(Col. 1:15-18.)

(Concluded.)

There is also another line of thought, which comes in here in connection with this first-born title of Christ. We have seen that pre-eminently connected with it is His headship of a new race, and that this race is formed from the material of the old. The formation of this new race is carried on in the world, and thus that which is the part of it on earth is constituted of weak and failing men, who are in creature-impotence as to the circumstances they are placed in. The Head of the race of which they form a part is in heaven on the Father's throne, their Forerunner, and upon Him, as the Head, devolves the responsibility to care for and succor those to whom He has communicated a life like His own, the proper sphere of which is heaven, where He is; but these are on earth, in the midst of a scene of evil and trial, filled with everything contrary to the life of the new race indwelling them.

In this relation comes in His title as Priest-the Priest forever after the order of Melchisedek. The office of the priest we know is that of presenting himself on behalf of others, so that the priesthood of Christ began on earth with the presentation of Himself as the sacrifice for sin. And this work being accomplished, He is perfected as the Originator of salvation to all them that obey Him. The full perfection of His authorship of eternal salvation is accomplished in resurrection, that being the answer to the perfect work wrought out by Him; and perfected in this way, He is saluted of God in resurrection a High Priest after the order of Melchisedek. Then we have His heavenly service as Priest on the throne; that is characterized by continual intercession, which is on behalf of our weakness and frailty, and with which He is fully acquainted, since He can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, having been tempted in like manner-sin apart.

He is thus able to help those who are being tempted, those whom He calls brethren, among whom He is First-born. His intercession, therefore, secures the working of the power of God on our behalf, by which we are kept unto salvation, so that it is said of Christ, as Priest, He is able to save completely, because He continues forever, therefore has an unchangeable priesthood, the surety of God's power working on our behalf for the accomplishment of all His purposes and counsels, which is really what to be saved completely implies.

Still another title comes in here. Connected with our weakness and frailty we find sin. And here we have Him as the Advocate. It implies the maintenance of our case before the bar of God's holiness and righteousness in heaven against the charge of the adversary. It is He Himself who is the Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. His occupation of the place upon the Father's throne is in itself the advocacy of our case. God, to silence all accusations against us, has but to turn to Christ; and is He not the propitiation for our sins ? And it is the being this, and as being this on the Father's throne, that constitutes the advocacy, and Him as the Advocate for us. But this has to do also with the maintenance of our communion. Sin is that which shuts the soul out from God and hinders the proper fellowship with Him. The removal of it, therefore, is an absolute necessity. Christ effects this on God's part, and repentance being wrought and confession made on our part, the way is open for the fullest fellowship between the Father and His child.

Briefly, these are the titles and characters which associate themselves with and are implied in these First-born titles of Christ. They are both in connection with His incarnation. We have seen how the first one implies all His glory as a divine person, and that it is the fact of this glory being His, that makes Him truly the First-born of all creation. He is supreme, and in the place of superiority, as a Man over every other creature. He occupies the foremost place as a Man in the creation; but this is not all God had in His mind; His purpose reached out to a new creation, in view of the failure of the first; and the new is to be the bringing of His glory out of the ruins of the first, a fallen one. The accomplishment of this is through death, as we have seen, and ensuing resurrection and the giving of a new life; and in the new race thus formed God is to find His center of exhibit for all His glory, and in it He is to rest with eternal complacency.

This being God's purpose, failure is impossible to come in; but this new creation will thus be the preeminent order of life in eternity, and the Head of it -for it must have a head also, in whom it stands or falls; the head of the old fell, and the creation linked with him fell of necessity-will therefore be the first and foremost in the eternal order, pre-eminent in this way above all else. Therefore, that Christ might have the first place in all things, He is not only the First-born of all creation, but also the Firstborn from among the dead, thus becoming the Head of the new creation, as we have been seeing. The divine reason for Him having taken the creature-place, suffered death and been raised up, the Communicant of the new life, is that in all things He might have the pre-eminence (Col. 1:18). Occupying the first place over all creation as a Man, He must also occupy the first place as being the Head of the new, in which all the purpose and glory of God is to find fulfilment.

