The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-01-03
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SUNDAY SERMON f;
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IA Scholarly Discourse By
Rev. Edward Niles.


"Holding.a a form of godliness, but bav'
ing denied the power thereof" He
said:
That distance lends enchantmeni
to the view" is true of time as well
as space. The older we grow, the
more immaculate appear the imagined
days of youth. Cnristian 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
ieremiads over "these time of extreme
worldliness. unequaled love OF money.
peculiar Indifference to spiritual
things" followed by laudations OF
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 incon'
sistent lives numerous. backsliders
distressingly frequent. The things OF
sense mace cogent appeal. The husks
of the gospel often satisfied to the dis
regard of its kernel. Paurs descrip
ton of "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 have
been many, Kingdoms have come ana
gone, languages have died and been
born. church order and ritual been met
amorphosed Human nature Is un-
affected by time or cline. $50 the New
Testament is not graveyard. with
epitaphs of only antiquarian interest
but is Photographic OF contemporary
heart tbrobs.
In our Borough of Brooklyn are 15G.-
679 people holding to the Protestant
form of godliness. While statistics
are unable to figure out how many
hold to the Protestant power thereof,
if form and power were Identical. not
one of the buildings where divine wor-
ship is being held tonight would have
a vacant seat and every theatre and
hall would be utilized for overflow
meetings.
The original of "deny" has as its
root meaning mot to seek" Hold
ing form of godliness, they have not
sought for its power" The world has
much to say about hypocrites. be.
lieve the outcry against them is out
of all proportion TO their numbers.
The conscious hypocrite to-day is
rare bird. / have made frequent hunts
or him Despite the most diligent
search, have seldom found him.
The number of those called hypo-
critics, who would rightly be catalogued
as Journalists, is legion. They are not
striving to deceive others. They sue
ceed in their striving to deceive them
selves. Satisfied with the appurte-
nances. the trappings of godliness,
they inquire no further. Attendants
upoa 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 disrcpute
they bring upon the name by their in
feriority to the real article. Their
gulibility is wrongly taken for hy-
pocrlsy They submit to the drudgery
Of religion to pacify troublesome con
sciences and impose upon themselves.
An important reason for so many
Iapses from church membership is be-
cause so many become dissatisfied with
a form, vet fail 10 seek the reality, so
give up ALL
Almost every one in this congrega-
good. / find little to criticise in what
you do. for there is so little you do on
which to base criticism. The trouble
lies in what you do not. You may
haze 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 classis
but in the tenement to he your proxy
in heart to heart work for souls, your
substitute when the battle is on be-
tween good and evil. while you go
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 l now repudiate it, l am
called of God to point out the forms
of godliness as means of obtaining its
power.
The imperative needs of our invent
i've age have almost bodily transferred
to our language the Greek here rem
dered 'power." in the word dynamo.
l 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 a senselcss eyesore un-
til it is connected with the main line.
Even then it is useless until related
to the power house, until the power,
the fire-fed dynamo sends forth the
electric current, enabling the cars to
carry thousands of wage e-earners to and
from their places of everyday toll.
What private concern would be so In
ane as to sink for two years such a
wealth of money in an enterprise for