Year: 1868

ent members OF this branch OF Gods
family. All on earth who are really


born of the Spirit are born into this
holy relationship. "They have power
given them to become the sons of


God" and all have their place, and
their own responsibility and service in
the great work of conflict and warfare,
until at length, one by one, they are
called to lay down their armor and


take the robes of victory above.


These, then, are the two great bran.
ches of the church or family of God
triumphant in heaven, and militant on
earth. But another thought here brief
ly deserves our notice; viz,


III. In each Of these branches Of


the Diuime family there as manifold d.
rerssty Of membership and famction.-
One star differeth from another star
in glory" There is difference in ca


pacity, knowledge, talents and attain


ments, and hence difference in the


service and position which the differ


ent members hold in the family And


this is true both Of the church on


earth and in heaven. In heaven Ca


briel stands above the host of angels,


and doubtless Abraham and David and


Paul hold higher rank than myriads


around them; while on earth there


are different members of the same


body-the foot, and the hand, and the


eye, and the ear, and the head-all


essential constituent parts of the body,


yet each differing from all the rest


And does not the analogy here again


hold true between the church in it's


two great branches and the family


From this point Of view is not the


symbol of the text most appropriate


and expressive? See how all the di-


versities of human condition and char


acter appear in the family. Nowhere


more than here is the true entirety of


our nature seen. Man was made male


and female; neither separately, but


both together, make up the whole of


man. And in affection there are diff


ferences in degree and kind. The


love of a parent towards the


child is different from that of the


child towards the parents, and


the child exhibits a different degree


of affection towards its father and


mother, and how different too is the


love of a sister towards a brother


from that of a brother towards a sis.


ter. In natural characteristics and


temperament there are aloo diversities


the most opposite. In one there is


mature judgement and stern integrity,


in another only instructive tenderness


One is enthusiastic and impulsive, an


other cautious, calm and deliberative
and still another most acutely sensi
tive, One is joyous and hopeful, an
= other sad even to melancholy. An(
: added to all these there are also end


less diversities of outward condition
and circumstance. One as the hei
must sustain the name and honor of
the family; another is the man of &C
tive business to whom all look up fo
, advice and counsel; while still anoth
er, it may be, is an invalid, from th,
; very cradle trembling between life ant
: death, and drawing all together mor'
closely by the ties of common sympa
: thy and solicitude. Now these diver
2 sites are not accidental but absolute
: ly essential to the idea of the family
: So far as any one of them is lost 81
r far the family is incomplete. Th
D same monotonous repeated identity
}, not the family, only the fragment ol
r the family. There must be in the na
: ture of the case diversity of tempe
Y and disposition and character and cor
s dition as various as the members then
g selves.


e And so in the great family of Go
n the church in heaven and on eartf
J. " If the whole body were an eye, wher
l. were the hearing? and if the Who'll
e were hearing, where were the smell
), ing?" Diversities of character an
It condition and function are necessar
e to constitute and complete the idea o
e the church. There are, there mast b
e different phases of life and characte
h and service. As there is a place
It the world for the wren and the viole


just as truly as for the eagle and th
is rose, so in the church of God there
e a place, and that the noblest, for
IS Dorcas making garments for the poo
D. and a Mary sitting at the feet of j
r. sus, just as truly as there is for Elijs
b, confounding a false religion, or ft
e, John the Baptist making king
III tremblc on his throne, or for the apo
# tie Paul comprising sea and land /
10 his wisdom and heroic devotion. Al
tie as our physical humanity is not col
= plete in one individual, nor even
IN many, but in all collectively; SO Il
he church is not complete, even on Il
ID earth, in any one individual, or col
d. pany, or sect-not in this church
le that church-not in this member (
ID that-not in this age or that age
le but in the collective blended grac
7e and beauties which are found in eve
ID age, and in all churches, and the gre
b. company Of the redeemed and sane
It, fed. "Till we all come" says Il
IN apostle, in the unity of the faith, al
is of the knowledge of the son Of Go
We unto perfect man, unto the measu
l's of the stature of the fulness of Christ
in This leads me to another thought, al
en- | remark finally:


lc- ". Notaoithstanding these diuisio