The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-12-22

Qltlon ignores the past ana DeRlnS anew.
This makes the difference between the
man of faith and the skeotic. The man
of faith receives what has been proven and
builds thereon. The skeptic only exam.
ines the foundations, sometimes without
even laying new ones.
But there must be personal experience
also. When Morse asked Congress for an
appropriation Of $4,000 for his telegraph
venture the committeeman having the de-
Gliding vote was undecided. Mr.. Morse
took him to his hotel; showed him some
miles of wire. He bade him go into IA dis
tant room and there experiment with the
instrument according TO the code. He re-
turned and voted Tor the appropriation,
saying. Il have seen-l have handled The
instrument. and it will do wnat is claimed
for II. And any man may experiment
with the realities o. our religion and test
its Claims to comfort. wisdom. peace, rest,
hope. love. prayer. etc. And only when
we thus know will we be effective wit
nesses OF truth. Jesus said. I'VE speak
that we DO know and testify that we have
seen With such knowledge the known
becomes the key OF the unknown and leads
US into deeper knowledge.
The purpose of learning to know God is
to obtain the life eternal. When Kep.er,
the astronomer. after many failures, finally
discovered The laws of Planetary motion ne
fell upon his knees and cried: Il thank
Thee. o God. that ] am thinking Thy
thoughts over after Thee This knowl-
edge made him partner with the thought
OF the cterna, God. SO every truth eXper-
mentally discerned puts Us into partner.
shin with God We learn 70 think His
thoughts; 10 will His will: to love with
His love; to live His life. Aud His is life
eternal. Therefore Jesus says, To know
Thee the On,y true God. and Jesus Christ
whom Thou mast sent, this is life eternal"
The range OF things thus movable is
very wide. Only few OF them may be
suggested. We NAV know the forgiveness
OF our sins. We are made conscious of
our sinfulresS through the exercise OF our
conscience and our Inability to overtake
what we know TO be the ideal But when
we accept the overtures of divine grace and
yield to the incoming and inworking OF
Gods Holy Spirit, we experience 4 peace
and nower which are the subjective evi-
dences OF our being loosed from our sins.
tn? is the first thing in Christian knowl-
edge.
Next Eve know that we have passed
from death unto life" Such transition
is made on all p.anes of life. \ new CHI
mate helps some men to pass from death
to life in body. Education enables men to
pass from death to life mentally. Society
sometimes causes men TO pass IRON death
to life morally. The development of latent
genius makes men pass from death unto
life. So the touch of Gods spirit awakens
new IDEAS. affections and possibilities, and
the love Of spiritual society evidences
passage from death unto life.
I'VE know that all things work together
for good TO them that love God" This is
not self-evident. as we take a narrow view
OF mortal life. But when we see the wider
ranges we learn it is so. There may be eS-
periences which darken the scene and
plunge the Judgment into panic. Joseph
while being led slave to Egypt could not
iel and the prophets in the day OF trial.
But afterward they saw it to he so. The
glory which Moses saw was not some lns-
trous form. but rather that all the past
history was transfgured with Gods pres
ence and favor. 1t is the backward look
that gives us this assurance. We know
that if our earthly house of this BODY be
dissolved We have building OF God = =
eternal in the heavens" That is, we know
that we have an immortal destiny of eter-
nal life. Subjectively we know that every
appetite has its satisfaction. Hunger sug.
gests food and thirst argues for water. Ii
God creates fin on the fish He makes all
element for it to swim in. II He fashions
wing, He supplies the air for it to fly in.
Surely these lower appetites are not graft
fled only that the deeper and nobler may
be disappointed. And effectively, Christ
hath brought life and Immortality to light
through the gospel" His resurrection sat:
isfies our desires and becomes prophetic of
our destiny. Let us study earnestly the
truth OF God with q view to doing His
will. and we shall know in part now and
more perfectly by and by.