Evening journal., 1916-02-09

. Matthew xii: 42-"What Think Ye
Df Christ"
= There has been much confusion in
many minds regarding what consti-
tutes the essentials Of Christian faith.
Some are much more concerned re-
garding the extent of faith, than they
'are the. vitality of faith. Much OF
creed is like character, a matter OF
growth. Il is not of such vital inn
'portance that we believe so many
things. but that we believe thoroughly
.and firmly the essential truths. Ihe
entrance into the Christian life has
often been made too difficult and
complex. Christ did not call man to
code Of ethics. or philosophy, or
laws. or even to religious Organiza-
tion. He called men to Himself. In
"a supreme sense Christianity IS
Christ. The question Of vital import
.ance is not what you may think about
this or that book, of the Bible, about
the church. The minister, or about re-
ligious ceremonies and observances.
The vital question is What think ye
of Christi" Upon that depends your
spiritual destiny.
In a meeting in Scotland there was
an old lady in an inquiry service, that
kept saying to the workers, Il Gamma
believe. Gamma believe Then one
said 10 her, "But mother you can be-
lieve Jesus. can't your "Oh, yes,'
she said as her face frightened, Il
can believe Him" That is the heart
OF the whole matter. No one has a
right to declare himself an agnostic,
until he has faced squarely and fairly
this question that Jesus put to HIS
,discipies at Caesarea Phillippi, What
think ye of Christi
want to present TO you this even
ing the only four possible attitudes
for anyone to assume relative 10
Christ In order that you may retain
these four positions more. clearly in
your memory, I will designate each
one by a word that begins with the
letter "a" The first attitude that is
possible for one to assume toward
Christ. and His salvation. Is apathy.
You put this question to many people,
What think We Of Christi" and they
will have to answer, Nothing" They
do not think Of Him at all. Their at
titude is the same as that Of the ami
,mal. Il is the same as many thought
less people boast that they are not
afraid to die. The proper reply is,
Neither are the cattle afraid to die,
L and for the same reason" They are
thoughtless and superficial. One Of
,-he great benefits Of a campaign like
the present. is to turn the thought Of
the people directly to spiritual affairs.
Many people never think Of any sub
iect seriously. If you could get every
person in this city to stop for sin
gle hour and consider soberly and
earnestly the claims Of Jesus Christ
and the issue of death and the iudg-
| fment. you would have great multi
tudes turning to God and seeking sal
yatlon.
This spirit OF apathy is often due to
distractions. Their minds have been
occupied with other things. They are
like a man who has been invited to a
great feast. but when he reaches the
banquet and they offer him this dish
OF food, or the other, he has no ap-
petite II you come to seek the rea-
son, you find that before he came to
the banquet hall he stopped,at a
cheap eating house and filled up on
FIVE or siS bowls of thin soup. The
poor. trivial. frivolous things of the
passing moments have absorbed so
much OF the time. wasted the ener-
eies and dulled the desires. that they
have left multitudes without any hun
ger for the great feast OF salvation
which God offers.
Charles Darwin said at the close Of
his life that in his earlier years he
had a great fondness for music. It
was the delight of his life to hear
choicest selections played or sung.
s'But" said he. 80 long have l been
delving entirely in the natural sci
ence. absorbed In material things,
that my musical taste has been
7atrophied. ! have lost all desire for
music. even the choicest and best -
Scientists tell us that there arc fish
IN the Mammoth cave I'm Kentucky,
who have only scars where their eyes
would naturally have been. They
have been so long in the darkness
that the power Of sight has been en-
tirely destroyed This is what the
Scripture means when it tells about
those who have become past feeling.
Spiritual sensibilities are blinded,
and conscience is dulled and dead
ened. The disuse Of any faculty or
power means ultimately its entire
loss.
A third cause of this condition Of
apathy is sin. Low living and high
thinking never go hand in nand.
Those are significant words of the
Apostle Paul. "If our gospel be hid,
it is hid TO them that are lost" Con-
4 Science becomes scared as with a
red hot iron. This is one of the
most deadly results Of sin. It causes
i the individual at last to lose the de-
sire for the higher life. Sin is