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2 HE ‘PCL'PIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR. CHARLES EDWARD LOCKE.
i Tl>e Sin ol Irreverence.
Brooklyn, N. Y.-Dr. Charles Edwara
I.oeke, iu the Hanson Place M E.
•Church .Sunday, preached on “Popular
Desecration of Sacred Vessels; or, The
Sin of Irreverence.” The text was
.from II 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.” Dr. Locke said in
.the course of bis sermon:
There is danger that our greatest
•national sin shall be the sin of irrev-
•erenee. The ancient story of Uzzab’s
act of desecration 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 indl-
viilual citizenship.
God had given commendinent to
Moses to construct a sacred chest to
toe overlaid within and without with
;pure gold. It 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
1 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 I 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 a suit¬
able place for the ark, and, with 30,000
w&rriors, went down to the borders of
the enemy’s country and secured pos-
• 3 pssion of the precious treasure. In
the excitement and joyousness of this
long looked for victory, Uzzab’s mortal
sin of irreverence was committed,
•which cost him his life.
In the days of prosperity, irreverence
igrows 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¬
fidence in ourselves. National and in¬
dividual prosperity are at once our
greatest danger and greatest security.
In the frenzy of victory, as did Uzzah,
so do we often commit acts of irrever-
•ence.
Sometimes it is fashionable to be ir-
Teverent. The Philistines, in trans¬
porting the ark, had placed it upon an
•ox cart, and when the Israelites cap¬
tured the ark they followed the error
ol the Philistines and were returning
with the ark drawn by oxen, instead
of carried by the staves and rings, as
God had peremptorily commanded.
One act of irreverence leads to an-
-other. And when the ark shook as
the cart went over Naclion’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¬
ence 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. It is not discoverable that
Uzzah was either malicious or willful,
but he was heedless, 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
not control Israel without their respect
and obedience, hence the suffering of
Uzzah. No sin is more treacherous
than irreverence. It decoys its victims.
It is like dry rot in the ship’s 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 altars, into the sons of
Eli. Beware of the deceptive tenden¬
cies of familiarity; when delicate re¬
spect for holy things is lost, then de¬
filement and sacrilege easily enter.
When reverence departs character can-
aiot be retained, for character depends
•upon faith and in obedience to sacred
things. the
At Belshazzar’s feast, in sup¬
posed impregnable city of Babylon, it
■was the towering crime of irreverence
an defiling 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¬
cated to the service of God, it should
xiot 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 altars of the
Dord. And similar results occur to-
•day in the consuming of holy instincts
and respectful inclinations, when the
church of God is made a place of
-amusement and merchandizing. Iu
chapels and parish houses many things
are proper which in the sanctuary lead
unmistakably to irreverence.
Tbs Bible is a most sacred vessel.
There is not much danger of bibliola-
try, but we need to be much on our
•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 genetleman placed a copy of the
Gospel of St. John on sny desk the
■other day, and said it cost only two
cents. It was in excellent type and
neatly bound. During the days of
tiie persecution of Diocletian, 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 ills family, picked up a Bible,
turned its pages carelessly for a few
moments, ami petulantly threw it
down upon the table, saying "Pshaw!
sive Ule Shakespeare!” Perhaps he
1,ever klie ' v tllat the Bible was .the
acknowleged inspiration of the ‘mar*
Y elous lin es of Avon’s greatest bard;
is certain no man ever prefers
any other hook who has discovered
extraordinary beauty ami power
of tne Bible.
Wo must valiantly defend the Bible
against irreverence. It is the bill-
wavk of our civilization—the foumla-
tion of liberty, the cornerstone of
truth. 1 submit whether we do not
commit a serious offense against the
sacredness of the Book when we in-
dulge In constant jokes and puns based
'>pon the Scriptures. It cannot be
anything. less than sinful sacrilege to
weave the holy personages and inci¬
dents of Bible history into ridicu¬
lous story. The Bible deals with most
serious questions which involve the
life and death and weal and woe of
the race, and do we not violate its
sacred rights when we make it the
basis ot our fun and laughter? This
is a popular desecration, xvhich, like
Uzznh’s sin, has been committed so
long that it has not occurred to many
people that they are unintentionally
undermining the very book which
they desire most to defend.
The Sabbath is a sacred vessel. A
divinely instituted day, for rest and
worship and home. We cannot spare
the Sabbath, but we cannot keep it
if it is steadily allowed to become more
and more a social and a business day.
All vices and enemies of our nation
tlirive best w T bere the first day of
the week is decreasingly reverenced.
Dinner parties and hilarious outings
arranged for the Sabbath are direct
attacks upon the security of our re¬
public. The perpetuity -of a nation
depends upon the reverence of the
people. When the temples are empty,
the walls of the citadel crumble.
