sunshine of God, the aids of the sanctuary, the society of the good, the exercise of Christian toil, the business of life, the storms and tempests of sorrow and trial,—all things, by reason of the subtle power of the inner life, are made to help the Christian, to deepen his piety, to strengthen his soul, to beautify his character, to mature and ripen his graces, and to give him a stronger grip upon his God. "All things work together for good to them that love God."

Neither is there any limit to the attainments possible to the godly soul. Under the influence of the divine life it is placed amid an exhaustless store of nourishment, it is grafted into the Vine whose Root is the Godhead and whose resources are infinite and eternal.

"Neither death nor resurrection

Is the spirit's final goal;
Transformations are but stations
In the progress of the soul.

"Who shall dare to set a period
To its ultimate ascent,

As from strength to strength it goeth
To endless, new astonishment;

"Tending ever to its Maker,

Through the grades of seraphim,
Never lessening the distance

Still between itself and Him?"

It is greatly to be feared that the solemn duty and the transcendent privilege of religious growth does not take hold upon Christian people as it ought to do but it is of vital importance, and its neglect is rife with danger, and may be with moral death. The talent in the napkin may be kept intact, but when the Master cometh and findeth no growth, no increase, no advance, what will the "wicked and slothful" servant say?

From inner life, from secret root,

Come bud, and leaf, and growth, and fruit;
And as the vine increaseth more,

The branch grows stronger than before.

Just so the Christian's secret spring

From inmost core doth outward bring
All grace and good more evident,
The Christian's true development.

O Vine! O Life! Thy power assert,
And every hour in me exert
Thy quickening forces! Make them flow
Through all my life, that I may grow,—

May grow in wisdom, strength alway,
May grow more like Thee day by day;
More favour with my God may find,
More full of service to mankind.

By this increase of secret strength,
And meet for heaven made at length,

Then in Thy presence shall I dwell,
My Life, my King Immanuel!

Through all the bright eternity
Still shall I, Saviour, follow Thee,
Whithersoever Thou dost go,

And more and more Thyself shall know.

Still leaving things that are behind,
Still richer joys my soul shall find,
Still greater powers to serve, and be
For ever, liker, Lord, to Thee.

III.

LIFE-CURRENT.

"I AM the Vine; ye are the branches."

There is, therefore, not only a common life, but a common circulation of the current which carries life, the vital sap, the "blood which is the life." In the vine, as in every living plant and tree, there is a medium by which the whole living fabric is kept in communication with, and nourished by the root. These juices, sap as they are commonly called, are ever present, ever active, ever essential to the existence of the tree.

When a small scion is grafted into a different stock, a stream of life begins at once to flow from the tree into the branch which has been grafted in. Herein, we have a clear illustration of the new current of spiritual energy which flows from the Divine Root through the souls of those who by faith receive life in Jesus Christ. The sap of the ordinary vine, charged with all the elements of life, vigour, beauty, fruit, rises from the root, passes

through the stem, courses through every vein, and moving with strong untiring energy, keeps the entire plant green and hale and hearty. Just such a potent influence, just such a subtle, active agency, just such an elixir of life flows through the "new man in Christ Jesus," and makes him more and more Christly in word and thought and deed.

"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you." These are the Saviour's own words. 66 'My words." The truth as it is in Jesus, believed, received, applied by the Spirit of Truth, truth in the inward parts, this is the holy and assimilating influence which "speaks life" into the Christian; this is the nourishing and stimulating aliment on which the branch subsists. Surely it is for this reason that it is called a "living word." No wonder we are commanded to search the Scriptures; no wonder that it is called the "word of life," no wonder that "he that hath ears to hear is so often urged to "hear," that he may not droop, may not wither, may not grow flaccid and sickly for want of, the evergrowing, ever-flowing knowledge of the truth which makes him "wise unto salvation" and "strengthens him with strength in his soul."

وو

In the first psalm, the truly righteous man is represented as pre-eminently a student of the Word