In the Beatitudes we have the real mountain of God. It is the mountain of benediction and blessing. To secure its blessings it must be climbed. Many View it and admire it at a distance, but they are too much attached to the cosmetic attractions of the valley to begin to climb. But the spiritual climber alone enjoys its blessing. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you. Mountain climbing is irksome, it is real soul-work, but it is the only way to the moun tain top. Every step in the upward march developsspiritual muscle and bone; it strengthens the soul and dilates the heart. Who will ascend into the hill of the Lord? With the Holy Spirit we may climb to the top, and from Zion's lofty peak we may gaze on the thrilling visions of the Kingdom of God. The King's daughter is all glorious within. The higher we climb upward, great things become greater, and small things become smaller. Hence, the mountain top is the meeting-place of the radiant inner circle. Here they are above the fog; here they understand each other. Here they walk in the light as He is in the light, and We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. The object of this book is to show the way to the mountain top. Many professing Christians are liv ing perpetually in the valley; hence, they have no peace, no joy, no strength. Others live on the northern slope of the mountain where there are perpetual mists, and frost and snow, cold winds and sunless skies. But, in thus calling attention to the mountain top, we have not overlooked the relation which the top sustains to the base and to the valley. The base and the top form one mountain; so the physical and the spiritual form one life. There is a great deal of false Mysticism in these days, which is nothing but vaporized spiritual talk. There can be no antagonism between the inner and the outer life. Any spiritual talk that does not end in practical good to mankind is mere affectation. If Christ dwells in the inner He will control the outer life. Nothing is of any value in the 'spiritual life except that which ends in practice.
