m one plane, and God hath concluded the
whole sinful world in unbelief.

The gospel, therefore, wastes no time in making distinctions between sins,
but aims straight at remedying the great fact of _sin_ as it exists
everywhere. Nor does it leave us in doubt as to its method. It assumes its
own power to purify anything, and therefore lays down as its great law of
operation, _the law of contact_.

This law it sets forth under a parable: The kingdom of heaven is like
leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the
whole was leavened. The great truth here illustrated, is the innate power
of the gospel to pervade and assimilate to its own nature the whole
worldly order of things, just as leaven thus pervades and assimilates the
lifeless lumps of dough. This then, is its simple lesson: Put the gospel
into contact with everything sinful--the heart of man, the life of man, the
employments of man, the amusements of man--into society, its customs, laws,
institutions, and it will purge them of evil, and bring them into harmony
with the Divine order.

But be sure and note, that the entire success of this action depends upon
the contact--upon _the putting the leaven into the lump_. Fail in this, and
the lump remains heavy. It matters very little whether the salt have lost
his savor or not, if the meat remain in one dish and the salt in the
other.

How thoroughly and beautifully this truth was carried out in the life and
teachings of Christ, will appear to us more clearly, if we shall recognize
the uniform policy of the gospel _to work for the destruction of evil,
chiefly through the lodgment and development of good_. Both Christ and his
apostles are exhibited in the gospel story as engaged chiefly in asserting
and illustrating the truth, and not in combating error. Christ comes into
a world lying in wickedness--besotted by it, plagued and tormented by it;
full of abominations starting boldly out without pretense of concealment,
from every phase of private, social and civil life. But he does not
approach these as a mechanic would an old building, saying, "this beam is
rotten and must come down; this roof is decayed and must be stripped off;
this floor is unsafe and must be pulled up." He does not propose to his
disciples to enter upon a wholesale denunciation of profanity and
licentiousness. He points out and condemns many of these things it is
true; but the main lever of his teaching is the assertion of the