Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-05-26

"Blaine, all my lire nave Deel Sluuy-
ing the theories Of government, but
since | have been elected president IN |
stead of thinking about theories | have
had to spend most of my time listening
TO the pleas CT candidates for office.
Who is to be postmaster Of Springfield
or district attorney of Chicago or Judge
of Ohio has monopolized all my atten-
ton" SO you say: Il have not had
time to think whether Christ Is super
natural or not or whether he can give
me supernatural power or not. L nave
been using up my time in service ana
NOT in theories. | have been trying TO
obey the voice Of God, who tells me to
visit the sick and feed the hungry ana
be n guide for the blind. l truly try TO
live right. | do all the good can TO
as many people as l can In as many
different ways as | can. Therefore L
let hair splitting theological questions
alone Whether Christ is divine or not,
whether he can give to his disciples a
supernatural gift, rarely enters my
mind. To tell the truth, / do but little
else than try to help my fellow men,
and | guess God does not care much
what | think about Christ as long as l
trv TO serve him as faithfully and ear
nestly as | can" All, my friends,
Won are wrong. It does make a good
deal of difference In reference to your
gospel work what you think about
Christ. 1t may mean the difference be-
tween the possible higher power and
| the lower spiritual life.
Works without Faith.
"Faith without works is dead" but
without faith in the divinity Of Jesus
Christ and in his supernatural power
"works" in the sight of God are worse
than dead. The lack Of faith in Christ
means that you are utterly devoid or
the Christ power. This belief in Christ
Is the very foundation Of the gospel.
What would you think Of an archltect
who takes you down to the seashore
and shows you a beautiful temple
which he has erected upon the sandsF
Oh. It IS exquisite in design. The lights
come shining through the most expen-
sive of glass windows. The affairs are
rich with gold and beautiful tapestries.
The floors are exquisite mosaics. The
dome is n perfect heaven Of blue. What
would YOU think if that architect after
no had taken you through that building
would reply to you when you asKeu'
.TT ,,y arc the foundations Of this beau
tifr! structure? Are they strong ana
truct" "Oh. | did not put much work
on the foundations. Instead Of digging
them deep and strong, where all the
work would be hidden from the eyes
OF man. | simply builded these walls
unon the surface. | expended all my
energies upon the superstructure.
What would you think Of ship de-
sIgner who did not lay the keel or MS
shin straight and true?' Why, on the
dav of the launching Of that boat the
bull would turn turtle" or in the
first great storm at sea that boat would
90 TO pieces or sink with all on board
Now # Is not sufficient in the Chris
tian life for a man to say, Il am all
right because | have visited the SICK
and fed the hungry and was eyes TO the
blind" 1t is not sufficient for the archl-
tect to say. II am all right because
, have worked hard and builded my su
nerstructure we'll" 1t is not rational
for the ship designer to talk about set
ting his masts before he has laid his
keel well. The questions OF the dlvln
itv of Christ and the divine power OF
T Christ are the most vital questions IL
, the gospel life. 1t is foundation ques
tion. This question precedes all othei
, questions. "Whom say ye that am I!
Jesus asked the disciples Of old. Peter
, answered, Thou art the Christ, the sol
Of the living Cod" Do you answer
thus? Do you believe thus? DO you be
, lieve in the supernatural power o.
, Jesus as the disciples did when they
gathered in Jerusalem to be endueC
, with power from on high?
These disciples believed that Chris
could give his supernatural power t
his disciples if he would. They die
= more. They believed that Christ woulC
= give to them, as individuals, this super
!. natural power, if they were only oDeul
I. ent TO his divine commands and tar
ried still in Jerusalem until they wer
endued with power from on high
Now, it Is one fact to feel that chris
can give to others his power II b
, would or that he will give to me lndl
yidually his higher power If am Will
. ing to obey his commands and do a
Il ne wishes me to do. Let me explain
this demarcation.
Realizing Possibilities.
- All American boys are born free an
- eoual. All have a possibility OF som
y day being elected president OF til
: Tinted States if they live. We wer
Il all taught this theory from the cradle
>. The story Of Lincoln, the rail splittel
= and of James A. Garfield, following I'd
~ ~ towpath. have been repeated again an
II again in almost every nursery. Bu
" though the poor boy, the boy or I'd
ie humble home, may yet be elected pres
IL dent of the United States, do we in IN
|, highest flights Of our imagination SUI
IL nose that our own boys will ever b
Il elected chief executive Of this nation
y We know it is possible, but do we fe'
&c that there is any probability or IN
is possibility coming true? Furthermor
Il when we were young, in the wilde'
IL flights of our imagination did we eve
t have the assurance Of the successf'
T outcome of our own powers, as q
v the little boy, Edward Dickinson b
It ker, the son Of the poor English EN-
:, grant, who had crossed the seas an
al settled on Illinois prairies? One Ga
10 the lad Of twelve was found weepir
Sc bv a school friend. what Is the ma
a ter. Eddiew he asked. "Oh," said E
us die 81 have just been reading n
on American history and I find out I'll
by the American constitution no 10
Ill., eign born child can ever be elect'
NA.aE