The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1907-10-18
Church Of Christ
V. E. Hoven, Minister.
KEEPING FAITH.
2 Tim. 1868.

othy saying, 81 have kept the faith, !"
the soldiers came for him to lead him
outside the city where his head would
soon roll in the dust.
/. Kinds of faith considered. Some
people have faith in pleasure. They
wade all the depths OF iniquity, burn
every passion to the socket in trying
to find happiness and satisfaction, but
"all is vanity and striving after
wind"
Some have faith in power aud fame,
but how bitter are not the dregs in the
cup? Thomas Wolsey rose from a
priest to Archbishop of York, Lord
Chancellor of England, Cardinal and
Papal Legate. He lived with almost
royal splendor. His household COM
prised five hundred mobiles and he was
attended everywhere by train of the
first barons of the land. AS chancellor,
he administered Justice; as legate.
he controlled the church. But Henry
VIII. stripped Linn of all his power
and he died broken hearted on the
way to prison. His last words were:
go Cromwell, Cromwell! Had / but
served my God with half the zeal ]
served my king, He would not in my
age have left me naked to my enemies.
Some have faith in money. They
think II better than brains, character
and a good name, but they haul down
their standard when they are dying.
A Mr.. f. said when dying, 81 would
rather lie on that bed of Goals (point-
ing to the grate) and broil for million
years, than to go into eternity with
the eternal horrors that hang over my
soul! have given my Immortality
for gold! The sordid stuff sinks me
into an endless. hopeless, helpless
hell l''
Some have faith in unbelief. Scores
are kept out of the Kingdom because
they cannot believe everything. Here
is man who says, "because cannot
believe everything, will not believe
anything. l do not believe that mans
destiny is irrevooably fixed in this life;
/ think there will be another chance
after DEATH" Is not this man a stark
fool who waits for another opportunity
after death when he has good chance
before death?
II. Manner of getting faith. Some
get it from the church. Better have
that kind than mono at all. But sup
pose that in the last hour of your life
the church should change its faith;
what then? You have been Iisking
your eternal interest on that faith.
Every church with one exception, the
church of the New Testament has
changed its faith for every generation
it is old.
Some inherit faith. They say,
"What my parents believe is good
enough for me. :" But you have better
opportunities. What saved your par
ents may not save you, because you
have more light. They came out of
the dark ages; you are living in the
sunlight of noon-day, and according
to that you will stand or fall. Jas.
AIT.
Some get it from society: What
ever is fashionable, they believe. If
it is fashionable to belong to a certain
church in town, they take that as their
faith and ''ioin it.. If it is fashion
able to play progressive euchre, or
whist, or to dance, they must be in
"the swing" to crafty their carnal
nature.
How do We get ''the faith?" Paul
says. "Faith cometh by hearing
the Word of God," Rom. 1O:17. The
summary of the Gospels Is, 'I hese are
written, that ye might believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life
through His name," John 2O:31.
Whatever the teaching of the churches
on getting what theology calls "sav-
ing faith" three facts are Gel tain
from the above Scriptures. First, faith
does not come before hearing the Cos
pei; second, faith is produced by hear
ing the Gospel, nothing else produces
faith; third, this faith is in Jesus unto
life" 1t is faith. then, in a living
Christ that is required of us and not
in some opinions of men about religion.
That was the kind of faith Paul speaks
of when he says, 81 have kept the
faith, and it also kept him all through
life and he faced more storms than
any other man. When be lifted an
chor in that Roman prison to push
away from the shores of this mortal
life to cross over the sea to the eternal,
he did SO without tremor. There
was "henceforth" to his life and he
could say, 81 know Him in whom l
have believed. +"
Why is this faith SO powerful? 1t
has life. it has Christ. People can
make grains of wheat, eggs etc. and
by looking at them you. cannot tell
them apart from those produced by
nature. But take a real grain of
wheat and an artificial one. Plant
them side by side. One will grow and
the other not. Why? God made one
and man the other. One has life and
the other not. So with confessions of
faith made by men. There is no life
in them. Every church that has a
human creed carries in it, as does the