churches, and yet they take the Lord's Supper standing, for which no authority can be given. For private, family, and social worship kneeling seems to be the most proper and convenient mode (Eph. iii. 14). In the temple and synagogue service the Jews stood at prayer (1 Kings viii. 22), yet before the end Solomon knelt (ver. 54); is there a distinction to be taken between praying and blessing, verse 55? (Luke xviii. 11). The English kneel (if, indeed, that bend down can be so called), the Scotch stand, and the Teutonic nations sit at prayer. When the Papists come before altars and images for prayer they kneel, and the Greeks prostrate themselves on the earth. The Pope sits at the Lord's Supper, but commands his followers to kneel to show that he can dispense with the ordinances of God. He does right, and commands you to do wrong, and you must obey on pain of damnation! He sits, as Christ did, and you must kneel because he bids you! 8th. In times of trial, suffering, or public danger, we should abound in prayer that the Church might be kept faithful, that the name of the Lord Jesus might be glorified, and that the Lord would be pleased, for His Son's sake, to guide the affairs of the nations, and sanctify the dispensations of His providence, to the glory of His name, and the welfare of His people. Hence Paul bowed his knees in the dungeons of Rome, and Daniel made his supplication to the God of heaven. Suffering leads to prayer, and hence the times of persecution have been, in some respects, blessed times for the Church. And now, O God, give me, and all that fear Thy name, the spirit of prayer and supplication. Give us the faith that works by love and purifies the heart. May we live in fellowship with Thee here, and, finally, obtain Thy kingdom and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. THE WHOLE FAMILY OF GOD.

"Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" (Ver. 15).

The apostle consoles himself in the loneliness of his prison with the great principles of the economy of grace, which it was the great aim of his life to proclaim to every creature. His spirit was free. The eternal purpose of God contains in it (said Paul) many such sorrows and disappointments as mine. Still, I am not without great consolations. I am part of His great plan; I have access to His throne of grace through Christ; I am set for an example to others, and I can look up to the Creator as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Who gives his name to the family? The 15th verse is ambiguous, both in Greek and English. To whom are we to refer the phrase "Of whom ?" The nearest antecedent is the Lord Jesus Christ, and to Him many commentators, as Calvin, Beza, Zanchius, Rhenferd, &c., refer it. In this case the meaning will be, that the Lord Jesus Christ has given the name Christian, and all which the name covers, to the one family of God. I am of opinion, however, that, even if the words, "our Lord Jesus Christ," should turn out to be genuine (Tischendorf rejects them), we should refer the "of whom" to the Father, and that for the following reasons:-It is the Father that gives the name to the family generally, and hence the patria seems naturally to refer to the pater, the family to the father. It is the Father to whom the apostle bows his knees, and so He is the principal person in the verse. The words "of our Lord Jesus Christ" may be omitted, and the sense remains complete. The meaning is, that the whole family is related to the Father

by name; the heavenly and the earthly members have, in this respect, the same privilege. same privilege. Most of the German commentators take patria in the sense of race, and interpret the passage thus :-"Every kind of created being derives its origin out of God the Father, and bears His name as Creator," and many can see no reference whatever to the children of God in the passage (Harless, Rückhert, &c.) But surely the word patria naturally means family and not race, and it may be so translated in every passage where it occurs in the New Testament (Luke ii. 4, Acts iii. 25, Eph. iii. 15). Herodotus uses it in the same sense (ii. 143, iii. 75). It is the Beth ab, paternal house, of the Hebrews (Ex. vi. 25, Numb. i. 18). There is, therefore, a great propriety, so far as the word itself is concerned, and so far as respects its use in Scripture, in translating by the word family. But now we come to the important question "Is pasa here to be rendered every, or the whole?" That the Greek pas, not followed by a substantive with the article, is generally taken in a partitive sense seems to be an understood fact, and therefore the simplest and most natural translation here would be "every family;" but when it is said that πασα πατρια cannot be fairly rendered "the whole family," I deny the assertion, and can show from the New Testament many examples where it may be so translated, and some where it must (see Matt. xii. 31, Acts ii. 36, x. 14, 1 Cor. i. 29, xv. 39, 2 Cor. x. 6, Eph. iv. 31, v. 3, 5, vi. 18, Phil. i. 20, 2 Tim. ii. 2, and others). I hold, therefore, that the common English translation, "the whole family," is a proper one, and, the whole passage considered, perhaps the best that can be given. Let us now leave the dry region of verbal criticism, and contemplate for a moment the whole family of God. We observe, then,

that the family is one, though divided into two parts. Some have passed over the Jordan, and enjoy the glories of the New Jerusalem and the promised land; they have conquered and received their crown; they lived and died in faith, and their robes are made white in the blood of the Lamb; they know the reality of the Divine love which centres in the person of the Redeemer, on earth hidden, veiled in the vestments of our mortal nature, but now radiating in the splendour of resurrection glory. His presence fills all hearts with joy; angels, saints, cherubim, and seraphim are around His throne; the unfallen and the redeemed are alike sharers of His beneficence. They are in the kingdom of glory; no hunger, no thirst, no weariness, no weakness, no wants; no more sins to lament over, no more temptations to resist, no more enemies to overcome. There is no more death, and sorrow and sighing have fled away. The long alienated are now reconciled, the long divided have met at last in their Father's house. This is heaven, and this is the believer's home. But we are still in the flesh. They are triumphing with their King, and we are fighting His battles; they are in Canaan, and we are in the wilderness. We have the manna, the guiding pillar, and the frail tabernacles, they the corn, and the wine, and the fixed temple of the New Jerusalem. We are following in their train, and our faith is quickened and strengthened by the cloud of witnesses with which we are surrounded. Stand fast, brother! Do not yield! Thou art not alone in the fight! Jesus is with thee, the apostles and prophets in heaven are before thee, the glorious army of the martyrs sees thee, the eye that met Stephen's in his trials is upon thee! And oh, consider the reward! Life, purity, holiness, the fellowship of eternal love, the presence of the Son of God, unutter

able nearness to God Himself, enlarged and perpetually increasing knowledge. These are before thee; and are they not worth struggling for? Perish the sins that would deprive me of this hope, be they the dearest, sweetest, that ever deceived man! Shall I listen to the world, or heed its siren voice, when Jesus calls me to follow Him? Shall I hesitate between a few years and eternity? Shall I yield to influences which must degrade me, rather than the hopes that can make me a man, a conqueror, and an heir of heaven? Never. By God's help I will take my lot with the saints, and follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. Take the following notes as to the members of this family :(1.) They are all one. They have one God and Father, one Lord and Saviour, one faith, one baptism, and one hope of their calling. They have all the same enemies, the same friends, the same temptations, and the same joys. They all enter the family the same way, and they all enjoy the same everlasting inheritance. (2.) There are great varieties in the family. Some are in heaven, and others upon the earth; some are militant, and others are triumphant; some are weak, and others are strong in faith, giving glory to God. All are soldiers of the cross, but there is a great difference between raw recruits and accomplished warriors-those who are entering upon, and those triumphing over the difficulties of the campaign. The varieties of different ages, nations, political and ecclesiastical names and institutions, have tinged their character with many hues, but the head and the heart, the faith, hope, and charity are all the same. (3.) They have many names and many symbols which express something of their nature and office. They are the elect, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world; they are the redeemed Church, washed in His blood from all defile