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 been, as  St.  Paul  says,  "  but  the  shadow  and  the  figure of  future  things,"  it  was  bound  to  disappear  on the  coming  of  the  reality. Its end  was  foretold  by Jeremias  saying:  "Behold,  the  days  shall  come, saith  the  Lord,  when  I  shall  make  a  new  covenant with  the  house  of  Israel." But if  this  new  covenant, this Church  of  Christ,  must  in  turn  cease,  she,  too, must be  a  figure  of  some  future  dispensation. Not so, however,  for  the  prophet  adds:  "  And  this  shall be  the  covenant  I  shall  make  with  the  house  of  Israel, I  will  give  My  law  in  their  bowels,  and  write  it  in their  hearts." The last  heart-beat,  then,  of  the  last human being,  shall  be  the  signal  for  the  Church's  dissolution and  resurrection. When the  Church  falls, then falls  the  human  race  and  with  it  the  world,  for, concludes the  prophet:  "  If  these  ordinances  fail  before Me,  then  also  the  seed  of  Israel  shall  fail,  so  as not  to  be  a  nation  before  Me  forever." The Church is no  figure,  but  a  perfect  reality. Says St.  Paul: " The  old  priesthood  indeed  was  set  aside,  because  it brought  nothing  to  perfection,  but  the  new,  being according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedech,  must  last forever." Justly, therefore,  does  the  Apostle  conclude that:  "  Christ,  for  that  He  is  eternal,  hath  an everlasting  priesthood  whereby  He  is  able  to  save forever  them  that  come  to  God  by  Him."

Brethren, that  which  the  prophetic  spirit  foreshadowed in  the  Old  Law,  the  positive  will  of  Christ confirmed in  the  New. He represents  His  Church  as a  field  of  cockle  and  good  wheat,  not  to  be  separated till the  great  harvest-time — the  end  of  the  world;  as