The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-11-05
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE UPON THE
HOLY GHOST.
The Rev. DR.. j. Wilbur Chapman Shows
How tho Holy Gho.s l. the Christian's
Helper Beyond All others-Is the Life
OF tho Church.

OF the Chuicn.
New YORK CITY. - The sermon here
furnished to the press :s the most impres'
siye one OF a series which the Rev. DIR. j.
Wilbur Chapman prepared some time age
for the Bib.e Institute Co!portage Associa'
ton. II is entitled The Holy Ghost IN
His Relation to the Church, and was
preached from the text; And the Lord
added TO the church daily such Is should
be saved" Acts ,: Il.
In the honest endeavor which We make
properly to live the Christian life and IN
the end receive a reward from the hand OF
the Master, thereby not missing our
crown. the Holy Ghost beyond all others
is our helper. lie is certainly to be count
ed as the director and leader OF our church
life. We need expect no great outpourinS
of the Holy Ghost So long as His leader
ship is ignored. and without this high
spiritual atmosphere we may expect, as IN
dividuals. no special victories.
On the day OF Pentecost two great event.;
occurred: the first was the exaitation oi
Father-"This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses (Acts 2:
32); the other was the outpourinH OF the
Spirit. because Jesus had been raised up
and exalted. The point Is that Christ as
our head had poured out upon Him the
Holy Ghost; thus receiving. Him IN trust
for the body; and it naturally follows that
what the head has received the members
OF the body have q right TO claim. Since
that day, in the plan of God. the Holy
Ghost has been the administrator OF the
affairs II the church. and He Is here to
make Christ real to every believer. II Ne
claimed His presence. He would have been
denied to you; but now that He is present
in the Spirit. we may all have Him and
lay claim to His presence, and the love OF
God may be shed abroad in our hearts by
tile Holy Ghost. He Is in real sense the
wear of Christ. and there can be no other.
The Son Of God Is to-day at the right hand
of God. representing the church, and the
Spirit OF God ought TO be enthroned and
exalted in the church. representing the
risen Christ. He 10 to counsel her, to
guide her and to control her-in word,
He 10 to govern all things in the church,
The Scriptures are evidence that He has
. message for the church. 1t Is generally
believed that the epistles to the, seven
churches in the Revelation contain the pro-
phetic setting forth Of the church's history
its declines and recoveries, its failures
and returns, and it is believed by many
that we have come to the Laodicean period
of history Of the last days Of the church.
Seven times we have the expression re-
peated: He that hath an ear. let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches"
It is TO be noted that this expression is
used after each Of the churches had back.
Smyrna wan rich. and likely to be proud;
Perxamos was touched with the doctrine
Of Balaam; Thyatira wap influenced by Je-
1ebel: Sardis had . name to live, and was
dead; Philadelphia had but little strength,
while Lsodicea was neither hot nor cold.
The real cure for backsliding in the church
in that which comes to US by the Holy
Ghost Of the revelation Of Gods win and
the Interpretation Of Gods word.
The church 10 = called d.out body. We
were chosen in Him before the worlds
foundation, and we are elect according to
the foreknowledge of God. for thus saith
the Scripture. Jesus Is in heaven direct
ing the work Of the church, but the Holy
Ghost 10 here carrying out the plan. This
plan extends to the minutest details OF the
life of the church. lie has ordained the
Offices We must have, and the kind Of men
we must lay hold upon to fill them:
Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up
on high. He led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men. And He gave some, apos-
ties; and some. prophets; and some, evan
ge!ists; and some. pastors and teachers; !;
for the perfecting Of saints, for the work OF
the ministry, for the edifyins of the body
Of Christ" Ephesians 4: 8, II, Il. The
church is really the habitation Of God.
Hear what the Scriptures have to say:
Eph. 9: 10 to 2-"Now therefore ye are
no more strangers and foreigners, but fel-
low-cit;zens with the saints, and OF the
household OF God; and are built upon the
foundation Of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cor
nerstone; in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto holy tenn
pie in the Lord; in whom ye also are
through the Spirit" II He IS dwelling in
us, we must be careful of our church life,
for We may grieve Him and quench Him
by the way we live and work. Many
things are done to-day in the church which
NAV commend themselves to men. and yet
fall utterly short Of the approval Of God.
As IN illustration. Peter. standing up with
the 10, spoke Of the departure of Judas,
and declared that one must be chosen in
his stead. Prayer was offered. vote was
taken. and Matthias elected; but there
was no indication that this election was
ever ratified by the Lord, for Matthias at
once sinks out Of sight. Two years after.
ward the Lord calls one. to Eli the va:
speaks thus Of himself: Gal. /: l-"Paul,
an apostle. not Of men. neither BY man,
but BY Jssns Christ and God the Father,
who raised Him from the dead"
II.
The church was established by signs and
wonders. Acts 2: ! to t"And when the
day Of Pentecost was fully come they
were all with one accord in one place. And
suddenly there came sound from heaven
a. Of . rushing, mighty wind, and it filed
all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven
Of them. And they were all filed with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, az the Spirit gave them utter.
ance." Heb. 2: 4E"Iod also bearing them
witness, both with signs and wonders, and
with divers miracles and gifts Of the Holy
Ghost, according to His own will"
There was NO church in the Old Testa-
ment. This Is the opinion of many Bible
teachers. In Acts 2: a.. We read Then
they that gladly received His word were
baptized. and the same day there were
this text the words unto them" are writ
ten in italics, SO that the original is, there
were added about 5000 souls" But we
mus. add to something when we add, &C
in Acts 9: ~, We read: And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should
be saved" But there is q still better ex
PLANTATION. In Acts S: u, we read: They
were ADDED to the Lord"
This is Paul's conception of the church
Christ is the head and the church is Hi.
body. We are being called out now from
the Gentle world. Every new soul wor
for Christ comes in to complete the body
Some day the last man win come in, anc
the skies will brighten with the return o
the Lord.
It is this that gives one the passion fol
s0ulwinning. II is this thought that fur
nishes the iusDiration for the foreigD mis-