one who came near to minister to the Lord was consecrated, as also all the vessels of the Tabernacle used in holy worship), compounded of four of these spices-cassia, calamus, myrrh, and cinnamon (Exod. xxx. 23-25). Again, the other composition in which sweet spices were used, was the holy incense, consisting of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense (Exod. xxx. 34-36), which was burned in connection with the daily morning and evening sacrifices; and is typical of the morning and evening intercession in the daily worship of God in the Christian Church. This sweet incense was burned before the LORD, on the golden altar of incense, every morning and evening by a perpetual statute (Exod. xxx. I, 7, 8).

The question arises, What have these spices, freely imported by Tyre, and used in Jerusalem for the holy anointing oil and for the burning of incense morning and evening, to do with England, the antitype of Tyre? The spiritual antitypes set forth by these symbols, found their fulfilment, in these latter days, in England, in connection with the work of God under His renewed Apostleship.

The holy anointing oil is the symbol of the gift and unction of the Holy Ghost, which, according to the New Testament Scriptures, is imparted by the instrumentality of Apostles (Acts viii. 17, 18; xix. 6); hence, before the Spirit could be administered to prepare the Church, as a bride, for the coming of her Lord, it was necessary that the long lost Apostolic ministry should be restored in its twelvefold capacity; for the anointing of the saints with the Holy Ghost, and for the manifestation of His ninefold gifts. Thank God, this sweet savour has, as it were, radiated from this land of England to the rest of Christendom.

The holy incense is symbolic of prayer, as expressed by David: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psa. cxli. 2)—that is, of the highest form of prayer, which is INTERCESSION. This is an important

part of the great spiritual work which Apostles have achieved, and on which they have laid great stress; and this intercession has, until recently, been offered up in this land uninterruptedly for sixty-five years, until February 3, 1901. It has included all men, and especially the Church, in its fourfold intercessions that God would speedily send the Lord to save His saints from the coming tribulation, to deliver the groaning creation, and to hasten His kingdom.

This antitypical work is (metaphorically speaking) the setting up of the Brazen altar on its bases; and is furthermore the equivalent of the rebuilding of the spiritual house of God-not of laying its foundation again, but of removing the débris from the foundation, which had been already laid: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (I Cor. iii. II). Thus, after the Babylonian captivity, Zerubbabel and Joshua reset "the altar upon his bases' (Ezra iii. 3); and after rebuilding the temple, brought into the house of God the golden and silver vessels which they had brought back from Babylon, and ordered the daily worship according to the Divine pattern. So likewise the sweet fourfold incenseantitypically and spiritually the true symbol of intercession--has again ascended from the golden altar, and has been offered up by the fourfold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Pastors.

If this work be truly a work of God, a spiritual revival in the midst of the Church Catholic; a means of preparation for escaping the storm of tribulation which is coming upon the earth, and a precursor of the Lord's personal return: then no higher privilege, no greater glory, could be conferred on any land than to be the centre, the sanctuary of such a manifestation of the grace and goodness of God. This spiritual work, if rightly apprehended, should have been to England and to Christendom, as "the anointed cherub which covereth" (Ezek. xxviii. 14); for through it, alone, has been declared the purpose of God, to pour out His judgments on His backsliding people, and yet to

proffer a means of escape to those who hearken to the voice of the Holy Ghost through His messengers. What, in comparison to this grace and spiritual privilege, is the glory of power, of wealth, of colonies, of commerce; or of any one thing that may make a nation great; but which pertains only to a world that, with all its glories, must pass away?

Of old, men found it difficult to discern the true nature of any work of God. Who could perceive the glory of despised Bethlehem? Who, save those with anointed eyes and circumcised ears, could sympathize with Simeon when he said, Lord, "mine eyes have seen thy salvation" (Luke ii. 25-30), when he held what apparently was only a helpless babe in his arms? Who could discern in the carpenter of Nazareth Him of whom "Moses and the prophets did write," the Christ of God? Who could discern in Him who agonized on the cross of shame, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world"? (John i. 45, 29).

