ever imperfect and inadequate, is a sacred thing. Along this avenue of visible adoration of the unseen God all the highest and holiest have walked; forth from these shrines men and women have gone to all the glorious martyrdoms; out of this worship have come those restraining forces which have held back the baser passions, and those commanding aspirations which have led the march to civilization. It has never been enough that men should acknowledge God in the secret chambers of their own souls; the needs of the great world have demanded public declaration of faith and service, and the private adoration has sought for visible shrine and audible worship as surely and by as true a law of nature as the sap at the root of the tree seeks the revelation of itself in flowers and fruit.--LYMAN ABBOTT.

Power in the Church.

God deliver the Church from the paralyzing power of

men

"Who never said a foolish thing,

And never did a wise one."

The Church today has far too many men ready to put brakes on her progress-cautious men; cautious, very cautious-but far too few men of steam power, and when a church is, as we are told, on the down-grade, she not only needs brake-power to stop her, but still more steam power to pull her up again. We sadly need in the Church men to tell us what to do, and who go and do it. "I'm going to fish," said Peter; and in a time of paralysis, when men were eating out their hearts with fear and misery, not knowing what to do or where to turn, there

rang out this one voice, saying: 'Let us do this." And they did it, and God Almighty met them.-McNeill.

Christ the Ruler of the Church.

Christ loves to dwell in a house which is built according to His own plans, and not according to the whims and fancies of men. The Church ought not to set up as her authority the decrees of men, either living or dead; her ruler is Christ. Associations formed otherwise than according to Scripture must fail in the long run. I wish Christians would believe this. Chillingworth said: "The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants." -SPURGEON.

A Church Without Zeal.

The worst thing that can be said of any Christian community is this: "Thou hast a name to live and art dead." "Thou art neither cold nor hot." Our Lord

Jesus says: "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then

because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." A church without life and zeal makes Christ sick.-SPURGEON.

The Safety of the Church.

I am always afraid of having human rules in a church, and equally fearful of being governed by human precedents. I am afraid of power being vested in one, or two, or twenty men; the power must be in the Lord. That church which has God in the midst of it rules itself, and goes right without any other guidance but that which

comes of the Holy Spirit's working. Such a church keeps together without aiming at uniformity, and goes on to victory even though it makes no noise. That movement is right which is led by God, and that is sure to be all wrong which is led in the best possible way if God be absent. Organization is all very well, but I sometimes feel inclined to join with Zwingle in the battle when he said, "In the name of the Holy Trinity let all loose;" for when everybody is free, if God be present, everybody is bound to do the right. When each man moves according to the divine instinct in him there will be little need of regulations; all is order where God rules.--SPURGEON.

Church Unity.

They

Here are many candles uniting their brilliance. all hang upon one support, and shine by the same light. May they not represent the church of Christ in its multiplicity, variety and unity? These candles are all supported upon one stem, they are all giving forth the same light; and yet they are of all manner of sorts, sizes and colors. A great way off they would seem to be but one light. They are many, and yet but one. I happened one evening to say that nobody could tell which was the "U. P.," and which was the Free Church, or which was the Wesleyan, or the Primitive, or the Salvation Army, or the Baptists, and so on; but one strong old Baptist assured me that the "Dips" gave the best light. Another said the Presbyterians were, on the whole, cast in the best mold; and a third thought the English Church was made of the truest wax. I told them that some of

the Baptists would be the better if they had another baptism. The Free Churches might be none the worse for being more established in the faith; and even the Methodists might improve their methods. The main question is possession of the one light and fire of God, the flame of divine truth. Those who shine by divine grace are all one in Christ Jesus.

What a glory will there be in the one church when all her members shine, and all are one! May such a day come quickly! Amen.-SPURGEON.

Condensed Comments.

What elements of power we wield! Truth unmixed with error, flashing as God's own lightning in its brightness, resistless if properly wielded, as that living flame! Oh, what agencies! The Holy Ghost standing and pleading with us to work so that He may help us the very earth coming to the help of the Lord Jesus Christ! And yet I am painfully impressed that we are not wielding the elements of Christian achievement nearly up to their maximum.-T. M. EDDY.

Let the Church come to God in the strength of a perfect weakness, in the power of a felt helplessnes、 and a child-like confidence; and then, either she has no strength and has no right to be, or she has a strength that is infinite. Then and thus will she stretch out the rod over the seas of difficulty which lie before her, and the waters shall divide, and she shall pass through and sing the song of deliverance.-MARK HOPKINS.

So, from generation to generation, the spiritual Church is rising upward toward its perfection; and, though one atver another the workmen pass away, the fabric remains and the great Master Builder carries on the undertaking. Be it ours to build our portion in a solid and substantial manner, so that they who come after us may be at once thankful for our thoroughness and inspired by our example.-Wм. M. TAYLOR.

How long must the Church live before it will learn that strength is won by action, and success by work; and that all this immeasurable feeling, without action and work, is a positive damage to it-that it is the procurer of spiritual obesity, gout and debility?—J. G. HOLLAND.

Persecution has not crushed the Church; power has not beaten it back; time has not abated its force; and, what is most wonderful of all, the abuses and treasons of its friends have not shaken its stability.-HORACE BUSH

NELL.

The true safety of the Church is not a creed, not an enactment for expelling those who violate the creed; the presence of God alone can protect His people against the cunning assaults of their foes.--SPURGEON.

The Church may go through her dark ages, but Christ is with her in the midnight; she may pass through her fiery furnace but Christ is in the midst of the flame with her SPURGEON

Doubtless there are times when controversy becomes a Cecessary evil. But let us remember that it is an evil.

-DEAN STANLEY.