Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1903-05-07

IN mind, heart or action upon the part oI
those who were His professed followers
He refers to the large number of the chill
lren of Israel, who, having been delivered
rom Egypt, for their lack OF faith were de
stroyed in the Wilderness. He reminds
them of sodom anG Goomorrha; OF CAIN
IF Balaam and OF Core, in or~-r that they
may be persuaded of the high value which
God sets upon adherence and obedience to
,ke faith which He has given to men; fo'
The point OF the whole epistle lies In the
contrast between those who thus neglected
their privilege and duties as children o.
God-who, knowing the right, yet pursueo
evil-who processing love to God ,practl
.ally ignored Him in their lives, and those
IN inward service, sought to live as be
came the children of faith: building ur
themselves on their most holy faith, pray
Ing in the Holy Ghost, and thus keeping
themselves in the love of God, looking fol
The mercy OF our Lord Jesus Christ unto
sternal life" Of the mum Der of these ne
prays, "may be those to whom he writes,
hoping that they will see the present mis-
cry and the sure future punishment asso
.ated with the course of wickedness an0
neglect of faith. and on the other hand
blessedncss 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 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.
tv," that they should keep themselves in
the love of God, and explaining bow thai
may be done.
To this end he insists, first, upon the ne
,essity of establishing a true spiritual life
on a proper foundation: Building up your
self on your most holy faith AS i'll the
beginning of the cpistle, SO here, the faith,
! the teaching. the revelation of God ls given
rs the foundation upon which alone true
religious life is to be built, There is no es
| tablishing of spiritual growth upon mere
! " ethical foundation; there is no erecting
fabric of true religious character upon
/ the teachings of men, and as for the church
| itself Jesus Christ must needs he the true
corner stone, so OF all religious ideas. the
! revelation of God must furnish the base,
| As the foundation of building is essential
not only to the solidlty OF that which Is
! erected upon it, but also furnishes the lncs
! and dimensions according to which 1t Is to
be built. 80 unless there is at the basis or
/
! ton 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 VIII
/ stand He who seeks to direct his course
/ in life according to the teachings oi men >
wisdom, or the dictates of human con.
science uninStructcd by God, is sure to find
his character like unto a ship; tossed about
by the waves and driven by contrary gales,
,,l.y ~ ,,,l hmm nj
| right and wrong are as valuable as are the
winds of heaven. There must be an ultr
| 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. 1t is therefore not unreasonable nor
unnecessary that the Bible should INSIST
upon this revelation as being the tounda
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 yea by year the Christian
is erecting a structure either OF righteous
ness or of unrighteousness, According to
the general desire and tenor OF the HE lS
the general character OF the building. On
the whole. every man is moving onward
either toward holiness or toward wicked
ness, either advancing or retrogradlng IN
his moral nature. As long as we live III
this world we shall continue IN state OF
change We never shall lay down our ar
NOR nor have our work finished untli 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 hv failing to continually build up
his character in Righteousness, III the true
faith. he should be taking away from :hat
which he has already bullded. There IS nc
period OF rest, there Is no goal attained;
there is no definite eternal reward until
we reach that other world. building IL
the word used. Of our daily Christian 1ves'
Let us see to it that every stone placed IN
the building of our characters IS one
formed upon the model OF the life and
deeds Of Jesus Christ and is a strength to
the whole edlticc.
The second duty insisted upon by Jude,
if the Christian would keep himself guard
ed from the dangers which be3et hlm, ls
expressed by the words praying IN Ihe
Holy Ghost No, 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 VIII
Join to it his utterance and lntercesSlonSi
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 Holy Ghost, but it requires slncer'
ity, q meaning and feeling in the prayer,
and a determination that the expression
af the desire made in the prayer shall DO
followed by fitting action.
The third and fourth conditions requisite
to growth in spiritual life referred to III
the text, while not less important than
mentioned, for their necessity Is clearly
apparent: "Keep yourselves i'll the love OF
God, looking for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life," living IN
such a way that Gods love to us shall both
grow and be continually more apparent,
md a stronger factor in our spiritual lie
is something emnenty necessary, II we
would live as His children. Were it not
for the supreme and infinite love OF God
I've 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 strongly we cling to it, the more
confident may we be of our own future,
and the more will we be led to give unto
Him in return that love which lie seeks
from US And not less certain is it that
,nly through the expectation of the mercy
,f our Lord Jesus Christ can we have hope
INTO eternal life, as it is the only hope
which can sustain us in the time of our
weakness, of our sin, of our despair. Ac.
cordiug as our confidence in the truth OF
:he Gospel grows, and our assurance OF the
| love which Christ has for each of us, shall
,e our ability to stand in the evil days OF
his life and to persevere in our pursuit
| ,fter holiness. This is the divine word of
;od; it is His message to us, and may He
rant us grace so to "buld mp ourselves
our most holy faith, praying in the
IoIy Ghost. keeping ourselves in the love
If God, looking for the mercy OF our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life that we
nay be guarded from the evils into which