of the Spirit, we have "the earnest of our inheritance" already. The full possession, the full glory shall be ours hereafter. Is Christ ours, our trust, our hope, our joy? Then in Him we have "all things." Strange expression-" all things." Our feeble, finite minds fail to comprehend "the unsearchable riches of Christ"; or "what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints"; and we are lost in amazement as we contemplate that "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

"The glory of that day will be,

The soul's complete epiphany."

In that day, when the glory of Christ shall be revealed, sects and nationalities shall have passed away, for in Christ "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all and in all." Again, for the Jew and the Gentile there was to be

II.-FELLOW-MEMBERSHIP. The one faith was to be proclaimed for all nations; the one Saviour for all mankind. Christ is the grand centre towards which all men are to be drawn. He who is "the Light of the world" is the great central Sun of the universe. He who is Peter's "Christ," and Thomas's "Lord and God," is the Head of the universal Church. "Whosoever," among all the nations of the earth, receiveth Christ in faith and love is made a member of His glorious Church. As the mighty ocean, stretching from shore to shore, so is the Church of Christ. Christ is the ruling Head of the body and all His subjects are "members one of another."

1. By relation. As the hand and the foot are members of the one human body, so are the Jew and the Gentile members of the one spiritual body—the Church. The relationship is most tender, most sympathetic, most vital; "if one member suffers all the members suffer with it." A life-giving energy flows from the heart of Christ, transfusing its vitality into every member of His body. "Because He lives we live also." Each member is concerned in the well-being of the whole, for there is a conscious mutual sympathy and affection indwelling each and pervading

all. Oh, for another Pentecostal outpouring, a mighty baptism of love, that even now, in this our day, the world may again exclaim, "Behold how these Christians love one another!" "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another" (St. John xiii. 35). The fellow-membership of Christians is not only by relation but also

2. By character. The prayer of our Lord for the apostles, and for all who should believe on Him through their word, was, "that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us" (St. John xvii. 21). Christian assemblies, believers in Jesus, behold here the glorious model of your union and membership in Christ! Oh, that Christians would strive to realize more and more the preciousness of this divine privilege.

The true Christian's character is one everywhere; it is the character of Christ. We have one written word, we are taught by one Spirit, we drink at one fountain of love, we adore one God, and we seek one eternal home. Truly we "know" now only in part, yet hereafter we shall no longer "see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, and know even as also we are known" (1 Cor. xiii. 12). As God hateth sin so the Christly soul abhorreth that which is evil,-every evil, every false and wicked way. As God delights in holiness, so does the Christian delight in that which is pure and lovely and of good report.

It was the joy of Christ to do the will of Him that sent Him. His whole life was one unbroken harmony with His Father; as much in Gethsemane and on Calvary as on the mount of Transfiguration. "I do always those things which please Him." And are not Christians called to "obedience of the faith among all nations" (Rom. i. 5); "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. i. 4)? But the Jews and the Gentiles were to be united in—

III.-FELLOW-COMMUNION. Ancient philosophers had dreamed of the Brotherhood of man as a remnant of a golden age long passed away. They cherished its memory, but knew not how to restore it again, or what should be the bond of union and common

sympathy among men. They were groping in darkness, seeking for one who should unite the Divine and the human, and draw to Himself the aspirations of all aspiring souls. Governments, philosophies, and all human agencies have failed to unite mankind in one common bond of Brotherhood. It was an honour reserved for Him who is the glorious Head of the universal Church. "I," said He, "if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me" (St. John xii. 32). He gave Himself for us; He was delivered up for us all; He became obedient unto death. He taught the world that self-sacrificing love was the strongest, noblest, purest bond of Brotherhood. And the highest display of that love was in Himself. Brotherhood of man.

In the Brotherhood of Christ is the In this Brotherhood the Jew and the Gentile have fellow-communion. They are "fellow-partakers of the promise in the Gospel."

