Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1906-03-08
THE ASPIRING SOUL
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
The Consecrated Human Soul Reach
es Upward Always Toward the
Great Heart Of Its Creator.

Brooklyn, n. Yin the Strong Place
Baptist Church. Sunday morning. the
pastor, the Rev. A. II. c.. Morse.
preached foreign mission sermon, the
subject being "Evangelization.' The
text was from Joshua kill: "There
remaineth yet very much land to be
possessed" Mr.. Morse said:
There is an ancient Israel, and there
Is modern Israel. The task before
the former was the establishment of
the kingdom of God in the land of
promise. And the task before the lat
ter is the establishment of the kingdom
of God in all the world. The work be-
lore these ancient peOnle was prepara-
tory and temporal. The work before
the church is final. What remains be-
.Fond the work appointed to us is yet
hidden behind the hills of eternity.
The supreme thing then, is the evan
| gelization of the world. And make
| no apology this morning when I call
I your attention to this sturendous sub.
| lect. 1t will do us good to lift our eyes
| from our own Immediate field. and look
| at the world which is the field of God:
! and to leave O'lr own little beaten
track. and to swing out into the circle
! where sweep His mighty plans. Cen
! tnries have elapsed since our work was
| announced. and herculean tasks have
been performed. Mountains of preju-
| dice have been leveled: rivers of blood
| have been forGed. fires of persecution
! have been endured. and whole king
doms have been taken. "But there re-
maineth vet much land to be pos
sessed." I want to sneak to you then
| up "The Authority for Foreign Mis-
sions. and Their Aims and Inspira-
tion.'
In a single word. the authority for
Christian missions must be found. not
in the truths we hold. but in the Per-
son whom we love. This may be seen
authority is something added-added
to the abstract truth or duty. There
Is no authority apart from a person.
When an attorney is asked his author
1ty. he cites the decisions of judge;
and when a scholar is asked bis au-
thority. he does not exploit his opin-
ions. but he names his author The
same principle holds in religion. And
the ultimate authority must be per-
son, and that person must be the high
est. and moreover he must be known
It is easy to see. therefore, that au
| thority is ruled from the sO-cal!ed re
ligion of pantheism, for it posits nj
personal being 1t rules authority alst
, from rationalism. for reason. falliblt
. and dependent, cannot be the highest
And it takes authority from agnosti
: cism. for that declares that God canno
t be known. But shall not pursue thi
subject into the nazes of philosophy
simply lay this down as an openin'
thought that the authority for Chris
tian missions is found in Christ be
cause He is person. and because II
is the highest person. and because II
u can be known. It is in view of tAi
e that He cam say, "AH authority !
n given unto Me in heaven and on eartf
e Go We, therefore, and teach all ns
n tions."
a. Authority belongs to Christ becaus
d He is the eternal word, and is also tn
,r only God with whom we have to do.
- know there are secondary sources {
- authority to which we must give OBJ
- dIence. such as to parents and teacher
and to the laws of the State. But bac
'p of all these and over them all is ii
k, personal Christ. and He alone has
N right to tell me what are truth Ar
,e duty. And authority belongs to HI
because He has undertaken to dlsp
the darkness Of the world by speci
revelation of the love of God. He h'
O. joined Himself to humanity to save
re And it is this revelation Of God tn
:" is added to all the truth we hold th
II constitutes the authority for mission
,h Missions are the propaganda Of jest
and His method of reconciling an apt
a+ tate humanity. And even if He h
not uttered His great commission, st
worldwide missions would have th'
claims, for they are but the ansW
D. to the call from the ends of the cart
.c- for humanity sundered from God fe
It's destitution and misery. The VIII
world groans in its hunger. You