From Morn To Night.

Ere the rude perplexities
Of the day,
Lord, I'd lay my quiet heart
'Neath Thy sway. In my loneliness I'd come
Unto Thee;
For I know there's always One
Welcomes me.

Weakness, want, and waywardness,
I confess,
While in Thy dear name I plead
Need of grace.
Strength from Thee I crave each day,
While I live;
And I know, what's best, alway
Thou wilt give.

If with retrospective glance
I would trace
Memories of the painful past,
In Thy grace
Gently draw my heart above,
Where Thou art;
With sweet memories of Thy love
Fill my heart.

Ah, Lord Jesus, upon earth
There is naught
Like the silent interchange
Of deep thought;-
Thought too sweet, too deep to tell
But to Thee.
E'en to those our hearts love well,
How could we ?

Then, beneath the shadowy night,
Oh how sweet
Just to lay my sorrows down
At Thy feet ;-
All my heart's complaint to tell
Unto Thee! For I know Thy love full well,
Lord, to me.

Thus from morn to night I'd walk
Close to Thee ;-
I would lean upon Thy might
Constantly.
Night to day shall soon give place,-
Glorious day.
I shall then behold Thy face,
And for aye.

H. McD.

Christ The King:lessons From Matthew

CHAPTER IV. (Continued from page 68.)

But here we are made to realize the wondrous privilege that is ours,-the solemn responsibility that rests upon us. For we are sanctified unto the obedience of Christ, and He has left us an example, that we should follow in His steps (i Pet. 1:2; 2:21). The principle of His life, then, must be, above all, the principle of our lives. If with Him the governing motive was this, to do the will of God, -if He rejected every motive that could be urged from His own necessities,-how simple is it that, for us also, the will of God must be in the same way that which prompts to action; apart from this there is no right motive possible.

What a world, then, is this, in which the mass of men around us have no thought of God, no knowledge of His will, no desire to know it,-with whom life is little less than the instinctive animal life, disturbed more or less by conscience, that is, by the apprehension of God ! And as to Christians themselves, how easily are they persuaded that, with certain exceptions at important crises in their lives, the simple rule of right and wrong-often determined by custom of some kind, rather than the word of God- is sufficient to indicate for them the will of God, their own wills being thus left free within a variously limited area ?

The law, in fact, drew such a circle around men, and in mercy, as a sheepfold is the limit for the sheep. A class of actions is defined as evil, and forbidden; within these limits one may please oneself. Nor could law go further than this:for it the rigidity of a fixed code is a necessity. But Christ came into the fold to make His sheep hear His voice, and to lead them out:free, but where freedom would be safe as well as blessed, in following the living guidance of the Shepherd Himself. (John 10:) The rule is much stricter, even while freer. And the reality transcends the figure, just as the " Good Shepherd" Himself transcends every other shepherd, To a love like His, united with a wisdom absolutely perfect, no detail of our lives can be unimportant, as in the connection of these throughout, and of one life with another, none can be insignificant. Could it be imagined that any were so, yet which of us is competent to discern this in any instance? "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth" is but the utterance of common experience. Who, then, that has learned to distrust himself at all, but must welcome deliverance from such an uncertainty, and find it joy to be guided at all times by higher wisdom !

Nothing makes this appear severe, nothing difficult except the love of our own way, and the unbelief which, having given up confidence in God, first sent man out from the bountiful garden, to toil and strive for himself in the world outside. But the divine love which has pursued us here, and given us Bethlehem as our "house of bread," should suffice to heal that insane suspicion, and close up the fountain of self-will within us :" He who spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him also, freely give us all things?" The path ordained for us has, no doubt, its roughness, and the cloud hangs over it, but the cloud itself is but His tabernacle, and just in the very night it brightens into manifest glory. All differences are in the interests of the journey itself, as was said of Israel, that they might " go by day and by night." The record of experience adds to this the assurance, "They go from strength to strength."
No wonder ! if "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live." What a sustenance of the true life within to be thus, day by day, receiving the messages of His will, listening to that wondrous Voice, learning continually more His tender care for us :"He wakeneth morning by morning; He wakeneth mine ear to hear as a learner" (Isa. 1:4). This is the utterance prophetically of the Lord Himself :how blessed to be able to make it our own, and thus to have the, fulfillment of those words, "I will instruct thee, and teach thee, in the way in which thou shalt go :I will guide thee with Mine eye."

So, then, the first temptation is met and conquered; and with this, in fact, is conquered every after one:for he who walks with God, and waits on God, what shall ensnare him ? what enemy shall prevail against him ? It is plain that Satan has been hinting again here the lie with which of old he seduced the woman. And that, as in her case, "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," came in through the door so opened, they were here effectually shut out. Satan might repeat and vary his efforts, but to one cleaving fast to God, God was the shield against which every shaft must be broken to pieces. How great the importance for us, then, of such a lesson !

But if we are to listen for the word of God, and our lives are to be shaped by it, we are called next to guard against the misuse of the word itself. This is Satan's next attempt. "Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down :for it is He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee tip, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone."

How careful should we be as to quotations from Scripture ? how little, in fact, we often are ! Scripture twisted but a little awry, the authority of God is made to sanction a lie, and our very faith in it betrays us to the enemy.

How important, too, becomes on this view the complete verbal inspiration of Scripture. If but the thought meant to be conveyed is guaranteed to us, but the wording is left to the choice of imperfect wisdom, then unless words mean nothing, we can never settle what the thought precisely is. If the words are possibly faulty, who can assure me of the exact truth hid under a faulty expression ?

Satan did but leave out two or three words of the original, "to keep Thee in all Thy ways;" but those words guard them against the abuse which he would make of them. The "ways" of Him who in the ninety-first psalm says of Jehovah, "in Him will I trust," could never be such as the unbelief would prompt which would make trial of Jehovah's words to see if they would be fulfilled. That is what the Lord's answer is, by another quotation, once more from that book of wilderness-lessons, Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." This last text is one often enough misused to mean, Do not rely upon Him for too much :and the Lord's refusal to cast Himself down plausibly made an illustration of this meaning. But the whole question is of what has been settled in the first answer. If our ways are with God, directed according to His word, and following that living guidance of which even that of Israel of old was but a type and foreshadow, then we need never think that we shall tax the divine resources too much to sustain us in them. Had we His word, it would be only faith to cast ourselves down, when without it would be to "tempt" Him. Let us be assured, He will never say to us, " You trusted Me too much." There are abundance of possible sins without inventing an imaginary and impossible one.
Satan's argument is still grounded upon this:"If Thou be the Son of God;" but although He had just been declared that, He had come to submit to the conditions of humanity, to display under "these the moral perfection of that eternal life, which could best display itself in such humiliation. The revelation of God Himself could only be made aright upon the level of humanity; and the title which He constantly gives Himself is that of the Son of Man. This is the place He has come to take, and He cannot be moved from it:for thus alone can He be Mediator between God and men, and thus alone can He be also an example for us.

But in the third temptation Satan shifts his ground completely. He could not say, "If Thou be the Son of God, fall down and worship me." He suddenly seems to realize so the truth of His humanity that he will adventure fully upon it. If this be indeed One who is Son of man, shut off, as it were, from the claims and conditions of Deity;-if He has come in the very weakness of manhood itself to work the work committed to Him, then he will test Him by the appeal to that very weakness. All the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them shall be flashed upon Him as in a moment; the power of which He came to possess Himself, He should have it by an easier path than He had chosen:"All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me."

For us who know His glory, this seems indeed only like the raving of despair. But however it may seem to be no longer temptation, but an awful insult to the divine glory vailed in humanity before him, it does not seem to be given us as this. The Lord answers it, as He does the rest, from Scripture, though with an indignation which He has not shown before. Satan has disclosed himself, and can be called by his name and bidden to be off. Yet the whole reads as if he had as much confidence in this attack as in the others. The change of address, no longer, "If thou be the Son of God," with the matter of what he says, seems to say that he has at last discovered and accepted the fact, that as his conflict had been all through with man, so now it was to be still with One, who, be he more than this or not, had indeed come to meet him as man only; and man he thought he knew. Granted the conflict were to be moral only, -granted, that the One he met had only the weapons of goodness, was here truly and only as Man,- this was the ground He had taken, simply obedient, dependent, believing:this, then, was not divine sovereignty, omnipotence, omniscience ; and human strength, what had He proved it to be !

In result, he has disclosed himself, and is defeated. There is still no display of Deity, no outburst of divine judgment or of power :" Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God :and Him only shalt thou serve." The sufficiency of the word of God as the divine weapon against him is thus seen all through:a great encouragement for us also in the irrepressible conflict which we have all to maintain :"the sword of the Spirit is the saying of God." (Eph. 6:17, Gk.) F. W. G.

(To be continued)

The Soul In The Presence Of God.

(PSALM CXXXIX.)

In the concluding book of the Psalms (107-150) we find the general characteristics of the book of Deuteronomy, to which it corresponds. There is retrospect, reiteration, and then a looking forward. The result of this is praise. It is good to know that such is the effect of a contemplation of all God's ways, whether past or to come, and that even our own follies have been but the occasion of fresh manifestation of Himself. So will it be at the end. All the path behind us, strewed as it is with wrecks of our unbelief, will speak of a love which never for one moment failed, of a purpose of grace which never faltered.

In the midst of these Psalms of experience we find this one, which seems in a special way adapted to God's people individually, in all dispensations. While it doubtless gives us the thoughts of the believer in the remnant times of Israel's trouble, there is but little that does not equally apply to us in this day of grace. It is heart-history, and the hearts of God's people have always been the same.

There seem to be four general divisions in the Psalm. We have, first, God's omniscience; secondly, His omnipresence; thirdly, His power manifested even when hidden from the eyes of men; and lastly, the testing and separating effect of this knowledge of God.

He begins with a general statement of God's knowledge:"Thou hast searched me and known me"; and then applies this knowledge to all his ways-my down-sitting and uprising, my thought, my path, my repose, my ways, my words. All, all is known to God. How solemn is the thought! He knows me better than I know myself; and no secret desire, no hasty word, nothing connected with me escapes His holy eye. Ah, it is with such a God we have to do. If we are to deal with Him, it is on the basis of truth. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

But while this should hush us and solemnize our hearts, does it not give us a view of His grace? He knows us altogether, and yet has not turned from us; He knows us, and yet would bring us to know Himself. We stand detected in His presence, and yet attracted. Like the woman of Samaria, He has shown us all that ever we did, but shown us Himself as well. The light is perfect, but it reveals a God of perfect grace, as well as ourselves, so we need not shrink from it.

Did we so desire, where could we flee from His presence? He has beset us behind and before, and laid His hand upon us. He is in heaven; we meet Him also in the grave. Beyond the sea, in the midst of the thick darkness, we are still with God. Nor is this said in the restlessness of one who desires to get away from Him. It is rather the confidence of one who knows that wherever he may be he has God with him to lead and guide. Blessed fact! We cannot get away from God. Where would we be if we could? And yet, alas, is it not true that the heart sometimes shrinks from this Holy Presence? Do we wish to leave that Presence a moment, to enjoy a pleasure, to indulge a thought we would not wish Him to see ? Surely it would be vain to desire such a thing, but the flesh cannot glory in His presence:if we wish that to act, we must forget we are there.

And this omniscience, this intimate knowledge and presence, has been with us from the beginning. When our imperfect members were being secretly formed, curiously wrought, embroidered, as another has said, all was under His care and superintendence. Surely we can praise Him:we were formed for His praise.

And so the Psalmist goes on to dwell upon these wondrous thoughts of God,- their preciousness. But how great is their number! Where can we begin, and where leave off ? We who have the fuller revelation of God in Christ may well say, "If I should count them they are more in number than the sand." Ah, in presence of this fullness why should our hearts crave more ? Well may we repeat for ourselves the desire of the apostle for us:"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; 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 [unto, Gk.] all the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:)

But there is the earth-side to this truth, and a most practical one. The wicked are to be judged:'' Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men." Nay, so powerful is the effect upon him of God's presence that he counts as his enemies-he abhors-God's enemies. The soul that is at home in the presence of God will not look with indifference upon sin or sinners. True, grace has taught us to pity the lost, and declare to them the grace and love of God. We are not to hate them, but their sins. There is, indeed, a "perfect" hatred, an abhorrence of men who are the deliberate enemies of God. Would we knew more of it! – a holy abhorrence of avowed evil. In days like these, when the boundaries between the Church and the world have been well-nigh obliterated, we need to awake afresh to the seriousness and importance of separation unto God from the present evil world.

The Psalmist had begun with God's knowledge of him. This was beyond his control; he could not escape it if he would. It would seem as though dwelling upon these precious things on the one hand, and upon the evil by which he was surrounded on the other, had led him further. He asks now that God search him. He not merely submits to that from which he cannot flee,-he desires it. He cannot search his own heart:it is too dark and deceitful. He puts it in God's hands:" Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any way of grief [Heb.] in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Ah, beloved brethren, our ways – our wills – are but, in the end, ways of grief; and yet how we cling to them. Shall we shrink from making this prayer our own? – from putting our hearts into the hands of One who already knows them and us completely, but who would love to see this proof of our confidence in Himself. Need we fear ? Need we be ashamed? When did we ever meet with rebuff or reproaches from Him ? How has He revealed Himself to us ? In Christ. We are called into the light,- a light that detects all, but the blood is there before us, and we cannot fear.

Do our hearts long to know more of conscious abiding in the presence of God ? May it be the desire of the writer and reader of these lines. Amen!

Answers To Correspondents

Question 4.-Will you please explain the difference between Gen. 10:31, "after their tongues," and Gen. 11:1, "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." J. B. F.

Answer.- Chapter 10:, giving the genealogies of the sons of Noah, goes beyond the time of the confusion of tongues at Babel, and so speaks not only of various tribes but of different languages. Chapter 11:gives the account of the origin of these various languages,- man exalting himself to make him a great name, is only brought to confusion. " Tongue," the word used in chapter 10:, is the ordinary one for language,- used now, as "foreign tongue." "Language," in chapter 11:, is literally "lip." The general thought is the same in both cases. If we are able to catch the shade of difference, it might be that "lip" suggests the outward form of the words, as we hear them; "tongue," the source of the language.

Question 5.- In Luke i, and Acts 1:was not Theophilus a Gentile, and was it not one and the same person to whom Luke addressed his two books? J. R. F.

Answer.-"The former treatise" shows clearly that the same person is addressed in Acts as in Luke. The Greek form of his name suggests that he was a Gentile, and the adjective "most excellent" that he was a person of position. Compare Acts 23:26; 24:3; 26:25. While there can be no question that he was a real person, not an imaginary one, the significance of his name, "the friend of God," is suggestive. "I have called you friends."

Question 6.- Please explain 1 Cor. especially last clause J. R. F.

