Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1914 — From Paul Tuesday Evening. [ARTICLE]

From Paul Tuesday Evening.

Paul’s second letter to Timothy, Ist chapter and 12th verse, was the text of the sermon delivered by Rev. A. W. Hoffman Tuesday evening, developing from the text the subject Things That Made Paul’s Religion Valuable. The letter which contains the text is that of an aged (teacher to his young disciple. For Paul was nearing the end of life when the letter was written and he could speak with the authority of experience. The study of biography is always interesting and especially helpful to the young; for hidden in the account of the life of the individual, we can discern the secret which made that life a success. And so in the account of the life of Paul we note first the personal note “I know him, whom I have believed.” It was this personal knowledge that made Paul fearless, willing to endure all hardships. It was this personal note that made him willing to sacrifice all that the world holds dear, and that made him fearless before his persecutors, both Roman and Jewish. And so is the religion of any individual valuable to the extent that it is personal. The teachings of Jesus are full of the interest and tender solicitude which the Master had for the individual. On one occasion when he was attending a great feast he quietly slipped away from the great crowds to the Pool of Behesda that he might help a suffering individual. We hear much these days of people in masse. Sociology is the popular study of the day. We discuss capital and labor, trade unions, the yellow peril, etc., apd in dealing with great masses and classes of persons we are so likely to lose sight of the individual. Thus our religion becomes an abstract rather than a personal one. When Jesus was on his way to the home of Jairus, he healed in his quiet way the suffering woman who displayed her great faith by touching the hem of his garment to be healed and great mass who surrounded him were unaware that a great miracle had been performed in their midst. We lose much when we fail to come in contact with individuals. We wax eloquent over the great riches of the United States in vast forests and grain fields, its rich mines of precious and useful metals, its great commerce and business enterprises-but it is only interesting to the extent that it is a personal thing. A farm may' be a valuable property but if it belongs to me and I can speak of it as my farm is possesses an interest for me that it could not otherwise have. The second reason that made Paul’s religion a valuable one was that his faith was linked with reason. He says in the words of the text, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him.” Some people are Christians because they have drifted into that way of life because it was the way of least resistance; they are surrounded by Christian influence and they have never reasoned with themselves as to why they are Christians. The reasons for Christian faith are not demonstrated in the same way that we would demonstrate a scientific or mathematical truth but to the person who has a personal religion the reasons for it are equally evident. When one takes a journey on a train he has faith that he will reach his destination, he judges so because he knows the material of which the roadbed is built and the cars com structed. The materialist says he will not worship God, because he can not see him. We do not love our friends because of their physical being. The one whose skin is soft and pink and whose hair is sunny may become wrinkled and gray, but your love for them has increased rather than diminished with the years, for it is the spirit that you love. So those who worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. An infidel and a Christian were journeying across a desert together. On arising In the morning the former remarked that there had been a traveler passed that way, tor he saw his footprints in the sand. Just then the sun arose, "Behold,” said the Christian, “the footprints of God.” Nature, the Bible and the human heart, all are evidences that God is. It is said that philosophy is man striving to reach God, while Christian experience is God coming down to man. The third thing that made Paul's religion valuable was that he was persuaded that God was able to keep that which he had committed unto him. We have political persuasions and very decided opes and so have we on many other lines of thought. But are we sure what our religious persuasions are? And have we given to God anything to keep? Just as we can only draw from the bank what we deposit, so we can only expect God to keep what we have given into his keeping. Let us give our heart and talents to him instead of doing as many do, selling our birthright for a mess of pottage. For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose hie own soul?