The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-03-16
| PRAY FOR THEM.
Asking and Receiving the
Holy Spirit.
Afternoon and Evening Services
at Methodist Church
on Monday.

Rev Joseph II. Smith spoke from
John, 18th chapter, yesterday, at the
Methodist Church. He directed espec-
ial attention to the first four words of
the ninth verse, II pray for them
This prayer of Christ's is not a sam
pie of His earthly petitions, but of
His heavenly. 1t is as if He had step
ped into the threshold of Glory. In
the 4th, 18th, 18th and 18th verses he
speaks as if what He had in mind
was finished. This 18th chapter of
John is bulletin of the Savior's pres
ent prayers. Christ prays, not only
that we may be righteous, but that we
also may have peace and joy in Him.
1.-The Kingdom of God is Righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost"
Christ says: az pray for them that
they might have My joy fulfilled in
them To whom does the word,
them" in the text refer? 1t doesn't
mean everybody.-"I pray not for the
world This prayer is prayed
for those who are His children, and
yet have not the fulness of His love.
Make no mistake here, beloved. The
best way for you to reach the world
of sinners is by having your heart
filled with all the fulness of God. John
Wesley we'll said: 1.-The sanctification
of one believer means the salvation of
10 Sinners There are two tests by
which we can put our Christianity to
the proof, viz: By our relation to the
world; by our relation to Christ. Christ
prays that we may be kept from the
evil in the world. Freedom from sin is
not dependent upon environment.
When we say that we would be better
Christians had we different surround
ings, it is but an attempt to cloak our
unbelief and distrust of Christ's power
to Keep us from falling
The text of Evangelist Smiths SER
mon last night was: eff We being evil
know how to give good gifts unto your
children; how much more will your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask" This text should be
studied in connection with the context
Place the two pictures side by side.
An earthly father and his children;
the Heavenly Father and His chill
dren. 1t shows that the gift is only to
the children, not the outsider. Bread,
meat is asked for by the child. Notice
that it is not luxury, non-essential,
which is desired, but bread. AS the
hungry child is filled and satisfied with
bread, so Christ clearly teaches here,
must the hungry child of God be filled
with the Holy Spirit, if he would live
and grow. The hunger of the child in
dicates the need of bread, and the
hunger of the child of God for the Holy
Spirits filling indicates our need of
Him. Without bread-sustenance, the
child dies. without holiness no man
shall see the Lord" is the law of the
Spiritual life, also. All Christians be-
lievei in a growth in grace, but nine
out of 10 will conscientiously tell you
that they are not growing. The eX-
PLANTATION is that not over one in 10
has sought, obtained and retained the
fullness of the Holy Spirit. No steady,
swift. sure development in the Spirit
ual life can proceed without it. You
say: 81 have often asked for the full
ness of the Holy Spirit and never re-
ceived the gift" Notice in the picture
presented by Christ, that was the ''im
portunity'' of the man which brought
the gift of bread. Some Christians are
just in the position of the man in this
picture who when a hungry man came
for food, had to confess that he had
nothing to give. If you would feed
others. you must be filled yourself.