Faith

Faith FAITH
By Hall L. Calhoun

Let me say by way of introduction that the subject of this lecture is “Faith,” and that' a proper frame of mind is necessary to the investigation of this or any other subject. If you have come here with your mind so definitely made up as to say, “No matter what he has presented or said on this occasion, I am going to leave here thinking just as I do now, I do not intend to change my views in any way,” of course, there is no chance to benefit a person like that. His mind is closed against any possible help. The only way to approach this or any other Bible subject with a prospect of being benefited by a study of the same is to say and mean it, “No matter what have been my views in the past, if I can be made to see that God’s word teaches anything upon this subject clearly and unmistakably true according to his word, I will take it’ and act upon it, no matter whether I ever heard of such a thing before or not.” With such an attitude as this, I believe there is a chance for some of us to be benefited in some ways by the discussion of this great subject. No more important subject is found in the Bible.

We find these statements made concerning faith: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” “He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.” Again, in 2 Corinthians 5:7, is the statement: “We (Christians) walk (that is, live) by faith.” In Mark 16:16, Jesus said, “He that believeth not shall be damned.” In 1 John 5:4 is this statement: “This is the victory which hath overcome the world, even our faith;” and in Romans 14:23, speaking of the Christian religion it says: “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Now, if one cannot please God without faith; if he cannot come to God without faith; if the Christian walks by faith; if he that does not have faith shall be damned; if that which overcomes the world is faith; and if whatsoever is not' of faith in the Christian religion is sin; it becomes very evident that nothing can be more important than faith. Now, seeing the importance of faith, there are three questions that should be clearly and corrqctly answered. First, what is faith? Second, how do we get faith? And third, what does faith do for us when we do get it? The first question, What is faith ? is very important. If I cannot come to God without faith nor please God without faith; and if I do not have faith, I shall be damned; if I must' walk by faith; if faith is the victory that overcomes the world; if in the Christian religion whatsoever is not of faith is sin; I must be very sure that I have it. If I do not know what it is, I cannot be sure whether I have it or not. Do you know the difference between faith and opinion? Do you know the difference between faith and human knowledge ? Faith, opinion, and knowledge are as different in meaning as daylight is different' from darkness. Therefore permit me to say with all courtesy and yet with all positiveness, if you do not see clearly the difference between faith and opinion and between faith and human knowledge, you never did have a clear idea on the subject of religion; and you never will have until these words are as distinct and different in meaning to you as midnight is from noon day.

What is faith? What is opinion? What is human knowledge? Now, I am going to give an illustration of my own, showing the difference between faith and opinion and faith and knowledge; and I promise after giving this illustration of my own to find the same il-lustration in substance in the Bible, showing what faith is as contrasted with opinion and knowledge. Here is the illustration: I have something in my hand. I am sure no other person in the house except' myself knows what it is—no one else has had a chance to know; but I want each one of you to form an opinion as to what I have in my hand. The word opinion comes from the little Latin word opinio which means I think. Since opinion is just what you think, now what do you think is in my hand? I want every person present old enough to listen to form an opinion as to what I have in my hand. Some years ago a gentleman said in a speech before the National Teachers Association in Washington, D. C., “He who fears to form an opinion is a coward; he who is too indolent to form an opinion is lazy; and he who cannot form an opinion is a fool.” Now you do not wish to be classed either as a coward, lazy, or as a fool; so get busy, every one of you, and form an opinion as to what I have in my hand. No; you do not know; you cannot therefore say you know I have something in my hand. You do not have a right to say, “I believe you have something in your hand;” but you do have the privilege of forming an opinion, What do you think is in my hand? I am sure that no one here thinks that I have an automobile in my hand—you can beat that. No one thinks I have a horse and buggy in my hand; no one thinks I have a steam engine in my hand—any of you can think better than that. But the question is not what I do not have in my hand, but what I do have in my hand?

