The County Record

KEEPING THE FAITH
DR. CHAPMAN'S SUNDAY SERMON
It is Faith in God's Providence That
Creates Genuine Manhood and Wo-
manhood.
New York City.-The following ser-
mon, entitled "Live in the Sunshine," has
been furnished for publication by the dis-
tinguished and eloquent evangelist, the
Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman. It was
preached from the text "Keep yourselves
in the love of God." Jude 21.
Jude's is one of the briefest of all the
letters in the New Testament, containing
only twenty-five verses. It is, perhaps, the
last of the epistles. Though the date is not
definitely settled, it was probably written
after the destruction of Jerusalem, when
most of the apostles had finished their
work. There is a most delightful spirit of
humility in the letter. The writer called
himself a servant, and the bondsman of
Jesus Christ and the brother of James, and
that is a beautiful modesty, for, in fact,
it is generally believed that he was the
Lord's own brother and the son of Joseph
and Mary.
To no particular church or people was
the letter written, but the accounts make
it especially applicable to us. It is very
practical. The heart of Jude was stirred
because certain men were denying God
and the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, be-
cause of this, "I exhort you that you
should contend earnestly for the faith once
delivered to the saints." That expression
in the Greek, however, reads for the faith
delivered "once and for all" to the saints.
So the doctrine is the same to-day as in
the days of Jude and before then. Read-
ing on to the twentieth and twenty-fifth
verses there Jude indicates that we are expected
to contend as did the early disciples.
It has always seemed to me that faith
produced men, and their living in the
world was a contending for the faith. We
have the pattern of the life of the apos-
tolic Christian given to us. If you study
the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul,
Peter, John, and, better still, the wonder-
ful prayer of Christ in the seventeenth
chapter of John, you will see that there
were three great elements in their char-
acter. They were in the world, but not of
it; they were constantly looking for the
coming of Christ, and they were filled
with missionary fire and zeal. These three
characteristics must predominate now if
the church is to have power. When one
is in the world and not of it he realizes
he is a pilgrim and a stranger here, and he
endures trials and temptations because he
knows that they are but for a little while.
The second characteristic has just as great
an influence. The disciples were constant-
ly expecting the return of our Lord; they
remembered the testimony of the men who
had heard the angels on the slopes of Oli-
vet, and again and again they opened their
eyes, expecting to behold Him face to face.
It was this hope in their hearts which in-
spired their lives, transfigured the cross
and its shame and kept them pure in the
midst of all temptation and sin.
The third characteristic is equally im-
portant. How much we need to long for
the salvation of others! Nothing so
touches the hidden springs of the Christian
heart as to feel in some measure that he is
responsible for those about him. Some one
has said, when God would draw out all the
fathomless love of a woman's heart, He
lays a helpless babe upon her bosom, and
it is true that the church will awake to
power when she awakes to responsibility.
There is something which I have in mind
which will give us all the things I have
spoken about. It is described in the text.
If there could be any subject growing out
of the text to describe it, I should say that
it would be "Live in the sunshine."
I
know what the sunshine does for the
clouds: it gives them a silver lining. I
know what it does for the grass and the
trees and the flowers; it warms and nour-
ishes until they blossom into beauty and
fruitfulness. Take the plant away from
the light and it will droop and die; place
it where the sun will kiss it and every leaf
rejoices. This is the very poorest illustra-
tion as to what the love of God will do for
us, so let us keep ourselves in the love of
God.
I. That word "keep" is the key word of
Jude's epistle. In it we are told that God
will keep us, but we are also told to keep
ourselves. We are told to persevere, but
it is also said we will be preserved. This
is God and man working together, and it is
singular, to say the least, that the word
"preserve" and the word "persevere" are
composed of exactly the same letters. The
literal rendering of the expression that
God will keep us is "as in a garrison." How
secure, then, we must be!
HOW MAY WE KEEP OURSELVES IN
THE LOVE OF GOD?
1. No way so efficient as by prayer.
There are different kinds of prayer. Jacob
prayed when he met the angel of Jabbok,
and had his name changed from Jacob to
Israel. Moses prayed when he plead with
God to look with favor again upon His
chosen people. Christ prayed in the gar-
den, for it is said: "Being in an agony, He
prayed more earnestly." But this is not
the kind of prayer I have in mind; it is
rather the kind that Christ offered when
He was alone on the mountain with God.