It has ever needed faith to discern the ways of Him whose "way is in the sea, and (whose) path is in the great waters" (Psa. lxxvii. 19); and there is no reason why this faith should not be called into exercise now, when the testimony reaches us that God Himself has arisen to help His Church in these last days. Christian men and women should not look for wonders and miracles to startle and arrest the senses; but should seek for true spiritual discernment, for the help of the Holy Ghost, and for such purity of heart, that God may shield His whole flock from false apostles and deceitful workers.

"The common salvation," as St. Jude (ver. 3) calls it, is freely preached. The Gospel proclaims salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God Incarnate, who is our sacrifice and our righteousness; and it also proclaims the necessity for repentance, faith and hope and for sanctification by the Holy Ghost.

All this Apostles have preached, and more, viz., the Gospel of the Kingdom; including the purpose of God; the coming of the Lord; the perfecting of the Bride; the first resurrection; the change of the living saints

and their translation with the risen saints into the Kingdom of God; and the ultimate deliverance of the groaning creation. The hopes which Apostles have brought to the memory of the Church, do not lie hidden in the Scriptures, but are engraven on every page; and yet these truths are generally forgotten; and therefore, the Lord saw that special messengers, with particular grace were needed to bring them to the remembrance of His redeemed, so that they might become a living and practical power in their lives. The perfecting of the Church Catholic depends on her holding fast these hopes; and pleading earnestly to God for their speedy accomplishment.

"In this land first has the eschatology of the Church been rescued out of the theories of disobedient dreamers, and employed in the discipline of obedient children. In this land first has the prediction of our Lord's return been received as a living promise on behalf of the whole Church-A HOPE for which to labour and by which to purify. . . . In this land alone has God called and by much wonderful discipline trained the elders of His universal Church, by whom Jesus, the great Angel of the Covenant, may bind together, bless, and guide her, edifying her unto the measure of the stature of His fulness. . . . In this land alone has He appointed a centre, not the throne of earthly empire, or the chair of exaggerated episcopate, but the seat of Apostles, as Jerusalem of old, from which shall go forth His power and law, and in the unity of which the Catholic Church shall find both symbol and basis for her own. And as in the beginning the seat of Apostleship was found in the Churches which Apostles builded, so is the seal of this work, at the end of the age, to be found in the European Churches-in the Baptized, out of every land and communion, made alive to their baptismal unity and privileges-in the lost sheep gathered into folds-in the faithful led on unto perfection. . . . This work is the banner given to them that fear God. In Britain has this banner been displayed. In all this Britain is the honoured agent. God has used her to lead the way. . .

"Does she acknowledge or ignore this act of God? Does she prefer, or not, her unsupported episcopacy, or her Church by grace of Parliament, to this perfect way of God? Does she hasten, or delay, to accept the blessing of the latter? Does she, or will she, as a nation, live and move, devise and determine, act and suffer for its sake? Will she use her best legitimate influence to recommend it to other nations, and renounce, if need be, for its sake, her national interests and pre-eminence? Or, in this day, when God shall be known as the Father of the fatherless and the Judge of the widows, will she cast in her lot with those nations which decree unrighteous decrees, to make widows their prey, rob the fatherless, turn aside the right of the needy, and thus call down His judgment? Such are the questions which she must ask and answer: for on her practical answer to these, and not on the changes of politics, the currents of trade, or the chances of war, does it depend whether God, who has hitherto so signally saved her, will now reject her, or whether He will honour her now more highly than ever, and identify her cause with His, because she counts that which He has planted within her, not only the hope of the Church and the health of the world, but the palladium of her own national being."

This was written over fifty years ago. How has England treated this great and unique work of God? Has she known the day of her visitation; or has she, like Jerusalem of old, neglected that spiritual work, which would have brought her blessing; but which, if despised, must entail a heavier responsibility and consequent judgment?

It is remarkable that we are living in an age of religious revivals, when increased attention is given to the work of the Holy Spirit, when prayer is being offered by thousands for "the latter rain"; when the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate and Metropolitan of the Church of England, has invited the ministers

1 Door of Hope for Britain, 1853. Thomas Carlyle (Advocate).