he source of all our
blessedness--that is the way to certitude, and there is no other road
that we can take.

If thus we keep near Him, our faith will bring us the present
experience and fulfilment of the promises, and we shall be sure of
them, because we have them already. And whilst men are asking, 'Do we
know anything about God? Is there a God at all? Is there such a thing
as forgiveness? Can anybody find anywhere absolute rules for his
life? Is there anything beyond the grave but mist and darkness?' we
can say, 'One thing I know, Jesus Christ is my Saviour, and in Him I
know God, and pardon, and duty, and sanctifying, and safety, and
immortality; and whatever is dark, this, at least, is sun-clear.' Get
high enough up and you will be above the fog; and while the men down
in it are squabbling as to whether there is anything outside the
mist, you, from your sunny station, will see the far-off coasts, and
haply catch some whiff of perfume from their shore, and see some
glinting of a glory upon the shining turrets of 'the city that hath
foundations.' We have a present possession of all the promises of
God; and whoever doubts their certitude, the man who knows himself a
son of God by faith, and has experience of forgiveness and guidance
and answered prayer and hopes whose 'sweetness yieldeth proof that
they were born for immortality,' _knows_ the things which others
question and doubt.

So live near Jesus Christ, and, holding fast by His hand, you may
lift up your joyful 'Amen' to every one of God's 'Yeas.' For in Him
we know the Father, in Him we know that we have the forgiveness of
sins, in Him we know that God is near to bless and succour and guide,
and in Him 'we know that, though our earthly house were dissolved, we
have a building of God.' Wherefore we are always confident; and when
the Voice from Heaven says 'Yea!' our choral shout may go up 'Amen!
Thou art the faithful and true witness.'

ANOINTED AND STABLISHED

'Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us, is God.'--2 COR. i. 21.

The connection in which these words occur is a remarkable
illustration of the Apostle's habit of looking at the most trivial
things in the light of the highest truths. He had been obliged, as
the context informs us, to abandon an intended visit to Corinth. The
miserable crew of antagonists, who yelped at his heels all his life,
seized this change of purpose as the occasion for a double-barr