our, if a man will only bring about a
full reunion of himself with the source of the savour.

Dear brethren, the message is to each of us; the same pleading words,
which the Apocalyptic seer heard from Heaven, come to you and me:
'Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do
the first works.' And all the savour and the sweetness that flow from
fellowship with Jesus Christ will come back to us in larger measure than
ever, if we will come back to the Lord. Repentance and returning will
bring back the saltness to the salt, and the brilliancy to the light.

IV. But one last word warns us what is the certain end of the saltless
salt.

As the other Evangelist puts it: 'It is neither good for the land nor
for the dunghill.' You cannot put it upon the soil; there is no
fertilising virtue in it. You cannot even fling it into the
rubbish-heap; it will do mischief there. Pitch it out into the road; it
will stop a cranny somewhere between the stones when once it is well
trodden down by men's heels. That is all it is fit for. God has no use
for it, man has no use for it. If it has failed in doing the only thing
it was created for, it has failed altogether. Like a knife that will not
cut, or a lamp that will not burn, which may have a beautiful handle, or
a beautiful stem, and may be highly artistic and decorated; but the
question is, Does it cut, does it burn? If not, it is a failure
altogether, and in this world there is no room for failures. The poorest
living thing of the lowest type will jostle the dead thing out of the
way. And so, for the salt that has lost its savour, there is only one
thing to be done with it--cast it out, and tread it under foot.

Yes; where are the Churches of Asia Minor, the patriarchates of
Alexandria, of Antioch, of Constantinople; the whole of that early
Syrian, Palestinian Christianity: where are they? Where is the Church of
North Africa, the Church of Augustine? 'Trodden under foot of men!' Over
the archway of a mosque in Damascus you can read the half-obliterated
inscription--'Thy Kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting Kingdom,' and
above it--'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is His prophet!' The
salt has lost his savour, and been cast out.

And does any one believe that the Churches of Christendom are eternal in
their present shape? I see everywhere the signs of disintegration in the
existing embodiments and organisations that set forth Christian life.
And I am sure