Every right feeling in a creature must have an object, and, to be right, that object must be God, and God revealed in Christ as the Father; for in that way God possesses our souls. J. N. D.

Our portion this month is first Chronicles, in the Old Testament, and the brief epistle to the Colossians in the New.

The books of Chronicles correspond quite closely to Deuteronomy in their relation to the other historical books. As we learned in the case of Deuteronomy that it was not a mere repetition, but rather a re-statement of the law, with special lessons in view and looking forward to the future, so the books of Chronicles, while narrating largely the same events as are recorded in the books of Samuel and Kings, do so with a specific purpose. Externally, we might say that the book of Kings is largely the history of the ten tribes; while Chronicles is equally confined to the history of Judah or the two tribes. In Samuel and Kings, the failures of David and Solomon are clearly brought out. In Chronicles this is minimized. The object in Chronicles is evidently prophetic and typical; the Spirit of God bringing out the future glories of the kingdom when in the hands of One greater than David and Solomon. Things point thus largely to the Millennium.

In a similar way, the causes of declension on the part of many of the kings subsequent to Solomon, and the moral effect of their declension, are mostly dwelt upon at greater length than in Kings. The evident reason for this is to impress upon the people the one great lesson written over every page of Scripture, that it is an evil and bitter thing to depart from the Lord.

The first nine chapters of first Chronicles are devoted to genealogies, beginning with Adam, as though showing the descent by nature, which was the fruitful source of all subsequent failure. What could be expected from children of a disobedient parent, but the same disobedience ? In beautiful contrast with this tracing of genealogy down from our first parent, is the reverse order in the case of our blessed Lord's genealogy in Luke, where His human ancestry is traced back, not only to Adam, but then to God, showing Him as the Son of man who had in infinite grace taken that place and would reverse the dark stream of evil which had been flowing from Eden onward.

The second chapter is devoted more specifically to the children of Israel, singling out the line of Jesse, of whom David was born.

Chap. 3:traces the line of David onward.

Chap. 4:gives others of the children of Judah.

Chap. 5:, the line of Reuben; chap. 6:the Levites; chap. 7:the descendants of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher.

Chap. 8:traces the descendants of Benjamin in detail down to Saul and Jonathan.

The first verse of chap. 9:has this significant summary of all that has gone before:"So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies, and behold they were written in the books of the Kings of Israel and Judah who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression." Everything ended, thus, in captivity because of transgression. The rest of the chapter gives certain other summaries, more specially of priests and Levites with their duties at Jerusalem, and closes with the brief genealogy of Saul and Jonathan.

Chap. 10:closes this part of the book with the account of the sad ending of Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboah.

The rest of the book is practically the history of David in the glory and righteousness of his reign, omitting the dark, personal blots which would be out of place in what is, as we said, largely typical.

Chaps, 11:and 12:, after briefly recounting David's being made king over Israel at Hebron and his taking Jerusalem for his permanent capital, are devoted to the deeds of his mighty men, things which significantly come in the narrative of the close of his life in Samuel, but which here are looked at from the beginning.

Chaps, 13:-16:recount the bringing of the ark, which had practically been put aside since the days of Saul, to its place of prominence at Jerusalem. It was the recognition of the throne of Jehovah as supreme. We have the mistaken expedient of bringing it on the new cart in imitation of the Philistines, with the judgment upon Uzzah for his profane attempt to steady the ark; and in Chap. 15:, the proper carriers, the Levites, have charge of it with the result that it is brought into its place with un-mingled joy and liberty.

The parenthetic chapter, xiv, shows how God blessed David, both in building up at home and victories abroad, so that, confirmed in His goodness, he was emboldened to attempt again in an orderly manner, the bringing in of the ark.

Chap. 16:gives the psalm of celebration composed of selections from the 105th, 96th, and 106th psalms.

Chap. 17:tells of his desire to build a house for God, which, while recognized by Jehovah, is not permitted; God declaring how He would build David a sure house -looking forward to the coming of Christ. This calls forth the outflow of praise from David's heart.

In Chap. 18:, we have his triumph over his enemies, answering somewhat to our Lord's victories at the beginning of the Millennium.

Chap. 19:relates the offered mercy to the Syrians, which is rejected, corresponding to the folly of those who shall, in the latter day, reject the offered blessing of the Kingdom.

Chap. 20:gives also a narrative of victories, most significantly omitting the account of the dreadful sin with Uriah the Hittite, which would have come in at this very place.

Chap. 21:tells of the only failure recorded of David in this book, that of numbering the people, but it is as leading up to the selection of the temple site, as though reminding us that there could be no dwelling place for Jehovah except in the midst of a people who were not merely numbered, but redeemed; for it will be remembered that provision was made for paying the ransom of every Israelite who was enrolled.
From chaps, 22:-29:, we have most elaborate and complete preparations for the building of the temple and the ordering of its service by king David. While not permitted to build it himself, he is allowed to gather gold and other precious material for the purpose, and to make all arrangements, somewhat as we saw Moses leading the people in their preliminary victories on the east side of Jordan, and making full provision for their conduct as a nation when they entered the land, while not himself permitted to go in thither. So David is seen here, not as the decrepit old man in the first of Kings, where mere nature is manifest, but in all the vigor and energy of faith and love, devoting all his powers to the plans and ordering of that which was dearer to his heart than life itself, -the glory of the dwelling place of Jehovah. How fitting it is that such an object should command all the powers of the man after God's own heart! Most beautifully in all this does he prefigure our blessed Lord, who has established, not in any typical, but in a real way, the foundations for God's dwelling place in the midst of His earthly people during the Millennium, and the eternal basis of His relationship with mankind in the new heavens and new earth.

Thus, the book which begins with the humbling witness of the descent of man from our common father who had fallen, closes with preparations of glory and an outburst of praise which show that grace has come in through the second Man:" Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted above all" (i Chron. 29:n).

Colossians is a brief, but most full unfolding of the glories of our blessed Lord. It has some points strikingly in common with the epistle to the Ephesians, but differs from that in its main theme. Ephesians shows us the Church in relation to Christ, its present position, future glory, with the walk that results from that known relationship.

Colossians presents to us, rather, Christ in His own glory as the Object to fill His people's heart, and in whose power they can walk the resurrection-life even here.

Its five divisions 'bring out the gradual development of these truths.

Div. 1:(chap. 1:1-18) presents Christ as Head and Lord over all. We see Him as First-born of all creation -its Head because He is its Creator; and also as Firstborn from the dead in resurrection, and thus Head to His Church.

Div. 2. (chap. 1:19-29), He has by His death made reconciliation for His people and brought all things into subjection to God. The twofold Headship over creation and the Church suggest a twofold ministry, which is dwelt upon in this division. In connection with His world-wide dominion and world-wide reconciliation, the gospel also has been preached to every creature that is under heaven; while, in connection with His Headship over the Church, His body, the apostle presents the mystery in which the whole word of God is fulfilled. He labors earnestly and desires to present the saints complete in Christ, in accordance with the ministry of the mystery.

Div. 3. (chap. 2:1-23) dwells upon the infinite fulness of Christ, in whom we also are complete or filled up. The-treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid here. Whether, with many editors, we omit the words, " Father and Christ" or only the word, "Father"-as evidently should be omitted-the truth remains the same, that in connection with Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid. These are fully brought out in the mystery, which thus becomes, as we might say, the repository of the truth that is in Christ. The saints are to walk as they have received Christ Jesus the Lord, entering into the precious fact that they have been crucified and buried with Him, and now, as risen, are freed forever from the external demands of Judaism or the vagaries of human philosophy and vain deceit. Christ is thus seen as the full and perfect remedy for all the thoughts of man, whether they be intellectual or religious.

The fourth division (chap. 3:1-17) shows the practical effect of the truth of resurrection with Christ in our lives. It means the putting off of the works of the old man and seeking those things which are above, where Christ is, and the putting on of all the gracious fruits which flow from this new relationship.

Fifth division (chaps, 3:18-4:) This might be treated as a second portion of the fourth division. It goes, however, more fully into details, and, very much after the manner of Ephesians, gives us the various earthly responsibilities in the order that has been established in God's creation,-the love of husbands and subjection of wives to their husbands; children to parents; the mutual responsibilities of servants and masters; the need of prayer, and the careful walk before the world.

The apostle closes, after the beautiful manner of the New Testament fellowship, with the account of his own experiences, and salutations to many beloved saints.

We hope to read during the present month, the Lord enabling, the book of Deuteronomy. This will serve, in some sense, as a substitute for the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, read last year, while, of course, it is by no means a mere repetition. Its name in the Greek means, literally, "a second law;" that is, a repetition of the law, and this roughly describes its contents ; but God never makes mere repetitions. Even when apparently they are, there is a special object in view. Deuteronomy, however, is very far from being this. Its position in connection with the other books will best give us the general thought of the book.

The people have finished their forty years' wanderings in the wilderness. Numbers brought them to the borders of the land. The wilderness is all behind them. The land of promise is before. The generation which had come out of Egypt, all at least who had reached the years of responsibility, had fallen in the wilderness, except Caleb and Joshua, beautiful types of that whole-hearted devotedness to God in the power of the Holy Ghost which alone brings us unwearied through the trials of our desert journey. In one sense, of course, this weeding out of the generation which was distinguished by their unbelief and hardness of heart would be an advantage. Here was a nation which knew nothing practically of the corruptions and bondage of Egypt, which had been nurtured in the desert to a measure of hardiness and dependence upon God. Time and time again had they proven His goodness in their journey, His sufficiency when all around them seemed, as it really was, a barren waste. The manna and the flowing water were witness that the God who had brought them hitherto, and sustained them with food and drink, would now make good His promise to Abraham of old, repeated to the people in Egypt, and ofttimes alluded to through their desert wanderings. He who had brought them out would bring them in.

But because of the very fact that they were a young nation, without the later history of failure and unbelief of their fathers; without, too, the experience and self-knowledge gained through these humiliating histories, they needed to be reminded afresh of the lessons to be learned from the wilderness.

Thus Moses, as a closing ministry, is permitted to review their past history and glean its lessons for their instruction, pressing upon them present obedience. The law, too, is gone into afresh, and, as is always the case when the Spirit of God reiterates, fresh adaptations are made to new circumstances and conditions which had not existed at the beginning. A striking illustration of this is seen in the sermon on the mount, where our Lord, so far from repealing, emphasizes the law, but with those divine modifications and additions which, while not contradicting, bring in new light and motives. Of this Deuteronomy also affords full illustration.

But the book is not occupied with retrospect alone. After having looked at the past, the eye having traced the whole weary way through those forty years of wanderings in the wilderness, having impressed upon them afresh the necessity of obedience to God, the prophet, as it were, from the height of Pisgah, surveys the future for the people, looking forward into the land of their inheritance, and with the light of the past, giving warning, exhortation and distinct prediction as to what will take place in the future.

We have thus really seen the three main divisions of the book. They relate to the past, the present, and the future. More accurately speaking, they have been given as follows:

Division 1 (chapters 1:-4:43). The review of the past, in view of God's dealing in righteousness and grace as a motive for the obedience of love.

Div. 2 (chaps, 4:44-30:). The law restated, expounded and amplified, with a view to the land.

Div. 3 (chaps, 31:-34:). The outlook into the future, Moses' warning song, final blessing of the tribes, and peaceful death.

Glancing at some of the chapters, we find that the first goes back to Horeb, where they received the law, and dwells upon the journey from there to Kadesh Barnea, where the people turn back in unbelief after having sent the spies into the land, refusing to go up. In fact, there was practical apostasy from God here, and but for His merciful interposition they would have turned back into Egypt. Here they brought upon themselves the sentence of exclusion, individually, from the land. Their children, for whose safety they pretended to café so much, would be brought through all the wilderness, and inherit that from which unbelief excluded them:"They could not enter in because of unbelief."

Chap. 2:shows how they had not been permitted to take any of the territory of their kinsmen according to the flesh, either Moab or Edom, and when the way through their territory was opposed by these, Israel was obliged to go around, rather than provoke hostility by going through. The same was true of the children of Ammon ; but with the Amorites and their king Sihon no such restriction was made, and they conquered him when he opposed them, and possessed his territory. We avoid the flesh, rather than fight with it.

Chap. 3:continues the narrative of the possession of the land east of Jordan, and the overthrow of its inhabitants. A pathetic account is given also of Moses' plea to enter the land. He had a foretaste of what God was going to do, and longed, as he had brought the people out of Egypt and through all their long journey to enjoy at last the fruits of it all in peace ; but alas, one sin prevented this, and shut him out of the earthly inheritance- solemn type of how one sin, were it possible to think of it being unatoned for, and if our title to heaven depended upon our faithfulness, would shut us out of the eternal mansions. Typical reasons also are evident why Joshua, rather than Moses, should lead the people into the land. He is a type of Christ in us by the Holy Ghost, who leads us into the enjoyment of that inheritance which is ours in the heavenly places.

