Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-01-04
SUNDAY SERMON
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) SOSACsos1% OS
Rev. Edward Miles.

Sunday evening from II Timothy lilo:
Holding form Of goodness, but nav.
ing denied the power thereof" he
said: b"
That distance lends enchantment
to the view is true of time as well
as space. The older we grow, the
more immaculate appear the imagined
days Of youth. Christian believers are
purer in our eyes in proportion to the
number of centuries that intervene:
Within the covers Of every volume OF
sermons whether written IN one age
or another, are the well.nigh certain
jeremiads over "these time Of extreme
worldliness, unequaled love Of money,
peculiar Indifference to spiritual
things" followed by laudations or
the apostolic age as the golden era OF
Christianity.
A reconstruction of conditions exist
ing in those New Testament churches
from materials afforded us In the
epistles, warrant no such assumption.
Heresies then were rampant, 1nc0n-
sistent lives numerous, backsliders
distressingly frequent. The things OF
sense maze cOgent appeal. Inc husks
of the gospel often satisfied to the as
regard of its kernel. Pauls descrlp-
ton of 1.-THE last days was based upon
facts about him. AS he penned the
sentence of our text. he probably had
in mind fellow communicates who
held the form of godliness, but denied
the power thereof.
Since then outward changes nave
been many. kingdoms have come ana
gone, languages have died and been
born. church order and ritual been met
amorphosed. Human nature is ur'
affected by time or cline. So the New
Testament Is not graveyard. with
epitaphs of only antiquarian interest,
but Is Photographic of contemporary
heart throbs.
In our Borough of Brooklyn are 1885,
$40 people holding to the Protestant
form of godliness. While statistics
are unable to figure out how many
hold to the Protestant power thereon.
IL form and power were Identical, not
one of the buildings where divine wor-
ship is being held tonight would have
vacant seat and every theatre ana
hall would be utilized for overflow
meetings.
The original of deny" has as its
root meaning mot to seek" "Hold.
Ing a form of godliness, they have not
sought for its power" The world mas
much to say about hypocrites. l be.
lieve the cutlery against them is OUT
of all proportion 10 their numbers
The conscious hypOcrite to-day is
rare bird. have made frequent hunts
or him. Despite the most diligent
search. l have seldom found him.
The number of those called hypo-
critics, who would rightly he catalogued
as Journalists, is legion. They are not
striving to deceive otheps. They sue
coed in their striving to deceive them
selves. Satisfied with the appurte.
nances. the trappings of godliness.
they inquire no further. Attendants
npon the services of the church. men,
bers Of it. supporters of its outward ac-
tivities, they fancy themselves to be
godly. Branded as Christians, they
but feebly apprehend what disrepute
they bring upon the name by their in
feriority to the real article. Their
gullibility is wrongly taken for hy-
pocrisy. They submit to the drudgery
of religion to pacify troublesome con-
sciences and impose upon themselves.
An important reason for so many
lapses from church membership is be-
cause so many become dissatisfied with
q form. vet fail to seek the reality, so
give up all.
Almost every one in this congresa-
ton has form of godliness You look
good. find little to criticise In what
you do. for there is so little you do on
which to base a criticism. The trouble
lies in what you do not. You may
have called me here to predigest your
spiritual food. to relieve you from
first-hand study of the Bible. to rep
resent your church not only in Chassis
but in the tenement. to be your proxy
In heart to heart work for souls. your
substitute when the battle is OH be-
tween good and evil. while you 20
your business and household ways dur
ing the week and on Sunday enjoy
your cushioned pews, criticise the ser
mon and singing.
The Lord never called me to any like
task If there has been any such tacit
agreement I now repudate 1t. | am
called of God to point out the forms
of godliness as means of obtaining its
power.
The imperative needs of our invent
Ave age have almost bodily transferred
to our language the Greek here rem
dered power" in tho word dynamo.
i believe in forms. just as the railroad
engineer believes In the third rail. as
he believes in the elevated structure Oh
the Williamsburg Bridge. But the
mass Of iron is q senSeless eyesOre UNI
Ill it is connected with the main line.
Even then it is useless until related
- hn
the fire-fed dynamo, sends forth the
electric current, enabling the cars to
fairy thousands of wage-earners to and
from their places OF everyday toll.
What private concern would be so in
hne as to sink for two years such
wealth of money in an enterprise for
accommodating rust?
The forms Of religion are essential as
preliminaries to the accessories of
bower. Churches. ministers, Bibles
were instituted and have been perpet
hated because divinely ordained and
humanity tested to be good for making
The Kingdom of heaven go" upon
earth. In themselves. they have no
value. The power Of godliness gener
ated in Christian lives must electrify
them or they are encumbrances.
You are commissioned to lead others
to Christ Your commission gives you
;power to act" Are you availing your.
self Of that privilege? l find no verse
in the Scripture which reads BE good
and you will be Christian" l find
reiterated. over and over, "Do good"
Christianity is not colorlessness. II
has no minus sign. 1t is ever positive.
IA negative being Is peculiarly abhor'
rent to Him whose biography Is cpl.
tomized by "He went about doing
good" II would thou vert either
, cold or hot" Is His message to such
torpid professors. because thou art