Answer.-The proper rendering, "virginity," makes the meaning clear,-it being nearly synonymous with chastity. The latter part, "let him do what he will, he sinneth not," can only be explained by the last words, "let them marry." No other meaning is possible. Only a satanic perversion of words could suggest any other thought.

Enduring.

Trouble, affliction, and sorrow come to all,-to the world and to the children of God. Persecution for righteousness' sake is wholly unknown by the world:it is the peculiar portion of those who believe in Christ, and who live godly in Him. There is another form of suffering which the Word calls chastening, and which is also the portion of those who believe in the Lord Jesus. From whatever source the believer's trials and sufferings may come, he has this blessed assurance that "All things work together for good to them that love God." God often calls His chosen ones to endure losses and want in ways which are exceedingly humiliating. We are proud; we want to get on in the world; to prosper and have success like the world; and yet how often in mercy and love and grace does the Lord cause our labors to come to naught, and permit the failure of our cherished hopes and plans. Sometimes we find ourselves hedged in, shut up, kept from success by barriers which only God can remove.

"Behold, we count them happy which endure." "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons." "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." How happy are they who endure humbly, patiently, submissively, what the Lord is pleased to send. We cannot, in our own strength; we can only put our hearts into the hands of Him to whom we belong. Our hearts may grow faint and weary, but He will be with us. '' The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." " Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

It should not so much concern us to get rid of trial as to profit by it. Are we pleasing our God in it? Do we know that we are casting ourselves wholly on Him ? – or are we in a maze of doubt and fear and anxiety to get into a more comfortable place, and seeking to satisfy our hearts with creature comforts apart from Him ? Trial we may be sure is from God.

We may be sure, too, that affliction and loss can be made for us, by His power and grace, far better than any amount of earthly prosperity and worldly peace. "He knoweth them that trust in Him." Are you doing that ? J. W. NEWTON.

Outlines Of Scripture Doctrine.

THE CHURCH.– ITS NATURE.

In many ways the name "church" is misleading, partly because of a certain historical but unscriptural meaning attached to it, and partly because the word is used in so many different ways. For instance, a building where religious meetings are held is called a church; the persons meeting there form a church; the denomination with which they are connected is a church. Similarly, we have the Church of England, or Scotland,- meaning the established form of religion in those countries. To the Romanist"the church" means the Papal system, and to the ritualist something very similar. The Evangelical will tell us that the word has a twofold significance, designated respectively as the visible and the invisible church. Thus all professing Christendom forms the visible church; while only the true "believers form the invisible.

It is therefore necessary, as well as refreshing, to from these discordant definitions to the simple word of God, and gather from it the truths as to the church.

We might remark, in passing, as has been seen from what we have already said, that upon no other subject are there more various and unscriptural views held. Indeed, we might go further, and add that perhaps fewer understand the teaching of Scripture as to the church than upon any other prominent doctrine in the word of God. The effect of this is but too apparent. Satan is always at work where there is ignorance; and the various deadly systems of error founded upon wrong teaching on this subject, to say nothing of the hurtful uselessness of the doctrines of the evangelical denominations, only show the immense importance of being clear here.

With sorrow be it added that the revival of other precious truths, such as assurance, the Lord's coming, etc., has not been accompanied by an awakening upon this theme. Sad it is to hear men devoted in the gospel, clear expounders of the word of God, telling us that they do not trouble themselves about church doctrine; that salvation is the all-important theme; and the establishment of Christians in the fundamentals all that is necessary. We see men giving chapter and verse for every statement, and dwelling upon the infallible authority of the word of God, quietly closing their eyes to its teachings upon the church, probably connected with that for which they can give no scripture authority, and apparently contented to bring others into the same relationships.

We can praise God for the revival of gospel preaching, for the spread of Scripture teaching; but in this, we may say, studied neglect of church truth, we see only cause for apprehension May we not venture to call upon those who love the word of God to take up this neglected truth, and seek by the Lord's grace to learn His mind regarding that which is as dear to Him as His own body? Nothing but blessing would result.

The word rendered "church" in our ordinary versions is not a translation of the Greek ecclesia. Assembly, or gathering, would give us the meaning; and this is at once seen to be a very general term. In fact, it is used not only for the church, but in Acts 7:38 for the congregation of Israel; and later, in the same book, for a heathen mob at Ephesus. (Acts 19:32, 39, 41.)There can be no question as to this last passage; to those, however, who include in the church believers of all dispensations, we will have to give a word of explanation later, when the contrast between Israel and the church is brought out. We must therefore look for some passage in Scripture which will qualify the word"assembly," and find one which has all the clearness of a definition:"and hath made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." (Eph. 1:22, 23.)We are, in this part of Ephesians, occupied with a risen and glorified Christ. He has been raised from the dead, proof of an accomplished redemption, and exalted to the right hand of God, all things being put beneath His feet. He occupies that position not merely as the witness of eternal redemption, not merely as the representative of His people before God, the measure of their acceptance and their righteousness; but He is there as Head of the church, which is His body. This is figurative language, no doubt; but is nonetheless clear for this reason. It suggests the closest connection, the same interests, and the same prospects. "The fullness of Him that filleth all in all" shows that through grace the church is the complement of Christ. As at the beginning, when God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone:I will make an helpmeet for him," so now God likens the church in its relation to Christ to a wife in relation to the husband,- the complement, the rounding out-amazing thought!- of the second Adam. (Eph. 5:22-33.)

The Church, then, is the body of Christ. But how and of what is this body formed? Again Scripture answers with the distinctness of a definition:"By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." (i Cor. 12:13.) "We all" means those who have the Spirit, and His baptism marks the beginning of the Church. When, then, did this take place? "This spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. " (John 7:39.) "It is expedient for you that I go away:for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send Him unto you." (John 16:7.) "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." (Acts 1:5.) "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:4.)

These passages show us that as long as the Lord Jesus was upon earth,- until He was glorified after His death, the Holy Ghost did not come. After His resurrection He reminded His disciples of the promise- and uses this very word "baptize"-of the descent of the Spirit; and in Acts 2:, at Pentecost, we have the promised baptism. Is it not clear, then, that the Church was begun at Pentecost, not before? And does not this accord beautifully with the definition we have been looking at ? It is the body of Christ glorified; and when glorified He sent down the Holy Ghost to form this body.

Let it not be thought, for a moment, that we mean that the Holy Spirit did not act upon earth before this. Scripture is plain here. At creation, the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters. (Gen. 1:2.) Before the flood God's Spirit strove with men. (Gen. 6:3.) He came upon men for prophecy or for power. (Num. 11:25, 26; Judges 6:24.) From the beginning new birth was His work, to which our Lord refers in His conversation with Nicodemus as a thing which ought to have been familiar to a teacher in Israel. (John 3:10.) But none of these is the baptism of the Spirit, uniting believers to a glorified Christ and to one another. This, as we have seen, took place at Pentecost.

Confirmatory of this is the familiar passage in Matt. 16:18:"Upon this rock I will build my church." Christ's person is the rock, the foundation, and upon that He says He will, as a future thing, build His church. This being the case, it follows that believers before Pentecost did not form part of the Body of Christ; but, lest there should be any doubt here, Scripture expressly states that the Church was a mystery, hid in God, not known in other ages. (Eph. 3:i-2:)
Until God called out Israel, He dealt with His people individually and in families. After the nation came into existence, He recognized that as the responsible body, in connection with which all earthly blessings were promised, upon condition of obedience. The Gentiles were blessed in connection with Israel (Ps. 22:23-28), not independently of them (Deut. 32:8, 9, with Ps. 72:8-ii). A simple examination of the Prophets in contrast with the Epistles will make this perfectly clear.

It only remains necessary to add that all believers since Pentecost form part of the Church. For all believers receive the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13); and we have already seen that by the Spirit "we all" are baptized into one body. There is no select class of specially privileged or intelligent believers. All who believe are baptized.

If the Church began to be formed at Pentecost, when will it be complete? We have seen (Eph. 5:) that the Church is spoken of as the bride of Christ. The marriage has not yet taken place:that will be when Christ presents her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. At present she is espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ, (2 Cor. 2:2.)In Rev. 19:7 we read that "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready"; and in Rev. 21:9, etc., we have the description of the "glorious Church,"- complete at last. This is after the second coming of Christ, and before His millennial reign. And this, then, marks the close of the Church period,- the Lord's second coming. The Church, then, is composed of all believers, from Pentecost till the coming of the Lord.

If, then, the Church is united to a glorified Christ as head; if it is waiting for the Lord's coming to take it from earth to heaven, need we say that it is meant to be not an earthly but a heavenly body? Not to "blossom and bud and fill the face of the earth with fruit," but to share with Christ in those heavenly glories won by Him for us. Israel will yet have blessing upon the earth, for that is her inheritance. The bride of Christ has other hopes, another destiny. Would that she realized it more fully.

Old Groans And New Songs; Or, Notes On Ecclesiastes.

CHAPTER V. (Continued from page 17.)

But the Preacher continues to give, in verses 8 and 9, such counsel as he can to meet the discordant state of things everywhere apparent. "When thou seest violent oppression exercised by those in authority," he says, "marvel not; think it not strange, as though some strange thing were happening; thou art only looking on a weed-plant that everywhere flourishes 'under the sun,' and still thou mayest remember that these oppressors themselves, high though they be, have superiors above them :yea, in the ever-ascending scale of ranks and orders thou mayest have to go to the Highest – God Himself; but the same truth hold good, and He shall yet call powers and governors to answer for the exercise of their authorities. This for thy comfort, if thou lookest up; but, on the other hand, look down, and thou shalt see that which goes far to humble the highest; for even the king himself is as dependent as any on the field whence man's food comes."

True, indeed, all this; but cold is the comfort, small cause for singing it gives. Our own dear apostle seems to have dropped for a moment from his higher vantage-ground to the level of Solomon's wisdom when smarting under "oppression and the violent perverting of judgment," he cried to the high priest, '' God [the higher than the highest] shall smite thee, thou whited wall." But we hear no joyful singing from him in connection with that indignant protest. On the contrary, the beloved and faithful servant regrets it the next moment, with "I wist not, brethren." Not so in the silent suffering of "violent oppression" at Philippi. There he and his companion have surely comfort beyond any that Solomon can offer, and the overflowing joy of their hearts comes from no spring that rises in this sad desert scene. Never before had prisoners in that dismal jail heard aught but groans of suffering coming from that inner prison, from the bruised and wounded prisoners whose feet were made fast in the stocks ; but the Spirit of God notes, with sweet and simple pathos, "the prisoners heard them"; and oh, how mighty the testimony to that which is "above the sun" was that singing! It came from the Christian's proper portion, – your portion and mine, dear fellow-redeemed one,-for Jesus, our Lord Jesus, our Saviour Jesus, is the alone fountain of a joy that can fill a human heart until it gives forth '' songs in the night," even in one of earth's foul abodes of suffering and oppression. He is the portion of the youngest, feeblest believer. Rich treasure! Let us beware lest any spoil us of that treasure, for we can only "sing" as we enjoy it.

But once more let us listen to what the highest, purest attainment of the wisdom of man can give. And now he speaks of wealth and the abundance of earthly prosperity which he, of all men, had so fully tested. " He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance, with increase" ; and again there is the sorrowful groan, "This is also vanity." "If goods increase," he continues, "the household necessary to care for them increases proportionately, and the owner gets no further satisfaction from them than their sight affords. Nay, he who toils has a distinct advantage over the wealthy, who is denied the quiet repose the former enjoys." Carefully the Preacher has watched the miser heaping up ever, and robbing himself of all natural enjoyment, until some disaster-"evil travail"- sweeps away in a moment his accumulations, and his son is left a pauper. And such, at least, is every man he marks, be he never so wealthy, when the end comes. Inexorable Death is, sooner or later, the "evil travail" that strips him as naked as he came; and then, though he has spent his life in "selfish self-denial," filling his dark days with vexation, sickness, and irritation, he is snatched from all, and, poor indeed, departs. Such the sad story of Solomon's experience; but not more sad than true, nor confined by any means to Scripture. World-wide it is. Nor is divine revelation necessary to tell poor man that silver, nor gold, nor abundance of any kind, can satisfy the heart. Hear the very heathen cry "semper avarus eget"-"the miser ever needs"; or "Avarum irritat non satiat pecunia-"the wealth of the miser satisfies not, but irritates." But more weighty and far-reaching is the word of revelation going far beyond the negation of the king. '' They that desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

But let us pass to the last three verses of the chapter. The Preacher here says, in effect, " Now attend carefully to what I tell thee of the result of all my experience in this way. I have discerned a good that I can really call comely or fair. It is for a man to have the means at his command for enjoyment, and the power to enjoy those means. This combination is distinctly the ' gift of God.' From such an one all the evils that make up life pass off without eating deep into his being. A cheerful spirit takes him off from the present evil as soon as it is past. He does not think on it much; for the joy of heart within, to which God responds, enables him to meet and over-ride those waves of life and forget them."

This is in perfect conformity with the whole scope of our book:and it is surely a mistake that the evangelical doctors and commentators make when they seek to extract truth from Solomon's writings that is never to be attained apart from God's revelation. On the other hand, a large school of German rationalists see here nothing beyond the teaching of the Epicure:'' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Rather does it show the high-water mark of human reason, wisdom, and experience, – having much in common with the philosophy of the world, but going far beyond it; and then, at its highest, uttering some wail of dissatisfaction and disappointment, whilst the majestic height of divine revelation towers above it into the very heavens, taking him who receives it far above the clouds and mists of earth's speculations and questionings into the clear sunlight of eternal divine truth.

So here Solomon-and let us not forget none have ever gone, or can ever go, beyond him-gives us the result of his searchings along the special line of the power of riches to give enjoyment. His whole experience again and again has contradicted this. Look at the 12th verse of this very chapter. "The sleep of the laboring man is sweet, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep."No, no. In some way to get joy, he confesses he must have God. He combines in these verses these two ideas-"Joy" and "God."Look at them. See how they recur:four times the name of God, thrice a word for joy. Now this raises Solomon far above the malarial swamps of mere epicureanism, which excluded God entirely. It shows how perfect the harmony throughout the whole book. It is again, let us recall it, the high-water mark of human reason, intelligence, and experience. He reasons thus:(i) I have proved the vanity and unsatisfactory character of all created things in themselves, and yet can see no good beyond getting enjoyment from them. (2) The power, therefore, for enjoyment cannot be from the things themselves. It must be from God. He must give it. (3) This assumes that there must be some kind of accord between God and the heart, for God is the spring, and not the circumstances without. So far the power of human reason. High it is, indeed; but how unsatisfactory, at its highest. Consider all that it leaves unsaid. Suppose this were where you and I were, my reader, what should we learn of the way of attaining to this "good that is fair"? Shall we ask Ecclesiastes one single question that surely needs clear answer in order to attain it ?
I am a sinner:conscience, with more or less power, constantly accuses. How can this awful matter of my guilt in the sight of that God, the confessed and only source of thy "good," be settled? Surely this is absolutely necessary to know ere I can enjoy thy "good that is fair." Nay, more:were a voice to speak from heaven, telling me that all the past were blotted out up to this moment, I am well assured that I could not maintain this condition for the next moment. Sin would well up from the nature within, and leave me as hopeless as ever. I carry it – that awful defiling thing – with me, in me. How is this to be answered, Ecclesiastes ? – or what help to its answer dost thou give ?

