"Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy I name " (Ps. 138:2) is an impressive and important utterance on the part of the psalmist, and lets us see the estimate he placed on the written Word. Well would it be for all professing Christians if that utterance got a firmer grip of our souls, led us to estimate it as he did. It would certainly cause us to treat it with much greater reverence, and save from the unholy handling and quoting which is, alas, so common in the present day. And at the very outset one can only say, May that profound reverence be vouchsafed to every one of us who owns and loves the name of Him who was the living Word, the blessed, holy and living expression of the mind of God here on earth.

We have a very remarkable passage of Scripture in this connection in Deut. 6:6-9:"And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." Then we have added to this, in chap. 11:21, "That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth."

Observe, the first thing is, "they shall be in thy heart." Everything else is useless if the Word is not in our hearts. " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom. 10:10). In the heart man hides the Word, so as not to sin against God (Ps. 119:n). Upon the Word he feeds to sustain the new life given and promote spiritual growth (i Pet. 2:2). I need not enlarge upon these, the very elementary principles of the gospel.

(2) It affects his family-he teaches his children. A most important principle for today! Are there not multitudes of so-called Christian homes, and the parents themselves known Christians, and yet this is never done ? God commands them to do it. Is it said, "Oh, but that was law ? " Are we, then, to be less particular under grace ? Is it less needful, or necessary, to teach them the Word of the Lord today ? Beloved, such a reason has an unholy savor about it, which ill becomes those who are "called with a holy calling." Then it is sometimes urged, "Oh, but they go to Sunday-school! " Possibly they do. But have you troubled yourself sufficiently to find out -what they are taught there? or is that a salve to a conscience which shirks its own responsibility in the matter ? Not only must you teach them, but you must teach them diligently.

One can easily picture that Eastern home, and the youthful Timothy standing at his parent's knee,
learning "the Holy Scriptures." And what more delightful scene can be imagined than Christian parents surrounded by their children, teaching them the Word of God ? Not compelling them to learn what is hateful to them, and which the very compulsion makes more hateful still, but having their confidence and respect, and a gentle yet firm hold of them, and doing it in such a manner that the children find their joy and delight' in their lesson. Be assured that a young mind well stored with the Scriptures is a valuable possession when brought under the life-giving and controlling influence of the Holy Ghost. Alas that so few Christians do this, or are even exercised about it! They shuffle their own responsibility onto the shoulders of Sunday-school teachers, many of whom are not even converted themselves, and never make any attempt to teach them the Word of the Lord.
Again, it is to be feared that the only sign of Christianity some children see in their parents is, they go to the church, chapel, or meeting. They never pray with them as a family. It seems almost incredible that any real Christian parents have not what has been termed "family worship;" yet, alas, it is so. There are such. Is it not lamentable ! No reading of the Word and then bowing the knee together to seek the Lord's blessing on them as a family and on each individual; and to thank Him for family blessings and mercies received from His loving hands. No quiet, sober talk with each child as occasion may offer, and prayer with and for that particular child, and thus impressions made never to be obliterated, and seed sown to bear fruit in after days, if not then. Oh, beloved in the Lord, where is the practical Christianity when such things can be neglected by those redeemed by blood, and who profess to love the Lord ? No wonder Satan gets into such families! No wonder we see the assertion of will on the part of some who have marked out paths of their own in contrast to those the parents are walking in! The home is not walled or fenced round by prayer; hence the enemy can walk straight in, unmolested and unchallenged.

It is said, "Oh, but the parents pray privately!" Granted. But do the children see them, or hear them? How do they know their parents pray, in that case ? Where is the godly example ? Where, and when, do such parents teach their children diligently the Word of the Lord ? Rest assured, where prayer in the family is neglected, teaching the family is likewise neglected, and there is consequent family loss, and great danger of the family safety.

(3) It is to be the subject of conversation in the house, and in our walks abroad. A blessed subject, surely! Is it said, "But we cannot be everlastingly talking about the Scriptures" ? Quite true. But one fears you can be almost everlastingly talking about other things, to the complete neglect of the Scriptures. How often is the Word the subject of conversation at home or in our walks ? Just put it to your own heart, and ask yourself. Saints are not exercised about it through not reading it, and have no question to ask, or subject to talk about, when together; so the active and busy brain turns to what does occupy it as subject for conversation. How much is missed in this way!

(4) It was to be written in prominent and in public places-" upon the door posts of thy house, and
upon thy gates" (11:20). How striking to see it written on the door posts ! the place where the blood was sprinkled (Exod. 12:). The blood was sprinkled at the entrance of their houses in Egypt, to shelter them. Now the Word had to be written there to instruct them, and remind them, as they entered their houses, that they were the Lord's people; and as they came out, they were still His, and expected to act abroad as such, as well as in their homes. Moreover, it was to be seen in the place of judgment, "the gates," to remind them that there they were to "hear the cause between their brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him " (chap. 1:16, 17).

What holiness all this breathes! If all those instructions were carried out suitably to the mind of the great lawgiver, then it would certainly put the people amongst those happy ones mentioned in Prov. 8:34:" Blessed is the man that heareth Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors," Yea, might we not say, they would be as devoted servants, saying, as it were, "I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free." So you can nail my ear to the door post, in token that I will serve thee, and here, forever. See Ex. 21:2-6. To such a people, acting in such a way, their days would be "as the days of heaven upon the earth" (Deut. 11:21); and the prayer of the disciples, taught them by the Lord Himself when here upon earth, would have its fulfilment, in great measure at least-"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

(5) It affected the king as well as the subjects, and we read in Deut. 17:18, 20, "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left:to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel." Long life, perfect happiness, and national greatness, lay wrapped up in the observance of the Word of the Lord then; nor has it ceased to be so to-day. God is ever true to His Word. "They that honor Me, I will honor; and they that despise Me, shall be lightly esteemed" (i Sam. 2:30); and true whether of a nation or an individual.

(6) It was to be read in the ears of all the people. "At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles. When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel, in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and the stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it" (Deut. 31:10-13). We thus see that none had to be ignorant of it. Individually and collectively, it was to be ever before them; while their blessing lay in obedience to it.

The same principles are seen and taught in the pages of the New Testament, but space forbids my taking them up. May the precious and all-important Word of our God have a deeper place in all our hearts, and be seen manifesting itself in all our lives, both in public and in private, so that in the midst of declension and departure from God, on the part of a professing and privileged people we may have the blessed sense, through grace, of " the days of heaven upon the earth." And this can only be as we allow the "Word of Christ to dwell in us richly." The Lord grant it to us, each and all.
W. E.
New Zealand.

(Gen. 6:) A GOSPEL ADDRESS.

This chapter gives us the climax of man's history under the first administration of time, and covers a period of over 1600 years. This was the age that God tried and tested man in the light of conscience. From the fall in Eden to the Flood we read of no law, no government, but man left to the dictates of his conscience. Many people to-day say that conscience alone is their guide, and that it is good enough to walk by. The anarchist who clamors for no government can learn a solemn lesson from this chapter, because we see that man left to his own conscience became an utter wreck; so much so, that God had to sweep the earth with a deluge. The moral state of man is given in the fifth verse:"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

What makes this chapter so interesting and solemn is that the Lord Jesus Christ tells us that what transpired before the Flood shall happen again before He returns to set up His Millennial government. The flood of waters in Gen. 6 is but a faint type, or shadow, of the woes and tribulations described in Revelation, chapters 6:to 19:

In ver. 2 we see God's sons, the professing people, uniting themselves with the daughters of men-a union of godly and ungodly, a corruption, by mixture of what was professedly God's people with the wicked world, the result of which is disastrous, and which, if we cared to see, can be noticed to-day in the union of the Church and the world. God's testimony by this is corrupted, and it will end in judgment.

Note God's patience for 120 years. They could righteously have been destroyed at once, but God loves to save, so waits, warns, strives by His Spirit, and by Noah's preaching for 120 years, with these antediluvians. Judgment, the Scripture tells us, is God's strange work; His heart finds no delight in it; He loves to save; and only when men will not accept salvation does He destroy.

Note that before the Flood we get giants and mighty men of renown (ver. 4). Great as they were in the eyes of men, they were not great enough to escape the Deluge, and so to-day man is fast becoming a giant in many lines,-learning, inventions, etc.,-and making many gigantic strides. But what about the spiritual state of these men ? Read the 5th and nth verses:"Evil continually," and filling the earth with violence. They used their brute strength to gain their ends, regardless of right or wrong; and such are the actings of the world to-day, as illustrated in selfish greed and injustice.

Fair as the world might seem to its people, yet God had doomed it; and so God's judgment hangs
over this scene, as Christ said, "Now is the judgment of this world." One of these days that judgment will be put into execution. (See i Thess. 5:3; also, 2 Pet. 3:3-7.) It will take the world by surprise.

Before God's awful judgment falls, He in His love provides a way of escape and salvation. That is blessedly true now. Judgment will come, but God has a way of salvation. He has provided a Saviour for a lost world (John 3:16), blessed be His name, and this salvation and Saviour is what we have prefigured in Noah's ark.

Let us look at this wonderful figure, or type, of Christ.

It was God Himself who planned the ark. He knew what was needed-knew the awful storm the ark must weather, and He, the great Architect, planned a seaworthy refuge. The Lord Jesus Christ alone, God's beloved Son, is God's plan to save. All human plans and devices perished in the Flood; that will be the history of every soul who does not rest on God's Rock of salvation. Your thoughts and plans, nice as they may appear, are deceptive and unsafe. Have you God's planned salvation ? or are you leaning on some human invention ?

God said, "Make thee an ark." Just one ark- not two, nor six, but one. Only one way of escape! One way for all-rich and poor, high and low, young and old-only one. Jesus said, "I am the way." The only way, He meant. Men often say there are many ways and gates to heaven, and they pick ways to suit their own foolish hearts; but Jesus is the only way. '' No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." Soul, hast thou Christ?

The ark was to be made of a certain tree-not every kind of timber would do; it must be a wood that would be safe and seaworthy; one which was flawless, and which would not leak. The gopher wood, we are told, was the finest wood the world possessed, and that time did not bring decay upon it; it was almost incorruptible. What wondrous grace on God's part to provide so safe a refuge! So God has provided His own beloved Son, the spotless, perfect and holy Man, Christ Jesus, to save a ruined world. He was the sinless One, over whom God could open the heavens and say, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." God never did or could do that over any other man. It is this One who saves, and is love's provision for a ruined race.

But ere the ark can be made, the gopher tree must be cut down; it must die, ere Noah can escape death in the flood. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). So ere we could escape death and judgment Christ must suffer the death and judgment due to us; our penalty must be paid by Him. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." Christ is the corn of wheat, and had He not died and suffered He alone would have entered heaven; we could not go there. It is His death and His blood alone which saves. Some people take Christ as a pattern, sample, and ideal; but the soul needs the blood.

Pitch is the life of the tree. And now we see that to make the ark truly safe God ordered it to be pitched within and without with pitch. In Ex. 12:13 we see the blood of the paschal lamb was a token to the sheltered Israelites, and also a sign for God Himself:"And the blood shall be to you for a token; and when I (God) see the blood, I will pass over you." God's eye rested on the blood, and He was satisfied. Surely the soul that rested beneath it should have been satisfied also. How many Christians doubt their safety and salvation simply because they do not value the blood according to God's estimate ! See what provision there was-pitch outside, blemishless gopher wood in the center, and then pitch inside! They were as safe as God could make them-as every true believer now is. The ark never leaked. God's provision was perfect, and He was their pilot also. Christ "is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him."

The next detail is the way of access to the ark. "And the door thou shalt set in the side thereof." Only one door. All who will, must enter thereby. The Son of Man is not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. One class alone are saved-lost sinners. Can you come as such ? You must, or perish. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." If you will come as a lost but trusting sinner, Jesus will save you. Jesus says, "Come unto Me." Come as you are. Wait not to improve yourself, because yon never can do that. A dying thief was not rejected, and you He will not cast out.

Inside, the ark was fitted up, the 14th verse tells us, with rooms, or nests. (See better translation in margin.) A nest is where a bird finds rest from all its toil. The Lord Jesus offers rest to all who trust in Him. He said, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor (for salvation), and I will give you rest." He did the work on the cross, and you are asked to rest on that finished work. He never said, Come to Me, and I will give you some work to do, and if you do it well and faithfully you shall be saved. No! He offers rest-salvation first, and then work becomes the fruit, not the price, of salvation. It is a gift, not something God will sell. No price, however great, can buy it.

The ark had three floors-lower, second, and third stories (ver. 16). This may be used to describe God's family. John's epistle tells us that in God's family there are three classes-little children, young men, and fathers; showing the various stages of growth in the Christian life. All dear to God; not one dearer than another. Some more intelligent than others, but all redeemed by the same precious blood. If one class can perish, they all must go. down, and the ark with its cargo, to the bottom. The thought is monstrous. Yet some Christians believe it. No! all were as safe as the ark; their security depended on the power of the ark, and its ability to carry them. The history tells us that all who entered it reached mount Ararat in safety; not one died on the voyage. Ararat means "holy ground," and is a figure of heaven. (See John 10:27-29.) Christ says of His own, they shall never perish.

One more detail ere we close the description (ver. 16). "A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above." A window is for light, and speaks of communion. The man who lived in the third story enjoyed the light of that window. The number three reminds us of the day Christ rose from the grave-from among the dead; and it is the Christian who lives in resurrection atmosphere who can and does enjoy heaven's light and sunshine. See Paul in Phil. 3:10:"That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection." The Christian's soul can find no joy, no food, save in the scene beyond the tomb.

And now, dear friend, God has shown you in picture His Son Jesus, and His salvation. All who stepped into the ark trusted their welfare to its keeping, and were safe :it mattered not what worthless creatures they might be, the ark covered and kept them. All outside the ark, whether moral or immoral, religious or irreligious, good or bad intentioned people, respectable or otherwise, were unsafe, and I would ask you where are you? Confiding in Jesus, or confiding in your own merits ? When the flood came, all the nice people as well as the others perished. To be outside the ark is to be lost; to be inside, is to be safe. And remember, the ark is not the Church-the ark is Christ. I plead with you to flee to the ark. Confiding in Christ alone makes the sinner safe. The ark stands open now, and none who come are rejected. God provides food for all who enter (ver. 21). Until you come to Christ you will not know what real joy is.

One of these days the door will shut. God waited seven days after Noah went in (7:4); but God's mercy ended, and He shut the door. When Jesus comes (and we know not how soon that may happen), many will be shut in, safe with Himself to spend eternity in heaven, and many shut out. How would His coming affect you -were it to happen now ? (See Luke 13:24, 25.) " Many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in and shall not be able, when once the Master of the house has risen up and shut to the door.' '

Hasten, sleeping sinner; judgment is gathering fast. Remember, it was not the man who admired the ark and its construction, neither the man who could describe its details, who was saved, but the one who by faith entered, and trusted his perishing soul to its care. " Look unto Me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved." E. W. M.

THE MAN AFTER THE FLESH. PART II. THE KING OF MAN'S CHOICE.

Chapter 6:THE CALL OF THE KING. (1 Sam. 9:,10:16.)

(Continued from page 8.)

Saul is introduced, now, into the company of those who had been invited to the feast, and is given, in anticipation, the kingly place at the head of the table over all the invited guests. There is also set before him, at the command of the prophet, the special portion which had been reserved for the guest of honor ; might we not say, Benjamin's portion for the leader of Benjamin's tribe ? The shoulder was that part of the sacrifice of the peace offering which was eaten by the offerers. It was originally, as we see from the tenth of Leviticus, a part of the priest's portion, for himself and his family. Thus, Saul was admitted to the privileges of the priestly household:a very suggestive thought for one who needed priestly nearness if he were rightly to carry out the responsibilities which were suggested in the fact that the shoulder was set before him.

The sacrifice, as we well know, speaks of Christ as the One who, having made atonement for us, and who in His death was the Object of God's delight, is also the Food for His people's strength. In the peace offering there is a portion for the priest, for God, and for the offerer. Thus, the thought of communion, and the strength which flows from communion is the prominent one. The shoulder reminds us of Him of whom the prophet says:"The government shall be upon His shoulder." He only has strength to bear the responsibilities of rule, who first of all laid down His life in submission to the will of God and for the salvation of His people. Never will government be what it should be until this great fact is recognized and until the true King, who is also the true Priest and the true Sacrifice, takes up the burden upon His shoulders. But, in this sacrificial feast, we have at least an indication that is suggestive. If there is to be true qualification for government, it must be as one has assimilated the mind of Christ and has received from Him that strength for service which He alone can give.

