whether they profess to be Christ's disciples or not, it may without hesitation be affirmed that they are ready to deny themselves for the welfare of others, and that, to a greater or less extent, they have merged their own life and wellbeing in the life and wellbeing of the race. From whom can they have learnt this enthusiasm for humanity if not from the crucified Nazarene ?

Think once more how successful Christ has been in changing men's opinions as to the right and the good and the beautiful. In all these matters He was opposed to the most brilliant intellects of Greece, and in the conflict they have been vanquished, He has been victorious. I cannot now work this out in detail. I cannot dwell upon the reformations He has effected in giving liberty to slaves, in elevating the social position of women, in getting men to believe in the manliness of pity, the beauty of humility, the dignity of labour, and the sanctity of marriage. These are, after all, but necessary consequences or deductions from His golden rule, by which rule He completely revolutionised the whole of the world's moral ideas.

Just contrast the commonplace morality of today, I will not say with the ordinary notions that

were prevalent before the time of Christ,-but compare it with the teaching of the best and wisest philosophers. Plato somewhere congratulates the Athenians on having exhibited towards the Persians a pure and heartfelt hatred. But to-day any one would be considered a barbarian if he were to utter a similar sentiment. Aristotle's description of the ideal man—the large-souled or high-minded man, as he called him-is one that we cannot now read without a smile. He who occupies himself solely with honour, walking with a stately gait, speaking with an imperious voice, despising the majority of his neighbours, but receiving a certain amount of dignified enjoyment, where the illustrious treat him with respect,— such a man Christ has taught us to regard, not as great, but as pitifully, contemptibly small.

The fundamental moral principles of Jesus, His golden rule, His new commandment, His doctrine of the brotherhood of humanity, His substitution of self-denial for self-aggrandisement as the test of human excellence, these ideas have been adopted by almost every thinker of repute.1

1 How it was Christ succeeded in getting men to adopt the golden rule, when Buddha and Confucius comparatively failed, I have elsewhere endeavoured to explain.-' Defects of Modern Christianity, and other Sermons,' pp. 218-230.

You will find them permeating the writings even of the Positivists. John Stuart Mill, in his tract on Utilitarianism, says that, when we have received a proper moral education, the feeling of unity with our fellow-men will be as deeply rooted in our consciousness as the horror of particular crimes; the good of others will be to us a thing naturally and necessarily to be attended to, like any of the physical conditions of existence; we shall be unable to conceive the possibility of getting personal happiness by conduct opposed to the general good; and we shall never think of, or desire, any beneficial condition for ourselves in which others are not included. This is, of course, neither more nor less than an exposition of the ethical doctrines of our Lord.

There are many signs that human conduct is now being increasingly regulated according to the law of Christ. There never was so much philanthropy in the world: witness our raggedschools and asylums and reformatories, our Hospital Sundays and Saturdays, our Oxford and Cambridge Missions in Whitechapel and Bethnal Green. There never was so much sympathy: witness the increased tolerance for diversity of opinion, the increased courtesy of controversialists, the growing tendency to dwell upon the

good side of men and systems, and to pass lightly over the evil. Humanity really seems to be making progress-very slow, no doubt, but still steady progress towards that happy state,

"When each shall find his own in all men's good,
And all shall work in noble brotherhood."

Now in the marked increase of self-sacrifice, and the growing recognition of its importance, we may discover a striking proof of the increasing influence of Jesus. We saw, when we were discussing the connection between self-denial and self-development, the immense importance which Christ attached to self-denial; that He regarded it as absolutely essential for the perfecting of the individual and of the race, both for this life and for the life which is to come. He made the possession of a loving, self-sacrificing spirit the test of genuine discipleship. Shortly before the end He summed up His teaching in the words, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another. . . By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." We noticed, too, that He insisted strongly on the necessity of His disciples loving Him, mainly because He knew that nothing could so stimulate them to unselfishness as personal devotion to Him, who "came not to be ministered

unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." "If a man love Me," said our Lord, "he will keep My words." In the growing appreciation and practice of self-denial, then, we cannot fail to see the gradual accomplishment of the Saviour's purpose, the progressive fulfilment of the prophecy of our text.

If there be any such thing as certainty, if there be any meaning in the word fact, if there be any credibility in experience, if there be any truth in history, if there be any critical discernment in the world's greatest thinkers, it is demonstrated, beyond the possibility of doubt, that the amelioration effected in our race by Christ is already incalculably great. From the Cross of the despised Nazarene a flood of glory has radiated over the ages, and it is illumining our own with undiminished, nay, with ever increasing brightness. Christ has inspired much of what is sweetest and noblest in music and painting and literature. Christ has given us all that is most beautiful in our social intercourse, in our friendships, in our homes. Christ has shed a light upon the mystery of existence, making us to see the infinite possibilities of our nature, and transforming the despair of humanity into hope. Wherever we find progress in love and right and freedom