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it, is it conceivable that we can speak freely of the weather, of events of our day, of politics, of commerce, of literature, of science, and can absolutely close our lips on the one topic which is not of time but of eternity ? Is there not something faulty if we cannot enjoy Christian intercourse with congenial souls such as may lead to our doing greater honour to God's most holy name ?
^| Whilst man is by nature a social being, it is only in the possession of a common religious life that the social principle and spirit find their highest expression and their unrestricted develop- ment. The need for friendly intercourse and fellowship is chiefly and most intensely felt in connection with the deepest and strong- est feelings and aspirations and convictions of the soul ; and there are no feelings or experiences which so vitally affect us as those of the religious life. Eeligious friendship and religious communion may, in truth, be claimed as almost essential to the culture and growth of personal religion. As a matter of fact and of history, religion has always shown itself as a social bond ; in its higher and purer and more ethical forms, in particular, it has established and fostered, more or less fully, the sentiment of brotherhood among those who held a common faith and who aspired and struggled towards the same ideals. In the case of those who acknowledge in Christ the supreme revelation of the Divine, this has been an outstanding characteristic.
We all are servants of one Master, Christ; Bound by one law, redeemed by one love, And every brow sealed with the self-same print Of blessed brotherhood.1
2. The second motive is the truth of the Body of Christ. If each one of us is a member of Christ, is it conceivable that he has nothing to receive from other members ? Look at the colours of the rainbow. Their beauty lies in their harmony. Is it not so in the Body of Christ ? Surely each one of us has been made with some distinct idea in the mind of God, and to reflect some special ray of Divine light. It is only when these rays are combined that we have any real idea of the manifold wisdom of God. In every parish or community there is an exquisite variety of gift, of development, of power. Take any one body of men, and you will find a variety of spiritual gifts in them. Enlarge the field, and take the whole community — village, town, school, university 1 J. M. Hodgson, Religion : The Quest of the Ideal, 95.
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— and you will find a greater variety still. Enlarge still further, and take in the whole Church of Christ, and it becomes evident at once that the gifts of the whole body are needed if the king- doms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. A selfish, isolated religion, which contents itself with drawing stores from heaven for itself, as though it had no relation, either in giving or in receiving, with other men, is so spurious a form of Christianity that the very stores which it draws are likely to be corrupted. Only as we " speak one with another " under conditions laid down for us in the Word of God have we due security for the preservation of our own faith amid the temptations of the world and for the transmission of our heri- tage to successive and ever-increasing generations.
Tf All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory ; and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man. Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God ; and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification ; as also in relieving each other in out- ward things according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.1
3. A third motive is corresponding spiritual experiences. Every student of his own heart has been amazed and delighted to discover the harmony of religious feelings which exists through- out the Church. As the veteran has revealed the history of his struggles, the juvenile soldier has felt his heart quivering with the sensations so graphically described by the aged warrior; as the thoughtful Christian has propounded his difficulties, how often have we felt them to be the very difficulties which have perplexed and disquieted our own minds; and as we have listened to the statement of the distractions which have marred and enfeebled the devotions of others, we have felt that the same 1 Westminster Confession of Faith, chap. xxvi.
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shadow has stretched over our own altar and prevented our view of the Saviour's benignant countenance.
T[ Religious life has a large element of feeling, and our feelings have a greater value when they are shared. They then become real sources of insight. We need to feel the common joy or grief in order to understand fully their inner meaning. The interaction of doing and feeling is a matter of very great practical importance. There is a danger of giving too great a predominance to Christian emotion. It is a very blessed thing to enjoy the feelings that can be evoked by the sharing of Christian experience ; but the con- sequences of allowing ourselves the luxury of deep and strong emotions which evaporate without having produced any worthy effective action have often been pointed out by the psychologist. If we want to feel the joy and blessedness of the deepest common emotion, we ought to give very much more prominence to the life of common action. If we can work together for the things of the Kingdom, if we can combine to give a good and effective witness for Christ, and share with each other the toil, the patience, the disappointments, and the successes of common activitv, we may then safely allow ourselves to taste to the full the blessedness o"f those deep emotional experiences which we have been taught to prize so highly.1