, 1886-05-09

il' nliy KNOW bDl Aht Mn1lt N
quiring world is to-day, l had almost
said, on the 1t Is after Col; and
some fools have found out that there isn't
any. and their near cousins ave found out
that God Is nothing but the word that sum
up all exis;ence-pantheistic; and some men
have found out that God L. nothing
but force, and some men have found out
a good many other things. blessed art
the pure in heart; they shall see Col" Mere
philo ophy viii never interpret Col to US
Some II His works It will interpret, but
Him, He Is n spirit. and only a spirit can
understand Him; and only that spirit which
Is OF Him and in no case interpret the
ever prcsens Col. And it Is through the
intuitions OF our dispositions. rarefed,
anct!nel, impletei with the divine nature.
opened, th1t we can bring God near; and
that can be done. No man ever yet rose,
not for an hour, into those sunny heights Of
expe iencc, WIN waI not able 10 say, 81
know tina my Redecmer liveth; | know It,
And though men may deride IL and say,
How do you knowi Can you apply the
tes., analysis, synthesisl Can you logically
deduce ~ say that the finest essences OF
human life ara those that elude all philoso-
phy and all language, Tell me, is there
anything m,re exquisite than n mothers
love for her babel And though she
were n roef, l~yrically like Sippho;
though like Browning; though like the
rarcst spirits that ever lived, what mother
does not know that when she attempts to put
that which is the very exquisite roya ty OF
emotion into 'anguage. no language was ever
made that expressed III No language ever
yet was framed by which the highest
resolution Of heroism can be express
ell. Language can point the way,
can point to where the feeling is and give
sore general conception; but tho beauty, the
glory, the wine Of the feeling escapes. And
that which is trne in regard to the
common affections Of life, heroism,
love, everything that belongs to man
higher than tho animal life, that
is never voicei in language and nsver can be
framed into a philosophy, but stands still on
the Consciousness of the individual-"I know
/ know because / feel.n 50 this higher
Christian life, developed in the soul,
by which we become like Him,
this cannot he explained in words. At any
rate. 1t reeer has been, and | doubt II
II ever can be; nevertheless 1t exists. And
mon may know each other consciously In
that way, and may know that they are
brothers and sisters together. Soul knows
how 10 interpret soal. l do not want
any one TO tell mo that n person
Is patient II l 1.-Two with them. ]
do not want anybody to teach me
Tint n person Is genial and gentle; il ]
live with them, / see it. 1t informs the fea-
ture, 1t in pircs their action, or it represses
from activity. Iknov it without words and
without analysis, and il this be trus in
the lower ranger OF experience, how
much more Is it true in ths very
highest, where the soul from day to
day Is broodel by tho very spirit
o. Almighty God. and dwells in the imperial
consciou mess. ''Becauss He live, ] live; !
live In II m, He in me, God in Christ, Christ
in God; | atone with Christ as He is with
Cod This IS the mystic language OF that
higher consciousness. IL is real. Ii is pro.
found and elusive, but 1t is real and glorious.
Now, in regard to the development OF the
higher life in the soul. let me say that in the
first plics it is little un lerstool, much
misunl ID i, TODD, largely doubted, because
there has been so very little exempt .ication
Of It, There have been single indi viduals,
there nro biographies which Indicate that
persons have come into that tate. This
is the life that Christ was to bring into the
world. This Is the life that was in Him
mud shoull be distributed through Him to
those that are truly His followers IL
greater or les degree. 1t has come into
NV WI "a AAA ~ ~ Hht lulss III every
thousand men that nre united in one feeling
there Is n great deal more Than in a thousand
single mon. They create an atmosphere,
they develop n power over and above the
sum total of their individualism. They
create an atmosphere, and so 1t Is that
pleasure l. male n thousand times more wide
In it, reach II muititudes Of men on holidays
give forth the atmosphere of pleasure.
This is that wEich leads men to rage that
becomes ferocious as a tigers. This atmo-
sphere that a thousand persons OF the same
experience. as II we're, throw into the air, this
Is that which makes patriotism itself
n s%irrocco, as when our civil war broke out,
sweeping everything before It.
Now there has never been n time when
thern have brcn a thousand men that have
been Ii ted in'o thia higher life that knew it
Of themselves and that knew it OF each
other, and had come into community of
feeling. When there shall be church af-
ter church. when there shall be
a day, That is coming, that has not yet ar
rived, when the Christian communion In all
the d ffsrent sects and denominations shall
have risen to this higher condition, there is
to be an effect wrought out Of 1t OF which we
can scarcely have any Imagination.
We are in the tentative period. We are
In the twilight That there are obscure
movements upward, accompanied also with
much that is wild and vagrant, there can be
no doubt, but there Is also a silent and con-
templative movement going on among work.
ing Christians throughout the world,
and il is indirectly influencing the
community, amelioraiing the harsh feat
urcs OF bigotry, filling the air with
sympathy. These are tho twilight touches,
but, thanks be TO Cod, the morning
twiligh means %sunrisc; the morning star is
the prophet aud precursor Of the Sun o fRight-
eousnoss. and we are. brethren, coming into
the days in which tn ne will be a new power.
electric, universal, o%mnipotent, God with
u.s.
And now what are we TO do with regard
to ~ There ure these great currents in the
heavsii, THESE great movements on the earth.
Win You stand aside and have no part or lot
in ia In This development OF the human
rarp into - higher life and n nobler
and more comprehensive than any
that has ever yet been known, have you no
intcr'-tf AM when you unite yourself to
CHRISTIANS is it upon that poor, tarcboned,
poverty stricken idea tnat you have come
into tie Christian church because there is n
lo1i, AMI yol want 20 get into the ark
anil g1t over slfclyf l. IL from hope
thnt YOU nave got n policy Of Insurance and
won't lee burned In the othsr world Is IL
lccaila yoi IN nix it Is ol the whole safe, and
rs 10 / fa,h.ona ia. YOU will come into the
Chii.riin lie, mot howivsr TO do more Than
I've moral. aud perhaps sin a while,
then get repsntaneo for that and
wash 10 or AMI 90 on aeaiui Is this your
ponr, miserable fanaticism " folly ia at
tenn ting 10 live Christlikof Aspire. find
out the -oarcs OF YOU Christ life. grow in
Erac, knowledge comes from likeness
Tut mn ] sus Christ as a garment Eat Him
ns Tread. drink Him ns wine or
tho wafer o. life Be Chri-t, not in the
OF the infinite, hut in tn spher of
your oW r r~on-.ity; then, known n Him.
then give ID = Ia ths word OF life and the '.ght
~ life, that mon sscing you may f'ori;y your