2 Chronicles 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness… Anybody can sing the Te Deum after the battle is over. The German soldiers shouted when they had conquered their foe in the first battle in the war with France. It did not want much of a spirit to do that. The difference between an ordinary man of war and a Christian is this: a Christian shouts before the victory, because he knows it is sure to come. You remember how the people gave a shout of triumph before the wall of Jericho before it fell down. I. We are here taught THE GREAT DUTY OF PATRIOTISM. In a leading newspaper it was stated that if we were not so good we might do a great many things which would be to our worldly advantage, that we are cursed with a great amount of scrupulousness with respect to our conduct in Ireland, Egypt, and Burmah; that if we were a little more unscrupulous, and did not trouble ourselves about the rights and wrongs of men, we might seize Egypt and settle all our differences in India. Yet all history proves to us that this kind of foreign policy in the long run is an utter fallacy. Why is it that the great Empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Rome have fallen? Why has Spain lost her position and France been humbled in our own day? Because they yielded to the foul ungodly spirit of national self-assertion and aggression; because they did not praise the beauty of holiness. II. Our special object is to ILLUSTRATE THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. We are engaged in a holy war. The Bishop of Durham said the Churches of this country were indebted to the Salvation Army, because they had revived the consciousness of the. fact that the Church of God was an army, and that our great business as a country is war — not with one another, but with all human misery. What must we do? Praise the beauty of holiness. If we go forth to war, we must do as Jehoshaphat — we must needs be clothed with the Spirit of holiness. The apostle John was not ready for the great work he was called to until he had put on the power from on high, which was the Spirit of holiness. What was the practical result of the Pentecostal blessing? They were filled with the Holy Ghost. What followed? They were delivered from — 1. Cowardice. 2. Selfishness. 3. Ignorance.John Wesley and those with him at Oxford saw, after reading the Bible, that holiness comes by faith. Our great mission is to spread Scriptural holiness. If we march forth to war with confidence in the Spirit of holiness, we shall triumph even without fighting. (Hugh Price Hughes, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. |
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