Who can comprehend the wonderful thought that with this all-glorious One, the center of creation now and to come, in time and eternity, we are associated in the possession of life eternal, a life given to us by Him, so that in Him we have an inheritance ? We will be associated with Him in His headship during all eternity-we with Him the vessel of display for God's glory to every created intelligence. We are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power, blessed-oh how richly!-with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We can contemplate Him in the sorrow and trial of His path, the pain that rent His heart as He felt the keen edge, as none other could, of the scorn and hatred of men, who nevertheless were dependent upon Him for the very breath with which they cast their reproaches at Him. Alone. How trying to Him who found His delight in the sons of man, but with no response from them-alone in the uniqueness of His perfection and the depths of sufferings endured at the hand of those for whom His heart yearned with an eternal love! Man has counted the cross a fitting reward for His love and ministering power for every need. God has placed Him on the throne of glory, Head over all. What joy it is to think that He shall be manifested as this before the whole universe, and we manifested with Him! We are going on to this, it is the portion that God has set before us, but we are to enjoy by faith what He has been pleased in this connection to reveal to us.

What questions of the most practical importance this brings us to consider! Are we to be associated with Him in glory, and should we not, then, be also in His rejection and sorrow ? Can we be associated with a world which has cast Him out ? The world has not changed in its enmity and hatred to Him. Is He any more accepted by them now than when He was here ? How clear must be, if faithful to His name, the line of demarcation! and oh, for the grace to draw that line and maintain it for His glory! Shall we compare the sufferings of this little while with the glory that is to follow? Oh, I love to think how His smile will recompense it all! His face we shall gaze upon; God's glory we shall read where once were graven the lines of pain and sorrow, and that, beloved, for us. May the hope, the bright reality for faith now, of seeing Him face to face, make our hearts bound with that joy which shall fill us and lead our whole being out to Himself, so that every step of the path will then be ordered in conformity to His mind and heart's desire concerning us! Let us be careful not to grieve Him.

We need God's grace that it may be so. Surely, having suffered for us as He has, He is worthy of being now made glad by us. We know the way of it. His delight is to dwell with us, to have our hearts empty of all else that He may fill them, our communion thus to be with Him now as in eternity it shall be, when as perfected He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. What a heavenly privilege and portion is ours! May God in His grace awake us to it more fully, that faith may gain its victory for His name and glory! J. B. Jr.

O, glorious home!
The place of blessed rest on high,
For thee I sigh,
The home of Him
Who left it all, and came to earth
(For me to die,)
A babe of humble birth.

My heart is sick
With hope deferred; I've journeyed long.
The world's mad throng
Oppresseth me.
I'm wearied with its heartless mirth,
Its ribald song;
It savors all of earth.

When wilt Thou call
My name, O Lord, and bid me come
To my loved home?
This foreign shore
Is bare, and lonely, without Thee,
Who here didst roam
So patiently for me.

This empty world
Hath naught wherewith my heart to fill;
'Tis just Thy will
That holds me here,
That some desire, Lord, of Thine
I may fulfil,
Or something yet resign.

I find Thee not,
The "Man of Sorrows" midst the throng;
My soul doth long
For one sweet face.
Thine absence is the saddest strain
In all my song:
So death to me were gain.

But 'tis not home;
Its, very ways and tongue are strange;
And oh the change
On change the years
Have brought, (of tempest, cloud, and rain)
In their short range:
Thy discipline of pain.

Tho' exiled here,
By faith I have Thee in my heart,
And naught can part
What God hath joined.
Yet, Lord, I long to be at home,
Where friends ne'er part,
And sorrows ne'er can come.

My heart rebounds,
As when the homesick wanderer nears
The shore, nor fears
His loved to meet;
But eager, as the end draws nigh,
Through joyful tears,
Expectant strains the eye.