And there is silence alone for a reply.

Once and only once was such a state possible. Adam, as be walked in his undefiled Eden, eating its fruit, rejoicing in the result of his labor, with no accusing conscience, God visiting him in the cool of the day and responding to all his joy,- there is the picture of Ecclesiastes' "good that is fair." Where else in the old creation, and how long did that last ? No; whilst it is refreshing and inspiring to mark the beautiful intelligence and exalted reasoning of Ecclesiastes, recognizing the true place of man in creation, dependent, and consciously dependent, on God for "life and breath and all things," as Paul spoke long afterwards, appealing to that in the heathen Athenians which even they were capable of responding to affirmatively; yet how he leaves us looking at a "good that is fair," but without a word as to how it is to be attained, in view of, and in spite of, sin. That one short word raises an impassable barrier between us and that fair good, and the more fair the good, the more cruel the pain at being so utterly separated from it; but then, too, the more sweet and precious the love that removes the barrier entirely, and introduces us to a good that is as far fairer than Solomon's as Solomon's is above the beasts.

For we, too, my dear readers, have our "good that Nor need we fear comparison with that of this wisest of men.

Survey with me a fairer scene than any lighted by this old creation sun can show, and harken to God's own voice, in striking contrast to poor Solomon s portraying its lovely and entrancing beauties for our enjoyment.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Ford Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved:in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace."

Dwell a little on this our own fair good; mark its sevenfold perfection; go up and down the land with me. Let us press these grapes of Eshcol, and taste their excellence together.

First:Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.- A threefold cord that is, indeed, not soon broken. "Chosen," God's own love and wisdom is the fount and spring whence all flows. And that in blessed connection with the dearest object of His love-"in Him." "Before the foundation of the world." In the stability and changelessness of Eternity,- before that scene that is, and ever was, characterized by change, began,-with its mirth and sorrow, sunshine and shadow, life and death. Blessed solid rock-foundation for all in God and Eternity.

Second:To be Holy.- Separated from all the defilement that should afterwards come in. Thus His electing love is always marked first by separation from all evil. It can never allow its object to be connected with the slightest defilement. The evil was allowed only that He might, reveal Himself as Love and Light in dealing with it.

Third:without blame.- So thoroughly is all connected with past defilement met that not a memory of it remains to mar the present joy. The defilement of the old creation with which we were connected has left never a spot nor a stain on the person that could offend infinite holiness. Clean, every whit. Bless the Lord, oh my soul!

Fourth:In love.- Thus separated and cleansed from all defilement not mere complacency regards us. Not merely for his own pleasure, as men make a beautiful garden, and remove everything that would offend their taste, but active love in all its divine warmth encircles us. My reader, do you enjoy this fair good ? If you be but the feeblest believer it is your own.

Fifth:Adoption of Children.-Closest kind of love, and that so implanted in the heart as to put that responsive home-cry of "Abba, Father," there, and on our lips. Yet nothing short of this was the '' good pleasure of His will.

Sixth. – Taken into favor in the Beloved:the wondrous measure of acceptance "in the Beloved One." Look at Him again. All the glory He had in eternity He has now, and more added to it. Infinite complacency regards him. That, too, is the measure of our acceptance.

Seventh. – But no shirking that awful word,- no overlooking the awful fact of sin's existence. No;

the foundation of our enjoyment of our own fair good is well laid "in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins."

Sin, looked at in infinite holy Light,-thoroughly looked at,-and .Blood, precious Blood, poured out in atonement for it, and thus put away forever in perfect righteousness. F. C. J.

(To be continued.)

More Like Thee.

More like Thee, my precious Saviour,
As the days go fleeting by:
More like Thee I would be growing:
By thy love, Lord, keep me nigh.

In this world of sin and sorrow,
Saviour, I would shine for Thee;
But I know my light is feeble,-
Help I seek, O Lord, from Thee.

From Thy distant home in glory,
Saviour, Thou didst come for me:
Left it that Thou mightest save me,
And that I might ransomed be.

Rescued thus, my precious Saviour,-
Purchased by Thy precious blood,-
May I walk on earth a stranger,
As a son and heir of God,

F. A. G.

“Yes, Let Them Go!”

" The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut oft', and we fly away."-Psalm 90:, 5:10.

My "days" are gone!
My "fourscore years" have passed away,
And I can not much longer stay,
For so my failing "strength" doth say,-
My"days" are gone!

Well, let them go!
For bright indeed they have not been,-
No mortal eye has fully seen,-
Life's ills were hid behind a screen:
But God doth know!

Yes, let them go!
For brightest days are coming fast,-
Days that will ne'er, ne'er be past,-
Days that will ever, ever last:
And free from woe!

All, all of grace!
For Jesus loved and died for me,
Bore all my sins upon the tree,
That I might be forever free
To see God's face!

Yea, see and live!
For, Jesus now beholds His face:
Because He lives I live, through grace;
And I, through Him, shall reach that "place,"
Full praise to give!

Thou blessed One!
What joy it is to call Thee mine!
How sweet to know that I am thine!
That I shall in Thy beauty shine!
E'en share Thy throne!

Jesus, my all!
O precious One, I've all in
For time and for eternity!
Oh, may I truly waiting be,
When Thou shalt call.

R. H.

The Ground, The Definiteness, And The Moral Power Of Christianity.

(Lev. 16:12-14; Phil. 3:13, 14; 2 Pet. 1:3-9.)

The ground of Christianity is "Christ, and Him crucified," as Paul puts it, or "the Lamb, as it had been slain," as John writes it; or the incense and the blood, as Moses unfolds it in that great Atonement chapter of the Pentateuch, Lev. 16:If our salvation, from first to last, reposes on that firm and imperishable ground, the precious blood of Christ; if there can be no Christianity without the cross, whose blood was shed ? Who sustained that cross ? Who upheld that mighty work which, for grandeur and moral sublimity towers over all ? It was the glory of the One who died. The person upheld the work on which our souls rest for time and eternity. Oh, blessed foundation ! Oh, rock of everlasting strength !

First, we have the person, then the work. Aaron was to '' take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil." The incense sets forth the merits of Christ,- the moral beauties and excellencies of His person. Now, from Exod. 3:34-36 we learn that the "sweet incense" was composed of four precious ingredients, of like weight and beaten small. Surely the Christ of the four Gospels-crushed, bruised, and suffering-is here foreshadowed. But you cannot separate Christ from His work; hence the High Priest was directed to take a censer, or pan, of burning coals from off the altar and take it within the veil. He also filled his hands with the fragrant incense; and thus, in Jehovah's presence, we have in type the person, incense, and the work, the blood. Then the, to us, blessed and inseparable connection between the two is further shown. The incense put on the fire rose up in a delightful cloud and covered the mercy-seat. The memorials of Calvary are in the presence of God. The victor and victory are in. the Divine presence. The moral beauties and glories of the One who died have been expressed in and by the work of the cross as nowhere else. It was a golden censer (Heb. 9:4) which was used on these never-to-be-forgotten occasions – the annual day of atonement for Israel. Divine righteousness in exercise, could alone meet the requirements of the divine nature. Then the blood of the appointed sacrificial victim was sprinkled once on the mercy-seat and seven times before it. The mercy-seat was made of pure gold; and on either end of it a cherub was fashioned out of the same piece of gold of which the mercy-seat, or cover, of the ark was made. The ark contained the tables of the law,- the measure of what a fallen creature ought to be for God. The golden cherubim were the moral supports of Jehovah's throne in the midst of a sinful and guilty people. On what ground could a defiled people holily appear before a holy God ? Is it possible for a guilty one to stand before a righteous God ? It is. Death had taken place. The brazen altar had told its tale of judgment; and now the witness of death, blood, is taken into the presence of God and sprinkled on the throne. The cherubim are satisfied. Blood-the blood of God's appointed victim-has been shed at the altar, and sprinkled on the throne. It is enough. God is infinitely glorified. But then the blood was sprinkled seven times before the throne. Be it remembered that the sand of the desert constituted the floor of the tabernacle. Thus our standing before the throne is the Lamb, and that alone. You cannot add to its value; you have it in all its priceless worth, in its infinite value to God as ground of our standing in the divine presence; and here we know it and rejoice in it, as we tread the desert which His feet trod. Whose feet ? The feet of the One who shed His blood.

Thus we have the ground-alone and magnificent -of Christianity. If the person and work of Christ glorifies the throne, supports the sinners before it, there is no other – can be no other – basis of the whole system of Christianity, as God's only given system for men on earth. Christianity is worthless – yea, it is positively immoral – if you rob it of its distinguishing glory – the cross of Christ. Its moral power is gone if there be no Christ. Christianity without Christ would be like the heavens without the sun. Christ it is which gives motive and power. Without Him all – all – would be a huge, moral waste.

The definiteness of Christianity consists in its intense presentation of Christ. Several objects before the heart are distracting. The Christian has but one. The duties and responsibilities of life are many, but amidst them all the believer has to pursue but one object. The great, all-absorbing business of life, is to please Christ; to walk and live and serve Him wholly and only. Thousands of God's dear people live aimless, objectless lives. The lack of purpose, of point, of definiteness, is simply owing to the soul not grasping God's end in conversion – exclusive devotion to Christ. What a rare opportunity for all, but especially for Christian young men and women to shine for Christ. Organizations, societies, and the like, cripple individual energy. We want our young people to be fired with a holy enthusiasm,- a burning, passionate desire to be all for Christ in life and work; and while willing to be counseled by age and experience, yet indifferent to the frown or smile of others. Every true work of God has been wrought by individual effort.

The moral power of Christianity does not consist in strong assertion, nor is it doctrine and dogma authoritatively revealed. Christianity is a living power. It enters into all the relationships of life. It transforms a thief into a generous man (Eph. 4:28). It is an active force in this world. Christianity is not mere sentiment. It is an active, living, practical power, dealing with the needs, miseries, and woes of men. Its representatives are saved men and women,- persons morally brave. We have known many, in course of a lengthened ministry, naturally timid, and even weak in character, grow strong under the moral influence of Christianity. Christ produces splendid characters,- firm, yet gracious; strong, yet gentle.

The character described in 2 Pet. 1:, is not one a saved person all at once jumps into. It is a gradual addition and strengthening of Christian character. It is a process of development. The study of Scripture, the knowledge of God and of Christ, and the earnest pressing on in a path of godliness are essential to the cultivation of such a character as Peter here describes. W. S. (Scotland.)

Christ The King:lessons From Matthew

(Continued from page 41.)

CHAPTER IV.

The fourth subdivision follows the third, as Numbers follows Leviticus, with the story of the temptation in the wilderness. The Israelites took forty years, and then how little had they learned the lessons which they were put there to school to learn! The Lord is there forty days, and approves Himself as all the way through perfect,- Master, and not disciple.

He had fulfilled, as we have seen, in the thirty years of His private life at Nazareth, His own human responsibility before God. He had then come forth from that retirement to take His public place as Mediator for others. He is now accepted as perfectly pleasing to the Father, the unblemished Lamb of sacrifice, the Priest able to offer for the sins of men. To this office He is consecrated by the descent of the Spirit upon Him, and is now the Christ, the "Anointed," proclaimed openly to be this.

In obedience to the law of responsibility He must be now tested as to His ability for the path upon which He has entered. The book of Job shows us Satan allowed of God for this purpose to be " the accuser of the brethren." He who is to be the "firstborn among" these pleads for Himself no exemption from this trial. He is expressly "led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil" who is designated thus, according to the meaning of the term, as the "false accuser."

But God had pronounced, Is not that enough ? Alas, sin had come in, distrust of God Himself:He
also is upon trial; and Satan's reasoning in Job's case clearly takes that ground. God pronounces as to Job, and he takes exception as to it. "Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house?" is as much as to say '' This sentence is not after fair trial."And God, in His mercy to man, who had, to his undoing, accepted Satan's malignity for truth, does not retreat behind His privilege. If He is and must be sovereign in His doing, so that '' none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest Thou?" yet He will suffer question, and let all be brought into the fullest light. Job's "hedge" is taken away, and Satan is allowed large limits within which to deal with him,- the end being, of course, blessing to the sufferer, and vindication of God's perfect ways.

Here is His own Beloved, and there is no remnant of a hedge about the person of the Christ of God. Nor will He use the power that is His against the adversary. As conflict between good and evil, power cannot decide it. The good must manifest itself as that, and stand by its own virtue against all odds, The glorious Wrestler is stripped, therefore, for the wrestling. Son of God, though He be, He ordains for Himself the poverty of the creature, the conditions of humanity, and these in their utmost straitness. Man in Adam in his first perfection had been tempted in a garden, specially prepared and furnished for him. But one thing was denied him ; and in the denial there was contained a blessing, among the chief of all the blessings there. Real want there was none, and need was in such sort ministered to as to be itself in every character the occasion of a new delight. The weakness of the creature is owned, but tenderly provided for, so as to witness of the tender arms of love that were about him:he had but to shrink into them to be in perfect safety, outside of all possible reach of harm.

But not so sheltered, not so provided for, was the new Adam, the Son of man. The garden had gone:in its stead was the wilderness; nor was there nurture for Him even, from Nature's barren breast. For forty days He fasts, and then the hunger of those forty days is on Him:then the tempter comes. It marks the contrast between Him and other men, that whereas a Moses or an Elias fasted to meet God, He must fast to meet the devil.

There are three forms of the temptation; though with the first broken we see, indeed, that victory is gained over them all. Yet for our instruction, however, it is that we are permitted to have all before us, that we may realize the points in which the subtlety perfected by ages of experience finds man to be above all accessible, and how Satan is to be resisted still. We shall do well to consider them closely, therefore, and with the closest application also to ourselves. The battlefield here may seem to be a narrow one; the points of attack few; the weapons employed against the enemy a scanty armory; but here lies one of the excellencies of Scripture, that its principles, while they may seem simple, have in them the depths of divine wisdom, and far-reaching application to the most diverse needs.

"And when the tempter came unto Him, he said, If thou be Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."

