The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-02-19
GOD'S own PLAN.
DR., CHAPMAN'S SUNDAY SERMON
The Eloquent Pastor.Evangelist Ar
CUES that God Has a Plan for Every
Mans Salvation,

New YORK CIrY.-The following sermon
Ia one of a series preached by the famous
evangelist. the Rev DR.. j. Wilbur Chap.
man. 1t is entitled Goods Plan For u"
and was founded on the text: Not as
though | had already attained, either were
! already perfect. but follow after, If that
| I NAV apprehend that for which alse | am
apprehended of Christ Jesus" phllp-
! plans iii: u.
God has plan for every life, and when
this plan is realized there is always IN the
experience of the believer both joy and
peace, blessing and power. II any one Is
rience, hot to-day and cold tomorrow,
lear enough to Christ to-day so that he
may almost touch Him, and so far away
! tomorrow that he questions If he has ever
been saved, this is a certain evidence that
| he has not allowed God to work out His
plan for him, and there is yet much work
! to be ac ,omplished by the Holy Spirit OF
God. An experience of unrest dshonors
God. and when you find 4 heart in which
there is this unrest and dissatisfaction you
! always find life in which God has not
| yet finished His work. Peace l leave
with you; Ny peace l give unto YOU, wa. was
written for such an one; and Is ms inaeriLt i1t
ance While it would be most dlthcult
thing to define peace, yet possibly the best
definition would be to take its opposite,
and so it would read like this: Peace is
the opposite Of unrest, OF confusion, OF
strife. This blessing is for every one o.!
Gods children. if they will but claim it.
It is no more disastrous for ones arm to
be out of its socket than for ones life to
run contrary to the plan OF God. Paul
evidently had this in mind when he SAID:
"If l may apprehend that for which l am
also apprehended OF Christ Jesus. IL
would be no more disastrous for planet
to 90 swinging out of its orbit than for a
life to run contrary to the plan Of God.
The fact is our crosses in this world al
ways come to Us when orr wills run con:
trarv to the will of God. One piece OF
wood placed over another and running IN
the contrary direction always makes a
cross. Our peace and JOY come to Us, in
this life when Our wills fun parallel to that
OF God. Though we may be obliged to
live in poverty and meet with whas this
world calls disaster and failure, II we are
perfectly sure we are doing according to
Gods will we may say with the apostle:
! "All things work together for good"
: we have but to read the Scriptures to
find this TO be true. We find in Romans
i: 7. that we are called Saints this is
our name We learn in l Corinthians m:
O. that we are "laborers together with
God" We are told in / Corinthians j:
9. that it is our privilege to be in fellow
ship with Gods Son, and this word "fel-
lowship" is literally partnership. In
! Revelation ii: II, God promises to give to
! us His own hidden mamma to eat. VI this
the world knows nothing-it can neither
give it nor take it away. In the 23th
Psalm. l4th verse, we have pledge that
God will tell to us His secrets, but it is not
to be forgotten that we only tell secrets
to those who are near to us. God never
gives His secrets to those who are out OF
| fellowship with Him. and every man Is out
| OF fellowship who has in his heart any un-
confessed or unforgiven SIN. In Philip.
plans iii % the conversation Of the child
of God is described. 1t is to he in heav-
en-, from whence also we look for the Sa-
viour. the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephe-
slams IL 10 the whole OF the Christian
character is described. We are told that
we are His Workmanship" and the word
workmanship is literally poem, so that IN
! Gods plan we are all that is complete and
| beautiful.
We are very sure that we nave not at-
tanned unto this plan.
We are likewise confident that falling
/ short of it we are not satisfied. and our
cry is that of the apostle (Romans 7: "a,
ooh, wretched man that | am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this DEATH
We may have Gods power. 2 Cor: XII: y
My grace is sufficient for thee; for my
strength is made perfect in weakness
Most gladly therefore will / rather glory
in my infrnities, that the power OF Christ
may rest upon me-" Let US therefore
cease to speak Of the presence OF the HOY
Ghost as an experience and talk about the
! better Christian life as an 1T" let us re-
member ever after this that Christ is the
power of God. To exalt Him. to follow
Him, to live His life, and to enthrone HIM
in our lives. is power always, and never
can be anything else:
We NAV have Gods rest. Hebrews iv:
l to 3-"Let us therefore fear, lest.
promise being left us of entering into His
rest, any of YOU should seem to come,
short Of it. For unto US vas the gospel
nreacbed. as we'll as unto them. but the
word preached did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. Fer we which have believed do enter
into rest. as he said, As have sworn in
nv wrath. if they shall enter into my
rest: although the works were finished
from the foundation OF the world
1t is most significant that IN the tenth
verse of this fourth chapter OF Hebrews
we read: For he that has entered into
MS rest, he also ndIu CSdStu liOh N"A
works, as God did from His" Oh, that we
might all of us learn that it is when we
cease to be self-centred and become Christ
centred, it is when We live lives OF unset.
fishness and therefore for the glory OF
Christ. it is when We look up and not in
in a word, it is when we cease from our
own works that we enter into Gods rest.
We may have Gods holiness. Hebrews
xii: lO-"For they verify for few days
chastened us after their own pleasure, but
He for our profit. that we might be par
takers of His holiness" Not infrequentiy,
we find Christian people who are afraid OF
the word holiness. and yet the Bible has
distinctly declared that without holiness
no man shall see God. If we are shutting
Him out of our lives then we are deprlvlng
ourselves of our birthright as His children.
We might sum up Gods plan for our
lives under three heads:
l. It is Gods will that we should be re-
generated. John j: l3, l4-"Whieh were
born, not of blood, nor Of the, will Of the
flesh, nor of the will of man., but OF God;
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory. the
glory as of the only begotten of the Faith
er. full of grace and truth" =,