out of that larger knowledge of men with which Jesus was endowed for his mission. They were not selected for what they were at the time when they were called, but for what they would become under his teaching and their association with him. And from this point of view the common description, that they were poor fishermen and in nowise distinguished from their every-day companions, is misleading. We cannot think of them except, in the words of the early Church, as "the glorious company of the apostles," in every way worthy of the high commission which sent them forth in due time to preach the Gospel unto all people.

An itinerary of Galilee, during which Jesus was teaching the people and working miracles of healing, revealed to them not only his possession of unique power, but that he stood in a new relation to those who were drawn to his ministry; drawn perhaps more on account of the wonderful cures which he wrought than by the doctrine which he taught. But his miracles are only rightly understood when they are regarded as exhibitions of a divine tenderness for suffering humanity. The simple record is, that he had compassion on the people; to his vision they were as sheep without a shepherd-the prey of evil influences against which they had no power to contend in their own strength. The attitude of the Scribes and the Pharisees was that of a select few who deemed themselves favored of God for their legal righteousness and superior intelligence. These self-constituted guides were blind leaders of the blind, ignorant of the deeper meaning of the law of which they professed to be the only accredited teachers. No people had ever been taught a more comprehensive charity and fellowship than the children of Israel, yet the higher classes cherished unconcealed contempt for the poor and ignorant. Their self-righteousness and ritualistic exactions kept the people at a distance. But Jesus was approachable; his words and spirit alike invited confidence. What a beautiful illustration of this we have in the incident of the mothers' soliciting his blessing on their children, which even to his disciples seemed an extraordinary presumption. How gracious the interference in behalf of the mothers and the children in those words-among the most precious that ever fell from his lips-which have become the inspiration of poet and painter.

No more attractive teacher ever solicited public attention, and he became at once the man of the people. He spoke with an authority which distinguished him from all the teachers they had been accustomed to hear. The parables which he used as the best means for the conveyance of the truth are hardly less noteworthy than the miracles which he wrought. He did not pander to the common weaknesses of men, nor excite them by promises of material advantage. From the first his doctrine of self-denial was such as only one who has caught something of his Spirit and a glimpse of the heavenly life could be induced to practice. Not the enthusiasm which secures followers to earthly enterprises drew the people into his fellowship. His disciples were, indeed, unable to free themselves of the current conception of the nation, that the Messiah would restore the theocracy which God had designed for them from the beginning, and that they should share his glory; but when they knew better their loyalty and zeal suffered no change, so sure were they that he was under divine guidance. He impressed his hearers with the conviction that the true life is one which has its connections beyond this earthly sphere, an eternal life which is the product of faith and righteousness-perfect devotion to God and humanity. According to his view life offers great opportunities and devolves on men great responsibilities. Ile who gathers only this world's wealth, and is not rich toward God by careful stewardship of the trust which the possession of wealth imposes, is pre-eminently a "fool."

But that which chiefly marked his intercourse with the people was that he seemed to see in every human being the possibilities of a better life and the attainment of a full tide of the divine blessings. What he craved for men, and that with which he aimed to invest them, was pardon of and freedom from sin, communion with the Father, by the indwelling Spirit, and an atmosphere of love and brotherhood. He would have every one mount to the heights of holiness and reach the perfection of faith and love. That his words and spirit were an inspiration to holier living may be gathered from particular incidents held in memory by those who were with him. Those upon

whom the most loathsome disease had taken hold, who were thought to be under punishment for sin, and were shut out of the common fellowship of the people and the sanctuary, sought

his aid with confidence, and went away cleansed. While the multitude failed to discern his divine character and appreciate the desire of his heart to make them the children of the Most High, there certainly grew up about him a company whose trust in him was unbounded, and who regarded him as one sent of God, although they were not able to take in the full meaning of his mission.