Saul remains with Samuel that day, and when about to take his departure, early on the following day, is called by the prophet at daybreak-the beginning of a new day for Israel and for Saul-to the housetop, alone in isolation and elevation above all his surroundings. The prophet then accompanies him outside the city, and, the servant being sent on ahead, Samuel declares to him the purpose of God. The holy anointing oil is poured upon his head, and he receives the kiss of the prophet's benediction, perhaps in acknowledgment too of his allegiance to him. He is assured that the Lord has anointed him to be prince over His inheritance. This anointing with oil was a figure, of course, not only of the divine designation for a specific service, but of the qualification which accompanied that. The oil, as symbol of the Holy Spirit, would suggest the only power in which it was possible for him to carry out the responsibilities of that place into which he had now been inducted by the prophet speaking for God.

He is now ready to be sent away, but is told of three signs that will meet him that day and which will at once confirm him in the realization of the truth of all that has been done, and at the same time, no doubt, give suggestions as to his future path of service. These signs are not explained, which would suggest that Saul knew, at least, to whom he could turn for explanation, the Lord Himself. It was also to be supposed that one who realized that he was now having to do with God, would be suitably exercised by any such manifestations as are spoken of here.

The first sign was to be that, after leaving Samuel, he would find by Rachel's sepulcher at the border of Benjamin, two men who would announce to him the finding of the asses and that his father's anxiety had been transferred from their loss to the prolonged absence of his son. Rachel's tomb was a type of Israel according to the flesh, and in a special sense, perhaps, of the tribe of Benjamin, the last son at whose birth his mother, Rachel, breathed her last. All these things would appeal to Saul in an especial way. It would seem to emphasize for him the fact that if he were to be a true Benjamite, "the son of the right hand," he must enter into the fact that death must pass upon all the excellence of nature. It is by Rachel's sepulcher, at the grave of the old man, in refusal of all the excellence of mere nature, that faith is to learn its first lesson. If there is to be true service for God, it must be on the basis of the refusal of self. Here Saul was to learn that the asses were found; and, at the grave of self, one learns all the futility of his past activities. His father now yearns for him, which might well remind Saul that if he is at the grave of all that nature might count great, he is still the object of love; if a human love, how much more also of that love of God which finds its perfect display in the Cross which sets man aside, and there too, the channel for its unrestrained outflow toward us!

The next sign would emphasize the privileges of fellowship on the basis of redemption and worship. He passes on to the "Oak of Tabor." Rachel's sepulcher, as we have seen, speaks of the rejection and refusal of nature. Where one's natural strength is recognized as weakness, he is qualified to know whence true strength comes. Thus, the sepulcher is changed for the oak, which suggests might-the might of a new "purpose," as Tabor means. There he meets three men who are going up to Bethel, "the house of God," the place of communion and of divine sovereignty. They carry with them their offering, three kids, which reminds us of the sin-offering; and three loaves of bread, which speak of the person of Christ, communion; and a bottle of wine, of the precious blood of Christ and of the joy that flows from a knowledge of redemption through that blood. They would ask of his welfare. He would thus already receive at their hands the salutation which was now his kingly prerogative, and from them also he would receive the loaves of bread, which speak, as we have said, of Christ as the food for His people. Fitting reminder for a king- "royal dainties" truly.

Passing on further, he comes to the hill of God, and finds there not only the manifestation of divine presence, but the evidence of the enemy, too. There are outposts of the Philistines in the very place where God would manifest Himself. What a twofold suggestion to a newly made king that his work was to be, on the one hand, in the sanctuary of God's presence, and on the other, in facing the enemy who had intruded themselves there!

Here he would meet a company of prophets, men under the power of the Spirit of God and controlled by His Word; and, as he mingled with these, he too was to be changed from the man which he was, to come under the sway of that mighty, divine energy which controlled them. As we know from many Old Testament examples, it was, alas, possible for a person to come outwardly under the power of the Spirit, and even to be used as was Balaam to be the messenger of God's word, without any saving interest in His grace. There was this in this sign which was to meet Saul, and yet subsequent history shows that he was only an outward participant in this manifestation of divine power.

The prophets were not merely speaking under the power of God, but were accompanied by psaltery and harp; that is, there was the spirit of praise as well of prophecy. In God's presence there is fulness of joy, and He dwelleth amidst the praises of His people. Thus worship should ever be an accompaniment of prophecy. Elisha, when called upon to ask counsel of God, called for a minstrel, in order that, as it were, his spirit might be fully attuned to the praise of God. We read also of prophesying with harp«, where the spirit of praise gives the needed instruction to mind and heart. This would be a reminder to Saul that mere knowledge, even of a divine character, was never to be separated from that priestly worship and joy which cannot be simulated, but flow from a heart that is well acquainted with the grace of God, which alone can empower for true service and testimony.

Samuel had even told him that as he prophesied he would receive another heart. That is, there would be a change which would suggest permanency, while at the same time it left things open to the will of Saul himself. Surely, all that was to occur to him on that day, the testimony of the judging of the flesh at Rachel's sepulcher, of the sufficiency of Christ's atoning work and the presence of God in the second sign, and of the power of the Holy Spirit in the work of the prophets, would all tend to powerfully work upon heart and mind and conscience, so that if there were indeed life toward God, he would find here a complete revolution of his entire past.

The prophet then leaves him, as it were, to God. When all these signs came to pass, he could act under the guidance of God, for God was with him. At the same time, Samuel warns him to go on down to Gilgal and there to await his coming, where burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were to be offered up to God. He was to tarry there seven days, everything in complete abeyance, waiting for the coming of the prophet. This is most important in connection with what subsequently took place. Thus we see Saul, on the one hand, set free to act as God guided; and on the other, checked, and reminded that his place is at Gilgal, the place of self-judgment, of the refusal of all the excellence and glory of nature, of which the Israelite was reminded by that place.

How everything, in this whole history of the man after the flesh, emphasizes the fact that nothing of nature can glory before God. How everything was designed, as it were, to call Saul to judge and to refuse himself, in order that having no confidence in himself, he might be spared the terrible experiences and fall which marked his later history. It would seem as though God Himself were laboring to impress all these things upon the mind of the future king, and to spare him, so far as divine mercy could intervene, from the pride and self-righteousness which were the occasion of his final downfall and overthrow. May we not learn well these familiar lessons for our own souls, and have impressed more deeply upon us, as we grow more familiar with these facts, the necessity of having '' no confidence in the flesh"?

All takes place as Samuel had predicted, and Saul seems fully to come under the control of the prophetic Spirit; but those who remembered what he was, asked, as if in mockery, as they repeated the question in later years, under different circumstances:"Is Saul also amongst the prophets?" He had evidently not been characterized, up to that time, by any fear of God or faith in Him. It was a matter of astonishment that he should thus take his place with them. Alas, we know that it was but temporary. His uncle meets him, too, with questions as to where he had been and what Samuel had told him, but here, in some Nazarite way, Saul keeps his counsel as to all that had been told him about the kingdom, and reserves for his uncle simply that which was external and which he had a right to know. This is good so far as it goes, and was an indication of that spirit of reserve which, to a certain extent, characterized him in after years and which was, to that extent, a safeguard against feebleness.

(To be continued.)

We begin our study for the year with that wondrous first book of all Scripture, Genesis. Familiar as we are with it in many ways, each further perusal seems to unfold to us depths which we have not fathomed, and to invite to a fuller examination of that which can only yield " things new and old."

Genesis is not a dispensational book in the ordinary sense of the word. It is in one sense beyond all dispensation, reaching back to the very sources of creation, and forward, in type, to the final consummation of blessing for this earth.

The first two chapters stand alone, solemnly separated from all the remainder of the book-we might truly say, from all the rest of Scripture-by the awful fall which is narrated in the third chapter. To man unfallen, or, we might indeed say, to the whole creation prior to the fall, but two chapters of Scripture are given. How significant this is as showing that all revelation must be on the basis of redemption! All God's ways for time and eternity must, also rest upon that eternal foundation. Thus, in the very meagerness of what we have prior to the fall there is a suggestion that redemption is no after-thought with God; that, to manifest Himself, He not only foreknew the need of redemption, but it was in a certain sense an essential element of that revelation. The creature cannot possibly stand alone. He must have a link with his Creator other than mere dependence. The entire book, then, is divided into these two portions:

1. (Chaps, 1:and 2:) The original creation of the heavens and the earth; formation of this world for man's abode; the creation of man, and his authority over all the works of God.

2. (Chaps, 3:-50:) Man's fall and separation from God, and the divine provisions of grace typically brought in.

The first division, though brief, as we have seen, is ' pregnant with meaning. As has been beautifully brought out, the seven days of creation are typical also of the stages of the new creation, both in the individual soul and dispensationally.

The first verse is usually, and probably correctly, explained as describing that original creation of all matter apart entirely from the seven days which were devoted to the preparation of the earth for the habitation of man. " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Between this verse and what follows is sufficient room for all the myriads of years claimed by geology for the successive periods recorded in the rocks. Typically, it is very suggestive that such a break should come between the first verses and the remainder. God originally created man upright, but ruin has come in; and just as the earth was without form, and void, ere God began to prepare it for man's abode, so too man was without life, and in utter darkness toward God, ere the work of new creation was introduced.

Very briefly, we will mention each day's work, with its personal and dispensational meaning :

FIRST DAY. The creation of light, answering to new birth in the individual and to the age before the Flood, when the light of God's promise of the woman's Seed, and blessing through Him, was all that man had.
SECOND DAY. The firmament, individually corresponding to the separation between the two natures – that which is born from above, and that which is beneath. The waters above are sweet and fertilizing. Those beneath are but the bitter waters of death. In every newborn soul these two natures exist-" that which is born of the flesh," and "that which is born of the Spirit."

Dispensationally, this answers to the period of government under Noah and his successors till the time of Abraham, when a power above man was recognized as that which distinguished between righteousness and unrighteousness, and which inflicted the penalty upon the rebellious.

THIRD DAY. The appearance of the dry land. This answers in the individual to the emergence of that stability of character connected with the new creation. His life is to become a scene for fruitfulness for God. Thus, on the same day the earth brings forth every form of plant life. Fruitfulness to God is the thought suggested. Dispensationally, it represents the Jewish age when the nation was called out of the surrounding Gentile impiety to be a witness for God and to bring forth fruit for Him upon the earth. Such a nation was Israel, the only earthly people God ever had, who should have brought forth plants of righteousness for His glory.

FOURTH DAY. The establishment of lights in the heavens. Light had existed from the first day. Its
source is now seen and fully manifested. So, the sources of the divine life are developed as being in the person of Christ risen and glorified, who becomes the light of His people, and their rule.

Dispensationally, this corresponds to the present period of grace, characterized by a glorified Christ who has taken His seat upon the throne of God to illumine His people's path, and who, in authority over all things, will one day manifest His power. The moon by its reflected light would suggest that luster which can only be reflected in the Church as it is occupied with a glorified Christ.

FIFTH DAY. The waters productive. This answers to the fruitfulness of all our experience in this life. The very exercises connected with learning the bitterness of the flesh, the trials through which we pass, all are used by the Spirit of God to produce in us that which shall be for Himself. We would be losers in eternity did we not have the experiences of this present time of tribulation.

Dispensationally, this answers to the period of distinctive tribulation in the world's history immediately after the removal of the Church to glory. This is called in the book of the Revelation "the great tribulation," and out of it will come peaceable fruits of righteousness for Israel and the nations upon the earth.

SIXTH DAY shows us the creation of man, with his wife, who are placed in headship over all the works of God's hands. Here the individual and the dispensational blend together. It is association with a glorified Christ as His companion throughout the Millennium and eternity, suggesting that twofold union of His Church with Himself in complete supremacy over all things ; and, in a secondary sense, Israel, the earthly bride, sharing in His dominion over this world.

THE SEVENTH DAY leaves nothing but the rest of God, in which God will be "all in all," and where in new creation He can rest eternally satisfied with that redemption work which will be perfectly exhibited "to the praise of the glory of His grace."
Chap. 2:is the history of Eden, in which thoughts of responsibility and divine care are prominent. Man is put into the garden to dress and keep it, is given authority over everything, and has associated with Him Eve, the wife. Here, too, we have a foreshadowing of what is ever in God's thoughts, the marriage of His beloved Son. Thus, at the very entrance into His revelation we are brought face to face with that which shall be fully consummated only in glory.

As has been already said, the second division of the book (chaps, 3:-50:) narrates the fall, and God's remedy, which is embodied in the sevenfold development of the life of God in the soul. Genesis is not the book of redemption, which is the theme of Exodus, but has to do with the origin and springs of life in the soul. In a very striking way, too, it will be found that the various stages in the divine life, as developed in the history of the patriarchs, correspond to the manifestation of life as we have seen it in the six days of creation.

Adam is here the first, as Scripture says, the "figure of Him who was to come," "the last Adam," our Lord Jesus. He is the head of the fallen race, and typically the head too of the redeemed family. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

In the second subdivision (chaps, 4:and 5:) we have the two classes of descendants from Adam-that which is according to the flesh, and that which is according to the Spirit.

The third subdivision (chaps, 6:-11:) shows the destruction of the Old World, God's judgment upon the flesh, and, typically, the new life in the power of resurrection after the Flood. Of course, we know that this was only in type, that the heart of man was unchanged; so we find the close of this period in the tower of Babel, with its pride and resulting confusion and separation.

The fourth subdivision (chaps, 12:-21:) is devoted to the history of Abraham, the calling out of one in separation from all that was about him. What is emphasized in his history is the life of faith and its resultant walk-Most helpful and profitable lessons are to be gathered here. What is emphasized is, that God is to be trusted in spite of whatever obstacle there may seem to be. Thus, Abraham receives the promises when all hope from nature had gone. A solemn contrast to the liberty and power and joy of this confidence in God is seen in Lot, who, though a child of God and a righteous man, was linked with evil because he had not energy of faith to rise above the sordid things of earth.

In the fifth subdivision (chaps, 22:-26:) Isaac is prominently before us. He is a well-known type of Christ Himself, God with man; and in his surrender to his father's will we have beautifully suggested that obedience unto death which marked our blessed Lord. Purposes also of God, concerning the glory of Christ, are suggested in the fact that Isaac is heir of all that Abraham possesses.

Chap. 24:is familiar as unfolding in type the seeking of a heavenly bride by the Spirit of God, who is beautifully typified in Abraham's servant.

The sixth subdivision (chaps, 26:-37:). The life of Jacob is gone into with great detail. Here we have, not so much a type of Christ as of Israel as a nation, and the old nature in the believer. Jacob is the object of God's sovereign grace, and has sufficient faith to prize the blessings which are despised by his carnally-minded brother Esau; but throughout we see the restlessness of natural energy, resorting to expedients and deceptions which bring with them needed chastening from God. His entire life is therefore a discipline, in which he learns the lesson, slowly and reluctantly, of "no confidence in the flesh." It is beautiful to see him at the close, leaning at last upon his staff, as he worships God. This is the true effect of all discipline-to bring us to a condition of absolute dependence upon Him, which makes worship possible.

In the last subdivision (chaps, 37:-50:) we have, in striking contrast to this, the life of Joseph, where he is so constantly a type that we lose sight almost of his personal character. In Jacob discipline is prominent. In Joseph the type is before us. Personally he seems to have been a man of genuine faith and true godliness of walk. He is a type as the object of his father's love and of his brethren's envy even as our blessed Lord was. Sent on an errand of love to them, he is disowned and sold into Egypt, as the Lord Jesus was rejected and delivered over to the Gentiles. He finds a prison there, as our blessed Lord found the cross and the grave. He is lifted up out of the prison and placed upon the throne, as Christ our Lord was raised up from the dead and exalted over all things. After his exaltation, during the stress of famine which comes upon the earth, answering to " the great tribulation " and straitened times of the last days, Joseph in his glory is made known to his brethren, even as Christ will be made known to Israel according to the flesh; and as his brethren were compelled to judge their sin and confess it,-very significantly, through Judah, who answers to the Jewish nation as contrasted with the whole twelve tribes,-so, in the latter days, the godly remnant of the Jews will give up everything for Christ, and at the very moment of greatest darkness and distress the Lord Himself will be made known to them. The Jesus whom they rejected will be seen to be the Ruler upon the throne of God, and all things in His power. Thus, restoration will be accomplished, and Israel will be brought into blessing.

This cursory glance will show us what fulness there is in this wondrous book. May its study at this time be productive of fresh instruction and blessing for our souls!

(Translated from the German.)

In the Christ of promise is presented to me the blessed purpose of God, to glorify Himself in the person of a man, apart from sin and the fall of Adam, the purpose of God to triumph over the ungodliness of man and to save him in spite of himself.

