Ques. 16.-Could the Lord Jesus be said to have been in the power of the devil during the three days and nights of His burial, or ever at any time ? Would not such a doctrine destroy the truth itself and deny His words to the converted thief, "To-day shall thou be with me in Paradise ? " In this connection, what is the meaning of Psalm 22:21, " Save me from the lion's mouth" ?

Ans.-We do not think it scriptural to say that our blessed Lord was ever in the power of the devil. We was, notably at His temptation and at the cross, subjected to the assaults of Satan; but this is very far from saying He was in his power. When He was delivered into the hands of wicked men to be crucified and slain, all the malice and hatred of hell were concentrated against Him. But all was in vain. The very death in which evil seemed to triumph was the victory over the devil; "that through death He might destroy (annul, Gk.) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. 2:14). A vanquished foe can have no more power. The strong man is bound. " Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:15). The preceding verse shows that the cross was the subject. By that He made a spoil of principalities and powers, as by that He took away the law of commandments contained in ordinances. But if the cross was the victory over Satan, how could the grave be said to be in his power ?

Again, after the cry, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," at the close of the three hours of darkness, our Lord "yielded up the ghost," or, as more correctly rendered, " dismissed His Spirit" (Matt. 27:46, 50). As a result of His forsaking, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. How absolutely impossible to think of the way into the holiest being opened, and of the body of Him who opened it being afterwards under the power of the devil! Then, as has been noticed in the question, He says to the thief, "To-day shall thou be with me in Paradise." How impossible to think of His being with the Father during those three days, and His body in the power of Satan! Or to hear Him commend His spirit into the Father's hands, while His body was to be in the devil's power! (Luke 23:46). Or, after He had declared the accomplishment of redemption in the words, "It is finished" (John 19:30), to pass, as to His body, under the dominion of the devil!

True He laid down His life, and His spotless body lay for three days in the grave. But it was not because there remained aught to be done, but to prove the reality of what had been accomplished. But while He lay in the grave, He saw no corruption. " It was not possible that He should be holden of death" (Acts 2:24). His body lay there, in His grace-as all that He did was in grace-to show how completely and entirely He had accomplished the work the Father gave Him to do. The devil had nothing to do with that holy body.

At the cross our Lord did not have to do with Satan nor with man, though both were there, but with God! about sin. The accompanying jeers and evil treatment and satanic hatred are as nothing compared with the bearing of wrath. He suffered without the gate-the hiding of God's face.

True He cried "Save me from the lion's mouth"-the malice and power of Satan, and man too – but the cry is not for the danger so much as for the absence of God. He, our adorable Lord, could at any moment have delivered Himself; the point of the cry all through the first part of Psalm 22:was that what God had always done for the righteous, He now fails to do for His spotless Son. The blessed reason we know. But the lion's mouth was before, not after death, and even before death the anguish seems to pass, the worst is over, and calmly into His Father's hands He commends His Spirit.

We believe, then, it would be most foreign to the Scripture to speak of our Lord's body after redemption was accomplished, being in the devil's power.

When Jehovah appeared to Moses in the wilderness, at Mount Horeb, in the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-12), He said to Him, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground."

Likewise, when the delivered nation, after humiliating failures because of unbelief, had been brought into the land, and were about to enter upon its conquest, we have again the same words to Joshua (Josh. 6:15):"And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy." Thus at the beginning and at the close, we might say, of the redemption history, we have this significant action on the part of the leader, as representing all the people.

We have in the bush at once the representation of the people, their affliction, and of the Lord with them in it-"In all their affliction He was afflicted" (Isa. 63:9). The bush was a thorn bush, and in that way speaking of those who, as to themselves, instead of fruit had borne but thorns. The fire was the affliction and chastening put upon them by their enemies, and permitted by the Lord for their faithlessness. In the midst of it all the Lord was with His chosen ones, measuring out the suffering, and at the right time manifesting Himself for their deliverance.

It was at this time the Lord appeared to Moses, to send him on the errand of love and mercy to set His people free. "I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."

But if it was in grace that the Lord had come down to meet His needy people, He was to teach Moses at the very outset that not one whit was the holiness and majesty of His presence to be ignored. Grace which brought Him near was not inconsistent with the holiness which would keep man in his true place. "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet."

We do well to remember this at all times. In the preaching of the gospel it is most important. We present the love of God in all its fullness; the grace and tender mercy awaiting the re turning sinner; the alluring and bountiful table spread for the hungry;-but let us never forget that the sinner is that, a rebel against the divine majesty, a trifler on the borders of eternity. Will not this put a check upon natural levity, and the flippant manner sometimes seen in presenting the gospel ? Will not the preacher the rather feel himself in the presence of One who says, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet " ? We believe that gospel preaching of this character will result in far deeper work than is now common. Let not grace, mercy, and love, be ignored; nor the joy that fills the soul and flows out be checked;-these cannot be in excess if along with them is carried and presented the sense of the righteousness, holiness, and majesty of God.

The same holds good in all the fundamental truths of the word of God. They are not truths for the head merely, furnishing the mind; nor yet even for the heart as well, drawing out the affections ; but they are to put the soul in the presence of God, a presence where no flesh can glory, where nature is in its true place-the shoes are put off.

Beloved brethren, we have been intrusted with many precious truths, recovered in their clearness through the special mercy of God in these last days. Let us see to it that the knowledge do not puff up, but that it be coupled with an ever deepening sense of our own nothingness and of the amazing pity and mercy of God. The full conception of Grace will ever lead us to say, Who am I ? Perhaps it may not be amiss to say this particularly to beloved younger brethren-that they let reverence and lowliness go hand in hand with knowledge. Then they are safe, and the enemy cannot so easily lead them into error.

That a like scene is repeated at the close of the Wilderness and the beginning of their warfare in the Land, serves to emphasize that of which we are speaking. The judgments in Egypt were past; the mighty deliverance through the divided sea was an accomplished fact; the awful display of divine majesty and glory from Sinai was now a recollection ; and the varied acts of mercy and judgment in the Wilderness were all behind them. They were now in the Land promised to them, and were to face new enemies, to enter upon fresh experiences. At the very outset, on the border-land, as it were, between the two experiences, they were reminded that it was with the same God they had to do. "The Captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot."

Canaan, as we know, represents for us the blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Of the fullness of these blessings and their varied character we have but begun to taste. Without doubt that land, " the glory of all lands," with its "hills and valleys," its '' brooks of water, and fountains and depths that
spring out of valleys and hills," is even more minutely than we had supposed a foreshadowing of those spiritual blessings even now made good to us by the Holy Spirit. The cities and villages which clustered thickly upon the hills and in the valleys all over that land; the tribal boundaries and location-all have doubtless a voice and a meaning for us, if our ears are open.

These are our portion; but like Israel of old, we find powerful enemies standing in the way of our entering upon the enjoyment of what has been given to us. There must be conflict if we are to enjoy what is ours. But the prerequisite to all success here is to be in subjection to the Captain of the Lord's host. Here is the world which Satan and the wicked spirits in heavenly places will use to keep us out of the enjoyment of our blessings. How can we meet and overcome them? Only by following our Captain. But His presence is a holy presence. We must be there with unshod feet-in holy reverence.

Particularly do we need this in what is called high truth. There is danger here lest speculation take the place of Scripture, and a mental trafficking in divine things supplant that meek and lowly spirit which ever becomes us. It is the lack of this that has led to many sad shipwrecks, and deep sorrows, to the people of God. Unholy speculations as to the per-son of our adorable Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His work, and its effects, have only too often resulted from a failure to loose the shoe from the foot when entering upon such holy themes.

We might also remark that a failure in this is but too often manifest when questions arise which affect the fellowship of the Lord's people. Here, if anywhere, it becomes us to be on our faces before God. Grave questions press for answer; a line of conduct is to be followed; scriptural principles to be maintained. Let us be in the presence of God in handling such themes. Let us be alone with Him often, constantly in the spirit of prayer, and we shall find the way made clear and a sweet and blessed sense of that holy presence with us all our days.

"The business of those united, is Christ's glory. If Christians ever unite on a condition of that not being essential, their union is not Christian union at all. I have no reason for union but Christ, the living Savior. I do not want any union but that which makes Him the center and the all, and the hope of it. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren; but to make that a plea for indifference to Christ's personal glory, in order to be one with him who, calling himself a brother, denies and undermines it, is, in my mind, wickedness."

" As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place."-Prov. 27:8.

We were all once wanderers, far from God, for whose glory we were made, and in whose presence alone we could be truly happy. Of the misery of that wandering we need but to be reminded-its bitterness and hopelessness. The Shepherd came to seek his lost sheep-traversed the distance between us and God, at infinite cost; and finding us, has brought us home again to God. So that we can now truly say, "Yea, the sparrow has found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts" (Ps. Ixxxiv. 3). The sparrow seems to be marked in Scripture as the bird of loneliness, and of insignificance. " I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop" (Ps. 102:7). "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God ?" (Luke 12:6.) The swallow is the bird of complaint and restlessness-the bird of passage" (Isa. 38:14; Jer. 8:7). How fittingly do these birds represent, in a twofold way, the lonely, worthless, restless sinner who finds a home and a nest on God's altars,-atonement and worship; and of the saint too as he looks forward to his nest, with the Lord forever !

But the wanderer has been brought back, the lonely sparrow has found society, the restless swallow has found a nest, through Him who is our altar, the One who has made peace, and by whom we worship. Now we can sing,-

" The wanderer no more will roam." Of the rest, the security, the joy of that "nest," what can we say? Is it not perfect, absolute, eternal ? Is not every longing satisfied ? and does not the heart of the wanderer find itself indeed at home in God's presence ?

The soul has found its " place "-a place of access to God the Father, of nearness – the very holiest itself, into which we have boldness to enter by the blood of Jesus. It is also in a place of relationship, for the believer is born of God, a child of God. The spirit of adoption has been also given him, whereby he cries, "Abba Father." He is also in a new position, as quickened and raised with Christ; and in Him, in the heavenly places, he is a heavenly man, with heavenly associations, heavenly destinies. This is in some sort the place of every child of God. If he wanders from it, he is like a bird that wanders from her nest.

We need not dwell upon the absolute impossibility of a child of God really getting away from the place of salvation. Thanks to infinite grace, we have been "perfected forever" by the one offering of Christ; we have "eternal life," shall "never perish"; "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord " (Rom. 8:38, 39). What ignorance it shows of the counsels of the Father, the work of the Son for us on the cross, and the work of the Spirit in us, by regeneration, to think that the wondrous fact of eternal security in which they are united, can be by any possibility altered! There is, then, no danger, nor possibility, of wandering, in this sense.

But if it be impossible for the child of God to wander from his place of salvation, it is only too easy to forsake the place of communion. God has not only formed us for glory-to be His companions there- He has made us for Himself now, to enter into His thoughts, to enjoy His love. It is His purpose for us, His desire, that we should enjoy now all that is contained in that word communion:-the Father's love, His plans, His mind; the fullness, the unsearchable riches of Christ, whether in His Person or His work; the all-various display of truth flowing from these-in a word, the Scriptures :these are to be ministered to us by the Holy Spirit, whose delight it is. But the word of God is living and operative, and when rightly received ever produces the fruits of holiness and separation from the world. Where these are lacking, communion is impossible.

Need we say, then, that it is only too easy for the Christian to wander from his place here ? The world and the Word do not agree. Let the things of this time secure our hearts' attention, and how quickly the taste for the word of God is lost! We cannot feed on Egypt's food and manna at the same time. With a taste for the word of God gone, the soul makes no further progress. The love and grace of God, the fellowship of saints, the glad service of self-denial, are forgotten; and nothing remains but the dull routine of what has become almost a meaningless form. "Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering :should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord" (Mal. 1:13).

When the link of communion is once broken, the wandering has begun ; and who can tell where it will end ? David's sin, and Peter's, and that of many others, alas, only show us how far declension may go when it once begins. Nothing but the sovereign mercy of God can prevent the wanderer from plunging into that which will be an open shame. Even where such extremes are not reached, there is a barrenness, a dearth, in the soul, which destroys all true happiness. Is the reader of these lines one who has wandered from his place-his place at Jesus' feet ? He is indeed like a bird that has wandered from his nest-no rest, no comfort, no holy associations.

"Come, and let us return unto the Lord:for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up." " I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely:for mine answer is turned away from him " (Hos. 6:i; 14:4). There is but one way back to the place of communion, and that is to turn to the Lord, with true confession, and a simple apprehension of grace. How the Lord yearns to have His own back again! There is but one place for us, and that is the place of communion.

Closely connected with the subject of our relationship with God, is that to one another. If we are children of God, we are members of one family, and therefore brethren; if we have communion with God, we should also have it with one another. Unless there are grave scriptural reasons to the contrary, the children of God should all be together, forming in each place an expression of that church which is one body, linked in life, and by the Holy Ghost, both to a glorified Head in heaven and to one another on earth. To have such fellowship one with another, there must be therefore subjection to the Head and yielding to the Spirit. The word of God, with its truths upon this most important subject, must be our guide if we are to have righteous fellowship one with mother.

And is there anything more beautiful than a true scriptural order, not only in each local gathering of the Lord's people, but in the whole circle of fellowship ? Here grace and righteousness control; the spirit is ungrieved, and therefore engages us with the things of Christ. Or if sorrow come in, and difficulties arise, they but furnish fresh occasion for the exhibition of the all-sufficiency of the Lord, subjection to Scripture is to be absolute-yea, to one another in the Lord-but all in grace, though with firmness. What a happy place! what a fellowship! It is a nest, not a prison to hold us by its walls and bars, but a nest whose warmth and protection are ever an attraction.

