The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-10-24
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
An ELOQUENT DISCOURSE UPON THs
HOLY GHOST.
fhe Eev. Dr. J. wilbur Chapman shows
How the Holy Ghost IL the Christian's
Helper Beyond All othsr.-I. the Life
of the Church.

Helper Beyond All othsr.-I. the Life
/ Of the Church.
NEW YORK CITY - The sermon mere
furnished 20 the press h the most mpres-
/ slve ono Of a series which the Rev DT. y.
Wilbur Chapman prepared some time age
for he Bible Institute 60. portage As.Ocla-
f ton. II u entitled The HOLY Ghost in
HIS Relation 20 the Church and was
preached from the text. And the Lord
added 20 the church daily such az should
( be saved Acts ?. a.
In the honest endeavor which we make
properly % live :he Christian life and IA
the end receive reward from the hand OF
the Master. thereby not missing our
crown. the Hoy Ghost beyond al otners
u our helper lie Is certainly 20 be count
ed as the director and leader OF olr church
lite. We need expect no great OutpoIrng
OF the Holy Gnos, 50 long as lis leader
ship - ignored, and without this nigh
spiritual atmosphere we may expect as IN
dlvdLals, no special victories.
On the day OF PentecOst two great events
occurred; the Hrst Was the eXaitatIou o.;
Jesus Christ AZ the right hand OF the
FathcI-"Ihs Jesus hath God raised up.
whereof we are all witnesses Acts >:
32l the other was the OutpOur.ng o.: the
Spirit because Jesus had been raised up
and exalted The point Is that Christ as
our mead had poured out upon Him the
Hoy Ghost; thus receiving Hun m trust
what the head has received the members
OF the body have a right 10 claim. Since
that dav, IN the plan OF God. the Holy
Ghost has been the administrator OF the
affairs Fl the church, and He Is here 70
make Christ real 70 every believer II He
had tarrled with Us IN the flesh and ] had
CLAIMED HIS presence, He would have been
denied 20 you; but now that he is present
IN the Spirit, we may all have H.m and
lay claim % His presence and the love OF
God may be shed abroad IN our hearts by
the Holy Ghost. He Is in a real sense the
vicar Of Christ. and there can be no other.
j he Son OF God u to-day at the right hand
OF God. representing the church. and the
Spirit Of God ought 10 be enthronei and
exalted in the church. representing the
risen Christ He Is 10 counsel her. 10
guide her and 70 control her-in a word,
Ile IS % govern all things IN the church,
from the east things unto the greatest
The Scriptures are evidence that He has
message for the church. l. is generally
believed that the epistles 10 the seven
churches in the Revelation contain the pro.
phetIc setting forth of the church's history
Its declines and rccoveries. its failures
and returns, and it is believed By many
that we have come 20 the Laodcean period
OF history of the last DAYS of the church.
Seven times we have the expression re-
pcated He that hath an ear let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches
II Is 20 be noted that this expression is
used after each Of the churches had back.
slldden. Ephesus had left her first love-
SMYRNA was rich and likely to be proud
Pergamos was touched with the doctrine
Of Baaam; Ihvatlra was influenced by 1e-
zebel; Sardls had a name 10 live, and was
dead; Philadelphia had but little strength.
while Laodicea was neither hot nor cold
The real cure for backsliding in the church
Is that which comes to us by the Holy
Ghost OF the revelation Of Gods will and
the Interpretation OF Gods word.
/.
The church is called-out body. We
were chosen in Him before the worlds
foundation, and we are elect according 10
the foreknowiedge OF God. for thus saith
the Scripture. Jesus Is in heaven direct
ing the work of the church, but the Holy
Ghost Is here carrying out the plan. This
plan extends to the mlnutest details of the
lie OF the church. He 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 asceaded uD
on high, He led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men. And He gave some, apos-
ties; and some, prophets; and some, evan
gehsts; and some, pastors and teachers;
tor the pertectng OF saints, for the work OF
the ministry, for the ediylng OF the body
of Christ Ephesians 4 9. II, IL The
church is really the habitation of God
Hear what the Scriptures have TO say:
Eph. .: 10 TO 22-"Now therefore We are
no more strangers and foreigners. but fell
loW-Citzens 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 fifty
framed together groweth unto a holy tenn
pie IN the Lord; in whom We also are
builded together for an habitation OF God
fhrpnr, hp Il, - 4 ~,
us, we must be careful of our church life
for we may grleye Him and Quench Him
by the way we live and work Many
things are done to-day in the church which
NAV commend themselves 10 men. and vet
fall utterly short of the approval of God
As an illustration, Peter, standing up with
the 100, spoke of the departure of Judas,
and declared that one must be chosen IN
his stead PRAYER was offered. a 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 fill the va
cancv, namely. Saul of Tarsus. Paul
speaks thus of himself: Gal. l. l-"Paul
an apostle, not OF men, neither by man,
but by Jesus Christ and God the Father,
who raised Him from the dead"
H.
The church was established bv signs and
wonders Acts ,: | to And wHen the
day OF Pentecost was fully come they
were all with one accord IN one place And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven
aS of rushing, mighty wind. and 1t filed
all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them c,oven
tongues like as OF fire, and Il sat upon each
of them. And they were all filed with the
Holy Ghost, and began 20 speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter
ancc.' Heb. ,: 4-"God also bearing them
witness. both with signs and wonders. and
with divers miracles and gifts OF the Hoy
Ghost. according 10 His own will
There was no church IN the Old Testa.
ment. This s the opinion of many Bible
teachers. In Acts =: 81. we read. Then
they that gladly received His word were
baptized. and the same day there were
added unto them about 1000 souls In
this text the words unto them are writ
ten IN italics, so that the original Is, there
were added about 1000 souls Bur we
must add to something when we add. 50
in Acts . a.. we read And the Lord
added 20 the church daily such as should
be saved But there i a still better eS-
PLANTATION. In Acts ;: Il, we read: They
were added TO the Lord
This Is Pauls conception OF the church.
Christ l. the head and the church Is His
body. We are being called out now from
the Gentle world Every new soul won
for Christ comes IN 10 ssmplete the body.
Some day the last man viii come ~. and
the skies will brighten with the return o:
the Lord
Il il this that gives one the PASSION for
soul.winniug IL Is this thought that fur
nishes The inspiration for the foreign mis-
sionaEy The church Is a called-out body
and the missionary ~ sent 10 Africa, 70