in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another, having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us." But all have gifts, all have opportunities, all have some means of useful Christian action, -high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. Christ has cast no one's lot where he may not let his light so shine before men that they may see his good works and glorify his Father which is in heaven. Faithful Christian influence is never lost. It may be as apparently small in the spiritual world as the slightest ray of light which comes from the sun in the heavens through the natural world, but it may enter some benighted soul; it can shed hope upon the path of some weary pilgrim or some distressed spirit, or be sufficient to guide some sin-burdened soul, wandering in deep darkness, into the way of peace. And we do well to remember that it is not the greatness of the instrument, nor of the apparent means which effects the greatest good among men. God will not forget, nor fail to bless, any "work and labor that proceedeth of love, which love ye have showed for His name's sake." And the grand results spring from the union of many separate influences; having the same blessed end, every drop contributes to make the mightiest stream. Let no one neglect to begin to work because he imagines, from a false humility, that he cannot bring good things to pass. Make a beginning, however

small, for the love of Christ and the souls of men; persevere in carrying out what you may regard as very small efforts, and commit your work, with prayer, to Him who alone can bless it for His own infinite purposes; and after many days, perhaps on earth, — certainly in heaven, - you will reap a glorious reward. But we do see daily, and we read records without number, of the vast good wrought by the humblest instruments directed by faith and love, with earnest, continued prayer. From such beginnings have arisen the greatest Christian enterprises for the salvation of men, the amplest resources of Christian charity, and the most amazing changes in the condition of mankind. And it is of infinite importance to the Christian, individually, that his love for Christ should be manifest in a life of love; for without this it will die out in his own soul. It cannot be kept hoarded. "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." This is not truer of temporal than of spiritual riches. Just to that measure in which your love is actively exerted will it increase. It is a mere delusion that we can love God and man in our hearts, and not labor for them both. And if we neglect that "work and labor that proceedeth of love," we are dead, or dying while we have a name to live. Active, holy love, is the vital breath of the Christian.

But again, there is another, and a most solemn

reason, why we should show our love for Christ by works of love; and this is, that we shall be judged by them when He calls us to our final account. We are not saved by any works, however great or good. But we shall be judged by them, for they are the only test of our faith and love. Faith worketh by love; and when we stand before the throne of Him who lived and labored, and suffered and died for our salvation, we shall find that while to Him we owe our pardon, and can plead no merits of our own for acceptance, we shall be judged by "the deeds done in the body"; and that, if our professed love for Him has been fruitless, we shall be cast, as unprofitable servants, into outer darkness, and He will declare, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, my brethren, ye did it not to me."

VII.

THE INABILITY OF MAN.

"We are able.". MATT. XX. 22.

THESE are the words of two of the Apostles of Christ, who had sought preeminence in His kingdom, and to whom the Saviour had put the question, as if to test their firmness, and to convince them of the earthly spirit which prompted their request-Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said unto him, "We are able." The context leaves no doubt that the spirit which led both to their request and to this reply, was very defective, and such as on another occasion received the rebuke of the Saviour, when, as they disputed among themselves which should be greatest, He said, "If any man desire to be first the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." A degree of earthly ambition induced the request, made by their mother, yet acquiesced in by themselves, and there was undoubtedly also in the reply a spirit of merely human self-confidence far removed from the spirit of their Master, and from that which afterwards governed their own hearts and lives. They were under the delusion, which continued in some degree while the Saviour remained on earth, that His

kingdom was to be a temporal, visible reign, a literal fulfilment of the theocratic idea which prevails in the Old Testament, and which some even now expect to see fulfilled, -of God the Son sitting upon the temporal throne of the earth, and therefrom by delegates ruling over the tribes of mankind. Their request was not granted, but they were taught that they should indeed drink of His cup, and be baptized with the baptism wherewith He was baptized. They were indeed subsequently distinguished by sufferings endured for His name, and preeminent in spiritual honor in His Church. One died by the hand of violence, in Jerusalem, as recorded in the 12th chapter of the Acts. The other outlived all the Apostles, completed the canon of the Scripture, and died breathing out the spirit, which is the fulfilment of the Law and the Gospel, that of Divine love.

When they uttered the words of the text, they knew not what they said. There was a remarkable future before them, far different from that to which they aspired, and they were enabled to drink of the cup which Christ had prepared for them, and this through the ministrations of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Master foresaw the whole future of their lives. He knew what was in them, and what was reserved for them, as He did in regard to St. Paul, when He said, "He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles," even when he had just ceased to breathe out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Saviour.