you to it except the way of Jesus, but that this way does bring you to it.” This is the test to which Christianity is always ready to sub mit. This is the test which the Lord Himself has appointed. He has not promised that the universe shall contain no mysteries; He could not promise that without tak ing Himself out of the universe: but He does promise, that if we will trust Him, and obey Him, He will give us power to overcome the evil—power to become the sons of God. And the man who refuses to put that promise to the proof most clearly shows that his mind is not in a condition to receive any vital truth. A host of these objections and excuses yet remain, which I must dismiss with only a word of argu ment. Taste the Honey “ I suppose,” says one, “ that these things are true; but I cannot realize their truth. The whole sub ject of religion is to me hazy and unreal.” Of course it is; and it al ways will be until you have ap plied it to your own life. You can not realize that honey is sweet until you have tasted it. “ Taste, and see that the Lord is good.” You cannot realize the luxury of doing good until you have tried it. The sub stance of all realities is in this re ligion of Jesus Christ; but it can be real only to those who will do His will. “ But what can mortal man do to secure his own salvation?” (I am quoting the very words of a question that was addressed to me.) Mortal man can do just what God bids him do. He can repent and believe. He can arise and follow Christ, as Matthew did. “ I know that I ought to do it; but I can’t decide.” You can decide. “ Choose ye whom ye will serve.” The power of choice is yours. The responsibility of choice rests upon you, and upon you alone. God can not choose for you. But you can settle the question, if you will, this very hour. You know that you can. END.
passed before He began to create. But a transition from a state of not- creating to the act of creation is inconceivable without a change,” and God is unchangeable. It is be yond the power of man to conceive of the creation of the universe by an infinitely perfect being. It is not unreasonable, but it is incon ceivable. There is nothing like it in your experience, and of course you cannot verify it. The whole subject is environed with mysteries and contradictions, yet you do not relinquish your belief that the uni verse was created: and you cannot relinquish it wi thout running against difficulties equally formid able, whether you turn toward atheism or pantheism. There are just as many inconceivabilities in atheism and in pantheism as in theism. To reject the gospel on account of the mysteries which it contains, and yet hold fast to other beliefs which are equally mysterious, is a palpable inconsistency. You complain that some things are revealed which you cannot ver ify. That is true. But some things are told you which you can verify. There are mysteries in theological science, as there are mysteries in physiological science; but there are plain principles laid down in each of these sciences which you can test for yourselves. Physiology says that good bread, if it is eaten, will support life. You may not under stand all the mysteries of digestion and assimilation, but you can veri fy that statement. The New Testa ment says that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will save the soul from sin. You may not comprehend all the mysteries of the incarnation and thé atonement; but here is the one truth which concerns you, and you can verify it. You can find out, of a certainty, whether He is able to deliver you from the evil, and to strengthen you in righteousness. “ It is so,” says Matthew Arnold: “ try it, and you will find it to be so. Try all the ways to righteous ness that you can think of, and you will find that no way brings
cannot reach ’round it, and de scribe it; all attempts to make its substance known to us must be tentat ive and experimental. If there was nothing in the Bible about God which was not perfectly clear and intelligible; if no paths were opened to our thought, whose end we could not quickly reach— it would be impossible for us to believe the Bible to be a revelation from an Infinite Being. The shad ows or mystery which he upon its pages are proofs of its divine origin. Daisies & Oysters But it is not only in our religion that you find mysteries. Many things, just as hard to comprehend and explain, confront you every day in the creatures with which both kingdoms of life are teeming. I can ask you as many hard ques tions about a daisy or an oyster, as you can ask me about the God of the Bible. The mystery of life is absolutely insoluble by all your science—always has been, always will be. “ Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies; Hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower; but if I could under stand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is.” You cannot understand the doc trine of the incarnation— how God could become man. But you believe, I suppose, that God exists, that He is perfect and infinite, and that He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Explain to me, if you can, how an infinitely perfect being could ever have created any thing. Listen to Origen: “ If to cre ate is agreeable to the divine es sence, how is it conceivable, that what is thus conformable to God’s nature should at any time have been wanting?” The things that are made are not eternal: they once began to be. “ There was a period, then, during which God was not creating anything: an eternity had
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