The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-22

thoughts OF spirits, good or evil. near at
hand; perhaps he doesn't believe In ghosts
or anything of the kind. but. nevertheless.
he believes and thinks about them and
about spiritual beings one way or the other.
Perhaps the thing that troubles him most
Is that he has a sense of fear of these I'M
seen beings whether he believes in them
at all or not Now, there is no matter
whether good or bad, he is made uncom-
Portable by the thought of their presence.
and their company Is uncongenial 10 him.
He feels that there is some want Of har-
mony between himself and them"
Another troublesome thought Is the
thought of duty, Of responsibility. Man is
worried by the force OF the word ought.
II ought" There is not one of you here"
said the speaker, ''but some time or other
has had trouble because you have not
obeyed that voice, and you have felt that
somehow and somewhere you must render
account to some one.
IF a man die, shall he live again? Who
has not thought of that? He either asks or
he refrains from asking 1t. The heather
thinks of 1t; the atheist thinks of it, the ag-
nostic who says Il don't know to every
thing, thinks of it. We all think of It,
TROUBLE WITH MAN.
what is the source OF this trouble with
man? Not that there is a God, not that
there are spirits. not that there is judg-
ment, not that there are a heaven and
hell; but it is the uncertainty and the sus-
pense that sometimes come into the heart,
the inability somehow to settle down conf
IDENTIFY on one side or the other. and that
was the trouble with King Belshazzar.
That handwriting that stood out upon the
wall, what did that mean? Belshazzar said
instantly, Purple and gold and honor to
the wise man that can tell what Ii means,
matter whether it means good evil
for the king. Who can tell. who can settle
the uncertainty and relieve the SUSPENSE?
Just to know-that was the great desire of
BelshazZar, and that was the reason Bel
shaZzar's thoughts troubled him; and so 1t
is with the men to-day; so ii has been in all
lands and in all ages. If we can only know.
Somehow men say there is God; If they
could only know that it is true, that there
are spirits and a spiritual world, then we
could try and adjust ourselves to the facts;
or if we could only know that there are not,
that would be all right also; then we need
not fear them; but If there are. what have
we to do with them? But not to know at all
whether they are or~whether they are not.
that is the thing that brings the trouble.
Now, here is the problem of our life"
WAYS OF SOLVING 1T.
The minister then discussed different
ways of solving the problem, He cited the
method of school children, who. when they
are unable to work out a problem independ-
emily, sometimes look at the answer as
given in the book and then try to work
back to the correct solution. This is the
way to solve the problem of life. Christ
gives the answer. '.He says there is God.
there is one supreme God. loving father of
men, who. watches over us whom He has
made. He came into this world and told us
that we are His children, and that we have
gone astray, but that He loves us still. All,
beautiful doctrine, beautiful thing. that
somehow He had come by the Precipitation
of His own flesh and blood TO restore har-
mony between man and God, and therefore
He is God, God coming in the person of His
Son, and He tells US that Christ was cruel
fled and died and was buried and that He
will come again in the clouds of glory; that
God is the Holy Ghost, and that He is a
comforter here with us; that the spiritual
enemy of man is Satan, who is personal;
that there Is the forgiveness of sins by
faith in Him, the resurrection of the body,
life everlasting. This is all found in the
suggestion that Jesus brought into the
world"
Mr.. Tinsley urged his hearers to take this
answer Of Christ and apply it to the prob
lens of life that trouble them, working
back to the correct method of solving their
difficulties. His closing words were an ap-
peal to that effect:
"God help us to see that the thing we
need is to let the thought of Jesus come in
and take possession of our Utmost heart of
hearts: then everything that now sends it's
jangling music or discord into the soul and
makes impossible the sweetest music of life
viii flee away and harmony will sit en-
throned.' etg