Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-06-25

ness INTO niHn'
neither a he
know them because they are spiritual
ly d~iscerned." Il Cor. 2:14).
Furthermore, the truth as 1t is in
Jesus carries with 1t condemnation
for the sinner. and no n enjoys re-
proof or rebuke. AS the lawyer. will
ing to justify himself, said: Who is
my neighbour" so the natural heart
questions the authority Of the Bible.
and even the existence of God, rather
than confess its sin. Add to this the
iact 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 ver seeking to preju-
lice the creature against the Creator,
and it is not strange that all thinking
people pass through a period of doubt
as to the fundamentals of religion,
and some are sc completely blinded
that they never come out Of their
spiritual darkness.
In dealing with doubters 1t is i'm
portant to ascertain their real posi-
ton. Some skeptics are mere triflers
VINO are too indolent to grapple with
the truth in a resolute way, and so
lind it easier to doubt and drift with
the current of their natural inclina-
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
OF Its divine origin Is the fact that II
describes their condition 80 complete
ly, and tells how they came into that
condition. Naturally they will wish to
see the passage, and you a show
them III Corinthians "A: IF our Cos.
pei be hid, it 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-
rles 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 IL does subject them to
the charge of making God a liar Ct
John 5:1O), and 1t puts them under
condemnation. He that believeth moi
Is condemned already, because he hath
not believed in the lame 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 3:1S, 1917.
1t is said that a vessel once sighted
an enemy just at shutdown, and kept
up a cannonade until the darkness
put a stop to it. When the sun arose
the mex morning, they were cha
grined to find that the supposed enemy
was an immense rock, which still re-
manned intact after many hours of
bo~mbarding. 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 trifing skep-
tics John S:21, "a is very good as
showing the consequences of unbelief,
while John $40 discloses the origin
OF their skepticism. Eye will not
come to me that ye might have life."
There is another class of doubters
who are really DESTROYS of knowing
the truth. AS some one has ex.
pressed it, He wishes there was a
God to whom he could come as a
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 to
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 its way to the I'M
known. The creation proves a crea-
tor. Intelligent and moral beings
imply a creator capable of producing
such. The scientific method results
only In a high degree of probability,
It is true, but then we act every day
on Just such probabilities, and we
ought to act upon them In religion.
The other method starts with the
distinction between right and wrong
which we all know, and which no
moral mar can doubt. Into this world
has come Jesus Of Nazareth. He
meets Dur 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 loon find our way into
the light. II m the light Of the
world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the
light Of life" John S:12). II any man
will do his will. he shall know Of
the doctrine. whether It be Of God,
or whether | speak of myself" John