In the Christ becoming flesh I see for the first time a truly holy man upon earth, a man without sin, in whom God found full delight and satisfaction for His heart, and a man whose delight it was on His part to do the will of God, and that even unto death. "Truly this was the Son of God."

In the crucified Christ I see God glorified in a place where He had been dishonored, and I see the weakness of God triumph over the power of Satan as well as the full judgment of sin brought to an end once for all. The measure of man's iniquity is full, but the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

In the Christ laid in the grave I perceive the great accomplishment of the eternal counsels of God, in that Christ descended into the lower parts of the earth, to take the terror from the grave, and to conquer him who had the power of death, and to deliver us from all fear of death.

In the risen Christ I see the whole power of the enemy vanquished, and Satan's greatest victory turned into his greatest defeat. At the same time I am assured of the believer's justification, reconciliation, and eternal salvation.

In the glorified Christ I have God's answer to the sacrificial death of His Son, for the exaltation of the man Christ Jesus into heavenly glory declares to the whole universe, angels and men, what God thinks of the work of His beloved Son.

In the Christ crowned at the right hand of God I see the proof that the work, which He accomplished, is finished once for all, and that absolutely nothing can be added to it in the least, because it is a perfect work, that is eternally valid.

In the Christ, who shall soon come to take His own with Him, I have the realization of the blessed hope of the believer, the fulfilment of the counsels and purposes of God in Christ from all eternity and of His exceeding great and precious promises.

In the Christ, who shall be revealed in glory, as King of kings and Lord of lords, I see the fulfilment of His promises in relation to the Kingdom of God upon earth, and the blessing of the whole creation, of the responsible and irresponsible creatures both of angels and men, as well as of the whole creation, which shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, when He shall appear in glory. Then shall commence the morning without clouds.

In the Christ, who in the end delivers up everything to His God and Father, I see the glorious accomplishment of the unchangeable and unsearchable counsels of God, of His revealed and hidden plans and purposes, while righteousness and eternal bliss shall be found for man there where God has found His eternal rest.
Happy the man who is on the side of Christ.

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.

The book of Psalms is a storehouse of every kind of experience through which the child of God will likely pass. They are written in poetic form, which would suggest that our experiences, so far from being a hindrance to worship, form really the occasion, if not much of the material, for our worship. Very many read these Psalms unintelligently, from an Old Testament, rather than a New Testament point of view. While such persons have many genuine experiences answering to those recorded there, they lack in that intelligence which a full establishment in the grace of God, as revealed in the New Testament, would give. The remedy for this is, first of all to be clear in the gospel; and secondly, to have an intelligent apprehension of the mold in which these Psalms are cast. Both of these, thank God, are not only possible, but easy for every believer in the Lord Jesus.

We wish to give a little outline of the book of Psalms as a whole, which may serve to help in the detailed study of its various points. For it is a complete book. It is a great mistake to think of its being merely a collection of psalms, without a definite relation one to the other. They are divided, as is well known, into five books, which would suggest a resemblance to the five books of Moses, and these five books are themselves formed by groups of psalms closely associated together and developing distinct and progressive lines of truth.

BOOK I.(Psa. 1:-41:)

The theme here is Christ, as indeed it is throughout the entire book. But He is seen here according to the counsels and purposes of God as the Son through whom every blessing is secured for His people. Answering, as it does, to the book of Gen-sis, there is a wideness of reach in this book which is perhaps not found in any other division of the Psalms. It is divided into three main parts.

1. (Psa. 1:-8:) This is rather introductory, but in it there is a progress. We have Christ as the perfect Man in the first psalm; as God's appointed King over Zion in the second; and in the eighth He is seen as Son of Man with dominion over all creation, all things put beneath His feet. The intervening psalms are occupied with the varied experiences of His people, primarily, of course, Israel, who are in faith associated with the Lord.

2. (Psa. 9:-15:) The relation of the remnant to their oppressors, both in the nation and from the outside, is the theme of these psalms. Here the ninth and tenth are specially noteworthy as presenting the power of the enemy, really the Antichrist, and the oppressor associated with him.

3. (Psa. 16:-41:) This portion is particularly devoted to our blessed Lord Himself, very many of these psalms referring to Him exclusively, and others giving the experiences of His people in association with Himself. We can only select a few for special mention.

Psa. 16:is our Lord seen in His perfect life upon earth.

In Psa. 18:we have Him, the Victor, with dominion over all nations.

Psa. 22:presents Him as the Sin-offering, forsaken of God on the cross for sin, and in resurrection proclaiming His name to His brethren.
Psa. 23:is familiar to every Christian heart.

Psa. 24:shows us Christ's coming in glory, taking possession of that which is His own.

Psa. 27:is a beautiful experience of faith in Christ, while

Psa. 32:shows the way of forgiveness.

Psa. 37:it is well to read when tempted to envy those who are prosperous. Psa. Ixxiii.-figures just reversed-has a similar theme, though there the eye is not upon the wicked so much as upon the sanctuary, as is appropriate to its place in the third or sanctuary book of Psalms.

Psa. 40:presents our Lord as the Burnt-offering in His devotedness unto death.

BOOK II.(Psa. 42:-72:)

The helpless and hopeless condition of the people remedied by Christ alone.

The first two psalms give the theme, their helpless longing for God's deliverance.

Their persecution is seen in Psa. 44:, while

Psa. 45:presents in all His glory, the One through whom deliverance comes.

Psa. 46:is the blessed result, of peace and protection, while

Psa. 47:leads on to music and dancing.

Psa. 51:is the great penitential psalm, the confession of blood-guiltiness on the part of the people, really in their rejection of Christ.

Psa. 65:suggests Christ amongst His people, while

Psa. 68:brings in fullest blessing in connection with Him acknowledged in His true place.

Psa. 69:presents Him to us in His sufferings as the Trespass-offering, restoring that which He took not away, while

Psa. 72:closes the book with the full results of redemption for His earthly people restored to their land, blessing, peace, order and righteousness maintained to the ends of the earth.

BOOK III. (Psa. Ixxiii.-89:)

As we have already said, this is the third or Levitical book in which the sanctuary of God and His holiness, and the holiness of His ways are the prominent themes.
Psa. 73:and 74:would show this.

Psa. 78:is very interesting as showing God's ways of holiness in the history of Israel.

Psa. 84:is familiar and interesting as showing the way to God's house. It is very suggestive that a number of these psalms are for the sons of Korah, spared sons of the rebellious Levite who was judged in the wilderness.

BOOK IV. (Psa. 90:-106:)

Answering to its place as a wilderness book, the general theme of this portion is the trials of the way and God's sustaining mercy in them, and blessing in the land brought in through Christ.

Psa. 90:and 91:give the general theme. In 90:we have the first man and the vanity of his life; in 91:, the Second Man, and the blessedness of confidence in God.

From Psa. xciii-100:we have a beautiful group of psalms of praise connected with Jehovah's Kingdom and His coming in judgment. This worship extends to all creation.

Psa. 102:is noteworthy, linking together, as it does, Psa. 90:and 91:in the expression of our Lord's sufferings and God's response to Him. He is seen as "crucified through weakness," realizing that as Man He is cut off in the midst of His days, and yet Jehovah's response to Him is addressing Him as the eternal One whose days shall never fail.

Fittingly associated with this, is the 103rd psalm, full of blessing and worship, a worship which extends into the 104th, which is occupied with the recounting of God's goodness and mercy over all His works.

The two closing psalms of the book are again engaged with a recapitulation of Israel's history with this suggestive difference:

Psa. 105:is their history, with God's mercy as the prominent theme.

Psa. 106:is the same history with their own failures brought distinctly into view. Thus will it be with the history of our lives; mercy and goodness at the hand of the Lord, and so far as our actions are concerned, feebleness and failure, and yet He comes in to succor.

BOOK V.(Psa. 107:-150:)

The two previous psalms paved the way for the closing Deuteronomic book, which, answering to its position, is a recapitulation and application of divine principles which have been learned in the previous books.

Psa. 107:gives these.

Psa. 109:gives us a view of the Lord's suffering at the hand of man rather than at the hand of God. The result, therefore, is seen in judgment upon His enemies.

In Psa. ex. we have the exact opposite of this, God's response to the humiliation of His Son. He sets Him at His own right hand in glory, giving Him an eternal Priesthood.

Psa. 118:is another Messianic one, in which we see Christ as the Stone rejected by the builders, now become the Head-stone of the corner.

Psalm 119:is a beautiful illustration of the absolute perfection of the inspired word of God. It is entirely devoted to extolling the preciousness of that Word. Every verse, practically, mentions the Scriptures in some form,-the law, the testimonies, the ways, the precepts, the statutes and judgments of God. The whole alphabet, as we might say, is exhausted in telling out the wonders /of God's holy Word. The fact that eight verses are given to each letter would suggest that it is in new creation alone that the beauties of the word of God can be fully entered into.

Immediately following, Psa. 120:-134:,we have the songs of degrees which include, in progressive order, steps of progress in the knowledge of God's ways and of access to Himself. .

As we draw near the close of the book, praise is still further quickened, until from Psa. 146:to the end, "halleluiah" begins and closes each psalm, the last; one calling upon all creation and every power and activity of man to unite in His praises:

'' Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord."

" We preach Christ crucified . . . the power of God, and the wisdom of God."-1 Cor. 1:23, 24.

Swing shut the city gates; run and tell the sentinels to stand guard and let no one pass in or out till we have made away 'with these preachers of other gods."

It was in the walled city of some twenty thousand inhabitants in the kingdom of Hyderabad, within twenty miles of its capital, as we were on a gospel preaching tour, the first ever made through the kingdom of the Nizam, years ago.

We had been traveling since early morning preaching in all the towns and villages on our way, and arrived before the gates of the city during the heat of the day, and camped outside of its walls.

About 3 p. m. my four native assistants went into the city to offer Scriptures and tracts for sale, I promising to join them when the heat should be a little less.

Just after entering the gate, I met my native assistants returning, with a hooting rabble following them. Speaking to them in the Tamil language not understood by those people, they told me that it was not safe to attempt to do any work within the city. They had sold a few Gospels and tracts to both Mohammedans and Hindus.

Some of the Gospels were bound in yellowish buff bookbinder's muslin. The Mohammedans sent messengers running through the streets saying that they were bound in hog skin, and warning the faithful not to touch them. The Brahmans sent messengers to tell the Hindus that they were bound in calf skin, and skin of the sacred cow, and. telling them not to be polluted by them. They had not only prevented the people from buying, but had incited the rabble to drive the preachers out of the city.

"Have you preached to the people?" said I, " Have you proclaimed the gospel message?"

" No; we have only sold a few books and tracts."

"Then we must do so now. I, at least, must go to the market-place and preach. You need not accompany me unless you think it best."

"We will go with you," said they.

The rabble had halted and quieted as they heard the foreigner talking in a strange tongue, waiting to see what would come of it. We walked with slow and firm step up the street to the market. The crowd followed, increasing by the way. Seeing a foreigner boldly walking up the street, the Brahman and Mohammedan zealots joined the throng.

We reached the center of the town where the main streets crossed, and where was the market-place, with a roof supported upon large masonry pillars. Stepping up the steps, I said in Tamil to my assistants, "Place your backs against these pillars, so that no one can attack you from behind, and keep a sharp watch on all, but show no signs of fear. The Master is with us; His promise is good."

As we stood there we could see three of the four city gates open, with the armed gate keepers sitting under the arch of the gateway. Turning, I spoke politely to the people in Telegu, which was understood by all.

'' Leave this place at once," was the angry response.

"Friends," said I, "I have come from far to tell you some good news. I will tell that to you, and then will immediately go."

"No," said some, who were evidently leaders, '' we will not hear you." .

We had seen the angry mob tearing up the cobble paving-stones and gathering them in the skirts of their garments to stone us with.

"We have no desire to abuse your gods," said I, " but have come to deliver a message."

Then came the order, "Swing shut the gates; make away with these preachers of other gods."

I saw one nudge another, saying, '' You throw the first stone and I will throw the second." But all who had stones to throw were in my vision, and they quailed a little under my keen glance, and hesitated. I seemed to feel the presence of the Lord as though He were standing by my side with His hand on my shoulder, saying, " I am with you. I will tell you what to say." I was not conscious of any anxiety about my personal safety. My whole soul was wrapped in the thought, "How shall I get God's offer of salvation before these people?"

"Brothers," said I, "it is not to revile your gods that I have come this long way; far from it. I have come to you with a royal message from a King far higher than your Nizam; I have come to tell a story sweeter than mortal ear has ever heard. But it is evident that this multitude does not wish to hear it." They thought that I was weakening, and quieted down to see what was going to happen.

"But," said I, "I see five men before me who do wish to hear my story. Will you all please step back a little? I will tell these five who want to know why I have come here and what is my message, and then you may stone me. I will make no resistance then." I had been carefully scanning the crowd and had selected my men, for I had seen five honest countenances who had shown no sympathy with the abuse that had been heaped upon us.

"Brother with the red-bordered turban," said I, addressing a venerable Brahman who stood among the people at the right, "You would like to hear what my wonderful story is before they stone me, would you not? Be frank and say so, for there are four others like you who wish to hear."

"I would like to hear what your story is," said he, speaking up courageously and kindly.

"Brother with the gold-bordered turban at my left, you, too, would like to hear,-and you with the yellow turban,-and you with the brown-bordered, -and you with the pink."
I had rightly judged those men, for each assented. They were curious to know what I had to say.

'' Now will you five men please come forward, and I will tell you alone. All you others step back; step back; as soon as I have told these five the story, you may come forward and throw your stones."

The five came forward; the rest reluctantly stepped back a little. I had purposely chosen Brahmans, as I thought I could win them the better.

" Brothers," said I, in a subdued tone, "what is it you chant as you go to the river for your daily ablutions? Is it not this?

' Papoham, papakarmahan, papatma, papa sambhavaha, Trahi mam, Krupaya Deva, Sharana gata vateala,' "

said I, chanting it in Sanskrit; "and is not this its meaning? " said I in Telegu:

"I am a sinner, my actions are sinful. My soul is sinful. All that pertains to me is polluted with sin. Do Thou, O God, that hast mercy on those who seek Thy refuge, do Thou take away my sin."

These five Brahmans at once became my friends. One who correctly chants their Vedas and their mantras they always look up to with respect.

"Now, do you know how God can do what you ask? How He can take away the burden of our sin, and give us relief ? "

"We do not know. Would that we knew."

"I know; I have learned the secret. Shall I tell you?"

"Yes, tell us."

The multitude seeing the Brahmans conversing with the foreigner with evident respect, quieted still more and pressed forward to listen.

"Step back! step back!" said I, "it is only these five to whom I am to tell my story. If the rest of you listen it is on your own responsibility. Step back! and let me tell these five alone." This only increased their desire to hear, as I went on:

" Brothers, is it possible for us by our own acts to expiate our sins? Can we, by painful journeys to the holiest of all your holy places, change those sinful natures that you bemoan? Does not your own Telegu poet, Vemana, say:

‘ The Muslim who to Tirupati goes on pilgrimage,
Does not thereby become a saint of Sivia's house.
Becomes a dog a lion when he bathes in Ganges' stream?
Benares turns not harlot into pure and trusted wife.' "
Hearing their own language chanted, the people pressed forward still more intently.

"Nay, brothers, it is not by these outward acts, even to the utmost austerity, that we can attain to harmony with God. Does not your beloved Vemana again say:

' 'Tis not by roaming deserts wild, nor gazing at the sky;
'Tis not by bathing in the stream, nor pilgrimage to shrine;
But thine own heart must thou make pure, and then, and then alone,
Shalt thou see Him no eye hath kenned, that thou behold thy King.'

"Now, how can your hearts be made pure so that we may see God? I have learned the secret; I will tell it you."

Then I told the Story of stories; the story of redeeming love. Gradually and imperceptibly I had raised my voice until, as I spoke in the clear resonant Telegu, all down those three streets the multitudes could hear, and as I told them of His rejection by those He had come to save, and told them that it was for them, too, far away here in India, that He had suffered this agony on the cross, down many a cheek of those who had been clamoring for my life I saw tears coursing and dropping upon the pavements that they had torn up to stone us with. Far earlier in the story I had seen them stealthily dropping their armful of stones into the gutter, and press back to listen.

How they listened as I went on to tell them further of the love of God in Christ !

"Now," said I, folding my arms and standing before them, "I have finished my story. You may stone me now. I will make no resistance."

"No, no," said they, "We don't want to stone you now. We did not know whose messenger you were, nor what you had come to tell us. Do those books tell more about this wonderful Redeemer? "

"Yes," said I, "this is the history of His life on earth-His death, His resurrection and glory."