Satan thus would act upon Him by the conviction of what He was, and make Him assert Himself, in circumstances which seemed quite unsuited to Him as such. The Son of God, the beloved of the Father, at the extreme point of starvation in a desert! But then this was surely in His own power to set right:was it not true that He needed not circumstances to be adjusted to Him, who was able so easily to adjust them to Himself ? The power surely was His, the need was real, the hunger was sinless:why, then, should He not put forth His power, and make the stones of the ground into bread to supply His necessities ? So simple and plausible is the suggestion, so well it seems to recognize the truth of what He was, so natural is it with us to minister with what power we have to our own requirements, that to any of us, naturally, it would seem to be of no evil suggestion. at all,- no temptation. But it was such; and the Lord's answer will show us, better than any reasoning of our own, why it was such.

It has been noticed always – it could scarcely escape notice-that the Lord answers from the word of God. This is the sword of the Spirit, the only weapon we have wherewith to encounter the adversary. But it is striking to find the Lord, who could have certainly answered from His own mind, using always, and with distinct reference to it as such, the written word. We see that He takes the same ground as ourselves, answers as man, and subject, as we are, to the authority of God. And this the passage that He quotes fully proves,-going, indeed, beyond it:" It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

This is from Deuteronomy (8:3), the book that sums up the lessons of the wilderness for the people who had passed through the wilderness. And the passage shows that the dealings of God with His people had been directly designed to teach them this:"And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knew-est not, neither did thy fathers know, that He might make thee know that man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." How important – how supremely important, therefore, is this principle!

Man lives by the word of God,- in obedience to it. The true life of mail is nourished and sustained alone by this. Bread will not sustain it:the life of obedience is that which alone is "life." In this way we see, that though, because of inherent sin everywhere, the legal covenant had no life in it, yet there is another sense in which "which, if a man do, he shall even live in them," is to be understood. There is really a path of life thus, though grace alone can put us in it, or retain us there. Eternal life and disobedience cannot go together. This is, in the nature of things, impossible. The gospel docs not alter it; grace but affirms it:yea, "sin shall not have dominion over you, because ye are not under the law, but under grace."

All this is in the passage quoted by the Lord; but in His application of it we are made to go further than naturally we should carry it. What principle of disobedience, we might question, could be contained in the simple suggestion to use power that He really had, to minister to need that was as really His also, and in which, therefore, there could be no evil ?

Notice, then, that it is as "man" He speaks,- it is of man these things are written. Son of God He was,-adoringly we own it:it is that makes the path we are thinking of so wonderful an one; but it is not in the open glory of the Godhead that He is come to traverse the earth, but to learn obedience in a path of humiliation,- nay, by the things that He suffered. He is come as man to work out redemption for men; and for this to learn all that is proper to man, apart from sin. Thus He cannot save Himself out of this condition by the power of the Godhead. What He can use freely for others, for Himself He cannot use. It is He of whom it is written in the volume of the book, " Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God! … I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." (Ps. 40:7, 8.) Thus He is here subject, and subject in satisfaction and delight, to the will of Another. He has, in His whole course on earth, no other motive. Need may press, appetite may crave:He feels all this as other men; did He not feel it, the glory of His humiliation would be dimmed. But while He feels it, it is no motive to Him:there is but one motive – the will of God. To make Himself the motive would destroy this perfection,- come to do that will, nothing else.

This is the spirit in which He goes forth to service:the close of it on earth – closing with the deepest humiliation and dreadest shadow of all – affords so beautiful an example of this principle, even while at first sight it might seem in conflict with it, that one cannot forbear to speak of it here. One of the physical distresses of the great agony of the cross is the intense thirst that is produced by it. Almost the last words of the Lord there had reference to this, and gave it expression. His words, "I thirst," are answered by the sponge filled with vinegar, of which He tasted; and they were such as naturally to call forth such an answer. Was this, then, really any seeking of relief, in His extremity, even from the hands that had nailed Him there? No, this could not be; and we are carefully guarded from such a perversion. There was one scripture, we are told, that remained to be fulfilled; and of this it was, in all the agony of the hour, that He was thinking:"Jesus, that the Scripture might be fit I filled, saith, I thirst." This leads to what had been predicted, "In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Thus the glorious obedience shines here without a cloud upon it; nay, with surpassing luster. " Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God," is throughout the principle of His life. F. W. G. (To be continued.)

Answers To Correspondents

Question 3.- If the natural man is utterly corrupt, what is the moral value of the so-called amiable qualities, such as natural affection, benevolence, etc.? Are these evil? A. M. C.

Answer.- We must remember, first of all, that God has a different standard of measurement from man's. He measures motives, which we cannot; and secondly, He tests everything with relation to Himself. If these two factors are present in our tests of the naturally amiable qualities in man we will find their true worth in God's sight. As to motive, "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31.) Does the benevolent worldly man act from that motive? Does the parent love his child because the love of Christ constrains him? We know that such is not the case. How often is selfishness only too apparent in much that passes for love,-desire for approbation in what passes for disinterested benevolence. But unquestionably there is much that is amiable between man and man, in which God is left out entirely. Sinners lend to sinners, and salute their friends. But God's glory is far from their thoughts. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh." It may not be low or immoral conduct, but it does not rise to God. Spiritual death consists in separation from God; and, alas, the stamp of death is upon all that is fairest and sweetest in the natural man. Even his religiousness but sharpens his hatred of God, as witness Saul of Tarsus.

It will be remembered that honey, as well as leaven, was excluded from the offerings to God. Natural amiability could have no place before Him. It is by Christ, and Christ alone, we draw near to God. In Him alone are we complete. Honey may do to taste, as Jonathan did, and was refreshed; but he only dipped the end of his rod in it,- a mere taste. The sweets of this life, even when apparently most innocent, do but allure us. from God, if we are not careful.

Fighting With Foxes. (judges 15:2-5.)

Samson's life in general is a warning rather than an example. Endowed with amazing strength and marked out as an instrument of the Spirit of God, he falls far short, and instead of setting his people free, leaves them, and himself dies, in bond-age to the Philistines. The cause is not far to seek:himself, though set apart as a Nazarite, exhibited the very failure which marked the whole nation of Israel-mixture with the heathen. Truly may we say at all times, "Vain is the help of man."

The account before us, on its face, seems but the trifling of one who could have used his strength to some purpose in throwing off the yoke of the enemy. But beyond that, there was a direct violation of a command:and further, when we look at the spiritual significance, a fighting against the people of God, not for them.

"When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them:for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege." (Deut. 20:19.) Even when it seemed so necessary to use every means, as in a siege, the trees of the field which bore fruit were to be spared:how much more when there was no such stress !This was the work of the Midianites and Amalekites who came up into the land of Israel and "destroyed all the increase of the earth until thou come to Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel." (Judges 6:2-6.)A lawless Absalom might do similar work to compel the attention of Joab (2 Sam. 14:28-31), but it seems most clearly to be unfriendly to the best interests of God's people. The spoil of their enemies belonged to them, while to destroy the spoil and leave the enemy seems the very reverse of any act of deliverance.

And this is seen more clearly when we remember the typical meaning of the fruits of the land. When Israel had left the wilderness and come across Jordan into their inheritance, the manna ceased, and they fed on the old corn of the land. (Josh. 5:12.) The manna, we are told plainly (John 6:), represented Him who came down from heaven and humbled himself unto death that He might give Himself to be the food-in death-of His people, so giving them life and sustaining them in this world. Similarly the old corn evidently refers to a risen and glorified Christ, the fruit, as it were, of heaven's field, who is the food of His people as risen with Him and in Him in the heavenly places. (Eph. 2:)

Similarly the typical meaning of foxes or jackals is plain. The cowardly feeder on carrion-night-roamer, cruel and worthless, fittingly stands for that flesh which, as enmity against God, only finds its food in the "unfruitful works of darkness," the corrupt lusts of the old man.

But what work then to turn loose the flesh with firebrands – the tongue setteth on fire the whole course of nature (James 3:6)-and allow it to burn up the good corn, the vineyards and olive-trees! It may be said these things were in the hands of the Philistines. Then let the Philistines be conquered and the spoil taken from them.

Have we not often in this day, too, something that answers to this fox-warfare ? '' The weapons of our warfare," says the apostle, '' are not carnal, but mighty through God." (2 Cor. 10:3, 4.) How easy it is, alas, to take up that ever-ready nature and to turn it against what may really be a spiritual foe! But Satan never yet cast out Satan, nor the flesh its own lusts:and the effect of turning it loose is only to destroy, as it were, the Christ who is our food and leave untouched the enemy we were aiming at.

The application of this is plain, and can be made by our own conscience. Let us not destroy our food. How often, in attempting to set our brethren right, we may be but letting loose an evil in ourselves that will devour what there is of good amongst us. How desolating a fire is ! leaving in its track nothing but the charred embers of what was once a fair field of ripening grain or a fruitful vineyard. The strife of tongues can do this. Let us guard against it as we would against a literal fire.

Wood, Hay, Stubble.

In the contemplation of the wood, hay, and stubble, we are again confronted with the further display of God's wondrous grace; for the same grace that would encourage our hearts to build upon the foundation the gold, silver, and precious stones would also emphasize the warning "let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon," by showing us the true character and absolute loss of all work that fails to have for its object and motive the glory of Christ.

Again, our hearts bow in deep thankfulness for the grace that will forever remove from His sight that which we ourselves would not wish to abide; and deep as will be the loss we suffer, we will rejoice in the faithfulness of the test that will thoroughly try all our work, consuming everything found to be wood, hay, and stubble, leaving only the gold, silver, and precious stones.

Again, too, we would praise Him for the eternal value of the work in which we stand accepted before God, – that blessed work that nothing can touch. Oh, how precious the words-"he himself shall be saved." May God grant for each one of us that, whilst much of our poor work may not abide, that of none of us it may be said "so as by fire."

We would, then, seek to contrast now the wood with the gold, the hay with the silver, and the stubble with the precious stones; for if the interpretation of the one is according to the unfailing word of God, its corroboration will be found in the harmony of the contrast, and the light of other scripture will throw its rays equally on the one as on the other. So, then, if the gold, silver, and precious
stones speak of the work and its reward, we should find a corresponding contrasting voice in the wood, hay, and stubble, for which there is no reward, but the suffering of loss.

Wood, of course; is only the tree cut down, and the word is the same word used for tree in other parts of the Scripture; and as the tree in its beauty and grandeur is figurative of man in his worldly glory and exaltation, we have the thought of the Spirit suggested in the very word itself. "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, and with a shadowing shroud and of a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs:therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field." (Ezek. 31:3-5.) Again, "the tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong; whose height reached unto the heavens, and the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much. … It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth." (Dan. 4:20-22.)

Sufficient, surely, are these divine illustrations to show that the tree is symbolical of man, in his glory and self-exaltation. How solemn, then, the warning "Take heed " ; for if the divine glory of the person of Christ as the object before us is made to give place, in any form or to any extent, to the thought of the glory or exaltation of man, every bit of such work will in that day that shall declare it be seen to be only wood, the tree cut down, the life gone, and, under the test of the fire which shall try every man's work of what sort it is, must be consumed:it cannot abide; and the builder – oh, solemn words!-"shall suffer loss." Then, instead of "how sweet will be the reward," how great will be the loss, and instead of its being manifest that in fellowship with the Father we had sought to set forth the glories of His beloved Son, it will be seen that out of communion with Him the glory of man had" been before our hearts and actuated our work. May our souls turn with distrust from all that would tend to rob our Lord of His glory and ourselves of our reward.
HAY.- In the light of the same blessed word, which is so really the "lamp to our feet, and the light to our path," hay will be seen in contrast with the silver, which speaks to us so plainly of the glories of our blessed Savior in His redemptive work for our souls,- that work which the poor sinner sees to be for sinners, for him,- and upon which his dying soul feeds and finds life; that flesh of which, except a man eat he has no life in him, that when appropriated by faith is found to be the eternal life which Christ gives to as many as His Father has given Him. Oh, the glories of Jesus as He is thus set forth .as the bread come down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die! Oh, the glories of setting forth such a work,- the food and life of poor perishing souls; this is, indeed, the silver which shall have its reward. Now contrast with it the hay, which is grass or fodder, and again we have food, but food without life, used only by and fit only for the beast. How truly, then, every bit of work that would set before hungry dying souls the empty husks that the swine eat is only fit for the fire, and must be burned. Blessed be our God! Nothing in our hearts short of the glories of Christ as the living bread will be reckoned as the silver, or stand the test in that day.

Then, again, instead of "how sweet the reward," how great the loss, to find that we have thus substituted for His flesh, which He said He would give for the life of the world, that which could not give life nor satisfy the poor heart, and thus have built upon the foundation that which is again life and glory gone, grass cut clown, only fit for the fire, and condemned to be burned. Thus, too, the absence of fellowship with the Son in setting forth other than His precious work will characterize the building of the hay in sad contrast with the silver.

STUBBLE , or straw, is emphasized in Scripture as the expression of what is worthless; the glory of the grain gone in the fruit which has been reaped from it; "that which remains after harvest, left either to be driven before the wind or burned to the ground. In Isaiah we have it referred to as that which the fire easily consumed. '' Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be in rottenness and their blossom shall go up as dust:"-clearly that worthless chaff left standing after the fruit has been harvested. This is also corroborated by the account given in the Bible dictionaries describing the ancient method of reaping by cutting off only the heads of the grain, leaving the straw to be cleared off the field by fire. We have further light in the thirtieth chapter, where the woe is pronounced upon the spoiler:"Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble. Your breath, as fire, shall devour you."Enough in these references to give us the thought of the Spirit in choosing the word, when He would show us the worthless character of the stubble as contrasted with the divine value and beauty of the precious stones. How necessary, then, if we build upon the foundation the precious stones (those lights and perfections) which set forth the richer deeper glories of all that Christ is, that we should be filled with the Spirit, who alone can know them,-who, ungrieved and unhindered, would prove Himself to be that " same anointing who teacheth us of all things." (i John 2:2.) And as the Lord Himself said, "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive:for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:38, 39.) But now He is glorified, exalted at God's right hand, the glory of God shining in His face; the Spirit is given, and He searches the deep things of God and reveals to us those things which aforetime ear could not hear nor heart conceive. How awful, then, if, in the ministry to God's dear saints, the deep things should prove not to be the things of Christ, but only the researches and learning of man,- that which displaces His glory and sets forth another – the worthless, fruitless stubble. In such a ministry there are depths, but depths in which the person of our blessed Lord is lost. Food there is, but fit only for the beast,- the scientific husks on which this poor world feeds. Glories there are, but, alas! only the glories of poor human intellect, which, instead of setting forth the things of Christ, make only a display of learning.

