u8 THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. vi. 



Galilean name of reproach among men. To human 

 view, where were there ever such glory and pomp and 

 power as the vast world-empires of antiquity possessed ? 

 And, on the other hand, where were there ever such 

 weakness and insignificance as characterized the origin 

 and early progress of the kingdom of Christ upon earth ? 

 And yet in the contest between them the weakness of 

 the one was stronger than all the strength of the other. 

 The little worthless stone smote the huge magnificent 

 statue; and on the site where it stood, and where its very 

 ashes were swept away by the wind of destiny, leaving 

 not a wreck behind, the mountain of the Lord's house 

 shall be established on the top of the mountains, and 

 shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall 

 flow unto it. 



The dream of the night has become the grandest fact 

 of history ; the vision of a heathen monarch has be- 

 come the reality of Christendom ; and every age will 

 give the vision and the dream a grander and yet grander 

 interpretation. God has made the stone which the 

 builders rejected the headstone of the corner ; and on 

 it is built all that is most precious and enduring in 

 the world the Church which was bought with the 

 blood of Christ, against which the gates of hell shall 

 not prevail. The living stones built upon the Living 

 Stone will partake of the life, durability, and value of 

 their foundation. 



