t of
empire as a common religion. If we desire to make these subject peoples
loyal fellow-subjects, we must make them true fellow-worshippers. The
missionary holds India for England far more strongly than the soldier
does. If we apply Christian principles to our administration of our
Empire, then instead of its being knit together by iron bands, it will
be laced together by the intertwining tendrils of the hearts of those
who are possessors of 'like precious faith.' Brethren, there is another
saying in the Old Testament, about the dew. 'I will be as the dew unto
Israel,' says God through the Prophet. We must have Him as the dew for
our own souls first. Then only shall we be able to discharge the office
laid upon us, to be in the midst of many peoples as 'dew from the Lord.'
If our fleece is wet and we leave the ground dry, our fleece will soon
be dry, though the ground may be bedewed.

GOD'S REQUIREMENTS AND GOD'S GIFT

'What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?'--MICAH vi. 8.

This is the Prophet's answer to a question which he puts into the mouth
of his hearers. They had the superstitious estimate of the worth of
sacrifice, which conceives that the external offering is pleasing to
God, and can satisfy for sin. Micah, like his great contemporary Isaiah,
and the most of the prophets, wages war against that misconception of
sacrifice, but does not thereby protest against its use. To suppose that
he does so is to misunderstand his whole argument. Another misuse of the
words of my text is by no means uncommon to-day. One has heard people
say, 'We are plain men; we do not understand your theological
subtleties; we do not quite see what you mean by "Repentance toward God,
and faith in Jesus Christ." "To do justly, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with my God," that is my religion, and I leave all the rest
to you.' That is our religion too, but notice that word 'require.' It is
a harsh word, and if it is the last word to be said about God's relation
to men, then a great shadow has fallen upon life.

But there is another word which Micah but dimly caught uttered amidst
the thunders of Sinai, and which you and I have heard far more clearly.
The Prophet read off rightly God's _requirements_, but he had not
anything to say about God's _gifts_. So his word is a half-truth, and
the more clearly it is seen, and the more earnestly a man tries to live