Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." True, he here alluded to hearts purified and regenerated by the Holy Spirit; but they were hearts that had elements in them which the Holy Spirit could inspire and mould; and this is the truth on which I have dwelt.

And its word of exhortation is, reverence that nature which has been given you, that image of God in which you were made. Feel that it is your own voluntary sin which taints it and corrupts it. Believe there is something in you worthy of all your struggles, and self-denials, and self-sacrifices -something which has the seed of a destiny greater than you can now conceive. By prayer and holy living guard those aspirations which come from God, and tend to God, and may make you one with God, and filled with all the fullness of the godhead bodily.

SERMON VI.

CHRIST.

"What think ye of Christ? - MATTHEW Xxii. 42.

It cannot have escaped your notice that all our controversies about the person of Christ turn on points widely different from that in which, after all, we have the deepest interest.

But it is no new thing for men, when they are disputing, and form parties, and get impassioned, to turn off to some side issue, and overlook the only point with which they have really any conThe greater need is there to ask, What is the one question about Christ that has any practical importance, and what is all theological clamor about?

cern.

Jesus Christ presented Himself as a messenger from God to men. This was his claim and his office.

Now in the case of a messenger, the only question for us to consider is, was he appointed and commissioned to this work? It was for God to select whom He pleased. Suppose He thought best to send one who dwelt in heaven with Him, and in a mysterious union with his own person, his

own Son, the image and brightness of his glory, and that He made him the messenger of reconciliation and peace. What then? Our concern is not with the question who he was, but is with the question, Was he selected, and appointed, and authorized, so that in dealing with him it is the same as if we dealt with God, he having all God's power and authority behind him, to make his word and work sure to our souls?

Or suppose that God saw fit to select an exalted angel of heaven. What then? Our concern is not with the question who this angel was, but is with the question, Was he chosen and empowered by God, so that in dealing with him it is the same as if we dealt with God, he having all God's power and authority behind him, to make his word and work sure to our souls?

Once more, suppose God took as his messenger a man, the man Christ Jesus, giving him the spirit without measure, and endowing him with all the wisdom and love and grace necessary for his work. What then? Our concern is not with the question who this messenger was, but is with the question, Was he set apart and consecrated to this office, so that in dealing with him it is the same as if we dealt with God, he having all God's authority and power behind him, to make his word and work sure to our souls?

I have drawn out these three suppositions in order that we might see that we have nothing to

do with the question, What was the person of Christ? and that our interest in him lies in the other question, Was he an appointed and com missioned messenger from God?

Accordingly, who does not remember that the Gospels, from beginning to end, make this one point prominent above everything else, that Christ was sent by the Father? "This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." "I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me." "The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.' "He that seeth me seeth Him that sent me." not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment what I should “I must work the works of Him that sent

say." me."

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sent me."

"I have

'My meat is to do the will of Him that But were I to repeat all the passages where this language occurs I should have to quote a large portion of the Gospels.

The same point is prominent in the sermons and the epistles of the primitive preachers of Christianity. Throughout them all we find one purpose running, and that is to prove that God sent his Son into the world, that all might believe on him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent.

"Sent!" That is the refrain everywhere; and that all these varied expressions bring to view the sole point of practical interest may be seen by a

comparison. If the governments of England and the United States were mutually hostile, and a messenger should come from the former to the latter, when he presents himself to the authorities of this country, what is the question which they have first of all to settle? It is whether he was

appointed and commissioned. If parties should be formed on other issues, if some should say, a messenger should have royal blood in his veins, or be a member of the nobility at least, and contend that we cannot properly receive him until we know his age, and history, and exact rank in the peerage, and if in disputing on these points we get excited and angry, and call one another hard names, and all the while forget the message that had been sent, should we not be doing a very foolish thing?

I think so. And I think, also, that it would be a timely and sensible word if one should say, "You are contending about points with which you have nothing to do. It is for the English Government to appoint whom it may please as ambassador. His authority does not depend upon his rank but upon his commission. Let us see that he comes from his sovereign, and that is enough; and then let us attend to the message he brings."

Words corresponding to these, I think, would be equally sensible and timely if addressed to Christians. Of our disputes about the person of Christ, would that the only thing to be said might be that they are foolish. In a case of such great