The St. Louis Republic., 1903-12-07

THE REVEREND JOHN C. HoRNING
Pastor of the Maple Avenue Reformed
Church.
Niagara pours its mighty flood of watel
| over the precipicc of rock. The volcano
bclchcs forth its fire and smoke and pours
It's stream of lava down over the noun
tain side. The earthquake shakes the
foundations of the mountains. All these
exhibitions Of power call forth our admira-
ton.
we like to see men of physical
| strength. Of stalwart frame ard brawny
| limb. capable of endurance and hard la
| bor Ii is not brute force. but bodily
strength developed to its fullest measure
and exercised in useful service.
| Rising n step higher. we have mental
strength. the power to think to gather
| facts. to arrange them into systems. to
| discern the law Of nature and man. to
| think Gods thoughts after him. How the
| thought of one man has influenced the
| thinking of many. knowledge indeed Is
| power and we admire such power.
But above the physical and the mental
power is; the moral and spiritual power
The spiritual power rises above the men
tai power as the brain rises above Drawn:
This highest power is the strensth oi
sides i'll character With such power we
are Influenced and such power We admire
This highest power we md IN IT'S high
est degree in the Christian. Take the men
that havc exerted the greatest and most
lasting influence for good IN the world.
and we find that they have been Chris
tan men. men after Gods. own heart:
Their power las come from God; they
have known God. Moses was strong.
Isaiah was strong. Daniel was strong.
John was strong. Paul was strong; Mhat
was the secret of their power? They
knew God; they walkcd with God; they
worked with God. and God was with them.
There was the hiding of their power
'"ro know God is not merely to hear
what has been said of him: We have a
science of God that tells us nc is al-pow-
erful. all-knowing. a!l-wisc and every
sarly cause us 10 know him. We have
Heard about Alexander, the great con-
queror: Caesar. the Roman ruler; Wash
ineton. the fa,her of our country. but we
do not know them: we only know of them
So. IL We liav" simply heard of God with
out knowing him. We are weak. We must
know him by experiencing his life and
love in our lives. Through faith and love
does he enter our beings, and we feel his
presence and know that he is God. He
that loveth. knoweth God; for God is
love
What was it that made Moses the
mightiest man IL all Egypt, the greatest
man of his tine? 1t was that lie knew
God. he was with God and God was with
Joseph the greatest executive in all
Egypt: Whence was his superior wis
dom? Even the King recognized Its source.
The Spirit of God was upon him. He knew
God
What was il tina; made Daniel the
mightiest man in the Babylonian Empire?
Three times day he opened his window
toward Jerusalem and prayed to God. He
knew God, and that was the secret of his
power.
What was it that made TIE disciples of
our Lord such men of power? All the vic
tories of the battleficlds cannot equal that
which was Won by these humble men.
Whence the power? For three years they
walked with Jesus and worked with linn
They we're praying men, who at every cri-
sis looked to God for help. and he was
with them. They srake the word with
holiness and power. They accomplished
the impossible. and how? The people took
knowledge that they had been with Jesus.
Their strength came from the fact that
they knew God.
In thus knowing God are we STRONG |
strong for love. strong for service, strong I
ioi. the work that God would have us d., |
er is Gods" /