When the altars of worship are neg¬
lected, virtue and purity are de¬
throned, a nation’s protectors lose their
courage and spirit of sacrifice and
there is speedily decline and fall. God
has put Himself on record as ready
to cause those nations to "ride upon
the high places of the earth” which
keep His Sabbaths. History fulfils
in every century the curses of the
Almighty which have rested upon
those people who have destroyed His
holy day. Why do we argue the
question when he who runs may read?
The human body is a sacred vessel.
What a marvelous gift is the voice,
with its capabilities of music and
speech. Alas, that ever its powers are
profaned! Consider, too, the tastes
and appetites and muscular possibili¬
ties and vital forces. What exquisite
joys God has invested in the human
body! But, desecrated and disre¬
garded, how this body may become a
bundle of clashing nerves, a prison-
pen full of cruel and warring enemies.
God’s great apostle wrote, “If any
man defile the temple of God,” as the
body is called, “him shall God de¬
stroy; for the temple of God is holy,
which temple ye are.”
The human mind—soul—is a sacred
vessel. A man is not with “ail dili¬
gence, for out of it are the issues of
life.” Man is the upward looking
animal. His mind has been created
with powers of concentration and
analysis, that he might find out God.
When man uses his faculties against
his Creator, he has desecrated a sacred
vessel. Man’s logical faculty and pow¬
ers of invention are often diverted ;o
the injury instead of the elevation of
men. A prostituted printing press is
doing much in “vampire literature” to
violate the human mind. A had book
or an immodest picture is a poisoned
arrow driven into the mind, from
which an absolute recovery is not pos¬
sible. Each must revere his own
mind, and shield himself from the
ten thousand inimical influences that
are intended to thrive on the spolia¬
tion of pure natures. How empty
would ke the playhouses and how
bankrupt many of the publishers if
the American people would suddenly
refuse to be any longer the recep¬
tacles for the filth and corruption of
many of the popular books and most
of the popular dramas!
Josephus says that in the closing
scenes of Jerusalem, such were the ir¬
reverent and sacrilegeous practices of
the people, that if the Romans had
not destroyed the city, some dreadful
judgment like that which befell Sodom
would.have come upon that city. Thus,
indeed, have nations and cities and
individuals disappeared under the dis¬
integrating processes of irreverence.
As the bold and wicked Belshazzar
was, in revelry and drunkenness, de¬
filing the sacred vessels of the Lord,
a white hand came out of the black
sleeve of the night, and wrote, in
letters of fire, “Thou art weighed in
the balances and art found wanting!”
And that night the irreverent young
king was found dead in his palace.
The inexorable penalty of irreverence
is death!
But they who bear reverently the
ark of God, who obediently follow the
commands of God. who daily honor
in thought and deed the Son of God,
who hold in highest esteem the priv-
lieges of the sons of God. shall enjoy
peace and joy forever more, for the
of reverence is life-bere and
hereafter!
The Prayer Which Arall*.
Six characteristics of the prayer
which avails may be named as follows;
1. It presents a need.
2. It is importunate. the will of God.
3. It is according to
4: It is faith.
5. It is in Christ’s name.
6. It is for the glory of God.
Csttim. A MACON’S
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■4p p f' FORT HAWKINS, / k/ 11 IV >»
1806.
The Macon Fair Association announces that their previous fairs having proven so successful, they will
hold another this fall on the dates given above, combining the celebration of the 100th anniversary of
the City of Macon. This fair will have a larger and better agricultural display than ever; in fact, all
departments will be made larger and better by reason of a revised and more attractive premium list. In
the way of attractions and amusement features all that is new, including exciting automobile races, will
be secured. Everybody loves to come to Macon, and this year Macon will be more attractive than ever.
Send to the Secretary for premium list and watch the newspapers and billboards for particulars.
EUGENE ANDERSON, Sec. BRIDGES SMIITH, Pies.
BOMS F«R HATED KUSSuN.
Governor General of Katais Badly
by Missiles of Anarchists.
Advices from Tiflis, Russia, state
that an attempt was made on the
life of General Alikhancff, governor
general of Kutais, Tuesday night, as
he was about to take a train for- Tif-
iis. The general arrived at the sta¬
tion surrounded by Cossacks, when
two bombs were thrown at him and
exploded in the midst, of the party,
seriously wounding the governor gen¬
eral, a member of his staff and sev¬
eral Cossacks.
The remainder of the Ccssacks fir¬
ed indiscriminately into the crowd,
killing many persons. In addition the
Cossacks burned the buildings in the
vicinity into which the people had
fled.
