My answer is that in nothing does God so much delight, as in making Himself known to those who intelligently receive Him in pure hearts. When God is _here_, even if it were possible, we do not need to prove His existence; we simply need to get acquainted with Him. Miracles may have been necessary in times past; if so, they served their purpose when they were needed. Since it is harder to verify an ancient miracle than it is to verify the presence of God in our own hearts, we cling to the greater certainty without being too dogmatic concerning the wonders reported in a primitive age. If one believes in miracles, no one can prove that he is wrong. If he is so constituted that he cannot believe in them, God will not turn him away if he follows the Master with his whole heart. If any one desires a richer assurance of God and His forgiveness, let him be a more intelligent and a better Christian; let him make a larger investment of himself in the service of God. I have nothing to say against miracles; but I should like to testify that it has been possible to lead many to Christ by getting them to become His disciples first, and then letting them have plenty of time to settle the question of miracles as best they were able. Though I bring an indictment against myself, I must say, what we most need is a ministry with Apostolic faith and fervor. We need St. Pauls and St. Johns. We need leaders who can make God real and sin hateful. 5. The book of Revelation Seeing that so many good Christians are perplexed by the apocalypses, we shall close this chapter with a brief study of the book of Revelation. The mystery that once shrouded the book of Revelation is gone. As Professor Porter says, "The historical method has, it is not too much to say, broken the seals. To the historical student these apocalypses have become, in their general character and chief messages, among the best instead of quite the least understood books of the canon. And their importance has grown with their understanding." The book of Revelation throws more light on the past than on the future. It has to do largely with a crisis in the early Christian Church, and not with the end of the world and the "constitution of the unseen universe." The probable date of the book is about ninety-three A. D. The great Christian leaders were gone, the heathen elements were entering the Church with their traditions and rites, and the Roman government was setting up emperor worship to strengthen the loyalty of diverse populations. The mandate that all should enter the temples of the emperor and worship him as divine was particularly hard on Jews and Christians who refused to worship any but the one true God. The persecutions that followed a refusal to worship the emperor, with all the other devitalizing influences mentioned, threatened the very existence of the Christian Church.