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IS, AND THE OMEGA OF CHRISTIAN FELICITY IN THAT WHICH IS TO COME. -Man is a social being, and Christianity is a social system of truth. When Adam was created, God said it was not good for him to be alone, and Eve was provided as a helpmeet. the days of the patriarchs, the family circle was the home of social affections. Under the dispensation of the judges the community was enlarged, while the church in the wilderness, and the Jewish commonwealth, which was established in Canaan, constituted an organisation, which, though under the covenant of works, subserved to exhibit, the law of order in social life, and foreshadowed that Christian fellowship which is now enjoyed under the covenant of grace. In the old dispensation we see Jesus as the " Angel of the Covenant" - the "Archangel whose voice shook the earth;" but in the new dispensation He is King and Head of His church, and shall rule in the Christian commonwealth until "all His enemies are put under His feet."

Jesus, in establishing the Christian fellowship, said, “I come not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it;" and this law of fellowship, as Jesus fulfilled it, reveals the divine idea of social happiness as running through the whole course of God's kingdom and government amongst men. Under the old Testament dispensation, there were twelve tribes; under the New, twelve apostles. In the days of Moses there were seventy prophesying elders; in the days of Christ there were seventy preaching evangelists. And, "when He ascended up on high," says Paul, "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."

Now here is the means, and here the end. Jesus, in accordance with the

truth that Christianity is a system of development, laid the foundation, and left the apostles to build. The King took His journey into a far country, but He gave to his servants talents of service and enjoined them to occupy until He come. And this is our work. We not only exist as Christian fellowships, but Jesus has given us pastors, teachers, and evangelists; and the recognition of this relationship constitutes an era in our Christian life. If we look to Christ for wisdom and for strength; if we look to the Bible for guidance, and take some one or other of the primitive fellowships as our model, we shall realise the promise, "Lo, I am with you alway;" and, "Speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto Him in all things which is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

As an illustration of this analogy, which Paul uses in writing to the Ephesians, let us take the church at Philippi. Observe the circumstances under which it was planted-the materials of which it was composed, and the work which it had to do.

Paul was visiting the churches in Asia. When at Troas, a vision appeared to him in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." Paul gathered from this, that "the Lord had called him to preach the Gospel unto them;" and "loosing from Troas," he says, 66 we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony." Here he was in a great centre of power, and in virtue of his rights as a freeman or Roman citizen, he could preach and teach Christianity under the protection of the civil government. After" abiding certain days in the city," he went with

his companion, Silas, on the Sabbathday, "out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made;" "and there," says Paul, "we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Amongst those women was "Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira"**"whose heart the Lord opened; and when she was baptised, and her household, she besought us saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us." Thus was formed the first Christian church in Europe. Ten years afterwards, Faul writes to this church from Rome, and in that letter, the Epistle to the Philippians, there is not one word of rebuke. The membership had increased in number, and carried the Gospel to all the regions round about. Yea, so liberal and benevolent was the fellowship, that, besides maintaining the cause amongst themselves, they had been so abundant in their liberality, that Paul had to restrain them.

Now that church was liberal and devoted in these respects:

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It was wholly independent of the civil power, and responsible to Jesus alone for its conduct and character.-It realised the divine truth, that Christianity needs no help but from itself. Though Paul, as a Roman citizen was entitled to protection of life and property, the State was not to be recognised as entitled to rule in the church. The crown rights of the Redeemer were above all other rights, and these this church maintained.

It was a fellowship of believers.—In the first chapter, Paul addresses the membership as saints. "To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi." This was the first and highest qualification. Among these saints, were Lydia, and the Philippian jailor-the one converted by a process of reasoning, which is implied in the opening of her mind while she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul; the other, by a sudden and in

stantaneous change, under circumstances of terror and alarm; both convertedboth were saints; and with others saved by grace, constituted that fellowship. We may have an independent constitution and government, and thus. have a name to live; but without the power of grace in the individual heart, we cannot have a church of Christ. It had its bishops and deacons, as the appointed rulers of the body. The ministry is a divine institution; the deaconate is also of God-the lot of choice being cast into the lap-but the ordering thereof is of the Lord. When an apostle had to be appointed to fill the office from which Judas by transgression fell, the eleven sought out men full of the Holy Ghost; and, having reduced their choice to two, they gave forth the lots and prayed—

"Show us, Lord, which of these thou hast chosen"-and the lot fell upon Matthew. When the first seven deacons were chosen, the multitude of the disciples were instructed by the apostles to look out from among themselves men of" honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom;" and this done, the apostles appointed them to the office. By parity of reasoning it follows that the bishops and deacons were chosen by the church of Philippi, and ordained to the high and honourable offices which they filled.

