RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE: PERSONAL 403 



necessary motive for true living. We know in practice that to be 

 aware of the truth of a thing is quite different from possessing its 

 power. We know what moral inability is. A man may know 

 the right and desire the right and sincerely will the right, and yet 

 cannot do the thing he would. He needs to be infused by a per- 

 sonal power that will carry him over the things that stand in the 

 way of his will. He needs a larger and higher love that will give 

 him the victory. This Christ gives, so that His lover can say, " I 

 can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Faith 

 is needed before moral effort can be successful, a faith th'at runs 

 up into a personal love. Christ, the Teacher, is also the Saviour; 

 the Revealer is also the Redeemer. He redeems by revealing; he 

 reveals by redeeming. Thus the Christian life is the imitation of 

 Christ; and this is the power of his teaching, that it is himself and 

 not merely his sayings we follow. Christ never says to us, " Go," 

 without also saying " Come." He goes with us. To go to any 

 duty, any command, any cross even, means to follow him. This 

 personal touch, personal communion, personal love, is the unique 

 power of Christian ethics. He who gives us the victory stands in 

 our battle. 



I do not speak of the details of this mighty personal influence, 

 the practical effects of this communion. I do not speak of the 

 peace and rest of heart which faith produces, the way in which the 

 character is made strong and true. The important thing after all 

 is to get to the source, the living fountain of strength and beauty 

 of life. All effective social work of religion to be treated in the 

 next section this afternoon depends on our being right here. It 

 is personal religion which can give equipment for social service. 

 If our life is poor within and our character is weak, our religious 

 work will effect little. The ultimate value of a man's work is 

 what he is. That is primarily of more importance than what he 

 does. His power of real service is conditioned by his personal 

 worth, his character. True religion deepens and enriches the 

 quality of the life. 



We need to have the personal note back into our confession if 

 our religious testimony is to be effective, moving men's hearts 

 with the pang of desire, convincing the world of God. We were 

 born for the love of God. It is written in the needs of our nature, 

 in the wants of our heart. Until we submit and enter into the 

 blessed fellowship we are orphaned and desolate. " Thou has 

 made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find 

 rest in Thee." That word of the great Augustine sums up our 

 life, and points to what personal religion may be to us when the 

 heart is fixed on God. 



