Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-09-24
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
(Original.l
NO FAITH.

sinned. This was the first sin, the original
sin. How irrational creatures feel their de-
pendence upon God we cannot know. we
have no means of knowing, but that they
do feel that they are dependent upon God is
the plain and positive teaching OF God'S
word. ''He giveth the beast his food, and
to the young ravens which cry" Much less
ganic matter can feel dependent upon God.
In the sense that human beings feel, they
cannot feel at all, but we know that every
thing in the universe is absolutely depend
ent upon God, and are safe in concluding
that, according to its nature, every creature
feels, or was created capable of feeling this
dependence.
The tendency of the presentage is to ban
isf God out of the world and reason faith
not only out of the Bible but out of mans
nature. We are not speaking OF saving
faith, or faith in Jesus Christ. This it has
always been stated. is gift of God, pro-
cured by the mediatorial work OF Jesus
Christ and wrought in the sinner by the op-
Grafton of the Holy Spirit. This age is es-
sentially materialistic in its tendencies.
Human reason is made the test of every
thing. Nothing is accepted as true but what
can be understood, and as nothing can be un-
derstood, in the proper sense of that WORD,
the tendency of the age is to throw doubt
upon everything. ..#..
Practically, the tendency of the age is to
DENY all dependence upon God. What the
Bible calls creation we are told is nothing
but the result of evolution, and what the
Bible calls providence is only the result OF
fixed laws, and what the Bible calls re-
demption through the blood Of Jesus Christ
is, we are told only the dream of disor-
dered brain. In this whole scheme of mod
ern philosophy there is no place for faith,
either as simple dependence upon God or as
dependence upon him for salvation as he is
offered to us in the gospel.
Saving faith, or faith in Jesus Christ, is
that redemption grace which enables the
sinner to accept Of Jesus Christ, and rely
upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation, as he
is offered to us in the gospel. 1t is a gift Of
the Holy Spirit, or it is wrought in the SIN
ner by the Holy Spirit. 1t is appropriately
called saving grace, because all men are,
according to the teachings of the Bible, lost,
and without accepting and relying upon
Jesus Christ for salvation, they never can
be saved. This is what the Bible teaches on
the subject, but it is not what modern theol-
ogy teaches. Faith, both as simple reliance
upon God and reliance upon him for saliva
tion, according to the gospel, is philoso-
phized out of existence. In the creed OF
many modern theologians, there is no place
| for faith-no room for reliance upon God in
any sense. Modern science has taken pos
session of the apartment once occupied by
faith. The result is, the children of God
ask for bread and a stone is given them,
they ask fora fish and scorpion is provided.
There is adeclaration made by our Savior,
rather question asked by him, which
should startle the church, if not the world.
It is contained in the latter part of the eighth
pff 40 OF oh
pei by Luke, and is as follows: "Neverthe-
less, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he
find faith on the earth ?" These words
stand at the conclusion of parable, which
was designed to encourage men always to
pray, and not faint. The question is asked,
''Shall not God avenge his own elect" Our
Saviour answers the question himself. 81
tell you," he says, she will avenge them
speedily" Then comes the language under
consideration. The meaning Of the whole
passage seems to be this, God will avenge
those who cry day and night unto him, but
when the Son of Man cometh will there be
any such to avenge? 1t is evident that the
question requires negative answer. In
other words, the answer to the question of
our Saviour is, "No; there will be no faith
on the earth when he cometh." We may
not be able to say, with absolute certainty,
what period in the worlds history is meant
by "When the Son of Man cometh." This
thing, however, we may say safely, that
some time there will be very little faith on
the earth. We are certainly informed, in
the Scriptures, of only two comings of the
Son of Man-the one nearly nineteen centu-
ries ago, when he came to offer up himself
a sacrifice for sin, the other when he will
come to Judge the world in righteousness.
It seems that the last period is meant. In
other words, the coming of the Son of Man,
as used in this Scripture, means the same as
the final Judgment.
Prior to his incarnation, and hence prior
to his being called the Son of Man, the Mes
siah came to this earth of ours and found no
faith, or very little faith. The result was
that with the exception of Noah and his
family-eight souls in an-the world was
drowned. Gradually men departed from
God until the whole race, save Noah and
his family, had no faith. May we not infer
from the language of the Saviour in the pas
sage quoted, that when he comes, not the
Lamb of God to make a sacrifice for sin, but
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to judge the
living and the dead, he will find no faith on
the earth.
But more practical question to US of the
present day is, "Are we drifting into that
state of no faith, which characterized the
inhabitants of the world Immediately prior
to the flood? Are we drifting into state
of want of confidence in God and denial of
dependence upon God which will exist when
the Son of Man cometh 2"
The day of judgment is certaiuly rapidly
approaching. How long it is off no mortal
knows. 1t may be many centuries, or it
may be just at our doors. This is something
about which we cannot form reasonable
conjecture, but that man must be blind who
does not see that the strong tendencies of the
present age is to Danish faith from the
earth. The Bible and religion are talked
about and discussed as men are accustomed
to talk about and discuss human inventions.
In every department of life, from the min
lister in the pulpit to the tiller of the soil,
there is manifest want of faith in God.
The language Of the masses is, "To-day or
tomorrow we will 60 into the city, and
spend year there and trade, and get gain"
Dependence upon God is left out of the
question. TO what whirlpool is the world
drifting?
Bay- An old warrior lying at the point of
death, said to the missionary who stood at
his side, ooh! have been in great trouble
this morning but am happy now. Isaw
an immense mountain, with precipitOus
sides, up which endeavored to climb but
when l had attained considerable height,
lost my hold and fell to the bottom. EX
hausted with perplexitya and fatigue, l went
to distance and sat down to weep, and
wbila yUaaninor T cow 6ron of hIoo6 fol