But only those things which God permits
through the outworking of His infinite
laws are allowed to come to us for pur-
poses of mercy.
Tur REDEMPTION OF THE SOUL
HAT, then, is the conclusion to
be drawn from these observa-
tions? — That the restoration of the
world should be sought in the redemption
of the soul. If we would save our own
children, save the fair flower of young
manhood and womanhood of our land,
we must first redeem our own souls.
We must first have these eternal prin-
ciples of truth and righteousness en-
graven and inwrought in the innermost
chambers of the soul before we can
effectually teach them, before we can
expect a change in the outer conditions;
for only that which we live within can we
reproduce in others.
Nature was not only to reveal the
infinite perfection of the character of
God, but through it man was to dis-
cover himself. Its laws and operations
would reveal to his understanding his
own powers, and through them the
means for his own development, that
he might more and more reflect the
divine attributes.
But when sin entered, nature in its
pristine beauty and perfection could not
then reveal to him a knowledge of him-
self; so we read that the ground was
cursed for man’s sake. It seems evident
that God permitted Satan and his
angels to work out their own evil
characteristics of degeneracy in the
earth, through this same law of life.
Where once was revealed only the
character of God,— ‘““merciful and gra-
cious, longsuffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth,” — now is also
revealed the nature and character of
Satan, that in its changed condition
we might read the sad picture of the
human soul in its fallen state, the outer
creation being given for understanding
the changes of the inner creation, and
furnishing us with language for describ-
ing them. Since nature is the result of
law in action in the mind of the Infinite,
all subsequent events and circumstances
would be the results of the same law
growing out of finite natures.
When man first rebelled against the
divine law, the inferior creatures were
in rebellion against his rule, a change in
his outer circumstances corresponding
to his inner condition. “Thus the Lord in
His great mercy, would show meén the
sacredness of His law, and lead them,
ty their own experiences, to see the danger
of setting it aside even in the slightest
degree.”
In this stupendous revelation of the
effect of law governing the infinite
character of God, is unfolded a principle
too little regarded or even understood;
namely, that through material objects
only may character be expressed, only
through these visible facts can we
understand what inner thought and
APRIL, 1920
emotion represent. To be sure, words
convey meaning, but only as they have
been previously associated with visible
objects; and if we trace words to their
roots we find them grounded in natural
facts. But even so, language is wholly
inadequate to convey the meaning and
transcendent beauty of a noble character.
We may use all the words at our com-
mand and then fail utterly in describing
innocency, but let the image of a little
child or a lamb leap to our minds and we
have a meaning that words are powerless
to express.
This being true, and God having en-
dowed both animate and inanimate
nature with these living qualities of
character, what untold beauty and
meaning is to be discovered in the
unfathomable depths and heights of
God’s great universe! What glories of
character are to be found in the heavens
above, and in the earth beneath, and in
the waters under the earth! And for
human beings to manifest these attri-
butes of the great Creator, language
alone is powerless to reveal properties
that took nothing less than the entire
universe to portray.
This PRICELESS GIFT
ENCE God has endowed humanity
with an immensity of being called
the soul, a vast capacity for knowing
and reflecting Him, that we may dis-
cover and manifest His character through
living it.
The philosophy of centuries has not
searched the chambers of the soul,
and neglect of this priceless gift con-
stitutes the crime of this generation.
Like the man with the one talent, we
have buried the most important endow-
ment that we possess, ahd charge God
with being a hard and unjust task-
master.
Since the outer creation is given for
understanding the beings and changes
of the inner creation, we have here an
infallible means for interpreting the
times in which we are living. The soul,
without God, has become debased and
corrupted. Despoiled of its ability to
reflect truth, virtue, and purity, it
propagates its own evil characteristics
of error, vice, and immorality. All
that we do is tinged with the manners
of the soul, and before there can be
any real progress, we must regain the
mastery of self.
This is the paramount duty that
today confronts both teachers and stu-
dents alike. The “strong man’ must
be bound before we can “spoil his
house.” We must gain control of self
through co-operating with the Saviour
of men, in whom is ‘the law of the
spirit of life” working upon human
souls through the exhibition of His
mercy and abundant grace, to free
them “from the law of sin and death.”
Thus degenerate nature, deprived of
activity, dies, and new life and power
spring into being.
The man who does not shrink from
self-crucifixion cannot fail of securing
this goal of a noble character, whose
gain in rectitude means no loss through
defrauding of other faculties.
This is our appointed work, the
greatest that man can ever be engaged
in; and in the doing of it the whole
universe, and the conditions and work
growing out of man’s relationship to it,
exist for him as a means to this end.
When used in this way there is no
penalty attached to gain in rectitude,
no tax on growth of wisdom and virtue,
because the soul is not a compensation
but a life; but if we reverse this divine
order and make the end the means for
obtaining some external good — things
comprehended by the senses — if we
concentrate our minds on results, on
things to be done, on some end to be
reached, and not on the life to be lived
and for the sake of which the things are
to be done, then we pay the penalty
that every benefit received demands,
and which it is impossible for us to evade.
We have sought intellectual greatness,
desired position and power, little realiz-
ing that no permanent good, no endur-
ing fame, can come to us except as we
attend to that plot of ground which has
been given us to till; and the results
are seen in low moral standards and a
poor and flickering inner life. The fire
on the altar has become dim, and we
grope our way in darkness.
It is emphatically true that whatever
we may be engaged in, however sacred
or large the enterprise may be, if pursued
for itself as an end, it will at last become
a hissing and a reproach; but if followed
as a means for developing these inner
faculties, then we are employing natural
ways of arriving at an end that we have
aimed for, but have not yet reached.
E OVERRATE the importance of
actions, have great anxiety about
results, or ends to be reached, pay im-
mense attention to effects, to the mere
experiences themselves. We have de-
scribed them, advised them, prayed for
them, done everything but find out
what causes them, when in reality we
have nothing to do with the administra-
tion of events; our business is in looking
after and caring for the means. God
looks after the results, and He has quite
other ways of making known who is
wise, true, and benevolent than any-
thing we may subscribe to—other means
for inspiring activity and enthusiasm
than any of these things that our senses
can grasp. It is low merit that can be
enumerated, and we should fear when
our friends say we have done well.
“In our life work we know not which
shall prosper, this or that. This is not a
question for us to settle. We are to do
our work, and leave the results with
God.”
Let us retrace our steps to the path
whose trite compensation is in the way
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