When you go about in the world you may see many a human soul that happens to be in an attitude where the Christ Spirit is given an opportunity to express itself wonderfully; and you feel that you have witnessed an appearance that is higher than that of mere man; and we know that there is not a single human being, no matter how far down in the scale that being may be, that does not at certain times give expression to the Christ Spirit; and the reason is evident, because the Spirit of the Christ, the only begotten, is in the ship of every life. The Spirit of the Christ is hovering over every soul, waiting for every opportunity to manifest, and thereby lift that life to higher realms.

We have frequently looked upon the faces of those that we have considered depraved, and at certain times we could see something beautiful there, a finer touch, a more sublime expression, indicating unmistakably that Divinity was not far away; and whenever we have met such experiences, our faith in humanity and the future glory of the race has been wonderfully renewed. The truth is, when the beautiful spirit of the Christ can find expression, even through those personalities that are at the very lowest place in the scale of life, then what may we not expect from those who are on the way to the lofty heights of pure, spiritual illumination?

Many a time we meet people where the Christ Spirit is manifesting wonderfully - where their sympathy is universal - where their spirit of forgiveness is sublime - where the tenderness and sweetness of character and life is something that is too high and too beautiful for words to define; and again it is the Christ leading the soul into the beautiful pathways of sublime existence. It is the Christ appearing through another personality. It is another instance of the first coming.

All of this is perfectly natural, inasmuch as the Christ Spirit continues to go with every soul everywhere; and it is perfectly natural that the Christ Spirit should give expression to the lofty, the pure and the beautiful whenever sublime moments appear in the life of the soul.

In this connection we realize that if we would give greater opportunity for the manifestation of the Christ Spirit; in brief, train ourselves to live more and more in touch with the lofty, the sublime and the spiritual, we would find that the Christ Spirit would manifest far more frequently, and in a far more wonderful manner.

The appearance of the Christ through Jesus of Nazareth was, in truth, the most wonderful in history; that is, when we consider the first appearance; but it differed only in degree from the Christ appearance in other personalities. It was indeed the highest expression of the first appearance - the only begotten Son manifesting through a human personality; and the reason was that Jesus of Nazareth lived in a personality that gave permission to the fullest manifestation of the Christ.

When we realize that the first coming of the Christ simply means the appearance of the Christ through any or every personality in such a manner that this Spirit becomes evident to the physical senses, we may think for a moment that the appearance of the Christ through Jesus of Nazareth does not occupy as important a position as we previously believed; but we need not come to any such conclusion, because that appearance was nothing less than marvelous; and the effect upon the world for all time was extraordinary.

We do not lose any of the beauty or the power of this remarkable first coming by accepting the idea that the first coming of the Christ is constantly taking place in every human personality whenever the divine is given expression. The truth is, we gain immensely by accepting this idea, because it is, indeed, both beautiful and consoling to know that the Christ did not leave the world two thousand years ago, after manifesting in that wonderful manner for a few years only, but continues to dwell constantly as before, with every human soul - "I will not forsake thee nor leave thee" - always ready to lead and inspire - always at hand, manifesting in many places, manifesting through all souls at certain times. And if we would draw more closely to the realization of this wonderful truth, our salvation from materiality, from limitation, from bondage to things, would be realized instantaneously.

We know that while we are out upon the sea of life, the ship is tempest tossed; and not knowing that the Christ is there with us, we try to work our way as well as we possibly can; but it is frequently difficult. It may take years and years before we succeed in coming out of the stormy conditions; but if we would remember that the Christ is in the ship, and call upon him, he would arise at once and still the storm.

We remember the statement, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity," and we all have come to places where we realized that we could not do anything any more personally. Then we turned to God; we remembered, "I am with you always," and we called upon the Christ who was asleep in the ship; we gave up absolutely to the guidance of the Spirit; and in a wonderful and seemingly miraculous manner, things took a turn. Something unusual happened, and we were set free. We found ourselves emancipated from bondage, and we found ourselves in the presence of new conditions, new environments, new experiences; and everything became beautiful and ideal.

There is remarkable power, as well as consolation, in the great truth that the Christ is always with us - that the Christ goes out with every soul upon the journey of life, frequently manifesting in various ways through the personality of every soul; and all such manifestations - manifestations that are evident to the physical sense of us all - such manifestations we speak of as the first coming - the first appearance of the Christ to the human race.

The second coming of the Christ is purely spiritual, and takes place within the higher states of consciousness of every individual soul. When you can turn consciousness upon the spiritual within, or upon the reality of your own soul, you will awaken to the great truth that the Christ is within; and the Christ will appear to you in the spiritual within. This is the second coming, and is the final coming of the Christ to you, because everything that we can realize from within is final; that is, it leads us to the highest that we can know in this realm of existence.