The Saint Paul globe., 1897-11-01

do not die for the truth they die be-
cause they are true; the truth is for
them. Truth is the food on which the
soul lives. Truth is simply the mes
sage which has come out of Gods life
incarnated in all the forms of matter
and speech to get into other lives to
make them like EIims If.
Now, this profound reality is our real
self. The real thing in this world for
you is you-yOurself. 1t reveals YOU as
permanent, not subject to the changes
OF this worlds life at all. All the bat
ties, all the strifes, all the successes.
all the defects come and go. and what
is left? You are left, with an the de-
NeIopment OF the effort, with all the
symmetry of right living. with all the
scars of battle. with all the shame and
deformity of shining. Just as YOU
come out of the battle at last YOU will
stand before Him. 1t is the perma-
nence Of this essential life this real
lie, winch we cannot get rid of which
IS our immortal nature, that is the aw-
ful, as we'll as the sublime, thing in
us.
1t reveals also that because we ara
permanent and personal there must be
open before us, somehow. some time a
destiny worthy of us. Has the world
ever seen any other destiny as worthy
as that taught us by this great master
teacher, Jesus Of Nazareth? Is there
| any other destiny that has ever been
suggested to a human life so great "a
to stand at last In the likeness of God
Win an endless power Of growth into
coinpleter and more compl te being?
ANA there is another thing on which
emphasis should be laid in thinking of
TINS passage: 1t is the very best in
depreciation Of life's mysteries and
problems. If, as we go through this
llfe, we see only it's darkness. its de-
teatS, It's sorrows its losses. and have
no Interpretation larger and more last
ing than the wisdom Of a man: if we
nave no Interpretation of a life who
has gone through these mysteries and
borne these burdens and lived this life
then we are hopeless. There is no in
depreciation OF philosophy. no inter-
pretation Of human mind alone that
can satisfy you and me- We want
some Interpretation larger than our
own lives, even something that we
cannot fully understand If l can
comprehend perfectly the whole reve-
latiOn Of Jesus Of Nazareth, how could
L believe that He was more than n
man? No, [ want q life larger than
the largest grasp that my life can
comprehend, something richer than
the utmost riches of q man something
wiser than the largest wisdom of hu-
mankind, something that IS divine
that lasts on and on that has been i'm
the world, that is permanent. And so
when | come to Jesus of Nazareth [
do rot come to Him as | come to
Plato | can comprehend PlatO's
thought; l can sit down and study it
and be inspired by ii. But PlatO's per-
son. where is that? AS mine. as
yours There is no mystery in him be-
yOnd our understanding But when
we come to Jesus we come to mys-
terry, profound, infinite, but of light
and not of darkness. We turn from
the mystery of that person not to be
bewildered in the problems, the actual
living Of our lives. but we turn from
him humbled and aWed by the pres
ence in our problems Of one who is
light, and we walk more securely We
go to His grave not as we go to the
grave of another whom the world has
known. We turn from it as the dis
ciples turned from it, saying in our
heart of hearts, He is risen" And
we rise with Him. And we look at His
life not simply as a life that has been,
but as life that is that is thrObbing
and pulsating in this world or ours i'm
all that is best and noblest in it; yea.
and as sure as we are of anything that
that life could not stop Just as no
resurrection was an impOssibility to
the apostle Paul; he could not con-
ceiVe of it, because he knew the life
of Christ. IF there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen"
What an absurdity, And the purer
and nobler we are the higher we rise
in this life the more absolutely GER
tain we are that He is risen, that there
is this endless life that is so rich and
so beautiful.
And another thing we need to en-
phasize is, that this conception Of life
this great hope of our future selves, is
one of the surest and strongest de-
.
look at this vision which the apostle
has put before our eyes and then lose
himself in the gTOssness and the slaV-
cry Of the worlds lower life? There is
no other defense like it against the
thieves and the lies Of this worlds life
to which we become 50 accustomed
that we cease to be able to detect them
as thieves and lies. 1t makes man
apprehensive Of the dangers that lie
along his path lest they come in and
cast something upon his soul that viii
smfrch it, soil it, or deform 1t.
Then it takes away this danger Of
littleneSs to which we are al subject.
Of bending the immortal powers down
to the mere work Of getting instead OF
to the high work Of becoming and
blessing the world. When this mes
sage comes into a life how it eXalts il.
how it inspires it. 1t makes it feel
that it is too great to allow these petty
thieves Of the daily life to come in and
steal its greatest resources. And 50
it helps US against all the grossnees
and all the hOpelessness Of life. A
man who has this great vision before
his eyes can not be defeated. Thrust
down he may be. beaten into death he
may be, but the power of the reSur-
rection is in him always and he must
rise. Failure-fnal failure is an ut
ter impossibility.