But, alas, the wanderers ! The whole church of Christ should be thus gathered-not one missing, save those who for wickedness in walk or doctrine are not in their place. Instead of this, we see the flock of Christ scattered as sheep having no shepherd, following this or that leader, running here and there in hopeless and helpless confusion. Why is it ? They have wandered from their place. Individual communion with the Lord there may be, but subjection to Him as the head of His Church there is not. Hence this confusion-a confusion which it is utterly impossible for us to change. The nest has been left, the true "place" forsaken-gathering to the Lord alone, according to His word. Had every Christian in the world forsaken this place; had they gathered with one another round various rallying points-of man, or doctrine, or practice,-nay, had every believer in the world linked himself with such an association,-they would all of them have been as birds wandering from their nest. How easily the eye gets blinded by great names, and great numbers! Unless watchful, who is out of danger ?

The remedy for such wandering is the same as for the individual departure from the place of communion. We are not to seek to better the thing with which we are connected, but rather to forsake that which is unscriptural and to return to the Lord and the simplicity of Scripture. If there is joy over the returning sinner, if also there is joy over the saint coming back to communion, we can rest assured that joy is not wanting as one and another of the Lord's people return to the "place" where He is all and for all-where He and His word control by the Spirit.

But when, in great mercy, the Lord has called a number back to Himself, let it not be thought that the admonition suggested in our verse is now needless. There is only too great danger of wandering from the place of separation from the world, of subjection to His word and authority. Many may be the causes which lead to this. The personal state of soul, natural ties of affection, neglect of Scripture,- nay, even the godly desire for a wider unity amongst God's people, if unchecked by the limitations put upon it by the word of God,-any or all of these may lead to a wandering from our place. It may seem to be an easy path and a simple way of getting over many difficulties ; but easy paths are not promised, and there will be difficulties so long as we are here. Let us face them in dependence upon our faithful Lord, and not seek to avoid them by wandering.

Soon, beloved brethren, it will be a blessed impossibility to wander from our place. When we have been gathered home into the Father's house, we will go no more out forever. We will grieve the Lord no more, and give pain to one another no more. How soon that time may be here ! How rapidly the days are slipping by, and we shall hear the voice of our Beloved, " Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." How He will satisfy every heart then! Will one desire to wander ? Ah no! Then even now let us be satisfied with Him. Let Him fill our heart, till every restless longing is stilled; till desire for change, for more room, for anything but Himself, is gone, and we sit at His feet. The Lord bind His people to Himself, till He come!

What a theme for meditation ! And how varied are its lessons! How dark from man's side ! There we see his enmity, malice, and hatred, against the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus, the Savior of men. This was the dark background upon which God did display Himself in all that He was-in righteousness, love, grace, and mercy. How varied are the glories that cluster around that cross-shine out through the darkness, like the beautiful colors of the rainbow when the light breaks through the dark clouds after a storm ! Sin was there; the world (Jew and Gentile), with all its united forces, was there ; and so was Satan and all the power of darkness. Yet amid all the darkness of such an hour, which finds no parallel, God was there. Man had sinned; Justice demanded a sacrifice for sin. Love provided one, perfect and without blemish. Judgment did its strange work, its act, yet strange act! Now what love and grace are seen, since Jehovah gave up His beloved Son to fill the gap, repair the breach, and put sin away! The deity of the Lord Jesus, His incarnation, followed by His perfect life of love and grace, was taught and known before ; also, His resurrection and ascension into God's presence, carrying with Him all the blessed and precious value of His atoning death, have been declared since. But the cross is where sin was put away from before the throne of Heaven, where judgment was laid hard upon the perfect substitute provided for guilty, sinful man. It was at the cross the cry was heard, '' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " Here is where He suffered, where He died, and where His blood was shed, (a precious testimony that a life has been given up, and that Heaven's throne, with all its righteousness and purity, was fully satisfied); and in such a place, and at such a time, God Himself, who is encircled with light and true holiness, was fully glorified. Was it any wonder, and need we be surprised to learn, the veil was rent,-a testimony given that a work had been accomplished by which Heaven, even the holiest of all, was now thrown open, and faith invited to "enter in " and "draw nigh," because the blood is there, before and on the mercy seat,-the victories of the cross, with all their intrinsic value, laid before the very throne of God ? Is it any wonder the bands of death were broken, and He raised from the dead the third day ? Surely, surely not. It was this, we believe, led the Father to give up His Son, that He might receive Him back on resurrection ground, and receive Him back forever. And the result of such a work, so great and so perfect, as that accomplished at the cross, was that heaven itself might be opened, not only for the King of glory to enter in, but that also a people once guilty, once sinful, but cleansed by that blood shed, and saved by grace, might enter also at His call (i Thess. 4:15-18), and be gathered around the Son of God's love as a praising people.

How careful ought we to be when we speak or write of such a theme as the atoning sufferings of the cross, lest we should mar its perfection and beauty before the eyes of any; but rather behold it, as presented in the Scriptures, with wonder, love, and praise ! Sacrifices pointed on to it for four thousand years ; numberless types, shadows, and pictures, from Genesis to Malachi, had this in view; Moses and Elias, the honored two upon the holy mount, spake to Him about it-"the decease He should accomplish"; the two ordinances of Christianity, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, keep this continually before us,-His death. The abiding memorial of it is ever upon the mercy seat, for God's eye to rest upon. It will be kept fresh in our memories in the glory, and in eternity-" a lamb as it had been slain "; and of its fullness, its efficacy, its sweetness, for us, we shall ever learn through that eternal day (2 Pet. 3:18, margin, R. V.); and such a holy sense of the value of that work, as well as the value of Him who accomplished it, will fill every heart, so that there will be in the praises of the redeemed in the glory of His presence the constant remembrance of His sufferings, His death, His blood. May we rejoice in such more even now, and guard it, in the face of a hostile world, with a zealous care, as Abraham did the sacrifices of old, when he drove away the unclean birds (Gen. 15:9-11)! Such a care, we believe, is needed at this time. The inspiration of the sacred Scriptures is assailed by many; the depravity of man is denied; and the deity of the Lord Jesus is looked upon with disdain. And what shall we say of the cross, and the perfect work there accomplished? It is by many even in the circle of Christian profession held in ridicule. We are truly in the evil day, and nearing its close. May every moment, as we get nearer the end, if we think of the cross of Calvary, and the sufferings there endured for us, lead us to exclaim, as did one so fully taught of old, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14). A. E. B.

The Son of God has come,-
"Appeared" in flesh to die,
To put away our sin,
And bring the sinner nigh :
We trust in Him who came from God,
And shed for us His precious blood.

He's gone within the veil;
"Appears" before God's face;
His pleadings now prevail
For all who bow to grace:
Their cause is with the great High Priest,
Who knows each one, cares for the least.

And soon He'll come again,
"Appear" His own to save;
And they with Him will reign,
And triumph o'er the grave:
Oh, blessed day when He shall come,
To take His blood-bought people home!

We gaze upon His cross,
We know He's on the throne,
We joy in all He is,
And long to see that One;
Oh, happy they whose hearts thus burn,
And hail with joy His sure return!

May we express Him here,
While He remains away!
Soon, soon, will He "appear,"
And bring His longed-for day:
Oh, blessed One, we wait for Thee,
Thy coming sets us fully free!

R. H.

April 1st, 1895.

"We owe something to Christ; and if He be dishonored and slighted, I may seek to win, but I cannot be the loving companion of, one who has deliberately denied my Lord. To me, to live is Christ. To own Him and dishonor Him, is worse than heathenism:it is to own and acquiesce in His dishonor, when I know better. The man who believes Christ to be God, and is the professed Christian companion of him who denies it, is worse than the latter. We may all, alas! err; but he who knows the truth, and accepts what he knows degrades Christ, is deliberately preferring ease and companionship to Him, though he may dignify it with the name of love. Every effort to recover is right; but a step in acquiescence is a step in disloyalty to One whom no one would have dared to dishonor, if He had not come down in love."-J. N. D.

This little book, for ages the subject of many and various interpretations, has been taken as an allegory of the love of Christ for His Church, an expression of the eternal love with which He regards her who is called the "Bride of the Lamb." The bridegroom of the type is Solomon; the bride, the Shulamite. The bridegroom of the antitype is One greater than Solomon, who in the closing scenes of Revelation is called "the Lamb." Let us remember, then, as we ponder the deep breathing of affection here, that it is but a feeble expression of His who '' loved the Church and gave himself for it … that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Oh, beloved! His church. His ecclesia, is not merely a bride, but a blood-bought bride, purchased by the sacrifice of the Bridegroom, redeemed at an infinite cost; and, though in itself poor and unworthy, lifted up to a throne with Him! Who, then, can imagine the deep thrill with which she shall linger on the chord,-feebly touched here,-" I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine ? " In the words of a hymn:

"What a story,
There in glory,
We'll repeat."

"The song of songs, which is Solomon's." We are directly introduced to the author. He is called Solomon, and every one acquainted with Bible history must know him. A king, far more wealthy, and wiser, than any before or after, reigning over a united and prosperous people, he is in every way held up as surpassing in glory. The Lord himself remarks, '' Yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." No statement of this is given in our song. It is enough that he is Solomon, and that it is his song. I have only mentioned it here for us to consider how suitably the writer is adapted to represent our Lord as king upon the throne of a greater kingdom, which too is an absolute monarchy, united and at peace. "The song of songs, which is Solomon's" – how suitable the introduction! We know how the manner of starting a hymn either causes a drag all through, or else wakes the whole being of the singer into animation. So it is with almost everything. There are three things which, to my mind, are absolutely essential for the enjoyment of a song:a good theme, an understanding singer, and a heart singer. Surely the Song of songs has these characteristics from the commencement, or that which will produce them.

The opening verse is simple. People are accustomed to ask, "What's in a name?" Well, at least, simplicity. It is about all of our language the dumb brute understands ; but he does understand that. Here we have a name, Are there any other songs caused by a name, beloved ? What will wake the sweetest music of heaven ? Anything hard to understand, difficult to grasp ? Nay, nay, the stammering tongue, the trembling lip, will not fail to pronounce and the weak intellect to grasp the name of "Jesus." Thank God, it is simple; it is not difficult.

" Jesus! How much that name unfolds
To every opened ear.
The pardoned sinner's memory holds
None other half so dear."

" Solomon" means peaceable; and it may serve to remind us that this is a song of our home, of a time when trouble and sorrow, discord and strife, will be all past. He is now no more One that goes forth to war and to conquer, nor is it the time when He is being trodden under foot of men. It is the long harvest of God, when His toils are ended and He folds in His embrace her of whom He can then say, "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." How cheering to think that this falls from the lips of our Savior, concerning such as we are! "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Beloved, let it comfort us even, now, "No spot," "no wrinkle." "Thou art all fair, my love."

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth ! "

Here another voice breaks in with a rapture of longing ; but there is no mention of the speaker's name. It is a spontaneous outpouring of affection that leaves no room for a formal introduction. Surely this is all in beautiful harmony. We have a precious parallel to it in the triumphant song into which His redeemed ones break at the name "Jesus," introduced in the first of Revelation-" Unto Him that loveth us." Faith's song of triumph is raised gladly before the battle and storm to follow; for is not "the shout of a king among them ?" and is not the name of Jesus a shelter for them ? In the verse of our song we have, instead of battle, communion in a place of rest. Happy scene to look forward to ! Blessed rest!

There may be also another occasion for the omission of an introduction of the bride's name. The conduct of the bridegroom is beautifully one all through these chapters, while we find the bride often
vacillating and wayward. And the name given her portrays this in a striking manner. " Shulamite " means a woman of Shunem; and " Shunem " means uneven. Alas! the bride has, then, too good cause to omit her name; and well and happily for the type has she done so. Have you ever pondered the way in which John speaks of himself when questioned as to who he was? It comes in so beautifully:"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." As he thinks of the glory of Him who comes after him, he becomes so absorbed that he leaves self entirely out of sight, lest, on account of man's blindness, it should in some measure attract attention to himself. The principle which he enunciates is ever true, " He must increase, but I must decrease." Is not this also another motive in our Song ? Who art thou, bold one, to speak so intimately to the King of kings ? Ah, nothing in myself whatever. My name I shall not mention. I only venture to speak because of Thy grace, Lord Jesus. Thou hast chosen the poor things and the base things of this world. It is all of grace. It is all of Thee.

"Love so groundless,
Grace so boundless,
Wins ray heart."

Reader, how is it with you and me ? Does Jesus' name always awaken song on the lips and joy in the heart ?

Are we always so close to Him that it touches some beautiful chord of memory, some wondrous association ?

If not, there is surely something wrong, something amiss. The inspired apostle could exhort the Philippians to '' Rejoice in the Lord alway." It is easy, people say, to rejoice when circumstances are favorable. Beloved, do we always do even this ? Take one of what ought to be the happiest moments, when as His ambassadors, we speak of His love to lost sinners, is that name always like a breath of sweet music on the lips, "a song in the night," to our hearts ? Such it surely ought to be. Let us, then, ask ourselves these questions, and pray God to search out the evil that hinders. That is the kind of preaching God delights in, and that which He must bless. Apart from this, how vain it all is! "Though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal "-an empty sound !

" Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." The kiss in Scripture, as elsewhere, is a sign of affection,- sometimes of obedience and subjection. The New Testament exhorts brethren to " Greet one another with a holy kiss." Peter speaks of "kiss of love." We well know that people of a more demonstrative nature employ this way of greeting after the same manner that we shake hands. It may, therefore, sometimes not imply any great degree of intimacy. Here, however, the expression is an emphatic one, not "Let him kiss me with his mouth," merely, but, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." The verb means "to touch," and as thus translated, it has a wonderfully sweet ring to it. '' Let him touch me with the kisses of his mouth." We all remember the words of the woman of Mark 5::" If I may but touch the hem of his garment I shall be made whole." What thrill must have passed through that poor sick body as it came in contact with the Lord Jesus ! and I could not help connecting it with this verse, "Let him touch me with the kisses of his mouth." How sweetly the words fall from her lips, while holy memories of His life upon earth flood in and fill the house of God with its fragrance !

