Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1903-05-14

God sets upon adherence and obedience to
tie th 1alth which He has given to men; for
the point Of the whole epistle lies in the
contrast between those who thus neglected
their privilege and duties as children OF
God-who, knowing the right, yet pursued
evlEwho protesting love to God practi.
cally ignored Him In their lives, and those
IN inward service, sought to live as be-
came the children of faith: Building up
themselves on their most holy faith, pray
ing in the Holy Ghost, and thus keeping
themselves in the love of God, looking for:
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
prays, "may be those to whom he writes;
hoping that they will see the present mis-.
cry and the sure future punishment asso-
eiated with the course of wickedness and
neglect of faith, and on the other hand,
blessedness now and hereafter Of those
in truth, the children of God, and in order
that those who read, and that all of every
time who hear this epistle 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 prin-
ciples 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 that
may be done.
To this end he insists, first, upon the ne
| cessity of establishing true spiritual life
on proper foundation: Building up your
| self on your most holy faith" As in the
! beginning of the epistie, SO here. the faith,
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-
tablishing Of spiritual growth upon mere
| lv othioa1 foundation fhpra 10 No erecting
a 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 a building is essential
| not only to the solidity of that which is
! erected upon it, but also furnishes the lines
| and dimensions according to which it is to-
| be built, so unless there is at the basis or
foundation of all religious life some revela-
| ton or some truth broad enough for an
ideal and strong enough to sustain the
and no assurance that the character will
stand. He who seeks to direct his course
in life according to the teachings OF mems
wisdom, or the dictates of human con-
science uninstructed by God, is sure to find
his character like unto 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-
cording to which we may direct. our moral
lives, or we can never be sure that we are
fnot 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. It 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 tod.
Day by day and year by year the Christian
is erecting structure either OF righteous
ness or Of unrighteousness. 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
either toward holiness or toward wicked
his moral nature. AS long as we live in
:. this world we shall continue in state OF
. change. We never shall lay down our ar
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
Christian characters, have suddenly turned
, and in a short time destroyed the result
of years Of effort; there is danger to every
one lest by falling to continually build up
!, his character in righteousness, IN the true
, faith, he should be taking away from thai
: which he has already bui1ded. There IS nc
> | period of rest, there is no goal attained
we reach that other world Building il
the word used. of our daily Christian lives
!. Let us see to it that every stone placed In
J, the building of our characters rs one
: : | formed upon the model of the life and
: | deeds of Jesus Christ, and is strength &c
], the whole edifce.
!. The second duty insisted upon by Jude
n if the Christian would keep himself guard
o ed from the dangers which beset him, Ii
t expressed by the words praying In thu
v Holy Ghost" Now we are well aware tha
+ there is no prayer except in the Hol,
l. such as is in harmony with the Spirit g,
+. God, and so sincere that that Spirit vii
e join to it his utterance and intercesslonss
n with groanings which can not be uttered
and he must needs be persuaded that th'
- Holy Spirit which descended at Pentecos
n is still active in the church: 1t needs s.n, NJ
|, enormous faith, no long experience to pra!
j in the Holy Ghost, but it requires SINGER
e ity, meaning and a feeling in the PRAYER
# and determination that the expression
m of the desire made in the prayer shall b
IS followed by fitting action.
~ The third and fourth conditions requisit
N to growth in spiritual life referred to II
n the text, while not less important thai
e. those already discussed, need only to b
,e mentioned, for their necessity is clearl
,e apparent: "Keep yourselves in the love
at God, looking for the mercy of our Lor
r. Jesus Christ unto eternal life," living !
of such a way that Gods love to us shall bot
ne grow and be continually more apparent
I'd and stronger factor in II spiritual! LIT
- is something eminently necessary, II W
e would live as His children. Were it no
is for the supreme and infinite love of Go
an we should have no hope either for thl
to world or for the world to come. and tn
~ more deeply we appreciate that love, an
n the more strongly we cling to it, the moi
or confident may we be Of our OWL! futur'
fl and the more will we be led to give unt
ed Him in return that. love which He seek
m from us. And not less certain is it tha
nd only through the expectation of the merc
K o. our Lord Jesus Christ can we have hor
de unto eternal life, as it is the only hor
nd which can sustain us in the time OF OF
". weakness, of our sin. of our. despair. A
ri cording as our confidence In the truth
he the Gospel grows, and our assurance OF tt
he love which Christ has for each OF US, sha
of be our ability to stand ip the evil days
M this life and to persevere In our pur;u
nd after holiness. This is the divine word I
th God; it is His message to us, and may =