share in such a manifestation?" If Christ's kingdom had indeed been of this world, the question of St. Jude would have been a very natural one; but the answer of Christ shows His real meaning. "Jesus saith unto them, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." By this answer Christ shows that when He spake of "manifesting Himself," He did not mean such a public and judicial manifestation of Himself in power and great glory, as shall be hereafter, when He shall "come with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and all kindred of the earth shall wail because of Him." He did not mean that He was about to cast aside the " great humility" in which He had hitherto visited the world, and show forth His almighty hand and outstretched arm in vengeance, while His disciples should take the sword and go forth conquering and to conquer through the world: that hour was not

come ere that time should arrive, many hundred years were destined to roll by, during which the kingdom of Christ should indeed be silently and steadily increasing, should be gathering strength, and numbering one nation after another among its followers; but although the subjects of that kingdom should be witnesses to the world of the power of the true faith, there should be no public manifestion of the great head of the Church, as St. Jude expected. His true disciples, however, should be distinguished from other men, and marked out as soldiers and servants of a heavenly Master—and how? by their love and by their obedience, "If a man love me," saith Christ," he will keep my words." As if He had said, "Dost thou ask of me, Jude, how I will manifest myself to the world? It shall be by the love which you, my disciples, bear to me when I am no longer present with you in the body. They shall see that you, and all who shall hereafter believe through your preaching, live and act un

der the influence of some new principle whereof they know nothing: they shall see you cheerfully enduring all the persecutions and indignities which they heap upon you, and rejoicing that ye are counted worthy to suffer shame for my name's sake-they shall see you stedfast in the observance of my words-whatsoever I have commanded you to do, that they shall behold you eager to obey, and fearful of neglecting thus shall ye, the first disciples whom I have chosen and sent forth to found my Church, be a witness and testimony to this world that I am indeed the Son of God, the promised Messiah that in seeing me ye have indeed seen, as they too might have seen, "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person"—thus, after your example, shall my Church, as long as the world shall last, continue to witness to the truth of the Gospel, and "the powers of the world to come," and uphold against falsehood and corruption, against the world, the flesh, and the devil,

the purity of the faith which I have delivered unto you, and the ordinances and commandments which I have commissioned you to establish in the Churchand they, "whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear," shall know that there hath been a great Prophet among them, that the Lord hath chosen and set apart for Himself a pure and faithful generation, by whose love and whose obedience He testifieth unto them the way of salvation. Thus will I manifest myself to the world; but dost thou further ask how I will manifest myself to you, my faithful followers? I answer, in proportion to the love ye bear towards me, and the measure of willing obedience to my commandments which ye render me, shall be the inward sense of my presence wherewith I will visit you; yea more," my Father will love you," for "whosoever loveth me shall be loved of my Father;" and in token of His love ye shall have yet clearer knowledge of my will, and greater power of faith in my strength. Ye shall

be

strengthened with might by the

Spirit in the inner man"-the " eyes of your understandings shall be enlightened," and ye shall see clearly that which now ye see not through the weakness of your faith, and ye shall endure as seeing" me, although I be to your bodily eyes invisible; for I and "the Father will love you," and "we will come unto you, and make our abode with you;" your dies shall become temples of the living God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, together, shall make their abode in your hearts. Thus will I "manifest myself" unto you. "Let not your

bo

heart

be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Now, my brethren, that these words of our Saviour Christ are applicable, not merely to His apostles, or to the early Christians, but to members of His Church in every age, is plain from the very form of expression which He uses. He does not say, 66 ye love me, and keep my words, and therefore we will make our abode with you-you, my present dis