be has true spiritual communion with Him, and this gives him power to fulfil God's commandments and to do His holy will. This inward and spiritual change in a man is that new birth which is necessary for every one to receive ere he can obtain salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven according to what the Lord Jesus Christ has Himself declared in the Gospel in speaking to a Jewish ruler named Nicodemus: 'Verily, ¹ verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God . . . . Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'

From this inner change and turning to God there springs rest of heart, together with an inward happiness. Sin is a highway robber that carries a man off from the road of divine guidance and favour to his lair of error and destruction, and plunders him of peace of heart. But the true believer in Christ, through His Saviour's atonement and the salvation which He has bestowed, recovers his communion with God and preserves it by diligent prayer. Peace and joy reign in his heart because, since all his sins are forgiven, and he has been reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, he has no longer any dread or uneasiness. Instead of this, he gains such true spiritual peace

as cannot be described, and which none but Christ can give. When he has once tasted that inward happiness, his heart is filled with true joy. Accordingly it is written in the holy Scriptures: 'Being ¹ therefore justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' So also Christ Himself said to His disciples: 'Peace ² I leave with you; my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.' And St. Paul says: ' The ³ kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost;' and in another place: 'The ⁴ fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance . . . . And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.' In St. Matthew's Gospel the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: 'Comes ⁵ unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' In St. John's Gospel likewise He says: 'I ⁶ am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved . . . I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth