there came to be no converse between earth and heaven. Then the glory of the Lord had departed. But "in the fulness of time " God manifested himself to the world-he came in rl'deeming grace to raise and restore our fallen race. " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory" (John i. 14); we bad" the ligM of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv. 6). Aa men looked upon him, as they heard bis words, as they witnessed bis life, as they beheld the glories of his goodness and bis power, they had a nobler vision of the glory of the Lord than that of Ezekiel, as here described. II. 'l'BE CHURCH OF CHRIST. The glory of the Church is the presence of its Divine Lord-that presence as manifested by the indwelling and the action of his Holy Spirit. Great was its glory when that Divine presence was manifested on the day of Pentecost, not only (nor indeed chiefly) by the tongues of flame or the rushing mighty wind, but by the conversion of " three thousand souls." But there may come, as there often has come, a time when the glory of Christ has departed. When a Church sinks down into e. condition of unbelief, or of spiritual pride and fancied independence, or of indulgence and (it may be) immorality, or of worldliness and prayerlessness, then might the prophet of the Lord, with inward eye, see the glory of the Lord "on the threshold" or on the summit of the mountain, no longer "filling the house." But when the sacred and the blessed hour of penitence and of prayer, of humility and of faith, arrives, then may be had another and happier vision-that of the Lord's return. Christ will come again, and he will reveal the glory of his goodness and his grace, imparting the blessings which once were lost, which had taken flight, a.nd are now renewed; bringing with him power, beauty, joy, life, victory. Ill. 'l'HE INDIVIDUAL souL. All outward pomps and all human distinctions are as nothing to the human soul compared with the glorious presence of the Divine Spirit in the heart of man. But though God comes to us thus and dwells with us, he will not abide with us if we do not retain our purity, our moral and spiritual integrity (see 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16). Yet may there be, in individual experience, a blessed return of the glory of the Lord. If there be a sincere and deep humility; if there be an earnest seeking after God in prayer; if there be a cordial reconsecration of the heart and life to the Divine Redeemer ;-then will there be a gracious a.nd a. glorious return of his presence and of his blessing to the soul.-C. Vere. 7-9.-God's unapproachable sovereignty. God now appears among his people as their Divine Sovereign; the house to which he comes in glorious manifesta- tion is "the place of bis throne" (ver. 7). There he is re~olved to rule. Other kings, human potentates, had been reigning there, but their rule should now be over. They had been usurpers in that they had set up their will against his, " their threshold by his thresholds, their post by bis posts" (ver. 8); but all such pretensions would be hence- forth peremptorily disallowed; they would tie unsparingly swept away: "I consumed them in mine anger." '£he Lord alone was to reign, without any rival, the unchallenged, unapproachable Authority. The sanctuary of the Lord was the throne of the great King. I. 'l'HE Cnoncn OF CHRIST THE SPHERE OF DIVINE B0VEitEIGNTY, As God declared, through his prophet, that he would reign in the temple, so Jesus Christ claims to be the on1J and only Head and Ruler of bis Church. "One is your Master, even Christ." \Ve must not invade his "crown rights" in any way or under any consideration whatever. 1. To him we must pay our worship, not placing any created being by his side upon his throne. 2. By hie revealed will we must determine the constitution of b.is Church. Whether we gather that from his own words, or from the spirit of his life, or from the words and action of his apostles, we must make the will of Christ absolutely supreme in all our collective action. And his will not only affects us in deciding on the forms and the rules of our ecclesiastical association, but also as to tho spirit in which we hold our post and do our work in his kingdom; we are essentially disloyal to him when our attitude or bearing toward any of our brethren is other than that which illustrates the spirit of Christ. II. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST THE SOURCE OF DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. The source in the sense of being instrumental iu its promotion. For it is to tho Church that God has committed that truth which alone will establish it; aud it i~ of tho Church he 384 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [o!L. :r.tm. l--2T.
expects that life which will contribute so largely to its extension, The Ohurch-every Christian Church-has : 1. To proclaim the sovereign rights of him who is the God of our life; to present God to men as the Divine Author of their being, Fountain of their joy, Source of all their comforts and their blessings, Father of their spirit, Presel'ver and Guardian of their life; as that Divine One in whom they "live and move and have their being," "with whom they have to do" in a deeper sense and to a far higher degree than they have with any human being. 2. To present the reaal claims of the Lord of our salvation; to hold up before the eyes of men that Son of ~an who came down from heaven to be o~r Teacher, Leader,_ Friend, and Saviour; who lived, taught, wrought, sorrowed, and died for onr redemption; that Son of God who rose in triumph from the grave and ascended to the right hand of God; who has a supreme riaht to the trust the love, the obedience, the full and entire devotion of all who have re~eived the story of his dying love and living power. 3. To show the way of a true, thorough, happy subjection to the Divine rule. Thus will the Ohurch of Ghrist become" the place of his throne."-C.