The Reality of Spiritual Things
THERE are some who say that they find it difficult to make the things of the kingdom seem real to them. They are constantly tempted to think that there is no solid foundation for a belief in the unseen, and that after all we have followed cunningly devised fables. It ought to help the minds of all who are thus tempted if they could only know that we do not have to make anything seem real, but simply to learn to recognize that which is real. It is passing strange how completely the great deceiver has perverted everything, so that he has been able to persuade the majority of people that the mere forms of reality are the real things, and that the real things themselves are merely imaginary. Those who find difficulty in believing in the reality of spiritual things are still very sure that the material things about them are real. That is clear to them by the testimony of their own senses. What they can see they are persuaded is real. The difficulty in the case is that they have a wholly wrong idea of reality. The real things are not those which are perceived by the senses, for these will soon pass away. “The things which are seen are for a time, but the things which are not seen are everlasting.” The things which are seen are merely the temporary and changing forms in which the invisible things, the real things, are revealed. “For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity.” When we have learned to look behind the veil of the visible form, we shall see “everlasting power and divinity,” and these are the essential characteristics of the real. When we look at the heavens on a clear night, we ought to see more than an expanse of blue, dotted with bright spots, for “the heavens declare the glory of God,” and this is everlasting reality; for “the glory of the Lord shall endure forever.” When we recognize the immediate working of the “everlasting power and divinity” in the so-called operations of nature, we are kept face to face with God in the daily experiences of life. Then the wind is known to be “the blast of thy nostrils,” and the sunshine is “the light of thy countenance,” and he “maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.” “The whole face of nature, to him who can read it aright, is covered with celestial types and hieroglyphics, marked like the dial plate of a watch, with significant intimations of the objects and processes of the world unseen. The Bible discloses all this to us. It not only gives us the knowledge of salvation, but reveals to us the spiritual source of the physical world.” “It is not a revelation that we need, but eyes to see that the revelation is everywhere around us, if we would only care to look at and understand it.” And thus we may be helped to appreciate the reality of spiritual things. “There’s not a plant or flower below
But makes thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from thy throne.
Creatures that borrow life from thee
Are subject to thy care;
There’s not a place where we can flee
But God is present there.”