Thou wilt not chide
Me Lord, for Thou hast weaned me
From all to Thee.
Thou'st won my love,
And made my home; it is Thy heart.
I'll never be
Content from Thee apart.

H. McD.

"If any man be in Christ, [it is] new creation," says the apostle (2 Cor. 5:17). That is what "in Christ" means-a new creation. At new birth there is dropped into the soul the seed of divine, eternal life. It is not, as so many think, merely a moral change which is effected, but just as that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Those so born are truly partakers of His nature, and thus not simply adopted but real children of God. Christ is their life, the new Adam of a new creation, but in which He is Creator as well as Head as we have seen. F. W. G.

From "Help and Food" 1886, p. 225.

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

Philemon means "loving, kindhearted," and may well speak to us of a loving heavenly Father. The sinner does not know Him as that. "The trembling sinner feareth that God can ne'er forget."

Onesimus means "profitable;" but how unprofitable he had proven! Just as man, who was created by God for His own glory and praise, turns his back on God and goes away from Him and refuses His love, so Onesimus leaves his loving, kindhearted master and goes to Rome. He sinks, as we may gather from the letter of Paul, to the lowest depths, until finally he reaches a Roman prison; and if he were to be known as a runaway slave, his master could demand his punishment by death. The sinner away from God is "condemned already," and only awaiting the day of judgment to have the sentence executed.

But in his extremity Onesimus finds one to help, one who has laid aside his high-sounding, kingly name of Saul, and taken the humble name of Paul, meaning "little,"-one who was a prisoner, and begets a son in his bonds.

How like the blessed Lord Jesus, "who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself," and who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and through that death begets many sons, and brings them to glory.

Verse 11-"Was unprofitable."A sinner's picture. " There is none righteous; no, not one. There __ none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none ; that doeth good; no, not one."

Verse 12-"Receive him;" and verse 17 emphasizes this:"receive him as myself." Accepted in the Beloved! accepted in all the fulness of what Christ is to God!-in the person of the Son as near as He, as dear as He! accepted in all the value of the holy, spotless, peerless, undefiled One!

Can we doubt, or tremble, or fear, when such is the case !

Ah, no! there is perfect peace when we know that the measure of our acceptance by God is His Son.

Like David showing kindness to a helpless Mephibosheth for the sake of a beloved Jonathan, so God shows His kindness and love to a guilty, hell-deserving sinner for the sake of His beloved Son.

Verse 15-"Receive him forever." When we are accepted in the Beloved and received by God, we have everlasting life-life lasting forever. Not a temporal thing, not a transitory possession, but a new life, eternal in the heavens. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." " I give unto them eternal life." "Of all which the Father hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day." "That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." God receives the sinner forever, who comes in the name of Jesus Christ, and no one can pluck us out of the Father's hand. Blessed place! blessed portion!
Verse 16-"Not now as a servant, but above a servant." We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba, Father." How much more blessed it is to be a child of God than a servant! We are no more servants, but sons. Not under the bondage of law, but free to serve God in all the gladness and joy of sons. Would not Onesimus serve his master in the Lord with a service far beyond that which he had rendered him in the old days ? Will not a child of God who knows his sins forgiven serve, not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the Spirit ? "The love of Christ constraining us " is a far greater incentive to true service than the bondage of "This do, and thou shalt live."

And then-

Verses 17, 18, 19-Paul provides for the payment of all Onesimus' debt. "One full payment cleareth His memory of all debt." "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." He offered one sacrifice for sins and then sat down forever.

All that Satan ever has urged, or can urge, against us has been purged and cleansed-all wiped out-by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which He shed on Calvary, in His infinite sacrifice. My soul, take comfort in this-that thou canst no more be lost, when resting in Christ, than He could be! It is not rashness that gives the soul this confidence; it is simple faith in the word of God.

And when Onesimus is fully established in the household of faith, he has something to look forward to.

Verse 22-"Prepare me a lodging:… I shall be given unto you." All may not be sunshine in the place to which the servant is sent. There may be misunderstandings with fellow-servants. There may be disappointment and sorrow, but he has one thing ' to look forward to-the coming of the One to whom he owes all.

