guages, "this is the king of the Jews." But not of the Jews. only! When he ascended on high, he said of himself, "To me is given all power on earth and in heaven," and now he is exalted to the right hand of God, the Father, "above all thrones, principalities, powers, might, authority, and every thing that can be named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." He is placed" head over all things to the church, which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Yea, his name is according to Revelation " the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords."

Now as the prophetical and priestly functions, are essential elements of the divine image in us, so is also the kingly func tion. Even the erect appearance, the noble forehead, the flashing eye, much more the exalted spirit and imperious will of man declare his kingly descent and honor. He is the crown of cleation, the Lord of nature, so to speak, the representative of God on earth. Therefore all power on earth was given to our first parents in Paradise, over the fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field and all creeping things. "Thou makest him ruler over the works of thy hands," exclaims the Psalmist, in humble astonishment at this kingly honor, and in reference to the completion of the original creation by Christ, he said, "thou hast placed all things under his feet, sheep and oxen, also the wild beasts, the birds under heaven, and the fish in the sea, and all that pass therein.'

How deeply has not man fallen from this exalted position! He, the royal Son, a poor slave of sin, the world and the devil, the sport of his lusts and unsanctified affections, which in spite of all outward power and glory, with which he is surrounded, often sinks himself beneath the level of the brute! O the igno miny, the shame upon the immortal spirit-upon the masterwork of his creative power! True, here and there the rays of his glory break forth, and he manifests his superiority over nature in art and inventions, and he makes subservient to himself, the hidden treasures of the earth, and annihilates space and time. In the midst of his deepest fall, amidst his external slavery to sin, remain the painful remembrance of the Palace, which he abandoned-of the diadem which he wore-of the glory which surrounded him, and a desire, a longing for his Father's house, and the repossession of Paradise. But by means of these weak remains, he is not able to break the chains which he has forged, to separate himself from the service of his companions of shame, to which he has, in a terrible manner joined himself.

Through Christ alone we have Redemption from the power

of sin and satan. Whom the Son makes free he shall be free indeed, and he that does not possess this freedom, remains a slave though in golden chains. Christ, the king of heaven, which is not of, but in the world, has procured for us much more honor and dignity, by his glorious Resurrection and Ascension, than we lost through Adam, "and made us spiritual Kings and Priests," if by faith we are espoused to Him. For he that is in living union with the divine-human person has part in his kingly power and majesty. This character the christian is called upon to exercise by subduing his evil desires and lusts, whose slave he is by nature, through a victorious contest against flesh and blood, against the temptations of the world and the assaults of satan. The Apostle exhorts: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." We are also challenged to the conquest against the princes and powers of the world dwelling in darkness, against the wicked spirits in the world. That servant, overcoming his affections, who has learned the great art of self-government in the school of Jesus Christ, is more free and stronger than the richest prince or conqueror, that is under this power. As Christ passed through suffering into his glory-through contests to the eternal victory over sin, death and the grave, so must also the christian reach the same mark, in the same manner. Here his royal honor is hidden from the eyes of the world, but "the christians internal light shines, although scorched externally, by the rays of the sun;" and when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory"-"If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him." "He that overcometh, to him will I give to sit with Me on My throne; even as I have overcome and am seated with my Father on his throne."

This is now an imperfect sketch of the three-fold honor conferred on him, that bears the name of the Saviour of the world not in vain. But this can manifest itself in the individual christian only so far as he is a living member of the body of Christ. The whole congregation of believers has a right to this appella. tion to be the full and perfect bearer of this triple dignity. She, the church of God, is in a far higher sense, than any separate organ or representative, the Prophet-the great Teacher of Nations "the pillar and ground of the Truth," she is the Priest, who points the impenitent to Christ-bringing daily and hourly sacrifices and thanks, prayers and intercessions to the honor of God and the salvation of the world: she, is the King, whom the Lord has elevated to be his bride and given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the dispensing of blessings and

curses in his name and by his authority. For this reason are we commanded to employ our Prophetical, Priestly and Kingly functions not beyond, much less in contact with the one, holy, universal Church of Jesus Christ, but in a living union and particular subordination to her, who is the mother of us all, by whom we are trained to these three offices and honors. In this view we can only become perfect with the whole body-here genuine godliness and sound churchliness fall together and go hand in hand.

