He declares that He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." He says: "I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly." What did He mean by "life"? Surely not the hand-breadth of time which we are living here and now. To Him man was more than a creature whose wants were only those of a stomach and its appurtenances. It is true, He did not minimize the present life. He relieved men of their distresses and healed their sicknesses; but that was quite subordinate to His greater work. The emphasis was always placed on their eternal interests. "The life," He said, "is more than meat and the body than raiment." His great question was, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" What are health and comfort and wealth, and all earth's emoluments in comparison with the life hereafter? Christ's mission was to make it possible for men to attain to that high destiny; and this He did by sacrificing Himself and dying on the cross for them, in expiation of their sins, so that, whosoever would believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. This, be it ever kept before us, was the purpose and mission of Christ. It is not true that the ministry of Christ had to do principally with the temporal welfare of men. To say so is to contradict His words and belittle His work. He did champion the poor; He did vindicate the rights of the working classes; He did insist on happy homes and just government and the betterment of society every way. But He came to be a Savior, He came to save the soul from the ravages and penalty of sin; and when people quote Him in favor of one thing only, and that the inferior part, and reject the other and the superior, it is only a half truth, and not to our Lord's credit. And as people judge in these matters concerning Christ, so concerning His Church. The Scripture-lesson of this Sunday, treating of this subject, tells us of the good Samaritan and his work of love. Let us, for once, take for our topic of instruction: _I. The wrong view and attitude of the Church over against the works of benevolence. II. Which is the correct Bible teaching and practice?_ The Lord grant us understanding and wisdom!