With this their wallets were produced, and they purchased all we had of the Gospel of Luke. They purchased all the Gospels and tracts we had with us,( and appointed a deputation of their best men to escort us to our camp.

Verily, the story of the Cross has not lost its power. Preach it, brother, anywhere, everywhere. -Preach it in the regions beyond and in your own homes, with a tongue of fire and a heart burning with the mighty, melting love of God.

(From a Missionary’s Diary.)

THE MAN AFTER THE FLESH. PART II. THE KING OF MAN'S CHOICE.

Chapter 6:" THE CALL OF THE KING. (1 Sam. 9:-10:16.)

(Continued from Vol. XX., page 177.)

Saul has given up the vain search for the asses of his father, and now proposes to his servant to return home. But this one, like a true servant, seems to have a knowledge far beyond that of the favored son of Kish. He informs Saul that the prophet Samuel is in that place, and advises that, instead of human energy or hopelessness, they should go and inquire of him. Saul evidently has had no thoughts of turning to God in this matter, and apparently no knowledge of His prophet, and now can only suggest, as human righteousness is ever prone to suggest, that some price is needed if they are to get aught from God's hand. How like the natural man this is! He must bring his present to God if he is to receive anything from Him, and He knows nothing of that liberal Giver whose delight it is to give freely to those who have nothing with which to buy.

The confession of poverty on the part of Saul makes possible the servant's offer of the fourth part of a shekel of silver, which reminds us of that half-shekel of the atonement money which every child of Israel had to pay. Thus, whatever may have been the thought in the mind of the servant, or whether the price was ever actually handed to the prophet, there is a partial suggestion here, at least, that all approach to God, all learning of His mind, must be on the basis of atonement.

An explanation is next introduced showing the use of the terms '' seer " and '' prophet." In former times it was the custom to speak of the man of God as a "seer,"-one who sees the future, or that which is not visible to the eyes of sense. In other words, the people were more occupied with the result of the prophet's ministry than with its Source. The later word "prophet" suggests the Source from which he received all his inspiration, which then flowed forth from him. This explanation in itself is in keeping with all the circumstances at which we have arrived, both in Saul himself (who surely was not troubled about his relation with God, or how the man of God would gain his information, but rather with the benefit which he might receive from this divine insight) and in the nation at large, of which he was the fitting representative.

So Saul and his servant approach the city where the man of God was. What momentous changes are to occur within those walls ! Inquiring their way, they find the object of their search. Everything here, no doubt, is suggestive. They are obliged to ascend to the city. A moral elevation must be reached if they are to enter in any measure into the revelations that are about to be given. Everything of God is on a plane far above the thoughts of the natural man. They are guided by the young maidens who were coming forth to draw water from the well.

This is a familiar scene in every oriental city, and frequently referred to in Scripture. The well with its water is a figure of that Word, which is drawn out of the wells of salvation. The maidens would remind us of that weakness, lowliness and dependence which alone can draw from these wells of salvation. The future king is directed to the man of God by these feeble instruments, which reminds us that God delights to use the weak things. It was a little captive Hebrew maid who told her mistress of the prophet in Israel, by whom Naaman, the great Syrian general, could be cleansed of his leprosy. Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, sends forth her maidens with the message of invitation to the feast which she has spread. Feebleness which is getting its refreshment and strength from the word of God can point the mightiest to that which alone can give guidance or peace.

It is very suggestive, too, that it is upon the occasion of a public feast and sacrifice that Israel's future king meets the prophet. This falls in with what we have already said as to the atonement money. The basis upon which God's mind can be known, and in connection with which the anointing oil is to be poured upon the king, must be that of sacrifice.

In passing, it is well to notice that the disordered state of the nation is manifest here. There is a "high place" where the sacrificial feast is spread. This was in direct contradiction to the will of God as expressed in the book of Deuteronomy, which provides that it was to be only in the place where Jehovah put His name that sacrifices were to be offered and feasts celebrated. But the glory of the God of Israel had departed from Shiloh, where He had placed His name at the beginning, and the ark was abiding in "the field of the woods." There was no recognized center. Israel might be mourning after the Lord, but the time was not yet ripe for the pointing out of the true center of gathering for His people ; nor was Shiloh to be thought of, because that, once forsaken, was never again to be recognized as the central abode of the glory of Jehovah.

Thus the high place was, we might say, a sort of necessity brought in by the failure and disordered condition of the people at large. We will find, also, that it was frequently used in this way. There was one at Gibeon, where King Solomon, later on, had a revelation from God. Thus they were not necessarily connected with idolatry. As a matter of fact, they were at the beginning devoted to the true worship of God, and to a certain extent were places where He Himself in grace recognized the need and met with His people, though not according to the due order which He Himself had provided:Later on, however, when He had established His center, placed His name at Jerusalem, and the temple of His glory was there, the worship of the high places was in direct disobedience of His will, and necessarily, therefore, became more and more connected with the idolatry to which the people were ever prone.

Thus, in the history of the faithful kings, we find that these high places were destroyed and their idolatrous worship abolished in some cases; in others, that in spite of all the manifold efforts to do away with them, they still remained, apparently not for idolatry, but for independent worship of God.

There is food for suggestive thought here. There can be no question that God meets individual faith wherever it truly turns to Him; but He has provided in His Word and by His Spirit for a true Center of gathering for His people, a corporate recognition of Christ Himself and His name as all-sufficient, of the word of God as the absolute guide, and the ever-present Spirit as the competent One to control, order and direct in worship, testimony,'ministry, discipline, and whatever other functions there may be, of His people. To ignore this divinely provided Center, and to turn to human thoughts, to select places and modes of worship which are not provided for in the word of God, is really to worship in the high places. There is no question that very much of this is done in all sincerity, and God, as we were saying, meets His people in grace according to the measure of their faith. But can we wonder that when the truth of the unity of the Church of Christ, the sufficiency of His name and Word, are known, to go on in independency and self-will is but to prepare the way for wide declension from God and eventually to lead to that dishonor to God which in Christianity corresponds with the material idolatry of which we have been speaking in the history of Israel ?

Returning to the feast and sacrifice of which we were speaking, everything has almost a patriarchal simplicity about it. The prophet is, as we might say, another Abraham, living in a later age. The people will not eat of their feast until he comes and bestows his blessing, which at least would indicate their sense of dependence upon God and their desire to receive the blessing which His servant would bestow. The incited guests who share with the prophet in his feast were those, evidently, whose position in the city qualified them for the enjoyment of this honor. Having received the directions, then, as to meeting the prophet, Saul and his servant go on and find Samuel just going up to the high place. Everything has evidently been ordered of God, even to the appointed moment at which the meeting should take place. There is no waiting on the part either of the prophet or of him who was seeking him.

Moreover, Samuel is not surprised at this meeting, for the day before, the Lord had forewarned him as to all that is to take place-the visit of the man of the tribe of Benjamin, whom it was His will to anoint over His people Israel, and who should be the one to lead them in victory against their oppressors, the Philistines. At this first mention of the object for which the king was to be anointed it is very suggestive and pathetic to remember that Saul never really won great victories over these very enemies against whom he was appointed to lead the people. The nation was more or less in bondage to the Philistines during his entire reign, and he met his end in the final battle at Mount Gilboa with these very people. Into this we shall look further as we go on; but we can see thus at a glance how ineffectual is all human adaptation to the end designed by God. He had harkened to the cry of His people and looked upon them in their need, for which He provided according to their thoughts and desires, rather than according to His own knowledge of what would really deliver them.

Not only has the prophet thus been forewarned of the visit of Saul, but, as he now meets him, he is assured by the Lord that this is the man of whom He spoke. Thus there is no possibility of mistake, and unerringly is the prophet's hand guided to pour the oil upon the appointed head. We can well conceive the surprise of Saul, as he approaches the prophet with his question, to find that both he and his errand, and all else, are well known to the man of God. He is invited to join with Samuel in the feast, and promised on the morrow that he shall be sent on home after all that is in his heart has been made known to him. His mind is set at rest as to the asses for which he had vainly searched, and he is furthermore told of his father's anxiety at his prolonged absence.

We can well understand how this evidence of divine knowledge on the part of the prophet would solemnize the heart of Saul, and make him realize that he was having to do, not with man, but with the living God. This would prepare the way for the next word that Samuel has to say-the desire of Israel is toward him and his father's house; that is, as Saul well understood it, the people wished just such a man as himself for king. This does not necessarily mean that they had their eye upon him individually, but that he was the kind of man who would answer to the desire which they had already expressed.
We have in what is next, an apparent humility oil the part of Saul, which if it had gone more deeply would doubtless have been more permanent. He declares that he is a Benjamite, belonging to the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and his family one of the least in that small tribe. He was doubtless familiar with the history of the tribe, and how it came to be reduced to such small proportions, because of the judgment inflicted upon it for the awful sin of Gibeah, and the shielding of those evil-doers. Had the tribe been properly exercised by this fearful chastisement, it would, as a whole, have been brought into a place of true humility before God, and have been prepared for exaltation. There is no indication, however, that there was any genuine self-judgment on the part of the tribe as a whole or any individuals in it, and their humility was rather compulsory than spontaneous.

This, it is evident, was also the case with Saul, from his subsequent history. He might speak in depreciation of his family and of his tribe, but as a matter of fact there is no evidence that there was the genuine judgment of self in the presence of God. It is one thing to have low thoughts of one's self as compared with one's fellows, but quite a different thing to take one's true place in the presence of divine holiness. The flesh knows how to be humble under stress of circumstances, but it knows nothing of that which judges its very existence, and compels it to be absolutely prostrate before God.

(To be continued.)

Ques. 28.-Does Scripture intimate that there will cease to be a corporate testimony to the truth of Christ and His Church before the Lord comes ?

Ans.-We know of no scripture that does, nor does it seem like our gracious God to provide for the utter failure of His people. On the other hand, there is much in Scripture to warn, and to keep us from a spirit of self-complacency. The manifest tendency of everything is away from the first love. The professing Church is drifting toward open apostasy, and the world is ripening fast for judgment. It is surely significant that Laodicea follows Philadelphia. This does not mean that Philadelphia is absolutely succeeded by Laodicea, but it does show the moral condition of things at the last, and the special need for lowliness, self-distrust, and faith. It is only the power of God that keeps us, but that, blessed be His name, is for us. It is as true now as ever that Christ is sufficient for His people. God is unchanged, His Word abides. What need then is there for further failure? Surely we are not straitened in Him, but in ourselves.

Let us then not be downcast, nor elated, but in all lowliness count upon the unfailing One. We do not believe it to be a healthy spiritual condition to expect failure, as surely it is not to be puffed up.

We conclude our readings for this year with the writings of the beloved apostle John-his Gospel and the book of Revelation. While so different in their contents, there is a beautiful harmony, we need not say, which makes them fitting companion pieces.

In the Gospel we see our blessed Lord, the Son of God, made manifest in flesh, who reveals the Father's love in the face of all opposition, and ministers to the feeblest faith of the unworthy that lay hold upon it.

Revelation is the book of judgment, where this same Son of God is seen with eyes as a flame of fire, whose sword must smite those who refuse His grace. Thus mercy and judgment, as we have been so constantly seeing throughout the Psalms, the Prophets, and Epistles, are blended together. Thank God, for the believer, the judgment has been borne by Another, and the mercy flows forth unhindered, though judgment of our ways continues, lest we should exalt ourselves and forget that we are debtors to mercy alone.

The divisions and contents of John's Gospel have been so recently gone into at some length, that it will scarcely be needed to go over them again. Briefly, they are three:

1. (Chaps. 1:-2:22.) The eternal life seen in the person of Christ Himself.

2. (Chaps. 2:23-17:) Eternal life communicated from Christ to His people, who believe in Him.

3. (Chaps. 18:-21:) Eternal life secured through the death and resurrection of our blessed Lord.

Revelation has two main divisions:

1:The judgment of the Son of God upon His Church, the vessel of testimony left upon this earth (Chaps. 1:-3:).

Div. 2. (Chaps. 4:-22:) The judgments of the Son of God poured out upon a guilty world which has refused His grace, either in open opposition or empty profession.

After the judgments come the blessings, of the earth during the Millennium, and of that eternal state where sin will not only be repressed but eternally banished from God's fair creation to its prison, and where the new heavens and new earth will be the abode of a holy as well as a redeemed people.

To arrive at the absolute involves abstractions beyond the finite mind of man. However, effort of this kind amply repays the searcher after truth if he will only delve in the mountain of truth with the pick and shovel of Scripture, actuated by a spirit of love and reverence for Him who is the Truth. These are prerequisites, and without them the fields of divine truth will be barren indeed.

There is a remarkable passage (i Tim. 2:4) where God, having become the Saviour of men, the Saviour-God, "desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth."

If we could be in the presence of God apart from any connection with the universe, we would be conscious of truth only. Error cannot possibly exist in His presence. It does not exist there because it has been discovered and eliminated, or, being there was purged out, but because it never could exist there.

If now we could bring in the universe as it was at the time of Adam's innocency, we would still be conscious of nothing but truth. This must be so because God pronounced everything "very good," and therefore without error. This is the very nature of truth, it is always consistent with itself, which is the nature of Him who is the Truth. There cannot be any truth at all apart from God. If He were to cease to exist would truth remain? Certainly not. But allow His existence and the thought of His character immediately follows, which is, He is Truth. Do you want the truth as to love? God is love. Do you want the truth as to light? God is light. And so on.

Now no doubt Adam in his unfallen estate apprehended God in this way and rejoiced in His presence. But something has occurred that prevents man from knowing God direct. More than that, something has occurred that makes man by nature an enemy of God. He has lost all possession* of truth, and must therefore approach God through Another. * έπγvωσις, "full knowledge," which acknowledges the truth of a thing; but I have said "knowledge," not "full" or " certain knowledge," as more just in English . ' If I said, in English, "acquainted with the truth," it would! imply not possessed; but knowledge is έπγvωσις If we say " full," it is contrasted with "partial;" "certain" with "doubtful" To know the truth suggests possession of it." (J. N. D.)* We have, then, the unspeakably precious truth that God may be perfectly seen through the Lord Jesus Christ, we see God in Christ.

However, as the passage quoted indicates, men 'must be saved. God's righteousness demands that the matter of sin must be settled to His glory, then it is the untold privilege to again know God, and that in Jesus Christ who is the 'Truth. Therefore if we desire to know God as to righteousness, it is to behold Jesus; as to holiness it is to behold Jesus; as to light it is to behold Jesus; as to love it is to behold Jesus-and so on. Surely we can now say "in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

I do not think the passage quoted from first Timothy looks at man with reference to this terrible moral condition, but rather at the fact that he has lost completely all possession of the truth, which of course is the direct result of sin. What an unspeakable privilege to know God, and that too in Christ the Truth. F. H. J.

NOTES OF AN ADDRESS BY S. R. ,NEW YORK, NOV. 26,1903.

(Col. 3:, first verses.)

What a blessed privilege and dignity it is to be incense-bearers, as we have been hearing-to make manifest the savor of Christ's name! This is surely priestly work, as in Peter a holy priesthood, etc. The material of our sweet incense is to be the savor of Christ, who is ever fragrant to God; we offer the sacrifice of praise, confessing His name. It is not to be counting over our mercies merely, but the primary thought is that we are to be offering the praise of Christ to God.

Paul does not ever lose the sense of priesthood and nearness to God; he is a worshiper when led about or in prison, his feet in the stocks, or when cast out and in bitter trial. We all alike are privileged to have in our censers the same blessed perfume that the apostle had.

He realized also how to be a royal priest, to show forth the praises of Him that hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, in kingly dignity. In the presence of God we are a holy priesthood, and in the presence of the world a royal priesthood to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us.

In Colossians it is not primarily priesthood, but in a sense a deeper truth. They have been taught to look on their own position according to Christ's position ; and He has measured it for us by His cross, His death and resurrection. We are "dead with Christ," God having set the seal of His condemnation on what sinful man is; man, as such, having no standing before God. The Christian has learned that God looks for nothing in him as a child of Adam. Oh what blessedness when souls see how God set us aside and condemned us in the person of His blessed Son on the cross, showing us the blessed relief of being done with self entirely, crucified and dead with Christ! This must be in connection with seeing that in the death of Christ God has set us aside. If we would know the sweetness of the things of God, it must be in connection with the cross of Christ. " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." We are not to be occupied with a dead self any more than with a sinful self, or with a good self. It is not self at all that we are to be occupied with, but Christ risen and glorified, with Christ where He is; and he shows us that we are in the same atmosphere with our Lord though our feet are still in the sands of the wilderness. It is occupation with that blessed One, His person, His love, His sympathy, His riches :these are now to occupy us in connection with a glorified Christ, for all these things are above. They do not accord with the things that are about us here.

