Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1908-07-30
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. J. II. MEtiSH.
Subject: Faith Once Delivered.

THE faith which was once for all de-
livered to the saints" Mr.. Melish
said:
A Pentecost seems to be taking
place in Korea. Forces, no doubt in
large part political and commercial,
but also supremacy religious and edu-
cational, are bringing that Eastern
nation to q new birth. Men every
where are inquiring about the new
religion" Churches are crowded
many times a day. Teachers and
preachers cannot meet the need. We
seem to be witnessing what has not
been seen for centuries. nation
turn Christian.
What is of great significance in the
religious awakening and conversion
of Korea is the kind of Christian re-
, ligion which Is receiving this over
whelming response. II the reports
aro true, 1t is a religion with two
sides. Those who have received 1t
and who are extending 1t among their
fellow countrymen know only 1.-THE
The names which have been and are
to multitudes Of us Western Chris.
, tians OF value have no existence to
/
and Jesus they know, but Christ"
! and the doctrines Of the Trinity. the
incarnation, the atonement. are not
even names. Their religion Is with.
out dogma.
, Is this a sufficient statement of the
: Christian faith? do not mean IL 1t
, Is the sum total of the Christian
! truths. OF course, it is not. Neither
do l mean If it Is the 'irreducible
minimum" without which man
can hardly be called Christian. But
Is this faith in God as Father. in
Jesus as Elder Brother, sufficient
for life and death? Can men live
! by this? Are these the regnlative
Ideas Of our religion. the fundamen-
! tai propositions Of which all other
truths are corollaries?
Such questions can be answered
only by the deep experiences of life.
Life. the abundant life. is the test of
! truth. There are times which try
mems souls. Then it is that a mans
books are opened. his words are
weighed, his traditions are tested At
such moments the soul Is concerned
not with words. but with realities.
! He demands real answers for real
! luestionings. Such was the eyperi-
snce Of Job when disaster befell him.
Under the fire and the whirlwind not
only Jobs property. but Jobs the
ology. was swept away. Orthodoxy
! proved too weak TO lean upon. Such.
too, was the experience Of Saul of
Tarsus. when he discovered that law
failed to make men righteous. He was
driven by new needs to revolutiopize
his religion and morals. st. Angus
tine. Luther. Wesley. also. were men
who, face to face with new expert
ences, as few questions which ortho-
doxy failed to answer. They were
driven to the fundamentals of faith
by the facts of life.
If faith in God as Father and
Jesus as Elder Brother is sufficient
t must answer the deel Questionings
which spring from the deep expert
ences of life. These questions are
three in number. Behind all philoso-
plies you will find them. To answer
Them all religions have set them
yelves.
The first question is: Is there a
God, and If there Is what is He like?
1t has its origin in man as a reason
Ing and moral creature. What is the
origin OF what we see and feel? Is
this universe selfevolved or is it the
expression OF some power which
moves through it and presides over
It? II there is such a Power, what
Is 1t like? Has 1t any of the attri-
butes OF personality. intelligence,
righteousness, love? Behind all hui
man doubts and questionings is this
mother OF questions. Is there a God?
The second question is: When a
man sees upon his soul the blot of
a sin can 1t be removed? What theo-
logians call sin is a universal ex-
perience. When Herbert Spencer
came to America he was entertained
at a banquet by the most learned
company which had probably as
sembled here. At the end of the
program of speeches Henry Ward
> Beecher was called upon. He praised
science and eulogized the debt which
religion owed the men who toiled
80 painstakingly to ascertain truth.
And then suddenly turning aside, he
made an appeal to universal expert
| ence. There was not a man there.
he said, who had not done something
Tor which he was ashamed, who did
not wish he had not done it. who
would like to have men know It. who
would not If he could wash his soul
clear Of 1t. Scientist, philosopher,
tneologlan, statesman in that learned
assembly rose to that appeal to univer-
sal experience. So say all men There
have been times when sin weighed
SO heavily upon the consciences of
men that they have sacrificed their
children, thrown themselves under
the car OF Juggernaut. fed to mo.
nastic penance. His as deep an ex.
perience to-day as ever. but 1t is ex.
pressed differently. Has my life been
OF any use to others? is the question
upon mans soul to-day. Not have
done wrong so much as have / done
right? His the sense of failure in
well-doing that weighs upon men.
Sin, individual and social, is a uni
versal and tragic experience.
:. The third question Is: When a man
dies shall he live again? The sight
of dead face is the mother o. all
mysteries. 1t compelled him tc ask
whether that soul had gone, and in
60 asking it lifted mans thoughts
from the temporal to the eternal, the
natural to the supernatural, the hui
man to the divine. Before the ex-
perience of death man stands ques-
tioning, eager to know, half believ-
Ing, half afraid, wondering whittier
his friend has gone and he himself
will go.
These are the deep questions
which spring from the deep expert.
ences of life. How does faith in God
as Father, in Jesus as Elder Brother
give sufficient answers?
Is there God and what Is He
like? YES" says Jesus. there is
God. He Is my Father and your
Father" Some men there are who
find 1t easy to believe on their own
experience that God is Father. Others
can believe only when the sun is