Our attention has been called to a sentence quoted from our beloved F. W. G. in an article in this magazine entitled"Covet earnestly the best Gifts" (November, 1901, page 298)-"The eternal life that is in us seems to be susceptible of weakness and decay like any other life." Some have seemed to think that our brother was not clear as to the nature of eternal life, and others have sought to make capital out of this by printing the sentence as a proof that he taught that the believer could lose his eternal life. It is hardly necessary to remind saints that no one taught more constantly and consistently the exact opposite of this. Whatever the sentence may mean, it does not mean, and was not intended to mean, that the life of the believer was not eternally secure.

But what did he mean ? A glance at the connection will show. He is quoting the thoughts of a discouraged one. "The body of Christ!-but what is a body of which the members are scattered here and there, and hardly anything of the form remains as Scripture shows it ? " Does any one believe that our brother was teaching that the body of Christ had ceased to exist because of the ruin of the professing Church ? This is the connection in which the sentence occurs quoted above. In immediate connection with it he says, " It requires the power of the Spirit of God to lift one up to face that which is seen with the brighter reality of that which is unseen." That which is seen is an apparently dismembered body of Christ, apparently enfeebled and decaying eternal life. He says, "seems" But, thank God, the reality abides, and the way our brother puts it ought to emphasize this.

We trust that this will be sufficient for those in any way troubled by a misapprehension of our brother's teaching, and "cut off occasion from them who desire occasion " to suggest that he had given up one |of the most important truths of the word of God.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ"-the last message communicated to " His servants" (Chap. 1:i)-after the usual salutation, begins with the announcement, "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so; Amen." We should expect, then, that this last message of the Lord Jesus Christ would have to do with the great fact of His coming, and the events closely preceding His advent as Judge. Ephesus, Pergamos and Sardis are warned of it (chap. 2:5, 16; 3:3); a remnant in Thyatira comforted (chap. 2:25); Philadelphia both warned and comforted (chap. 3:ii); while Laodicea will be spued out of His mouth at His coming-publicly disowned and rejected! (vers. 15, 16).

To Philadelphia He says, "Behold, I come quickly."

Then, in the last part of the book, He again exclaims, with a blessing, "Behold, I come quickly:blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book" (chap. 22:7); and again, with a warning, "And, behold, I come quickly" (ver. 12).

Finally,-and the very last words of the Lord Jesus from heaven, which closes the sum of all His communications to men by revelation and prophecy, -canonically completing the Holy Scriptures,-He says:"Surely I come quickly." To which the apostle John adds, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus " (chap. 22:20).

Did it ever strike you, reader, that this event must therefore be that which the Church is to look and pray for? What were His last words ? "Surely, I come quickly." Would you not think that "His servants" would treasure the memory of His last utterance ? Would you not think that as He closes the last book, reminding His people of His coming, that is the thing, and the principal thing, He would have them thinking and talking about ?-this, of course, as concerning themselves and His desire for them. Would you not think that this would be constantly borne witness to ?

He says:" I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches " (chap. 22:16). How would the Holy Spirit teach the Bride to pray ?-what would He teach her to say ? (the Bride is the Church, of course)-" The Spirit and the Bride say, Come" (ver. 17). To whom is this prayer voiced? To "the bright and Morning Star" (ver. 16), the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Himself.

Do you hear Christians pray that way ? Do you pray so ? You will, if taught of the Holy Spirit. .

"And let him that heareth say, Come." This is the personal desire of the Bride when her affections are stirred. But will she become selfish, and think only of her own rapture ? Will she not turn about, in the warmth of her firs

The psalmist says, "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death ? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? " (Ps. 89:48). That every man must die was the common belief in that day as in this. That such is not the case is, however, an absolute certainty on the authority of the word of God. There had been no revelation to the contrary in the psalmist's day; therefore we can easily understand his queries as quoted above. There has now been a revelation on the subject vouchsafed to us in the written Word, so that what was a mystery has been explained and made clear to us; yet, alas, most Christians are in utter ignorance of it still, though possessors of Bibles which make it known. Let us see if we can gather up a few thoughts as to this most important subject.

The apostle says:" Behold, I show you a mystery:We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump," etc. (i Cor. 15:51-58). We shall note seven things connected with this explained mystery. May they carry blessing to both writer and reader of these lines.

(1) We have the certainty of it set forth in the words "shall" and "must." We shall all be changed. The trumpet shall sound. The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. How very wonderful! "We shall not all sleep." Sleep here is used for death. The Lord said to His disciples, " Lazarus sleepeth;" and they thought He meant taking of rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead" (John 11:14). Now, Scripture says "we shall not all sleep," or die ; so that the common thought is an erroneous one. Current teaching says "we must all die;" Scripture says No; "we shall not all die." There was one man in the past who did not die-Enoch. And it is very remarkable that he lived before the flood, and walked with God in the midst of that state of things which called for the flood, yet God took him away without seeing death, before the flood came.

Well, then, if one man could go to heaven without dying, other men can do the same; and that is exactly what Scripture says will be the case. Instead of dying, those who are Christ's will be changed at His coming, and, with the dead in Christ who are raised at the same time, they will all be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so be ever with the Lord.(See i Thess. 4:16, 18).It is an absolute certainty; the Lord has said it. He told it to Paul in order that he should tell it to us. The mystery has been explained and communicated, and that settles it. Men may cavil, or sneer, or refuse to accept it; but it matters not if the thing is a certainty, and any moment the Lord's people may be '' caught up."Well may the apostle, in writing to Titus, call it "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13).

(2) The extent of it. Whom does it embrace ? It embraces those that are Christ's-all of them-the living and the dead-all the saints from Abel, down the stream of time, till the event takes place-all of them; not one left; not one missing; not one refused. "They that are Christ's, at His coming" (ver. 23). The first fruits-Christ-has been gathered; afterward the whole crop in the field, and not a grain left or lost, "at His coming."

Beware of the unscriptural idea that only those who are looking for Him will be taken, and the rest left to go through the tribulation-a most Christ-dishonoring doctrine! The dead in Christ are to rise first. Now multitudes of them never knew anything about the Lord's coming; yet they had Bibles and privileges as we have. Are they, then, to be left in their graves till after the tribulation ? Or, by what process of reasoning is a difference to be made between them and saints living now, yet in the same condition as they before they died ? Are all the dead in Christ to rise first ? Most assuredly. Then all the living must just as assuredly be changed when the Lord comes for His own. As I have noted, the first fruits have been gathered. Then the whole crop in the field is gathered at His coming, and not a grain left or lost.

(3) The suddenness of it. " In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." How marvelous! The world will be going on; not jogging on, but rushing on at lightning speed, faster than ever, with less time than ever to devote to their souls' interests, business and pleasure demanding every moment, when they will be startled for the moment, in their insensate rush to eternity, by the announcement in large capitals in the newspapers :'' Remarkable Disappearance of a number of religious people!" or some such heading, and the 'admission that it has not yet been accounted for. There will be, alas, many homes where there will not be found one saint to be reckoned as missing, and so the newspapers will be the medium to give them the information.

On the other hand, there will be many homes where one or more will be taken and others left. Awful word-left! No hope for them afterward, the door of salvation closed forever for them, and only a question of time when their Christless indifference will give place to awful and hopeless remorse.

" In a moment." No warning note sounded; no bugle-call to prepare-"in a moment." The saints are already prepared. They are washed in the blood of Christ. They are meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. They are all ready, and waiting for the shout. Then, suddenly, what they have waited for so long will take place-the last trump will sound, and " in the twinkling of an eye " they will be gone.

(4) The time of it. At the last trump. This is not to be understood as the last trump that will ever sound, or at the last day, as it is termed. It is supposed to be a Roman figure. Paul often uses them in his writings. Saints in those days were familiar with them. It is said there were three trumpet-calls in the Roman army. First, was to strike tents; and the men took down their tents. Second, was to fall in; and they fell into their ranks, ready to march. The third was called "the last trump," and was- March!

It is really a very beautiful figure. The Lord's people are supposed to be all ready, and just waiting for the last trump; and the moment it sounds, they march. March, did I say ? Ah no! No marching -no flying, even – but "caught up!" The same mighty power that saved and kept us will "change these bodies of humiliation, and fashion them like unto His body of glory" (Phil. 3:21), and catch us up and away from this scene to be forever with the Lord.

(5) The result of it. Death is swallowed up in victory. What a result! Death has claimed its millions since sin began its reign, and only two that we know of ever escaped it-Enoch and Elijah. But, blessed be God, the Son of His love came into the scene, and robbed death of its sting. He lay in the arms of death, but He is risen. His victory is so complete that when the time comes He will swallow up mortality in life. Death will be robbed of its prey and swallowed up in victory. Millions will be changed and not die. Blessed be God for such a victory, and certain to be accomplished.
(6) The triumph because of it. Well may the saints sing, " O death, where is thy sting ?O grave, where is thy victory ? "It is the shout of triumph. Listen, and let death and the grave make answer. Death says, I have no sting; I buried it in the heart of the Son of God when He died upon the cross. The grave says, I have no victory. I thought I had, but the Son of God broke my fetters and snapped all my bonds, and rose again from among the dead and robbed me of my victory. "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is law," which forbids it, but only aggravates it b)' acting on a corrupt nature which is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be (Rom. 8:7); but the question both of sin and law has been forever settled at the cross of Christ, and the believer forever freed from their dominion.

(7) The present and final victory on account of it. "Thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"-a present victory over sin and law through association with Christ in His death and resurrection and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; and by and by the final victory over death itself at the coming of the Lord, when death is swallowed up in victory. What a blessed hope! What wonderful blessings! What grace to make them all known to us! "Hallelujah, what a Saviour!" May He Himself so command the affections of our hearts that we shall be ever on the alert, and breathing out continually,

"Come, Lord, come. We wait for Thee.
We listen still for Thy returning.
Thy loveliness we long to see;
For Thee the lamp of hope is burning.
Come, Lord, come."

W. E.

New Zealand

We continue during the present month our reading of the prophet Jeremiah-the last half of the book, from Chap. 32:to the end. Here we have the promise of future recovery, spoken of in the thirtieth chapter, reiterated. Under the striking figure of buying a field, the right to redeem which belonged to him, the prophet foretells how all the land would one day be restored to God's people. Chap. 33:renews these promises of recovery, and introduces (which is not very prominent in Jeremiah) the rule of the house of David, and blessedness through the Messiah. In Chap. 23:6 we find the title " The Lord our Righteousness" given to Christ; here the same title is given to the people of God.

A striking feature of this part of the book is the mingling of the prophet's experience with his predictions. It is the last days of the nation's existence before the captivity. In fact, the prophet is one of those in the city when it is taken. There is an utter heartlessness in rulers and people up to the last, any outward signs of yielding on the part of the king being quickly checked by the princes. The prophet's position was entirely a painful and distressing one, and tested him greatly. There is no gleam of hope in people or king, but faith in the midst of absolute ruin can stay itself upon the sure word of God.

We are permitted to follow the fortunes of a little handful left in the land, and with, we might say, still an opportunity to cleave to God and own Him. Alas, these are scattered, and we find a handful-apostate and defiant in Egypt, against the direct command of God. There is much searching truth here for a remnant in any time of ruin, like the present, in these chapters.

Prediction of judgment upon the nations is also given.

The prophet Daniel comes next in order, both morally and in point of time. The scene is changed to the Gentiles here, Israel being in captivity. But God meets faith wherever He finds it, and in Daniel and his friends we find that individual faithfulness which should have been present in the nation as a whole.

Significantly, in this book of Gentile glory, we have again and again, both in vision and direct prediction, the downfall of the proud Gentile power, represented by Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and the setting up of God's kingdom with His earthly people on a basis of permanent peace and blessing, through Christ.

This book gives more definite and complete outlines of prophetic truth. It supplies the framework into which all other prophecy finds its place.

Continuing in what we may call historical order, we have the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These recount the return of a remnant to Jerusalem at the end of the seventy years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah (see, also, Daniel 9:). Under Ezra the temple is rebuilt and divine worship resumed. But things were in a very disordered state until Nehemiah comes, and through his agency the wall is rebuilt around the city and separation and government maintained.

But we must remember, even this partial and feeble recovery was by sufferance of their Gentile masters. The Jews never regained their status as a nation. That and all other blessing for them waits until He comes whose right it is to rule.

As in Daniel, these two books have much that is most helpful and suggestive to any company of people living in remnant days.

Gen. 12:8.

The seven lives of Genesis present to us in a very beautiful way the development of the Christ-image in the child of God. We find in Abram the foundation principle of the spiritual life, that of faith. We see how at the very commencement it gives the pilgrim character, and how also trials accompany the way, that the faith possessed may be found to praise and glory and honor.

The exercise of faith is easily recognized in Abram's obedience to the call of God, and we see it in further exercise in the dwelling-place that he takes. It is this which we have before us in this passage. He removes from Haran "unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east." This is the dwelling-place faith takes up when entering in upon the possession of the promised inheritance.

It should be full of meaning for us, since we are called with the same purpose, that of possessing ourselves of the spiritual inheritance of which Canaan is' the type. We have a wide field to cover with our operations, in order that the full blessedness of what we have been called to may be possessed by us. Therefore it is of great importance that we should take up the proper position from which to direct out activities in taking possession.

First of all, we notice that it is to a mountain Abram goes to find his dwelling-place. Faith, when in activity, always rises to the source from whence it flows. As the gift of God, it finds its rise and flow in Him. It ever takes the highest altitude. But it is more particularly what is mentioned as to the location of this mountain, where faith as typified in Abram takes up its abode, that I had before me. We are carefully called to note that the mountain on which Abram pitches his tent is located between Bethel and Ai; and, furthermore, the specific directions of their relative positions to his abode is particularly stated. We can, thank God, seek fullest meaning in every uttered word of His, for " man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

The first point that we have is, '' Bethel to the west." We find that the four winds, and the four directions from which they come as characterized by them, speak of the conflict and unrest of this fallen creation. The west is literally "toward the sea." And the sea always in Scripture speaks to us of the ceaseless trouble and restlessness of this evil scene. Away from the one Source of rest and blessing-God Himself-only the opposite can, of necessity, ensue- a scene characterized by the conflicts of man's evil will! Nevertheless, from the west come the winds laden with the moisture that revives and refreshes the earth, clearly speaking of those influences of delight and pleasure that men find, coming even though they do from a fallen and ruined creation. Men still seek the temporary refreshment they give-a season of passing enjoyment. And it is these influences which play with the greatest power and best success upon the child of God. How easily (can we not all give our assent to it ?) are we lured from the narrow path by present advantages and opportunities which will yield some passing joy and pleasure, or make the path easier and less rough for our feet to tread! Those things that gladden the heart of the natural man-can we not say they often appeal to us in our wilderness pathway ? Ah yes ! how often can we witness to it, can we not, beloved ? And how often, too, have we been drawn away, if not in deed, dare we say not in thought ?

What is it, then, that we have over against the west and its alluring influences ? It is Bethel. How sweet that is, "the house of God"! And what does that speak to us of ? It tells of His presence, and of our abiding in the sanctuary. Is it not just this that we need if we are to overcome those subtle devices of the enemy which he presents to us in the way of which the west speaks. It is the abiding in His presence, making the sanctuary our dwelling-place, that enables us to see the utter emptiness of all this world at its very best. We can, as it were, look down from our place in fellowship with the Father and the Son, the mountain height where faith abides, and in this way gain the victory over it. What is all that the world can give, with its glory and power, compared with what is ours, blessed in Christ with all spiritual blessings ? Shall we not count all else but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord ? Surely, when the infinite treasuries of the wealth of God are open to us, we have all, and abound. We glory only in the cross of Christ, through which our every blessing comes, and it has annulled the world, so that the victory which now overcomes it is our faith-the faith we have in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the second place, we have "Ai to the east." The east would seem to bring before us the thought of opposition, of the enemy's work in the way of enmity and hatred. The original form of the word really means, "what is toward you," in a hostile manner. So that it would signify the opposition of the world, and of Satan through it. It speaks to us of what so often brings the cry of discouragement to the lips, and makes the heart sick-the bitter and hostile assault of the enemy by the many agencies at his command in this world. His darts are ever ready to bring us down, if we do not continually seek the grace that is alone sufficient for the path we tread.

But what is the reckoning of faith, and the position it takes, which gains the victory over this side of things ? Is it not what Ai speaks of, "ruins" ? The counting of this world as condemned and judged- yea, in the very ruins of its judgment! Surely this is what gives us power to stand against all the influences of hostility and hatred which the world has for those who will follow their rejected Master. The reckoning by faith of God's estimate of this scene gives power over it. The east wind is the dry and arid desert wind which withers and parches the earth; and how apt an illustration of the effect and result upon the spiritual life of these contrary influences of which the east speaks, unless they are met in the spirit of which Ai reminds us-the world seen in the ruins of its condemnation and judgment under His hand who is leading us to our home in His glory!

How blessed a position is presented to us in the dwelling Abram takes up, and how sweet to see that after his failure in going down to Egypt he comes back '' unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai"! Faith must ever revert to its stronghold. Notice, too, that it is when dwelling here that Abram is the worshiper. At the very first he builds his altar and calls on the name of Jehovah, but during his wanderings in the south country we do not hear of him doing this; not until he comes back to his former position do we read of him worshiping at the altar again. Surely, as we take in the complete emptiness of this world, and the ruin it is in, and then turn from it to the '' house of God," with all its infinite fulness of joy and blessing, our hearts well up with gratitude to our God. The sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving rise up to Him in the fragrance of the name of Christ.

Finally, what a view Abram is called to take in from this position of his. After Lot's separation from him, he is bidden to, "look from the place in which thou art (this very mountain), northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land on which thou art looking, to thee will I give it, and to thy Seed (Christ was linked with His people) forever-typical of the sight which faith gets of those blessings Christ has made our own in the spiritual Canaan. The whole realm of the unsearchable riches of Christ is spread out before us, for faith to enter into.

May God iii His grace lead us to fully take up our abode in this position between Bethel and Ai, and from it, like Abram, to take in a full view of the inheritance we have been given, that, realizing it thus by faith, we may be able to arise and walk through it, in its length and breadth; for, says He, "I will give it unto thee." J. B. Jr.

Christianity brings us directly, immediately to God. Each individual is directly, immediately in relationship to God,-his conscience before God, his heart confidingly in His presence. Judasim had a priesthood, the people could not go into God's presence. They might receive blessings, offer offerings, celebrate God's goodness, have a law to command them; but the way into the holiest was closed by a veil:'' the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest." When the Lord Jesus died, this veil was rent from top to bottom, and "we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated through the veil, that is to say, His flesh,"-"having made peace by the blood of His cross." "He suffered, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God;" "His blood cleanseth from all sin." Hence the essence of Christianity, as applied to man, is, that the Christian goes himself, directly, personally to God-in Christ's name, and through Christ-but himself into the holiest, and with boldness. He has by Christ access through the one Spirit to the Father, the Spirit of adoption. This being brought nigh by the blood of Jesus characterizes Christianity in its nature. The holiness of God's own presence is brought to bear on the soul:"If we walk," it is said, "in the light, as He is in the light,"-yet not as fear, which repels, for we know perfect love through the gift of Jesus. We have boldness to enter into the holiest, that place where the presence of God Himself assures that the confidence of love will be the adoration of reverence while we go forth to the world; that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal body, the epistle (as it is said) of Christ. I am not discussing how far each Christian realizes it, but this is what Christianity practically is. He has made us kings and priests to God and His Father. This elevates truly.

Man is not elevated by intellectual pretensions; for he never gets, nor can get, beyond himself. What elevates him is heart-intercourse with what is above him; what truly elevates him is heart-intercourse with God, fellowship (wondrous word!) with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. But, even where the heart has not found its blessed home there through grace, this principle morally elevates; for it at least puts the natural conscience directly before God, and refers the soul, in its estimate of
good and evil, personally and immediately to Him. There may be self-will and failure, but the standard of responsibility is preserved for the soul. J. N. D.

There are three forms of expression used by the inspired apostle in Rom. 3:and 4:which should be carefully pondered. In chap. 3:26, he speaks of "believing in Jesus."In chap. 4:5, he speaks of "believing in Him that justifieth the ungodly."And, ver. 24, he speaks of "believing in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

Now, there is no distinction in Scripture without a difference; and when we see a distinction it is our business to inquire as to the difference. What, then, is the difference between believing in Jesus, and believing in Him that raised up Jesus ? We believe it to be this. We may often find souls who are really looking to Jesus and believing in Him, and yet they have, deep down in their hearts a sort of dread of meeting God. It is not that they doubt their salvation, or that they are not really saved. By no means. They are saved, inasmuch as they are looking to Christ, by faith, and all who so look are saved in Him with an everlasting salvation. All this is most blessedly true:but still there is this latent fear or dread of God, and a shrinking from death. They know that Jesus is friendly to them, inasmuch as He died for them; but they do not see so clearly the friendship of God.

Hence it is that we find so many of God's people in uncertainty- and spiritual distress. Their faith has not yet laid hold of God as the One who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. They are not quite sure of how it may go with them. At times they are happy, because by virtue of the new nature, of which they are assuredly the partakers, they get occupied with Christ:but at times they are miserable, because they begin to look at themselves, and they do not see God as their Justifier, and as the One who has condemned sin in the flesh. They are thinking of God as a Judge with whom some question still remains to be settled. They feel as if God's eye were resting on their indwelling sin, and as if they had, in some way or other, to dispose of that question with God.

Thus it is, we feel persuaded, with hundreds of the true saints of God. They do not see God as the Condemner of sin in Christ on the cross, and the Justifier of the believing sinner in Christ rising from the dead. They are looking to Christ on the cross to screen them from God as a Judge, instead of looking to God as a Justifier, in raising up Christ from the dead. Jesus was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. Our sins are forgiven; our indwelling sin, or evil nature, is condemned! and set aside. It has no existence before God. It is in us, but He sees us only in a risen Christ.

What a sweet relief to a heart bowed down under a sense of indwelling sin, and not knowing what to do with it! What solid peace and comfort flow into the soul when I see God condemning my sin in the cross, and justifying me in a risen Christ! Where are my sins ? Blotted out. Where is my sin 1 Condemned and set aside. Where am I ? Justified and accepted in a risen Christ. I am brought to God without a single cloud or misgiving.

I am not afraid of my Justifier. I confide in Him, love Him, and adore Him. I joy in God, and rejoice in hope of His glory.

Thus, then, we have, in some measure, cleared the way for the believer to approach the subject of the judgment-seat of Christ, as set forth in ver. 10 of our chapter, which we shall here quote at length, in order that the reader may have the subject fully before him in the veritable language of inspiration. " For we must all appear (or rather, be manifested) before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

Now there is, in reality, no difficulty or ground of perplexity here. All we need is to look at the matter from a divine standpoint, and with a simple mind, in order to see it clearly. This is true in reference to every subject treated of in the word of God, and specially so as to the point now before us. We have no doubt whatever that the real secret of the difficulty felt by so many in respect to the question of the judgment seat of Christ is self-occupation. Hence it is we so often hear such questions as the following, " Can it be possible that all our sins, all our failures, all our infirmities, all our naughty and foolish ways, shall be published, in the presence of assembled myriads, before the judgment-seat of Christ ?"

Well, then, in the first place, we have to remark that Scripture says nothing of the kind. The passage before us, which contains the great, broad statement of the truth on this weighty subject, simply declares that " we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ." But how shall we be manifested ? Assuredly, as we are. But how is that? As God's workmanship-as perfectly righteous, and perfectly holy, and perfectly accepted in the Person of that very One who shall sit on the judgment-seat, and who Himself bore in His own body on the tree all the judgment due to us, and made a full end of the entire system in which we stood. All that which, as sinners, we had to meet, Christ met in our stead. Our sins He bore; our sin He was condemned for. He stood in our stead and answered all responsibilities which rested upon us as men alive in the flesh, as members of the first man, as standing on the old creation-ground. The Judge Himself is our righteousness. We are in Him. All that we are and all that we have, we owe it to Him and to His perfect work. If we, as sinners, had to meet Christ as a Judge, escape were utterly impossible; but, inasmuch as He is our righteousness, condemnation is utterly impossible. In short, the matter is reversed. The atoning death and triumphant resurrection of our Divine Substitute have completely changed everything, so that the effect of the judgment-seat of Christ will be to make manifest that there is not, and cannot be, a single stain or spot on that workmanship of God which the saint is declared to be.

But, then, let us ask, Whence this dread of having all our naughtiness exposed at the judgment-seat of Christ ? Does not He know all about us ? Are we more afraid of being manifested to the gaze of men and angels than to the gaze of our blessed and adorable Lord ? If we are manifested to Him, what matters it to whom beside we are known ? How far are Peter and David and many others affected by the fact that untold millions have read the record of their sins, and that the record thereof has been stereotyped on the page of inspiration ? Will it prevent their sweeping the strings of the ' golden harp, or casting their crowns before the feet of Him whose precious blood has obliterated for ever all their sins, and brought them, without spot, into the full blaze of the throne of God ? Assuredly not. Why then need any be troubled by the thought of their being thoroughly manifested before the judgment seat of Christ? Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? May we not safely leave all in the hands of Him who has loved us and washed us in His own blood ? Cannot we trust ourselves implicitly to the One who loved us with such a love ? Will He expose us ? Will He-can He, do aught inconsistent with the love that led Him to give His precious life for us ? Will the Head expose the body, or any member thereof? Will the Bridegroom expose the bride? Yes, He will, in one sense. But how ? He will publicly set forth, in view of all created intelligences, that there is not a speck or a flaw, a spot or wrinkle, or any. such thing, to be seen upon that Church which He loved with a love that many waters could not quench.

Ah! Christian reader, dost thou not see how that nearness to the heart of Christ, as well as the knowledge of His perfect work, would completely roll away the mists which enwrap the subject of the judgment-seat? If thou art washed from thy sins in the blood of Jesus, and loved by God as Jesus is loved, what reason hast thou to fear that judgment-seat, or to shrink from the thought of being manifested before it? None whatever. Nothing can possibly come up there to alter thy standing, to touch thy relationship, to blot thy title, or cloud thy prospect. Indeed we are fully persuaded that the light of the judgment-seat will chase away many of the clouds that have obscured the mercy-seat. Many, when they come to stand before that judgment-seat, will wonder why they ever feared it for themselves. They will see their mistake and adore the grace that has been so much better than all their legal fears. Many who have hardly ever been able to read their title here, will read it there, and rejoice and wonder-they will love and worship. They will then see, in broad daylight, what poor, feeble, shallow, unworthy thoughts they had once entertained of the love of Christ, and of the true character of His work. They will perceive how sadly prone they ever were to measure Him by themselves, and to think and feel as if His thoughts and ways were like their own. All this will be seen in the light of that day, and then the burst of praise-the rapturous hallelujah-will come forth from many a heart that, when down here, had been robbed of its peace and joy by legal and unworthy thoughts of God and His Christ.

But, while it is divinely true that nothing can come out before the judgment-seat of Christ to disturb, in any way, the standing or relationship of the very feeblest member of the body of Christ, or of any member of the family of God, yet is the thought of that judgment most solemn and weighty. Yes, truly, and none will more feel its weight and solemnity than those who can look forward to it with perfect calmness. And be it well remembered, that there are two things indispensably needful in order to enjoy this calmness of spirit. First, we must have a title without a blot; and, secondly, our moral and practical state must be sound. No amount of mere evangelical clearness as to our title will avail unless we are walking in moral integrity before God. It will not do for a man to say that he is not afraid of the judgment-seat of Christ because Christ died for him, while, at the same time, he is walking in a loose, careless, self-indulgent way. This is a most dreadful delusion. It is alarming in the extreme to find persons drawing a plea from evangelical clearness to shrink the holy responsibility resting upon them as the servants of Christ. Are we to speak idle words because we know we shall never come into judgment? The bare thought is horrible; and yet we may shrink from such a thing when clothed in plain language before us, while, at the same time, we allow ourselves to be drawn, through a false application of the doctrines of grace, into most culpable laxity and carelessness as to the claims of holiness.

All this must be sedulously avoided. The grace that has delivered us from judgment should exert a more powerful influence upon our ways than the fear of that judgment. And not only so, but we must remember that while we, as sinners, are delivered from judgment and wrath, yet, as servants, we must give account of ourselves and our ways. It is not a question of our being exposed here or there to men, angels, or devils. No; " we must give account to God" (Rom. 14:11, 12). This is far more serious, far more weighty, far more influential, than our being exposed in the view of any creature. "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done:and there is no respect of persons" (Col. 3:23-25).
This is most serious and salutary. It may be asked, "When shall we have to give account to God ? When shall we receive for the wrong ?" We are not told, because that is not the question. The grand object of the Holy Ghost in the passages just quoted is to lead the conscience into holy exercise in the presence of God and of the Lord Christ. This is good and most needful in a day of easy profession, like the present, when there is much said about grace, free salvation, justification without works, our standing in Christ. Is it that we want to weaken the sense of these things? Far be the thought. Yea, we would, in every possible way, seek to lead souls into the divine knowledge and enjoyment of those most precious privileges. But then we must remember the adjusting power of truth. There are always two sides to a question, and we find in the pages of the New Testament the clearest and fullest statements of grace, lying side by side with the most solemn and searching statements as to our responsibility. Do the latter obscure the former? Assuredly not. Neither should the former weaken the latter. Both should have their due place, and be allowed to exert their moulding influence upon our character and ways.

Some professors seem to have a great dislike to the words " duty " and " responsibility ;" but we invariably find that those who have the deepest sense of grace have also, and as a necessary consequence, the truest sense of duty and responsibility. We know of no exception. A heart that is duly influenced by divine grace is sure to welcome every reference to the claims of holiness. It is only empty talkers about grace and standing that raise an outcry about duty and responsibility. God deals in moral realities. He is real with us, and He wants us to be real with Him. He is real in His love, and real in His faithfulness; and He would have us real in our dealings with Him, and in our response to His holy claims. It is of little use to say " Lord, Lord" if we live in the neglect of His commandments. It is the merest sham to say "I go sir" if we do not go. God looks for obedience in His children. " He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

May we bear these things in mind, and remember that all must come out before the judgment-seat of Christ. "We must all be manifested" there. This is unmingled joy to a really upright mind. If we do not unfeignedly rejoice at the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ, there must be something wrong somewhere. Either we are not established in grace, or we are walking in some false way. If we know that we are justified and accepted before God in Christ, and if we are walking in moral integrity, as in His presence, the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ will not disturb our hearts. The apostle could say, "We are made manifest to God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." Was Paul afraid of the judgment-seat ? Not he. But why ? Because he knew that he was accepted, as to his person, in a risen Christ; and, as to his ways, he "labored that whether present or absent he might be acceptable to Him." Thus it was with this holy man of God and devoted servant of Christ. " And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men" (Acts 24:16). Paul knew that he was accepted in Christ, and therefore he labored to be acceptable to Him in all his ways.

These two things should never be separated, and they never will be in any divinely taught mind or divinely regulated conscience. They will be perfectly joined together, and, in holy harmony, exert their formative power over the soul. It should be our aim to walk, even now, in the light of the judgment-seat. This would prove a wholesome regulator in many ways. It will not, in any wise, lead to legality of spirit. Impossible. Shall we have any legality when we stand before the judgment-seat of Christ? Assuredly not. Well, then, why should the thought of that judgment-seat exert a legal influence now ? In point of fact, we feel assured there is, and can be, no greater joy to an honest heart than to know that everything shall come clearly and fully out, in the perfect light of that solemn day that is approaching. We shall see all then as Christ sees it – judge of it as He judges. We shall look back from amid the blaze of divine light shining from the judgment-seat, and see our whole course in this world. We shall see what blunders we have made-how badly we did this, that, and the other work-mixed motives here-an under current there-a false object in something else. All will be seen then in divine truth and light. Is it a question of our being exposed to the whole universe ? By no means. Should we be concerned, whether or no ? Certainly not. Will it, can it, touch our acceptance ? Nay, we shall shine there in all the perfectness of our risen and glorified Head. The Judge Himself is our righteousness. We stand in Him. He is our all. What can touch us? We shall appear there as the fruit of His perfect work. We shall even be associated with Him in the judgment which He executes over the world. C. H. M.

Frankincense gives forth its sweetness
Most when tested by the flame;
So each trial moulds to meetness,
Every child who bears My Name,
Through the heart's deep exercise,
Tho' with many tears and sighs.

So, whate'er of earthly sorrow
May be woven with thy bliss,
Patient wait, the bright to-morrow
Surely will reveal thee this:
That in love I chastened thee,
That thou might'st be more like Me.

H. McD.

"My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; when it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place " (Isa. 32:18, 19). In this chapter we have the blessed results of Christ's reign depicted. '' Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness . . . and a Man shall be as an, hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." How blessedly has "the Man Christ Jesus" opened, through His own pierced side, a hiding place from the storm of divine judgment, a covert from the tempest of that wrath and indignation which shall ' overtake the despisers and rejectors of His mercy; and how blessedly true it is that for those who are sheltered thus by Him, rivers of refreshing flow forth into the dry places of this life, making the desert to blossom as the rose, and the cool shadow of that great Rock gives rest in this weary land where still we wait for final rest! This is a spiritual application of that which directly refers to millennial blessing for the remnant and the restored nation of Israel. We would not, nor can we, rob them of that which shall be theirs in the coming day of blessing for God's earthly people. It is ours already in anticipation to enter into the enjoyment spiritually of that which shall be also visibly theirs.