Chap. 4:presses upon the people their responsibility to be obedient to such a God as this.

Chap. 5:repeats the Ten Commandments.

Chap. 6:shows that the law is to be diligently obeyed, and to control every circumstance of the life.

Chap. 7:forbids intercourse with the nations of the land. They are to be relentlessly exterminated. How good would it have been for the people had they literally obeyed this command! Their subsequent history furnishes sorrowful evidence of this.
Chap. 8:again presses upon them the responsibility to cleave unto God in true-hearted obedience by all the wilderness way and all the fulness of blessing in the land. Thus looking backward and forward, everything plead with them to obey the Lord.

Chaps, 9:and 10:recount the various acts of rebellion on the part of the people in order that they may be truly humbled.

Chap. 11:again looks at the miracles and acts of the Lord in the past, and promises special blessing upon them in the land, fruitfulness and prosperity, if they obey. The blessing and curse are set before them, and when they come into the land they are to proclaim it from mounts Ebal and Gerizim.

Chap. 12:and the succeeding ones go more minutely into the details of the law. Idolatry is to be shunned. The place of the Lord's choice is to be the center of their worship. Thither are they to bring all their sacrifices and peace offerings.

Chap. 13:is devoted to special warning against idolatry. They are relentlessly to destroy all who would seduce, or any who would connive at that which taught departure from God. The corporate responsibility of a city is seen which has yielded to the seductions of any evil men in the midst.

Chap. 14:speaks of clean and unclean foods.

Chap. 15:treats of the seventh year of release, also of God's right in the first-born of everything.

Chap. 16:provides for the three great yearly feasts- the passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles.

Chap. 17:again speaks of the danger of idolatry, then of the priestly position to decide difficult cases, and lastly looks forward to the time which was reached later on, when the people would choose a king.

Chap. 18:provides for the support of the priests and Levites; warns against the false prophet; predicts the coming of the True, Christ Himself.

Chap. 19:refers to the cities of refuge and the course of action in judicial cases.

Chap. 20:gives rules of battle and warfare.

Chap. 21:gives a glimpse of the nation's responsibility in the death of Christ at its opening, and another allusion to His being made a curse for us at its close.

Chaps, 22:-25:are filled with legal re-enactments, applications and restrictions, most instructive and profitable for study.

Chap. 26:speaks of the basket of first-fruits.

Chaps, 27:and 28:speak of the blessings and curses to be pronounced upon mounts Ebal and Gerizim in the land. It is most significant that the curses are dwelt upon at length; the blessings spoken of in a more secondary way, as though the Spirit of God would recognize that which would take place later on. Alas, under the legal covenant, whether given at Sinai or renewed as here, there could be nothing but curses, for "the law worketh wrath."

Chaps, 29:and 30:are, as we might say, the closing appeal of this part of the book, the outpouring of the heart of the lawgiver, and of the Spirit of God through him, in yearning and warning over this beloved but stiff-necked people.

The closing division of the book, as we said, is more prophetic. Moses resigns the charge to Joshua. The law of God is delivered to the priests, and God foretells the disobedience of the people after the death of Moses.

Chap. 32:is the song which is to witness against the people. It is in striking contrast with the song of Ex. 15:That was unmingled triumph in view of God's victory in the past and of what He was going to do in the future. This, while God is over all, is devoted to warnings and a reminder of their evil hearts. Most blessed is it to see at the close recovery and restoration of the people. This final promise is not yet fulfilled, but is quoted by the apostle in the eleventh chapter of Romans as proof that God's people are yet beloved for the fathers' sakes.

In Chap. 33:we have the blessing of the tribes, which again looks forward to the Millennium. Many a weary century of Israel's history intervenes between the' giving of these blessings and their accomplishment.

In Chap. 34:we have briefly and beautifully the account of the departure of this faithful servant into the better portion which God had reserved for him. He is not permitted to enter the earthly inheritance, which is a witness of the righteousness of divine government; but he is spared as well the sorrow of seeing the people turning from the God who had loved and done so much for them. He passes into heaven. No one knows the place of his burial. He appeared in company with Elias upon the holy mount at the transfiguration of our Lord. There all his thoughts and words were not of Israel's glory, but of Him who, as the true Servant of God, was alone worthy, and through whom also blessing at last would come upon that beloved people whom he had vainly sought to keep in the straight and narrow way.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psa. 32:shows the way of forgiveness.

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

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

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

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

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

Their persecution is seen in Psa. 44:, while

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

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

Psa. 47:leads on to music and dancing.

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

Psa. 65:suggests Christ amongst His people, while

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psa. 107:gives these.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE MAN AFTER THE FLESH.

PART II. THE KING OF MAN'S CHOICE.

Chapter 9:SAUL AND JONATHAN CONTRASTED.

(1 Sam. 12:-14:23.)

(Continued from page 295.)

Saul and his company soon learn of the commotion among the Philistines, and of an apparent conflict and victory with which they had nothing to do. But there does not seem to be any thought with them that God is at work-surely it must be that some of his own little company have gone to fight the enemy. "Number now, and see who has gone from us," seems to indicate that he had some idea that human power had been at work. He finds only Jonathan and his armor-bearer are absent, and this would not be sufficient to explain the commotion.

Have we not more than a hint here that the man of flesh never rises to the thoughts of faith ? Could we imagine such noble words coming from Saul as we have heard from Jonathan ? The flesh never rises beyond itself, its circumstances. God is left out, for in His presence it cannot exalt itself, and must be eclipsed. Even in the measure in which Saul succeeded, this was the case.

But he is now compelled to ask counsel of God, though with apparent reluctance. It is significant that the ark of God was present, as mentioned here. The camp and field was no place for it. A resting-place had been provided for it at Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been set up when Joshua brought Israel into Canaan. It had been brought out against these very Philistines in the days of Eli, with what disastrous results we know. God will never link His holy name with an unjudged state of His people. The ark went into captivity, and had never found an abiding-place since. In fact, it never did till David brought it to Zion.

Perhaps Saul was not far at this time from the hiding-place of the ark, and had it brought as a sort of rallying-center for his dwindling band, as well as a witness that God was with him. Such expedients are not unknown to the flesh, which will make use of visible forms from which the power has departed, and seek to rally men around the names of what have become mere pretension. Rome's extreme claims are an illustration of this, though by no means the only one.

While Saul is talking with the priest, and apparently while the latter is beginning to ask counsel of God, the rout of the Philistines becomes more manifest, and the king considers this sufficient reason for discontinuing what was not his first impulse. The flesh loves not to ask counsel of God, and gladly withdraws from His presence. It looks merely at what is seen; and if victory is already assured, there is no need for dependence upon God. Alas, how common is this ! We turn to God in our times of perplexity, and when all other means have failed; how readily do we dispense with His aid when there seems to be no further occasion for it! The flesh in us is as hopelessly independent of God as was this man who is a type of it. It is ever going to extremes. The man who a while ago said, "I forced myself," when intruding into what God forbade, now says, "withdraw thy hand," and turns from God, because he thinks he can get on without Him.

And yet how utterly foolish is this ! Had the lesson of Ai been utterly forgotten ? The feeblest enemy can conquer a people who are relying upon an arm of flesh, though flushed with past victory.

Let us remember that we need God as much in victory as in conflict-perhaps more; for, while the issue is uncertain we involuntarily turn to Him, but our temptation is to forget Him when the battle is won. We must ever return to the camp at Gilgal; but as we have seen, this had no significance for poor Saul.

But God is at work, through Jonathan, and the enemy is thoroughly routed. Indeed, they turn their weapons against one another, as is so often seen in Israel's conflicts. Whenever they were with God, it was scarcely necessary for them to fight. They could "stand still," and see the enemy fighting among themselves. So it was in the days of Gideon before, and at a later day when Jehoshaphat faced a countless host.

Saul and his little band rush up to have a share in the battle, and join in the rout. But victory was already assured. Saul was not needed; indeed, later we find what a hindrance he was.

How good it is to see the results of a work of God like this ! Not merely is the enemy overthrown, but the poor scattered sheep of Israel are called back. Many of them were captives, or willing bondsmen, to the Philistines. Many had also hidden themselves in the mountains, fearing to face the enemy. But they know a victory, and rally to the Lord's standard.

Surely it would have been faith to have needed no such recall as this, but the Lord's people are weak, "prone to wander," and easily lose sight of Him. How responsible is every one to see that his example does not encourage defection from the Lord! What a terrible thing it is to be a stumbling-block! May the Lord keep us lowly, in all self-distrust, that we do not by our example, or unbelief, scatter the feeblest of His own from Him.

But if the saints are easily scattered, they quickly rally when the Lord's hand is seen. Even in Asa's time, when a permanent division existed, we read that they fell to him in great numbers out of Ephraim, when they saw that the Lord was with him.

How refreshing it is to think of these two men of faith, alone with God at the beginning, now reinforced by these scattered ones! But were they any stronger ? Were not these as liable to drop off again in time of danger ? Ah yes; the strength was in the Lord alone, and two with Him are infinitely stronger than the undivided host of Israel without Him. The joy is in the recovery of the wanderers; not for the help afforded by them, but rather for their own sakes, and because of the glory to the Lord's name through His people's recovery.

We must not despise numbers. Pride may lurk in the hearts of a few, as well as among the many. The strength of Jonathan and his armor-bearer was not in themselves. Their faith laid hold upon God. Apart from that they were as feeble as any of these fugitives. And these latter can in their turn be Jonathan’s if they but lay hold of the same One who wrought on that day.
We long to see recovery and unity among the people of God. Let us not seek to secure it in any other way than Jonathan did. It was not the ark with Saul that effected the victory, but the living faith of Jonathan which brought God in. The saints will be united, recovered from wherever they may have wandered, not by fleshly efforts to bring them together, but by turning to Him who still is the God of victory. Let us see to it that we are in all lowliness and self-distrust before Him, and the desire of our hearts for the recovery and unity of His beloved people may yet in some measure be seen.

(To be continued.)

(A Word of Explanation.)

Our attention has been called by a brother to the above article, which appeared in our last month's issue. He points out that the expressions in the second head, if taken literally, would teach that man is brought into union with deity, just as Christ the divine Son took up as in less human nature into union with Himself." He is the first divine man ; " and this would imply that there are others.

We are grateful to our brother for calling attention to what most certainly, if taken literally, would teach dreadful error, and which should have been more carefully edited. We are equally sure no such error was in the mind of the writer of the article, who would, with all of us, shrink with horror from the thought of our Lord being but one man linked with deity, out of many others. We simply understood the writer to mean that the marriage was a figure of union of saved souls with Christ; and that this in its way was supernatural, even as, in another way, our Lord, in a supernatural way, united in Himself the human and divine natures, and as His birth was also miraculous.

We must take upon ourselves the responsibility and the blame of having allowed such expressions to go into print, and again thank our brother for his faithfulness in pointing out the error.

M- Always had plenty of money from his very babyhood, but had known nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true riches.

He grew up worldly, without a thought of God, went into business for a time to amuse himself, but tiring of that gave it up and devoted his entire time to the world, the flesh and the devil. He went into society and enjoyed to the full its pleasures and lusts. There was nothing seemingly that the heart desired that he did not have. Wickedness and sin had full sway over him, and he traveled at a very fast pace until, worn out in body and mind he came to a full and sudden stop in his career. His physician told him he must quit his fast life and take a complete rest, or he would find a place in the insane asylum.

M- stopped his mad career, obeyed the physician's orders and was put in charge of R-, a trained nurse.

But rest! Rest? As well tell the waves of ocean, as they break unceasingly night and day on the rock-bound coast to rest. The soul that has not known God, but gone on with a free-rein in sin, cannot rest. "There is no peace saith my God, to the wicked." There is a blessed word to the soul that rests in Jesus "My peace I give unto you," but not a word of peace to the wicked.

And so the restless M- found a vent for his feelings by endeavoring to make miserable the life of his nurse. Swearing, outbursts of passion, disagreement, disobedience to the doctor's orders, and doing whatever lay in his power to make R-'s work harder filled the hours of M-'s life. Always there was in return the same gentleness, love and courtesy. Firmness of course, but railing and cursing quietly borne, until at last M- wondered and said one day to R-, '' How is it R- that I treat you so and yet you are always kind and gentle?"

"The Lord is my Shepherd" answered R- "and if it were not for that I could not stand it. But He comforts and sustains me, and He would do the same for you too would you but let Him." And with many another precious passage from God's word did R- strive to point his patient to the Lamb of God who beareth away the sin of the world.

