The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-05-07

themselves on their most holy faith pray
ing in the Holy Ghost and thus keeping
themselves in the love of God, looking TO
.he mercy OF our Lord Jesus Christ untt
sterna life" OF the number of these ht
prays, may be those to whom he writes,
hoping that they will see the present mis-
cry and the sure future punishment asso
,iated with the course of wickedness an0
neglect of faith, and on the other hand
blessedness now and hereafter of those
who are not only in name, but in deed and
IN truth the children of God, and in order
that those who read, and that all OF every
time who hear this epstle may know how
to avoid the dangers against which he
warns them, and to persevere in their serv'
ice for God and for the right. he gives
them these two verses explaining the prln'
niples and the method OF progress of the
servant of God; giving to them what has
been called The Law of Christian Safe
ty," that they should keep themselves in
the love of God, and explaining how tina,
may be done
To this end he insists, first, upon the ne
,essity Of establishing true spiritual life
| On proper foundation: Building up your.
self on your most holy faith As in the
beginning of the epistc, so here the faith
I the teaching, the revelation of God Is given
as the foundation upon which alone true
religious life IS to be built. There is no es
tablishng OF spiritual growth upon mere.
|
. fabric Of true religious character upon
| the teachings OF men, and as for the church
/ itself jesus Christ must needs be the true
corner stone so of all religious ideas, the
revelation OF God must furnish the base.
/ As the foundation of Il building is essential
| not only to the solidity OF that which is
I erected upon 1T, but also furnishes the lines
| and dimensions according to which it is to
4 be built. so unless there is at the basis or
| foundation OF all religious lie some revela.
| tiOn or some truth broad enough for an
| ideal and strong enough to sustain the
whole building, there can be no security
and no assurance that the character will
stand. lie who seeks TO direct his course
in life according to the teachings OF mems
v<sdom, or the dictates OF human con.
science uninstructed by God, is sure to find
his character like unto a ship; tossed about
by the waves and driven by contrary gales,
for human judgment and human ideas OF
right and wrong are as valuable as are the
winds of heaven. There must be an ulti
mate and universal standard of right ac.
cordng to which we may direct our moral
lives. or we can never be sure that we are
not going wrong. Such an ultimate and
satisfactory standard must be given by
one whose knowledge is infinite as com.
pared with that of man, and such stand
ard has been given in the revelation OF
God. Ii is therefore not unreasonable nor
unnecessary that the Bible should insist
upon this revelation as being the founda
ton upon which we are to build our char
acters. Nor can we fail to notice the use
Of the word building" here, as applying
to our relation to the revelation of God.
Day by day and year by year the Christian
is erecting a structure either of righteous.
ness or OF unrlghteousness. According to
the general desire and tenor of the life is
the general character OF the building. On
the whole, every man is moving onward
M no tnN EI tnxts1 rh
ness, either advancing or retrogradlng in
his moral nature. As long as we live in
this world we shall continue in state oil
change. We never shall lay down our or
NOR nor have our work finished until we
cease to draw the breath of life. 1t is nat
ural to believe that some, after many years
of careful labor in the erection OF true
Christian characters, have suddenly turned
and in short time destroyed the result
Of years of effort; there is danger to every
one lest by failing to continually build up
his character in righteousness, in the true
faith. he sholld be taking away from :hat
which he has already builded. There is no
period of rest, there is no goal attained,
there is no definite eternal reward until
we reach that other world. Building Is
the word used. OF our daily Christian lives.
Let us see to it that every stone placed in
the building OF our characters Is one
formed uDon the model OF the life and
deeds of Jesus Christ, and is strength to
the whole editice.
The second duty insisted upon by Jude,
ii the Christian would keep himself guard
ed from the dangers which beset him, is
expressed by the words praying in the
Holy Ghost" Now we are well aware that
there is no prayer except in the Holy
Spirit; that is TO say no PRAYER except
such as is in harmony with the Spirit OF
God, and so sincere that that Spirit will
Join to 1t his utterance and intercessions,
with groanings which can not be uttered,
and he must needs be persuaded that the
Holy Spirit which descended at Pentecost
is still active in the church. 1t needs no
enormous faith, no long experience to pray
in the Hoy Ghost, but it requires SINGER
i.y, a meaning and feeling in the prayer,
and a determination that the expression
Of the desire made in the prayer shall bo
followed by fitting action.
The third and fourth conditions requisite
to growth in spiritual life referred to in
the text, while not less important than
those already discussed, need only to be
mentioned, for their necessity is clearly
apparent: Keep yourselves in the love OF
God looking for the mercy OF our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life,' living in
such way that Gods love to us shall both
grow and be continually more apparent,
and stronger factor in our spiritual life
is something emnently necessary, ii we
would live as His children. Were it not
for the supreme and infinite love of God
we should have no hope either for this
word or for the world to come, and the
more deeply we appreciate that love, and
the more strong ly we cling to it, the more
confident NAV we be of our own future
and the more will we be led to give unto
Him in return that love which He seeks
from us. And not less certain is it that
only through the expectation of the mercy
)f our Lord Jesus Christ can we have hope
nnto eternal life, as il is the only hope
which can sustain rs in the time of our
weakness, of our sin. OF our despair. Ac.
eording as our confidence in the truth OF
he Gospel grows, and our assurance of the
love which Christ has for each of us, shall
je our ability to stand in the evil days OF
his life and to persevere in our pursuit
lfter holiness. This is the divine word OF
5od; IL is His message to US, and may He
rant us grace so to build up ourselves
our most holy faith, praying in the
lo.y Ghost, keeping ourselves in the love
Vi God, looking for the mercy OF our Lord
lesus Christ unto eternal life that we
nay be guarded from the evils into WHICH
70 many are falling about us in the world,
he evils OF doubt, OF carelessness of i'm.
morality, so that we shall be saved. as il
we're. brands from the burning and kept
oy Him that is able to keep us from fall.
ng, and presented by Him faultless be-
lore the presence of His glory with exceed
ne joy
The fellow who is run over by an auto.
Gobile is apt to have that tired feeling.
A Pacific Ocean wonder