Now, will some of you be kind enough to tell me what your opinion is? One person says I have a kni’fe in my hand. Would you be willing, sir, to risk your soul’s salvation upon the correctness of that opinion? He shakes his head. Certainly not. However honest and intelligent his opinion may be, he realizes that it might be wrong; and the good and all-wise God will never ask any person to risk his soul’s salvation upon anything that can be mistaken. Another thinks that I have a nut in my hand. Would you be willing to risk your soul’s salvation upon the correctness of your opinion? He shakes his head. Another thinks that I have a piece of crayon in my hand. Would you be will-, ing to risk your soul’s salvation upon the correctness of that statement? He shakes his head. Another thinks that' I have a pencil in my hand. Would you be willing to risk your soul’s salvation upon the cor-rectness of that opinion? And he shakes his head. Now, if we had time, we could perhaps find fifty other opinions in this audience as to what I have in my hand—maybe more, for each one of you is free to form an opinion of your own. You see now how an opinion is formed, just what you think about a thing. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that Christians walk by opinion. You see how people differ in opinion. One man thinks I have in my hand a knife; another I have a nut; another, a piece of crayon; another, a pencil; and others, many other different things. Permit me to say just here that this accounts quite reasonably for the many differences we have today among professors of the Christian religion. Many of them are walking by their own opinions. No two people in this world ever did or ever will or ought to think just alike. God never tells us to, never expects it, does not want it, nor should we. What a dreary old world this would be if every one thought exactly alike. Perhaps you heard years ago, as I did, what an old preacher said about that. He said that it' was a good thing that everybody in the world did not think alike; for if they did, all the men would want his wife and that nobody but himself could get her. A man in the audience spoke out and said to him she was so ugly that nobody else in the world would have her. But we say that we differ in opinion and it is a good thing that we do for religion is not a matter of what you think.

We see what an opinion is; let me illustrate what faith is. I am going to tell you what I have in my hand. I have a penny in my hand. Now, if there is anybody in this audience who does not believe me, will you be kind enough, please, to stand? No one stands. I thank you with all my heart for the compliment you have conferred upon me in believing what I say. Now, all you here believe that I have a penny in my hand. It would not be correct to say, “I think you have ai penny in your hand,” or “It is my opinion that you have a penny in your hand.” There is now no opinion about it. You believe it; that is, you have faith in me enough to believe what I say. So faith is just believing what some one says. Now, believing what I say is not the. faith mentioned in the Bible; but believing what God says is the fait'h mentioned in the Bible, and it is by faith that God’s word says Christians walk. Faith in me is believing what I say; faith in God is believing what God says. Now, the Bible says that in religion whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Perhaps this is a good place to answer the question that some people like to ask my brethren, Why you people object to being called Campbellites ? Every one else has a human name, a nickname, why do you people object to having one? Our answer is this: We Christians walk by faith. Faith.is believing what God says; walking by faith is walking by what God says, and whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Now, God nowhere calls any Christian a Campbellite; nor does he tell any one else to call any Christian a Campbellite; so we cannot wear the name Campbellite by faith, and to wear it without faith is to sin, since whatsoever is. not of faith is sin. We will not wear the name Campbellite because it is a sin to do so; but we would be just as willing to wear the name Campbellite as we would to wear any other name that God has not called the Christian by. We are willing to be called Christians, for God’s word says: “If any man suffer as a Christian let him glorify God in this name.” We are willing to be called disciples; for we are told that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. We are willing to be called saints; because God’s word calls Christians saints. We are willing to be called children of God, because God’s word calls Christians children of God. We are willing to be called brethren in Christ, because God’s word calls Christians brethren in Christ. And these five names are all that God anywhere in any way applies to Christians. They are the only ones that Christians can wear by faith, and to wear any other name than these is to sin, as surely as the Holy Spirit said, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

Here also is a good place to answer the question, Why do you people not use mechanical instruments in music in connection with the singing in the church? Do you not believe that music is sweet? Is it because you do not know enough about it to appreciate it ? No, our brethren know as much about instrumental music as any other folks' brethren. Our sons and (laughters can play the different instruments as skillfully as tbe sons and daughters of other people, and we believe that music has charms to soothe even the savage breast. Well, then, some one says, “Why do you not have it? You are able to buy the instruments, and you like music. “Why then do you not have it?” Our answer is: we cannot have it' by faith. Nowhere in the New Testament are Christians ever taught to use mechanical instruments of music in connection with the singing in the church. We cannot use it by faith, and “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

