The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-09-21

tudes, here and there, in Epistles, in
the Apocalypse, but above all in the
deep mystical sense Of the Bible all
through-the true myStics, that we do
not get from hearsay, that we know by
intuition. but which. Of course, to the
mass of men are absolutely unknown
and invisible. So far as the Bible is
concerned the principle is true, not
unclothed. but clothed upon:'
You canpos make anything grow that
k,S not roots. 1t is curious, but you
cannot. Whatsoever it is sooner or
later it will wither. In order 10 grow 1t
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, geptleneSS, goodness, truth are
ideas. Nobody can complain or thelh,
but of what conceivable Use WoCld i he
to stand on Il pillar and call out to
mankind, BE loving. be joyous. be
il YOU had nothing more to say to tlcm
than that? What conceivable purchase
would those principles have III the
world without the spiritual reasons Out
Of which they grow and on which they
dcpend. namely. the facts Of living re-
li"ion: Tnc blundcr of planting ideas
without roots is as Old as the hills.
Every scholar. every student Of his
tory. is up TO his knees. up 10 his chm,
in withered sectS. withered religions.
withered kinks and notions OF TINS emu
that sort, every one of which had
good side TO il, but all Of which have
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-
ple 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
er-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 arc plucked straight
from the branches Of the tree Of the
CoSpel. 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 q good thing to have
q conventional symbol Of purity or i'm.
prov2ment. But Go you suppose il
would be there ut all if ii were only a
conventional symbol Of purity or i'm.
provement: Why. my friend. that
fort reaches down and down through
all the strata Of history; through the
darkness Of the Middle Ages, down 20
the first Christian centuries; down TO
Jewish rites; down to the ancient
pagan ard prophetic mysteries; ali OF
which had their thought, or what an.
swcrS to it, under the direction Of Him
who lighted, not merely Jews and
Christians, but every man that com.
eth into the world"
This baptism is reality in the uni
verse forever, because it lives by Its
roots. l might prove the same thing,
if l had time, with regard to the cross
or the altar, which goes down through
the centuries. back 10 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. rs the apostle says.
mot unclothed, but clothed upon" The
principle is equally true Of ourselves
and our whole existence, for apparent
ly there is never real break i'll the
progress Of humanity. The Christian
is never ripe, he is always ripening.
Even in the moment Of death he is stRl
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 il. die stretches out
the arms AMI limbs Of his being and is
clothed upon" like hee in spring
time. Life is worth living. Aye. ln-
deed. it is. Don't you ever imagine
for a minute that it is not. Life is
worth living to degree you have no
conception of because the glory tha, 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 q thing. but it is glorified to de-
gree that passes understanding to con-
cove: Not unclothed, but clothed
upon