Look at our picture. Christ on His Throne of Glory, worshipped by His saints. The best known of them are here. Can you point them out? On the Lord's right those of the New Testament; St. Joseph, with the lily; St. John, with the chalice; St. Paul, with the sword, &c. On the Lord's left those of the Old Testament. You know them; with his ark, is Noah; with the ladder, Jacob; with the lion, Daniel, &c. These represent the great multitude no man can number; as the stars they shine; see Rev. vii. 9; Dan. xii. 3.

How different they were one from another; rich and poor; old and young; learned and simple, &c. Yet

all have had their hearts and characters fashioned by the one Spirit. (Illust.— An altar-table once made of different kinds of wood: oak from Bashan, cedar from Lebanon, fir from Carmel, olive from Olivet; all worked upon by same workman, fitted together into same holy thing, for the holiest service. So the saints, from many parts, different classes, of many kinds, yet all fashioned by one Spirit.)

Turn to Christ's prayer for His saints (St. John xvii.) in the upper room after the Holy Supper; moonlight stealing into the room, all risen from the feast, about to face trouble in the world outside. The Lord's tender love for them showing very plainly. How He feels for them, about to be sent forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; how He yearns for their safety! Delivers them into the Father's hands. Now, what are the three things which He asks for them? See

(i.) He pleads that they may be kept from the evil of the world (ver. 15).

(a) He does not desire that they should be yet taken out of the world. Why not? If they kept true to God they would be bettered by the trials, foes, &c., of the world. World would be better for them, and they better for the world. (6) But kept from the evil, sin, defilement. (Illust.-Some tiny winged creatures have power so to surround their bodies with air that they can dive into water without getting hurt or wetted. So God's saints can go into the worst places, wherever God calls them, and yet keep a holy temper about them and not be defiled, even when others fall away.) (See Rev. ii. 13, iii. 4.) For this our Lord prayed. Instance boy or girl

Turn to Acts iv. 32. See how this prayer was answered in the first days. Even put all their goods together in Jerusalem. See how St. Paul rebuked divisions at Rome (Rom. xvi. 17), at Corinth (1 Cor. i. 10, 12, 13, iii. 3). Why must they be "one"? Could only be strong as they were united. So only could they hope to win the world. Divided they would be weak; world would have no respect for their religion. "See how these Christians love one another" was the cry when people saw how united they were. But what would bind them closely together? Partly the way the world treated them: "cast out as evil," thrown together in adversity, driven to worship in caves and on mountains-by this they were united. Chiefly by love for Christ; that drew them to Him, and so united them with each other. (Illust.-Sweepings from an iron-worker's shop gathered together, magnet passed over them; all the particles of iron drawn to magnet and so cling together.) Love to Christ would draw them out from the evil of the world and would draw them to one another in spite of all their differences; only if this grew cold would they be separated (2 Cor. v. 14).

(iii.) He pleads that they may all come to see His glory (ver. 24).

(a) They had seen His humiliation; would see more of that in a few hoursin Gethsemane, on the Cross (Isa. lii. 14, liii. 3). He desires for them that they may see His glory. (b) Three of them had had a glimpse of that glory. When? Where? Transfiguration. What their feeling then? (St. Matt. xvii. 4.) Could not bear to lose the sight. (c) Isaiah had had such a glimpse of His glory (Isa. vi. 1-5; cf. St. John xii. 41), and see what a beautiful bit of hope was put into the hearts of the good men of his time: "Thine eyes shall see," &c. (Isa. xxxiii. 17). (d) The Magi had a bright star to cheer them, lead them on to where Christ was. All down the ages God's saints were to have, like a star to lead them, this bright hope one day to rejoice together in the sight of their King's glory. Through

who kept the pilgrim's head above water as he crossed the river into the Promised Land. The Bible is full of this hope. Christ's prayer makes the star of hope shine out in full brightness, for His prayer must be answered (2 Pet. i. 16-19; 1 John iii. 2).

Here, then, are three beautiful notes for all young saints, (1) kept from evil, (2) united in heart and purpose, (3) hopeful about the future. Are we trying to live as saints? Boys shrink from being called "saints." But why? Shall we shrink from a little ridicule, a little trial? Think what the saints of old had to endure. How joyfully they bore all for their King! What if we are not saints? Then we are untrue to our Father, Who made us for holiness; to our Lord, Who died to redeem us from

sin; to the Holy Spirit, Who strives to sanctify us; we cast aside a glorious inheritance, a splendid calling, for what? (Illust.-Doré's picture of the arena at night-beasts still prowling about, a few bones left, all is quiet, seats deserted; stars high up are gleaming softly. It is the evening of a day on which the gay crowd had come thither to see the saints thrown to the lions. The day over, the saints' sufferings past, their triumph glorious. Their lives still speak to the world. Angels hovering over the scene carried them up to their blessed rest, their Lord, His glory.) Shall we not also, in our little way, be true to our King, our high calling? Remember that His prayer reaches down to us, even to the least of us (see ver. 20).

III. THOUGHTS 1. Bishop Pearson sums up his exposition of the words "I believe in the Communion of Saints" as follows: "I am fully persuaded of this as of a necessary and infallible truth, that such persons as are truly sanctified in the Church of Christ while they live among the crooked generations of men, and struggle with all the miseries of this world, have fellowship with God the Father, God the Son (1 John i. 3), and God the Holy Ghost (2 Cor. xiii. 14), as dwelling with them and taking up their habitations in them, that they partake of the care and kindness of the blessed angels, who take delight in the ministration for their benefit (Heb. i. 14); that beside the external fellowship which they have in the Word and Sacraments with all the members of the Church, they have an intimate union and conjunction with all the saints on earth as the living members of Christ; nor is this union separated by the death of any, but as Christ in Whom they live is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, so have they fellowship with all the saints which from the death of Abel have ever departed in the true faith and fear of God, and now enjoy the presence of the Father and follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth (1 John i. 7; Heb. xii. 22-24)."

