ght seem,
to be enough to make it appear, even to the youngest and most daring of
us, an impossible thing that teaching which has produced such triumphs
can be false.

Then as to this search for "a creed for himself" which, we are
reminded, it is every man's duty to make:--It also remains to be said
that for success in this pursuit, as for success in some other
pursuits, an observance of spiritual laws is needful. A man should
seek for his creed as _prayerfully_ as he seeks for any help of which
he ever finds himself in need. The path of prayer is the path of light
and of truth. The mistake often made is this, that we try to find this
creed without seeking the help of God. "I will be inquired of saith
the Lord."

One more question:--Is the possession of this certainty consistent with
progress? Are we not told to expect new light as years pass on? Has
not every preacher the right to look upon himself as the possible organ
of new revelations to his fellows? Even so; but light will not
contradict light. As the glimmer of the dawn grows into the brilliance
of the day, the rays of the sun, falling ever more brightly upon the
landscape, bring more clearly into view the features which at first
were dim and dreamlike. As the glory creeps over vale and hill,
touching here a winding river, there a patch of vivid green, yonder a
window of some distant dwelling, new points of beauty and interest are
continually being revealed; but the scene, though better discerned, is
still the same as first burst upon our view at the moment when the sun
leaped into the firmament from behind yon eastern hill. Further
revelations we may indeed look for, but they will only be new chapters
of the "old, old story," and "continuations" at that. They are for
confirmation, not disturbance. God cannot contradict Himself. No one
was more sure of the law-givers than the prophets; no one more in
accord with the prophets than the apostles. Our Lord came not to
destroy but to fulfil.

So then certainty is consistent with progress; with an attitude of
receptivity toward new light. A firm belief in what the Lord told us
_yesterday_ is harmonious with an eagerness to hear what He may have to
add to-day. It is indeed to be regarded as proof of our faith in
yesterday's communication that we hearken for to-day's word. Certainty
is possible to the preacher, and certainty he must have!

Yes, certainty he _must_ have; for the people ask for it, an