member of the body to discern and apprehend the truth as it is in Jesus. The truth, however forcibly it may come to us, if not discerned, cannot become life to us and fruitful to others. It is according to our discernment of the truth, that those who are over us in the Lord are strong or weak. They are dependent upon the Church, and she is strong or weak as we are. There is a mutual dependence on each other. "Now we live," says the Apostle, "if ye stand fast in the Lord." The strength of the weakest cannot be despised. The little lips of the weakest child can utter sounds of praise, rejoicing to the heart of Jesus, gladdening to the angels above. Is it not written, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast ordained praise?" Is there a Christian father or mother who has not experienced a refreshing in spirit, passing beautiful, when questioned on heavenly subjects by a little child? Is it not because they are members of the body-partakers of the Holy Ghost, and the very olive plants about the table of the Lord,2 and in teaching them we are ministering to the Body of Christ!

All may bring, and it is their duty to bring, what light and learning they receive from above, unto the Lord that it may be used for the edification of the Church, for this edification and this building up is a work in which every one has his part. It is thus that the body maketh increase "unto the edifying of itself in love." This truth is perverted in the sects, where men and women are allowed to preach and teach, but it is nevertheless the perversion of a great truth. God's way is that all should be ready and willing, and should, in fact, communicate the truth which He reveals to them by His spirit; but it must be in His appointed way. This way was shewn under the law in the "meat offering" which the people presented unto the priest.

It is by thorough oneness of heart, unity of spirit, and unity of desire, that we can all grow together as the Lord would delight to see His Elect grow. We must not rest as we are. We must press forward, and what can have such a claim upon us as this-what so glorious-what so worthy of sacrifice as our heavenly calling? What are the things of this world viewed in the light of eternity? Many are called but few chosen; let us be of the few-of those who make their calling and election sure. Heed not being thought singular and perhaps foolish by the men of this world. The servant is not above his Lord. We cannot hope to escape scorn and derision from the men of this generation, but let us count it an honour to follow in the footsteps which our Lord has trod before. Let us remember that our mission is to shed the light of truth around us, to influence others by our life and conversation, giving the greater diligence to this as we see the day approaching.

We must not be conformed to this world. Our Lord

says, "I

pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

The cry of the day is that the Election should conform itself to the world. It is the old sin, springing into vigour, of mingling the earthly with the heavenly, a sin which can be traced at least to the Tower of Babel, and which caused God's judgment then to descend upon that generation. Perchance the sin may be repeated in the spiritual Babel in exaggerated proportions, and bring down again the judgments of God.

The Church is the aggregate of the Elect; she is a heavenly institution, a fact which seems to be ignored in these days when enthusiam too often takes the place of religion. Men's experience of their calling and conversion, and so forth, is put in the place of God's precepts and ordinances. Man's organization is put in the place of God's organization. Men and women take the places which none can truly and properly occupy but by God's own appointment. There is the sin of Korah. Who can feel surprise that the sacraments and ordinances of the Christian Church should be practically despised when the wretched twaddle of selfopinionated and self-righteous men and women is asserted to be the influence of the Holy Ghost?

The spirit of the age is the desire after novelty, and against this spirit God's Elect are called to stand. Every man thinks he has as good a right as another to take upon himself the ministry of the Lord and set himself up as a guide and teacher of others. It is the cry of the mob at the present day who are heaping to themselves teachers, and regarding neither the ordination of God, nor the ordinances of man, but saying that every man or woman who feels inclined to teach is qualified to be a minister, to stand up in the name of the Lord, and may expect the Holy Spirit of God to rest upon his or her ministration to build up the Church of the living God. "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein" is a precept the world considers adapted to a bygone age, but as unsuited to the present advanced state of civilization and religion.

In the midst of this feeling it is the duty of the Election-the Catholic Church-to bear her solemn witness to the truth of God. The old cry is raised that the Church is not in harmony and will not put herself in harmony with the "spirit of the age." Of course not; the Elect cannot be conformed to this world.

