We have had almost everything that has been tried as Christianity. Christianity has had its period of athletic intellectualism; and the reason has not yet unfolded to the world what the world dies for the lack of. We have had all that was esthetic. We have had all the glory and gorgeousness of beauty. We have had all that there was in eloquence and poetry. These things have been thrown about the service of the sanctuary. And yet, the consciousness of the real God who sits in the heaven has not been brought to the world. The power for which the world yet waits is the revelation of that inner nature of God which stands in willingness to suffer, and which teaches us that our greatness lies, not so much in what we get as in what we give-not in our centripetal, but in our centrifugal force.

All creation groans and travails in pain, and it will stop groaning and travailing as soon as men live like Christ. There will be no more question whether Christianity is true or not as soon as men become noble and beautiful and radiant in those dispositions which constitute the elements of Christ's life, and of which Paul said, "I will know nothing but these." As soon as there is this living Christ diffused among men there will be an end of controversy, and men will learn not merely that, but that there is a power in those dispositions before which all other powers fall down.

It is not by mighty combination, or by instituted forces, or by argument, that the world is to be redeemed, but by the secret, silent power of souls that are baptized into the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. One single heroic deed is worth more than any Athenian oration. One who shows the capacity to lift human nature to a higher level of excellence than it has yet attained is an apostle of God to the world; and the race grows by its power to do the things which the animals cannot do, and that can be done only by a consciousness of human possibility. If we are to grow in knowledge, we must grow in that direction.

Now you are prepared, perhaps, to understand so muchfor there is much that in the wisdom of God is not solved yet.

"We speak God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory; but as it is written,

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."

We interpret these things so far as we have the Spirit of God. All the sensibility of that moral consciousness which springs from love is nourished by love, and has its whole power from love.

God grant that every one of us may have this new light, this new knowledge, this new sympathy, this new disclosure. God grant that we may, every one of us, by word, by silence, by deed, by forbearance, by activity, or by rest, make manifest that Christ is in us, and that we have put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So may our whole life be a preaching of the gospel-a manifestation of the glory of him whose name we bear, and whose spirit exalts us to communion, and to understanding, is by-and-by it shall to fellowship, in the very presence of God.

ence.

PRAYER BEFORE THE SERMON.

WE bless thy name, our Father, for that revelation which thou hast made of thyself through Jesus Christ our Lord. We thank thee that thou art interpreting that revelation itself in our own experiWe thank thee that thou art, by transforming us into the spirit of Jesus, making us to understand him, and through him the Father; and that thou art drawing us into life deeper, and sweeter, and more full of knowledge, than can come by the natural reason, or than we can learn from the world that is outside of us. We rejoice in the power of the divine Spirit, in the recreation and transformation of the souls of men, in the communion between us and thee, in all those great offices and influences by which we are lifted above the flesh, out of the realm of passion, and into the plenitude of the grace of God-into that peace which passeth all understanding—into that sympathy which interprets to us, far beyond the reach of reason, and gives us the secret and mystery of God, so that by the spirit we understand the hidden things of the spirit. We thank thee for all the hours of strength which we have had in the midst of weakness, and for all the days of consolation which we have had in the midst of great troubles. For thou hast often seen us toiling upon the sea, and with the winds, without direction, and unable to make our way, and thou hast come toward us, walking on the turbulent waves; and we have been terrified; and our fear and hope have struggled together; and yet, when thou didst come to us, and wert near to us, and didst ascend into the ship, behold, straightway we were whither we would go. So thou hast dealt with us in light and in darkness. And in summing up our experience, in looking back upon all our life and thy ways with us, we would call thee Him who does exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or think. Thou hast dealt with us more graciously than we deserved. Thou hast dealt with us wondrously. Our souls are witnesses of thy goodness. Thy mercies are ever new; and we call upon our souls, and all that is within us, to praise thy name. We bow our knee to that name which is above every name; and we call thee Lord, and our Lord. And we rejoice, O thou ascended Prince and Saviour, that whatever is needful for us within the spirit land-whatever supplications, or intercessions, or mediation-thou dost make in love. Whatever defense or convoy thou dost send forth in our behalf, thou grantest not according to the wisdom of our asking, but according to the greatness of thy life.

Now, we do desire not to stand in ourselves. Knowing how feeble we are in things high, and how strong we are in things that are prone to the earth; knowing how strong we are in the flesh, and how poor in the spirit, we do not desire to stand in our own merit, nor our own excellence, in any way whatsoever. We rejoice that our excellency is in thee. Thou that hast lent thyself to us; thou that hast called us thine own-thou that callest us no longer servants, but henceforth friends, and not friends alone, but children; thou that hast coupled us to thyself, and by the bonds of omnipotent love art drawing us to thee in an inseparable union-we rejoice in thy great grace and glory as in part our own. For we are heirs of God. and

joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, and are glad that the things which we win are all the better because they are of God, since they are in a sweet and blessed partnership of ownership with Jesus Christ.

