The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-02-05

reasonable service Including that
chapter, and on to the end of the epistle,
the reasonable service is described
with the utmost of clearness and sim
plicity. 1t was not preached then, and
We fear that it is not preached as sim
ply as it should be now. Then q last
clause OF the verse; was taken. and it
was shown how it linked into the sys-
TEN. Now the last clause is made
pivot for turning the light upon some
modern question The question which
is the most important of all questions
needs answer continually, as simply
and fully as Paul gave it in his final
chapters to the Romans"
mo one says the New York Chris
tan Advocate (Meth.) will claim that
q veil of impenetrable mystery does not
still enshroud Jesus, the Savior of men.
But that fact does not constitute a suf
ficient reason for His rejection. The
world is full of mystery, and some of
the commonest things of life, that are
the fullest of mystery and simply battle
investigation, are accepted without
question, and men order their daily
lives in accordance with them. Why,
then. should the objection be raised
, with reference to Jesus and His rela-
ton to the soul life? The failure to
apprehend Him with satisfaction, in
stead Of repelling, should attract men
and lead them to closer study of His
life, fuller acceptance of His teachings.
and completer imitation of His noble
character. Paul had the right idea
when he said: Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended, but this
one thing I do. forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before,
press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
No one can understand Jesus from a
distance. Personal contact and spiritual
concord with Him will reveal Him in
light that will be as startling as it will
be satisfying even to the most stub
born unbeliever."
Beauty is the highest form of right
eousness,'' says the New York "Out-
look, land until righteousness is beau
tiful it has not reached it's highest
form. We are so accustomed to right
eousness in its rudimentary forms in
ourselves and others that we lose sight
of this great truth. There are times
when partial development seems newt
able, and carries with it an apparent
poStponement of those finer forms of
spiritual unfolding The Puritan was,
at his best, a noble figure; but it is
clear that the Puritan was the man of
crisis, not the master of a final and
complete development of spiritual or
social life. There can be integrity
without beauty, if beauty must be
postponed; but such an integrity is al
ways partial and preliminary; it can
never be final The beauty of holiness
is not an empty phrase; it means mucn
which we have not mastered as yet.
For every knotted and gnarled charac-
ter, like Knox and Cromwell, bent on
doing the will Of God, men ought to be
grateful; such men are the heroes of
the tremendous struggles of the race
for the right to live freely and COM
pletely; but its heroes of the freer and
fuller life are men of higher mould.
Beauty is not always, under all condi-
tons, within reach of the righteous; but
after the struggle there must be other
ways and days before them, and in the
final stages of their being they, too
must find beauty. Immortality must
bring beauty with it,