and offences, and avoid them" (Rom. xvi. 17): for imitation, "mark them which walk, so as ye have us for an example." (Phil. iii. 17.) The first recorded example of distinct Christian imitation is that of St. Stephen. His martyrdom bears a close resemblance to that of Christ, as appears for example in his intercession for his murderers, and in the final prayer of commendation. On the other hand, we find an example of failure in such imitation in no less an instance than that of St. Paul. When Jesus was smitten by the officer, his meek reply was, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" (John xviii. 23.) Whereas, when the High Priest commanded them that stood by to smite Paul on the mouth, the Apostle's prompt and indignant rebuke was, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall.” (Acts xxiii. 3.) The imitation there was not perfect; we feel the contrast as the words now of Jesus, now of His servant, fall upon the ear. "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ."

The law of imitation, then, is binding upon Christians; but it has its dangers, both positive and negative.

i. Positive danger consists in imitating the defects and eccentricities of the pattern rather than its excellencies. We know how easy it is for a speaker or preacher to imitate, perhaps without knowing it, the intonations,

may be the very tricks, of some great orator: the spirit of the copyist is almost always blind, and whilst he thinks to reproduce in his own shallow individuality the unquestioned power of his model, he is really only reproducing the elements of his weakness. So in the imitation of holy life: there is in very truth the central kernel of its holiness: but there is also the framework in which it is set, the fringe which hangs around it; the rules and habits, the peculiar practices and self-denials, by which it is distinguished; and it may be, it often is, supposed that if these be closely copied, the model life will be reproduced in all its essential principles. Such imitation then is deceptive, and fraught with danger; it substitutes externalism for life, the forms and mannerisms of piety for its essence and its power.

ii. Negative danger consists in sinking our own individuality in that of the pattern we are seeking to follow. Each soul, each human personality, is unlike all others, and must develope itself after its own kind ; every Christian should aim at being his own best possible, not that of somebody else. The oak tree must grow up a perfect oak, not a beech or a fir, or a combination of both; and thus a Christian must be himself, and himself only. St. Paul must be St. Paul all through, not a combination of St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. John. Just so far, therefore, as we divest ourselves of personality we lose power; the character is not one, but complex; it is like the feet of the image in Daniel's vision, part of iron, part of miry clay. What we should aim at, therefore, is the imita tion of the spirit and the principles by which holy men have been guided and inspired; drinking from the fountain which they drank of; and framing our lives upon the perfect model which they sought to imitate. 2. For avoidance. "Mark them which cause divisions and offences, . and avoid them." This duty is obvious. But there may be, there often are, defects of character even in eminent saints which we shall do well to avoid. Take eg. the single point of toleration. The true principles of toleration have not always been understood; they certainly have not always been acted upon, even by men of whose genuine

piety there can be no question. When John forbade the man who cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because he followed not with them; and still more, when he and his brother James desired that fire might come down from heaven and consume the inhospitable Samaritans (Luke ix. 49-55); the spirit of true toleration was plainly wanting: so that even Apostolic example may be sometimes studied for avoidance, rather than for imitation. It is to be feared that the principle of toleration is not yet thoroughly understood even amongst ourselves. If it were, the spirit of hostility between Churches and between rival sections in the same Church would long ere this have died out; and the infliction of penal consequences for conscience sake would have become an absolute impossibility. My belief is, that spiritual growth makes us intolerant towards ourselves, but increasingly tolerant towards others. Knowing our own. hearts, we learn the value of charitable judgments; not knowing the hearts or the circumstances of others, we refrain from passing judgment upon them. A tender conscience will walk "softly" through this dangerous world, whilst a loving heart will be slow to condemn what it cannot approve, and will hope well of motives, even when it cannot justify the act.

3. For Instruction. A pastoral ministry is worth little unless it be a teaching ministry; but I know of few ministries which have greater teaching power than the lives of holy men and women, as recorded for our benefit. Mark for study and imitation some of their leading characteristics.

i. The completeness of their consecration. It is no half-hearted conversion which issues in a life of true holiness. The self-renunciation has been thorough and entire; the choice has been absolute and unconditional; all has been given up for Christ; He and He alone has become the supreme Lord of the soul. You will find this mark in every record of eminent holiness, and where this is wanting, the life, nominally Christian, will be unstable, unsatisfying, unfruitful, and unreal. "No man can serve two masters;" compromise in the religious life is an impossibility; all must be forsaken if all is to be won.

