s need of such a
religion as that which Christ teaches.

Let not the Church falter and blush for her doctrines. Let her not turn
and go down the hill of knowledge to defend her position in the valley
of ignorance. Let her go up the hill, welcoming every wider outlook,
rejoicing in every new discovery, gathering fresh evidences of the
truths which man must believe concerning God and new motives to the
duties which God requires of man.

But in doing this we must put the emphasis of our preaching to-day where
it belongs, where Christ puts it, on the doctrines that are most
important to human life and happiness. We can afford to let the fine
metaphysical distinctions of theology rest for a while, and throw all
our force on the central, fundamental truths which give steadiness and
courage and cheer to the heart of man. I will not admit that it makes no
difference to a man of this age whether or not he believes in the
personal God and the Divine Christ. If he really believes, it makes all
the difference between spiritual strength and spiritual weakness,
between optimism and pessimism. I will not admit that it makes no
difference to a learned scholar or a simple labourer to-day whether he
accepts or ignores the doctrine of the atonement, the doctrine of
personal immortality. If he knows that Christ died for him, that there
is a future beyond the grave, it makes all the difference between
despair and hope, between misery and consolation, between the helpless
frailty of a being that is puffed out like a candle, and the joyful
power of an endless life.

My brethren, we must work and pray for a true revival of Christian
doctrine in our age. We must deepen our own hold upon the truths which
Christ has taught us. We must preach them more simply, more
confidently, more reasonably, more earnestly. We must draw from them the
happiness and the help, the comfort and the inspiration, that they have
to give to the souls of men. But most of all, we must keep them in close
and living touch with the problems of daily duty and experience. For no
doctrine, however high, however true, can make men happy until it is
translated into life.

ii. Here is the second if, on which the power of religion to confer
happiness depends: If ye know, happy are ye if ye do these things.

Between the knowing and the doing there is a deep gulf. Into that abyss
the happiness of many a man slips, and is lost. There is no peace, no
real and lasting felicity for