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be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.' (Ps. li. 4.) Now we bow to the Awful Sovereignty of God; then we shall trace His Works of Mercy and of Judgment, and know that both are according to Truth.' It was the Word of the Lord Himself, 'What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter;' and it applies to His Acts of Judgment, as of Grace. (John, xiii. 7.)

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For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.' (2 Cor. v. 10.) We read of the 'many stripes,' and the 'few stripes ' from the Words of the Judge Himself, For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom men have committed much, of him will they ask the more.' (Luke, xii. 47, 48.) 'Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to Judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.' (1 Tim. v. 24, 25.)

We read in 1 Cor. iii. 11, of those who build on Christ the Living Stone, the sure Foundation Stone, that every one who builds upon Christ the Living Stone will be saved; but that which some have built, the labour of their life, will be burned up, not standing the test of His Presence who is a con

suming fire (Heb. xii. 29); though saved themselves as resting on Christ, it will be as by fire; and they must suffer loss. No question is introduced of a man living up to his opinions or to that which he holds as his Faith; he must build on Christ; and he must take heed how he builds on Him, because there is one test, and only one, by which his whole inner and outward life must abide or perish, and that test the fire of God! That which is not of Christ, that which is not in Christ, cannot resist that fire.

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It is also written, One Star differeth from another Star in Glory.' (1 Cor. xv. 41.) And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake, some to everlasting Life, and some to shame and Everlasting Contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament, and they that turn many to Righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.' (Dan. xii. 2, 3.)

From these declarations of Holy Scripture we surely gather that every act and word, every thought and feeling that builds up our daily life, must be tested by the searching fire of God's Presence; and only that on which the fire cannot fasten, because it is 'perfect in Christ Jesus,' can abide that test. How real and penetrating, how ceaseless and how high is this motive set before us! It is all summed up in those Comprehensive words, To me to live is Christ!' And the same Apostle writing to the Colossians (i. 27-29) says, 'Christ in

you the Hope of Glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all Wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working which worketh in me mightily.' The first chapter of the second Epistle of St. Peter exhorts those who have received this Precious Faith,' to all the fruits of Righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the Glory and Praise of God. (Phil. i. 11.) For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' (2 Pet. i. 11.)

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CHAPTER XIV.

HEAVEN.

OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME. THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.'-MATT. VI. 9, 10; LUKE, XI. 1–13.

THESE sacred words of the Divine Prayer taught by our Lord to His Disciples, and repeated again in answer to their entreaty, 'Lord, teach us to Pray!' unfold to us the relationship, the spirit, and the state of the Glorified in Heaven. The relationship of those who are found in Christ (Phil. iii. 9), is for ever that of children with their Father, 'the glorious liberty of the children of God;' perfected union and communion. As the Father is Infinite, Eternal, Unchangeable, so must be the inheritance of those who are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. (Rom. viii. 17.) The Wellspring of their everlasting Life in God must deepen for ever, as it rises higher in their enjoyment and apprehension of Him. Their joy in the Lord must for ever brighten, illumined with intenser Light, as they grow in the knowledge and love of God. While the power to serve and glorify Him becomes irresistible, as His

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Will is perfectly known, delighted in, and obeyed; as the soul in God alone lives, and moves, and has its being, no alien thought, -every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. x. 5); no treacherous feeling, no misgiving -made perfect in Love (1 John, iv. 18); no averted gaze-'the eye single and the whole body full of Light.' (Matt. vi. 22.) 'Till we all come, in the unity of the Faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.' (Eph. iv. 13.) Changed into the same Image, from Glory to Glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' (2 Cor. iii. 18.) Then man, who was made in the Image of God (Gen. i. 27), is restored to that glorious Likeness; no more to reflect the Divine Mind and Will in the clear, though shallow stream of created innocence, but to be 'partakers of the Divine Nature' (2 Pet. i. 4); Partakers of Christ' (Heb. iii. 14); 'Partakers of the Holy Ghost' (Heb. vi. 4); 'Partakers of the Divine Holiness;' (Heb. xii. 10.) Having put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. xiii. 14); Having put on the New Man, which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness (Eph. iv. 23); Which is renewed in knowledge, after the Image of Him that created Him.' (Col. iii. 10.)

According to the riches of the Father so are the riches of the children. Therefore the Apostle prays that the eyes of your understanding may be en

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