And finally he succeeded. The Spirit of God used and blessed R-'s efforts, and soon the nurse had the unequaled joy of seeing his patient a happy, humble Christian, sitting at the feet of Jesus, "clothed and in his right mind."

M-'s death-bed a short time afterward was a scene of happy, joyous faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "None of us liveth to himself and no one dieth to himself." The persecutions meekly borne and the patient showing forth of the Christ-life on the part of the nurse led his patient first to wonder, then to love, and then to praise. We are influencing each day a friend or neighbor or companion. Let us influence them for the blessed Lord Jesus; and this will be possible only as we realize "whether we live or die, therefore, we are the Lord's. F.

This "desert life," as we may call it, is of an importance that cannot be overvalued. And, as if with a trumpet, we would sound it in the ears of our brethren. Let us turn to the pages of God's own Book, for we can turn nowhere else if we are seeking light on this or any subject. On scanning its precious pages, we find that the men of God-God's mighty men-were those who had been in "the school of God," as it has been well called; and His school was simply this:"in the desert alone with Himself." It was there they got their teaching. Far removed from the din and bustle of the haunts of men-distant alike from human eye and ear- there they met alone with God; there they were equipped for the battle. And when the time came that they stood forth in public service for God, their faces were not ashamed, nay they had faces as lions; they were bold and fearless, yea, and victorious for God, for the battle had been won already in the desert alone with Him. Selected.

In these days of hurry and bustle, we find ourselves face to face with a terrible danger; and it is this-no time to be alone with God. The world in these last days is running fast; we live in what is called "the age of progress,"and "you know we must keep pace with the times." So the world says. But this spirit of the world has not confined itself to the world. It is, alas, to be found among the saints of God. And what is the result? The result is-no time to be alone with God; and this is immediately followed by no inclination to be alone with God. And what next? Surely the question does not need an answer. Can there be any condition more deplorable than the condition of a child of God who has no inclination to be alone with his Father?

Nowadays how many of God's dear children have picked up the "spirit of the age;" and how many Christians are pushed into service for God, or thrust themselves into it, who have had no "apprenticeship "-no desert training; they have taken a terrible "short-cut" into the front of the battle; for that "short-cut" has cutoff entirely "the school of God!" How different from what meets our eye in the pages of our Father's Book. If it be an Abraham we look at, we find him sweetly communing with his God, far away yonder in the plains of Mamre, sitting in his tent door in the heat of the day (Gen. 18:i); while his worldly nephew is keeping pace with the spirit of the age in ungodly Sodom. If it is a Joseph, we find him at least two full years in God's school-although it were Egypt's dungeon-before he stepped up to teach her senators wisdom (Psa. 105:22), and "save much people alive" (Gen. 1. 20). If it is a Moses, we find him at God's school in the back side of the desert (Ex. 3:i); and then, but not till then, he appears publicly as the deliverer of the people of God. If it is a David, the wilderness for him is the school of God. There he slays the lion and the bear (i Sam. 17:34-36), when no human eye was near. He gets the victory alone with God. Fresh from God's school, he steps before the thousands of Israel; and while all Israel follows Saul, the people's man " trembling," there is one there who trembles not; and he is the one who has been at God's school in the wilderness alone with Himself. Surely little wonder, then, that the Lord wrought a great victory in Israel that day! We might multiply instances from the Book of God. We might tell of an Elijah, a bold witness for God, who was longer alone with his God than standing in the place of public testimony; and who found the solitude of cheereth (i Kings 17:3) and the quiet seclusion of Zarephath (i Kings 17:9) a needed training before he delivered the messages of God. We might tell of a John the Baptist who was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel (Luke 1:80)-of the great apostle Paul, whose journey to Arabia seems to have been for no other purpose than to be at God's school in the desert (Gal. 1:17). But from the instances we have already pointed out, nothing can be clearer than this, that if you and I are to be of any use to God down here-if we would glorify Him on the earth-we must have time to be alone with Him. Whoever or whatever is put off, God must not be put off. We must have time- every one of us, "gifted" or not "gifted"-we must have time to be alone with God. It is in the closet that the "lions" and the "bears" must be slain. It is in the secret presence of God, with no one near but Him, that the spiritual Agags must be brought out and hewn in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal (i Sam. 15:33). Then, when we appear before our brethren or the world, we shall find ours to be the "strong confidence" which is the portion of all who have to do with God in secret. And the "Goliaths" shall be slain; no doubt of that. And God's work shall be done; no doubt of that either. We need not fear that God will not use us. It is only by being in God's school that He can use us-not perhaps in the dazzling way that the world and many Christians admire; but in His own way-in a way that shall most honor Him.
But the Lord makes all these things clear to us, while alone with Himself. It is only then we really do God's work-it is only then we do it in God's way-it is only then we do the very things God has fitted us for, and at the very time appointed of the Father. What secrets we get from the Lord alone with Himself! And if we care not for the secret of His presence, what cares He for all our boasted service? It is ourselves He wants, and it is only service flowing out of the joy of His presence that is worthy of the name. It is only such service that shall stand the fire of the judgment-seat, and bring joy in the day of Christ that we have not run in vain, nor labored in vain.

May each one of us have an open ear to the Master's voice when He says to us, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place," remembering that though He were the Son of the Father, we find Him time after time departing "into a solitary place," and there praying, although in doing so He had to get up a "great while before day." The faithful witness Himself, as well as His faithful and trusted servants in every age, required a desert experience- a wilderness teaching alone with God;_ and, beloved, so do we. (Selected.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"We will go with you," said they.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes, tell us."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(From a Missionary’s Diary.)

Ques. 25.-Please explain Heb. 3:14:"Partakers of Christ, if," etc.

Ans.-The whole epistle is addressed to those Hebrews who had made a profession of faith in Christ, but some of whom were turning from the Lord back to Judaism. The true believer will continue in the faith. Therefore the apostle says we are made associates of Christ if there is this abiding, saving faith in Him.

Ques. 26.-Do the lost suffer the full penalty for sin-both the root inherited from Adam, and the fruits, the actual sins-just as if Christ had never suffered ?

Ans.-The question indicates that the writer had in mind the distinction that is sometimes made, that Christ suffered for the sin of Adam, and men are only under the guilt of their own sins. Scripture never says that men are responsible for Adam's sin, and therefore they never could be counted guilty for it. On the other hand, Christ is never said to have borne part and not all of the penalty upon man. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." While death is universal, so also is sin. There is no thought of a man being punished for something he never did. In the case of children who die before reaching the years of responsibility, there is no question of their salvation ; but death in their case is not punishment for sin on their part-rather is it the result of a fallen nature inherited, just as a disease. Christ's redemption undoubtedly avails for them, as He says, "Of such is the kingdom of God." But there is no such thought in Scripture as the unsaved having been set free from Adam's penalty, and only responsible for their own. The unsaved must drink the unmingled cup of God's wrath (Rev. 14:10). "And the dead were judged . . . according to their works" (Rev. 20:12).

Ques. 27.-Is it unscriptural for a Christian to hold office under government, or to take part in political affairs ? Was not Erastus an official, and not rebuked by Paul?

Ans.-In the first place, we must remember that the New Testament does not lay down hard and fast rules. We are "not under law, but under grace," and the constraining motive is not a command so much as " the love of Christ constraineth us."Therefore we will not expect to find direct prohibitions save of things intrinsically immoral. But in the next place, faith is a growing principle in the believer, and, as it grows, leads on to increasing devotedness and separation, according as the light is received. Thus, as a believer enters more and more into the mind of the Spirit for him, he will give up many things which previously he may have gone on with in good conscience. Applying these principles to the question, we gather from God's word that "our citizenship is in it heaven," that we are "strangers and pilgrims," and that "here we have no continuing city." We also learn that by the cross of Christ we have been "crucified to the world, and the world to us," and that we are "not of the world, even as" Christ is "not of the ' world." These and other scriptures, as they are borne in upon the soul by the Spirit, will separate one increasingly from all that is conveyed in the word "citizenship."Besides this, acquaintanceship with the Lord Jesus will ever lead in walking with Him, which surely will not be in companionship with the world.

As to Erastus and his office, several suggestions may be made:first, he was doubtless in the position before his conversion, and so should abide there " with God " until led out of the position; then, too, he was simply a public servant, not elected to that position, but appointed, doubtless, by imperial authority. One may surely serve the government as an employee, if not called on to dishonor God in that service.

(Neh. 3:)

(Continued from page 213.)

"Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and
set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof."

Nature has its place in the economy of grace. Those who utterly decry it show but poor acquaintance with their Bibles. Our bodies, with all their marvelous members, belong to the old creation still; but He who will glorify them by and by finds use for them in His own service even now in the day of their humiliation.

Evil is not in natural things themselves, but is in the abuse of them. Every talent we have is to be used for His glory. Woe to the man who hides one of them away, under pretense that nature-in this sense-is opposed to grace!

I have thought the Old Gate might remind us of this. It has its place in the wall. It might speak of the old used in the new, and thus it would seem to say, " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom 12:i). The child of God should remember that he has been bought with a price. His body is purchased with the blood of Christ. He is not called to "consecrate" himself, as people put it to-day, but to gladly own that he is already consecrated by the death of the Lord Jesus. The blood and oil have been placed on the ear, the hand, and the foot. He belongs to Christ:-the ear, to listen for His commandment; the hand, to do His bidding; the foot, to run in His ways.

Can any one truly enter into this, and yet be careless in regard to service ? Impossible. You are not only saved from hell, but purchased to be the bondman of Jesus Christ.

There is a depth of meaning in the word '' present, " as noted above. Your body is His already. He might simply demand His own. But in grace He says, " I beseech you . . . present your body." Have you done so ? Have you, in other words, owned His claims upon you ? If not, will you longer delay? O beloved, yield yourself unto Him, that thus you may bring forth fruit unto God. "Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit " (John 15:8).

I do not press it that the Old Gate was meant to intimate this special truth, and I trust none will quibble over an application. It might also suggest the judgment of the old man-the recognition that God has condemned him in toto, and the mortification of his deeds. Without this there can be no true service; and in fact the two things run very closely together.

But whatever the meaning one more spiritually-minded may discern, the fact remains that "ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price." It is this I seek to emphasize, for it is, with many, well-nigh forgotten. Vast numbers of Christians live as though their only thought was to enjoy the present scene, "on the east of Jordan;" pampering every whim of their blood-purchased bodies, and looking forward to going to heaven at last without having ever known the toil and conflict-yet the deep, hidden joy-of the servant's path.

Especially is this often so of those in comfortable and easy circumstances. The willing workers of verse 8 might well rebuke such. "Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries." I question if goldsmiths' and apothecaries' sons had known much of downright labor, but here we see them hard at work helping to fortify Jerusalem. God has not forgotten that their soft white hands became hardened and sun-burned as they used trowel and mortar on the walls of the holy city.

Nor does He forget the devoted women of verse 12. "Next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters." It must have been a grand sight to behold their ruler and his daughters so zealously affected in a good thing. Our sisters have here a bright example of devotedness to the Lord. Would that it might be followed by many today!

But if we are to be used of God there must be not only this recognizing of His claims upon us, but also that lowliness of spirit that ever commends a servant; and so we pass on to

THE VALLEY GATE.

" The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah" (ver. 13).

This surely suggests humility-a willingness to take a lowly place that thus the Lord may be exalted. One fears it is a gate little used by many of us nowadays.

Pride is ever characteristic of fallen creatures, who have nothing to be proud of; for "what hast thou that thou hast not received ? " Even in connection with- service for 'the Lord, how this unholy thing creeps in, leading one servant to be jealous of another, instead of catching the Master's voice as He says, " What is that to thee ? follow thou Me "!

What Cowper says of sin in general may be predicated of pride in particular:

" It twines itself about my thoughts, And slides Into my prayer."

It is indeed the root-sin of all. By it Satan himself fell, and one "being lifted up with pride, falls into the condemnation of the devil."

God has said, "To this man will I look; to him that is humble, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word." It is perhaps only a truism to write that, only as one walks humbly before Him, is he in a condition of soul to be safely used in service. I do not mean that God cannot overrule all things, and in a sense use even the basest of men. The devil himself has to serve. God used Balaam, and others equally ungodly. But in such cases it is to the condemnation of the very one used.

To go on preaching and handling the truth of God while the heart is lifted up and the eyes lofty is one of the most dangerous courses one can take, and certain to end in ruin and disaster.
We have much cause, as we contemplate our coldness and indifference, and the appalling power of the world over us, to be on our faces before God, instead of walking in pride, only to learn eventually that He "is able to abase" us, as in the case of Babylon's haughty king. If we humble not ourselves, He must humble us in His own way, for it is part of His purpose to "hide pride from man."

