The Penn's Grove record., 1903-02-20
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"coD'S PLAN FOR U.s."

Both JOY and Peace, Blessing and
Power-A High Ideal For Every Life.
NEW York CITY.-The following sermon
IS one OF a series preached by the famous
evangelist, the Rev. DR.. J. Wilbur Chap
man. 1t Is entitled Goods Plan For Us.n
and was founded ON the text: mot as
though L had already attained, either were
already perfect, but l follow after. if that
l may %apprehend that for which also / am
plans iii: IL.
God has a 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. If any one is
having an up-and-down Christian expe-
rlence, hot to-day and cold tomorrow,
near 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 &C 'omplished by the Holy Spirit.o OF
god. An experience of unrest dishonors
God, and when you find a heart in which
there Is this unrest and dissatisfaction YOU
always find a life in which God has not
yet, finished His work. peace I leave
with you; My peace I give unto you," was
written for such an one, and is his inherit
"nido ~ Woulu De a most Q1fflcuit
thing to define peace, yet possibly the best
definition would be to take it's opposite.
and SO it would read like this: Peace is
the opposite of unrest, of confusion, of
strife. This blessing is for every one of
Gods children, if they will but claim it.
1t IS no more disastrous for one's srm 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:
II. may %apprehend that for which I am
also apprehended of Christ Jesus" 1t
to go swinging out of its orbit than for q
LIE to run contrary to the plan of God.
The fact is our crosses in this world al.
ways come to us when our wills run con-
trary 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 ilfe when our wills run parallel to that
OF God. Though we may be Obliged to
live in poverty and meet with what this
world calls disaster and failure, if we are
perfectly sure we are doing according to
Gods will we may say with the apostle:
"An things work together for good"
God has a high ideal for every life, and
we have but to read the Scriptures to
find this to be true. We find in Romans
/: Z, that we are called Saints" this is
our name. We learn in / Corinthians iii:
9: that we are "laborers together with
9: that it is our privilege to be in fellow
ship with Gods Son, and this word eel
lowship" is literally partnership" In
Revelation ii: II, God promises to give to
us His own hidden mani to eat. OF this
the world knows n~othing-it can neither
give it nor take it away. In the 25th
Psalm, 18th verse, we have a 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: 20 the conversation of the child
of God is described. It is to be in heav-
en-, from whence also we look for the Sa-
viour, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephe-
slams ii: 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 hat we have 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 Z: pa,
"'Oh, wretched man that / am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?"
We may have Gods power. 2 Cor. xii: 9
My grace is sufficient for thee; for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
may rest upon me-" Let US therefore
cease to speak of the presence of the Holy
Ghost as an experience and talk about the
better Christian life as an ct" 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 may have Gods rest. Hebrews w:
l to 3E"Let us therefore fear, lest. a
promise being left us of entering into His
rest, any of you should seem to come
short of it. For unto us was the gospel
preached, as well as unto them. but the
word preached did not profit them. not
being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. For we which have believed do enter
into rest, as he said, As l have sworn in
my wrath, if they shall enter into nv
rest; although the works were finished
1t is most significant that in the tenth
verse of this fourth chapter of Hebrews
we read: "For he that has entered into
his rest, he also hath ceased from his own
works, ss 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
6shness 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: l0E"For they verify for a 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 depriving
ourselves of our birthright as His children.
We might sum up Gods plan for our
lives under three heads:
/. 1t is Gods will that we should be re-
generated. John i: Is, A-"Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the win 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" !.
Regeneration is not a working over OF
the old nature, for that which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and never can be any
thing else. 1t may be educated flesh, cul-
tured flesh, but after all it is flesh, and is
displeasing to God. 1t does not come as
the result of reformation, for while re-
formation may touch a mans present and
possibly his future, it has nothing to do
with his past sins, which are like the
sands of the sea in number. Environment
has nothing to do with our passing from
death unto life. If environment could
save the soul or keep it, Adam never would
have fallen, for he dwelt in paradise. Lot
would have been a model citizen, for he
abode in the fairest city of the then known
world.
Regeneration is Gods breathing into man
His own life-it is literally being born
from above.
2. It is Gods will that we should be
sanctiied.
! Thes. iv: 3-"For this is the viii of
God, even your specification"
Some people feel much prejudiced against
the idea of specification, but it is in Gods
Word, and it would be well for us to study
it and realize it in our experience. To be
sanctifed is to be separated, and it is GER
tainly the plan of God that His people
shall be a separated people. While they
are Gin the world they are to be in no
sense "of the world" They are COM
manded wen not to touch that which is
rnoIoor ond all tho old fau raspant,or 4bo