in the dark
background and abyss of time, who conceived it operating upon our race
in floods of grace and glory, and who realized in his own immediate
consciousness the varied wealth of the resultant emancipation--is it
any wonder that for this man a new day had dawned, and the birds had
begun to sing and the flowers to bloom, and a sunny optimism had taken
possession of his heart, which found expression in an assured and
rejoicing hope?

I look abroad again over the record of this man's life and teachings,
if perchance I may discover the secrets of his abiding optimism, and I
am profoundly imprest by his living sense of the reality and greatness
of his present resources. "By Christ redeemed!" That is not a grand
finale; it is only a glorious inauguration. "By Christ redeemed; in
Christ restored"; it is with these dynamics of restoration that his
epistles are so wondrously abounding. In almost every other sentence
he suggests a dynamic which he can count upon as his friend. Paul's
mental and spiritual outlook comprehended a great army of positive
forces laboring in the interests of the kingdom of God. His conception
of life was amazingly rich in friendly dynamics! I do not wonder that
such a wealthy consciousness was creative of a triumphant optimism.
Just glance at some of the apostle's auxiliaries: "Christ liveth in
me!" "Christ liveth in me! He breathes through all my aspirations. He
thinks through all my thinking. He wills through all my willing. He
loves through all my loving. He travails in all my labors. He works
within me 'to will and to do of his good pleasure.'" That is the
primary faith of the hopeful life. But see what follows in swift and
immediate succession. "If Christ is in you, the spirit is life." "The
spirit is life!" And therefore you find that in the apostle's thought
dispositions are powers. They are not passive entities. They are
positive forces vitalizing and energizing the common life of men.
My brethren, I am persuaded there is a perilous leakage in this
department of our thought. We are not bold enough in our thinking
concerning spiritual realities. We do not associate with every mode
of the consecrated spirit the mighty energy of God. We too often
oust from our practical calculations some of the strongest and most
aggressive allies of the saintly life. Meekness is more than the
absence of self-assertion; it is the manifestation of the mighty power
of God. To the Apostle Paul love exprest mo