(Continued from p. 27)

"That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace."

The English of this passage weakens the force of the original a little. The phraseology gives the impression of a present quiescence of the ages, by and by to be transmuted into activity. The Greek really says "the oncoming ages." The picture is one of present motion. We stand upon the shores of the ocean of time, and look across the intervening stretches to where a great wall of water, rising ever higher as it approaches, is heaving forward, irresistibly, majestically, inevitably, till the moment when it shall spread itself out, widely sweeping, at our feet. It is not, indeed, that in time now being, there is no display of grace. It suffuses the entire scene. It permeates the atmosphere with a dim glory. But in those "oncoming ages," when the King of Grace shall disclose Himself, the "wings of the morning" shall have brushed away all shadows of the night, and there shall be no let nor hindrance to perfect vision:

"Not a cloud above,
Not a spot within."

To put the thought a little differently-the last words John Bunyan's old Mr. Honest shouted, in that immortal allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, as the waters of Jordan surged about him, were "Grace reigns." But his was the seer's vision. It was Faith's anticipation. Grace is, indeed, now enthroned in heaven (Heb. 4:16), but it has not yet entirely "reigned unto life eternal" (Rom. 5:21) on earth. Its reign is now a reign of "right," but not altogether of "fact." In the ages that "are coming on," however, it shall be a reign both de jure and de facto, and thus shall find its richest display. Then truly shall come to pass that saying "Grace reigns," and God's kindness toward us in Christ Jesus shall be regally manifested. So it is no wonder that the "earnest expectation of the creature awaiteth the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19), awaiteth and reacheth out to embrace to the uttermost the goodness of God. And throughout eternity, the Father of Eternity (Isa. 9:6), He who not merely ushers in eternity, but molds and shapes it after His own image, until it become another "impress of Himself," "The King of Grace," for eternity shall exhibit His grace in the full riches of its richness to understanding hearts. And there and then, my brother, we shall understand and rejoice together. Oh, to have large hearts now that they may contain more then.

In the opening bars of a celebrated funeral march, that voices a strain of triumph throughout, the ear catches a short passage of Luther's famous hymn, "A Strong Tower is our God." The music flows on, and ever and again the passage from the old hymn repeats itself, keying the heart up to a plenitude of expectation. Finally, in a moment, every note conforms to the theme, and in triumphant outpouring the music gathers to itself all the magnificent confidence of,

"Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott." .

Thus the gigantic figure of the Reformation hero seems to head the march and swell its triumph.

In the familiar words of the Ephesian passage now following, "By grace ye are saved, through faith," the song of Salvation is bodied forth, and Paul, little Paul, the Apostle of Grace, so little and yet so great, stands forth in the place of Luther, and his iteration of "By grace are ye saved"* is like the ever-recurring phrase from Luther's hymn, a promise of the magnificent disclosure still to follow, so that our thoughts leap on in triumph, to the end. *The word "grace" occurs one hundred times in Paul's epistles.*

This thought that we are saved, saved from everything evil, saved entirely and exclusively by grace, saved like Paul was, from madness to sanity, from hatred to love eternal, from ways of war to paths of peace, from the hell of our own making to the heaven of God's making, is, where properly apprehended, pure and unalloyed bliss. Here is the "thinking" that is "life and peace."

The grace is God's. It must be His. The faith is ours. The grace awakens faith. As God's goodness, "His kindness," "leads us to repentance," so His grace leads to faith. The more profoundly we realize God's grace in saving us, the more confidently do we trust the "God of grace." Grace is the Mother of Faith, and through Faith the "Mother of us all." As for natural child there is no peace like Mother's arms, so for the believer, the child of God, there is no peace like that found in the arms of Grace, the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Salvation then is the "gift of God," it is the outpouring of His grace through the channel of the Cross. No profane hand must be outstretched to support this ark of rest. It is "not of works," our works. Within the bulwarks that it has thus raised as temple walls about us, breathing "sanctuary," boasting were a profanity. It is excluded. Unhallowed, sin-stained hands must lay no tool to the sacred structure that God in Christ has fashioned.

Nay, more. Not merely are we protected solely by God, but we ourselves, who are "saved by grace," are His workmanship. We are by no means "self-made men." We are God-made men, a work of creation. We are created unto good works. God has made us good, that we might make good, and the only way in which we, as Christians, may "make good," is that we should be consecrated to the effectuation and perpetuation of good in a world of evil. We are to be a "people for a possession, zealous of good works." We are to be like, in our measure, the picture of the Christ given us by Bickersteth in, "Yesterday, Today and Forever."

"Full of the Spirit He came:His sinless powers All quickened to the uttermost of man:His faith transparent without clouds:His love Clear radiance on the altar of His heart, Fire without smoke of darkness:prophecies Of everlasting joy kindling His soul, Pure, perfect manhood."

God hath ordained beforehand that we should walk, live, in these works. Christ "hath given us an example that we should follow in His steps." God hath sent His Son into this world to live a life like none ever lived before, that He might be our "exemplar." We are to be "imitators of God" in the Person of His Son, "as dear children." We are to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savor to God."

The Past of Church history also calls to us; the noble lives of men who "suffered the loss of all things for Christ's sake" preach with an eloquence louder than the tongues of men or of angels.

To speak of all that trod in Stephen's steps, Who for their Master's sake endured the worst Of vengeance men could wreak on fellow-men, Shame, taunts, revilings, hunger, nakedness, Bonds, dungeons, scourges, tortures, till at last, They yielded up their bodies to he burned, Or bowed their neck to the devouring sword."

Such is the "mind that was in Christ Jesus;" such the noble pattern of living received by tradition from our spiritual fathers; such the high ideals that have been left us as sacred legacies by those "whose praise is in all the churches," such some of the "shining ways" marked out by the feet of leaders who have passed on to their "heavenly reward." When Napoleon stood by the Pyramids of Egypt, he cried to his soldiers, "Forty centuries look down upon you from these monuments." History, and better still, "His story" call to us. The Past of glorious heroism, the Present of splendid opportunity, the Future of high reward, are beckoning to us, calling us to unselfish living, loving service, devoted following. "We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."

"I beseech you, brethren, that ye walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called." F. C. Grant

We never ought to be discouraged, because the Lord we trust in never fails, nor can. It is just in 2 Timothy, when all was in ruin and declension, that Paul looks for his dear son to be strong in the faith:there never is so good a time for it, because it is needed, and the Lord always meets need. J. N. D.