FROM THE PULPIT.

Southland Times, Issue 19511, 10 May 1922, Page 7

FROM THE PULPIT.

THE POWER OF FAITH (Sermon by the Rev. H. Sharp on Sunday May 7.) “I had tainted unless I had believed.” —Psalm xxvii., 13. These are the words of a man face to face with despair yet finding relief from the burden of hie mind and heart in the strong conviction that “behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadow.” We can easily imagine the circumstances under Which the w’riter was placed. Around him Were the mysteries and perplexities which have been common to every age. The efforts of good men were apparently frustrated; much of what they were doing seemed to be in vain. He was discouraged; he felt forsaken. He was tempted to give up the struggle against evil both within his own heart and in the outward world, and go with the crowd. Appearances were all against him; there wag no evidence that God was concerned about the world. Then this man of God fought against the fear and despondency of his heart. He summoned faith to his aid and refused to believe that wrong would always triumph or that the world would be for ever darkened by wickedness. Some time, he told himself, some time God will manifest His rule and will hasten to the help of His people. His goodness will be seen by all. Looking back on that time of his struggle with despondency he puts it on record that it was through his faith, his undefeatable conviction in the love and justice of God which kept his spirit brave and strong. | “I had fainted unless 1 had believed.” There I is nothing which plays so important a part lin human life as belief. It ia a great factor lin the moulding of character. It has i been said that character is nothing but the I precipitate of belief. We must believe; it !is impossible to live without a creed of some sort. We may not give much thought to the great doctrines of the Christian Church but still we are guided by such ideas as we have. In the early years when life is gay and joyous and the world is an enchanted ground we do not give much. time to thoughts about the great things of | i he soul but later, when pain, sorrow, failure and loss ciisillußion us and we meet the hard facts of the world wo learn the truth that man shall not live by bread alone, but by hope, trust, and faith in God. As we grow older vague thoughts and loose opinions give place to the strong beliefs to which we hold in times of stress and strain. We come to discover that a man may be rich who has little of thia world’s goods because he has a faith which amid adversities and dangers keeps the mind in perfect peace and fills the heart with a deep and quiet joy. What are the great basal beliefs upon which the soul is shaped? One of the doctrines which may be said to give hope and courage ia that which declares that goodness and love are at the heart of the universe, 'fhe assurance that there is an overruling Providence has been a source of strength to I many a man and woman when confronted by mystery and certainty. W’e ere not the sport of blind chance. However hard our lot may be we must not think that we are living in a mindless universe. Behind all frhe events of our experiences the surprises sud accidents there is a plan, a purpose of gaod. Oh yet We trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill To pangs of nature, sins of will Defects of doubt and taints of blood That nothing walks with aimless feet That not one life shall be destroyed Or cast as rubbish to the void _\a When God hath made the pile complete. Belief in the sovereignty of God, in His wisdom, love and justice, does not mean that we are to sit down and acquiesce with the conditions and circumstances in which we find ourselves. We are to realise that it is our duty to use every power God has given us to remove whatever does not minister to the highest welfare of man. We are to be co-workers with God in bringing in the kingdom of righteousness. It is when we hold the conviction that God ia personal, wise, omnipotent and omnipresent that we are able to do OUT beat for the general welfare. Atheism paralyses every noble impulse and shackles ©very power man possesses. Atheism kills hope and crushes every high endeavour. Belief in God makes men brave and strong. Without the great ruling ideas of Christianity a deep gloom would settle down upon the human spirit Professor Henry Drummond said: “The belief in the universe as moral, the interpretation j of history as progressive; the faith in good as eternal; in evil as self-consuming in humanity as evolving these great Christian ideas have transformed the malady of thought into a bounding hope. We must either believe that God lives and overrules or yield to pessimism.” “Face to face with life in its deep and permanent conditions,” says Dr John Hutton, “a man must either behove or harden his heart or give way.” Let the man or woman who is burdened or perplexed, or stricken with disease or overwhelmed by trouble remember that God fives and loves and cares and such a belief will restore hope and strength. Another great article of faith which keeps us from fainting is the doctrine of God’s pardoning toward sinful men. There come times when the heart is filled with the sense of guilt and shame because of sin. And this consciousness of sin will not flee before the modern ideas about it Conscience demands something more than a new definition of man’s sin. Nothing can weigh heavily upon the soul as the sense of guiltiness. A short time ago a minister was called out to speak to a dying woman. She had spent, a restless night and her spirit was troubled. The man of God stood by the bedside and spoke to the dying woman about the merciful Saviour. He told her of the promises of pardon that were made for every penitent soul; of the blood that was shed for the remission of ans and the great atoning death of Christ. A new fight came into her face. It seemed as if the great Lord of Life had spoken saying, “Peace; be Still,” and there was a great calm. The lips of the old lady began to move, and the minister leaned over and heard her say, “What Beautiful Words.” Yes, there comes a time when nothing but our belief in the mercy of God can keep us from sinking into the deepest gloom. “What. Should I Do,” cried Dr Chalmers, “if God did not justify the ungodly.” It was in the mercy of God toward anful men that Copernicus, the great astronomer, believed and he requested that there should be written upon his tombstone: ‘Be only as merciful to me as Thou wast merciful to the thief upon the Cross.” Then in the last place we find strength in our belief in immortality. If it were not for our belief in the future world we should often despair in this world. The conditions here demand another world where broken plans are carried to their fulfilment. The broken column we see in our cemeteries is eloquent of what we see in human life in this world. Some young man or woman with great promises of a brilliant career is suddenly struck with disease or taken away by an accident. We cannot think that they will never use their gifts. Millions of men are shot down in battle; we cannot imagine that they have passed into oblivion. God has written eternity in our hearts; He has endowed us with powers and potentialities which demand immortality for their fulfilment. Heaven will be the place where we shall develop every' faculty to perfection. Then shall I see arid hear and know All I desired and wished below, And every power find sweet employ In that eterhid world of joy.