The Portland daily press., 1896-07-13
FAITH.
Rev. DIR. e. Bolles at Congress Street
Church.

The congregation at Congress Square
cn"roh yesterday morning had tho graft
hoation OF listening to former pastor
lev. Edwin q. Bolles of Brooklyn, N. Y.
IAe text was taken from Hebrew xi, l
and can be summed up in one word
nalth. The preacher began by saying
that words are like coin in circulation,
that represent the current change. When
nrst issued they are bright an clear cut
medaliions and figures. But as time goes
on and they pass from hand to hand in
circulation they lose their brightness.
the figures and images become indistinct.
So with words. At first there is no
possibility of mistake in their signifi-
canoe but with time they lose their clear
ness and as in the case of the great words
that give meaning and character 60 re-
ligion they have lost much that belonged
to Thorn as the result of inspiration. In
illustration let us take the word liberty
that from its original meaning became SO
degraded that Nine. Roland gave utter
ance to the famous saying. s'Oh Liberty
" hat crimes are committed in they
name" The word Faith probably d iffers
more now than most others in the
definition applied to it. When the dis
ciples we're called the faithful there was
a marked difference between the follow
ers of the Christian and those of the
pagan church they were to overcome.
What do we mean by faith. Most people
confound faith with belief. 1t is belief
but 1t Is something more. Belief comes
by evidence and reason and has it's end i'll
faith but belief it but step in the stage
of develoDmen. of faith. Faith is thought
to be % sort Of religious creed to which
one attaches himself as the sailor cast up
on the sea grasps the floating plank to
ensure his safety. Faith is like the great
engine and dynamo that far away fur
nishes the. lights that streams from the
lantern on the headland, bringing the
winged messengers of the deep securely
into port or warning them of the danger
GUS shoals and rocks, and provides the
brightness that makes our streets almost
as light as day. Faith is not authority
but credulity that bows down before
authority. 1t is the altar OF the human
soul. We may say it is realization of
the things of God. 1t is revelation not
a logical conclusion. We have a beauti-
full illustration of how the Invisible may
become present. The preacher referred to
time thirty or more years ago, when
he occupied this pulpit as pastor. He
went to Cape Elizabeth and plucked his
FIRST may flower. He described tho genial
April sun carrying off the SHOWS Of the
rough and windy March. the fields just
beginning to warm into life the verdure
that had been sleeping beneath and said
that ha vxyl, o1h uicib M
pressed upon his mind as his congrega-
tion Of today. II then we can look back
at that scene and have it SO WILDLY be-
fore us cannot we as we'll look forward to
the things we hope for. TyndalPs Won
derful essay that showed how the in
visible can become visible by means of
the imagination. What we claim faith
for science. For religions sake men have
borne and dared everything. Why? The
story was told Of the Last Rose" a
painting in which Christian maiden is
thrown into the arena q prey to the
beasts. AS she awaits their onslaught
some plying hand in the audience let's
fall bea utiful rose between her and the
lions. She looks up to see from whence
IL comes. That one sign of humanity
encourages and uplifts her. The lions
creep on oloser and Closes but she has
turned to thought Of a higher life. That
was the faith that looks beyond the blood
| and sorrow OF the present to an everlast-
ing peace. So with mon who bless the
world as benefactors. They have seen
beyond the Gespotism OF government and
have been able to bring Gods sunshine
into the homes of men. To these the In
visible is as clearly revealed as the in
visible. We come to have faith in God by
seeing him in ourselves and feeling we
are His children. Who are the cynics
who despair Of humanity today. They
are people who stand apart from the
common life. They are PHILOSOPHERS who
speculate in the studies in cold blooded
way. But the men and women who are
working among the poor and suffering
are those who have faith in the possibili-
ties of the world and the workings of the
laws of God on the earth. Is 1t difficult
to have faith9 Don t we live more in the
ideal than in the real world. Whenever
you live in your ideals you are living in
ia it'll.
The world of faith Is the most natural
world in which you have to live. The
things you have or prize most are ideal
memorials of love and friendship. The
tiny shoe that tells of the loved child
taken long since, the lock of hair that re-
calls one whose absence has made such a
void in your life, there is not one of US
but who can go home and take from
some desk or drawer cherished memen-
toes of thisscharacer. Faith is the sub
stance of things hoped for; it is the an
swer of all hope in regard to things be-
You'd the grave. The preacher closed
with beautiful description of the sun
rise, that glorious light that brought out
in bold relief the things that the dark
ness of the night had concealed and
showed that it was by faith that we
should come into tine glorious existence
in the life beyond.