Keeping this, then, before our minds, we pass on to the solemn and much-needed lesson of

THE DUNG GATE.

"But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem" (ver. 14).

Humbling work this, for a ruler, but necessary labor surely.

The Dung Gate was the port whence they carried forth the filth, that the city might not be denied. And so we read, " Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God " (2 Cor. 7:i).

Real blessing there cannot be if this is forgotten ; but if we have truly learned the lesson of the Valley Gate, that of the Dung Gate will be no difficulty. As saints and servants we are called, not to unclean-ness, but to holiness. We are to cleanse ourselves; that is, to judge, in the presence of God, and turn away from, all filthiness-let its form be the grosser one of the flesh, or the more unobjectionable (in the eyes of men) of the spirit.

In the first three chapters of Romans we have sharply delineated the naked hideousness of the filthiness of the flesh. In the first three chapters of 1st Corinthians we have unveiled the filthiness of the spirit :a mind exalting itself against God and His Christ-a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, devilish. So we read elsewhere of the "desires of the flesh and of the mind," in which we once walked. (See Eph. 2:)

From all these things we are now called to cleanse ourselves. Body and mind alike are to be preserved free from impurity, for the glory of God.

"Flee also youthful lusts" is a much-needed word. In the world about us, men live to pander to the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It should be otherwise with the Christian, and must be otherwise if he is to be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

Down with the bars of the Dung Gate, brethren, out with the filth!"Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." H. A. I.

(To be continued.)

"MACHPELAH, THE BURIAL-GROUND OF GENESIS:IT’S MEANING.

Before Abraham buried his dead, he had received Isaac in a figure from the dead, as seen in Gen. 22:

In Gen. 23:he buries Sarah.

Thus, before the first burial scene the hope of resurrection-the resurrection of Christ-is set before us in type.

How it tells of the tender mercy of God:"And Sarah died in Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her"! How much is contained in these words, "to weep for her"!

"And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you:give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."

"His dead," the Spirit of God says. "My dead," the mourner says. The departed one still lives-the body is to be tenderly entombed, to await the resurrection. "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Rom. 14:).

He "stood up from before his dead." He had taken a last look. He arouses himself to face the cold world and the tomb.

Abraham conducts himself with dignity and with respect towards the sons of Heth, in securing from them a burial-place for Sarah.

"And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land." And then he offers money for the land, and pays it,-400 shekels of silver,-and the field was made sure to him "in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city."

This field for a burying-place, this first burial-ground recorded in the history of men, of God's people, is minutely described. Our attention seems to be invited to it.

"And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession."

'' And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre:the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan."

There is the "field" and the "trees;" it is not a barren spot; it is fruitful, and suggests what is pleasant, and peaceful, and restful. We are reminded of Eden, of the garden and its trees; that is, we have an object-lesson, for our benefit, of what was passing in Abraham's mind. We have suggested to us life out of death-resurrection; and the fruitfulness of God's salvation – the "paradise of God" and the "tree of life." This is the tender mercy and goodness of God.

We are reminded of the eleventh chapter of John, and of the tomb of Lazarus. He who wept with them that wept, and said, "I am the resurrection and the life," comforted Abraham in his sorrow, by the figurative resurrection of Isaac.

We can face death and the world, resting in the love of Christ, who died and rose again for us (2 Cor. 5:).

"Machpelah" is said to mean "turning back," and doubtless suggests resurrection. "Mamre" is fatness, and " Hebron" communion, or of kindred meaning, and no doubt,, from the connection, suggesting these precious appropriate thoughts. Throughout Genesis "Machpelah" is the burial-ground, and burial scenes are more or less prominent in this book of the first life, in the history of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.

In Chap. 23:we have Sarah's burial; in Chap. 25:, Abraham's.

In the account of Isaac's burial, in chap. 35:, the burial-place is not mentioned, and Esau takes the lead in burying him. '' Esau and Jacob buried him." In all this there is something sadly in accord with Isaac's long dimness of sight and weakness towards Esau and his venison. But nevertheless Isaac was buried in Machpelah. It is recorded later, in Chap. xlix, 29, in Jacob's last words, "Bury me with my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite to Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, along with the field, for a possession of a sepulcher."

And now follows a registration:'' There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife ; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth."

The careful and detailed way in which Jacob describes the ancestral burial-ground contrasts favorably with the case of Isaac. He was in Egypt, and dying, but type of a Christian who in a world of death calmly and peacefully looks for Him to come who is the Resurrection and the Life.

Thus there are six mentioned who were buried in Machpelah:Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. A seventh, whose death closes the Genesis record, is Joseph. He is not buried, but embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt-a perpetual reminder of the departure of the one they had once despised and rejected, but equally an assurance of the certainty of deliverance at the appointed time.

Wonderfully associated thus with the history of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, whose history fills the main part of Genesis, are these burial scenes-all at the same ancestral burial-ground, Machpelah, which is intertwined with their history:these burial scenes being introduced by the figurative resurrection of Isaac; the name Machpelah, "turning back," confirming the thought of resurrection; and the description of the ground, with its trees,-a peaceful, Eden-like suggestion,-carrying the mind on to the paradise of God above, where the true Isaac, the Tree of Life, is in the midst.

Thus the Lord of life leads His own through a scene of death, comforting them, and assuring them by line upon line of precious and wonderful types.

The sons of Heth knew not Abraham's secret-his faith in God, who raises the dead:nor the meaning to him of "Machpelah." They were but onlookers, as are the people of the world now at a Christian funeral. Sad is the condition of the world, and God's people are ever distinguished from it. But the believer can look upon the open grave, and upon the world around, rejoicing inwardly in Jesus. His word always to us is, "I am the resurrection and the life:he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."

Death may come, but "death is ours." We are victors in every direction, and the Lord's farewell word to us is, " Behold, I come quickly."

May this hope be real, and precious, and constant in our hearts. May we steadfastly follow in His steps who has gone through death for us, into the presence of God, to the "Father's house." What a life becomes us, if such is our character, and such our hope!

May things that make us halt, and linger, and turn aside, be put away. May we purify ourselves "as He is pure." Joy becomes the Christian, but not levity, or trifling, or self-indulgence; nor selfish aims; nor the "lust of the flesh, nor the lust of the eye, nor the pride of life."

All that passes away:the believer abides forever in Christ, who is "risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." E. S. L.

A Study in John's Epistles.

(Concluded.)

5. LOVE PROVED BY OBEDIENCE TO GOD.

"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ born of God, and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments:for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous" (i Jno. 5:1-3).

New birth is manifested by faith that Jesus is the Christ. There can be no new birth apart from this, since Christ has come; even as faith could not truly be said to exist apart from the life which ever accompanies it. The question is not raised, which f these precedes. As a matter of fact, it will be found that they are simultaneous:one giving the divine side, and the other its manifestation in man.

To be born of God, means to be a partaker of life from Him and of the divine nature, manifested, as we have already seen, by the twofold characteristics of light and love. To be born of God, then, is to be a member of His family. Instinctively, "We love Him because He first loved us," but with equal instinct, we love every member of the family of God. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." " He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? "

But here, again, the apostle of love most carefully guards against any imitation of that which is divine. What is love, after all ? Alas, much that passes for that in the world is but selfishness in another form. We love those that love us. It is to our interest to do so. We salute those who salute us, the Publicans doing the same. We associate with those who are congenial, or from whom we hope to get some advantage. Alas, human love, like everything else human, is tainted by the fall. It smells of earth and of the grave; but divine love has been lifted out of all this atmosphere and brought upon another plane. It is known by other tests. We know that we love the children of God, not because they are peculiarly attractive to us, or go on with our failures and weaknesses, leaving them unrebuked; but we know that we love them " when we love God and keep His commandments." Obedience to God is the test, as it is also the sphere of true love to one's brethren.

How this cuts the root of much that passes even for Christian love ! Fear to rebuke, weakly going on with that which we know to be contrary to the mind of God, favoritism amongst the saints, and much else, when tested in this way, shows itself not to be divine love. God and His commands are supreme. Everything else must fall into its place behind these. So far from these being irksome, it is a necessity of the new nature. The commandments of God are not "a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear," but rather give direction and power for a path of joy and love. This obedience, then, proves love. Let no one claim to love his fellow-saints who does not put obedience to God above everything else-that love itself included.
6. REFUSAL OF FALSE TEACHERS.

"And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed:For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds "(2 Jno. 6-n). We have now reached the point where we are prepared to learn the truth of God .regarding our attitude towards false teachers. The apostle in this second epistle is addressing "the elect lady," a sister; and woman instinctively is more gentle and loving than man. Here it rates to her, as he had done throughout his first epistle, that love is to characterize us; but reminds her that this love is shown by walking after His commandments. This commandment is what we have heard from the beginning, as he says at the close of his first epistle:"We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." Christ, then, is what we have heard from the beginning. Many deceivers have come in who do not confess this blessed person in all His fulness. He warns us that we are to be careful that we lose not the things that we have wrought in our own souls or in our service. A professor of Christ may not abide in His doctrine. If he does not, he has not God.

The apostle concludes by saying that if any come unto this sister, and, of course, to any one of us, and bring not the doctrine of Christ as it has been revealed to us in the word of God, the blessed fulness of His person and work, which we have already dwelt upon, such a person is not to be received into the house, nor can we bid him Godspeed. Let it be carefully noted that this .last expression in the original does not mean at all what we would think. As a matter of fact, in the Revised Version, it is given as simple greeting or salutation; and this is the evident meaning. We cannot salute a professor who does not bring the doctrine of Christ, still less receive him into our house. Such persons, according to this scripture, should be treated not with courtesy, as it is called, (for courtesy has no place here) but with the most absolute, complete refusal to recognize or to entertain them. How solemn is this ! Does our reader shrink from acknowledging its truth ? Let him dwell upon the scriptures which we have quoted. It is not our word, but the word of God. It has not to do with man, but with the blessed Son of God.

Suppose some one had maligned your mother, your sister or wife; had brought accusations against their character and continued to do so in a subtle and specious way, what would be your attitude toward such an one ? Would you greet him as though nothing were the matter? Would you receive him into your house, invite him to your table? If, then, nature teaches you to resent an insult to one who is dear to you, shall not grace teach us, not to have hatred, but to have most jealous care for the honor of Him who is dearer to us than our lives and all that we have?

Oh, may God, in these closing days, when the honor of His blessed Son is being more subtly and determinedly attacked by Satan than ever before, open the eyes of His beloved people; nay, rather, warm their hearts into such loyalty to Himself that they shall maintain a testimony against every form of false doctrine, which shall be as uncompromising and rigid as that marked down for us in the pages of Inspiration upon which we have been dwelling !

(Col. 1:15-18.)

There are two titles here given to Christ; first I of all "the First-born of all creation." This implies His being part of that creation. The word in the original suggests supremacy and superiority, in the place of which it is spoken. There is no thought of primacy of birth, in point of time, which would be unholy. We would have to think of Christ as being born as a creature at some time prior to the remainder of the creation, so that He might have this title. We know Him as becoming part of creation in incarnation, but why should He by this be entitled to the title of supremacy and superiority of First-born, coming as He did so many thousands of years after the beginning of creation?

Here comes in every title of His deity. Surely if the Creator takes up creaturehood, He is, as such, by virtue of what He is in His essential being, the First-born of all creation, remaining as He does the Creator with the creaturehood added, which He has been pleased to take up. He is none the less the Creator because of becoming a creature, and therefore none the less controls the whole scene than when it was His footstool as a divine being, not linked with humanity on the throne of glory. By virtue of this very fact, if such an One be pleased to take the creature-place in creation He has become its glorious First-born. He obtains in this way the birth-right to which are attached heirship and all the promises, and having secured them to Himself, He is going on to perform a work by which He will bring into the inheritance and its blessings those who had forfeited every claim to it because of sin. He thus takes the place in which He is able to fulfil His appointment as Heir of all things. The place of foremost and standing first is His by right.

Of course that He is the Creator, Scripture very plainly declares. By Him were all things created (Col. 1:16; i Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:2, 3; John 1:3). And this in itself is the strongest affirmation of His deity. Who else but one absolutely divine could call the universe into being? And we readily understand that He is therefore before all things, and necessarily so, if by Him the all things were created. And this being so we are enabled to understand how it is that all things subsist together by Him. He is not only in this way the One whose power characterizes and pervades the whole creation, but He is also the end for which it was created, Himself and His glory the objects in view all the way through. In this way He is the glorious Alpha and Omega of all, the First and the Last, the "Self-existing One." The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New in the light of perfect manifestation, and so He declares Himself to the unbelieving Jews, "before Abraham was I AM."