Oh, servant of the Lord, be not drawn aside by the subtle influences of these perilous times! Seek not your own glory; study to show thyself approved; turn, with a devoted heart, to Christ, from all that exalt self. Be an imitator of the apostle who counted the things that were gain to him loss for Christ, who could say "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." How dare we attempt to build upon the blessed foundation God hath laid for us, anything but the glories of Christ ? Must not all else be the wood, "hay, stubble ? Must it not be burned ? Let us, then, take heed that the absence of fellowship with the Spirit, on whom all depends, does not characterize "our service; that we do not turn the sweetness of reward into the suffering of loss; and let us seek, with all our hearts, to have only Christ Himself before us, setting forth His divine person – His precious work-His eternal glories, as seen in all that He was, all that He has done, and all that He is as now glorified at God's right hand, that thus, through grace, we may build upon the foundation only the gold, silver, and precious stones. J. F. P.

Old Groans And New Songs.

"ABOVE THE SUN."

(Continued from page 17.)

Cease, ye Saints, your occupation with the sorrow-scenes of earth;
Let the ear of faith be opened, use the sight of second birth.
Long your hearts have been acquainted with the teardrop and the groan;
These are weeds of foreign growing, seek the flowers that are your own.

He who in the sandy desert looks for springs to quench his thirst
Finds his fountains are but slime-pits such as Siddim's vale accursed;
He who hopes to still the longing of the heart within his breast
Must not search within a scene where naught is at one moment's rest.

Lift your eyes above the heavens to a sphere as pure as fair;
There, no spot of earth's defilement, never fleck of sin-stain there.
Linger not to gaze on Angels, Principalities, nor Powers;
Brighter visions yet shall greet you, higher dignities are ours.

All night's golden constellations shine but dim as day draws on,
And the moon must veil her beauties at the rising of the sun.
Let the grove be wrapped in silence as the nightingale outflings
Her unrivaled minstrelsy, the eclipse of every bird that sings.

Michael, Israel's Prince, is glorious, clad in panoply of war;
"Who is as the God of Israel" ("Michael" means " Who is as God.") is his challenge near and far;
But a higher still than Michael soon shall meet your raptured gaze,
And ye shall forget his glories in your Captain's brighter rays.

List a moment to the music of the mighty Gabriel's voice,
With its message strange and tender, making Mary's heart rejoice.
Then on-speed, for sweeter music soon expectant faith shall greet:
His who chained another Mary willing captive at His feet.
But, let memory first glance backward to the scenes "beneath the sun,"
How the fairest earthly landscape echoed soon some dying groan.
There the old-creation's story, shared between the dismal Three:
Sin and Suffering and Sorrow summed that Babel's history.

Now the contrast-vain ye listen for one jarring note to fall;
For each dweller in that scene's in perfect harmony with all.
Joy has here expelled all sadness, perfect peace displaced all fears-
All around that central Throne makes the true "music of the spheres."

Now upsoar ye on faith's pinion, leave all creature things behind,
And approach yon throne of glory. Love in Light ye there shall find;
For with thrill of joy behold One-woman-born-upon that Throne,
And, with deepest self-abasement, in His beauties read your own.

Joyful scan the glories sparkling from His gracious Head to Feet;
Never one that does not touch some tender chord of memory sweet;
And e'en heaven's music lacks till blood-bought ones their voices raise
High o'er feebler angel-choirs; for richer grace wakes nobler praise.

Vain the quest amongst the thronging of the heavenly angel band
For one trace of human kinship, for one touch of human hand;
'Amongst those spirits bright, ethereal, "man" would stand a man alone;
Higher must he seek for kinship-thought amazing-on God's Throne !

Does it not attract your nature, is it not a rest to see
One e'en there at glory's summit, yet with human form like thee?
Form assumed when love compelled Him to take up your hopeless case,
Form He never will relinquish; ever shall it voice his grace.

Wondrous grace ! thus making heaven but our Father's house prepared;
Since, by One who tells God's love, in wounded human form 'tis shared.
See, His Head is crowned with glory! yet a glory not distinct
From an hour of deepest suffering, and a crown of thorns succinct.

Draw still closer, with the reverence born of love and holy fear;
Look into those tender eyes which have been dimmed with human tear-
Tears in which ye see a glory hidden from th' Angelic powers;
Ours alone the state that caused them, their beauty then alone is ours.

Look once more upon that Head:finds memory no attraction there
In the time when, homeless-wandering, night-dews filled that very hair?
Brightest glories sparkle round it-crowned with honor now; and yet,
Once it found its only pillow on storm-tossed Gennesaret!

See that Hand ! it once grasped Peter's as he sank beneath the wave,-
Snatched the widow's son at Nain from the portal of the grave,-
Touched with healing grace the leper, gave the light to him born dark.
Deeper love to you is spoken in that nail-print-precious mark !

Let your tender gaze now rest on those dear Feet that erstwhile trod
All the weary, painful journey leading Him from God to God;
Took Him in His gentle grace wherever need and suffering thronged,
Or one lonely soul was found who for the living water longed.

Those the very Feet once bathed with a pardoned sinner's tears,
And anointed, too, with spikenard speaking Mary's love and fears;
Took Him weary on His journey till refreshed on Sychar's well
By that other thirsty parched one letting Him His love out-tell.

Blessed Feet! 'tis only sinners see the depth of beauty there;
Angels never have bowed o'er them with a penitential tear.
Angels may regard the nail-print, with a holy, reverent calm;
Ye who read the love it tells of, must break forth with thankful psalm.

Draw yet nearer, look more fondly; yea, e'en nestle and abide
In that covert from the storm-blast, in the haven of His Side.
That deep wound speaks man's great hatred, but His love surpassing great:
There were focused, at one spear-point, all God's love and all man's hate!
Rest, ye saints ! your search is ended; ye have reached the source of peace.
By the side of Jesus risen, earth's dull cares and sorrows cease.
Here are Elim's wells and palm-trees, grateful shade and waters cool,
Whilst in Christ's deep love there's healing far beyond Bethesda's pool.

Closer, closer, cluster round Him, till the kindling of that Love
Melt your hearts to like compassions whilst amid like scenes ye move.
Only thus abiding in Him can ye fruitfulness expect,
Or, 'mid old-creation sorrows, new-creation love reflect.

Ever closer gather round Him, till "the glory of that Light"
Dims the old-creation glitter, proves earth s glare to be but-night !
Gaze thereon till His attractions wing your feet as on ye run,
And faith merges into sight, in your own home "Above the Sun." F. C. J.

(To be continued.)

Christ The King:

BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

CHAPTER III. (Continued from page 9.)

It is plain that if it is as the unblemished lamb He is presenting Himself here, the Lord's baptism at once becomes unmistakable in its significance. In the gospel of Mark, He speaks of His baptism,* with evident reference to His sufferings. (Mark 10:38.) *In our common version it is found also in the present one (Matt. 20:22), but all the editors agree that it is an interpolation.* Christian baptism is spoken of as "baptism unto death," and in it we are "baptized unto His death" (Rom. 6:3, 4). With this John's baptism in Jordan – the river of death – is in full agreement. The words, "so it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness," receive also in this way their simplest interpretation. For those who were "confessing their sins" in such a manner, the first step in "righteousness" of which they were capable was to take openly the place of death, as what was their due. While for Him also, who, having no sins of His own, was yet there for the sins of others, the place of death which it prefigured was no less the requirement of righteousness:the blessed Substitute for sinners had of necessity to take the sinners' place.

Thus all is clear throughout; with the exception, perhaps, of how this connects with what is manifestly the great subject of the gospel – the kingdom of the heavens, and Christ the King of this kingdom. Here also, we have seen that when His birth is announced to Joseph, he is bidden to call His name Jesus, "for He shall save His people from their sins." No kingdom could there be apart from this,- no possibility if there being, in any satisfying sense, "His people." Men are sinners, and a holy God cannot ignore this. Thus when Israel came of old into relationship with Himself, though it were but external, they could only come into this place and be separated from the Egyptians by the blood of the passover:redemption would not be by power only, but – and first of all – by blood. He, therefore, who is to be King of God's kingdom, cannot without preliminary take the throne. He must suffer, that He may be glorified :He must take the crown by way of the cross.

And so when the throne is taken, the effect of this, and the character it manifests, abide. '.' He shall be a priest upon His throne." (Zech. 5:13.) He stands before God for the people over whom he reigns ; and thus while he is the true Melchizedek, "king of righteousness, " He is also the "King of Salem, "that is "King of peace." In Him "righteousness and peace have kissed each other." (Ps. 85:10. ) For His throne, like the mercy-seat of old, is blood-sprinkled ; and the cherubim of judgment gaze upon it from between their covering wings, and are at rest.

Here, at present, therefore, the Lord enters not as yet upon His kingship. It is priesthood that first must act and prepare the way. Thus, rising up out of the water, the Spirit of God descends upon Him:He becomes, not simply in title, but in fact, the Christ,' the "Anointed." As Aaron of old had by Himself received the typical anointing without blood, in order to his exercising the priesthood, so He is now declared fit for and consecrated to His sacrificial work, Priest and Sacrifice as He is in one. His perfection is as needful to the one as to the other. The white linen garments of the day of atonement, and not the robes of glory and beauty, are those in which the sacrifice is alone offered, and the priest can alone sprinkle the blood that enters the sanctuary. It is what H e is Himself that prevails in the day of unequaled agony, when the Antitype offered up to God the only acceptable offering, Himself, and was accepted in that glorious " obedience unto death," by which the many for whom He stood are constituted righteous. (Rom. 5:19.)

What the Father's voice pro claims, the Spirit seals. (John 6:27.) He comes to rest where there is a heart, a human heart, in perfect sympathy with His own, to give Him lodgment. Thus appearing as a dove, He manifests the character of Him upon whom He comes. The "dove" was one of the sacrificial birds,-the symbol, therefore, of Christ, in the very attitude in which we find Him here; and all is still in perfection and divine harmony. Father, Son, and Spirit are, indeed, for the first time, openly manifested together in the work of redemption, while it is Christ in the perfection of manhood reconstituted, and in Him brought nigh to God, to which Father and Spirit witness.

The dove, or pigeon,-the two were almost one,- was, in fact, the only bird explicitly named for sacrifice. As the bird of heaven it has, undoubtedly, its first significance. Heaven itself provides the offering by which heaven is to be appeased and opened over man. "The Second Man is the Lord from heaven." (i Cor. 15:47.) He who has sinned, as all mere men have, cannot by that fact provide the unblemished offering that will alone avail. It is God Himself, therefore, who provides it; and in this way manifests Himself in unspeakable goodness to win man's heart to Himself. This is the divine power of the gospel in reconciliation. He who required has fulfilled the requirement. He who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity has yet devised the wondrous means whereby His banished shall be restored to Him. Not only so, but for this restoration the bird of heaven shows us God become man,- a Man who is God manifest in flesh,- no temporary condescension, but eternal love made known for eternity, eternally to be enjoyed.

Christ is divine love come down, and the dove is the bird of love and of sorrow united. The love explains the sorrow, the sorrow the depth of the love. What a world to welcome the Son of God, and what welcome it gave Him! "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief! and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." But Scripture is more definite than this as to the dove, for it points us to its "wings covered with silver, and its feathers with yellow gold." (Ps. 68:13.) And here the reference should be plain to those who are acquainted with its symbolism. "Silver" gets its significance from the money of atonement, and its meaning is well illustrated in passages familiar to us. The wings are wings of redemption, for this it is that has put divine love in activity toward us; while in the feathers is the gleam of gold, the display of divine glory! This is how Nature itself bears witness to Christ.

The Hebrew word for the dove is Jonah; and however little the prophet of the name may have exemplified in his own character the spirit which this implies, we cannot but remember the Lord's comparison of Himself:"As Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days, and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Ch. 12:40.) Whatever road we take here leads us to the great mystery of redeeming love. All witnesses combine to assure us of the meaning of what is here before us in the gospel.

The Father proclaims His Son. The apostle tells us that "no man taketh this honor [of the high priesthood] unto Himself, but He that was called of God, even as Aaron. So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto Him, Thou art my Son." (Heb. 5:4, 5.) This, then, was the Lord's induction into His office, as having (of course, in an exclusive sense) the relationship which is acknowledged here. Yet it is not as the "only-begotten Son," or in His deity, that He is addressed, as is plain, for it could not be added then, as in Hebrews, "to-day I have begotten Thee." Nor could His full divine glory be the foundation of a priesthood which, of necessity, is human. It must be, therefore, as born into the world by the power of the Holy Ghost, as in Luke the angel says unto Mary, "therefore that Holy Thing, that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Here He is Son of God in His human nature,- Man, but a unique Man. And the connection of this with His priesthood is not hard to trace. True man, without taint of the fall,- the Son of God, as once more coming (like Adam, but another Adam) fresh from the inspiration of God. Thus He begins another creation, though out of the ruins of the old. Thus He is the Representative-Head of a new race of men, standing for them before God, with God, the true Mediator-Priest of the new humanity.

No wonder that heaven opens to own and induct into His place this glorious Person! '' Therefore doth my Father love Me," He says elsewhere, "because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." And here, where He is (as it were) pledging Himself to that death for men, the Father's voice breaks out in all its fullness of joy in Him:'' This is my beloved Son, in whom I well pleased." F. W. G.

(To be continued.)

As Little Children.

Father, Thy children are so tired to-night, And fain would rest.
We long to lay our weary heads in peace
On Jesus' breast.

As little ones, whose eyes are heavy grown,
We come to Thee.
Nor questioning thy love, we feel a sweet
Security.

Thy love constrains to leave all earthly things,
Our transient joys.
The things our restless, childish hands have spoiled,
Our broken toys.

Thou knowest each one on which our foolish hearts
So loved to dwell.
Thou 'st marked the tears when, scattered at our feet,
The fragments fell.

How oft, when disappointment's bitter cup was drained,
We turned to Thee,
Assured in Thy great loving heart to find
Sweet sympathy.

O, grant us,, blessed God, that childlike trust
Which knows not doubt nor fear,
But simply takes the hand which leads the way,
Whether it be dark or clear.

H. McD.

Rehoboam :a Division Precipitated. (2 Chron. 10:)

Dark days were fast settling down upon God's beloved people when Rehoboam came to the throne,- all the darker because in such marked contrast with the brilliant reign of Solomon. David had left everything stable,- neither adversary nor evil occurrent; and the first years of Solomon's rule almost seemed to give promise of blessing "so long as the moon endureth." But alas for man! Left to himself, his privileges do but raise him to an elevation which makes his fall all the more terrible. After building and dedicating the temple, having been endowed with amazing wisdom, king Solomon "loved many strange wives," who stole away his heart,- gradually, no doubt, but surely, until he turned away from his God to worship the abominations of the heathen. His position and endowments only mark the more clearly for us the lesson of man being but vanity, even at his best estate; and remind us of that Only One who has never failed, and who will yet restore to Israel her long-looked-for glory and blessing.

