the greed for personal aggrandizement; but that spirit of faith which led Moses to choose suffering with the people of God rather than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt. It is true religion made living and potent in the soul, which consecrates the whole man, with all his powers and for all his days, to the humble, patient, unswerving, and unabridged devotion to God and duty, trusting in Him whose is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.

And this, dear friends, is what I am here to inculcate. A word from the eternal throne has come forth to every one of us. It tells of a God to be honored, a cause to be served, wrongs to be righted, and great things to be achieved; and that we are here for the purpose. There is no room for doubt as to the part meant for us to take. What response, then, have we given to the heavenly message? How have we been answering to the word and anointing of Jehovah? Many live and act as if there were no God, no prophets by Him commissioned, no word from heaven for them to obey. But life was not given for such inanition.

Many have had the anointing of holy Baptism, consecrating them to a life of faith and activity for God, who slumber in sin, and live along in dead inertia toward their sacred calling, as if they had no souls to do for, no Christ to serve, no work for Him, no account to render at the last. "Woe

to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit!" And even of those who have sworn unto the Lord, and laid their vows upon His altar, how many are as indifferent as if the cause of God and righteousness were scarcely to be distinguished from the gay and idolatrous world? If ever they were earnest and ardent in their profession, they have left their first love. Their ardor has lost its flame. Their zeal is dead. Some are vain enough to think themselves rich, and increased with goods, and needing nothing; and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Alas, what fresh quickening from on high do all such people need! Nay, what spiritual revival do we all need, to make us such Christians as we ought to be!

The great thing required for the Church of our times, both in its leaders and in its people, is a new baptism of fire, to kindle and warm them into a pure and living zeal for God, as against the idolatries, apostacies, shams, and lies which everywhere infest society, and are fast dragging this present world to its destruction. And the way to get it is, for each one individually to turn. unto the Lord his God with vigorous energy and devotion, to repent out of all existing deadness, and to join the life of a Christian with the name. What our hands find to do, we must do. And with each one ready and thirsting to do the will of God, and to serve Him with an undivided.

heart, there will be no lack of genuine zeal for the Lord of hosts. God help us to be true and faithful to our calling, that we may be His in the great day.

34

Work for the good that is nighest;

Dream not of greatness afar;

That glory is ever the highest

Which shines upon men as they are.

Work, though the world would defeat you;
Heed not its slander nor scorn;

Nor weary till angels shall greet you

With smiles through the gates of the morn.

Offer thy life on the altar;

In the high purpose be strong;
And if the tired spirit should falter,
Then sweeten thy labor with song.

The Glorious Beyond.

Twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity.

And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.-MARK 9: 1.

the past.

HE years come and go. This is the
last Sunday in the annual round of our
Church seasons. After to-day the whole
Church year will be numbered with

Everything in nature around us,-the faded and falling leaves, the shortening days, and the waning of the sun's power,-also reminds us of an approaching termination of our sojourn on earth.

It is fitting, therefore, that we should cast our thoughts forward to what is beyond, and inquire about what is to come after we have done with this present world. In this the text, and that to which it specially refers, can serve us well, and help to throw much blessed light upon what to many is very dark and dim.

Jesus here speaks of seeing "the Kingdom of God come with power." The same is spoken of in Matthew as seeing "the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom." And in Luke the same is described as seeing "the Kingdom of God."

This Kingdom has different stages: the Kingdom in embryo, and the Kingdom finally complete, the Kingdom in Spirit as it now exists, and the Kingdom in full manifestation as it is to be hereafter, or what is otherwise called the Kingdom of grace, and the Kingdom of glory. It is of the latter, or the Kingdom as hereafter revealed, when the Lord Jesus will come again, that is here spoken of. The coming of the Kingdom "with power," and the coming of "the Son of Man in His Kingdom," in visible manifestation, as here phrased, sufficiently prove that the reference is to the Kingdom as it is to be when Christ shall come the second time.

Now three of the Evangelists tell us that the Saviour solemnly announced to His disciples, shortly before His Passion, that some of them should not taste of death till they had seen this kingdom. How then, when and where did they see it? as the great day had not come in their lifetime. The answer to this question is given in the record of what occurred soon after this saying of the Saviour. And there we read :-"After six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart to pray. And as He prayed the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light, so as no fuller could white them; and there appeared unto them Moses and Elias in glory, talking with Jesus, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jeru