in His
service, that they be as regiments of one army fighting a common foe and
supporting one another, diverse in outward appearance, in method, in
function, as artillery, infantry, cavalry, engineers, or even as the
army and navy of the same country, but fighting for one flag and one
cause, and their very diversity more vividly exhibiting their real
unity.

But why should unity be the ultimate desire of Christ, the highest point
to which the Saviour's wishes for mankind can reach? Because spirit is
that which rules; and if we be one with God in spirit the future is
ours. This mighty universe in which we find ourselves, apparently
governed by forces compared to which the most powerful of human engines
are weak as the moth--forces which keep this earth, and orbs
immeasurably larger, suspended in space,--this universe is controlled by
spirit, is designed for spiritual ends, for ends of the highest kind and
which concern conscious and moral beings.

It is as yet only by glimpses we can see the happiness of those who are
one with God; it is only by inadequate comparisons and with mental
effort we can attain to even a rudimentary conception of the future that
awaits those who are thus eternally blessed. Of them well may Paul say,
"All things are yours; for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." It is
for Christ all things are governed by God; to be in Him is to be above
the reach of catastrophe--to be, as Christ Himself expresses it, beside
Himself on the throne, from which all things are ruled. Having been
attracted by His character, by what He is and does, and having sought
here on earth to promote His will, we shall be His agents hereafter, but
in a life in which spiritual glory irradiates everything, and in which
an ecstasy and strength which this frail body could not contain will be
the normal and constant index of the life of God in us. To do good, to
utter by word or deed the love and power that are in us, is the
permanent joy of man. With what alacrity does the surgeon approach the
operation he knows will be successful! with what pleasure does the
painter put on canvas the idea which fills his mind and which he knows
will appeal to every one who sees it! And whoever learns to do good by
partaking of God's spirit of communicative goodness will find
everlasting joy in imparting what he has and can. He will do so, not
with the feeble and hesitating mind and hand which here make almost
every good action partly painfu