And I want to say, dear brethren, that I believe, for my part, that we suffer terribly by the comparative neglect into which this side of Christian truth has fallen.  Do you not think that it would make a difference to you if you really believed, and carried always with you in your thoughts, the thrilling consciousness that every act of the present was registered, and would tell on the far side yonder?  We do not know much of that future, and these days are intolerant of mere unverifiable hypotheses.  But accuracy of knowledge and definiteness of impression do not always go together, nor is there the fulness of the one wanted for the clearness and force of the other.  Though the thread which we throw across the abyss is very slender, it is strong enough, like the string of a boy’s kite, to bear the messengers of hope and desire that we may send up by it, and strong enough to bear the gifts of grace that will surely come down along it.

We cannot understand to-day unless we look at it with eternity for a background.  The landscape lacks its explanation, until the mists lift and we see the white summits of the Himalayas lying behind and glorifying the low sandy plain.  Would your life not be different; would not the things in it that look great be wholesomely dwindled and yet be magnified; would not sorrow be calmed, and life become ’a solemn scorn of ills,’ and energies be stimulated, and all be different, if you really ‘did it to obtain an incorruptible crown?’

Brethren, let us try to keep more clearly before us, as solemn and blessed encouragement in our lives, these great thoughts.  The garland hangs on the goal, but ’a man is not crowned unless he strive according to the laws’ of the arena.  The laws are two—­No man can enter for the conflict but by faith in Christ; no man can win in the struggle but by faithful effort.  So the first law is, ’Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,’ and the second is, ’Hold fast that thou hast; let no man take thy crown.’

THE LIMITS OF LIBERTY

’All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient:  all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. 24.  Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth. 25.  Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 26.  For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. 27.  If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed togo, whatsoever is set before you eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 28.  But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake:  for the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof:  29.  Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other:  for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? 30.  For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 31.  Whether