the private Christian, in which the left hand knoweth not what the right hand doeth, and which are observed by no other eye but that which seeth in secret. As nature is noisy only when it rends, but silent when it brings forth; so in ecclesiastical history we hear far more of destructive commotions than of those quiet fruits of peace which faith brings forth in the interior of the soul, in the privacy of the family circle, and among persons of low degree, of whom history makes no mention. But he who would distinctly conceive how fertilising must be the spiritual rain with which the Church has watered the fields of the world needs only to ask himself, What would I have been if all the blossoms and fruits which the breath of my Master's Spirit has evoked were to be subtracted from my life? Can I for a moment doubt that what His Spirit has been and done to me individually, it has no less been and done to the Church as a whole?

For the rest, if at any time I find myself brooding in ignorant despondency over the fact that the godly man ceaseth and that the kingdom of God does not come with power, I try to imbibe strength from the thought that it is quite the same whether the Spirit descends upon many in drops and rivulets or upon few in great streams. And how if it be that the few who in particular localities lament the ruin of Zion are endeavouring to be all the more amply replenished with the might and gifts of the Spirit, being stimulated thereto by the distress which they feel? Their distress thus becomes the means by which the kingdom of God may be brought to such places in all the plenitude of its riches and power. Ah me! would that our lamentation over the ruin of God's kingdom were always to turn into activity in building it up!

Lord, hitherto Thou hast been with us, and wilt continue to abide with us until the end of the world. Oh give us eyes of faith to look steadily at the sun, even though its light shine. through the clouds only in broken beams! Never, Almighty God, wilt Thou lack stones for the temple which it is Thy will to build up out of sinful humanity! Help me, that to the

praise of Thy glorious grace I too may be a living stone in the part of it where Thou hast been pleased to assign to me a place! Help me to understand what gifts I have received. Doubtless many more have been conferred upon me than I either know of or employ. Forbid that I should neglect or dream any of them away. Forbid that, in thinking of others, I should forget myself, or forget what Thou hast already done for me. How shouldst not Thou be able to lift up Thy Church from the depths, and set it on high, seeing Thou hast rescued myself from so deep a pit?

Through this dark world of sin and woe,

A helpless little flock we go,

And seem of low degree;

But let the royal Bridegroom come
To wed the bride and take her home,
And who so blest as she?

Here stood the Sun of Life concealed,

And through the mists its face that veiled
Faint fell on earth the rays.

There full disclosed it stands, and bright;
No lowering clouds obstruct its light,
And bliss is in its blaze.

40.

They continued steadfastly in Fellowship.

Gather the coals together well,

And each will help the blaze to swell.

ACTs, ii. 42. “They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

MATT. xviii. 20. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

HEB. X. 25.

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is."

OH

H how blessed an assemblage it must have been, when, in the early days after Pentecost, the apostles and the three thousand met together with one accord!1 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism," was no doubt the word which echoed perpetually through all their hearts. They were brothers, which is more than good friends. It means blood-relations; and such they were, for the Lord had sprinkled them with His blood, and put one and the same Spirit into their hearts, just as it is one blood that flows in the veins of those who are kinsmen. "Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him," says St John. He who begat me to a new life is the Lord Jesus Christ: and being, as I am, His child, I have also in me some portion of His Spirit. How then should I not love those who have also been begotten of Him, and who partake of the same Spirit as myself? These early Christians loved each other, and their fellowship in the Spirit drew them together, as the members of one body cannot brook to be separated. They continued, it is said, in the apostles' doctrine, and doubtless must have conversed at large about all which the apostles told them respecting the Lord; and in fellowship, which certainly means community of goods, as it is afterwards called; and in breaking of bread, or in other words partaking of the Holy Supper, in which their absent Master became once more present, and gave Himself to them; and in prayers, in which they gave vent to the sentiments inspired by their common fellowship in the Lord. As they had all their earthly possessions and goods in common, they, no doubt, likewise shared with each other their spiritual joys and sorrows; and this brother would say to that, "Such was the way in which the Lord dealt with me," or "It was thus that I found grace;" so that doubtless what the poet says was true of them—

1 Acts, ii. 46.

3

"The wondrous story, ever new,

Scarce finished is again begun,
How Jesus was so kind and true,
And for us all redemption won.

How first He woke our hearts, when dead,

With messages of weal or woe;

And ever since has safely led,

And showed us the good way to go.

His gracious presence then is felt,

The Spirit breathes, our bosoms burn;

Our hearts with sacred ardour melt,

Our prayers to grateful anthems turn."

That was indeed a blessed fellowship; and for fellowship of the same open and brotherly kind who among us does not long? How many there are who at the social board have sung of men's common brotherhood, and caught enthusiasm from the strain! But it is a strain which they sing by lamp-light and over their wine. The sentiment which is expressed attains to perfect truth only in Christ. Mutually related as we are, even as descendants of Adam, we cannot live wholly apart from each other. Nothing but sin has separated us, and none but He who bruises the head of the old serpent can unite us again in genuine brotherhood. Can there be any one who has never felt how the sympathy of others multiplies joy and mitigates sorrow? and in the domain of religion this is doubly and trebly true. Prayer and meditation upon God come so reluctantly from my heart when I pray and meditate alone, but seem as if they were winged when hundreds begin to pray and sing along with me, and seal the same confession with one general Amen. I often think of the negro woman who was once asked by the governor of Surinam why she and her fellows always prayed together. Could they not do it each one for himself? He happened to be standing at the time before a coal-fire, and the woman answered: "Dear sir, separate these coals from each other, and the fire will go out; but see how brisk the flame when they burn together." From the mere circumstance that

when in fellowship with others our hearts grow warm, we can easily understand what the Saviour means when He says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And again, "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." This, says a devout man, is as when the whole children of a family take heart, and with one accord beseech the father for a boon. It is then far harder for him to refuse.

Awakened souls largely enjoy the privilege of fellowship, and there are not many who decline intercourse with those to whom they are spiritually related. Any who do it have either already fallen or are about to fall into a morbid state of mind; for as man naturally depends upon his fellow-men, so does the Christian upon his fellow-Christians. Does not each member of the body stand in need of the rest? How much of what is good we learn-how much of what is not good we get rubbed away, by communing with other minds! The Lord has vouchsafed His Spirit, not to this or that member, but to the body of His Church, in order that each in particular may share with the rest what has been given to the whole. They who isolate themselves usually do it from a secret pride; their obstinacy and caprice will not submit to receive instruction from others. If, however, even in worldly business, it be true that

He who pretends himself to school,

Has for his scholar got a fool,

the truth of the proverb is shown by still more serious consequences in spiritual affairs. No doubt the Holy Spirit, as imparted to individual believers, teaches them many a lesson; but that the Spirit of the Church is of still higher authority, may be learned from the saying of the Lord,2 that if a sinner shall neglect to hear his brother, the brother is to take one or two more; and if he neglect to hear them, the matter is to be reported to the Church; but if he neglect to hear the Church, 1 Matt. xviii. 19. 2 Matt. xviii. 17.