The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-09-25
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. DONALD o. MaeLAURiN.
Subjects The Greatest Thing IN the world
The Distinguished Divine Delivers "a
Sermon which IL az Scholarly and
Readable as Any Of Recent Years.

NEW YORK CITY.-Dr Donald D. Mac
Laurin, of Rochester, preached Sunday
morning In St. Johns 81. b. Church 20 a
large audience His sermon was the first
in a series on "The Greatest Thing In the
World" Dr. Maclaeriu said:
/ have most earnestly sought 10 bring
you on successive Sundays the best min
istrv | have vet been able 10 give you,
that your lives may be brOadened and
deepened and lifted up into higher realms
OF spiritual achievement; and / could End
no theme of greater value, as / saw Il, than
that which Is suggested by the chapter
which | read to you, the thirteenth chap
ter of PauIs first epistle of the church az
Corinth. And so for eight weeks. we shall
have our texts from this chapter; and this
morning you will find our text in the first
verse Of the first chapter Of First Corin-
thians: III 1 speak with the tongues OF
men and angels, but have not love / am
become sounding brass or changing
Cymbal"
Nor must we not think that we shall be-
come tired OF this wonderful theme Did
you ever know any one TO become weary Of
a diamondE Among the gems OF the Lord
God Is found this chapter, aud though /
do not profess to be a skillful lapidary 10
bring out its flashing facets, i think, with
the aid of the divine spirit, we shall find
IN each service something fresh and helpful
and new.
This chapter has been in all ages Of the
church especially admired; would that it
had received in all the ages of Christian
history that more practical and valuable
appreciation which would have been ex-
perienced by a practice of its principles
| and an acceptance Of its precepts Ter
tullian said: 1T is uttered with all the
force Of the spirit" and the great thinker
is right. As / have pondered it for several
| years with ever growing interest, | have
come to feel that, indeed, mortal faculty
could never have written it. II never
could have sprung from the brain or heart
of even so great a man as Paul. unless hea-
ven had given him tne inspiration. II is,
| dear friends, an utterance of heaven,
! through Paul, a servant OF God, 10 the
sons Of men.
1t is glorious hymn or pean in honor
/ of Christian love, sung, as we have intl-
mated, by the Apostle Paul when soaring
| up on the wings of inspiration into the
very heights of Christian eloouence. Like
| the Forty-hfth Psalm, it may be httingiy
| called the Psalm Of Love-" and not in.
/ frequently your speaker will 50 designate
! 1t in these Sunday morning services. II
! has the form of poetry; it has the inspira.
| ton of poetry; it has the coloring Of the
/ finest poetry. And if you could read it in
/ the Greek you would catch the fullness Of
! its imagery, as it is impossible for you to
! do in the best English version. 1t seems
| a PROCLAMATION to attempt its exposition.
! 1t seems like Analysing Il rose or dissect-
ing a nightingale to take these principles
apart one from another for the necessary
analysis IN the progress OF our work. But
it IS so full of the very heart of the gospel
message that we would be cowardly were
we not to attempt the exposition.
The position of the psalm in the book
in which it is found helghtens its effect.
You find it in the midst Of lengthy argu.
ment, 1t reminds US very much Of an
oasis of towering palm trees and spring
ING flowers and running brooks in the
midst Of a desert of sand. On either side
IS argument, is tumult: and right in the
midst of all bursts forth his sublime song.
1t is very much like the song of the sweet,
voiced school children in the midst OF
their hard work and the babel of their
games Or, better, like the very sound OF
the song of heavens choir in the pit OF
Wall Street on a panicky day. We can
easily IMAGINE the deepening hush that
must have fallen on the Corinthian church
as they read this chapter, and we can
imagine, too, the CONSERVATION produced
in the minds of those Christians as they
discovered one after another their favorite
gifts or favOrite possessions swept away
by the great teacher For Paul here
shows that love is the one essential Of
Christian life. Love did you say? Love
that soft sentiment that hard-headed mer
say belongs to women and children. Dc
you mean to say that this is :he spirit O.
his language? That IS precisely what thC
apostle formulated. He afirms most ex
picitly the absolute worthiessness of lft
WITHOUT love. Love at the beginning of it
love at the end of it; love filling the who's
sDace between. Love at the end is no
the same as love at the beginning. 1t i
richer, grander, nober, diviner. Blu
without the first love the other could neve
be. The blossom and the fruitage be
speak the rootage, and the seed and tn
flower and the tree. And unless you hav
the first love-love for God-in your heart
the love that shall engage our attention Of
experience. eff ] speak with the tongue
of men and angels, but have not love,
am become sounding brass or a elangin
Cymbal." 1t would seem as if all tn
Corinthian church were eloquent speakers
or at least were eloquent hearers; and lie
me say that eloquent hearers are as essen
tial as eloquent speech The Cornthia
Christians were distinguished for their gift
in this direction: and so the apostle. know
aug ~ showing Them flgnC Wen, Tor
was their father in the gospel, he suppose
them capable of speaking in every tongu
that rose from the lips of men or angel,
That We're they to have all and were de-
titute Of love they were nothing but sounC
ing brass or changing cymbals. How har
this must have been on those people VIII
cherished eloquence as more easy to in
agne than to describe. for they place
great store by their gift Of tongues an
their eloquence of speech. And do yo
know we are often placing the emphas
at their wrong place. We are often guilt
thians were often putting the emphas
where the emphais should not be. Wht
panl affirms and what the llnsnnl Affirm