Now if we would enjoy our Christian fellowships, let us take this church as our model. Constituted as independent churches, we are responsible alone to Jesus, for our character and discipline, and we ought to be careful above all things to receive into fellowship those only whom we have good reason to believe have been brought under the power of grace. Every stone in the temple was quarried for its place in the sound of a hammer the rearing of the structure. Let us quarry the living stones outside the fellowship, and then shall they quietly grow up in holy temples to the Lord. Let us be but faithful to this principle

outside and fitted building, and the was not heard in

purity of fellowship-and then we shall be in circumstances to seek the salvation of every sinner who comes within the circle of our influence, and by the divine blessing evangelise the regions roundabout, doing "all things without murmurings and disputings, that we may be blameless and harmless; the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom we shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life."

JESUS IS THE OMEGA OF OUR FELICITY

IN HEAVEN. “The path of the just," saith the Psalmist, "is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." And Paul, in looking forward to the realisation of that perfect day in heaven, says, "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even also as I have known; for when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." And this heavenly felicity will be the perfection of social life, for heaven is a society, and Jesus is its King; and "ye are come," says Paul, "to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all; and to the spirits of just men made perfect." "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." On that throne Jesus reigns now; in that kingdom there is "joy unspeakable and full of glory;" and although it doth not yet appear what we shall be, "yet we know," saith the Apostle, "that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." being "crucified together with Christ,"

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we are "buried together with Christ," "quickened together with Christ," " raised together with Christ," "seated together with Christ," that we may "reign together with Christ" in glory. In this Omega, or great end of Christ's work as our Redeemer, we have comprehended, not only the resurrection of the body, but the grand consummation of the eternal purposes of the divine mind. 'By the word of God," says Peter, "the heavens were of old, and the earth standing in the water and out of the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire," ** shall be dissolved. "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." "For the first heaven and the first earth," adds John,

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were passed away; and there was no more sea." "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away." For "He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” And "now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, and to preserve us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only

wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

NOAH A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

BY THE REV. GEO. STEWART, BELFAST.

STARS in the night! It is pleasant when Night has drawn her sable curtain over the face of nature to stand and gaze on the stellar vault. It is pleasant when the beauties of the earth and sea are shrouded in gloom, to behold those bright luminaria that roll in space. The glory of the natural heavens has at all times been an object of fond admiration to the man of science, the man of taste, and also to the child of God. Infinitely more glorious than the splendour of the firmament are moral stars in a moral night. When ignorance prevails, when gross moral darkness covers the people, when wickedness and sin abound, how refreshing to see men who retain their integrity and reflect the light of a correct faith and holy life.

How pleasant to contemplate the purity of Daniel at the Chaldean Court, to behold the steady, shining light of the Chaldees amidst the thickening shades of the seventh century; the Waldenses in the midnight of Papal error. Pleasant it is to read of Savoranola, of Huss and Jerome, of Wycliffe and Hamilton; or still more pleasant to think of the patriarch Noah.

It was a long deep night that which intervened between the Creation and the Flood. All flesh had corrupted its way. Few there were who feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name."

Amongst the men of this period Noah has a prominent place. He was honoured of God in a very signal manner. Не was preserved from the coming Flood to become the second father of the human family. His life is therefore fraught with special interest. When we are enjoined to be followers of them who, through faith, inherit the promises, Noah merits our careful attention. His character is briefly sketched both by

