ristian faith, but it is a possible attainment for
every one of us.

And if there be that burning of the light under the water, like
'Greek fire,' as it was called, which many waters could not
quench--if there be that persistence of gladness beneath the
surface-sorrow, as you find a running stream coming out below a
glacier, then the joy and the hope, which co-exist with the sorrow,
will make life patient.

Now, the Apostle means by these great words, 'patient' and
'patience,' which are often upon his lips, something more than simple
endurance. That endurance is as much as many of us can often muster
up strength to exercise. It sometimes takes all our faith and all our
submission simply to say, 'I opened not my mouth, because thou didst
it; and I will bear what thine hand lays upon me.' But that is not
all that the idea of Christian 'patience' includes, for it also takes
in the thought of active work, and it is _perseverance_ as much
as _patience_.

Now, if my heart is filled with a calm gladness because my eye is
fixed upon a celestial hope, then both the passive and active sides
of Christian 'patience' will be realised by me. If my hope burns
bright, and occupies a large space in my thoughts, then it will not
be hard to take the homely consolation of good John Newton's hymn and
say--

'Though painful at present,
'Twill cease before long;
And then, oh, how pleasant
The conqueror's song!'

A man who is sailing to America, and knows that he will be in New
York in a week, does not mind, although his cabin is contracted, and
he has a great many discomforts, and though he has a bout of
sea-sickness. The disagreeables are only going to last for a day or
two. So our hope will make us bear trouble, and not make much of it.

And our hope will strengthen us, if it is strong, for all the work
that is to be done. Persistence in the path of duty, though my heart
be beating like a smith's hammer on the anvil, is what Christian men
should aim at, and possess. If we have within our hearts that fire of
a certain hope, it will impel us to diligence in doing the humblest
duty, whether circumstances be for or against us; as some great
steamer is driven right on its course, through the ocean, whatever
storms may blow in the teeth of its progress, because, deep down in
it, there are furnaces and boilers which supply the steam that drives
the engines. So a life that is joyful because it is hopeful will be
full of calm