In connection with this eternity of being we have the title of "the Word " given to Him. "In the beginning was the Word " (go back as far as you please to mark the commencement of things, the Word is there) "and the Word was with God," His Fellow in everlasting communion with Him. "And the Word was God," His equal and a divine person. "The same was in the beginning with God." Ever with Him and in perfect fellowship.

He is therefore the image of the invisible God. These are characters essentially connected with Him as the Word, which means not merely the expression of thought but the very thought itself. He is Himself the thought filling God's mind, and also the divine expression of it. That in which first of all He has given expression is creation, and so we are told of Him as the Word that "all things received being through Him, and without Him not one thing received being which has received being" (J. N. D.). In creation then He speaks to us. How full of meaning and of the expression of Himself we may rightly expect to find the work of His hands. For what is done must in some sort declare the One who has done it, and thus be a telling out of His character. Nature is thus full of parables concerning Him. How often the Lord used natural symbols to tell out the spiritual is evidence enough.

But this is not the only way in which His voice is . to be heard. '' In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Life in Him, who has been declared the eternal Word, can only be eternal life. '' And this life the light of men," which brings in the thought of its manifestation, that it might be this light; so the apostle speaks of "that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us," the Word becoming flesh and tabernacling among men. Thus we see Him as the Revealer, and all that is revealed embodied in Himself fully. This carries us along to the relationship of the Word in the Godhead, which John gives us here, that of the only-begotten Son, which expresses the fact to us that He has a divine nature peculiar to Himself, and which cannot be communicated to another. It is that which signifies the divine relationship which He has with the Father, unique and not transmittable. Who then so fitted to declare the Father?

This marks Him out as the eternal Son. He was this in the past eternity, for as the Only-begotten He came forth from the Father (i John 4:9, 10). His character as the Word is what He is in His essential being as a distinct divine person, but the relationship He is in is a different question. It is put in connection with Him becoming flesh. "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of an only begotten with a Father full of grace and truth;" and a little farther on, "No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." And this thought in connection with Him being the Word is remarkably expressed for us in Hebrews, first chapter, "God . . . has spoken to us in [the person of the] Son " (J. N. D.). Yon will notice that the words "the person of the" are bracketed and are not in the original, which really reads "spoken to us in Son." The preposition here used denotes fixed position and instrumentality. God Himself it is who speaks, but as in the fixed position, if we may so speak, of being the Son, not as the Father, nor in the personality of the Father, nor as the Holy Spirit using some instrument, but as being God in a divine person, and that person the Son. But we find also the Son the instrument by which the word was spoken. This, of course, was in incarnation, so that He is truly the One who has declared the Father, as we have quoted from John. Here we have remarkably linked together, that He is the Word, who is God, so that it can be truly said that God has spoken to us in the person of the Son. It is God who has spoken but as in the position of Son, so that we rightly say the Son is God. Thus He is the Word, the Revealer, but He is also the vehicle of this speech. Not only the One who has spoken but in Himself also what was spoken, its substance and expression. He is then omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, essential attributes of His deity.
J. B. Jr.

(To be continued.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(To be continued.)

We conclude this month our readings of the precious book of Psalms, which we hope has indeed been increasingly endeared to all our hearts, That which will occupy us during the present month is the fifth book, or Deuteronomy-psalms 107:-150:It is of somewhat a recapitulatory character, though by no means, as we have always found in Scripture, is it a mere repetition. Divine principles are gathered up, and the lessons unfolded in the four previous books are here grouped together and emphasized in a fresh way.

The first division here is psalms 107:-113:, where we have the general character of God's ways in dealing with His people, and the results. Psalm 107:gives the general character of the entire book, man's evil in departure from God, His faithful chastening and equally faithful grace when they cry to Him for mercy. This is beautifully. enlarged upon.

Psa. 108:shows God's victory for His people, who are thus brought into blessing. It is very significant that this psalm is composed of the last part of two previous ones-psalms 57:and 60:The next two psalms, 109:and ex., give us respectively the sufferings of Christ and the glory that follows.

In psalm 109:we have suffering at the hands of man rather than of God, and the result is judgment upon the wicked. What a contrast to psalm 22:, where the wicked have but small place and God's forsaking is prominent; the result is unmingled blessing.

In psalm 110:we see Him as King and Priest upon His throne, after the order of Melchizedek The remaining psalms of this division (111:-113:) are the outburst of praise which flows from the suffering and glorification of Christ. Each of them is introduced with the word " hallelujah." It will be noticed that the psalms of this latter portion of the book which are devoted to His people's exercises are quite different from the similar ones in the earlier books. There, the work of Christ and His glory were seen as objects of faith by His people who still were in the midst of an ungodly nation, and therefore subject to all manner of persecution. Here our Lord's sufferings and glory are celebrated as accomplished facts by a people who have been introduced into permanent blessing, and therefore exultant praise is the result.

Psalm 111:is an alphabetic acrostic which describes the works of Jehovah and His faithfulness.

Psalm 112:, also acrostic, dwells upon the blessedness of trust in the Lord, while psalm 113:is solely occupied with the glory of the name of the Lord.

The next division of the book (psalms 114:-119:) enlarges upon the character of God's salvation, and communion flowing from that.

Psalm 114:celebrates God's power in delivering His people out of Egypt, in face of which the sea fled and Jordan stopped its course.

Psalm 115:contrasts the excellence of God with the folly of idols. How significant, in view not only of the past idolatry of the people, but of their future recognition of the image of the beast in the latter days!

Psalm 116:celebrates the deliverance of the remnant as from the jaws of death, brought up by the Lord. It is a suited companion to psalm 40:, which refers to our blessed Lord in similar circumstances.

Psalm 117:, brief as it is, has a mighty theme, in which all the nations of the earth are invited to join.

Psalm 118:refers to our blessed Lord rejected and disallowed of men, chosen of God and precious, and the Head of the corner.

Psalm 119:is in many respects the most wonderful of the entire book. It is a perfect acrostic, in which each letter of the Hebrew alphabet stands at the head of a section of eight verses, each of which also is introduced by the same letter. Eight is the number of new creation. The theme of this psalm is the celebration of the perfections of God's written Word. How beautifully, then, does the acrostic suggest this! The whole alphabet is exhausted in setting forth the perfections of that Word, which is no longer seen as the law of requirement, written upon tables of stone, which could only bring condemnation; but now written in the heart of His people, even as it was ever enshrined in the heart of their blessed Lord, it becomes the ground of constant thanksgiving and their strength in the face of all temptation.

The third division (psalms 120:-136:) of the book is composed of a large number of brief psalms, each of which brings out some salient feature of divine blessing. Nearly the entire division is taken up by the fifteen " songs of degrees," which are a wonderful witness to the perfection, not merely of literal, verbal inspiration, but of the order of the psalms. They are divided into five groups of three psalms each, and thus form a miniature pentateuch in the larger pentateuch of psalms. They are called "songs of degrees," or "ascents," which suggests their use in the service of the temple, being sung, as is supposed, by the people upon the steps of the temple as they drew nearer and nearer to the sanctuary. Morally, they celebrate the praises of God, as His saints in the latter days draw ever nearer to His presence. While the form, of course, is Jewish, the principles abide for all time, and, with appropriate modifications, contain many a precious lesson for the present dispensation.

The first group here (psalms 120:-122:) dwells upon the faithfulness of God, who delivers His people who are at a distance from Him (psalm 120:). God is seen as their Helper and Preserver (120:and 121:), and thus they enter with gladness into the house of the Lord (psalm 122:).

The second group of three psalms (123:-125:) brings out the enemy, whose pride is seen (psalm 123:), their opposition like the floods of proud waters (psalm 124:), but from which His people emerge, steadfast upon mount Zion (psalm 125:).

The third group (psalm 126:-128:) dwells upon details of the people's restoration.

Psalm 126:shows us their captivity turned, those who sowed in tears now reaping in joy; the need of absolute dependence upon God if His house and city are to be builded (psalm 127:), while the fruitfulness and blessedness of the man who trusts in the Lord are seen in psalm 128:).

The fourth group (psalms 129:-131:) form a little wilderness experience. The affliction of Israel from his youth is seen in psalm 129:Deliverance from the results of sin, yea, from the depths, is the theme of psalm 130:, and childlike praise in psalm 131:

The last group brings in Christ. Psalm 132:shows Him in David as type, not resting until He had found a habitation for the ark of the Lord, the throne in His house. In psalm 133:we see Him as the Priest anointed and exalted, the fragrance of whose name reaches down to the very skirts of His garments, binding His people in unity. Psalm 134:closes all by letting us hear the praises of the Lord's servants who still are in His house praising Him day and night.

Psalms 135:and 136:are a wonderful unfolding of the character of the praise to which we are privileged to listen in psalm 134:The psalms are similar; that is, they go over the same ground, but with this remarkable difference, that psalm 136:has a refrain repeated between each act recounted, "His mercy endureth forever." Thus God's mercy is celebrated both in the deliverance of His people and in His judgment upon their enemies.

The fourth division of this book (psalms 137:-114:) brings out, with increasing clearness, by reiteration, the utter incapacity of man and the faithfulness and all-sufficiency of God.

Psalm 137:takes us back to Babylon, where the captive people are unable to sing the Lord's songs, but still look with longing eyes and loving hearts to the beloved city which lies in ruins. Deliverance follows this (psalm 138:), for God will lift up the lowly out of their need.

Psalm 139:speaks of the omniscience of God searching the secrets of the heart, which does not now shrink from His holy eye.

Psalms 140:-143:emphasize the helplessness of man, his cry in need to the Lord, and the deliverance which flows from this.

Psalm 144:celebrates God's deliverance, and 114:is another acrostic, in which we see our Lord leading the praises of His people.

The closing division of the book (psalms 146:-150:) puts the crown of praise upon the entire collection. The psalms begin and end with hallelujahs. God's might is declared in psalm 146:; His helping hand, which has tenderly ministered to His people's needs (147:) ; heaven and earth unite together in His worship (psalm 148:); the nations are called to join in this in psalm 149:; while psalm 150:gathers all the instruments of human music and uses them, with the worship of all creation, to praise the name of the Lord. " Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord."

2nd Thessalonians is similar to the first epistle, with the exception that the coming of our Lord is dwelt upon more in relation to the wickedness of the world than to the hope of His people. Its three chapters form three divisions.

In chapter 1:we have God's righteousness, which will vindicate His suffering people in the execution of judgment upon their enemies. This is in fitting accord with what we have been learning in the book of Psalms.

Chapter 2:shows the progress of that evil which, though now hidden, is going steadily on until it culminates, after the rapture of the Church, in Antichrist, the man of sin, who exalteth himself as God.

Chapter 3:still emphasizes the lessons of holiness for the Lord's people, though pressed by such evil. Any carelessness of walk or indifference to the natural responsibilities of life is guarded against. The disorderly are to be admonished, and, if need be, no company kept with them.

THE MAN AFTER THE FLESH. PART II.

THE KING OF MAN'S CHOICE.

Chapter 8:TESTED AND FOUND WANTING.

(1 Sam. 12:, 13:14).

(Continued from page 201.)

Saul, at least, does not follow the people in their hiding. In fact, he abides at Gilgal, the place which Samuel had appointed for the meeting with himself, which was soon to take place. During all the time that had intervened between his anointing and the present, there had not been the real opportunity to manifest his true obedience to the prophet's directions (chap. 10:8).

Saul is at Gilgal, where, had he truly entered into the spirit of the place, he would have found an impregnable position, and from which he could have gone forth victoriously to triumph over all the host of the enemy. A few follow him also so tremblingly that evidently their eye is upon their human leader, and they have forgotten the living God. This wretched remnant of an army is really a mockery of any true resistance, and would have been found so, had it been tested. Even this little handful, Saul is not able to hold together. He must, according to the prophet's directions, remain seven days, or until Samuel appears to offer the appointed sacrifices. Surely without these, it would be madness to attempt to meet the enemy. It must be ever on the basis of a sacrifice that we dwell with God, and from the strength of His presence go out to meet the enemy. Saul recognizes this in his way, and evidently waits with impatience the coming of the prophet. Meanwhile, the people are melting away and he will be left alone, and this the flesh cannot endure. It has not God before it, and therefore must look upon apparent resources. With his army gone, what could the king do? Surely, God would not have this:therefore he must take some steps to inspire confidence in the people, and be prepared to go forth to fight.

Alas, we know something, doubtless, in our own experience, of this restlessness of the flesh, which recognizes that something must be done, but never does the only thing that is suitable,-wait upon God for His time.

