We are not, therefore, to concern ourselves so much with the Apostle himself, as with the burden of his heart—"the Gospel of Christ, in its adaptation to the needs of men." This idea so fills his soul that it overcomes him. "Here is man's safety," seems to be his feeling. "Here is man's hope; there is no salvation without this. Here is balm, and here is the physician."
These few words of explanation open the way for me to introduce to your consideration the topic, that is—"The fitness of the Gospel to the great needs of humanity, and the great work it contemplates with respect to those needs"—to which I desire to call the attention of this Convocation this morning.
1. With respect to these spiritual needs of men, we have no great difficulty in apprehending them. Our human miseries are so common and so personal that no one can miss them. They lie at every man's door. They press heavily upon every man's soul. There are the common miseries of life, which bring their measure of soul-sickness, and plead for healing. This earth is a charnel-house, filled with the diseased and suffering. The griefs and the pangs of the wretched issue forth continually from palaces, and huts, and alms-houses, and hospitals, in all the lands of earth. Cold, and hunger, and famine, lade the air with the plaints and the murmurings of their multitudinous victims. Injustice and oppression crush out the hearts of millions. War, intemperance, and lust, destroy the hearts of nations, sweep millions into untimely graves, carry desolation and sorrows into innumerable families. And passion, hate, and
