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lower death rate at Panama than in the finest city in Canada. When thè French were tackling that problem there was a death rate of 170 tó the I, 000. Now the death rate is as low as nine per 1,000. Why? Progres sive mèdicine has solved the problem. Malaria was the great trouble, and its cause was considered to be a species of mbsquito. Means were found to exterminate the mosquito by destroy ing its breeding places, and malaria is now absolutely under control. All those who go there have to obey the medical officer of health, and he has granted that people may have a holi day even in the district of Panama. So it is in the spiritual life. The progressive power of the Gospel in our lives will give us spiritual health, which will always keep us from peril, and this health is only possible as we are in occupation with God. Our pro-- tection, as you see, is not within, but without in this sense: that it is se cured by the fact that we are in union with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, As we shall see tomor row, the secret of it all is faith. Faith receives from the Father His love, faith receives from the Son His grace, faith receives from the Spirit His un derstanding arid His power. That is how, by being occupied with God, we are immune from spiritual disease and illness. In a church where a mission was held, the minister heard that a little girl, named Mary, had given her heart to the Lord and had determined to serve him. A few days afterward he met IViary and said, “ I am so delighted you have given your heart to the Lord J. esus. What will you do when Satan comes knocking at the door of your heart tempting you?” “Don’t you know, sir? When the Devil comes to the door of my heart tempting me, I say, ‘Please Lord Jesus, do You mind going to the door this time ?’ and when
peril, and our threefold protection, let us bear this in mind : that in the pres ent day there seem to be three lines o f attack, as some one has well point ed out. One line is Skeptical, another Heretical, and the third Fanatical. The Skeptic comes and wants you to doubt and disbelieve God’s revelation, and sometimes His existence. The Heretic comes and says, “ The old view o f things is wrong, o f at any rate, in adequate. God’s progressive teaching is developing in every direction, and there are new ideas about Him and His truth that need to be noticed.” The Fanatic does not doubt God’s Word or disbelieve it ; he goes beyond Scripture and reason as well. How are we to meet thèse three lines? Against the Skeptic, God’s Word; Against the Heretic, the whole of God’s Word; against the Fanatic, nothing but God’s Word—the truth, the whole truth, and nothing büt the truth. And so we shall find this : that spiritual immunity from peril will come along the line of spiritual health. Doctors tell us that the reason why microbes attack us is that we are below par. If only we are healthy and strong, we can appropriate and assimilate them by the million. I have no doubt that is what we are do ing every day, if we are well. Chris tianity will always be curative, but it is always preventive. We rejoice in the power of the Gospel to redeem, to restore, to cure. But we also need to think of those who, having been cured, need to be prevented from get ting unwell again. There is one striking example of this in connection with modern medi cine. The greatest triumphs of medi cine have been rather along the line of prevention than along the line of cure. During the winter thousands of tourists visited the Panama Canal dis trict, about the healthiest place in all America. Some sixty thousand work ers are employed there, and there is a
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