The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1904-06-24
The HIGHER LIFE.
How Faith Comes.
Elder T. - Hnlman. pastoroi the farml
ton Christian church.


ton Christian church
Luke 1850: And the apostles said
unto the Lord, increase our faith, and
the Lord said, il ye had faith as a grain
of mustard seed, We might say unto this
sycamine tree be thou plucked mp aud
be thou planted in the sea and II should
obey you.
Faith comes through intellectual
processes 1t comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God, -
SO the Book tells us
Faith is based on evidence. John
snys, These things urc written
that ye might believe that Jesus is
the Christ. ~
Faith is the first step Of the
Christian, for If We hnG 40 faith all
would end right there, as it does
with many The apostles ask fnr
more faith, n greater capacity to
believe in the Christ What was
the result a severe rehuke. WhyH
Because God had given them, even
as he has us, all the testimony nee
esSary-thc miracles, the teaching
and the resurrection of His Son,
colnplementcd by the miraculous
work of the apostles. Christ taught
that We are to believe Him for the
work 5 sake" The Book claims
for itself to contain all that per
tains to life and godlincss. -
Faith is increased 10y works, and
faith without works is like a gar
den titled but not planted, for
james says that faith without
works is barren " We are not
saved except by the blood of Christ
but God attaches conditions to even
that.
But young man in Chicago re-
Gently, says the Rams Horn, rc.
marked to his companions in his
room that hc did not believe there
is II God He said he would be-
lleve if God should strike him deaf
and dumb The Rams Horn sent
a representative to inquire into all
the facts, and it is no doubt true
that the young man claims what
followed He arose from his chair
and fell hcndlOng on the floor, be-
coming deaf aud dumb, so hc as
serts. His companions may tcstl
fy as to the outward facts, but only
thnt young man knows who is dcuf
and dumb.
Now II the Gospel OF Christ is
true the young man is II fraud II
the young Chlcugoun is telling us
the truth the Gospel is admittedly
insufficient to prove God's claims
as set forth in it and miracles nrc
still required to convert men and
women. God, by vouchsaing such
II demonstration of His power
would thereby admit that the GoS
pei of His Son is inadequate to con
vince the world of sin and the pow
rr of Christ TO save.
No visible evidence is given in
this ease, as is given in the Bible
miracles. No palsled limb sut
fused with life and strength The
blind Hre not made to see, no lcpcr
is made clean, no manlacal mind
restored to moral health.
All, if the bullet that slew Gar
field or Lincoln had been turned
from its path, then we should see
what we saw in all Christ : mir
acles-God doing good.
But an obscure young man claims
that the Creator of the universe
saw fit to strike him deaf and dumb
When we know that God does not
strike with n bolt of death any one
of the atrocious murdercrs whose
deeds are daily recorded in the pa
pers, what shall we say OF this
young mani
The danger of too much credullty
in this and similar cases is that, il |
we let down the bars to such frauds,
in comes Joe Smith, Mrs. Eddy |
and John Dowie. No one can doubt |
that Dowie has done many remark |
able things, but it is after all eX-
planned by the laws of suggestive |
therapeutics Dowie has not raised |
the dead.
Note this well in connection with |
the Chicago miracle" Satan
tempted Christ the same way on
the mount in Matt. 4 Did he not |
say, IF you are Gods Son change
these stones into bread; cast your
self from the pinnacle of the temple,
etc'" Did Christ reply with a
miracle' When challenged to do
n thing He always administered a |
rebuke.
The age of miracles is past, be.
cause their necessity is past. The
Word of God is established and
does not have to be re- established.
Let us rebuke fraud and defend the
integrity of Gods Word.
Now the young man says he is
going home to his family and pre-
pare to preach, and believes that
God will remove his disability. |
Singular, isn't iti He begins with
1t good advertisement.
Faith is not credulity. This is, |
we see, not the only instance where
religious frauds make great claims, /!
God has given us the agencies and
the nstrumentalities of faith. He
does not give us faith itself.