ace shine upon heart and spirit, and
as the sun photographs itself on the sensitive plate exposed to its
light, and you get a likeness of the sun by simply laying the thing
in the sun, so He will 'be formed in, you.' Iron near a magnet
becomes magnetic. Spirits that dwell with Christ become Christ-like.
The Roman Catholic legends put this truth in a coarse way, when they
tell of saints who have gazed on some ghastly crucifix till they have
received, in their tortured flesh, the copy of the wounds of Jesus,
and have thus borne in their body the marks of the Lord. The story is
hideous and gross, the idea beneath is ever true. Set your faces
towards the Cross with loving, reverent gaze, and you will 'be
conformed unto His death,' that in due time you may 'be also in the
likeness of His Resurrection.'

Dear friends, surely this message--'Behold and be like'--ought to be
very joyful and enlightening to many of us, who are wearied with
painful struggles after isolated pieces of goodness, that elude our
grasp. You have been trying, and trying, and trying half your
lifetime to cure faults and make yourselves better and stronger. Try
this other plan. Let love draw you, instead of duty driving you. Let
fellowship with Christ elevate you, instead of seeking to struggle up
the steeps on hands and knees. Live in sight of your Lord, and catch
His Spirit. The man who travels with his face northwards has it grey
and cold. Let him turn to the warm south, where the midday sun
dwells, and his face will glow with the brightness that he sees.
'Looking unto Jesus' is the sovereign cure for all our ills and sins.
It is the one condition of running with patience 'the race that is
set before us.' Efforts after self-improvement which do not rest on
it will not go deep enough, nor end in victory. But from that gaze
will flow into our lives a power which will at once reveal the true
goal, and brace every sinew for the struggle to reach it. Therefore,
let us cease from self, and fix our eyes on our Saviour till His
image imprints itself on our whole nature.

Such transformation, it must be remembered, comes gradually. The
language of the text regards it as a lifelong process. 'We _are_
changed'; that is a continuous operation. 'From glory to glory'; that
is a course which has well-marked transitions and degrees. Be not
impatient if it be slow. It will take a lifetime. Do not fancy that
it is finished with you. Life is not long enough for it. Do n