These words have a direct and most blessed application to Israel, but this does not in the least mar their application in a spiritual way to ourselves. Everything rests upon the work of righteousness, that work of righteousness of which the Cross forms the basis and is the highest exhibition. Peace was made by the blood of His Cross, and He shall reign over His redeemed people and a ransomed earth on the ground of the work of righteousness accomplished upon Calvary. This work is peace, "peace to him that is afar off and to them that are nigh," a peace which can never be marred. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."And the effect of this act of righteousness is quietness of soul. No more trembling, no more doubting, fears banished forever. Oh, the quietness that has come in after the storm, for those who have believed in this finished work of righteousness! And assurance forever-an assurance that is grounded upon the word of God who cannot lie; therefore which, not depending upon our changing feelings or anything in ourselves, abides forevermore. What a comfort it is when His people turn from all else to this blessed effect of righteousness, finding in it indeed an all-sufficient ground of peace and blessing!

And now we are told of the blessed results of this:'' My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places." Notice, first of all, the abiding character of all blessing here. It is not a tarrying place, but a habitation, a dwelling, a resting-place. Hail may come down 'upon the forest, the city may lie desolate, man's city with all its boasted greatness and splendor be overthrown, but the dwelling place of the people of God rests upon an eternal foundation. It is a peaceable habitation. Looking very simply at these three expressions for a moment, we can gather from them that which should characterize the believer in his present life here.

First of all, there is peace. This we have already glanced at as the work of righteousness and its effect. Who can over-estimate the blessedness of this peaceable habitation. The dwelling in Egypt, sprinkled with the -blood of the passover-lamb was a peaceable habitation. Judgment raged without. It would never enter there. The blood spoke of judgment already visited upon a substitute, the lamb without blemish, so that now that habitation which otherwise would have been a house of mourning has become a house of feasting. The palace of Pharaoh was not a peaceable habitation, nor the hovel of the beggar. There was no difference between high and low on that awful night in Egypt. There was not a house where there was not one dead, save in those habitations sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. And oh, what rest of soul it is to remember, as we tarry in this world, that we are safe sheltered by the precious blood of Christ, our habitation is a peaceable one! It may not be, and probably is not, a home of wealth and luxury. That which the world calls pleasure may be and should be largely excluded from it. It may be but a humble cottage, and yet it is a peaceable habitation, for are not those who dwell beneath its roof sheltered safe from all wrath and judgment? "My people." This can be said of no other people. Do we not thank God that we are amongst His people ?

And then these are sure dwellings. They are not only dwellings where wrath cannot enter, but where those who abide there have the assurance of their safety. It would have been a reproach upon God, it would have been a tacit denial of the truth of His Word, had an Israelite trembled as he waited in the land of Egypt during that fateful night. It would not have been humility, but presumption for him to have said:" I hope all is well." If the blood of the passover-lamb had been sprinkled upon the doorposts, he could say:"I have a sure dwelling place, secured to me by the unfailing word of God, on the ground of His sacrifice." And so now the believer who trembles, who fears lest after all God may not be as good as His word, is really, in the solemn language of the apostle, making Him a liar. Has He not spoken and is not that sufficient? Shall we dishonor Him by doubting His word? Oh, let us, each one who has rested upon this blood-bought peace which Christ has made by the blood of His cross, let us take in the full comfort of those words:"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life."

But again there is not merely peace from judgment and the assurance of safety, but that comfort which is suggested in the third expression here, " quiet resting places," where the heart is at leisure not only from all questions as to its safety, but from everything which would disturb and mar the communion of the soul. Returning to the figure of the passover, God not only provided the blood as the shelter, but the lamb as food, and those within these resting places could feed in quietness and with contentment of soul upon that lamb whose blood had ' sheltered them from judgment. So Christ Himself is the food of His people, and may we not say that those who find their satisfaction in Him, who feed, with the bitter herbs of repentance and abhorrence of sin, upon His blessed person, find a satisfaction of soul that the world knows nothing of? They are quiet and at rest.

Thus we have a three-fold cord which is not quickly broken:peace made for us by the blood of His cross; the assurance of perfect acceptance by the word of God, and the quietness which comes from the heart satisfied with Christ. May we know more of these blessed habitations! Even as Israel in the coming day will delight to dwell every man under his own fig-tree, let us delight in the fulness of blessing that is ours, and show our satisfaction with it by walking here in holy separation from everything which has the sentence of judgment upon it.

"Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. 6:6).

With all its progress and wealth, this is a restless world. Discontent is everywhere present. There is a desire for gain, for change, which begets restlessness on every side. The poor man is not contented to be poor, but enviously looks at the wealth of his neighbor and determines to be like him. Others are craving for greater power, wider influence, or a more desirable social position. If the hearts of men could be read, there is scarcely one in which would not be found a long list of desires for something not possessed, together with a discontent at what is theirs. This renders the whole social fabric uncertain. There is no stability, no leisure for the establishing of the existing order. Everything is moving, and the progress of last year becomes out of date in this. Whither the whole rush is tending is easy to see; and in government, business, social relations, the stamp of discontent is a pledge of dark times to come. And what losers are men by this discontent! Life becomes a restless turmoil instead of a quiet growth. The same tendency is transmitted to the children, and all sense of repose and steadiness of character is lost in the busy whirl which discontent compels.

Passing to the saints of God and remembering how we partake naturally of the same characteristics, a word of exhortation from the Scripture on this important subject will not be out of place, to "be content with such things as ye have for He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."There are a few of God's people who could not recall instances of the blessing of following this simple word and the danger . of its neglect. Here is a child of God going on happily in his appointed place. He has food and clothing for his family, and opportunity for the reading of the word of God and for fellowship with his brethren, but he hears of a chance to better his prospects by moving to a distant city; steadier work, better wages are promised. To be sure there is no gathering of saint sat the place, but then other things will be better. Discontent begins to fasten its hold upon him, and now instead of the quiet leisure for God's word, there is the restless dwelling upon the possibility of advantage. He begins to despise the mercies for which he previously thanked God, and instead of quiet growth, he becomes a restless and unhappy man. The Spirit of God is grieved, taste for the word of God is lost, fellowship of saints is ignored, and all for what? For the bauble of a little greater prosperity in worldly things. How many failures, both individual and in the family, can be traced to this spirit of discontent. It seems to be in the very air, and therefore we need to be particularly on our guard as to it.

The gain that we should be seeking is the gain of godliness. We can be as covetous as we please for more of the word of God. We can be desirous of that. Night and day we can have a holy restlessness of soul to know more of Christ and of God's ways and of His Word. This will never interfere with rest of soul. It is its fitting companion. It offers a field for all the activities and powers of life.

The great opportunity for discontent is to find a heart that is empty. Where the mind is filled with the word of God, where we are "satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord," there will be no restless desire to go here and there. The things of time and of this world will assume their proper proportion. They will never be allowed to dictate to us. Nor does this mean in the least a spirit of indolence or a lack of care for the welfare of those who are dear to us. '' He that provideth not for his own is worse than an unbeliever." But that is not the great danger. The tendency is to sacrifice spiritual advantages for temporal, to allow these latter to outweigh every consideration of spiritual benefit and advantage.

Looking at it simply, have we not the word of God in our hands, and the Holy Spirit in our hearts? What priceless treasures we have which will abide forevermore, compared with which all the wealth and ease and greatness of this world are refuse, not worth a thought. If any of the readers of these lines are in danger of being ensnared by discontent as to circumstances or position in life, we would affectionately and urgently entreat them to turn afresh to that inexhaustible supply which the word of God affords. Here they will find wealth which cannot become tarnished, and garments which wax not old. They will find occupation for every leisure moment and a happiness in God's ways, compared with which all the wealth, power and pleasure of this world is nothing.

It may seem trifling to speak of such a subject as this, and yet perhaps there is nothing more needed amongst God's people than true contentment. Has He not said:"I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee?"And if we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper," what more do we need? Will not our Father care for our earthly wants? He who clothes the lily with beauty and feeds the ravens has given His own Son for us. Are we not satisfied with that gift? Let worldly acquaintances gather wealth if they please. Let those whom we knew in humbler circumstances become among the great or noted of this world. What is it all worth compared with those enduring riches and that position of highest dignity which is the portion of the child of God? Take a glance at Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, and see a picture of contentment which is unmoved even by the restless strife of her sister Martha,-truly a good -part, which we have our Lord's pledge shall never be taken away. The place at His feet is always open, His Word is ever fresh and free. Whatever the straitness in our circumstances may be, we are not straitened in Him. What is needed for His people is not greater worldly ease or prosperity, but contentment with Himself. Let us then judge everything inconsistent with this heavenly peace of soul. We have brought nothing into the world. We are going to leave it soon and must go empty handed out of it. Those riches of the soul that we gather are enduring. These we can carry with us, or rather they are laid up for us in heaven. .We can be rich in good works, rich in prayer, rich in faith, though poor in this world's goods. Our blessed Lord was poor when here upon earth, in the judgment of this world. Shall we not be satisfied with the riches which- He has secured for us and be content with whatever portion of this world's goods He may give us? Let us indeed be so satisfied with Him that we can truly say,

"Jesus, Thou art enough,
The heart and mind to fill."

The Second Book of Kings continues the narrative of the First, of which it is really a part. Naturally, in the history of a decline which it records, things grow darker with the deepening apostasy. But morally the end was seen in Solomon's fearful backsliding, as governmentally its consequences appeared in the disruption of the kingdom. All this we have seen in the First Book.

There, too, we saw the mercy of God in sending prophets to witness for Himself and against the people. Elijah stands forth prominently, exhibiting in himself, as John the Baptist in a later and similar time, the character of one who would walk in separation from all that against which he testified.

For purposes of convenience the book may be divided into two parts:(i) Chaps. 1:-17:-The downward progress of the nation, ending in the captivity of Israel by the Assyrians ; (2) Chaps. 18:-25:-Further subsequent decay in Judah, and the Babylonian captivity. The narrative is a continuous one, passing from Israel to Judah. In the first division the northern kingdom is prominent, while, of course, in the second part we have only Judah.

Elisha is the chief prophet here, as Elijah was in the first book. Chap. 1:shows us the prophet of judgment in a characteristic attitude, calling down fire from heaven. In chap. 2:we see him passing into heaven, translated as was Enoch. His mantle of service falls upon Elisha, who takes up his ministry from God.

Elisha emphasizes mercy rather than judgment. His miracles show this, and are calculated to quicken into flame any smoldering embers of repentance or faith lingering in the hearts of the people. Alas, though they doubtless witnessed to the faith of individuals here and there, nationally the people follow their kings, who without a single exception walk in the ways and sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

There are some beautiful gospel pictures here, and lessons for the people of God:the victory over the king of Edom (Chap. 3:); the widow's oil, and the Shunamite woman (Chap. 4:); Naaman (Chap. 5:); the siege of Samaria relieved (Chaps. 6:, 7:). But in spite of all these witnesses of God's willingness to bless and help, both Israel and Judah go on in their own course (chap. 8:).

Hope temporarily revives with the new dynasty of Jehu, but his zeal is of a fleshly character and is not mixed with faith; so, though his family remain on the throne during four generations, the disintegration of the nation proceeds (Chaps. 9:, 10:).

Turning to Judah, chap. 11:gives the account of God's preservation of the seed of David when, through the wicked Athaliah, a deliberate attempt is made to exterminate it. Joash the young king, thus spared, shows good energy in restoring the service of the temple, but his faith weakens in the presence of the enemy, and he sacrifices his treasures in fear of Hazael, king of Syria. Solemnly enough he meets the end which he had escaped at the beginning. God protects the helpless child, and permits the strong man to be assassinated (Chaps. 11:, 12:). The remainder of this portion (Chaps. 13:-17:) continues the narrative of both kingdoms until the ten tribes are carried away captive. Chap. 17:shows the origin of the Samaritans of the New Testament. They were heathen brought into the land in place of the departed Israelites. They assumed the name of Israel ("our father Jacob," John 4:), but were never anything but aliens. Hence our Lord would not recognize the claim of the woman of Samaria to kinship with Israel-" Ye worship ye know not what . . . salvation is of the Jews."

The second division of the book offers some relief to the prevailing darkness, in the bright faith of Hezekiah, whose reign is narrated at some length (Chaps. 18:-20:). But he is succeeded by a monster in wickedness, Manasseh-"forgetting," and how appropriate his name-he forgot his father's example and his father's God (Chap. 21:).

Josiah comes in next, and personally his faith is bright. The temple is cleansed, and the book of the law found in it, read and obeyed. How truly all recovery to God is marked by a turning to His Word in obedience. But although the king is faithful, the evil day cannot be postponed, and after his' death-a sad one, with a touch of pride, the only blot recorded in this good man's life-the feeble and unbelieving successors quickly follow one another till the people and the land are under the iron heel of the king of Babylon (Chaps. 22:-25:).

We will but briefly mention the prophet Jeremiah (Chaps. 1:-31:). This will be found a fitting companion to the Book of Kings, and gives glimpses of the heart of God speaking through His servant, pleading with a disobedient and gainsaying people. The importance of the prophets cannot be overestimated. They not only give the moral and spiritual condition of the people, of which their external history was the setting, but they lay down principles-of government, judgment, pleading, and mercy-that obtain for all time. This is particularly true of the, present day, when indeed there might appropriately be many weeping with Jeremiah and declaring his testimony to a Church that has well-nigh apostatized from God.

Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come. Be not carried away with various and strange doctrines, for it is good that the heart be confirmed with grace, not meats; those who have walked in which have not been profited by them" (Heb. 13:7-9).- J. N. JD.'s Version.

The theme of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the pre-eminence of Christ in all things. Written to those who were by birth and inheritance disposed to set a value upon the external, apart from the saving grace of God, it came in direct opposition to all fleshly pride and carnal religion. In fact, it did not so much set aside abuses of the law, as our Lord in dealing with the self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees, as it showed that all ceremonial religion, though given by God Himself, was but temporary. The law had but "a shadow of good things to come." Beautiful- shadows indeed, and most helpful in illustrating divine truth, and yet never for a moment to be confounded with the substance-Christ Himself.

Thus Christ is seen pre-eminent over and displacing all things which the Hebrews were tempted to hold to and to substitute for Him. We see Him as Son of God, pre-eminent over the angels, and setting them aside; as the faithful Son over God's house, displacing Moses, the faithful servant in his own day; as the true High Priest, who abides forever, displacing Aaron and his sons, whom death was constantly removing; as the Mediator of the new covenant, sealed with His own blood, therefore an '' everlasting" covenant; as the one perfect Sacrifice by which we are sanctified-"perfected forever"-and have boldness to enter into the holiest'' by the blood of Jesus," displacing forever "the blood of bulls and goats." We see Him as "the leader and perfecter of faith," who, having victoriously run His course, has sat down upon the throne of God, the object of exultant faith and love and hope, as we speed on our way, laying aside every weight, and turning from all that would distract.

Jesus only, and always, is then the theme, and again and again is He put before the Hebrew Christians, with every warning and entreaty to hold fast the confession of their faith without wavering. No ordinance, no matter how holy; no man, no matter how venerated, could for one moment dispute the place which He alone could occupy.

And surely if the Hebrews needed such an admonition, we living in these last days need also to be ever recalled to "the Son."If we are not tempted to turn to Judaism in name, there is the pronounced tendency to take up a ritual which ministers to the flesh in the same way. Rome has multitudes of votaries not called by her name; while other multitudes are turning to " divers and strange doctrines " which exalt man and degrade the Christ of God. We need, perhaps as never before, to hear the Shepherd's voice, to be turned back to Christ alone.

We all recognize, too, the tendency to make much of man, and unknowingly to fall into idolatry by giving glory to some instrument whom in His grace God has seen fit to use, rather than to Himself. We lean unduly upon the hand which would point us to Christ, and too often make priests of those who are reminding us that we are all priests. We close our lips in presence of the ministry of those who are telling us, "Ye may all prophesy." Thus we abuse the very gifts given by our glorified Head, and one lesson at least which we may learn from the removal of beloved and honored servants of Christ is not to make too much of these-to "cease from man"-to cleave more simply to Christ alone. Thus will we honor the servant by turning to the Master, and be kept from the shame of idolatry.

