The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-09-16
A SERMON: FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"PoWER or RELIGION"

Subject of the Moral and 1ntelIectuai
Forco of Christianity-Religion Gives
an Ideal. and An Incentive to Reach 1t.
PARIS. KY.-The Rev. Henry Knott,
rector of St. Peters P. T. Church IN this
CITY, preached strong sermon on ne
Moral and intellectual Power OF Religion:
The text was chosen from Mathew v: AZ:
"Be We therefore per feet even as your
Father, which is in heaven IS perfect.
Mr.. Knott said: A.,
The Sermon on the Mount contains tl''
sum and substance Of Christianity. In
other words, we find it to he the very
heart of the Gospel, its divine preeeptss
transcending in moral grandeur the ioltiest
conceptions ever thought or spoken by
mortal man. Great souls afame with the
sacred fire of inspiration have but mir
rored the shadows of the tremendous real
tiles of the future. and the mind OF genius
searching for truth apart from revelation
has failed to discover the meaning and the
end of lie. Here we have a command ut
tered by One who gave to humanity the
kew to perfection. The Christ has drawn
the veil aside and disclosed the way, the
truth. the life. By revealing the character
of Coda holiness radiant with IoveCWe y,
are brought face to face with ;he possi nil-
ity of attainment through the law and the
the example of holy self-sacrice We shall
grow into that glorious perfection OF the
Father manifested in His only begotten
Son.
! do not wish you to misun derstand the
Inference lust quoted. Man shall never at
tain the absolute perfection of God, tor
there is an impossible gulf between the
Creator and the created. In being, tor
mans immortality had starting poinss
while God has even been IN an eternity. OF
time. In space, man subject to iocahza'
tor. here or there-the infinite Fatner ON
nipresent, everywhere. In power man d
creature of environment circumscrioed nt
laws whether natural or spiritual. tree: yet
not free, a mysterious PARADOX, his soul the
battle ground 'twixt wills ..umap and d.
vine. while God is the source of creation,
the Alpha and Omega of all things in hsav-
en- and earth, even holding in His almighty
hand the first link of that wondrous cham
of causation.
God is perfection: All His love and
mighty attributes blended together IN one
harmonious whole. Interchangeable, IN Wis
dom. justice and truth. Man, falleH, per-
verted, possessing no natural worth, pear
ing always the curse of sin, subtle tendr
ency 10 thwart right, that supreme law OF
spiritual life. BY nature prone to evil, cor
rnnted HELPLESS, his only virtue that which
;s derived through grace. No, he can never
be perfect as God is perfect, but through
the intellectual and moral power, OF rehg'
ion and obedience to it's commands he can
relatively climb undreamed heights OF splr-
itual manhood, and by the evolution, OF his
immortal soul in Christ win that glorious
crown of destiny which the heavenly Fath,
er has wiled all born OF woman SHOULD
through obedience acquire perfection. Thus
we derive the full meaning OF the text;
wonderful in its implication, giving us the
assurance of success; divine in its COM
mand, disclosing the possibilities OF our
nature that we as Christians have a dlvln-
ity stirring within US the source OF glor-
ions mower to "press toward the mark for
the prize" life complete in its fultillment
of that end which God intended 1t to at.
tain. to be perfect in obedience to the su-
prerne law of its existence, even as It's
Creator is perfect.
Without religion a man can never real
ize the possibilities OF his spiritual nature.
With natural tendency toward the pass
ing, the finite and the changeable, he needs
an influence to call him to sense of the
internal and infinite. Many people, take
superficial view of Christianity and never
really understand what blessings 1t con-
fers. Man was not created to be the play
thing of the Almighty, but for purpose
to be son, worthy to stand before his
Fathers face and to live with Him in low
ing communion.
You are all familiar with the story OF
Adams dreadful fall into disobedience and
sin. Through the marvellous faculties OF
the soul many Christian men have, at one
time or another, experienced momentary
consciousness of what then was lost: 10
enable us to regain much Of that pristine
state Christ came into the world, lived,
suffered, died and made it possible for us,
by making known its glorles IN HIS own
perfect life, 10 once more become the SONS
and daughters of God. Religion leads US
back from worldliness to selt-recolectlon
and giyes to souls fevered with sordid de.
sires a quickening principle of a higher and
nobler life; inspiring intellect with truth,
and the heart with pure and exalted
love. It animates conscience with SUI
preme sense of duty and places thought IN
iuxtaposition with the will Of GOD, clothing
every aspiration with purifying virtue,
thus leading all the faculties of our being
upward and onward toward perfection.
The immortal longings Of the soul can
only be satisfied by God. Every faculty
we possess leads us to His feet, There IS
no real happiness apart from that when
comprehends His love. and finds ITS sa-
preme good by steadfast devotedness TO
the precepts Of His law. Unfortunately,
there are men and women who look upon
religion as means to conciliatt the divine
power, which through sin they have. Of
Tended. They imagine it places them IN
conciIiatory attitude with Deity, and that
bv its medium they will obtai in in the tu-
ture some indefinable reward, forgetting
that religion is life, state, which calls
into operation all the spiritual potentiall-
ties Of their glorious nature and through
temptation, sorrow and suffering crowns
them at last with victory over the wor.d
and self.
Thus we perceive that Christ came upon
the earth to save sinners, giving them
power of endless life. Revealing the char
acter of God, He made it possible for men
to conform to that perfect original. In
His Gospel He lays uown code OF morals,
so sublime, tnat if we would absorb them
into thought and action we should fulfill
while here our destiny. Religions blessing
is the supreme good for every man to at
tain. 1t is not an emotion, OF merely be-
lief, it is a vitalizing energy in the depths
of the human soul. subduing to God all the
powers OF being, incarnating in the heart
a consciousness OF a magnificent future,
ouickening the intellect, conscience, ,affec-
tions and will into vigorous and holy ac,
ton, inspiring the mind with a profound
love of truth and flooding the soul with
peace which the crash of worlds could not
disturb. Religion, then, is a necessity OF
lite. Without it existence Is deluslon,
shadow, lacking substance and meaning.
10 grow into the stature and tulness OF
Christ, in other words, to become Christ
man, is the design for which we are en-
dowed with certain faculties. Man Is pre-
eminently moral being. This is his nature
and the path OF his life winds toward the
perfection OF lnose qualities which const''
tute the essence of his spiritual life. HIS
true happiness consists in bringing hlmse:f
into relation, into union with God. GOD
the heart of man He has placed deep and
abiding consciousness OF right and wrong.
=. nuerv turn duty cnnfronts him: on one