Even in Solomon's lifetime some of the results of his wrong-doing were manifest, and the Lord's chastening hand had been felt. The word had gone forth, through the prophet, that the kingdom was to be disrupted, and the instrument for its accomplishment was being prepared. As long as the king lived things were allowed to take their course,- partly, no doubt, because of a measure of administrative skill and energy still preserved in him, and partly because of the prestige of his great name.

With his death, however, and the accession of Rehoboam, the spell is broken, and there must be a fresh putting forth of power, or the hidden seeds of disintegration will soon bear their legitimate fruit. such crises are not uncommon among God's people at all times, the circumstances varying with the special conditions existing. How often has a great name held God's people together until some time of resting came. They were brought face to face with some question of faith or duty,- a question requiring immediate guidance, where tradition, no matter how exact, was impotent to help. Then it was that the latent weakness was brought to light:we may -be sure, however, that it had existed long before.

Would Rehoboam rise to the emergency ? Would He prove to be the man for the time ?

The place of his coronation is significant. David had been made king at Hebron, a city of Judah, and meaning "communion." Solomon had. gone to Gihon, apparently in great haste to anticipate Adonijah. It was a name given to a suburb of Jerusalem, from the fountain of water there. The name signifies "a breaking forth," as of a fountain from the earth. One of the four rivers of Paradise was so called. It might, therefore, fittingly represent that outflow of the Spirit of God which is to characterize the millennial reign of Christ, of which Solomon's was a type. Shechem means shoulder, suggesting service and perhaps rule ('' the government shall be upon His shoulder.") Its position in the tribe of Ephraim, fruitfulness, emphasizes the thought of service.

No doubt expediency suggested the choice of the place of coronation in a tribe where the evidences of disaffection were already but too manifest. Again and again had the tribe of Ephraim shown its jealousy of the others. When Gideon pursued the defeated Midianites and overthrew them, he had to meet with the envious chidings of the men of Ephraim. His wisdom and soft answer averted a collision,- which, later on, in Jephthah's day, and under similar circumstances, was precipitated by the want of grace in that stern man. During all the time of David's rejection, and again after the rebellion of Absalom, this same spirit of tribal jealousy, with Ephraim doubtless in the lead, prevailed. The flames might only smoulder, but they were never quenched, and will not be until the restored nation will forget all else under the blessing of our Lord's gracious and wise rule. Then "the envy, also, of Ephraim shall depart, . . . Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." (Isa. 11:13.)

The spiritual meaning of this is plain, whether in the history of the individual or of the Church. Works are arrayed against faith, service against worship, and the very blessings of grace too often made to appear antagonistic by Satan and his ready ally, the flesh. Judah, "praise," however, must lead; and Ephraim will find abundant fruit in the true spirit of subjection. '

It would seem, as has been said, that some sense of impending danger had taken hold of Rehoboam; and he seeks to avert disaster by this clumsy and apparent pandering to the jealousy of Ephraim. We may remark that in so doing he left the place of communion, Hebron, and of refreshment, Gihon, and so was in reality unfitted for service, Shechem, as the sequel shows.

Ephraim was not to be mollified by this. Real grievances were to be righted; and at Shechem the new king meets with a firm demand, in form as vet loyal:"Thy father made our yoke grievous; now, therefore, ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee." There need be no surprise that one who had forsaken his God as Solomon had, should oppress his fellow-men.

This is a critical moment with King Rehoboam, and he rightly asks time for a decision, applying to his counselors (did he also seek wisdom from God?) for advice. Their answers are characteristic. The older men, who had doubtless marked a gradual weakening of the bonds of loyalty, counseled gentleness:"If thou be kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever." On the other hand, the young men, with a rashness that usually accompanies inexperience, put into form the thoughts, doubtless, of his own heart:"My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. . . . My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

Little need be added. The schism is consummated; a few hot words, and the union of the twelve tribes, which had survived the chaotic independency of the times of the Judges, falls before the imperious will of this young man. In vain does he attempt to stem the torrent:the outraged pride of Ephraim refuses to listen to any overtures, and to restore peace by war was expressly forbidden.

Well may we pause here and contemplate the ruin thus wrought. That the ten tribes were guilty of revolt, that they soon deserted the temple of God for the calves of Dan and Bethel-starting upon a down-ward course of unbroken evil-stands out upon the face of the history of those times. Equally is it plain that the crown belonged to David's line:God's name had been put at Jerusalem, and the promises were centered there. But was not Ichabod written upon it all ? True, obedience to God would be shown by the recognition of His house, but the eye could never be closed to the fact that Israel was divided.

And as we look around at the divisions among the people of God, shame and sorrow become us rather than the pride of position, too common in all our hearts. The Lord give His people to see their common shame and weep over it,- realizing, each of us, our responsibility in having contributed to the general state. Nor is this in the least inconsistent with the maintenance in all firmness of those principles laid down in the word of God for the guidance of His people as to their corporate relationships.

But there are lessons of grave importance in connection with Rehoboam's action. There can be no question that his harshness precipitated the division. It is equally true that both Ephraim and Judah were ready to seize upon any pretext to separate:they were already divided in heart. Above all, the state of the whole nation, of the individuals composing it, rendered such a thing possible. What was needed was a man for the time,- a man who first of all would humble himself personally, and thus fit himself to be the instrument God could use to restore His people,- a man with a large and tender heart, as well as an enlightened conscience, who on the one hand could realize the claims of God, and on the other the weakness and needs of the people. Rehoboam, alas! was not such a man. His mother's name and lineage suggest the principles which governed him,- Naamah, an Ammonitess,- pleasure, at the expense of righteousness, a practical lapse into the heathenism of the children of Lot.

Then, too, a man for such emergencies must be one who inspires confidence. In his darkest days, the people believed in David, his sincerity and devoted-ness. Blundering, failure, there might be; but behind all that there was the conscience toward God, and a love and care for His people. Such characteristics seem to have been entirely wanting in Rehoboam.

And this brings us to look at the true principle of rule. It is service. Jotham's parable (Judges 9:) illustrates this. The trees want a king over them, and invite the olive, the vine, and the fig, successively, to take that place. But each is already engaged in fruit-bearing, supplying man's need, and will not leave the place of service "to wave over the trees." The healing, nourishing ministry of the Holy Spirit; the cheering, life-giving ministry of the precious blood of Christ; the varied fruits produced in the believer's life, are suggested by these trees; and what position or authority can compare with such service ? Only the thorny, worthless bramble, will consent to be king, and it only to devour the best. Naturalists tell us that the fruit of a tree is simply an arrested branch,- checked from bearing leaves and spreading further, and its strength given to the production of fruit and seed. Strange to say, the thorn is similarly a branch, but instead of the check upon its growth being turned to fruit and blessing, it shrinks into a useless spine which can only wound. God would arrest our growth in such a way, that, instead of making a show we might bear fruit; but we may be sure He would never have that arrested growth changed into a useless bramble that can but wound.

The true spirit of leadership is service. " I am among you as he that serveth " were? the words of the true king. All who would imitate him must walk in the same lowly path:" By love serve one another." "Neither as being lords o-ver God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock."

One of the greatest needs of the church of God today is pastors. Men who love and yearn over God's beloved people, because they are His; who will take the sorrows, cares, follies, and failures of the saints, and lay them before God alone; who can minister comfort where it is needed; who can heal the breach between brethren; who go in and out amongst the Lord's dear people, helping, guarding, cherishing them, as a nurse cherisheth her children. "Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers." The reverse of the true pastor is seen in that solemn passage in Ezekiel:"The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and cruelty have ye ruled them." (Ezek. 34:4.)

Rehoboam followed the advice of the young men, whose lack of experience sadly unfitted them for such delicate work. Naturally God would use those whose maturity would give a breadth of view, a gentleness coupled with firmness, which come with years. Sad it is that these things should ever be lacking with gray hairs; and that God must pass by unprepared old age to use consecrated! youth, for a work most suited to mature years.

Rehoboam means "Room for the people." How sorrowfully he contradicted his name we have seen. Instead of breadth we have found narrowness; instead of enlargement, cutting off. The Lord give us grace to shun the errors into which he fell, for we are living in times which much resemble those days.

One Tenth.

was the portion of his goods which Jacob I promised to give the Lord in response to His wondrous revelation of Himself to the homeless wanderer at Bethel. There, in the vision of the Ladder, Jacob saw himself the object of divine grace and care ; and that there might be no doubt as to the meaning, it is confirmed by the words:"Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land:for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (Gen. 28:15.)

On awaking, Jacob, terrified, but apparently not won, by this amazing manifestation, makes a vow, treating as conditional what God had made absolute:"If God will be with me … I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." This tenth we might well call the measure of Jacob's apprehension of God's grace on the one hand, and of his consecration on the other. It is therefore most appropriate that the tenth should be the prescribed proportion, the measure of consecration, under the law, which is indeed conditional in all its blessings (Lev. 27:30). "I give tithes of all that I possess," said the self-righteous pharisee.

But if a tenth will do for one under law-for one who fails to apprehend the true grace of God, what is the measure of consecration for us who are under perfect grace ? Will two tenths do ? one half ? nine tenths ? Ah! if God has given us His all-" He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for its all"-will any fraction do for our response to that grace? "The love of Christ constraineth us," says the apostle, and goes on to show that our life is to be now for Him who died for us and rose again. " To me to live is Christ." The law might demand one seventh of my time ; grace demands nothing, but should receive all – of time, means, opportunities, liabilities. Anything short of complete devotion of all to God means unhappiness-that is, if anything is purposely withheld. Nothing showed the heart of the elder brother more than the words, "Thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends." He wanted to have something for himself, and this showed his real unwillingness to give his father anything If we wish but one hour of our time with God left out, it would show a practical desire to have it all, checked as that desire might be by grace.

This complete consecration, the apostle tells us (Rom. 12:.), is our "reasonable service." There is nothing harsh in it. "His commandments are not grievous," says the apostle of love. There is no constraint in it but the constraint of love; if otherwise, the devotion, would be worthless even did it reach to the bestowing all one's goods to feed the poor and giving the body to be burned. It simply flows from a knowledge of what absolute grace is. It is the response of the heart to One who has shown us all His heart; who loves us with an everlasting love; who can do for us exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think; who would share His pleasures with us ; who would make His joy our strength. Why should we wish to have anything for ourselves, when He provides all for us ? The prodigal made sad use of " the portion of goods " that fell to him; restored, he gets no further share-he lives with his father. Was not that enough ? Is not that enough for us ?

But let us look at ourselves and ask, Is this complete devotedness true of us ? and if it is not, what is the reason ? The answer, one answer at least, would be, Because of our failure to apprehend the absolute, perfect grace of God. The slightest tinge of legal-ism means self-interest. Ah ! we may know in a cold, intellectual way all the doctrines of grace, but when they are held in living power-rather, when their living power holds us-there is but one answer of the heart-" I am my Beloved's."

Beloved brethren, we are at best but learners in; this school of grace. Let us see to it that we are indeed learners increasing in the knowledge of what God's perfect grace is, that the fruits of it may increasingly be manifest in our lives.

“Gold, Silver, Precious Stones”

"Now If any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."

It is evident, from these verses, that the grace of God has not only secured for all believers in Christ eternal salvation, but is reaching out to draw them into communion with Himself in the building upon the one blessed foundation in order that they may be laborers together with Him, and receive at His hands a reward according to their work. This is grace upon grace, for the grace which saves the sinner is God's gift through Jesus, and is the foundation that is laid,-other no man can lay,- and is separated from the portion provided for the believer as a reward for all true work built thereupon. The wood, hay, and stubble shall be burned, and the builder suffer loss; but his salvation through faith in Jesus cannot be touched. " He himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." It is, then, grace upon grace that God thus invites us to be laborers with Him that He may, in that day that shall declare every man's work, fill our hands with His own reward for every bit of gold and silver and every precious stone built, through that grace, upon the foundation He has laid for us.

It will no doubt be accepted that, as in Rom. 3:, the sinner is not regarded as being righteous or doing good, notwithstanding the righteous and good acts he may do, because he is not actuated by a desire for God's glory, that just so will the believer's work be judged according to his motive rather than by his intelligence. It must also be true, however, that where the motive is right, God will give light to lead in the work most pleasing to Him.

The gold, silver, precious stones, evidently speak of the character of the work, and the reward will be according thereto; and if we believe that every word of Scripture is divinely chosen, we will see divine value in the gold and the silver, and divine beauty in the precious stones. If we go back to the account of the building of the tabernacle, where God in His grace took into His fellowship and made fellow-laborers with Him all the willing-hearted in they building of a dwelling-place for Himself on earth, and examine the typical meaning of the materials there selected, we should get some light upon the thoughts before us here. The work which we build, after being purged by the fire, will surely be that in which God will find a rest, and in which His glory will be displayed, for all must be in Christ and for, Christ.

How beautiful, then, to see that when God would express glory, divine glory, the gold is chosen. The acacia wood, setting forth the humanity of the Lord, was covered with the gold to show us the glory of His divinity, thus crowning it with, the highest honor, and shadowing forth the divine glories manifest in God's beloved Son, in whom God has found His delight. How blessed, then, that we should have before us as the one motive actuating every work for God, the glory of that divine One. If it is only a cup of cold water given in His name it is surely the "gold " built upon the foundation which shall receive its reward. How sweet, too, will be the reward, to receive at His own hands that which shall eternally associate us with the glories of His own person, all our work seen in Him, of Him, and for Him, that He may be glorified. Oh beloved, what an object! – the glory of Christ, God's glorified Son! How every other glory must fade before this; how everything that is of man must be set aside, that Christ and Christ alone may be seen. This surely is the test that will try every man's work of what sort it is. How really, too, we may thus be found in fellowship with the Father, who in answer to His prayer, "Father, glorify Thy Son," and in answer to His finished work, has glorified Him. "Now is the Son Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him." May it, indeed, be the only motive of our lives that He may be thus glorified in every work built upon the eternal foundation that is laid for us.

