t call you to be canary-birds in a little cage, and to hop up
and down on three sticks, within a space no larger than the size of the
cage. God calls you to be eagles, and to fly from sun to sun, over
continents.--SERMON: 'The Perfect Manhood.'

Do not be a spy on yourself. A man who goes down the street thinking of
himself all the time, with critical analysis, whether he is doing this,
that, or any other thing,--turning himself over as if he were a goose on
a spit before a fire, and basting himself with good resolutions,--is
simply belittling himself.--'LECTURES ON PREACHING.'

Many persons boil themselves down to a kind of molasses goodness. How
many there are that, like flies caught in some sweet liquid, have got
out at last upon the side of the cup, and crawl along slowly, buzzing a
little to clear their wings! Just such Christians I have seen,
creeping up the side of churches, soul-poor, imperfect, and
drabbled.--'ALL-SIDEDNESS IN CHRISTIAN LIFE.'

No man, then, need hunt among hair-shirts; no man need seek for blankets
too short at the bottom and too short at the top; no man need resort to
iron seats or cushionless chairs; no man need shut himself up in grim
cells; no man need stand on the tops of towers or columns,--in order to
deny himself.--SERMON-'Problem of Joy and Suffering in Life.'

Copyrighted by Fords, Howard and Hulbert, New York, 1887.

SERMON

POVERTY AND THE GOSPEL

TEXTS: Luke iv. 17-21, Matt. xi. 2-6

Here was Christ's profession of his faith; here is the history also of
his examination, to see whether he were fit to preach or not. It is
remarkable that in both these instances the most significant indication
that he had, both of his descent from God and of his being worthy of the
Messiahship, consisted in this simple exposition of the line of his
preaching,--that he took sides with the poor, neglected, and lost. He
emphasized this, that his gospel was a gospel of mercy to the poor; and
that word "poor," in its most comprehensive sense, looked at
historically, includes in it everything that belongs to human misery,
whether it be by reason of sin or depravity, or by oppression, or by any
other cause. This, then, is the disclosure by Christ himself of the
genius of Christianity. It is his declaration of what the gospel meant.

It is still further interpreted when you follow the life of Christ, and
see how exactly in his conduct he interpreted, or rather fortified, the
words of the declarat