supply it. By the use of the intelligence which man possesses, he is able to take the materials furnished him and convert them into nourishing food; or, where the original substance is adapted to his necessities, he can take that at first hand, without the aid of artificial means. What a blunder it would have been, if at certain stages in man's existence no food had been supplied for his body. Supposing the bodily nourishment of man were only suited to infancy; or suppose that nothing could be found in nature that would serve as food during sickness, that man's food was suited only to a condition of health and strength. These things would prove manifest inconsistencies on the part of the Creator; who hav ing made a creature with certain imperative needs, had failed to supply the material for satisfying those needs. But in no respect is this the case. Food for babe, for youth, for manhood, for old age; food for health, for strength, for sickness, for weakness, food for every conceivable condition of physi cal life is furnished, and every need is met by its corresponding supply.

This law holds good all through the range of man's material nature. The eye was made for light; the ear was made for sound; the lungs were made for air; and forthwith light greets the eye sound breaks upon the ear-air is furnished for the lungs. Each faculty and power lives by that which supplies its need. What man requires for a healthy, vigorous existence in the body, is all about him in abundance; and he has but to open the organs of sight, hearing, respiration, and all the senses which bring him in contact with the outer world, and he at once finds all nature adapted to his wants.

God could undoubtedly have made a creature without any of these demands or needs, and he might have passed for a man; but God did not do so, and therefore, if a human creature is to be regarded as a man, in a physical sense, accord ing to the divine ideal, he must have these needs of his body, and they must be supplied if he comes to full development. So, we presume the Almighty could have made a being in the shape of a man, and yet not have put any of the

seeds of weakness and infirmity within him. He might have
made him so that he could not sin; so that he could not suf-
fer pain; so that sickness would be impossible to him; so that
sorrow would be unknown to him; so that temptation would
not beset him; so that burdens would not make him anxious
and weary.
Such a creature might have been introduced
upon the earth as a substitute for the being we now call man.
But such a creature has not been made and called or recog-
nized as a man. Such a being might exist, but it would lack
some of the essential characteristics of humanity. The divine
ideal of a man, was a being with a moral nature, liable to sin,
because subject to moral law and having the power of free
choice between good and evil, and yet not necessarily sin

Itean it.

apt to

fut; a being with a nervous system, liable to suffer pain, in expost consequence of some infringement upon physical law; a be- ![.. ing with intelligence, capable of learning and understanding the laws and principles of the universe; a being with affections, passions, and appetites, which when not properly trained and directed, might lead to suffering in a variety of ways; a being in whose physical organism were sown the seeds of decay and death, but the essence of whose life is immortal and indestructible. This is, briefly, the description of the being that God has made, and which we call man. Whatever else might have been created and made to pass as a specimen of the human species, this is what actually was made, and which we find all about us in various stages of development.

Having, then, brought such a being into existence, as the divine ideal of a man, -a creature who by the very necessi ties of his nature, is subject to temptation, and weaknesses and failings having brought this human creature into existence, with all this variety of needs in his moral make-up, why should not the necessary supply be furnished? Would it not have been as great a mistake on the part of the Creator, to have left man without moral and spiritual helps suited to his needs, as it would have been were he left without a suitable quality of food, at a certain stage of his physical life?

Christianity, as exemplified in the teachings and life of

Jesus, presents to man that sustenance which he needs for his moral nature, when temptations beset him; when evil passions seek to control him; when debasing appetites cry out. for those things that will prove destructive to his whole being. That divine power which enabled Jesus to resist the tempter; to banish Satan from his presence; to overcome evil with good, will enable any man to do the same, to the extent he is possessed of the Christ-like spirit. Whatever his condition of trial or need; whatever the burden which circumstances compel him to bear, he can find sufficient strength for each and every emergency, if he will but seek it from the one living source from which his divine Master constantly drew. It is not the province of the Christian religion to supplement, supersede, or complete the work of other forces in the unfolding of human character and life. It is an original, primary factor in man's upward development. It commences its operation upon him, when living under the proper influences, as soon as his childish mind can grasp a thought, or be made to understand the moral nature of an act. It grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength, filling a place which is unoccupied by the other forces which operate upon human nature, — or, if that place be occupied for a season, it is not filled with that which can satisfy the deepest longings of the soul. No matter how late in life the spirit of Christianity may begin its influence upon man's nature, it must always start from the very centre of life, and work upward and outward, modifying and changing the whole being. It cannot be tacked on or added to some other force that has been operating upon the mind and heart; it must go to the very fountain head, and send its cleansing waters coursing through every avenue of moral life.

