Darwin’s teachings drag industry down to the brute level and excite a savage struggle for selfish advantage; the Bible presents the claims of an universal brotherhood in which men will unite their efforts in the spirit of friendship.

As hope deferred maketh the heart sick, so the doctrine of Darwin benumbs altruistic effort by prolonging indefinitely the time needed for reforms; the Bible assures us of the triumph of every righteous cause, reveals to the eye of faith the invisible hosts that fight on the side of Jehovah and proclaims the swift fulfillment of God’s decrees.

Darwinism puts God far away; the Bible brings God near and establishes the prayer-line of communication between the Heavenly Father and His children.

Darwinism enthrones selfishness; the Bible crowns love as the greatest force in the world.

Darwinism offers no reason for existence and presents no philosophy of life; the Bible explains why man is here and gives us a code of morals that fits into every human need.

The great need of the world to-day is to get back to God—­back to a real belief in a living God—­to a belief in God as Creator, Preserver and loving Heavenly Father.  When one believes in a personal God and considers himself a part of God’s plan he will be anxious to know God’s will and to do it, seeking direction through prayer and made obedient through faith.

Man was made in the Father’s image; he enters upon the stage, the climax of Jehovah’s plan.  He is superior to the beasts of the field, greater than any other created thing—­but a little lower than the angels.  God made him for a purpose, placed before him infinite possibilities and revealed to him responsibilities commensurate with the possibilities.  God beckons man upward and the Bible points the way; man can obey and travel toward perfection by the path that Christ revealed, or man can disobey and fall to a level lower, in some respects, than that of the brutes about him.  Looking heavenward man can find inspiration in his lineage; looking about him he is impelled to kindness by a sense of kinship which binds him to his brothers.  Mighty problems demand his attention; a world’s destiny is to be determined by him.  What time has he to waste in hunting for “missing links” or in searching for resemblances between his forefathers and the ape?  In His Image—­in this sign we conquer.

We are not progeny of the brute; we have not been forced upward by a blind pushing-power; neither have we tumbled upward by chance.  It is a drawing-power—­not a pushing-power—­that rules the world—­a power which finds its highest expression in Christ who promised:  “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

V

THE LARGER LIFE

I have chosen this subject because I have found some young men, and even some young women, who seem to misunderstand the invitation extended by the Master.  The call of the Gospel falls, at times, upon deaf ears because religion is regarded as a thing that is necessary only when one comes to prepare himself for the life beyond.  In earlier times many Christians misinterpreted the Christian religion and, withdrawing themselves from companionship with their fellows, devoted their time wholly to preparation of themselves for heaven. Christ went about doing good.