"Awake, my soul, in joyful lays,
To sing Thy great Redeemer's praise;
He justly claims a song from thee,
His loving kindness, oh, how free!

"He saw thee ruined in the fall,
Yet loved thee notwithstanding all;
He saved thee from a vile estate-
His loving kindness, oh, how great! "

BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

CHAPTER VI. (Continued from page 218.)

The whole prayer is an address to God as Father:"Our Father which art in heaven." What underlies this title given to God is in fact a relationship never yet made known in its true character, between Him and the true disciples of this blessed Teacher. " I have declared unto them Thy Name," He says elsewhere, "and will declare it, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them " (John 17:26). This name of "Father " is something wholly different from those Old Testament titles, which had declared as the "Almighty" His power, or as the "Most High" His exaltation, or as "Jehovah " His enduring immutability. "Father" declares, not such things as these, but what is His heart toward us, while it gives us title to enjoy the love implied. The character of the tie is such as gives us claim and confidence,-a claim He cannot deny. How great an encouragement to the prayer of faith!

No doubt, there had been long before anticipations of what is here conveyed. At the very birth of the nation God had announced, "Israel is my son, even my first-born" (Ex. 4:22). And this, which had been repeated in the law, and made the foundation of perceptive argument,-"Ye are the children of Jehovah your God" (Deut. 14:i),-might seem in itself to justify Israelites, such as were these disciples that had gathered round the Lord, in taking the place He gave them here. But in fact this, in the national ruin that had intervened, had passed away. Israel was Lo-ammi, "not my people," though with a promise for the future of a restoration not yet fulfilled (Hos. 1:9, 10). They could not comfort themselves with assurances thus forbidden them to apply, -nor with a legal covenant to which God's faithfulness on His side "could but make them partakers of curse rather than blessing.

God is, however, the God of grace and of resurrection. He does not, indeed, patch an old garment with new cloth. He does not even merely restore what is failed and gone. But He can replace it with that which is better; and so much better, that the old and removed blessing shall be seen to be but the shadow of that which replaces it. Both together thus witness, if on the one hand to the failure of man, on the other to the changeless goodness and grace of God.

Thus that old relationship to the Unchangeable had after all changed. The "children of Jehovah " were now as a nation outcast from Him. The tie, stable as it might look, had not the elements of en-durance in it. As we look back upon it from the stand-point of the new revelation, it is simple to understand that Israel's sonship was not the result of new birth, as it is now in Christianity. An Israelite was not necessarily, because that, either a penitent or a believer in that God who had drawn nigh to him. A Jew was, as the apostle says, a "Jew by nature" (Gal. 2:15); but that nature was not new nature. The child of law, as he shows afterwards by the type of Hagar and Ishmael (4:22-31), was but "born after the flesh," and showed the nature of the " wild man," as Ishmael did (Gen. 16:12). Thus there was no real nearness to God or fellowship with Him necessarily implied in sonship of this kind. Adoption there was in it, but not regeneration. Consequently it never secured from eternal judgment, nor insured beyond death, nor even from day to day, but as obedience lasted or God's pity spared.
But the "Father," of whom Christ spoke to His own, was not the Father of the nation in this manner. Only the pure in heart should see Him, only the peacemakers be called His children. Even before this, although not having place in this gospel, He had taught Nicodemus the absolute necessity of new birth, and that, while that which was born of the flesh was only "flesh," that which was born of the Spirit-a divine Person-was "spirit," – divine in nature (John 3:6). Here, it is plain, is the foundation of relationship to God, a real new yet divine life communicated, which is therefore "eternal life." For " eternal life " is not simply that which (when it begins) abides, or has no ending. It is that which, though in us it begins, in itself never did. Receiving this, we are not merely adopted sons :we are that truly; but none the less we are born into the family of God and "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. i, 4), children of God indeed.

How far all this had been entered into by the disciples as yet, is another question. That it was what was in the Lord's mind we know, and what He was leading them into,-what therefore underlay the teaching of the prayer. This Father in heaven, known for what He is, becomes thus rooted in the affections, supreme over the heart that has learned the cry of children. Of this the prayer at least is the expression. The first petition is one which shows how jealous for this Name revealed to it is the soul that has truly entered into the revelation. " Father, hallowed be Thy Name! " May no thought come in to profane this wondrous intimacy now existing ; may grace not be abused to license; may all Thy people worship with unshod feet in this place of nearness. Such surely will be the first cry of the heart that has felt-and in proportion to the way in which it has felt-the ecstatic joy of God so made known to it.

But the world knows not this joy, and the abounding evil is but the shadow upon hearts and lives that "have turned away from the light of God. Hence the next cry necessarily is, '' Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven! "

This, if true prayer, must be the outcome of a heart that is itself obedient. And what an absorbing-desire this should be to us! The misery and moral ruin and dishonor to God on every side of us may well force from us a prayer like this. Where is there another like it for the magnitude of that which is embodied in it ? God, as it were, everywhere set in His place; everything finding its relation to Him as the planets to the central sun:here is universal blessedness beyond which we can conceive no greater; all peace, happiness, goodness, are implied in it. And this is the practical power and glory of faith, that it sets us where from a full heart such a prayer can well; that it enthrones God of its own free choice upon that absolute throne which can alone be His ; that it realizes His will to be only the expression of His glorious nature,-in which every divine attribute blends and harmonizes.

For this "kingdom of the Father," we must look beyond all dispensations to the sabbath of God's own rest. To confound it with the millennium would be an entire mistake, and necessarily lower its character terribly. The millennium, with all its blessing, is but a step towards this glorious consummation. It is earth's "regeneration," (Matt. 19:28,) but after which, as in our own case, (not in it,) must come the eradication of evil and the change to eternal conditions. The millennium ends in a final outbreak of evil, the most openly defiant that the world has ever seen (Rev. 20:7-10). The judgment that follows reaches to the very frame-work of material things, and the earth and its heaven-the "firmament" of the second day (Gen. 1:)-pass away in fire, to make way for that new heaven and earth in which righteousness shall dwell. Then, with all evil subdued and all things made anew, the Son of God, having brought about the very condition for which He teaches His disciples here to pray, will give up His separate, human kingdom to the Father (i Cor. 15:24-28), and the kingdom of the Father contemplated here will at last have come.

Important it is not to confound the temporary with the eternal, the divine outcome with any intermediate step. Such confusion is no less mischievous for the heart than for the mind; for where God rests alone should our hearts find rest. But for us it is true, that the kingdom of the Father will have come, even before the millennium, when, caught up to be ever with the Lord at His coming, the Father's house receives us. And thus it is that, in the parables of the kingdom, in the gospel we are now considering (chap. 13:42), when the present form of it is closed by the appearing of the King, it is said:"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father." To this, even then, we shall have come.

With this petition for the coming of the Father's kingdom, the first half of the prayer ends. The petitions following are of a different character. They are the expression of personal needs in a state of things such as now surrounds us. Personal needs in the very highest sense, of course, the first class of petitions represents; but here it is God that is distinctly before the soul, and His glory that absorbs it. What happiness would it not be for us, if the glory of God were thus, and as taught of the Spirit, the first desire of the heart, the first thing to utter itself in our prayers! F. W. G.

(To be continued.)

Ques. 15.-How do you reconcile Ex. 14:16, 21, 22 with Heb. 11:29? Was it not sight when they could see a clear path through the sea? " It is evident that the sea was not divided throughout at once, had it been so it would have been sight, not faith."

Ans.-From the language in Exodus there seems to be no question that the waters were divided from shore to shore at once. A simple reading of the passage referred to, will make this clear. When Israel had passed over and Moses' rod was again lifted, the sea returned to his strength. There is not the slightest contradiction to the statement in Hebrews. The act was one of faith; God had prepared them a way and they, by faith, walked in it. Unbelief would have refused the way and bowed again to the Egyptians.

When we remember the typical meaning of the opening of the Red Sea we are compelled to accept this view. Death and judgment shut up the people of God under the power of sin, from which there was no escape. The seventh chapter of Romans gives the account of the hopeless struggle, the longing cry for deliverance, the hope in Christ; and the opening verses of the eighth chapter show the complete deliverance, connecting it with the death of our Lord which by "the law of the Spirit has made us free from the law of sin and death." We need only ask, was the death and resurrection of Christ a gradual opening up of the way of escape, or did it not throw wide open the door of deliverance? Was not a shining path opened up from shore to shore? but is it not also a path in which faith alone can walk? Pharaoh and his hosts had an open way to pursue after the Israelites; but having no faith, it was but a way of death to them.

When the children of Ammon (Judges 11:) made war against Israel, and laid claim to a portion of their inheritance, the question of the title was three hundred years old. And Jephthah, in his answer to their insolent demand for the cession of this territory, went back over the circumstances occurring three hundred years before. He does not say, " Possession is nine points of the law," but goes back to the time when Israel passed around the country of Edom and of Moab, and did not molest them; but when Sihon came out and attacked them, they fought, and were victors, the Lord giving the enemy into their hand. He shows that it was by actual conquest that they gained possession, and this by the direct help of God. True, times had changed since then, and in degenerate days, when every man did that which was right in his own eyes," the Ammonites, instead of being slaves, were apparently masters, and in a position to dictate to once victorious Israel; but to faith, which rests on the unchanging God, all is unchanged ; Ammon is the same proud foe of God, the land is still Israel's by right, and in the power that bestowed it they will keep it. " The times change, and we change with them," says the Latin proverb; but faith does not speak so; it never does.

The Jews as a nation are still under judicial blindness for their rejection of Christ-a blindness, blessed be God, that is removed the moment the sin is judged and the soul turns to the Lord. These eighteen hundred years have made no change in the moral character of that awful sin in rejecting the Lord of glory, nor in the present responsibility of those now identified with the Jews. In days to come, in the time of Jacob's trouble, the controversy will be as to " our brother Joseph," and "we were verily guilty" will be the confession of those who had not been born when the act was committed. The prophetic confessions of such scriptures as the fifty-first psalm and the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah show how real and how fresh the sense of sin in the rejection of Christ will be.

With Daniel (chap. 9:) the lapse of seventy years, and the prophecy of the return, only increases the humiliation, the heartfelt confession of sin-sin in which he had no actual part.

Is not the whole world under the heavy hand of God's government because of Adam's sin ? We are under the blight of that disobedience still, as much so as was Adam the day he fell. Thanks to infinite grace, the awful consequences have been more than removed for those who by faith are linked with the second Adam. But who would dare to say the moral character of that act had changed in the lapse of six thousand years ?

But there is no need to multiply instances. We are persuaded that all Christians will admit the truth of what we have presented. It is in the application of a principle that there is too often glaring inconsistency. Sin is sin whether committed one hour or one century ago ; its moral character does not change with age.

On the other hand, how simple and blessed is the path of recovery! '' We have sinned." The moment there is sincere confession and departure from the evil, it is forgiven-communion is restored. We all know this way. Shall we not follow it ? Does anything but pride prevent our walking in it ? Other ways may seem to afford an easier way; this is the only true one. Sweet and precious names may be invoked in other interests-the names of our Lord, of the Spirit, of love-but they cannot do away with the need of which we have been speaking. Sin remains the same, and the only way to be free from it is by judging it and departing from evil. The Lord in mercy lead His own dear people into this path of lowliness, but of blessing – preserving them from every false way!

In the Gospel of Luke the Lord is represented several times as engaged in prayer, a circumstance in exquisite keeping, surely, with the intention of the Gospel-which is to present Him to the gaze of adoring hearts as the Son of Man, perfect in His dependence upon God-and one fraught with deep significance to us. In this, as in all things else, He has left us an example that we should follow in His steps.

In the perfect dependence of the Lord we do not see that lifeless, impassive spirit which some affect, who profess to be so dependent as to be independent of times and seasons for prayer. Oh, no! And if it was His practice to withdraw for prayer, should it not also be ours?

In the midst of His work, and the height of His fame, Jesus retired to pray. There went "a fame abroad of Him; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed." (Luke 5:15, 16.)

There must be this withdrawing of ourselves frequently into the sole company of God, if we are to do His work, and if we are to know Him at all as friend knows friend. Yet how disinclined the heart often is to it. How seldom are we really face to face, as it were, alone with God, unless forced into His presence to obtain some mercy, some needed boon! But for Jesus to withdraw Himself into the wilderness to pray, was for love to delight in the sole companionship of its object. "I am not alone, for the Father is with Me."

The link of life binds each believer to our risen Lord. Were there but one Christian in all the world, the precious truths of a full and eternal salvation would be his.

The link of individual communion also holds each believer walking humbly, in practical fellowship with "the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ." Did all but one grow cold and worldly, the sweet privilege of walking and talking with God would still be his in all its fullness, though of course there would be sadness because of the state of the rest.

But when we speak of the Church we do not think merely of individuals, but of the whole body of Christ. Individual salvation and individual communion there must be, but the Church brings in thoughts of responsibility as well as of privilege.

These privileges and their accompanying responsibilities are unfolded to us in the Word of God. The Church is the Body of Christ, He the Head. It is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is therefore one. By the Spirit we are not only members of Christ, but members of one another. The unity of the Body is to be practically manifested by keeping the unity of the Spirit. The Church is one. But this means one not only in life, but in organism, possession of gifts, testimony, and discipline.

We cannot, if we would, shirk these responsibilities. We cannot go on as individuals, nor even as local assemblies. We are responsible to hold the truth, and seek to exhibit it, of the One Body and the One Spirit. May our God keep us from attempting any other path as seeming more easy.

"Blessed One! Thy passion's o'er,
Thou wilt bleed and die no more;
No more heard that bitter cry,
"Eli, lama sabachthani! "

Thou wast, in the sinner's stead,
By Thy love to Calvary led;
There didst die upon the tree,
That the guilty might go free.

