(3) But our eye must always be single. The seeker after truth must fulfil one condition : he must lead a true life, a life of moral rectitude at least. A false life can never come to the truth, for truth is revealed only to truth. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life," was advice founded on a melancholy experience. " Blessed beyond all earthly blessedness," said one who came through the fiery ordeal not scathless, and is now enjoying the peace he hardly found on earth, — " blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who, in the tempestuous darkness of the soul, has dared to hold fast to those venerable landmarks of morality. Thrice blessed is he who, when all is drear and cheerless within and without, when his teachers terrify him and his friends shrink from him, has obstinately clung to moral good. Thrice blessed, because his night shall pass into clear bright day."
^ We may call to mind the experience of Columbus, when he found himself entangled in the Sargasso Sea in the midst of the ocean, to the westward of the Canary Islands. As far as eye could see the surface was thickly covered with weed, through which it seemed hopeless to seek to penetrate. To his sailors the
324 THE KINGDOM OF TRUTH
attempt seemed even impious; the Almighty had shown His anger at their endeavour to peer into His secrets. Columbus himself feared that these weeds might indicate the proximity of dangerous rocks on which his vessel might be wrecked. But, strong in his faith in an undiscovered land, he steered right onward, carefully sounding from time to time, till in a few days they got clear of the weeds, out again into the free ocean, and in due time reached the western shore he was seeking. So it ever is in the search for truth, if we are in earnest and will but persevere, with our minds open to such guidance. Divine and human, as we can find, carefully taking soundings as we proceed, but never losing faith in the reality and attainability of truth. We shall not indeed reach all truth, or even the whole truth on any particular subject ; but we shall find what we need for mental rest and true practical life.^
In the bitter waves of woe,
Beaten and tossed about By the sullen winds that blow
From the desolate shores of doubt,—
When the anchors that faith had cast
Are dragging in the gale, I am quietly holding fast
To the things that cannot fail:
I know that right is right;
That it is not good to lie; That love is better than spi'e,
And a neighbour than a spy ;
I know that passion needs ■
The leash of a sober mind; I know that generous deeds
Some sure reward will find;
That the rulers must obey ;
That the givers shall increase; That Duty lights the way
For the beautiful feet of Peace; —
In the darkest night of the year. When the stars have all gone out,
That courage is better than fear, That faith is truer than doubt;
1 W. L. Walker, The True Christ, 12.
ST. JOHN XVIII. z7^ 3^ 325
And fierce though the fiends may fight,
And long though the angels hide, I know that Truth and Eight
Have the universe on their side;
And that somewhere, beyond the stars.
Is a Love that is better than fate; When the night unlocks her bars
I shall see Him, and I will wait.^
* Washington Gladden.
The Saviour's Easter Greeting.
3*7
Literature.
Buckland (A. R.), Text Studies for a Year, 119. Davies (J. LI.), The Work of Christ, 331. Deshon (G.), Sermons for the Ecclesiastical Year, 182. Faminghain (M.), In Evening Lights, 104. Fotheringham (D. R.), The Writing on the Sky, 77. Fuller (M.), The Lord's Day, 256.
„ „ In Terrd Pax, 56. Gutch (C), Sermons, 184. Hankey (W. B.), The Church and the Saints, 55. Holden (J. S.), The Pre-Eminent Lord, 101. Hutton (W. R.), Low Spirits, 48. Jones (W. B.), The Peace of God, 355. Lewis (F. W.), The Work of Christ, 147. Liddon (H. P.), Easter in St. Paul's, 217. MacArthur (J.), Sermons for the People, New Ser., iv. 57. McFadyen (J. E.), The Divine Pursuit, 67. Macgregor (W. M.), Jesus Christ the Son of God, 165. Maclaren (A.), Expositions : John xv.-xxi., 382. Macnutt (F. B.), The Inevitable Christ, 3. Morrison (G. H.), The Footsteps of the Flock, 288.
„ „ The Unlighted Lustre, 112.
Moule (H, C. G.), From Sunday to Sunday, 95. Reynolds (H. R.), Lamps of the Temple, 184. Salmon (G.), Cathedral and University Sermons, 213. Smellie (A.), In the Secret Place, 80, 81. Smith (D.), Christian Counsel, 54. Stone (D.), The Discipline of Faith, 107. Telford (J.), The Story of the Upper Room, 245. Thomas (J.), The Mysteries of Grace, 89.
Wilkinson (G. H.), Some Laws in God's Spiritual Kingdom, 281. Kesvnck Week, 1900, p. 131 (Meyer) ; 1905, p. 95 (Pierson).
338
/
The SAVIOUR'S Easter Greeting.
When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And wh<?n he had said this, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. — John XX. 19, 20.