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PRACTICAL LESSONS;

is to the fruit. You cannot have the fruit without the blossom; the effect without the cause; the glory hereafter without the grace here. Life is the spring-time of our being. The harvest of eternity will be just what the seed we now sow makes it.

As there lie folded up in the bud, all the parts of the future flower; so the glory which awaits the Christian in the kingdom of heaven, is simply an expansion, an unfolding, of the grace that is given him here. To reach the one; he must have the other. Whatever there may be of brightness or blessedness in his future lot, is his only as that grace is received into his soul. The glory which it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive; and the duration of that glory; extending through eternal ages; are ours only as we are in Christ.

In what relation, then, do we stand to Him? It is the one great question. All others are trifling in comparison with it. Other interests are for time. This is for eternity. Beyond and above all other questions, there rises up this one; What is my relation to this kingdom? What shall I be after death? What will be my eternal state. Where shall I be? And what? And how?

Our relation to this kingdom answers these questions. You and I, brethren, are subjects of it; or we are not. The Bible speaks of those who are "heirs of the kingdom;" having, i. e., a clear title to it. Only waiting to be called to its possession. Does that describe our state? I look over this congregation, and ask; Does that apply to you? Are you heirs? Are you? You may be among the rich, or wise, or

great of earth. It matters little. What does it matter to the dead, that once they were noted on the earth? As shadows, all these things pass away. But heirship in the kingdom of God, is an absolute, fixed, glorious and abiding reality. Are you, then, an heir? Is the title to that kingdom yours? Is that title clear? Have you examined it well? Has it no flaw? There is none which conveys an interest in that kingdom, save that which stands in Jesus' blood! He alone is the line of descent. You must be found in Him; or you have no interest in His kingdom. You may call yourself a Christian. Many do. That will not make you an heir. You may have a prominent place in the Church. Many have; who will fail of the kingdom at last. All the ordinances of the Church may be yours. But the title stands not in them. "You must be born again." Your sins must be washed away in the Saviour's blood. Faith in Jesus must connect you with His atoning work. It must open to you the door of the kingdom. You must be living members of the Church of God's elect. Fitness for the kingdom must be gained on earth. Grace here must prepare you for glory hereafter.

Men and brethren, in my Master's name, I press this theme home upon you to-day. Take hence with you the question, Am I an heir of the kingdom? Forget what else you will. O forget not that. Neglect what else you choose; but make that your first concern. Turn aside from what else you may; but be you very sure that you have secured an interest in the everlasting kingdom.

LECTURE IX.

AND the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.-Dan. vii. 27.

WE have seen, that the kingdom which the God of Heaven is to set up, is to be a literal and visible kingdom. And now, the question before us is, the second of the five which grow out of these words; i. e., The locality of this kingdom?

And the answer, from the prophecy, is as clear and exact as it can well be. Represented under the figure of the "Stone cut out of the mountain, without hands;" this kingdom-after breaking in pieces the other kingdoms-was itself to "fill the whole earth." It was, then, to stand for ever. Now, beyond doubt, it could not "break in pieces" the other kingdoms; it could not take their place, and stand therein for ever; without being set up in the territory which they once occupied; i. e., on this literal, habitable earth. It is idle to argue this point.

The text, also, just as positively asserts the same truth. What is the kingdom "under the whole heaven;" but a kingdom on the whole earth? What are the "people, and nations, and languages," that shall serve our Lord in his kingdom; but people living and

LOCALITY OF THE KINGDOM.

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and multiplying on the earth? Do you not see that this kingdom is to be set up as the fifth kingdom in the history of this world? Assign to it any other location; give to it a place in any other planet. And how is it then, the fifth kingdom on this earth? I suppose that this consideration is decisive of the question.

But, do other Scriptures affirm this truth? If they do not; it would be hard to see how their silence could overrule these plain and positive declarations. One clear and precise statement in God's book, is a foundation broad enough and strong enough for any doctrine to rest on. But, in this case, the difficulty lies in a very different direction. It is not the possession, so much as the selection, of proof, that embarrasses. In almost every form we meet this truth. It comes to us in the plainest statements of the prophetic word. It is announced as the great end of revealed truth. It clothes itself in the utterances of its sublimest poetry. Again, it meets us as a gracious promise. Now, it is set forth in the short, pithy sentences of proverbs. Again, it comes in the easy converse of friend with friend. While the references to it-the instances in which it is built upon, as a foundation truth, without being, in so many words, set forth-meet us at every turn.

In direct connection with the kingship of Christ, the declaration is; "I will give Thee, the heathen-i. e., the nations-for thine inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." And you shall find that this will not be fulfilled; until His foes -banded together in their last, mad enterprise against Him-shall be broken with a rod of iron, and dashed in

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PSALM II. YET UNFULFILLED.

pieces like a potter's vessel. Examine the psalm; and see if this is not so. It is "the heathen"-i. e., the nations-who "rage.' It is "the peoples"-i. e., different masses or bodies of men; for the word is plural-who are to "imagine a vain thing." It is "the kings of the earth," who are to "set themselves." It is "the rulers" who are to "take council together against the Lord, and against His anointed." Ps. ii. And the object of their raging; the "vain things" which they imagine; the purpose of their counsel; the end of their combination; is to do battle against the cause of Christ. To turn back the course of events that are to precede the setting up of His kingdom. Now, I say, brethren-and the volume of history lies open to affirm or contradict the statement-I say, that no such combination of the kings and rulers, and nations of the earth has yet taken place. No such banding together has yet occurred. The psalm, therefore, is yet unfulfilled. Not yet has this gathering taken place. Not yet have the confederate rulers been "dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel." Not yet have the nations been broken "with a rod of iron." Not yet, therefore, has Christ taken to Himself his kingly power. These are the very events that shall mark and attend it. Not yet, therefore, is His kingdom set up. These are the events that shall precede it. And this breaking in pieces of these confederate nations; what is it, but the Stone out of the mountain, smiting the image; destroying the kingdoms which form it; and itself becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth? Then, when "the uttermost parts of the earth" have become his possession, it shall