Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-07-12
Pastor RusselPs Sermon

Christianity has been aroused. Peoples
In those lands who had begun to doubt
everything religious have begun to
take courage, and to think and study
their Bibles. If the missionaries could
but catch the same spirit, what bless
ed opportunity would be theirs But,
alas, not many Of them are so inclined!
Very generally they seem to be bitter,
hostile, slanderous, doing everything in
their power to oppose the light, even
as Jesus declared that the darkness
has always hated the light, because
the light makes manifest, or shows up
the darkness.-John 3:19-21.
How to Know God.
Jesus said, This is life eternal, that
they might know Thee. the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent" He knew we could not
come into personal touch with the Al
mighty He knew that we could learn
respecting Him only through the Bible,
as He said, "Sanctify them through
Thy Truth, Thy Word is Truth"
There is difference between knowing
about God and knowing God The be-
ginning Of faith is to believe that there
is a great Supreme Creator 1t is an
other step to learn that He is wise and
powerful, as indicated in the great Uni
verse that He has made, and in our
human organization with its wonderful
powers for thought and action. Truly
There is a God
All Nature speaksv'
At first it may occur to some that
knowledge Of God simply means to
come to know that there is a God, and
that He has provided a Savior, His
Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. But the knowledge Of God
means far more than this. To the ad-
vanced and developing Christian 1t sig
nifles an intimate acquaintance with
the Father and with the Soma knowl-
edge of "the mind of Christ" which is
full and clear representation Of the
Fathers mind.
We grow In this knowledge by the
study of the Word Of God, by discern
ing through that Word the principles
which govern the Divine conduct--as
to how Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love
and Power operate. These are pro-
gressive studies. Something may be
learned along this line on the very
first day Of our Christian experience;
but the end Of the first year should
show considerable progress In the
knowledge Of the Divine mind; and 80
to the end Of the Christians course.
1t is only as we realize something of
the greatness and the perfection of
the Divine character that we are prop
erly able to estimate our own littleness
and imperfection. Only as we see the
beauties Of His gracious character can
we become intimately acquainted with
God. with His graces and virtues.
Then we come to investigate the
more subtitle qualities of the Divine
Being, His Justice and Love. Who can
imagine real God who is devoid Of
Justice, devoid of Love? So. surely as
it is true that no human being could
be really great without the qualities
of justice and love, so surely is 1t
true that there could be no real and
great God without the same qualities
Wisdom and Power without Justice
and Love would picture to us demon,
and not God.
But what can we know respecting
Gods Justice and Love? We answer
that there are two ways Of ascertain
ing: The first way is to wait and see
how His plans and arrangements will
be ultimately carried out If 1t is
true of humanity that "by their fruits
We shall know them" the same must
be true of the Almighty-by His fruits.
His workmanship, finally completed.
He may be known to be either good or
had, just or unjust, loving or vicious.
The other way Of knowing the Di-
vine character, In advance Of the fin
ished work Of God, would be along the
lines of faith; and faith, in order to be
intelligent, must have some basis or
foundation. The Bible is Gods Mes
sage, to those who have the ears and
eyes of faith. In it He tells us in ad-
vance what he purposes to do; and
from what we thus hear we must de
Iermine whether He is just. loving and
mad m NH otbn,, ,,torun thoy, ntrgaipor
If the creed idols which we have been
worshiping truly represent God, then
the consummation Of His Plan will be
awful in the extreme-enough to make
all creation shudder. 1t would mean
thousands of millions in everlasting
torture without the slightest hope OF
any glory coming to God, or Of any
good coming to the sufferers or to any
body else. The only purpose to be
served by such torture would be the
satisfaction Of devilIsh disposition to
witness the torture Of others Is that
creed IDOL which we have worshiped a
real picture Of the God of the Biblei
We know that 1t is not
The God of the Bible on the contrary
declares that He has permitted the
Reign Of Sin and Death. which is en-
tlrely just. He tells us that from
among the sinners He will first gather
out a sanity handful to be associates
with their Savior and to participate
with Him as members Of His cabinet
or Kingdom. for the administration Of
the worlds affairs, to lift humanity VI
out Of sin and degradation and death
back to human perfection, and ultl
mntely to destroy all Of those who pre-