The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1907-05-23
[7bo 2uIDV
4 SERMON GSG&
|8Y TAE REV. NXGE
RAWhENDEeS0NV
Subject: The Religious Life.

On luS ChSAAO AO AlIG.
the pastor, the Rev. Ira Wemmell
Henderson, took as his text Dent.
B:3, MAN doth notlive by bread only.
but by everything that p~roceedeth
put of the mouth of the Lord doth
man live" He said:
The one thing most necessary in
he life of the individual and of So
.ciety is religion. A man NAV exist
in the possession of all the temporal
land material aids to comfort and to
the satisfaction of the natural man,
but he never begins really to live
until he is conscious of the divine
personality and recognizes the valid
ity of the divine control. A man NAV
exist without "a thoroughgoing sense
of the reality and the control of "the
Divinity that shapes our ends" but
he only is alive when he gains a con-
seriousness of God and of his account
ability and Infinite indebtedness to
Him.
In our day too many men are drift
ing from the religious life, too many
are ~endeavoring to live without a
controlling sense of the reality of
God, too many are endeavoring to
live as though God were non-exist-
ant and as though He were entitled
to no authority over their lives. Many
good men, confusing ecclesiasticism
with religion, and uncomprehending
OF the vast difference that there often
is, though to be sure there should not
be, between church membership and
the Christian life, have turned and
are turning, altogether too commonly
for the peace of mind of the church
of the living God, away from organ
lied religious systems primarily and
from any sort of religious observ-
n C at all. Gazing upon the hope
less insincerity of many Christians
and the stupid Indifference of many
churches to the neeus of society and
the demands of the times, as con-
trasted with the beauty and the uni
versal interest of the Goldman and
His Gospel, upon whose character and
truth the Church is founded, men
have misjudged Christianity by it's
disappearing fruitage, and, in
numbers that annoy us, have turned
from religion entirely. Contemplat-
ing the sins of individuals in the
church, they have permitted their
eyes to be WithhOlden from the dis
cernment of the truth that the per-
s~onality and the prOnunciamentoes of
Jesus Christ as the oracle Of God are
the leaven that most surely could
transform their own lives and effect
d lIduS1UI nuI1Ou III TIC SOC1d1 OIuOI
of which they are a part. Many bad
men, with the determination not to
know or to serve God under any con-
ditions, utterly are neglectful of the
claims Of the religious life upon
their higher natures. They turn from
religion because they are WilIfulIy
desirous to be the followers of the
devil rather than the servants of
fGod.
Many men have turned from or
gained religion because of intel
lectual difficulties. Some of these
have gone out of the church to fol-
low the bent of their peculiar and
personal religious conceptions and
convictions; some have turned to
philosophy and have deifed man as
sufficient unto himself; still others
nave to their entire satisfaction
eliminated God from the scheme of
things.
In spite of the attitude of a host of
men, however, a true religious life is
as necessary to the welfare of human
Iy as are fresh air and pure food
and the creature comforts that we
9eslre, need and strive so persistent
~ to secure. No man is we'll round
ed; no man has realized the possibili-
Ties Of manhood; no man is COM
pIete; no man is really alive until
ne is alive unto God. And no man
has sounded the limits of the capaci-
Ties of his own being until he has en-
Joyed a knowledge of the highest rev.
elalon OF the character of God hat is
In the world to-day.
A true religious life ought to ap-
peal to every man first, because it is
f~easonable; secondly, because it is
spiritually real;, thirdly, because it is
ethlcally influential.
The true religious life is reason
able. 1t does no damage to our good
sense, and it commends itself to our
judgment. It does not shock our
IDEAS Of the fitness of things. It sat
Isles Il intellects. Man, in the wis
Qom OF God, is an intelligent being;
ne possesses mental qualities that are
fundamental in his makeup. Men
must be convinced of the reasonable
ness Of things before they can have
any lasting hold upon them. That
winch is intellectually unsatisfying
or that will not stand the tests ap-
pled by the minds of men, they re-
!!ect. Man does not demand that
lie shall be able to exhaust
every subject which comes under the
province Of his intellect, but he does
uemand that, whether or no he is
oUIe 10 explain all the things in
winch, as a rational being, he holds
an interest, he shall at least be able
70 discern in them the evidences of
teaSonableness. Religion appeals to
me mind of MOI because he is
aDle to sound all the depths of relig-
Ious philosophy Or of religious truth
VI to explain all the manifold won
ueFS OF religious experience, but be-
cause there is in religion that which
- intellectually reasonable and salts
1ylng. Ne religious system that is
wofthy OF attention holds the respect
VI humanity for long unless it be first
OF all of no damage to our sense of
:ne ntness of things. The true relig-
toIS lie commends itself to our best
and IA the recognition of
1S lmperatives we find rest and joy.
me true religious life is transcend
Gully Il delightfully."- real. 1t is not
susceptible, perhaps, to arithmetical
VI geometrical demonstration. We