All " the darkness " now is past,
And "the veil is rent " at last;
Thou hast burst the bands of death,
Showing its atoning worth.

Thou art now in glory bright,
Far from Calvary's darkest night;
No more to be "led " that way,
But abide in cloudless day.

Thine atoning work is done,
Never more to be begun;
" They of faith," in Thee complete,
And, through grace, for glory meet.

Thou wilt come to take them there;
Joyful meeting "in the air"!
Thou wilt lead them into rest,-
They with Thee forever blest !

Blessed One! Thy passion's o'er,
Thou wilt bleed and die no more;
No more heard that bitter cry,
"Eli, lama sabachthani! "

R. H.

May 18th, 1895.

"To the soul, fresh in its spirituality, the word of God-and oh, how can it be otherwise!-has more sweetness in its least statements (for they come from God) than any indulgence whatever of the mental powers."-J. N. D.

BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

CHAPTER VI. (Continued from page 172.)

The third section of the "Sermon on the Mount" – the principles of the kingdom, which are given for the government of those waiting for it – occupies the first eighteen verses of the sixth chapter. It has upon it the seal of a third section, as plainly bringing us into the sanctuary, – into the presence of our Father, and giving us a lesson of sanctification, – of the holiness that suits His presence. It thus corresponds with the third book of Moses, Israel's lawgiver, while yet a greater than Moses is here.

The first verse is the text of the whole, which is then illustrated, amplified, and enforced, in three different applications. The text is:"Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them :otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." The word is allowed to be "righteousness " here, as the Revised Version gives it, and not "alms," as in the common one. In the following verses "alms" is right.

This "righteousness" is then illustrated in three different applications, manward, Godward, and self-ward, as alms-giving, prayer, and fasting. Each of these is an illustration, not a definition, as is clear. Alms-giving does not define our duty toward men; nor prayer that toward God; nor fasting, what we owe ourselves. In each regard our righteousness must go far beyond the illustration. And yet the illustration is in each case chosen, as we cannot doubt, in divine wisdom, and has a peculiar fitness to bring out the character of this righteousness, as disciples are called to practice it, before their Father in heaven. This we shall surely see, as we examine them.

I. Alms-giving is chosen to express what is righteousness toward men. What is the reason of this ? Such questions it is right and good to ask, if only we seek the answer reverently, and without forgetting that divine wisdom is not exhausted by the apprehension we may obtain of it. In this first case, as surely in the others also, we may think of more than one answer.

As the Lord is reproving a righteousness done be-fore men, He naturally takes up that which would be most showy-most apt to be reckoned on to produce the desired effect. We are told by Him of those who sound a trumpet before them when they give alms, and that in the synagogues, as well as in the streets. The language is probably symbolical of the blazoning abroad, in whatever way, their acts of " charity;" while for this also they would naturally have the most plausible reasons, invented to cover the fact that they sought glory of men ; but this was the fact. And alms-giving has also been one of the standard methods adopted by those who have sought this. It can be practiced with so little personal sacrifice, while it meets so evidently one of the sorest of palpable needs that can be met; it has so the form of benevolence, that it seems like cynicism to question whether the spirit be there; it is in itself so right, and puts one so plainly in the company, at least, of those who do right:all this makes it of priceless value to those who love the praise of men. And those who do so can very readily attain their object; nothing, perhaps, is more readily or certainly secured. But then, alas for them, "they have their reward:" it is all that they will possess, forever.
On the other side, alms-giving as an example of righteousness is a significant witness that to show mercy is not something to be classed as supererogation, but that the ministry of love is after all only a debt-a due. To be righteous really carries no merit in it, although God in His grace may please to speak of recompense.'' When ye shall have done all things that are commanded you," says the Lord elsewhere, "say, We are unprofitable servants:we have done that which was our duty to do." (Luke 17:10.) Only in a world of sinners such as we are, could the thought of righteousness-the mere fulfillment of duty-associate itself with any idea of merit. And with the comparative righteousness which is all that is ours at best,-a righteousness that still leaves us sinners,-how impossible should be the thought! But, to love, with all that should flow from this, is mere commanded duty; yea, to love one's neighbor as oneself is the injunction of the law. The Christian standard rises higher still in its law of self-sacrifice and all its marvelous enforcement of this in the example of Him who has given us life through His death. Henceforth, for those who have known this, there is no possible margin of devotedness outside of that duty which His love has endeared.

Alms-giving shrinks in this way into a small thing indeed; while this diminution of it does not make it less imperative. It becomes only a finger pointing along a road which leads out into the infinity beyond. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be made rich." (2 Cor. 8:9.)

And yet we cannot afford to forget the Lord's words here, though to a people who could not know, as we know, such grace as this. Significant it is, that, when He would, to these Jewish disciples, speak of righteousness manward, His illustration of it emphasizes mercy. All this is only magnified for us by our Christianity, in every particular. We are, above all, the witnesses of grace. Debtors to it absolutely, we are debtors to show it to others. Freely having received, we must freely give. How otherwise are we to reflect Him to men around ?

And we need still the reminder :" But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may be in secret:and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Alas, how Christians have forgotten such words in their displayed charities, justifying the dis-play as letting their light shine ! The contrast is manifest with what is here :too manifest to need enlargement.

2. The second illustration of righteousness is God-ward ; and here the Lord illustrates it by prayer:"When ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites are:for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, to be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber; and when thou hast shut to thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

It is a striking thing that righteousness should be illustrated by that which is the expression of creature need and dependence. But all the sin in the world came in through man's forgetfulness of this. Nay, Satan became what he is in the same manner – "lifted up with pride" (i Tim. 3:6). Prayer is the expression of what is the very opposite of this, Think, then, of the utter and awful contradiction in terms, of praying to God, to be seen of men! "As the hypocrites do," says the Lord; and yet, is not this an hypocrisy which creeps oftentimes into public prayers, where those who pray are, after all, not to be so characterized ? Are not those who lead the prayers of others especially liable to act in some measure in this way ? the consciousness of being before others leading them into petitions which are not dictated by felt need so much as by a sense of propriety of some kind ? How much shorter, how much simpler, how different in various ways, might many of our prayers be, if we were alone before God instead of in the prayer-meeting !

This leads us on toward the next warning :" But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do :for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them :for your Father knoweth what ye have need of before ye ask Him." This, if there be no need to explain or apply, still needs serious attention on the part of Christians.

Our Lord follows this with the divine model of prayer, which for fullness combined with perfect directness and simplicity so manifestly fulfills the conditions indicated. Nor only this :the order and proportion of the petitions are, with all else, perfect, and claim our earnest attention. They betoken a condition of heart which, wherever it is found, must insure answer,-the state of one over whom God's will is supreme,-for whom He is first and last, beginning and end. To realize such a condition would of necessity make us realize the meaning of those words of the Lord's, " Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done to you." Clearness of apprehension would go with it,-confidence of success:"The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much" (James 5:16).

A perfect model of prayer this is and must be :whether designed for a form, and especially whether intended for Christians, is another matter. The differences in Luke (11:2-4), now recognized in the Revised Version, would, of course, be one of the plainest arguments against this. Apart from this, the gift of the Spirit to Christians, for those who realize what is the distinct characteristic of the present dispensation, (John 16:7 ; Rom. 8:26, 27,) and expressly named as the Intercessor within us according to God, may still more hinder such from interpreting it as a form to be used by the saints of the present time. That it is not in the Lord's Name is evident upon the face of it, and confirmed (if confirmation were needed) by His words to His disciples afterwards :" Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name " (John 16:24); and this is a difference not to be remedied by supplying an omission where there is none, and making that really imperfect which is perfect. And this very perfection, for the disciples of that time in their transition state, would seem to suggest once more its not being intended as the suited expression of a Christian in the Christian state. One is more concerned, however, to point out the actual perfection of the prayer, than to dwell upon such distinctions in this place,- even though they have to do with differences vital to Christianity; but here is not the place for their examination. Let us consider now, briefly, the petitions contained in it, and what they imply. F. W. G.

(To be continued.)

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." (1 John 2:15-17.)

There are in New Testament scripture two principle words translated "world" (kosmos), the word used here and throughout John's writings; and aion, found chiefly in Matthew and Paul's epistles. The root meanings of the two words are entirely different :kosmos means order, beauty; hence we have the word"cosmetic," that which beautifies; aion means age, or dispensation-aeion, existing always, the course of existence.* *In Heb. 1:2; 11:3, we have aion, where we might expect kosmos.. The meaning would seem to be the existing universe; not merely the earth, but the heavens as well. The word eternal is a derivative from the one we are considering, and means "age-lasting." From this, deniers of eternal punishment have sought to teach that the word meant limited, and not unlimited, time. A glance at a few scriptures will show the impossibility of such a rendering. The same word rendered "eternal" damnation (Mark 3:29), "eternal" judgment (Heb. 6:2), "everlasting" fire (Matt, 18:8), "everlasting" punishment (Matt. 25:46), is applied to "eternal" life (John 3:15, 16), "eternal" weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17, 18), a house "eternal" in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1), "eternal" salvation (Heb. 5:9), "eternal" redemption (Heb. 9:12), "eternal" inheritance (Heb. 9:15). The king "eternal" (1 Tim. 1:17) is the "king of the ages." So that if we deny the eternity of judgment and punishment, we must likewise deny the eternity of life, salvation, and redemption; of glory and our inheritance; yea, of the very being of God!* It is applied chiefly to mark time and condition, while kosmos gives us the material world, primarily. " Be not conformed to this age" (Rom. 12:2),-to the course of things in which we live. It is the "age " of this world (Eph. 2:2), where we have the two words significantly joined together; and Satan is alike the prince of this world, kosmos (John 14:30; 16:11) and the god of this age, aion (2 Cor. 4:4). The earth as it came forth from the hands of God was indeed a kosmos, a thing of beauty, upon which he could look in blessing, and pronounce it "very good." Like the material part of man, the flesh, it was a fitted place for his habitation, as that was a suited vehicle for his spirit. But like the flesh fallen, when sin had entered in, which acquired a new and almost technical meaning-the evil nature,-so it, too, has in very many places a moral meaning, as seen in the passage we are considering. The world as it came from God's hands, is one thing; that into which sin has entered, has become, alas, quite another.

And yet the world about us is still, though with scars which witness of sin, a thing of beauty. "O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all:the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea." . . . (Ps. 104:24, 25). It was by a rehearsal of some of His works of creation (Job 38:41:) that God brought Job into the dust before Him; again and again have we the same witness in the Psalms; and when the Son came from the Father's bosom to declare the Father's Name, He culled many a flower of divine truth from the field of nature. Seeds, lilies, sparrows, were in His hands fitting illustrations of a Father's power, wisdom, and care.
It is not an encouraging sign-quite the reverse- to see Christians turn from the study of nature. "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." It all speaks of God, not merely giving proofs of His existence, His eternal power and godhead (Rom. 1:20), but furnishing also, in countless ways, an exhibition of His character as well. He whose "tender mercies [seen in the varied and bounteous provision for the needs of the least of His creatures] are over all His works," is a God tender and merciful. He who has painted with tints of loveliness earth and sea and sky, must be Himself infinitely beautiful-"the King in His beauty." The very variety and lavish superabundance of all things in nature but suggest, as in a shadow, the infinite fullness there is in God.

The doctrines of grace, as revealed in Scripture, are shadowed in nature, had we but eyes and hearts to see. Changing seasons, storms and sunshine, all speak of God, and are meant to show us His character, when we have the light of revelation to guide us.

We repeat, then, that a neglect of nature is not an encouraging sign in the child of God; it means, but too often, a neglect of God. We need not wonder, if Christians have neglected the works of God in nature, that Satan should take them up and use them in a way the opposite of what was intended. What wonder that atheism, theories of evolution, agnosticism, should find their root in the natural sciences, when Christians have left Satan to be the guide in the search after truth ? All this may show the darkness of mere human wisdom, but it shows also the coldness of heart of the child of God. Under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and in subjection to the word of God, let the Christian astronomer sweep the heavens with his telescope,-he will learn of the infinite God; let the Christian biologist, under the same guidance, search with his microscope into the most hidden recesses of nature, and he will find the same God. He will be seen in the analyses of chemistry, in the laws of physics. He fills all things, and His truth is everywhere one; it is a reflection of Him who has revealed Himself in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let Christians wrest the facts of nature from Satan and use them for Christ. Among the thousands who are yearly becoming familiar with the features of nature, are there not some who will show us not merely the "footprints of the Creator," but some of His features too ?

We make no apology for what may seem a digression from our subject, for it is not, but has brought us into the very heart of it. Worldliness is the "world with God left out. That is what our scripture teaches :it is what is not of the Father that is of the world. Lust, or desire, describes it-lust of flesh, lust of eyes, and pride, which is but gratified desire-gratified for the moment.

Covetousness, or desiring what we have not, is idolatry (Col. 3:5). God is displaced. And conversely, where He has His place, there can be no covetousness, no lust. We are satisfied with His fullness. "He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5). Where the Father is left out, the empty soul craves; and though it had the whole world, it would be empty still, for God alone can fill the heart.

This, then, is the world. It is a Godless world. Worldliness may show itself in various ways. There may be the grosser, more sensual lust of the flesh; the more esthetic lust of the eyes; or the mere boasting in riches and possessions, the "pride of living"- the same word rendered "this world's good" in chapter 3:17. But in whatever way it take possession of the heart, it is still the same-the Father is absent.

It was in this way that Eve was taken by the beguilements of Satan:"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her ; and he did eat" (Gen. 3:6). Good for food, answers to the lust of the flesh, the mere animal desires; pleasant to the eyes, gratifies the lust of the eye; and wisdom has been ever the principal food upon which pride has fed. Eve's sin consisted in putting these gratifications in the place of God-in direct disobedience to Him. Cain's apostasy seems more awful when we see him turn his back upon God and quietly settle down to enjoy the city which he had built, than when he cried out, '' My punishment is greater than I can bear." Lot took his first step in the course which ended so shamefully in the mountain cave, when he lifted up his eyes upon the well-watered plain of Sodom, "like the garden of the Lord," but with the Lord left out. Let us never, then, think lightly of that which is the root of all sin-departure from God. The apostle describes the hopeless condition of the Gentile world as "without God in the world" (Eph. 2:). And when with tears he would warn against those whose end was destruction, and whose glory was in their shame, he described them as those who " mind earthly things."

