Evening star., 1903-12-05
CHRISTIAN ENDEAv0R HOUR
Conducted hy
GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL.

N~ASA iANIS6STON HILL.
Fur December Q,
Topic: What the Heroes Of Faith Teach Us."-
Now faith Is the substance OF things
hoped for. the evidence Of things not seen.
2. For by II the elders obtained q good re-
port.
8. Through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God. SO
that things which 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.
GOO testifytng of His gifts; and by 1t He
being dead yet speaketh.
D. BY faith Enoch was translated that he
should not see death: and was not found.
because God had translated him: for be-
fore his translation he had this testimony.
that he pleased God
g. But without faith 1t is impossible to
please Him: for he that cometh to God
must believe that He In. and that He IL a
rewarder OF them that diligently seek Him.
4. BY faith Noah. being warned Of God of
tninss not seen as vet. moved with fear.
prepared an ark to the saving Of his house !:
became heir OF the righteousness which Is
by faith.
s. By faith Abraham. when he was called
TO go out into place which he should af
terWard receive for an inheritance. obeyed;
and he went out not knowing wither he
went.
D. BY faith he soiourned In the land Of
promise, as in strange country. dwelling
In tabarnacles with Isaac and Jacob. the
heirs With him of the same promise.
10. cOr he looked for city which hath
foundations. whose builder and maker is
God.
Our faith is something about which we
talk great deal. and of which we some
times possess very little. The best Of us
at times will question in our hearts how 1t
Is we know that these things are so. and
doubt. II allowed the least little opening,
will push In and sweep wide the door Of in
tellect to thousand shivering fears and
ifs.
1t is at such times as these that this
grand old chapter in Hebrews stands us in
good stead. When faith stands arraigned
before doubt. we have need to be thankful
for the long line OF saints, apostles, mar
tyrs and forefathers who II they had done
nothing else for us. have left us their testi-
mony for faith. How they We're enabled to
bear. and trust, and do. those heroes of the
ancient faith! Do any without that faith,
bear and do as well today? What other ex-
planation of the formation of the world can
stand and satisfy. save that which faith in
Gods explanation gives? Faith is our "evi-
dence." We believe and therefore we know.
1t is impossible to understand this except
by experiment. It is one Of the mysteries
of the kingdom Of God. But, IF any man
will do His will. he shall know of the doc
trine." 1t is one of the promises which
has but to be tested to be found. like all the
others. faithful
Now we find that faith Is necessity for
the Christian. But without faith 1t Is i'm
possible to please God"
Il have so little faith" some poor Chris
tian cries. as though he were not to blame
for 1t. but were thereby excusable for many
9th t,,rn nnfa f<z uyif 4 t,
true. but we know the way to God. and We
know that He desires nothing so much as
to give us what we need. Therefore We
have but to ask and believe that He will
give. and we have 1t.
Neither have we any right to measure our
faith. and by 1t measure Its results. We are
told that II We have faith as a grain Of
mustard seed we can remove mountains
Who ever heard of measuring the harvest
by the size of seed? We need but to be-
lieve In God and that He Is and is the re-
warder of them that diligently seek Him.
And il during our seeking we become
weary and fail in the diligence. beginning
to think it is not true that God is not the
"rewarder' after ALL then look back to
Abraham. and Noah. and Abel. and Moses
and Enoch. and all the others who ''ob-
tanned" through faith. Grander inheritance
they could not have handed down to us
than this witness Of their faith and ours
And tomorrow when We get letter that
stirs us all up and makes us fear the worst
why is 1t we cannot 'endure as seeing Him
that Is invisible" and go straight ahead
with unruffied brow, Calmly kneeling to tell
our Lord about 1t, telling Him we cannot
bear the burden. and that we know He
doeth all things well? We talk about this
faith of ours and wonder if we would have
the courage to die for IL as others have
done. when we have not even the bravery
t. live it. We have not faith enough to
keep our tempers when things go wrong
after having taken the trouble to the
Father and trusted Him to bring 1t right.
We should. every one of us, have the teXl,
Let not your heart be troubled" printed
above our door easements, where we can
see 1t every day, that we may be reminded
that 1t is His will that our faith should
give us good cheer and that we should do
our duty (FIis Wild, knowing that all will
come right In the end.
A faith that cannot rest when trials
come, nor hope when there seems nothing
left to hope for, is not faith. No we have
made a mistake most of u.s. and while we
talk much of faith. 1t is really evidence"
that we want. We want to be able to ex-
plain how God is going to bring everything
ou; right for us before we are willing 10
everything tangible that is possible, and
then we grudgingly tremblingly trust for
the rest.
We need the exhortation that opens the
twelfth chapter: Wherefore seeing we
also are compassed about with so great q
cloud of witnesses. let us lay aside every
weight and the sin which doth so easily
beset us. and let us run with patience the
race that Is set before US. looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith"
Did you ever think how large a part
patience plays in the work of faith. We
are often too impatient to trust Him. Yet,
as He is the author of our faith, He also
will become the finisher in His good time
Applied Truth.-A guide and traveller were
once crossing the Alps AS they advanced
the road becams roueher and more peril
Gus. and the traye. er began to express some
alarm. and evept desired his guide not to
proceed any further. The guide halted. and
reaching out his arm with a wonderful dig
nifty. said: TINS hand has never lost a
mani So Christ says to the fearful and
doubling soul that looks to Him for h.lp
Il have never lost q soul that has trusted
to me for salvation. =. =, Pearls of Faith"
How to Help the Ieaaer.-Tell what is the
strongest proof to ySnr mind of the truth
of Christianity. 4, ii,Recite other texts than
those In this chapteEl showing how faith
saved other ChrfStiang:
Parallel Passages.1f1 Corinthians. vi;
Romans. vi: Romans, siii:2s: John. vi:2s ~;
Galatians v:8: ri Tinothy. ii:15; Galatians.
ii:18; II ThessaIppiaIts. 1884; John, WI;
Hints to the Igadst cYeristIan Endeavor
HvmnaI-I2 90 8 7S lax o9s arran,.a