The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-12-19


mon, entitled Live in the sunshine, mas
been furnished for publication by, the az
tinQuished and eloquent evangelist, the
Rev. DIR. j. Wilbur Chapman. 1t was
preached from the text Keep yourselves
In the love of God" Jude 2l.
Jude's is sne of the briefest OF all the
letters in the New Testament. containing
only twenty-five verses. 1t is perhaps. the
last of the epstles Though the date is not
definitely settled, it was probably written
after the destruction of Jerusalem: when
most of the apostles had finished their
work There is n most delightful spirit OF
humility in the letter, The writer called
himself a servant. and the bondsman OF
Jesus Christ and the brother Of James, and
that Is a beautiful modesty. for, in fact,
Il is generally believed that he was the
Lords own brother and the son OF Joseph
and Mary.
To no particular church or people was
the letter written. but the accounts make
IL especially applicable 10 US. IL is very
practical. The heart Of Jude was stirred
because certain men were denying God
cause of this, sr exhort YOU that you
should contend earnestly for the faith once
delivered to the saints" That expression
in the Greek however, reads for the faith
delivered "once and for alp' TO the saints.
So the doctrine is the same to-day as IN
the days of Jude and before then. Read
ing on to the twentieth and twenty.fifth
verses they indicate that we are expected
10 contend as did the early disciples.
IL has always seemed TO me that faith
produced men, and their living IN the
world was n ccntending for the faith we
have the pattern Of the life OF the apos-
tollc Christian given TO us. II you study
the Acts of the Apostle. the letters of Paul,
Peter, John, and. better still, the wonder
full prayer Of Christ in the seventeenth
chapter of John. you will see that there
were three great elements in their char.
acter. They were in the world, but not OF
il; they were constantly looking for the
coming Of Christ, and they were filed
with missionary fire and zeal. These three
characteristics must predominate now II
the church is 10 have power. When one
is in the world aud not of IL he realizes
he is pilgrim and n stranger here. and he
endures trials and temptations because he
knows that they are but for little while
The second characteristic has just as great
an influence. The disciples were constant
ly exp ,ctinP the return OF our Lord; they
remembered the testimony of the men who
had heard the anpcls on the slopes OF Oil
vet and again and again they opened their
eyes, expecting 10 behold Him face 10 face
IL was this hone in their hearts which in
spired their lives. transfgurcd the cross
and its shame and kept them pure in the
mlOSL OF All temptation anu SIN.
The third characteristic ~ equally i'm.
portant. How much we need TO long for
the salvation of othersl Nothing so
touches the hidden springs OF the Christian
heart ds to feel in some measure that he is
responsible for those about him. Some one
has said. when God would draw out all the
fathomless love Of woman's heart, He
lays n helpless babe upon her bosom. and
IL is true that the church will awake TO
power when she awakcs To resnonsibiltv
There is something which have IN mind
which will give MS the things ! have
spoken about. II is described in the text.
IL there could be any subject growing out
of the text to describe il. I should say that
IL would be Live in the sunshine |
know what the sunshine does for the
clouds; IL gives them silver lining. ]
know what it does for the grass and the
trees and the flowers; il warns and nour.
ishes until thew blossom into beauty and
fruitfuness. Take the plant away from
the light and it will droop and die: place
it where the sun will kiss il and every leaf
reIoicas. This is the very poorest ilmstra-
tion as 10 what the love of God will do for
God.
/. That word @,cep" is the key word Of
Jude's epistle I'm il we ere told that God
will keep us. but we are also told to keep
ourselves We are told to persevere. hut
it is also said we will be preserved This
Is God and man working together and it is
singular. TO saw the least. that the word
preserve" and the word "pcrscvere" arc
composed Of exactly the same letters. Tho
literal rendering Of the expression that
God will keep us is "as in n garrison" How
secure, then, we must be-
HOW MAY WE KEEP OURSELVES IN
THE LOVE OF GOD?
i. No wav so efficient as by prayer.
There are different kinds Of prayer. Jacob
prayed when he met the angel of Jabbok,
and had his name changed, from Jacob to
Israel Moses prayed wheEhe plead with
God to look with favor again upon His
chosen people Christ prayed in the gar
den, for il is said: Being in an agony, lie
prayed more earnestly" But this is not
the kind of PRAYER | have in mind; it is
rather the kind that Christ offered when
He was alone on the mountain with God
/ imagine the Father talked with Him
more than He with the Father. 1t is the
kind that David describes when he saws:
MY meditation of Him shall be sweet"
Faith Is the eye with which we can see
God. and meditation the wing with which
we fly to Him. 1t is the kind of prayer
offered when the suppliant feels that he il
the only one in all the universe; it is the
kind OF prayer which if our mother could
hear, or the dearest friend we had ON
verted and had not reached God. It is the
kind of prayer we offer when we let God
talk to us as well as talk TO Him. This will
keep us in the love of God.
?. Few things will so help as this old
book, the Bible. Two gentlemen were rid.
ing together, and when they were about
to separate one asked the other; "Do YOU
friend; II do, but | receive no benefit be.
cause l feel that | do not love God"
Neither did !, replied the other, "but
God loved me- and that answer fairly
lifted the man into the skies. for il gave
him new thought The question is moi
at all as to how much | love God. but
rather as 70 how much God loves me.
Read the Bible IN that way and it will help
you 10 live in the text.
Love dictated every word. love selected
every sentence, love presented every prov.
idence, love sent Christ 90 die upon the
cross, and you can not read it in this way
without keeping yourself in the love OF
God
3. All the means of grace will keep us.
but i there IS one above another it would
be the Lords Supper. The very coming
TO the table and taking that which repre-.
sents His body and His blood really lifts
the soul into such condition that IL il one
with Christ lie that hath seen Christ
hath been the Father. and he that is in
Christ is in the Father. What better way
could there be of entereing into His love?
III. There must he emphasis upon the
proposition "in." The Greek signifies the
closest connection. the most intimate asso
ciation and the most perfect communion
All these things are possible. The soul o
Jonathan was knit TO the soul of David
and there may be just as close a fellowship
between Christ and Ills followers Now
and then IN this world we find person.
whose lives are so blended that they al
most 'ook alike This is oftentimes tru,
OF the husband and wife. Tennyson haS