Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-03-17
AZ the Conrrsgntlonal Church.

/. RHA<AAaAA AgAkE VI WI - a
ways productive Of good attendance
It's able pastor is himself a grea
source Of popularity. The vigorous
preparations Of the choir Away
give an impulse to good singing anC
not to the detriment Of congrega
tional singing. THE JOURNAL be
lieves 1t is part Of newspaper
duty to help increase attendance
upon the churches and harmoniously
uphold the spread Of a Christian
civilization without which news
papers cannot exist. "Faith a Neces-
sity" was the subject Of Rev. Cor
wins morning discourse.
Faith i'm God is absolutely essen
tiaI to the happiness Of all men.
The Bible says he that believes In
temperance and cleanliness shall
have health. So 1t says he that be-
lieves in Christ shall be saved.
The exact Office Of faith is to save
through belief that is acted upon by
life. Mans supreme belief must be
belief in godliness There is no
hope for a man in a selfish aud un-
gOdly life. The shortcomings Of our
natural character, the defects Of our
fellowman and the adversities of
life, left US little hopes Of worldly
success, unless sustained by a higher
power. or all intelligent beings
man Is the most faithless. To-day
he il your friend; tomorrow for
some trifie he becomes your enemy.
Every day experiences taught us
the unreliability and uncertainty of
our fellowman. The human heart
II a puzzle. a mystery, a maze Of
Inconsistencies; sin and temptation
surrounds man like n miasmatic at
mOsphere. Before tasting Of human
knowledge, he Is filled with feeble
lessness and wickedness. The only
remedy Is faith in God, faith in
Christ, aud the possibilities Of each
soul thro' him. Environed by, and
and weighed down with sin, our
only salvation is from the promises
Of Christ.
Man Is responsible for a wrong
belief Men say If disbelief is hon
est and sincere God will not punish |
1t. But honesty and sincerity do |
not enable us to set aside the eter-
nal verities. Honesty and sincerity |
will not save us from false doctrine
or its effects. A calamitous conse-
luence always follows the belief of
error. Disbelief in youth entails
moral consequences. Do men IN
our iails believe In Gods and moral
laws. No. Or else they would obey |
them. Belief lies at the foundation
Df mans character. God himself
could not bring a good character
out Of bad and wicked heart. He
cannot MAKE citizen of heaven out
Of a sinful, unwhOlly dweller
)f this earth. We cannot
AXE "a train without exercis-
ng supreme faith. The ques-
ions that confront us on all hands
,annot be solved by anyone out Of
my evidence 1t is possible to produce.
No man has ever been able to prove
he existence of God without a
evelation. We cannot solve the
mysteries of this life or the next
MI we cannot dismiss them. Spec
lation leads onlyt extreme unhap-
'iness and only by faith in the un.
cen can we be rescued from unbe-
ef
John Stuart Mill had entirely !
iven up all religious belief. His
On grew up in this state of unbe-
Of. The elder Mill said life was a
0or thing and not worth living. l
he son fell in into callous and |
nappreciative state Of living, hav- |
~ no joy In anything, aud not {
ven mentioning the name OF his ]
lother In his autobiography. Life I
ad no pleasures for him and eternity
o charms. The world would be q
ark indeed were we all to adopt
Iill's philosophy of life. Y
Faith sets before us the supreme
leal of character that cheers us all 3
lro' life. Without this faith life Is G
orthless. The paths of a faithless
fe lead only To dispair. Cherries b
nd dark and fOrbidding at best IL v
10 most successful life unless G
rounded In a higher belief that s.
akes Us different from the beast of q
le field. We rest In this faith and j
now that our rcdcemer liveth, aud u
Iat the gates OF hell shall not pre- 81
III against us, y
I A.
How 10 Catch Fish. =