out its compass and its charts and cutting off its rudder. Make
Christianity silent in regard to these great questions of spiritual
existence, and you destroy its power to satisfy the heart.

What would the life of Christ mean if these deep truths on which He
rested and from which He drew His strength, were uncertain or illusory?
It would be the most pathetic, mournful, heartbreaking of all phantoms.

What consoling, cheering power would be left in the words of Jesus if
His doctrine were blotted out and His precept left to stand alone? Try
the experiment, if it may be done without irreverence: read His familiar
discourses in the shadow of agnosticism.

'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is a hopeless poverty.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they know not whether they shall see
God. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, for ye
have no promise of a heavenly reward.

'Enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut the door, keep silence,
for thou canst not tell whether there is One to hear thy voice in
secret. Take no thought for the morrow, for thou knowest not whether
there is a Father who careth for thee.

'God is unknown, and they that worship Him must worship Him in ignorance
and doubt. No man hath ascended up into heaven, neither hath any man
come down from heaven, for the Son of Man hath never been in heaven.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
spirit is a dream. Man shall not live by bread alone, neither shall he
listen for any word from the mouth of God. I proceeded forth and came
from darkness, I came of myself, I know not who sent me. My sheep hear