The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-06-28

From vengeance at the heels of sin
Give Sanctuary, 0 God!
&C. o. Emra, in The Polit.
The Humility of Faith.
Lord, I am not worthy that Thou
shoaldest come under my roof; but
only say the word, and my servant
shall be healed"
The faith Of which these words are
the utterance was so great that the
Lord wondered at it, and exclaimed:
Il have not found so great fa*'' no
not In Israel" It may be of service
to those who desire to come to faith,
Or who long for q stronger faith than
they have hitherto had, to examine
carefully the faith Of the centurion,
and to observe the soil in which that
great faith struck its roots. The soil
ls-deep humility. This Ia who, al
though he belonged to the Gentiles,
was praised by the Jewish elders as
worthy Of the Lords favor, and whose
faith surpassed all that the Lord had
found in Israel-this eminent man Is
the only n Of whom we read, dur
Ing Jesus s~ojourn on earth, that he
did not consider himself worthy that
Jesus should enter his house. Won
derful humility in such q hero Of
faith. We learn from this the most
momentous lesson-that deep humility
and strong faith are knit to one an
other by the closest bonds.
Out of humility springs faith. Then
0rst, when the soul fully Acknowledges
that 1t has nothing, and is also con-
tent to receive favor as n that pos
Besses nothing, does it cast itself on
the free grace of God, and receive it
as one that believeth. In the acknowl-
edgement Of its nothingness it does
not dare to contradict God with its
thoughts of unworthiness, with it's de-
sire still further to bring this or that
to perfection. It feels that, since 1t
has pleased such q great God to say
that He is prepared to show compass
sion to the poorest and most wretched,
then nothing becomes it better than
to be silent and suffer Him to manifest
His love. 1t knows, moreover, that
1t is so deeply corrupt that it can
never Of itself become better, and on
this account its faith is just the best
proof Of it's humility; it is from the
recognition of its utter helplessness,
from its knowledge of the fact that it
can never become better, that it casts
Itself on the will of God.
ThisNis an entirely different state Of
mind from that Of all such as imagine
that humility comes out in not belieV-
Ing; as if there could be humility in
waiting till something has been found
In us that could make Us more accept
able to the Lord than we really are;
as If there. could be humility in giving
no obedience to the command Of God
actually to believe. Nay, verify.
And just as perverse is the idea that
faith will at any later period lead to
pride. No; faith, as it springs from
humility, will in turn only increase
humility. It was because the centur-
Ion by faith recognized Jesus as WELD
Ing over nature q power which could
oot by any circumstance be prevented
from healing the sick by His mere
word, that he felt himself to be un-
worthy Of having Hin in his house.
The more glorious the revelation and
experience Of the Lords greatness and
goodness which faith enjoys, the o
deeply does it sink in establishment
and in lowly acknowledgment Of the
condescension by which such a God IN.
wells Himself to such q sinner. And
thus it always continues to be: the
deeper humility the more faith. n
again, the stronger faith the deeper
humility.
May the Lord teach us these truths
that there is nc stronger proof of hu.
mility, and also no better means of
increasing it, than just faith; and that,
whether We feel ourselves deeply hum
bled or still desire to come to a deeper
humility, the one as we'll as the other
should only shut us up to faith.
And now, soul, why do you not be.
lieve? Are you still too unworthy?
You dare not say so. The deeper your
humility the stronger your reason and
right for believing. Are you still too
proud? All, let it not be longer so.
Only bring yourself to the acknowledge
ment Of your entire weakness, and
confess that you are wholly lost; IN
the depths of your wr~etchedness yor
will see that there is no other remedy
than to let the Lord help you, and TO
commit yourself t%rustfully to the word
of His grace.-The Rev. Andrew Muir
raw. in ConSecrated Life.
There Lies the Danger.
William NJ. Taylor, speaking OF what
he considers a hindrance to the prog
ress of the church, says: There are
worse things than persecution for
righteousness sake, and among these
Is the supple conformity to the world,