_grow_--whether they grow in the soil or in the soul; whether they are
the fruits of the wild grape or of the True Vine. No man can _make_
things grow. He can _get them to grow_ by arranging all the
circumstances and fulfilling all the conditions. But the growing is
done by God. Causes and effects are eternal arrangements, set in the
constitution of the world; fixed beyond man's ordering. What man can
do is to place himself in the midst of a chain of sequences. Thus he
can get things to grow: thus he himself can grow. But the power is the
Spirit of God.

What more need I add but this--test the method by experiment. Do not
imagine that you have got these things because you know how to get
them. As well try to feed upon a cookery book. But I think I can
promise that if you try in this simple and natural way, you will not
fail. Spend the time you have spent in sighing for fruits in
fulfilling the conditions of their growth. The fruits will come, must
come. We have hitherto paid immense attention to _effects_, to the
mere experiences themselves; we have described them, extolled them,
advised them, prayed for them--done everything but find out what
_caused_ them. Henceforth

LET US DEAL WITH CAUSES.

"To be," says Lotze, "is to be in relations." About every other method
of living the Christian life there is an uncertainty. About every
other method of acquiring the Christian experiences there is a
"perhaps." But in so far as this method is the way of nature, it
cannot fail. Its guarantee is the laws of the universe--and these are
"the Hands of the Living God."