Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-06-23
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED:
t"DoES GOD CARE 2
The Rev. Robert Macdonald Declares
That the Greatest Discovery of the
Twentieth Century will Be the Dis
COvery of God.


That tho Greatest Discovery of thes
Twentieth Century win Be the Dis
cOvery Of God.
BROOKLYN, N. sDoes God Carer"
was the subject Of the sermon Sunday
morning by the Rev. Robert Macdonald,
pastor Of the Washington Avenue Baptist
Church. He took his text from, I. Peter
VI: Casting all your care upon Him, for
He careth for you." Mr.. Macdonald said:
The greatest discovery of the twen-
tieth century will be the discovery Of God,
and then it will be'seen that God does not
care :. Such is the latest assumption of
one OF our largest universities is deemed
trustworthy interpreter. He wisely drew
the line between Christianity and infdel-
lty as between believing that God cared
for us and that He did not care, and
stated that the leading scientists were in.
fdels
Lest such statements upset or weaken
the faith OF some Of us, let us see what the
weight OF probability is fol the realizing
Of these presumptive prophecies. Let it at
the very start be remembered that any
more definite scientific discovery of God
than we now have is unlikely. And this
IS said, not because we now possess SO
much, but that we possessed of so lit
tie. Science will doubtless discover more
about God. Shame upon our developing
intelligence if it does not. Every discov-z
cry is that. But that is very different
thing from discovery of God. His handi-
work will be more clearly traced, the
working Of His purposes more definitely
realized; but think we can trust the In
finite One to as successfully outwit the
scientific inquisitiveness of the twentieth
century as OF any that has soul I am
confident that 1900 years. hence the excla-
nation of the human mind will be about
as it is noW-"Who can by searching out
find GodH One of infinite retreats is not
| OF His presence will even elude the discov
cries of man. The mystery of His person
| shall still remain inviolate.
Why do [ speak as though God were an
| tagonistic to human discovery? Because,
| friends, this learned prophet whose state
| ments we are considering sees the only
| lack to the discovery of God to be the
! present incompleteness of human knowl-
| edge and the present paucity of scientific
| means, both of which will be remedied, he
| is sure, before the present century closes.
speak as I do because do not like to
| have Him whom. we honor as Creator and
Father stripped of His mystery and robbed
OF His volitlonal power and referred to as
i you would to an mpersonal, objective fact
of creation. We discover stars and conti-
nents and seas and laws and a good many
other things, but it does seem to me that
God Himself will have something to say
about the discovery Of Himself. More
over, have no right to believe that God
| will ever be discovered by any man save
by Him whom God has discovered. He
only finds God whom God has found.
am striving to maintain the integrity of
the divine revelation as over against that
Of human investigation. We must take
God on His own terms, rather than on
ours. Therefore, he only discovers God to
whom God has revealed Himself, to whom
God permits such discovery. We need not
fear that any future discovery of God will
negative the revelation we now have
through Jesus Christ. Science is mighty,
but not almighty. Not more mighty than
God. We welcome it in the realm Of well
defined data, in the realm of demonstra-
tion and proof. But its advocates need to
learn that the Eternal transcends it's scru-
tiny and the Supernatural bends not to its
demands. Reassure your heart that If you
are so fortunate as to be a habitant of the
realm bounded by the Christian religion
the essence of your faith cannot be
harmed. Faiths form, as also the form of
revelation, will be scientifically questioned
and repaired. Faiths content examined
and modified perchance, but its essence:
that spiritual thing we call the divine
grace, that precious consciousness of His
care for you, and that you are living in the
light of His face is too sacred to ever bend
to scientific formula, and too mystical to
be expressed in the cold accuracy of scien-
tifc terms.
We are told that when this improb.
able, to our thinking impossible, dis
does not care. All present evidences OF
His care are ignored. Facts, upon which
are stamped indelibly Gods kindly i'm.
print, are swept aside, facts as stubborn
as the immovability of the mountains, and
the existence of the ocean and the shining
of the sun.
There is, for instance, that stubborn
thing called conscience to be dealt with
That stands out as very Gibraltar o1
protest against the assertion chat God does
not care In all the history of mortals
conscience has been regarded as Gods
handwriting on the wall, telling man he
+. must do the right and must not do the
right and what is wrong. That is thine
of fuctuating standard. Always differ
ence of opinion about that, because de
!; pendent upon the mans intelligence thai
owns the conscience. And any certain
type of intelligence depends upon the agt
and civilization in which he lives, circum
stances, moral and religious ideals. Thus
: it is that the truest standard for the en-
ightenment of conscience is Christianity
Christian ethics, springing from the Ser
mon on. the Mount, is universally recog
nized mans truest and highest STANDARD
OF enlightenment.
But on what higher authority rests thi
sense of '3oughtness' as to the doing 0
right and wrong? God demands it, W
say. The Creator has right to impos
terms upon His creation. We recogniz
our obligation to Him. Yes, but becaus
the moral sense rests upon an intuition o
Gods perfect morality. We could not fee
any obligation to God unless we felt Hin
) worthy of that obligation. We believ
, Him to embody the ideal and perfect MOI
atty. His sense of obligation to us, then
: is the sanction of our sense Of obligation t
Him. It is precious to read that 1--WE Low
Him because He first loved u.s." It 8 a
true that we are under obligation to Hir
because He is under obligation to- us. w
never speak of it that way. We seldom,
: ever, think of it that way. The more e.
pressive side of the divine nature occupie
our thought. God is SO pleased to do fo
US, His blessings are so much more trul
I the manifestation of His love than of an
D | other characteristic. But the divine rs
tionality expresses itself in justice an
morality as truly as in love. We are cor
( scious ever of our demerit, insignifcance
:, | dependence, see all divine favor to be a
n emanation of His love. The Creator mus
make provision for His created. The ne
u J.