, after some months' preaching and mingling with the
people, things have worked round in Galilee to precisely the same point
as they had reached in Judaea. Great crowds are following Him to be
healed and to be fed, while the politically inclined have at last made a
distinct effort to make Him a king, to force Him into a collision with
the authorities. His proper work is in danger of being lost sight of. He
finds it necessary to sift the crowds who follow Him. And He does so by
addressing them in terms which can be acceptable only to truly
spiritual men--by plainly assuring them that He was among them, not to
give them political privileges and the bread that perisheth, but the
bread that endureth. They found Him to be what they would call an
impracticable dreamer. They profess to go away because they cannot
understand Him; but they understand Him well enough to see He is not the
person for their purposes. They seek earth, and heaven is thrust upon
them. They turn away disappointed, and many walk no more with Him. The
great crowd melts away, and He is left with His original following of
twelve men. His months of teaching and toil seem to have gone for
nothing. It might seem doubtful if even the twelve would be faithful--if
any result of His work would remain, if any would cordially and lovingly
adhere to Him.

One cannot, I think, view this situation without perceiving how
analogous it is in many respects to the aspect of things in our own day.
In all ages of course this sifting of the followers of Christ goes on.
There are experiences common to all times and places which test men's
attachment to Christ. But in our own day exceptional causes are
producing a considerable diminution of the numbers who follow Christ, or
at least are altering considerably the grounds on which they profess to
follow Him. When one views the defection of men of influence, of
thought, of learning, of earnest and devout spirit, one cannot but
wonder what is to be the end of this, and how far it is to extend. One
cannot but look anxiously at those who seem to remain, and to say, "Will
ye also go away?" No doubt such times of sifting are of eminent service
in winnowing out the true from the mistaken followers, and in summoning
all men to revise the reason of their attachment to Christ. When we see
men of serious mind and of great attainments deliberately abandoning the
Christian position, we cannot but anxiously inquire whether we are right
in maint