The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-11-01
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/ SUNDAY SERMON
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A Scholarly Discourse By
DR.. Frank O. He'll.

ing on "The Spirit Beareth Witness"
He chose his text from Romans vili:1S:
"The spirit itself beareth witness with
our spnrlt that we are the children of
God" DR.. Hall said:
1t is easy to build an argument for
the existence of God. The process of
reasoning may be briefly stated thus:
We are compelled to think that there
can be no effect without a cause. But
IL we trace an effect back to its cause
and find this in turn to be an effect
then trace that back to its cause and
find that also to be an effect, we must
at length predicate the existence of an
adequate cause for all phenomena, an
underlying and eternal reality.
Or you may put the argument In this
way;
No thought without a thinker
There is thought in the universe.
Therefore there is thinker in the
universe.
As the universe Is practically infinite
we must believe that In and through
the universe lives an Infinite Thinker.
and inasmuch as we cannot conceive
of an impersonal thinker we must
conceive of God as a personal being.
10 be sure. our words are inadequate
TO express the qualities OF the Divine
Life. As the heavens are high above
the earth so are His thoughts higher
than our thoughts. The mode Of His
existence may be infinitely higher than
what we name personality. But these
are the best words at our command
We are obliged to use them or nothing.
So we have right to say that God is
an intelligent personality.
You may find such arguments elab-
GRATED at great length in scores Of
learned books on theology and theism
But when you have read them and
agreed with the conclusion, what does
it amount to? Very likely men and
women have come along this dreary
pathway of logic to the more beautiful
realm of faith, but | am convinced
that q mere intellectual belief in God
is practically worthless. Nlnety-nine
out OF every hundred convicts in our
states prisons believe in God. James
states the case still stronger. "DoSt
thou believe in God? The devils also
believe and tremble." There Is neither
comfort nor strength nor enthusiasm in
mere intellectual belief in the exist
ence of God
One may find an intellectual delight
in listening to clear and convincing
lOI as ne III
listening to some skilled mathematical
talk about geometry. But something
more is necessary. Every one Of us
knows what 1t is to long for the con-
sciousness of n personal relationship
with God the Father. 30 God" cried
Augustine, Thou hast made me for
Thysclf and l nnnot rest until rest
in Thee" o. to know God personally ;
to come into touch with Him; to feel
His love and His pity; to be able to
say, within Thy circllng arms lie,"
and feel the sentiment of the words;
to know that He is my Father and my
friend! o. to have His Spirit bear
witness with our spirits that we are
children of God!
Now, one can no more gain this con-
sciousness or the power that comes
from this thought by mere exercise
of the reasoning faculties, than he can
learn to love Tennyson by going
through the process of counting the
nUllber of words or letters in his COM
plete works. One might gain certain
intellectual satisfaction in doing that.
But if you are really to get good from
Tennyson, then his spirit must bear
witness with your spirit; that Is. his
thought and his sentiment must meet
a response in you. So, If God is to be
an ever present help in trouble, a staff
for the hand and guide for weary
feet, then one must have something
more than mere intellectual belief
in His existence. What the world
needs, what each one of us needs. is
not so much an intellectual assurance
of Gods existence as spiritual assur-
ance of His personal relationship to
us as His children.
| know that l am appealing to COM
mon experience and common longing.
Not one of us who does not know what
1t is to desire with mighty yearning
for personal assurance of the love of
God. What are we, after all, but chill
dren?
But what am ]?
An infant crying in the night;
An infant crying for light
And with no language but a cry.
Just rs the child wakes in the night
and, feeling the blackness huge and
empty about him, cries out into the
gloom for companionship and love, and
the father comes and takes the child
in his arms and, with confident voice,
soothNs away the childish fears. so Of
tentimes we children of earth feel the
darkness of life oppress our souls and
cry out for the strong arms OF heav-
enly Father. Why should we be
ashamed TO acknowledge this hunger
of the soul any more than we are
ashamed to acknowledge the hunger OF
the bodyI How, especially in the
midst Of trouble, the heart hungers for
Its Father. When the clods fall upon
the coffin lid. how the soul cries, my
God-my God" How. when the clouds
Of adversely gather dense-when the
cherished ambitions of lifetime prove
futile; when the fortune which was to
make the years of old age bright takes
TO itself wings; how. when the familiar
friend lifts mp his heel against one
the heart cries out. "Oh, God-my
God" And even In the sunshine and
the joy Of life, when everything seems
TO be bright and beautiful and full of
promise of future joy, there will come
moments when II all seems empty and
meaningless and the soul cries out for
God.
MY memory goes back TO my ewn
young manhood, and ] recall day that
was more than usually beautiful, when
stood alone by the sea. l had every
reason to be happy. / had found my
place In the world; had work to do
and the future seemed full of promise.
MY health was perfect, and had not
been disappointed, even In my boyish
dreams. And yet | recall the awful
loneliness and emptiness Of the hour.
l mad but to walk mile TO be wei
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