. Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, _so is every one that is born
of the Spirit_." The test of spirituality is that you cannot tell whence
it cometh or whither it goeth. If you can tell, if you can account for
it on philosophical principles, on the doctrine of influence, on
strength of will, on a favorable environment, it is not growth. It may
be so far a success, it may be a perfectly honest, even remarkable, and
praiseworthy imitation, but it is not the real thing. The fruits are
wax, the flowers artificial--you can tell whence it cometh and whither
it goeth.

The conclusion is, then, that the Christian is a unique phenomenon. You
cannot account for him. And if you could he would not be a Christian.
Mozley has drawn the two characters for us in graphic words: "Take an
ordinary man of the world--what he thinks and what he does, his whole
standard of duty is taken from the society in which he lives. It is a
borrowed standard: he is as good as other people are; he does, in the
way of duty, what is generally considered proper and becoming among
those with whom his lot is thrown. He reflects established opinion on
such points. He follows its lead. His aims and objects in life again are
taken from the world around him, and from its dictation. What it
considers honorable, worth having, advantageous and good, he thinks so
too and pursues it. His motives all come from a visible quarter. It
would be absurd to say that there is any mystery in such a character as
this, because it is formed from a known external influence--the
influence of social opinion and the voice of the world. 'Whence such a
character cometh' we see; we venture to say that the source and origin
of it is open and palpable, and we know it just as we know the physical
causes of many common facts."

Then there is the other. "There is a certain character and disposition
of mind of which it is true to say that 'thou canst not tell whence it
cometh or whither it goeth.' ... There are those who stand out from
among the crowd, which reflects merely the atmosphere of feeling and
standard of society around it, with an impress upon them which bespeaks
a heavenly birth.... Now, when we see one of those characters, it is a
question which we ask ourselves. How has the person become possessed of
it? Has he caught it from society around him? That cannot be, because it
is wholly different from that of the world around him