The very essence, then, of worldliness is the exclusion of God, it matters not so much from what He is excluded, as the fact of His exclusion. Mere monasticism, no matter how severe, does not shut out worldliness, but shuts it in, rather. You may put a man behind stone walls, and never allow him to see God's fair world; you may deprive him of the luxuries of life, almost of its necessities, and yet have him as thoroughly worldly as ever. If the Father is excluded, there is worldliness. It is not enough to inclose a portion of ground with walls to make it a garden. Unless it be cultivated with good, it will produce more weeds than ever.

We have thus far been looking at the nature of worldliness. Of its desolating effects, we need not say much. "Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). So distinctly does Scripture draw the line! How awful must that be, then, which is, like the carnal mind, "enmity against God!" That the child of God can take up with it, makes it all the more solemn. When the world has a place in the heart, coldness results. The first step to worldly Laodiceanism was Ephesian loss of first love. Is your heart cold, my brother ? Do you, like Israel, grow weary of the sweet manna ? Then look to it! for, like Israel, the leeks and garlic and melons of Egypt have drawn you from your Lord. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another;" when worldliness creeps in, we loose communion with God, and very easily divisions creep in to separate God's people ; gospel work ceases, or becomes a mere drudgery of routine; all spiritual activity ceases; the door is left wide open for some open sin, unless the mercy of God prevent. It may be business, it may be pleasure, it may be things right and harmless in themselves; but if they displace God, their work is done. Oh, what desolation worldliness has wrought! What bright, active, devoted Christians it has overcome!

We have spoken of the menace of worldliness. It is no evil far off from us. We are surrounded by it; it presses upon us from every side. It is active, energetic, under the guiding hand of its master, waiting only for an entrance. It is subtle, alluring. It has its attractions for the young Christian; nor is it powerless with the more mature. As the sand encroaches upon the oasis, as the sea presses upon the dykes, so worldliness presses upon us. Let us be on our guard. Well did our Lord know our danger when He prayed, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

The Church is threatened with three evils:false doctrine, divisions, and worldliness; and we may say with safety that worldliness is at the root of most of the power of the other two.

Having seen something of the nature and the effects of worldliness, and that it is an evil which threatens us now, we come to look simply at what is at once a preventive and a cure. It is the Father's presence. That which marked the world was His absence; and when He is present, there is faith, and, so, victory over the world.

But how suggestive, how alluring, is this word Father! It reminds us of the Son, through whom we are sons, and through whom we have access to the Father. It tells us of relationship, of nearness, of affections. It does not speak of, though it suggests, a place; but it reminds us of a Person. Mere place could not produce holiness, but sin cannot lift its head in the Father's presence.

How sweet and how simple, then, is the cure for worldliness ! Have we allowed it a place in our hearts ? and, as a result, has coldness and much else come in ? Let us return to the Father. Let no excuse prevent it. There is nothing that can be a necessity to keep the child from the enjoyment of the Father. No matter how deep the immersion, nor of how long standing, the Father's claims are strongest, and His grace, His restoring grace, all-sufficient.

We are living in times of awful worldliness. As in the day of Cain, man is using the inventions and the luxuries of the age to hide God from his sight, In that Church which should be a testimony for Him who was not of this world, is the home of worldliness. It is something perfectly awful to see how professed godliness is linked with the world. May God awaken His dear people! Oh, the shame, the reproach, the dishonor, that is brought upon His holy name! What is wanted is not sanctimonious asceticism, that is but a sham; nor legalism, which brings bond-age; but a bright devotion to One who loves us, who has our hearts, and in whose presence it is our delight to dwell."That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."

REST.-There are three rests spoken of in Scripture. First, the rest which, as sinners, we find in the accomplished work of Christ. Then there is the present rest which, as saints, we find in being entirely subject to the will of God; this is opposed to restlessness. There is also the rest that remains for the people of God at the end of the race.

(Continued from page 182.)

Next, we will look at His temptation,-being-owned and baptized by John, owned and anointed with the Holy Spirit by God the Father. Now a new scene opens up to our view:He is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. What a contrast to His thirty years of retirement! We learn from Gen. 3:of the trial of the first man, Adam. Now, in grace, our Lord, the second man, will subject Himself to the same test. Adam failed, disobeyed, sinned. Christ, by the test, demonstrated what He was-as ever, perfect and holy, -perfect in dependence, perfect in obedience. Yet the circumstances are a perfect contrast:Adam tried under the most favorable circumstances ; Christ, under the most unfavorable; Adam, in a garden; Christ, in a wilderness; Adam, with the animals tame and harmless; Christ, with the wild beasts; Adam, with a partner; Christ, alone. But as He during this time passed through various temptations, the test only makes manifest that He was as the pure gold; hence the secret of His triumph here was, as ever, He was "that holy thing; " His humanity was of a new character compared with that of Adam, and hence the enemy was completely foiled, and so leaves him for a season. How could He, ever divine, ever perfect, ever holy, have swerved from the path of holiness ? Such a thing was impossible; and one would belittle the majesty and glory of His sacred person even to suggest it possible for Him to fail, to disobey, to sin; -as was said ere that life closed, '' The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." (Jno. 14:30.) He ever was that in Himself, perfect and holy; and although tried as the first man, yet, it must be remembered, it was in grace He subjected Himself to such a test, to make manifest the infinite worth of His person. Hence, by those tests, so much more severe than Adam's, inasmuch as the circumstances were so much more unfavorable, we learn the true character of His humanity, the true nature of His person-"that holy thing; " and the language of old would be inadequate to express the feelings of any taught of God, " Thou art worth ten thousand of us." (2 Sam. 18:3.) In grace, He came from heaven; in grace, submits in all things to the law, moral and ceremonial;-even the ordinance of circumcision was not passed by, and the little turtle-doves, or pigeons, were not withheld. In grace, He goes down to Nazareth, and is subject to His parents; in grace, permits John to baptize Him, as the rest who came for baptism. Yet personally He needed none of these things-yea, circumcision, sacrifices, and even baptism, all found their true fulfillment in Him. In grace, He subjects Himself to this deep trial, a temptation for forty days by Satan; yet during this brief period, as also in the previous thirty years, He was always that savor of delight to Jehovah ; and the severer the test, the hotter the fire, it only brought out the more the sweet fragrance of His pure and perfect life. As we trace His path step by step, we can but triumph in His triumphs; we worship and adore.

We follow Him as He returns from the wilderness, and glance at a few leading features of that blessed path of His, during His public ministry, from the wilderness to its end. "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and there went out a fame of Him through all the regions round about, and He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all." (Luke 4:14.)

Now we get in truth the true "meat-offering" of Lev. 2:, not only made with oil (conceived by the Holy Ghost), but also anointed with oil,-" How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil:for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38); and hence His whole life from this time was one marked, whether His words or works, to be in the power of the Spirit of God. He taught in grace; it was in grace He healed also:every step in His blessed path was for the glory of God and the good of men; and while, as to His humanity, there was much in real contrast to Adam, whether in His unfallen or fallen state, yet we can find much also in which, bless God, there was a parallel. Hence we need to try things which differ, but with a suited reverence and godly fear, lest we should tarnish His person and glory in the eyes of any. If we view Adam ere he fell, Gen. 1:and 2:show us his humanity was so constructed by the Lord in creation as to require food (chap. 1:29; chap. 2:16); and work would be part of that delightful service he would render to the Lord his Creator (chap. 2:15)- not the toil and sufferings as announced after the fall, in chap. 3:17-19;-and the result of such a service, such work, would be to enjoy the gracious provisions of goodness and love, food and drink; and quite natural to learn of sleep also in chap. 2:, ere sin entered to mar all. From chap, 2:, then, it is clear there was work; meat and drink and sleep also:hence to all ought this not to be clear, these are not the result of the fall ? Yet now many things accompany these- pain, sorrow, disease, and even death; and they themselves are intensified in many ways through sin. Yet we believe it is of all importance to understand that daily work, food, and sleep, are not the results of sin, but were there, and so required by human nature, before ever man became sinful and depraved. Now since the fall these continue with us; but sin having entered, much more follow, pain, sorrow, disease, and even death, "the wages of sin." Now we learn that the Lord, when He entered a body prepared for Him, was truly a man, of flesh and blood as we, yet apart from sin being there; and need we be surprised to learn, when He was here, of Him at times being hungry, thirsty, wearied, and even asleep? Surely not. And with a holy reverence and godly care for the glory of His person, could we say these were the results of the Lord Jesus having an inferior humanity to that given to Adam in the beginning ? Surely not; and to say so would be to degrade the person of the blessed Saviour, from which every true believer would recoil. This we maintain was part of His perfect humanity, and hence He having accommodated Himself to such, He is able to give sympathy and succor to His beloved people now (Heb. 2:17, 18).

And during this part of His perfect life on earth, when, ministering among men, He beheld the condition into which sin had plunged the whole human race-the sorrow, disease, sickness, and even death- He, ever perfect, could feel for such, sympathize with the creatures of His hands; but were those feelings, those groans, those tears of His, because His humanity was upon a par with man ? Surely not. Neither was it because His humanity was as Adam's simply. Nay, it was of a different character, we have seen- "that holy thing":divine power was there; and because of such, no taint of sin could ever enter to tarnish His blessed, spotless person. Not only was there power there, but love and sympathy, true and divine; and hence we read in Matt. 8:that one part of Isa. 53:was fulfilled-" Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses." On the cross he bare sins; but here in Matt. 8:, it was what He bare and carried during His life ministry; His love, compassion, and sympathy, were so real, so perfect, that, as He beheld the infirm, the diseased, He felt so keenly for them that He suffered in sympathy as much as if it was His own (Himself ever free from such, no sickness, no disease, could enter His perfect humanity, inasmuch as there was no sin there). How such truths as these, revealed in the word of God, exalt the Lord of life and glory! He could feel for the sick, yet Himself never so; pity those a prey to the many forms of disease, Himself never subject to such; take by the hand her who was stricken with fever, and lift her up, the fever not only leaving her but He never affected by it (Mark 1:30-32); touch the leper, yet Himself never defiled by such (Mark 1:41).
No; there was nothing in His pure, spotless humanity that could respond to sin, to Satan; no sickness, no disease, nothing of the pain and sorrow that belongs to the human race, the effects of sin in their nature, and hence nothing to leave Him open to death, "the wages of sin." Nothing in Him to make this a necessity, and to say or hint at such would be to take antichristian ground and degrade the person of the Lord Jesus.

In grace, we have said, He came down from heaven; in grace He entered a human body (mystery of mysteries)-He, the eternal One; in grace we have beheld Him in His life of lowly service among men. Now, the question is strangely asked, Why did He die? if death was not a necessity of His human nature? In grace, we readily answer. It was "the wages of sin," the penalty due to us. He was free to leave as He came (Ex. 21:2-6; Matt. 26:53, 54;) -free to go back to the Father; but then it was to carry out those divine plans between Himself and the Father before the world was, to accomplish the Father's will, and to deliver us from the awful penalty of sin and death and judgment. Hence death for Him was not a necessity of His human nature, but for us substitutory. What love, what grace, are thus expressed in the cross of Calvary! and how we need, as we contemplate such an act, to cry out, "Teach me"! for here we are ever learners, and such a scene as Calvary will keep us pupils and also worshipers through that day of eternity. Yet to be taught we need to keep close to the very words of holy Scripture.

True it is, that man is held guilty in crucifying the Lord Jesus, and His death is charged against the people to whom He came in richest love (the Jews). This is the cross from one point of view. Yet John 10:2:15, 17, 18, which gives the other side, needs to be carefully weighed ; given by the pen of one especially inspired to set forth His greatness, His majesty, the personal and divine glories of God's only begotten Son. "No man taketh my life from me," His own words. And although true man, perfect man, yet "God manifest in the flesh." How many are the crowns that will deck His brow ! The sea obeys Him; the fish of the deep serve His call; the wild beasts are harmless in His presence (Mark 1:); the dead rise at His word; sickness, disease, leprosy, and all, flee when He, the "mighty God, the everlasting Father"-[Father of Eternity, Heb.] so wills to deliver and bless the creatures of His love and care. Now, what shall we say of His death?-a work so marvelous, an act so great, when there upon the cross they break the legs of one thief, then the other; but, lo, when they came to Him, "they found Him dead already." (John 19:33.) Why was this ? The true fulfillment of what the same penman records in chap. 10::"I lay it down of myself." The cup of suffering and judgment was drunk by Him, the "Lamb of God," the substitute, in grace provided for men, and now having borne the judgment, having finished the work "He gave up His life," no man taking it from Him, and thus the full penalty is borne. Of whom else could such be said ? there is but one answer which will be to His eternal praise:None. No, not one. Never was there before, and never shall there be again, a death of the same character as His,-a work truly divine.

In the manner of His conception, we have seen Mary stands alone; in the character of His humanity, He appears alone; in the perfection of His holy life, He also appears alone; and now, His death is a perfect contrast to all others, a willing surrender of Himself on our behalf, and to bear the full penalty and remove every barrier. We see His Godhead glory burst out amid all the darkness of such an hour:" He gave up His life." As we look back and think of such a life of perfection and beauty, and gaze upon the scene of Calvary, we can but exclaim, Oh, what grace! what love!

