"of whom" we and all things are, and the end “into whom," (eis avτòv,) as the ultimate good, we hope to come; but there is one Lord Jesus Christ, "by whom are all things, and we by Him," "He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him." How can man love God whom he hath not seen, if he love not Christ, the Brother whom he hath seen? It is only in, and through, and by Jesus Christ that we can ever hope to attain to God, and so, as St. Peter says, "be made partakers of the divine nature." Only by being in Christ can we be inheritors of the kingdom of heaven; only when made brethren of Jesus can we hope to become sons of God; only by being members of Him can we become members one of another. In Jesus Christ, then, the perfect Man and very God, we have all a real part; "we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." That God and man is one Christ is an earnest that man and Christ can be one body. Let us pray that we may be able to learn and realize the solemn lesson of our mysteriously intimate union with Him; we are members of His body, born again to live with Him, to suffer and die with Him, to conquer and reign with Him. He whom we worship will abide in our souls to be their life and strength, to redeem and save them.

And, secondly, being in Christ, we are brethren one of another. Never more may the high-born Brahmin spurn the low-born Sudra, or the highly

blest sons of Japhet despise the dusky sons of Ham, for "the Lord God of Shem c" has become a Man to set at one all the children of Noah. Thus when week by week we are addressed by our Church as beloved brethren,-words so lightly spoken, so little realized, let us ever remember that these words are no empty and unmeaning form, but shadow forth a great and blessed truth; for if we are not brethren one of another, then all duties to man are a fiction, all love of man impossible.

And lastly, higher than all, and as the end of all, we are bidden to think of union with God the Father: "If a man love Me," said Jesus, "he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him;" "Your life is hid with Christ in God." Words to fill us with awe, but not to overtax our faith, for we are pledged to follow unhesitatingly our Lord and Saviour whithersoever He leadeth. Hallowed ground, indeed, are all such subjects; and before we intrude let us not only put off the shoes from our feet, but also purify our hearts from all thoughts or works of darkness, which effectually quench all rays of light that fall from heaven upon them; and thus attuning our ears to hear, and preparing our heart to receive, what the Lord God shall say, let us hearken with childlike obedience, as Samuel did, saying, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."

And, in conclusion, let me say a word on one of

• Gen. ix. 26.

the means, I should rather say the means, whereby this union with Christ is wrought in us, I mean the Holy Communion of His blessed Body and Blood; "For," to use the words of our most beautiful service, "if with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament, then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood, then we dwell in Christ and Christ in us, we are one with Christ and Christ with us." Hear what the Lord Himself saith, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you;" "He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in Him;" "Do this in remembrance of Me." To these blessings we are now invited. If we are His in more than name, His in love and obedience, we cannot disobey His last most loving command. May we come prepared, indeed, but humble; clean, indeed, but repentant; not claiming as a right, though we be truly sons, but desiring to be fed, if only with the crumbs which fall from our Master's table. Thus coming, we shall grow more and more in Him, and He more and more in us; for here on earth this threefold union, though real, is ever imperfect; ever increasing, yet never completed. But there is a time, beloved brethren, when, if we are faithful unto death, this progressive union shall become absolute; when our mortal bodies have been raised like Christ's glorious body. Whilst we eat His body and drink His blood, let us pray God to grant us so to be

joined to His dear Son, and with each other here on earth, that at last in His kingdom our risen bodies may be made one with His glorified body, and that with eyes incorruptible we may know face to face Jesus Christ of Nazareth, even as we are known of Him.

Dec. 4, 1859.

SERMON III.

The Power of Christ's Goodness.

1 PET. iii. 13.

And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which

THESE

is good?

HESE words, while they contain a very gentle exhortation, are full of most solid comfort. They tell the sorrowful and the sad, the weary and the heavy-laden, not to fear or be dismayed, if only they be followers of that which is good. And this is the very spirit of the New Testament. Generally, its rewards and blessings are most full and declared, whilst its admonitions and rebukes are gentle as a mother's. Christ seeks to win men to Himself by all that is loving and attractive, rarely rebuking, never repulsing. His curse of the fig-tree is the exception, His miracles of blessing the rule, of His Gospel. In it Christ the Saviour ever says, "Come unto Me;" Christ the Judge does not yet say, "Depart;" and this is what mankind needed. Would it indeed have been a gospel, a 'good news' of God, to come to sin-stricken man once again with lightnings and thunderings, and with many curses as with many