Again, what is knowledge? Let us continue the ilustration. Opinion is just what you think; faith is believing what some one says. Now what is knowledge? Let me illustrate that also. I am going to let you know tnat I have a penny in my hand. I hold it up so you can see it. Now, it -would not be correct to say, “I believe you have a penny in your hand,” or “It is my opinion that you have a penny- in your hand.” It is not belief; it is not opinion. You can say, “I know.” Opinion is just what one thinks; faith is believing what one says; knowledge comes through the five senses and mathematical demonstration. What I can see and hear and touch and taste and smell and what I can prove by mathematics, I know. I do not believe this book is here; I know it. I can see and touch it. I do not believe that light is there. It w’ould be nonsense for me to say it is my opinion that that light is there, or I believe that that light is there. I do not either believe it or have the opinion, I know it. Now, religion is a matter of faith We wralk by faith is what God says to a Christian. To walk by anything else is a sin, since God says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Do you not see then how distinct and different faith is from opinion and from human knowledge?

Now, I promised to find in the Bible this same illustration in substance. I shall now make good that promise. Do you remember that we are told “By faith Abraham offered unto God his son Isaac, accounting that God was able to raise him from the dead, whence also he received him in a figure?" Do you not remem-ber that he afterward took a lamb and offered it instead of his son. Now what is meant when it said:“By faith Abraham offered his son Isaac?” Did Abraham just think up this thing to do? Was it simply his own opinion? Was it a matter of something he had seen, tasted, touched, or felt, or could prove by mathematical demonstration? No. He heard God’s word telling him to take Isaac and offer him upon the altar. He went ahead and did as God’s word told him, and thus he offered his son. So then we see that the Bible uses the word faith to mean we believe what God says. Now, Abraham had an opinion which is mentioned here. God said that Isaac should be the father of a great' multitude of people as numerous as the stars of heaven. Now, if God had Abraham kill Isaac, how could God keep his promise? This was not Abraham’s faith. The Bible says he accounted, that is, he thought, that God would raise Isaac from the dead. That was Abraham’s opinion—just what he thought— and his opinion was incorrect. So that you good people whose opinions were incorrect a while ago need not feel bad about it. Your opinion was as good as Abraham’s.

Religion is not a matter of opinion. It should be a matter of faith. Now, where did Abraham’s knowledge come in? When God said: “Stay thy hand; touch not the lad,” we are told that he looked to one side ana saw a ram caught by the horns in a thorn- hush. He could see the ram, he could touch it, he could hear it, he could taste it, he could smell it. All five senses brought him knowledge that there was a ram there. So that we have found here in the Bible the same illustration which I gave you in substance, showing that faith is believing what God says, and opinion is just wrhat' one thinks, and that human knowledge comes through the five senses and mathematical demonstration. Religion, Christian religion, is not a matter of human knowledge. None of these great elements are in the Christian religion. I have never seen heaven, nor tasted, nor touched, nor heard, nor smelt it. I cannot prove it by mathematical demonstration. The same is true about the blood of Christ and the pardon of sin. Therefore any other element of the Christian religion is not knowledge. It if wholly a matter of faith, and m it whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Not what I think nor hear but what Cod says, that is, by faith must we walk in the Christian religion. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that Christians must walk by their opinions or by their knowledge. Everywhere is the Christian religion a matter of faith, believing what God says. Romans 10:17 says, “Then faith o.ometh by hearing, and hearing the word of God.”

