The Penn's Grove record., 1906-06-08
TIE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. CHARLES EDWARD LOCKE.
Subject The Sin of Irreverenca.

Dissertation of Sacred Vessels; or, The
Sln OF lrreverence." The text was
from III Samuel vi:G-7: "Uzzah put
forth his hand to the ark of God and
took hold of it; and God smote him
there for his error" DIR. Locke said in
the curse of his rmon
There is danger that our greatest
national sin shall be the sin of .irrev-
erence. The ancient story of Uzzah's
act of Dissertation in placing his hand
upon the holy ark of God is full of
serious and important lessons which
apply with solemn significance to our
age, and our country and our indi-
vidual citizenship.
God had given Commandment to
Moses to construct a sacred chest to
be oyerlaid within and without with
pure gold. 1t was to be Surmounted
with two cherubim of beaten gold.
This casket was to be a receptacle for
the Tables of Stone which Moses had
received on the top of Mount Sinai, and
l IS beautiful ark was to be an altar of
prayer which was to be kept in the
midst of the people, for God had said,
There will l meet with thee" God
explicitly commanded that no hand
should touch the ark save the priests
and rings and poles were provided by
which this sacred vessel was to be
carried.
The Philistines came up against
Israel and captured the ark and held it
a captive for sixty years, when David
conquered Philistia and builded q suit
able place for the ark, and, With 10000
warriors, went down to the borders of
the enemy's country and secured pos
session of the precious treasure. In
the excitement and joy%ousness of this
long looked for victory, Uzzah's mortal
SIN of lrreverence vas committed,
which cost him his life.
In the days of prosperity, ~irreverence
grows most insidiously. When men
feel secure in their own successes they
are prone to forget the commands of
God. We do not depend so helplessly
on our Heavenly Father when our
achievements have given us great con
hdence in ourselves. National and in
dlvldual prosperity are at one our
greatest danger and greatest security.
In the frenzy of victory, as did Uzzah,
so do we often commit acts of ~irreyer-
ence.
Sometimes it is fashionable to be ir-
reverent. The Philistines, in trans
porting the ark. had placed it upon an
OK cart, and when the Israelites cap
tured the ark they followed the error
of the PhiliStines and were returning
with the ark drawn by oxen, instead
of carried by the slaves and rings. as
God had peremptorily commanded.
One act of i~rreverence leads to an
other. And when the ark shook as
the cart went Over Nachon's threshing
floor, UZzah heedlessly committed his
serious offense. When the church al
lows the world to set its fashions, sac
rileges, disastrous and deplorable,
speedily follow.
Two other fruitful causes of ~irrever-
enee are forgetfulnesS and familiarity.
The ark had been in Uzzah's house
since his boyhood and he dared to take
privileges with the sacred furniture.
Familiarity sometimes breeds con-
tempt. 1t is not discoverable that
UZzah was either malicious or willful,
but he was needless, and even so ap-
parently a harmless sin as heedlessneSs
brought upon him the awful penalty
for his ~disobedience. The influence of
sacred things depends upon their sa-
credness being preserved. God could
4AOl hNl 4Old6 hll1lOll tLcll ISSDcCt
and obedience, hence the suffering of
Uzzah. No sin is more ~treacherous
than irreverence. 1t decoyS its victims.
1t is like dry rot in the ships timbers.
Irreverence slyly gains admittance
where grosser evils would be easily re-
pulsed. Satan is constantly busy try
ing to transform the sons of Levi, who
serve at holy affairs, into the sons of
Eli. Beware of the deceptive tenden-
cies of familiarity; when delicate re-
spect for holy things is lost, then de-
Element and sacrilege easily enter.
When reverence departs character can
not be retained, for character depends
upon faith and in obedience to sacred
things.
At Belshazzar's feast, in the sup
posed i~mpregnable city of Babylon, it
was the towering crime of irreverence
in defling the sacred vessels of the
temple worship at Jerusalem that
brought disaster and death to the dis
solute young monarch. What are some
of the holy things to-day which must
be honored and preserved?
The church is a sacred vessel. Dedi-
Gated to the service of God, it should
not be diverted into secular uses. Jesus
drove the merchants out of the courts
of the temple, and, as yet, there has
been no permission granted for their
return. The sons of Aaron were de-
voured by the strange fire which they
undertook to offer at the affairs of the
Lord. And similar results occur to-
day in the consuming of holy instincts
and respectful i%nclinations, when the
church of God is made a place of
amusement and merchandising. In
chapels and parish houses mahy things
are proper which in the sanctuary lead
Enthusiastically to irreverence.
The Bible is a most sacred vessel.
There is not much danger of bibliola-
try, but we need to be much on Jul
guard lest the very availability of our
Greek Book shall cause it to be less
appreciated. Things are often valued
by use in proportion to the sacrifice
which has been suffered for them.
A gentleman placed a copy of the
Gospel of st. John on my desk the
other day, and said it cost only two
cents. 1t was in excellent type and
neatly bound. During the days of
the persecution of Dioeletian, many
Christians surrendered their Bibles
and the sacred utensils of worship,
and in consequence lost their faith.
When the Bible goes out of our lives,
our Christian character loses its chief
support. A man once, in the presence
of his family, picked up a Bible,
turned its pages earelessly for a few
moments, and %petulantly threw it
down upon the table. saying, "Pshaw!
give me shakespeare Perhaps he
never knew that the Bible was the
acknowledged inspiration of the mar
velous lines of Avon's greatest bard;
1t is certain no man ever prefers
any other book who has discovered
the extraordinary beauty and power
of the Bible.
We must valiantly defend the Bible
against irreverence. 1t is the bull
wark of our civiliZation-the founda-
ton of liberty. the cornerstone of
truth. / submit whether we do not
commit a serious offense against the
s~acredness of the Book when we in