ii. The joyous assurance of their acceptance. Many, no doubt, of God's true servants have lacked this assurance; either from a defective apprehension of divine truth, or from feebleness of faith, they have never entered into the assured peace of reconciliation; thus, fear has ruled rather than love, and doubt rather than abounding hope. There are many who recognise more fully what they owe to Christ, than what Christ has wrought for and is to them. Yet surely a life of scriptural holiness must have its source and spring in a sense of God's forgiving mercy: "being justified freely by His grace" (Rom. iii. 24): " in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. i. 7): "we love, because He first loved us" (1 John iv. 19): love begets love, and love is the motive power of all acceptable obedience. The legitimate, the logical result of the perfect atonement and righteousness of Christ, welcomed and received by faith, is peace with God and a joyous sense of acceptance with Him: we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Rom. v. 11.) That some have limped, as it were, through life without possessing this assurance, does not deprive the believing Christian

of his lawful privilege; and such privilege has been commonly enjoyed by all in whom the marks of scriptural holiness are found.

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iii. Delight in the Word of God. Nothing is more instructive in the history of God's saints than the simplicity of the means by which high attainments have been reached and amongst these means the written Word has always occupied a foremost place. "Sanctify them in the truth Thy word is truth" (John xvii. 17): is a prayer which has found a ready echo in all believing hearts. The Word read, the Word preached, the Word studied and meditated upon, has ever been the food, whether of babes in Christ or of strong men, whereby they have "grown unto salvation." (1 Pet. ii. 2.) Men speak of the Bible as a collection of exploded myths: yet never was the Bible more deeply studied, more widely circulated, more profoundly felt as a living power for holiness than at the present day. Men point to the pulpit as a thing of the past, as being well-nigh superseded by the platform and the press. Yet never were real sermons-and by real sermons I mean sermons which have a definite purpose in them, the purpose of bringing men to Christ and of building them up in Christ-never were such sermons more attentively listened to. Preaching has ever been God's great ordinance for the conversion of souls and preaching, thoughtful, instructive, experimental preaching, must ever enter largely into the building up of the Church's spiritual life.

The saints of God, then, have ever delighted in His Word: and he who would make progress in holiness must resemble and follow them in this. iv. Dependence upon the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit. Not the Spirit without the Word, not the Word without the Spirit, but the two combined, are the two chief factors in holy living. Men of God in all ages have been prompt to repudiate all dependence upon human wisdom, and to submit their minds to the teaching of the Divine Spirit. Very opposite results have no doubt been arrived at by those who have avowedly submitted to this teaching; results so opposite as to lead many to plead for the necessity of an infallible Church. But the defect, I conceive, lies not in the Teacher, but in the taught for just as the light of the sun is conditioned by many things ere it reaches this earth, by the state of the atmosphere, by the presence or absence of clouds, by the nature and position of the object upon which it falls; so is it with the light of God's Spirit: its action is conditioned not only by the varied character of the Book which it illumines, but by the differences which exist in those whose minds it reaches, and by the varied influences by which they are affected. Our safety, however, lies, not in taking refuge in an infallibility which has no real existence, and which leads its followers only into the darkness of error, but in bringing our minds with the utmost simplicity, docility, humility, and reverence to the exhaustive study of Scripture, in prayerful dependence upon the teaching of the Holy Ghost. Thus have the followers of Christ been ever guided into truth, and thus shall the Saviour's promise of Divine guidance be verified in our own experience.

Space fails to tell of other distinctive and instructive marks which have ever been found in God's true servants: their habits of devotion, their watchfulness against temptation, their inward mortification and self-control, their unselfishness, unworldliness, industry, patience, and zeal. Christian character, even when defective, is always instructive: and

we shall be always safe if we seek to imitate the saints, as they also have imitated Christ.

