had loved their children,
and children their parents; and friend had loved friend, but Christ
proclaimed a love as boundless as the sea.

Christ founded a religion and built a Church on love--on love, the
greatest force in the world. Love furnishes an armour which no weapon
can pierce. When physical warfare is forgotten, love will still call its
hosts to battle; the effort then will be, not to kill one another but to
excel in doing good.

Christ has been called "_visionary"_--that is a favourite word with
those who pride themselves upon being practical. But as a matter of
fact, one of the great virtues of Christ's teachings is that they are
_practical_. He deals with the every-day things of ordinary life and in
His quiet way irons out difficulties and makes rough paths smooth. His
philosophy is easily comprehended and readily applied. His words need no
interpretation; they are the words of the people, the language of the
masses. If He were a teacher of rhetoric He would surpass all other
teachers because the art of discourse reaches its maximum in His
sentences. The learned sometimes speak over the heads of their hearers,
using words that are unusual and long-drawn-out. Jesus talked to the
multitude and they not only understood Him but "_the common people heard
him gladly."_

Let me recall to your minds just a few illustrations of the simplicity
of His thought and language. Take, for instance, the supreme virtue,
love, upon which He always places emphasis. Note how He weaves it into
human experience.

"Therefore," He says (Matt. 5:23), "if thou bring thy gift to the
altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother."

Reconciliation is preferred to sacrifice. The gift upon the altar can
wait; but enmity between brothers must have attention at once. What
infinite woe and heartache will be prevented when this lesson is learned
and applied throughout the world. What untold blessings will be realized
when even among those who profess the name of Christ it is always
employed. A word spoken in anger has often cost a life because neither
party to the quarrel was big enough to obey the best promptings of the
heart and beg pardon. Families have been rent asunder; communities have
been divided; nations have gone to war, just because some one lacked
the spirit of the Saviour and refused the plain and