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apostles to preach the gospel. The gospel was first preached at Jerusalem in obedience to the command of Christ; thence it issued forth like streams in the desert to benefit and to fertilize the Gentile world.

The Jerusalem and Mount Zion of the New Testament are the Church of Christ. Hence a remnant has always gone forth from its first establishment to the present. The expression of the text implies first, perpetuity, and secondly, fertility.

1. Perpetuity. "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant; and they that escape out of Mount Zion." There is a fact connected with this promise worthy of our attention; it is this, never has persecution diminished the number of God's people. Under the persecutions in Egypt the Israelites increased instead of decreased. Under the persecutions of the Jews the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth became daily more numerous. Under the persecutions of the Roman Emperors the Christians increased a thousand fold. Under the Under the persecutions of the Papists Protestants filled the land. How true the saying, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." The more of them that were put to death, still greater did their numbers increase. Persecution feeds the flame of devotion, and gives life and energy to the suffering remnant. True Christians became few in the dark middle ages of our era, but why? it was not through persecution, but through the criminal indifference and the fatal corruptions of Christians themselves. The perpetuity of the Church is secure as long as the members of the Church will adhere to the principles which they profess. As God promised the Rechabites, "Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever," so He promises the Church that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against her." "Out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant."

2. Fertility is here promised. The remnant shall "take root downward, and bear fruit upward." In this fertility is involved an established safety as well as productive results. As the tree, striking its roots into the soil, firmly grasping

the strength of its support, can withstand the blast of a raging tempest, so God's people are rooted and grounded in His promises, and they firmly lay hold of His strength. Being thus rooted downward, they bear fruit upward, which is love to God, repentance for sin, faith in Christ, obedience to the Divine will, holiness of life, and goodness towards man. The fruit of the Spirit is the fruit borne by the remnant, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, faith, temperance. Such fruit grows upward, and shall ripen in heaven, whilst here it is manifest to the world. If we be the people of God men see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven!

We shall consider

III. The reason for all this. "The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this." Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. There is no escape, no security, no fruitfulness but by Him. By the zeal of the Lord of Hosts we are to understand the interest which He feels in the welfare of His own people, and the readiness which He manifests in furthering their safety. We have already spoken of His interest in them, and everything declares His readiness to help and defend them. He is never an inattentive observer of their position and circumstances; but with a feeling unparalleled in any other being, and with a power which none other can exercise, He acts in their behalf. In the manifestation of his zeal He has given them great and precious promises, which "are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus." He has confirmed His promises with an oath, "that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." If His promise will not assure us of His zeal His oath surely must, for " an oath for confirmation is to (men) an end of all strife," and God "is not man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent." What need we further witnesses? Let us take His word and His oath. Let us trust in Him. If none other can save us, He

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can; if none other will succour us, He will; if none other is able to subdue our enemies, He is. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." He will not forsake his people. The zeal which He manifests is the "zeal of the Lord of Hosts." It is not like man's zeal, which changes, and often entirely fails; it is the zeal of an unchangeable God, who is the " same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."

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The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.

EVENING SERVICE.-Second Lesson 1 John iii.

Verse 1.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."

THE title Boanerges was given by our Lord to St. John, in conjunction with St. James, not because he was disposed to thunder the curses of the law against his hearers, but because he exercised a power which crushed their feelings and changed their hearts. The characteristic feature of John's disposition was love, which endeared him especially to Christ during their sojourning together upon earth, and which characterized his teaching after the departure of Christ to heaven. It is said that when age and infirmity grew upon him at Ephesus, so that he could no longer preach to the people, he used, at every public meeting, to be led to the church, when he would say no more to them than "Little children, love one another: " and being asked by his auditors, why he always spoke in the same strain, he answered, "because it was the command of our Lord; and that, if they did nothing more, this alone was sufficient as a proof of their Christianity." Actuated by a feeling of love, he was distinguished for his zeal and earnestness in sounding forth the doctrines of the gospel, and in defending the claims of the truth against the intruding heresies of the time; and his history shows with what victorious and irresistible power he would bear down all opposition, confounding the enemies of the gospel with the divine eloquence, and the mighty miracles which accompanied his ministry.

In this chapter, the apostle enjoins upon Christians the special duty of love to God, and to each other, which he

enforces by its being an old commandment, encouraged by new motives and new examples. The motives would be the distinctive relationship between all with God in Christ, and between all with each other as the children of the same Father by the gracious operation of the same Spirit in removing the darkness from their minds, and placing them in the true light. The examples would be the loving devotedness of Christ in dying to atone for their sins, and in interceding as their Advocate in heaven. Also, the love of God in accepting the work of the Son for them, and in adopting them to be His own children. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."

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The text suggests, first, the honourable distinction conferred upon Christians; and secondly, the admired cause of that distinction.

I. There is the honourable distinction conferred upon Christians, "That we should be called the sons of God."

The things which are generally considered to be the prizes of the world are those connected with high positions in Church and State. To be exalted from a low station either by merit or good fortune to a rank of royalty or nobility, distinguishes a person in the estimation of his fellowmen, and wins for him the plaudits of the millions. To be born of royal or noble blood secures honour, independent of character. But those things are shaded into midnight darkness when contrasted with the distinguished position of those who are "called the sons of God." Their rank is not of the earth earthy; their origin is derived from a higher source than that of being heir to the most exalted seat in life being "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This distinction consists not merely of creation and providence; according to such an act, all are the sons of God. He is the Creator of all, the Preserver of all. In this respect the profane, the vile, the wicked, the infidel portions of mankind are equally the sons

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