Be

God, and are ministered to by one of their own number. tween these two extremes there is a vast amount of work done which will never come to light.

A native Church, self-governed, self-supporting, and with her own native pastors, is the best proof we can have that Christianity has taken root in China; and that it is able to maintain its own existence and propagate itself without aid from abroad.

It is true that there are not in China at the present time a great many Churches that are entirely self-supporting; yet there are enough to place the future of Christianity in this empire beyond a doubt, and to justify all the time and labor that have been expended by mission societies. And when we take into account the good number of Churches that are partly self-supporting, and are rapidly approaching the standard of self-help, the future of Christianity in China presents a most cheering prospect to every friend of missions.

In every mission field the native pastor is regarded as an essential factor in setting up a fully organized Church. And the selection and training of men for this office is made an important part of the work of every mission society.

Every consideration that can be adduced in favor of the pastoral office in Christian lands will apply to China, and there are to be added to these, new reasons, growing out of the nature of the field, some of which I will point out.

1. The heathens get their impressions of Christianity largely from the men who are at the head of Christian congregations. When they hear of the doctrine of Jesus, they naturally look to those who are its teachers as the best exponents of the system. The pastor of a company of Christians in a heathen city is a conspicuous object, and his teachings and conduct are closely observed by those whose attention has been drawn to the subject of Christianity.

2. The native Christians look upon the pastor as the exponent of Christianity and the model of Christian living much more than do Christians in western lands.

Taking the progress made during the last fifteen years for our guide, the next fifteen years will show not only a few tens, but many hundreds, of Churches, and a goodly number of these will be self-supporting. The late Dr. Knowlton, of Ningpo, taking the ratio of increase between the years 1853 and 1868 as a standard, computed that in the year 1900 there would be more than two millions of Christians in China. But supposing that this estimate is far too high, and taking a much lower rate of progress for our guide, the next twenty-three years in China will show a membership of many tens of thousands of native Christians.

Corresponding to the importance of the native pastorate, no inconsiderable part of the discussions of the conference was devoted to it, and to topics such as the following: "The best

means of elevating the moral and spiritual tone of the native Church; ""How shall the native Church be stimulated to more aggressive Christian work?" "The training of a native agency;" ""Itineration, far and near." The essays on the latter theme by the Rev. B. Helm, of the American Southern Presbyterian Mission, and the Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, M.D., of the China Inland Mission, are full of peculiar interest.

The concurrent testimony of both essays, and of the comments on them, was that China is wonderfully open to itinerant work, and that such work has been proved to be greatly useful as an agency for preparing the way of the Gospel, and of securing some of its best results.

The first essayist said: "Of all lands China presents one of the finest fields for itineration, and by no other means, I fear, is it possible to evangelize this nation for many generations." The second said: "My own firm belief is that as great effects would now be seen in China from similar (itinerant apostolic) labors as were seen eighteen hundred years ago in Asia Minor and in Europe; and that our difficulty lies, and lies only, in the obstacles which exist to our doing similar work."

These views seem to have an equal application to foreign and native evangelists in China, and a most interesting comment upon them is to be seen in the list of conference appointments made of recent years in connection with our mission at Foochow.

The list of advantages thus far attained as steps toward the evangelization of China might be very much extended. It is to be counted as no small matter that the country has been so extensively explored, the customs of the people so generally comprehended, and its language and dialects so thoroughly mastered; also that so many different Churches, both of America and Europe, have become actively enlisted in co-operative work for its evangelization.

All this, accomplished as it were in a single generation of work, in obedience to the Saviour's great command, "Go, teach all nations," may at least serve as a pledge of the multiplied successes to be looked for as a result of similar work in the generations to come.

ART. III-SANCTIFICATION.

THE recognized signification of the word sanctification in the Bible embraces three results: separation, consecration, and cleansing. Four words are employed to express, respectively, the action, the process, the condition, and the name of the result; they are: sanctify, sanctifieth, sanctified, sanctification. Originating with the ritual of the Jewish Church, and mainly physical and external in their primary application, they are accepted and used in the New Testament to express that which is wholly spiritual and interior of personal experience.