2. The saints in the calendar of the English Church who are commemorated on special "Saints' Days are nineteen in number. The Blessed Virgin Mary, who is commemorated in connexion with the Incarnation on the Feast of

FOR TEACHERS.

the Purification and on the Feast of the Annunciation, the Twelve Apostles, Evangelists who were not of the Twelve, namely, St. Mark and St. Luke, St. John the Baptist, St. Stephen the first martyr, St. Paul, whose conversion is specially commemorated, St. Barnabas. In addition to these, the Holy Innocents, the Angels with St. Michael have their respective festivals, whilst the saints known and unknown are included in the Festival of All Saints, November 1st. These saints' days are especially of value for four reasons: (1) To emphasise the communion, or fellowship, which exists between all those in whom the Holy Spirit is permitted to work His work of holiness. (2) To stir up thankfulness for all those whom God by His grace has saved and delivered out of this sinful world. To stimulate the study of different types of Christian character; God's work in persons of different circumstances and temperaments. (4) To raise our thoughts to the unseen world; its reality, its joy, its blessedness.

(3)

3. A touching recognition of saints unnamed, and to man unknown, is found in a beautiful churchyard in a valley at Clevedon, Somerset. It takes the form of a memorial cross erected to those who lie in unnamed graves, on which cross is inscribed the two inscriptions:

"For oft these dalesmen trust The lingering gleam of their departed lives To oral records and the silent heart."

"They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels."

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4. Who are the saints? This is answered in a poem in "English Lyrics

"I had sat me down Upon a high hill-side, to see day break, And think upon All Saints. I know not now Whether I slept, but so it seemed to me; My tranced senses sunk o'erpowered before The glorious presence of an holy one,

A watcher from on high, who thus to me, Reading my thoughts, spake graciously: 'Thou wouldst

Behold the goodly army of All Saints,

And scan their noble bearing; watch awhile With eye intent, and I will pass before thee The sight for which thou cravest.'

Fixed I sat

Set the pale hue of nights unrestful, spent

In heart-sick watching by some bed of pain. Yet on her brow, which the sun's rays now lighted,

Methought there dwelt a glow, brighter than his,

Of peace and holy calm. And so she passed.
Nor saw I more-save that a little child,
Of brightest childlike gentleness, passed by,
Lisping his morning song of infant praise
With a half-inward melody, as though
He were too happy for this creeping earth.
Yet I sat watching, till upon my ear
Broke that same heavenly voice, What
wouldst thou more,

Or why this empty gaze? Already thou,
In those that passed thee by, hast seen All
Saints.'"

5. It was customary in the Primitive Church, at Holy Communion, to read out the Diptych, which contained the names of departed Christian workers.

6. On All Saints' Day the beautiful passage in the Book of Wisdom about the departed saints is appointed to be read: "But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and this departure was accounted to be their hurt, and their journeying away from us to be their ruin. But they are at peace," &c., &c. (Wisdom iii., 1-9).

7. Three questions concerning the faithful departed are constantly asked: (i.) May we pray for them? The

Roman doctrine of masses for the dead, which teaches that such are efficacious in delivering from the pains of purgatory the souls of the departed, has caused a deeply-felt shrinking on the part of English Churchmen from prayers for the dead. "In the Primitive Church their prayers were more extensive, and took in the dead as well as the living,

not that they had any notion of the Romish purgatory. . . . They all agreed in this that the interval between death and the end of the world is a state of expectation and imperfect bliss, in which the souls of the righteous wait for the completion and perfection of their happiness at the consummation of all things, and therefore, whilst they were praying for the Catholic Church, they thought it not improper to add a petition in behalf of that larger and better part of it which had gone before them, that they might altogether attain a blessed and glorious resurrection and be brought at last to a perfect fruition of happiness in heaven."-(Wheatley on the Book of Common Prayer.)

(ii.) May we pray to the saints? The practice of "Invocation of Saints" is declared (in Article XXII.) to be part of that Romish doctrine which is a fond thing vainly invented and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."

(iii.) Do the faithful departed pray for us? We have reason to hope that they do, for we may gather from Heb. xii. I that they have a sustained knowledge of, and interest in, those who are yet on earth, running the Christian

race.

8. It has been pointed out that in Bunyan's "Allegory" the realisation of the Communion of Saints is set forth in the house Beautiful. It stood by the roadside. Discretion, Prudence, Piety, and Charity talked with Christian; their communion was about the Lord of the Hill. After supper Christian slept in a chamber called Peace, and in the morning was shown the study, the armoury, the Delectable Mountains, and went on his way rejoicing.

9. "As I prayed in the Litany for all who travelled by land or by water, I thought how, from many a lonely ship that prayer was rising, and how many thousands of fellow-Christians at home were uttering that prayer for us, and how there might be those whom I loved whose hearts were with me on the deep whilst uttering that prayer, as mine went home to them. I felt what a glorious thing was the communion of saints, and how full of that spirit of communion must those have been who gave us our Liturgy."-(Archbishop Magee, in early life, in Bay of Biscay.) 10. On praying for the dead. 'Certainly there are traces of it as a custom recognised early in the third century.