holiness is attractive. Christian worship should also be made inviting by its very heartiness and cheerfulness, so as to draw men, and win them to Christ. So to conduct the services of the sanctuary as to make them dull, and tolerable to the stupid only, is a wicked perversion of religion. That may do for dyspeptic religion; the healthy kind is different. Yet, there are well-meaning persons who associate dullness with true devotion, and cheerfulness with worldliness. It is self-evident that the joy in Christian worship must be in harmony with solemnity, and must be spiritual. There are indications that the time for associating gloom and sombreness with devoutness is past. Christian joy is receiving more recognition than formerly. Even our Protestant churches are losing their barren and cheerless aspect, and are made more ornamental. It is now admitted that æsthetics and religion may go hand in hand. Our churches are frescoed; there are pulpit frescoes which are intended to be pictures of real or imaginary objects, and sometimes they are successful; inscriptions and pictures representing Bible scenes adorn the windows; and flowers grace the pulpit. And this is the case even in Calvinistic churches, where they would be least expected. Our Protestant churches may yet rival those of the Roman Catholics in pictures and other adornments. All this is an evidence that there is a strong tendency to make religion more cheerful. Unless this tendency runs into worldly cheerfulness or mere formalism it must be beneficial. And the joyful Christian in society, having the mind of Christ and being guided by his Gospel, is all the better a representative of the Christian religion because of his joy.

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To be true to the cause he represents, the Christian must not degrade the truth. This rule may at first seem of but little importance, but reflection will show how weighty and far-reaching it is. There are sermons and Sabbath-school addresses, as well as other talks on religious occasions, which actually degrade the truth of God. To make the truth effective, it must be adapted to the capacity of the hearers; but this does not imply that it must be adapted to their base views and prejudices. It should be adapted to the needs of the most wicked even, but not to their desires. The aim of the adaptation should be the exaltation of the hearers. If presented in an abstract form and in technical language, it may be powerless. Jesus, by his example, strikingly teaches the true method of adapting the truth to men. By means of parables and familiar figures, he makes plain and effective the instruction which might otherwise have been powerless. By his example, he also teaches us another lesson, and that is, never to degrade the truth by presenting it in a manner unworthy of that truth. His illustrations are worthy of himself and of his subjects. They are taken, as a rule, from the common affairs and familiar things of daily life; but they are used to illustrate divine truth, and are free from all that degrades or even suggests the low and the vulgar. He respects the truth of the Father and maintains its divine dignity. His sacred rhetoric is the gold in which the pearls of truth are set.

Judging from the manner in which the truth is sometimes presented, it seems to be the sole aim to adapt it to the hearers, while its own claims are disregarded. The Gospel is, indeed, intended for the

lowly, and it is its glory that it saves the lost. It must not, however, be the final aim of the Christian to adapt it to men; but it should be adapted to them for the sake of adapting them to the truth. It lets itself down to them, for the purpose of exalting them to its own sublime height. But if the truth itself is

degraded, how can it exalt men?

The dignity here advocated is that of the Gospel itself, and of a heart in harmony with the truth. An affected solemnity in society and a stilted dignity serve only to repel persons and to breed contempt.

There are occasions when silence is more becoming than the strongest words in defence of the truth. "Jesus held his peace" when witnesses were suborned against him, and when all the parties knew, or might have known, that the charges against him were false. Matt. 26 63: "And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered to him never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." The cause of truth demanded no reply to such accusations as were brought against him. Indeed, to reply to them was unworthy of him, and would have effected nothing. There may be charges against religion which those who make them know to be false, and which the Christian need not stoop to answer. They deserve the rebuke of silent contempt. There are those who are only made worse by the truth, and who degrade it when offered. In the presence of such, Christ's words should be remembered: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under

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their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matt. 7:6). No effort must be made to force the Gospel on such, or on others who will not receive it. "Whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet" (Matt. 10: 14).

Some who are actuated by a mistaken zeal speak of sacred things at the most inopportune times, and injure the very cause they want to promote. They do not understand the fitness of things, spoken of above. It is no apology, that all the Christian has to do is to speak the truth and leave the result with God. It requires great discrimination to know just when to speak and what to say, in order to represent in the best manner Christ's religion. Words spoken at an inopportune moment may repel instead of attracting. "Let all things be done decently and in order."

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SECOND DIVISION.

CHAPTER XIV.

CHRISTIAN LOVE IN ITS APPLICATION TO OTHERS, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR CHARACTER.

WHILE the believer owes special duties to other believers, and also to non-believers, there are general social duties which he owes to all men, whatever their character may be. Whenever he enters society, these duties are obligatory on him, since he owes them equally to the converted and the unconverted. The believer will frequently find himself in mixed society, where both classes are represented, in which case it may be difficult for him to perform any special duties which he owes to each class.

What social relations may the Christian sustain? The answer to this question will make the social duties of the Christian more plain. The following schedule is believed to contain a complete classification of all the possible social relations of the Christian :

1. The family, including husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and more distant relatives; also other members of the household, such as persons who are received into the family as members of it, and servants. The whole household is thus