Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1906-06-21
LIKE AN Open BOOK
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
The heart Of the ChHf1aa IS Always
Open to the Cry o< ~ Needy and
the Voice Of G01.

Brooklyn, \. 1.-Sunday morning the
Rev. DR.. Donald D. MacLaurin, pastor
Of the Greene Avenue Baptist Church.
preached on To Know the UnknOw.
able: a Prayer" The text. was from
Ephesians iii: 1919: 'To the end that
ye. 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 to
know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge He said in the course Of
his sermon:
Who c2n know the unknowable? Is
not this in the nature of a paradox?
wherein cen one be SO strengthened
as to hecoIe able to apprehend that
which is really beyond the reach of his
apprehension? Has not Paul here
erred in a prayer otherwise luminous,
spiritual. profound and possible? Has
he not introduced here something that
ordinary mortals cannot grasp?
Well, think that it will be as well
for us to so slowly in our disposition
to criticise him. It is :. safe rule to
assume that these apostolic men know
what they were about. l 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 biologisto
Perhaps thy science is more exact
than that of the mathematician or the
man who philosophers about time.
Tell us, if you can, WHAT'S 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 and 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 It
has done us good to investigate them
it is noble exercise-it is enlarging
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 it's immeasuMble 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 to apprehend with all
saints, high and lowly. rich and poor.
ancient and modern. the dimensions
of Christ's love. Now. let us for the
sake Of clearness of thought define
few of the terms of our wealthy text.
To the end that We. 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 have
for the men and women of earth. the
people of whom we are and to whom
we belong by race connections. It
is to be reflection of Gods love for
the race. Its energy is to be meas
ured only by the energy Of the Divine
love. It's inclusiveness is to be linn
tied and measured only by the inclu-
slveness of the Divine love.
Out of the heart are the issues OF
life. When love is in the heart every
thing is love begotten. FoundatiOned,
like building which has been settled.
as whole, and will never show cracks
or flaws in the future through fail
ures in the foundation.
Here, then, is the idea of the soul
being so placed as to make it 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. A
Christianity which is not rooted is
always unstable. A Christian love
that has not nenetrated into the DEPTHS