Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1905-02-02
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY.
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED.
.:DlvlNE COMPREHENSIVE

:O1vlNE CONF ANlONSHtP."
rev. Charles E. Benedict Makes q
Beautiful Commentary on the Briefest
Yet Most Comprehensive Biography
: Ever Written-Ketain God's Love.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.-The Rev. Charles E.
Benedict, pastor of st. James NJ. E.
Church, Eighty-fourth street and Twen-
tieth avenue. Bensonhurst, preached Sun.
day morning on "Divine COMPREHENSIVE"
The texts were from Genesis v:24: .Enoch
walked with God. and he was not, for God
took him." and Hebrews xi:5: Before his
translation he had this testimony, that he
pleased God" MI. Benedict said:
This is one of the briefest yet most com
prehensive biographies ever written. These
passages, containing twenty-three words,
tell US about all we know concerning this
man Enoch. Imagine the story of your
life told in three sentences! He walked
with God, he pleased God and he was
translated. This is the record Of Enoch's
life. It reads more like an epitaph than a
biography, yet l would rather have those
first two statements true Of my life than
to have the most eloquent tributes or eulo-
CYSTIC praises ever written or spoken by
Him! Do you know Of anything more de-
sirable?
It is said that a mans walk is indicative
oil his career. Manner and gesture are an
index to character. 1t is possible to make
an estimate approximately correct of the
type Of men you meet on the street by not
ing the poise and bearing of the average
pedestrian. One walks with a firm, quick
step, head erect. shoulders back, and you
resolute, se~lf-respecsing man, bound to sue
ceed. Another shambles by with shiftless
gait, dragging his feet rather than lifting
them, and you put him down for a loafer.
A third glides along noiselessly, threading
his way in and out among the crowd, and
you know ~intuitively that he is a sly,
scheming trickster. Another walks with
pavement were rolling and humping against
his feet, and as with plying glance you
watch him stagger along you say, "The
poor fellow is drunk" So a mans gait be-
trays him. His walk signifies the manner
Of. his life.
One is likewise known by the company
he keeps. We are Largely, what our friends
persons with whom you associate. in whom
you confide, to whom you so with all your
troubles and with whom you share your
every Joy, aud [ will have no difficulty in
estimating your character. To retain pur-
ity of character if ones associates are base
and ignoble is an impossibility. And it
would seem equally impossible to live an
impure, vicious, wicked life il all our asso-
eiates are noble and virtuous. We are in
huenced unconsciorsly by the words and
actions of our friends. Like the chamc-
leon, we take on the hue Of our surround
ings and reflect the likeness of our COM
panions.
The human heart under normal condi-
tions Graves companionship. From the be-
ginning it was so. God saw that it was not
good, for man to be alone, so He gave him
constituted that we must have some one
with whom to share oul happy hours.
some good. true friend VINO enters into
our experiences with sympathetic appre-
citation. whose heart aches in our sorrow
and ~rejoices in our JOY.
The stNngest truth contained in all
Gods wonderful volume of truth is that
God Omnipotent, whose wisdom is omnis.
cience, whose goodness is perfection, whose
name is love, that He should condescend
to become the companion and associate OF
Nan, His creature. / said that this is the
strangest truth. Let me take it back.
There is one truth more astounding yet
IT'S this-that man should refuse the
friendship and disdain the companionshil
Of Jehovah, his God.
Of all the divine humiliations what cou,t
be geater than this. that He should seel
the friendship of mortal man and find i
not? That He should offer Himself for tn,
closest and most intimate relationship, as
companion for life's pilgrimage, a~eomrad'
for life's struggles, an associate and conf
dant amid all life's changing scenes, ant
yet be rejected!
The trouble is and has ever been whe1
men nave rejected God that they love th
darkness rather than the light, becaus
their deeds are evil. From the openin
chapters Of human history until now /
has been true that man, the creature. ha
been out Of harmony with God, the Crea
tor.
It is refreshing, therefore, to find in tn
inspired record, amid the genealogies O
ancient nobodies who lived long, bore chi
dren, and eventually died, the story of on
holy life, a man who walked with God an
who pleased God. From this fragmentar
sketch of Enoch's life, reading betwee
the lines and penetrating beneath the sui
race of the words which contain his BIT
graphy, we may discover some helpf,
truths concerning. divine companionship.
To walk with God implies, first of al
reconciliation with God. Man by nature
not on good terms with his Maker, Tim
was when the most loving intimacy an
harmonious, relationship existed betwee
them. "Adam walked with God in tt
garden in the cool of the day" Not b
fore Him as a herald, nor behind Him as
slave. but beside Him, as His companio,
and I had almost said His equal. b
something came between them. They hs
a falling out. AS one has expressed
"Sin came and opened the mighty chasm
separation and since then the carnal mil
has been enmity against God"
The Fathers heart has yearned for re
onciliation, but how could reconciliatit
be made? The heart Of man was Who'll
estranged. An impossible gulf yawned /
tween him and his Creator. He h;
sinned against Divine Majesty and f
feited the Divine favor. But
The love of God is broader
Than the measure of mans mind:
And the heart of the Eternal
. Is most wonderfully kind"
= Therefore, Good, who is rich in mer.
= for His great love wherewith He loved
even when we were dead in sins" det
i mined to bridge. the chasm. to- heal t
II breach and win back the affections ali
" ated by sin. He sent Christ into the wo,
! as Mediator. And He, who is our pea
Hath made both one. and hath brok
down }ho ui1Ilo 1r,o11 - ro.4:4:.-y IL