The savor of Christ is not earthly, but heavenly- a savor of that which is above; and we are pilgrims here. So far as occupation of mind and real life are concerned, it is hid, not merely from the gaze of the world, but with Christ in God. The world looks on us with pity, scorn, or indifference, and may say, " How is it that a man of such abilities is content to go on with religious things and humble people! " and if the world does understand our life, it's the saddest reproach to us.

I would not take out of this text the safety of being hidden-blessedly so. But below the other thought is the principal one, that all our springs are in Him. Does that describe our life practically? It is what God sees. We live in an age of superficiality even in divine things-such a public kind of life; the necessities of toil and business make it difficult to live much in private. The enemy would constantly use the necessary duties of life to shut out from the communion with God. Many do seek it morning and evening. We miss the thought of it if we think God wants a half hour of time; He wants us to lead the hidden life when our hands are in toil. Declension-how often has it been just this lack of constant abiding in the hidden life, thus bringing the soul into the presence of God in the sanctuary! What more beautiful than to see the child of God growing in spiritual intelligence! The root of all is to be leading practically the hidden life that has Christ in glory so before the heart that the soul feeds on Him. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom "-not of God now, nor Scripture, but in such a way that it presents Christ to us ; so that, though not speaking explicitly of Christ, it presents Christ to us. '' Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God shall man live." Is that our bread ? Then we are living on the bread Christ fed on, entering into the place into which He has introduced us by death and resurrection. The Lord give us in this, not to have service before us, but fellowship with Him!

THE RULE OF LIFE AND DAILY WALK FOR THE CHRISTIAN.

Christ's death upon the cross is the dividing I. line, the complete separation, between Judaism and Christianity, between the old and the new, between law and grace-the handwriting of ordinances (the obligations) blotted out, taken out of the way, nailed to His cross (Col. ii- 14).

John 1:17-"The law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Rom. 10:4-Christ is the end of the law for the believer.

Rom. 8:2-4-What the law could not do, Christ has done by His cross.

2 Cor. 5:17-New creatures (creation).

Rom. 6:1-14-Not under law, but under grace.

Rom. 7:1-6-Dead to the law, married to Christ.

Gal. 2:16-21-"I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God."

Gal. 3:10-13-"The just shall live by faith; and the law is not of faith."

The believer in Christ is born again, born of God (i Peter 1:23; John 1:13), is a new creature, old things are passed away, all things are new (a Cor. 5:I7)_justified by faith and at peace with God (Rom. 5:i). This is all of God-God's grace; as we read in Rom. 4:16, it is of faith, that it might be by grace. Again, in Eph. 2:8-10, " For by grace are ye saved through faith:… it is the gift of God:not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." Has the law any place in all this ?

As the believer is justified only by faith, and the law is not of faith,-"no man being justified by the law in the sight of God,"-how then can the law be either the rule of life or of daily walk for him who is dead to it, and who is united by faith to the risen, glorified Man at God's right hand ? Does not the word of God (which should be final and conclusive for the believer) forever settle the question of the law for him ? for it is written in Gal. 2:21 " for if righteousness come by (or is through) the law, then Christ is dead in vain " (has died for naught). Can the believer go back again to the law, asking God to incline his heart to keep the law-that which is not of faith-that which is the "ministration of death, written and engraven in stones" (2 Cor. 3:7) ?

DAILY WALK.

John 1:12, 13.
Colossians 2:6, 7, 8.
i John 2:6.
i Peter 2:21.
The book of Hebrews is the book of"better |things," Christ, our great High Priest, and not the law, being set before us. In chapter 7:12 we read, "For the priesthood being changed, there is made a change of the law;" and in verse 19, "The law made nothing perfect." In chapter 10:i it is written, '' The law was a shadow of good things to come; " and in verse 9, "He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second." Read prayerfully Hebrews, Chaps. 7:, 8:, 9:, 10:R. D.

(2 Tim. 1:)

It is beautiful to see how triumphant Paul was in every circumstance. The buffetings of life's tempests lift him higher up, into regions nearer to Christ and God than before. The darker the night, the brighter shines his lamp of faith:and "forlorn and shipwrecked brethren," seeing his unfaltering footsteps, may well " take heart again." The whole tone of this letter to Timothy is evidence of this.

He is about to suffer a violent death; but instead of being an apostle according to that death sentence, he is an apostle according to a promise of life. If these words mean anything, they mean that the promise of life characterized all that he did and said. Roman gladiators, when marching to mortal strife in the arena, greeted the emperor with the words "We who are about to die salute thee, Caesar." Their actions and their words were characterized by a. manliness or a callous indifference. They face death with a brute courage bred of fierce passion or cynic despair; and through the mist of centuries veiling the coarser aspects, we may gaze on them, with a certain admiration. But oh, how surpassing admirable are the apostle's words and ways ! The light of an eternity of life is shedding a calm and steady luster upon them, and we seem lifted into sublime regions where Christ dwells and death has been annulled. "He that believeth on Me shall never die."

It is very beautiful to see how constantly and unwaveringly the apostle makes use of the greeting " Grace, mercy, and peace." It is not a stereotyped phrase with him. He has given voice to the best wish that can be uttered for experience down here. Try and think of something better. You will be unable to do so. Oh that we all realized in our lives more the grace, mercy and peace which God is ever ready to bestow upon us! What transformed ones ours would be if we did!

" I am thankful to God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day." In this and the next verse we see the natural feelings and affections in the mention of Paul's and Timothy's ancestors. The expression is somewhat peculiar. It is not " I serve from my birth, or youngest days," but "from my ancestors." It is taken by some that this means that Paul's ancestors served God, and probably this is correct exegesis, and yet it is serve." It is a trite thing to say that "faith is not inherited," and yet what an inestimable jig for one to possess a pious ancestry! How quietly their piety waters, as the dew the grass, the tender faith of those who grow up around them! „- unconsciously ways of reverence and godly fear "learned! How imperceptibly there steals into ; young heart a germ of faith, which, under God's smiling grace, takes root and springs up a glorious growth to His praise! O parents, and ye who; for children, it is not alone your outward forms rules, your set Bible-readings and stated periods of prayer that sink into the young life, but rather your inward love for Christ and reverence of His lovely ways-the whole course and trend of your life!

"Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands."

Have you noticed that "wherefore " ? It refers to the fact that Timothy had unfeigned faith. Gift is like a machine without its motive power, if faith be absent. Faith and love are absolutely essential to its exercise. A man may be gifted with the tongue of a Cicero; but unless it is accompanied by faith, his words will fall still-born from his mouth. He may have the mind of an Aristotle; be able to weave a world-system of philosophy ; but without faith to put him in touch with the Master's heart and mind, his system will be ingenious but not truth, beautiful but lifeless. Oh what shall cause these dead bones to live ? The living link with the '' Resurrection and the Life " alone suffices.

Timothy had unfeigned faith. He could on that account be called on to "kindle again" his gift; for thus would it be at the Master's service. There are many imitations which look like the genuine until tried in the fiery furnace of affliction. There, and there alone, is the touchstone. Will it endure the fire of a furnace heated sevenfold ? Reader, you and I may have some little gift, for the Lord never leaves a child without one; but oh let us remember whence it derives its usefulness! If we would "kindle it again," let us warm it with genuine faith and love for our Lord, or it is of no use.

"Precious faith our God hath given-rich in faith is rich indeed; Fire-tried gold from His own treasury, fully meeting every need; Channel of His grace abounding, bringing peace and joy and
light; Purifying, overcoming; linking weakness with His might."

" For God hath not given unto us the spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of wise discretion. "

That is what the spirit of faith is-powerful, loving, and wise. The word rendered "fear" in the Authorized Version, and here translated "cowardice," is one which occurs only five times in the New Testament-once in its verb form, once in its noun, and three times in its adjective form; and everywhere it is connected with the thought of absent faith. Twice we have it in the scene on stormy Galilee. '' Why are ye so fearful ? O ye of little faith!" Once more, in that solemn verse, "But the fearful and unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which burneth." Who are the fearful there but just the unbelieving ? Then the Lord says in the fourteenth of John, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be cowardly." Thus we have exhortation, rebuke and warning as to it. So solemnly emphasized we should indeed ponder it.

Consider for a moment the triple characteristic which faith opposes to it. First, there is the spirit of power. Who so powerful as those linked livingly with the everlasting God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ? A son of God Almighty, and a coward ? How utterly incongruous are the thoughts ! Faith cries in tones of thunder, " If God be for us, who can be against us?" and, spreading its pinions of victory, carries us aloft into regions where there is no defeat, no loss, no despair. Greater is He that is for us than all else. Oh what a foe to cowardice is this living link with God!

Secondly, there is the spirit of love, manifested by God the Saviour, and returned by us. Love as well as power is an inveterate foe of cowardice. Think of the love of Jesus, and tremble no longer, ye downhearted, for love will summon power whenever needed, to your assistance. Infinite power in the service of infinite love! This dual alliance can never be overcome. That is the Godward side of it; but it has its counterpart in us. The spirit of love for Jesus, begotten by His own for us, overwhelms all coward fears. We see a mother, animated by love for her offspring, rush into the most fearful danger without a tremor. Love renders her oblivious to the peril. Will not love do the same for us in the service of Christ ? It is thus that the poet can truthfully say of the Cross,

"It makes the coward spirit brave ;"
for it begets deep love in our hearts for the dying Saviour; and love, as we have said, is the foe of cowardice. '' Who would not fight for such a city ?" exclaimed a Roman citizen, in enthusiasm. Can we not more truly say, "Who would not endure all peril for such a Saviour ?"

Thirdly, we have the spirit of wise discretion, flowing from the Holy Spirit, tempering and guiding the power and love. Though apparently akin to cowardice, it is at infinite variance with it. It is so far from it, it dares resemble it. It is wise discretion for the cause of Christ. It is not a selfish estimating of what it will cost us, but of what it will cost Him. Where the first two spirits are, there is no doubt as to that. May the Lord make it true of us in all our ways ! F. C. G.

THREE INSCRUTABLE THINGS.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:who can know it? (Jer. 17. 9.)

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counselor? or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things:to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36.)

The love of Christ which passeth knowledge. (Eph. 3. 19.)

There is a constant tendency in earthly things to press down the affections. Duties are more apt to lead the soul away from God than open sin. Many a Christian has been ensnared by duties, whose heart would have shrunk from open sin. But we have only one duty in all the varying circumstances of life-to serve Christ. J. N. D.

If our affections and desires are lingering on earth, or stopping short of a glorified Christ in heaven, as the One in whom our life is hid, and to whom we are presently to be conformed in glory, and that in the glory where He is, we shall find soon that earthly things are something more than dross.
J. N. D.

RITUALISM

In whatever form it may exist, is a distinct denial of the finished work of Christ, the priesthood of all believers, and the presence of the Holy Ghost dwelling in the Church. Whoever substitutes a carnal ritual for a living faith in the Son of God, has left the foundation of the Church. It is pleasing to the -natural man to be religious if it does not cost him too much ; and ritualism, with all its show, its appeal to man's self-righteousness, has allured, it is to be feared, many souls into perdition. Let our readers beware of any thing which would turn them from the simplicity of Christ.

Our concluding portion for the present year is the reading of the latter part of the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament, and the Gospel of Luke and the second Epistle to the Corinthians in the New.

This second portion of the great prophet gives us the last of the three divisions of that wonderful book.

In Chaps. 40:-48:, the main theme is God's controversy with His people foreseen as captive in Babylon, regarding the idolatry which had really been the cause of that captivity. But while He brings to mind in absolute faithfulness their sin, there is mingled with it, throughout the entire portion, a lovely unfolding of the eternal purpose of God which will not be thwarted; for He will yet restore, according to that changeless purpose, those upon whom He has set His heart.

Thus, in the fortieth chapter we have God's comfort for His afflicted people, their restoration, and His all-sufficiency as contrasted with the worthlessness of idols and every human work.

In Chap. xli, Israel is declared to be God's servant, the seed of Abraham, His friend whom He has chosen. Therefore, in spite of every form of opposition, He shall restore them.

In Chap. xlii, we have not Israel, the failing servant, but that blessed One who humbled Himself and took the form of a servant, the only One who ever truly could or did serve without failing. He shall never be discouraged until He shall have fully accomplished God's will.

In Chap. 43:, the restoration of Israel, on the basis of the service of this blessed One, is predicted.

Chap. 44:enlarges upon this comforting theme. Most beautifully through these chapters we find again and again that word of divine comfort, " Fear not."

Chap. 45:definitely gives the promise of their restoration through Cyrus, which, partial as it was, was doubtless a type of that more abiding recovery which yet awaits a Greater than Cyrus.

In Chaps. 46:and 47:, we have the destruction of Babylon and her false gods, while the closing part of this division, Chap. 48:, reiterates the promise of God's deliverance out of Babylon.

The next or sixth division, Chaps. 49:-59:, is occupied pre-eminently with Christ in His sufferings and rejection and the blessed results flowing from it.

We see Him in chap. 49:as the perfect Servant who is not discouraged in face of apparently fruitless ministry, and who waits until God shall manifest all the blessed results, not merely in the redemption of Israel, but blessing to the world at large.

In chap. 1., we see Him humbling Himself under the hands of His persecutors, giving His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair,-God raising Him up and justifying Him ; a passage, which according to the beautiful manner of God's grace, is applied to the believer in Rom. 8:
Chap. 51:is God's call to His people to harken, to remember they are His chosen ones, to realize that He is bringing near His righteousness, to encourage them not to fear in face of those who reproach them. There is also a responsive call by the people to the Arm of the Lord to awake to deliver them, even as He did Israel out of Egypt, with God's response, calling upon the beloved city Jerusalem to awake, and taking out of her hand that cup of trembling which she rightly has deserved to drink.

Chap. 52:continues this call to awake, and Zion is seen shaking herself from the dust and arising from all that degraded her, while the close of the chapter is an outburst of melody resulting from all this blessing. But before it can be fully entered into, the sorrows and rejections of Messiah have to be described, and this we have in the close of the fifty-second and the entire fifty-third chapters. It is needless to touch upon this most familiar, most precious portion.

Chap. 54:gives the joy of her espousals anew for Israel who has now seen Him whom she pierced, while chap. Iv. holds out the invitation to every one that thirsts, so that the nations themselves come under the blessing of the Lord.

Chap. 56:dwells upon this return of the strangers, of Gentiles, to Him.

Chaps. 57:-59:seem to be a dealing with the moral state of the people, seeking to work in them that repentance which must ever precede a genuine turning to God.

The last division of the book, chaps. 60:-66:, gives the culmination of all. Jerusalem is seen a light for the whole earth in chap. 60:

Chap. 61:, quoted in the Gospel of Luke, shows us the blessed Lord through whom it is to be accomplished.

Chap. 62:gives the exercise of faith until these promises are fulfilled.

Chap. 63:shows us Christ trampling the nations under His feet, a Conqueror over His enemies, yet mighty to save all who will bow to Him.

In chap. 64:we have the longing of the remnant, still pleading that God would come down, yea, rend the heavens and manifest Himself for His people.

Chap. 65:, as the apostle in Romans quotes, foretells the turning of the Gentiles to Christ, that which is being in good measure fulfilled during the period of Israel's unbelief, while in the latter part of the chapter we see Jerusalem established a joy through the millennial earth, with strong intimation that even as the new heavens and new earth abide, so Israel shall continue as a nation before God forever.

Chap. 66:closes the book with the solemn picture of the judgment upon those who still reject and despise the goodness of God.
The Gospel of Luke is most attractive as presenting to us Christ in His humanity. We have seen Him as King of the Jews in the Gospel of Matthew, as Son of God in John, and as the lowly Servant for man's need in the Gospel of Mark; but there is a distinctively human element in Luke which has a charm of its own, presenting our blessed Saviour, we might say, as a Kinsman Redeemer. As is well known, His death in this Gospel, in keeping with the entire narrative, suggests the peace-offering, where both God and the offerer and the priest feast together on their appointed portions.

The preparatory period (Chaps. 1:-4:13) presents our Lord to us alone, as we might say. Here we have much that is not given to us in any other Gospel,-the prediction and birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner, connected with which is a most beautiful picture of the piety of the remnant in Israel at that day,-those who were waiting for the consolation of Israel. How fitting it is that in connection with the birth of the perfect One, praise and joy should flow forth! Thus we have the song of Mary and of Elizabeth, of Zachariah, of Simeon, of Anna, blending with the praise of the angels above and the worship of shepherds around Bethlehem. We also get a glimpse of the boyhood of this peerless One.

Chap. 3:gives us John's ministry preparing the way for Christ, and the opening part of chap. 4:the temptation and proving of our blessed Lord after His baptism.

