Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-11-24

III ACIbNA
nightly than anything 1 have ever
read the difference between the II
know" of Paul and the II know of
Job and the II know" of Thomas Chal-
mers and the 81 know" of all those who
hold with firm grip the old gospel on
the one hand, ana the unmooring, be-
storming and torturing "If' of incredu-
lily on the other. l lbe the positive
faith of that sailor boy that Capt
Judllins of the steamship Scotia picked
up in hurricane. $50 aloft!' said
Capt. Judl<ins to his mate, "and look
out for wrecks" Before the mate had
gone far up the ratlines, he shouted "a
wreck! a wreck" "Where away?"
said Capt. Judllins, Ion the port
bow" was the answer. Life boats
were lowered, and forty men vol
unteered TO put out across the
angry sea for the wreck. They came
back with a dozen p-wrecled, and
among them boy of IL years. "Who
are you?" said Capt. Judl<ins. The
answer was, Il am Scotch boy. My
father and mother are dead and / am
on my way to America. "What have
you here?" said Capt. Judkins, as he
opened the boys jacket and took hold
of a rope around the boys body. 1T
is rope" said the boy. but what is
that tied 10y the rope under your arm?"
THAT, sir, is my mothers bible. She
told me never TO lose that" Gould
YOU not have saved something else?'
Not and saved that" Did you ex-
pect to go DOWN." "Yes. sir, but L
meant to take my mothers bible down
with me-" Bravo said Capt. JudlIins.
81 will take care of YOU"
That boy demonstrated GER
tainty and confidence that I
like. Just in proportion as you have
few Ifs of incredulity in your re-
ligion, will you find it comfortable
religion. My full and unquestioning
faith in it is founded on the fact that
it soothes and sustains in time of
trouble. / do not believe that any
man who ever lived had more bless
lngs and prosperity than / have re-
ceived from God and the world. But
l have had trouble enough to allow me
OPPcA bhhiSJ lOA Oub NlltlntE
our religion is of any use in such
eXigency. l have had fourteen great
bereavements, to say nothing of lesser
bereavements, for / was the youngest
of a large family. have had as much
persecution as comes to most people.
| have had all kinds OF trial, except
severe and prolonged sickness, and |
would have been dead long ago but
for the consolatory power of our re-
ligion.
Any religion will do in time of pros
perity. Buddhism will do. Confucian-
ism 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 well
fare all these years, or you close the
eyes of your mother who has lived 10
your life, ever since before you were
born, removing her spectaclcs because
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 casllet and
looking as natural and life-liiSe as she
ever did reclining in the cradle, then
the only religion worth anything is the
old-fashioned religion of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. l would give mora in
such crisis for one of the promises of
the old book than for a whole library
containing all the productions Of all
the other religions of all the ages. The
other religions are sort of cocaine TO
benumb and deaden the soul while be-
reavement and misfortune do their
work, but our religion is inspiration,
illumination, emparadisation. 1t is a
mixture of sunlight and haileluiah Do
not adulterate it with one crop of the
tincture of incredulity.
Another bible "If'' is the IT. of
eternal significance. Solomon gives
us that "If' twice in ons sentence,
when he says: IF thou be wise thou
shalt be wise for myself; but if thou
soonest thou alone shalt bear it.
Christ gives us that IF when he says:
eff thou hadst known in this thy day
the things that belong unto thy peace,
but now they are hidden from thine
eyes" Paul gives us that 'If' when
he says: If they skau enter into my
rest" All these Ifs" and score
more that might recall put the whole
responsibility of our salvation on
ourselves. Christ's willingness to
pardon: No ''If' about that
Christ's willingness to help: No
'If' about that Realms of glory
awaiting the righteous: No IF about
that. The only "lf' in all the case
worth moments consideration, is the
eff that attaches itself TO the ques-
ton as to whether we will accept.
whether we will repent, whether we
will believe, whether we will rise for
ever Is it not time that we take our
eternal future off that swivel? Is il
not time that we extirpate that "If,"
that miserable "lf," that hazardous
"If?" We would not allow this uncer-