would have no foundation for hope and no covering against their fate. Jerusalem, with her walls and her bulwarks, would be like a bed too short to lie on, an insufficient defense in itself; and with no God to cover them with his righteousness and protection, they would be without wisdom and strength, like a .man on a cold night with his blanket too narrow. In such a situation there would be neither rest nor comfort, neither help nor hope; and any man who has spent a winter's night at a second-class hotel or a third-rate boarding - house, where you are treated "just like home-folks," can have some appreciation of such a condition.

The spiritual application of the picture before usthe figure of an insufficient religion-affords an interesting study. What is such a religion? It is any religion which has no foundation to build upon, nc character to clothe itself with for eternity. The only religion which ever offered a sufficient basis and a sufficient covering is Christianity. Christ is the only Rock of our salvation; and he alone can be just to sin and yet justify the ungodly. He alone can pay sin's debt and impute righteousness, save the soul from death, and cover moral guilt. He died for our transgression, and he was raised for our justification; and when the Christian appears at the judgment he will stand upon the Rock of Ages for salvation, and will be clothed in the righteous robe of Christ's merit, the only "wedding garment" in which we can appear at the "great supper of the Lamb." We are saved by grace, justified by faith; and our entrance into life and glory will be based solely upon and characterized by the record and dignity of Christ, our great and eternal Substitute. The Christian's own charac

ter and righteousness are the evidence and outcome of salvation by grace, justification by faith here below; and his own character and righteousness will be his joy and reward hereafter; but the grace of God alone can, through Christ, regenerate and justify him, save and sanctify him, crown and glorify him. Christ is our "all in all," our "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," the "Author and Finisher of our faith;" and he is the only bed upon which we lie, the only covering in which we wrap for salvation and sanctification. "Other foundation," says Paul, "can no man lay;" and Peter says, "There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved." The atonement which Jesus made for our sins under God's grace is our all-sufficient. foundation; and the righteousness of Christ wrought out in his perfect life, and imputed to us by faith, is our all-sufficient covering.

Thus we are redeemed and thus clothed for God and eternity. In Christ alone, as in no other conceivable way, can we be made alive from the dead, and reckoned innocent. Quickened by his word, justified by his blood through the operation of his life-giving and blood-cleansing Spirit, we are saved and sanctified; and when we stand at last before God, body and soul, we shall be absolutely perfect through the redemptive scheme, conceived, executed, and applied through the blood, the word, and the work of Christ. We shall completely escape death, hell, and the grave; and in the consummation of our resurrection from the dead we shall appear in glory without a stain upon our character, and without a defect in our nature—all through the perfection of Christ. It will take perfection to stand before perfection, both legal and moral.

There is no other way, philosophical or religious, to attain this end but by the cross of Calvary. A man must be justified from the guilt of sin, he must be made alive from the dead, both morally and physically, and he must be presented before a perfect God without spot, wrinkle, or blemish, to inherit eternal life. How can this be done except through the crucified, risen, and glorified Redeemer as revealed in the Bible? How plain to the devout and intelligent believer! Who that knows the depth and character of sin cannot see and believe this truth? We must be perfect to live with God; and perfection has no foundation except in the redemptive atonement of Christ and in the covering character of Christ. Nor can such perfection be wrought out in man or applied to his life except through the pardoning and justifying blood and the regenerating and sanctifying Spirit of Christ. Out of Christ, in the very nature of things, God must be a consuming and eternal fire. "Blessed is the man whose sin is covered, and to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity."

But let us now glance, by contrast, at the religions of human reason and superstition. The Jews tried idolatry. They made leagues with surrounding nations and worshiped their gods, seeking help against internal division and foreign oppression. They forgot Jehovah, they abandoned the blood of the typical ,covenant, and the consequence was that they became a prey to their own internal dissensions and corruptions and fell under the appalling domination of foreign despotism and superstition. All the gods and armies of Egypt, Assyria, and Moab could do them no good. Straitened and stricken by famine and siege, desolate, distracted, and divided among them