Heaven will be to us what we make it. The Master has taught us the way, in precept, example, death, and resurrection; but all he has done for us will not suffice for our redemption, unless we believe and accept him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The shedding of the blood of Jesus cannot atone for our sins. It remains for us to accept the Truth, and abide in the same. Only the willing and the obedient can hope for the realization of the promises. The acceptance of the Truth involves the acceptance of all that Jesus taught and demonstrated in his Life, death, resurrection, and ascension. It is not enough to accept a part of the teaching of the Master,— as some do, who say the mighty works performed by Jesus and his disciples were only for the age in which they lived; for the promise is, "These things shall ye do, and greater." God's promises are never outlawed, and "the word of the Lord endureth forever."
The question is often asked: If God manifests his power in healing the sick today, as of old, why are not his mighty works manifest? We answer: The world will not believe what is being done, any more than did the Jews in the days of Jesus. The greater the works he performed, the more violently his countrymen rejected him, until the rejection culminated, as they believed, in his death; which, however, afforded but another opportunity for a greater demonstration, through the resurrection,—which they denied, and tried to mistify, by paying hush-money to the soldiers who guarded the tomb.
