Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1909-06-10

Promised Land-a stranger to a
strange country-and live there in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, who
shared the Promised Land with him
He was looking for the city with the
sure foundations, whose architect
and builder is. God.
"It was faith that caused Moses,
when he was grown up, to decline the
title of Son of a Daughter of Pha-
roah.' He preferred to share the
hardships of Gods people rather than
have the short-lived enjoyment of a
sinful life. For he thought that the
stigma which attaches to the Christ
was of greater value than the treas
ures of Egypt, looking forward, as he
did, to the reward awaiting him.
Faith caused him to leave Egypt. un-
daunted by the kings anger, for he
was strengthened in his endurance
b. the vision of the invisible God"
vision of the invisible"-that
phrase defines faith. 1t is the inner
spiritual light that makes plain what
material faculties cannot perceive, cr
material powers demonstrate. Within
this realm lie all of life's best things.
Modern Missionaries.
Visionary" does some one call the
man of faith? Here struts the physi-
cal scientist, who accepts nothing
which cannot be proved in his labora-
tory. Ask him to define electricity.
Ask him to explain the nature of life,
not pushing him to the extremity of
trying to explain the beginnings of
life. Your physical scientist will
o;rrI softly rn.
calling that the very atmosphere about
him is charged with mysterious waves
about which his science has only late
ly begun to make discoveries, and he
will confess that all his certainties
about the atomic theory have gone to
smash within a generation. Faith IS
as scientific in this twentieth century
as is ocular demonstration.
II we are to classify as Missionaries
all the men of faith, we shall find our
selves grouping in this same gallery
of God most Of the mighty men VINO
have made history. America will give
a high place to that visionary, Colum.
bus. We make room for the artist
whose eye of faith sees on the plain
canvas the vision of his soul; and
for the sculptor who can perceive the
angel in the block of marble, and for
the architest who can build a city in
q Wilderness And what shall we
say of the men, such as nave been re
Gently in session at Chicago in the
peace conference, who have glimpsed
the era of world peace and Of human
brotherhood? Or of that larger com
pany who look forward with conf
Hid h>a nf old
to conquest of the wholse human
race to the will and love of Jehovah;
In Simplest Terms.
The climax of this letter is to be
found in the beginning Of what !.
called the twelfth chapter in our chop
ped-up versions. with their arbitrary
divisions. The writer was leading UP
| by way of the heroes Of IsraePs his
| tory, to the faith Of which Christ i!
the beginning and the ending. Asair
| to quote from the Twentieth Centur!
| New Testament: Seeing that ther'
| is on every side of us such throng o
| witnesses, let us, therefore, in ou
turn lay aside everything that hin
ders us, and the sin that clings abou
| US, and run with perseverance tn
course that lies before us, our eye
fixed upon Jesus, who is our Guide AM
our perfect Example of faith, and who
| In exchange for the happiness tnat ID
at his feet, submitted to the cross, dis
regarding Its shame, and has now tax
en- his seat on the right hand of tn
throne of God"
OF course faith is q mystery; but n
| less a reality because a mystery. B
the testimony of many more witnesse
than the inspired writer ever knew,
can be proved that there is power /
Jesus Christ which he imparts to thos
who trust in him. That power. whic
is given to the confiding, keeps me
pure and strong, and makes them vic
torious. 1t brings the individual If
and organized society into subjugatio
| to the mind of Christ. "This is the vic
tory which overcometh the world, eve
our faith"