The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-12-11
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE or THE
REV. D. b. MaeLAURlN.


Subjects Love and the Vision Of Cod-Lovo
b. tho Only interpreter 81 the Kingdom
Of Heaven, OF All tho spiritualitics-
Tho Riddle Of Self
BrooELyN. n. Y.-Sunday morning, IN
81. Johns NJ. Il. Church, the Rev. DR..
Do9a.d ID. MacLaurin, pastor OF The See.
ond Baptist Church. Rochester, preached
20 the united congregations the hual SER
mon IN "a series of eight on "Thc Greatest
Thing ga tae World. His special subject
was Low and the Vision OF God; or, the
Eye That Secs An Wonders" The text
was from j Corinthians xiii:l2: "For now
we see ln a mirror, dartly but then face
% face DIR. .laCLnurln said:
Love rs the only interpreter OF God. We
!. saw last sunday that to love only are d..
slnc revelations made, and that 10 perfect
G only can perfect divine disclosures be
'c. The converse truth Is equally valu-
namely THAT love is the only inter.
r of God of all in the kingdom OF
of al spirltualties. Nor must you
that this is strange or arbitrary. We
sought m all our services % discover
analogy between the laws Of the spirit
realm and the laws with which We are
4.iar.
You viii find that this, namely: That
Y discipline OF life in every direction. as
some one has well said; Love aees farth4
est. hears quickest and feels deepest"
Two illustrations Of that proposition,
have been given; one with regard TO the
realm of nature. Let us cay that two men
are journeying through your beautiful
park; one sees the general conformation
the general outline OF street and sweep of
field and shimmering lake, and be notices
that there are trees bordering the drives
and walks, but that Is all. He has his
eyes chiefly on the ground. He does mott
hear the birds; or, If he does, IL is not to-
discern one songster from another. Now
take the other. This man not only sees
the general conformation OF the landscape,
the general plan Of the artist who laid it
out, but he sees the trees be sees, he dis
tlngulshes one from another. He notes
the flowers that spring; he notes not only
the songster that sings, but be knows its
life and story. He sees the shimmering
pond and lake and the reflected overhang-
lng foliage and is ministered TO by them.
At the end of the journey the latter man
IS enriched in his mind and heart. What
has made the difference between the two
men? The one has been, and is, lover
of nature. He is a student Of nature be-.
cause he loves it. And nature is kind; ma
ture knows her lovers, and so she makes
disclosures TO him that the other man does
not get.
Two men visit the metropolitan Museum
OF Art; and let me say to those who may
not have seen those art treasures, it is
worth a visit and much study. One of
these men hurres through it in q perfume
tory way. o, he notices there are large
pictures and small ones, but he has no
time for those little bits of paintings that
adorn the walls. If there is a big gilt
frame on one Of the pictures, he admires
1t greatly, but it is a bore, and he hurries
out, and wonders why people find so much
in the art galleries of the world. The
other man discovers in some small piece
the product Of master, and be atands
entranced before it for hours; end you
will see his eyes suf1used with tears, and
If you notice you viii see his lip is tremu-
lous. He pays no attention to the fire. ls:
he sees the soul Of the artist, and no is
profoundly stirred. / have seen men ak
in tears before some MASTERPIECES in the
galleries of Europe; their soul finds the
soul of the artist, They interpret him IL
his finest moods; they have come to know
him.
Such men come nearest TO Interpreting
the Creator, Himself; for OF all the sons
of men none stand higher than the artist.
He who can take piece OF raw material,
q piece OF ordinary canvas, and make 1t
ripple like river, make IL roar like the
mighty ocean, carrying ship full rugged
upon its bosom; a man who can make it
blossom into a rose, or who can psiht upon
1t battle scene, preserving the herosm
and Yalor of men; man who can, by
color, lay before you all that is beautiful
all that is divine in the world, surely
stands first among the sons Of God, and
nearest to the Maker Himself in that be
Is q creator.
The lover of art sees this. To him these
things are disclosed, while the man who
does not love sees little. The same is true
between men. To whom do you disclose
yourself? Who is able to interpret you!
The man who hates you? Surely not. He
is always misleading you, misinterpretine
your motives. It is the man who loves
y you. He interprets you, he knows you.
so l think the proposition is justified
that love is the only interpreter Of God
= This brings me TO the first point desire
70 bring to you this morning, namely, this:
That there is a time in the life Of every
man when he has no vision OF God anC
spiritual realities. wish you to mari
that There is time in the life of every
man when he has no vision Of God anC
spirituahties. It covers al that perioc
Of his life during which he Is unregener
ate, when there is absolutely no vision O.
e. God and spiritual realities. The Apostle
S Raul will justify that assertion, for YOU
M Till find him saying in this same epistle
SSssslnat "the natural man perceiveth not tht
Alg5 lings Of the spirit Of God, for they ar
1olishness unto him. and he cannot know
9Bthem because they are spiritually judged.
e The natural man is not in the realm IL
which he can interpret spiritual realities.
This mysterious force in the organic
kingdom we call life. Who knows the or
ganic kingdom we call life? Who know
what it is? But we know it is there, anC
we know it weaves bodies in which i
dwells; that it is a miracle and that it per
forms miracles of transformation. We ar
acquainted with it. They would not cal
i a miracle were they TO know what it is