In the main part of the book, (Chaps. 4:14-18:34,) we have in varied ways the ministry of our blessed Lord in salvation. It is the ministry of grace all through. We can bless God for many touching narratives found alone in this Gospel:His testimony at Nazareth, (chap., 4:); works of power for the helpless (Chap. 5:); a Saviour and not a Pharisee (Chap. 6:); grace for the most unworthy (Chap. 7:); the ministry of the Word and the healing power of grace, yea, resurrection (Chap. viii); the transfiguration, and victory over Satan's power with prophecy of the Cross (Chap. 9:); association with Christ in service, the true gospel, sitting at the feet of Jesus (Chap. 10:); true prayer, and testimony against wilful rejection of Himself (Chap. 11:); provision for every trial, and dependence upon the living God (Chap. 12:); solemn witness to enemies (Chap. xiii); the great supper (Chap. 14:); the Trinity in salvation (Chap. 15:); the future unveiled for saint and sinner (Chap. 16:); the coming of the Son of Man (Chap. 17:); true lowliness, the only way of blessing (Chap. 18:)

The closing division of the book (Chaps. 18:35-24:) shows us our Lord on His way to Jerusalem where He accomplished full restoration of man to God. Here again we see salvation all along the way.

In chap. 19:it is salvation and responsibility; Chap. 20:is the Lord's faithful witness to the leaders of the people for the last time; chap. 21:predicts the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, with a wider outlook, reaching on to the last days and the coming of the Son of Man.

Chap. xxii brings us into the upper room where He breaks bread with His disciples, establishing that memorial supper which we love to eat, and leading us on to Gethsemane, where we see the perfect Man in perfect sorrow.

Chap. 23:shows Him spotless before Pilate and Herod, agreed in this, whatever else they may disagree about, that Christ is to be rejected. We see Him nailed to the cross, while chap. 24:gives us the resurrection, the wondrous journey to Emmaus, the manifestation of Himself in the midst of His gathered disciples, and His rapture to heaven. What a wondrous Gospel is this!

Space will not allow more than a few words as to second Corinthians. It is pre-eminently an epistle of personal experience, and yet, it need not be said, not a selfish one. We see in it the exercises and experiences of the apostle Paul in connection with Christian ministry.

In Chaps. 1:and 2:we see the stability of the ministry expressed in the faithful loyalty of him who was its instrument.

Chap. 3:contrasts the new ministry of the Spirit with the old covenant. Here we see the unveiled glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In Chaps. 4:and 5:this glory is seen in the earthen vessel broken and helpless, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

Chaps. 6:and 7:speak of the various trials and tests of the servant of Christ. Chaps. 8:and 9:dwell upon responsibility as to the ministry of temporal things to those who have need.

Chaps. 10:and 11:narrate the apostle's exercises and experiences as an overcomer in the midst of manifold circumstances, while Chaps. 12:and 13:give a view of a perfect man in Christ and the ministry that partakes of that character as associated with Him.

Unavoidably omitted from last number, but inserted here to complete the series.

Our portion for the present month is the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament and the Revelation in the New. There is a close similarity between the two books, and the points could be traced out profitably. For instance, the cherubim in each, the sealing of the remnant and the description of the city and the river. It must always be remembered that in Ezekiel the standpoint is earthly, while in the New Testament book all is viewed from heaven.

In passing, a word as to the study of prophecy may not be out of place. To say the least, most of God's people neglect prophetic scripture. The historical portions of Old and New Testaments may be fairly well known (in their letter) by those who rarely turn the pages of the Prophets. Then too, where this is not the case, there is danger in going to the Prophets for predictive instruction rather than spiritual. It need hardly be said that the first is of great value, and should be neglected by none. But an ordinary reading of the Prophets will show that prediction forms a small part of their contents. They do not – as no scripture does – gratify mere curiosity. Their address is ever to the conscience and heart, bringing faithful witness of sin, denouncing defiant disobedience, and declaring the sure judgment of God because of this. Then, when the full measure of judgment has been visited, the prophet turns to the blessed recovery of those who bow and confess their sin. Principles of government remain ever the same, and it will be found that while Israel as a nation is in the foreground, the word of divine truth will have a sanctifying effect upon those of this dispensation who have " ears to hear." It may be well to add that this is especially true in a day of decline and failure, like the present.

Ezekiel deals chiefly with the holiness of God and the sin of His people. Part of the nation is already in captivity, and the prophet is with these, while he is the messenger of the final overthrow of the remainder who are still at Jerusalem. The throne of God upon the cherubim, with all the attendant glory, is described. That glory is seen gradually to remove from the sanctuary to the threshold of the temple, and finally to depart entirely from the sinful city.

We may say, roughly speaking, there are four main parts to the book.

1. In the first twenty chapters, the witness is to Israel of their sin and the certainty of judgment. The book of "lamentation and woe" is eaten by the prophet, who, thus identified with his message, is to go to the " rebellious house " of Israel and bear his testimony, " whether they hear or forbear." Indeed their rejection is foretold. With divine pathos is it declared that had the message been to other than His own people, they would have heard. " Surely had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee; but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto Me" (chap. 3:6, 7). Chap. 4:gives minute details of the famine and the siege of Jerusalem. Chaps. 5:and 6:dwell upon the sin of Israel, greater than that of the nations about, and her corresponding judgment. This doom is described in chap. 7:The abominable idolatries of even the leaders is shown in Chap. 8:, and a striking separation of the godly-known by their sorrow and mourning, let us mark it well, not by their greatness and power-who have the mark of God put upon them. These subjects are continued, with many illustrations in the succeeding chapters. Chap. 16:is noteworthy, as giving a picture of Israel as the unfaithful wife of Jehovah; and chap. 20:
is a most faithful recital of the apostasies of the people even while in Egypt, then in the wilderness, and in the land. God shows how He had intervened for His own name's sake, and had not cut them off as they deserved. Touchingly, at the close, He foretells their recovery, in self-abhorrence at last, to worship Him in truth.

2. From Chaps. 21:to 32:, we have largely the judgment of the nations about Israel, with whom they had been closely connected. Moab, Ammon, Egypt, and notably Tyre, with others come in here for judgment because of their sins and because of their joy at Israel's destruction. The king of Tyrus is manifestly a type of Satan, the prince and god of this world.

3. Chaps. xxxiii-39:bring in the recovery of Israel. The nation is to be raised from its death, and with a new heart will at last delight to serve God.

4. The closing eight chapters have to do with the rebuilt sanctuary, the city and the land, reapportioned among the twelve tribes. It is most beautiful and instructive. The glory of God, which at the beginning had departed, is seen to return to His abode and the name of the city is, "The Lord is there."

Revelation, as has been said, gives the heavenly side of things, and a view of the heavenly city at the close- passing beyond the Millennial period dwelt upon by Ezekiel. Its divisions are familiar:

1. "Things that are" Chaps. 1:-3:, giving in type the entire history of the Church in the seven churches of Asia. Here Ephesus would stand for the Church at the close of the apostolic era; Smyrna answers to the time of persecution, and the tendency to Judaize; Pergamos shows the Church and state united, under Constantine; Thyatira leads on to Rome, which continues to the end, as do the others which follow; Sardis is the Protestant establishment set up in the state churches at the Reformation; Philadelphia is a spiritual revival and a maintenance, in much weakness, of the honor of Christ's word and name, with a fellowship based upon that. Laodicea closes the Church period with a state of satisfied ease which leaves nothing but divine rejection possible.

2. " Things that shall be " Chaps. 4:-22:Here we see the throne of God and the Lamb, to whom all judgment is committed. This will be visited upon the earth after the removal of the true Church. The time will be short -the "great tribulation" lasting but three and half years. We have the judgment of the seals, trumpets and vials, giving in increasing intensity the final woes upon the earth. The sealing of the remnant of Israel, and the salvation of the great multitude out of the nations is announced. The doom of Babylon, the professing Church is recorded. We have also the account of the "beast," the head of civil government in the Roman empire, and the Antichrist, the leader of apostate Judaism. Finally, after all judgments have been inflicted, heaven is opened and the Son of God, with His attendant army of angels and ransomed saints, issues forth. Antichrist and the beast are cast into the lake of fire, Satan is bound, and the Millennial reign begins with its glories and blessings. We see the heavenly city which will, both during the Millennium and throughout eternity, be the abode of God and the Lamb, and the heavenly redeemed. The solemn final judgment of the wicked dead is recorded, at the close of the Millennium, and all evil finally under restraint, and Christ having fully glorified God, nothing is left but the desire for His speedy coming to bring all this to pass.
What themes are here to occupy mind and heart! May they have a sanctifying effect upon us all.

The South Sea Islanders have a beautiful word for "hope." It is, rendered literally, "the swimming thought," the thought that keeps one's head, amid the tempests, above the water threatening to engulf him. How much more truly does this same thought characterize our "faith." Hope is tinged with doubt while faith, true faith, has no doubts. It is full of triumph, and thus it is that the apostle can exclaim, "What is that which overcometh the world? even your faith." Truth then is a triumpher. By it our feet are winged to bear us across the rough places of our wilderness journey, to carry us in victory at last into the very presence of God, our Creator, for is it not written "by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death "?

If we look at that long hero-roll in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, while perfectly natural, is it not yet a little striking that it is for triumph over earthly difficulties that we find their names emblazoned thereon? There is, no doubt, in this a salutary lesson for us, which is duly enforced by the principle of our Lord's utterance, "If I have told you of earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? " Reader, are not you and I apt often to be more sure of the heavenly than the earthly? Are we not more afraid about things down here than of righteousness and eternal judgment? Why is this? Is Christ less reliable in His promises as to earth than He is as to those concerning heaven? Can we be certain as to the future, if the present be clouded with doubt? Let us face the question.

The story of Zacharias in the temple affords us a remarkable instance of the inconsistency of real faith, or rather of the one who possessed it. He is in the presence of God. He is offering incense, without which in days gone by none could enter the presence of God and live. He is, doubtless, firmly convinced that it is Jehovah with whom he has to do, and yet when suddenly on the right hand of the altar there appears an angelic messenger from God, he is afraid. Not trembling in the presence of God, but trembling in the presence of His messenger! There are two things which we may notice about him. First of all, it says he was doing what was the custom for priests to do. Very possibly when he had first offered that incense to the holy God, he had done it in fear and trembling, but as day after day passed he had grown familiar with the truth that God would have him thus do, and his fear had taken wings and fled, or dissolved like the mist in the sunlight. An angel he was not accustomed to seeing, and he trembles.

But he saw the angel also, God, he did not see. Oh how the faint vision of our fleshly eyes will at times fill us to the blotting out for a time of all the eternal verities which are summed up in Him who is the great Verity, the living "Truth!"

There are two things also, which tend to lead to God's people being sure as to eternity, but to doubting as to time, and they are just those two things with which we have become familiar by hearing. First of all we have become well grounded in the eternal security of the believer. We have grown familiar with the thought,

" Death and judgment are behind us
Grace and glory are before."

We have reasoned much about God's word being pledged that heaven is inviting us to enter into its "love and light and song" through the merits of Jesus' blood, but we have not exercised ourselves in the same way about the present. We have not considered that God's word is just as surely pledged as to our security amid earthly troubles as it is as to safety from the storm of judgment, and consequently we doubt. How inconsistent it would be if it were not so terribly sad, that we should cringe before circumstances and be valiant before the consequences of our sin and all the marshaled hosts of hell! Somebody has very pithily remarked, "If a letter were written to that weighty gentleman ' Circumstance ' with how great truth might many of us subscribe ourselves, 'your very obedient and humble servant.'" But oh the shame of it!

But then again, circumstances we see, hell we do not see, nor yet do our eyes behold the Christ. The power of the senses is a potent factor in our life, and its importance is fully recognized in Scripture. '' If a man love not his brother whom he hath seen how shall he love God, whom he hath not seen?" And our Lord Jesus says, what should indeed be an encouragement to us:" Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed."

The next moment after his fear we find Zacharias has so forgotten it that he asks the angel how he shall know that his promise is true. Again we have a marvelous inconsistency, but what is the reason? What has made him forget his fear of God's messenger and question his word? Why he looks at circumstance. He says, "I am an old man" and consequently it seems impossible that a child should be born. We remember here also that thus, too, had Abraham, the pattern man of faith, been overcome. How solemn and sad that God as it were has to bring in other circumstance to convince Zacharias, and that for his lack of faith he is struck dumb!

O my reader, has not this dumbness fallen oft also upon you and me because of our unbelief. Have not our mouths been closed and our voice of testimony hushed because we could not trust God as to the things of daily life?

There are many degrees of faith! This fact has so impressed Cardinal Newman that he has written a book entitled the "Grammar of Assent" which is largely devoted to looking at these degrees of faith. His purpose in writing thus seems to have been a poor one indeed, but we can nevertheless gain much profit in meditating thereon. There are degrees of faith. What is your degree? Is it such as those had, to whom the Lord could not commit Himself, because it was only intellectual; or is it like Peter's who verily had faith enough to walk for a way on the waters, but whose faith in the power of the waves presently grew greater than his trust in Christ, and he began to sink? Do a thousand dollars in your pockets give you more rest of mind than a cheque on your heavenly Father's bank for full supply of all your need, yea of everything that is good for you? Does the assurance '' My God shall supply all your need " leave you still in doubt whether it was ever intended that you should trust Him for tomorrow's supply of bread? Do you take anxious thought for the morrow when your Lord has enjoined upon you so not to do, solemnly asseverating that your Father in heaven knows all about it and will care for it? If it be so, is it not better also for you to trust that a thousand charitable deeds will do more to save you from hell than all the pledged word of God? Most decidedly it is. O dear reader, let us have more faith in Christ than we do in circumstance!

Let me close this paper with a beautiful example of how to argue from circumstance and triumph over it. There was a violent earthquake once which greatly alarmed the inhabitants of a certain village. They rushed out of their houses, their faces full of consternation, fearing sudden destruction. There was one old woman, however, whose face was a marked contrast to those of the rest. It seemed to beam with joy. One of the villagers was so struck with it that he could not help asking her:"Mother, how is it you look so happy, aren't you afraid ?" "Oh no indeed, " came the bright answer, "I rejoice that I have a God who can shake the earth! " She saw the God who was in it all and well she might rejoice. Oh shall we not cry much to God to give us more a simple, child-like trust. It is a prize well worth striving for and will richly reward its diligent seeker. F. C. G.

(Heb. 11:17-22.)

We have presented to us in thi53 chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews the gathering up of the scriptural testimony as to the principle of faith, and its operation in the lives of God’s People from the very commencement of time. In the Jewish system all was material, and Appealed to the natural faculties of men, while faith, he shows, goes out to the unseen, which characterizes true Christianity. It is for the possessor of it, the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen."It makes real to the soul in which it operates the very things that are hoped for and not therefore possessed, while it is also that which also gives to that soul the conviction, the certainty, of the existence of these very things that are unseen, and yet for which we hope. God then if the whole sum and substance for faith, so much so that without it is impossible to please Him. He requires that one who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that He is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. It is faith, and only faith, that can fulfil this requirement.

Moreover, faith, we know, is the gift of God. so that in its activity it must partake of His character, and always rises to its source and only sufficiency; that is, God Himself. We may therefore rightly expect to find some phase of God's own character in its activity, and of course especially so where it is acting in some distinct realization of God's all-sufficiency. It is this which we have presented in the passage before us. . The great men of Genesis are mentioned in connection with one distinct incident in their lives founded upon faith. First of all Abraham – typical above all others of the man of faith. In his case we have the offering up of Isaac. We cannot think of this and not have our thoughts turned to consider the pain and anguish of heart it must have meant for Abraham. It was for him the yielding up of the one in whom all his hope was centered, and yet how readily he gives up this object of his heart's deep affection. How beautiful a witness to the way faith counts on the all-sufficiency of God ! Abraham might have chided with God for laying such a burden upon him, and for taking away the one in whom his hope was centered. He might have questioned how the promises would be fulfilled, and what hope was left if now Isaac be removed. We say such reasoning would be the working of unbelief.

But do we not often reason this way in our hearts? It is far different with Abraham:not a word of murmuring, he promptly obeys the trying command. He "rose up early" the next morning, and goes the way he is bidden. Ah, was not He who had given Isaac when all hope was shattered, and there existed no longer any possible way of fulfilling the promise naturally, was He not able to raise up? to kill and to make alive ? Would He fail in such a way to fulfil the word of His promise ? Impossible. Let Isaac be taken ; His arm is not shortened, and His word cannot fail; He will provide.

