The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-08-08
TIL PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY Or.
D. D. MACLAURR.
Subject The Unknowable.

Brooklyn n. Y.-Sunday morning the
Rev. DR.. Donald D. MacLaurin, pastor
of the Greene Avenue Baptist Church,
preached on To Know the UnknoW-
able: Prayer" The text was from
Ephesians iii: 17.10: ITO the end that
We, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be strong to apprehend with all
the saints what is the breadth and
length and height and depth, and -
know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge" He said in the course CT
his sermon:
Who csn know the unknowable? is
not this in the nature Of q paradox
Wherein can one be so strengthened
as to become able to apI cehend that
which is really beyond the reach Of his
apprehension? Has not Paul here
erred in q prayer otherwise luminous.
spiritual, profound and possible? Has
he not introduced here something that
ordinary mortals cannot grasp?
Well, l think that it will be as we'll
for us to go slowly in our disposition
to criticse him. 1t is :: safe rule to
assume that these apostolic men know
what they were about. I am convinced
that Paul not only knew by expert
ence the things he said; but that he
was inspired by the Holy Spirit in all
his writing.
What about life? What about the
duration of sentient existence? what
about the continuity Of that which we
call ourselves? Tell us. thou biologist!
Perhaps thy science is more exact
than that of the mathematician or the
man who philosophers about time.
Tell MS. if you can. what is life? Hast
thou ever seen it? No-never! Hast
thou ever touched it? Only Indirectly,
Canst thou tell US what it is? No!
Then space runs into infnity, time
runs into forever aud forever, and life
runs into God. And we know some
thing about all of these; and yet there
is no limit to their vast extent. 1t
has done us good to investigate them
it is q noble eXercise-it is enlarSlns
to the mind and the heart to come
into contact with concepts so sublime
and mighty as these.
So it is with this matter which Paul
prays that We shall comprehend. We
shall not be able to master it, and yet
we can by studying it apprehend
something to its imm oasurable depths,
something Of its infinite length, some
thing of its all inclusive breadth.
something of its mighty altitude. And
so Paul prays that we shall be so
rooted and grounded in love that we
shall be able 10 apprehend with all
saints, high and lowly, rich and poor,
ancient and modern, the dimensions
of Christs love. Now, let us for the
sake Of clearness of thought define a
few of the terms of our wealthy text.
To the end that ye. being rooted and
grounded in love. Love here means
love toward our fellow creatures. In
deed, it always means that in the
Bible unless it is otherwise defined
1t means the affection we should nave
for the men and women of earth, the
people Of whom we are and to whom
we belong by race connections. Ii
is to be a reflection Of Gods love for
the race. Its energy is to be meas
ured only by the energy of the Divine
love. Its inclusiveness is to be Inn
tied and measured only by the lnciu-
siyeness of the Divine love.
Out of the heart are the issues OF
life. When love is in the heart every
thing is love begotten. Foundatloned.
like a building which has been settled,
rs q whole. and will never show cracks
or flaws in the future through fall
ures in the foundation.
Here, then, is the idea of the soul
being so placed rs to make 1t strong
for the noblest life. The two meta
phors supplement one another-they
belong to each other. The former,
rooted, gives us the idea Of organic
life and growth; the latter, founda-
toned, gives us the idea Of strength
derived from the union Of parts. \
Christianity which is not rooted IS
always unstable. A Christian love
that has not penetrated into the depths
is not a love of i permanent or en-
during character. o that the love OF
every one of US may penetrate into
the very being of God! That the ten
drills Of our affections may tWlne
themselves about the heart Of the
incarnate God! Then shall we be
stable. then shall we grow.
To the end that We. being rooted and
fcundationed in love, may be strong
to apprehend with all the saints
Strong for what? That you may know
the love of Christ in all its mighty
dimei sions! And this is a most nat
ural evolution. TO acquire love is to
obtain finer powers Of perceptlnS.
There is nothing like love for sharp
ening the wits. The eyes and ears
of a loving mother are immeasurably
quicker than the senses of the love
less. 1t is not true that love is blinC;
love is endowed with sight Of enor-
nous range. But while he was yet
afar off His .>ather saw Him.
Do not be surprised, therefore, to
find that when we are rooted and
grounded in love we obtain finer pow
ers Of apprehension. But what are
divine love and grace! The holy pano-
rama is stupendous. and even with
our sharpened spiritual senses we
cannot take in the infinite glory. And
so the apostle tells us that We are to
apprehend it with all the saints, with
the belp of all the saints! 1t takes
all Of us to survey the vast estate
One Christian sees one aspect OF the
glory and another beholds another
The Matterhorn. seen from Zermatt
is one thing: from the Esgishorn it is
quite another. And so with these
stupendous wonders of divine glory
Each Christian is to behold his own
share of the marvellous revelation
Matthew will discern one aspect, and
Mark another. and Luke another. and
John another Each individual will
behold some individual glory. The
frHrow of one field abounds in won
ders: what then of the infinite estate;
|. Let us notice. how wide is the