The Penn's Grove record., 1893-11-24

all immoralities has two d~oorposts, q the
one IS made OF the letter 'f' and the other
OF the letter ~
There are only four steps between strong
faith and complete unbelief First, surrender
the idea of the verbal inspiration of the
Scriptures and adopt the idea that they were
all generally supervised by the Lord. Sec
ond, surrender the idea that they were all
generally supervised by the Lord and adopt
the Theory that they were not all, but partly.
| sup ryieed by the Lord. Third, believe that
| they are the gradual evolution Of the ages,
AMI men wrote according to the wisdom OF
lhe times in which they lived. Fourth, be-
llieve that the Bible is a bad book and not
bnly unworthy of credence, but pernicious
and debasing and cruel.
Only four steps from the stout faith In
which the martyrs died to the blatant car
feature of Christianity as the greatest sham
pt the centuries. But the door to all that
, precipitation and horror is made out of an
'if. The mother of unrests in the minds of
Christian people and to those who regard
sacred things is the ''if' OF incredulity. In
1879. In Scotland, I saw a letter which had
been written many years ago by Thomas
Carlyle to Thomas Chalmers. Carlyle at the
time OF writing the letter was q young man.
The letter was not to he published until after
he death OF Carlyle. HIS death having taken
place, the letter ought to be published.
1t was a letter in which Thomas Carlyle
u "a Aottutt5 " lhb OUh AHA "ihAN
relaxing his faith in Christianity, while ut
Inc same time expresses his admiration for
DIR. Chalmers, and in which Carlyle wishes
that he had the same faith that the great
Scotch minister evidently exercised. Nothing
that Thomas Carlyle ever wrote in ''Sartor
Re%sartus," or the French Revolution. or
his 'Liie of Cromwell" or his immortal
Essays" had in it more wondrous power
than that letter which bewailed his own
doubts and extolled the strong faith OF
another.
1 made an exact copy of that letter, with
Lhe understanding that it should not be pub
iished until after the death of Thomas
Carlyle, but returning to my hotel in Edin-
burgh l felt uneasy lest somehow that letter
should get out of my possession and be pub
/ lished before its time. So I took 1t back to
the person by whose permission | had
copied it. All reasons for it's privacy having
vanished, I wish it might be published.
Perhaps this sermon, finding Its way into
aSeottish home, may suggest its printing,
for that letter shows more nightly than any
thing Ihave ever read the difference bet ween
the II know" OF Paul, and the 81 know" of
Job, and the 81 know of Thomas Chalmers,
und the 81 know" OF all those who hold with
q Arm grip the gospel, on the one hand, and
the unmooring. bestorming and torturing
'if of incredulity on the other. / like the
positive faith Of that sailor boy that Captain
Juikins OF the steamship Scotia picked up in
a hurricane. go aloft," said Captain JUDI
kin. to his mate, "nnd look out for wrecks. "
Before the mate had gone far up the rat
lines he shouted "a wreck! A wreck r.
where away y said Captain Judkins, "oG
he port bow" was the answer. Lifeboats
were lowered, and forty men volunteered to
put out across the angry sea for the wreck.
They came back with a dozen shipwrecked,
and among them a boy Of twelve years.
''who are your said Captain Judkins.
The answer was; II am q Scotch boy. Ny
hther and mother are dead, and l am on myy
said Captain Judkins as he opened the boys
jacket and took hold of u rope around the
boys body. sit is a rope said the boy.
but what is that tied by this rope under
your arm?" "That, sir, is my mothers
Bible. She told me never to lose that"
could you not have saved something elseY'
'tNot and saved that" "Did you expect to
go DOWN." ayes, sir, but I meant to take
my mothers Bible down with me. 'Bravo p
| sud Captain Judkins. 81 will take care of
you
That boy demonstrated a certainty and q;
confidence that 1 like. just in proportion
Us you have few ''lfs" Of incredulity In your
raliSion will you n 1t a comfortable re-
lig.on. Ny full and unquestloned faith In it
is founded on the fact that it s6oths and sus.
