The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-11
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through-the true mystics, that we 90
not get from hearsay, that we kno" Dy
intuition but which, of course, to the
mass of men are absolutely unknown
and invisible. So far as the BlDle IS
concerned the principle is true, nol
unclothed, but clothed upon?'
You cannot make anything grow that
has not roots. 1t is curious, but you
cannot. Whatsoever it is sooner OF
later it will wither. In order to grow it
has got to grow out of something. Ideas
are precisely like plants. AS told you,
all the plants of the universe are alike;
growing things are all alike, whether
ideas or anything else. 1t is OF abso-
lutte necessity that they shall have
roots. Thus, for example, love, JOY,
peace. gentleness, goodness, truth are
ideas. Nobody can complain of them,
but of what conceivable use would it be
to stand on a pillar and call out to
man!find, "Be loving. be joyous, be
peaceful, be gentle and good and true
if YOU had nothing more to say to them
,than.that? What conceivable purchase.
would those principles have in the
world without the spiritual reasons out
of which they grow and on, which they
depend, namely, the facts of living re-
ligion? The blunder of planting ideas
without roots is as old as the bills.
Every scholar. every student of his
tory. is up to his knees, up to his chin,
in withered sects, withered religions,
withered kinks and notions of this and
that sort, every one of which mad a
good side to it, but all OF which nave
died for want Of roots or continuous
power-evolution. l do not like that
word, but we will use it now.
Now, as opposed to both Of these peo-
pie. those who give the world no new
truth and those who give the world
nothing but new truth. The Christian
church at large represents the latest
truths, as well as the first truths, and
the first as we'll as the last. There is
no fault to find with these new doc
trines. Of course not. On the con-
trary. For instance, the dynamic pow
cr-that capital and most useful thing,
the dynamic power Of the forces OF
nature-a prayerful desire for the heal
ing of the sick. All right. The power
of altruism, sacrificed for the healing OF
the sins of society. All right. My
good friends, they are plucked straight
from the branches of the tree of the
gospel. There is no fault to find with
these. On the contrary, it is for the
sake of their production that We in
sist that they be taken in connection
with the tree that has grown them
Jesus Christ and His sacrifice from
which they sprang. Every institution
springs from some root or other. There
is the font at the door Of the church.
Well, it represents baptism, and some
body SAYS it is a good thing to have
a conventional symbol of purity or i'm.
provement. But do you suppose II
would be there at all if it were only
conventional symbol of purity or i'm.
provement? Why, my friend, that
font reaches down and down through
all the strata of history; through the
darkness of the Middle Ages, down to
the first Christian centuries; down to
Jewish rites; down to the ancient
pagan and prophetic mysteries; ali OF
which had their thought, or what an.
swers to it, under the direction of Him
who lighted, not merely Jews and
Christians, but "eyery man that com.
eth into the world"
This baptism is reality in the unl'
verse forever, because it lives by lts
roots. might prove the same thing,
if had time, with regard to the cross
or the altar, which goes down through
the centuries, back to time and space
before the foundation of the world
These, with other Christian doctrines,
illustrate the Divine method, which is
continual progress without any loss.
In other words, as the apostle says,
mot unclothed, but clothed upon" Tne
principle is equally true of ourselves
and our whole existence, for apparent
ly there is never a real break in the
progress Of humanity. The Christian
is never ripe, he is always r1penlng:
Even in the moment of death he is stltl
growing. Obscurely, but just as stead
ily as when he was babe. When
passing by death through the blessed
gate like the newborn infant he is be.
ing clothed upon" with new senses,
new power and understanding, new
ways Of looking at things, so that hav.
ing died, as we call it. he stretches out
the arms and limbs of his being and ls
clothed upon" like a tree in spring
time. Life is worth living. Aye, In
deed. it is. Don't you ever imagine
for minute that it is not. Life is
worth living to degree you have no
conception of because the glory that is
coming upon us, that is to be put upon
us, may be measured, by the highest
standard the world has ever seen, the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
Nothing is ever lost; it would be con-
trary to the laws of nature to suppose
such thing, but it is glorifed to a de-
gree that passes understanding to con.
ceive: mot unclothed, but clothed
upon"