d tried to; had expected to; but utterly failed, to their own
chagrin, and the father's disappointment, amid the surprise and
criticism of the crowd. The Master explains that a slipshod connection
with God was at the bottom of their failure. Power is not stored in us
apart from God's presence. It merely passes through as He has sway. Once
the connection between Him and you is disturbed, the flow of power is
interrupted. We do not run on the storage battery plan, but on the
trolley plan. Constant communication with the source of power is
absolutely essential. The spirit of God never leaves us. We do not lose
His presence. But whatever grieves Him prevents His presence being
manifest. The _evidence_ of His presence may be lost through wrongdoing.
So I want to give you in very brief compass _the three laws_ of the life
of power--continued and increasing power. I wish some one had given them
to me long ago. It might have saved me many a bad break.

_The first law_ can be put in a single word--_obey_. Obedience is the
great foundation law of the christian life. Indeed it is the common
fundamental law of all organization, in nature, in military, naval,
commercial, political and domestic circles. Obedience is the great
essential to securing the purpose of life. Disobedience means disaster.
If you turn to scripture you must read almost every page if you would
get all the statements and illustrations of obedience and its opposite.
Begin with the third of Genesis, where the first disastrous act of
disobedience brought a ruin still going on. Run through the three
wilderness books, where the new nation is grouped about the smoking
mountain. Listen in Deuteronomy to the old man Moses talking during the
thirty days' conference they had in Moab's plains before he was taken
away. Then into Joshua's book of victory and the Judges' dark story of
defeats, through the kingdom books, and the prophecies, and you will
find the changes rung more frequently upon _obedience_ than anything
else. The same is true of the New Testament clear to the last column of
the last page.

The fact is, every heart is a battlefield whose possession is being
hotly contested. If Jesus is in possession Satan is trying his best by
storm or strategy to get in. If Satan be in possession whether as a
coarse or a cultured Satan, then Jesus is lovingly storming the door.
Satan _can_ not get in without your consent, and Jesus _will_ not. An
act of obedience to God is sl