Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1903-10-08

CHRISTIAN SURETY.
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON.
Inc Assurances of Divine Mercy
Beautifully Portrayed By An Eio.
Quent Pastor.

OCEAN GROVE, n. J.-Ne rly II, 900 peo-
pie filled the Auditorium here Sunday
morning to listen to the Rev. Reginald
pie, London. His subject was .:The Ground
Of Christian Certainty He said:
-1y text, or rather, my two texts, will be
found, one in the third chapter and four
teenth verse and the other in the fourth
chapter and nineteenth verse of the First
have passed from death unto life, because
we love the brethren. He that loveth not
his brother abideth for death" eve love
Him because He first loved us"
The thought is not one of simple graft
tude. The text teaches us hat the power
OF loving comes from the fact that God is
love; The writer OF the fourth gospel,
whether he was or was not the Apostle
John, was probsolv one Of the greatest
theologians that ever lived, because his
spiritual insight is so pro. vund and the
lnwardness of his master mind so COM
p,ete; The writer of the Fourth Gospel is
was undoubtedly John the Divine He
never refers to himself by name, but only
as the disciple whom Jesus loved None OF
US would be willing to spare out of our
Christian experience the fourteenth chap
ter Of st. John. In this the disciple sets
forth what we believe to be the profound
est and most beautiful truth concerning
the relationship of the sanctified soul to
the Redeemer. What a beautiful phrase
is thiss The disciple whom Jesus loved'
This man of Wonderf- i ability who re-
down for our benefit. Byathat he did not
mean that he was the S1ly disciple whom
Jesus loved, but he meant to say. that he
got his own spiritual experience from the
same foundation that we get ours:
There are signs in the New Testament
hat fho n >1o
one time passionate, ambitious nli.
Mark that occasion when James and John
were called the Sons of Thunder: when
they came to Christ and said. Master,
shall we command fire to come down from
,,ei,v heaven an and consume IS, these adversaries,
'Ye know not yet what spirit We are Of
Again, the mother of James and John
comes to the Master and says. Master,
grant that these, my two sons, may sit the
%, one on Thy right hand and the other on
kingdom" She thought. and they thought,
and they all thought that. the kingdom
was to be an earthly one; that Christ was
to, grasp the sceptre of the Caesars and
rule over the world, and that those who
stood nearest Him would occupy the
places of greatest honor in His kingdom,
~ two is men and nads said: Are YOU able
=. drink of the cup whereof I shall drink.
| and to. be baptized with the baptism
whereof am baptized" And they an
are" Then said the Master. eye shall in
deed drink of Nv cup, and be baptized
with the baptism whereof am baptized"
| The other disciples were mucn displeased
with James and John. Thy could have
spared themselves the trouble: The Master
truth He very well knew-what was in
! their hearts. The one was seeking the
crown that was corruptible, and that fad
eth away; the other was to live in history
| as the apostle of love-. What long way
John must have Travelled before this pas
sionate. ambitious man was abe to de-
serve this title, ''the Apostle of Love-"
John gave the greater part of his young
| life to the preaching of the gospel of love.
| Toward the close of that long and wonder
me Sunday. morning to the congregation of
the faithful. It was his last appearance
benediction to tie little flock comes down
to us through the history Of the ages:
Little children, love one another"
text were on the lips Of the Apostle John:
eve know that we have passed from
! death unto life, because we love the
brethren And again. the higher exper-
| ience whio4l makes possible the other, eve
loved US"
This is not the only experience of the
kind. Some of you might be inclined to
say: "This is all well enough in its place
to talk about the Apostle John as being
the APOSTLE of love" But we are not John
There are some other people who deserve
the title. What about Peter, the impul-
sive fisherman? Peter was undoubtedly
impulsiye and selfish and not without his
ambition, too. Listen to the conversation
in the upper room. after the Master has
performed the foot washing He begins to
prepare His disciples for His coming in.
He says: eye shall all be confounded be.
cause Of Me this night" And Peter re-
plies: Though all should betray Thee,
yet will not l." What he meant to say
was this: "You have made great deal Of
this man. who is allowed to lie on Your
breast. Perhaps if crisis came he might
not be as much use as I would. If these
should betray Thee, yet will not L" The
time came when John admitted Peter to
Pilates hall. John stood silently by,
ready perhaps to die for his Master. Peter
was hiding somewhere in terror because OF
the Jews and Christ was dying, And then
after the resurrection Christ came to him
in secret Peter wept out his penitence
and the Master lifted him up again. Three
times he was asked, "Simon. Simon, son
of Jonas, lowest thou Me-" Peter an
swered. lord. Thou knowest- that love