The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1895-07-13

but this question whether God is i'll the
world today, so that I can climb Mount
Sinai and see him face to face III the
| clouds, can go on the Mount of Trans
fguratiOn and talk to him, can sit by
his side III GaIilee, can have his inSpira-
| ton and his comfort and his strength,
so that he viii come into my home to
wipe away the tears, ard into my life
to give courage, and into my perplexlties
| to give light-that is not schOlaSticiSm.
Because we believe in an Emmanuel,
in God with US, therefore we believe
in q God in Christ. in God in the Holy
Spirit, and also III q God IN the Scrip
lures Not the standard, but standard
We do not believe in God becaIls" We be
lieve IN the Bible. We believe III tn1
Bible because we believe in God. Why
is it that you believe III the musical abil-
ity Of the pianist or vOliniSt? Because
there is some music in your sO1l which!
the piano or the violin stirS Why IS it
that we believe in this Bible? Because
there is some life Of faith and hope and
love III us which this Bible stirs. And
it stirs that life in rs because it is u
human hook. Life stirs life and only
life stirs life. 1t is uOI the bO0k--it is
the man who Is inspired. Il is Moses, it
is David, it is Paul that Is inspired. So,
then, the nearer we get to the heart of
Moses, David, Paul tie nearer we get
to Gods heart. And SO this MCdern
criticism, which mel ere SO inuch afraid
of, will bring this Bible nca3Hr to us
and make it the2rer to Us. God S divinity
is in man, not In tho printed page. And
so, If / can find ont what Is the life Of
the inspired man, if / can get nearer to
him, if can see his imperfec;ions-that
the man saw through Il glass, dGrkly,
that the man only spoke III part, and
some other man spoke the other part-if
can see humanity with all that belongs
to humanity III the utteralx'es of this
book. / shall the clearer see God in it.
Just because it is huIna1H book it is
divine book, and God gets nearer to us
in it, and it is still Emmanuel, God with
US, God i'll the prophet, God i'll the apos-
tie, God in Moses, God ia Joshua, God
in David, God ia Isaiah, God in Paul,
pre-eminently and above all God In
Jesus Christ, and God is seen in all be-
cause there is something Of the divine in
us that answers to the experience of God
in these souls that speak to us.
The Hope Of Humanity.
This is our evangelical faith-faith in
Emmanuel, God with us, the hope of
humanity. Is it hard one, cruel one,
thing for men to reject because it is
burdensome? There have been burdens
imposed with this faith on the world,
but this fundamental faith that God is
in his world. God with us: that he has
rUvGaIC0 n1nSeu LII history; that ne ~
pcrpetually disclosing himself in expCrl
cnce that he has uttered himself i'll the
inspired utterances Of prophet and apos-
tie that he has come and still comes III
order that he may give life where
there is death, and hope where there lis
despair, ard that OFT of him there is no
hope and there is ho life; that no man
can live apart from hirn-but no man
need be apart from hinl-is this hard
doctrine Or q blessed one? You remem-
Der III that parable Of the prodigal son,
when the man came to himself and re-
turned to his father while he stood still
holding himself afar of, hesitating to
go on, the father came out to meet him
and threw himself on his SON s neck and
kissed him and said, Bring the best
robe, and the ring, and the shoes, and
kill tho fGtted calf. This is Christian
ity. 1t is God coming out to gnan when
man turns his face to God l wish
could put this simple, sublime, eternal,
divine faith of the ages so before you
that every one Of you would say, "He
shall be my God, revealed in Christ. re-
ceived in the spirit, interpreted by the
experience, lived in the hfe-my hope,
my salvation. -