affection and volition, and makes the soul receptive of higher and purer spiritual conditions, by means of which it comes into holier relations to God and his universe of spiritual intelligences; while fasting, in the spiritual sense, weakens the carnal, and ultimately brings it to the cross, where it finds Christ and God the Father. And this is the kind of life and practice which constitutes the way to the Father, according to the teachings and example of Jesus. And by pursuing it with all the energy and power of the spirit, saying to every opposing obstacle, Get thee behind me, Satan, he will find the Father as Jesus did. He will thus obtain redemption and find salvation-not in the death of Jesus, but in the living Christ, the Christ of God in his soul.

Such is the work to be performed by every soul before it becomes a Christian in the Christ sense, and obtains salvation through Christ. Therefore it is very improper for those who are conscious of being at best, only disciples following the Master at a distance, who have not yet subdued the power of the carnal nature; who are yet in bondage to self, and selfish indulgence; in whom the spiritual is struggling for life with little prospect for the mastery, to call themselves or the associations they form, Christian. By so doing they misrepresent Christianity, and put Christ to an open shame before the unbelieving world.

But let it not be understood that the church which professes to teach and to follow the teachings of the Master is to be dispensed with. Its mission consists in continuing the means employed by Jesus and his disciples to call humanity to Christ. Its work is to

persuade and to assist the individual, that he may lay aside his carnal appetites, passions and lusts, to the end that he may become clothed with the moral attributes as with a garment. To accomplish this, every faculty and power of the mind is to be called into its highest condition and action. There are covenants to be entered into, and consecrations to be made. The higher faculties of the soul are to be called into exercise by the aid of memorials, mementos, etc., associated with incidents, which appeal to the heart, awakening thoughts, feelings and affections as they have existed in connection with things which are past and gone.

Every reflecting mind is familiar with the influence which is exerted over the soul by the presence of such reminders. All mementos of friends and loved ones owe their preciousness to the influence they exercise in keeping alive those communions which we have had together. A lock of hair clipped from the head of the dying has power to call back the living look and tone; the hope, the love, the spirit even, and the benediction breathed in the dying moment. The very forms of those we love become sacred by the presence of the loving spirit therein contained; and the sacredness does not depart with the departing spirit. It continues with the inanimate clay, which in turn consecrates the bed of dust in which it reposes. The little mound of earth which rises above the remains of the dear departed is watered with tears of tenderness and love. It exists in the heart as holy ground; as a shrine whereon we make offerings of beauty, and erect symbols of hope and prayer. It was in obedience to the promptings of this impulse that

the women, with their ointments and spices, sought the sepulchre of their beloved Master in the early dawn, and heard the joyful news that he was alive again.

It is the mission of the church of his disciples to appeal to humanity by means, among other things, of dedications, consecrations, covenants, ordinances and sacraments, for the purpose of calling the individual to higher spiritual conditions, that he may be prepared for the coming of Christ in the soul, that he may appear without sin unto salvation.

The uses of religious worship are to be found in the influence which such worship exercises in bringing the soul into its highest and best estate. When the mind, according to the plane of its unfoldment, bows before its Highest and its Best, it worships the Divinity of its plane, and is by that worship elevated to a perception of so much of Divinity as can come into such plane, and thus the worshiper comes into harmonious relations to his own high destiny; and he there hears the voice of God pronouncing the divine benediction, and saying, Come up higher.

The worshiper must be made to understand that his religious exercises are or are not valuable, according to the influence they exercise upon himself and upon those connected with him; that all the institutions of religion are designed for the use and benefit of those who employ them; that their mission is to elevate the soul to higher planes of perception, understanding, affection and aspiration, to the end that they may attain to higher inspirations of the Spirit of Truth.

With this understanding, worship ceases to become a senseless jumble of mysterious forms, rites and cer

emonies. Reason and understanding are not banished as unfit to come into the sanctuary of the Lord; on the contrary, the philosopher becomes the most earnest, truthful and devout worshiper. His views of God and of His character and attributes are more exalted because of his higher perceptions and understanding, and meekly and humbly he bows before the Majesty, Beauty, Purity and Holiness of the Divine Being. His heart says to his understanding, O come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; and his understanding replies, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the House of the Lord.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE SUMMING UP.

ACCORDING to the Bible theory of the creation of man, his fall and destiny, God Jehovah created him, and endowed him with faculties and powers adequate to bring him to completeness, both in life and character. The divine purpose as expressed in the beginning was, We will create man in our image and our likeness; and in divine contemplation he was so created. This involved perfection in every department of his existence and being. Therefore his true destiny, according to the Bible, is to be found in the attainment of perfect manhood in Christ, or a divine humanity.

But man, by an improper use of his faculties and powers, departed from the path leading to his divine destiny, and he thereby became involved in sin and suffering, resulting in spiritual death. He died to that spiritual condition which made him loyal to God and his government, and consequently, if left to that condition of spiritual death he would fail of his true destiny, and eternal death would be the consequence.

This improper use of his faculties and powers consisted in the exercise of selfish and lustful desires, to the neglect of the needs of his higher or spiritual nature, thus subordinating the spiritual to the domina