protection. At all periods of its existence, the Church will do well to bel\r in mind that these are its special glories, and to make each a subject of frequent thought and meditation. I. 'l'HE COMING OF MESSIAH TO FOUND ms CHURCH LIBS AT TIIE ROOT OF ALL. The p:lorious "Branch "-the new shoot of the house of David (eh. xi. 1)-which sprang from the old stock, and grew up " like a tree planted by the water-side, which bringoth forth its fruit in due season, the leaf whereof shall not wither ' 1 (Ps: i. 3), hnd first to come and to dwell with man, and to reveal himself, in his glory and majesty and beauty, ru; the perfect moral Being, the pattern Man, after whom all should shape their lives, before a h-0ly Church, n Church of " saints," could be set up on earth, or men could know in what true holiness and righteousness consisted. 'fhe "Branch" came, "beautiful and glorious, excellent and comely," "the chiefest among ten thousand" (Cant. v. 10), "his eyes as the eyes of doves" (ver. 12), "his lips dropping sweei;. smelling myrrh" (ver.. 13), "his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the· cedars, bis mouth most sweet," yea, lie himself "altogdber lovely" (vers. 15, 16); nnd the earth saw what it had never seen before--absolutely perfect humanity. Nor was this the whole. He who ~et the perfect pattern made also the perfect atonement; "washed away the filth" of sin (eh. iv. 4); "purified to himself a peculiar people" (Titu!! ji. 14); made holiness possible t,i man, who was "'°ery far gone from original 1ighteonsness," corrupt, "sold under sin" (Rom. vii. 14). 'l'bus the first glory fitly introduces the second- 11 THE HOT.Th'ESS OF THOSE WHO ARE TRUE MEMBERS OF BIS CHURCH, " Holiness becometh God's house for ever" (Ps. xciii. 5); '' Without holiness sbnll no man see the Lord" (Hcb. xii. 14). Christians are l10ly by profession, by call, by obligation ; if they will, by life and act. Not, indeed, holy in the highest sense; not as they ought to be; not" as he is holy" (1 Pet. i. 15); for" if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourEelves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John i. 8). Buts.till" holy" i,n ,a real sense; ever striving to be holy, ever repentiug, ever seeking and obtaining forgiveness, ever washed afresh in the blood of Christ, which "cleanseth from all sin" (1 John i. 7). The unholy, who" persist in sin" without striving against it, are no trne members of the Church of Christ, but false pretenders to membership, "strangers to Christ's covenant, and aliens from his commonwealth" (Eph. ii. 12). The real Church is "holy," as it is called in the .Apostles' Creed; de1iving its holiness ever from him who is· its Life, from whom it receives continually fresh supplies of grace, and fresh power to resist temptation. The holiness of the Church is thus dependent on the presence of God with it; and the second glory leads naturally to the consideration of the third- III. TBE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF GOD WITH HIS CHURCH, AND BIS CONTINUED PROTECTION OF IT, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," is the most preciollS promise of the New Testament. Christ is with his Church (I) in her sacred buildings, when common prayer is made (Matt. xiii. 19) and sacraments ar.e administered ; (2) in her synods, when doctrine is formulated and . false teaching exposed and condemned (Matt. xviii. 17); and (3) in the secret chamber .of each one of her members, when approach is made to the throne· of'grace, and: confession poured forth or prayer offered to God through Christ. In this presence is th~' Church's !!Ole trust. Without it she would be powerless against the world, l\nd against Satan.. With it she may contemn all attacks. Satan can do her no harm, for" the gates of hell shall not prevail against her" (Matt. xvi. 18). The world cannot hurt her, for he who is her Protector" has overcome the world" (John xvi. 33). Safe under his protection, nestling under the shadow of his wings, she is safe both by day aud night; whether the scorching fire of persecution seeks her destruction, as in the early times, or whether, as now, the murky night of agnostic criticism closes around her and endeavours to a[right her with its shadows. • •
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 2-6.-Glimpse of future prosperity. There will come e. day when the clean&• ing fire will have run its course through the spiritual field, consuming the tares. 'l'he lm1)urity of licentious luxury will have been washed away, the stain of blood ell'aced OR. IV.,1-6.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 71