Such is the language broad writ over the actions of faithful Abraham. Would that our own hearts spoke more on this wise, this whole-hearted yielding up to God's blessed will. Has He given us much blessing and given us the very thing our hearts longed for ? If then it be His will to take them from us shall unbelief raise its dragon head to chide with Him, the pledge of whose love is the gift of His only begotten Son f Rather shall our faith not speak in Abraham's language and say, "Thy will, not mine, blessed God." The object in such a trial is surely to turn our hearts to more simply and more completely trust in Him.

Perhaps Abraham had begun to rest a little in Isaac and the fulfilment of the promises in him, instead of continuing to look to God in the realization that even with the one given in whom all was to be fulfilled, still it must and could only be through God's own hand and power carrying all into effect. Whether he had reasoned so or not, we know not, but have we not often reasoned in this way ? God has given us the desire of our hearts and provided much in blessing us, and the heart grows lax, and coldness comes in, the eye is turned a little from our God, and we begin to find some sufficiency in what He has given-resting in that and the possession of it, instead of still continuing, after possessing the desires of the heart, to trust only in His all-sufficiency; enjoying the g|ft in the sense of this, and not in the least in any independence of Him who gave it. Very necessary, then, is the refining of our faith by the trial occasioned in the taking away of that in which we are finding any measure of sufficiency, even though given by God to us and of His will.

May God in His grace grant that we learn this lesson in His presence, for experience is not the best teacher in spiritual things, though we must mourn how often we choose this way of it.

But now in this activity of Abraham's faith we have a beautiful expression of one character of our God, as the Father in His love. We have not a more striking illustration in God's word than this is of the unspeakable gift of His love to us. It is pressed upon Abraham, "take thy son, thy only son Isaac," and so He, too, gave His only begotten Son, wrenching His heart of love and all its affections in giving up the well-beloved of His bosom to suffer for our sakes. The sorrow of the Father's heart in yielding Him up a willing sacrifice, who can tell it ? And if this be so, who can measure the depth of His infinite love for us, that He should give such a wonderful gift ? How sweet to know this One as our Father, and to be able to approach Him as such, to be known as His children, having been given the Spirit of adoption.

And then how beautifully expressive is Isaac's obedience to his father a type of the perfect obedience of the Son of God. No Voice of protest to mar the scene, but perfect self-surrender. The "Lo! I am come to do Thy will, O God," is heard here. And this is His declaration knowing full well what the accomplishment of it meant, even the awful forsaking of God upon the cross. The heart of the Father and of the Son are one in the divine, eternal expression of love to the creature, and it is this side of God's character that is expressed for us in this incident of Abraham's faith.

We pass on to Isaac, who blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Here we have a far different thought as to God's character. Faith is clearly on Isaac's part in connection with the blessing given, and not with the way that it is given. Isaac would have given Jacob's blessing to Esau. Nevertheless, Isaac's faith is seen in recognizing Jacob truly blessed. He, no doubt, saw how God had accomplished His fore-announced purpose, spite of his fleshly desires to the contrary. Thus we read of him trembling exceedingly, no doubt with the thought before him of God's word spoken at the time of the birth-"the elder shall serve the younger," and how he had sought to do contrary to it. He therefore confirms the blessing to Jacob.

But what we see in all' this is clearly the fact that God is the God of election, and that, be the desires of the saint what they may, and seek to fulfil them in whatever way he may, His purpose cannot be changed and He will accomplish it. "The children being not yet born, neither having done good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger." (Rom. 9:ii, 12.) So that in the case of Isaac, we see the God of election controlling events for the accomplishment of His fore-announced purpose.

How blessed a character of God this is for us ! If it had not been that He had purposed, we could not be blessed; and if it had not been that He had marked us out before the foundation of the world
according to His fore-knowledge, we should not be the "blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." And so "whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate . . . them He also called; " for if He had not called, and by His power (which always accompanies His voice when He calls) made us obedient to His will, we would have willingly gone on in the way of destruction. What sweet and blessed assurance then we have in this that He is the God of election, having all power to carry out His every purpose of blessing concerning us. We have the lesson of His matchless love for us in Abraham, and the assurance that love so wondrously manifested will provide for everything, giving every possible blessing; and now we learn that this same blessed One is He who has elected us in His unbounded grace to eternal blessing, to just all that blessing that the wonderful exhibition of His love has really pledged Him to give; for, having given His Son, "how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things" (Rom. 8:32).

In the third place we have Jacob and the blessing of the two sons of Joseph, accompanied with his worship, leaning upon the top of his staff. Here the contrast with Isaac is very marked. He shows how he has learnt his lesson, that that which is natural must be replaced by what is spiritual, the elder must give way to the younger. He crosses his hands in blessing Manasseh and Ephraim who receives the greater place. It must be so, Manasseh is typical for us of the forgetting of those things which are behind; this truly is absolutely necessary for Ephraimite fruitfulness to come in. All here, be what it may, must be turned from, and counted as dung, if the blessed fruit-bearing which pleases our God is to be developed in us.

But this is really a resurrection lesson. Why are we to turn from all earthly things to those which are above ? Is it not because we are dead with Christ, and are raised up with Him on resurrection ground? in new creation having no longer any link with the old order ? And this is God's way for us, and the accounting of His glorious counsels concerning us, so that in very deed He is the God of resurrection. All His ways exhibit Him in this character, that of bringing life out of death. The earth, as we know it, is a resurrected earth from the ruin it had fallen into; and now He is bringing a new creation out of the ruined old one, by the power of resurrection. The practical working out of which in the subjects of this resurrection work, is the lesson we learn from Jacob's faith in blessing the sons of Joseph. Here, then, we have Him as the God of resurrection, and it is a principle which characterizes His dealings as revealed all through Scripture.

To know Him in this character is the pledge to our faith of the fulfilment of His every promise and our every hope in connection therewith. He "hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power." That resurrection power that raised up Christ will also raise us up; yea, is the pledge of it, for we are now linked with Christ for eternity. It is in the raising up of Christ that God is supremely manifested as the God of resurrection, and in which we know Him as such. It is the security of everything for us since we are before God in Christ as our Representative; and He has been raised up from that place into which He has descended for us, bearing our judgment as our Substitute.

When the lesson of all this has been learnt in the soul, the consequence of it is worship from a heart filled with the riches of God's grace, and to which things present are but dung, and their loss counted gain.

Finally, in Joseph making mention of the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt and giving commandment concerning his bones, we have the comforting promise of God's sure visitation given to his brethren, from the midst of whom God is about to remove him. His faith here certifies to the fulfilment of the promise to bring them into the land which they were to be given. We cannot help but consider the fiery furnace of affliction through which Israel was to pass during their sojourn in Egypt, after which we know Jehovah visited them. How to those poor slaves, oppressed under the tyrannical sway of Pharaoh's power, all hope or prospect of the fulfilling of God's promise to their fathers must have seemed to be gone. And how, too, perhaps they counted Him unfaithful to His promise. Nevertheless, how sweet in view of these circumstances God's message for faith to lay hold of in the word spoken by Joseph! What a comfort from God Himself to any among Israel who trusted in Him. And so we know how after all the sorrow, degradation and trial which they passed through, God answered the faith of Joseph and proved Himself faithful to His promise to the fathers, accomplishing deliverance.

Here, unmistakably, we have Him presented to us as the unchanging God. Let there intervene a time, no matter how long, no matter how much filled with trial and sorrow, with an outlet only dark, through which light would seem never to break, we may be sure He will never change, and that which He has spoken He will carry out and nothing can swerve Him. How blessed to know Him as such in a path like this through a hostile world, that is, of course, if it really is a hostile world to us, and that depends much on our communion and testimony. We know this glorious One also as our Father, who has called us to communion and fellowship with Himself; to abide under the covert of His wings where harm cannot come nigh.

"We change, He changes not."

These are sweet lessons He has given us of His own character in the lives of these examples of faith. And may He in His rich grace grant us to learn them in simple faith, that we may indeed find our whole portion in Himself, in whom is a wealth of all-sufficiency for us which is infinite and divine. Let us never forget that it is the fruit of the suffering and death of our blessed Lord; and while the glorious blessing we have been brought into is the necessary result of that awful Cross, (for God will honor and magnify in this way the name of Christ who has glorified Him in connection with sin, by the bestowal of all His infinite wealth upon poor creatures whose place He took in love and atoned for their sin) yet let us remember the pit from whence we have been dug, the awful depth to which the Son of God had to descend that He might lift us up into God's glory, and to apprehend even now, in some measure, His blessed character. J. B. Jr.

The clouds hang heavy o'er me,
And dark, and chill the night;
Yet clouds, nor chill, nor darkness
Can shut Thee from my sight,
Nor hush the song my heart still sings,
Nor stay my soul's uplifted wings.

Thy clouds are fraught with mercies-
Tho' oft of darkest hue;
Yet faith's keen vision fears not
To pierce the darkness through,
And find the side that's toward Thy face
Alight with glory of Thy grace.

When sorrow, like the rain drops,
Falls heavily and cold, I turn me to God's sun-light,
And there mine eyes behold-
All broken into rainbow hues-
What I had thought were sorrow's dews.

Life's storms and clouds are many,
But God is in them all;
Apart from Him, nor sorrow,
Nor rain can ever fall;
No cloud that e'er o'er-shadowed me,
But drew me closer, Lord, to Thee.

The storm that broke on Calv'ry,
And hid the noon-day sun-
That made the stout heart tremble-
Was borne for me, by One
Who wrought sweet peace from deepest woe;
-God's clouds have never hung so low

They wrapped Him in their darkness,
They hid from Him God's face;
Called forth that cry so bitter,
That He might show me grace;
That storm, now passed and gone for aye,
Hath bought me everlasting day.

And now His clouds, which shadow
My sun a little while,
Remind me of His sorrow
Which won for me His smile:-
The remnants of that tempest wild
Which brought me to Him, reconciled.

So, bright, or dark-whatever,
They can not slip His hand;
Their gilded edges tell me
My Father hath command;
What tempest e'er can do me harm,
Beneath His strong, and loving arm?

H. McD.

2 Sam. 2:1, 4

After Saul's death, David "inquired of the Lord" if he should go up"into any of the cities of Judah." He was told to go up. Again he inquires. "Whither shall I go up?" and the Lord said, "Unto Hebron."

Note these repeated inquiries and answers, as if to strike our attention. At a time when serious consequences hung upon David's every step, we are taught the deep necessity of waiting upon God always. Twice he had inquired of the Lord, twice he was answered; and the way it is presented prepares the mind to expect a fresh inquiry of the Lord as to the next important step-his coronation as king. But, at this point, there is suddenly an absence of further inquiry:"And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah." Not a word about the other tribes-no message sent them that they might share in the event; and the king is anointed "over the house of Judah."

David was never marked out to be king merely over Judah. How clear and solemn the connection here between not inquiring of the Lord and this great error! The ties of nature-the men of Judah, led to action from natural impulse, not spiritual wisdom; like the failure of Paul at Jerusalem, kind friends and congenial associations were too much for the heart. The natural result was a union of the other tribes in an independent kingdom under a son of Saul. Bloodshed follows, "long war," treachery, jealous hate, murder, and vengeance – an awful record. Not until seven and a half years afterwards is David anointed king over all Israel at last, as recorded in chap. 5:

But David's after-history shows the evil continued to work. When again taking the kingdom after the overthrow of Absalom (chap. 19:) David appeals not to all Israel, but to Judah, to bring him back. This was greater failure than before; for in the former case the men of Judah came, and crowned him. In this case, though Israel was saying to one another, "Why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back," David pays them no attention, but appeals to the elders of Judah, saying:"Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house, seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house ?" David was in a perverse spirit. He knew all Israel was ready to receive him, and yet still turns to Judah. And not only this, he says nothing about the kingdom at large,-only about the king and "his house."

But this is too flagrant an error to be passed over.« "And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with Him over Jordan?" (2 Sam. 19:41). And the men of Judah claim him as "near of kin" to them; and the men of Israel say '' we have ten parts in the king . . . why then did ye despise us?" and this is followed by fiercer words from Judah.

The result is recorded in the next chapter-rebellion and bloodshed. We hear of no word or influence of David to pacify. Events take their course to the bitter end; while God, in mercy to His people, . brings the tribes again in subjection to David as before.

Thus we see that the division into two kingdoms later on, had its roots in the condition of David's heart from the beginning-whatever the condition of all the tribes. This is a very solemn lesson as to the evil consequences among God's people of un-judged sin. And a special lesson in this history, is the first suggested-the deep importance of waiting upon God. " My soul wait thou only upon God." In this same history of David we see the grave danger, at special times, of being suddenly swayed from simplicity, and grossly blinded to spiritual discernment by strong natural feeling, as by pride and selfish interests of family, of friends, or of party. Never does the Lord fail to answer, to guide, and to bless those who wait upon Him; nor can He fail"to make ' '» us feel the evil results of doing our own will and forsaking Him.

May we be doers of the Word and thus prove that "good and perfect and acceptable will of God," learning to wait upon Him at all times. E. S. L.

The foundation is Christ and His finished work, I and every one who believes upon Him is eternally saved, secure on that foundation, and yet there is such a thing as being saved "as by fire" (i Cor. 3:15). It is when a man's life, instead of being devoted to Christ, is spent for himself. He may gather riches, honor, dignities. He may have abundance of pleasure, as it is called, but when the judgment-seat of Christ tests all this, when the fire of God's holiness passes upon it, will it stand or will it all be consumed ? Oh, as we think of this, does it not stir us to be careful in all we do and say ? May we not well ask ourselves the question, Is what I am doing going to abide, or will I suffer loss ?

FRAGMENT

Error advances by degrees until at last it is fully established and souls are blinded to the truth. There are serious indications among us, in the way of indifference as to the ordinance of baptism that should alarm us, lest the heretical doctrine should become accepted and be spread among us that as an ordinance it has no application to us now.

And of this as a probability may we not be well assured, especially in the light of recent departures from the truth, that we would not in that case stop in the down grade with the denial of baptism, but would travel rapidly to further error, once we had despised the Word and yielded to a wile of Satan. Such is the history of God's people, often repeated. We need at this present time to pay earnest heed to the word in 2 Peter 3:17:"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."

Error has in it the seeds of alienation from God, of dishonor to Christ and to His word; but with steadfastness and growth in grace there will be humility and the knowledge of the Lord, and the desire to give Him glory that will repel what would dishonor Him.

One reply that is made, showing what is at work among us, is (as to baptism), "I don't understand it." Of course, if there is desire to learn, God will teach; but if the reply means, " I feel excused from
taking a stand about it, or from submitting to it," then surely, though the soul may not be conscious of it, a doctrine of Scripture is being slighted, and the spirit of this loosens the hold of God's word in general upon the soul; and how dangerous a ground this is, let all consider. From this we should shrink with great fear!

On the other hand, if we submit to the Word, God will give us increasing understanding about it. To use an old illustration-if a man stands with a lantern looking out into the darkness, he gets no further light; but if he steps on, the light advances on his path.

What has rendered the soul incapable of judging is known to the Lord-sloth, a "puffed up" condition, the loss of a "good conscience."Whatever it may be, Satan has gained an advantage by his wiles. The loins are not "girt about with truth," (the first part of the whole armor of God) without which we t cannot stand in the conflict to enjoy our heavenly possession. And we shall all be tested.

Another thing advanced (by some who do not deny baptism to be obligatory in general) is this:that baptism is not required in the case, for example, of one who has been for some time breaking bread; he is already, "inside," and therefore does not need to "come in." This may be classed as similar to the suggestion that baptism was right at the beginning, when Jews and Gentiles were being joined on new ground in the profession of Christianity, but is not called for now in Christendom at least; while it would be right (probably it would be allowed) still for a Jew or a heathen.

To this it may be fairly replied, that the error is in concluding that such are inside. Is it not assuming to be true what is not true ? The unbaptized are not "inside" in this sense-not being baptized. They are inside surely in one sense, but not so as to the very matter that is in question; they have not submitted to that form which is expressly the putting on Christ. And where is the line to be drawn? If baptism has been neglected or overlooked for a few weeks, are such absolved from responsibility to be baptized ? or does it take a longer period ? and who is to draw the line, and assign a period ? Does it not appear manifest that such a plea must lead to the confirming of souls in the entire neglect and contempt for the doctrine of baptism, as is already the case with some ?

But, surely, Scripture gives no authority for this suggestion. How could Scripture authorize the neglect of Scripture ? If a person is not baptized, he has not in that respect submitted to the word of the Lord. He has not "put on Christ" in this outward form of confession of His name that the Lord Himself has ordained :a public taking of one's place among Christians in Christ's kingdom in a way He has marked out.

