w the way_. Ordinarily men ask to know the
truth before they obey. The Spirit demands that they should obey
before they know. Let me know the outcome of this act; its philosophy,
its reasonableness, its result, then I will obey. But the Spirit
answers, "It is enough for thee, O child of man, to know Me. Canst
thou not trust? Wilt thou not obey? And as thou obeyest thou shalt
know. Take this path, plod along its difficult way, climb where it
climbs, so shalt thou ascend the steep of obedience, and at each step a
further horizon of the truth will open outspread beneath thee."

Let us be more sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit, following
whithersoever He clearly indicates, as when the Spirit said to Philip,
"Go, join thyself to this chariot." We shall know when we follow on to
know the Lord. His going forth is prepared for those who are prepared
to obey whatsoever He may appoint.

The aim of the Spirit is to glorify our Lord. "He shall glorify Me,
for He shall receive of mine." The Spirit's presence, as such, should
not be a subject of our close scrutiny, lest we conflict with His holy
purpose of being hidden, that Jesus may be all in all before the gaze
of saint and sinner. He is so anxious that nothing should divert the
soul's gaze from the Lord whom He would reveal, that He carefully
withdraws Himself from view. "There must be nothing, not even God
Himself, to distract the heart from Jesus, through whom we come to God.
But remember that when you have the most precious views of your dear
Lord, it is because the Holy Spirit, all unseen, is witnessing and
working within you."

The _authority_ of the Holy Spirit appears in the words, "He shall not
speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak."
Where does He hear the truths He utters? Where? There is only one
place. In the depths of the eternal throne, in the heart of Deity
itself, in the secret place of the Most High. Oh, marvel! surpassing
thought, yet true! that things which pass between the Father and the
Son, in the depths which no angel can penetrate, may be disclosed and
made known to those humble and contrite hearts who are willing to make
a space and pause for the Divine Spirit to speak the deep things of God.

May it be ours to be patient and willing pupils in this heavenly school
in which the Holy Spirit is Teacher, and Jesus the Text-Book, and
character the essential condition of knowledge.

XX

The Conqu