ds, toiling, sinning, and
suffering here, is _not_ a reality. For, I ask you, my friends, if it
_were_ realized, could there be so much abject need among us; so much
stony-hearted selfishness; so much shuffling in trade, and corruption
in politics, and meanness in intercourse, and foolish superficial
living? I know, and you know, that one of the greatest evils is--not
merely that men are worldly, irreligious, bound up in sad conditions and
narrow conceits; but that they are so, because they do not apprehend the
nature and do not feel the reality of religion. For I say once more,
that a conviction of its reality must be a great help in adjusting the
problems of life. And this, because it acts upon the centre of all the
sin, and much of the suffering of the world. This personal application
of religion stands before all other remedies for the removal of these
evils. Others are attempted--others are, in a degree, successful; but
none go so deep and produce results so sure. It seems to me that the
position of humanity in this respect, is illustrated in the narrative of
the Demoniac of Gadara. We are told that he had been bound with chains,
but in his fierce madness had burst them asunder. And then, again, men
had tried various expedients, but they could not tame him. But when the
influence of Jesus fell upon his soul, it took hold of it with sweet
authority; the legion left him, and the poor, wounded, houseless man sat
clothed and in his right mind. So is it with man in society; so is it
with some of these social evils. The power of _law_ has been invoked;
and it has its legitimate sphere of operation. It checks the purposed
violence. It arrests the overt act. It may consistently be summoned to
purify all those channels of social action which it assumes to regulate;
and, instead of patronizing the wrong, to set its face and hand against
it. Thus it may prevent public harm, though it cannot stop self-injury,
and remove occasions of temptation, though it cannot impart moral
strength. It has no efficacy to change the assassin's heart, yet we call
upon it to guard us against murder. We bid it close the den of infamy,
though it does not quench guilty passion. And we may use it to stop the
sale of intoxicating drinks, though it does not destroy the drunkard's
appetite. And this indicates both the function and the limitation of the
law. Thrown over the wild forces that rage in the human heart, and that
afflict community, it is like t