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would certainly receive the Saviour, then I could be kind and gracious. But I fear lest I shall be depraved by too great frankness with worldly men, some of whom will continue worldly. Shall I not be charged with inconsistency? will not Christ's name be blasphemed by them if a Christian man shows no shrinking from them? Will not my hopefulness, moreover, be forfeited by my ill success? shall I not be unfitted for trusting that any will be won by finding my friendly association rejected?" To all these questions we have Christ's answer, your peace shall turn to you again." No man is ever degraded by his love for the ungodly. Christ's name is not dishonoured by the tender, gracious association of His people with the lost souls to whom He sends them. You know of whom it was said, "this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." You may be misjudged by your fellow-christians, but you will not be misjudged by your Lord. Let a church think of you what it will; your Master approves you. There is no such thing as a lost blessing; Christian kindness is never wasted. Scorned by men, cast out as a shame to you, made to you a scoffing and a reproach, it "turns to you again." Nor will you fall into distrust; love may suffer, but Christ preserves it hopeful. You will learn wisdom by the rejection of your words; you will grow in patience; faith will learn. more and more to separate itself from men and rise and rest in God. A deeper fellowship with Jesus will be yours; a fuller acquaintance with His love that never has grown weary yet, though it has been so oft rejected; the Comforter will still your trouble, and stay your trust. You will have a frankness and a cordiality that will be able to endure repulse; love, wounded by the sharp pruning-hook, shorn of many a beautiful branch, will root

itself deeper in the eternal purpose of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. "Your peace will turn to you again."

One word more, and I have done. Some may be ready to ask, "is not this making the Christian life too easy? this geniality and frankness, is it not something very like conformity to the world?" You think of Christ's words, and you ask, “Where is the taking up of the cross and following Christ? must we not "deny ourselves," and be "separate from the world," and "come out from among" men, that we may be the "sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty ?" Ah! my brethren, I know of no cross-bearing so sharp, so earnest as this. It is an easy thing to shut yourself up from men; the monkish cell, a devotional self-seclusion, or seclusion within the church, is but a cowardly unfaithfulness to this severer duty. It is not conformity to the world of which I have been speaking, but deep yearning pity; not a shallow gaiety, but an earnest love. Your hearts will often sink within you; you will be distracted by a brother's shame when you really love your brother. To bear up against the sinking, to hope against hope, to conquer your gloom and be gentle, when your easeloving heart suggests that the better way would be to have no more to do with sinners, is to feel the sharpness of the cross; and the very love, which alone can enable you to endure it, is the secret of your sensitiveness to all its shame and bitterness. That was Christ's cross, to love and yet to condemn, to condemn and yet to love; to bear the shame and sorrow because he could not cease to love. 66 If any man serve me, let him follow me." "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord."

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

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FEW words of critical exposition will prepare us for the practical exhortation of our text. The word here rendered "conversation" has very much the same meaning as our word "constitution" in such phrases as "the British constitution." The word "citizenship" frequently substituted for it by expositors may be accepted, if to the ordinary meaning of political standing and privilege, be added other conceptions; the mode of a nation's government, the character and principles of its laws, the tone and habit of its citizens. The word rendered "is" is a very forcible word. Paul is saying that our constitution endures and rules in heaven. It is well founded and abiding; neglected or contemned by many, unrecognized, unthought of, it is real. Its sway is over us; we are its subjects, under its protection, owing allegiance to it.

States have their heads, those to whom we look to assert authority and vindicate right. Our head is "the Lord Jesus Christ," and we are awaiting Him from heaven. He will come to us as 66 a Saviour;" will deliver us from the wrongs we experience, the perils to which we are exposed, while He is in heaven and we are still on earth. We are enduring “humiliation” now, but we shall share his glory." "He will change the body of our humiliation, and make it like unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." We are "looking for " Him; we live in expectation of Him; we are patient until He comes from the heaven, which is our home; comes as our deliverer and Saviour.

There are here, you see, two practical motives by which the Apostle urges the Philippians to walk so as they have true Christian teachers for an ensample; the energy of loyalty, and the inspiration of hope. To these motives I would now call your attention.

I. The energy of loyalty. Loyalty is reverence for law; not mere submission to it, but the free, glad submission which comes from respect for the law and homage to the authority on which it rests. A man may be obedient to his country's laws for fear of punishment. Not out of any regard for right, but because of the constable and the jail, he may keep within the bounds of law. The loyal man will not think much of a penalty to be escaped; he honours the principle of law; because it is just and good, he will submit himself to it.

The privilege of his citizenship was the protection of every Roman. By pleading this, Paul himself escaped the lash. He appealed to the central authority of the

empire; refusing to be judged according to the expediencies of a provincial ruler; demanding to be tried, fairly and without prejudice, by the laws of the empire. But that would be a poor loyalty which only pleaded privilege, careless of the homage of submission. The loyal Roman citizen would behave himself as a freeman. Regard for others would be instilled into him by reverence for the law which protected all. He would be as careful of others' rights as of his own. The spirit of citizenship would make the true Roman ruler impartial; he would not disgrace himself by extortion, or haste, or injustice. It would make every citizen careful of his own conduct, considerate of others' rights. They are not loyal Englishmen who, by their vices, have brought shame on the English name in many foreign lands; by lust and drunkenness and arrogance leading semi-barbarians to believe that British rule is but the synonym for selfishness and tyranny. The man who respects himself as a freeman will respect other men; the spirit of loyalty will regulate his conduct and form his character; attachment to his country will lead him to live worthy of it.

You see how loyalty to heaven affected Paul. It was pain to him that there were Christians who were unmindful of their heavenly character. He speaks, "even weeping," of some who were "the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end was destruction, whose god was their belly, whose glory was in their shame, who were minding earthly things." They were dishonouring themselves, they were casting contempt upon their citizenship; it was shame and deep sorrow to Paul that Christians should so live. To him the Christian name was something to be regarded with reverence, and preserved