The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-11-26
A. SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. o. D. MaclAuRlN.

Subject: Love and the Vision of God-Lore
is the Only Interpreter of the Kingdom
OF Heaven, of All the Spiritualities-
The Riddle of Self.
BROOKLYN, n. Y.-Sunday morning, IN
st. Johns NJ. E. Church, the Rev. DR..
Donald D. MacLaurin, pastor of the Sec
ond Baptist Church, Rochester, preached
to the united congregations the tinal SER
mon in a series OF eight on "rhe Greatess
Thing in the World His special subject
was Love and the Vision OF God; or, the
Eye That Sees All Wonders Ihe text
we see in mirror, darkly, but then face
toface." DR.. MacLaurin said: -
Love is heonly interpreter of God. We
saw last Sunday that to love only are dl-
vine revelations made, and that to perfect
love only can perfect divine disclosures be
made. The converse truth is equally vaiu-
able, namely: "That love is the only inter-
prefer of God. of all in the kingdom OF
God, of all spiritualities. Nor must you
think that this is strange or arbitrary. We
have sought in all our services to discover
the analogy between the laws Of the spirit
ual realm and the laws with which we are
familiar.
You will find that this, namely: That
love is the only interpreter, is part of the
discipline OF life in every direction, as
some one has well said: Love sees farth-
est. hears quickest and feels deepest"
Two illustrations of that proposition
have been given; one with regard to the
realm of nature. Let US say 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 he notices
that there are trees bordering the drives
and walks, but that is all. He has his
eyes chiefly on the ground. He does not
hear the birds; or, if he does, it is not to
= discern one songster from another. Now
take the other. This man not only sees
the general conformat ton Of the landscape,
the general plan of the artist who laid 1t
out, but, he sees the trees, he sees, he dis
tinguishes, one from another. He notes
the flowers that spring; he notes not only
the songster that sings, but he knows It's
life and story. He sees the shimmering
pond and lake and the reflected overhang-
ing 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, a lover
:of nature. He is 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.
7: 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 hurries through it in a perfume
tory way. o, he notices there are large
i time for those little bits of paintings that
sadorn the walls If there is big Glt
frame on one of the pictures, he admires
iit greatly, but it is bore and he hurrles
iont, and wonders why people find so much
in the art galleries Of the world: The
.other man discovers in some small piece
1.-THE product of a master, and he stands
!!entranced before it for hours; and you
win see his eyes suffused with tears, and
iif You notice you viii see his lip is trernu-
Iious. he pays no attention to the frame;
he sees the soul of the artist, and he IS
;profoundly stirred. / have seen men all
In tears before some masterpleee IN ethe
galleries Of Europe: their soul finds the
;soul of the artist. They interpret him IN
shis finest moods; they have come to know
him. aesex=a
f> Such men come nearest to interpreting
the Creator, Himself; for of all the sons
of men none stand higher than the artist.
jHe who can take piece of raw materlal, !,
apiece of ordinary canvas, and make it
ripple like river, make it roar like the
mighty ocean, carrying ship fun rugged
upon It's bosom; o man who can make 1t
blossom into rose, or who can PANT upon
lit, battle scene, preserving the hegolsm
color, lay before you all that is beautiful,
all that's divine in, the world, surely
stands first among The sons Of God, and
nearest to the Maker Himself in that he
is a creator. -
j. The lover of art sees this. To him these
things are disclosed, while the man who
idoes not love sees little. The same is true
between men. To whom do you disclose
lyou,self! Who is able to interpret you?
The man who hates you? Surely not. He
lis always misreading you, Inislnterpsetlng
iyou. he interprets you, he knows you:
SO think the proposition is justified
that love Is the only interpreter Of God.
This brings me to the first point l desire
ito 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 and
spiritual realities. wish you to mark
that. There is time in the life Of every
man when he has 10 vision Of God and
spirituafties. It covers all that. period
,of his life during which he is unregener..
t8Ee, WQen LnSre Is dpsO4utSly ~ faeAon ~
God and spiritual realities. The Apostle
Paul viii justify that assertion, for you
viii find him saying in this same epistie,
that "the natural man perceiveth not the
things Of the spirit of GOO, for they are
ifooishness unto him, and he cannot know
them because they are spiritually judged:
THE natural man is not in the realm IN
which he can interpret spiritual realities.
This mysterious force, in the organic
kingdom we call life. Who knows the OF
9ranic kingdom we call life? Who knows
what it is? But we know it is there, and
swe know it weaves bodies in which It
sdwells; that it is miracle and that it per-
iforms miracles of transformation: We are
acquainted With it. They would not cab
&c a miracle were they TO know what it is.
When life Is busy, it is performing. these
transformations, but the atom cannot unr
lderstand the results Of life forces; they are
3fooishness unto it. They are utterly con-
itraryrt to all it knews,of the operation. IN ITS
Kingdom E
snow. do yousknow there issanother king
DOM A. third Kingdom, which is above
the organic sand in which all higher life
forces dwell; third kingdom whose force
Sis the spirit of the living God. And until
Ia man has come into the life of that king
dom everything that we say transpies IN
lie is foolishness to: him in the natural