4. For Condemnation. No one can read the record of a holy life in any spirit of self-application without feeling himself condemned by it. Holy men have ever been "of like passions with us," partakers of the same fallen nature, exposed to like or even greater temptations, and able to claim only the same supplies of grace: we see whereunto they have attained, why do we fall so miserably short of their attainments? There is cause here for much searching of heart. There can be no failure on God's part: the fault must be our own. Is it that the spirit of selfindulgence, which is the spirit of the age, has established itself within the borders of the Church? is it that increasing wealth, bringing with it increasing luxury, has paralysed effort and fostered a too dangerous sloth? is it that the liberty we enjoy, the freedom from all active persecution, the extreme comfort of our surroundings, has thrown us off our guard, and allowed the enemy to take possession of the gate? If piety in our day has grown in extent, it has to a great degree lost in depth and in reality and, whatever be the causes in operation, we need to take shame to ourselves that, with our unequalled opportunities, we do not rise to a higher level. There have been giants in past ages, giants in the power of love, giants in the capacity for endurance: it rests largely with ourselves whether that age shall ever return or no. 5. For Encouragement. We miss the great lesson of holy lives if we turn from the study of them irresolute and desponding. They teach us what men by God's grace have been: they teach us what we by the same grace may become also. They place before us, if you will, an ideal state; but they show us how that ideal may become a reality: how we may translate into the daily details of our own uneventful lives the aspirations which ennobled their existence. Nor this alone. Do not such lives teach us how all life, and every department of life, may become holy unto the Lord? If our Lord in the workshop at Nazareth has taught us the dignity of manual labour: if St. Paul by his example has shewn us that the grandest missionary career may have its purely secular side and be supplemented by money earned in the humble trade of tent-making : the composite character of the true Church, with its Christian heroes found in every trade, every profession, every grade of secular life, assures us that the highest attainments of holiness may be reached in every calling, and that in occupations the most menial we may render truest service to our Lord. The thought is sometimes present to a mind recently awakened to the claims and responsibilities of Christianity, that if a high ideal is ever to be reached, it can only be by the absorption of the soul in engagements distinctly spiritual. Not so is the teaching of the Word of God. Not so is the teaching of the lives of holy men and women. Where God has placed us in His providence, there He would have us abide there, with pure intention and holy aim; there, constrained by Divine love, and realising the Divine presence, He would have us finish the work He has given us to do. We can find no nobler field, we can carve out for ourselves no sublimer destiny. Are we languid and desponding, how many rise up to rebuke us by their energy and their zeal. Are we timid and cowardly in the face of danger, how many annals of courage are at hand to chase away our fears. Does faith grow weak, love lose its warmth, and hope threaten to die out; what a moral tonic

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there is in the history of many who "out of weakness were made strong." We believe in the Communion of Saints. There is a sort of electric current which runs through the universal Church, a current of sympathy and power: the man dies, but his influence dies not: we in these latter days are in touch with those who have gone before us: their work is over, their victory won: it is for us who are yet in the conflict to take heart from their example, and, in the fashioning of our own lives, gladly to imitate them "who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Heb. vi. 12.)

The Rev. E. H. BICKERSTETH, Vicar of Christ Church,

Hampstead.

It is the tritest of sayings, "Man is the creature of imitation." But, as Coleridge profoundly observes, "Extremes meet. Truths of all others, the most awful and interesting, are too often considered as so true that they lose all the power of truth, and lie bed-ridden in the dormitory of the soul side by side with the most despised and exploded errors." And then he adds, "To restore a commonplace truth to its first uncommon lustre you need only to translate it into action." When the aged Apostle, after the observation of nearly three generations of men, is urging this on Gaius, he throws two characters on the canvas, the proud, prating, persecuting Diotrephes and the saintly Demetrius, to whom all bore witness, even the Truth itself, and between the two sketches he introduces his urgent entreaty, "Beloved, imitate not that which is evil but that which is good." The disastrous contagion of evil example is well known; and not less pervasive, thank God, is the influence, if it might not rather be called the effluence, of good men. It is true this has a special power while they are with us in the flesh. The sense of their nearness, the touch of their hand, the light of their smile, the shadow of their distress if anything in us pains them, the spell of their invitation, "Come with me "-these things have a motive force all their own. But next to direct personal intercourse is the record of the words and acts of good men, when patiently and prayerfully studied. And this, it seems to me, is one of the greatest responsibilities lying on us, upon whom the ends of the world are come. We have, indeed, immense difficulties peculiar to our age, among the chiefest of which is a slothful contentment to live on truths we have received by tradition from our fathers without making them our own. But over against this we must set the priceless inheritance of the history of the Church militant. We are the residuary legatees of the lives and experiences of all the saints of God who have lived and laboured and died during the last six thousand years.

Surely this is one reason why so much of the Word of God consists of biography. With many life is so thronged and pressed by other duties, they have not the leisure to dig into the annals of the saints. But none of us with our Bibles in our hands need ever be at a loss for incitements to fulfil the command, "Be not slothful, but imitators of those who by faith and patience inherit the promises." And possibly we shall find by