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The doctrine of Jesus is not found in the form of a treatise on theology, but is to be gathered out of the body of his public and private teaching preserved for us in the gospels. The Sermon on the Mount may be considered the inspiration of the principles of spiritual religion, which it is hardly too much to had been lost out of the world. A notable characteristic of it is that it was strictly spiritual, not even establishing ecclesiastical forms for its visible life. It was in startling contrast with the teaching and practice of the religious leaders of his day. The first object of this divine Teacher is the production of character which shall stand the inspection of the day when God shall judge the world. He portrayed in clearest outline the ideal child of God, who has learned to seek first of all the kingdom of heaven, and who has no other will than that of the heavenly Father. The children of the kingdom are meek and loving in spirit, merciful and forgiving, pure of heart, and they hunger and thirst after righteousness. Their worship and alms-giving are not for the praise of men. These shall obtain true happiness-they shall see God. God is pledged that they shall lack nothing for the soul's welfare. No doubt it seems at first thought that such discipleship was beyond the reach of the multitude; but, then and ever since, when the soul becomes intent on doing the divine will it accepts no lower standard than Jesus instituted.

But that which touched the heart of the people as he taught the multitudes, and which finds larger acceptance in each succeeding generation, is that he gave new significance to the conception of the Fatherhood of God, by representing himself as having come from the heavenly habitations to seek and save the lost. God is indeed high and lifted up above men, but he can be no longer looked upon as their enemy, He delights to bestow benefit and blessing without stint upon his children who repent and return to him; even the angels in heaven.

rejoice over the repentant sinner. God, according to this larger conception, sends out his messengers into the highways and hedges and pleads with those who had no thought that they were under his special care. He is so concerned for each member of the flock that if one shall go astray the shepherd has no rest until the wanderer is found and returned to the fold. In the parables of the prodigal son and of the Pharisee and the publican, we learn how ready the heavenly Father is to forgive and adopt into his family all repenting souls clothed with reverent humility. And when men have returned to God they begin to draw near to each other; the establishing of right relations between God and men means the establishing of right relations between men as the members of a universal brotherhood. He gave the world to understand that men are far from each other because they are far from God. The law which gives strength and unity to the kingdom, regulating its life, is his command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself." The constant aim is the production of a new spiritual nature which will bear fruit unto eternal life. The way is opened into heaven, and eternal blessedness is no longer a dream of the religious enthusiast. So great is his love for those who love him, that, having redeemed them with his own precious blood, he goes to prepare a place for them where they shall forever abide with him.

In all this exposition of the kingdom of heaven Jesus makes the central figure. It is impossible to resist the impression of his personality, or to consider the teaching independent of the Teacher. Of his disciples the only thing that can be confidently affirmed is that they believed on him. He declares to them that he has come from the Father; that he that hath seen him hath seen the Father. He fully centers on himself their faith, saying: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Toward the close of his ministry this teaching becomes still more personal. At last came the full announcement from the lips of Peter: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." From this time he began to teach to his wondering disciples that his death would be of infinite benefit to the world; his personality is to attain new value by the greatest of all sacri

fices, laying down his life for his enemies; his death is to become the effective instrument in the salvation of men. By his lifting up upon the cross he is to draw all men unto him.

This completes our outline. It is not our purpose to describe the scenes of his passion, the agony of the garden, the humiliation of his trial and condemnation, the ignominy of the cross, the glory of the resurrection, and the return to his heavenly throne. These are simply confirmatory of all that he had taught, and for the confirmation of the disciples. At his command they went forth preaching his Gospel, not doubting that they had entered on the conquest of the world. They preached every-where that Christ is the Son of God, crucified and risen, in whom there is deliverance from sin and eternal life. They came at once in contact with the ritualism of the Jew, the carnal life and worldliness and cultivated intellect of paganism, but they were true to their calling. There began to be a new society among men, made up of believers in Jesus, known by moral and spiritual characteristics new to the people among whom the Gospel won its first victories. God was with men as never before in the world's history. Slowly at the beginning, but surely and with rapidly increasing pace, the heralds of the cross made their way, infusing a new life into pagan society. They met the persecutions of the State and the old religions with spiritual weapons only, creating a new world, in which purity and righteousness, love to God and man, were recognized as the elements of a higher life than the philosophers had taught.

This new civilization, which transformed the nations then falling into decay for lack of moral power, we call Christianity. It is the product of faith in Jesus. We cannot separate it from his teaching and his personality. No other movement among men can be traced with equal certainty. It was light out of darkness, purity out of moral degradation, life where death was gaining the mastery. It glorified whatever it touched. Men and women of every rank acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth as their Lord and Master, attesting their faith with the joyful sacrifice of all things, even of life when demanded. It found its way into palaces, and all too soon the State acknowledged its power and made the Church serve the purposes of human ambition. Only those nations that have