Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-12-01

his knee an 'if." The door through which
people pasr into infdeIity and atheism and
all tmmOtalitiea has two d1grrosts, and the
one is made of the letter 81" and the other
of tine letter 81"
There are only four steps between strong
f1ith Rrd complete unbelief First surrender
tho idea Of the Verbal iEispitatidn Of the
Scriptures and adopt the idea that they Vera
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,
supervised by the Lord. Third, believe that
they are the gradual evolution, Of the ages,
and me1 wrote according to the wisdom OF
the times In which they lived. Fourth; be-
lfeve that the Bible is bad book and not
only unworthy of credence, but pernicious
and debasing and cruel.
Only four steps from the stout faith in
which the Itiaftyfs died re the blatant car
feature Of Christianity as tho Greatest sham
OF the centuries. But the door to all that
precipitation and horror is made out OF an
''1t. The mother Of unrests in the mindSo Of
UnrIsrTan people ana TO those VINO regHru
sacred things is the 'if' of incredulity. In
1879, in Scotland, szsg II letter which had
been written many years ago by Thomas
Carlyle tC Thomas Chalmers. Carlyle at the
time Of writing the letter was yOufig man:
The letter was not to be published until after
the death Of Carlyle. His death having taken
place; the letter ought To be published.
1t was letter in which Thomas Carlyle
expresses the tOrtureS of his own mind While
relaxing his faith in Christianity, while at
the same time expresses his admiration for
Dr. 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
Resartus," or the "French e1 Revolution" or
his 'tIife of Cromwell" or his immortal
essays" had in it moro wondrous power
than that letter which bewailed his own
doubts and extol1ed the strong faith of
another.
I made an exact copy of that letter, with
the understanding that it should not be pub
Hshed until after the death of Thomas
Carlyle, but returning to my hotel in Edin-
burgh felt uneasy lest somehow that letter
should get out of my possession and be pub
ltshed before its time. So I took it back to
the person by whose permission I had.
copied ii. All reasons for it's privacy having
vanished I wish it might be published.
Perhaps this sermon, finding its way into
Scottish home, may suggest its printing,
for that letter shows more nightly than any
thing Ihave ever read the difference between
the II know of Paul, and the 81 know Of
Job, and the ~ know of Thomas Chalmers,
and the ~ know" Of all those who hold with
firm grip the gospel, on the one band, and
the unmoOring, bestorming and tOrturing
'if of incredulity on the other. l like tle
positive faith of that sailor boy that Captain
tudkins of the steamship Scotia picked up in
d hurricane "GO alOft.' said Captain Jud-
kins to his mate, 'and look out for wrecks"
Before the mate had gone far UP the rat
lines he shouted: ga wreck ! A wreck !"
"Where away p said Captain Judkins. "Off
the 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 u dozen ShipWrecked,
and among them boy of twelve years.
"Who are you?' said Captain Judkins.
The answer was II am a Scotch boy. My
Fatl, L ,fl
way to America" "What have you here?'
said Captain Judkins as he opened the boys
jacket and took hold Of rope around the
boys body. "It is 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 else?"
''NOt and saved that" "Did you expect to
go DOWN." eyes, sir, but meant to take
my mothers Bible down with me. " "Bravor'
said Captain Judllns. 81 will take care OF
you"
That boy demonstrated certainty and a
confidence that | like. Just in proportion
as you have few Ifs OF inCredulity in your
religion will you find it a comfortable re-
ligiOn. My full and unquestioned faith in it
is founded on the fact that it sooths and sus-
tains in time of trouble. l do not believe
that any man who ever lived had more bless
ings and prosperity than | have received
from God and the world. But [ have had
trouble enough to allow mo opportunity for
finding out whether our religion is of any
use in such exiGency. [ have had fourteen
great bereavementS. to say nothing of lesser
bereavements. for | was the younger of Il
large family. I have had as much persecu-
tiOn comes to most people. L have had
all kinds of trial, except severe and pro
1onged sickness. and would have been dead
long ago but for the consolatory power of
our religion.
Any religion will do in time of prosperity.
Buddhism will do. Confucianism 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,
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 Iifelike 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.
| would give more in such q crisis for one |
of the promises expressed in half IL verso of |
the old book than for a whole library con
tanning all the productions of all the other
religions of all the ages. The other religions |
are d sort of cocaine to benumb and deaden |
the soul while bereavement and misfortune |
do their work, but our religion is insptra- |
ton, illumination, imparadisatiOn. 1t is
mixture OF sunlight and hallelujah Do not |
adulterate it With one drop cf the ttncture of
incredulity
Another Bible 'if'' is the ''if'' of eternal
significance. Solomon gives US that elf
twice in one sentence when he says, 'If thou |
be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if |
thou scornest thou alone shalt bear 1t.
Christ gives us that ''if' when he says. I'll |
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 |
that ''if'' when he says, 'If they shall enter
into my rest" All these ''ifs" and score
more that might recall put the whole re-
sponsibility of our salvation on ourselves.
Chrsts willingness to pardOn-nO IF about
that. Realms of glory awaiting the right
eous-no ''if'' about that.
The only ''if'' in all the case worth mo-
ment's consideration is the ''it' 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
it not time that we take our eternal future
off that swivel? Is it not time that we ex-
tirpate that 'if," that miserable ''if. that
hazardous "if?'' We would not allow this
uncertain if to stay long in anything else
of Importance. Let some one say in regari
to a railroad bridge, II have reasons for ask
cross it. Let some one say, Il have reasons
to ask If that steamer is trustworthy" and
you would not take passage on it.
Let some one suggest in regard to prop
crty that you are about to purchase, Il nave
reason TO ask if they can give a good title,
and you would not pay dollar down until
you had some skillful real estate lawyer ex-
anime the title. But allowed for years Of
my lifetime, and some of you have allowed
for years of your lifetime. an ''if' to stand
tossing up and down questions of eternal
destiny. oh, decide! Perhaps your arrival
here to.day may decide. Stranger things
than that have put to flight forever the ''it'
of uncertainty.
few Sabbath nights ago in this church a
man passing at the foot of the pulpit said to
me, II am a miner from England" and then
he pushed back his coat sleeve and said. ''Do
you see that scar on my arm?" I said, eyes
you must have had an awful wound there
some time" He said: Eyes it nearly cost
me my life. was in a mine in England 600
foot ha