Having seen that faith is believing what God’s word says, let us now test this definition by taking up passages in the Bible where the word faith occurs, and seeing if this moaning of the word fits in every case. Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Here faith is said to be the substance, that is, the foundation, of things hoped for. Now, what is the Christian’s hope? We do not have to guess. Peter says: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God unto the hope of an inheritance in heaven.” This then is the Christian’s hope, the hope of heavenly inheritance which never fades away. The word hope is sometimes wrongly used. It is made up of two very definite elements, both of which must be present or it cannot be appropriately used. These two elements are faith and desire; that is, one must believe he is going to get a certain thing, and he must desire that thing before he can truthfully say he hopes for it. Now, the Christian’s hope of a heavenly inheritance meets fully these two requirements. The Christian believfes because God’s word tells him so—that he will have a home in heaven when he leaves this earth life, and he desires this home in heaven. Therefore he can truthfully say, “I.hope to go to heaven.” But if he did not believe, he was going to heaven, then he could not truthfully say he hoped to go there. The wicked are said to be without hope. They therefore cannot believe that they are going to heaven ; and even if they do believe they are going there, that does not entitle them to say they hope to go there. One cannot hope for anything that he does not both hope he is going to get and desires to get it. Should I say to a boy, “Come here tomorrow at ten o’clock, and I will give you a big red apple.” If he is a normal boy he would desire an apple, and if he believes what I told him, he would believe he would get it if he would come at that time which I appointed; therefore he would say “I hope to get the apple.” But you never have heard a "boy say, “I hope to get a whipping,” yet many boys have believed, that they were going to get a whipping, but they did not desire it; hence they never said, “I hope to get a whipping.” So we see in this passage that faith is the substance, the very foundation, of the Christian’s hope. The second part of this verse says: “Faith is the evidence of things not seen.” Now, there is another place beginning with “h” that is not heaven, and ac-cording to all accounts it is very hot there. I have never seen hell, I do not hope to go there, but I am just as sure there is a hell as I am sure there is a heaven. Yet the same word of God that tells me there is a heaven tells me there is a hell. The only evidence that I have is the belief of what God’s word says concerning this unseen place 5 so that my faith in a hell is a faith in a place unseen, based upon what' God’s word tells me. Again, we are told in James , 2 chapter, verses 21 to 24, that Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him,for righteousness and that this faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect. Here we see that Abraham’s believing God is called Abraham’s faith. In Acts , 15 chapter, verses 7 to 9, Peter says: “The Gentiles by my mouth heard the word of the gospel, and God put no difference between us and them purifying their heart's by faith.” Here also believing God’s word is called faith. In Hebrews 11:6, we are told that it is impossible to please God, without faith and that Ife that cometh to God must believe that he is. Here again believing God is called faith, and so we may trace this word through every place where it is found in the Bible, and nowhere is anything else ever called faith, except believing what God’s word says, Everywhere the word is found it has this meaning and no other, so that we have ans-wered the first question, What is faith? It is believing what God’s word says. The faith that you have or that I have or that any one else has is simply believing what God’s word says, not believing what grandmother says, or some preacher, or some friend. This' is nowhere in the Bible called faith. Faith in the Bible is always believing what' God says.

Having learned what faith is, the second question which we desire to answer in this lecture is how should we get faith? It would do no good to know what faith is unless we know how to get it, however important' it might be. Now, I believe, because God’s word teaches it, that God gives us faith. Some people say, “Well, if God gives us faith, we can’t get it till he gives it to us; and if he never gives it to us, it will not be our fault; so then we can’t help it if we never have faith, and therefore should be lost.” Now, I believe that God gives us faith, but I do not believe that all we can do is just to wait until God gives it to us; for God’s word nowhere says that, nor does it say anything else that can be made to mean that, but it does say that God gives us faith. Where does it say it? Here is a verse that same people quote to prove that God gives faith. It is incorrect to use it so, because it really does not teach it; but I should be willing to grant to the person who says that it does, that the Bible teaches that God gives faith. This is the verse which they quote: Ephesians 2:8, “By grace are ye saved by faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift' of God.” The “it”, some people say, means faith. This is not true. But let us give here the verse that does teach that God gives faith. Hebrews 12:2 says: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Here Jesus is called “the author of our faith.’’ The author of a book is the one who gives out' the book. He is the one said to be the author of our faith, the one who gives it, but he is also “the finisher of our faith.” There are many other verses that teach that God gives faith just as plainly as this one. Certainly no one would doubt that God gives’ us faith. There is no question of this point. The one question is, how does God give faith? Is it a direct or an indirect gift?

