Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-07
THE SEVEN ASIATIC CHURCHES
6.-PHILADELPHYA, OR THE LOYAL CHURCH
Sermon by REV. w. H. FAUST, Lexington, Ca.

Text: II know thy works (behoid 1
have set before thee a door opened
which none can shut, that thou hast a
little power. and didst keep My word,
and didst not deny My name. '-Rev. S:S
What God expects of and needs from
His churches to-day above all things
else is the saving grace of loyalty. Ger
tain ordinances were given to the church
TO observe by the Christ, certain tasks
to perform, certain duties to do, and in
the same proportion that loyalty IS
manifest power comes. The only dlfer-
enCe between General Lee and General
Washington was found in their loyalty.
The only difference between a worthy
church and an unworthy church is
difference IN loyalty The only dI1er-
enCe between d good soldier and one
who is useless is that one is loyal to
his cause and to his leader and the
other knows not the fundamentals of
loyalty. The dead and dying churches
of to-day are those who have failed in
their allegiance to the King.
Some Things in Which Loyalty Is Ex-
pected.
I. Obedience-Just before Christ as
cended TO the right hand Of the Father
He commanded His disciples to go and
visit all nations, teaching them to OBJ
serve all things and as they went they
were TO have all power in heaven and
on earth back of them until the end OF
the ages. The first lesson that true
soldier must learn is one of obedience
to those in authority. To disobey means
that rebellion will spread and anarchy
will prevail, to disObey means that the
enemy will prevail and victory Will
perch upon the banner of the enemy and
/ not upon the soldiers who feel that
/ right should prevail and power and hon
/ or be theirs.
/ Socialism as it is carried to extremes
by some of its fanatical followers is fla
/ grant disubedience to established law
and custom. Anarchy is a setting up
and enthrOniug of the spirit of diSObedi-
! enCe is due. The South American re-
publics are nearly always engaged in
warfare from the simple fact that their
constituents know not the beauties OF
/ obedience to constituted authority. Dis
/ obedience and rebellion caused the
I downfall of the devil. DiSObedlenCe and
| rebellion will write Ichabod over the life
! of any individual or organization. Pro
/ motion never comes to the rebelhouS
. pupil. Rewards are melted out exceed
/ ingly sparingly to those who obey not
/ the demands of the law.
Godet says that the Philadelphia
church was one above censure, and no
| church receives richer praise than Phll-
/ adeiphia the sixth; il seems as II she
had but one step to make in advance
! to obtain her admittance into the
church triumphant" AS the name sig
nifieS brOtherly love so ii was impos-
/ Sible for them to be true 10 themselves
/ the Father. For if we do not love our
brothers whom we have seen, how can
we love God whom we have not seen
The church that is Obedient to the com
mands of its Founder must needs pros
per. In evangelizatiOn, teaching, mis-
sionary endeavor CHARITY and beneVo-
/ lence and all attributes Of truth and
/ righteousness the loyal, faithful, obedl
! ent church is true to her mission and
goes on from victory to victory, ever
carrying proudly the commentator OF
the Christ
2. Faith.-We talk much about being
true to the faith once delivered TO the
/ saints and seldom stop to think about
its constituent parts. Words and phrases
/ have grown hacLmeyed and meaningless
| to many Of our Christians. They have
taken too much for granted and have
received too much of the opinions OF
/ others without giving that prayertu
/ thought TO subjects Of vital interest
/ that their greatness really demanded
The true exercise Of true faith brings
the praise and communication of God
/ and the desired success to man. Abra-
ham. who left his home and kindred
at the command of Jehovah TO go into
/ strange land to possess il at the
/ promise Of God, demonstrates the class
| Of faith that is pleasing and acceptable
TO Christ faith that ciings on to the
| throne and positively refuses to let e
| until the bestOWal of the blessing. Like
! Jacob, our faith must be so powerful
! mat we Will WGeSUe against All pc"
ers until the blessing is finally given
The trouble with many is that we ldcE
faith. The little child never doubts its
| fathers ability to provide for its tenn
pCraI needs. The babe in its mothers
! arms never worries concerning the pro
vision for its temporal needs. Be
cause it has faith in its parents
to supply it's every need. SO mus
the true church have faith in The
/ words Of it's eStablsher to feel that i
shah prevail over the gates Of hell them
I selves and set up on high the stand
ard Of the cross over the places tha
were formerly controlled and dominated
by sin.
3. Adherence to Doctrins:-Doetrin,'
can not be Deprecated The church
that is growing most rapidly to-day
according to Or. Fl. K. Carroll, who i,
our expert church statistician, is th'
Disciple Church, and no class Of minis
teTs so continuously and perSiStently
preach the doctrines to which they sub
scribe To-day there is manifest tend.
ency to cut out doctrine and let every
Christian meet on common ground
There is a tendency to refer to certain
doctrines as Of comparatively little ina
pOrtance-tO set up some and pull dOW1
others The Bible places adoption
sanctificatiOn, regeneration, baptism
obedience, justification, Missions evan
gelizatiOn, education, service ard al
the other doctrines alongside eacf
other, and the man who refers lightly
to baptism or missions knows very lit
tie in an experimental way about re.
generation or sanctifcation. Now W.
need some Of the stuff in our churche!
that made Cranmer go to the stake
and that caused the early followers O
Christ to be thrown to the lions by the
devOteeS Of Nero. We need fresh ap.
plication of the spirit that sent Johr
the Baptist into the presence of Hero
to tell him Of his sin. We need a new
insight of the great doctrine Of JUST.
~ Cot !, irI h.