And so have we. In the world we shall have tribulation, but He to whom we owe all is coming for us. "I will come again and receive you unto Myself." May God rest our hearts in this precious promise, for His name's sake! F. L. F.

We will resume our reading of the book of Psalms during the present month. Our portion will be psalms 83:-106:These form the third and fourth books of the entire collection, answering much as the two previous do to the corresponding books in the Pentateuch. Thus, psalms Ixxiii.-89:would answer to Leviticus, and it is significant that the authorship of many of these is Levitical. Thus, Asaph wrote psalms Ixxiii.-83:; and psalms Ixxxiv., 85:, 87:and 88:were written for the sons of Korah, and the concluding one by Ethan the Ezrahite. Only one psalm in this third book has the name of David mentioned with it.

Appropriately with this Levitical authorship, the general theme of the book relates to the sanctuary, the holiness of God, the inheritance of His people, and His corresponding ways with them.

The first ten psalms present the great truths of God's holiness manifested in grace. Psalm Ixxiii. teaches the great lesson of the sanctuary, the only place where the problem can be solved why the wicked are prosperous and the righteous suffer.

Psalm 74:brings in the enemy who has intruded into the sanctuary. The prayer is an earnest plea to God to bestir Himself for the people's need, yea, to plead His own cause.

Psalm 75:passes out into the light. God's name is near. His wondrous works declare this. It is Christ alone who can manifest the excellence of this name.

Psalm 76:magnifies the glory of God in His sanctuary, and His rebuke and judgment upon the ungodly. The wrath of man is restrained, or else turned into praise.

Psalm 77:dwells upon God's ways in the sea, in the midst of all the confusion, and in the sanctuary, where everything is made plain.

Psalm 78:is one of the didactic psalms, gleaning lessons from God's deliverance of His people. It is in many respects similar to the 105th and 106th psalms. The faithfulness of God is fittingly seen in establishing His name and His sanctuary in mount Zion.

Again, in psalm 79:we have the intrusion of the enemy, while psalm 80:is another prayer for reviving, beautifully bringing out, in crescendo order, the glories of God's name.

Psalm 81:is God's voice speaking in peace and blessing to His people-a most beautiful psalm. In psalm 82:we see the Judge, the Judge of judges; while 83:shows a climax when evil reaches its height, and God overthrows it. This will be fulfilled in the last days.

The second subdivision, from psalms Ixxxiv.-89:, presents the same theme of divine holiness, but now more closely connected with the person of Christ than the previous ones.

Psalm 84:is familiar, and most beautiful. God's tabernacles are before the soul, the desire which leads on His people through all the intervening trials until they shall appear before Him. He is a sun and shield, and will give grace and glory.
Psalm 85:celebrates the salvation of God for His people.

In psalm 86:we have the loyal One who can, in His fulness, be none other than Christ, pouring out His soul in dependence upon God. Beautifully associated with this is psalm 87:, where the full result of deliverance is celebrated. Not only is " this Man " born there, but "this and that man."

Psalm 38:cannot but remind us of the sufferings of our blessed Lord, though doubtless the sufferings of His people are also suggested.

In psalm 89:we have the deliverance flowing, surely, from the sufferings of Christ, and which will succeed the afflictions of His people. God has laid help upon One that is mighty. This closes the third book.

Book four (psalms 90:-106:) presents quite a different theme. Answering to the book of Numbers, what is prominent here is the wilderness experience of God's people, and final blessing brought into the earth through Christ. The book most appropriately opens (psalm 90:) with the prayer of the great wilderness-hero, Moses, who spent forty years of his own life, and forty years more as companion of the people, in their testing, in the wilderness. The general thought of psalms 90:-93:is the testimony as to creation, the vanity of man, the blessedness of confidence in God exemplified in Christ, and the joyful celebration of God's praise.

