Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-16
Gpmortb League
Topic
REV. SAMUEL w. GRAFFL1N.

REV. SAMUEL w. GRAFFLIN. :
THE rERII.S OF SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE
Scripture Basis: Romans, 10:1-4 II Peter. $40.
! ~ REAT as have been the trials of
W. the church of God. fierce as have
been the conflicts through which
she has passed. it is nevertheless true
that she has suffered far more from the
effects of folly within her borders than
from enmity without. And folly is
even the child of ignorance, for the
ignorant, in spiritual things. in
others. are those who ignore the truth
which they might possess, and are
hence responsible for both the ig-
norance and the folly that ensues But
spiritual ignorance is of all the varied
forms which this distressing malady
assumes by far the most ,grievous as
while we may attain at least a fair con-
dition of competence and reputation,
without the knowledge of science, art or
commerce, We can never have peace here
or eternal life hereafter without
knowledge of the way of life. Out of the
! Scripture given US and from the expert
ences of our everyday life We choose
Il
There are three perils that inhere in
spiritual ignorance. The first is that we
ourselves will go astray. OF all the pitt
full pictures that line the gallery of our
Everyday life none is more SO than that
of the soul that is spiritually gone astray,
through ignorance of the way of life
No wilderness is more cherries. no
desert more arid than that through which
such a soul is forced to pass. The sec
fond is scarcely less distressing, namely,
the misleading of others. To be the cause
of loss or disaster to others is to any
sincere soul the source of poignant grief
Worse than the Captain who loses snip
and passengers, worse than the engineer
whose disregard of plain signals has
caused some fearful wreck, is he whose
lculpable ignorance has led to spiritual
shipwreck or soul death those who might
lotherwise have found the way of ilfe
The third peril is that of going hopeless
~ astray because Of the very zeal with
which We pursue the wrong course, Tor
the momentum is as great In one case as
in the other, and as the Zealot is never
tolerant there is often left in the wake
of that most dangerous of zealots, the
conscientious ignoramus, trail OF
heartache and spiritual wounds
CD The misuse of Gods word. 1t is
remarkable that while nobody refuses
! fish or fowl because each contains many
bones simply putting these aside, ana
that the careful mariner seeks to AVOID
both rock and quicksand. sailing in safety
where these are not. the ignorant reader
of the Book seems to spend most OF the
time with the difficult and obscure pas
lsages unstable and unlearned, ST.
Peter calls them: and unstable and I'M
learned" they truly are. Gods word is
not a thing to be twisted and turned. TO
prove positions already taken or theories
accepted without sufficient proof. but IT Is
the guide book to righteousness, peace
and God No good is ever derived from
the discussion by the ignorant of obscure
passages of Scripture and to refuse the
eternal word because We do not under
stand the unimportant details or cam
marriage JOnah's fish or Judas SUICIDE
is an evidence of mental weakness rather
than of spiritual distress. AS in all 9TH
ers. so in this case, it is the use. and
not the abuse, that Dement'S. Such con-
Itroyersialists, like Samson, pull the tenn
pie down upon their own nead, Destroy
ling and destroyed.
az The way to knowledge Jesus said:
let not your heart be troubled. ye be-
ilieve in God, believe also In me- In my
Fathers house are many mansions; II IT
were not SO | would have told you. Ana
whittier | go We know and the way We
know" Thomas said: Lord, we know
not whittier Thou goest, and how can
we know the way. Jesus satin unto
him: Il am the way, the truth and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father
but by me- Here. then. is the way to
knowledge truth and life. 1t is found
in the acceptance of those simple but
grand first principles OF faith: belief in
God and Jesus Christ. His Son. our Lord;
lacceptance of the Bible Gods word.
and the seeking of that salvation which
Paul desired for his beloved Israel To
those who seek for light and truth and
wisdom from on high. that they may
better know and serve their GOD, knowi-
Lord is the beginning of wisdom" and
all such will escape the periis OF spirit
ual ignorance.