to compare his soul scarred with sin, with the same soul pure as in the days long past, he would be startled, and realize that in sinning against God he has wronged himself beyond repair.

Application of the same truth might be made to all of the commandments, no one of which can be broken without peril. It is specially true of the law in its entirety, as summed up by Christ. He who fails to love God with all his heart, wrongs his soul unspeakably, defrauding it of that which is more valuable than all other possessions— of eternal life. To repulse God's spirit and refuse salvation is a quickly punished crime. The soul is hardened; with each repulse it is more and more indisposed to receive the offered mercy.

"BORN OF GOD."

Salvation is more than the forgiveness of sins. It is more than repentance and conversion. It is a new life. Christ said: "Ye must be born again." The child of God is "born of God," or "born from above." He is not merely reformed, but regenerated. He is "a new creature in Christ Jesus."

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and the growth of each is according to its own nature. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and its growth is evil. Its tendencies are bad, and of itself it goes from bad to worse. The spiritual mind is in harmony with God, and its tendencies are good. It is not left to itself, but, led by the Spirit, grows in grace and in the knowledge and love of God.

Some good people stumble at the doctrine of "total depravity." Perhaps the term is unfortunate. It does not mean that unregenerated men are as bad as it is possible for them to be, but that their nature is corrupted by sin, and indisposed to good and wholly inclined to evil. The re-born ( 120 )

soul, on the other hand, is inclined to good. Salvation is a matter of direction, or disposition. As seed produces after its own kind, one soul grows in sin and the other in holiness. The first may have estimable traits, but its tendency is downward. The other may be weak and may fall often, but its tendency is upward.

The final judgment to be pronounced upon men will be not only according to what they have done, but according to what they are. John's vision of the future represents Christ as saying: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still." As the tree leans so it grows, and in time will fall, and "in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it lie." As a man lives, so he grows; and as he grows, so he will be at death; and as he is at death, so he will be forever.

Standing alone, this would be the doctrine of despair; but it does not stand alone. Christ, who said, "Ye must be born again," has made it possible for all who will to be the children of God, and to grow in his likeness. "As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his

name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Faith is the secret of regeneration. He that believeth is born of God. He is begotten again in the divine image. As he grows in grace this image becomes more distinct, and one day it will be perfect. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him."

This is our hope. "Every man that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as he is pure." If we are to see Christ and be like him in glory, the wise plan is to cultivate his likeness here.

SANCTIFICATION.

Sanctification is a thing to be sought, but not boasted of. It is to be sought not as one seeks a lost piece of money, or even the pearl of great price, but as one follows an increasingly rich vein of precious metal, or a path which at every step becomes plainer and more delightful.

It is growth

Sanctification is a process. in grace. All life, spiritual as well as natural, begins with birth. The word is used in a wide sense. There can be no growth until there is life. The soul must be "born from above," not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Sanctification is of God. It is not of man to convert, regenerate, sanctify or save himself. Sanctification, moreover, is of God's free grace. We are sanctified just as we are justified, "by grace through faith." Paul, in his farewell to the Ephesian elders, said: "I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified."

This is testimony not only to the work ( 123 )