We have noticed in this sketch only a little here and there from those parts so full and rich with precious food, the four Gospels; and even in them, while there is such a fullness, yet they themselves bear witness to the fact of how little they have given us compared to the great fullness God has given us in His beloved Son (Jno. 20:30; 21:24, 25 ; Col. 1:19). But if what has been imperfectly noticed will enable any to understand and to give a better answer to the Lord's own question we started out with, we will rejoice, "What think ye of Christ ? " He was truly David's Son; but this falls short of the full answer-He was also David's Lord; or, as given by the same writer from the lips of an ascended and glorified Saviour, "I Jesus … I am the root and the offspring of David ; " and we will add further, for the joy of all (amid the darkness of this our day, or amid the darkness of this night, which is far spent) who love the Lord Jesus Christ, " I am the bright and morning star" (Rev. 22:16). A. E. B.

Question 10.-Please explain John 1:45-51, especially 48-50. It is evidently Nathanael's first acquaintance with Jesus. But why should it be considered a great thing for Jesus to see a man under a fig-tree ?

Ans.-The miracle was, that when Nathanael was hidden from human sight, the Lord saw him. This at once showed Nathanael that Jesus was the Son of God. It answers literally to the scene with the woman of Samaria. The Lord discerned her spiritual condition, as he did Nathanael's actual position; and by the same divine omniscience. Hence her word, " Come, see a man that told me all that ever I did:is not this the Christ ?"

Ques. 11.-Please give some thoughts on Luke 9:57 to end.

Ans.-We do not have in this scripture the way of salvation, but that of discipleship. Of course, new birth, access to God, the sweet constraint of the love of Christ, must underlie all true discipleship. If they are not present, sooner or later, the one lacking them will turn aside. Hence our Lord tests those who would offer themselves for His service. They must expect to endure hardness, if they would follow One who had not where to lay His head. Ties of nature, no matter how strong and tender-even to burying a father-could not stand between the servant and his work. Note, it is when these right and good things are put between the servant and his Lord, when Christ is displaced, that they become a hindrance. It is similar to the passage where our Lord speaks of hating one's father and mother. When it is a question of loyalty to Christ nothing can be thought of as taking precedence of it,-not even the farewell to dear ones. But, we repeat, only the soul that knows grace can truly carry out the spirit of these teachings.

Ques. 12.-What were the divisions of Reuben, Judges 5:15, 16, and what is the spiritual truth underlying that scripture.

Ans.-The divisions of Reuben may refer to the divided sentiment prevailing in the tribe as a whole, or even in the individual. The lesson in either case is evident. A divided heart is ever a source of utter weakness. There may be great "resolves" and great "deliberations" (see Numerical Bible), but they go no further. It is significant that Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, is thus characterized. Mere creature strength can never be whole hearted for God, and a divided heart means a weak walk. Well may we pray with the psalmist, " Unite my heart to fear Thy name." As in the answer to the preceding question, the heart must be controlled by grace, and grace alone if it is to do aught for Christ.

The same truth applies to companies of saints, or to the Church at large. Divisions not only bring dishonor on Christ, but weakness on ourselves.

Ques. 13.-"Why is the tribe of Dan left out in the sealing in Rev. 7:?"

Ans.-It could not mean that Dan will fail as one of the twelve tribes to inherit a place in the land when it is divided among them at the opening of the Millennium. In Ezekiel 48:we have not only his portion given, but one of the gates of the city named after him.
It would seem that we have in this list of twelve tribes sealed, the fact of Israel as a nation presented (twelve being the national number, Num. 17:2, 1 King 18:31, Acts 26:7) not merely for millennial blessing, but for a place of dignity and rule. When it is a question of blessing and inheritance, each tribe has its portion-"All Israel shall be saved;" but when special approval is to be marked, while national unity is preserved (two tribes given to Joseph), God would by the omission of Dan declare His judgment of those principles which had marked that tribe, both historically and prophetically.

Historically, Dan was noted for idolatry (Judges 19:30, 31, 1 Kings 12:29, 30; Amos 8:14), and idolatry of so grievous a character that it was apostasy.

Prophetically, "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." (Gen. 49:17.) This prophecy of Jacob foretells the apostasy and the deceit that will, in the last days, mark those who follow the antichrist, which awakens the longing cry of the faithful, " Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion." (Ps. 14:7.) " I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." (Gen. 49:18.) These characteristics of idolatry and apostasy will doubtless be found throughout the whole nation, but as they have been localized in the tribe of Dan, God would mark His judgment of that sin by omitting that tribe from mention in a place of honor, just as the descendants of Zadok were marked out for the honor of priestly service in the Lord's house, when others of the priestly family were excluded for apostasy from that privilege, though inheritors of blessing. (Ezek. 44:9-16.)

Ques. 14.-Do the expressions, "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" mean the same thing?

Ans.-The first is used in Matthew only, and in parallel passages in Luke we have "Kingdom of God." In such places they would seem to mean the same thing. But underlying them there is a real difference, which many scriptures bring out. "Kingdom of Heaven" is a dispensational title, the external kingdom of an absent king-in heaven-here upon earth. "Kingdom of God" includes the added, in some respects contrasted, thought, the internal kingdom of a Person. It is used, therefore, by the apostle as a synonym for "the things of God." (See Acts 20:25; Rom. 14:17.)

The object of the paper in question was to call attention to what the writer has long felt to be a grievous lack among saints gathered to the Lord's name. He willingly therefore gives place for the discussion of a subject so little regarded as this is. In the main the letter of our brother does not differ from what had been presented in the paper. We think a fresh perusal of that, however, will show that the writer was not contending for universal bishops in any sense, but seeking rather to awaken conscience on the whole subject of oversight in the Church of God-a matter, we feel pained to repeat, too much overlooked and possibly despised in this democratic age. We sought in that paper to press upon our brethren the great need there was for oversight, and the fact that it was a gift especially intrusted to some of the Lord's servants. That it is largely a local gift, we would not hesitate to agree, though we would remind our brother that eldership and pastorship are not exactly identical. The elder was a local officer during apostolic times ; the pastor is a gift for the whole Church, and for all time (Eph. 4:11-13). Thus while we would admit that the gift of pastor was more likely to be confined to the limits of the local assembly than that of the evangelist, we would hesitate to say that Scripture absolutely restricts its exercise to the place where he may be personally well known. A letter of commendation would open the door for the brother in gatherings where he was unknown by face, and the character of his ministry would soon manifest itself. We believe that very often gatherings have been much refreshed by the visit of a pastor who has gone amongst the saints, comforting, cheering, or warning, as need may be.

With regard to the distinction between the "porter" of the Old Testament and the "overseer" of the New, we think it no greater than we would expect from the difference of dispensations. The porter was not merely to discover if strangers drew nigh, but if the true people of God were clean. So now with the caretaker in the Church. But we judge this will hardly be questioned.

It only remains to note the qualifications for oversight, as mentioned in the paper. We can only emphasize their importance. We heartily agree with our brother that a knowledge on the part of the saints of a brother's faithfulness at home would greatly enhance their appreciation of his service in the Church. How could they respect one whose lawless household showed laxity and inconsistency?

But we would shrink from applying this in such a way as to debar the pastor from exercising his gift anywhere. In the first place, his commendation opens the door for whatever service the Lord may give him ; and secondly, we rejoice to record that love "believeth all things," and a brother is not suspected but gladly welcomed by godly saints. However, the same qualifications are needed, and their lack would soon be manifest.

We would then, in conclusion, commend this whole subject of pastoral care, oversight, and reception, to our brethren. We trust our brother's letter will awaken further inquiry and interest. We believe that local oversight is too much lacking ; nor do we believe that this is largely due to the too great prominence given to visiting brethren. Faith gladly recognizes a gift, no matter by whom exercised, and these gifts never clash. Let the saints in each local gathering awake to prayer that God may develop the gifts of oversight among them, and they will never resent the pastoral ministry of a brother whom the Lord may send to serve them.

The important facts of the one body of Christ and of the unity of the Spirit necessitate the view we have presented. EDITOR.

(Correspondence.) New York, June 8, 1895.

To the Editor of " Help and Food " :-

Dear Brother :-Referring to your article in the last number, I would ask your permission to add one or two remarks.

In the first place, I doubt if the " overseership " of the New Testament is exactly equivalent to the position of " doorkeeper" in the Old. The former seems to me always to have its sphere inside the assembly, which is not the case in the latter. " Take heed unto the flock of God, over whom the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God" is quite a different character of service to that of doorkeeper. The " pastor " is not the "porter"; the two ideas conveyed by the words are quite different. But I would ask particularly your attention to an omission in your paper that seems to me somewhat serious. The overseers or bishops were intended to act alone in the local assembly with which they were connected. There was no universal overseer-ship except in the Chief Shepherd. The very need of the work necessitated the one and precluded the other. They were to be men so well known in their own homes, having their own families in subjection, that their words, their rulings, in conjunction with the written Word, were received with the willing subjection of respect and affection that their well known lives commanded. This would not be expected if they went to other cities. On the other hand, they would thus be intimately acquainted with the little flock by which they were closely surrounded, also in a way that would be quite impossible in a wider sphere. They would know the particular dangers to which each one was exposed, the particular care therefore that each dear sheep needed. They would enter into every sorrow with the sympathy of trusted friends. Their words of counsel or faithful rebuke would naturally come with all the weight of a confidence founded on long and close personal intimacy, which would be, from the very order of things, impossible in other localities where such intimacies could not be maintained. The blessed word shows how fully this order was carried out. Every gathering had its own bishops ; nor is it anywhere suggested, that I am aware of, that they were to assume a similar position of overseership in any other locality than their own. The overlooking this important consideration has been fruitful of much mischief, as might naturally be expected.

The evangelist's work necessarily and properly takes in a wide circle. The more he goes to the " regions beyond " and preaches Christ where His name has not been mentioned, perhaps the better ; his message speaks for itself. That message is from God, irrespective of the messenger; hence he is, in this way, the "antipodes" in his service to the pastor or overseer, who must, to carry on his service, stay at home. Perhaps the overlooking this, as does your article, may in some measure account for the state of things that article deprecates. I am, my dear brother, Affectionately yours in Christ. F. C. J.

It is blessed indeed to be learning more of God each day of our lives. With all earthly knowledge and enjoyment there is a consciousness of want, a sense of weariness and unrest. But when ye are having to do with God, when we are learning His love and grace, learning that God is for us, then we find real joy and true peace and rest of soul, Then we are truly at rest, and it is by the truth that we are thus set free from rest and doubt, fear and uncertainty. The more a Christian learns of God's way, the more he comes to love it. Before he knows what a blessed way it is, he shrinks from it often, because it is many times a way hedged up, apparently, with difficulties,-a way hard for the flesh to walk in, and a way of trial. But God deals with us so as to reveal His love, strengthen our faith, and lead us on to greater trust in Himself and His word, We should desire this knowledge of God, and of His way. It is not gained by doing or suffering some great thing:we learn of God and His way just where He has placed us, and in our daily work, our joys, our cares, and our responsibilities. We should always remember that God can come to us and make Himself known to us wherever we are. We may be shut up, be alone, or be in a place where the rush and hurry of the world are all about us. In any place we must come to know that we cannot keep ourselves or learn anything of ourselves. We must learn our own helplessness, and that God can keep and teach His people in any place where He has put them. And if we are not sure whether we are where He has placed us, we are to go to Him for wisdom, and to be shown His way.

Is it not very sad for a child of God to be living on, year after year, and gaining little or almost nothing in the knowledge of God and love of His way ? How little Jacob learned about God in the twenty years that he was with Laban! On the other hand, Abraham's daily life was a walk with God, a continual learning more and more of God. God was watching over Jacob all those years (Gen. 28:15), but how little he learned of God's care! He acknowledged it, and realized it in a measure (Gen. 31:5, 7, 9, 42), but his desire was not to know and enjoy God, but to have God give him flocks and herds. God Himself was Abraham's portion. God Himself satisfied the heart of Abraham. And when you turn over to Paul, you find a man who loved God's way above all else. You never find Paul settling down; he was pressing on. We cannot, and need not, be Pauls or Abrahams, but we can so yield to God and trust in Him that we shall be learning more of Him each day. We can so know Him that things which come troubled us greatly we can leave with Him, and each care and burden we can cast on Him. We can come to love His way, and delight in it, no matter how hard it may be for the flesh. We can cling to Him, rest in Him, submit to Him. We can see His hand all the time, can praise Him for His mercies, can ask and receive wisdom day by day and hour by hour. We can live either in abundance or in want, and rejoice in Him.

We ought to so yield ourselves to God, and trust in Him, that He will be more and more to us. What is the getting of money, for which men toil and strive, when compared with growing in the knowledge of God and in the love of His way ? But if we cling to our own way and seek to do our own wills, if we are careless and slothful, if we love the world and neglect God's word, we shall not know the peace and joy of loving God's way. Chastening may be our portion ; God may in mercy afflict us to bring us to Himself; He may remove some cherished object on which our hearts were set, but He will in all show His infinite love. J. W. N.

How difficult it is to learn our utter worthlessness, and thus the preciousness of divine grace! and yet to know one's self and grace is the only way to arrive at true, full, lasting peace. Learning what poor self is, in the presence of a just and holy God, is learning the preciousness of grace, and of Him by whom grace came. It was when Job said, '' Now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes," that he, doubtless for the first time, felt fully cast upon grace, and brought to taste its sweetness; and yet he was really on better ground than he was before, though he did feel himself to be "vile."

It was when Isaiah had "seen the King, the Lord of hosts," and had said, "Woe is me ! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips," that he fully realized the value of that by which his iniquity was put away and his sin purged :for his heart was light, and he was ready to do any thing for God, saying, " Here am I:send me."

