[Sidenote: The principle of works.] This teaching is so simple that anyone may understand it. And it is true everywhere in life, in every kind of calling. Would you not think Mr. Baldwin foolish, if after exclaiming "I can do it" he had remained inactive and had not tried to build "Old Ironsides?" Can you imagine that a carpenter might ever enjoy the fame of master-builder if he never practiced the trade he had learned? Do you think it would be possible for a sinking ship {115} to send out the signal of distress, if the operator on the ship did not put into practice the laws governing wireless telegraphy? In other words, knowing how to build a locomotive will never construct one; knowing how to build a house will never erect even the smallest structure; knowing how to operate the telegraphic instrument will never send a message. It is only by actually putting into operation the principles underlying these activities, and working in obedience to them, that one can accomplish the desired end. And if this is true of material, earthly things, how much more ought it to be true of spiritual, heavenly things. Without faith it is impossible to please God. But faith is of no avail without works. Works constitute the handmaid of faith, and one is not without the other in the Lord. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." [Sidenote: A parable.] "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them," taught Jesus, "I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." [Sidenote: The works of Jesus.] Jesus manifested great power during His earthly ministry. He healed the sick; He made the lame to walk and the blind to see; He rebuked evil and cast out {116} devils; He raised the dead to life again; and He spoke with authority as no other man has ever spoken, either before or since His time. Without question every boy and girl would like to be able to do the things that Jesus did. Every boy and girl in the Church of Jesus Christ believes in Jesus--knows indeed, that He is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. Why, then, should not everyone long to emulate Him. But notice what Jesus declared: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. If ye love me keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."