And yet-returning to the Epistle to the Hebrews- we find a whole chapter devoted to human examples of faith. A great cloud of witnesses look down upon us in the eleventh chapter, and in the closing one of the book thrice does the writer (who, though doubtless Paul, veils himself that Christ alone may claim the eye,) speak of their "guides," or "leaders." They were to remember those who had passed away, and imitate their faith; they were to obey those who remained, realizing that they were charged with weighty responsibilities, and were to salute them in all honor and affection.

Scripture, then, not only warrants but commands the remembrance of those whom God has given as leaders of His people. To forget them means, too often, to forget the truth they brought, and paves the way for that "building the sepulchres of the prophets" by a godless posterity who are indifferent to every warning spoken by those prophets. There is a sober, discriminating way of dwelling upon the ministry of faithful servants which encourages our own faith, quickens conscience, and stirs afresh to follow them as they followed Christ.

Most biographies are written from a human standpoint ; the man is before us rather than his message. Such biographies are not helpful; but who has not been stimulated by the narratives of devotion, self-denial, unresting toil of faithful men at home or abroad ? We realize on either hand that they were men "of like passions with ourselves," and that a Power wrought in and with them which is for us too.

The passage we have quoted at the beginning shows us how we can properly "remember our guides." First of all, what makes their remembrance profitable is that they spoke to us the word of God. It was not for special personal excellence of character, either natural or gracious ; nor for great activities and results in the Lord's work-considered in themselves. What gives value to the remembrance of the leader is the word of God with which he was identified, the message he brought.

We read of one of David's mighty men, Eleazar the son of Dodo, that he stood alone against a great host of Philistines when "the men of Israel had gone away." He smote them "till his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword; and the Lord wrought a great victory" (2 Sam. 23:9, 10). His very name, "God is help,"turns from the man to God. What could he do single-handed against the host of the. enemy ? His arm grows weary, but the weary hand cleaves to the good sword, and we see no longer the feeble arm of man, but the power of God behind that weary arm, hewing out victory with that sword. The man has become identified with the sword, and God can use such an one.

So are all God's mighty men; feeble, and with weary arms, they cling to that "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Their very weariness and feebleness makes them cling (like Jacob who, his thigh out of joint, can no more wrestle, but cling). Such men God can use, for they are identified with their sword,-with the word of God. To remember such is to remember the sword-the Word which they brought. There can be no higher honor to a servant of Christ than to merge him, as it were, in the truth he ministered; in thinking of him, to think of the sword he held in his feebleness. The world may honor its soldiers, its men of wealth, its benefactors, and build them monuments. They are its departed great men. Believers recall the memory of those who have left their greatness in our hands-the Word of God. To do this is simply to have mind refreshed and heart stirred by that which abides forever.

We are also to consider the issue, or outcome, of their walk. What has their life ended in ? It has now ceased. A rich man's life ends, so far as what he leaves behind is concerned, in wealth; a statesman's, in power and influence. In what shall we say the life of Christ's servant has ended ? What has 'he left as the sum of that life ? Is it not suggestive that the very next clause gives what is really the answer, while closely connected, as we shall see, with the following clause ? " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." The issue of their life is the abiding Christ. They have passed
off the scene, but Christ, the object of their ministry, abides. With Paul they could say, '' To me, to live is Christ." Christ is the end, the goal of their life. To depart and be with Him is far better. Happy indeed are those who are called to lay down their burden and enter into His rest. They loved and served Him here; they enjoy unclouded peace and rest as they wait with Him there. The outcome, the end, of all their life-work, toil, testimony, is Christ. They enjoy Him to the full now; they have, as it were, left Him as a priceless legacy to us here.

And their life was a life of faith-the refusal at once both of creature righteousness and creature strength. They had learned to "rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh." We are not called to do, in detail, their work. God calls and fits each of His servants for some special work, peculiarly suited to the special gift with which he is endowed. We are not to be imitators of one another, but ever to be imitators of the faith that casts the feeble upon the Mighty.

Lastly, we note the warning not to be "carried about with' divers and strange doctrines." The servant of Christ ever stands for His truth against all opposition of error. His ministry, in so far as it was under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit, brought home to heart and conscience the truth of God and the Person of the Lord.

Do we not need, as has already been said, to be specially on our guard in these days against the subtle inroads of error ? The Person of the Son of God, His atoning work, His Church, the destiny of man- are all objects of the enemy's attacks. Let us hold fast the truth, and Him who is the truth, and His Word of truth.

We have, then, four characteristics of a proper memorial of departed leaders-(i) The word of God ministered by them; (2) The outcome or issue of their life, Christ for them and for us ever the same; (3) The faith which occupied them with this blessed Person; and (4) The warning against error. If we ever have these features before us, there will be only profit in remembering those who have gone on before us.

Perhaps there is less temptation to do anything else in the case of the beloved brother whose memory we are seeking to recall. His claim for a permanent place in the hearts of the saints rests-as it really does with any, but more ostensibly than with most-in his identification with the word of God. Unknown to many in the flesh, who have profited by his ministry, with little of what may be called popularity, or the magnetism supposed to be so essential in a leader, he is lost sight of in the precious truth which it was his joy to unfold. Those who knew him personally loved him for the worth and Christian nobility of his character, the fruit of God's grace; for that wondrous mind received from Him, and for the simplicity and dignity of a true Christian man. But it is not of these things that we speak, while we would ever seek to walk in the steps of piety and faith wherever seen. We turn rather to that Word to which he held fast, and, in conscious feebleness and dependence, used so constantly. What views of the Word did he give us! What thoughts of Christ! What truths under the guidance of the Holy Spirit! These abide.

If a heathen poet, who has left behind some beautiful specimens of human wisdom and human art, could say, " I have builded a monument more enduring than brass," can we not with greater propriety apply these words to one whose one aim it was to build only the pure Word in all his ministry ? That Word endures, "when all that seems shall suffer shock." What higher honor can there be for any of us than to be associated, to be identified with that Word?

In taking up, then, his ministry, and seeking to analyze it, to understand its prominent features, it is with the prayer that Christ may be glorified, not His servant; that the truths of God's word may be brought afresh to mind and conscience, and thus we may be stirred to take fresh hold of Christ and His truth. This, we are sure, would be the only way in which our beloved brother would have us speak of him at all. For him, as for every one who loves the Lord, it can only be, "Not I, but Christ."

The truth of God is one arid self-consistent, and yet it is many-sided. There are special beauties connected with every view of it, and much to be learned from the manner of presenting it by each servant who is guided by the Spirit.

We will speak first of his ministry of the gospel. Every one who loves Christ, loves the gospel. It is a sure sign of spiritual coldness when one loses taste for the simplest truths of salvation. Our brother was no evangelist, deeply as he sympathized with every winner of souls, and longed for a wider, fuller and more constant work in evangelization. In his gospel addresses we do not find much of that ardent insistence which is often seen in the gospel preacher. One word characterized his preaching- thought. Appeals to the will, touching narratives, denunciations,-all proper when one is led of the Spirit,-were not there.

But there was a rich and tender unfolding of divine grace and love. Man's sin was brought into the presence of infinite holiness, a divine compassion and a perfect redemption. Sin was seen to be sin, not so much in its effects, or in its just recompense, as in the light of the Man who sat at the well of Sychar, or who dealt with the poor child of sin and shame in the Pharisee's house. In his book of gospel addresses many examples of this can be found. Read again the "Gospel in the Genealogy," and see how grace is magnified in Christ's association with the sin of His people-blessed be God, Himself all pure and undefiled by the contact of all human wretchedness. The same can be seen in "A Brand from the Burning," and other addresses in the same book.

How sweet it is, dear brethren, to have these precious truths recalled to our minds! Our brother was not alone in these precious truths. He had received them from others who, like himself, had found rest and peace at the feet of Jesus. He longed for a revival of gospel work among us. Shall we not be stirred afresh by the love of Christ to tell to the perishing the news of that grace which reaches the lowest, -which has reached us ?
But it was as a teacher, an unfolder of the word of God for His people, that our brother will be best remembered. We may say at the outset here that he had received and assimilated the ministry of our beloved J. N. D., whom he recognized as specially called of God, raised up to give to the Church in freshness and clearness the priceless heritage of truth so long hidden from God's people. None prized more highly or more constantly made use of the " Synopsis " and collected writings of Mr. D. than oar brother. Their gifts were distinct. The elder had, perhaps more clearly than any since the days of the apostles, a clearly defined outline of revealed truth. Whether in the exposition of a single verse, a chapter, a book, or a section of Scripture, he grasped the salient features, and set them before his hearers in a few pregnant sentences. His eye swept the heavens at a glance; he caught the current of divine thought, and followed obediently its leadings. We shall follow the characteristics of our brother's ministry as we go on. We cannot refrain from saying that it will be a sad day for the Assembly when the writings of J. N. D. are neglected or ignored.

As has been said, our brother had assimilated the teachings of Mr. D. Hence he had a clearly de-' fined outline of Scripture truth, into which he could bring the "things new and old" which he gathered from his own study of the Word. Those who have read his "Lessons of the Ages," and his " Mysteries of the Kingdom of .Heaven," will see how clearly he grasped and presented the great outline features of dispensational truth." While holding in the main with those who had gone before him the great salient features of prophetic and dispensational truth, our brother has presented them in a way both fresh and helpful, quite peculiar to himself. His book on Revelation illustrates this on many a page of most profitable prophetic study.

Similarly he took up great doctrines of the word of God and exhibited them in their beauty and power. His work on "The Atonement" is a Scriptural examination into that blessed doctrine. He traces from the beginning the great truth of salvation as seen typically in the earlier books; prophetically, in the Psalms and Prophets; as actually accomplished, in the Gospels, and doctrinally unfolded in the epistles of Paul and the other apostles and Revelation. One rises from the study of this book with a deeper conviction than ever of the cardinal place in God's plan of the truth of Atonement, and a clearer realization of the divine wisdom, love and skill unfolded throughout the pages of the word of God. The " scarlet line " is traced throughout, and we see how Christ and His work were ever present in the mind of God.

We may link with this book the other one, on the Person of our Lord, "The Crowned Christ." No one who is sound upon the work of Christ is likely to hold wrong views as to His Person. So in this work we will find a reverent, but thorough, inquiry as to what the word of God teaches regarding the Son of His love. Our brother did not believe in passing over truth with a few vague and glittering generalities. By habit and by faith he was a painstaking inquirer into minute points which would escape the attention of the casual observer. He therefore deals with the Deity and the Humanity of our Lord-Son of God in a twofold way, Son of Man as well; Divine Creator on the one hand; obedient, sinless, deathless Man, on the other. The analogies between the first man, first Adam, and the Second Man, the last Adam, are carefully noted. Distinction is made between first begotten-suggesting other children-and only begotten-excluding all others. In short, our brother seeks to point out the "many crowns" upon the head of Him whom faith loves to follow in every character He wears-and worships Him in each-the Word, God over all, the Man of sorrows, the Son, the King-Blessed be He forevermore, and let all His saints say Amen!
Passing next to a book more widely known, perhaps, than any other of his separate works, we will glance at his "Facts and Theories as to a Future State." Of the need for such a work there was, and is, sad evidence, not only among the open deniers of the word of God, but with those who claim to bow to Scripture, and who quote it in proof of their position. Time was, when to be a " Universalist" was, like a " Unitarian," to be one who would not be held within the limits of Scripture statement. But during the time of the revival of the truth of the Lord's coming, and the accurate study of Scripture, there have arisen various schools of thought, all professedly bowing to Scripture, in which the solemn reality of eternal punishment, conscious and unchanging, was denied. It seems as though Satan were, as he no doubt is, seeking to lay parallel teachings to those being brought before the Church of God. In this way he would discredit the real truth, and create a revulsion in the minds of many against all Scripture, and at the same time instil into the minds of others the deadly poison of his own lie.

There are many kinds of mind among men, and for each class Satan will have that special form of error which he knows will be most likely to attract. Thus there is "the larger hope" of those whose sensibilities will not allow them to entertain the thought of what the Son of God so plainly calls " everlasting fire." This hope of ultimate salvation for all has various forms in which it clothes itself-all included under the general head of Restorationalism.

Directly opposite to this-alas, not opposed, for error is many-sided, but united in its hatred of truth -is the grossly materialistic teaching of Annihilation, in its varied forms; while between the two are many individual forms of error, partaking of the character of one or both of these main systems.

Nor let it be supposed that these errors obtained only among some peculiar or obscure sect, as " Christadelphianism." Begin where they might, they worked their way with satanic persistence into the fibre of the professing church, until at present they are to be found, more or less openly advocated, in many of the evangelical denominations.

The enemy had come in like a flood, and the Spirit of God, as ever, in faithfulness lifted up a standard against it. The task before our brother was an arduous and difficult one. It would not do to write in generalities; mere denunciation, no matter how much deserved, would be out of place. To fall into a passion, if we may use such language, with the enemy would be but to play into his hands by an exhibition of the weakness which he would say was inherent in the orthodox view.

What was needed was a temperate, thorough analysis of every false view, the examination of every passage of Scripture used in support of error, and a thorough exhibition of the untruth being taught. But mere destruction was not enough. Every scripture must be put in its true light-the doctrine of the word of God fully brought out, so that the reader would be left, not merely with errors refuted, but with a solid foundation of divine truth beneath his feet. Incidentally, many crudities and misconceptions among the orthodox had to be set right.

It is the united judgment of many leaders of Christian thought, not merely those who might be thought to be favorably disposed, that in "Facts and Theories" the Spirit of God has provided a wealth of truth with which to meet error. We would earnestly exhort the saints, particularly those who may be in any way thrown with various forms of this error, to arm themselves with the weapons found here.
In this book there will be found considerable of what may be called psychological study of Scripture. Our brother did not hesitate to enter into every field of knowledge. He believed that all truth is one, and that if faith does not cultivate a field, Satan will, He was a profound student of what is called nature, reading from both the friends and enemies of revealed truth. Thus he not only studied the works of God in plant and animal life, but examined the teachings of such leaders in error as Darwin and his disciples. For him "Evolution" had neither attractions nor terrors, as, with keen mind and childlike faith, with Bible in hand, he tested all by the light of divine truth. Unlike a brilliant but misguided leader, of whom we would fain hope the best, spite of the errors taught by him, our brother was unmoved from the solid rock of divine truth. He made the infidel investigators of natural phenomena "hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God." He plucked their own weapons out of their hands, and used them against them.

Here, again, he was no mere destructive critic, but a builder of truth. It was a favorite remark of his that nature taught not merely of God, but of Christ, and that we would find the atonement and other great truths in the book of God spread abroad in field and forest and starry heavens as well as in the pages of Scripture. He delighted in all books which soberly presented the typical truths of nature, and in his "Spiritual Law in the Natural World" has presented a most attractive line of truth, to kindle further desire for divine knowledge.

It was his great wish to write another work upon the book of Genesis, in which these truths should have their full treatment. Alas, he has been taken, and the work is not done. Who is there who will take it up with the same faith, and deliver these fields of truth from the enemy's hand, and put them at the disposition of the saints ? The time is ripe for it; is anyone doing the work? The Lord stir the hearts of those to whom He has given the key of knowledge, that they may use it to open the door to His treasures!

It is right, also, to make another remark in this connection. Men have come to nature first, as though they could get to God in that way. But we must ever remember that man is a sinner, "alienated from the life of God." There is but one Way-Christ Himself, and "no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." If we are to know God in any true sense, we must know Him through Christ, and through His Word. We must not expect nature to interpret the Bible, but the reverse. We must use the word of God as a lamp to correct our natural thoughts. "The world by wisdom knew not God." Our brother ever stood for the primacy of Scripture. He denied the common statement that the Bible was not meant to teach science. He declared the Bible was meant to teach whatever came before it-history, facts of nature, or any other matter. It did not use the language of modern science-it used the everyday speech of those to whom it was given, but none the less is it divinely accurate.

We do well to remember this, and not to yield to the wiles of the enemy, who, under specious pleas, would rob us of the absolute infallibility of the word of God.

And this brings us to consider that which may be truly called our brother's life-work. He had for years been impressed with the absolute perfection of the Scriptures to its least "jot and tittle"-a truth we all accept. But with him it became the one absorbing thought of his life, and he put it to the test to the full extent of his powers. If the Bible is absolutely inerrant, then not only are its doctrines perfectly true, its narratives perfectly accurate, but its very words are divinely chosen.

