Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-06-20


know them because they are spiritual
ly discerned." q Cor 2:l4t.
Furthermore. the truth as it is II
Jesus carries with it condemnation
for the sinner, and no one enjoys re
proof or rebuke. AS the lawyer, will
ing to justify himself, said: Who IL
my neighbour" so the natural hear
questions the authority of the Bible
and even the existence of God. rather
than confess its sin. Add to this the
fact that the devil who first injected
doubt into the mind of man, and who
Is rightly called by our Savior the
father Of lies, is ever seeking to preju
dice the creature against the Creator
and it is not strange that all thinking
people pass through period Of doubt
as to the fundamentals of religion
and some are so completely blinded
that they never come out of their
spiritual darkness.
In dealing with doubters Il Is i'm
portant to ascertain their real posi-
ton. Some skeptics are mere trif1ers
who are too indolent to grapple with
the truth In a resolute way, and so
ind 1t easier to doubt and drift with
the current of their natural fncIfna-
tons. Others use their skepticism as
a cover for an ungodly life. You can
say to such when they question the
inspiration of the Bible that one proof
dfuina fOin to he e. +ba+ 10
describes their condition so complete
ly, and tells how they came into that
condition. Naturally they will wish to
see the passage, and you can show
them ii Corinthians Az IF our Cos
pei be hid, II Is hid to them that are
lost; in whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them that
believe not, lest the light Of the glo,
r1es Gospel of Christ, who is the i'm,
age of God, should shine unto them. '
Remind them that to doubt the
Bible does not alter the facts which it
reveals, but it does subject them to
the charge of making God a liar Il
John 5:1O, and it puts them under
condemnation. He that belieyeth not
is condemned already, because he hath
not believed in the name OF the only
begotten son Of God. And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds
were evil" John S:1S. 49,.
1t is said that a vessel once sighted
an enemy just at shutdown, and kept
up cannonade until the darkness
put stop to it. When the sun arose
the next morning they were cha
grined to find that the supposed enemy
was an immense rock, which still re-
manned intact after many hours of
bombarding. So in all ages men have
been demolishing the Bible as the
enemy of the human race, but the old
Book still stands, silent, but solid as
the Rock of Ages. For trifiing skep-
tics John 1921, "a is very good as
showing the consequences OF unbelief.
while John $40 discloses the origin
OF their skepticism. "Ye will not
come to me that We might have life"
There is another class of doubters
who are really DESTROYS of knowing
the truth. AS some one has ex.
pressed 1t, He wishes there was
God to whom he could come AZ n
child to his father, but he does not
know whether there is or not, and he
wants to know. He wishes he were
an immortal spirit; but he is not posi-.
tive that he is anything more than
an animated machine, and he seeks
for evidence. He would be glad IN
believe that this unknown God has
provided for this unknown soul some
way by which 1t could know both its
father and itself He does not dis
believe in God or Christ, but he does
not know. and he wants to know"
For such people there are two paths
to the light, the intellectual and the
moral. The first begins with the
known and argues fits way to the nm
known. The creation proves a crea-
tor. Intelligent and moral beinys
imply creator capable OF PRODUCING
such. rhe scientific method results
only in high degree of proba bility
It Is true, but then we act every dav
on just such probabilities, and We
ought TO act upon them in religion.
The other method starts with ths
distinction between right and wrong
which we all know, and which mo
moral man can doubt Into this world
has come Jesus OF Nazareth he
meets our ideals. he commends him.
self to our consciousness, he com.
mands our will. II We take his life
and follow It, his teachings and obey |
them. we will soon find our way into |
the light. Il am the light Of the
world: he that followeth me shall nor
walk In darkness. but shall have the |
light OF life" John SID. II any man |
viii do his will. he shall know of
the doctrine. whether 1t be of God.
Or whether l speak of myself" John
f:1D.