the great champion of liberty; but he thought of himself simply as a servant, a bondservant, who would not and could not leave the happy, holy service of Christ for any other employment whatever.

Now if you want to know the character of any service, ask the servants, and especially those who have been long in the house. If you want to know the character of the public service, ask the old servants. Regarding the service of God, consult old servants of the Lord. You will find that those who have continued longest have the best things to say about it. Ask such a one as Paul the aged. Have you observed how complacently he viewed the life of service? Examine the pastoral letters of his later years, and you find them extremely cheerful and consolatory. Or consult John, who of all the apostles had the longest course of earthly service. He had not found it smooth. He was arrested, and threatened along with his friends at Jerusalem; afterwards exiled to Patmos; he lost his brother James and his intimate Peter by martyrdom; but after all what does he say of the service? "His commands are not grievous." The course becomes more and more pleasant to us as we journey on, and aged Christians know best how thoroughly reasonable is the service, how good it is, and how pleasant. So they with John come to see the meaning of "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." It may be a question whether these words imply a yoke, a burden I place on you; or, My yoke, the yoke which I Myself bore. I take the latter meaning, that it is His own yoke He asks us to share, just as when He says, “My peace I leave with you." It is not merely a peace, but His own peace, the peace that filled His own bosom. He calls us to come to Him to receive His rest and then bear His yoke, the yoke He carried, the burden He endured when He was here as the Father's elect Servant. So we are under the yoke not merely because God has a right to give orders, and we are bound to obey, but as having a Master who Himself has served and knows the difficulties of the service. It gives a master great power over his workmen when they know well he is no mere amateur who employs them, but has done such work himself, and knows as well, or better, than they do how to do it well and thoroughly. He says, “Come and work with me; what you don't know how to do I will show you." Now that is the Master we serve, "God's elect Servant, in whom His soul is well pleased."

He did not find it smooth; in some respects it was a terrible task. "I lay down My life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. This commandment have I received of My Father." He did and endured all things without a murmur, because of His perfect love of the Father and harmony with the Father. He showed no impatient temper or discordant will, but was meek and lowly in heart. So the yoke was made easy to Him, and the burden light. Now we, His servants, are called to walk as He walked, and to learn obedience even as He learned obedience in the time of His sufferings. It is not easy at first. But it becomes so as you grow in affinity of heart and purpose with your Master. His yoke is easy and kindly to the loving heart, and His burden light to the patient and disciplined spirit; for the Lord knows how to make all grace abound towards you in all things.

It is a reasonable service, for His commands are not capricious or arbitrary, but guided by wisdom, and founded in eternal righteousness. It is also a cheerful service. It is also a cheerful service. One of the worst faults a servant can have is to be surly and discontented. We like our servants, whether they are clever or not, to go about their work in a pleasant way. So the Lord loveth not only a cheerful giver, but also a cheerful servant. And it is keeping our eye on Him, and amid much imperfection in service, seeking to please Him, that will make the service appear reasonable to us day by day, and give us more good heart to carry us over our difficulties; so shall we find that in keeping of His commandments there is a great reward.

There is a text in 1 John which runs thus: "This is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.' But we are believers. Be it so; yet believers often need the command to believe. But the text goes on, "And love one another, as He gave us commandment.” Two commandments. No, it is one. Believe and love. It is wrong to accept some commandments and refuse others. "All Thy commandments are faithful." "I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right." But if it be wrong to pick and choose, it is every bit as bad to break a commandment in two. Yet it is done. We have Christians with a great strength of faith, but very little love; and there are some loving people, quite gushing over, who are very confused in faith. The commandment we are to keep is, "Believe on the name of

