my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, but I can not give unto
them eternal life, for they shall perish and death shall pluck them out
of my hand. Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe not in God, ye
need not believe in me. Keep my commandments, and I will not pray for
you, and ye shall abide without a Comforter. In the world ye shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer, for ye know not whether there is a
world to come. I came forth from darkness into the world, and again I
leave the world and return to darkness. Peace I leave with you. If ye
loved me ye would rejoice because I said, I go into darkness, and where
I am there shall ye be also.'

Is it conceivable that any suffering, sorrowing human soul should be
comforted and strengthened by such a message as this? Could it possibly
be called a gospel, glad tidings of great joy to all people?

And yet what has been omitted here from the words of Christ? Nothing but
what men call doctrines: the personality of God, the divinity of Christ,
the Atonement, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the
sovereignty of the Heavenly Father, the truth of the divine revelation,
the reality of the heavenly world, the assurance of immortal life. But
it is just from these doctrines that the teaching of Jesus draws its
peculiar power to comfort and inspire. They are the rays of light which
disperse the gloom of uncertainty. They are the tones of celestial music
which fill the heart of man with good cheer.

Let us never imagine that we can strengthen Christianity by leaving out
the great doctrines which have given it life and power. Faith is not a
mere matter of feeling. It is the acceptance of truth, positive,
unchanging, revealed truth, in regard to God and the world, Christ and
the soul, duty and immortality. The first appeal to faith lies in the