But need I say, that of very much of the book, far more than at first sight appears, Christ is the very sum and substance, its sweetness and its strength, its essence, its glory, its spirit, its letter. Therefore, be always inhaling something of the honey of His name. It is Jesus showing Himself to me,-a poor, miserable sinner,-in His works, in His person, in His undertakings, in His beauty. I will never be content to shut the book, unless I have a thought of Jesus,—some feeling, some text, which brings Jesus near to me, which honors Jesus, which endears Jesus.

And to this, you must remind the Holy Ghost of His own office and His own promise to "take of the things of Christ, and shew them to you,"-the pardon, and your share in it,—the promise, and your interest,-the land, and your heirship.

There is another use to which we should always put our Bibles, an oracle to resolve doubts,-to decide difficult questions, to show the daily duty. The more practical you are in reading your Bible, the better. If you have never yet enjoyed your Bible,-if you have not found it a very profitable thing to go up to your own room, and read the Bible by yourself, it is because you have been too general, too abstract. Only read what it is, and read it personally, read it with a distinct object, bring a question to it, mingle it with the circumstances of your common life, let it be asking God something, and then God answering, showing, guiding you.

For remember, it is the eternal life, which is in that book, is begun; it is the life of to-day, it is in your heart, it is the eternal life. And your Bible will not be to you what it is capable to be, and meant to be, so long as it is a mere book outside,—it must be a thing within, it must be

a real indwelling,-something that mingles itself with thoughts, and gives a tone to the feelings, and sheds a sweet fragrance upon the soul.

So that by an intuition, you will be able to see at once what the will of God is upon any subject. Thoughts of Scripture after Scripture will rise in your mind. It will not be the Bible, but the Spirit that lives in the Bible, becoming a very part of you,—a heavenly necessity in you, -that your thoughts run in the channel of God's thoughts: you will have the very "mind of Christ."

But yet once more. The Bible is the rending of the veil of futurity, It casts upon the mind the images, not always distinct, but always true, of the great things that are coming; "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." Reverently follow those searchings of the Spirit. What the first coming of our Lord was to the Jews under the Old Testament, the Second Advent is to be to us. Therefore your pursuit of truth will have fallen far too short, if it do not lead on to some very elevating, comforting views of the coming of Jesus with all His saints. It will be greatly to holiness, and to peace, every day to be borne away, for a little season, from this shadowy life into those transcendant scenes of purity and love. It will be a very good thing to unite the holy past with the mighty future; and the present will only be the truer to you in the light which plays on the horizon.

I return to the question-How do matters stand between you and your Bible? What is your Bible to you? Deal faithfully with this question. It is a good plumb-line to put down. And do not believe in any searching of your Bible, which has not left Christ personally, and experimentally, a very real and a very precious Saviour to your soul.

XXXII.

One Fold and One Shepherd.

"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd."-JOHN x. 16.

`HERE are three points to claim our consideration:—

THE

the Saviour's property in His sheep, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold;"-the Saviour's engagement for His sheep, "Them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice," and the Saviour's intention with His sheep, "There shall be one fold and one Shepherd."

I. That Christ has property in His sheep, i.e., that all believers especially belong to Christ, every one will admit. But if it be further asked, How that property is acquired? the answer will lead us deeper into God's word.

Originally, they belong to the Father, and the Father gave them to Christ,-"Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me," "Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." Thus Christ has possession of His people, -His by an absolute transfer from the Father.

But at the time of that transfer, they were in their natural condition, and therefore, though they were God's by virtue of creation, they were in fact the property of sin and Satan. Consequently, to make them His own,

Christ had to go through another process-He had to remove them out of the hand of Satan-this He did by purchase, and He gave His blood as the price.

So that first by gift, as regards the great Proprietor, -and then by purchase, as regards the arch-usurper, Christ established property in His people.

Then being His own, He gave them to the Spirit to sanctify them. And then, being sanctified by the Spirit, He gives them back again to the Father to be glorified. That is Christ's property in His sheep.

I know of only three possessions to which the word property really belongs-the sinner's possession of his own. sins, the believer's possession of his own Saviour,—and Christ possession of His own people.

Now possession, brethren, is a very endearing thing. We all have felt it,—if once you possess a thing, you love it. And that feeling which we have, is a faint copy of the mind of Christ—He infinitely loves us because He eternally possesses us.

But now, concerning this possession,-so acquired, and therefore so absolute,—Christ declares that He holds it not only over those His disciples whom He was then addressing, but also over others, separated from them,— "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.”

It is not possible for us to draw accurately the line of the limit to which the expression of the "other sheep" may extend. It may reach to worlds which lie far away. It may include those "principalities and powers in heavenly places," interested in us, though divided from us, "to whom is made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God." But whatever may be the range of the outer circle of that wide word, it is certain that it has

reference to those other inhabitants of the earth,particularly the Gentiles,-who are not yet made manifest to be the Lord's, and of whose admission into that privilege the Jews were both jealous and sceptical.

This, then, is the remarkable fact of the case,-that Christ uses the same language to describe His property in those who were converted,-and in those who, being about to become His people thereafter, were nevertheless at that time unconverted, For it is evident that those "others," of whom our Lord spoke, were not yet brought out. Whatever property Christ had in them, they were not conscious yet of any property in Him. They were His only by election, by intention, by anticipation; and yet He says of them, "Other sheep I have."

There is a beautiful parallel passage in the eighteenth chapter of the Acts. St. Paul had just come to Corinth, and the people "opposed themselves, and blasphemed." St. Paul, driven almost to departure, repaired to the house of a certain man named Justus. That night, the Lord spoke to Paul by a vision, and said these words: "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city." When God said those words, the whole city of Corinth,-with the exception of only two or three persons,—were locked in unbelief. But His eye scanned the future, and He put down His purpose as a fact, and He adopted as a present right all those who were thereafter destined to be His. And after that, St. Paul labored a year and six months in that city, and so gave effect by his ministry to God's design, and made the prophetical present an historical past.

Now there is great comfort, brethren, in this thought of