The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-29
WHO IS
AN |NF|OEL?"
Rev. A. E. Cory's
Sermon at the
Y. M. C.. A.
A LARGE
CONGREGATION
Minister Says Men Have More
Faith Than They Think
They Have.

taking for his subject the question, who
Is an Infidel?" reao.ng as text the
64th verse of the 9Th chapter of ST. John,
But there are some of you that believe
not For Jesus knew from the begin
and who should betray Him
| There are some of you that believe
not" Mr. Cory began. There is moth
ing so blessed in life as fairn; to see
it in the home is beautiful picture.
When we see wife, husband and chill
dren in complete confidence and faith
trusting each o..ler, we get a glimpse
of heaven, as nearly, I think, as We
can get in this lite. And going out from
| the home and broadening to the nation,
1T is a beautiful thing to see a nation
where people have faith in one another
| in the principles of their government,
and the men who control that govern
ment. 1t is beautiful picture, also. to
see faith in community. where people
love and trust, and put confidence in one
another.
But ali these beautiful pictures can
be broken and shattered in the twinkling
of an eye-let -nhdelity come into the
home, and how quickly ,.iat beautiful
picture yanishes; let some one who has
no faith in his nation and the principles
of the government, or in the men who
control, come forth and begin to speak
against these things, causing the de-
! struction of faith, and of peace, and
causing suspicion and lack of confidence
and strife-how many times have ma
tons mus been shattered? Again, we
/ xrh &c IN fait vrh
we behold people at the edge of Inc riv-
| er of death, with despair printed upon
their faces and agonizing their souls, be-
cause they have net the faith to know
! that God is there and His hand is reach
ing out to them.
People say, I can't beheve;' they 20
not believe that have faith; and they
tell themselves that faith and belief
are impossible to them yet they have
faith; and are continually giving evil
/ dence of their capability to have faith.
A man will get upon train, having
purchased a ticket for a certain station,
ana when he gets on that train he sits
quietly and reads, giving no thought to
doubt; he has faith; he knows that the
engineer is sitting at the engine; that
he has control of that great train in his
hands, and that he will open and shut
the throttle to regulate the speed; he
believes that vigilant eyes have been
kept upon the track, anu that it is clear
from danger and wreck. He believes in
a Thousand things upon each of which
his life depends, and he quietly sits read
ing with perfect confidence, and never
thinking to doubt. Yet that man says
he has no faith, and has not the capa-
bility of believing.
I once had a friend who was an OPP
orator In the Chicago Board of Trade
I had been talking to him in his Office
sub f,ff al he
he could not believe. en- minutes latel
was with him on the floor, while he
stood beside one OF the pools, inside the
) great whirl his hand lifted; he was II
the deal; when it was over with we
walked away together, and he told me
that $4,000 were involved, to be control
led by that lifting OF the hand l say
that man had 4aith-not faith in God
but faith in his fenow-men, and faitf
that was strong and firm, else his hanC
could not have been SO steady, his trus
SO impncit. / might go on giving yol
instances of this hind of faith forever
and not complete the list. Faith Is tn
very keystone of existence but, s1rane
| to say, where a man will exercise falti
to make a dollar, or to earn an Iiourt
comfort he Will not exercise it to Sc
cure heaven, and eternal life.
"Thera are many interpretations o
the word infidel ] do not wish to brinl
up any fancllul interpretations this aft
ernoon I wish only to speak on the or
| dinarily accepted meaning OF the term
Standard dictionaries give various den
nitions. One is want of 18th or beher
withholding OF confidence Another
Disbelief of the Scriptures or the oiv1n
origin of Christianity; unbenef; an
again, 'Unfaithfulness in the famliy
breach of trust Tie ordinarily accepts
sense of the word is that embodied Il
fine definition. Disbelief of the Scrip
lures or the divine origin of Christian
ity. unbelief' and I want to tell you
men. that there are very Few OF ina
kind of in6deIs. Men believe that chris
died and rose again; men believe the 81
ble. they believ- in uo-. In the frs
Mace inndelity is linked with disobe
fence Adam was disobedient, and n
lost his faith. Nine out of every ten In
fdels are without faith because they ar
i sinners; they don't want to do what go
] wants them to do, and they don't wan
| TO do il in the way God has commanue
them TO. Judas killed himsef IN IN
4 hour of the Savior's death. Why? Be
l lcause he had no faith and he kne1
| there was no hope for him, so he hun
! himself in despair. / believe that II an
4 man is an inIloS4 there Is a reason 10
IL The reasons for infidelity are va
1 rious. Here are three principal ones
] First because Christ is covered up, shu
\ out from the iidA AiA~' ' - ~ =
WAYS because the mans LIE W. nc
I admit the Savior, and covers Christ VI
II is selfshness: again, men are 1nnoei
] because somebody has preached the 3
= BILE wrongly to them. Every young ma
- has his struggles. I had mine. Whe
some one told me that God damned
infant. not sc long as my forearm, be
cause that infant had not had certaI
ceremonies performed over 1t, why,
= reyoIed. and said that would not be
: Iieve. nor would I accept God VIII
could do such thing as that. The
one day a friend who was better frien
> told me to read the Bible, and find OF
whether the doctrine of infant damns
- ton was true or not. I tell you me