It is the desire of the evil one, finding expression through the lips of the mob, that she, the Bride of the Lamb, should be conformed to this world. From the days of old when our Lord compared the world of His day to the children in the market place who marvelled that the prophet that passed by danced not to their piping and mourned not at their lamenting, from then till now

the world has demanded the alliance of the Church and that her children should come under the bondage from which Christ has set them free. Was our Lord in harmony with the spirit of the age while on earth and among those who rejected Him-despised His mission and put Him to a cruel death? Were the Apostles of old in harmony with the spirit of the age when they went about with their very lives in their hands? Were the blessed martyrs whose faith withstood the most cruel of tortures which the ingenuity of man could devise in harmony with the spirit of their age? Their precious blood which watered the garden fresh of the Lord's planting crieth out from the ground in contradiction to the thought that they were conformed to this world. They lived and died opposed to the spirit of the age. They lived and died in the fear of the Living God in whose name they spoke and in opposition to the generation by which they were rejected and put to death. They overcame the age in which they lived by the patience of their suffering, and by the faithfulness of their testimony.

Let us not mistake; it is not, and never was, the duty of the Church or her children to be conformed to the spirit of the age. It is the duty of the Elect to shew the light of truth to the age-to utter the word of rebuke when necessary, but never to be conformed to the world around. The Church of the Living God is the mother of the Elect-as the dwelling place and Temple of the Holy Ghost she partakes of the unchangeableness of God. So far as she is Catholic the fashion of her countenance altereth not, for like her Divine Head, she is "the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Her mission is to be in the world and yet not of it. All she has received from her Head she holds as a precious trust. Her faith, her hope, her doctrine, her organization-all have been fixed by the Unchangeable One, and may not be altered to suit the evil days. Were she to attempt to alter her doctrine to suit the philosophy of the day, or to modify it to meet the varying idiosyncrasies of men she would be unfaithful to her trust, and be no longer the "pillar and ground of the truth."

" 1

Finally, let us remember that the Lord is waiting for His Elect. He is "not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' He sees that some have defiled their garments and have denied His name. He gives them space for repentance that they may return again to Him. He calls upon all to yield themselves to Him, that He may fit them for their eternal place in His everlasting kingdom. If they are not willing, if they set their own wills against His will and desire, they will find themselves passed by and others taking their place. The long-suffering of God waiteth now as in the days

1 2 Pet. iii. 9.

of Noah, but His purpose He will not delay for ever. As the remnant according to grace at the end of the Jewish dispensation was small and gathered speedily, so may the Elect be at the end of this. Let us beware. Let us profit by the examples set before us in Holy Scripture and take warning from the prophecies thereof. "He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” 1

Separation must take place ultimately, and then those who have submitted to the Lord in the day of His fashioning and preparing of them as living stones, shall rejoice in the day of His power and glory. "Two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left; two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left." Yes, separation then indeed between those who have hitherto walked side by side in this world-no perfect union but in Christ. Let us then while yet it is called to-day, "give diligence to make our calling and election sure," for only those who do so now can escape the things that are coming upon the earth, only those can stand with the Lamb upon Mount Zion-only those enter into the highest joy of their Lord.

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CHAPTER XI.

THE OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT
IRRESISTIBLE.

"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God."-Eph. iv. 30.

The Apostle Paul in writing to the Ephesians says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are (have been toppayiσInts) sealed unto the day of redemption," and to the Thessalonians he says "Quench not the Spirit." There was then a danger of the Ephesians grieving and of the Thessalonians quenching the Spirit.

1

Free-will has been given to us that we may be accountable creatures; without it we should not be so, and it is in the exercise of this free will that we may either "work out our salvation with fear and trembling," we may co-operate with the grace of the Holy Spirit of God; or we may prevent His operations so far as we are personally concerned.

To suppose that the operations of the Holy Ghost are irresistible is a deadly error. God does not deal with His reasonable creatures as mere machines. While the Holy Spirit "prevents us with His most gracious favour and furthers us with His continual help," and while from Him we receive all our "sufficiency" to do what is pleasing and acceptable to God, He never overrules our will or forces our actions. That by reason of the fall man is always inclined to evil, is a great truth never to be lost sight of. Though his will be free, yet it has a tendency to wickedness, and without the Divine aid man cannot fulfil the Divine all-righteous will. This is a doctrine most unpalatable to human pride, and has been opposed in all ages. First, by the Pelagians, then by the Socinians, and lastly by the Unitarians.

It is by grace that we are first inspired and moved to do any good thing. The Holy Spirit acts first by quickening in us the life of the Risen Head-renewing the Divine image marred by the fall and imparting a new principle of life higher and far more glorious than that lived by Adam in Paradise. Then He gently leads us in and out finding spiritual pastures for our souls, guiding us to the oases known only to God in the spiritual wilderness and gradually increasing our power of fulfilling the Divine law, counteracting