harvest seed on earth among men, and "except it fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." It was through being made sin for us, taking our place and dying in our stead for our atonement, and rising again for our justification, Christ, the first-begotten from the dead," became "the Firstborn among many brethren." Therefore, it is not His incarnation that unites the Holy One to sinners, but the indwelling Holy Ghost, as it is written, "He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit ;" and, again, "By" or "In" [R.V.] one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Cor. xii. 13.) "Therefore, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." Marvel not that He said unto us, "Ye must be born again"; born of the Spirit into membership with Him, even as He Himself was born of the Spirit to be the Head of His members. 26. It is the world-rejected, but ascended, enthroned, and glorified Emmanuel, Who commissioned and sent the Holy Ghost to unite us to Himself, to seal our persons, to be the earnest of our inheritance, and to make known to us that "all power in heaven and earth is given" to our Beloved. He is the Gospel of the Holy Ghost. Verily a year of jubilee has dawned upon us, and "the time of the singing of birds is come." We needs must hear His proclamation to lost sinners of universal welcome in the name of Jesus, and of the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers ; "Glad tidings of great joy unto all people." Nevertheless, even as Christ Himself when here in the days of His flesh "was despised and rejected of men, and we hid our faces from Him," even so is the Holy Ghost the Comforter, Whom He has sent unto us from the Father, too often, alas! "grieved," "neglected," "quenched," "resisted," and even "done despite unto." The Son of Man has come and suffered for sin, and returned to His Father, and "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin," and the Holy Ghost has come to us, sent from our Saviour's and His Father's throne to bear witness to His love and invite us to His heart, and there remaineth no other comforter. It is written, "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matt. xii. 32.) Remember, God has promised "to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." The following texts on this subject commend themselves to our faith and hope: Rom. viii. 13, 26. I Cor. ii. 4, 10, 16. 2 Cor. iii. 17. Gal. iii. 14. Ep. ii. 18, 22; vi. 18. Phil. i. 19. 2 Thess. ii. 13, I Peter i. 22. I John iii. 24; v. 8. Rev. xxii. 17. I VII. One Spirit: Divers Operations. DO not think by the expression, "one Spirit" (1 Cor. xii. 4-13), there is any attempt made to give definition of the nature of the Divine essence. I believe that is nowhere attempted in God's word, being a subject altogether beyond our comprehension. I believe the only revelation God makes of Himself concerns the relations in which He is pleased to stand to His people, and that the words here refer to the relation in which the Spirit stands to the Church of God. When God made Adam, He made him in His own image, and I believe he was a picture-an illustration of a great idea, a grand purpose, which God had of gathering into one body, influencing by one life, and heading-up into one glorious Head, His Church. Just as the life of Adam pervaded his whole body, various as the members were,—differing in their form, their use, their position, yet all composing one body, headed up into one Head, and quickened by one Spirit, so the Church of God, made up of members placed in positions and circumstances very varied, are headed up into one glorious Head-the Lord Jesus Christ, and inhabited by one glorious Spirit. We have in Eph. iv. further truth bearing on this subject (ver. 4-6). Here are seven points of union. Various as the members of the body may be, various as the uses in which they are employed, there is but one body, and one Spirit possessing all the parts of that body, living in all the members of that body, cementing and uniting together all the fragments, so to speak,-the joints and bands of that body,-the least as well as the greatest. All have one hope-Christ, the hope of glory; all have one Lord—the Lord of life; one faith—the faith of God's elect; one baptism; one God and Father of all. It is the unity of a flock: many folds-one Shepherd. It is the union of the family: various sizes, ages, characters, but all begotten by one Father. It is the union of the body, diverse in its parts, but headed up into one Head, and pervaded by one Spirit; the unity of the temple--many stones, but one glory filling the house. The apostle uses these considerations as an argument that those believers to whom he wrote should endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace— that bond which is peace, by which the unity of the body is maintained and manifested; and one which you see in the preceding verse is the principle: unity, the outward and visible sign, and peace, the element of the union of the Head with the one body. You will find another marvellous illustration of that union in John xvii. 21. There are various illustrations of the union, but there is only one pattern-the union between the Father and the Son. The principle of union between the Father and the Son is the same as between the members of the Lord's body with one another and the Lord. What is that union? One nature, one will, one object, one heart, one love; "for he that dwelleth in love," writes John, "dwelleth in God and God in him." The Church is never so like God as when loving the brethren, because they are the Lord's and in the Lord. But we have diversities of gifts, differences of administrations, and diversities of operations. I cannot read these three expressions in their connection without being quite satisfied there is an allusion to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Diversities of gifts, however various, flowing from the same Spirit; differences of administrations, however various, ministered by the same Lord; diversities of operations, however various, proceeding from the same God. Why, brethren, it gives us the grand and marvellous idea the unalterable truth-that the whole Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are engaged in giving these gifts, bestowing these administrations, carrying on these operations upon that body of which Christ is the Head and of which the Holy Ghost is the inhabitant. For, observe, whatever be their diversity, they all centre in the body (ver. 8). To one member of the body is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. The Spirit that gives wisdom to one gives knowledge to another. Let the member who has the wisdom thank God for the knowledge of the other; and let the member who has the knowledge thank God for the wisdom of the other. There ought to be no rivalry; they should be helpers of each other's joy. (See ver. 11.) We are very apt to gather |