creatural existence must needs be the glory of him who created it. In proportion ns we recognize the fact that all the springs of our being are in God, that all tbe faculties of our .iature, all the resources, materials, and relations of our life are from him, we shall feel that our existence answers its true end, life is worth living, just so far as jt; fulfils his purposes. 2. Personal redemption. There is a more teuder but not less powerrul claim established by that marvellous act of grace of which the "table of thil Lord,'' with its "cup of blessing" and its "broken bread," is the perpetual memorial. "Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price," etc. (eh. vi. 19, 20). Here is a proprietorship superadded to that of the original and natural relation. See the fatherhood of God as it appears in the cross of Jesus, and the sovereignty of his claims comes home to you, not with the mere force of natural authority, but with the resistless persuasiveness of unparalleled self-surrendering love. II. TnE SENSE OF MORAL FREEDOM IN us TO WHICH IT MAKE8 ITS APPEAL. The essential dignity of our nature is implied in this assertion of God's claims over us. The inferior creatures show forth his glory by fulfilling the ends for which he has created them, but their service is rendered by a law and necessity of their biling which they have no power to resist. 'l'he myriad forms of lower life that people the earth and air and sea. cannot but obey the instincts of their nature, and in that blind, instinctive obedience the end of their existence is attained. To us alone belongs the mysterious, self-regulating power by which it lies with ourselves to determine whether we will respond to the Di vine appeal or refuse to do so. These inferior creatures of God, all of which in themselve$ "are good" (1 Tim. iv. 4), are intended to be the instruments of our higher purpose. We are" crowned with glory and honour" above them all, that we may interpret their voices and utilize their powers in presenting to him our living tribute of gratitude and love and service. Our daily life, in its deeper moral meaning, proclaims how far this is really the case with us. As every new day dawns upon us, God throws it upon us afresh to decide whether we will" use the world" as we ought to use it by living to his glory, or will "abuse it" by following the impnlses of our own self-will and serving the idols of our own imagination or carnal appetite. Ill. THE FAMILIAR COMMONPLACE FIELD OF INTEnEST IN WHICH IT IS TO BE FUL- FILLED, "Whether ye eat or drink," etc. The simplest materials of our life are to be consecrated to his service, and the meanest doings of life are to bo made designedly a tribute to his praise. We greatly err if we imagine certain things to be so purely physical or so trivial as to hiwe nothing to do with the sublimer interests and responsibilities of our being. You learn the deepest truth of things only when you come to see spiritual principles and laws and issues enshrined in them; that every- thing, in fact, in the root of it, in its inmost heart and core, is spiritual, and boars some relation to that higher part of us which will endure for ever. No doubt lifo is for tho most part an airgregate of many little things. 'l'o some it may seem but a monotonous round of trivialities-the same things dono day after day in the same way and to the same end, and that an end of very little moment. But may not the noblest principles of moral feeling and life, as motive powers, be underlying these seemingly insignificant activities, and making them really great? Infuse something of the wealth or a devout and godly soul into them, and tho meanest doings of your life become no longer mean. That inner, invisible greatness of holy thought and feeling makes them great. Thero is no motive so lofty but it may be brought to bear upon the so-called trifles that make up the story of our days. 'l'he minutest movements of the material world around us are effected by the same forces as govern the most majestic. '"The very law that moulds 11 tear And makes it trickle from its source, That law preserves the earth a sµhere And guides the planets in their course." So may the grand motives of reverence for God and love to the Saviour give shape nnd beauty, consistence and harmony, to everything we do. And then, he who "seeth not as man seeth," who recognizes none of our distinctions of great and small, will accept it ns a welcome tribute to his praise. The poor widow's consecration of her " two mites" to the Lord's treasury, the "cup of cold water" given to the disciple In thil J, COnINTHIAN!<. ~ A 354 '!'HE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [cH. x. 1-33.
name of a disciple! the sim_plest act of rea~ Christian service and self-sacrificing love,- these are as pleasmg to lmn as the heroism of a Paul compassing sea ahd land with painful toil and travail that he may win souls, or a Luther daring the dark powers of earth and bell in his brave wit!less for the truth, Learn to fill your common everyday life with the iuspiration of a high and holy purpose. This will make it far other than it seems to be, more real, more satisfying, less like a mere feverish pursuit of unsub- stantial shadows. It will then become a thing of imperishable beauty and worth. Its outward incidents will be but as the scaffolding within which the structure of a holy character and glorious destiny is being raised. The outer form of it will be a matter of small concern to you so that that interior work is going on well. Take this spiritual view of things, and yours shall be indeed a consecrated life, in which every work you do will be as a " sacrament," and every step you take will lead you nearer to your home in God.-W.