He found, as others before him had done, that Scripture itself drops many a hint, gives many an example of the way in which the Spirit of God would have us use it, Simple quotations of law or prophets, allusions to sacrifices or customs, allegorization of Old Testament facts, stress upon the significance of names, the juxtaposition of words-all these he found in Scripture itself. Space here forbids our going into anything beyond the barest mention. It will be sufficient to refer to the narrative of Hagar and Sarah, in Gal. 4:, for an example of how Scripture uses Old Testament narrative; to the priesthood of Melchisedec, in Heb. 7:, as showing the use of the interpretation of names and their relation one to another; to the whole Epistle to the Hebrews as a divine commentary upon Old Testament ritual.

He also found that our Lord's use of the parable to teach was not a mere casual method, but one of the usual methods of the Spirit of God throughout Scripture. Not every parable was interpreted. A few were explained, not as though to limit further investigation, but to give the key to it. "Know ye not this parable ? How, then, will ye know all parables ?"

The word of God is not merely a revelation; it is a book to exercise every faculty of the renewed man. To know it in any full measure is to have in the highest sense a liberal education. It offers but little to idleness; but to the prayerful seeker it is, like its divine Author, "a rewarder of them that diligently seek " it.

Let this great truth lay hold of our hearts as through grace it laid hold of him, and a boundless field will be found at our very door in which to find food and sustenance to the delight of our soul. How his heart well-nigh broke at the indifference, the unbelief, the lethargy that hung- like a pall upon most of the beloved people of God! How he yearned over them! Were his removal to stimulate others to shake themselves from the dust, we could indeed bless God.

But we must trace out a little further the way in which the Spirit of God led this humble student of the Word. If Scripture not only gave examples of interpretation, but encouragement and commands to continue on in what it opened up, then he would go on. If Scripture gave the significance of the names of persons and places-here and there-he would everywhere seek that significance. If it "spiritualized " a narrative, he would catch at the key, and use it throughout the Word. Every portion of Genesis should be as the account of Hagar and Sarah, and Melchisedec. Exodus and Numbers should be as Leviticus. Samuel and the Kings would be found to be no exception to the word that '' all Scripture is profitable."

He had for years been a diligent student of the book of Psalms. Not only did their contents attract, but the form in which they were written-their divisions into a pentateuch, the acrostic form of a number of them, their evident relation one to another in various groups-all these things impressed him with the fact that God had written them upon a distinct plan in which the numerical significance of psalm and group and book had a clearly marked and important place. But if the Psalms were written thus, why not all Scripture? So he went on, till he found the same divine harmony throughout the inspired Word.

He has given us the account of all this, with its results, in a most engaging little book, "The Numerical Structure of Scripture," a work which will be a revelation to those who have not yet read it.
But to the thoughtful mind such a handling of Scripture will seem, to say the least, hazardous. And so it is. So it seemed to our brother. He shrank from the fancies and imaginations of the mind of man. Various books illustrated only too sadly the dangers of this method, when undertaken apart from the Spirit of God. He feared, he was cautious, he was prayerful, but he did not draw back. The Spirit of God thus, doubtless, put him on his guard against the use of the imagination; so he went on carefully, slowly-testing each step. The result was a most rich and beautiful exhibition of the treasures of the Word of God.

Time will not permit us to enter into details here. The "Numerical Bible" is in our hands, and will speak for itself to the thoughtful student. It must suffice here to point out the application of those principles to which we have already alluded.

All Scripture is written according to a well defined plan, in which each book has its definite place, which corresponds, in spiritual meaning, with the number of that place. Thus the first book of a group (as the first group also) will have a meaning suggested by number one; and so with the second, third, etc. The scriptural significance of these numbers was found in the Word itself, and justified by many a text. The Pentateuch of Moses was found to be the basis, the plan, upon which the entire Scripture was written. Thus there is a historical Pentateuch, a Prophetic, and a Poetic one-as well as one for the New Testament.

Each of these pentateuchs he found to correspond, book by book, with the Mosaic one. Thus a third book had a Levitical significance, or at least a significance corresponding with the number 3.- Incidentally, what a proof we have here of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch-5 books, no more and no less, forming a complete, symmetrical whole!

The same structure was found to exist in each separate book. Each division and minor section was found to correspond in meaning with its numerical place. Thus a fourth division of a book would have the characteristics of number 4, a second section in that would give some thought connected with number 2, and so on. These divisions are noted down to portions as small as the chapters in our ordinary Version, and in some cases to portions the length of only a verse or two. In the Psalms each verse has its numerical place.

Thus, instead of the arbitrary divisions into chapters and verses, of no help save for purposes of reference, we have a structure exhibited, every part of which has divine meaning. Far be it from us to suggest that perfect accuracy has been reached in noting these divisions. Others may, here and there, find more simple and well defined marks; but in the main they are seen by the thoughtful mind to be the true divisions.

And what a witness to the perfection of the Word of God they are! An answer to the wretched infidel work of "Higher Criticism," and most helpful, too, in getting and holding the contents of any book of the Bible.

We have been speaking only of the text of Scripture and its divisions. When we come to the "Notes," which form quite a full commentary upon the text, we find not only the use of the divisions, but a most lucid and profound exposition of the Word of God. The scope of each book, its theme and main divisions, are stated in a few paragraphs. Then each portion is gone into with careful detail, and the results spread before the reader, opening up the entire passage. All is treated, as we have been saying, from a spiritual point of view. ' Every word has meaning, every allusion had a purpose in the mind of the Spirit. Thus the types of Exodus and Leviticus are handled with reverent particularity, and the whole book becomes luminous with divine meaning.

There is little or none of the spirit of dogmatism in these notes. We are simply able to accompany the writer, and see upon what scriptural grounds he has reached his conclusions. Thus we are unhampered, and, instead of listening to man's word, have been pointed to the Word of God.

We must also refer to the treatment of the last half of the book of Joshua. Here, most commentators had been able simply to grope among the names and point out here and there a place identified by its modern Arabic name, or by some more or less obscure historic allusion. Our brother, on the contrary -looking upon this as the description of God's inheritance for His earthly people, and spiritually for ourselves-found in each tribe, with its boundaries, some features of divine truth; in the name of each spring and hill and valley and town some spiritual blessing in Christ. A map of our spiritual inheritance could almost have been constructed. Thus in an apparently barren and meaningless desert of names, the Spirit made to blossom beautiful and precious fruits for the saints.

The labor in all this was arduous, and necessarily progress was slow. But the Lord enabled His servant, in weak and failing health, to go from Genesis to 2 Samuel in a thorough and orderly way; to devote a volume to the whole book of Psalms, and to complete the entire New Testament. This last was scarcely more than half accomplished when his life was despaired of, but, in answer to fervent prayer, he was raised up and enabled to complete that portion. Then, turning back to the Old Testament, he had well-nigh finished the prophet Ezekiel when the weary servant was called into the rest of God.

As we think of what has been accomplished, we bless God. As we think of what remains, we mourn. But we have learned in vain from our brother if we think that his work is unfinished, or that the word of God is bound. When apparently near to death he uttered a significant sentence in prayer:" We fail and are set aside, all human strength passes, but Thou abidest, Thy Spirit abides, Thy Word abides." Yes, beloved, we have the abiding Word, the abiding Spirit; and when all else fails, they remain-the Author and His Word. The work of our brother may never be carried on as he began it-but the Spirit of God will still lead faith on into the unsearchable riches of Christ. There are other features of his ministry we may profitably dwell upon for a moment, to recall the precious truths made more clearly known to many of us through his instrumentality.

A small but most helpful pamphlet upon "Deliverance " has been used for the emancipation of how many! The subject of sanctification has been more misunderstood, perhaps, than any other doctrine in the word of God. On the one hand it has been taught that the believer can experience such a change that his sinful nature is eliminated, and he can live in "perfect love;" on the other, it is claimed that we must go through life groaning under the bondage of indwelling sin. Both views are clearly unscriptural and injurious. The one fosters spiritual pride, and the other makes provision for the flesh. In the pamphlet referred to the subject is treated most lucidly. The seventh chapter of Romans is expounded-the bondage of the saved man seeking fruitfulness by the law, the increasing load and hopeless entanglement until, in utter self-despair, the soul cries out, "O wretched man that I am!" The author then passes on to show the true deliverance through Jesus Christ.
Unlike many, he does not close his theme with the seventh chapter, but passes on to the first few verses of the eighth. Thus the believer is not seen at the close with a twofold service of the law of God and the law of sin-but a very different law, a law of emancipation from the bondage of sin-"The Spirit's law, of life in Christ Jesus."

Who that has groped his way through the awful experiences of that seventh chapter, and beat his wings against the iron bars of his cage, till, bruised and helpless, and well-nigh hopeless, he reached the end of self-who, we say, can forget the relief, the peace and joy that came when this commanding truth entered the soul ? We were free-not only from guilt, and the external bondage of sin, but, best of all, free from self.

But this truth is only the doorway into the opened heavens where Christ can be seen in all His peerless beauty as the object of the soul. Sanctification comes through occupation with Himself. Just as self-occupation, whether it be good or bad self, is defiling, so occupation with a glorified Christ transforms into His image. These truths are brought out in the pamphlet referred to above, and in "Christian Holiness:its Roots and Fruits"; "Some Thoughts on Job's Ditch," etc. Others have written helpfully upon these themes, but we mention these features as distinctively characteristic of our brother's ministry. He ministered Christ to the soul. He fed the lambs and sheep with the tender grass of divine grace and love.

No earnest soul can pass through this world without being called upon to contend earnestly for the faith. Some are more distinctively warriors than others, but all who would be loyal to our Lord must expect to endure hardness for Him. We are not ashamed, therefore, to speak of our brother as a controversialist. This occupied but a small part of his life, but was a season of intense exercise while it lasted. He did not seek controversy, but when he felt the truth of God was involved he did not shrink from declaring what he believed to be the Scripture doctrine, and holding to it at all cost.

Sad as have been the trials of these times, many can bless God for a clearer apprehension of His truth through them. The truths of eternal life, the portion of every believer; of sealing with the Spirit not being dependent upon the amount of knowledge possessed, but upon faith in the person of Christ-have come with relief to those who were in danger of bondage and self-occupation. His " Facts and Theories " is a controversial work most needful and helpful, as we have seen.

Any notice of our brother's ministry would be incomplete without reference to his ecclesiastical views and position. Of these he made no secret, not flaunting them defiantly, but steadfastly maintaining them. He believed in the sufficiency of the name of Christ and the person of the Lord as a centre of gathering for His saints, instead of the manifold divisions and sects of Christendom, over which he mourned. He believed in the presence and competence of the Holy Spirit to order and control the Assembly of God without the intervention of human officialism or un-scriptural ordination. Above all, he believed that a right attitude of heart toward the Lord was indispensable, without which all else was as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."

His "Present Things" is a searching presentation of the epistles to the seven churches, in which he falls into the current of the Spirit's teaching upon the Church as a vessel of testimony for Christ.

On the other hand he was not indifferent to the dangers of a place of separation. He has traced with a hand of sorrow in "A Divine Movement" the dangers that menace those who have come, outwardly at least, "outside the camp." He did not shrink from the path, but warned against either an unscriptural narrowness or an equally unscriptural indifference to what he believed concerned the Lord's honor. He was persuaded that a true basis of fellowship could only be had in accepting and acting upon all the doctrines of the word of God. He did not believe that a true fellowship could be secured by ignoring questions of doctrine or discipline upon which saints had formed different judgments.

With a largeness of heart to go out, as he did, in love to saints of God of whatever name, he felt and expressed the need of the greatest care in maintaining scriptural order, according to the truths of the unity of the Spirit.

One matter weighed greatly upon him. He felt and deplored the tendency to leave all ministry "in the hands of the few. His address upon "Prophecy" is but one of many testimonies regarding this. He maintained from Scripture that "ye may all prophesy" is not to be a dead letter; that every brother, according to the measure of the gift of Christ, was responsible to use that gift. It was not that he held any different view upon this than what is common to the saints, but he felt most deeply about it. He feared the danger of things crystalizing into form, and warned again and again as to it. May every one harken to his admonition.

But we must close. What, it may be asked, is the object of this memorial of our brother's ministry? Is it to glorify the man ? God forbid. We with him would ascribe the glory to Christ alone. "Not I, but Christ." As John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

No, beloved brethren, our object has been to make Christ more precious, to make His Word more loved, more read, more studied. This was the passion of our brother's life, the desire that consumed him. He made a significant utterance shortly before his departure. Sitting propped in his chair, with the word of God open before him, as was his custom through the days of weary, helpless waiting, he turned to the writer of these lines, and with a depth of pathos, glancing at his Bible, said, " Oh, the Book, the Book, the book! " It seemed as though he said, "What a fulness there; how little I have grasped it; how feebly expressed its thoughts." May these words from the dying servant of Christ lay hold of many a heart. Is it the book with us ? the one Book, always that ? Oh, beloved, he speaks to us all still, and says, Make everything of the Book!

To lay life's burden down for aye,
And gently fall asleep; to rest
From every sorrow, every care,
Forever on the Saviour's breast-
This is not death.

To leave a little while before
The rest, and wait with Him above,
Away from sin, and toil, and strife,
And only feast upon His love,
This is not death.

To wait the resurrection morn,
Beyond the wasting wilderness,
Where faith and hope forever cease,
And only love remains to bless,
This is not death,.

To lay a life of service down
At Jesus feet-whose one desire
Was but to serve the Christ he loved,
And us-to mount up higher.
This is not death.

Then cease we hence to mourn for him
Whose spirit is forever free,
Whose life of labor now is crowned
With glorious immortality
Through Jesus' death.

H. McD.

SPECIAL NUMBER.

CONTENTS.

Page

This is not Death (Poetry)…………………………. 226

"Remember your Guides "………………………… 227

Portion for the Month …………………………….. 264

When nature is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from God as it can. This is true since the day when man said, "I heard Thy voice, and I was afraid and I hid myself" (Gen. 3:10). But when grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the soul "nigh." Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature "black as the tents of Kedar ;" by grace, "comely as the curtains of Solomon :" by nature he was "joined" in a covenant of murder ; by grace " joined " in a covenant of "life and peace." The former, because he was "fierce and cruel ; " the latter, because he feared and was afraid of the Lord's name. (Comp. Gen. 49:6, 7 ; Mal. 2:5). Furthermore, Levi was by nature conversant with the "instruments of cruelty;" by grace, with "the instruments of God's tabernacle:" by nature God could not come into Levi's assembly; by grace, Levi is brought into God's assembly:by nature, "his feet were swift to shed blood; " by grace, swift to follow the movements of the cloud through the desert, in real, patient service to God. In a word, Levi had become a " new creature" and "old things had passed away," and therefore he was no longer to "live unto himself," but unto Him who had done such marvelous things for him in grace. C. H. M.

We have now come, in our Old Testament readings, to the highest point of Israel's greatness as a nation (i Kings), and to that display of kingly power and glory which-outwardly at least-are a fitting type of the kingdom and glory of our Lord's millennial reign. We say outwardly, for a glance beneath the surface will disclose to us a moral state the exact opposite of that which will obtain during the reign of the " Prince of Peace."

The first book of Kings may be roughly divided into two parts. (i) The kingdom in its solidarity under Solomon, chapters 1:-11:(2) The division and separation of the ten tribes from the two, chapters 12:-22:

We see at the beginning David in the feebleness of old age, as the last act of kingly authority placing Solomon on the throne, chap. 1:

In chap. 2:we have divine judgment inflicted upon those who had long deserved it.

Chap. 3:shows us the granting of Solomon's prayer for wisdom; and

Chap. 4:the greatness and extent of his kingdom.

Chaps. 5:-8:give the account of the building and dedication of the temple-in all which Solomon is a type of Christ in the glory of that time when the house of the Lord shall be inhabited by divine glory.

Chaps. 9:and 10:give the sequel to the former narrative, God's promises and warnings, and the visit of " the Queen of the South." May we ever remember the "greater than Solomon" to whom we have come. In sad and solemn contrast with all this splendor we have in the eleventh chapter the record of the shameful apostasy of this wise man, and the premonition of the result in the rent kingdom.

The second part of the book narrates the account of the division, Jeroboam taking ten tribes and leaving to David's house but the two – Benjamin and Judah. It is especially during this period that prophetic ministry comes prominently into view, and chiefly in the independent kingdom of Israel. God's mercy lingered over that nation, and to it He devoted special attention through His " servants the prophets." But begun in self-will and apostasy, it never as a kingdom returned to God. There might be individually 7,000 who had not "bowed the knee to Baal," but corporately kings and people were increasingly alienated from the God of Israel. It is striking that not one of the kings of Israel was a godly man, while a number of the kings of Judah truly feared the Lord.

In Chaps. 17:-22:we have as the prominent character that remarkable man, Elijah, who bore such fearless f testimony in Israel. The narrative of his life never loses its charm, and yields fresh lessons to the careful reader.