So, Saul offers the sacrifices, intruding himself in this way into the priest's office and practically ignoring all need of that which was at the basis of sacrifice, a mediator. The flesh, with all its religiousness and punctiliousness, never grasps the fact that it has no standing before God. It would intrude into the holiest things, and, as we have already said, this is the very essence of Philistinism, which would thrust nature into the presence of God, and, according to its own thoughts, build up a system of approach to Him which would at the same time quiet natural conscience and foster the pride of the unregenerate heart.

This was an awful fall for the king. It was the very thing against which the prophet had guarded him in the beginning; the very thing, too, which was the peril of the people,-acting without God. Their choice of a king had really been this, and therefore all is in fitting keeping with that act of independence. Saul had ample warning, abundant opportunity to manifest his faith and obedience if he had any. The very place where he was had but lately witnessed the solemn testimony of Samuel, and heard the voice of Jehovah in thunder at the time of harvest. Had the fear of God really filled his soul, it would have eclipsed all other fear, and the king would have waited patiently, though he waited alone, for the word from the Lord. But he is tested and fails. So soon as the failure occurs, in divine mercy on the one hand, and justice on the other, Samuel appeal's on the scene.

What unavailing regrets doubtless filled Saul's bosom as he saw the prophet! Oh, had he only waited but a few moments longer! But this is not the point. God would test him to see whether he would wait. He had not almost held out, but he had simply manifested the state of his soul. There is no such thing as almost obeying the Lord. The heart that is truly His, will obey; and testing, no matter how far carried, will never bring out disobedience from a heart that is truly subject to God. How perfectly this was brought out in the life of our blessed Lord, who was constantly subjected to pressure in one form or another to depart from the path of simple obedience to God. There was no danger of waiting too long in His case. All the testing would only bring out the reality of that obedience which controlled His whole spirit, and He is the only true King of men, the only Man after God's heart to lead His people; and it is only as His Spirit fills our souls, that we will walk in His steps, having the mind in us which was in Christ.

Saul runs out officiously to greet the prophet, as he does in a more marked way after a still deeper failure a little later on; but there is no responsive greeting from the dear faithful servant of God whose soul burned with indignation at the king's palpable unbelief and disobedience. Sternly he asks, "What hast thou done ? " He need not go further with his question, nor can Saul pretend to be ignorant of what is meant. What he had done was in known violation of the prophet's word. Therefore he had practically forfeited all claim upon the prophet's service or the approval of God. He, however, puts up a feeble defense; and notice the character of that defense. "I saw that the people were scattered from me." In other words, his eye was on the people, who were as full of unbelief as himself, instead of upon God. Then, Samuel had not come during the appointed days. This, as we have already seen, was simply to test the genuineness of his faith.

And lastly, the Philistines were gathering together in great numbers. Not a word, we notice, of the Lord. Now, however, he says the enemy will come down to attack him (a most unlikely thing for an enemy to do in such a place as Gilgal) and he must make supplication unto the Lord. At last the Lord is brought in, but we notice that it is only in this feeble way. Really what filled the foreground of the king's vision was the melting of the people, the menace of the enemy's attack, and the absence of the human prop in Samuel. So he says:"I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt-offering." How many have fallen in the same way! His words are a confession that he knew he had disobeyed God in offering the sacrifices. It was contrary, he would have Samuel believe, to his own inclinations. He had to do it in spite of his convictions and desires. All the more, then, did it fully manifest the unbelief which will not cling to God, at all costs, in obedience. How much is excused in the same way! Human expedients are condoned, fleshly activity is encouraged, fellowship with the world is allowed, all under the plea of expediency. The reluctant conscience has to be forced, for it knows that these things are contrary to God; but force itself it will, if not subject to God in living faith.

In a minor way, how saints of God may dishonor Him in the assembly of His people by allowing the flesh to dictate what shall be done. It knows that what is being done is not according to God, and yet, for fear of man, forces itself to fall in with what others are doing. Thus, the Spirit is quenched and grieved. This will ever be the case where the flesh is allowed to dictate.

Samuel's reply is startlingly frank. Saul has done foolishly. He does not attempt to take up his reasons in detail. The people may have been scattered. He does not refer to that. The enemy may be threatening. He does not even explain his own tarrying, though its purpose was manifest. One thing he has to say to the king:"Thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which He commanded thee." How all his paltry excuses are scattered to the winds by that solemn arraignment! What excuse can there be for disobedience? Then, too, as to the consequences of this they were not temporary, nor would they be immediately manifested, but this act had shown him to be utterly incapable of rule, to be certainly not the man after God's heart. If indeed he had stood this test, his kingdom would have been established, for it would have been seen that he was a man of genuine faith. One thing he lacked, and that one thing was absolutely needful. It was really everything. It was faith in God. Everything else may be present, but where this is wanting, one cannot be used of Him.

His kingdom, therefore, shall not continue. God must have a man after His own heart; one who knows Him and His goodness and love, and who, spite of many shortcomings, still has a true spirit of obedience to God, which springs from confidence in Him. A little later on will see poor Saul with wonderful zeal and rigidness of external obedience; but we will notice always that wherever the will of God came in conflict with the wishes of man or the desires of his own heart, Saul was wanting. How unspeakably sad and solemn is this, yea, how searching to our hearts! God grant that it may search out every vestige of self-confidence in us, every particle of unbelief which would turn us from obeying God rather than man!

(To be continued.)

Where hast thou been toiling all day, my child,
That thy brow is so burdened and sad?
The Master's work may make weary feet,
But it leaves the spirit glad.

Was thy garden nipped with the midnight frost,
Or scorched with the midday glare ?
Were thy vines laid low, or thy lilies crushed,
That thy face is so full of care ?

" No pleasant garden toils were mine-
I have sat on the judgment-seat,
Where the Master sits at eve, and calls
His servants around His feet."

How camest thou on the judgment-seat,
My child-who set thee there ?
'Tis a lonely and lofty seat for thee,
And well might fill thee with care.

"I climbed on the judgment-seat myself;
I have sat there alone all day;
For it grieved me to see the children around,
All idling their life away:

They wasted the Master's precious seed,
They wasted the precious hours,
They trained not the vines, nor gathered the fruits,
And they trampled the sweet-scented flowers."

And what hast thou done on the judgment-seat,
My child-what didst thou there ?
Would the idlers heed thy childish voice ?
Did the garden mend by thy care ?

" Nay, that grieved me more. I called and I cried,
But they left me there forlorn ;
My voice was weak, and they heeded not,
Or they laughed my words to scorn."

Ah! the judgment-seat was not for thee-
These servants, they were not thine:
And the Eye which adjudges the praise and the blame,
Sees further far than thine.
The Voice that shall sound there at eve, my child,
Will not raise its tones to be heard;
It will hush the earth, and hush the hearts,
And none will resist its word.

" Should I see my Master's treasures lost,
The stores that should feed His poor,
And not lift my voice-be it weak as it may-
And not be grieved sore?"

Wait till the evening falls, my child,
Wait till the evening falls;
The Master is near, and knoweth it all-
Wait till the Master calls.

But how fared thy garden-plot, my child,
While thou sattest on the judgment-seat?
Who watered thy roses, and trained thy vines,
And kept them from careless feet ?

" Nay, that is the saddest of all to me-
Oh, that is the saddest of all!
My vines are trailing, my roses are parched,
My lilies droop and fall."

Go back to thy garden-plot, my child-
Go back till the evening falls;
And bind thy lilies, and train thy vines,
Till for thee the Master calls.

Go make thy garden as fair as thou canst-
Thou workest never alone;
Perchance he whose plot is next to thine
Will see it, and mend his own.

And the next may copy his, my child,
Till all grows fair and sweet:
And when the Master conies at eve,
Happy faces His coming will greet.

And then shall thy joy be full, my child,
In the garden so fair to see,
In the Master's words of praise for all,
In a look of His own for thee.

Selected.
'NOTHING BUT CHRIST."

"In all things let us seek to walk in the light with God:kindly and humbly toward our fellow-men, godly in our inward life individually, and thus in blessed freedom according to Christ."

(1 Cor. 6:19, 20.)

Bought with a price "-so very great-
Jesus alone could pay,
My ransom from the dreadful guilt,
And take my sins away.
(Heb. 9:26.)

His precious blood, the awful price,
For me He freely gave :
And dare I doubt His tender love,
Or willing power to save?
(Rom. 8:35.)

He sought me, wandering far from God,
And took me by the hand
To lead me forth from endless woe,
Into the glory land.
(Eph. 2:13; Psalm 73:23, 24.)

So deep a debtor to His blood,
No wonder He should be
Most precious to my ransomed soul,
Now, and eternally.
(1 Pet. 2:7.)

But I!-ah, canst thou care for such-
So worthless, wayward, cold,
So slow of heart to apprehend
Thy love, and grace untold ?
(Mark 14:66-72; John 13:1.)

Can I be loved, and prized, by Thee?
Speak, Lord, oh, can it be? .
"Yes,-in proportion to the price
Which I have paid for thee."
(Zephaniah 3:17; Kev. 1:5.)

Then, Jesus, Lord, with joy I yield
Myself, my all, to Thee,
For Thou hast loved me unto death,
And given Thyself for me.
(Gal. 2:20.)
C. E. B.

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

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

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

Oh wonderful, glorious promise!
It sets our lone hearts all aglow,
Come quickly. Come quickly, Lord Jesus,
Thy people grow weary below.

Oh, surely the night shades are passing;
The dawn is more near now than far,
We're waiting and watching, blest Saviour,
The rise of the "Bright Morning Star."

And then in that long-waited moment,
Thy voice we shall hear bid us come
Right upward and into Thy presence,-
Oh, the joy of that gathering home!

G. A. T.

'Those who have given themselves over entirely to the written word of God for a revelation of Himself may fail to realize what a powerful instrument of communication from God to man nature (whose God the Bible declares) is.

No doubt, while Adam and Eve were still in innocency, nature was God's voice in an unmistakable way. They could look to the heavens in the day, and lift their eyes up by night, and see the glory of God. They could study the mighty sun as he majestically ran his course, the moon in her reflected beauty, and the host of twinkling stars set like diamonds in the velvet of heaven, and stand in silent admiration at His handiwork. They could view the beautiful flowers sending back to the eye the sunlight in many and varied colors, the mighty trees of the earth, the feathered songsters, the waving grain of the fields, the crystal waters, and see God in it all, to His glory.

But sin has entered; and while all nature still is a true witness of God, man will not receive her message, be it ever so plain; and when taken by surprise, he will hear, yet deny, what she says. But
she is faithful, and her mute appeal never ceases :

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament showeth His handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and
Night unto night showeth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard."

So important is this that men will be held accountable for the way they treat this voice of God. This is plainly set forth in Rom. 1:18-23. Here we are told that "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." God is jealous of truth, and will hold all men accountable how they hold it:if in righteousness, well; if in unrighteousness, God's anger is aroused. The reason is, that truth reveals Him who is truth:this the next verse explains:"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." Think of this! Could nature speak more clearly ? The fault is not in nature's voice, but in those who seeing God in nature, yet through pride and love of sin refuse the light, and are without excuse, "because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination," etc. What a responsibility men of science assume when they come into such close touch with nature, hear her voice, and deliberately turn upon their heel from the face of Him thus revealed, and who would welcome with delight a true confession of Himself by them! No! men will not "retain God in their knowledge" (Rom. 1:28).

I will give here an instance of how an eminent physicist came face to face with God through nature, and absolutely refused the light she had for him. Prof. Tyndall, in one of his lectures on light, summing up the wonders of light in relation to the eye, said:" Meanwhile we may profitably glance back on the web of relation which these experiments reveal to us. We have, in the first place, in solar light, an agent of exceeding complexity, composed of innumerable constituents, refrangible in different degrees. We find, secondly, the atoms and molecules of bodies gifted with the power of sifting solar light in the most various ways, and producing by the sifting the colors observable in nature and art. To do this they must possess a molecular structure commensurate in complexity with light itself. Thirdly, we have the human eye and brain so organized as to be able to take in and distinguish the multitude of impressions thus generated. The light, therefore, at starting, is complex:to sift and select it as they do, natural bodies must be complex; while, to take in the impression thus generated, the human eye and brain, however we may simplify our conception of their action, must be highly complex. Whence this triple complexity ? If what are called material purposes were the only end to be served, a much simpler mechanism would be sufficient. But, instead of simplicity, we have prodigality of relation and adaptation-and this, apparently, for the sole purpose of enabling us to see things robed in the splendor of color. Would it not seem that nature harbored the intention of educating us for other enjoyments than those derivable from meat and drink? At all events, whatever nature meant,-And it would be mere presumption to dogmatize as to what she meant,-we find ourselves here, as the upshot of her operation, endowed with capacities to enjoy not only the materially useful, but endowed with others of indefinite scope and application, which deal alone with the beautiful and the true."

