The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-11-21
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"A THREE.rolo CORD
The Rev. Dr. j. witbur Chapman Points
Out Why Even Seemingly L Unfortunste
Mortal. Have Better Reasons Tor
Thanksgiving Than For Faultfndiug.

most striking ana popuaaI sermon MA4SA
is intended for al those who would rise 20
better things. IL is entitled "A 1hree-Fold
Cord, and was preached from the text, "A
three-fold cord Is not quickly broken" Ee-
Clesiastes 1: IL.
Did you ever stop 10 think how many
things you have In your lie Tor which you
ought 10 be grateful 10 Gods Doubtless
some OF my readers may pause and say Il
have very little for which / need 70 be
thankful and then, as a matter OF TACT,
we have had more OF JOY than OF sorrow,
more days OF sunshine than OF storm, and
II we were honest We should be obliged 10
say that there Is more reason for thanks
giving than faulthnding.
An old friend Of mine. blind from his
birth, tod me that he had never seen the
sun rise and had never looked upon his
sons face, and then he said 10 me, Have
you ever thanked God for your eye sight
and never had up 10 that time. In the
city OF Hartford, going through an insane
hospital with the attending physician, i
stopped with him at the door OF a room
where a young glrl franucally said, Doc
tor. | must have a breath Of fresh air, for
i am being consumed with an inward
fire The doctor gently closed the door
and said, This has been her mania for a
year, and then we entered a room where
in close confinement was kept a man who
was reckoned one of the most brilliant
journalists in the city, who said, These
foor and ceiling are every day approaching
each other. and my enemies have kept me
here until my life is 10 he crushed out"
doubt not but that he suffered as much as
II It were an honest fact ] turned away
from the hospital with a heavy heart but
condemned, too. because up 10 that time |
had never thanked God for my reason.
There are so many things for which we
ought 10 be grateful, but most of all TO my
mind there Is cause. for gratitude in the
way God has sought Tor the lost world ever
since men have begun 70 wander from
Him. Adam no sooner sirs than God seeks
him IN the garden and cries out. Where
art thouF God will not unlock the foun-
tains Of the deep and bring the flood until
he sends Noah for 100 years as the preach
er OF righteousness TO warn the people, nor
Will He let Sodom be DESTROYED until the
angel visitors take hold OF Lot and drag
him forth from the city, and also strive in
every way 70 bring the inhabitants forth
20 place OF safety. Every representative
OF a father IN the Old Testament is a pic
ture OF God: Jacobs concern for his chill
dren; David, who stops and cries. "Oh,
Absalom." are but hints as to Gods con-
cern for His own lost children, and He is
IN every way seeking them and calling
upon them 20 return. In the Old Testa-
ment He gives the law that they may be-
hold His precepts written upon tables of
stone, and when men will not heed His
written word He opens the windows Of
heaven and with an angel choir sends His
only Son and locates the place of His birth
by the star of Bethlehem. and leads the
shepherds TO adore Him with sounds of
angels music, and this Son of God, Jesus
OF Nazareth, went up and down the land
teaching and preaching, but most OF all liv-
ing In ordc. that men might one day
through Him come back 10 the Father
When the world became so skilled in
wickedness that they would not have Him
were condemnation in themselves He
made His way to Calvary and died upon
the cross, the Just for the unjust, that He
might bring us TO God and when He had
been crucihed, placed IN the tomb and
had risen He dwelt with them at Jerusa-
lem until they should be endowed with
power from on high. They kept His com
mands, and when the fulness of time had
come with a rushing sound as of a mighty
wind the Holy Ghost came upon them
They were Immediately changed men; they
began 10 speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance. From that
day to this the Holy Ghost has been in The
world, and so that half the trinity of God
has been all but repealed IN the interests OF
sinful man. The God Of law, the God Of
grace, the God of power. This three-fo.d
vision we have had of the Divine One and
in every disposition He is seeking. This Is
a most solemn subject, because we are liv-
ing in the dispensation of the Holy Ghost
the last cord as II were OF the trinity.
When the Octire went down on the Eng
lish coast, one bov. Stewart Holland, by
name became a hero because while the
passengers were frantic and the other sea-
men and officers were otherwise engaged
he broke into the powder magazine and
again and again fired off the ships cannon
that he might arouse the life savers and
let them know of the perilous condition Of
the ship and her crew. Il would seem TO
har - ha INN hgF, hoe p4
preach the gospel ought simply 10 stand
and cry aloud, Flee from the wrath to
come, fee from the wrath to come he
cause we are in the dispensatoa OF the
Holy Ghost.
This is a solemn subject because OF the
peculiar kind Of sin which may drive away
Gods spirit In the Old Testament the
sin OF the people was largely ido,atry.
They wou:d no. have God rule over them.
and so they bowed down TO gods OF wood
and stone. That Is not our particular
trouble to-day. In the New Testament
envy and jealousy bounded Christ TO the
cross: men feared Him and because they
We're Jealous of Him they hated Him, but
that Is not or special sin to-day. The
sin of this present day seems to be indlf-
ference. and IL is a dangerous sin because
il will drive from our presence the Holy
One of God who pleads and waits for US
20 turn Every time one saws no 90 Christ
he is in danger OF saying it for the last
time and every time he says no he but
hardens his heart the more, until at last
the very p,eadings OF God Himself be-
come Of no effect
In the DAYS when the plague swept over
London and funeral professions by the
score wended their wav 20 the grave. and
there was scarcely a home that was not
touched with death. ministers, indeed.
preached as dying men 70 dying men. they
cried aloud and spared not. Old time
seemed % say 20 them. Strike now," and
the angel death seemed 20 say III you do
not strike will" These demands to-day
are Slmost as serious. Mems hearts are
becoming hardened. their wills more and
more stubborn. IL is the time TO cry
aloud with no uncertain tone.
H.
A three.fod cord Is not quickly broken.
but there is one way 20 break IL easily,
untwist the cord and break the strands
separately and II YOU are bound az q
prisoner YOU can easily 90 free The rep
resentative Of the Godhead IN the world
to-day i the Holy Ghost. We may sin
against God, the Father, and there Is for
giveness.
a father in the South sent his son
North 20 college. and when he graduated
be came back not only with his dp!Sma,
but with the habit OF lntemperance 20
fastened upon him that he disgraced he
fathers name and broke his mothers
heart. and still bis father loved him. Mat
tiers went from bad 90 worse until one day
they met on the street. and when the son
made a request OF the father which was
not granted he struck him in the face. The
old father staggered, then stepped into hs
~rA N--r-a homo lie do hfa