they are but for a moment, let him think more of the soul than of the body, let him do good to his fellow-men in order to make them sharers of his immortal hope, let him purify his love and friendship that they may be fit for the heavenly life.  Surely the man who does these things will be happy.  It will be with him as with Lazarus, in Robert Browning’s poem, “The Epistle of Karshish.”  Others will look at him with wonder and say: 

  “Whence has the man the balm that brightens all? 
  This grown man eyes the world now like a child.”

Yes, my brethren, this is the sure result of following out the doctrines of Christ in action, of living the truths that He teaches,—­a simple life, a childlike life, a happy life.  And this also the Church needs to-day, as well as a true revival of doctrine.

A revival of simplicity, a revival of sincerity, a revival of work:  this will restore unto us the joy of salvation.  And with the joy of salvation will come a renewal and expansion of power.

The inconsistency of Christians is the stronghold of unbelief.  The lack of vital joy in the Church is the chief cause of indifference in the world.  The feeble energy, the faltering and reluctant spirit, the weariness in well-doing with which too many believers impoverish and sadden their own hearts, make other men question the reality and value of religion and turn away from it in cool neglect.

What, then, is the duty of the Church?  What must she do to win the confidence of the world?  What is the best way for her to “prove her doctrine all divine”?

First, she must increase her labours in the love of men:  second, she must practice the simple life, deepening her trust in God.

Suppose that a fresh flood of energy, brave, cheerful, joyous energy, should be poured into all the forms of Christian work.  Suppose that Foreign Missions and Home Missions should no longer have to plead and beg for support, but that plenty of money should come flowing in to send out every missionary that wants to go, and that plenty of the strongest and best young men should dedicate their lives to the ministry of Christ, and that every household where His gospel is believed should find its highest honour and its greatest joy in helping to extend His kingdom.

And then suppose that the Christian life, in its daily manifestation, should come to be marked and known by simplicity and happiness.  Suppose that the followers of Jesus should really escape from bondage to the evil spirits of avarice and luxury which infect and torment so much of our complicated, tangled, artificial, modern life.  Suppose that instead of increasing their wants and their desires, instead of loading themselves down on life’s journey with so many bags and parcels and boxes of superfluous luggage and bric-a-brac that they are forced to sit down by the roadside and gasp for breath, instead of wearing themselves out in the dusty ways of ostentation and