FRENCH LEAVE TAKEN BY TRUSTEE.
Prison Life Pails Upon Whiled nnd He
Wa ks Atvey From Atlanta Pen.
Tuesday afternoon about two
o’clock, when the coast was clear and
no guards in sight, T. M. Whited, '<•
prisoner at the federal prison, at At-
lanta, and one cf the trusties, took
French leave, striking out across the
fields to the woods beyond and to
freedom.
The prisoner was regarded as on
of the most trusted men In the peni-
tentiary, and it was not though! that
he would take a chance to get away
even if it were offered to him, as the
time he has to serve is short, and he
has been treated with more conslder-
ation than is usual in such cases.
STILL ANOlHiR SOP FOR BRYAN.
More Democrat* in Ohio Indorse Nebras*
kon lor President.
At a meeting at Marion, -Ohio, on
Thursday, William Jennings Bryan
was formally indorsed for the pres¬
idency in 1908 by the democrats of
the second subdivision of the tenth
Judicial district, consisting of Marlon,
Crawford and Wyandotte counties.
ACTUAL CASH 0/4 EA'RTH
Let us see how much actual cash
there is in the pocketbooks of various
nations and understand by comparison
how rich we really are. The total
stock of money in gold, silver and un¬
covered paper la the whole world
amounts in round figures to $12,000,-
000,000. In the United States the to¬
tal stock of money amounts to about
$2,000,000,000. Hence, we have in our
own purse one-sixth of all the cash of
the globe.
These figures—and this is a fact
which must, be emphasized—do not
represent the wealth of nations. Far
from it. The figures represent merely
the available hard cash. Divide this
hard cash of the earth among the
inhabitants thereof and each man,
woman and child would have $10. But
divide the hard cash of the United
States among the people thereof and
each of us would have $25. And here
is one respect in which the people of
a foreign country would have the bet¬
ter of us, individually.
Were each nation to divide its cash
among its own people each living hu¬
man being In France would have $35,
or $10 more than each person in our
country under similar circumstances.
Meanwhile, the divided cash of Great
Britain would give each Briton only
WHE*RE- HE /NOTICED CHAJ4GE
In the days of Democratic strength
In New Hampshire the Patriot of Con¬
cord, under the editorial heads of But¬
terfield and Hill, and later William
Butterfield, was sustained by the.rank
and file of that political faction to
such a degree that Its presence in the
households had been noted from gen-
eration to generation, and as Its read-
ers in various towns visited Concord
it was regarded as a sacred duty to
call upon “Bill” Butterfield. Butter¬
field was a very tall man, very spare
in build, and of a deathly pale coun¬
tenance.
About 1870 the Patriot passed from
the hands of Butterfield into those of
Col. E. C. Bailey. He was the very
opposite in appearance to his prede¬
cessor, being of medium stature, very
stout, and of a decidedly florid coun¬
tenance.
$18; in Germany the cash per capita
would amount to only $17, Russia $8
and Japan $3, while in Cuba each per-
son would get. a $3 bill.
Of the world’s $12,000,000,000 in
cash $2,000,000,000 aro right here in
the United States. And oue-twenty-
fil'th of all the cash in gold in the
world is stored in New York alone. '
This gold, this symbol and synonym
of wealth, comes, like all things else,
from the ground, from mines. Here,
again, we lead all nations for we our-
selves produce one-third of all the gold
of the earth, as we produce one-third
| of all the silver,
Our chief contributors to this prod¬
uct are the mines of Colorado, South
Dakota, California, Idaho, Montana.
Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and
Alaska. Consider merely Cripple
Creek! As-under a magician’s wand,
that region has in fourteen years de¬
veloped until It now covers at least
130 square miles with many cities and
towns connected one with another by
rail. Here Is an earnest, sober popu¬
lation, engaged in the business of ex¬
tracting precious metals from the
mountains to the time, some years, of
$25,000,000. So much for the work of
man in securing the raw material for
money.—Leslie Weekly.
Upon one occasion, when the writer
was engaged upon the Patriot, one of
the visitors from Rumney called at the
sanctum, explaining his purpose, place
of residence and scores of years the
j paper had been In the fami'y. As he
sat conversing and answering ques-
; tions as regards family, crops and mar-
kets. Col. Bniley entered, and was In¬
troduced to the stranger as the “editor
of the Patriot,” who wrote the numer-
ous argumentative and virile articles
which warmed the blood of Rumney’s
Democracy. •
Col. Bailey soon withdrew, having
been closely studied by the visitor,
who was about to leave, when a part¬
ing inquiry, “Do you find many changes
in Concord since you were last here?”
was met with, “Yaas, a great many;
but there’s the d-dest change ia
Bill Butterfield."