Passing to the New Testament, we have that most delightful and interesting of histories, the book of Acts. We might say that the general theme of the book is the transition of God's testimony from Judaism to Christianity. The first part of the book is entirely Jewish, while the close leaves us ready for the epistles of Paul. Fittingly in the record of progress and emancipation the scene changes from Jerusalem to Samaria, thence to Gentile Antioch, Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth and finally to Rome, entirely away from the influence of Judaism.

Chaps. i-7:give us the Jerusalem history, we might say, of the Church.

Chaps. viii-12:extend wider, taking in that wondrous epoch, the conversion of Paul.

From Chaps. xiii-19:we have the period of great apostolic activity among the Gentiles, and

Chaps. xx-28:gives the outward bondage but true widening of the truth even to Rome.

The Epistles to the Thessalonians are the first (probably) written by the apostle. They breathe a fresh and beautiful spirit, in which everything is controlled by the hope of the Lord's coming. Their relationship to the Father is also prominent. In the first Epistle we have the Lord's corning as the hope of the Church; in the second His appearing in judgment, and warnings.

AS ILLUSTRATED AT THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION.
II.

In 1715, a little before his death, Louis XIV published an edict in which he declared that the Protestant religion had disappeared from the soil of France. His efforts and dark deeds for forty years to blot the reformation out of his kingdom seemed crowned with success. The churches were demolished, the preachers executed or banished, and the congregations scattered.

But the proud assumption of that proud king was but a vain illusion if not an immense lie. God had reserved not only His "seven thousand" but over seventy thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, and who had survived the persecutions.

At this their darkest hour, God raised up among them an instrument fitted to serve them in their trying circumstances-Antoine Court by name. His parents were simple peasants, but faithful readers of the Bible. By the premature death of the father, the mother was left a widow with three children, and poor; but that pious woman so taught her children that they grew up to love the word of God, while they abhorred the superstitions of the Church of Rome. Often was Antoine's youthful soul set on fire as he heard his mother's friends, when secretly assembled together, relate the sufferings of the martyrs, and the courage of the Camisards.

One night, while lying awake he heard his mother preparing to go out. He begged to go with her.
She finally consented and silently they walked on and on, till, far in a desert place, they found others who, like themselves, had come from all directions to hear the word of God preached. From that time he began to follow, in their long and perilous journeys, one or the other of the few remaining servants of the Lord who took their lives into their hands to minister to their brethren. Then, alone, yet but a youth, across the forests, over the mountains, down the plains he traveled, comforting a lone believer here, addressing a few in the thick of the woods there, everywhere preaching and teaching what he knew of the Lord Jesus.

To his mother it was as Abraham when he offered up Isaac, and he himself knew his life was in incessant peril. Once he reached Marseille, went on board a galley, where 150 of his brethren were suffering for their faith, and with a strange audacity held a meeting with them in a retired part of the vessel. Everywhere his living faith and happy confidence in God encouraged and revived his brethren. Through his ministry they realized God had not forgotten them, and that He was able, spite of all opposition, to maintain the preaching of His word. They grew bold again, and while bolting their doors, they reopened their Bibles for family worship and for mutual edification.

The police soon noticed this revival, and a rich reward was offered for the arrest of young Court. Many a narrow escape did he have. Once, in the house where he was, he heard the click of arms, revealing the approach of soldiers. He had but time to slip away, and climb into the top of a tree, dense with foliage. From there he saw the soldiers breaking up the house with axes that they might discover his hiding-place.

He deprecated the taking up of arms as the Camisards had done, and he also rebuked the lukewarm-ness of many who, for fear of suffering, were hiding their faith and acting as hypocrites. He saw the necessity of order and discipline for the welfare of God's people, and the holiness of His house. This especially pressed upon him during a serious illness he passed through consequent upon his hardships and fatigues. Barely recovered, therefore, he opened his heart to a few devoted men, and on the 21st of August, 1715, a few days after the death of Louis XIV, their cruel persecutor, nine of them met together in an abandoned quarry in the neighborhood of Nimes, to confer for the welfare of their scattered and persecuted brethren. From that time onward the Huguenots began afresh to form congregations wherever a few could come together, and they grew rapidly. The older and most experienced among them watched over their brethren, looked after the sick, the poor, and those who fell by the way; they looked after meeting- places in the desert parts around them, then informed their brethren; they also informed the preachers, looked after their lodging-place, and sought to protect them from the incessant pursuit of their enemies. They also constantly exposed their lives in all this service. If discovered in it they were condemned to the galleys or to death.

There was also great danger from within in the exercise of discipline, for any one desiring to avenge himself had fearful power in his hands :he had but to denounce those who came together in their desert assemblies.

The dungeons of the land were filling fast with gentle and patient women; the galleys of Marseille, Dunkerke, and other seaports were spattered with the blood which the cruel lash drew from men whose only crime was to love and obey the word of God. Spite of all, the work grew. In 1729 there were in the south of France no assemblies of Huguenots, and these were constantly appealed to from other parts of the country for some of them to come and teach them the Scriptures, until an awakening was manifest to the extremities of the kingdom.

Many a devoted servant did the Lord, the Head and Lover of His Church, raise up at that time for His suffering but faithful people in that persecuting land. Prominent among them was Paul Rabaut. Eminently gifted, devoted and courageous, he labored for over fifty years with incessant zeal, amid manifold dangers from which nothing short of the almighty hand of God could have given him escape.

But many fell. Jacques Roger, seventy years of age, was finally arrested after a laborious ministry of forty years' duration. When asked by his judge who he was, he replied:" I am the one you have been pursuing these thirty-nine years. It is time you caught me." He was condemned to death. Calmly he heard his sentence and said God had shown him great grace in raising him up lately from a sick-bed to make him thus a witness to the faith of Christ. As the executioner drew nigh he exclaimed.:" Here comes the happy day so often desired. Let us rejoice, my soul, since the blessed hour has come to enter into the joy of the Lord." They left his body twenty-four hours hanging on the gallows, then threw it into the river.

Matthieu Mezal was an ardent preacher of the gospel. His preaching so captivated the hearts of his hearers that he was intensely loved by them all. When his arrest took place it was even difficult to prevent the Huguenots of those parts from rescuing him by force. From his prison in Vernoux he begged his friends not to take such a matter in their hands. Vengeance belonged to God alone in the concerns of His people. He was taken to Montpellier for trial, and when, after examination, the judges realized not only the innocence, but the excellence of the man and his associates, the chief wept as he said to him, '' Sir, it is with sorrow that I am compelled to condemn you, but it is the king's order." With his upper garments removed; his head and feet bare, he was taken to the public place where his funeral pile had been built. A vast multitude had assembled, and even his enemies were moved at the sight of that noble man, so calm, so serene on his way to death, yet so firm in resisting the importunities of the Jesuits to the very foot of the pile. Ascended to the top he desired to speak to the people, but the beating of fourteen drums drowned his voice. His peaceful, happy countenance to the end, however, preached more than words could have done to the multitude of lookers-on. His friends thanked God for adding such another witness to His truth from their ranks. It was great honor put upon them.

But violence increased. Neither sex nor age were regarded, and it became difficult to prevent the opposition of violence to such violence. It is here Rabaut became so prominently the servant of the
Lord Jesus to his brethren. Indefatigable, he went from place to place, comforting, reproving, praying, teaching. He exhorted to obedience to the authorities, even if unjust; to patience and firmness; opposed violence being done to the priests, even the most cruel. To Antoine Court, his bosom friend, he wrote, " Spies are incessantly on my tracks. They are disguised soldiers armed with pistols and ropes. I have also much increased in value, for the price of my head has risen from six to twenty thousand francs, and instead of the gallows, I am threatened with the wheel." The extraordinary escapes he experienced strengthened his faith, but never made him reckless. Repeatedly he sent petitions to the authorities and members of the royal family, stating well-proved facts concerning the faithful allegiance to the king of all the reformed; and the false accusation, malice and inhumanity of their accusers. Gradually the government withdrew its help from the priests, and their chief strength became the influence they could exercise on their people against the "heretics." In this way cruel excesses could still be and were perpetuated in different localities, and many suffered yet in patience.

The last was Jean Galas, a highly respected merchant of Toulouse, sixty years of age. His second son, through disappointment, became sullen and committed suicide by hanging himself. All their neighbors and friends deeply sympathized with the grief-stricken parents; when suddenly a rumor went round that Calas had assassinated his son because he refused to allow him to become a Catholic.

Calas was at once arrested, and the body of his son taken in great pomp to the Cathedral. Priests,
monks, and brotherhoods of the different orders vied with each other to celebrate the virtues of this pretended martyr to the Catholic faith. The chapel was hung in white, and at the head of the body lying there in state was a skeleton, with a palm in one hand, and in the other, an inscription with these words:"Abjuration from heresy." The people became delirious with rage against Calas, and there was no torture too cruel to inflict upon him. As nothing could be proved against him, all was done to make him confess his crime, while he, through all, affirmed his innocence. After all was tried in vain, he was condemned to the wheel; every bone of his body was broken, and for two hours he lay there in suffering, praying incessantly to the end.

Voltaire, confounding Romanism with Christianity, was then beginning to make himself heard against religion. He abhorred the hypocrisy of the ecclesiastics, and the case of Calas incensed him. He took up his defense, exposed with burning words the infamy and cruelty of a legislation which permitted such things. In result the good name of the family and their confiscated property were restored to them by a judgment of the court; the persecutions ceased for very shame, but the awful blot of it all was fastened upon Christianity itself, instead of upon the caricature of it which Romanism presents, and the mass of the French people became infidel. The cause of Christ-man's eternal blessing – suffered more by it than by all the persecutions.

Lord Thou dost bid us
Lean upon Thy strength;
For in our own we're weak,
We dare not trust it Lord.
Strength for the desert path we daily need,

To bear the heat of burning sands;
To stand against the "accuser,"
Lord, Thou know'st, for Thou didst tread the way,
So we may lean on Thine almighty strength,
For thus we're strong.

I wonder oft if other hearts Are weary as my own,
I wonder if they long to flee
Away and be alone
With Thee my God, my Saviour?
I wonder too if there are times
When all seems waste and drear,
And heart and soul dissatisfied
With every thing that's here-
Save Thee, my God, my Saviour?

H. McD.

No two lives perhaps stand in greater contrast to each other than those of Solomon and of Paul. In Solomon a life of magnificence. Wisdom which penetrated man and overawed the evil while delighting the good. Wealth unbounded which enabled him to gratify every desire, every capacity for enjoyment. Talents of every sort:as a writer on many subjects, as an engineer, as an architect, as an organizer, as a ruler of men, until his capital became a palatial beauty, and the service about him beautiful to behold. All this made him a central figure among the greatest of the earth, and they showered praises and presents upon him-all of it enough to excite the envy of such as might pretend to be rivals, whether of his time or of any time.

In Paul's, a path of lowly service, in poverty, and reproach and much hardship. He had discovered who Jesus was and why He had left His glory in heaven to become a despised, reproached, suffering man on earth. It had enrapt his soul and, at whatever cost, through whatever labor and self-denial, he would only live now to make Him known to men, and to be a faithful witness of His before all, whether men or angels.

If Christ and His doctrine were foolishness to men, he would then be a fool in their eyes, for he had determined to know nothing but that among the earthly-wise.

Where Christ was loved he would be loved, and where Christ was hated he would be hated, for henceforth his life was bound up with Christ for time and for eternity.

But now the end has come. Both have had a good, long, fair trial, with little or no change in their respective circumstances. They are both looking back and telling their experience:"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity " moans Solomon; and he goes on in that strain throughout Ecclesiastes. Meanwhile Paul shouts:"I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing;" and quietly and peacefully he goes and puts his head on Caesar's block.

Reader with which man is your heart? with which one do you keep company? Were each of these two men in your city, and each at the same time inviting you to his presence-one to his magnificent feast, the other to his unknown corner to speak of his loved Saviour and Lord, which would get you? Think soberly, think before God; and if your heart is divided, if you dare not honestly say what you know well every child of God ought to be able to say without hesitation, then remember there is something wrong. Go into the sanctuary of God's presence, unbosom yourself, and He will do the rest. P. J. L.

Dear Brother :You write me about the "unequal yoke" of 2 Cor. 6:14-18, and how to treat those who may be entangled in the same.

The passage itself '' Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers " no doubt covers the whole ground of a believer's life and association. God's standard for His people is always His own, not ours. The unequal yoke has different phases, but wherever you get the yoke itself, that is always wrong. It embraces the marriage yoke, the commercial yoke, the social or benevolent yoke, and the religious yoke:this covers a good deal of ground.

First. It is wrong for a believer to contract marriage with an unbeliever (See i Cor 7:39.), and if they know the truth, and seek to be governed by its teaching, there will be a jealous guard put on every tendency that would lead to such a yoke.

Second. It is also wrong for believers to enter partnership in business with unbelievers. This is the commercial yoke, and is as unscriptural as the other. Deut. 22:10 illustrates this for us:"Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass 'together." The two are different in every way. The ox, the clean animal according to the law; arid the ass unclean. The temperaments of each also differ, making it such an unhappy yoke, that. God intervenes and forbids it. A man of the world will seek to be governed in business by the principles of this age. The man of God will seek to carry divine principles into his business, and hence the two will clash. Either the man of the world is made to feel the burden; or if the believer gives way to the world he is made unhappy, and the Lord dishonored; hence the yoke is wrong.

Third. It is also wrong for believers to join organizations, such as we have to-day, for social or benevolent purposes, or to band themselves together to resist the great monopolies. This is also an unequal yoke, and betrays lack of faith in God; is a lowering of the Christian's elevated life to the level of the world, and the believer thus entangled becomes a loser now, and that means loss, in a sense, forever.

Fourth. We will go a step further, and state that the religious yoke also is wrong, and is comprehended in the instruction of 2 Cor. 6:It is clearly wrong to join any denomination, any religious organization, when we know and believe unconverted people are received and partake of the Lord's supper; and this, because of the profession connected with it, is the most serious yoke of all.

We believe 2 Cor. 6:is a serious word for every child of God in these lax days, as we draw near the end of the age. I trust this will make plain to you this first point as to the yoke itself.

But as to the next point, how such cases are to be treated, we will need to look further. Some may not be far enough on in their Christian life to have grasped all we have just said as to this yoke, and others who may have the light as to it may yet not have faith to walk accordingly. Now where such is the case we need great care, and we believe instead of forcing souls to walk according to our attainment and our faith, we should rather '' lead on softly according … as the children are able to endure" (Gen. 33:14).
First. As to marriage:suppose a believer has gone so far as to enter into the marriage relation with an unconverted person, whether with or without light on 2 Cor. 6:, they are morally and legally bound to fulfil their responsibilities, yet they are entangled in an unequal yoke. Supposing otherwise the life is orderly and faithful, how is the assembly to treat such a case ? We are all agreed the yoke itself is wrong. Phil. 1:10 (margin) and 3:15, 16, comes in here, we are to "try things that differ" and "whereto we have already attained let us walk by the same rule." But have we Scripture to "put them away" as i Cor. 5:? or to "withdraw" from them as 2 Thess. 3:6 ? These questions are raised and we need to look them fairly in the face and ventilate the subject. Phil. 1:and 3:are worthy of our serious consideration, and are as divinely inspired as 2 Cor. 6:The passage in 2 Cor. 6:shows clearly the yoke is wrong, and the others in Phil. 1:and 3:show discrimination and consideration is to be made for those who do not walk according to the rule of God's full truth.

All God's people have not reached the same attainment, and there is great need of grace and forbearance. In the case of marriage this has been the spirit which as a rule we have all followed. We might give counsel and even warn; yet if that failed we leave the person before the Lord to reap here as they sow. Further we have not gone. A few places we have heard of setting aside persons for marrying the unconverted, but such was because they were not rightly taught, or were extreme in their judgment, but in either case the action always met with the disapproval of brethren taught aright in the Word.

Second. As to a man in business. We have known of several who have yoked themselves with the unconverted to their own sorrow. But we have not sought to put such away, nor withdraw from them as 2 Thess. 3:; nor yet silence them as to any ministry they might be pleased to render in the assembly. These things give a margin for God and the individual soul, where we even as an assembly must not intrude, and usurp a place that belongs only to the Lord. See how careful the apostle was in this (2 Cor. 1:24). It is all taken for granted that the life and teaching is otherwise right and faithful. Of course there should be private counsel and warnings; and individual faithfulness may withdraw its intimacy for the time, and so seek to press upon the conscience.