Psalm 90:, as we have said, is by Moses. It celebrates the vanity, feebleness and brevity of human life, suggestively reminding us of the fall and our association with the first man.

Psalm 91:is an entirely different atmosphere. Here we have the second Man, who is preserved in all His ways because He trusts in the Lord. It requires little skill to see here the perfect Man of psalm 16:; and, thank God, it is our privilege to walk in His steps, by His grace.

Psalm 92:then will follow. Sweet praises of God will be declared as His sabbath rest is entered into. The ten-stringed instrument will be. brought into full use, every capacity of our once ruined nature engaged in praising Him.

Psalm 93:peacefully closes this portion, looking forward really to the close of the whole book. Jehovah reigns, His majesty and glory are established over the earth, which, therefore, is established in security. Let the floods lift their voices; let the waves dash upon the shore:they can but break themselves against the mighty Rock where His throne is established, and that Rock is Christ.

The second portion of this book (psalms 94:-100:) celebrates the blessing that is coming upon the earth, but which must be introduced by judgments; for it is only when the judgments of the Lord are abroad in the earth that the inhabitants will learn righteousness.

Psalm 94:is a celebration of what we have already spoken of, the absolute need for vengeance upon His adversaries, if God is to bless His people. Thus faith will put itself upon the side of God, and plead for that judgment which is His only way of purging the earth of evil that will not judge itself. How solemn is the thought that this time is steadily drawing nearer when the proud in heart must bow to His righteousness whose grace they now refuse!
Psalm 95:opens with the joyous notes of praise to the great God and King-surely Christ-who holds in His hands the deep places of earth and sea, as well as the high mountains. Let us bow ourselves before Him our Maker, and no longer harden our hearts as our forefathers did in the wilderness, and were thus shut out from entering into rest. Now, the rest so near, let us bow to Him who brings it in.

Psalm 96:continues this praise. A new song is sung, in which all the earth can join. Jehovah's name is blessed, and made known to the ends of the earth. When this is done, heaven will rejoice with the earth, and roaring sea and trees of the wood will unite their voices in praises to Him who comes, though as Judge, still to bring peace and blessing.

Psalm 97:is similar. Fire and judgment have prepared the way for the Lord. Zion is at peace, and can rejoice in Him who is thus exalted.

Psalm 98:celebrates the wondrous acts of the Lord, quite similar to psalm 96:

In psalm 99:the King is seen triumphant over all evil. A glance backward is taken at His faithful servants, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, who are associated with the remnant of the latter day in praising the holy name of Him who triumphs over all evil.

Lastly, psalm 100:, brief as it is, is an outburst of praise-"The Lord is good, His mercy endureth forever, and His faithfulness from generation to generation."

The closing portion of this book (psalms 101:-106:) enters more minutely into the dwelling of God with His people, and therefore manifests, if in a less exalted way perhaps more completely even, the full results of what salvation from sin means.

In psalm 101:we see in type Christ, the true King, purging His kingdom of all that offends, and them that do iniquity; but we are not to look upon Him alone in His Kingly authority. We know that His path to that throne of glory lay through the anguish of Gethsemane and the darkness of the cross. This is magnificently brought out in psalm 102:, where we have the sorrows of our holy Lord at the hands of God, the witness of His perfect manhood and His extreme sufferings; and yet in this very psalm Jehovah addresses Him as the everlasting God, whose years shall never fail. Nowhere in all the pages of inspiration is there a more amazing and magnificent declaration of the absolute humanity and lowliness of our adorable Lord, coupled with His eternal Godhead. Little wonder it is that the praise of His people should now flow forth unhinderedly in celebrating Jehovah's name in psalm 103:Let us add from our hearts ever our amen:" Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

The praise now widens, and in psalm 104:all God's works are made to tell His ways of goodness and mercy. This is the great nature-psalm. Well would it be for us did we learn more of the perfection of the divine ways in the works of His hands! We would find them but an echo of that grace which has been made known to us in the work of His heart.

The book closes with the two companion psalms (105:and 106:). Psalm 105:is a review of God's ways with His people from a divine standpoint. Their course is traced, but by His various acts of mercy, from Egypt all through the land. On the other hand, psalm 106:goes over the same ground, but now dwells upon the failures of His people at the various stages. What a comfort it is to know that if at the judgment-seat of Christ there is a faithful review of our history, in which all our own evil and shortcomings are brought out, there will be, parallel with it, the record of the unfailing grace and faithfulness which triumphed over all our evil, and brought us safely through to sing His praises !

A brief word must suffice for the first epistle to the Thessalonians. As is known, it is perhaps the first of Paul's fourteen epistles, written a few weeks after having left the beloved saints at Thessalonica, who manifested such wondrous energy from the very outset of their course. How significant it is that in this earliest epistle the prominent theme throughout should be the coming of our Lord! This is seen in the four divisions of the epistle.

In chapter one the conversion of the Thessalonians is described as turning to God from idols, that they might wait for His Son from heaven (ver. 10).

Division two, chapters 2:-4:12. The apostle here dwells upon his service amongst them, recalling his faithfulness and unworldliness while there, dwelling also upon the persecution which the saints had suffered at the hands of the enemy, and his earnest desire that they might stand in the midst of this persecution. He therefore exhorts them to faithfulness and godliness and love. Once and again does he speak of the bright hope of the Lord's coming. He desires that they may be established. They are his crown and boasting at the coming of Christ. He desires that they be established until that coming, with all His saints.

The third division (chapters 4:13-7:) is exclusively devoted to the coming of the Lord in its twofold aspect, in relation to His saints (chapter 4:13-18) and to the world (chapter 5:i-n).

The last division (chapter 5:12-28) is devoted to practical exhortations as to their walk, which is to correspond with the blessed hope which had been unfolded in the previous chapters. Love, holiness, diligence, faithfulness, will ever mark a true waiting for the coming of our Lord.

O Lord, Thy gracious hand
In love, but heaviness,
Hath brought me once again
Submissively, (through pain
And grief) to lowliness,
To see how little like I am
To Christ, my Lord, Thy chosen Lamb.

I may not lift mine eyes
To Thee, my God, and say
I'm worthy of one thing
Thy grace to me doth bring.
Thy debtor every day
Yet, still, I plead Thine own sweet word,
Which casts me on Thy bounty, Lord.

O Christ, my heart's resource,
In whom all fulness is-
My life, my light, my joy,
My peace without alloy,
My everlasting bliss:
My longing soul desires to be
For Thee, my God, and only Thee.

How could this beggared world
Have anything to give?
The things my hands would hold
Might cost me pain untold;
My joy must be in Thee.
And so, I give them back to Thee
To keep and sanctify for me.

I know Thou wilt not choose
The heart, to be for Thee,
Overfilled with earthly things.
No heart like this e'er sings
The heavenly melody
Thou'lt ever stoop to hear
From those who thus draw near.

Nor wilt Thou choose, my God,
The hands to work for Thee
Overfilled with earthly fruits;
Whose e'er descending roots
Are drawing constantly,
Their sustenance, (of nothing worth,)
From out a ruined cursed earth.

Thou canst not satisfy,
With Thy sweet whisperings,
Th" unconsecrated ear
That seeks, and loves to hear
The fruits of fleshly things-
Which waste away the precious days,
And rob Thee of Thy rightful praise.

Thou'lt follow, but not walk
In close companionship
With those whose wayward feet
Have chosen paths unmeet,
Where they must surely slip.
What joy untold they, wilful, lose,
Who thus His blessed paths refuse.

Then mold this vessel frail,
With Thine unerring hand.
I dare not undertake-
Lest I might rudely break
Some tender chord or band:
Thou'lt shape it for eternity,
And none may do this work but Thee.

Thus, fashioned Lord by Thee,
I may not choose the way
Thou'lt seek my heart to prune,
Or set my harp in tune
For some sweet melody,
Or wake the new, old song again,
My first love's rapturous refrain.

