Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1902-12-25
KEEPING THE FAITH.
DR.. CpApMAN'S SUNDAY SERMON

W ~ =
1t Is Faith In Gods Providence That
Creates Genuine Manhood and Wos'
manhood. {.
NEW York C1rY.-The following. ser.
mon, entitled Give in the Sunshine" has
been furnished for publication by the dis
tinguished and eloquent evangelist, the
Rev. DR.. j. Wilbur Chapman. It was
preached from the text Keep yourselves
in the love of God" Jude q.
Jude's is one of the briefest~of all the
letters in the New Testament, containing
only twenty-five verses. 1t is. perhaps, the
last of the e~pistles. Though the date is not
definitely settled, it was probably written
after the destruction of Jerusalem: when
work. There is a 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,
it is generally believed that he was the
Lords own brother and the son Of Joseph
and Mary.
To TO particular church or people was
the letter written. but the accounts make
it especially applicable to us. It is very
practical. The heart of Jude was stirred
because certain men were denying God
and TIE Lord Jesus Christ. He said, be-
cause Of this, 81 exhort you that you
delivered to the saints" That expression
in the Greek, however, reads for the faith
delivered "once and for all" 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
to contend as did the early disciples.
t. hos a1u-ovs Soo,ooa IN ~o that foikh
; produced men, and their living in the
world was a ecntending for the faith. We
have the pattern of the life of the apos-
tol,c Christian given to us. If 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
acter. They were in the. world. but not of
it; they were constantly looking for the
coming of Christ, and they were filled
with missionary fire and zeal. These three
characteristics must predominant now If
the church is to have power. When one
is in the world aud not of it he realizes
he is a pilgrim and a stranger here, and he
endures trials and temptations. because he
knows that they.are but for a little white.
j The second characteristic has just as great
an influence. The disciples were constant
" exp ,cting the return of our Lord; they
remembered the testimony. of the men who
had heard the angels on the slopes of Oil
vet, and again and again they opened their
eyes, expecting to behold Him face to face.
It was this hope in their hearts which in
spired their lives, TRANSPORTED the cross
and it's shame and kept them pure in the
midst of all temptation and sin.
The third characteristic is equally i'm
the salvation of others! Nothing so
touches the hidden springs Of the Christian
heart DIS 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 a woman's heart, He
lays a helpless babe upon her bosom, and
it is true that the church, will awake to
power when she awakes to responsibility.
There is something which I have in mind
which will give us all the things I have
| spoken about. It is described in the text.
If there could be any subject growing out
Of the text to describe it, I should say that
it would, be Live in the sunshine" I
clouds: it gives them a silver lining. I
know what it does for the grass and the
trees and the flowers; it warns and nour-
lshes until they blossom into beauty AID
fruitfulness. Take the plant away from
the light and it will droop and die; place
1T where the sun will kiss it and every leaf
r%ejoices. This is the very poorest ~illnstra-
ton as to what the love Of God will do for
God 50 let US Keep ourselves IN the love OF
I. That word "keep" is the KEY word OF
Jude's epistle. In it we are told that God
will keep US: but we are also told to keep
ourselves. We are told to persevere, but
is God and man working together, and it is
singular, to say the least, that the word
preserve" and the word "persevere'' arc
composed of exactly the same letters. The
literal rendering of the expression thai
God will keep us is "as in a garrison" How
secure. then, we must be!
HOW MAY WE KEEP OURSELVES IN
THE LOVE OF GOD?
l. No way 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 te
Israel. Moses prayed when he plead with
God to look with favor again upon Hi.
enc chosen people: Christ prayed in the gar
prayed more earnestly But this is moi
the Kind of prayer I have in mind; it il
rather the kind that Christ offered wher
He was alone on the mountain with God
l. imagine the Father talked with Hin
more than He with the Father. 1t is tn;
KIND that David describes when he says
Faith is the eye with which we can Sc,
God; and meditation the wing with which
we fly to Him. It is the kind Of praye
offered when the suppliant feels that he i
the only one in all the universe; II is til,
kline Of prayer which if OUT mother coul<
hear, or the dearest friend we had OF
earth. we should feel that it had been di
verified and had not reached God. 1t is tn
klnd OF prayer we offer when We let &C,
talk to Us as we'll as talk to Him. This vii
keep US in the love Of God.
z. Few things will so help as this oil,
book, the Bible. Two gentlemen were rid
ing together, and when they were abou
to separate one asked the other, "Do yo1
ever read your Bible?" eyes" said hi
friend; Il do, but I receive no benefit be
cause l feel that L do not love God.
oNeither did t. replied the other, "bu
God loved me-" and that answer fairl
: lifted the man into the skies, for it cav
him q new thought. The question is no
at all as to how much I love God. bu
rather as to how much God loves me
Read the Bible in that way and it will hel
YOU to live in the text.
Love dictated every word, love selecte
every sentence, love presented every pro,
ldence, love sent Christ to die upon tn
cross, and you can not read it in this wa
without keeping yourself in the love {
God.
8. All the means of grace will keep u