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Moses and Paul. Moses informs us that he was a just man, and perfect in his generation; and that he walked with God. Paul says he was a preacher of righteousness. On reflecting on this latter description, the first question that arises in our minds is, what was the meaning of righteousness? the patriarch's text. By righteousness we understand the righteousness of faith and a righteousness of life. Both these kinds of righteousness do we require, and should seek to obtain. We are all guilty in the sight of a just and a holy God. We have all broken His commands and transgressed His law, and are therefore exposed to His wrath and sovereign displeasure. "The soul that sinneth it shall die." From this state of sin and death we are delivered, not by works of the law, but by faith in Christ. "Believe," said Paul, "in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Jesus bare our sins and carried our sorrows. He magnified the law in our stead, and brought life and immortality to light. Hence, when we accept Him as all our salvation and all our desire, we are accepted of God-our sin is covered, our iniquity pardoned, and peace obtained. No more are we guilty, no longer are we criminals, we are righteous in the Divine sight, and therefore free from death and hell. "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." This is righteousness through faith-justification by faith, the great doctrine of Divine revelation, the great topic of Paul's preaching, the great sub ject of Noah's preaching. Looking down the declivity of years, the patriarch saw the rising star of Jacob, the coming Shiloh, and pointed to His death for the remission of sin.

This was the doctrine of the Reformation, the test, as Luther said, of a standing or of a falling Church-the key-note, which, when sounded by his powerful voice, awoke Europe from the slumber of ages. This righteousness we should all preach, we should all proclaim salvation by the Cross; we should tell perishing sinners of the Lamb

of God which taketh away the sin of the world; we should all make known Christ, "the way, the truth, the life,"Christ the end of the law for righteousness sake. Not only should we preach righteousness by faith, but also righteousness of life. Faith and works are closely connected. Faith is the root, and works are the fruit. What God hath joined no man can put asunder. Christ is King as well as priest. As priest, He claims our faith; as king, He demands our obedience. Being our Creator and preserver, our God and Redeemer, He is justified in requiring from us a reasonable service. If we withhold that service, if we remain barren fig-trees in the Lord's vineyard, we rob Him of His glory and provoke His displeasure. Hence the guilt and destruction of the men of the old world. Their sad fate should be a warning to all future generations. Whilst depending on sovereign grace alone for salvation, we should study to observe good works; we should walk circumspectly, as candidates for a future and a glorious immortality.

Having considered Noah's text, we shall now consider his character and experience as a preacher.

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1. Noah was a practical preacher. He was a just man, and perfect in his generation, and walked" with God. Whilst warning of a flood, he prepared an ark for the saving of his house, thus giving evidence that he was truly in earnest. There was no discrepancy between his precepts and his practice. What his mouth spake, what his lips uttered, his life confirmed. In this way should we all act. In a similar manner should we all preach. Precept without example is powerless, being alone. It is impossible, when our life and doctrines do not agree, whilst our conduct habitually contradicts our teaching, to convince men of the reality of our profession.

Hence, teaching in the family and teaching from the pulpit, teaching of all kinds, both in public and in private, has frequently done so little good.

Parents, whilst imparting oral instruction, have been remiss in conduct; and their children, always more prone to learn by the eye than the ear, have neglected their counsel, but followed their example. Like those insects that take the colour of the leaves on which they feed, children insensibly become like those with whom they associate. The sin of the parents, therefore, descends to the child-the iniquity of the father is found on the son. Hence many families, instead of being schools for Christ, are schools for Satan; instead of being nurseries for heaven, are nurseries for hell.

Ministers have preached righteousness, but have followed unrighteousness. Whilst inculcating deadness to the world, spirituality of mind, charity, and humility, they have yielded to the opposite vices-avarice and pride, envy and hate. Hence they have laboured in vain, and spent their strength for nought. Hence sinners have been confirmed in their evil ways, and the work of the Lord greatly retarded. The inconsistent lives of professing Christians, both ministers and people, have at all times proved a great obstacle to the spread of Divine truth. The slow progress of Christianity in the world has often been a subject of inquiry, and a matter of regret to every pious mind. Is not the truth powerful to bring down strongholds in the sinner's heart and in the world? Is not the residue of the spirit still with God? Why, then, has not the religion of Jesus filled all lands? Having made such rapid progress in apostolic and primitive ages, why did it not continue to spread till it reached the world's end? What arrested the advance of the Reformation and turned back its tide from the banks of the Tiber even to the German Ocean? For this baleful effect several causes might be assigned. The chief cause, however, was the unseemly deportment of those professing the Christian name. Those professing to follow the Lord have gone in the ways of sin-have yielded to sinful indulgence-an obstacle has there