Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-12-20
LIVE in THE SUNSHINE"
An Eloquent Sunday Discourse by Dr..
Chapman.
Faith Produces Men. and Their Living 10 the
World Is coniending For the Falih--Keep-
ing In the Love Of God.

tinguiSheO ana eloquent evangelist, the
Rev. nr. J. Wilbur Chapman. II was
preached from the text Keep yourselves
in the love Of God" Jude 81.
Jude's IL enc of the brefest OF all the
letters in the New Testament, containing
only twenty-five verses II Is. perhaps. the
last OF the epist!es. Though the date Is not
definitely settled, il was probably written
after the destruction OF Jerusalem. when
most of the apostles had finished their
work. There is a most delightful spirit of
humility in the letter. The writer called
himself 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 me 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
it especially applicable to us. 1t is very
practical. The heart OF Jude was stirred
because certain men were denying God
and the Lord Jesus Christ He said, be-
cause of this. Il 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 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.
IL has always seemed TO me that faith
produced men, and their living in the
world was a ccntending for the faith. We
have the pattern of the life of the apos-
tolic Christian given to us. Ii YOU study
the Acts of the Apostle. the letters of Paul.
Peter, John, and. better still, the wonder.
ful 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
auff lRnl he
coming of Christ. and they were filled
with missionary fire and zeal. These three
characteristics must predominant now ii
the church is to have power. When one
is in the world and not OF it he realizes
he is pilgrim and 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 .cting the return of our Lord :sthey
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.
1t was this hope in their hearts which in.
spired their lives. TRANSPORTED the cross
and its shame and kept them pure in the
midst OF all temptation and sin.
The third characteristic is equally i'm.
portant. How much we need to long for
the salvation of others. 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 a helpless babe unon her bosom. and
il is true that the church will awake to
power when she awakcs To responsibility.
There Is something which have In mind
which will give us all the things | have
spoken about. 1t is described in the text.
III there could be any subject growing out
A,~~& IL q IL
you'd be Live in the sunshine" /
W what the sunshine does for the
DIS: it gives them a silver lining. |
what it does for the grass and the
and the flowers: il warns and nour-
until they blossom into beauty and
tfulness. Take the plant away from
light and it will droop and die; place
here the sun will kiss it and every leaf
icss. This Is the very poorest illustra-
as to what the love Of God will do for
so let us keep ourselves in the love OF
That word keep" is the key word of
e's epistie. In it we are told that God
keen us. but we are also told to keen
elves. We are told to persevere. hit
also said we will be preserved This
cd and man working together. and il is
nlar, TO say the least. that the word
eserve" and the word ''persevere are
lposed OF exactly the same letters The
will keen us is ''as in garrisoa." How
ure. then. we must be!
NV MAY WE KEEP OURSELVES IN
THE LOVE OF GOD
/. No way so efficient as by prayer.
ere are different kinds OF prayer Jacob
lyed when he met the angel of Jabbok
had his name changed from Jacob to
'aei. Moses prayed wnen he plead with
I'd TO look with favor again upon His
osen people. Christ prayed in the gar
n, for il is said: Being in an agony, lie
aged more earnestly" But this is not
&c kind OF prayer l have in mind; it is
Their the kind that Christ offered when
e was alone on the mountain with God.
imagine the Father talked with Him
ore than He with the Father. 1t is the
nd that David describes when he says:
~ meditation of Him shall be sweet"
18th Is the eye with which we can see
I'd, and meditation the wing with which
fly to Him. 1t is the kind OF prayer
cred when the suppliant feels that he is
only one in all the universe: it is the
I'D OF PRAYER which if our mother could
ar, or the dearest friend we had on
rth,, We should feel that it had been di
rted and had not reached God. 1t Is the
nd OF prayer we offer when we let God
Tx to Us as well as talk to Him. This viii
sep rs IN the love OF God
2. Few things will so help rs this Old
BOX, the Bible. Two gentlemen were rid
uE together. anu Wuen tnGN were aDOnt
separate one asked the other. DO YOU
ser read your Bible" Yes said his
riend; Il do, but / receive no benefit be.
ause / feel that | do not love God. q"
Neither did ]. replied the other, bur
Sod loved me-" and that answer fairly
lifted the man into the skies, for it gave
aim 4 new thought. The question is not
at all as to how much l love God, but
rather as TO how much God loves me-
Read the Bible in that way and it will help
YOU to live in the text
Love dictated every word love selected
every sentence, love presented every prov.
idence. love sent Christ to 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.
out If there is one above another il would
be the Lords Supper. The very coming
to the table and taking that which repre-
the soul into such condition that it is one
with Christ. He that hath seen Christ
hath seen the Father, and he that is in
Christ is in the Father. What better way
could there be of entereing into His love?
Ill. There must be emphasis upon the
proposition lin" The Greek signifies the
closest connection, the most intimate asso-
citation and the most perfect communion.
AL these things are possible. The soul of
Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,
and there may be just as close a fellowship
between Chrttt and His followers. Now
and then in this world we find persons
whose lives are so blended that they al
most 'ook alike. This is oftentifnes true
of the husband and wife. Tennyson had
it in his mind when he said: In the long
L.