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The Second Sunday in Lent.

EVENING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: Eph. ii.

Verse 19.-"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."

MAN is destined for two worlds, the world of time and the world of eternity. In the world of time he is a probationer, in the world of eternity he is a settler. As the Israelites were kept forty years in the wilderness to prepare them for the land of Canaan, so is man kept in this world to prepare him for a future state of existence. All the circumstances through which he is called upon to pass in time are intended to fit him for eternity; and they do fit him either for an eternity of happiness, or for an eternity of woe.

Man also passes through a twofold state in the present world, a state of nature and a state of grace.

He is born in

a state of nature, which is a state of sin and corruption; in this state he lives until he is "born again," when he is transferred into a state of grace. From henceforth he is no more a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-citizen of the saints and of the household of God. Of this twofold state St. Paul largely treats in this chapter, showing unto the Ephesians what they and all Gentiles had been, and what they had become at the time when he addressed them.

In the text we are taught two important things. First, The negative position to which the Apostle refers; and, Secondly, The positive change which the Apostle declares.

When

I. The negative position to which the Apostle refers, which is, that all by nature are "strangers and foreigners." the poor is made rich, when the hungry is fed, when the

naked is clothed, when the homeless has a comfortable dwelling-place, when the exposed to danger is brought to a refuge of safety: the value of present mercies is greatly enhanced by the remembrance of past deprivations. The Apostle reminds the Ephesian Christians that at one time they were "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise; having no hope, and without God in the world."

This he did, not by way of taunt, but that they might more highly appreciate the change which had taken place in their position. It is well for every Christian to remember what he has been, that he may more fully keep in mind the riches of the grace which has made him what he is. Mary loved much when she remembered that much had been forgiven her.

Now, the Ephesians and all Gentiles were strangers and foreigners under the Mosaic economy. They were excluded from the pale of God's Church, and had no claim to any of the privileges of that Church. All sinners in a state of nature are subject to the same exclusion, even under the Christian economy. They may have been admitted into the Visible Church by the Sacrament of Baptism. They may be partakers of the external ordinances of the Church; they may even be admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; but as long as they live in a state of practical sinfulness, they are excluded from all the real, spiritual privileges of the Church. Ah! miserable condition of the Christless soul! If thou art without Christ, thou art without the Spirit and grace of Christ to enlighten thee, to quicken thee, to sanctify and to save thee. "Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise."

This alienism consists

1. In exclusion from the true knowledge of God and Christ, whom to know is life eternal. In answer to the question of the disciples, "Why speakest thou to them in parables?" our Lord replied, "Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them

it is not given." God does not reveal His mind to the Christless soul. Sin has driven him so far that the glorious light of the Gospel does not reach his heart. As the regions near the poles are for a great portion of the year involved in total darkness, in consequence of their distance from the direction of the sun's rays, so is the unregenerate sinner in total ignorance of God, in consequence of his distance from Christ. "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine in unto them." They are strangers and foreigners, therefore "cannot receive the things which are of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto them; neither can they know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

2. This alienism consists in exclusion from the graces of the Gospel, such as repentance, and faith, and love, and peace, and spiritual strength, and hope, and joy: "Having no hope, and without God in the world." There is no hope but that which perishes. There is no hope of forgiveness of sins, nor of comfort in sorrow, nor of a friend in death, nor of happiness in the world to come, nor of the resurrection of the body in the last day. There is no "anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." The present is a dizzy precipice, the future is a dark abyss. Life is a spiritual blank, death will be a spiritual desertion, eternity will be a spiritual hell. How destitute to be without hope, and without God in the world!

3. There is no claim to any of the promises of God. Strangers from the covenants of the promises." Such were the Gentiles of old. They were excluded from the covenant of grace which God made with Adam after the fall; then with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; afterwards with the Israelites. The covenant was always the same, although repeated to those chosen few. It was the covenant of promise, as it was invariably confirmed by great and precious promises, all of which converged in the great promise of salvation. through Christ. The Ephesians were, then, strangers from

the covenants of promise. They knew nothing of God's covenant of grace; they had no claim to its blessings, and could not apply the promises to themselves. It is just so with the impenitent sinner. God's promises are not intended for him; he is not within the sphere of the covenant. Those only who have faith in Christ, and are renewed by His Spirit, are entitled to the blessings of the Gospel, and can apply to themselves the promises of God. You may as well expect the light of the sun to cheer a man in the recesses of a coalpit, as to expect the promises of God to cheer and encourage him while in a state of sin. No; he is a stranger, and has no claim.

But let us turn

II. To the positive change which the Apostle declares; "Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, bu fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."

Now there is no such difference as formerly existed. The believing Gentiles are equally admitted with the believing Jews to the privileges of the New Jerusalem, and are fellowcitizens with one another. They are no longer aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; they are all free men, having access by one Spirit to the Father."

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The disqualification being removed, the apostle describes the privileges of Christians by two beautifully illustrative figures.

1. That of a citizen. Christ's Church is a city. It is frequently styled so in Scripture, which is a most descriptive metaphor of the nature and peculiarity of the Christian Church. A city has a governor, a foundation, laws and regulations, numerous inhabitants, and anciently a firm wall for protection. God is the governor of the Church, Christ is her foundation, the Bible contains her laws and regulations, souls of all ages are her inhabitants, and salvation is appointed to be her "walls and bulwarks." The whole gives us an idea of comfort, of glory, and of safety. The citizens

of such a city are select, highly privileged, and happy. They are called saints, being separated from the rest of the world, set apart, as were the priests and holy vessels of old, for a peculiar purpose, and dedicated to the service of God. They are also undergoing a process of sanctification in the present world, and will be perfectly holy, without spot and without blemish, in the world to come.

They are fellow-citizens, having equal rights and equal privileges. They have one Lord, one faith, one baptism. There is no distinction made between Jews and Gentiles, but the distinction of usefulness. Some, indeed, like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Daniel, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, and others who have devoted themselves more fully to the common welfare of the citizens and the glory of the governor, may hold higher positions and closer fellowship than others who merely attend to their personal safety and common duty. Still, they are all free denizens, burgesses, and enfranchised citizens, having a right to all the privileges and immunities of the city. There is a difference between the magnitude and lustre of the stars, according to the purposes of the Divine mind that formed them: but each star fills an important post in the constitution of the universe, and receives its full quota of benefit from the great luminary around which it turns. The poorest and most insignificant saint upon earth has a sphere to fill in the Church, and in the faithful discharge of his duty he enjoys all that is necessary to constitute his peace and happiness. They are fellow-citizens; as such they have common immunities, common interests, common sympathies, common blessings, common ends.

2. They are not only fellow-citizens, but are also members "of the household of God." This metaphor intimates a greater nearness to, and communion with, the Church than what the former metaphor did imply, there being a stricter tie of familiarity and friendship between the members of a family than between the members of a city. The Church of Christ under the Gospel is God's great household or family,