and heart, because all fulness dwells in him and he himself is ours. He is all in all. He includes all nature, all truth, all beauty, all art. He is the impelling force in the education and civilization of the race. History is the record of his administration. Industrial progress and political reform are forward steps in his moralizing of mankind. And these activities of Christ throw light upon his gospel and give new dignity to his kingdom. He aims at a redeemed society, as well as a redeemed church. He would not merely rescue here and there an individual from the slough of sin, but he would drain the slough so that others may not fall into it. Christ is equal to all these needs, and he will make us equal to them. He will make us broad as the world, broad as the heart of humanity, broad as the future that stretches away before his church.

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." That is a large program for the Christian minister, but not too large, since he has Christ's two books of nature and Scripture to instruct him, and the Holy Spirit of truth to take of the things of Christ in both and interpret them to him. I would not have you think that I advise you to be politicians or journalists or school commissioners, side by side with your work in the pulpit and in the pastorate. But I would have you in touch with all progress and reform, with all literature and science, with all classes and conditions of men,

and all as a means of magnifying Christ and of showing the universal and endless reach of his saving truth.

There is a broad church spirit, so called, which the Christian minister should antagonize and oppose. It is the spirit that thinks so much of other religions that it despises the evangelical faith. It thinks so highly of man in his natural state that it sees no need of Christ and his Cross. It has no doctrine of sin, and so has no doctrine of salvation. The breadth to

which I exhort you is a different breadth from this. Not the divinity of man, but the divinity of Christ, should be your theme. If you believe in that Christ to whom all power in heaven and earth is given, who is the life of nature and the ruler of the nations, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and whose church is the fulness of him that filleth all in all, you will be broad enough. His Spirit will keep you from the breadth that is only a name for false liberalism, and will preserve you from scattering your powers, even while you ceaselessly endeavor to set forth to men the infinite variety of his truth and grace.

There is no use of inveighing against the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites. They have no friends, and denunciations of their sins will be a waste of strength. But to meet the evils of the present time and to apply the gospel to them, this is our labor and call. You are to rise above Pharisaic restrictions and Sadducean rationalism, and to represent the large-mindedness and sympathy and joy of Jesus. Let your preaching be evangelistic; aim first to bring men to Christ. But let your preaching

be also educational; aim to make men perfect in Christ. All truth is your province. You have unlimited opportunities of self-development. Be broad yourselves, in order that you may broaden others. There is nothing that honors Christ so much as a noble manhood given to his service. The demand for breadth in the ministry is imperative. The provision for breadth is all that we could ask. Through the knowledge of the Son of God let us strive to attain ourselves, and let us incite others to attain, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

I hardly need say to you that this will be impossible unless you accustom yourselves to look upon the things of sense and time sub specie eternitatis; from the point of view of the future life and of the judgment-day. Things that are near assume disproportionate importance. We need to look down upon them from a height in order to estimate them rightly. Other-worldliness is necessary in order to make life in this world normal. Eternity furnishes the лov σr from which to move the things of time. Thank God, this same Christ, of whom I have so often spoken, gives us the proper point of view, for he is the same yesterday and to-day and forever, and his wisdom can make us broad.

My theme seems peculiarly appropriate to this class and to this time. You have come from widely separated places. You are soon to be scattered to the ends of the earth. The missionary zeal which you have shown in your past work and in your choice of fields of labor is evidence that this idea of breadth has

taken root in your minds.

Remember now that it is

breadth only in Christ,-not the breadth of godless ease and self-seeking, but the breadth of holy living and of loving service. Though you may be sundered by the whole diameter of the globe, you will still in spirit be drawing closer to one another, as you get nearer to Christ, the all-encompassing and ever-living Lord. You go out with our prayers and our blessings. We expect great things of you, because we believe that you will preach Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him you will be made full.

1905

MADE UNTO US WISDOM

BRETHREN OF THE GRADUATING CLASS: One of the best signs of mental progress is that we come to recognize our own ignorance. It would not be wonderful if this day of your graduation from the theological seminary should be the day of all days when you feel most keenly the insufficiency of your equipment for the ministry. You are to venture upon an unknown sea, with but little experience of navigation. Youth and hope are good allies, but you need something more. I would fain say a parting word of cheer, and that, something more substantial than the customary bon voyage. Fortunately, my word is also a word of God-a word with which the Apostle Paul used to

comfort his soul. It is this: Christ is made unto us wisdom.

The old theologians talked of prevenient grace, and quoted the psalm: "The God of my mercy shall prevent, or go before, me." But they never knew how greatly Christ's wisdom antedates ours. "The Light that lighteth every man" is the creative source of all our mental life, and our reasoning processes are valid only as a higher Reason operates in them. You look back upon your past history and you see that little events had an influence in shaping your career which you never suspected at the time when they occurred. You were debating the question whether you would go to college, the chance word of a friend determined your decision. Like the king of Babylon, you stood at the parting of the ways between good and evil,-a sermon from some revival preacher led you to give your heart to God. Should you serve God in some secular calling, or should you devote yourself to the ministry of the gospel? You thought you weighed the problem on its own merits and that you worked out your own salvation. Now you see that it was God who worked in you to will and to work of his good pleasure. And the God who thus revealed himself in your experience was Christ, for Christ is God's only Revealer. Christ was made

to you Wisdom.

The past throws light upon the present. For some of you there are important questions yet unsettled. Where shall you go? What sort of ministerial work are you best fitted for? Do Christian lands or heathen lands utter the loudest call? Should you