The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-11-08
SUNDAY SERMON
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a Scholarly Discourse BY
Rev I w Henderson.
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on the theme, The Holy Spirit" the
! Rev |. w. Henderson, pastor, took
as his text Jno 14:16-17. He said
in the course of his sermon
As we read this and the two sue
ceeding chapters of this good news
| OF the Beloved Disciple, we appre-
ciate, more and more, the vital, force
full influence of the Holy Spirit upon
the lives of those who love and serve
! God. 1t was at the close of the Last
Supper that Christ uttered these
words. A few hours and the cross
claimed Him. Philip had asked,
] Lord, shew us the Father" our
text portion of Christ's answer.
We are told by the commentators
that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter
! is also an advocate, helper. Liter
/ ally translated the Greek means:
! one who is called to another's side
| 60 aid him" To our side, an ever
/ present aid through all eternity, the
/ Holy Spirit has been called by Christ.
/ Comforter advocate, teacher, helper,
/ guide and eternal friend, such is the
/ Holy Spirit of the new dispensation
as granted to us by our Heavenly Fa.
/ ther.
The position of the Holy Spirit
/
/ by the propositions used In the
/ verses. And | will pray the Father,
/ and He shall give you another Com.
forter, that lie may abide with you
forever, even the spirit of truth.
| whom the world cannot receive be-
cause it seeth Him not. neither know
eth Him, but We know Him, for He
abideth by you and shall be in you"
I hts tp
lin the fellowship of His everlast-
ing presence" BY you. lin His per.
sonal presence. In you, "as an abid.
ing personal energy With you, by
you, in you, in all the eternal ON
impotence, love and wisdom of the
very God Himself The Holy Spirit
is the presence of Almighty God and
of His son Jesus Christ with you, by
you. in you. The pronouns, as the
propositions, are of prime import
ance. He is God, with, by and in
man.
The Holy Spirit who is in our
hearts to-day has been the dynamic
in the lives of consecrated men and
women since time was. In his jour.
ney up from bondage, 1t was the spir-
it of God tnat sustained Moses He
is the spirit of which Isaiah wrote:
And thine ears shall hear a word be-
hind thee saying, This is the way,
walk ye in it, And again we read in
Ezekiel. And l will put my spirit
within You, and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and ye shall keep My
judgments and dothem." The spirit of
Samuel and of jeremiah is the Spirit
OF Saul of Tarsus. The same but, oh,
how much more full. He brings to
us not merely the wealth of asso-
citation that crowds about the ma
t.onal life of the chosen people of
God. To us, He comes as a consum-
nation and memorial of the power
majesty and all-embraciug love of
God and Of His Son our Saviour,
Jesus, the Christ
The Holy Spirit influences and di-
rects every good and great movement
that emauates from the hearts and
souls of Christian men. God work
ing in His Holy Spirit fills the heart
of Henry Ward Beecher 18th an over
whelming love for the Southern
slave, and the inspired words of that
virile Christian speed the breaking
of a million shackles. The auction of
the slave girl in the pulpit of Ply
mouth Church was God in His Spirit
moving Henry Ward Beecher to de-
cisiye action. The Holy Spirit enters
the heart Of Florence Nightingale and
soldiers on every ruddy field know
the touch Of a loving hand and the
consolation of sympathizing heart.
The Comforter strikes hidden, mex
haustible springs in the souls of D.
/. Moody, of General Crittenden, of
Jerry McAulay, and myriads of out
cast men and fallen women feel the
power of the sheltering, upbearing
arm Of Almighty God Tennyson
hears the voice of God within and to
us are given the immortal lines of
In Memoriam" and Of Crossing the
Bar
The history of the presence of
the Christ in the lives Of nations lies
in the work consummated by His
Holy Spirit. All the great reforms,
all the great movements that have
bettered humanity have had their in
ceptiOn in the minds of Spirit-filled
men. Who can say but that the hand
and the Spirit of God have been with
this land, as it was with Israel, in her
phenomenal success. To be sure we
have made our mistakes. We are a
far cry from the Christ ideal. But
did we, nationally, revere Him more.
did we but let His Holy Spirit dwell
deeper and more lastlngly in our ma
tiOnal heart, He would bless US far
beyond our fondest expectations.
God is the God OF nations. Christ
came to take away the sins of the
orld, Of nations, as of individuals.
The Holy Spirit can hll a nations
heart ii its people Will but do Gods
will
The most vital necessity in the life
of the Christian and OF the church Is
the Holy Spirit as He descends. con-
stantly frCshened and refreshing,
from the throne of Cod Having ac-
cepted Christ and His plan for our
redemption, He is the first thing that
we must gain. The apostles, men of
God and with Christ as they were,
could do naught in the work of the
eyangelization Of the world and OF
lifting mankind to the level of the
Christ life until they had received
the gift Of the Holy Ghost. For in
the first chapter Of the record of the
Acts Of the Apostles we read that
'the Apostles being assembled to-
gether' after the resurrection, our
Lord commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Fa-
ther, which, saith He, ye have heard
Of Me. For John truly baptized with
water, but ye shall be baptized of the
Holy Ghost not many days hence"
On h.1 1uH - Der ..sN . 1.