The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-06-13
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! Sunday Sermon
! A Scholarly Discourse BY
Rev. d. MacLaurin.

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Rev. DR.. Donald y. MacLaurln. pastor
of the Greene Avenue Baptist Church.
preached Oh To Know the Unknow-
able: Prayer" The text was from
Epbesiaus III: 1919: "ro the end that
We. being rooted and grounded in love.
may be strong 10 apprehend with all
the saints what Is the breadth and
length aud height and depth and 10
know the love OF Christ which passeth
knowledge" lie said in the course Of
his sermon:
Who can know the unknOwable7 Is
not this In the nature of paradox?
Wherein can one be so strengthened
as 20 become able TO apprehend that
which is really teyond the reach of his
apprehension? Has not Paul here
erred In prayer otherwise luminous,
spiritual. profound and possible? Has
he not introduced here something that
ordinary mortals cannot grasp;
Well. | think that il will be as well
for us 10 go slowly in our disposition
TO criticlse him. II is safe rule to
assume that these apostolic men know
what they were about | am convinced
that Paul not only knew by experi-
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 ourselvesl Tell us. thou biologist?
Perhaps thy science Is more exact
than tlnt Of the mathematician or the
man who philosophers about time.
Tell us if you can. what is life? Hast
thou ever seen It? No-neveri Hast
thou ever touched It? Only indirectly.
Canst thou tell us what il is? MOI
Then space runs into inhnlty. 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. 1t
has done us good to investigate them
it is a noble eXerclse-it is enlarglng
to the mind and the heart 70 come
into contact with concepts so sublime
and mighty as these.
So il Is with this matter which Paul
prays that we shall comprehend. We
shall not be able to master ii. and yet
we can by studying it apprehend
something to its immeasurable depths,
something of its infinite length. some
thing OF its all inclusive breadth.
something of its mighty altitude And
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rooted and grounded in love that we
shall be able to apprehend with all
saints. high and lowly. rich and poor
ancient ana modern. the dimensions
of Christ'S love. Now. let us for the
sake of cleHrness of thought define q
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, IL always means that in the
Bible unless it is otherwise defined.
1t means the affection we should have
for the men ana women of earth, the
people Of whom we are and 10 whom
we belong by race connections. It
is to be Il reflection of Gods love for
the race. Its energy is 10 be meas
ured only by the energy of the Divine
love. Its inciusiyeness is TO be lin
tied ana measured only by the inclu-
siveness 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 Il building which has been settled.
as whole, ana 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 n 10 make It strong
for the noblest life The two meta
phors supplement one another-they
belong 10 each other The former,
rooted. gives MS the idea of organic
life ana 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. 4 Christian love
that has not penetrated into the depths
is not a love Of a 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 twine
themselves about the heart Of the
incarnate Cod Then shall we be
stable. then shall we grow.
To the end that ye, being rooted and
foundationed in love- may be strong
10 apprehend with all the saints.
Strong for what? That you may know
the love of Christ i'm all its mighty
dimensions And this Is n most nat.
ural evolution. To acquire love Is to
obtain finer powers Of percepting
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 Ii is not true that love is BLIND,
Low" Is endowed with sight OF enor-
nous range But while he was yet
afar of His 'ather saw Him.
Do not be surprised, therefore. tc
find that when we are rooted and
grounded In love we obtain finer DOW,
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. Ant
so the apostle tells rs that we are e
apprehend 1t with all the saints, witt
the help Of all the saints! 1t takei
all OF MS 10 survey the vast estate
One Christian sees one aspect OF thl
glory and another beholds another
The Matterhorn, seen from Zermatt
is one thing; from the Eggishorn il Il
quite another. And so with thes.
stupendous wonders OF divine glory
Each Christian is 10 behold his owl
share of the marvellous revelation
Matthew win discern one aspect, nnC
Mark another. and Luke another. anC
John another. Each individual will
behold some individual glory Thl
furrow OF one field abounds in won
ders; what then of the infinite estate
!. Let US notice how wide Is tn
compass OF love. To the end that ye
being rooted and grounded in love
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