The Tupelo journal., 1903-10-30

ess of regeneration through faith
In the cleansing and saving power
of Jesus blood who does not be-
iieve that God careth for him in a
peculiar and intimate way. AS surely
as the Lord knoweth them that are His,
so surely does He extend to them spe-
cial care and protection. The Chris
tan believes that God cares for him,
and yet that belief is perhaps more Oft
en- theoretical than practical; 1t is
more of an abstract conception than 1t
is concrete; it is more general in its re-
lation to the affairs of life than it is
specific. 1t is good Christian doctrine,
and affords a fruitful topic for prayer
meeting talks, but it is more difficult
n rare to have the truth lived out in
a practical way in the daily life. When
the way is smooth, and the sun shines;
when the worshipful and devotional
spirit floods Dull souls with thoughts of
God, we say: God careth for u.s."
But when the hard places are encoun-
tered and the suns face is hid behind
the cloud of adversely; when instead of
the eXultation of the mountain top, we
feel the depression of the valley of de-
s~pondency, then our troubled souls cry
out: Lord, carest Thou not?" And
yet God never intended that this text
should be chiefly a fair-weather text;
that it should flash forth it's light and
mingle it only with the sunshine; that it
should be the sweet strain of the soul
only when the way was smooth and
easy; but God has hung this blessed
truth on the bright pages of His Book
so that the Christian might rest upon
it when all else seemed to fail; that
1t might be to him a bright star of
hope shining through the dark clouds
of adversely; that it might be sweet
music swelling in the soul during the
black night of deep sorrow. 1t should
displace doubt with confidence, fear
with calm trust, encouragement with
announcement.
IN THE latter part of the fourth chap
1 ter of Marks gospel we find an Incl
dent which illustrates most clearly
and forcibly this common Christian
weakness. Jesus with His disciples is
sailing over the lake of Galilee. Dur
ing the night, the storm suddenly
sweeps down upon them. With that
Quickness which is peculiar to the AXE
ofGalilee, the waters are soon dashed to
a raging foam, and the great waves roll
in upon the boat, so that even those
hardy fishermen feared for the safety
of the boat, and believed that they
were all about to perish. Jesus, weary
after a long, hard day of teaching the
multitudes, has sought rest in sleep in
the stern Of the boat. All unconscious
of the storm and the distress of the
disciples, trusting in God, His Father,
He calmly lies in deep sleep. With fear
and doubt filling their hearts they has
ten to the Masters side and awaken
Him. Then with Impotence, and half
pe%tulantly, they exclaim: Master,
carest Thou not that we perish" "And
He arose, and rebuked the wind, and
said unto the sea, Peace, be STILL 4"
And the bowling wind fell until it was
but a gentle whispering breeze tanning
their pale and a~ffrighted faces, and the
great dashing waves dropped to rest in
the bosom of the placid sea. There
was a great calm, broken only by the
tender, Gliding tones of the Master, as
He said unto them: why are We so
fearful? How is it that We have no
faith?" And a new kind of fear seized
hold upon the hearts of the disciples.
Instead of the human fear in the face
of physical peril, there came the ex-
ceeding fear of the sinful heart as it
realizes that it is in the presence of
God. And there is much in this incl
dent to instruct and help the Christian.
w no is this God whose thought is
w towards man and Who cares for
every detail and circumstance which
affects him? 1t was failure to recog-
nize who Jesus was; it was failure to
remember what was His power over
all human conditions, and His faithful
ness towards them, which caused the,
disciples to fall into the terrible fear
of that hour of storm and danger. It
was because faiths eye was dim. and
their sinful hearts hard and unrespon-
sive to the Divine presence, that they
dared to chide Jesus with the cry:
Master, carest Thou not that we per-
ish?" And it is failure always on the
part of the Christian to realize Who
and what God is that makes him for
get that God careth for him. 1t is
blindness of unbelief and hardness of
heart which bring the Christian to
dare to question and doubt God, and
to charge Him with lack If care for
His children. How often is forced from
Christian lips the cry: Master, car
est Thou not that l perish?' With
the storm comes the doubt that God
cares. Adversely, affection, difficulty,
trouble, shut God out of the horizon of
life, and we fail to remember that He
cares. 1t is because we do not know
our God. The One Who our text de-
clares cares for us is the All-Knowing
God, He is the All-Powerful God, He is
the Ever-Present God, He is the All
Loving God. Ignorance begets doubt
and fear, but to know our God and
Father in all His wisdom, in all His
power, in all His ~faithfulness, in all
His love, begets confidence and abiding
trust. LET us draw near with a true
hearth and seek to learn more perfect
" Who and what God is.
lie IS omniscient-an All-Knowing
| ! God. He knows how the planets