If the Christian religion does not become that practical force in human life which we here claim it is capable of becoming, certainly the fault is not with the religion. If the sun, which is capable of furnishing light to every creature upon the globe, fails to reach a few that are confined within opaque walls which his rays were never intended to penetrate, then the fault is not with the sun, that those creatures are not blessed by his cheering presence. The barrier which prevents his light from touching them must be removed, or they must come out of the dungeon which hides them from his dazzling face, if they would enjoy the glow and warmth which he is ever ready to bestow upon all who will receive it. Christianity is the sun of the moral world. It shines for all. It is capable of illuminating all moral natures. But it has not yet reached all, nor even one, to the extent of which it is capable. Barriers and obstacles stand in the way of its complete triumph in the mortal life of even a single individual, excepting in him who was its author and founder. These obstacles, however, are only allowed to remain because man does not choose to remove them. They can all be scattered to the four winds of heaven, if he but wills that it shall be so. Christ's truth and spirit are ready to come and take possession of every man; his light of life is waiting to light all souls; and as rapidly as man will permit the advance, this light will come and take up its abode within him.

Two

One of the chief obstacles that still hinders the growth of practical Christianity in the world, is a misconception which prevails concerning its power over the life of man. opposite and equally fatal errors have long held sway over men's minds, as to what the Christian religion can do, and what it is expected to do for man. The first of these errors has produced a class of fanatics, styling themselves "Perfec tionists." The substance of their belief is, that the power of Christ's spirit is so great over those who receive it in full measure, that it completely and radically changes their entire moral natures; lifting them forever out of all sin, and placing them beyond all desire to sin; putting them in a state of per6

NEW SERIES. VOL. XXI.

petual grace, where the lusts of the flesh and the evil influences of the world can have no more dominion over them. A clergyman once told the writer that he had not committed a sin for several years, and furthermore, that he believed that he could not commit another sin, because his sinful nature had been taken away from him. This claim has been made by many, who have egotistically proclaimed themselves as perfect." Now, all such assumptions as these are a hindrance to the advance of Christian truth, for two reasons: 1. Because this claim of "perfection " through the regenerating power of Christ's spirit finds no justification in actual experience. Those who best know these "perfectionists," are aware that they do not prove their doctrine by their lives. Their conduct gives the lie to all such pretentions. 2. Because this is making a claim for the Christian religion, which Christ himself never made for it, and which none of his immediate followers ever made. The injunction "Be ye therefore perfect," did not imply even a supposition that perfection could be attained at short notice, or even that it could be fully realized in a lifetime. Paul, who was the great expounder of the Gospel, and who evidently comprehended its philosophy better than any teacher who followed Christ, never discovered that absolute human perfection in the flesh would follow the reception of the Gospel into men's hearts. His own life, we are informed through his epistles, was a perpetual struggle between the fleshly and the spiritual natures; and so closely did he apply his reason to his own experience, that he said he had discovered a "law of the mind " which prompted him always to do good, but that there was "another law in his members" that was in continual warfare with the soul; and we do not learn from his language that he ever thought himself free from that conflict, during life. In his letter to the Philippians he sums up the whole matter, so far as his own experience was concerned, when he says, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not

myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

As a natural outgrowth of this error concerning Christianity which we have been considering, another mistaken view has become quite prevalent in certain quarters, which may be thus formulated:

Because the Christian religion does not produce perfection in its believers, therefore it is false, or at least, a failure. Because it does not free men completely from the influences of evil; because it does not take away all desire to sin; because its believers do not become angels in their nature, while in the flesh, therefore it cannot be relied upon as the true religion.

Let us consider, in as few words as possible, what Christianity proposes to do for man, and how it proposes to do it. So far as the final consummation is concerned, there is no doubt that the working of the Gospel will result in the perfection of humanity. But that must come in the "dispensation of the fulness of time." Here and now it works only in a partial sense toward making men perfect. It succeeds in reaching this result here, only in proportion as human character and life are lifted out of sin; in the ratio that evil is overcome of good in individual lives. This work of regeneration, however, does not result in removing a single faculty or passion of man's being; the nature which God gave man in the beginning, is not taken away; man is not at once lifted out of the presence of evil, neither is he brought suddenly into a state of holiness. But, in the presence of evil it gives him power to overcome it; confronted by temptation, it furnishes him with sufficient strength to resist it. In the conflict with passions and appetites that threaten to enslave and consume, it gives man the victory, and enables him to trample all moral enemies beneath his feet. Filled with its spirit, he can say with the Apostle, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."

It is a marked peculiarity of the Christian system of salva

tion, that it does not ignore the difficulties in the way; it does not overlook the hard, stern facts of life. To its believers and followers, it promises no easily won achievement; no Eden of perpetual bliss, only as it is earned by toil and struggle. It does not come in the likeness of an angel, who says to us: "But follow me, and I will lead you in a pathway strewn with roses. You will need no protection for your feet, for there are no thorns in that way. You shall never more know any care or sorrow. No enemies to your higher nature will there molest you. I will remove from your way all difficulties, all obstacles. Evil, with all his agencies of death, shall no more molest you, for I will take you in a way unknown to it."

Take

Christianity promises to do nothing of this kind for us. How, then, does it address us, concerning our life in the flesh? It comes in the form of a sturdy soldier, clad in the armor of perpetual warfare; and in trumpet tones it says: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all take the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Christianity furnishes us with this armor for the spiritual warfare, and gives us strength to overcome the evil in the world. It does not destroy the enemies of the moral nature, but it gives us power to conquer them. It lifts no burdens from our backs, but it gives us the strength to throw them off, or gracefully to bear them. The thorn of trouble may not be removed, it may continue to molest and annoy; and yet, it becomes easier to bear, and is even turned to a messenger of good, where the Christ spirit rules in the heart.

Christianity does not promise to give man that which he

already possesses; it adds nothing to his stock of talents; it confers upon him no new faculty. But it furnishes the motive power by which the talents he already holds are called into active service, and are directed toward the highest and noblest ends. It does not lift him, bodily, into a state of freedom from sinful passions and desires; but it so stimulates and quikens the soul-powers, that he rises into a clearer light, and sees himself as he really is; sin and evil are revealed in their true nature, and virtue and goodness are set before him as the things most to be desired.

Christianity does not profess to abolish natural death. To its most devoted disciple it does not promise perpetual life upon the earth, nor an escape into the unknown future through any other door than that which God has ordained for all mortals in the death of the body. The dissolution of all earthly ties comes to saint as truly as to sinner. Death invades the home circle of the pure and noble, the same as that of the vicious and wicked. Like the rain and the sunshine, it falls in equal measure upon the just and the unjust; upon the evil and the good. As upon the field of battle, the bullets and shells make no discrimination between good or bad, rich or poor, high or humble; so there is no discrimination between Christian or Pagan; Jew or Gentile; Greek or Barbarian; when death sends forth his missiles, all fare alike; all are equally subject to his power. Whether one be a Christian, a Jew, a Pagan, or an atheist, it matters not: death shows him no favors. With impartial hand he levels all to common dust.

What advantage, then, has the Christian, in the presence of his own beloved dead, or when he himself stands face to face with death? What does his faith do for him in this soul-trying season! It gives him the victory over death and all its terrors! It explains to him the philosophy of death, -- what it is, and all it is. It reveals to him the great truth that death as well as life, is a part of God's great plan; that death has no power over the immortal soul; that when he has done his worst and his best, he cannot touch nor harm man himself. All