ts special
dangers and temptations. The Corinthians had theirs long ago. We have
ours to-day. Let us see what some of the special dangers of the Church
are now, and how Jesus provides means to confirm us to the end.

First among these dangers we may place the _restless spirit_ of the
age. This is the result of various causes. The spread of education is
one cause. Men are taught to cultivate their heads at the price of
their hearts. Children are sent to schools where God is almost shut
out. Many people get that "little learning" which "is a dangerous
thing," and which makes them doubtful and uncertain in the faith. The
growth of cheap literature is another cause. The printing press which
gives us a cheap Bible and Prayer Book, and a vast amount of pure,
useful reading, also sends out much that is dangerous, and positively
wicked. The most holy mysteries of the Christian faith are held up to
mockery and ridicule, and treated as old wives' tales; and the restless
spirit of the age leads people to read these things, and to have their
faith shaken and their ideas confused. Thus we find nowadays people
arguing and doubting about doctrines which at one time were taken for
granted. One says, _perhaps_ we shall rise again after death; another
_wonders_ if there be such a place as Hell. One _thinks_ that God
answers prayer, another is doubtful about it. Now we do not find S.
Paul and the other Apostles talking in this way. We do not find the
early Church talking in this way. They could say, "I know in whom I
have believed. I believe, therefore will I speak." The fact is, some
of us in these days are getting too clever. We have got a few drops of
learning, and we fancy that we can pour the whole great ocean of
knowledge into our poor little bottle. Education is a great and
glorious blessing, but, like every other blessing, it may be put to a
wrong use. And when we find shallow young men and women, who have just
mastered enough subjects to be able to pass an examination, sneering at
the Bible, and calling religion superstition and folly, we can only
wish that they had drunk deeper, or not tasted, of the water of
knowledge. True education makes us humble, because it shows us our
ignorance. My brothers, what are the doubters and the unbelievers
going to give you in exchange for what they rob you of? They can
perhaps rob you of your faith in Jesus Christ as a Saviour. But what
then, they cannot make you forge