THE

CONQUEST OF INDIA.

CHAPTER I.

Introduction.

THE CHURCH! What a world of interests and associations are treasured in this single word! And how rapidly do the thoughts of her origin, history, and destination, crowd the mind at the mention of the phrasethe Church of God! The Church is the kingdom of God restored to humanity, and the antagonist of the empire of Satan. The history of the Church is coeval with the history of human apostasy. It was when Satan triumphed over the innocence

of our first parents, and they mourned their loss of God's favor, that the counsels of eternal love began to be revealed, and announcement was made of the future coming of man's deliverer and Satan's spoiler. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Jesus Christ is this promised seed of the woman. He came, and died, and arose, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. By his atoning death, he paid the price of the sinner's ransom, and broke the power of Satan; and now, with a view to the salvation of the believing and penitent, and the destruction of Satan's works, he lives and reigns, the glorious Mediator of man, and Sovereign of the kingdom of God. Entrance into this kingdom is now gained for the sinful and the guilty by a change of nature, by which they are brought into a vital union with Christ, in whom is the fountain of light and

life. This union creates a dependence upon Christ for the full supply of their wants. His fullness is their completeness. It is the Spirit of Christ who has wrought in them this change, and the truth of Christ is his instrument. He reveals to them the things of Christ. He dwells in them, and animates, guides, and transforms them into the likeness of Christ. This change which has gained for them an entrance into the kingdom of God, is the assimilation of human nature to the divine-the starting point and foundation of God's glory in man, and of man's bliss in God. They are turned from darkness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan unto God. Their hearts are like God's heart. His will is the rule, and His glory the end of their future being.

The Bible-the statute-book of God's kingdom-is their study, and upon it they meditate by day and by night. They are followers of God as dear children. They put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

The fruits of the Spirit abound in them. They live for God, for human good, and for heaven. God is glorified, men are blessed, and an entrance is ministered to them into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Such a change wrought in all mankind would terminate Satan's reign on the earth, and fulfill the prophecy. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

The Church was instituted for the achievement of these triumphs of the kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus Christ came to prosecute the war which God his Father proclaimed against Satan and his seed, when he had usurped the dominion of this world. He was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. And he is the Head of the Church, as he is the