I imagine the Father talked with Him
more than He with the Father. It is the
kind that David describes when he says:
"My meditation of Him shall be sweet."
Faith is the eye with which we can see
God, and meditation the wing with which
we fly to Him. It is the kind of prayer
offered when the suppliant feels that he is
the only one in all the universe; it is the
kind of prayer which if our mother could
hear, or the dearest friend we had on
earth, we should feel that it had been di-
verted and had not reached God. It is the
kind of prayer we offer when we let God
talk to us as well as talk to Him. This will
keep us in the love of God.
2. Few things will so help as this old
book, the Bible. Two gentlemen were rid-
ing together, and when they were about
to separate one asked the other, "Do you
ever read your Bible?" "Yes," said his
friend; "I do, but I receive no benefit be-
cause I feel that I do not love God."
"Neither did I," replied the other, "but
God loved me," and that answer fairly
lifted the man into the skies, for it gave
him a new thought. The question is not
at all as to how much I love God, but
rather as to how much God loves me.
Read the Bible in that way and it will help
you to live in the text.
Love dictated every word, love selected
every sentence, love presented every prov-
idence, love sent Christ to die upon the
cross, and you can not read it in this way
without keeping yourself in the love of
God.
3. All the means of grace will keep us,
but if there is one above another it would
be the Lord's Supper. The very coming
to the table and taking that which repre-
sents His body and His blood really lifts
the soul into such a condition that it is one
with Christ. He that hath seen Christ
hath seen the Father, and he that is in
Christ is in the Father. What better way
could there be of entering into His love?
II. There must be emphasis upon the
preposition "in." The Greek signifies the
closest connection, the most intimate asso-
ciation and the most perfect communion.
All these things are possible. The soul of
Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,
and there may be just as close a fellowship
between Christ and His followers. Now
and then in this world we find persons
whose lives are so blended that they al-
most look alike. This is oftentimes true
of the husband and wife. Tennyson had
it in his mind when he said: "In the long
years liker must they grow." This commu-
nion of the believer with Christ is suggest-
ed by the stones in a building, which take
hold upon the foundation; by the branches
which take hold upon the vine; by the dif-
ferent members of the body united to the
head; by the union of the husband and wife; by
the union of the Spirit and the Son; so
that in this union there is a stability, vi-
tality, consciousness, affection and perfect
harmony. If one is in Christ, he will live
above the world and the storm's effect.
The earth may be covered with storms,
but a little way up in the atmosphere it is clear
and the sun shines. If we will keep our eyes on
our Sun, we shall mount with wings as eagles.
THE LOVE OF GOD.
If you would understand
the meaning of the expression "the Love of
God." It is hinted at in this world. Passing
along the streets one hears the words
of a song or catches the strains of a piece
of music being played, and he says, "that
is from Beethoven or Mozart. I recognize
the movement." So in this life we catch
strains of the love of God. We behold it
in the mother's disinterested, self-denying
love: we see it in the lover's glow, and in
the little child's innocent affection, but
these things are only hints. The Bible
gives us the best revelation. Beginning
with Genesis the scroll is constantly un-
folding. Patriarchs and prophets, judges
and kings each tell their story. So, little
by little we get glimpses out of His great
heart until they all come to her as the
rays of the sun are converged in the sun.
glories: then we begin to understand it.
It was not, however, until the Son of God
came that the world thought of the minis-
tering angel of love.
What is infinite love?
The purest, sweetest, tenderest thing
known on earth, the overhanging heart
of a mother over the cradle that contains
her babe that can give nothing back; re-
ceiving everything and returning nothing
--yet the love of the mother is but a drop
in the ocean when compared with the love
of God. It is infinite, just
There's a wideness in God's mercy
Like the wideness of the sea:
There's a kindness in His justice,
Which is more than liberty.
For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind.
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
Over in England an archdeacon, having
reached almost the end of his life, had his
home so constructed that he could spend
his closing days in sunshine. In the morn-
ing they placed his chair so that he could
turn his face toward the east and see the
rising sun; at noontime they wheeled his
chair into the south window, where he
could behold the sun in his meridian, but
in the evening hours they would place
him in the west window, where he could
behold the king of day sinking behind the
distant hills. So let me ask you in the
morning of your life to keep your faces to-
ward the east window, and at noontide
live in the south window, but when even-
ing comes turn your face toward the west
window, so that all your journey through
you may live in the sunshine, and thus
keep yourselves in the love of God.