Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-20

cannot walk by instinct-it has none; by
| ence--it has acquired no experience; 1t is
| under the imperative necessity Of walking
| by faith. If the child did not believe on
| the testimony of others that fire would
| burn. water drown and poison kill. he must
pay the penalty. The law of nature is as
| imperious and universal as the law OF me
| gospel. He that believeth not shall be
condemned'-Mark xvi:16
| Take the child from the nursery into the
| school. Place the primer in his hand. He
| opens 1t and looks at the letters OF the
| alphabet, but knows neither their names nor
at them and never learn names or sounds,
| hut by faith in his teacher he grasps them
| He learns the art and mystery of reading
| He acquires the science of numbers and
nagnitudes He surveys the greatness of
the earth. the history of races and of ma
tons. the hidden beauties of the classics
the depths of science and philosophy. How
vast the knowledge of faith.
| Bring the man upon the theater of active
| life. Would he become merchant, me-
| ckanic, farmer, professional man? He must
| be governed by the same stern necessity.
Believe he must in those gone before him
! in every calling and department of life.
Buy and sell, barter and exchange, he must
walk by faith. Every bank bill, every draft
| or check he receives by faith. All weights
| meg NV yubi ob he
are matters of testimony of faith.
Coming to the sphere of religion are
under the same law In respect to things
spiritual, unseen and eternal, is 1t to be
| thought a thing Incredible that faith is de-
| manded? Has the skeptic any reason to re-
life because these require the exercise of
faith? Does the gospel address itself to
any new faculty, propose any new principle,
work through any supernatural channel
when it says: Believe" BY no means.
1t speaks in harmony with mans nature.
1t submits clear and ample proof in support
of all it demands and promises. 1t declares:
IF we receive the witness of men, the
witness Of God is greater" 1t makes the
who.e faith of the gospel to center in per-
son-the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Matthew, xiv:16; John, xi:27; Acts, viii:37:
Acts XVIII; Romans, x:9)
What, now, is the faith that saves? 1t
is faith in the personal Christ Every
where in the gospel mighty emphasis
Is put upon the person of Christ. Whom
do CIV Int ha Of
What think you of Christi" Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ" So everywhere
men preached Christ and Him Cructhad;'
earnestly testified that Jesus was the
Christ" that God made this same Jesus
both Lord and Christ" 1t was a faith OF
the heart in life, an adoring, trusting Nv
ing faith, in a loving living. saving, divine
person; a living faith in loving and living
Lord-that is the faith of the gospel. III
thou believest with all thine heart, thou
mayest. And he answered and said: l be-
lieve that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
Acts viii:37.
The great need is to find the Christ and
to be found in Him. January 6, 1871. Stan
ley started from Zanzibar for the interior OF
Africa. For eleven months he and his party
toiled through swamps and jungles, exposed
to countless dangers from wild beasts and
pestilential atmosphere. Worn by fatigue,
surrounded by insubordinate natives, a less
believing, a less resolute man would have
given up the unequal contest, but, with
words glowing with sublime energy, he
writes in his journal: mo living man shall
stop me Only death can prevent me. But
not even this. 1 will not die. ! shall not
ole. ] cannot die. Something tells me /
shall find Him, find Him, find Him." Fun
of this intensity of conviction, a faith born
OF faith in God, Stanley presses on, heed
less of hardships, till one day he comes in
sight of Lake Tanganyika, and a moment
later stands in the presence of the great
traveller and missionary who had for years
been lost to the world and but for the
faith of Stanley would have died in the
wilderness, the world ignorant OF his fate.
Oh. could men with such zeal search for
the Christ! The testimony is here. Find
your Lord. lie is at hand: His peace is
yours Behold Him. Believe on Him. Obey
Him. Live unto Him.