change and alter; but the God of the Church lives on. The Church of God remains under fresh forms--the one, holy, entire family in heaven and earth. II. Pass we on now, in the second place, to consider the name by which this Church is named. "Our Lord Jesus Christ," the Apostle says, "of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Now, every one familiar with the Jewish modes of thought and expression, will allow here, that _name_ is but another word to express being, actuality, and existence. So when Jacob desired to know the character and nature of Jehovah, he said--"Tell me now, I beseech thee, thy _name_". When the Apostle here says, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is _named_," it is but another way of saying that it is He on Whom the Church depends--Who has given it substantive existence--without Whom it could not be at all. It is but another way of saying what he has expressed elsewhere--"that there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we may be saved." Let us not lose ourselves in vague generalities. Separate from Christ, there is no salvation; there can be no Christianity. Let us understand what we mean by this. Let us clearly define and enter into the meaning of the words we use. When we say that our Lord Jesus Christ is He "of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," we mean that the very being of the Church depends on Christ--that it could not be without Him. Now, the Church of Christ depends upon these three things--first, the recognition of a common Father; secondly, of a common Humanity; and thirdly, of a common Sacrifice. 1. First, the recognition of a common Father. That is the sacred truth proclaimed by the Epiphany. God revealed in Christ--not the Father of the Jew only, but also of the Gentile. The Father of a "whole family." Not the partial Father, loving one alone--the elder--but the younger son besides: the outcast prodigal who had spent his living with harlots and sinners, but the child still, and the child of a Father's love. Our Lord taught this in His own blessed prayer--"_Our_ Father;" and as we lose the meaning of that single word _our_, as we say _my_ Father--the Father of _me_ and of _my_ faction--of _me_ and _my_ fellow believers--_my_ Anglicanism or _my_ Judaism--be it what it may--instead of _our_ Father--the Father of the outcast, the profligate, of all who choose to claim a Father's love; _so_ we lose the meaning of the lesson which the Epiphany was designed to teach, and the possibility of building up a family to God.