And now, we pray that we may stand thus girded about with this belief, inspired with all the hopes of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May we be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Vouchsafe, we pray thee, thine especial thought and mercy, to-night, to all that are grouped together here. This has been a temple of the revelation of thy goodness. Thousands here have dropped the tears of sorrow, but have lifted up eyes of gladness in the midst of sorrow, and in spite of it. Many have come grievously burdened, and behold, here the burden has been swept away. Thou hast made this place sacred, not by the hands of men, not by any external act, but by the grace of God, by the ministration of the spirit; and this place -how beautiful is it! It is to many of us the very gate of heaven; for here we have stood and seen the golden leaves thrown wide open, and we have beheld the glory of God. We have beheld the crowned Saviour. We have followed thither, in the inspired and raptured hours of the sanctuary, those who have gone out from us, dearly beloved brethren who have labored with us in word and doctrine. We have sent heavenward many saintly companions, and a multitude of little ones; we have beheld them shine brighter and purer than stars, and have rejoiced in sorrow, and have taken comfort through faith. Even in the midst of adversities and trials, how sacred is this place!

Now, let it be again, to-night, a place of divine ministration. Rebuke those who need rebuke. Be faithful to thy beloved. Give pain where pain is required for medicine. Withhold not thy hand. Chastise if thou lovest: or, forbear as thou wilt; only let us know that thou art dealing with us in love, as a father deals with his children. Give great strength to those who are greatly tried; great patience to those whose trials continue; great light and clarity of judgment to those who are in perplexity; and great manliness and courage to those who are grievously beset and tempest-tossed.

Grant, we pray thee, that every one may find his strength to be as his day is. So may it not be a vain thing that we have come hither: May we have such growth in the inward life, and such consolation of the divine spirit, such insight of things which lie beyond the senses, that this shall continue to be as the gate of heaven.

We pray for all of our absent ones-for those upon the sea, for those in the wilderness, and for those in distant lands.

We pray for those who are strangers in our midst. We pray that thou wilt look upon them, and grant that here, in this house, they may find themselves at home with the brethren of Jesus Christ, and with the Lord. Here may they find, for the moment, all the plenitude of divine grace and consolation. And wilt thou bless those whom they have left behind. Hear their prayers, listen to their desires, we beseech of thee, for their beloved ones; and answer abundantly.

We pray for any who have come in hither forlorn, strangers, unfriended, knowing not whither to go or what to do. By thy providence be gracious unto them. And may they not lose faith, nor hope, nor courage; but to the end, with all manliness, may they patiently persevere in the things that are right.

We pray that thou wilt deliver any who are in the thrall of temptation; any that have been misled; any that are in those sorrows which come from remorse; any that have fallen; wilt thou graciously lift them up, and teach us to have compassion upon them. May we deal with them forbearingly, knowing that we, too, may be tempted. We pray that thou wilt spread abroad that spirit by which thou dost cleanse the world of transgression, in the hearts of thy people. Take away the distemperature of passion, of irritableness, of pride, of the dominion of men's selfishness one over another. Bring men together in love, and in mutual respect, each recognizing that the other is a servant of God.

So we pray that every one may stand to his own Master, unhindered, unyoked, unshackled. Grant, we pray thee, that more and more there may be all freedom in the church of Christ, and that all those collisions, and envyings, and hateful jealousies which have prevailed in days gone by may be purged away. And let that bright day come, at last, when love, the sweetest, shall become the strongest of all things. More and more let thy pure light shine from out of the heaven, and all impure light depart whence it came. Let thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, shall be praises everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER AFTER THE SERMON.

OUR Father, we pray that thou wilt bless us in the truth that we have contemplated; but bless us yet more, we beseech of thee, in the attempt to render that truth into our own lives. We know the right way. Thou art pleased, at times, to put our feet upon the mount of transfiguration; and we discern thee in the radiance of thy glorified form. And yet, when we come down again, at the foot of the mountain are demoniac influences, and all weaknesses of men. We fain would live far above human infirmity, and build our tabernacles where thou art beautiful. We would fain not go down into life to bear its sins, and burdens, and cares. Grant that we may have a better mind. May we not only determine to avail ourselves of that salvation which is offered to us through Jesus Christ by his suffering, willingly borne for our sakes and for the sakes of all creation; but may we ourselves become like unto him. And in the same way may we more and more develop that side which is full of sweetness and full of medicine for souls that are wounded. And so we pray that thou wilt grant to all thy church the unfolding in them of that which is like thee. O, bring near to us a sense of God's humiliation,