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symbolical of “the Church/* as arising from the death-sleep 
of “the Christ** — and her ultimate position as intended to be 
presented to Himself * without spot (no trace left of the 
fall), without wrinkle (in everlasting youth), “nor any such 
thing/* as would be unworthy of the mansions in the Father’s 
house to which He will conduct her. All this bears upon our 
present life. The Church is now being “budded together,**j- 
quickened together with Christ, and those who follow the 
instructions of Scripture are assured that there is thus a 
spiritual bond that will endure when all merely earthly rela- 
tionships pass away. It may be permitted to me, after fifty 
years* happy experience, to bear testimony to the unspeakable 
blessing of the institution of marriage ; not only as a civil 
contract (though this cannot be over-estimated), but as a 
“ mystery ** (or shadowing-forth of heavenly realities), in which 
are involved truths quite hidden from modern philosophy. 
We have (as expounded by our Lord) the assurance that Cod 
from the beginning united the first pair in an indissoluble 
bond , and that “ He hateth putting away.** We have, also, 
the reciprocal duties of man and wife established ; not on the 
basis of superior strength, but the husband, according to the 
teaching of the great apostle, is bound to nourish and to 
cherish his wife even as the Lord the Church. To those who 
discard the idea of “ the Church. ** this is, of course, without 
meaning; and to those who own no “Lord** to whom they 
owe subjection, it may seem unreasonable that the wife should 
find happiness in a state of subjection to her husband. Still 
more impossible in such cases must it appear that the wife 
should “ see that she reverence her husband ** ! 
The Past of Man*s History. 
We will now review the bearing of the truths we are 
considering on the illimitable past. We have seen that man 
was created to have a religious history, to respond, in fact, to 
the gracious purposes of God in his thoughts towards the work- 
manship of his hand. It necessarily follows that the degree to 
which he fulfils, or fails in fulfilling, the original purpose of 
his being must ever have made him amenable to the judg- 
ment passed by his Maker on his works. 
We have, then, the basis of a religious history in God 
revealing his own mind and purposes to man, and gradually 
bringing these to pass through such a series of dispensations 
as we read of in Scripture. Thus, in some sense, the kingdom 
* Ephesians v. 
t Ibid. i. ii. iii. 
