d received the reply: "You ask if I have entered into a firm
treaty with any great king or potentate; to which I answer, that before
I ever took up the cause of the oppressed Christians in these provinces,
I had entered into a close alliance with the King of kings; and I am
firmly convinced that all who put their trust in Him shall be saved by
His almighty hand. The God of armies will raise up armies for us to do
battle with our enemies and His own." And the opening of the dykes
brought the very sea itself to the assistance of the brave contestants
for truth and liberty.

The prayer on our lips, "Thy Kingdom come," we believe to be of God's
own inspiring. The social order which we seek is His eternal purpose;
and it has sworn confederates in sun and moon and stars of light, and in
every human heart. We wait patiently and we work confidently, in the
assurance that the God and Father of Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven
and earth, will not fail nor be discouraged, until He has set His loving
justice in the earth, and His will is done among all the children of
men, as it was once done by His well-beloved Son.

CHAPTER VII

THE CHURCH

No man's spiritual life starts with himself; there is no Melchizedek
soul--without father or mother. As our bodies are born of the bodies of
others, as our minds are formed from the mental heritage of the race,
our faith is the offspring of the faith of others; and we owe a filial
debt to the Christian society from which we derive our life with God.

Nor is any man's spiritual experience self-sustaining. Our mental
vitality diminishes if we do not keep in touch with thinking people; and
brilliant men often lose their lustre for want of intellectual
companionship. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the
countenance of his friend." A Christian's religious experience requires
fellowship for its enrichment, and no large soul was ever grown or
maintained in isolation. We are enlarged by sharing the wealthier
spiritual life of the whole believing community.

Nor can a religious man contribute his spiritual endowment to the world
without joining with kindred souls in an organized effort. Edward
Rowland Sill, speaking of his spiritual isolation, wrote to a friend:
"For my part I long to 'fall in' with somebody. This picket duty is
monotonous. I hanker after a shoulder on this side and the other." The
intellectual life of the community organizes itself in schools and
colleges, in