His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment." Surely that is not grievous; but most reasonable and right. It does not say, love those who go to your own place of worship, or agree with every jot and tittle you hold; but, "Love one another"—all the brethren. You never enjoy the fulness of blessing if you are prejudiced against the brethren you ought to love, or if you are harsh or haughty towards them. Speak kindly to them, and do justly. Be not of those servants who beat their fellow-servants in the house, whether with tongue or pen, which is the modern fashion, saying, "My Lord delayeth His coming." This beating of one another in the house is a shameful and grievous thing, for which the Master will call His servants to account. "Come

Now come to the Lord; that is the first thing. unto Me, and I will give you rest." The Lord Jesus will take your heavy burden from off your neck. Then what? Go scampering about as you like? No, no; come near and get a new and better yoke placed upon you. The master goes very near the ox, putting the yoke on its neck. Come near Him, bend your neck and receive His blessed yoke. A man cannot serve two masters; but it is well he should serve one. He cannot serve God and the flesh, or God and mammon; let him serve one, let him serve the Lord. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, and you shall find rest unto your souls." Yes, the very rest of the meek and lowly One. "Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments," says the Lord; "then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Oh, you evangelical people, take larger views of Christianity than they do who think only of a way of pardon and a title to heaven! Consider the path of service, and the way of holiness. It is on that highway that it is safe to sing, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads."

"In a service that Thy will appoints

There are no bonds for me;

For my secret heart is taught the truth
That makes Thy children free;

And a life of self-renouncing love

Is a life of liberty."

The singing of hymn No. 3 closed the meeting

"Arise; with joyful hearts,

To bless the wondrous love."

ADDRESSES BY

REV. F. A. C. LILLINGSTON, M.A.

REV. W. FULLER GOOCH. MR. REGINALD RADCLIFFE.

Friday Evening, June 26th, 1885.

N the closing evening of the Conference the hall was densely crowded in every part. After silent prayer, hymn No. 38 was sung

"Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious;

See the Man of Sorrows' now."

Prayer was then prescribed by Mr. HENRY EDWARDS.

S. A. BLACKWOOD, Esq., C.B.,

said: How short, beloved friends, does our time seem to have been for considering these vast and glorious subjects which have been brought before us! It is only a glance that we have been able to take; but we trust a very suggestive glance, and one that shall have its after-results in the life of every one of us. So act that the coming year, which has been referred to in prayer, may be indeed for every ransomed child of God here a year of better, higher, holier, more devoted service than any

that have preceded it. What ought to be the result in the service of the Church, so far as represented here, of all that we have seen and all that we have heard, all that we have learned, or might have learned in these three blessed days? What a responsibility rests upon every one of us who have enjoyed the unspeakable privilege of gathering together in this manner, of sitting at the feet of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of beholding something of His glory, and of hearing His word.

We have been looking backward at the Preludes to Service; we have been looking upward at the Pattern of Service; looking around us at the Pathway and Privileges of Service; and now at this closing meeting we are called upon to look forward to the Prospects of Service. Our brethren will speak to us on that subject; but as a fit prelude to what they may say, I will ask you to listen while I read part of Rev. vii., from the 9th verse.

At the close of his address the Chairman read Rev. vii., and hymn No. 15 was sung

"O Saviour, we adore Thee!

We bless Thy precious name."

And the first address of the evening was given by the

Rev. F. A. C. LILLINGSTON, M.A.

The Prospects of Service. A friend said to me a little while ago, in giving me a gentle loving rebuke with regard to some kind of speech which I had uttered referring to the past, that the lesson taught by our Lord with reference to Lot's wife was a lesson for the child of God as much as for the people of this world, and that lesson was, that she did not look forward, but looked behind. Now the lesson I would derive from that, and to which I would call your attention to-night, is this, that it is the safest, and the best, and most suitable position for every Christian to be looking forward to the prospects of our service. Then our service of our dear Lord and Master will be better service, more faithful service, more earnest service, just in proportion as we do not imitate Lot's wife by looking back, but take the position of those who are looking forward to the Lord's coming, to the glory which shall be revealed in Him, and to the prospects at the end of our service here.