I once sat at a table where this occurred. I was called upon at the beginning of the meal to offer thanks. I did so; and a little boy seated in a high chair by his mother, when I finished, said, “What did he do that for, mother?” And I knew I had found a home where they were not in the habit of having thanks offered at the table. But suppose you had uft>* deftaken to answer the little boy’s question, would you not have said, “God gave us all this food?” And if he had said, “How?” you would have said, “Father planted the seed after preparing the soil, cultivated the crop, and gathered it in, took it to the mill. He then had it ground, brought it home, and mother made it up into bread or dough and cooked it; and here it is on the table, and we are thanking God because he gave it to us.” Man’s work could not give us even one piece of bread without God co-operating with man. Just so it is with faith. God gives us faith, and we could never get it without his part. He gives us the word to believe. If he did not give us the word, we never could have it and therefore never could get it. But 1 have to read God’s word or hear it read, and thus hear what he says; and then when I accept it' with all my heart, this is faith. Is it right to pray for faith? Yes; just as right as it is to pray fdr daily bread; and God taught us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Now, you might get down on one side of the table here and ask God for a loaf of bread, and I might get down on the other side of the table and ask him for some faith; and we both might stay there until we wore out the knees of our pants, asking for the bread and the faith, and neither of us would get either one, not because God is not willing to give both, but simply because we are not asking for them in the way in which God gives them. God has a way of giving daily bread, and he has a way of giving faith, and he tells us what it is. In Romans 10:17, he says: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”; that is, I hear God’s word, I believe God’s word, and this is the way I get faith;, and it may be said in absolute confidence this is the only way the Bible teaches that faith comes. There is not a line in the Bible from the first of Genesis to the last of Revelation which teaches that faith comes any other way than by hearing the word of God.

I believe I will make a proposition to this audience similar to the one which I made in an audience in Ken-tucky some years ago. I said there, “I will give fifty dollars to the person who will show me a line in the Bible that teaches that faith comes any other way than by learning the word of God.” I make that proposition to this audience—to every person in it. It is a standing proposition, good as long as I live. You have the privilege to get any help that you wish to get—from any preacher, professor, or any one else; and if you will find some person to show me a verse in the Bible which teaches that God gives faith any other way than by hearing his word, I will pay you the fifty dollars gladly. When I made this proposition in Kentucky, at the close of the service a very intelligent woman came up, and said, “Brother Calhoun, I am going to try to find that verse.” and I said, “May the Lord bless you, my sister. If you find it and show it to me, I’ll be glad to give you the fifty dollars as soon, as you do it.” She stayed away from church for the next two days, and on the third day came back to the morning service, walked down the aisle, smiling,. and said, “Brother Calhoun, don’t you know I can’t find that verse. I thought I could go home and turn right to it; but I stayed away from church and spent every minute I could possibly spare hunting for it, and I haven’t found it yet.” And I said to her, “My dear sister, do you know why you can’t find it?” And she said, “No, I do not.” And I said, “I can tell. you why, you cannot find it in the Bible; simply because it is not there to be found. And the person does not live on this earth, or any other earth, that can find it.” Now, if any of you think you can find it, my advice would be to take a day off and find it. Most of you can afford to take one day off for fifty dollars; and if you believe it is in there and find it, you’ll get the fifty dollars.

There are numbers of other verses that' teach that faith comes by hearing the word of God. John 17:20 says, “All that believe on me through their words” Acts 15:7 says: “The Gentiles heard the word of the gospel and believed.” John 20:31 says: “These are written that ye might' believe.” Luke 8:12 says: “The devil took the word out of their heart lest they should believe.” The devil himself knows that the word of God kept in a human heart produces faith. Hebrews 11:6 says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must believe that he is.” All those passages and hundreds of others just' as plain teach that faith comes by hearing the word of Cod. You can see very easily whether anything you believe to be true is faith or not. Just ask the question, ‘'Does God’s word say it? Do I believe it because God’s word says it? If I do, then it is faith; otherwise it is not faith. Nothing else anywhere in the Bible is ever called faith. It is believing God’s word. So this answers the second question.

Having answered the two questions, “What is faith? and second, “How do we get faith?” wre come now to the third question, “What does faith do for us when we do get it? In Romans 5:1 wre have this statement: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here we learn that a smner is justified by faith. Some one may say, “Well, that is my doctrine. I have always believed that a sinner is justified by faith only.” Well, if you have, you have always believed something that the Bible nowhere says. We are justified by faith; the Bible says that; and we cannot be justified without faith for “without faith it is impossible to please God, and he that cometh to God must believe that he is.”

