any wonder that a man with such a magnificent sense of the reality of the redemptive works of Christ, who felt the eternal purpose throbbing in the dark background and abyss of time, who conceived it operating upon our race in floods of grace and glory, and who realized in his own immediate consciousness the varied wealth of the resultant emancipation—­is it any wonder that for this man a new day had dawned, and the birds had begun to sing and the flowers to bloom, and a sunny optimism had taken possession of his heart, which found expression in an assured and rejoicing hope?

I look abroad again over the record of this man’s life and teachings, if perchance I may discover the secrets of his abiding optimism, and I am profoundly imprest by his living sense of the reality and greatness of his present resources.  “By Christ redeemed!” That is not a grand finale; it is only a glorious inauguration.  “By Christ redeemed; in Christ restored”; it is with these dynamics of restoration that his epistles are so wondrously abounding.  In almost every other sentence he suggests a dynamic which he can count upon as his friend.  Paul’s mental and spiritual outlook comprehended a great army of positive forces laboring in the interests of the kingdom of God.  His conception of life was amazingly rich in friendly dynamics!  I do not wonder that such a wealthy consciousness was creative of a triumphant optimism.  Just glance at some of the apostle’s auxiliaries:  “Christ liveth in me!” “Christ liveth in me!  He breathes through all my aspirations.  He thinks through all my thinking.  He wills through all my willing.  He loves through all my loving.  He travails in all my labors.  He works within me ‘to will and to do of his good pleasure.’” That is the primary faith of the hopeful life.  But see what follows in swift and immediate succession.  “If Christ is in you, the spirit is life.”  “The spirit is life!” And therefore you find that in the apostle’s thought dispositions are powers.  They are not passive entities.  They are positive forces vitalizing and energizing the common life of men.  My brethren, I am persuaded there is a perilous leakage in this department of our thought.  We are not bold enough in our thinking concerning spiritual realities.  We do not associate with every mode of the consecrated spirit the mighty energy of God.  We too often oust from our practical calculations some of the strongest and most aggressive allies of the saintly life.  Meekness is more than the absence of self-assertion; it is the manifestation of the mighty power of God.  To the Apostle Paul love exprest more than a relationship.  It was an energy productive of abundant labors.  Faith was more than an attitude.  It was an energy creative of mighty endeavor, Hope was more than a posture.  It was an energy generative of a most enduring patience.  All these are dynamics, to be counted as active allies, cooperating in the ministry of the kingdom.  And so the epistles abound in the recital of mystic ministries