will show us more and more of the whole sweep of His work, of the
whole infinite truth for morals and religion, for politics and
society, for time and for eternity, about men and about God, which is
wrapped up in that great saying which we first of all, perhaps under
the pressure of our own sense of sin, grasp as our deliverance from
sin: 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.' That is the sum of truth which the Spirit of God interprets to
every faithful heart. And as the days roll on, and new problems rise,
and new difficulties present themselves, and new circumstances emerge
in our personal life, we find the truth, which we at first dimly
grasped as life and salvation, opening out into wisdom and depth and
meaning that we never dreamed of in the early hours. A Spirit that
bears witness of Christ and will make us understand Him better every
day we live, if we choose, is the promise that is given here, for all
Christian men and women.

Then note that this inward witness of Christ's depth and preciousness
is our true weapon and stay against a hostile world. A little candle
in a room will make the lightning outside almost invisible; and if I
have burning in my heart the inward experience and conviction of what
Jesus Christ is and what He has done and will do for me--Oh! then,
all the storm without may rage, and it will not trouble me.

If you take an empty vessel and bring pressure to bear upon it, in go
the sides. Fill it, and they will resist the pressure. So with
growing knowledge of Christ, and growing personal experience of His
sweetness in our souls, we shall be able, untouched and undinted, to
throw off the pressure which would otherwise have crushed us.