If we draw now in conclusion a few practical reflections respecting the meaning of the christian name, which must be done briefly, above all others we should in the first place humble and cover ourselves with shame, because we are all so far removed from this moral heighth and glory, to which, by the grace of God, we have been called, and which our name makes continually binding upon us, and which should be the aim of our highest and most earnest endeavors. Yea, how many are there, who are wholly unworthy of the christian name, who have buried their anointing to the prophetical, priestly and kingly offices, which they received in holy baptism, in their sins and unbelief! Such may well tremble and quake. For unless they speedily repent, their christian name which should be their pride and crown, will condemn them before the bar of God, and thus instead of a blessing, become a curse to them. If we are really in earnest with the salvation of our souls, and truly repent of our sins and infirmities, our christian name will serve as comfort and encouragement to still greater exertion in holiness. There is nothing more elevated and glorious than the destination of humanity, as represented in christianity, for this shows it to be the true and perfect religion. We poor sinners, we worms of the dust are called through Christ of pure mercy to the highest honor and dignity of which any creation can be capable. Our destination seems to surpass even that of the angels, for the Son of God did not take upon himself the nature of angels, but of man, and has forever united our nature to the divine. Here to every one the highest view is opened-a way-a crown which far surpasses the renown and honor of the Statesman--the Warrior-the Philosopher-the Artist, and yet open to the poorest, by an abiding, living faith in the Person of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. O let us then adore in the dust of humility-upon our knees give thanks to him for his unspeakable love, and with all our powers, early and late, by day and night, in joy and in sorrow, in thought, word and deed, reach after that which is requir

ed from us, by our christian name, already demanded and impressed upon us as our destination in our baptismal vows, namely, really men of God, Prophets, Priests and Kings of the Triune God, blessed for evermore!

Translated from Dr. Schaff's Kirchenfreund, by

J. W. S.

CHRISTIAN PRAYER.

John xvi: 24. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you.

THE sense of a relation to their Creator and Governor can never be wholly removed from the minds of men. The character of this relation however has been differently understood.

There are those who acknowledge no need of a Mediator, who may stand between heaven and earth. God it is said, has established in the world, a moral constitution. Obedience to this brings happiness, while disobedience is followed with mise. ry. Each individual is to make the best avail, possible under the circumstances, of his abilities and natural talents. Diligence and activity will secure large a reward of temporal good, and the process of life, as thus conducted, will be at the same time the preparation for the higher world of existence, into which the human spirit is to be carried after Death. The end of earth is the beginning of Heaven. "Man the arbiter of his own destiny" is the watchword of the true warrior in the hurried contests on the battle field of Time. The intelligent creature, in connection with the whole created world, is indeed in a general sense dependent upon the Creator. The Universe is upheld by Him in existence. In the human will, however, there is no room for such dependence. God is removed from any immediate concern in human events. The individual is free, independent, and is left to himself to determine by his actions, for weal or wo, the condition of his present and future being.

In this theory no regard is had of course to the mystery of sin. Wherever any sense is felt of the terrible lie in which our nature stands by reason of the original apostacy of the race, the

thought of such independence of the Author and Preserver of our being, is looked upon as blindness and folly. Yet here again, it is possible, even with a sense of human misery and want, to disallow the mediatorial economy of the Gospel. On the ground of the relation between God and his creatures, in the original creation, men still, although sinners, are permitted and encouraged to appear in the Divine Presence and can take to themselves the full assurance of favor and paternal regard from the merciful Father of all.

The Gospel while, on the one hand, it excludes the thought of Stoic self-dependence, on the other it equally rejects the unwarrantable trust of the Socinian and acknowledges no way of approach with peace, into the saving Presence of the Most High except in the Mediator of the New Covenant, and the Church from the beginning has been offering her worship to the Triune Jehovah, in the name of Him who is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. So that whatever we need in our souls or in our bodies, we are not to resolve to gain by labor and care, but in the spirit of little children, with a sense of utter helplessness and child-like inability, to trást our Heavenly Father to give us all temporal and spiritual mercies, as we have no power to make a single effort to gain them for ourselves. This trust in our Father in Heaven, which leads to christian prayer and christian living, is in the Gospel, always in the Divine, Human Mediator, whose birth and abiding presence in the world is the glad tidings of peace on earth and good will to men.

It would seem that a necessity exists in the constitution of the Godhead that the relation between God and his creatures should be through a Mediator. The mysterious essence of Jehovah, dwelling in the awful abyss of Eternity, in the process of distinction into three Persons, is revealed, made conscious to itself, not in the Father or in the Spirit, but in the Son, who is on this account called the Word. The word and thought in the human mind are held together in living union. The one is not possible without the other. And the word from our lips is the revelation to ourselves and to our fellow men of the character and meaning of our life. The real word of a man, must necessarily make known the full meaning of his interior being. In the mysterious processes imminent in the Divine Essence in Eternity the Divine Existence is revealed to itself in the generation of the Son, and only in Him, as the Word of God, could the eternal Father create the worlds and only in Him could His lifegiving and sustaining presence be at hand for His Creatures. The full presence of God to man could also only be possible in