re than a relationship. It
was an energy productive of abundant labors. Faith was more than an
attitude. It was an energy creative of mighty endeavor, Hope was
more than a posture. It was an energy generative of a most enduring
patience. All these are dynamics, to be counted as active allies,
cooperating in the ministry of the kingdom. And so the epistles abound
in the recital of mystic ministries at work. The Holy Spirit worketh!
Grace worketh! Faith worketh! Love worketh! Hope worketh! Prayer
worketh! And there are other allies robed in less attractive garb.
"Tribulation worketh!" "This light affliction worketh." "Godly sorrow
worketh!" On every side of him the apostle conceives cooperative and
friendly powers. "The mountain is full of horses and chariots of
fire round about him." He exults in the consciousness of abounding
resources. He discovers the friends of God in things which find no
place among the scheduled powers of the world. He finds God's raw
material in the world's discarded waste. "Weak things," "base things,"
"things that are despised," "things that are not," mere nothings;
among these he discovers the operating agents of the mighty God. Is it
any wonder that in this man, possessed of such a wealthy consciousness
of multiplied resources, the spirit of a cheery optimism should be
enthroned? With what stout confidence he goes into the fight! He
never mentions the enemy timidly. He never seeks to underestimate his
strength. Nay, again and again he catalogs all possible antagonisms in
a spirit of buoyant and exuberant triumph. However numerous the enemy,
however subtle and aggressive his devices, however towering and
well-established the iniquity, however black the gathering clouds, so
sensitive is the apostle to the wealthy resources of God that amid it
all he remains a sunny optimist, "rejoicing in hope," laboring in the
spirit of a conqueror even when the world was exulting in his supposed
discomfiture and defeat.

And, finally, in searching for the springs of this man's optimism, I
place alongside his sense of the reality of redemption and his wealthy
consciousness of present resources his impressive sense of the reality
of future glory. Paul gave himself time to think of heaven, of the
home of God, of his own home when time should be no more. He loved to
contemplate "the glory that shall be revealed." He mused in wistful
expectancy of the day "when Christ who is our life shall be
manifested," and when