The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1917-08-17
EFFECT OF FEAR
THEME OF SERMON
Of DR.. CHAPPELl
GREAT DISCOURSE ON DUTIES OF
AMERICAN CITIZENS IN
THIS CRISIS.
BATTLE FOR RlGH1lCUSN S.
Urges His Hearers Not To Allow The
Present Disasters to in Any Way
Affect Their Faith in the Goodness
And Mercy of God.

Editor of the M. E. Church, South,
occupied the pulpit of the First Meth
odist church Sunday morning.
DR.. Chappell is no stranger to the
people of Columbia, and has long been
known as one of the ablest preachers
of the Southern Methodist church.
Many Columbia people remember
the profound impression produced by
this fraternal address some years ago
delivered to the Northern Branch OF
the Methodist church at their General
Conference, when he was the repre-
sentative of the Southern church.
His sermon Sunday morning was alb
solutely devoid of tinsel or garish
adornment. His subject was Fear
And Its Cures based upon the we'll
known Psalm where the love of God
is represented as casting out all fear.
His sermon was a true and graphic
representation of fear and its effects
upon all humanity. Fear affects the
physical being and causes untold evils.
Many man has died of physical fear,
not only fear of impending death, but
fear of the horrors that are to be, so
that under the control of fear his
judgment becomes worthless and he is
most likely to decide question
wrong.
Man, under the influence of fear, is
fully conscious of his own weakness,
which adds to the weakness of his
judgment, and this destroys all con
fidence in himself.
AS necessary consequence of the
destruction of ones judgment, there
becomes practically total paralysis
of the human will and man finds it
impossible to carry out any plans
which he may have formed.
But infinitely worse is the effect Of
fear upon mans spiritual and ethical
nature. He loses touch with all the
realities of life and feels that nothing |
is worth while. He loses all sense |
of God and is like rudderless ship !
The only cure the world has ever
known for this terrible fear is the
presence of God. Not the theoretical |
or mystical presence but the con-
scious feeling in every mans soul that |
God is with him and therefore the re-
suit will be good.
But this does not mean that man |
escapes all physical evil when God is
with HIM. 1t may be necessary for
man to tread the winepress as Chris |
has done. Livingston did not escape !
death from the savages; the immi- |
hence of God is the only thing that |
casts cut all fear
The speech was especially felicitous
in describing Stanley's account of the
Scotch Civil Engineer, who also gave
his life for the benefit of the savages |
of Central Africa. Stanley gave him
the last opportunity white man had
to escape from the Mohammedan up
rising, but the young Scotch engineer,
with the light of heaven in his eyes
said he thought it was worth while
for him to remain behind and die.
In conclusion, the speaker beggel
his hearers not to allow in any sense
the present disasters, owing to the
terrible conditions of the war, to af
feet their faith in God. Fathers ana
mothers he said, could make any sac
rifice for themselves, and believed
that God would take care of them,
still, all too frequently did not have
a faith adequate to believe that God
would take care of their SOILS when
they were sent to the battle front
But the love of God was sufficient
even for this, so that fathers and
who loved their sons would
all the more trust them to the hands
Of the loving God, the speaker de-
olorad sent forth tO fioht tho hattlec