Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-07

sIty Of religion, the fulfllmcnt Of Gods
promise in Christ and the establish
ment by Christ Of the means Of sal
walton through the church which he
built upon the apostles. BY reason Of
our faith we believe that Christ con-
stituted his church as the teacher, so
that all matters of religion are settled
for us beyond any possibility of doubt,
because we believe that the church is
vested with the authority OF God to
teach us his truth and that this pro-
lection from error in religious belief
is essential to the justice of God, who
has called us to salvation.
Faith for Four Thousand Years
zone cannot fail to notice that God
in all times has demanded from man
faith in him. The tradition for the
coming Of Christ covered 1000 years of
mans unceasing faith in Gods promise
of the Redeemer. In that faith men
lived and died and the traditions of
mankind are filled with its expression
Christ's coming demanded faith and
the events i'm Christ's life are full of
the same demand. He does not leave
1t free 20 men to believe or not, he
claims II as an obligation upon them,
certainly e condition of redemption. A
demand for faith preceded his miracles,
praise for faith was one of the rewards
which followed Faith is the rock upon
which the love of God is built 1t Is
the sun which gives light to the way
in which man Is to walk Faith Is a
light t. the intelligence, 1t is o key to
knowledge, 1t brings to the natural
the power of the supernatural and Is
to reason what the telescope is to the
eye. Il strengthens, ennobles, super
naturaliSes reason. Instead of an
tagonlzing it, it is its teacher and it's
power, foi faith Is the grace Of Cod
making known the things of God.
Faith opens to us country without
limits; IL is as God said of old to Abra-
ham, "A living hope OF the years to see
all the land given to his seed forever"
Faith brings truth to intellect and to
life. 1t brings joy to the SOUL it fills
the heart with happiness; for faith
brings God, who is truth and light and
perfection. What greater happiness
than that found in the simplicity Of
faith? What greater misery than in
being tossed about by every wind Of
doctrine, uncertain, doubling, in the
very things closest to ones knowledge
and happiness? Faith brings us God,
dissipates doubt, establishes the GER
tainty Of truth. 1t gives us the SUM-
light, makes our footing secure. BY
reason of it we believe what is taught
us by our teacher whose credentials
satisfy us that he is sent by God. His
voice. to the man of faith has no un-
certain tones. What he says is true,
and there is no more doubt of it than
Of day or night. 1t is as absolutely
true as the rule of mathematics, and it
is believed because it is true since it
comes to him on the word of God.
Need Faith for Salvation
"The faith of the wise men is the
| faith of the believer. We have seen
his star in the east and we have come
! to adore him. The star was the voice
of God. The belief in the manifesto
tion brought the grace Of faith and in
obedience to 1t sacrifices were made
promptly and generously and persever-
ingly until by the aid of faith they
stood at the manger of Bethlehem and
found their God in the newly born
Saviour. The world has faith In itself
but on many sides 1t lacks faith in the
God who has made the world and made
men. The world has lost much of it's
faith in religion because in the Babel of
teachings men have not caught the
tones Of the voice of Christ.
1--WE need faith in God in order that
our salvation may be made certain, we
need faith in Christ in order that our
| faith in one another may be made Sc
cure, for we are the children of God
and the redeemed of Christ, and belief
in him is necessary for salvation. We
need faith to guide our intellect and
strengthen our will and make us not
only true Christians but true men, for
without the grace of God, which comes
through faith, our manhood cannot
reach it's perfection.
Epiphany makes Christ known to US
and teaches us one of the first great
lessons of faith in Christ. and bids us
| initiate the wise men, accept Christ,
offer him the gold, frankincense and
myrrh of our hearts and lives, and
| adore him as our Saviour, the truth of
life and the light of the world