rown of righteousness,
which God gives to every man who serves Him aright.

IV

The Young Man Who Was Born to the Purple

"In the year that King Uzziah died"--it was more than a date, it was an
experience! The king had been a wise and good ruler. He had served
his country well for fifty-two long years. He showed an interest in
the welfare of his people--"He loved husbandry and dug wells for them
in the desert." He caused vineyards to be planted on the slopes of
Carmel and he increased the herds of cattle which grazed in the
lowlands. He fortified his capital by building towers at the valley
gate and at the turning of the wall in Jerusalem.

His reign was beneficent, but now he was dead, and this warm-hearted
young patriot felt that his heart was overwhelmed. He and his fellow
citizens must now plan for the future of their county without the
guidance and inspiration of this great king.

But "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord." There came
something more than a personal experience of disappointment. There
came the emergence of a new and higher form of faith. This young man
saw the earthly majesty of this wise and good king go down in utter
defeat. In some strange way the king contracted leprosy. During all
the closing years of his reign he suffered from the crawling inroads of
that loathsome disease. By the stern requirements of the Jewish law he
was banished from his own capital. He was compelled to live outside
the city and to reign by deputy. He finally died a lingering and
horrible death.

And in that dread hour the young man saw the heavenly majesty of the
King of kings resplendent and enduring. "In the year that King Uzziah
died I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, sitting upon His throne and
His glory filled the temple." The spirit of hero-worship was passing
over into religious faith.

Let me study with you the effect of this crisis in the life of his
nation upon this young man who was born to the purple. He possessed
all those advantages which go with wealth, social position, and
education. We have here no rough man of the hills like Elijah, the
Tishbite, rudely dressed and rude in speech. We have here no man with
the smell of the fields in his garments like Amos, the herdsman of
Tekoa.

Isaiah belonged to the fortunate class. He lived on Fifth Avenue. He
had an assured social position which gave him ready access to the court
and to the presence of the king. He