trigues, popularity-courting, secret envyings, personal jealousies; when, though all may never think and worship exactly alike, varieties of method shall only the more illustrate unity and stimulate love; when all will rejoice in each other's fellowship, promote one another's usefulness, and fulfil the Saviour's prayer "that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and Thou in me, that they may be perfected in one"! How blessed the day, Lord hasten it! when there shall no longer be the Church and the world, but when the Church will have absorbed the world, and God be all and in all. Then at length shall the glowing prophecy of Isaiah become an accomplished fact: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." "Now, O earth! thou mayest resume the place thou hadst lost. Thou hast borne our revolts and our sorrows through the depths of measureless space; thou mayest now advance all adorned through the still heavens, bearing the pennon of a Redeemer" (Monsell).

V. PRAYER FOR THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM.

1. Not unnecessary.-All acceptable prayer must be for what is the Will of God. Such prayer benefits

ourselves by blending our will with His; and thus promotes obedience, because, as He rules in a universe of mind, the fulfilment of His purposes involves our accord, which prayer promotes and so helps on the accomplishment of His Will. We are thus "fellowworkers with God."

2. What the prayer includes.—We ask the King to control the powers of Nature and events in Providence to promote His kingdom. He rules supreme, and everything may become a minister in His service. He who bade the waters of the Red Sea overthrow Pharaoh, and gave Israel streams from the rock, can interpose to preserve His Church in the wilderness which still separates us from the land of promise. If Satan may corrupt the Church within, or stir up enemies from without, much more may the Divine Head of the Church maintain its internal purity and strength. We pray that whatever is intended by the foe for harm may be overruled for good; and that even ambition and war may be overruled to hasten the final victory of Christ. We pray especially that "the Spirit may be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest." The disciples were commanded not only to proclaim the kingdom, but to expect the promise of the Spirit, and we know that while they prayed the Holy Ghost was given, and they saw "the kingdom of God come with power." We hear Him say, "I come quickly;" and we respond, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

3. A test of character.-If we are truly regenerate, we do not simply submit to the kingdom of God because we cannot help it, but we welcome it because we love it. If we truly say "Our Father," we, as His children, naturally desire the coming of His kingdom, because, being "heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ," it is our own. Subjects may submit, but the children of the king are identified with himself, and share his honour. Some persons yield to His will as inevitable; others accept it merely as just and beneficent; they who share the adoption of sons long for His kingdom, and rejoice in it as their Father's.

4. Personal concurrence.-All prayer is practical, for, if sincere, it is accompanied by corresponding efforts. There are three stages in the coming of the kingdom, involving three several kinds of exertion. It comes to our own soul experimentally, to the world by the diffusion of the Truth, and universally in the final Advent. The prayer therefore involves efforts to promote the kingdom in our own hearts and lives, by study of its laws, observance of its precepts, response to its claims. 'In Worship, we give our homage to God; in the Word, we come to learn His laws; in the Sacraments, we renew our oath of allegiance; in Alms and Charity, we pay Him tribute; in Prayer, we ask His leave, acknowledging His dominion; and Praise, it is our rent to the great Lord from whom we hold all things" (Manton). The kingdom is all-comprehensive, and demands entire subjection. We cannot truly pray for it to come unless we open the door of every part

Loyal

of our nature to its entrance, that its principles may permeate every thought, motive, and action. 'A good Christian is like a pair of compasses, one foot of the compass stands upon the centre, the other part of it goes round the circle" (Watson). We should give "all diligence," "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." The life of its subjects best recommends the kingdom to others, as it also best hallows the Name. When we "shine as lights in the world," with a flame clear, strong, constant, we attract others to the safe harbour of the kingdom. When we are "living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men," we become emissaries, recommending His rule wherever we go. tribute to the King on the part of all who breathe this prayer will promote the kingdom in the minds of strangers and even foes, who, "seeing our good works, will glorify our Father who is in heaven." Alas, how many utter this petition without any intention to submit to the rule of God! What multitudes salute the Monarch with formal gestures while plotting against His throne! How many, while repeating with their lips "Thy kingdom come," say by their actions, "We will not have this man to reign over us"! To be self-pleasers instead of God-pleasers is self-exile from the kingdom. We are banished by our own act. We are outlawed by refusing to come within the law; and our own petition is our self-pronounced doom.

5. The prayer thus prompts to missionary zeal. It is hypocrisy to pray for the coming of the kingdom if we are not helping to promote it. To be content with the saving of our own soul without caring for others, shows how little that kingdom has come to ourselves. There are various offices in the Church to which all are not called, but every man, until all shall know Him, is to "say to his neighbour, Know thou the Lord." "Let him that heareth say, Come." This prayer, then, should prompt those who offer it to extend the kingdom: by evangelizing the multitudes who are still outside the Church; by circulating the Scriptures and religious literature; by teaching the young; by rescuing the fallen, reclaiming the drunkard, saving the lost. Sincerity in offering this petition involves efforts, personal or pecuniary, to send the gospel through the world. The command of the King is clear-"Preach the gospel to every creature." Christianity is necessarily aggressive. It is intended for the world, and its adherents are bound to propagate it. "How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? they preach except they are sent?" to go? Who will spare his son? himself to provide the cost? fresh openings for service at home. to enter the open door; to give up time and ease; to spare some personal comfort, and not merely give a part of his superfluity? Again and again the

The

and how shall Who is willing Who will deny prayer asks for Who is willing