E'en so I love Thee, and will live,
And in Thy praise will sing;
Solely because Thou art my God
And my eternal King."
12.— Lord, Are There Few Saved?
Our Lord was journeying through the towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem, there to suffer death for us, when some one came up and asked Him exactly the question that we should have liked to put: Lord, are there few saved? What was He to reply? Suppose He had answered: "Oh, no, nearly all men will be saved, very few will be lost." What easy going, what laxity would have followed upon such a declaration I He answered, therefore, not to the gratification of our curiosity but to the profit of our souls: Strive ye to enter in at the narrow gate: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Luke xiii. 24). They shall not be able, because they have not striven: they have sought the Kingdom of God after a fashion, but not with sufficient earnestness; and, Our Lord warns us, there shall be many such. How many? Shall there be many more saved? Shall the lost be comparatively few? Our Lord has left His Church no revelation upon this subject: consequently no answer returnable to these inquiries carries the certainty of faith. On such an open question preachers have said strong things, and theologians have divided on this side and on that, with more or less of probability. Father Faber in his Creator and Creature argues that "the great mass of believers" are saved. But there is one class of people who are all saved. Who? All priests? No. All Religious? No. Who then? All
