Demonstrative Proof the Believer Has.
The character of proof that the believer rests upon, must be owned as the most satisfactory possible to him. It is demonstrative, and the poor old woman who, believing the message of a free discharge of her debts, obeyed the notice as given, and returned with both possession of the promised benefit and proof of the value of the promise, had, by possession of the offered help, such positive conviction of the faithfulness of him who had promised as no mere theoretical belief in his trustiness could ever have given.
"Wisdom is justified of her children." It is through simplicity and need that many a metaphysical knot is cut, and when the wise become foolish by their wisdom, the simple prove themselves wise. “If any man will be wise, let him become a fool that he may be wise."
None could question the poor woman's ground for certainty and joy too. The Scriptures also afford their proofs to those who trust them. They are personal and not theological, conclusive to him who knows them but incapable of being demonstrated to others.
The blind man whose eyes had been opened could give as his only answer, "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see."
Such testimony has its weight from honesty rather than wisdom. And the testimony rendered by those who have believed the message of God in the Scriptures has been similar—irrespective of class or condition, unaffected by changing centuries, and confirmed throughout all nations.
The ground, then, upon which the believer's feet stand has now been stated. To him, it must be conceded, the ground is found to be inexpressibely satisfactory and secure. The very criticism to which it is on all sides exposed only forces him to consider the proof of its divine character and power, and to return to find his feet resting where conscience and heart and reason only can rest, on what is divine and not human,—what is proved to be fact, and not theory.