blessed Lord Himself also in the xvii. of St. John, shows the difference between Justification and Sanctification. Speaking of His disciples, He says, "Those whom Thou hast given Me"; and adds, "they have known surely that I came out from Thee, and have believed that Thou didst send me." Having thus shown that they were His by faith, and therefore justified, He adds, "sanctify them through Thy truth." Wesee, then, that Justification is distinct from Sanctification: the one imputed, the other imparted; the one a title, the other a fitness; the one final, the other gradual. 3. What is the connection between Justification by Faith in the finished work of Christ, and His eternal Priesthood; between the remission of our sins once for all, or the imputing righteousness to the sinner, and the cleansing from daily defilement? These two works are to be kept distinct, as is shown from the expressions, "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," and "He shall save His people from their sins." The difference and the connection between these two works our Lord shows most beautifully in His explanation of His washing the Disciples' feet. "he that is washed," He says, that is, justified, "needeth not save to wash his feet," that is, cleansing from the daily sins of the daily walk. Thus Christ is in a twofold sense our Saviour, saving us from wrath and death, by taking our sins and giving us His righteousness, applying His blood to us once; and also saving His people from sin itself, by the daily exercise of His power as High Priest. Thus there are, as it were, two daily works going on in the children of God: cleansing from daily sin, which is the work of Jesus the Eternal Priest; and renewing in holiness with daily grace and life, which is the work of the Holy Ghost. But, 4. What is the connection between Justification and good works? for St. James says (ii. 24), in seeming contradiction, but really in confirmation of St. Paul: "Ye see, then, how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." We have already noticed that it is as true to say, we are justified by works, as to say, we are justified by faith, though in a very different sense; for while Faith is the instrument, works are the effect and evidence. Thus, we may say, a man is a negro by his colour, or lame by his walk, not meaning that the colour or walk is the cause or instrument, but the effect or evidence. He is a negro by birth, or lame by an accident; and yet the appearance in each case is the cause of his being what he is relatively to us, or, in other words, of our knowing what he is. St. James is speaking originally of the inconsistencies of professing Christians, and requires from them the evidence of their Justification, that is, good words. The 12th Article of the Church of England takes this clear and Scriptural view, for it says, "Albeit that good works, which are the fruits of Faith and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins and endure the severity of God's judgment, yet are they pleasant and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith, insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by its fruit." But it may be asked, "If our works have nothing to do with our Justification, except as proofs and evidences, why does our Lord in the Parable of the Talents represent the future state as depending on works?" The answer is not difficult. Justification is our title to service, we cannot serve till we are saved ; and then, in proportion to the fruit our Faith bears, so will our reward be. All the stars are perfect in glory and purity, but "one star differeth from another star in glory"; and so with the servants of God-all will be perfect in happiness, but He will give unto every man according as his work shall be. I have endeavoured, but I am conscious with what imperfect success, to state, explain, and prove the great doctrine of Justification by Faith; to show its existence independently of baptism; its distinctness from sanctification (in agent, position, and scope); its finality, and therefore its difference from the daily salvation of our Eternal Priest; and its relation to good works, being the cause, not the effect; the root from which they spring, and not the point to which they tend. But, be it remembered, that this Justification is a personal matter: one which concerns, and vitally concerns, every one of us. We may be earnest, thoughtful, clever; we may be deeply read in divinity, skilled in controversy, staunch in Protestantism, and with all that, have no personal experience of Justification. The doctrine stands out clearly and distinctly for each one: opposed in its beautiful simplicity to all the confusion and indistinctness of false teaching on the point. It enables each believer to say just this: "Christ has taken my sins, has died to bear my punishment, has risen to give His righteousness unto me; and thus, if I can join Himself and myself together in my heart, I have a title to know myself saved, to ask and receive His Holy Spirit, to bring my daily sins to my Eternal Priest, to work for Him who has died for me, and to be sure that when He calls me, it will be to enter into the joy of my Lord." The Lord's Supper. -:0: OUR subject this evening is one of great interest and no little difficulty: it is one of the chief points of difference between the Protestant and the Romanist; and not only so, but the view we take of the Lord's Supper marks the extent to which we, on the one hand, surrender ourselves to Christ by faith, or, on the other, look for any visible means, or human agency to bring us to Him. The clearest and simplest way to treat this subject is to look at it in the Scriptural point of view, laying aside as far as possible all words and expressions which are purely of man's devising, or human application. Following this idea, we find that the one Scriptural title of the ordinance of which we are treating is, "the Lord's Supper." (1 Cor. xi. 20.) From the account given by St. Paul, however, another term has come into use, the "Communion," or "Holy Communion," the meaning of which is "joint participation"; and from our Lord's act of blessing (the Greek word for which is eucharistein), as well as St. Paul's expression, "cup of blessing," for which the |