the case of mr. baldwin.
nearly a hundred years ago was built in america the first locomotive engine of american design. everybody knows nowadays what a locomotive is. nearly every boy and girl in the world has seen one; many boys, particularly, can tell you how the locomotive engine operates; and more than one boy can even operate the locomotive himself. but it was not so one hundred years ago. the locomotive was a rare machine. and all the locomotives that people saw then in america had been made in england. but in 1831, the officers of the germantown and norristown railway commissioned a young mechanical engineer, named matthias baldwin, to build for them a locomotive engine. the germantown and norristown railway operated a horse-power line six miles long.
the cambden and amboy railroad company had only recently imported a locomotive from england. when mr. baldwin received his commission, he went immediately to cambden, where were the parts of the english engine not yet assembled. there he "carefully observed the various parts of the machine, made a few measurements and at last crept under the ponderous boiler. here he remained in absorbed study for nearly half an hour. as he emerged from his retreat, his face was glowing with enthusiasm, and he exclaimed 'i can do it.'"
{114} words added to faith.
so far so good. mr. baldwin was inspired by a sublime faith in his power to build a locomotive engine. but had he stopped there, he would never have become the builder of the first american locomotive. mr. baldwin set determinedly and industriously to work to accomplish the task he had faith he could do. he met countless difficulties; his trials and disappointments were many, and often discouraging. but he kept bravely, manfully on. he did much of the work with his own hands, and personally trained the workmen who assisted him. at length, after six months of unremitting industry and painstaking labor, "old ironsides," the first american locomotive was completed. matthias baldwin had vindicated his enthusiastic exclamation born of faith, "i can do it."
now it was the observance of the principle that enabled matthias baldwin to make good, which jesus urged upon the multitudes assembled to hear him teach during his ministry on the earth. "not everyone that saith unto me, lord, lord," declared jesus, "shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven."
the principle of works.
this teaching is so simple that anyone may understand it. and it is true everywhere in life, in every kind of calling. would you not think mr. baldwin foolish, if after exclaiming "i can do it" he had remained inactive and had not tried to build "old ironsides?" can you imagine that a carpenter might ever enjoy the fame of master-builder if he never practiced the trade he had learned? do you think it would be possible for a sinking ship {115} to send out the signal of distress, if the operator on the ship did not put into practice the laws governing wireless telegraphy? in other words, knowing how to build a locomotive will never construct one; knowing how to build a house will never erect even the smallest structure; knowing how to operate the telegraphic instrument will never send a message. it is only by actually putting into operation the principles underlying these activities, and working in obedience to them, that one can accomplish the desired end. and if this is true of material, earthly things, how much more ought it to be true of spiritual, heavenly things. without faith it is impossible to please god. but faith is of no avail without works. works constitute the handmaid of faith, and one is not without the other in the lord. "for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
a parable.
"therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them," taught jesus, "i will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. and every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."
the works of jesus.
jesus manifested great power during his earthly ministry. he healed the sick; he made the lame to walk and the blind to see; he rebuked evil and cast out {116} devils; he raised the dead to life again; and he spoke with authority as no other man has ever spoken, either before or since his time. without question every boy and girl would like to be able to do the things that jesus did. every boy and girl in the church of jesus christ believes in jesus—knows indeed, that he is the son of god, the redeemer of the world. why, then, should not everyone long to emulate him. but notice what jesus declared: "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that i do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because i go unto my father. if ye love me keep my commandments. he that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and i will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
the works of man.
it is not impossible, then, for man to possess the power to do the works that jesus did. indeed, man may do even greater works than those jesus performed. but to gain the power so to do, one must not only believe in jesus, one must also keep his commandments. in short, one must add works to faith. mere belief will save no man, just as mere confidence in one's own ability will never build a locomotive. but when our works make practical our faith, and prove it really true and worth while, then we may claim a realization—a fulfillment—of all that is promised through our diligence.
{117} conclusion.
now, it is no more difficult to prepare a mansion in the kingdom of our father, than it is to build a locomotive. should not every boy and girl, after having learned christ's teaching, exclaim as baldwin did, "i can do it?" then go to undauntedly and do it.
the references
matt. 7:21. james 2:26.
matt. 7:24-27. john 14:12, 15, 21.
the questions
1. what element of character did baldwin display in the building of the first american locomotive?
2. what principle of life and action made it possible for him to accomplish his work?
3. what did he have to add to this principle in order to make good?
4. why will not everyone who crieth "lord, lord," be admitted into the kingdom of heaven?
5. explain the lord's parable of the wise and the foolish man.
6. under what conditions may we be enabled to do works as great as those jesus did?
7. what is the duty of every member of the church?