Nowhere in the Bible are we said to be justified by faith only. In James 2:24, we. find this: “You see how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Now, I believe this verse just as. much as I believe Romans 5:1. One says we are justified by faith the other says we are not justified by faith only; and both are true. In Acts 15:9, we have this language: “God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Here we learn that faith purifies the sianer’s heart, but not faith only; for in 1 Peter 1:22, Peter says: “Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth, see that' you love one another with a pure heart fervently.” Here we learn that faith purifies the heart and that obedience also purifies the heart, and one is just as true as the other. In John 1:12, we have this language: “To as many as received him he gave the right to become the children of God; even to them who believed on his name.” This teaches that faith gives power to become a child Of God. In James 2:22, we learn that by works is faith made perfect.

What then does faith for the sinner? It justifies him, purifies his heart, gives him power to become a child of God, and it is perfected by works. The gospel is made known for the obedience of faith, and sinners purify their hearts in obedience to the truth; and by works a man is justified as well as by faith. All this simply means that a sinner’is j ustified by that faith which leads him to obey the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation, doing those things taught in the Bible which lead us. to him up to God’s promises of salvation, and these are: that he must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all his heart; that he must truly repent of every known sin; that he must confess with his mouth before men his faith in Jesus as Lord; and that he must' be baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then Jesus says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Now, what does this faith do for the Christian? In Acts 16:34, we are told that when the jailer and his household were baptized, he brought Paul and Silas into his house and set food before them and rejoiced, believing in Jesus with all his house. Here we learn that faith, obedient faith, gives joy to the Christian.

In Ephesians 6:16, the Holy Spirit says to the Christian soldier, “Above all taking’ the shield of faith wherewith ye may be able, to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” We learn from this scripture that faith shields the Christian from all the fiery darts of Satan. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 we are told that “God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labor of love,” so we here learn that the faith of a Christian should lead him to do the works that God has enjoined upon us. So then faith gives joy, shields, and guides the way of every Christian, enabling the apostle' to say, “We (Christians) walk'(that is, live) by faith.”" In Conclusion, let us ask this question, “What must' I do that I may become a Christian? In Acts, 16:34, answering the question, “Sir, what must 1 do to be saved?” we have this language: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and th6u shalt be saved.” Believe oh him as the crucified, buried, and resurrected Savior. These facts of the gospel, that we must believe, that we must repent; that we must confess him before men; that we must be baptized and believe his precious promises ' that we may have salvation, which means the' pardon of our sins, the'gift of the Holy Spirit, and a home in heaven when this earth-life ends—this is what the apostle meant when he said, “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16). And this is what God meant when he said, “He that believeth (the first step) and is baptized (the last step) shall be saved,” When I look over an audiencd like this, I think of the story'they tell about Michael Angelo. You know he was the great sculptor that could take mallet and chisei and make figures so life-lihe that they could almost speak. He took it in his heart once to make the figure of an angel. He wanted a very beautiful piece of stope; so he hunted long and faithfully for a piece, of. marble of the right quality out' of which to make, it. One dqy he found the stone just suited to his needs imbedded in the dirt of the mountainside. He called his workmen and told them to dig this stone from its lowly bed and carry it away to his work shop. All the time they were busy digging about it and prizing it from its resting place,, he \yas walking about,, looking ^t' it, pointing to it, clapping his hands, and saying, “There’s an angel in that! there’s an angel in that!” They thought he was crazy! An angel in that rough ugly-looking piece of stone! When taken to his workshop, with iqallet and chisel, the . work began—a little block here, a little chip..there, another block here, and the hours sped into days, and the days into weeks—a little block here—a little chip * there. And after,a while the dim outlines of a figure began to appear. The weeks passed into months and the months into years, and still the work went on. The outline grew stronger. Finally, when weary years had flown and the work was complete, there stood before him the figure of the angel that came forth from the block of stone, it was in there, but it took the hand of an artist to bring it' out. And., when I look out over the audience and see a man here, a woman there imbedded in sin, I say, -“There’s fin angel in that! there’s an angel in that!” Not the material for the cold lifeless angel of stone, but the material for the real angel to vie around the throne of God and join with others in singing praises to God. The great . Master Artist who only is able to shape souls into such saints as to make them meet to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in life and to stand about his throne singing the praises of God, the Master Artist of all eternity, who shapes our lives and characters so that we may join the angelic host and stand about the throne singing the praises of him who loved us and died to save us and wash us from our sins in his own precious blood.