e. But in the higher region, the knowledge of good and
evil, surely it is a blessed reward, and one of the highest that can
be given to a man, that there shall be in him so complete a harmony
with God that, like God's Son, he 'does always the things that please
Him,' and that the Father will show him whatsoever things Himself
doeth; and that these also will the son do likewise. To know beyond
doubt what I ought to do, and knowing, to have no hesitation or
reluctance in doing it, seems to me to be heaven upon earth, and the
man that has it needs but little more. This, then, is the reward.
Each peak we climb opens wider and clearer prospects into the
untravelled land before us.

And so, brethren, here is the way, the only way, by which we can
change ourselves, first let us have our minds renewed by contact with
the truth, then we shall be able to transform our lives into the
likeness of Jesus Christ, and our faces too will shine, and our lives
will be ennobled, by a serene beauty which men cannot but admire,
though it may rebuke them. And as the issue of all we shall have
clearer and deeper insight into that will, which to know is life, in
keeping of which there is great reward. And thus our apostle's
promise may be fulfilled for each of us. 'We all with unveiled faces
reflecting'--as a mirror does--'the glory of the Lord, are changed
... into the same image.'

SOBER THINKING

'For I say, through the grace that is given unto me, to
every man that is among you, not to think of himself more
highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of
faith.'--ROMANS xii. 3.

It is hard to give advice without seeming to assume superiority; it
is hard to take it, unless the giver identifies himself with the
receiver, and shows that his counsel to others is a law for himself.
Paul does so here, led by the delicate perception which comes from a
loving heart, compared with which deliberate 'tact' is cold and
clumsy. He wishes, as the first of the specific duties to which he
invites the Roman Christians, an estimate of themselves based upon
the recognition of God as the Giver of all capacities and graces, and
leading to a faithful use for the general good of the 'gifts
differing according to the grace given to us.' In the first words of
our text, he enforces his counsel by an appeal to his apostolic
authority; but he so presents it that, instead of separ