The presence of a holy God is the place in which to get to the full end of self; and we never know the full meaning and preciousness of grace till we get there. We may hold grace doctrinally, and may be able to give a very exact definition of the word "grace; " but we do not really know it, or fully taste its sweetness, till we know ourselves, by seeing ourselves as in the very presence of Him who is Light, and by entering into the meaning of the cross. Then, oh, then, how suitable grace is felt to be! So we may say of Christ, whom grace has provided for us; as long as we are occupied with self, having partial views of our ruin, or feel that we have a leg to stand on, we cannot be fully cast on Christ, or see His preciousness. If so, then the sooner all, even saints, take their true place, the better, that is, as to self. But then saints have a blessed place before God, that is in Christ, He being their standing; and of this view of themselves they cannot have too exalted a conception, for that is simply exalting Christ. The apostle writes, that of "a man in Christ" he could glory, referring to his own standing in Him, "yet," he adds, "of myself I will not glory; but in mine infirmities;" saying, further on, "that the power of Christ may rest upon me." In this way when he was "weak" he was "strong."

Thus our place as believers is a low one and a high one,-low as to self, and high as to Christ. And the one who truly realizes these two places will not live to himself, but to Him who died for him and rose again.

Oh, what a relief to have self gone as worthless, and how blessed to have grace and the Gift of grace, filling the whole mind and heart and life and hopes ! R. H.

Israel has been, prophetically, restored to their I land; the shechina-glory, which had in the beginning of the book, left the holy places, has returned and taken up its abode in the new temple. The priesthood has been re-established, and intrusted with service and sacrifice, no longer anticipative, but memorial; and now from out the sanctuary issue living waters, which carry healing and fertility and life wherever they go.

Beautifully symbolic of the life-giving, healing ministry of the Holy Ghost, during the millennial age, are these flowing waters! symbolic, too, they are of the life and joy of the heavenly city, which, too, has its river, its tree of life, its varied fruits, and health-giving leaves, of which these in Ezekiel are the earthly shadow.

Our purpose, however, at present is not to dwell on the earthly or heavenly scene from a dispensational point of view, but rather to gather, in a very simple way, a few thoughts of God's grace, and the practical lessons they bring to us.

Refreshment always flows from God's presence. Blessed be His name, whether it be in Eden, the garden of the Lord, or in the dry and weary wilderness, streams of water flow, and must flow, for the needs of His people. Sometimes He may test their faith, and make them dig for the cooling stream, as with Abraham, or "the elders at the end of the wilderness journey. Sometimes He may test their patience, and let them thirst awhile, and then cause the flinty rock to yield life and refreshment, but we repeat it, refreshing flows from God, and from Him only. It is both His people's loss and their shame, when they forsake Him, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Dear brethren, do we always drink from this fountain? or are we ever weary of its sweet, refreshing flow ?

"And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; and the waters were to the ankles." Our faces are turned eastward, toward the sunrising, toward the coming day; and as we journey on toward God's day, we find His streams. This may well signify to us the refreshment of the spirit of God, ministering to us of His fullness, through the Word.

"Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; and the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through:the waters were to the loins." The blessedness we knew when we first found the Lord is ever fresh ; a charm, a joy, linger around that holy springtime of love that is well marked by the Spirit of God, to recall us, should we forget it.

But are first impressions the deepest, no matter how real ? Nay, as we pass on through life, and the love of God becomes more fully known, the waters of that river deepen. The precious stream rises from ankles to knees, from knees to loins, until we can no longer sound its depths, they are "waters to swim in"-a mighty flood of love that can neither be fathomed nor crossed. Beloved brethren, what a picture of the love of God!
Does not our own poor experience bear this out ? As we have gone on to prove the love of God, in many a time of trial, of weakness and of failure, have we not found our thought of Him deepen? The stream over which we, perhaps, walked as a thing quite within our comprehension-including forgiveness, justification, and peace-the stream deepens, and we find these truths have a meaning we had not before grasped, and fresh truths are added, so that we cannot so easily pass over. Day by day, as we go on, learning from His word and from His ways, we find ourselves beyond our depth, we are "lost in wonder, love, and praise."

Surely this is a true and legitimate experience. Is not this God's purpose for us? See how the apostle loses himself in this on-flowing stream ?-"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:17-19). Here are "waters to swim in," which baffle all our efforts to sound or cross them.

Do any say this is too much for me, it is beyond me? It is the apostle's prayer for all saints. Does it seem too great to be accomplished ? hear how he mingles encouragement with glad doxology,-" Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

It is ours then, dear brethren, to enjoy this fullness ; and if we do not, where does the fault lie ?

May our longing increase!-a longing that will not be satisfied save with the fullness of our God-"waters to swim in."

"How many of the people of God have lives as little yielded up to Him, who must be governed by circumstances (bit and bridle) rather than by the eye of God! His desire for us is not the drudgery of a stopped will, but the freedom of a changed one."- Numerical Bible, Notes on Psalm 32.

A Qusestion asked by the Lord Jesus Himself, when on the earth, and within the hearing of many classes of people,-Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, disciples, and also the multitudes. What a throng surrounded Him that day, and how different the thoughts of each, and how perplexing this question must have been to most of them; and by it the thoughts of many hearts were revealed. A question never needed more than in this our day,-a question for all times, all classes, and all places; and, dear reader, I put it before you, whether a professing Christian or not, saint or sinner, "What think ye of Christ?" Strange and startling thoughts and statements are afloat, and have been for some time, concerning the peerless person of God's beloved Son – Jesus, the Lord.

It is of all importance that each should have correct and right thoughts about Him, of whom it is written, '' His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father [Father of Eternity, Heb.], The Prince of Peace," (Isaiah 9:6), and "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," (Micah 5:2,-margin, "the days of eternity.") Let us, then, trace out, if but imperfectly, in the fear of God and with a holy reverence, some of the beauties and glories that are His, remembering as to His greatness "no man knoweth the Son but the Father." (Matt. 10:, 27.)

Of His greatness in Creation, a careful reading of Prov. 8:, 22-31, John 1:, 1-18, Col. 1:, 12-19, Heb. 1:, will leave no doubt in the believer's mind, that He was with the Father in Eternity, and that it was He by whom all things were created. Creation, then, is presented as the work of His hands, and by Him all things subsist; not only this world in which we live, but all those mighty orbs in their immensity are upheld, sustained, and cared for by Him. Well we might as we read, trace out, or even think, of His person, work, ways, or word, fall down before Him as holy men of old, and exclaim, "We are unworthy to unloose the laches of His shoes,"-a place assigned to the meanest slave. (Dan. 10:, Rev. 1:, John 1:, 27.) For soon the very earth created by Him and for Him will shine with His glory from pole to pole and from sea to sea. How careful should we be to curb every vain and unholy thought or word about One so great, so mighty in Himself and in all His ways, as Jesus Christ the Lord.

Let us now note a few of the precious foundation truths concerning His incarnation, and lowly life of love, grace, and compassion; and, as we do so, may it be with somewhat of the holy awe that would characterize the priest of old, as he entered the most holy place to take down the beautiful veil and cover the ark ere it commenced its wilderness journey. (Num. 4:5, 6, 15; 17-20.) None but priests could witness such; none but they could do such work; none but they, sanctified and anointed, could tread the sacred inclosure; they only could see the separate parts, and what passed before their eyes were but the types; and shall we who have the antitypes, "the body which is of Christ," approach with less reverence the person and glories of the Lord Jesus? God forbid; for truly, '' without controversy great is the mystery of godlinesss. God was manifest in the flesh, justified
in the spirit," &100:(i Tim. 3:, 16.) Yet it was blessedly true, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself," (2 Cor. 5:, 16,) and is yet true, "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:, 9.)

The angel announced to Mary not only the manner of His conception, but also the character of His humanity. " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee." (Luke 1:, 35.) And to Joseph he adds, "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. "(Matt, 1:, 20.) In these two passages we get clearly set forth the manner of His conception; and in this, Mary, of all women, appears alone, and a contrast. Of none other was this ever said, – neither Eve, nor yet of Eve's many daughters. And in this our Blessed Lord appears alone. Of none other born of woman could such language be used. Even a John, although filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, yet his conception was after the order of nature,- Elizabeth his mother, Zacharias his father. Not so Jesus. Mary was truly His mother, according to the flesh. He was "the seed of the woman," yet not the seed of man. The Holy Ghost came upon her, and that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. How important, then, is clearness on such a wondrous truth,- a truth which lies at the very foundation of our most holy faith.

Now we will look more closely at the character of His humanity; and, as before said,-and we do well to emphasize the fact,- that, as to the humanity of the Lord Jesus, He stands alone. The angel continues, by saying, '' and that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Of no other was it ever said, "that holy thing." Adam was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26),- sinless, innocent, also upright (Eccl. 7:29); yet it was never said of him, "that holy thing." Nay, this was reserved for Another,- even Adam's Lord.

Since the fall, of none can it be said, as to their humanity, that it was even as Adam's was, sinless, innocent. Humanity, in all born of woman after the course of nature, is sinful humanity,-and a perfect contrast to what Adam's was originally. Sinful-ness is now inherent in all, as set forth by the psalmist, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps. 51:5.) It only requires time in each case to make it manifest. The tree bears fruit after its kind. But when we turn to the Lord Jesus we learn that His humanity was of another character altogether,-not, as now, humanity sinful, nor yet that of Adam before the fall,- humanity innocent only, but humanity of a new and higher character, "that holy thing." And when we speak of His humanity, let it be understood this includes His very body of flesh and blood, not simply as we who are born again derive a new life, a new nature, but His very body, "that holy thing." True, "in all things He was made like unto His brethren," "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," "and tempted in all things like unto us," yet it must be remembered, and with a holy care, it was only like or likeness, and in this "sin apart." Apart from all such thoughts as sin being in His nature, or even the thought of His nature being susceptible to such by trial or temptation, how careful the Holy Spirit is in the word of truth in guarding the sacredness of His person, "tempted like as we,-sin apart." (Heb. 4:15, Gk.)

How blessed to view our Lord as such:truly man, yet, "sin apart;" true flesh and blood, yet, "sin apart;" true humanity, but "that holy thing."

Next, let us never confound the character of the Lord's humanity with new birth, true of all children of God, nor count them a parallel. It is true, when men are born again, they get a divine life and nature, yet their bodies remain the same, there being no change in this respect. For this change we await His return, when our bodies will be changed and suited for the new life given at new birth,- bodies of glory like unto His "body of glory." (Phil. 3:20, 21.)Yet this is all future for us, not true yet. Of Jesus only could it be said, as to His birth and His humanity, "that holy thing." Hence the manner of His conception and the character of His humanity was not a parallel with the new birth; and these facts, so clear in sacred Scripture, we cannot emphasize too firmly. To confound the Lord's humanity with Adam's originally, or his race fallen, or yet with new birth, is to miss the mark, to make a great mistake, and belittle the greatness and perfection of the blessed Lord. He will by and by have a people in the glory, redeemed and glorified in a humanity just like His own, and with Himself, far beyond what Adam's was, even as His own is far beyond Adam's, and new birth is the first step toward this glorious end, but only the first step.

He was, as to His humanity, the true "meat offering" of Lev. 2:, made of fine flour (that holy thing) mingled with oil (conceived of the Holy Spirit), – no sin, but holy, harmless, and undefiled. This is our Saviour and our Lord; and how the Holy Spirit ever delights in the pages of Holy Writ to unfold the fullness and greatness of the person and glory of Jesus, God's beloved Son, "that in all things He might have the pre-eminence," and "that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father."

Let us now note, for a space, that period of His life on earth from His birth until about the age of thirty. It would seem the shepherds were the first to visit the babe, as instructed by the angel of the Lord; and after they found Him, as they were told, "wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger," they returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard. Truly blessed were the eyes that saw what they saw, and the ears that heard what they heard. This appears to be on the first day.

It was at an after period that the wise men from the East (Gentiles) who had seen His star, came that journey; and when they came they found Him in the house, with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped Him, and presented unto Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Again, when but eight days old, He was circumcised, according to the law, and received His name "Jesus," as was told Joseph.

Then, if Lev. 12:2, is carefully read with Luke 2:22-39, we learn thirty-three days after His circumcision, (making forty in all from His birth,) '' when the days of the purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him before the Lord, and a sacrifice was offered." At this time, Simeon, a just and devout man, guided by the Holy Spirit, came to the temple, and taking the child in his arms, said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

Anna, also a prophetess of a great age, coming in at that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

When He is twelve years old they go up to Jerusalem again, at the feast of the passover. At this time, when in the temple, He astonished the doctors there, by "His understanding and answers," all perfect in its place. He says to Mary, "Wist ye not I must be about my Father's business ?"Yet we are told He went down with His parents to Nazareth, and was subject to them, and increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. One verse in Mark 6:3 would lead us to believe He worked with Joseph (His reputed father) as carpenter; and no more do we know of this eighteen years of His life until He is baptized by John. Little is recorded in the first twelve, and less as to the after eighteen, except what we may gather from Lev. 6:19-23, which we believe furnishes us with a beautiful type of what that period was. It is the exceptional meat-offering of the Jewish ritual, and offered only upon the day the High Priest was anointed. In Lev. 2:we get instruction with regard to the regular and continual meat-offerings, mingled with oil and anointed with oil, which set forth the whole human life of the blessed Lord while upon earth, as conceived of the Holy Spirit and anointed at the banks of Jordan, His whole life from the manger on to the cross. This meat-offering furnished food first for God, then for the priest. God the Father found in that perfect life what gave Him joy and pleasure. Yea, every step of it was what glorified God. (John 8:29; 17:4.) We also (as priests) find in that perfect life, as recorded in the word of God, what is as meat and drink, which give the heart joy and gladness, especially that period from His anointing on to the cross, described more fully for us. But this exceptional meat-offering of Lev. 6:gives us more what that period of His human life was during His first thirty years from His birth on earth until His showing to Israel as the Anointed. This exceptional offering, if noted with care, was made with oil (not anointed); hence very clearly sets forth His life ere His anointing.