Third. We will now touch the subject of organizations and Unions. Most of those Unions are from a spiritual standpoint a great evil, and we would not pass that fact lightly by. Yet through force of circumstances and pressure, some of our brethren may have yielded and had their names associated with such Unions, but only through the pressure brought to bear upon them. Their heart is not in the evil. They detest the evil itself, and do not attend their meetings, and take no part. If all had faith in God, they would not give way to such pressure, and we could try and strengthen their faith, and to give godly counsel, when there is weakness and lack of faith in such a case.

Now what are we to do, if we have more light etc. ? Shall we resort to i Cor. 5:? or 2 Thess. 3:and count such as unruly? surely, surely not; rather we should leave them before the Lord, and earnestly
pray for them. Prayer becomes those more spiritual, and we are persuaded where this spirit is pursued more blessed and happy results follow, i Cor. 5:, 2 Thess. 3:are not the passages to be thought of in such cases, but rather Phil, 1:, 3:Many times such a brother or sister entangled with those three yokes, marriage, business and Unions, needs not the hard severe voice that reproves or warns as i Thess. 5:14, but rather the word "support the weak." "Warn the unruly, support the weak, and be patient toward all." Grace and forbearance is what in many of these things we greatly need to cultivate. Yet we should even seek to deliver those held in bondage by the fear of man, and not act with indifference as to their weak state. These few lines will. give what light I have as to the principle we, as gathered to His name, have always acted on. I may later on give you a line as to the religious yoke also, which space here forbids.

Yours truly in Him,

A. E. B.

Life insurance is a modern invention, though its principle is as old as Adam's transgression in the beginning, the primary motive of which was that he would be"wise," knowing good and evil, and, as a result, able to care for himself, and so take himself out of God's hands who had made him a dependent creature and who had pledged Himself, in all His wisdom and power, for him in that condition.

So man has been ever since striving to make himself independent of God, and happy without God. Cain's posterity is witness to this. They were the men of skill and invention, the inventors of all kinds of musical instruments and instructors of every artificer in brass and iron. Men who could build cities, fill them with art and music, name them after, themselves-and leave God out.

To the Christian all is changed. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,, hath shined into his heart, to give forth the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So he longs to be, if true to Christ, a dependent soul. His ambition is to know Christ and to be found in Him, not having his own righteousness which is of the law (the principle of works), but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. His joy is in the Lord,-in submission to His will and not his own. His hope is translation at the coming of Christ, which may occur at any time. He does not, therefore, expect death to come to him, and is privileged to make no provision for it. His life is bound up with the risen Lord and he lives in constant expectation of His return. For him, then, to insure his life would be to deny the truth of the Lord's coming. It would be for him to make provision for death which may never come.

To the man of the world death must surely come, and insurance for him is consistent. He expects to die and takes out a life insurance policy to provide by it for his family or relatives who may be dependent upon him. His life is lived in. independence of God, and it is only natural that he should die in the same manner. But dependence upon God characterizes the Christian's life; to him death is an uncertainty, and life insurance is wholly inconsistent. His hope is the Lord's coming and if he be true to that precious truth he cannot insure his life.

For the Christian, then, so long as he is here waiting for the Lord, his prayer can be like that of Agur in the Proverbs, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Or better yet, satisfied with the preciousness of Christ, and a Father's loving care, he can say with Paul "I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." He should want neither independence on the one hand, which might cause him to deny God's goodness and care, nor poverty on the other, which might subject him to impious failure in his own life. His prayer should ever be for contentment and dependence, even as the Lord taught His disciples to pray "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." The mercy he needs is asked for on account of his showing it to others. Truth and love are the girdle of his loins. Righteousness and peace the comfort of his heart. He has turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. So he lives to declare God's grace and to bear Christ's cross, and regularly lays aside for the Lord's service a part of that in which he has been prospered, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Magnificent accomplishment of the cross of Christ! He who once lived to do his own lawless will lives now by grace to do the holy will of God. All praise to His name for such a transformation. R. H. C.

" And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."-Matt. 7:3-5.

We have all noticed that our nerves are of varying degrees of sensitiveness; certain parts of the body being much more susceptible to sensation than others. Nor is this an accident or an indication of an unhealthy state, but quite the reverse. The eye, for instance, is far more sensitive to a foreign object than the hand, and for a very simple reason-that it would be more easily injured. So, also,, with the nerves of the lips and tongue. They are so exceedingly sensitive that the presence of the smallest foreign object that would be likely to be injurious is detected. So exceedingly sensitive are the nerves of the eye and the mouth that foreign objects seem to be much larger than they really are when coming in contact with these. Thus, a cinder in the eye, so minute as to be scarcely detected by another person, seems a large thing to the sufferer. A slight cavity in a tooth, which would be almost passed over by the eye, feels to the tongue as though it were very large. A bone or foreign substance is detected in the same way. From this apparent enlargement of the objects that come in connection with them, these nerves have sometimes been called "magnifying nerves;)" not as giving undue importance to the objects, but as necessarily giving warning of the presence of any foreign matter that would do us injury; and in this, as in all His works of wisdom, we can see the goodness of our God in protecting us from what otherwise might be a very real danger.

Transferring all this to the realm of spiritual truth, and remembering that all truth is one, the application is very simple, and yet most important. In fact, our blessed Lord, in the passage which we have quoted above, applies this to us. That which is in our brother's eye, so far as we are concerned, is but a mote. To him, if he is conscious of its presence, it is indeed a beam, a large and distressing substance. Therefore, as our Lord says, that which is personal to ourselves is of far greater importance than that which concerns another. As we see, it is not that we would ignore that which concerns our brother, but we are really in no condition either to measure the trouble or help our brother if we ourselves have a beam in our own eye. Instinct leads one first to cast the object out of his own eye. Then his vision will be unhindered in helping his brother. This is one application made so plain in the words of our Lord that we need but point to them for the evident meaning.

If two persons commit the same fault under the same circumstances, all things being equal, God looks upon the fault as the same in each, of course; but each of those persons will look upon his own fault as of a far greater character, so far as he is concerned, than the fault of his brother. This is as it ought to be; but, alas, while our eye or tongue may be exquisitely Sensitive to the presence of any foreign object, and thus lead to the removal of it at once, our spiritual senses are too often dull, and not sensitive to that which should affect them. We need not say that this is due to no imperfection in the spiritual nature, that which is born of God, and whose every faculty has been adjusted by Himself; but we become hardened by living in a world where everything is hostile, and if we do not keep in communion with the Source of blessing we lose that sensitiveness to what surrounds us which is our main safeguard against it.

Look for a moment at our blessed Lord as He passed through this world. For one like Him there must have been constant suffering. Well did He merit the name, "Man of sorrows." One whose spiritual sensation was perfect, whose nerves, as we might say, were all in perfect accord and adjusted to the mind and thought of God, felt everything that was contrary to His Father. And what, we might ask, was there that was not contrary to the blessed God in a world which had turned from Him ? Was He thrown with the great, the wise, the religious so-called, our blessed Lord found only, in various ways, that which would jar upon the spiritual senses. So, too, when He was dealing with the masses,- carnal selfishness, gross unbelief, to say nothing of the dark sins which blotted the lives of many, must have ever given Him constant pain. And yet nothing was ever allowed to intrude into those spiritual organs of vision and taste which would have marred or injured the perfection of His manhood. Our Lord shrank from the very presence of sin so perfectly that He passed through life unscathed, without a blemish, or without a spot. When 'we compare ourselves with this perfect One, how we must realize the dullness of those spiritual nerves which, on the contrary, should be particularly sensitive!

How little do we, beloved, as we are thrown in contact with self – will, pride, self – righteousness, worldliness, envy, and the various forms of fleshly evil, shrink from contact with it and realize the need of separation from it all! Motes-alas, none too small-fly into our eyes and mar our spiritual vision, and we are not conscious of them, while the very presence of such seems to distort our view and oftentimes magnify that which may be in another's eye to something far worse than it really is.

But there is a very simple and evident remedy for this condition of things. As we said before, we are not so constituted spiritually. '' He that is born of God doth not commit sin." All his spiritual faculties are present. There is therefore nothing lacking in the believer. There must be, then, some hindrance to the activities of that new nature which was perfectly and solely in activity in our blessed Lord. The remedy, then, for this spiritual dulness is, first of all, judging that which interferes with our vision. " First cast out the beam out of thine own eye." No matter how great the evil in others, and how real our responsibility in connection with it, we can have no real power to deal with it save as we ourselves are in proper adjustment with the Lord. The beam must, dear brethren, be removed, if we are to use the surgeon's instrument in helping our brother with the mote. Let us, then, learn to judge ourselves; learn increasingly to be in the presence of our Lord with the Spirit ungrieved-above all, filled, controlled, saturated, we may say, with His Word, so that we shall think the thoughts of God as given to us in His Word. This will make us quick to detect the presence of anything in us that is contrary to His Word. The blessed Spirit of God delights to be active in us if He is unhindered. We may be sure that He will point out all in our ways that is not according to God, that He will check everything of a worldly or selfish character in us, and keep us constantly sensitive, if we will allow Him to do so. Our spiritual sensibilities will thus be practically magnifying, if we may use that expression, although it is not really magnifying, but simply properly sensitive to the presence of that which would be a great injury to us. Oh, what a help we could be to others, if, instead of weakly and painfully being occupied with their shortcomings, we were with purpose of heart seeking to clear our own spiritual vision! The very fact of our doing so would set a silent example which others would unconsciously imitate, for we can thank God that spiritual activities are imitated by the saints just as really as the energy of the flesh is also contagious.

We have been speaking of our relations to one another in illustration of the passage quoted at the beginning. We might apply the same principle of spiritual sensitiveness to the organs of our spiritual taste. The mind and heart need food just as the body does. We take it in through ear and eye largely in this day by reading, and, of course, by association with others. How important, then, it is that the conscience, the spiritual nerves of taste, should be fully active, that nothing which we read, nothing which is to form the food of our souls, will be received that has foreign or injurious matters in it. Here is the precious word of God, pure food; and the most tender conscience can never detect the slightest particle of that which would injure in it. But, supposing we are reading that which professes
to. be a ministry of that Word, that which professes to be the truth of God come down to us through human channels,-to preserve our illustration, some dish prepared by human hands from the materials which God's word supplies. Here at once there is a danger of foreign admixture, and the spiritual senses of taste must be unhindered, to detect this. A teaching may be never so sweet, never so attractive, and yet within it there may lurk that which would bring poison and death. It is to be feared-nay, alas, we know it is only too true-that much of the teaching from modern pulpits has this admixture of error in it. Men who claim to be presenting the truth of God will tell us that His precious Word is not all to be believed, that it was written by fallible men, and that modern thought and research must be allowed to sift out the myths or stories which our fathers used to feed upon. Even Christ may be presented in a most attractive way, as is frequently done by those who would hold Him up as an example of lovely humanity for our imitation. And yet there may be the subtle poison lurking within this attractive food which makes it deadly to the soul. The proper deity of our holy Lord may be denied, the perfect sufficiency of His atoning work, and other fundamental truths of similar character. If the heart is in communion with God, no such teaching will be allowed to pass further than the guardians to the heart. It will be rejected as that which is foreign, and the whole class of such teaching will be refused as dangerous. It would be useless to say to a spiritual person, "There is much that is good in such teaching." The reply would be at once, "I must reject it all because of the evil that is in it. I can find all the good in the word of God, and in that which magnifies it."

Passing on a little further, let us see to it that nothing hinders the sensitiveness of the conscience in our conversation, in our ways, in all that is connected with us. Let us indeed be "of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord," and we will find in the joy of an ungrieved Spirit, in the elevation and liberty of soul given by Him, ample recompense for what the world might call over-sensitiveness and needless particularity. Let us learn, beloved, to magnify the evil that is in ourselves, if present, in order that we may reject it absolutely. This will not make us harsh with our brethren, but will give us, indeed, that true grace which never loves at the expense of holiness, but would seek to deliver others, even as we are ourselves delivered.

At last, after months of suffering and weary waiting, our beloved brother Mr. F. W. Grant has departed "to be with Christ, which is far better."He quietly fell asleep on Friday morning, July 25th, and was laid to rest Lord's day afternoon, on his sixty-eighth birthday.

In the midst of our grief, we cannot but thank God for this blessed release. Although hoping to the end that God would raise him up in answer to prayer, as He did so wondrously two years ago, it became increasingly evident that unless He interposed by a special act, our brother must go. He had spent every particle of strength, and all his reserve vitality was gone. He felt this, and his most acute suffering was the sense of inability to go on further in the things of God.

And yet at times he believed that God was giving him fuller capacity to understand His Word, and that it might please Him to continue the work so dear to him. But He has taken him home instead, and as we looked into his peaceful face, from which the signs of weariness and suffering had been taken away, we could but thank God for the blessed change for him.

On Lord's day afternoon, a large number of saints from the neighboring assemblies, with many others of the Lord's people, gathered for the burial. The sense of loss, of sympathy with his beloved wife and household, was mingled with gratitude for the precious ministry of this beloved brother, and a deep sense of the responsibility upon us, to stand where he stood, and to follow him as he followed Christ.

He was laid to rest, surrounded by his brethren, who felt the cheer and comfort of "that blessed hope " as they sang

"Forever with the Lord
Amen so let it be."

It is hoped in our next issue to present some outline of the work and the character of the ministry of our brother which shortness of time prevents now. S. R.

NO NIGHT THERE.

No need of feeble candle-flame, nor flare
Of fitful sunlight, oft by clouds obscure;
But light that shall eternally endure.
God giveth light, our hearts could not conceive,
These eyes could not behold, yet we believe
'Tis all light there.

NO TEARS THERE.

No weary watchings, with no heart to share
Our anguish. Yet the burdened soul finds rest
In sweet communings on the Saviour's breast;
Sweet foretaste of that never ending day,
When God Himself shall wipe all tears away.
All joy there.

H. Mc. D.

Lightheartedness and true Christian happiness are very different things. A thoughtless man may be lighthearted because he has little sense of responsibility ; but a thoughtful believer who meditates upon the revelation which we have of God in His word cannot fail to be penetrated with the sense of His love, of His grace, of His holiness, of His glory, all of which are in his favor through the cross of Christ. And what depths of genuine, unalloyed happiness will thus fill his soul! P. J. L.

We continue our reading during this month with the life of David. In the first book of Samuel we followed him during his rejection, where we have found him to be frequently the type of a rejected Christ. We are now to see him enthroned where he still typifies his Lord, especially as the enthroned king and head of the line. Our Lord frequently referred to Himself as the " Son of David."We have already, in our last number, looked at the main divisions of the book. It will suffice to point out some of the striking chapters.

The first four chapters give us the history of the transition of the kingdom from the house of Saul to David. Hebron is here the centre, and David is there enthroned king of Judah. This in itself is rather a suggestion of that which culminated in later days under David's sons when the kingdom was again divided in two, and Judah with Benjamin – significant exception – only remained faithful to the house of David. During the period of his stay at Hebron the power of David increases, while that of the house of Saul constantly diminishes. There is much here that we cannot approve and which David himself reprobated but was powerless to control. Joab, his kinsman, had strange influence over him. He was a man of violence and without scruple, and the death of Abner unquestionably was a blot even upon the beginning of David's reign.

Finally the opposition of the house of Saul is entirely overcome and from the sixth to the ninth chapters of the book we have David in all his power, king over the whole people. Here he is a type of Christ in His Kingdom of glory when He shall reign, not merely over Israel, but -over all the nations. We find in this part that David overthrows his enemies and brings them into subjection just as Christ our Lord will do when He takes His power. Scripture clearly indicates that even after the appearing of our Lord there will be a season of conflict; of victory indeed, but that the peace to the ends of the earth will not be secured until all enemies are beneath His feet. It is the reign of David which answers to this first part of our Lord's Kingdom, as that of Solomon does to the second. We find also in this part, Chap. 6:, that the ark is brought to its true centre, Jerusalem, and while the temple is not yet built, God is enthroned in the midst of His people. In connection with this, we have the promise of God to establish David a sure house forever. This promise is fulfilled, not in Solomon, but in David's Son and Lord, Christ.

There are many precious gems in this portion. The familiar one of the king's grace to Mephibosheth, the grandson of his old enemy Saul, must not pass unnoticed. Here we have a lovely picture of the kindness of God being shown to an undeserving enemy. But this bright picture closes all too soon, and in the next portion-chaps, 10:- 12:-we have again the personal history of the king rather than the typical. The dreadful sin of the king in connection with Bathsheba is too painfully familiar to require more than a mere mention. It is well, however, to note that it was idleness on his part which paved the way to this dreadful chain of sins which left its scar and stain upon his whole after life. We see the lovely blending of God in His government and in grace in His dealing with the king, and in the midst of all the wreck we see the heart of the poor sinful monarch turning in faith to the God whom he had dishonored. The fifty-first psalm is the outpouring of a broken and contrite heart which God did not despise.

