398 v. .¡^wriiL, ipdjepd, are the responsibilities of ,makinga hi THE KING’S BUSINESS Judge, adoption as a Father. By the former we are discharged .from' condemnation, and accepted as righteous;',by the latter we.are made thè children, of God, and joint heirs with .Christ. By the one we are taken into God’s favor, by the other into His farnilv. Adoption may ,bç looked upon as an ap pendage tò justification, for it is by our being justified that,,we come to a right to all the honors and' privileges 'of. adoption. B etwixt civil and sacred 'adoption" there is a. twofold agreement and disagreement. They agree in this,-r-that both flow from the. good pleasure of the adopta’nt; and in this—that both confer a right to privilèges that we. have not by nature; but in this they differ,—one is. an act imitating nature, the other transcends nature; the one was found out for the comfort of them that had no children, the other for the comfort of them that had no Father .—John Flavel. T he B ishop of D urham , Dr. Moule. has issued an earnest appeal to “the clergy” of his diocese, urging' them to preach more frequently on the Second Coming of the Lord. He thinks that event is much nearer than is generally believed. He urges that the gladness, and unspeakable glory of the resurrection when the Bridegroom returns, should be made more prominent. This shows an awakened sense of greater heed to the light of prophecy than has hitherto been seen. He will surely come soon. “T he sensuousness of our day will not be driven out by amusement. The onlv message of salvation that will cut into our selfishness and recklessness is one that makes us morally uncomfortable; that does not distract our attention from sin; that makes us feel the doom impending upon lives and social orders which have taught themselves to believe that we live in a . good-natured universe, and are responsible to a good-natured God. “A minister should not speak comfort ab ly to comfortable people. He ought to malce such folk morally uncomfortable.’ J ustification is the act of God as a
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