East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1911-11-13
PRESBYTERIAN
SUNDAY SERMON

az. ]. Mines, Minister Phone SAD
Theme: Faith. Text: The life that
A now live i'm the flesh, I. live ny the
saith of the son of God. who loved
me and gave Himself for e."-Gal.
a s.s0.
Faith is the basis of life here and
.fa hereafter. It is the source of all
heroic achievement; it is the primary
Eaculty OF perception; 1t is the foun-
.ation Of all the virtues and powers
,,r human personality; it is the essen
sial unifyiug principle underlying the
whole system Of credit which makes
possible the domestic. social, and
business relationship of mankind. We
auust not narrow the meaning of this
word: we must give TO it its full
sweep: for it removes all arbitrary
human limitations and makes our
7uoral and spiritual possibilities infin-
ate. According to your faith be it
unto you"
The men and women who have
faced and fought gigantic wrongs, re-
4uoved mountains of difficulty, and
initiated the great movements of pro-
zress and reform, have been inspired
and sustained by a mighty faith. 1t
was faith that hung the lanterns on
ahe prov Of the careVals of Columbus
and lighter a path over the spaces that
.scpartted the old world from the
new. 1t was faith that stood at the
helm of the Mayflower and piloted
The Pilgrim fathers across the Allan
tjc to establish on this side the sea
"A Republic of freedom and righte-
BUSINESS. 1t wCs faith that led Wesley
IL abandon the life of a scholar, take
up the life Of an evangelist and
awaken England from the fatal sum-
bers Of ritualism to a vital experience
with God. 1t was faith that led Liv-
ingston to pioneer the Dark Conti-
nent and help heal the open sore of
the world To the worldly mind the
career Of the Apostle Paul is a rid
ole. He was a cultured gentleman;
ne moved a prince among the worlds
elite. He was a born aristocrat. But
suddenly he forsook learned and cul-
tured society and threw his life with
the unlettered followers of the Ma
zarene. For this he received con-
tempt and contumely. He was ma
ligned. imprisoned, stoned and flog-
ged. But none of these things moved
min. The secret Of that heroic change
Of career is given in the text: The
sife that l now live in the flesh,
have by the faith Of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for
me" According to the 11th chapter
OF Hebrews, everything good and
great in the history of Israel was done
Through faith.
Faith, then, is a force of character
and power of achievement. Erase
from the earth the principle of faith,
and you reduce mankind to the mon
otonous lovel of the brute. Faith
does not mean mere assent to certain
doctrines or dogma. That is the de-
EinitiOn of credulity. Faith and cre-
stulity differ utterly. They are pure
antonyms. Credulity is blind; faith
il vision. When we distinguish be-
tween faith and -credulity. we destroy
the foundation Of every doubling
castle in history. This distinguish
Ing definition defeats the arguments
Of Ingersoll, plucks the sting from
Tom Paine's Age of Reason" and
removes every intellectual excuse
which hinders thinking men from
embracing the Faith of our Lord. In
vain the skeptic compares the dark
age Of creduIity, ignorantly called
saith, with the brighter age of rea-
aIon. For when we apply the plumb
line of definition to the corner-post
of his argument, the leaning tower OF
Pisa becomes perpendicular in com
parison. Write this, then, upon the
retina of your memory with an in
ielible pencil; faith is not credulity
Blind ecclesiastical acquiescence diff.
fers from faith as glib ritualism diff.
-fers from vital piety.
Moreover, faith is the primary fac.
allty Of perception; it is spiritual Wis.
acn. The Scriptures define it a.
the substance Of things hoped for
She evidence of things not seen" Il