Already the benumbing effect of error has so affected some, that it is to be feared that exhortation on the subject, however scriptural, will be received with indifference-a dulled sense of obligation of long standing nullifying the power of God's own Word. Let us cry to God about this, that we may experience God's mercy, and be delivered from this snare of the devil.

As to the claim of some, that Paul's ministry puts us on higher ground than baptism, we have only to consider that Paul is the one who makes baptism very prominent in his epistles, as we all know.

Very precious is the teaching of baptism. It is subjection to that "Name which is above every name" openly before men. Surely the Lord richly blesses that open confession. It tells of our death with Christ-death to sin (death to the life we lived before)-that as He was raised from the dead, so we also should walk in "newness of life" in Him who is risen. But this is not written to present the doctrine of baptism, but as an alarm and an appeal, if the Lord may use it to that end, that we may be aroused to confession and prayer, and to seek deliverance from the Lord.

Occasionally one is found among us (breaking bread) who has not been baptized-one of the indications of the slackness that exists among us, and of the danger that threatens us:taken by itself, not so serious as when taken or viewed in connection with other tendencies already mentioned.

Whatever differences we may have to deplore among us as to the ordinance of baptism, let us at least seek grace to hold fast the ordinance:to let that go would be a serious departure from the truth; an error so grave, that difference of judgment as to the application of baptism cannot at all be compared to it, surely.

Let us remember the solemn injunction to Timothy (i Tim. 6:20), "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust;" and again, (2 Tim. 1:14,) "That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us;" as Paul himself could say, "I have kept the faith:" it was surely that Timothy was to "keep;" as Ezra, also, exhorted the twelve priests and their ten brethren, when he had weighed to them "the silver and the gold," and the holy vessels offered to the Lord:'' Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also. . . . Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites … at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord" (Ezra 8:28). E. S. Lyman.

A world which is morally away from God, so that it cannot be subject to His law, nor even care to know His will, nor own His authority, must of necessity harbor within its bosom all of the elements of ruin and self-destruction consequent upon such a state.

This proposition, to which Scripture constantly bears witness, has been demonstrated over and over again in a thousand ways since the very beginning of man's history. It is demonstrated in the rise and fall of peoples, nations and empires, as well as in the personal experience of individuals, and has furnished a field of thought for the endless speculations in which men, in their boasted superiority of intellect,-missing the mark because refusing the light of Scripture,-have indulged, and in which they continue to indulge their wildest fancy, devising all kinds of vain philosophies which, for the most part, leave God entirely out of consideration.

Some, indeed, have condescended to allow the evidence of a God somewhere, but at so remote a distance from their sphere of speculation,-their little patch of highly cultured weeds of noxious philosophy,-as clearly to betray their kinship with those who " did not like to retain God in their knowledge " (Rom. 1:28).

Thus, because of his unwillingness to submit his mind to the humbling revelation of God concerning the origin of sin and death in the world, and their remedy, proud man foolishly attempts to account for these facts in every other way, possible and impossible, which, instead of teaching him the lesson of humility he so sadly needs, invariably tends to minister to his inveterate self-conceit and vain-glory. Such is his theory of the survival of the fittest; and upon the same authority of unbelief, of human wisdom and erudition is based his notion of the so-called "struggle for existence," which is said to be now determining the survival of the fittest. This is as if the Almighty, unable to superintend and care for the creatures He has made, were now, in this plight, depending on their ability to destroy each other as the condition of their existence!

That wilful ignorance of God should bring with it the dismal conception of a blind struggle for existence among His creatures, is not to be wondered at. Indeed, it is consistent and logical. For who can doubt that if God, the Source and Preserver of life, and Ruler of the universe, be dethroned, universal anarchy must inevitably follow ?

This condition is deplorable. For if repudiation of rule, authority and government amongst men be truly called anarchy, is it any the less so when these are denied to God ? But if not, anarchy, it will be seen, is a far more terrible monster, with far greater possibilities for evil, than it has been thought hitherto. It is no longer to be considered a blind monster having only feet "swift to shed blood" of distinguished victims on rare opportunities, but a subtle monster having many heads-heads of keenest intellect, lifted high in glittering seducement on the great tree of modern Christendom (Matt. 13:32). These are the modern oracles of science and learning, to whom is being entrusted the education of coming generations ! And if such be the case, who can question what will be the result? Surely not he who understands the Scriptures, for in them the outcome is plainly foretold. For if such lawlessness, and license, and overweening self-conceit as the skepticism in high places of these latter days constitute the hope and boast of the so-called advanced civilization of the twentieth century, then the time is near at hand, even at the door, when the ever-rising tide must overflow its banks, and in the widening rush of its downward course plunge all classes alike into the great universal whirlpool of the "strong delusion" predicted by the apostle Paul in 2 Thess. 2:8-12, bringing upon them God's swift and just retribution.

Now, as for the survival of the fittest:thank God, apart from the term, which is unscriptural, there is such a thing held out in the Scripture of truth. But so vastly different from the notion of the evolutionist is it, that the very fittest, according to the one, would constitute the unfittest according to the other. For instance, it is written, "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted;" and again, "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." The world, on the contrary, is very prone to praise the mighty, the presumptuous and self-willed, without regard to moral character, provided only he be successful, but utterly despises the humble and the righteous, and would fain crush the godly out of existence. In other words, it is that first principle of enmity against God, pride, which, commands to-day as much as ever the admiration of the world, as it remains its principal delusion under Satan's leadership; and for this reason, notwithstanding the boasted progress, man's pride contains within itself, instead of a hope for future and higher development, nothing but the fatal certainty of God's pronounced judgment upon it in the sentence that "pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

So far, then, from the survival of the fittest of which the Scripture speaks being based upon natural development, or creature attainment of any kind, it rests entirely on the moral character, attributes and glory of God, as revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It rests upon His atonement for sin, He having suffered the death of the cross that He might lay the foundation for the redemption of man, and having been raised up from the dead, the exalted Head and beginning of a new creation, beyond the reach of sin and death. God thus reveals before the whole universe, while throwing open the portals of divine glory to man, the One who is preeminently the Fittest.

Thus redemption stands out in glorious contrast with evolution, as God's procedure for raising our fallen race from its hopeless condition, while faith in the Redeemer (open to all through the universal gospel-call that " whosoever will may come ") is His appointed way for individual salvation, and therefore constitutes the only reliable and trustworthy survival to which either nature or revelation gives any countenance. It therefore remains with the responsibility of man, as at the beginning, to choose between life and death, between God's word and Satan's lie, between the gospel of the grace of God to sinners and the doctrines of seducing spirits-the fashionable unbelief of our day, and winds of theories of those who are deceiving others, being themselves deceived.

Finally, the importance of the subject cannot be over-estimated when we think of the issues at stake. The contest between Christ and Satan, in the representative principles of truth and error, of light and darkness, of faith and unbelief, is going on, and every man, according to the nature of the principles by which he allows himself to be swayed, consciously or unconsciously, is being wheeled into line and made to identify himself with one side or the other. The veil of time must shortly be drawn aside to reveal each man in the light of eternity, and to manifest the wisdom or the folly of each, the use made of his opportunities, and the choice which, made in time, determines his future destiny.
A. T. E.

God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me " (Gen. 6:12, 13). Thus early in the world's history did God reveal the failure of the man of flesh, the Adam race, as to His purposes for the earth.

Next, "Noah found grace, favor, in the eyes of the Lord," and the ark and the judgment of the flood followed. This over, God in mercy began' again a further trial of the race under Noah, to whom was given authority to govern his descendants in the earth; but, instead, he failed to govern himself and his own family; with the result that upon one of his own sons he pronounced a curse.

From the failure of Adam in the garden of Paradise to Noah, man had his own way in the earth without law or restraint from God, except in a providential way, and by His Spirit in a special manner toward His called ones, like Enoch. Man unrestrained in the earth for 1556 years fitted himself for destruction, as foreseen and revealed to Noah in grace.

Again, after Noah and the flood, came another period, of 527 years, during which God, in the mercy that has ever characterized His dealings with the human race, left man free from law or restraint as to his behavior, except as to the covenant which He established with Noah and his sons in which they were instructed that all creatures should be subject to man, they should not kill each other, and His bow in the clouds should assure them of their safety on the earth from any future destruction by a flood. At the end of this period the whole race had forsaken God their maker, and turned to the worship of idols! thus demonstrating again that "every imagination of man's heart is only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5).

Again, for the fourth time, God shows his favor to man in the call of Abram, out from a world far away from God and sunken into an idolatry of unrestrained fleshly evil that was monstrous (Rom. 1:20 to end of chapter). This time it is in taking up the best of the ruined race, out of which, in special favor-in most marvelous grace-it is to raise up a people that shall be faithful to Him in the earth-a family to be instructed, cultivated, blessed in all favors, and, if possible, to be made worthy of all His love. For 1921 years God dealt with Abraham and his offspring in the most marvelous mercy, grace, and love, as is fully set forth in the history of Israel and Judah; but in spite of all His marvelous works in their behalf, when He Himself came to them in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,-for "He was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,"-man was bad enough to reject and crucify even the Lord of glory)'! This ended the race again before God, as had been foretold to Noah before the flood, and now all men out of Christ are dead to God. The race is ended, all flesh is under the judgment of God. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." This has been demonstrated in over four thousand years of human history. Further trial is useless. '' The mind of the flesh is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be; so, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

This is the result foretold to us in the rite of circumcision-the flesh cut off. No uncircumcised person could eat the passover. "There shall no stranger eat thereof. … A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof" (Ex. 12:). "Christ our pass-over is slain for us" (i Cor. 5:7)-the flesh ended for all Christians. He died in the flesh for us, our Passover, our Substitute, and we in Him, as men in the flesh, to faith, passed out of existence, and "are not now in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His; and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness " (Rom. 8:9, 10). Now "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world " (Gal. 6:14).

Christians, to faith, are not in the first Adam, but in the last Adam, which is Christ. They realize that the flesh has been cut off in the cross of Christ, and have come to the end of themselves as men in the flesh, and have entered into a new life in the last Adam. They have been, through grace, born of the Spirit of God, and thus been made "new creatures in Christ Jesus." They realize that "in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing." They are alive in Christ, and have the Spirit of God, which in them is the power of their new life, and to this by faith they live. They "are the true circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3).

In commemoration of this, under the command of God, Joshua takes up twelve stones out of the bed of the river of death, and of them builds a monument in the land. And without orders he voluntarily takes up the same number of stones, each stone representing a tribe, and buries them in the bottom of the river!-a symbol, teaching us the lesson that the flesh is already cut off, judged and condemned in the cross of Christ. It is buried in the depths of the river of death. It is because of this ending of the natural man that "ye must be born again." The former is ended before God, and now there must be a supernatural creation suitable to Him. To enter this a man must be born from above, born from heaven; and this life is by the Holy Ghost. It is a new life, a divine life, an eternal life. The man once in this life "is kept by the power of God, through faith, "unto salvation "(i Pet. 1:5). " My sheep . . . shall never perish" (John 10:27, 28). "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25). "He that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death"-in Adam,-"into life,"-in Christ (John 5:24). "Ye will not come to Me, that ye may have life" (John 5:40) – that is, the new, supernatural, eternal life in Christ. Now is the judgment of this world" said our blessed Saviour, as He was on His way to the cross. All in Adam-the flesh-condemned and set aside! God's testing of the race was finished. Now, out of Christ, all are under the judgment of God. "He that is dead is free from sin" (Rom. 6:2-11). '' Now we have been cleared from the law, having died to that in which we were held (in the flesh) that we should serve in newness of life, and not in the old letter" of the law (Rom. 7:6).

It is a new life that is needed, not simply sins forgiven. " If a law could have been given that would give life, then righteousness would have been by the law." But there could be no righteousness by the law, because of the flesh, "in which no good thing can dwell." " It is enmity against God," and had to be cut off. It is so completely set aside before God that Christians "know no man after the flesh," but only after the Spirit; or, in other words, our spiritual relationships are so far above our natural ones that in a contest we wholly ignore the latter and cleave to the former. See Luke 14:25 to the end of the chapter. The old man is ended.

Not only does circumcision teach us this truth, but baptism itself is a figure of the same. We are dead, and buried with Christ in baptism, and we, Christians, have been raised up by the power of God into the new life of Christ. Now, to faith, we are in Him, and out of the Adam life. Christ is the head of the new creation, as Adam was of the old.

This is the basic truth of true Christianity, which the world's church has lost. It stands on "justification by faith," or the forgiveness of sins, but puts man in the flesh back under law for righteousness; a position in which man has been tested before God for four thousand years, and proved to be utterly incapable of maintaining, because of the bad nature inherited from Adam. If the sins are forgiven today, the evil nature constantly produces more and more, so there is no end to them. But with that nature judged, condemned and set aside in the cross of Christ, we have deliverance from this body of sin in that cross. We are dead with and risen in Him, and thereby know our deliverance. "They that are dead are freed from sin." So, therefore, we reckon ourselves dead indeed to the sin nature and alive unto God in Christ Jesus. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus . . . for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and of death." The law of sin is in our members (Rom. 7:23), and the law of death is in the decalogue; because, in the failure to keep it (an impossible thing for fallen human nature) it slays, or condemns, every man. So, "if Christ be in you, the body is dead, because of sin; but the Spirit is life, because of righteousness." "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh."

May the Holy Spirit of God sanctify or set us apart from the sin-cursed and already judged and condemned world to Himself by the truth. " His Word is truth." J. S. P.

Song 1:7.)

Lord Jesus, draw our hearts to Thee,
And keep them centered there;
That we may see Thy beauty more,
Thou fairest of the fair!

That we may, like the saints of old,
Sing praises, Lord, to Thee;
For Thou hast saved us from the pit
By dying on the tree.

The song begun on earth, O Lord,
Will through eternal years
Burst forth from Thy redeemed ones
To greet Thy holy ears.

Redeemed by Christ-oh, what a thought!-
From hell's dark burning flame,-
Not that alone, but on our brow
He'll write His holy name.

Oh deep, unfathomable grace,
We shall be pure as He!
And with Him share His glorious throne
Through all eternity!

C. W.

The world has but little use for a man who says this. The spirit of the world is the opposite of that of a little child. The truly childlike spirit which Christ commends and with which God is pleased is conscious of its own weakness, and has confidence in the strength of others-in the mother's love and care. Conscious weakness and confidence in God are two precious possessions which are linked up with the character of the little child. The great need of the child of God is summed up in these two expressions. To be conscious of our own weakness does away with a host of evils which assail the believer. When are we really strong ? Paul will tell you:"When I am weak, then am I strong."

This, then, is the true secret of strength. It is to be in our own eyes what we are in God's eyes, to see ourselves, in some measure, as He sees us; taking the creature place,-the place of a sinful creature saved by grace. Sin has taken man out of his true place, has made him independent of God, has deceived him into imagining he is strong. This we see on every hand; men are fast getting ready to measure their strength against that of Christ.

Coupled with pride is distrust of God. Men do not really believe that God is good. They trust in themselves, and distrust Him. They justify themselves, and condemn Him. In the light of God's holiness and man's sinfulness how awful this appears -a sinful creature judging and condemning a holy God ! A rebellious creature pitting its strength against the Creator! These two sins, pride and unbelief, specially characterize fallen man.

When we are brought to God, when He saves us from our sins, we are to be just the opposite of this. Conscious weakness-humility-confidence in God-faith-these characterize the believer in Christ. But the flesh is still there, pride and unbelief are not destroyed, and every child of God has to grow and increase in these two especially, thus becoming more and more like the little child.

As our lives pass here, we should be losing confidence in ourselves and gaining confidence in God. We can never get to the end of this. We learn more of ourselves, more of God. To know ourselves is to distrust ourselves. To know God is to trust Him. When we see one with great confidence in himself, we may be sure he does not .know himself. When one has great confidence in God, it is proof that he knows God.

These two things, then, should be before the Christian-to learn his own weakness, and to learn to know God. We can desire and pray for nothing better. It is so good to be able to say in our hearts before God, " I am but a little child." We are back in our true place when we can say this. It is the place of rest. The wicked have no rest, because they have no confidence in God, they have not submitted to Him, they are His enemies. What an immense difference between regarding God as an enemy and regarding Him as a little child does its mother. The enmity gone; love takes its place. The doubt and distrust displaced by confidence and faith.

With the consciousness of weakness and the confidence in God comes submission to Him. We cannot yield to Him as we should until we have come to know that our way is seldom or never the best way, and that His way for us is certain to be the best. And this is another thing to pray for:"Lord, have Thy way with me." Then we come to desire that He should have His way with us in all things. Then we are obedient children, and God can use us. He can bless us according to His own purposes of love. How good it is to learn to say, "I am but a little child "! J. W. N.