minister once said to me, "Why is
it that I have so much more interest in study than in prayer, and how
can you teach me the art of fellowship with God?" My answer was: "Oh,
my brother, if we have any true conception of what God is, the art of
fellowship with Him will come naturally, and will be a delight." Yes, if we
believed God to be only joy to the one who comes to Him, only a fountain of
unlimited blessing, how we should give up all for Him! Has not joy a far
stronger attraction than anything in the world? Is it not in every beauty,
or in every virtue, in every pursuit, the joy that is set before us that
draws? And if we believe that God is a fountain of joy, and sweetness, and
power to bless, how our hearts will turn aside from everything, and say:
"Oh, the beauty of my God! I rejoice in Him alone." But, alas! the Kingdom
of God looks to many as a burden, and as something unnatural. It looks like
a strain, and we seek some relaxation in the world, and God is not our
chief joy. I come to you with a message. It is right, on account of what
God is as Infinite Love, as Infinite Blessing; it is right and more, it is
our highest privilege to listen to Christ's words, and to seek God and His
Kingdom first and above everything.

And then look at man again; man's nature. What was man created for? To live
in the likeness of God, and as His image. Now, if we have been created in
the image and likeness of God, we can find our happiness in nothing except
that in which God finds His happiness. The more like Him we are the
happier. And in what does God find His happiness? In two things:
Everlasting righteousness and everlasting beneficence. God is righteousness
everlasting. "He is Light, and in Him is no darkness." The Kingdom, the
domination, the rule of God will bring us nothing but righteousness. "Seek
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." If men but knew what sin is,
and if men really longed to be free from everything like sin, what a grand
message this would be! Jesus comes to lead me to God and His righteousness.
We were created to be like God, in His perfect righteousness and holiness.
What a prospect! And in His love too. The Kingdom of God means this: that
there is in God a rule of universal love. He loves, and loves, and never
ceases to love; and He longs to bless all who will yield to His pleadings.
God is Light, and God is Love. And now the message comes to man. Can you
think of a higher nobility; can you think o