s authority, ignores His Lordship. The man who
deliberately refuses to do what Christ directs, ignores the authority
of his Lord, and dethrones the Son of the living God. Yet how much of
this do we see among men! Not only in the world, but in the church as
well. It seems strange that one should make a profession of the
religion of Christ, and yet thus ignore His Lordship. The authority of
Jesus against a life of indifference in the church, of non-attendance,
of want of cooperation in the work of the Lord, against carnality,
pleasure-loving, worldliness, the lusts of the flesh, want of
spirituality, and such like, is as direct and positive as that against
rejecting the gospel of Christ; and yet how many church members, all
over our land, are disregarding the authority of Jesus in these
matters. Those who make a profession of religion and live in the church
without continuing to honor the Lord Jesus by regarding His authority
and complying with His will, would better have never known the way of
life. The authority of Jesus follows us to the grave, and is never
relaxed for a day. His will, not ours, is to rule in our life. Our
desires, however strong, are to be subordinated to the mind of Him who
gave His life for ours, and said, "all authority in heaven and on earth
is given unto me."

It is the height of inconsistency, therefore, to exalt the name of
Jesus in words and professions, and speak lightly of, or disregard any
one of His appointments. It is not only inconsistent; it is disloyal
and wicked. This is the great stumbling-block in our way to the
indorsement of Mr. Moody and such men. We care not what else he may be,
we can indorse no man who tears in two the commission of Jesus Christ.
He who refuses to "speak as the oracles of God speak," in order to
promote his work, is not doing the work that God would have him do. We
can not honor Christ without honoring His teaching, and we can not
honor His teaching by withholding a part of it from those inquiring the
way of eternal life. We can honor Jesus as the Son of God only by
declaring His whole counsel, and yielding submissively in all things to
His divine authority.

This acceptance of Jesus as an infallible teacher, as one whose every
word is to be believed simply because He said it, and whose every
direction is to be observed simply because He directs it, whose spirit
is to be possessed and cultivated to the transforming of the life, till
we grow into the divine i