The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-12-22
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
.KNoWINC THE TRUTH"
The Rev. Cornelius woelfkin Dwells on
the Condition of Learning Spiritual
Truth as Laid Down by Jesus-Open-
Mindedness Is the First Qualification

BROOKLYN, y. Yin the Greene Ave
nue. Baptist Church Sunday morning the
minister, the Rev. Cornelius Woe.fkin
preached the sermon. Mr.. Woe,fkin text
was from Deuteronomy xyiX:29: The Sc
cret things belong unto the Lord, our God,
but the things that are revealed belong un-
to us and to our children. that we may do
all the words OF this law He said:
A noted astronomer once said: Il have
searched the stars, but ! find no God A
noted philosopher said III there Is an inf
mite, personal God, He is unknowable.' -
Materialistic science and rational phil
osophy have formulated the creed OF ag,,
Mysticism, viz: that God is unknown and
unknowable. 1t sounds conservative. mod
est and wise. But it is not really new.
One of the ancients wrote in the long ago,
"Canst thou, by searching. find out God!
Canst thou know the Almighty unto per-
lection. Zophar, the Naamathite. was a
clever agnostic. The Hebrew lawgiver
writes, The secret things belong unto
the Lord our God"
II God be the Infinite. Eternal and 40.
solute, it is impossible TO comprehend and
explain Him. There must always be dl-
mensions OF mystery unknown and un-
movable in Him. 1he astronomer never
expects to find the r'aiis OF the universe:
There is always the unknown beyond. Ii
space and time stagger the imagination;
can we ever hope TO bring the eternal God
completely within the range of human
conception? We are all agnostics. Even
Christians worship at the altar OF the su-
per movable God. 1t is no discredit to
the theist that he cannot tell the day or
Gods birth. We need not distress our.
selves because we cannot walk about God
and know His diameter and circumference
He is unknowable. -,
But because we cannot know all, shall.
we rest content to know nothing! 1he
scientist is aware that he can new; know
it all. Does he therefore break his instru-
ments and content himself to abide IN lg,
norance? He knows in part. He Will
know more, though he never knows 1t an.
So, concerning God, there are things that
NAV be known. The mystery OF the un-
known is the very charm oil eternity; The
ages will ever clothe themselves with new
garments of mystery.
How NAV we know Coo? God is q
spirit and must be spiritually known. john
Fiske, speaking OF the spectroscope,, calls
it IAN addition to our senses. All our
inventions are extensions to our senses.
There is auto-seeing, auto.hearing, auto.
feeling. Tyndale said. The silence OF
the forest at MONDAY is agitated with
sound, if we could only hear It,. There
are some things telescopicaily discernedi,
others, microscopically and spectrosco3pi-
calIy. Without these they are not dis
rerned at all. Why does one man oniy
glance at a picture, and pass on, Wnlle Xnh'.
another will study it by the hour! Why
will. some peopic leave the music hail,
while Others arc held spellbound by the
symphony? Because some things are art
jstically discerned and others muslcally
There must be the subjective faculty 10
appreciate objective genius. -;
Why do some men go through HE with,
out any sense OF reverence, worship ana
prayer, while others bow in humility and
alteration to one whom they call God! Be-
cause God is spiritually discerned. The
natural man receiveth not the things OF
God, neither can he know them. He Is
lacking the souls telescope, microscope,
spectroscope etc. Natural devices cannot
discover spiritual God.
The study CT man himself presents
faints analogy OF this truth: Science STUD
les the human body; articulates the skele-
ton: knows the nervous system; explains
organization. But does the anatom;st dis
cover the vnoie man? Does he find that
sovereisn-the will, the Tagistrate-the
conscience, the artist-the imagination, the
orchestra-the emotions, the hbrarlan-the
memory? They are al there, but the In.
struments of physical dissection do not
discover them. They are mentally dis
cerned. When spiritual men, as such,
pronounce upon physical science. they be-
come fools. And when materialists. as
such. pronounce upon spiritual things
they likewise turn out folly. One quallfi-
cation canno. constitutc authority upon
all things. :.
1t il sometimes said that religion speaks
in language OF its own? foreign tongue.
This must be so in the nature o. the case:
Every new idea demands the garment OF
new word o" phrase. Every science ere
Gtes its own nomenclature. We night
find c hundred voiurlcs written in our ma
tive tongue and yet not understand what
is writer. Spiritual realities must e.
press themselves III spiritual termino!ogy.
Instead ci quarrc.iE@ with the introduc-
ton OF new terms, VIC chculd as true stu-
dents learn their meaning ard so widen
cur apprehcnsions.
che condition OF learning spiritual truth
is laid down by Jesus. HE that willeth to
do His vii shall know the teaching.
,rhcre NUT be right attitude first and
then thc experiment OF sctiol. Open
i; the first qualification for
apprehension. Prejudice distorts and
blinds the judgment. 1t is the chief factor
il our limitations. 1t j. the handicap
upon honest ezar,;natio1 and experiment..
Prejudice shut the theo!ogian5 cut OF nat
rral science for years. Prejudice is @hut-
ting the matcrialists out OF religious science
TO-DAY. The whol2 universe j; governed
by lau. LIT : TaaE obey the laws of ma
ture end nature will unfold its mysteries
70 him. Let nan nu5 himself IL align
1aent with spiritual realities. and the
spiritual wore viii discover itself to him.
He that coneth to God must believe that
He is. and that He i; the rewarder Of them
that diligently scei; Him
There must DC Gction. thc test of expert
mcnt. Here Is 6 stumbling block. Men
have their own wills and hesitate and halt
at doing the viii OF Cod. The chief diff
cu;ties concerning religion do not rise out
Of intellectual embarrassment 60 much as
q failure in attitude and action. Yet with
out these nen cannot know.
The means OF knowing are twofoid. st.
oha says, That which we have heard,
that which We have seen and handled with
oar hands declare we unto YOU There is
first the message CT tradition-that which
we have heard There is tradition in
science. Come things have been worked
out. tested and proven. They are accepted
rs automatic by the consensus OF all stu
dents Who thinks TO question the round |