The third paragraph speaks of our progress along the Way of Truth to goodness and beauty of Life, and of the assistance constantly vouchsafed to our own efforts in that direction. It is not by our own efforts alone that we can succeed, for we cannot tell what lies before us, and we lack wisdom to foresee the consequences of alternative courses of action,—one of which nevertheless we instinctively feel to be right. Acts of self-will, and fanatical determination, and impatience, may operate in the wrong direction altogether; and effort so expended may be worse than wasted. But if we submit ourselves wholly to a beneficent Power, and seek not our own ends but the ends of the Guiding Spirit of all things, we shall obtain peace in ourselves, and may hope to be used for purposes beyond what we can ask or think. This kind of service is what, in its several degrees, will be recognised by the Master as “faithful”; and it is by being faithful in a few things that hereafter we shall be found worthy of many things, and shall enter into the joy of our Lord. By the Holy Spirit is meant the living and immanent Deity at work in the consciousness and experience of mankind,—the guider of human history, the comforter of human sorrow, the revealer of truth, the inspirer of faith and hope and love, the producer of life and joy and beauty, the sustainer and enricher of existence, the Impersonation of the Grace of God. This mighty theme has been treated, in an initial manner, in connexion with Clause XIII. Supplementary questions will be asked concerning other terms in the third paragraph; but as to the phrase with which the Creed concludes—the Peace of God,—its meaning, we are well assured, surpasses understanding, and can be felt only by experience; hence no supplementary question is asked concerning that phrase. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ XVI THE LIFE ETERNAL _Q. 16.  What do you mean by the Life Eternal?_ _A._ I mean that, whereas our terrestrial existence is temporary, our real existence continues without ceasing, in either a higher or a lower form, according to our use of opportunities and means of grace; and that the fulness of Life ultimately attainable represents a growing perfection at present inconceivable by us. * * * * * CLAUSE XVI