The next portion of the book (chaps. 13:-21:) is a solemn illustration of that truth which is woven throughout the word of God that, " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." God's forgiveness could not set aside the result of David's sin, and the lust, the violence, the deceit, were all reproduced in the bosom of his own family. Solemn and awful thought! A picture which God in His mercy has given us in connection with one of the loveliest characters of Old Testament history and one of the fullest types of Christ Himself, showing us three things:

1st. That it is utterly impossible for any mere man to be aught than a type of Christ. The best men that have lived have had their blemishes, yea, some of those who have been most highly honored have sinned most deeply.

2nd. Christ alone can be before the soul as the Object of its delight. " Let no man glory in men."

3rd. We see the faithfulness of God who would not cover the sin of one so dear to Him but would give the lesson for all His people. May it be written in all our hearts!

The history of Absalom is another illustration of the painful weakness there was in the character of David, and the rebellion of that wayward son is but an illustration of what we have already had in the history of Eli. If government is disregarded, there will be unquestioned shipwreck and disastrous results.

David's faith again shines out brightly in his rejection, and here again we get a glimpse of him as type of One who was rejected. Weakness is again seen in the lack of cohesion between the two tribes and the ten, sad premonition of the division which was later to occur.

In the last portion of the book (chaps, 21:-24:) there seems to be a return to-the early and brighter days of the king, and his song of triumph and last words beautifully illustrate the spirit of dependence upon God and boasting in Him. This is particularly seen in the " last words" (Chap. 23:) which together with the list of his mighty men, form a most instructive portion. The theme, we might say, of his last words, is, "Christ is all," and it is in connection with this precious fact that his mighty men and their deeds are recounted. It is only as Christ is glorified that there can be any reward for faithfulness to Him. In the day of His glory all His servants will have their place in association with Him.

The book closes with the account of the judgment of God upon the people because of David's-pride in numbering them. This is made the occasion of bringing out the faith of the king in God:" Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord " and not of man; and we have here also in the sacrifice upon the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite, the foundation, as it were, chosen for that abiding temple which was to be God's dwelling place, temporarily indeed during the history of Israel prior to Christ, but one day yet to be His temple; and the glory of that latter house shall be greater than the glory even of Solomon's.

Passing to the New Testament, it will be easily seen how Matthew, as the gospel of the Kingdom, fits in with the history of David as a type of Christ. Everything in Matthew is connected with the Kingdom. That is the key to the entire Gospel. Its seven divisions will indicate this. We have:

1. (Chaps. 1:and 2:) The genealogy and birth of the King.

2. (Chaps. iii-7:) The announcement given by John the forerunner, and the principles, as we might say, the constitution of that Kingdom as unfolded in that wondrously spiritual enforcement of the law called, "The Sermon on the Mount."

3. (Chaps. 8:-12:) This portion is devoted to the works of power which authenticate the King, together with the foreshadowing of that rejection by the people which was to culminate in His crucifixion. In this portion we have the disciples sent out by our Lord as His messengers, and His warning that they would receive the same treatment as Himself. The twelfth chapter closes this part with the twofold rejection; that by the leaders of Christ, and our Lord's rejection of them. Here we have the solemn warning as to the fearful sin against the Holy Ghost. We might say, in passing, that this sin was the deliberate accusation that our Lord did His miracles by the power of Satan instead of by the power of the Holy Ghost.

4. (Chaps. 13:-20:) This division is devoted largely to the development of the Kingdom in the hands of men. The thirteenth chapter with its seven parables gives us a sevenfold picture of this development which covers the whole time until the second coming of our Lord. It is the mystery form, with the King rejected and absent in heaven. It is also in this portion that we have our Lord's transfiguration and glory, and the government of God's house-binding and loosing in the Assembly.

5. (Chaps. 20:29-23:) This is devoted largely to those parables of the end which speak of the responsibilities of the leaders, their rejection of Christ, the marriage of the King's Son and our Lord's conflicts with the unbelieving leaders of the people. Chap. 23:is a solemn arraignment by our Lord of these leaders.

6. (Chaps. 24:and 25:) This is our Lord's great prophetic discourse in which He unfolds the future in connection with the Jew, the(Gentile and the Church of God.

7. The last portion of the book is the consummation of all, where we see the Lord offering Himself up as a trespass offering in death, and as raised again from the dead declares Himself the recognized Leader of His people. It is the King throughout.

The short epistle of Titus is also to be read, of which we will say but little. It is devoted to the great- and important truths of church-order and that godly walk which is ever the accompaniment of all true order, and from which it should not be separated. It is well for us to remember that no amount of ecclesiastical correctness will avail without that practical godliness; nor, on the other hand, should the latter be used as an excuse for indifference as to God's order in His house. Several lovely gospel passages occur in this epistle.

Here may be, and, alas, is much of mere systematic teaching and preaching of things which the mere intellect may have received, and which, by a natural fluency of language, we may be able to give out; but all such teaching is vain, and had much better be avoided in the sight of God. True, it might often give to our public assemblies an appearance of barrenness and poverty which our poor, proud hearts could ill brook; but would it not be far better to keep silence than to substitute mere carnal effort for the blessed energy of the Holy Spirit?

True ministry, however, the ministry o£ the Spirit, will always commend itself to the heart and conscience. We can .always know the source from, which a man is drawing who speaks in "the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth," and with the ability which God giveth; and while we should ever pray to be delivered from the mere effort of man's intellect to handle the truth of God amongst us, we should diligently cultivate that power to teach which stands connected, as in Levi's case, with the denial of the claims of flesh and blood, and with entire devotedness to the Lord's service.

In the second consequence above referred to we have a very elevated point:" They shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon Thine altar." This is worship. We put incense before God when we are enabled, in the power of communion, to present in His presence the sweet odor of Christ in His person and work. This is our proper occupation as members of the chosen and separated tribe.

But it is particularly instructive to look at both the above mentioned consequences in connection; 1:e., the Levites in ministry to their brethren, and the Levites in worship before God:it was as acceptable in the sight of God, and as divine an exercise of his functions, for a Levite to instruct his brethren as it was for him to burn incense before God. This is very important. We should never separate these two things. If we do not see that it is the same Spirit who must qualify us to speak for God as to speak to Him, there is a manifest want of moral order in our souls. If we could keep this principle clearly before our minds, it would be a most effectual means of maintaining amongst us the true dignity and solemnity of ministry in the Word :having lost sight of it has been productive of very sad consequences. If we imagine for a moment that we can teach Jacob by any other power or ability than that by which we put. incense before God, or if we imagine that one is not as acceptable before God as the other, we are not soundly instructed upon one of the most important points of truth ; for, as some one has observed, " Let us look at this point illustrated in the personal ministry of Christ, and we shall no longer say that teaching by the Holy Ghost is inferior to praise by the same, for surely the apostleship of Christ when He came from God was as sweet in its savor to God as His priesthood when He went to God to minister to Him in that office. The candlestick in the holy place which diffused the light of life-God's blessed name -was as valuable, at least in His view, as the altar in the same place, which presented the perfume of praise."

From C. H. M. in the "Tribe of Levi Considered."
'WHAT MEAN YE BY THIS SERVICE?"

"Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect (τελειπσαι) as pertaining to the conscience." The apostle, in this passage, is drawing a contrast between the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy, and the sacrifice of Christ. The former could never give a perfect conscience, simply because they were imperfect in themselves. It was impossible that the blood of a bullock or of a goat could ever give a perfect conscience. Hence, therefore, the conscience of a Jewish worshiper was never perfect. He had not, if we may use the expression, reached his moral end as to the condition of his conscience. He could never say that his conscience was perfectly purged, because he had not yet reached a perfect sacrifice.

With the Christian worshiper, however, it is different. He has, blessed be God, reached his moral end. He has arrived at a point, so far as the state of his conscience is concerned, beyond which it is utterly impossible for him to go. He cannot get beyond the blood of Jesus Christ. He is perfect as to his conscience. As is the sacrifice, so is the conscience that rests thereon. .If the sacrifice is imperfect, so is the conscience. They stand or fall together. Nothing can be simpler, nothing more solid, nothing more consolatory, for any awakened conscience. It is not at all a question of what I am; that has been fully and forever settled. I have been found out, judged, and condemned in myself. " In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good." I have got to the end of myself, and there I have reached the blood of Christ. I want no more. What could be added to that most precious blood ? Nothing. I am perfect, as to the state of my conscience. I do not want an ordinance, a sacrament, or a ceremony, to perfect the condition of my conscience. To say so, to think so, would be to cast dishonor upon the sacrifice of the Son of God.

The reader will do well to get a clear and firm hold of this foundation-point. If there be any darkness or uncertainty as to this, he will be wholly unable to understand or appreciate the various aspects of " Christian Perfection " which are yet to pass in review before us. It is quite possible that many pious people fail to enjoy the unspeakable blessing of a perfect conscience by reason of self-occupation. They look in at self, and not finding aught there to rest upon-who ever did?-they deem it presumption to think of being perfect in any respect whatever. This is a mistake. It may be a pious mistake, but it is a mistake. Were we to speak of perfection in the flesh (what many, alas, are vainly aiming at), then, verily, true piety might recoil with just horror from the presumptuous and silly chimera. But, thank God, our theme is not perfection in the flesh, through any process of improvement, moral, social, or religious. This would be poor, dreary, depressing work indeed. It would be setting us to look for perfection in the old creation, where sin and death reign. To look for perfection amid the dust of the old creation were a hopeless task. And yet how many are thus engaged! They are seeking to improve man and mend the world; and yet, with all this, they have never reached, never understood- yea, they actually deny-the very first and simplest aspect of Christian perfection, namely, perfection as to the state of the conscience in the presence of God.

From C. H. M. in "Christian Perfection."

I see a lost creation!
I hear its supplication-
In groaning degradation
Through man, its fallen head!

I see man's sinful madness!
I hear his shift at gladness-
Till scourged in gloom and sadness
To doom among the dead!

I see a Saviour seeking!
I hear Him sweetly speaking
In love to sinners-reeking
With man's depravity!

I see man, God disowning!
I hear my Saviour groaning-
In cursed death atoning
For man, upon the tree!

I see God's love down-reaching!
I hear in many a preaching
His tender tones beseeching-
Man's enmity to span!

I see One here sojourning!
I hear Love's accents, mourning
As-brooding, grieving, yearning-
God's Spirit strives with man!

I see the few believing!
I hear them-praises weaving
With all their tears of grieving:
Heart-sick for home above!

I see the many doubting!
I hear them, scoffing, scouting-
Embracing sin, and flouting
The gentle call of Love!

I see the new creation!
I hear saints' adoration-
Creation's celebration
Of God, and Christ its Head!
I see a scene of sadness!
I hear no note of gladness-
Where conscience stings to madness
The ever-dying dead!

F. A.

For man, or any other created being, to glorify himself means that he must make use of things which are but gifts bestowed-a beggar in another's clothes.

When God glorifies Himself He but manifests what is essentially His own-what He is from eternity to eternity. P. J. L.

(.From the Numerical Bible; Notes on James 2:14-26.)

We come now to that part of the epistle which has been more commented on, perhaps, certainly more misinterpreted, than any other part. Faith, as we have seen, is indeed, in a certain sense, the apostle's subject all the way through. The works upon which he dwells are the works of faith. If that is not found in them, they are no good works for him. On the other hand, faith that hath not works is not faith. It is not to the dishonor of faith to say so:no, his argument is, that faith is such a fruitful principle that if the tree be there, its fruit will be surely found. The apostle's subject here is the manifestation of faith by works. He is not in the least speaking of justification before God, as we have already said. That is not his subject; nor has the apostle Paul, whose subject it is, left such an important modification of his doctrine (as by many this is thought to be) to come in this disjointed manner from the mouth of another long afterwards. If it were indeed so, it would be a hopeless matter to follow the reasoning of any one writer by itself. He might have left out some important thing which should have been considered, and the absence of which would vitiate the whole argument. As has already been said, the apostle Paul distinctly leaves room for what James says here, when he says of Abraham that if he were justified by works he would have whereof to glory, and adds, '' but not before God." No one can find, throughout what is said here, any hint that a man is justified by works before God. The whole question is one of the reality of profession. Christians are professedly believers, but what doth it profit if any one say he hath faith but hath networks? It is simply a question of saying it-professed faith. But can faith that is in profession merely, as here, save him ? It was but a fair word. Who would think that it could profit if any were naked or lacking daily food, and one should say to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," and yet do nothing to furnish them with that which was needful? What would they think of it? The profession of faith merely would be nothing better than such a profession of works, which would falsify itself at once to any one. Faith, then, that has not works is dead in itself. There is no principle of fruit in it, and this, for us, is the test of its reality. We see at once that he is not thinking of God who knows the heart, but of man who does not know it, and who can only judge of it by the outward conduct. "Some one will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith apart from works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." It is plain that is the only possible way, and it is equally plain that it is simply a question of manifestation before man. He does, indeed, assert that the faith that saves is that which is fruitful; but who questions that? and who could possibly desire to have it otherwise? It is a blessed thing to know that which in itself is the humblest thing possible, and which turns one away from self to Another, is yet that which, by bringing into the presence of the great unseen realities, must of necessity have its corresponding fruit in life and walk. He takes in the mere Jew here, orthodox in his monotheism; but what had it wrought in him? It was, surely, well to believe that God is One, and the demons believe that too, but their faith is thus far fruitful that at least it makes them shudder; but the faith that is merely of lip, and cannot demonstrate itself, is really of no value.

And now he brings forward the case of Abraham, our father, to whose faith God Himself had borne witness. It is not, of course, in his purpose here to cite the Scripture which speaks thus simply as sufficient, however sufficient it was to show that there was faith in Abraham. He does not say, as Paul does, that Abraham was justified by faith when "he believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Was that not true, then? It must certainly have been true, for the Scripture itself asserts it. But his point is that this faith, as to which God had pronounced, issued in works which justified Abraham as a believer-justified what was said by God, that "he believed God." Thus, he does not refer to what the fifteenth of Genesis brings before us, but takes us on to what came long years after in that magnificent display of faith on Abraham's part, when he offered Isaac his son, his only son, upon the altar, at the command of God. Plainly, that was a work that needed itself to be justified by the faith that was in it. It was a faith which this rendered indisputable. It was plain to see how faith wrought with his works in this case, and by works the faith was made perfect; that is, it came thoroughly to fruition. Paul's argument is as to the justification of the ungodly; James' is as to the justification of one already accepted as a believer. It is a justification which we have to pronounce. The Scripture was here fulfilled which saith, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." It was not merely now that Scripture spoke, but that Abraham's conduct spoke as to the truth of the Scripture. God had said that Abraham believed Him. His own conduct made it plain he did so. Thus he came into the blessed place of one whom God could call His friend; and thus "we see that a man is justified by works, and not by his faith only;" for if he had only his faith to speak of, no one could take account of it at all.

In Rahab the harlot we find even more conspicuously, in one way, the truth of this. She was but " Rahab the harlot." There were no good works, in the way men speak, that she could produce, surely, for her justification; but the works which justified her now were simply works that evidenced her faith, and which had all their value in it. She realized that the messengers were, as it were, the messengers of God. She saw and owned God in them. In that way she received them, although they had come to spy out the city in which she dwelt, that they might destroy it. Plainly, if it were not before God that she bowed in this, her works were not merely unprofitable, but only evil. The seeing God made the whole difference. It was God Himself who was pronouncing the judgment:how could she resist Him? Thus she had a faith which did not ennoble her:it was, as we know, accompanied, in fact, by deception, although such deception, no doubt, as men think all right in similar cases. But if the apostle were seeking moral works by which faith was to be enriched, works which had in themselves that natural excellence which men see in works of charity and such like, certainly he would not have taken up the poor harlot Rahab as an example of them. No, it is simply the evidence of faith that he is seeking, and that in order to show us that profession merely is nothing; there must be reality; and "as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." It is mere barren orthodoxy, as we are accustomed to say; and yet, with a Jew, how much his faith counted for! There was, and there is continually, the need of the warning; and the warning is simple enough if, instead of taking merely fragmentary expressions, we look at what is put before us here in its proper connection. He will not dishonor faith, as men so often dishonor it, by putting it as if it were something merely to stand side by side with works, so that one is to be estimated by the two together. No, says the apostle, the faith is that which produces the works, the life of them, and that which makes a man's works to be acceptable to God in order to be acceptable at all. Such is the character of the faith that saves, and that does not make it, then, the works that save, or that help to save. The works simply distinguish it from the mere barren profession, which, barren as it is, men will at all times seek to make something of.