H. McD.

Those words, "no tears," will look so sweet
To eyes grown dim from weeping;
Those words,"no death," will come so glad
To bodies graveward creeping.
" No sorrow " makes a thrill in hearts
Long dead to other thrilling;
" No crying" sounds so soft to ears
Earth's moan have long been filling.

"No night there" seems so bright to those
Whose sun sank back at dawning;
" No sea" sounds calm to those who sail
Long tempest tossed and mourning.
" No pain " drops blessed on aching hearts,
Which fear their deepest dreading;
" That rest" falls sweet on weary feet
Unchosen pathways treading.

(Selected.)

A Study in John's Epistles.

John was called "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and perhaps nowhere in the entire Scriptures do we find a more beautiful embodiment of God's truth on the precious theme of love, than in his writings. John 3:16, in relation to the world, and i John 3:i and 16, toward the saints, are illustrations of this.

John has, then, in a certain sense, become a synonym for affection; but, as is often the case in the things of God, this affection has been considered human rather than divine. We must not forget that the two sons of Zebedee were called Boanerges (sons of thunder) by our Lord Himself, which would not suggest anything weakly amiable. As a matter of fact, the apostle of love sets forth its divine, and not its human, characteristics.

Paul is the apostle of righteousness. This theme permeates many of his epistles, and yet when it comes to a subject like the one we are to consider, it is to John's writings, and not Paul's, that we would turn.

The person of the Son of God is distinctively the theme both of his Gospel and the Epistles. Everything is measured in relation to this, as the value is put upon everything in comparison with this.

Let us, then, glean from the Epistles what teaching we can upon our subject.

I. THE TRUE FELLOWSHIP.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us:and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (i Jno. 1:1-3).

The eternal life which was with the Father, but which was manifested here, seen and handled as the Word of life, is the basis of all fellowship. It is the knowledge of Him and the Father who hath sent Him, that characterizes eternal life at the present, a life more abundant, as our Lord tells us, because of the divine fulness of the Father and the Son now made known.

Knowing the Son and enjoying holy fellowship with Him and the Father, it is the yearning desire of the apostle to introduce others into this same blessed fellowship and that which characterizes it, light and love, both of which God is. Coming into the light of His holy presence, the precious blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, and on the basis of a known redemption we enjoy fellowship with the Father and His Son. We are in the sanctuary, partakers of the life which finds its divine expression in the blessed Son of God Himself. Henceforth, everything must be tested by this fellowship. Darkness is seen to be that, in contrast with the light of God's
presence. Evil is judged, whether moral or doctrinal, by the same standard. Truth is that which gives the knowledge of this blessed Person; and error, everything that is not according to it.

2. FALSE TEACHERS.

"Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us because they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be manifest that they were not all of us." "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also " (i Jno. 2:18, 19, 22, 23).

It will be noticed that it is the little children, not the young men or the fathers, who are warned as to false teachers, showing that the plea, which is often made, that babes in Christ are not to be held accountable for failure to recognize false teachers, is a mistake. It will be noticed also, that these teachers have come in anticipative fulfilment of the prediction of Antichrist. While that wicked one will not be personally developed until the rapture of the Church and the departure of the Holy Spirit with it, yet even now there are many antichrists; that is, embodiments of the mystery of lawlessness which is even now at work. The apostle marks out that which constitutes an antichrist. It is one who denies the Father and the Son; and lest there should be any mistake as to this, he specifies that it is one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, with all that this implies,-His coming in the flesh, His spotlessness, His atoning death, His resurrection, His present place in glory, and future return.

The apostle further specifies that the denial of the Son (whether as the eternal Son of God before all ages, or the Son of God in time, manifested as such "by the Spirit of holiness and resurrection of the dead") means also the denial of the Father. To acknowledge the Son is the only way to have the Father. Thus, it is impossible to separate the two blessed persons of Deity.

