The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-18

Except shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger Into the print of the nails, and thrust m vhand into His side. will not be- Iieve."-John xxx. 25.
 We call this man "Doubting Thom- ssa ess if ssSs wf' STy WSst Sd TR Roma ms wanta Simply to be put on the level with the other apostles. Simply to make sure.
 He laid down the one and only way in which Christ should come to him Except - will not believe" That Is to say, must have 1t my way, not which the Lord must come into my life If He attempts any other, I will not receive Him. It is the mistake of the world today. We do do not alloy room an enemy: we would dictate to His
 Some men wilr say. Except every Bible is inspired. I will not believe. [ will give up the whole thing. And what would happen If he did give up the whole thing? Nothing! Gods Word and Gods Providence moves on not , withstanding his sullen attitude. Thus we magnify ourseves and make A great figure of; I will not believe" There shall be one infdel in the uni verse, unless I can have my own way
 This is what men are doing today, and are always doing. Tn this way they shut out God from their lives. in any way. Thou wilt and will be ready to welcome Thee. Men cannot grow up into this all conquering faith at once. Pity. therefore. rather than along little. private road. It Is na. turaI; but 1t Is selfish. Yet even that selfishness may be chastened and sane tified. and in time may be rooted out
 
 Atlantic in their back yard. just that they might have the sea breeze all to themselves, But the Atlantic Is a little too large for that! Take. care that ye limit not the Holy One of Israel!
 There are men who say. We do nor belong to the church. but to nature Shall we rebuks them? Who made nature2 Whence did nature come? significance of bird and flower. and song and star, and morning and spring and summer? What Is the meaning of this eternal procession that has about 1t the completeness of a circle. win the weird dignity of an uncontroIlable and inexplicable mystery? You cannot get outside of your Fathers grounds!
 But what of the youth who lives al- ways in the garden and will never come into the fireside circle? What Nf the young man who will always hold confidential Intercourse with the gar dener. but will never. speak to his (atherT The fact of the house might suggest a tenant: the fact that there is such world might suggest a God. Some do not delight In rites and cere monies. and therefore they think they are exiled from Gods great home Nothing of the kind Wherever thtre IS any longing for fuller light. more exquisite beauty and more profound harmony amid all the relations of life and duty. they who so struggle, and wonder and almost pray. will one day find that the thing they have been looking for (and did not know it) was the Cross. But God knows 1t. and will gently lead them onward until all their WAnderings end in peace,
 truly? He wanted what everybody must have-Thomas wanted personal contact Of course he happened to take the very lowest point, for that which Thomas desired was merely phy- sical. Yet personal contact is larger han can he defined by any one in. stance. A great grasp ts eSntact;, ,,S so This they must have in some form. it lt is in a low form, so be it-that is