The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-06

LIDS ulhuO IT, IL 10 DliSut, OAOuSu tdlh-
ished noble, though incomplete; full
of power, though lacking the disposi-
ton to use it. We need to be reused
to a sense of what we are, and whatwe
must become. We need to know our
strength and feel our scepters There
is trumpet sounded in the text:
''Work out your own salvation" Let
us heed the blast
Ill. Take now the idea of salvation
as unfolded at first and that of self-re-
lance of which we have just spoken,
and combine them. This is the lesson.
In the development of character, let US
remember how much we can do to pro-
mote it's growth. Be not passive, be
net idle. Let US not forget our own
responsibility. Let us have care to
the nourishment we give the plant, and
the influences with which we surround
it. Lei us study ourselves. Let us
undertake for ourselves
~ "Work out your own salvation"
Think your own thoughts. Call for no
help from any one On earth or in the
skies until you have exhausted your
own resources. Before this no one can
really help you. Think, be honest,
trust yourself. Stumble to your own
conclusions rather than walk erect over
the beaten pathway of another. Be
brave. God never honors towards. The
Maker of us, and of this universe, wants
no cringing from any creature he has
formed II you have sincere thought,
do not smother it for fear of his dis
pleasure. He is never displeased with
sincerity. Let any one tremble who is
repeating the threadbare sentences of a
creed he does not believe, and who is
spending his mental force in inventing
reasons why he should still cling to that
creed; no thunderbolt will strike him
for any heartfelt heresy.
1t may be painful to think. Surely.
What then Suffer. Eyermore the
price of knowledge is expulsion from
Eden. The honest thinker takes his
departure from the gates Of ignorance
and ease. He walks among thorns and
briars. In the sweat OF his brow must
he eat his bread. There is no return.
Though footsore and weary he must
wander on. An angel with flaming
sword is behind. At each stage of his
journey voice is in his ear, "This is
not thy rest" Nor will rest ever come
in the sense that the springs of knowl-
edge will be exhausted. Eternity must
hold for us perpetual revelations or be-
come an intolerable monotony. But
we may have that peace which comes
from the very thought of progress that
we are making advances that we are
gaining in attainment. This is peace
that does not come from having reached
final goal beyond which there is moth
ing; it comes from the thought that to-
day is better than yesterday, that it has
for us new lessons and new experiences;
and that tomorrow will be larger and
better than to-day
Let nothing deprive you of the royal
privilege of doing your own thinking.
No books or creeds, no authority of
priest or angel, must make your brain
a servile thing. One may not have
read widely. No matter for that-all
the better, perhaps he may have had
few advantages, but he must still pro-
nounce his own judgment. Still must
he decide between truth and falsehood.
He can do this in the main, no matter
how little of learning he may have.
Our intuition pierces sophistry, and
sees truth face to face. Reasons do not
always satisfy, logic does not always
convince. That alone is truth to you
which you see directly, and which is
true to every part of your nature. That
which the intellect seems to see and
the heart contradicts, is essentially false.
Am told we must not trust our feel
ings ? Only our brains But intel
lect and emotion are parts of the same
soul, and the soul is the work of one
hand. We are not so organized that
there is civil war among our faculties.
The soul is one Let men build strong
their masonry of argument to prove
that God is a tyrant who delights in
torture. The intellect of the untutored
man may not be able to pull down that
structure; but one honest eart,-that
will lay the massive pile in ruins.
(2.) The standard is within and not
in anything without. 1 am asked if
the Bible is not the changeless and SUI
preme standard. LII reply | ask how
we know what the Bible is, and that
that we call the Bible is true ? We
have our reasons, where do we get
them? Why do they satisfy? We get
them from within. Our ideas of truth
and righteousness exist, before we
know aught of any Bible. They are
the Oldest Revelation. They were writ
ten on the heart before Moses graved
the tables of Sinai, or Jesus spake on
the mountain. By these ideas we pro-
nounce upon the Bible itself, We can