The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1919-02-22


ed a baby croco-
ollie by the tail and dashed it against
a stone, bursting 1t open. To his aston
ishment out rolled bundles. Of manu-
scripts Of every description; legal doc
uments, court. records, bills of ex-
change, receipts for taxes and house
rents, private letters of all sorts, and
even a schoolboy's examination pa
pers! The other crocodiles were also
made to yield up the treasures with
which they were stuffed. Imagine the
excitement when they discovered that
many of these ''papyri" were written,
in the age of the Caesars and in the
identical Greek Of the New Testament.
Great floods Of light have been
thrown by these manuscripts on the
meaning of New Testament words,
many of them standing forth with
| picturesque vividness never before
seen. From the "papyri" we now know
| that the word in common use in the
apostolic age for "title deed" is the
word in our text above given translat-
ed substance" "Faith is the title
deed Of things hoped for" What
find!
An old saying has it, Seeing is be-
lieving." Should it not read, "Believ-
ing is seeing?" Here lies before me a
crumpled, dirty five-dollar bill. 1t was
issued dozen years ago and has been
handled by innumerable fingers, but
the stamp of the United States govern
ment on it is still plainly visible.
Which one Of it's possible holders ever
saw the five silver dollars it claims to
represent? No one cares to see them;
| the promise of the government is
enough. Here, believing is seeing"
| My f1ve-dollar bill is only promise,
and yet my faith in 1t is my title deed
for things 7 hope for: potatoes, -four,
butter and what not.
But faith, to be valid, must rest upon
the trustworthiness of the word of an
other. The support Of faith is always
outside Of one. A f1ve-peso note ieiued
by the state of Chihuahua, Mex, may
be worth five pesos, and again 1t may
not. That is where the bandit, Villa,
lives, and the scene of his most spec
tacular depredations. Is the state of
Chihuahua solvent? And if so, will it
continue to be so in case want to re-
deem this promissory note? My faith
in a promissory note is the measure Of
my confidence in the promissor.
The very essence Of faith is strlk-
ingly illustrated in our word "amen.
We use this ancient word every time
we pray, but do we understand its
meaning? 1t is really Greek way of
pronouncing an old Hebrew word. Je-
sus used it each time our version
reads "verily, verify / say unto you
The old Hebrew word dates back to
Abraham's time, and earlier, only he
called it "aman." Anything is "aman
that is solid, firm, secure and abso'
lutely dependable. Abraham and his
wife Sarah were old and stricken In
years, but childless. God promised
them son In their old age in spite OF
|
thing was impossible. Romans 4:19
Il describes how this startling promise
affected Abraham: "Being not weak in
faith, he considered not his own body
cow dead when he was about an hun
dred years old, neither yet the dead
ness of Sarah's womb; he staggered
not at the promise Of God through un
belief, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God; and being fully persuad
ed that what he had promised he was
able also to perform" That is to say
Abraham recognized the fulfillment OF
this promise as entirely Il miracle OF
Gods power. What he said to God
was, '"Thou art N'aman.'" In other
words, ''Thou canst be depended upon
Thy word is firm, secure, absolutely re
liable" Abraham's rest of faith was In
the almightiness of God and the faith
fulness Of his word, just as my conf
dence in a five-dollar note rests In thu
flrmness and the security Of the Unite,
States government.
God in his Word has offered to III
eternal life In Christ Jesus. He tell
me this is gift bestowed miraculously
from above by the Holy Spirit. How
my heart eagerly reaches out for THU
alluring prize. He offers this to "who
soever will" That includes me. be
lleve and II is mine. Faith is thu
title deed" to things hoped for. M,
faith makes God real and his wonder
ful salvation blessed fact hers ant
now; End "bciag fully persuaded tina
what he has promised he Is able also
10 perform" II rejoice in hope Of thu
glory of God"