The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-03-19

When the Christian religion ceases to
 be either or do either of these, it will
 cease to be like the Lord Christ whose
 name 1t bears. His spirit will have de-
 parted from the earth; and his name
 will have lost it's power. Now, more l than all else, does His gospel need to be translated into the terms of our polit- ical and social lfe-government and
 business. The divine compassion of our
 Lord always contains an active, prac-
 tical element. This is further shown by
 the way he met the necessities of this
 great multitude. The disciples were
 for sending the people away to look for
 their supply elsewhere. The Master says, No, do not send them away
 feed them yourselves. They feared
 there were too many--how should they
 be able to feed so many? A great pro-
 blom surely. You never know how
 many you can feed until you begin to
 feed somebody. You never know how
 much you can give until you begin to
 give something. You never know how
 much you can do until you begin to do
 something. That accounts for great
 deal of Christian idleness. The failure to begin. You may have lost the most
 blessed ministries of life because you feared to make beginning with the capital in hand.
 The disciples have found five barley
 cakes and two small fishes. They are
 perfectly sensible when they ask: What are these among so many? But was that all? Was their inventory complete? By no means. They had left out Jesus himself. Five loaves and two fishes alone are nothing; sure enough. Five loaves, two fishes and Jesus Christ are enough for any multi tude.
 And so, lacking faith they thought they did well to say, Send them away that they may go and get them food. And too many times have the disciples been dominated by the same spirit in every age. The Christian church has sent away from herself the multitudes whom she should have fed at her own board. She has sent away her young men to find good fellowship in various clubs and social organizations which she might better under some form or other have provided for them herself. She has sent away men whose intellec- tual hunger and sometimes whose soul hunger, her empty forms and ceremo- nials failed to satisfy. While she has been debating creeds and formulae of worship--settling some little detail of ritual-they have gone away from her to find whatever satisfaction they might be able to in the world, When the n.II lukewarm there is very little upon her altars to satisfy the appetites of hun gry multitude. People don't go away from full table nor neglect @ hearty invitation.
 In caring for the bodies as well as the souls of the multitudes, the church is following the divine example. Do not send them away--feed them here"
 And he had them seated in conven- tent array and then began the blessed work. The disciples did not know l what they could do until they began, and continued, and finished. Our Lord took care that none should be omitted appearance-social rank-poverty or riches counted for nothing in these or derly rows and companies of people.
 Each shall have his share and be filed He was not in too much of a hurry to secure the best ends in the most orderly manner How full of eug gestion is all this?
 The tendency of men to do Is to throw out bit here and piece there into a hungry multitude; in other words how irregular and spasmodic are many of l our efforts to save men, and as q re- suit how unsatisfactory!
 Our Lord created nothing new in the | feeding of this great multitude, and | this is true of all His miracles.
 In all His miracles He created no new l members of the body. but He restored ! good many old ones to usefulness as l good as new. He works upon and | with what you already have.
 The labor you put forth He blesses. The offerings that you make He in- creases. The prayers that you offer He charges with power. The things that | you give He adds to. The five little | loaves and the two small fishes are enough to satisfy ten thousand, because these are all that the disciples had, and | He is bound to supply all the deficien- cies
 The farmer sows one bushel of wheat | and reaps-one bushel? Nay, but many l bushels; God gives 1t an increase. No | one sees how He manipulates the seed | In the ground. It is so with whatever, !! little or much, that you endeavor to do in his name. You may stand by the Masters side and pass the bread that | his own hands have blessed to such as you are trying to feed. The miracle of grace is wrought somewhere; and let l 1t inspire you to think that it may have been wrought while passing through your own hands. To help Christ feed | the millions Is a great thing to do! But | to feed single soul, in His name, is to