ever.

in order that He might impart this life more fully in the spirit, that He might indeed unite Himself perfectly with them in it, bringing forth its fruits in them, and reproducing in them His joy. Thus His joy was to be sown as a seed in them and bring forth its hundred fold fruit in a harvest of Christ-like men of whose lives He would be the inspiration, and in whose victory and joy He would rejoice forThe "joy set before Him" then as His reward was not a happiness that should terminate upon Himself, but one which, springing out from Him as a fountain, would be ever creating new well-springs of joy in the hearts of other men, sparkling with His life, and uniting to form a river of the water of life, on whose banks should grow all manner of fruits for the healing of the nations and for the joy of the whole earth. In like manner also the joy of His servants, like Paul, was to be found in the fact that they had reproduced themselves in the lives of others, winning them from sin and bringing them to know God in Christ which is life eternal. "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?" writes Paul. "Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and our joy."

In the parable of the ten talents (Matt. xxv) each faithful servant who had put out his talent to usury and had gained other talents, whether five or two, was thus welcomed: "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Here the glory of dominion, and more especially fellowship in the Lord's joy of which we have been speaking is the reward promised. The Christian's joy hereafter will consist, not only in welcoming to the

happiness of heaven those whom he was able to influence to a godly life while on earth, but in the fact that he shall share with his Lord in this power to enter into the souls of men who are yet undergoing the trial of this earthly life. The supreme joy of Christ is that by His Spirit dwelling in His members and moving upon the hearts of all men, He is bringing the race of men of whose nature He took part into the light and joy of eternal life; and thus through all the ages will the joy of His redeemed be His ever multiplying joy. And we enter into His joy, in that we become partakers in, indeed, agents of, this widening fellowship and work. He calls us not merely servants, but friends. "God is faithful by whom ye were called into the partnership (Koóvia) of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." This partnership is not only in the benefits of His redemption but in the operations of it. It is only a legitimate inference from this, that those departed saints who have passed beyond the period of "sleep" and have entered into life are now active participants with Him in every phase of His redeeming work. As members of His body, they are the hands and feet and members through which He continually acts. They also enter into the hearts of men, they also surround them with loving ministries of warning, of succor, and of help. Ministering angels and all the forces of nature become their servants in this work. And as this is a service of ever expanding joy so it is also a

SERVICE OF DOMINION.

This is shown specially in the of the talents in Matthew xxv.

parable which follows that There the "sheep" class

are welcomed into "the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world" because they had ministered to the struggling Christ in sick and imprisoned and famished brother-men. This is the very work in which the exalted Christ is now engaged, and to this end all power in heaven and earth has been committed unto Him. Those who take part in this dominion will also continue to take part in this service of uplifting and blessing all mankind.

And from this point of view how paltry and impossible becomes the vulgar interpretation which makes this Divine Son of Man, the Saviour of the race, the Friend of its poorest and most wretched members, to consign all the goat class to the torment of an endless fire prepared for the devil and his angels. That the goat class go into that fire is plain, and that, too, for punishment. But this punishment is for the everlasting destruction of their goat nature. In that character they must be forever destroyed. The fire of God will not only burn up in every man all that is evil; it must destroy the man himself, so far as he has developed into an evil personality unfit for the presence of God. He must be made over in this crucible into another man. But this process, although severe, searching down to the very roots of man's being and burning up utterly every evil branch the root bears, is a salutary process. "Every sacrifice must be salted with fire," and yet "salt is good." So taught Jesus, just after He had spoken to His disciples about their danger of being cast into the fire unquenchable. No, the dominant thought, even in the passage which is the chief support of the dogma of an everlasting punishment in hell, is the thought of a Son of Man whose glory

and whose joy it is to do good to the other sons of men, even the most poor and wretched; and who, more poor and wretched than the very goat class who were so blind and besotted as not to know the Christ in their suffering brethren, and who were deaf to their appeals. Therefore His consuming fire, dreadful as its aspect, is but the way in which He would utterly burn up this carnal and selfish nature which had controlled their lives, and liberate the divine nature in them for better things. Even this joy is set before Him, of bringing back prodigals after their substance is all wasted, and harlots after the seven devils are cast out of them, and publicans after they have stripped themselves of their ill-gotten gains, and thieves who are brought to see that in prison or on the cross they receive the due reward of their deeds, and murderers who put to death God's saints, not knowing what they do. And it is in order that as extortioners, and as thieves and murderers they may be destroyed, that we hear Him saying, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

TWO INQUIRIES.

A correspondent, who has recently become acquainted with this magazine and who has proved himself to be its sincere friend, propounds to us two inquiries:

1. Please kindly explain in your magazine two points that I cannot reconcile. You teach that men work out their salvation and reach perfection through successive incarnations. You also teach that the present overcomers, or the elect, besides working out their own salva

tion in virtue of their victory over sin in this present life, help forward the imperfect or unfinished beings toward the goal. Now it seems to me that if the first of the above doctrines is true, there is neither room nor necessity for the other.

In reply we would say that there can be no more inconsistency in supposing that the saint-class become the helpers of their imperfect brethren through the stages of their progress toward deliverance than there is in supposing that they themselves are now helped in this effort. They are urged to work out their own salvation, at the same time. they are told that "God worketh in them," that "Christ liveth in them," and that angels are ministering spirits sent forth to wait upon and to succor them along the way. We never meant to teach any such doctrine of re-embodiment for the ends of further discipline, as would preclude the necessity for further divine and human help in the struggle. It is only as man learns to use the energy of God within him that he can take a single step along this path of life. And the offices of Christ as the One Mediator between God and man, and the loving ministry of Christ through His members, the saints who do His pleasure, are needed all along the way.

With regard to this whole subject we desire here again to say, that it is one of great mystery, and we would refrain from being dogmatic, especially when questioned about the how and the when. All we are convinced of is

such general principles as these:

So far as Scripture or reason give light, we know of no way by which a human being may grow into the stature of perfect divine manhood, except as made perfect through the sufferings and conflicts incident to life in the flesh.