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thee down, th a t th e rain stop thee not.” T here’s an ex ample of faith . There had been th re e and a half years of drought, b u t E lijah w ent rig h t on praying in absolute con fidence, and when th ere was only a shadow, like a m an’s hand on th e firmament, he knew th a t in an incredihly sho rt space of tim e th e heavens would be black w ith rain . The P ra y er an d th e P lan e of F a ith You are to hold fast to your faith till you g et you r an swer. The prayer of faith can only be answered on thè plane of faith. If you come down to th e level of sigh t you would no t recognize it; it may come in disguise. In ten thousand cases we fly away, and do no t sit still on th e plane of faith for the answer. Oh! how little we know th e sublime re st of faith, th a t takes all to-God and leaves it there, and brings no burden away from th e throne of grace. T hat is beginning to sound th e possibilitiés of a prayer-answering God. W hat a stupendous w itness to a prayer-hearing God was George Muller, a man who had bu t a shilling to sta rt w ith, and when he died only £180 to his credit in th e bank, b u t who in his life received and expended £1,500,000, yet never appealed to a man. Go and see those buildings w ith th e ir 1700 windows’and sheltering 2200 hum an beings. I asked him two years before he died, “Did you ever have to lose a meal because God failed you?” “Never.” “Did you ever have to postpone a meal more th a n an h o u r?” “Never.” “Did you ever go to bed w ithout enough provision for the morrow ?” “No less th an five thousand times have I gone to bed w ith no provision for th e morrow .” “ Did you sleep?” “Every tim e.” The M ultitude of Possibilities My friends, it is a most serious m a tte r th a t calls for the profoundest prostration, th a t in all th is m ultitude of pos sibilities and practical experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, th e re should be so few of us who know w hat it is to make a splendid ven tu re of-faith on the omnipotence, omniscience of th e unchangeable God. Surely, surely, we ought to fast and pray th a t we may know something of the possibilities th a t come from th e impossibilities of those who have once learned th e possibilities of God. no rig h t to claim th a t its Scriptures compose a final and sufficient revelation from God; bu t th a t th e lite ra tu re of other religions deserves a place in th e fu tu re life of th e race. Upon w hat grounds, if you please? The only reason in th e world why we have any Bible is because it has proven from the first productive of religious experience. The en tire world of Biblical scholarship is agreed th a t the most intensely religious people the world has ever seen were the Hebrews. And Gentile Christianity inherited from Judaism this religious intensity, Every book of the Bible, th e moment it appeared, had to meet and sa t isfy th is highly sensitive religious consciousness, a con sciousness which craved and demanded a real and effective sp iritu al stim ulus in th e lite ra tu re which was offered it. If th is stim ulus failed to be provided, th e literary product was rejected from the group of sacred and au tho ritative w ritings. It was by exactly th is process th a t we got our canon of Scripture. The religious consciousness of Jud a ism gave us th e Old Testam ent canon. The religious con-
th is child th a t is possessed, and w h at God can do He will do. It is a w onderful thing. F u rth e r on I believe th a t the exact language is determ ined by th e Holy Ghost— th ere is no m istake, no accident. “Have thou ‘faith ,” “ hold,” “ pray,” “ remove,” “whosoever shall say,” no t pray, bu t “ say.” W hat is th e difference? This is a flat. W hat is a flat?:—a command: “ le t it be.” The first recorded flat is, “Let th e re be lig h t,” and ligh t was. T h at is a fiat. If you have got hold of God’s “ faithfulness,” le t th is th ing be, and it shall be. W hat a trem endous power th e re is in faith, faith th a t is a bond of union w ith God, faith th a t holds fast the “ faithfulness of God.” Absolute Confidence in God And now, le t me say, the whole power of prayer depends upon th e faith th a t offers th e prayer. Believe th a t ye shall receive them , and ye shall have them . “This is th e confi dence th a t we have in Him, th a t, if we ask anything ac cording to His will He h eareth us: and if we know th a t He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know th a t we have the pe titions th a t we desired of H im” (1 John 5:14, 15). A G reat Example of F a ith Look a t th a t scene on Mount Carmel. I t is a g rea t les son about faith. E lijah was in the sp irit to call down floods. There had been no rain for many days, probably dews, heavy dews, bu t no rain s; and now th e tim e comes for rain, so he cast himself down upon th e earth , and pu t his face between his knees, shu ttin g out everything bu t God. He wanted to know nothing about th e outside world. Then he said to his servant, “You go and ta k e an observation look tow ards th e sea.” And th e servan t w ent ifp and looked, b u t nothing appeared to th e serv an t’s sight, and th e servant comes back and says, “There is noth ing .” Well, th a t’s ju st w hat I expected; I have been asking, and did not get anything a t all. But E lijah says, “Go again.” 'And again and again he went, till it came to pass a t th e seventh time, th a t th e serv an t said, “There ariseth a little cloud out of th e sea, lik e a m an’s hand.” Why like a m an’s hand? Because a man’s hand had been raised in supplication, and left its shadow on th e sky! And he said to his servant, “ Go up, and say unto Ahab, P rep are thy chariot, and get
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The Bible and Experience By P rof. H. E , Dana, Southwestern Theological Seminary, in “The A uthenticity of th e Holy Scriptures”
Bible has proven, from its very origin, a m ighty ;tor in stirrin g w ithin man the highest and blest impulses of his soul. No one would dare deny th a t the Christian religion, th rough th e
in strum en tality of th e Scriptures, has produced th e pu rest and highest type of moral and religious character known to human history. In its emphasis upon moral rectitude and unselfish service, Christianity has far exceeded any o th er religion, and this moral and sp iritu al emphasis has been derived directly from th e Bible. Christianity pre sents a peculiarity all its own in th is respect:- Compare, if you please, Jesus of N azareth w ith Mohammed, th e founder of Islam. Has Brahmanism ever produced a Paul? Has Buddhism ever produced a John? Find, if you can, charac te rs in any other religion comparable to M artin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, or Dwight L. Moody. The finished product of Christianity in human character and experience is absolutely w ithout parallel. And yet, we are told by some critics th a t Christianity has
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