The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-06-16

terest in mortals. 1t Is an evidence so
universal that it cannot easily be ex-
planned away. Every fundamental need in
humanity has its satisfaction existing
somewhere. Hunger presuppoSes food.
Thirst indicates the existence of water Tor
its quenching. Nakedness instinctively
leads to the necessary coverings TOR ITS
protection, even though beasts are siain'
cotton, fax and wool grown to accommo-.
date it. So with all the hungers of rational
being, social, intellectual, moral. religious.
They all are evidence OF reality some
where answering to them. None OF these
is more fundamental and imperative than
the religious that which demands Gods
care. A most pathetic manifesting OF this
longing is idol Worship The heathen.
Gods ignorant children, like ours. demand
object lessons that can Je anrrehended by
the senses To make God III their image
is the nearest they can get TO the sublime
consciousness that they are made IN His.
Better, it seems TO us, no God than
wooden one A spirit of negation and in
di ference would save them so much use
less sacrifice and cruel practices and bar
barous acts OF superstition by way OF sup
rosed atonement. But whether better or
worse atheism is not constituent charac-
teristic Of man. Strange, is it net, that 1t
is never innate. but always an acquired &C.
ccmplishment. always the sad result Of
culture else of sin By nature. and that
means by right, God is always the rightfnl
occupant of the throne. But as our self
Importance grows. as we become con-
sciousiy great in thought and achievement
we become all great IN arrogance. as Is
all science falsely so called, and the hlng
| is asked to vacate the throne, and God IS
not even bowed out OF the universe. out
4 II y L II pial NO
better than affirmation of God. however
| superstitiously that affirmation express it.
| self. 1t is evidence of Gods care much
| needed to offset threatened evidence that
He has not interest in the human race.
Notice the two possible results to which
these religious instincts lead. They are
| the receptacle into which Christianity fits
| Without them the Gospel of Jesus has no
| appeal. They cry out for God. Chris
| tianity introduces God to them. They
| want an assurance of Gods care. Chris
| tianity assures them God cares for men to
| the uttermost, even enough to die for
| them. Creation thus prepares for revela-
! ton, and welcomes its benehcent approach.
There is another result that shows the
helpfulness of the religious instinct univer-
sal among men. 1t is the sorrow that pos
sesses us when we are told it is all delu-
sion. The moment you convince man there
is no God, or, if there is, that He is lndif-
| ferent to mans welfare, that moment the
| face loses its complacency, the heart Its as.
! surance, the spirit its buoyancy, the mind
| its sense of satisfaction. Doubt, disap-
pointment, despair set in. Little to 1--we
| for, nothing to die for is the cry that Will
not be comforted. A stoEd indifference
| results that crushes out the hearts music,
else wild despair that dethrones reason
Lot a
prophecy more dismal in its outlook than
| that one we are considering of a future
discovery that God does not care, pro-
| phecy that if ever that dark day dawns
| poor humanity in despair will in an hour
fall back from all hopefulness. aspiration,
joyousness, and by one despalring plunge
reverse the life satisfactions OF thousand
years.
Greatest of all these is the presence and
worth of Christianity to be accounted .or.
Christianity is very unyleldlng TACT. IL
has become too deeply rooted in the earth
to be waived aside and crowded out by any
discovery, however authentic, that would
invalidate its claims. 1t has been con-
fronted for centuries with conflicting be-
lefs and scientific evidence against Its IN
tegrity. The more it is opposed the more
fearlessly it asserts itself, comforting the
heart, lighting the dark mind, inspiring
and reinforcing the spirit. A fact so help
full to humanity in every conceivable ne
cessity when SHINING and needing forgive
ness, when weak, and needing strength,
even when suffering martyrdom at the
stake, in the amphitheatre of wild beasts,
in heather lands, midst prosecutions too
numerous to be mentioned, but not too
MANY to be valiantly borne, must be con-
fronted with stronger, surer proof than IS
at present conceivable that it relnqulsh
its hold upon mems esteem. Yield 1T must
if it were even proven God did not care;
for Christianity was rooted IN Gods es-
teem before it found a place In mans.
God not only cared, but so cared that de
loved, else Christianity, that superb BIOS
som and fruitage of Christ's life and teach
ing and death, had never existed. Chrls.
tianity not only embodies Gods care, 1t
enshrines Gcd's heart. And the surest
thing about it all is that we who have
yielded to Gods word. caught the bless
incs of the revelation through Jesus, have
ali the evidence necessary for the reality,
of God and His care. What value is proof
against Gods interest in us, however
scientific, to the man who has seen the
Lord. whose sins are forgiven, upon wh0m
God is each day lifting up the light OF Ills
face? When once the spiritual lIre has en-,
tered the human neart, dii Coiu, CA ~, ''eA
evidence is ignored, and wisely. linen,
again, the peace of mind that results from
belief that God cares for us enough to
share His eternal home with us by and by
is evidence that will die hard, if it ever
die at all, before any external evidence
that this world is all, and that our brlef,
storm.tossed existence is forever hushed IN
deaths long sleep. A man said to me dur
ing the week, at pays to be religious, even
though it be discovered at the last that
there is no eternal life" The idea was
that present satisfactions are worth the
having, whatever the future may reveal.
When the divine spark that we call the
spiritual life once electrifies the heart,
stimulating new loves, impartlng new
ideals, revealing Gods love and Chr!sts
mastership, all of which produce blessings
of satisfaction and joy unspeakable,. all
external evidence 70 the contrary weighs
little with that mans belief. And that Is
exactly what Christianity does: It I'M
parts life. As Hlrnack puts it, LIT IS
eternal life in the midst of time, under the
very eye, and in the very strength OF
Cod" As Jesus puts it. II am come that
We might have lfe." Lie is difficult
thing to arsde against, and even to prove
tha f.1lacv of when men possess 1T and are