Science, in all its branches, has its office, and fills its place; philosophy, in the variety of its phases, meets certain requirements of a growing mind; education, in whatever direction it may send out its rays of light, fills and illumines the nature of man, helping to make him what he was intended to become by his Creator. But all these forces and influences are lim

ited in their field of labor; they touch and can touch only a prescribed number of the faculties which man possesses. They answer a multitude of questions which are presented to the human mind for solution; they untangle many threads that are strangely knotted together. But, when they have done their best, after they have reached the utmost limit, have answered all the questions which they are capable of answering, there still remains a vast, unexplored realm of inquiry, which they do not and cannot penetrate.

Into this unseen realm of moral and spiritual life, Christianity takes the soul, and leads it onward and upward. At the point where every other teacher fails, with no key to the solution of life's mystery, Christianity comes forward, and with its revelation of God and immortality on the heavenward side, and its presentation of perfected manhood on the earthly side, it furnishes the answers which the inquiring soul most of all desires to know. After we have exhausted the resources of every other teacher, have listened to the vain and unsatisfactory attempts to solve the mighty problems of life that are daily becoming more serious, we turn our attention to this one great "Teacher sent from God," and say: "To whom shall we go, but to thee, for an answer to these profound and pressing questions? Thou alone, hast the words of eternal life."

In his recent article on the "Christian Religion" in the North American Review, Prof. Fisher makes the following just observations:

"Let a thoughtful man contemplate the prospects of inankind on the supposition that the Christian faith is to pass away. Civilization advances. Human science goes forward as far as it can in alleviating bodily pain. Provisions for living comfortably are multiplied in a degree at present incalculable and are diffused abroad. Knowledge increases more and more. Wars come to an end. Governments become equitable and beneficent. Mankind takes on a finer quality. Conceive that such a progress of mankind is possible, apart from the purifying and restraining influence of religion, an expectation for which neither human nature nor experience af

fords the slightest warrant - what then? Are men who are thus advanced in the intellectual scale and in the affections of the heart to be satisfied with a merely mundane existence? Can they content themselves to live in this way, with no wider horizon, and then to pass out of being? Will they find a sufficient stimulus to labor for their race in the mere hope of rendering the earth a more comfortable abode for tenants who in swift succession rise into being and sink into the grave, as flowers blossom and then next day fall from their stems? The further civilization advances were a sure advance practicable without the inspiration and safeguards of religion— the more intolerable human life would become. Man would be less happy than the animals. The brutes have no thoughts or imaginations above the necessities of the hour; but man, with a nature too large to be satisfied with earthly good, is cut off from anything higher. The dignity of life, and its joy not less, are gone when there are no ties connecting this brief existence with a world unseen."

It was for the sublime purpose of revealing to mankind those unseen ties which hold them to divine and immortal realities, that the world's Saviour lived, taught, suffered, died, and rose at length triumphant over death. By his teaching, his life, and his own glorious resurrection, he answers those deep and searching questions which are often pressed home to every earnest, thoughtful soul. "Whence came I?" "What should be the purpose of my life?" "And whither am I tending?" are the three solemn queries that confront intelligent beings at every turn in their earthly journey. Some give up these questions in despair, and declare that they are insoluble enigmas; others find partial relief in the revelations of science; and still more try to content themselves with stoical indifference concerning the whole matter. But only those who turn with full confidence to the words and experience of Jesus Christ, find a satisfactory solution of these perplexing problems. Accepting his words as authority; receiving his revelation as genuine and infallible truth; confiding in him as the human expression of God's glory, and the express image of the divine personality, the humble disciple of Jesus finds a condition of peace and rest which only such a faith can produce.