to put them off and then put OF
Christ, so that living among men We
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. | doubt not he is resisting us nov
in the presence of God, doubtless calling
attention to the way we have sung GU
hymns this morning and uttered our pray
ers, but this picture in Zechariah alst
tells us that Joshua, the high priest, hae
a fair mitre set upon his head, and th'
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
day. Then Hezekiah saw that the vessel
of the temple were restored. The churcl
has had certain vessels committed to her
as, for example, the Bible. We hav,
picked it to pieces until the faith of som
has been shaken. "eWill you pray for
theological student?" said a woman to m
this week, who used to be one of the mos
consistent Christians ever knew and on
of the Most jealous. "He doubts much 0
the Scripture, and as a consequence hi
life is not only Indifferent but inconsist
ent." The time has come when the Bibl
ought to be put in the church in the plac
it once occupied.
Preaching is another vessel entrusted t
the church. AS a matter of fact, do yo
believe that men would know they wer
lost from much of the preaching they hea
to-day. The time has come for the ole
time spirit Of the church fathers to pre-
l vail
Prayer is still another vessel. Prayer
5 not a performance with which men may b
s. either pleased or dispieased. Prayer
f talking to God. Will our prayers stan
this test?
e Music is still another vessel, and tina
church is to be pitied, if not despisee