The priests did eat of the regular meat-offerings of Lev. 2:, but of this exceptional offering of Lev. 6:they ate none. This was all for Jehovah,- all was put upon the altar. '' This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day he is anointed:the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat-offering perpetual; half of it in the morning and half in the evening, In a pan it shall be made with oil. And when it is baked, thou shalt bring it in, and the baked pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savor unto the Lord. And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it:it is a statute forever unto the Lord:it shall be wholly burnt, for every meat-offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt:it shall not be eaten." (Lev. 6:20-23.) All, all was put upon the altar, and the holy fire consumed all; "it was wholly burnt," and every part of it "a sweet savor to the Lord," or a savor of delight to Jehovah. And let us again note, this was upon the very day the high priest was anointed; and this day represents the very day the Lord Jesus was anointed by the Holy Ghost; anointed as prophet (i Kings 19:16), as priest (Lev. 8:1-12), and before the sacrifice was offered up; and as King also (i Sam. 16:12, 13). His life-work was more as prophet. When rejected by His people, we believe His first priestly work was at the cross, "to offer up Himself." (Heb. 7:26, 27.) This work being completed at the cross, He has now gone into the sanctuary with all the value of His atoning work, and abides there a priest until He appears again to Israel, to introduce the Millennium, when they shall behold Him not only as Priest but King and Priest. (Zech. 6:13.) But at Jordan, when owned by God the Father and anointed by the Holy Ghost, He was at that time both Prophet, Priest, and King. Hence this anointing of the Lord Jesus answers to the type of Lev. 6:, when as High Priest He was anointed; and how suitable that at this time such a meat-offering should be offered. At that time it was said that the whole offering was a savor of delight, '' a sweet savor" to Jehovah; as in Matt. 3:, "my beloved Son, in whom I have found all my delight." (Gk.)

Now we can understand, as we look back, why very little is given unto us,-comparatively nothing-of those thirty years before He was anointed. He (blessed be His name!) was ever '' that holy thing,"-proper material, as Lev. 6:, for the holy fire to feed upon. This holy fire was burning during the whole thirty years, from its morning to its evening, as Lev. 6:,- not the fire of God's wrath and hot displeasure, as some have strangely said, but the fire, emblem of God's holiness,-ever feeding upon a perfect object of delight; in all this Jesus appears alone. Adam's life was not this, nor yet any of Adam's race.

Of Jesus, and Jesus alone, could Lev. 6:be true. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight" (Gk.), as in Lev. 6:"A savor of delight to Jehovah." (Heb.) Every moment of this period of thirty years was this, for God the Father. Bethlehem's manger, for a brief space, held that "savor of delight." The shepherds, and also the wise men, beheld this One-"the savor of delight." Simeon held such in his arms and gave thanks, and Anna spake of Him to all who looked for redemption in Israel. Egypt never had before nor since such an offering in her land. (Matt. 2:14.) Scribes and Pharisees, when He was but twelve years of age, beheld Him the true meat-offering in the temple, the true answer to the Lev. 6:meat-offering. And when He went down to Nazareth, and was subject to His parents, and worked as a carpenter, until the age of thirty, every moment, at every step, in every place, His whole life was for God His Father, an object of supreme delight. As we look back and think of such, we can but worship and adore. Strange that any should ever, with the few brief notices of this period in the gospels, have thought otherwise. We need to curb our thoughts and control our pen as we write of One whose glories shine so prominently from beginning to end in the pages of the Holy Scriptures. A. E. B.

(To be continued.)

BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

CHAPTER V. (Continued from page 160.)

The Lord now takes up the necessary principle of law, to contrast it with that non-resistance of evil which He enjoins upon His disciples. The righteousness of the law, of course, remains righteousness, but it does not require of any that they should exact for personal wrongs. There is no supposition, on the other hand, of the abrogation of law or of its penalties. The government of the world is not in question, but the path of disciples in it. Where they are bound by the law, they are bound, and have no privileges; they are bound, too, to sustain it in its general working, as ordained of God, for good. Within these limits there is still abundant room for such practice as is here enjoined. We may turn the left cheek to him that smites the left, or let the man that sues us have the cloak, as well as the coat he has fraudulently gained :for that is clearly within our rights. If the cause were that of another, we should have no rights of this kind, nor to aid men generally in escape from justice, or in slighting it. The Lord could never lay down a general rule that His people should allow lawlessness or identify themselves with indifference to the rights of others. He speaks only of what is personal to one's self,-"smite thee," "sue thee" "compel thee:" and here the law itself would recognize your liberty.

His disciples are not only to yield, but to show readiness, at least, to do more. They are not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome it with good. They are under a higher than any earthly government, which will take abundant care of them, and are free from advocating their own cause or taking arms in their own defense. And they are partakers of such royal bounty that they are to be themselves bountiful. "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away."

All this needs wisdom in following out, that it may answer to its end:-that God may be honored in it, and men be blessed. It must not be allowed to degenerate into a moral laxity which may counterfeit it, but thus be its opposite. True love alone will find here the way, but will certainly find it,-clear sighted, as all true love is. To this, therefore, the Lord now goes on.

Men understand, at least, that they ought to love their neighbor; but their qualifications narrow even their idea of such a duty, while they have invented a duty of hate which no law-giver, perhaps, would dare inscribe upon his tables, but to which, nevertheless, there is given a too ready and practical obedience. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy" is what he would justify to his conscience, as he approves it in his heart. But the law has no other word but "neighbor" here, and no other duty but to love him :and the Lord specifically puts even one's enemies into this class. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies:"not even, "do them good" merely, though that might seem much, but love them. Hard work, indeed, and impossible, save in the light of a greater love :for every day that the sun shines, or the rain falls upon this evil world, which has turned away from God, such love is demonstrated, leading men to repentance. God blesses those who curse Him, does good to those who hate Him,-sets us the sweetest and most wonderful example of infinite compassion, which He who was Speaker here has filled out to the full by taking His place among those despitefully used and persecuted, and pouring out not only His heart, but His heart's blood for His persecutors. Thus that which might seem impossible even with God, is in God become Man made actual.

When the Lord spoke, this last word had not yet been uttered; but He was there who was to utter it, the Son of the Father, and opening to men the way into divine relationship, which He encourages His disciples to apprehend and realize in a way unknown till now. "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven," implies acceptance of this wondrous place in such a way as to let it be manifest, in the character displayed. And how responsible are they to whom such grace is given! To live in it is to acquire power for it.

They must not, then, with this high place, accept the moral code that would suit even those typical sinners the publicans-those instruments of Roman greed and oppression. For these even were capable of returning love for love. For those whose Father is in heaven, nothing but perfection can be permitted as the standard,-His own moral perfection. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," is supreme, flawless perfection. And nothing else would do as a standard. The moment we admit evil into this, that evil has become part of the standard, and God is made to go with the thing He hates.

We must, however, distinguish between the having perfection before us,-condemning ourselves for whatever is not that, and honestly pressing after it, -and the self-flattery that can assert, "we have attained." It is in fact because perfection is before us, that we cannot say so. Will any one indeed venture to say he is morally perfect as God is ? The highest pretensions must surely shrink a little from making such a claim. Yet here is the pattern:we are to be "imitators of God, as dear children" (Eph. 5:i, Gk.), aspiring after that which will always be beyond us, and which, as being so, will always work in us self-abasement and humiliation, instead of self-complacency.

This, then, is to be the aim; and, while it is owned that we fall short, let us remember that the very falling short implies an aim:if we do not aim, we cannot fall short; if we only aim at something lower, the standard is given up; we are then doing our own wills, and not God's.

Let us remember also that there are two kinds of perfection, which it is important to distinguish from one another :perfection in degree, something that cannot be exceeded; and perfection, as wholeness, entireness. We say of a wheel, it is perfect, because it has all its parts, while, as to its workmanship, it may be very imperfect. Now the child of God may be feeble, and is; but as a partaker of eternal life, he should not be maimed. In God, love and light belong together:no one of these, apart from the other, could represent His nature. Love without righteousness would not be divine love. Righteousness without love would not be divine righteousness. So love, too, just to those who love us, may (as the Lord tells us) be a publican's love, not God's:it is not a feeble likeness, but a distortion, a misrepresentation. Where the new nature is, there the moral character of God is found,-infantile, perhaps, as to development, and yet in it the Father's image shines. "Love," then, "your enemies," says the Lord, "that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

This closes the second part of the sermon on the mount with the seal of divine perfection. The greater prophet than Moses speaks in it, with a brighter glory in His face than Moses's face could show. F. W. G. (To be continued.) F. W. G.

Question. 8. What is the spiritual significance of the towel wherewith our Lord girded Himself? (John 13:4, 5.) A. E. C.

Answer. The symbolic teaching of John 13:is exceedingly profitable and interesting. Briefly, we may say our Lord was teaching us that if we are to enjoy communion with Himself it must be with cleansed feet; that is, a walk which has been corrected by His word. Each part of this act is, without doubt, significant:the water typifies the Word (Eph. 5:26) ; the washing is distinguished from that of new birth, and is only that of the feet. In like manner, the towel is doubtless significant. We see first, that He is girded with it. That is the servant's attitude; secondly, He uses for them that with which He is girded, He simply applies to them the humility which characterizes Him; thirdly, the material of which the towel was made is significant; it was a linen towel (J. N. D.'s version)-the righteousnesses of the saints. It was His own holy life that enabled Him to approach His erring disciples and apply the Word to them. And, as He tells us, we should also wash one another's feet. But to do this, we must imitate Him. We must be girded, clothed with humility ; we must use the word, and we must have the towel of practical righteousness. Lastly, we see the manner of applying the towel. The water cleansed, the towel dried. This no doubt answers to the healing, soothing, comforting action of our Lord by which He assures us that " as many as I love I rebuke and chasten." It is His restoring action. His word shows us our faults, and when these are confessed, He most graciously confirms us in the assurance of His love. So let it be with us:when the water has done its work, let the towel be applied, assuring our erring brother of our love to Him, and of the Lord's restoring grace. " So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such an one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore, I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him." (2 Cor. 2:7, 8.)

Ques. 9.-" But though the city was seen to come down from heaven (Rev. 21:10), it is not here said to come down to the earth so as to be with men, as it does (21:1, 3) when the new heaven and earth are come." (" Lectures on Revelation." W. K.) Does, then, Rev. 21:1, 3 imply that the tabernacle of God comes down to the earth in the eternal state ?-"The tabernacle of God is with men." The "men" are evidently inhabitants of the earth transferred from the "first earth" to the " new earth," at the close of the millennium; that is, at the close of time; and "the tabernacle of God" is the heavenly saints. Is it then the teaching of Scripture that the saints who go to heaven are to be brought back to earth as their final and eternal abode ? The heavenly Jerusalem seems to come down from heaven at the beginning of the Millennium (21:10), and again at the establishment of the new heaven and new earth; and in neither case it is said to come to the earth. It clearly does not in the millennial state; for day and night continue on earth. "While the earth remaineth . . . day and night shall not cease " (Gen. 8:22) ; and a temple exists (Ezekiel) ; whereas in the New Jerusalem there is no night and no temple during this same period (21:22-25), though kings and nations exist on earth, and there is need of healing of the nations (22:2). That is, the heavenly Jerusalem comes close to the earth, but is clearly, by its condition, distinct from the earth in this millennial period. Christians (for example) who are on earth now, during the Lord's rejection, will reign with Him in heavenly glory then; while Israel, restored at last to "the country their fathers possessed (Jere. 30:), and the Gentiles blessed with them (Gen. 12:3), will walk in the light of this heavenly city-this "glory of God." Thus far there is a clear distinction between the heavenly and the earthly state; but in 21:1-3, describing the eternal state, what are we to understand by " the tabernacle of God is with men " ? Do you understand it to imply (as W. K. does) that the city comes to the earth ? and, if so, is the new earth the final abode of the heavenly saints ? Then, of course, arises the question, Is not this a contradiction of the teaching throughout the New Testament elsewhere ? Such as, "the hope that is laid up for you in heaven" (Col. 1:) ; "to an inheritance . . . that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:4); "great is your reward in heaven." (Matt. 5:12.) If the tabernacle of God comes to the earth, will God make the earth His dwelling-place ? What distinct doctrine is taught or held among us as to this subject, " Heaven is our home ?" Is it heaven, or earth ?

Ans.-In addition to the Scriptures given in the question, proving that we are eternally a heavenly, not an earthly people, we might call attention to the following:" In My Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2, 3.) "Our citizenship is in heaven." (Phil. 3:20.) "The hope laid up for you in heaven." (Col. 1:5.) "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." All these and other scriptures teach where our eternal home is. It is in heaven, where Christ is, where the Father is.

Regarding the expression, " The tabernacle of God is with men," it does not necessarily imply that it was upon earth, simply in close association with it. And His dwelling with them would imply the same-the close and divine intimacy then only possible. The Scriptures given compel this view-they do not obliterate the eternal distinction between heaven and earth, but emphasize it. The Church and the heavenly saints will be forever distinct from Israel and the nations who are eternally blessed upon the earth.

O Lord, how wild the night
I cannot walk alone.
The sin within me frightens,
As oft from Thee I roam.
The dark, cold blast of winter,
The shiv'ring of the trees !
Dear Lord, the cold is bitter,
And drear the sighing breeze.

I long to have more likeness
To Thy sweet, wondrous grace;
I long to see the brightness
Of my Redeemer's face;
But clouds so often gather,
And raindrops wildly fall.
O kind and heavenly Father!
They hang there like a pall.

I pause, for, look! the glory
Of yon silver, golden bow
Still whispereth the story
Of One who knows my woe.
The silver, shining, telleth
The sweetness of His grace;
The gold, that glory dwelleth
In the dear Saviour's face.

And now my soul it husheth
In calm and sweet repose;
I lay the weight that crusheth
Aside, for Jesus knows. "
Let not your heart be troubled "
By the dark billows' foam;
For though the storm be doubled,
It bloweth, ever, home.

F. C. G.