The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-08-16
THE LESSON TEXT.

THE LESSON TEXT.
Genesis kill, .. Now the Lord had
said unto Abram: Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred. and from
thy fathers house, unto land that 1
VIII show thee
?. And I will make of thee q great
nation, and I viii bless thee. and make
thy name great; and thou shalt be a
blessing
3 And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all the families OF the
earth be blessed
1 So Abram departed as the Lord had
spoken unto him, and Lot went with
him. and Abram was seventy and five
years old when he departed out OF Ha-
ran.
>. And Abram took Sarai his wife. and
Lot his brothers son. and all their sui
stance that they had gathered, ana the
souls that they had gotten in Haran.
and they went forth to go into the lana
OF Canaan. and into the land of Canaan
they came.
Hebrew, xii Now faith is the sub
stance OF things hoped for, the evidence
Of things not seen
. For by il the elders obtained a
good report
g. Through faith We understand that
the worlds were framed by the word OF
God, 50 that things that are seen were
not made OF things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by
which he obtained witness that he was
righteous. God testffying Of his gifts:
and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
,. BY faith EnOCh was translated that
he should not see death: and was not
found because God had translated him:
fer before his translation he had this
testimony, that he pleased God.
s. But without faith it is impossible
TO please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that ne is. and that
he is rewarder Of them that diligently
seek him
Scripture References.
Faith in God-Deut. xxxiii:27; John
XIV; Tim iv:IO; II Tim i:12; Heb
zi:27
The Good Fight of FAITH Cor. xv:57;
Eph- vi:I1-13; Tim. vf.I2: II Tim ":
rs; l John Va
Living by Faith-Ps Ixii:5-7; Rom
i'll; II Cor. VI; Gal ii:2o; Heb. x.3S
The End of Our Faith-Rom Wiz;
Eph- ii:4-S; iv:1S; Heb. x:39; I Pet. i:
SO
trusting Promise-Ps. cxix: 117.173;
Luke xxi:31-32; Rom. viii:37-39; x;10-1I;
Phil iv.13.
Suggested Hymns.
Christian Endeavor hymns-11s, ~.
AS, Isl, 162. 40. 191, 2g7. POS
Endeavor Hymnal-36. AZ, 81, So, SO,
"a. III. 135. AS. 225. 245. 2g7
Church Hymns and Gospel Songs-51,
I9I, 1913. 1es. 222, 226, 265. 27S. 2S4. 296.
345
Thoughts on the Topic.
The apostle says that faith is the evil
dence of things unseen The essential
elements that go TO the making Of our
faith are belief in God and complete
trust il his great wisdom and power.
his goodness and mercy Our physical
senses cannot prove these things TO US.
nor can cur reasoning powers alone. Be
cause we are accustomed 10 acquire
most Of our facts in these ways We
sometimes feel that faith Is something
we cannot understand. and that IT is
very difficult to obtain and to increase.
This would be true if faith we're what
We sometimes try to make tia Great
IRE OF our reason or a belief that things
viii come out right somehow. Faith is
not a belief n things at all. but, as the
last verse CT our lesson text shows US.
z belief that God not only is. but that
his testimonies are sure and that his
promises viii be kept TO the uttermost
word
Faith in some degree is at the bottom
OF al our thoughts and actions We
have faita in the constancy of the phys
zeal laws by which God controls his IN
verse-no man would build houses or
railroads or ships If he did not feel sure
that the law Of gravitation would re-
main unchanged. Il is the foundation
Of all our industry com
merce. science and art. All these are
founded and expanded in a strong belief
in the honesty, justice and appreciation
OF our feIIow-men in their dealings win
Us But the life Of faith We consider
here is the life filled AMI dominated by
LlS 4iSle6t ana most sublime Ialfn that
trusts fully and implicitly where 1t can
not see. yea, more, that trusts and does
not care TO see.
Il is not hard to have faith when the
skies of our lives are sunny and our
lines are cast in pleasant places. when
youth and health are OURS and a meas
ure Of success rewards cur efforts
when neither cares Eor disapp ointments
are serious and our whole being tells
Us God is good But how much more
difficult is 1t when our sun is hidden b.
thiekening clouds. when under Gods
hand all our cherished plans are changed
and all our efforts end only in failure.
or when disease lays its wasting hand
upon US or our loved ones and we see
the dread valley OF the shadow Of
death Do We fear that our faith will
not prove sufficient under the trials that
may come? Let US remember that our
faith does not come 10 its full strength
al at once any more than an infant at
tafns Immediately 70 The stature and