The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-02-19
|RUB APOSTOLIC
SUCCESSION.
\ Sermon By The Rev.
John Seape.

s&tearner, Pupil. Inc apostle Is a
graduated disciple, still learning.
= btiil studying, still growing, still
5goIng in the work OF God. A disci.
pie sits at the Masters feet, like
Mary, learning VISIONS lessons.
Al apostle pu.s feet in wisdom, like
Paul. by bringing countless others
IN trcmulous submissiveness TO the
6ayiour's blessed feet.
III An apostle is more than a mes
nenger. A messenger may be as
ignorant OF his message as mes
senger boy who whistles as he
bands 10 YOU telegram which,
TO you. me Sans failure. or sorrow, or
death. but which TO HIM, means
nothing more than a yellow envel-
4 Ope, IN which he laziIy conveys, day
after day, messages oil love and
lille and death and duty.
What is an apostle! He is "a
person sent forth or deputed to ex-
scute some important business. -
y He Is "a delegate sent forth with
orders. lie is an ambassador, be-
seecking men IN ChrIst's stead 10 be
onclled to God. He is deega-
ted, intelligent, powerful represen-
# tatiye Of God in the world.
DR.. A. T. Pearson has written a
new ''Acts OF the Apostles, not
new history of the acts OF those
4 whom Christ called before his death
y and whom the Holy Ghost ordained
at Pcntecost, but OF those who have
4 fell the burning power Of the Holy
Ghost since that day and have gone
forth 10 sacrifice and to save iI mod
ern missionary cndeavor. This is
"True Apostolic Succession. l
believe in apost Ollie succession, not
as ''the regular and uninterrupted
transmission of ministerial auth or
ity by succession OF bishops from
the apostles to any subsequent per-
iod Il think that is the orthodox
way Of putting it) but in the regu-
lar and uninterrupted exercise of
ministerial energy, Holy Ghost
power and missionary enterprise
IRON the day oil Pentecost to the
l7th day OF February, 1901.
| believe in the apostles creed
(some fit but more in the apostles
deed. They went everywhere
preaching the gospel
The word apostle is found 81
times in the New Testament, and
only OF those times in the Gospels
once in Matthew, once in Mark,
Blk times in Luke and once in John.
In the Acts of the Apostles, in which
We have the record OF the Holy
Ghosts inauguration of the apostles
for the work. Luke uses the word
10 times, while in all Paul 5 epistles
ahe Word is found "a times. We are
then. doubtless, justified in our de-
tnitlon that IAN apostle is a disc.
pie plus the Holy Ghost, since we
ind that the word is used only .
times bclora Pentecost and - times
after Pentccost.
= Leaving Judca after his rejection
by the Jews, Jesus came to Galiiee.
Here he chose men to whom pub
lcly and privately he impaired the
great truths OF the Gospel. lifted
some what the veil Of mystery, in
which, to others, he was Constan tlv
/, enshrouded, allowed them 10 sec
the inner working of his own he art
and alter three short years oil bles-
s:d fellowship with them, yielded
up His lie on the cross. a ransom
Tor the worlds sins, and these y
men lett no successor
I, At the beginning OF his intimate
Intercourse with the apostles, Jesus
addresses them as he docs also dur
Ios their progress together, and at
the close, not as individuals. not as
ministers, not as bishops, but as
She church, the whole church, in all
the ages. His relation to them was
unique, relation that could be
transmitted neither by the dignita.
ries o! Rome, nor by the dcyotecs
OF hplstopacF, no matter how uu-
broken the line OF priestly sutces
sion from the first century TO the
twentieth.
A few reflections VIII render this
perfectly obvious. An apostle must
have had personal call from
Christ TO the work. Mark tells us
ina, thcy Should hn With I ,i,n AVA ~
tbat Le mi,rhr sana ,,a,, 49,, ~ ~
breach &" t[Iary >, III, = ~ 10 ~
tena ne IN. s,m, ,t,i,,. ,, '.;n',s
40 nn,,,, - 49," .'''"e D"N
4. 13.inI and p,rI ,ionI,,r'. y, ,,m
'text, MAI hc f.. ..Nn anna,Io ~o+ IS
men nc,thr, n Mon hHt hr i Iosn "
Chrisf ard Gnd iho i,a,hor.,
.,' w. Wv. aus