Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-03-21
THE MlLEY-HooKER MEETING.

THE MlLEY-HooKER MEETING.
The series Of services conducted by
DR.. Miley at the First Presbyterian
church OF Yorkville, during the past
two weeks, came to close Sunday
evening, DR.. Miley taking as his text
the 18th and 18th verses of the first
chapter of John, and gave as his sub
ject "Sonshp in Gods family"
The church was well filed for the
last service OF the series, the congre-
CATION being composed Of the church
membership Of the various churches Of
the town and community. The singing
under the leadership Of Mr. Hooker
was an interesting feature of the SER
vice and included two solos by Mr..
Hooker and a special selection sung by
the choir by request.
During the series of services DR.. Mi
ley has been greeted by large congre-
cations at almost every service and the
results of the meeting have been sat-
isfactory to all concerned.
At'the close of the service a special
free will Offering was taken up for the
benefit Of the evangelistic work being
done by DR.. Miley and Mr.. Hooker,
and at the suggestion Of DR.. Gillespie
there was a rising vote Of appreciation
extended to DR.. Miley and Mr.. Hooker
for their services during the meeting.
DIR. Miley took occasion to express his
pleasure at the fine meeting here and
also extended his thanks to the congre-
CATION for the many courtesies extend
ed to them during his stay in York
vile, and also said that he hoped to
come again at later date. The SER
vice was closed with the singing Of one
stanZa Of "Blest be the tie that binds"
ii h,yr
the text of the evening, DR.. Miley said
that few of us appreciate the blessing
that is ours in being members OF Coos
family and those that were not men,
bers of Gods family did not appreciate
what they are missing. The origin OF
mans existence makes him naturally
child of God, and in another sense he is
child of God because man is made in
Gods image. But because we are made
in the image CT God does not make us
one Of his family in the sense of the
text, which reads, But as many as re-
ceived him, Christ, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even
to them that. believe on his name :
Which were born, not Of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor Of the will OF
man, but Of God"
Adam was child of God, but he was
on probation, and, was not son of
God. Christ undertook to introduce
us into Gods family. The curse Of sin
had come to us all through Adam, and
the first work of Jesus was to redeem
us from sin by offering himself as
sacrifice as q redemption from our sins.
AS many as receive Jesus become
righteous in him.
We all recognize the necessity of be-
ing in correct legal relations to the
community in which we live, and to our
families. But of more Importance is II
that we are in correct legal and spiritu-
al relation to Jesus Christ and to God.
But this is not enough, being in correct
legal relation to family and to God is
not enough. There must be more than
legal tie in our family relations. We
must be born into the family of God.
But no man is born in to the kingdom
of God because of family connections.
Who can estimate the advantage OF a
strong VIII? Who can estimate the
value of education and Of culture? =?
But, you can not cultivate sinner
into a saint, nor vegetable into an
animal A birth into the kingdom of
God means that you must be born
again.
Your child when born is just as
much your child at birth as when il
grows to manhood, but to grow it must
have nourishment, exercise, parental
care. When you are born again into
the kingdom of God, he expects you to
grow spiritually because of the paren-
tai care Of the heavenly father. 1t is
the right and privilege Of a child of
God to have no guilt. do not mean to
say that he cannot have any guilt. but
he is still the child of God despite his
guilt. Your own child is not cut off
because Of guilt.
DR.. Miley gave the parable Of the
Prodigal Son as an example setting
forth the infinite love of the heavenly
father. The speaker asked his hearers
to read the life story Of Jerry McAuley.
the Sing Sing convict who established
the great Jerry McAuley mission In
New York and see if McAuley was not
a counterpart Of the Prodigal Son. DO
not forget the ragged beggar who had
been living on the husks, the tale Of
woe that he told and the father that
met hin-that father is but the count
erpart of the heavenly father. He loves
you tonight as he did when he gave his
son on Calvary. If you are not in cor
rect relation to God it is your fault, not
his. Your child is always your child.
lust so you are chi Id OF God. The
Prodigal Son was his fathers son
To be a child of God means that
shall be q man some day. We gather
the little ones about the hearthstone
today-tomorrow they are gone. The
child in your home is your heir-he
will inherit what you have. Paul says
we are joint heirs with Christ. Have
YOU ever thought what that means?
Think what it would be to be an heir
of a Carnegie, a Rockefeller a King
George. But what does it mean to be
n joint hair with Christ? That means
that all the glories of Heaven shall be
youI5-its gates of pearl, streets of
gold. its walls Of precious stones.
We are never contented> here, said
Dr.. Miley-no earthly thing can satisfy
the human soul-AlcXandcr was not
satisfied when he had conquered the
known world. And we do not want to
feel that this world is alive all want
TO feel that there is something in the
hereafter. Heirs of God. That means
the time when God will be mine and !
will be his.
We know what it means to be a joint
heir-but what does it mean to be
joint heirs with Jesus Christ? To have
his home and his glory for our own.
And that inheritance shall be incor-
ruptiblc. and undefiled, and that fadeth |
not away. Families some times try to |
trace their ancestry back to some great |
statesman, soldier or man OF wealth.
The family OF Jesus traces back to |
Abel, Enoch, Abraham David and |
of ther of the great characters of Bible !