of it so sure to be infallible? Inspired, infinite,
inexhaustible as it is, can we pretend to have fathomed all its
abysses, to have comprehended all its boundless treasures? The
pretence is folly. True, again, it contains all things necessary to
salvation; and those so plainly set forth, that he who runs may
read, and the wayfaring man, though poor, shall not err therein.
And yet does it not contain things whereof even St. Paul himself
said, that he only knew in part, and prophesied in part, and saw as
through a glass darkly; and are we to suppose that they are among
the truths necessary to salvation? Now are not the points about
which there has been, and is still, most dispute, just of this very
number? Do they belong to the simple fundamental truths of the
Gospel? No. Are they such plain matters that the wayfaring man,
though poor, can make up his mind on them for himself? No. Are
they one of them laid down directly in Scripture, like the Ten
Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, or the Creeds? No. They are every
one, as it seems to me, whether they be right or wrong, abstruse
deductions, delicate theories, built up on single and obscure texts.
Surely, if they had been necessary for salvation, the Lord would
have spoken on them in a tone and in words about which there should
be no more mistake than about the thunders of Sinai, and the tables
of stone fresh from the finger-mark of God. And He has spoken to
us, my friends, on other matters, if not on these. His promises are
clear enough, and short enough, though high as heaven and wide as
the universe. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and
man, the man Christ Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God; and
whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God; and if
any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins. And again, 'If
any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally, and
upbraideth not, and he shall receive it.' 'For if ye, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, much more shall your
Heavenly Father give His Holy Spirit to them who ask Him.'

These are God's promises--simple and clear enough: and what are
God's demands? Are they numerous, intricate, burdensome, a yoke
which neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? God forbid
again!--'He hath showed thee, oh man, what is good. And what doth
the Lord require of thee, but