position, and work are the cause of these differences. But in the midst
of all, there is the possibility and blessed privilege of being sure
about one's own rightness before God.

I saw a reference the other day to Charles Spurgeon's method of
treating this matter. He showed how disturbing and distressing it would
be if, in our domestic life, we had elements of uncertainty such as
many people have in regard to their spiritual relationships.

After quoting the old verse:--

_'Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love the Lord or no,
Am I His or am I not?_

Mr. Spurgeon made a humorous parody of the verse by making it read:--

_'Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love my wife or no,
Am I hers or am I not?_

Uncertainty about our religious condition is quite as unsatisfactory as
any doubt about our most sacred domestic relationships. Sureness is
vital to peace, and the truly sanctified soul will live in the region
of certainty, Divine things and Divine revelations becoming definite
and real to him. Temptations to doubt and fear will arise; but, in
spite of them, those who are sanctified realize that the Blood cleanses
and the Holy Spirit dwells within.

I will not ask whether you have any religion or not, because most of
you are professors of religion, but I do ask, Has your religion got
this element of 'sureness' in it? We must settle that point. You may
say, 'If I am to be sure, I must have evidence'. Quite so. We will,
therefore, glance together at several things about which you can either
say, 'It is so', or 'It is not so', and thus arrive at a reasonable
conclusion as to where you are. I will classify the evidence in this
way:--

First, there is the testimony of one's own consciousness, or one's own
spirit, as Paul puts it.

Second, there is the testimony of the Spirit of God--the Holy Ghost.

Third, there will be the results manifest to ourselves and to others;
effects which testify just as reliably as the hanging fruit indicates
the character and condition of any particular tree.

1. By the first class of evidence I do not mean a set of fanciful
sensations, or frames of feeling, but such an exercise of our judgment,
when we examine the facts before us, as will enable us to come to a
sound and reasonable conclusion.

_The witness of one's own spirit_ is largely a matter of consciousness
and faith, and i