Silver, as Ex. 30:12, 16, shows us, was selected to serve as the atonement-money of the children of Israel; and in chapter 38:25-28, is seen as the material used in the tabernacle wherever God, in that wonderful type of Christ, would associate with Christ those for whom He died, and thus it tells us the wondrous story of redemptive love. How fitting again, then, that the divine glories of His person as seen in the gold, should be accompanied with the glories of redemption as seen in the silver, and how fitting that in the motive which actuates all work for God, there should not only be the glory of Christ's divine person before us, but also the glory of His work. With what joy, then, the laborers together with God should take the silver trumpet of the gospel of God's grace and go forth with the glad tidings of salvation accomplished through Christ, and as the poor perishing sinner turns to find in Him his acceptance with God, the forgiveness of his sins; the eternal joys that heaven alone can afford, it will surely be declared to be the "silver" built upon the foundation which is laid. How sweet, then, again, will be the reward, to be associated with the glories that cluster around the Son of Man as He is displayed as the blessed Redeemer, our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Then, again, how really we may be found in fellowship not only with the Father in seeking the glory of the person of His beloved Son, but also with the Son who took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men, that being found in fashion as a man he might humble Himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Again, beloved, let it be said, what an object! the glory of Christ, in whom we have redemption, a glory reflected in every redeemed sinner, from whose face all traces of the burden of sin have been forever wiped away! Shall not all this be a fresh incentive to preach the word, to be instant in season and out of season, that more and more glory may be added to His peerless name?

Precious stones are seen in the breastplate of the high priest, pressing upon his heart as he goes into the presence of God for the people, twelve stones and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved as the engraving of a signet upon them, and as lighted up in God's presence, together forming the Urim and Thummim, the lights and perfections of God. How fitting, then, that there should be associated with all the work built upon the foundation the glories of Christ, not only in the divine glory of His person, nor in the glories of redemption, but also in Him as the glorified One at God's right hand, – those deeper glories that the saints are led into as their hearts are opened and are able to receive the things that the Holy Spirit would minister unto them. For He is the gift to the children of God, consequent upon the glorification of Christ on high, the One of whom the Lord says "He shall glorify Me, for He shall take of the things of mine and show them unto you," the One whom the Lord calls the " Comforter," to abide with them forever-the Spirit of truth to guide them into all truth, the One who searcheth all things; yea, the deep things of God.

What, then, can there be built upon the foundation that will answer more clearly to the precious stones than the heart that in all its service has for its object Christ in all those deeper, richer glories that only God's Spirit can reveal. How deep will be the joys, how wondrous the revelation of those glories to our own hearts, as we seek by the light and power of the same Spirit to exalt our glorified Lord in the ministry of His things to His beloved saints. The things of Christ,- those deep things,- the things of God that no man knoweth but the Spirit of God. Once again, how sweet will be the reward to be forever associated with the glories that the Holy Spirit will bring to the name of Christ, when His ministry through His servants, and by the precious word of God, is made manifest in that day. And once again how really, too, we may be found in fellowship not only with the Father and with the Son, but also with the Holy Spirit. And thus, too, every believer who seeks only the glory of Christ may find a blessed place in real service and ministry for the glory of His name, The simplest child that can only lisp the name of Jesus, and thus speak of the person of Christ, the beloved Son of God, builds upon the foundation just as surely as the evangelist does, as in all the power and eloquence of his gift he sets forth the glories of His work, or as the teacher does, who through the Spirit of God brings forth from the depths of God's treasury the richer glories which are displayed in Christ at God's right hand.

Thus, beloved, will be found in that day that shall declare every man's work, that which shall abide,–the gold, silver, and precious stones built upon the foundation in fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

May there be true purpose of heart to seek thus to exalt Him, that in His own glorious presence there may be eternal joy in His own eternal reward. J. F. P.

Fragment

It was after the Egyptians had left the room, that Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. It was through closed doors that the risen Lord came to His disciples. If we are to enjoy communion with Him, the world must be shut out. "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." The name of Luz (separation) was changed to Bethel (House of God). Mere negative separation may be pharisaism; it must be unto God to really keep us from defilement.

Old Groans And New Songs; Or, Notes On Ecclesiastes.

(Continued.) CHAPTER V.

With the opening of this chapter we come to quite a different theme. Like a fever-tossed patient, Ecclesiastes has turned from side to side for relief and rest; but each new change of posture has only brought him face to face with some other evil "under the sun" that has again and again pressed from him the bitter groan of "Vanity." But now, for a moment, he takes his eyes from the disappointments, the evil workings, and the sorrows, that everywhere prevail in that scene, and lifts them up to see how near his wisdom, or human reason, can bring him to God. Ah, poor bruised and wounded spirit! Everywhere it has met with rebuff; but now, like a caged bird which has long beaten its wings against its bars, at length turns to the open door, so now Ecclesiastes seems at least to have his face in the right direction,- God and approach to Him is his theme,- how far will his natural reason permit his walking in it ? Will it carry him on to the highest rest and freedom at last ?

This, it strikes me, is just the point of view of these first seven verses. Their meaning is, as a whole, quite clear and simple. "Keep thy foot,"-that is, permit no hasty step telling of slight realization of the majesty of Him who is approached. Nor let spirit be less reverently checked than body. "Be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools." Few be thy words, and none uttered thoughtlessly, for "God is in heaven and thou upon earth," and many words, under such an infinite discrepancy in position, bespeak a fool as surely as a dream bespeaks overcrowded waking hours. Oh fear, then, to utter one syllable thoughtlessly or without meaning, for One listens to whom a vow once uttered must be paid, for not lightly canst thou retract the spoken vow with the excuse "It was unintentional, – it was not seriously meant." His Messenger or Angel is not so deceived ; and quickly wilt thou find, in thy wrecked work and purposes astray, that it is God thou hast angered by thy light speech. Then avoid the many words which, as idle dreams, are but vanity; but rather "fear thou God."

After weighing the many conflicting views as to verses 6 and 7, the context has led me to the above as the sense of the words. Nor can there be the slightest question as to the general bearing of the speaker's argument. Its central thought, both in position and importance, is found in "God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few," – its weighty conclusion, "Fear thou God."

Now, my beloved readers, there is a picture here well worth looking at attentively. Regard him :noble in every sense of the word, – with clearest intellect, with the loftiest elevation of thought, with an absolutely true conception of the existence of God. Who amongst men, let thought sweep as wide as it will amongst the children of Adam, can go or has gone, beyond him ? What can man's mind conceive, he may ask, as well as man's hand do, that cometh after the King ? Yea, let our minds go over all the combined wisdom of all the ages amongst the wise of the world, and where will you find a loftier, purer, truer conception of God, and the becoming attitude of the creature in approaching Him here ? For he is not a heathen, as we speak, this Solomon. He has all that man, as man, could possibly have; and that surely includes the knowledge of the existence of God,- His power eternal, and His Godhead, as Romans 1:clearly shows. The heathen themselves have lapsed from that knowledge. " When they knew God" is the intensely significant word of Scripture. This is, indeed, diametrically contrary to the teaching of modern science-that the barbarous and debased tribes of earth are only in a less developed condition – are on the way upward from the lowest forms of life, from the protoplasm whence all sprang, and have already passed in their upward course the ape, whose likeness they still, however, more closely bear! Oh, the folly of earth's wisdom! The pitiful meanness and littleness of the greatest of modern scientific minds that have "come after the King" contrasted even with the grand simple sublimity of the knowledge of Ecclesiastes. For this Preacher would not be a proper representative man were he in debased heathen ignorance. He could not show us faithfully and truly how far even unaided human reason could go in its recognition of, and approach to, God, if he had lost the knowledge of God. Low, indeed, is the level of man's highest, when in this state, as the Greeks show us; for whilst they, as distinct from the Jews, made wisdom the very object of their search, downward ever do they sink in their struggles, like a drowning man, till they reach a foul, impure, diabolical mythology. Their gods are as the stars for multitude. Nor are they able to conceive of these except as influenced by the same passions as themselves. Is there any reverence in approach to such? Not at all. Low, sensual, earthly depravity marked ever that approach. That is the level of the lapsed fallen wisdom of earth's wise. How does it compare with Solomon's ? We may almost say as earth to heaven, – hardly that,-rather as hell to earth. Solomon, then, clearly shows us the highest possible conception of the creature's approach to his Creator. This is as far as man could have attained, let him be at the summit of real wisdom. His reason would have given him nothing beyond this. It tells him that man is a creature, and it is but the most simple and necessary consequence of this that his approach to his Creator should be with all the reverence and humility that is alone consistent with such a relationship.

But high indeed as, in one point of view, this is, yet how low in another, for is one heart-throb stilled? One tormenting doubt removed ? One fear quieted ? One deep question answered ? One sin-shackle loosened ? Not one. The distance between them is still the distance between earth and heaven. "God is in heaven, and thou upon earth." Nor can the highest, purest, best of human reason, as in this wise and glorious king, bridge over that distance one span! "Fear thou God" is the sweetest comfort he can give,-the clearest counsel he can offer. Consider him again, I say, my brethren, in all his nobility, in all his elevation, in all his bitter disappointment and incompetency.

And now, my heart, prepare for joy, as thou turn-est to thy own blessed portion. For how rich, how precious, how closely to be cherished is that which has gone so far beyond all possible human conception,–that wondrous revelation by which this long, long distance 'twixt earth and heaven has been spanned completely. And in whom ? Jesus, The Greater than Solomon.' We have well considered the less,- let us turn to the Greater. And where is that second Man to be found ? Afar off on earth, with God in heaven? No, indeed. " For when He had by Himself purged our sins He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high"; and "seeing, then, that we have a great high priest, that is passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Oh, let us consider Him together, my brethren. In holiest Light our Representative sits. He who but now was weighted with our guilt, and made sin for us, is in that Light ineffable, unapproachable. Where, then, are the sins ? Where, then, the sin ? Gone for all eternity! Nor does His position vary at all with all the varying states, failings, coldness, worldliness, of His people here. With holy calm, His work that has perfected them forever perfectly finished, He sits, and their position is thus maintained unchanging. Clearly, and without the shadow of the faintest mist to dim, the infinite searching Light of God falls on Him, but sees nought there that is not in completest harmony with Itself. Oh, wondrous conception! Oh, grandeur of thought beyond all the possibility of man's highest mind! No longer can it be said at least to one Man, woman-born though He be, "God is in heaven, and thou upon earth"; for He, of the Seed of Abraham, of the house of David, is Himself in highest heaven. But one-step further with me, my brethren. We are in Him, there; and that is our place, too. The earthward trend of thought – the letting slip our own precious truth – has introduced a "tongue" into Christendom that ought to be foreign to the Saint of heaven. No "place of worship" should the Christian know – nay, can he really know – short of heaven itself. For, listen:"Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the vail,- that is to say, His flesh,- and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near," etc. We too, then, beloved, are not upon earth as to our worship, (let it be mixed with faith in us that hear). Israel's "place of worship" was where her high priest stood, and our place of worship is where our great High Priest sits. Jesus our Lord sowed the seed of this precious truth when he answered the poor sinful woman of Samaria, "The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." But, then, are not "words to be few"? Good and wise it was for Solomon so to speak; "few words" become the far-off place of the creature on earth before the glorious Majesty of the Creator in heaven. But if infinite wisdom and love have rent the vail and made a new and living way into the Holiest, does He now say "few words"? Better, far better, than that; for with the changed position all is changed, and not too often can His gracious ear "hear the voice of His beloved"; and, lest shrinking unbelief should still hesitate and doubt, He says plainly "In everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." For He has shown Himself fully, now that vail is down,-:that He is, is revealed to faith; and a Heart we find – with reverence and adoring love be it spoken – filled with tenderest solicitude for His people. Letting them have cares only that they may have His sympathy in a way that would not otherwise be possible; and thus again He invites "casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." Nor is there a hint in the holiest, of weariness on God's part in listening to His people, nor once does He say "enough; now cease thy prayers and supplications." How could He so speak who says "Pray without ceasing"? Then, if, as assuredly we have seen, Solomon shows us the highest limit of human thought, reason, or conception, if we go even one step beyond, we have exceeded human thought, reason, or conception; (and in these New Testament truths how far beyond have we gone ?) And what does that mean but that we are on holy ground indeed, listening to a voice that is distinctly the voice of God,- the God who speaks to us, as He says, in order "that our joy may be full."

(To be continued.)

Christ The King:

BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

(Continued.)

CHAPTER III.

To bear one's shoes was the office of the meanest slave,- a strong testimony from one to whom all the nation seemed looking up at this time; but what John announces Him as to do speaks more strongly yet:Who must He be who baptizes with the Holy Ghost ? No doubt the Jews were far from having any proper intelligence with regard to the Holy Ghost; yet they knew that it was a divine influence that was here spoken of. We ought to have clear knowledge; and yet of few things perhaps in Christianity has there been more misunderstanding than of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, the very thing with which John contrasts it here, the baptism of water, has been and is by many, nay, by the mass of professing Christians, confounded with it; and, as a necessary consequence, it has been degraded to mere unreality, subjected to man's will, made to inflate the pride of a pretentious ecclesiasticism, and to deceive the credulous victims of superstition to their ruin. While, on the other hand, many who have truer knowledge of spiritual things yet reduce the baptism of the Spirit to a temporary, often repeated influence, whose significance is in reverse proportion to its ready repetition.

It is evident that our Lord is but applying the words here when He says, after His resurrection, "John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." (Acts 1:5.) Here is the same contrast of water with Spirit, yet the same term "baptism" applied to each; while the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when these words were fulfilled, did not connect itself with water, nor were those to whom they were spoken baptized with water at that time at all. It is certain, also, that these disciples were born again before Pentecost, and so that baptism was not their new birth. Scripture, if we pay the slightest heed to it, easily delivers us thus from these strange mistakes.

On the other hand, as clearly, at Pentecost the Christian Church began, and this is "the church, which is His [Christ's] body" (Eph. 1:22, 23); while in exact agreement with this we are told (i Cor. 12:13) that "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." Thus the baptism of the Spirit is not that by which men are new-born, but that by which those new-born already become members of the body of Christ. It is not the beginning of the Spirit's work in souls, but a further, and yet an initial, work.

It does not follow, however, from the way in which Christianity has fulfilled this prophecy of John, that he knew anything of the Church as the body of Christ. It is certain that this was a revelation of later date, and necessarily hid from him (Eph. 3:3-6). It is certain, because Scripture declares it (i Pet. 1:10-12), that prophets might be led of the Spirit to utter what was quite beyond their own intelligence. But more than this, it does not follow, because Christianity has fulfilled this in a certain way, that there could not be another fulfillment of it, Israelitish and not Christian, in those clays to which the Baptist seems to point on, when Israel will be finally purged, according to the Lord's own prophecy, so well known to us. I can at least see no reason why the outpouring of the Spirit upon Israel and the nations in millennial days, of which Joel and others plainly speak, should not be called a baptism, as initiating for them that state of blessing which will then be theirs. Such double accomplishments of prophecy are by no means rare, little as it may be possible for some to find them. But we must not dwell upon this now.