1. In the privileges of the present. It is the privilege of the brethren of Christ to "know Him, whom to know is life eternal." They share in His love, they are imbued with His Spirit, they delight in His service. Yet every Christian knows that in his journey through life, if not "bonds," at least "afflictions abide him." Still he is able to rejoice amidst them all, and say with St. Paul, "These light afflictions are but for a moment." Nay they esteem it a privilege to be accounted worthy "to know the fellowship of His sufferings"; "if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him" (Rom. viii. 17). All are not called to "drink the cup of fire"; yet in common suffering there is a power that binds men in the bonds of closest union; and distinctions of race, of creed, of culture are forgotten. Yet even here on earth we are permitted to enjoy something of that sweetness of communion with Christ and kindred souls which is itself a foretaste of the joys of heaven. There is also a fellowcommunion

2. In the glory of the future. The glory of the Christians' future is (a) That they shall behold the glory of Christ. "Father, those whom Thou hast given Me, I will, that where I am, they also may be with Me; that they may behold My glory, which

Thou hast given Me" (St. John xvii. 24). The glory of Christ! O, thought incomprehensible! O, sight unutterable! Is that for mortals here below? Even so. Oh, for assimilation to His Divine nature; to be renewed into His Divine image; to be "made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." It was Christ's glory to live and die for men, and so fulfil the will of His Father. As we gaze upon His glory shall we behold the nail-prints in His hands and His feet? Or the thorn-prints that marred His holy brow? If so, shall we love Him all the more? Shall we realize all the more the glory of His humiliation, and what is the height and depth and length and breadth of redeeming love? Shall we know more of that "fulness" of which we have all received? As He sits upon the throne of His glory, shall we behold the whole creation bowed at His feet; and shall we join in the shout of universal victory? The glory of the Christians' future is (b) That they shall be "like Him." Like Christ,-fashioned after the model of Him who is our great Exemplar. Christians are to be conformed to His image, changed into His likeness, from glory to glory, by the law of divine development. To be "like Him." What a glorious, what an overwhelming thought! "Like Him,"-rejoicing in ineffable light and love. "Like Him,"-in blessed harmony with the will of an ever loving Father. "Like Him,”—in spotless purity. “Like Him,”—in royal dignity. And still our glory shall be, as everlasting ages roll, to increase in the knowledge of God, and evermore to comprehend the infinite plenitude of His grace-His eternal purpose in creation and redemption by Christ Jesus; and so with joy to praise Him in His holy temple-the one Father over all—with unceasing praise, and to go no more out for ever. DERRYBRUSK RECTORY, JOHN W. KAYE, M.A.

ENNISKILLEN.

"Our pilgrimage, long as it may be or short, if we have walked in Christ will leave us by the throne of God; our partial knowledge, if we have looked upon all things in Christ, will be lost in open sight; our little lives perfected, purified, harmonised in Him whom we have trusted, will become in due order parts of the one Divine Life when God is all in all.” -CANON WESTCOTT.

A Tarrying Gospel: a Word to Indifferent Christians.

"GO YE THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU."-Matthew xxviii. 19, 20.

THE Saviour, up till the very last moment, had not surrendered His claim to sovereignty over all men, be they bond or free, rich or poor, old or young. Not long before His death He had said, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." In this very hour of farewell, when the clouds should receive Him out of their sight, He, a Galilean peasant, "deliberately proposes to rule all human thought, to make Himself the Centre of all human affections, to be the Lawgiver of humanity, and the Object of man's adoration." There was to be universal religion, and He would found it. And He is confident of the success of His mission. "He predicts that His Gospel will be preached in the world, and that finally there will be one fold and one shepherd of men." "Go," He says to His apostles; “Go, and make disciples of all nations."

Clearly, His religion is for the world, and for all time,—a thing for every time and every place. But the present attainment of religion leaves one token,—that now, as in the early days of Christianity, the effort of Christian disciples is absolutely necessary.

I-Take up the axiom at the commencement: RELIGION, AS IT STANDS TO-DAY, CALLS FOR CHRISTIAN EFFORT AS MUCH AS IT

EVER DID.

A glance at religion as it stands in the world to-day. Mark the wide-spread immorality in all classes, and the gross amount of irreligion in the world, as witnessed, e.g., in the last religious

census.

Another fact appeals to Christian effort. The gross religious ignorance, with a large proportion of the masses, of the very simplest elements of religion. We have heathens at home; at least in matters of faith that the simplest child might understand.