CHRIST THE CORNER-STONE.

BELIEVERS LIVING STONES BUILT ON HIM.

CHRIST and His Church are represented in the Scriptures as being united, as a holy temple in the Lord. His people are said to be built up on Him as living stones on a living cornerstone-the living corner-stone giving support and strength to the whole building; uniting each stone with Him, and with one another, by one Spirit and one life.

Christ is the Foundation of all of our knowledge of God. "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (Matt. 11: 27; Luke 10: 22). "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John I : 18).

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14: 6, 9).

Christ is the Foundation of the Holy Scriptures. He is the word. "In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1: I, 14). The whole Bible, from beginning to the end, is founded on Christ; reveals Christ; and is Christ.

Christ is the Foundation of the Church. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." "Know ye

not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3: 11, 16).

Seven hundred years before Christ came, Isaiah wrote, "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isai. 28: 16). Peter, quoting this, says, "Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy

nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light" (1 Pet. 2: 6). Before this he writes, "But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this

is the Word which, by the Gospel, is preached unto you. Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1: 25; 2: 1).

Christ is the corner-stone on which all believers are built as living stones. "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 2: 18, 20). "Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the

world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Col. 2: 7). "But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3: 10).

CHRIST AND BELIEVERS-SHEPHERD

AND SHEEP.

IN many parts of the Holy Scr.ptures, the Old Testament and the New, the children of God are called sheep; and Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is called their Shepherd. These passages are full of important religious truth, and Christian experience. A sheep is the most helpless and defenceless of all animals: is liable to go astray; is unable to find its way back; and needs the constant watchful care of the shepherd to guard it, feed it, guide it, and to fetch it back when astray. Such is the case with every child of God: and he may well rejoice that Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is his Shepherd.

As a sheep, the believer has heard the call of Christ. "He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." He knows each one of His sheep individually by name. "And they follow Him: for they know His voice" (John 10: 3). He has called them out of Egypt, the world; and delivered them from Satan, the god of this world. He will lead them through the wilderness, feed them with the heavenly manna, and carry them safely to the promised land. "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit