the soul says, "Lord, I believe; I accept thee and thy salvation," it meets the test God has imposed upon it as truly as Adam would have met the test if he had not taken the forbidden fruit. It complies with the conditions of salvation as truly as the chosen people would have complied if they had kept all the commandments. At the same time it knows that salvation is not of right or by its own power, but of God, who loved it and chose it, and inclined it, and gave it power to believe and lay hold of the hope set before it in the Gospel.

Christians have reason to rejoice that salvation is by grace. If it were solely by faith or by any act of their own, or by any mental state, they might be troubled; but if it is by grace, they are safe. Their faith might waver or fail, but God changes not, and his purposes never fail. "Where is boasting then?" "It is excluded" "by the law of faith." Humility follows faith as naturally as a flower comes from the seed. Where is neglect or sinful indulgence or indifference to the salvation of others? All are excluded by the same law of faith. Saved by grace, we are to grow in grace and to make known to others the riches of this grace.

A PERSONAL SAVIOR.

The Gospel is the proclamation, not of a system of philosophy nor even of a moral code, but of a personal Savior. Many messiahs have spoken to humanity and many systems of religion and philosophy have offered relief from the ills of life and hope for the future; but the Gospel differs from all these. It is the announcement of a person. It is comprehended in a name. Philip, in dealing with the Ethiopian eunuch, "preached to him Jesus." Peter declared, "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved; "and Paul, looking to the future, announced that every knee in heaven and earth shall bow to Christ and every tongue confess him Lord.

The whole Gospel is comprehended in the name of Christ. We preach not only his words and what he did, but him. We call upon men to accept not only his precepts, but him. Other leaders have taught truth; He is the truth. Others have pointed

out ways; He is the

way and the life.

Others have demanded obedience; He de

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mands love. Others have offered rewards; He gives himself. Others have lived and

taught and left maxims and rules for their disciples; He is with his people always, a Savior, teacher, comforter, helper and friend.

The most important truths may sometimes be the starting points of error, and just here there is a possibility of such departure. We emphasize the personal element in the Gospel message. Let us not at the same time discredit the doctrines of him we honor. Let us draw no contrasts between Christ and creed. He who preaches Christ, preaches his doctrines, and he who denies his doctrines, denies him.

In preaching Christ one must preach his deity. He was from everlasting. "Before the world was he was," and "being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God." Men have been known to cry out against the doctrine of the Trinity, of Christ's oneness with the Father, while in the same breath pleading his claims as a great and wise teacher and helper of men; but this is not the Scriptural method. The message which is to save the world is the Gospel of a divine Savior-of "Immanuel," God with us. He who preaches Christ,

preaches both his deity and humanity. He is "God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever."

The incarnation is part of the doctrine of Christ. So is the vicarious atonement. He who fails to tell what Christ did on Calvary does not truly preach him. "He was wounded for our transgressions." "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

So the preaching of Christ includes the doctrines he taught. It includes his resurrection, and his testimony as to the Scriptures, and as to himself and the Spirit and the Father. It includes also his commands as to faith, diligence, purity, helpfulness and holiness.

They who contrast the strong doctrines of God's Word with the simplicity of Christ really turn away from him. His Gospel is in one sense simple, but in another mysterious. "God manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, believed on in the world, received up into glory." The incarnation and atonement are things at which angels wonder. The Gospel is simple in so far as the duty it requires of us is concerned the duty to love, trust, serve and imitate Christ; but in itself it is the mystery of mysteries.

FEAR AND LOVE.

Natural religion begins in fear. Its worship is the effort to propitiate an angry deity. Creation teaches man that there is a God, and that he is powerful; and providence that he is just and will punish sin. Man dreads the judgments of God. He fears pestilence and loss of property, and other ills, and strives by sacrifices to divert them and gain favor. A tremolo of pervasive uncertainty and fear distinguishes all heathen theologies. Gods are worshiped not because they are worthy of worship, but because the worshipers are afraid of them. God's people of old felt the influence of this heathen error. They did not rise to a true conception of the revelation given through Moses and the prophets. They strove to keep the letter of the law, with no thought of its spirit. Christ showed them that love is better than formal obedience, and even than sacrifices; that "God is love," and that "love is the fulfillment of the law."

This was not a new doctrine, for it was taught in their Scriptures, and that they

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