"Whom have I in heaven hut Thee? and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee"(Psa. 73:25).

MAN is fallen; he has a corrupt nature; his mind thinks not the thoughts of God; his ways are not the ways of God; there is none that understandeth; he has lost possession of the truth; he has not retained the knowledge of God; he is in darkness. Such is the human race as descended from a fallen head-the first Adam.

But when God converts a soul, this is all reversed, and the person is then looked at as belonging to a new race, of which Christ is the Head-the Second Adam. However, the remains of the old is still with the believer, and he will fall under the power of the old order of things if he is not careful. It is extremely easy to do this, and the only way to escape the old nature is to live in the things which minister to the new, for which God has given us the holy Spirit. The means used by the Holy Spirit to transform us is the renewing of our mind by the truth of Scripture. The thoughts of God are communicated to us, and they take the place of ours. They exalt Christ. They set Him before us in such a way as to absorb our minds with His perfections; and in so doing we grow like Him. Instead of the earthly, transitory, vain, and sinful thoughts which crowded our minds and developed habits accordingly, the delights, glories, and virtues God sees in His beloved Son are poured into us. We value Him accordingly, our hearts are drawn heavenward to Him, and our habits of life are transformed by this.

Beloved brethren, while recognizing in those who have gone before us the measure of this shown in their lives, and loving them for it, and following them in their faith, let us never forget the Psalmist's words:"Whom have I in heaven but Thee." They settle every question as to who, in heaven, is to be the object of my heart. Ah, yes, for those who are risen with Christ, He Himself is that blessed object. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." We are to seek those things which are above because Christ is there, that is the reason- the great absorbing reason. It is not my dear mother, my affectionate father, my loving brother or sister, but it is the Lord Jesus-He who loved us and gave Himself for us. He is the object the Holy Spirit would ever have us contemplate. And not only is He the object in the glory, but also in the earth, "and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee." If we have any other object than this, we fall short of the desire of God toward us. The natural man knows absolutely nothing of this, but the renewed soul wishes not to stop until it has found in Christ its all.

O, brethren, may this be so with every one of us; so that we may truly say, " For me to live is Christ, and to die, gain." F. H. J.