The answer is not hard to find. The foremen and the workmen have access to plans and specifications. The plans are minute, and the specifications in detail. The workmen may then see for themselves how the building is to be erected. If only they read right, and interpret correctly, they may go ahead indefinitely. It is because they are prone to misinterpret, and sometimes tempted to defraud the owners, that the architect has to make his regular rounds and watch carefully. [Sidenote: The plan of eternal life.] It is just so with those who are building life eternal. The Indian chief was right. He was looking for the plans and specifications of eternal life, furnished by the Great Architect. The Indian chief did not find them. He did not enquire at the right wigwam. The plans and specifications of eternal life constitute the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The presence and the practice of that Gospel--in fulness and in simplicity--in the {162} Church of Christ, form the third mark of its divine authority. [Sidenote: The necessity of plans.] Why are plans and specifications necessary? Ordinary plans and specifications accomplish three very important things. First, they direct what is to be done and how it is to be done. Secondly, they furnish a basis of judgment whereby to determine whether or not the work of the contractors fulfills the terms of agreement. Thirdly, they furnish a standard of judgment whereby to determine whether or not the materials used, the proportions mixed, the measurements taken, and all else, are of the quality and fulness required by the builder, and agreed to by the contractor. [Sidenote: The application.] So also, the teachings of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ are necessary to man for very important reasons. It is through the Gospel, that we learn of God and His work--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. It is through the Gospel that we learn of Christ's wonderful atoning sacrifice. It is through the Gospel that we learn to know what is man's duty to God, and man's duty to man. The Gospel, too, then directs men what to do and how to do it. It furnishes a basis of judgment whereby to determine whether a man's actions are good or bad. It furnishes a standard of judgment whereby to determine the true and exact quality of the structure of eternal life which he has built up. [Sidenote: The principles of the Gospel.] It is not the purpose of this lesson to review all the principles of the Gospel. Faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, by one holding authority from God, the {163} conferring of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands of men holding authority, are fundamental principles and initiatory rites. All the teachings contained in this little book, and many more besides, belong to the Gospel of Jesus. The true Church of Christ must hold strictly to all that Jesus taught. "After that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God."