St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-15

granted to all, if credit be given this paper.)
Hold fast the prpfessssn of your faith."-
Hebrews X, 23
The profession Sof our faith is the
faith we have .pTofessed. We have
professed faith in God. God is the
foundation of ALI things. Real faith in
God supersedes everything else. If we
really trust in God our trust will not
waver when other things waver. 1t
rests on the deep foundation which is
never disturbed.s We truly choose 1t.
We choose it for itself and for what
there is in it. 1t does NOT depend on
our circumstances, and it must not
f1uctuate with our circumstances. It's
value is greater when other things fail
If you believe in your friend you will
net abandon him when he is in trou-
BILE, nor doubt him because something
has happened which you do not quite
understand. You do not feel uneasy
about the sun because it goes behind
cloud, or sinks below the horizon at
night.
Friendship was made for the dark
hour, and it Is not worth much If it
fail when adversely comes or doubt
overshadows a man. 1t is at just such
times we prize a true friend who
stands by us when affairs grow awry
Faith has it's special value when we
cannot see. You do not count him a
wise man who should abandon his
spar because the waters were so wild
and land so far away. This is the very
time when he should cling to his spar
You would not count him a wise man
who should wear his life preserver
as he was parading the deck on a fine
afternoon, and then should leave it
below when the ship foundered and he
must take to the water Yet this is
just the way a great many Christians
regard their faith They make much
of it when everything is prosperous,
and then lose their hold upon it when
disaster overtakes them.
If you believe God only when He is
prospering you, your faith has very lit
tie virtue and very little value. 1t does
not mean much to trust when you can
see, if you doubt the moment sight
fails. What is the use Of an anchor
if the cable breaks when the strain
comes? An anchor is intended to hold
the ship. 1t is not expected that it
will prevent the storm, or level the
waves, but it is expected that it will
hold the ship in place. 1t is not
charm to still the seas, but a cable
to hold the ship. A life-preserver is
not intended to keep man out Of the
water, but to help him keep af1oat when
he is in the water. The purpose Of
faith is not to enable a man to escape
trials, but to enable him to bear them.
A family group were reading the
Scriptures in course at their morning
worship. They had come one morning
to the account of the crucifiXIon. AS
they read, the story seemed wonderful
ly real and vivid. They read how Jesus
went in silence from Pilates hall to
Calvary, bearing His cross till He could
bear it no longer, and then another
must bear it for Him. They read how
the soldiers took Him and nailed Him
to the cruel cross, casting lots for His
clothes; how the multitude gathered
about and mockeds Him. One said:
Let the King of Israel come down
from the cross and we will believe Him;
thou that destroyest the temple and in
three days buildest it again, save thy
self" Another replied HE saved
others, himself he cannot save" and
another said: "He trusted in God. let
God deliver him now if he wants him.
Another, more bold still, shouted to
the sufferer: eff thou be the son of
God come down from the cross" At
this point one of the group, a young
girl, who had followed the story with
intense interest, and growing indigna-
ton, interrupted the reading and spoke
out impulsively:
''Why didn't He come DOWN."
There was no answer There could
be none. 1 presume all of us have
asked the same question many and
many a time. Why didn't He come
down and confound His foes then
and there? Why didn't He come down
and end at once all controversy as to
His divine authority and power? 1t
would, indeed, have been a startling
display of power, but not half so di-
vine as the patience with which He
endured until cit was finished" Why
didn't He come down? Christ never
comes down from the cross, either in
His own person or in the person of His
disciples. They are all made to bear
until it is finished. Have we not our
selves been where it seemed as if our
last desire had been refused? The
cup we prayed might pass has been
pressed to our lips. The heavens have
seemed brass above and the earth q
desert beneath us. We have gone into
night that had no stars, and waited
| for a morning that brought no sun.
In such an hour the heart has cried,
though the lips moved not" "'My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'
At such an hour it is an unspeakable
relief to remember that He whom
God most surely loved went down into
the same depths and uttered the same
cry. IN.
This has been the experience of them
all from the beginning unto now. Again
and again there has been no tightening
of the lot no lifting of the load, no
turning away of the blow The blow
comes, and comes hard, too. And we
are inclined to ask often: What profit
is there if we pray unto Him?" made
perfect through suffering" is not true
alone of the Captain of our Salvation,
it is true of His followers as well.
His people bear about in their own
bodies the dying of the Lord How
the noblest men have buffeted the tide
and been submerged at the last. How
the gentlest spirits have felt the grind
ing of hard life and never known
respite. How the most beautiful char
acters have shone out of the darkest
experience. How the loveliest have
borne the longest and not at eventide
could it be said: es"There was light"
Some English poet, burdened with
this thought, has voiced, what we all
have felt, in a verse which I found