What a testimony! What a blunder, writing Nature instead of God! We can but wish that the great scientist had not done so. Dear brethren, do we realize that God is speaking to us at every turn ? Do we see nothing more than an impersonal nature in it all ? If there are such stupendous responsibilities devolving upon us from the voice and witness of nature, what must it be to have the truth from God by direct revelation-the Scriptures ! May the Lord lay the importance of these things upon our hearts, that we might be found more and more walking softly in the very presence of God! F. H. J.

The word which is looked at as significant of present day advance is " Science;" and the great principle of science, so far as it is really that, is induction, or, to state it more fully, induction before deduction; which merely means that you must have your facts before you can argue upon them. Nobody, surely, would be likely to dispute that, and yet all error in reasoning comes from the disregard of it. Induction, or the gathering of facts, must be as full as possible in order that the result may be in any way a success. This, in what is commonly called " Science," creates indeed the Uncertainty of much that is counted so. The field is so vast, the facts are so many, who can be sure that he has gathered all that are necessary to be taken into account ? Theory will not do here. All theories are tentative merely. You must start with what cannot be questioned, or questions will grow upon you as you proceed.

What an immense advantage the study of Scripture has here when, in the mercy of God, we have His complete revelation, with all its immensity, nevertheless put for us in so small a compass ! But here also the trouble has been,-is constantly everywhere- in the incomplete gathering of the facts of Scripture. It is almost incredible, until you begin to search for yourself, how loosely Scripture has been read, how little it can be fairly said to have been studied. If it be the word of God, then it is a mere insult to Him to credit Him with any idle word. "All Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine." If that be true, then whatever be before us in it, it may be a date, it may be a list of names, it has to be accepted as in this way "profitable ; " not to enable men merely to write history, but "for doctrine"-for truth which is to be blessing to the soul. But who proceeds upon this principle altogether ? How much really has Scripture been studied after this fashion, every part of it given its place and its proportionate place ? Yet apart from this, any commentary upon it must of necessity be vitiated in result just as much as the conclusions of science from an imperfect induction.

It has long been my desire to take up once more the book of Genesis throughout, seeking to apply everywhere this principle, to leave no fact of Scripture unexamined, to treat nothing in it as of no importance (or even of little), but to seek, as God may enable, to get everywhere to the bottom of things, where assuredly we shall find the perfection of Scripture fully established in its blessing everywhere for the soul. Such an attempt as this will of necessity make one very conscious of utter feebleness, and that God alone, after all, can give us in any wise that which we seek. But the attempt, nevertheless, is that which alone can give Him fully the honor that is His due, and is therefore that in which one can count upon the fullest blessing.

It is proposed in this way to take up a book which is the introduction to all Scripture, the divine account of everything from its beginning, and which faith can surely receive as an account complete and even exhaustive for the purpose for which it is given. It is, however little as people may accredit it as that, the primary book of science itself, giving all the fundamental principles which are outside the reach of human investigation. What science can teach us of creation ? The beginning of everything is just that which is least of all accessible to man. The germs 'of all living things are perhaps as such undistinguishable from one another, yet in development the diversity of their nature soon becomes apparent. But think of an account of all this by the Author of it ! How can we talk of any science whatever that can be compared to this ? And people say Scripture is not intended to teach science ! Who told them so ? It was intended to teach just what it does teach. God's work is none of it without significance. Nature itself will be universally allowed to have much to teach us. Why should not God then teach us about nature ? How poor and unworthy must be that knowledge of things which it is unworthy of Himself to give us ! It is not so. The whole beautiful perfection of nature itself rebukes the supposition. Is there no message from God to us in all this ? Christians, alas, in their decision to think only of what they call spiritual, and let all material things drop almost out of account spiritually, have thus given the infidel the surest possible ground for his attack upon Scripture. If there are laws in nature, whose laws are they ? And will they reveal nothing of the Lawgiver ? If Christ is He in whom all things subsist, will not the whole frame of nature, His handiwork, declare Himself ? How false and dishonoring to Christ is any other thought ! It will be the endeavor, then, in this contemplated study of the book of Genesis, to follow every statement that we find in it, as far as possible, to its legitimate results; to seek to explore every track that leads into the known or into the unknown; not theorizing beforehand as to what we shall find there, nor seeking to do anything, but to allow Scripture to speak for itself, and to reveal its own perfection without any supplement of mere human thought or theory, yet not fearing to examine, by what will thus be divine light, whatever in human thought may seem to be in opposition to it. Are there not many to whom a voyage of discovery such as this may prove, will have not merely attraction for the mind, but be of deepest spiritual interest and importance ? Yet it is hoped in all this to preserve all practicable simplicity, that none of the Lord's people may be shut out from whatever is of Himself. If they are His, they have already within them that Spirit that "searcheth the deep things of God," and who is given to guide us into all truth. We must be subject to Him, to learn of Him, and there is no hope as to Scripture that any but the man of God will be "furnished" by it "thoroughly to every good work." For such, however, all truth will be found practical, and in all Scripture, from cover to cover, not a part of it that is not stored with divine riches, and accessible to us just so far as there is faith to lay hold of that which God has given. F. W. Grant. Nov. 1901

The above is inserted as being of touching interest as one of the last articles written by our beloved brother, who hoped to be permitted to take up more exhaustively than he had hitherto done, the study of the book of Genesis. But our God willed otherwise, and our brother has gone to his rest. But besides this, which we may call personal interest attaching to the article, it contains that which we believe will be for edification, and we trust a fresh stimulus to study the word of God. ed.

(Col. 1:15-18.)

Continued from page 95.

We have seen something of the significance of our Lord's title as First-born from among the dead, as applied to Himself personally. But His resurrection is also the God-given witness of the acceptability of the work accomplished in His being delivered up for our offences; and His resurrection is our justification. If we are therefore seen as having died with Christ as our Substitute and Sin-bearer, if He who has thus taken our place be raised up, then we are looked at as being raised up with Him. We see at once that we occupy an entirely new place as linked with our raised Substitute. We have newness of life, and this, in the very nature of the case, takes us out from under the Adam headship to which death and judgment attached, but which have now been borne; and we are under the headship of Christ in resurrection life. Christ in this way is not only the First-born from among the dead, the First-born One of the new order of life, but He truly is also the First-born among many brethren, who are even now conformed in spirit to His image, and in glory will be so displayed.

He is thus also the last Adam, "a quickening Spirit." He is the Last, because in Him God's thought, as first expressed in Adam, who "was the figure of Him who was to come," has found its full and perfect expression, so that there can be no other to come after Him. He is the Last, the divine fulfilment of all God's purposes and counsels. He is therefore the Beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14)-a very beautiful expression.' The race, that creation of which we see Him as the beginning, the First-born, is one with which God can with evident delight link His own name as He never could nor did with the old. It had fallen away from its first beauty and perfection in innocency so that He could not own it as His any more. But here is a new creation, which can never fail, but is perfect in the perfection of its blessed Head, of which God says, That is Mine-His own special portion.

Further contrasts, however, come in here. Adam became a living soul, Christ the Last Adam a quickening (making alive) Spirit. But in immediate connection with this, and speaking of resurrection as to the body, we are told "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; " and " if there is a natural body there is also a spiritual one." The connection here is this:a natural body, and Adam a living soul; a spiritual body, and the last Adam a quickening Spirit. The natural body is therefore that which is characterized by the soul living in it. This is the old order. Now that which connects itself with resurrection is different; the spiritual body and the quickening Spirit-the last Adam. Thus as in the old the life of the body was characterized by the soul in it, making it natural, so that Adam is called a living soul, in the new order the body is spiritual. The apostle says, flesh and blood-the soul-life communicated by Adam-cannot inherit God's kingdom ; only the life derived from Christ making the body a spiritual one-a vehicle suited for the spirit-can enter into this inheritance. The order connected with all this is first the natural, and then the spiritual, and of necessity so, as must be plain:before there can be the spiritual for us, there must be the natural, upon
which death is to pass, so that resurrection may come in and in connection with it the communication of the spiritual.

This brings us to another title in direct connection with that of last Adam, that is the second Man. "The first man out of the earth, made of dust, the second Man out of heaven;" and linked with this the race associated with each. "Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly One, such also the heavenly ones; and as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly One " (i Cor. 15:47-49, J. N. D.). This is carrying out as to the condition the contrast between the first and second Man and those associated with them, and the natural and spiritual bodies connected with the first and last Adam. The condition of the first, as being a natural body, was of the earth and made of dust, but now the second Man is out of heaven; that is, He whom we know as the second Man is He who came out of heaven and became flesh. As a Man living on earth, He was unique. He must needs remain alone if in this life He continue, for none can ever hope for association with Him in the blessing of His perfect obedience; but in passing through death, not in any sense His due but endured by Him as the due of fallen man, He takes their place, linking them in this marvelous way with Himself and carries them on and up into resurrection life. So that we are associated in life with the Man out of heaven, and the result is, as is this heavenly One so also the heavenly ones; that is, those who are associated with Him in the way we have spoken about through death. And here is the beautiful thought, that we have by this
link with Him obtained a heavenly character in this new order, a character which attaches to the life-giving Spirit, and the body thus animated becomes in this way spiritual. Thus we shall have the image of the heavenly as united through death with the heavenly Man.

In all this we see then the new creation, the new race united in one, under its glorious Head and Firstborn. We understand then how being in Christ means new creation (2 Cor. 5:17 and Gal. 6:15); the portion of which is heavenly things; its sphere heaven itself. This is what the apostle brings us to in Ephesians. the sphere of new-creation-life, as he has developed it in Romans and Galatians, which doctrinally connect with Ephesians.

But if we are thus created in Christ Jesus, as we truly are as those in new creation, he shows us many wonderful relationships in this connection, and the glory of Christ associated therewith. Chief of all, the Body, the Church, of which He is the Head. The revelation of this is given in Ephesians, and in Colossians it is put in direct connection with this First-born title of His that we have been considering. "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the First-born from among the dead." As the Head we think of Him being the Governor, and the power directing all activity and life of the Body. "From Him all the Body ministered to and united together by the bands and joints increaseth with the increase of God" (Col. 2:19 and Eph. 4:16, J. N. D.). He orders in this way the function of each member. As Head of the Church He is over all things, for they are all to be gathered together in one, in Him; that He, having subjected all, may be able, as having all under His power, to subject Himself to God, that He may be all in all. The thought implied in this is that God has given to Christ to reign as Son of Man until all enemies be under His feet (i Cor. 15:24-26). Thus having gained absolute rule over all, He subjects Himself to God, while keeping His place with the Father of reigning and rule, as I apprehend it, over all those things which He had subjected. As One who reigns till all is in subjection, and thus brings in the eternal state, He is the "Father of eternity," the One who is the Pro! genitor of that state; and then having brought it in. He subjects Himself to God that He may be all in all. Thus He remains unchangingly, although in a different position relatively, Head over all things.

This Headship, as to the open manifestation of it, He obtains in exercise of the absolute reigning power given by God to Him, and He keeps the Headship for all eternity in subjection to God. Thus, as the heir of all things, in this connection we see Him first of all bringing by His power the inheritance of which He was heir under His blessed control and into subjection to Him, and then keeping it and entering into it in eternity as the Son subject to God the Father; and we have, wonderful to say, obtained an inheritance in Him. J. B. jr.

(Concluded in next number.)

So truly is eternal life the portion of all believers that the apostle John writes, "These things have I written to you that ye may know that ye have eternal life; [you] who believe on the name of the Son of God " (i John 5:13).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revelation has two main divisions:

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

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

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

(Numbers 4:16.)

Eleazar, the third son of Aaron, and the one who takes up the office of priesthood after the death of Nadab and Abihu, brings in for us the thought of resurrection. The service connected with his office typifies that service of Christ as Priest in resurrection. Eleazar has the oversight of the tabernacle, both holy and most holy places; and so Christ is the minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle of which Israel's was the type (Heb. 8:2). So, also, Christ is Head over all things to the Church:they are all put under His feet.

" And to the office of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, pertain to the oil for the light." The golden lamp stand presents to us Christ in the glory of resurrection; for the bud, flower and fruit of the almond, the emblem of resurrection in Aaron's rod that budded, cover it. Upon its seven branches are placed the lamps from which the light shines which is thrown upon the lamp stand itself. These lamps give us a picture of the saints united to Christ, and borne up by Him in resurrection glory before God, just as these lamps are made part of and are supported by the lamp stand. The oil in these lamps which give the light is the Holy Spirit who indwells every saint of God, and through whom alone that light comes which, shining, reveals somewhat of Christ's glory. It is olive oil, beaten,-that is, made pure,-which gives the light. The word here used for pure, in the original, is from a root "to bruise or break in pieces." The oil is therefore that which is of the Spirit in the saint, and coming from him as light to the glory of Christ, as a result of the bruising and breaking of love's discipline, by which we are conformed to the image of Christ and made partakers of His holiness. In this way God "has shone in our hearts" by the giving of the Spirit; and this is "for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Part, then, of the work of Christ as our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens pertain to the oil for the light.

