all be
able to do works as great as His own, and even greater (John xiv, 12).
For these reasons it appears to me that on the authority of the Bible
itself, and also on metaphysical and scientific grounds we are justified
in taking such promises as those I have quoted in a perfectly literal
sense.

Then there are promises of the power that will attend our utterance of
the Word. "Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established
unto thee" (Job xxii, 28). "All things are possible unto you" (Mark ix,
23). "Whosoever ... shall believe that what he sayeth cometh to pass, he
shall have whatsover he sayeth" (Mark xi, 23), and so on.

Other passages again promise peace of mind. "Thou wilt keep him in
perfect peace whose mind is staid on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee"
(Isaiah xxvi, 3). "Let him take hold of my strength that he may make
peace with me" (Isaiah xxvii, 5). St. Paul speaks of "The God of Peace"
in many passages, e.g., Rom. xv, 33; 2 Cor. xiii, 11; 1 Thess. v, 23,
and Hebr. xiii, 20; and Jesus, in his final discourse recorded in the
fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of St. John's Gospel, lays
peculiar stress on the gift of Peace.

And lastly there are many passages which promise the overcoming of death
itself; as for instance Job xix, 25-27; John viii, 51, and x, 28, and
xi, 25 and 26; Hebr. ii, 14 and 15; 1 Cor. xv, 50-57; 2 Tim. i, 10; Rom.
vi, 23 ("The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord").

"God commanded the blessing, even Life for evermore" (Ps. cxxxiii, 3).

Now I hope the reader will take the trouble to look up the texts to
which I have referred, and not be lazy. I am sure he would do so if he
were promised a ten pound note or a fifty dollar bill for his pains, and
if these promises are not all bosh, there is something worth a good deal
more to be got by studying them. Just run through the list: health,
wealth, peace of mind, safety, creative power, and eternal life. You
would be willing to pay a good premium to an Insurance Office that could
guarantee you all these. Well, there is a Company that does this without
paying any premium, and its name is "God and Co., Unlimited"; the only
condition, is that you yourself have to take the part of "Co." and it is
not a sleeping partnership, but a wide-awake one!

So I hope you will take the trouble to look up the texts; but at the
same time you must remember that the reading of single texts is not
sufficient. If you take