The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-11-22

make for their children, and all have
failed. She is coming toward the vivid
and venturesome and terrific prayer OF
my text She is going to lift her own
eternity and set II upon that one II,
by which she expects to decide wheth-
er you will go up with her or she down
with you. She may be this moment
looking heavenward, and saying: ~
Lord, reclaim him by Thy grace" and
then adding that heartrending 'ff' oil
my text: IF not, blot me, pray thee,
out of Thy book" After three years
of absence a son wrote his mother In
one of the New England whaling vii
lagos that he was coming home in
certain ship. Mother-like, she stood
watching, and the ship was in the
offing, but fearful storm struck 1t
and dashed the ship on the rocks that
night. All that night the mother
prayed for the safety of the son, and
just at dawn there was a knock at the
cottage door, and the son entered, cry
ing out, Mother, | knew you would
pray me homel" IF | would ask all
those in this assemblage who have
been prayed home to God by pious
mothers to stand up, there would be
scores that would stand, and II | should
ask them to give testimony it would be
the testimony of that New England
son coming ashore from the split tim
bers Of the whaling ship, "My mother
prayed me home" s "a
Another Bible 'if'' Is the 'if'' ofNp-
credulity Satan used it when Christ,
with his vitality depressed by forty
days abstinence from food, the tempt
er pointed to some stones, in color and
shape like leaves of bread, and said:
"lf Thou be the Son of God command
that these stones be made bread"
That was appropriate, for Satan Is the
father of that 'if' of incredulity.
Peter used that same ''if' when, stand
ing on the wet and slippery deck OF a
fishing smack on Lake Galilee, he saw
Christ walking on the sea as though 1t
were as solid as pavement OF basalt
from the adjoining volcanic hills, and
Peter cried out: "If it be Thou, let me
come to Thee on the water" What o
preposterous "ifr' What human foot
was ever so constructed as to walk on
the water. In what part of the earth
did the law OF gravitation make ex-
ception TO the rule that man will
sink TO the elbows when he touches
the wave of river or lake, and will sink
still further unless he can swimP
But here Peter looks out up
on the form In the shape OF
a man defying the mightiest law ot
the universe, the law of gravitation, and
standing erect on the top of the liquid
Yet the incredulous Peter cries out tc
the Lord, "If it be Thou" Alasl fol-
that incredulous 'if." 1t is working
as powerfully in the latter part Of thii
nineteenth Christian century as 1t die
in the early part of the first Christian
century. Though small conjunction
it is the biggest block to-day in thu
way Of the gospel chariot. "Ifl" "Ifl'
We have theological seminaries whicl
spend most OF their time and emplo!
their learning and their genius in th
manufacturing Of "ifs." With tina
weaponry is assailed the pentateuch
and the miracles and The divinity o
Jesus Christ. Almost everybody
chewing on an "if." When many
man bows for prayer he puts his lSne
on an 'if." The door through whicl
people pass into infidelity and atheism
and all immoralities has two doc
posts, and the one is made OF the lette
"T' and the other OF the letter "F."
There are only four steps betwee
strong faith and complete unbeliei
First, surrender the idea of the verba
inspiration OF the Scriptures, and adop
the idea that they were all general
supervised by the Lord. Second, SUI
render the idea that they were all ger
orally supervised by the Lord and adoy
the theory that they were not oil, bu
partly, supervised by the Lord. Third
believe that they are the gradual evolr
ton Of the ages, and men wrote nccort
ing to the wisdom OF the times in whic
they lived. Fourth. believe that tn
Bible is bad book and not only III
worthy Of credence, but pernicious an
debasing and cruel. Only four steT
from the stout faith in which th
i, martyrs died to the blatant caricatur
of Christianity as the greatest sham {
the centuries. But the door 10 all tha
precipitation and horror is made out {
an 'if." The mother of unrest in th
minds of Christian people and in tho'
who regard sacred things is tho 'ff'' {
incredulity. In 1879, in Scotland, ] sa
, a letter which had been written man
years ago by Thomas Carlyle to Thomi
Chalmers Carlyle, at the time I
writing the letter, was a youn
man. The letter was not TO
published until after the deaf
of Carlyle. His death having take
| place, the letter ought TO be publishes
It was letter in which Thomas Ca
lyle expresses the tortures of his ow
mind while relaxing his faith In Chri
tianity, while, at the same time he e
presses his admiration for DIR. Chs
mers, and in which Carlyle wishes thI
: he had the same faith that the grsi
Scotch minister evidently exercise
Nothing that Thomas Carlyle ev'
wrote in "Sartor Resartus," or u
'French Revolution" or his Life
| Cromwell" /" or his immortal Essays
! had in II more wondrous power tha
! that letter which bewailed his ow
doubts and extolled the strong faith
| another. made an exact copy Of thi
letter, with the understanding that
should not be published until after u
death of,Thomas CARLYLE, but. retur