The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-09-20

Alpine mountain OF sacred DOCKS, ana
put my finger on the last page Of Gene
sis, and let me know 1t, and l can tell
you what is on the next page, namely,
the first chapter of Exodus, or,
while thus blindfolded, put my
finger on the last chapter Of Matthew,
and let me know 1t, and l will tell
you what is on the next page, namely,
the first chapter of Mark. In the pile
of FIVE hundred million Bibles there |
will be no exception. In other words,
the Book gives me confidence by Its
supernatural adhesion OF writing TO
writing Even the stoutest ship some
times shifts its cargo, and that Is what
made our peril the greater In the ship
Greece, Of the National line, when the
cyclohe struck us off the coast Of New
foundland, and the cargo of iron had
shifted as the ship swung from lar
board to starboard and from starboard
to larboard. But, thanks be to God,
this old Bible ship, though 1t has been
in thousands Of years of tempest, has
kept its cargo Of gold and precious
stones compact and sure, and in all the
centuries nothing about 1t has shifted.
There they stand, shoulder TO shoulder,
David and Solomon, and Isaiah and
jeremiah, and Ezekiel and Daniel,
and Hosea and Joel, and Amos
and Obadiah, and Jonah and Mi
cab, and Nahum and Habbakuk,
and Zephaniah and Haggai, and Zach
ariah and Malachi, and Matthew and
Mark, and Luke and John, and Paul
and Peter, all there, and with q
certainty Of being there until the
heavens and the Garth, the creation OF
which is described in the first book OF
the Bible, shall have collapsed, and the
white horse of the Conqueror described
in the last book Of the Bible shall paw
the dust in universal demolition. BY
that tremendous fact my faith Is REIN
forced. The discussion Is abroad as TO
who wrote those books OF the Bible
called the Pentateuch, whether Moses
or Hilkiah or Ezra, OF Samuel, or Jere-
miah or another group Of ancients.
None of them wrote 1t. God wrote the
Pentateuch, and In this day Of stem
ography and typewriting that ought
not TO be q difficult thing to under
stand.
The great merchants and lawyers
and editors and business men OF our
towns and cities dictate nearly all
their letters; they only sign them after
they are dictated. The prophet and
, evangelist and apostle were Jehovah's
stenographers or typewriters. They
put down only what God dictated; he
, signed it afterward. He has been writ
ing his name upon 1t all through the
, vicissitudes Of ceturies.
: But come to the height Of my sub
} ject when / say the way to reinforce
! our faith is 10 pray for it. So the dis
ciples in my text got their aboundinf
! faith: Lord, increase our faith.
. Someone suggests: "Do you really
: think that prayer amounts to any
: thing?" / might as well ask you Il
/, there line of telegraphic poles from
5 New York TO Washington, is there
S line of telegraphic wires from Man
h chester 10 London, from Cologne L
= Berlin. All the people who have sen
s and received messages on those line
n know of their existence. So there ar
d millions Of souls who have been in con
/ slant communication with the sapita
o OF the universe, with the throne of tn
S Almighty, with the great God himself
e for years and years and years. Their
/ has not been day when supplicatioh
S did not flash up and blessings did no
r flash down. Will some ignoramus, VIII
: has never received a telegram or sen
Il one, come and tell us that there is n
+ such thing as telegraphic communica
II tion? VIII some one who has never OF
n fered a prayer that was heard an
d answered, come and tell us that ther
t Is nothing in prayer? 1t may not com
o as we expect it, but as sure as an hor
IS est prayer goes up, merciful answe
y will come down. During the blizzar
II of four or five years ago, you know tina
y many of the telegraph wires were pro-
d trated, and telegraphed to Chicago b
1t the way Of Liverpool, England, an
D. the answer, after awhile, came roun
IS by another wide circuit, so the prayC
IS we offer may come back in way "
h never imagined, and If we ask to hay
't our faith increased, although II ma
i come by widely different proce
)f than that which we expected, our col
y fidence will surely be augmented.
n put IL in every prayer you ever NAL
r between your next breath and your la
K gasp: "Lord, increase our faith" Fait
Ig in Christ as our personal ransom fro
x present guilt and eternal casta
&c trophe: Faith in the omnipotei
Is Holy Ghost: Faith in the Bible, Il
b. truest volume ever dictated or wri
n ten or printed or read: Faith
n adverse providence, harmonized Z
IT. our best welfare: Faith in judgme
TX day that will set all things right whi'
y have for ages been wrong. Increa
al our faith, not by a fragile additio
r. but by an infnitude OF recuperatio
y Let us do as we saw II done in q
or country while we were yet in our teer
% at the old farmhouse, after a lol
ny drought, and the we'll had been drie
5" and the cattle moaned with thirst
o. the bars, and the meadow brook h
w ceased TO run, and the grass wither
b and the corn was shriveled up, and o
We day there was growl OF thunder, a
de then a congregation Of clouds on I
ne sky, and then startling fash, n
ng then drenching rain, and father a
al mother put barrels under every spo
Irt nc the corners of the house, and /