December 21

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for over. — Hebr. xiii. 8.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. — REV. xxii. 13.

HOW sweet this announcement of his name must have been to the aged and persecuted disciple in his lonely banishment! Our Lord makes special revelations of himself to his afflicted servants. This name tells of his unchanging faithfulness and grace. The tones of the voice are readily recognized by the disciple whom Jesus loved, and awaken memories of the blessed fellowship of his early life. The first courteous greeting, "Whom seek ye?" the kindly invi- tation, "Come and see!" the first day spent in his company, — these and many other events come back with great clear- ness and force.

This name also indicates that his doctrines have not changed. Our Lord is the Alpha and Omega of divine revelation. He is the metropolis of the Scriptures, and all the doctrines, as the king's highways, lead directly to the city of our God. The doctrines are simply facts about Christ in his covenant relations to his people. Election is his love choosing us from eternity: justification, his obedi- ence and death providing righteousness for us; adoption, his grace putting us into the family of our Father; and the perseverance of the saints, the fact that "having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." O believer, he is all thy salvation! Blessed are they that trust in him!

Rich. S. Campbell

'Tis Jesus, the first and the last, Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home; We'll praise him for all that is past, And trust him for all that's to come.

JOSEPH HART.