It agrees, however, with this thought, that John puts alongside of this baptism of the Spirit the baptism of fire; which finds its explanation in what follows directly:"He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Many would point us rather to the "cloven tongues like as of fire" on the day of Pentecost,- a natural thought enough, if Christianity were the complete fulfillment of what is here, and such an idea has become completely attached to the expression, "a baptism of fire." But the tongues of fire convey a different idea, that of a word that shall act upon others, while that of baptism is of something that affects the subjects of it themselves. These things may have easy enough connection, but they are not the same. Moreover, the going forth of the gospel among men of divers tongues is not at all in the line of the Baptist's message here, which is an exhortation to Israel, in view of the coming Kingdom, and their unpreparedness for it. There would be alternate consequences, according as they repented and received, or else rejected, the coming King:they would either be separated to God by the action of the Spirit of God, or separated from God, to His wrath, if they rejected Him.

He had just before been speaking of the burning of the fruitless tree. He goes on now to speak of the coming of the King under the figure of one who winnows wheat in his threshing-floor. He fans away the chaff to get the wheat, which is what alone he values:and this is exactly what is necessary for the blessing of Israel, who are to be blessed upon earth. For this the wicked must be severed from among the just, as we find in a parable of the Kingdom afterward (13:49) ; the earth must be freed from the destroyers of it. The saints of the present time are, on the other hand, taken to heaven ; and for their blessing no such judgment of the earth is needed.

Thus His "fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather the wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

We see that the Baptist goes on to a judgment which is future yet, and says nothing about the present delay of it in the Lord's long suffering. This is quite in the manner of Old Testament prophecy, as in that of Isaiah which the Savior quoted and appealed to in the synagogue at Nazareth. Here He quotes, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," and as far as "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord," and there He stops, though the sentence, goes on without a break to "the day of judgment of our God" (Luke 4:19; Isa. 61:i, 2), just as in John's words also, in connection with the restoration and blessing of Israel, which is then described in glowing terms.

We shall find this as a principle all the way through the Old Testament. Christianity, with all belonging to it, is a mystery hid in God ; abundantly spoken of in types and figures throughout, but of course needing the light of the New Testament for its discovery. Even John is not given to see behind the veil, although being brought face to face with Christ, he is "much more than a prophet" of the Old Testament.

But John is not at his highest in any of these so-called "synoptic" gospels. It is John the Evangelist who records for us his fullest utterances. In Matthew the herald of the Kingdom has already nearly completed his testimony, and is about to pass away. But before he does so, he is privileged to baptize the One whose coming he anticipates and welcomes with such fullness of delight; and we are now to stand with him in the presence of the KING.

The third subdivision begins with the 13th verse, and is but five verses long ; but how much would it take to give aright its meaning! We have in it the manifestation and anointing of the King:the Savior coming forth from His private into His public life to take up the wondrous work for which He came. Although not historically so, yet in its significance here, the mission of the Baptist ends where Christ's begins.

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto John, to be baptized of him." There is definite purpose and meaning in this baptism, then; and yet from what we have seen of its character as John pro-proclaims it, it is the last thing that we should have imagined possible, for the Lord to be baptized of John. He himself is startled, and refuses it:"but John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest thou to me?" In fact, there has been the widest misunderstanding of this act among Christians ever since ; and we need to look at it earnestly and reverently in order (if it may be) to find the track where so many have gone astray. We shall not need, however, to discuss the conflicting views that have been taken. It will be more profitable, and indeed the only thing that will avail us, to see what Scripture itself may give us with regard to it. There is, it is true, no direct explanation:the Lord's words, in reply to John, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness," require themselves to be set in the light of related facts, before, as it seems, we shall be able to apprehend them. Let us start with some of the plainest facts, and see what light they may throw upon the matter.

It is clear that, as already said, this baptism of Christ by John lies at the entrance of His active ministry. In the three gospels in which it is narrated, it stands in this place; and in the fourth, when this ministry begins, we see that it has already taken place. Before this, with the exception of the notices of His birth, and the one incident of His youth which Luke recalls, the silence of the gospels with regard to His life up to this time when He is now thirty years of age, is absolute and profound. So strange, too, it seems, that, as is well known, the gap has been sought to be filled up by apocryphal statements, in which miraculous deeds, as unlike the soberness of Scripture as possible, and as far removed from the character of the "signs" which bore testimony to His divine nature, fill the pages with transparent falsehood. We have the denial of the whole where the turning the water into wine at Cana of Galilee is stated to be "the beginning of miracles" which showed forth His glory (John 2:ii).And the silence of Scripture otherwise as to all these years of His life, by its very strangeness, shows the more evident design.

When He comes forth, it is to be proclaimed by John "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29); and in that view of Him we shall find the interpretation of this mysterious silence. The passover lamb was to be taken on the tenth day of the first month, and "kept up" to the fourteenth day before being sacrificed. Yet it is evident that the passover it is that governs the change of the whole year in this respect. Why, then, these unnoticed ten days ?

Notice that they have their mark according to the symbolic language which these types speak throughout, in the number "ten," which is the number of responsibility, as derived from those ten commandments which are its perfect measure, according to the law. The lamb was, as we know, to be without blemish,- in the true lamb, of course, a spiritual state. Now putting these two things together, how plain that they have connected meaning, and that the ten days of silence yet of responsibility answer in fact to the thirty years of silence before the Lord could come forward and be approved as the unblemished Lamb! That He did find then the witness of the Father's approbation and delight, we know. The typical " four days " of public testimony – the meaning again given by the numeral – were still to come before the actual sacrifice should take place; He is immediately led up of the Spirit in the wilderness for the express purpose of being '' tempted by the devil"; His life afterwards, how different was it from the quiet Nazareth-life in which He had already grown up and lived before the eye of God! This was the fulfillment of His individual responsibility, having its divine necessity in order that He should be able to give Himself for others, yet on that very account private, not public. Only God could be competent witness to its perfection, and accordingly it is His witness that is given:at the end of these thirty years it is that the Father's voice utters openly its joyful approbation, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

(To be continued.)

Fragment

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." We have here the character of the fruits of the Christian life-righteousness; the power-the Lord Jesus Christ, "Without me ye can do nothing;" and the end-"the glory and praise of God."

A Word Of Exhortation.

Beloved Brethren:

God has put into our hands His precious word. Its riches are unfolded to us by His Holy Spirit. Of the fullness, the variety, the divine perfections of that word it is needless to speak to you. Men are, however, attacking it,- no longer as avowed infidels, but as professed friends. The attacks are the more dangerous, because covert. This infidelity, like the leprosy in the house, is creeping over the whole professing Church, doing its deadly work every where. What will be the end of it ? .

Let us pause, and ask ourselves why God has permitted this inroad of the enemy. When Israel failed to drive out their foes and to occupy the land for themselves; when they turned from God, He gave them over to the surrounding nations. Have we occupied our spiritual territory? Have we learned fullness from the word of God? Is it not too true hat many of God's people have been, are, neglecting His word? It is to this widespread neglect of the reading and study of the word of God that the inroads of infidelity maybe truly attributed. Its attacks would be weak indeed did they not find God's people were weaker as far as a knowledge of His word is concerned. Do we know the gospels? Are the contents of the epistles familiar to us ? " Yes," you say; "we are fairly acquainted with the New Testament."Then how is it with the Old? 't not a fact that to most, the Old Testament is a used book ? Need we, then, be surprised if Satan should attack us at our weak point ? The Old Testament
history should be as familiar to us as the gospels,- the prophets as the epistles. The remedy is simple. Let us read the Old Testament more, and the New as well. Let not a day pass without our searching in its stores of divine truth. Let us not make the excuse that we have no time. If we have time to eat, we have time to read the word of God, as one has said, " I esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." A few minutes daily given to the attentive reading of the Bible would enable us to complete the whole in a year.

Then, as we grow familiar with it, we would find it in our thoughts during the day; passages helpful in the prayer-meeting, illustrations at the reading meeting, and words of comfort or exhortation at the breaking of bread, would thus take the place of a barren silence. In other words, we would be revived. Let it not be thought, for a moment, that a neglect of prayer and dependence upon God are implied in this. Rather such reading and study will stimulate us in these. Shall we not afresh arouse ourselves in this matter ? It concerns us all. Let us begin at once, and never leave off until we are with the Lord. If anything has come in to interfere with our enjoyment of the word of God,- the newspaper or the novel,- let us cast them from us, and turn afresh to that book of God. What blessing would result!

Notes On Scripture.

John 4:22.-" Salvation is of the Jews." Samaritans claimed to be worshipers of God, descendants of Jacob, and to have the proper site for the temple on Mount Gerizim. In reality they were heathen, brought into the land by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24-41) to occupy the territory made vacant by the deportation of the ten tribes. '' They feared the Lord, and served their own gods." They took His name, but continued to be in heart and practice heathen. Our Lord could not recognize anything of God in them, especially as they set themselves up against His revelation and His city. He therefore presses upon this woman the fact that the Jews were the channels of God's revelation, and that they did have the knowledge of the true God, though He was about to reveal a higher truth than that of legal observances and earthly places of worship. At the same time, he would recognize all that was of God in Judaism. In like manner, after Pentecost, when Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ to them (Acts 8:5, &100:), and many were saved, they did not receive the Holy Ghost until the apostles came from Jerusalem. God would thus link His truth together, and show that His ways were to be recognized by those who had previously disregarded them.

Fragment

The inheritance is reserved in heaven for us, and we are kept for the inheritance by the power of God (i Pet. 1:3, 4). God, as it were, holds the inheritance in one hand and us in the other. Both are kept by His almighty power, and will soon be brought together.

Steadfastness.

It is a great thing, in days of declension and fickleness, to be steadfast. One may not be brilliant, may seem to have no special gift, but if he is reliable he is a power for good. In the heavenly warfare (Eph. 6:) the word "stand" is prominent. It shows the courage which is ready to meet the enemy, and is the presage of victory. After his wondrous exposition of the great doctrine of the resurrection (i Cor. 1:5), the apostle presses as a practical outcome of that doctrine:"Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." What an inducement to steadfastness! Christ is victorious :we, through Him, are sure to be more than conquerors. Let us, then, stand firm,- in our daily walk, our testimony, and in all that relates to our fellowship with another. How much good one does who is always present at the prayer or reading meeting. His steadfastness in that is a constant example to others. And so in everything else. The Church needs gifts, and Christ has provided them; but it needs simple daily steadfastness on the part of all.

Answers To Correspondents

Question 1.- Was the Lord Jesus capable of yielding to temptation? A. M. C.

Temptation is of two kinds,- from without and from within. The former would include all circumstances, whether of trial or allurement, met with in life. That our blessed Lord was exposed to every form of such temptation, both at the hands of man and of Satan, it is needless to say. After His baptism we see every kind of allurement presented to Him by Satan, only to be rejected" in the power of simple obedience to the word of God Later, when Peter would turn Him from the cross (Matt. 16-23), He, with equal simplicity, put the temptation away. That such resistance to evil meant suffering is most clear. "He suffered, being tempted," but suffering is the opposite of yielding. All through His holy life, He was brought in contact with that which caused Him acute pain. We, alas! are so dull as to appreciate but little what it cost Him to live in a world like this. Doubtless, in the garden of Gethsemane the tempter pressed Him most powerfully to leave the path of pain His love had chosen, but not for a moment did He waver. Oh, what obedience!-what perfection! It calls for worship more than analysis; and yet, in a reverent spirit, it is our privilege to see the Burnt Offering flayed (the inmost thoughts revealed),- separated into its parts, and the whole to be washed in water,- not to cleanse, but to show its purity. In all this we have the perfect Man.

The second kind of temptation is that from within. "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." (James 1:14.) We need but to ask the question, Did the Lord Jesus have lust – desire to sin in any form? – to see the blasphemy of the hint of such a thing. But it may be objected that Adam was innocent until he yielded to temptation; and was it not possible that the Lord Jesus might have yielded in the same way? – being a man. This may be more subtle, but is none the less a denial of His perfection. The Holy Ghost is most careful to guard the incarnation from any such misrepresentation. Adam was a man,- a mere man. The Lord Jesus was something more than a mere man. As to His humanity, He was conceived by the Holy Ghost. "Therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35.) So that even as to His humanity He was the Son of God. Further, He was one person, not two. His divine nature gave character to the whole. "The word was made flesh." (John 1:14.) In the language of the type, the gold covered the shittim wood. Even when showing His perfect sympathy and humanity, the Holy Spirit guards most jealously the uniqueness of that humanity. "Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same." (Heb. 2:14.) The word translated "are partakers" is different from that rendered "took part." The former is used for man, and implies the most intimate association. 'I he children are partakers,- that is their nature. "Took part" suggests the thought of one from the outside, and in a sense remaining ever distant, who in grace. takes up a nature similar to that of His people. Thus, that there might be no mistake, a different word is used for each. Our Lord was, and is, perfect man. If He was capable of sinning, He is still so,-I speak with reverence,-for He is "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." He was perfect man in His thoughts, feelings, desires, as well as in His ways and words. Perfect to sympathize and to succor when we are tempted. He knows human love, He knew human dependence; but He was ever the only One. Let us guard most jealously the spotless integrity of the One who has laid open the holy mystery of His incarnation to our view. Let us ever be worshipers here, and be most quick and sensitive to reject the faintest whisper that He could have been by any possibility anything else than He was and is. The jeweler tests gold to see" that it is gold. If it failed to stand the test, if it were possible that it could not, it would not have been gold. Temptation simply manifested what the Lord Jesus was.

Question 2.- Please explain Eph. 4:25. In the similar passage, Col. 3:9, it is "lie not one to another." Why is it "neighbor" here? Is it to all men? Then how " members one of another"? J, J. D).

Of course truthfulness is to characterize a Christian in his dealings with all men. The term "neighbor" simply means the person with whom we are associated. The following clause applies exclusively to members of the body of Christ. An unbeliever could not be a member of that, for it is formed by the Holy Ghost, who unites us with our glorified Head, and so with one another. See 1 Cor. 12:13, Eph. 1:13, 23. Evidently, then, the persons contemplated in the word "neighbor" are believers. To make the passage teach the universal brotherhood of man would be to do violence to the whole context and to the entire teaching of Scripture.

It is interesting to note the reason assigned for the need of truthfulness, in each epistle. Ephesians is devoted to the unfolding of the great truth of the Church – the body of Christ, the building of God, in its perfectness and unity. It is fitting, therefore, that an exhortation to truthfulness should be based upon that fact. We are members of one body, have a common life, a common hope, and common interests. A man might as well lie to himself as lie to his brother. We are members one of another. In Colossians the theme is the glory of Christ, and our identification with Him in death and resurrection. So the exhortation to truthfulness is based on the fact that we have in the death of Christ put off the old man, and in His resurrection put on the new. The subject is treated at Jarge in the third chapter.

Fragment

Are you in trouble, afflicted, bereaved ? Remember the great High Priest, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, and who raised him from the dead. Here we have divine sympathy and divine power. " His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me." Support and affection ! And this He has for all His people.