The Penn's Grove record., 1903-01-30
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE ENTITLED 1.-THE COS.
PEI IN THE OLD TESTAMENT"
The Rev. DIR. Wilbur Chapman Explains
How Gods Ability to Cleanse is H.
Illustrated in the Ceremonies of the
Old Testament Scriptures.

gelist, DR.. j. Wilbur Chapman, from the
text, And when the fowls came down
upon the carcasses, Abram drove them
away. Genesis XIV: IL.
In all parts of the word of God. both in
the Old Testament and the New, we find
GODS provision made for cleansing the
sumner II, in the light of all that has
Deen SAID we ieel ourselves condemned
and that If the day of awards came to-
morrow we should suffer loss and lose our
crown, though we shall be saved, .'yet SO
as by ire" this thought should come to
us as an inspiration, that all our sins may
be dotted out and our transgressions for
gwen. 1t is of great cheer, therefore, for
us to study the subject now given. 1t is
not necessary simply that we should ia
mlllarize ourselves with the New Tesla
ment; this Is, of course, essential; but if
we would know Gods ability to cleanse
we ought to know the Old Testament
Scriptures, with their types and ceremo-
MES.
The birds of the Bible form an interest
ing subject for investigation. The first
mention of them in the Old Testament is
10 Genesis i: 2l-"And God created great
whales, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every
winged fowl after his kind; and God saw
that it was good" Since that time they
are to be seen flying through many of the
stories of holy writ, filed with lessons OF
sweetness and power. Their songs have
been the sweetest, their plumage has been
the brightest, their teaching has been the
best. Ihe eagle mounting up far above
the earth. and building its nest above the
clouds, is a picture of Christian exhilara-
ton. Isaiah had it IN mind when he said:
Ihey that wait upon the Lord shall re
new their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run and
not be weary; they shall walk and not
liant The same bird, preparing its nest
may learn to fly, offers a splendid i~llustra.
ton of the providence Of God, in thus
seeming severe, but with the outcome al
ways glorious. Every man who has come
to know God in Christ must certainly saw
with the apostle Paul, "All things work to.
gether for good, to them that love Cod
When Elijah was at the brook Cherith
and the waters had passed from his vision
n ne himself was on the verge of star
vation, the birds fed him. Every little
sparrow that comes fitting through the
air is a reminder of what Jesus said: mot
a sparrow falleth to the ground but YOU
heavenly Father knoweth it."
But as we read the Old Testament sto.
rles we find that there are also birds OF
prey. They, too, have their lessons, but
the stories they tell are not SO bright anc
happy. This lesson in the text is alone
this line.
Abram is a wonderful study for the
Christian. In the great events of his life
he perfectly typifes the experience through
which every Christian has passed. Wher
God called him from Ur of the Chaldees
he was an Illustration of our being called
from tho land IF 49,, orI loo4L NH L.
separated himself from Terah, his father
m-law, 1T emphasized what Jesus said, "a
man must forsake father and mother ant
his own life if he would be My disciple
Every Christian, if he is to be used of God
must forsake the world. In Abrams sen
aration from Let he is a perfect illustration
of the demand made in the New Tesla
ment that we must, if we would be fllet
with the Holy Spirit of God, separate our
selves even from the flesh.
There is a great battle waging, as we fine
when we read the connection Of the tex
with other verses of Scripture. 1t is writ
ten IN Genesis xiv: l4-l6-"And whei
Abram heard that his brother was taker
captive he armed his trained servants
born in his own house, 3I8, and pursued
them unto Dan. And he divided himsel
against them, he and his servants, b.
night, and smote them, and pursued then
unto Hobah, which is on the left hand O
Damascus. And he brought back all thl
Lot, and his goods, and the women also
and the people,"
1t is here we find a real test of Abram
Many a man has gone down just wher'
Abram stood. God is always giving u
tests of character.
Read very carefully the twenty-frst t,
the twenty-fourth verses of the fourteenth
chapter OF Genesis, and notice Abrams an
swer: "And the king of Sodom said unit,
Abram, Give me the persons and take tn
goods to thyself. And Abram said to tn
king of Sodom, [ have lift up mine ham
unto the Lord, the most high God, tn
possessor of heaven and earth, that
Will not take from a thread even to a shoe
lachet. and that / will not take anythin
that is thine, lest thou shouldest say,
have made Abram rich; save only tina
which the young men have eaten, and tn
portion of the men which went with MI
Amer, Eschol and Mamre; let them tax
their portion" 1t always pays to stan
for God as against men in this world
This is clearly taught in Genesis XIV: IL
After these things the word of. tn
Lord came unto Abram in a vision, say
ing; Fear not, Abram; / am thy shield
and thy exceeding great reward. An
Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Tho
give me, seeing I go childless, and tn
steward of my house is this Eliezer @
Damascus? And Abram said, Behold. t
me Thou hast given no seed: and 10, on
born in my house is mine heir. And, be
hold, the word of the Lord came unto him
saying, This shall not be thine heir, bu
he that shall come forth out of thine owl
bowels shall be thine heir. And II
brought him forth abroad, and said, Loo
now toward heaven. and tell the stars, j
thou be able to number them; and He sai'
unto him. So shall thy seed be. And h
believed IN the Lord; and He counted j
to him for righteousness. And He sal.
unto him, I am the Lord that brought the
out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee thi
land to inherit it. And he said. Lord God
whereby shall l know that I shall inheri
it? And He said unto him, Take Me
heifer of three years old, and a she goa
of three years old, and a ram of tire
years old, and a turtle dove and a youn
pigeon. And he took unto him all these
and divided them in the midst, and lai,
each piece one against another, but tn
birds divided he not"
God never deserts His people. He some
times delays, but never forsakes, and Their
is a promise of blessing which comes +
every one who viii walk uprightly. Nc
tice the eighth verse of this fifteenth chap
Ter OF GENESIS. ana ne SAID, L0fQ too
whereby shall / know that I shall inheri
it?" Abram does not put this test to Go,
because he is i~ncredulous, or because h
believes that God may fail him, but be
cause it was the custom in those days 70
one to give a pledge of the ful6llment of
promise, he asks, "How shall / know"
Gods answer to him is a very strang
one-it is found in the verse that follows
"And He said unto him, Take Me a heife
of three years old, and a she goat of tire
years old, and a ram of three years old
and a turtle dove and a young pigeon.
Thus, seated opposite the altar we fin
Abram waiting-a wonderful illustratio,
of faith In Cod It is still early in tn
morning, and the offerings are before Hin
but God does not speak. Still Abram be
lieves God, and He counts it to him for
blessing. There was no sign Of the &C
ceptance of the sacrifice such as one woul
expect, but he waivers not; his faith j
firm as the rocks around him. Sarah ma,
have ridiculed him, and the servants ma,
have looked at him curlously, as il hi
mind was wandering, but Abram waits on
I have no question but that one of TIL
greatest blessings Of his life came to hin
while he waited.
We all Of us have had our hours of wait
ing for the ful6lment of His promises. w
have had nights that have been ~sleepsess
we have climbed the hill hundreds O
times to see if there was a cloud the size 0
q mans hand, giving us the token Of TIL
coming of victory, and the world has sal,