Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-12-06

| 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
Scoch minister evidently exercised. Nothing
that Thomas Carlyle ever wrote in "Sartor
Resartus," or the French Revolution" or
/ his ''Life of Cromwell" or his immortal
Essays" had in 1t more wondrous power
than that letter which bewailed his own
doubts and eStolled the strong faith OF
another.
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 felt uneasy lest somehow that letter
should get out OF my possession and be pub
ushed before its time. So took II back to
the person by whose permission 1 had
copied IT, All reasons for its privacy having
vanished, sh 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 .'I know" OF Paul, ani the az know of
/ Job, and the 81 know" OF Thomas Chalmers,
and the ~ know Of all those who hold with
4 firm grip the gospel, on the one hand, and
the unmooring. bestorming and tortIIring
'n OF incredUliiy on the other. l like the
| positive faith of that sailor boy that Captain
| ia ikins Of the steamship Scotia picked up in
| hurricane. $50 alon,' said Captain I'D
llrs 10 his mate, land look out for wrecks"
| BE ore the mate had gone far up the rat
| lines he shouted "a wreck wreck -
Where away ~ said Captain Judkins. "OH
| hs port bow was the answer. Lifeboat5
| were lowered, and forty men volunteered TO
put OFT across the angry sea for the wreck.
Fn"y came back with a dozen shipwrecked,
| IN among them boy of twelve years.
| "Who are youg' said Captain Judkins.
| The answer was: 81 am Scotch boy. My
| ather and mother are dead, and am on my
| vIy to America" 'What have you here?'
| said Captain JudkinS rs he opened the boys
| acSet AMI took hold of a rope around the
| ,oy's boiy. at is rope" said the boy.
| But what is that tied by this rope under
! vour army' "rhat, 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
| 20 DOWN. Eyes, sir, but 1 meant TO take
| ny mothers Bible down with me-" "Brayor r'
said Captain Ju iSins. Il will take care OF
yoa.
| That boy demonstrated a certainty and
| .onidence that like. Just in proportion
| IS you have lew Ifs OF incredulity in your
| religion will you find il n comfortable re-
ig.on My full AMI unquestioned faith in it
| founded on the fact that il sooths and sus-
aims IN time OF trouble 1 do not believe
| hat any man who ever lived had more bless
ms AMI prosperity than l have received
rom Col AMI the world. But l have had
-3u p,e raJU n to allow me opportunity for
n on. neither our religion is OF any
,, ia sal axisenry. | haze hal fourteen
relt JorsTycments. to say nothing OF lesser
,rr-ayem II :, fo- | was the younger Oi "A
lrgp family. | have had as much peTsecu-
'Ou As CONF. TO most people. l have had
II Sin OF trial. except severe and pro-
on-ed sickness. and would have been dead
Oug ago but for the consOlatOry power OF
Jur raiiG.On.
Any religion will do in time Of prosperity.
~ tilisn will 30. Confucianism will do.
,p-O-oply VIII do. No religion at all will
o. Bu; whcR the world gets after you and
etanes your best deeds, when bankruptcy
| ,aEes the place OF large dividends, when yOI
told for the last sleep, the still hands over
The still heart OF your old father, who has
been planning for your welfare all these
years or you close the eyes OF your mother,
who has lived in your life ever since before
you were born, removing her spectacles be-
:ause 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 lifelike as she ever did reclining in the
radle, then the only religion worth anything
: the old fashion religion Of the gospel Of
Jesus Christ.
| would give more in such a crisis for one
Of the promises expressed in half n verse OF
rhe old book than for a whole library con
tanning all the productions of all the other
religions of all the ages. The OtherreliglOn.
ire Il sort of cocaine to benumb and deader
10 tleir work, but our religion IL inspira
ZION, illumination, imparadisatiOn. II Is E
mixture of sunlight and hallelujah. Do moi
adu.terate it with one drop OF the tiucture O.
ncredulity.
Another Bible ''if'' is the sir OF eternal
significance. Solomon gives US that 'itn
twice in one sentence when he says, "If thou
De wise, thou shalt be wise for thys-lf, but II
thou scOrnest thou alone shalt bear il. >
Christ gives us that '.if'' when he SAYS. '.If
-. Ir,-
which belong unto thy peace, but now they
ire hidden from thine eyes Paul gives Us
that ''it'' when he says, III they shall enter
into my rest" All these Ifs" and a score
more that l 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 sir about that.
The only sir in all the case worth a mo-
ment's consideration is the ''it'' that attaches
itself to the question as TO whether we will
accept, whether We will repent, whether wa
will believe, whether we will rise forever. Is |
il not time that we take our eternal future (
off that swivel? Is it not time that we ex-
tirpfte that '.if," that miserable '.if,' that
uncertain ''if'' to stay long in anything else |
OF importance. Let some one say in regard |
to a railroad bridge, u have reasons for ask |
ing If that bridge iAs1fa," and you would not |
cross It. Let some one say, 81 have reasons |
TO ask II tlat steamer Is truStWOrtly, ana |
you would not take passage on it.
Let some one suggest In regard to prop |
erty that you are about to purchase, "Ihave |
reason TO ask II they can give a good title" |
aud you would not pay dollar down until |
ToU 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. decided Perhaps your arrival
here day may decide. Stranger things
than that have put to flight forever the '.if''
of uncertainty.
few Sabbath nights ago in this church a
nan passing at the foot of the pulpit said to
ne, Il am miner from England" and then
he pushed back his coat sleeve and said, 'iDo
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 mine in England 600 !
feet underground and three miles from the
shaft of the mine, and rock fell on me. and
my fellow laborer pried off the rock and !
was blseding to death, and he took news
paper from around his luncheon and bound
il around my wound and then helped me over
the three miles underground to the shaft,
where l was lifted to the top, and when the
n wspaper was taken off my wound read
IN IT something that saved my soul. and 1t
was one OF your sermons. Good night" he
said as he passed on, leaving me trunshxed
sith grs,Atul emotion.
Ana vho Enaus hut the words noW aDask
'Iessed OF God, may reach some wounded
oul deep down In the black mine Of sin, and
hat these words may be blessed to the stanch-
nc of the wound and the eternal life of the
oul? Settle this matter instantly. positively
md forever. Slay the last elf" Bury deep |
he last ''if." How to do it? Fling body,
mind and soulin prayer as earnest as that
II Moses in the text. Can you doubt the
of this prayer of the text? II is
o heavy with emotion that It breaks down |
q the middle. 1t was so earnest that the |
in the modern copies Of the Bible
Tere obliged to put mark, a straight line,
dash, for an omission that will never be
lied up. Such an abrupt pause. such sud
en- swapping of of the sentence!
You cannot parse my text. 1t is an Of
snss OF grammatical construction. But
hat dash put in by the typesetters is nightly
uggestive. "If thou wilt forgive their sin d
then comes the dash)-"and If not, blot
he, pray Thee, out of Thy book Some '
the most earnest prayers ever uttered
WNV@ - l. 4