Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-12-08

se0.S Il il to this IncarpAte word tAs4
We must turn It we are to be enligbtene4
and satisfed. And few passages Ia Gods9
word speak out more hope and imnediaSo
blessing than the text: As many as 8.
to become children Of God"
But some one asks, what is the process
by which this is done? And reply II
the continuing words of this same versef
Even to them that believe on His name,
But what is it to believe ON His nam6f
ton: Faith is the flial, trastful relation.
which the whole man, intellect, heart and
will. sustains toward the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ said to His disciplea.
Come ye after Ne, and II viii make yos1
fishers Of men,. They obeyed. Hearty
intellect and will accepted and believed
Christ to have the right and the power
to communicate to them 'ssonship',, oK
God. Disciples Of Him who walked among
them as their Redeemer. And when they
had given Him that simple confidence and
proved it openly by obedience to His COM
nland Of public confession Of His claim,
glad and willing to be known as His fol-
lowers and co-workers, at that moment
were they given the right to be the chill
dren of God. Then were they born not
Of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, noF
of the will Of man, hut of God The gem
uineness Of their faith and sonship was
attested in various ways. To them saliva
to others. They did not doubt the di-
lowed Him. Your child loves and reioices
in you when he obeys you. Christ the
great captain of righteousness is asking
men to follow Him. eff ye know these
things, happy are ye if ye do them" This
smeatsf more than mere intellectual assent
fn fho nd ~
for this may remain only profession and
not pass into feeling and action.
You recall the searching words Of Christ
speaking to the intellectual failures of the
Pharisees, in Matthew XIV: 8: s"rhis peo-
pie honoreth Me with their lips: but their
worship Me, teaching for doctrine the
commandments of men" And again.
when He was speaking to this same 'aris-
tocracy of the intellect and sticklers for
the strict letter of the law, He said: "And
why call ye me Lord! Lord! and do not
then, Christ was eager that men should
give honest, hearty assent to His claims
OF discipleship. He then promised poten-
tial freedom, personal liberty. But the
mere exercise of faith was not enough.
Christianity is something larger and finer
than even the genuine exercise Of faith
! in the person and work of Christ.
| Faith unfolds itself in many forms 81
| Christian experience and activity, all OF
growth Hs s1 and oiee serviee v When esn'1 st. Paul
wrote to that little band of men at Ephe-
sus, who had exercised their faith in the
personal Christ, he bade, them grow up
even Christ" But lest there may be some
among US this morning who, in thinking
this whole matter. over, do not find il SO
| difficult to believe this Divine Son OF
God, but who do not quite appreciate the
relation Of a man so his sin, to his fail
ures, his deliberate acts Of wrong and evil
is it necessary to repent?a And what is
| repentance? Except We repent cried
John the Baptist Manifestly it is neces-
sary. And what is It? ''It is a deep
change of the entire thinking, feeling and
willing man; and involves as its elements
enlightenment, contrition and confession.
prayer for pardon and peace, counting the
Look at these for moment. Enlighten-
ment! This is the work of the Holy
Ghost. It was not until the prodigal son
came to himself that he started on that
T wondrous pathway to lifelong blessing.
Enlightenment as to his own folly and
awaited his return. My brother, if some
things are uncertain, pray for enlighten-
ment and He who in the same chapter
proclaimed Himself to be the light oi
men, viii reveal the path to contrition
and confession. II have sinned against
heaven and in Thy sight" was q life Civ:
hg ths+ confession f;ts m "a and prayer It showed
and ashamed for its past ingratitude In
that heart cry for pardon was the souls
receiving Christ, and because He received
he had the right to be son of God. Man
repented and God by His divine act re.
generated.
/ There are others here to-day who will
admit the truth Of much that I say, but
in whom and about whom there are OBJ
stacles which you have not the courage
and the determined patience to overcome
Some of these obstacles aresthe power. oil
sin in the soul, for, like st. Paul of old.
find law that f.,sh xhen .y y9u do d good
own personality and achievement, foR
there are not few Of us. with II thank
Thee that / am not as other men are''
tendencies; the environment OF worldly
interests and friendships, and the insin.
cerity of many processing Christians. Ah
how many of us does this latter include:
rise above these obstacles and become sons
OF God.
I Again I ask the initial question of this
message, can I do as I please? Or must
do as another pleases? And I believe
an honest study of the New Testament
I Will snow uS LHdt the OiLy lf0cuOM WHICH
is comprehensive is the freedom and lib
erty which God gives to our whole nature
when we have accepted or received His
Son Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer and
Master. May you this day, my earnest
seeking friends. find the Christ whose
sacriicial leve, represented in this atonine
called children Of God, and if children
then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. if so be that we suffer with
Him, that we may be also gloriGed to
gether.
Every Man q Painter. a.
Paint me picture said q great mas
ter to his fayorite pupil. @Paint me q
picture said the student. '.I cannot
paint picture worthy of such master
; | But do it for nv sake-for my sake" Was