Special attention is given by the writers of the Christian Scriptures to sanctification. They name it as something pertaining to the system of redemption, and also as an advanced stage of spiritual life, for which they pray in behalf of those who were already Christians. Jesus says, "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified. Sanctify them through thy truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." And Paul prays, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly -spirit, soul, and body."

What is that condition of being, or experience, which the Bible designates sanctification? An indirect answer iş given by Paul thus, "Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you, by the Lord Jesus, that, as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you, by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification." This retrospect of the experience already attained by the brethren whose walk pleased God; this exhortation to abound therein more and more; this reminder of commandments already known, whose compass and climax was "even their sanctification," all indicate that it was an experience beyond the spiritual condition of those addressed.

A further exhibition of this sanctified condition is given in the following words: "The Lord make you to increase and abound in love, to the end he may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness." And, also, in the assurance which Paul appends to his prayer for sanctification: "Faithful is he that

calleth you, who also will do it." It thus appears to be an advanced stage of the Christian life to which God calls his children, in which increased and abundant love shall establish their hearts in a holiness so blameless that God will have no fault to find with it—a position, perhaps, described by Paul thus: "Till we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

So remarkable and exceptional a condition of the soul can only be the result of divine agencies applied to the human mind and heart. Human nature, however, is not wholly passive, but is allowed and required to be active in concert with divine forces, as the sacred writings inform us. Infinite wisdom suits means to ends exactly. The being to be wrought upon is not merely a lump of clay. Matter with mind is blended; there is body, soul, and spirit united. Flesh and blood are joined with intellect, will, and emotions. The will is free; it must be won. The understanding is dark; it needs illumination. The heart is depraved; it must be purified. The beginnings of faith are weak and wavering, and require assurance and guidance. The service demanded of, and the destiny contemplated for, man, require a manifested recognized Lord, whose will is law, and whose appointments to present labor and future glory have divine authority. Corresponding to this quintuple necessity the Bible presents a fivefold force of sanctifying agencies; they are the human will, the divine word, the cleansing blood, the Holy Ghost, the Great High-priest. Each is recog nized as a sanctifier. All are combined; harmoniously blended in accomplishing the entire sanctification of God's people.

I. Self-sanctification.-The sacred writers appeal to the volition and self-consecration of Christians. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God-your reasonable service." "Come out from among them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you and be a father unto you." "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit."

The self-sanctification of Christians, therefore, is the separation of the soul by its own volition from the purpose and practice of sin, a full consecration of selfhood to the Lord, deliberately, perpetually, and a submission of the will, which accepts the providential dealings of God, the control of his laws, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And all this without murmuring, questioning, or resistance. These are represented in the sacred word as divinely-instituted preliminaries of the work of God. in the soul. Without such a human sanctification the divine experience is impossible. By these stipulations God seems to challenge his people to test him. "Bring ye all the tithes and prove me herewith, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to contain it."

II. Sanctification through the Truth.-This office of the truth is expressed thus: "Sanctify them through thy truth." "Ye are clean through the word I have spoken unto you." "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water, by the word." And herein is attributed to the truth, separation, consecration, and cleansing, as a sanctifier. Whereby is its power manifested, and how is it applied?

First. Divine truth sanctifies, as a separater, by its sharp convictions of inbred sin, which thereby becomes so obnoxious to the soul that it cannot rest until pure within. "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The revelations thus made to the soul of its inherent depravity, sanctifies, by destroying all self-righteousness, and humbling it in the dust before God. The cry of Isaiah, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips;" the self-loathing of Job, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes;" and the anguish of Paul's confession, "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing," are all combined in the acknowledgment of indwelling sin, which the truth discovers to the soul.

Second. Divine truth is represented as sanctifying by its illumination and instruction in righteousness, which separates the mind from error and guides into all truth. "The entrance of thy word giveth light. Through thy precepts I get under