ans to give me a
lift at the right time, I might have been a great success.'

"Another might say, 'IF I had only had the chance to go to school when
I was a boy, I might have obtained the education necessary to make me
a great success.'

"One other might say, 'IF I could only work out my plans without
meeting with the discouraging opposition of those who ought to help me
and co-operate with me, I might be a great success.'

"Still another might say, 'IF I had only had the opportunities that
other men have had, I might have been a great success.'

"And so we might stand and look with discouraged hearts at the 'ifs'
before us and stop dead still.

"Well, now, let us look into this a little. Let us search the
Scriptures and find a word of comfort. But search as we may, we find
the word 'Success' there only once. Why only once? Probably because
the Bible has a much bigger and better word, and that word is 'Life.'
'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,' says the Master; and again, 'I
am the Resurrection and the Life.' This wonderful word was often on
His lips. To Him, success was life. To live was all that earth could
desire. To live was to see in these stones--[Indicate the stones in
the drawing]--not stumbling-blocks but stepping-stones to success.
[Add the letters 'L' and 'E,' completing the word 'Life.'] When you
and I see the true life, then will all our 'ifs' depart.

[Illustration: Fig. 20]

"Abraham Lincoln was one who saw these stones before him. How did he
look upon them?

"The obscurity of his birth was no 'if' to him--it was the foundation
of his noble character.

"The poverty of his early years was no 'if' to him--it was the thing
which caused him to appreciate every blessing of after life.

"The denial of his means to an education when a boy was no 'if' to
him--it caused his maturer mind to hunger after learning, even in his
later years.

"The bitter opposition which he met throughout his tempestuous
political career was no 'if' to him--it softened his nature and drew
him nearer to the God of love in whom he placed his trust.

"No one should envy him his opportunities, for he made every one of
them himself, just as you or I may do.

"It would seem to me, as I look at the life of this great man, that
the secret of his success lay in his determination to make every
stumbling block a stepping stone. In order to do it, he held
steadfastly to the hand of God, when, it seemed, all other friends had