The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-07-20
KEYS FOR YOUNG MEN.
They Open the Doors to All That Is Good
and True and Lovely.

They Open the Doors to All That Is Good
and True and Lovely.
Keys have always been used as en-
blems. They open doors of escape.
They remove difficulties. They admit
the searcher for the hidden stores of
truth.
The books in a library are the key of
knowledge. BY this key wide and
wonderful door is opened. But let him
who enters walk warily. There be pit
falls in the path, and it will be well
that all pilgrims have true guidance.
knowledge must be pursued not for it.
self alone; it is merely an opening into
a wider sphere of usefulness To be
used Alright, the immensely of this field
of knowledge must be seen and APP
preciated. We must perceive how small
| space we can occupy, and in view OF
this smallness of our possible attain
ments, we must be exceedingly humble.
Humility must accompany the pursuit
of knowledge, and with humility we
must combine true faith-faith that our
Creator has revealed Himself to us not
| only in His material universe, which is
the subject of our knowledge, but in
our hearts, souls and minds; faith that
apprehends things spiritual; faith that
if we seek we shall find the Father of
| spirits, and if we listen we may hear
His still, small voice in our own con-
science. knowledge must be supple
mented by faith and by humility.
There is another key which every
young man can be taught to use. In
that dream of John Bunyan's, which is
| the picture of true Christian endeavor,
when Christian and Hopeful were con-
fined in the dungeon of Doubling castle,
in the clutches of Giant Despair, sud-
denly Christian remembered that he
had in his bosom key which
would open every lock in Doubt
ing Castle. This key was the key Of
promise, which is written on all pages
of the Bible. Promise of the help of
God in all time of necessity, in all time
| of trouble and in all time of prosperity.
We need God in prosperity as much as
we need Him in adversely. The promise
that He is ever near, ever ready, ever
stretching out His hand. and that He is
willing to forgive the sins we have COM
mitted, and to receive us into His low
ing embrace. Christian pulled out this
key of promise from his bosom and,
opening lock after lock, escaped from
Doubling Castle and pursued his jour-
ncy in safety, leaving Giant Despair in
impotent rage behind him. Young men
should know how to use the key of
promise. Every Christian should carry
this key in his bosom, and should never
forget that it is there. The promises of
God revealed through Jesus Christ our
Lord are precious and exceeding
great"
But the master key of all is the key
of love. This is the key which our
Saviour Himself came down to show us
how to use. The poet Coleridge has
well expressed the value of this key in
those lines so familiar but which will
always bear repetition:
He rrayeth best who loveth best
All Il ings both great and small,
For the dear God who loveth us
| He made and loveth all.
But the most sublime and eloquent
account of this key is given in the th,r-
teenth chapter of the First Epistle of st.
Paul to the Corinthians. No better adj
vice can be given to young man than
to read this chapter frequently and
take its lesson firmly to heart. 1t has
been beautifully expounded in a recent
famous address, and this key of love
has been fifty characterized as 1.-THE
greatest thing in the world" This
does not add, indeed, to the words of
st. Paul: Love suffereth long and is
kind love envieth not; love vaunteth
not itself, is not pulled up, doth not be-
have itself unseemly, seeketh not its
own, is not provoked, taketh no account
of evil. rejoiceth not in unrighteous,
but rejoiccth with the truth" And in
conclusion he says: "And now abideth
faith, hope and love, these three, but
the greatesr of these is love" 1t is this
key of love which unfastens all locks
and opens all avenues to true progress.
1t is supreme both in the material and
in the spiritual life. 1t is the soul OF
Christianity. 1t opens the door to all
that is good and true and lovely. 1t is
indeed the greatest thing in the world
Hon. Rowland Hazard, in Young
Mems Era.