South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-09-02
NEED Of WORLD
GREATER FAITH
Or. B. Earle Parker breaches
Inspiring Sermon at NJ. E.
Church Sunday.

That the need OF the world today
is a fresh sense OF the divine ma
ture OF Jesus Christ, was the essence
Of an inspiring sermon delivered
Sunday morning by DR. B. Earle
Parker at the Methodist Memorial
church. At the evening hour he
preached an equally interesting dis
course on Burden" Miss Harris
and Mr.. Nolem contributed vocal
numbers at this service. DIT. Park
er's sermon at the morning hour
pointed out TIE relation between
his text the second epistle of the
Apostle Paul 10 Timothy. liz, Il
know Him in whom I believeth.
He said in part:
In religion as in the other relams
of life. knowledge precedes trust.
The extent Of our confidence is
usually IN direct proportion to our
knowledge of the one we trust.
Paul knew the historical facts of
Jesus life He was familiar with
the story of His sympathetic and
useful ministry, but he knew more
than these facts. He knew Jesus ir
His inner life He knew that He
was the Son Of God. He knew Him
as the power Of the resurrection
and that the cross was the divinely
chosen method by which God freed
men from the bondage OF sin.
World Lacks knowledge.
Because he knew this he trusted
/ Jesus utterly, and wore his life out
in a great endeavor to get other
men 10 trust Him. The reason that
I so many have their faith shaken by
the events that stir the world to-
( day back of the present spiritual
indifference Of many and the leth-
Iargy of the church on missionary
/ and evangehstic lines. is a lack of
knowledge that Paul had. Men
know their Bibles as uever before.
and facts OF the Masters life and
\ His wonderful words were never so
\ familiar or quoted so reverently as
today, but we need TO discover
afresh the Christ of the inner life
as the glorious Son of God and re
deemer from within.
( There IS a tedency in the litera-
ture OF today TO make light OF
| creeds. We are told that after this
/ war men viii think less of creeds
and more and more of how they
/ live. The age of doctrine will be
/ supplanted by the age of deeds.
/ This idea is fascinating but it over
looks a great truth. No man save
one ever lived a more unseltsh or
useful life than this same Paul.
I Between the life he lived and the
/ belief he held is the relation of
cause and effect. Paul was what he
/ was because Jesus Christ was clear
/ ~ seen and trusted as the Son of
/ God, the guarantor of Immortality
land the divine Savior from sin.
Fewer Creeds i'm Future.
Il believe the dogmas of the flu
ture Will be simpler and fewer. I
/ believe that a new emphasis and
I demand will be placed on Christian
conduct. but the fountain source of
/ this new life will be found in a new
I trust i'm the power Of His cross to
save the world We must never for
sake that which is eternally true.
/ You can not discard these mighty
] beliefs about Jesus and save Chris
tianity 10 the world.
why has Christ such pawer 20
comfort the heart? Why is His the
I lasting life? Why can He walk
with US as burden bearer in life's
/ gloom 1t is because He is what
i He is. the Son of God, the resur-
rection and the life. and the savior
of the old worlds sin. Dem is pow
erful fine words, says Uncle Tom,
! but who says 'em?' What is the
one thing that we cannot afford TO
+ overlook i'm our thinking
Along with Paul We can make
the great commita1 and stand UNI
ashamed of our faith with serene
and quiet heart. though the heavens
fall. lis by an inner experience we
can also say 7 know Him in whom
7 have believed knowledge leads
10 trust and the deepest knowledge
1 is gained in the school Of expert
ence. . more genuine experimental
religion will lead TO a more prac-
teal religion"