I. TnE 0IIARAOTBBIBTIOB WHI0B THIB FIRE DIBPLA YB. What is the 6.re? The fire of truth, the.t burns up error; the 6.re of right, that burns up wickedness; the fire of wnie, that burns up sellishness. "I e.m come," said Christ," to kindle a fire upon the earth." "Is not my Word like e. firo?" 1. The fire in the Church is a aflrong fire. It baa burnt an enormons amount of wickedness in every Conn, age, e.nd land. It has burnt through the fiercest storms of centuries. 2. It is an extending fire. Its flames are ever advancing, they reach further to-day than ever, The most splendid systems of men, ethicnl, theological, and philoeoJi>hic, however brilliant, have been but sparks compared to this; they have burnt on a httle and gone out in darkness. 3. It is a steady fire. It does not Bare and Bash, but burns its way silently wherever it goes. 4. It is an unquenchable fire. Men have tried to put it out, oceans of infidelity and depravity have been poured upon it, but it burns on. II. 'l'BE MATEDULS wmou THIS FIRE CONSUMES. "Stubble." What is moral depravity in all its forms-theoretical and practical, religious, social, political? What is it, how- ever old, however decorated with worldly power and grandeur? What is it ? "Seubbl,e." It is not a rock, the.t stands fixed amidst the surges of time; not a tree, that has roots that may grow for ever; it is mere stubble, dry, sapleBB, worthless "stubble," ready for the fire. Error to truth, wrong to right, malice to love, is but stubble to fire. CoNOLUBION. God speed this fire until the whole world of wickedness shall be destroyed, until its heavens be dissolvod, its earth burnt up, and its elements melt with fervent heat, and there come out of it "a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelletb righteousness" 1-D. T, Vers.19, 20.-21ie true (Jhurch; or, the comm1/ITl,ity of the good: 3. .An aggressive p(/1.l)er. "And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead," etc. By the "south" or southern part of Palestine is here meant those who should occupy it; and by the "pie.in," those who should occupy the low country along the shore of the Mediterranean. "According to the relative positions of those who should take possession of the different parts of the Holy Land was to be the enlargement of their territory by the annexation of the adjoining regions which had formerly been occupied by allies or hostile powers. As there is no subject specified before the country of Edom and the country of Samaria, it seems to be intimated that the regions of Ephraim and Samaria were to be occupied by the Jews and the Israelites jointly, without any regard to tribal distinctions; and the reason why the tribe of Benjamin is mentioned is merely on account of the proximity of Gilead to the territory which it originally possessed" (Elza.a). "'fhe promise here," says an old expositor, "no doubt has a spiritual signification, and had its accomplishment in the setting up of the Ohristie.n Church, the gospel Israel, in the world; and 8hall have its accomplishment more and more in the enlargement of it, and the additions made to it, till the mystical body is completed, When ministers and Christians prevail with their neighbours to come to Obrist, to yield themselves to the Lord, they possess them. The converts that Abraham had me.de are ea.id to be the souls the.t he had gotten (Gen. xii. 6). The possession is gained, not v·i et armis--by force and arms; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritue.l; it is by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of Divine grace going along with it, that this possession is got and kept.'' 'l'he.t the true Church is an aggressive power will appear from considering the gosp&, which is ai. once its inspiration, its life, and its instrument. Consider, therefore-- L TBE ELEldENTB OJI' WHICH THE GOSPEL IS COMPOSED. It is made up of two grea~ elements, "groce ond truth," that is, eternal reality nnd Divine benevolence. "Grace and truth came by Jesus Obrist." •ro show the aggressiveness of these two principles, two facts may be stated. 1. That the hume.n soul is made to ftsel their imperial J-. It is true that the soul in its unregenerate state is ruled by directly opposite elements -error e.nd selfishness. But even error has power over it only so long as it regards it ae reality, and selfishness influences it under tho guise of love. It is the truth when me.do clear to it the.t comes with a conquering power; it is love or grace that transports its heart. The human soul ill made for these two elements. 2. 'rhat the human soul is bound to yearn after these elements as its highest good. Its deep hunger is for truth and for reality, for benevolenoe, or love. It has no natural hunger for error, no natural 42 THE BOOK OF OBA.DIAH. [1-21.
hunger for selfishness. 3. That the human soul ia everywhere restless without tl1es• el.emmts. It is only e.s the soul gets truth and grace into it that it becomes settled,' calm, self-united. These are facts conneoted with the human soul, and these faots show the aggreesiveness of the gospel. II. THE PROSELYTIZING SPIRIT WHIOII THE GOSPEL ENGENDERS. As soon as ever the gospel takes real possession of a soul, that soul becomes intensely solioitous to' spread it abroad. It becomes what Jeremiah describes as a" fire in the bones." Peter said, "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Paul said," The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge," etc. "Necessity is laid upon us." Every genuine recipient, then, of the gospel becomes a missionary, a propagandist, a moral knight, to battle against the mighty hosts of error and selfishness. Each member of the true Church, or godly co=unity, becomes, by a moral necessity, e. soldier of the cross. III. THE TRIUMPHS WHIOII TllE GOSPEL HAS ALREADY .AOBIEVED. Compo.re the influence of the gospel in the world now to what it was when Christ was on earth. It was then confined to one lonely soul, the soul of Jesus of Nazareth; it is now in the possession of millions. The springlet has become an .Amazon ; the grain has covered islands and continents; the little stone has grown into a mountain that bids fair to fill the earth. CoNcLUSION. Such thoughts as these tend, we think, to demonstrate the essential aggressiveness of the true Church. It will one day take possession of all heathendom, with its "mount of Esau," the "plains of the Philistines," the "fields of Ephraim," and the" fields of Samaria, n and what Canaanite& there ve as far as Ze.rephath.-D. T. HOMILETICAL INDEX TO
THE BOOK OF OBADTAH.