them how it must come--how indeed it will come--and he is the man who
has sat at the feet of Jesus Christ; who has seen His arms extended
wide upon the Cross and learned those politics in which eternity is
set. The Golden Age will come when the world shall listen to him, and
give itself to the practice of that old doctrine which is to be the
creation not only of a new Heaven, but, also, of a new Earth.

But the preacher must do more than formulate the divine command; more
than paint glowing pictures of glorious possibilities. It is required
that his idealism shall be shown to be practicable. It is of no use to
tell a drunkard that Christ wants sobriety, or a liar that the Lord
wants truth in the inward parts; it is of no use preaching about the
conquest of temper and of passion; about the crucifixion of
covetousness and envy and jealousy; about patience, gentleness,
kindness, love, unless, along with the demands of this new scheme of
living, the great evangelical watchwords and promises ring strong and
true. The glory of the preacher is that he, alone of those who bring
forth programmes for the lives of men, can tell us how his programme
may be carried out. He has a wonderful authority given unto him in his
dealings with the weak and erring. He can make to every man who gives
himself to Christ, and to the living of the life He asks, the promise
that Christ will give to him nothing less than His own very self. To
any man who tremblingly, tearfully "makes up his mind to try," the
preacher may pledge his Lord in guarantees which will be honoured to
the very uttermost. _Power_! There is God's for his promising.
_Grace_! There is Christ's for his disposal. He is the almoner of an
infinite bounty. Then to the preacher there comes from his own vision
a courage which he can communicate to others. No other man sees such
possibilities in human nature as he, for he looks on man in Jesus
Christ, and discerns better things in him than man had hoped for in
himself. He beholds, also, the Spirit of God at work in the world;
hears His footsteps as He goes to and fro in the land. Hence he can
cry to the nations to lift up their head, knowing that "the Lord
Omnipotent reigneth." He is the idealist whose ideals--more
"impossible" than all the dreams of moralists and poets--are the true
practical politics of individual and national life. The time is ripe
for a new preaching of the possibilities of humanity, for a new setti