nce moves up and down the shores calling men to
follow Him, and they are doing it. Another company of twelve is
forming. And what took place in Palestine nineteen centuries ago is
taking place again in our own day and under our own eyes."

I conclude by calling attention to the comprehensiveness of Christ's
authority. After His crucifixion and resurrection--in His last
conference with His followers--He announces His boldest claim to
power universal and perpetual (Matt. 28):

... _All_ power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore, and teach _all_ nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to
observe _all_ things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you _alway_, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Here is a Gospel intended for _every_ human being; here is a code of
morals that is to endure for _all time;_ here is a solution for _every_
problem that can vex a heart or perplex a world, and back of these is
_all power in Heaven and in Earth_.

The word _all_ is used four times in a few sentences. There is nothing
in reserve. We have the final word in religion--Jesus Christ for all,
and for all time--"The same yesterday, and to-day and forever."

IV

THE ORIGIN OF MAN

When the mainspring is broken a watch ceases to be useful as a
timekeeper. A handsome case may make it still an ornament and the parts
may have a market value, but it cannot serve the purpose of a watch.
There is that in each human life that corresponds to the mainspring of a
watch--that which is absolutely necessary if the life is to be what it
should be, a real life and not a mere existence. That necessary thing is
_a belief in God_. Religion is defined as the relation between God and
man, and Tolstoy has described morality as the outward expression of
this inward relationship.

If it be true, as I believe it is, that morality is dependent upon
religion, then religion is not only the most practical thing in the
world, but the first essential. Without religion, viz., a sense of
dependence upon God and reverence for Him, one can play a part in both
the physical and the intellectual world, but he cannot live up to the
possibilities which God has placed within the reach of each human being.

A belief in God is fundamental; upon it rest the influences that control
life.

First, the consciousness of God