1 COR. xv. 46. “That was not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”

THE method of God’s working is upward progress. The
imperfect precedes the perfect. Such is God’s method in
the natural world and also in the spiritual.
I. Have regard to the dispensations of revealed religion
—first the law, then love.
II. This upward progress is seen in Christian experience
and in the development of Christian character.
III. This upward progress is seen in the increase of the
spiritual kingdom in the world.
Can Divine progress be continued? Can Christianity
live? Yes; for—
1. It has lived and increased in spite of the most deter-
mined opposition. The heavens are not going to fall, good
things are not going to die.
2. We have the old promise of the Holy Ghost. The
progress is not rapid. But let the Church of God calm
her heart Above all things, let us not be afraid.
Thomas Jones