Is it not His tender ministry and gracious care which secure for us the work of sanctification and discipline, through which the bruising and breaking of all that which is contrary to His holy mind and will is accomplished, so that as a result there will be the pure oil olive to give forth the light which is thrown on Christ Himself to show forth His glory ? This surely is always the object of the Spirit in us, and through us to magnify and glorify Him.

May we, through God's grace, more fully submit to His tending to the oil for the light in us, that we may be bright testimonies to Him.

The second thing is "the sweet incense." In this we have the fragrance of Christ for God. It was Eleazar's duty to see that there was always sweet incense for the offerings. This incense is the fragrance of Christ as offered by His priestly people to God. It is Christ in the activities of His priestly office who draws from the saint that sweet incense of praise that goes up as a sweet odor of Christ, a perpetual delight to God. That which draws forth praise and worship of this sort is surely the making known of Himself to the heart and soul; and this will be according to the measure we permit Him to reveal Himself to us; and, accordingly, great or small will be the measure of our incense offering. " If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him " (John 14:23). The praise and incense of our hearts is drawn forth by the knowing of Himself. His priestly service is ever to maintain us in the enjoyment of communion and fellowship, from the realization of which flow praise and worship. Here His advocacy comes in, and the blessed provision in it for us.

We next have "the daily meat offering" pertaining to Eleazar's office. The prescription for this offering is "a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil" (Ex. 29:40); The fine flour speaks to us of the perfect humanity of Christ. The oil is the symbol of the Spirit in Him, and with whom God sealed Him as perfect. Under the hand of Christ, in resurrection-priesthood, is the ministry of what this implies for us. We see Christ in this offering, the perfect second Man, replacing for God all of the first and old creation. But if we are to participate in the blessing of this, much must be accomplished. So it is only through His death that the way is found. Resurrection, of necessity, must come in, or His death would not avail; there would be no witness from God of its acceptance. Those, then, who find their place in participation in His death, are carried through, in Him, into resurrection, and are administered an entrance, as partakers with Him, into new creation and its attendant blessings, of which He is the Head and Source, as this offering under the ministry of Eleazar's office typifies. It is in resurrection, as the First-born from among the dead, that the ministry to us of the blessing of new creation, Himself the second Man, its Head, comes under His hand. How much the entrance of these things into our hearts means for us! Separation from all that which is of the old, and induction into the glorious new-participation in the meal-offering given us by our heavenly Priest! In this also is to be found the food for our souls; for all we have and shall be is bound up in participation with Christ in new creation; His every glory is linked with it. May we feed more on this precious food!

Finally, "the anointing oil." This brings in the thought of sanctification, separation to Himself, and holiness. This is, of course, the work of the Spirit; therefore the oil is used. This likewise is connected with Christ in resurrection. It is the glorifying of Christ which brings down the Spirit to dwell in the believer. He it is who is the " Spirit of Truth," who does not speak of Himself, but will guide us into all truth. The work of sanctification is by the truth (John 17:17), and it is the Spirit who alone can minister it in such a way that this end shall be accomplished. "He shall receive of Mine, and show it unto you" (John 16:14), and Christ declares that all things are His. We have a great High Priest over the house of God, under whose hand all things have been put, and who orders all in connection with that house. Of these things He gives to the Spirit, and they constitute the truth, the revelation, His Word; the Spirit is to impart it to us, and by it we are to be sanctified. We are chosen therefore by God "from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth " (2 Thess. 2:13-J- n. d.). Thus the anointing oil is under the hand of our Eleazar also.

May we, through His all-sufficient grace, seek to walk in such a way that the Spirit shall not be grieved, but shall be able to minister to our souls the precious truth which sanctifies and separates us to our blessed Lord!

How blessed the fulness of that provision made for the saints of God in the priesthood of Christ! The more we lay hold of what has been done for us in God's infinite love, the more we realize what Christ is in glory for us at God's right hand, the deeper will be the work in our hearts, so that the light shall shine forth, the sweet incense of praise go up before the throne; and then that glory shall be entered into by us which is ours in participation with Christ in the meal-offering character; finally, the blessed work of sanctification will be wrought out in us to the praise of the glory of His grace-all the fruit of His loving ministry as our Priest. J. B. Jr.

Man is a social being, and grace by no means ignores this characteristic. In fact, the joys of fellowship with fellow believers are infinitely greater than any earthly companionship ; and yet this fellowship must have a solid substratum of individuality, or it will be neither helpful nor lasting. There are a few scriptures which illustrate the dealings of our Lord with individuals, that will bring out the importance of this.

I. IN CONVICTION.

If there is to be genuine measurement of sin, it must be in the presence of God alone, with no distraction from one's fellows, which would either lessen the true sense of guilt, or so oppress the soul with shame that it will become self-occupation instead of self-judgment. A familiar example of how the Lord deals in a solitary way with a soul, to produce conviction, is found in the fourth of John, in the case of the woman of Samaria. It is scarcely necessary to more than mention this. No one is present to hear what she has to say to Him who discloses to her the fact that He knows all about her. Thus, quietly, she is brought to measure the solemn fact that God knows all her past and all the secrets of her heart. Everything is brought out into the light, and the effect of it is not to drive her away, nor to overwhelm her, but in all sobriety, knowing her true condition, to cast herself upon Him who had told her all things that ever she did.

Souls may be awakened in companies. As a matter of fact, conviction of sin may take place, and
often does, in the presence of others; but there is an isolation of spirit which answers to the case of the woman of Samaria. None is seen but the Lord and one's guilty soul. Everything else is forgotten or ignored; and until He has done His holy work, one's fellow men are entirely in the background. Where this is not the case, even when there is a genuine work of the Spirit of God, He is much hampered by the fear of man, or, what is perhaps worse, the comfort of man. It is far more dangerous to tell one that his case is not so bad or hopeless as it might be, than it would be to tell him there was no hope. Neither of these is done when the soul is alone with the Lord.

II. NEED MET.

We see twin mercies in the healing of the woman with the issue and the raising of Jairus' daughter. It is as our Lord was on the way to heal the latter, that the woman comes behind Him and touches the border of His garment. Strikingly, she had been afflicted twelve years, even as Jairus' daughter was twelve years of age. The life of a fallen creature, after all, is but a lingering disease, sure to end, unless grace interpose, in death. So, Jairus' daughter would represent the feebleness and decay of nature from the beginning, as the woman would suggest the defilement that comes in connection with that.

The crowd surges about our Lord, the multitudes throng Him and press Him, some with interest, some with hostility, many with indifference, probably merely attracted by the crowd. His disciples are close about Him; but in the midst of all that throng there is one spark of faith, one hand that is reached out to lay hold of the everlasting mercy that is there for her- equally there for all the crowd, who, alas, pass on with indifference, unconscious of their need. But oh, how good it is to think that He notes the faith which feels its need; He recognizes the reality of that which timidly and in secret, as it were, would lay hold upon His mercy! He recognizes and marks it all. Faith gets what it needs. This is ever true. Most blessed fact! Let the multitude press and throng. It cannot press away or check one single soul who would creep, with its need, to the border of Jesus' garment. And so, in this poor world, with its multitudes passing here and there, if our needy souls desire it, we can ever lay hold upon One who meets that need.

III. FINDING PEACE.

The scene in the seventh of Luke is in striking contrast with that in the fourth of John, so far as externals are concerned. Instead of a lonely seat by the well-side, speaking with the woman, we see Him at a feast in the Pharisee's house, with all its accompaniments. Is it possible that in such a presence as this there can be solitary dealing with a soul ? Most beautifully does the narrative of the woman that was a sinner answer this. She had an apprehension of the grace of Christ; how deep and full, we know not, but sufficiently so to have stirred the inmost depths of her soul, and to bring her, with her double gift of tears and precious ointment, to the feet of Him who would never spurn even such as she.

The crowd that is about her, the sneering Pharisees, with their self-complacency and contempt even
of Christ, are all ignored or forgotten by her. One only occupies her mind and heart, and that One is He who knows all about her, and, knowing it, does not turn her from Him. What boldness simple faith gives!-boldness in the presence of those who despise! She is not overwhelmed by their greatness or neglect. What overwhelms her is the sense of that wondrous grace that has stooped to meet her need and guilt. So she pours out together tears of bitter shame and sorrow-tears, too, of love; and, mingling with it, may we not say, not more fragrant or acceptable to our Lord, the sweet perfume that tells of the preciousness of His own name, which is like ointment poured forth.

How blessed it is to be alone with Him thus, alone even in the midst of everything that is contrary to Him and us, alone as worshipers where the cold smile of self-righteous contempt in vain would distract our hearts!

IV. TESTIMONY AND WORSHIP.

The blind man in John 9:illustrates a further phase of this solitary intercourse with Christ. His very blessings had isolated him. Until Christ opened his eyes, he at least had a home and a place in the synagogue, with the pity and the pittances of his coreligionists. All that is changed when he has a Hand laid upon his eyes and obeys the word which tells him to wash and receive his sight. He has eyes now, but he has lost apparently everything else. The men of the synagogue turn him out. His own parents refuse to stand by him. He is left all alone, no one apparently even to wish him joy with his new-found treasure; alone so far as man is concerned, but that loneliness is but the occasion for One to make His presence known which amply repays for every loss.

He had received blessing from the Lord as the Opener of his eyes, but he was now to use those eyes in beholding the Son of God. Our blessings, after all, are but means to enter more fully into the glories of the Person of Christ. There is no holier place, no more wonderful in all the Gospels, than the nameless place where Jesus found the man and manifested Himself to him as the Son of God. There the worship of heaven is anticipated, as the once sightless beggar bows prostrate at the feet of Him who is, for faith, "my Lord and my God!" Unquestionably, he will find his place later on in association with others who, like himself, have learned in solitude to know this blessed One:but who can intrude between the soul and this meeting with Him who has made Himself all in all to it?

V. SERVICE.

There was a subtle pride in Peter which led him to think more of his own devotion to Christ than of that of his brethren:"Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended." This savors little of that self-knowledge which would rather ask, "Lord, is it I?" Left to ourselves, what are we not capable of ? But the same grace that called Peter, and bore with him through all his waywardness and instructed him, is sufficient here too, and, though he must bitterly learn his lesson, when he has learned it, restores him fully to the joy of communion and of service again.

Simultaneously with his restoration to the Lord is his reinstatement in service. "Lovest them Me?" '' Feed My Lambs." '' Shepherd My sheep." It all goes together. If there is love to Christ, love that is deeper because based now upon self-distrust, it is to find expression in showing Christ's love to those who are its objects. Yet even here Peter forgets for a moment that to be alone in the path of service to the Lord must ever be first, and fellowship next. He had heard the words "Follow thou Me." Were not these sufficient ? He turns, however, to see another disciple whom Jesus loved, who also is following as surely he would, and the sudden question, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" shows occupation rather with his brother's service than his own. Our Lord's loving rebuke is a word for us all. " If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? Follow thou Me." Even should John be left here, spared from the cross which Peter was to endure, it was in the Hands of love and power, which could make no mistake. Peter's care was not to know what would befall John, but rather keeping so close to his Lord, to see that he was in the place where he could do and suffer for his Master.

Let us hear that word for ourselves! We look at others who seem busily and happily engaged in the Lord's service, it may be, whose lot in life seems far happier than our own perhaps-who know nothing apparently of the ruggedness of the way; and are we not at times tempted to say, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" It maybe that we are called to some arduous service, or to that which is harder yet, the rasping of a position which ever lets us feel the thorns of the way. We are tempted to repine, to fret, and to look with longing at some one else who seems to have a smoother path. Let us never forget that the path which love has chosen for us is the best that love could choose, best even that divine love could possibly choose. If only Christ is seen in it, if it is only following Him individually, irrespective of all others, it will be a. path whose brightness increases more and more unto the perfect day.

Thus, having been dealt with in the solitude of our own bosoms, in the presence of the Lord, as to sin, as to need, as to peace with Himself, as to worship, and as to service, we are prepared for that fellowship of kindred minds which is our joy on earth. Others, too, have been led as we have. They, too, have been isolated, and felt it keenly. They, too, have found the sufficiency of Christ, all alone, with no one else, and, finding Him sufficient, are now ready both to help and to be helped by all the holy intercourse of those to whom Christ is all, and therefore His people are dear to them.