The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-01-17

, maturity. the old age and death of
nations; amid things present and
things to come, life and death. in spite
of everything that may oppose. or as
sail. belief, character. hope. love. in
corrupuble life all may have perfectly
indestructible foundations. What are
some of these foundations? Religious
| experiences; that is an experience of
God in the soul of man Is an inde-
structible foundation. Such exper-
! ience is knowledge derived from fact
and abiding in spiritual consciousness.
God is a spirit" Man is spirit.
There is possible contact md commun-
ion here. There is the possibility of
the best knowledge in the world right
here. Fact, evidence, proofs, knowl-
edge. they are all here. knowledge
has found the proof; proof implies the
existence of the evidence, evidence
implies the existence and reality of
the fact while the primary datum
abides In experience.
When a man has a religious expert
ence then he has an indestructible
foundation. He cannot then be morally
ignorant Ha knows something. That
which man sees may deceive him.
That which he hears may not always
be so, but that which he knows, he
knows. and no man can take it from
him He is upon n foundation which
cannot be destroyed. Then faith finds
her best function in establishing the
fact. in dealing in the great unseen
realities which are always more than
the seen, in giving the assurance of
things hoped for, in proving things not
A ..,xA.. ~. n.
experience to the test of the natural
senses. 1t is too large for such test
as that, but he knows he is right and
he knows he is upon an indestructible
foundation. 1t is not only our knowl-
edge of God. There is another inde-
structible foundation in His knowledge
of us. 1t is written "Howbeit the
firm foundation of God standeth. hav-
ing this SEAL the Lord knoweth them
that are His" He cannot mistake. We
could not deceive Him, even though we
might deceive others. or be deceived by
what we might suppose to be expert
ence, even religious experience, even
though we might deceive ourselves.
God knows. OF this we are certain.
He knows us perfectly. If we are His.
He knows it. If we are not His, by
the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, we
may become His. He will know. He
VIII cause us to know it, "rhe secret
of the Lord is with them that fear
Him." He desires it to be there.
Every man has just as much right to
know that he is alive spiritually as he
does that he IS alive physically. This
knowledge is brought to us in the wit.
ness of Gods spirit. Thus it is that
we go deeper than religious experience
and find another foundation in that
firm foundation of God-His knowledge
Of us. Jesus Christ is another founda-
ton He is our chief cornerstone. The |
ideals He holds, His simplicity, His /
grandeur, His humanity, His Deity, /
His faith. His love. His life-all COM
bine to make Him the perfectly !ncom- |
parable one among all religious teach /
ers: and while in n certain profound
sense Christ and Christianity are one /
and inseparable. there is still another /
sense in which Christ. as our founda- |
ton, is more than Christianity, even as |
the sun is more than the multitudinous |
rays which fall upon our little portion .
of the earth: Christ is more than Chris
tanity, as the thinker is more than his .
thought. as life is more than that /
which embOdies life. We build as
about Christ. but upon Christ Himself.
He is our indestructible foundation.
Our faith rests at last, not in a creed,
though We should all have a creed, |
and not in book. though we can never |
do without the Bible. but in a person
and that person, Christ, places our
lives upon God.
Let us resolve to go deeper, deeper
If We are at all unsettled in matters
of religion we should not despair We
can find the solid and the safe Let .
us build there. Let us build according
to the plans Of the Supreme Architect .
of the universe. Let all build until
humanity shall become a temple com.
do not change Theological statements ,
and systems may change. Some per-
sons may become angry, others fright
ened. and still others foolishy and /
hippantly declare that they have no .
theology; but, in the meantime. theOl-
ogy remains the greatest science in 1
the universe even the science of God |
and divine things, based upon a reve- /
lation made of God, through Jesus j
Christ; and that science. itself as such, :
does not change.
Gods foundations are firm amid all /
the mutations which mark the history
OF the human race amid all the storms
and shocks amid all the disintegrati ting |
agencies; amid the rise and fall of !
empires amid the birth, the growth, /
plete, filled with the light and music OF /
Heaven, filled with the life of God; and .
then, even though storms may come
and the last night fall about us, it will /
only be the servant of a new day, and
we shall be able to say, Il know whom
/ have believed and am persuaded that /
He is able to guard that which / have
committed unto Him against that day" /
Our foundations cannot be destroyed.
Thank God.
The Talent That Multipiies.