lains Ia time of trouble. / do not believe
that any man who ever lived had more bless
lngs and prosperity than 1 have received
from ded and the world. But l have had
trouble enough to allow me opportunity for
finding out whether our religion Is OF any
use in such exigency. l have had fourteen
great b~eraayements, to say nothing OF lesser
b~.reayemenis, for / was tho younger Of a
large family. / nave had as much persecu-
ton as comes to most people. l have had
all kinds OF trial, except severe n pros
longed sickness, and would have been dead
long ago but for the eonsolatory power oil
our religion.
Buddhism will do. Confuoianism will do
Theosophy will do. No religion at all will
do. But when the world gets after you and
defames your best deeds, when bankruptcy
takes the place Of large dividends, when you
fold for the last sleep, the still hands over
the still heart Of your old father, who has
been planning for your welfare all these
wears, or you close the eyes Of your mother,
who has lived in -FOUR life ever since before
you were born, removing her spectacles be-
cause she will have clear vision In the home
to which she has gone, or you give the last
kiss to the child reclining amid the flowers
that pile the casket and looking as natural
and lifeltke as she ever did reclining IN the
cradle, then the only religion worth anything
Is the old fashion religion OF the gospel OF
Jesus Christ.
1 would give more In such a crisis for one
Of the promlse expressed in half a verse Of
the old book than for a whole library con-
tanning all the productions Of all the othei
religions of all the ages. The other religions
are a sort OF cocaine to benumb and deader
the soul while bereavement and misfortune
do their work, but our religion Is inspira'
ton, illumination, imparadisation. Il is
mixture OF sunlight and halleluiah. Do not
adulterate it with one drop Of the tincture d
~lncredulity.
Another Bible 'if' Is the up Of eternal
significance. Solomon gives vi that sit"
twice in one sentence when he says, III thou
be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, but II
thou soonest thou alone shalt bear 1t.
Christ gives US that cir when he says, "If
thou hadst known In this thy day the things
which belong unto thy peace, but now they
are hidden from thine eyes" Paul gives us
into my rest" All these ''ifs" and q score
more that I might recall put the whole re-
sponsibility of our salvation On ourselves.
Christ's willingness to ~pardon-no 'lf' about
that. Realms of glory awaiting the right
eous-no ''if' about that.
The only cir In all the case worth a mo-
ment's consideration is the '1f' that attaches
itself to the question as to whether we will
accept, whether we will repent, whether we
will believe, whether we will rise forever. Is
1t not time that we take our eternal future
off that swivel2 IL 1t not time that we ex-
tirpAte thar sit" that miserable III, tnat
hazardous 'if2" We would not ALLOW this
uncertain sir to stay long In anything else
of importance. Let some one say in regard
to a railroad bridge, 81 have reasons for ask
ing II that bridge Is safe" and you would not
cross 1t. Let ZONE one say, II have reasons
to ask If that steamer is Trustworthy" and
you would not tax passage on 1t.
Let some one suggest in regard to a prop
erty that you are about to purchase, "Ihave
reason to ask II they can give a good title"
and you would not pay Q dollar down until
Won had some akilifzl real estate lawyer 81.
anime the title. But / allowed for years Of
my lifetime, and oms Of you have allowed
for years OF your lifetime. an 'if' to stand
tossing up and down questions OF eternSi
destiny. On, decide! Perhaps your arrival
here to. day may decide. Stranger things
than that have put to flight forever the 'af"
OF uncertainty.
A few Sabbath nights ago In this church q
man passing at the foot OF the pulpit said to
me. 81 am a miner from England" and then
he pushei back his coat sleeve and said, D
you see that scar On my arm?" ! said, Eyes ;
you must have had an awful wound there
some time" He said Eyes II nearly cost
me my life. was in a mine in England 500
feet underground and three miles from the
shaft Of the mine, and a rock fell on me, and