How all this strikes at the very root, we need hardly say. There is scarcely a heresy in the past or present (in fact, such a thing would be well nigh impossible) that is not based upon the denial of one or the other of the characteristics which go to make up the Christ of God. A mention of names would hardly make this thought plainer. Wherever the deity or the humanity of the Son of God is denied, His sinlessness, His death, His atoning work, the doom of the ungodly if they reject His atonement, the lost condition of man-we have that character of error which the apostle says marks an antichrist. How many of the systems of the day, unlike the errors of a century ago based largely on infidel reasoning, claim for themselves the authority of the Scriptures ! Therefore it requires that "unction from the Holy One" spoken of in this immediate connection, to discern that which is '' the Spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." We must also notice that this does not refer to what might be called infidelity, which makes no profession of Christianity; but to that which, while bearing the name of Christ, is not true to Him. It refers, thus, to professed Christianity.

3. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE.

"Whosoever abideth in Him, sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous." " In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death " (i John 3:6, 7, 10, n, 14).

Here is no uncertain sound. The apostle of love has no difficulty in calling things by their right names. He warns against the deception of mere profession. It is the one that doeth righteousness that is righteous. The one who lives in sin is of the devil and partaker of his nature. The one who is born of God is manifested by not sinning. Here the lines are so clear, that, at times, persons have been almost stumbled at what might be called their extreme statements. When we bear in mind that the apostle, dwelling in the atmosphere of the sanctuary where all is light and love, is comparing all things with the infallible standard of Christ and His perfection, we need not be surprised that no mention is made of what is perfectly scriptural in its place,-the two natures in the believer, wandering from God, loss of communion, the dishonoring Him by any of His own. Alas, Scripture, as well as experience, shows us the possibility of these things in a true child of God, but the apostle is not speaking of blemishes upon Christian character, but its full, normal fruits.

It is in this connection that he goes on to speak of love as well as light. One born of God must love his brother, who is also born of God. It is impossible not to do so. Anything else is to be like Cain. To hate one's brother is to be a murderer, and "no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." How uncompromising, how well nigh harsh are these statements from the apostle of love ! How it shows us that there was no sentimentality in that love ! All was controlled by the presence of God.

4.THE TEST OF FALSE TEACHERS.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:Every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ come in the flesh is of God:and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus Christ come in the flesh is not of God:and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." "We are of God:he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error " (i Jno. 4:1-3, 6).

Again the faithfulness of divine love is seen in warning beloved saints not to be imposed upon by those who profess to be prophets of God; "spirits," as they are called here, connecting them with the
Satanic power that energizes them. Every spirit is not to be believed. The test is, Is Christ come in the flesh, confessed ? As we have already seen, this does not mean the mere fact of incarnation, though it includes that; but covers all that relates to the person and work of our Lord. Here we have a touchstone which will detect the false and the true – "What think ye of Christ ? " by which one stands or falls. If He is not fully confessed, as we have already been seeing, we are in the presence of a spirit of antichrist. The apostle specifies further in this connection:" We are of God." Doubtless, the apostles themselves are here first of all referred to. " He that is of God heareth us," that is, hears the revelation given by the Holy Ghost through the apostles. "He that is not of God heareth not us." Here, then, we have the test of truth and error. Let it be noticed that we are bound to try the spirits. So far from it being true that we are to take every man upon his profession, as is frequently said, we are bound to do the very opposite. It is sometimes said we should receive all against whom we know nothing. As a matter of fact, we should receive none of whom we do not know positively that they bring the full doctrine of Christ.

'' Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars" is said with approval of Ephesus :and the apostle Paul goes further yet in the epistle to the Galatians, where he says:'' Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that ye have heard, let him be accursed." Here, then, we have found that the apostle of love has not closed his eyes to the condition of evil all about him. On the contrary, his knowledge of Jesus Christ come in the flesh has enabled him to test everything which is not according to this, and to be exceedingly jealous for the priceless possession entrusted to him and to us. Everything that is not this, is not of God. We shall see in a little while what is to be done with it.

(Concluded in next number.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

" He feedeth among the lilies." – Cant. 2:16. " Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? " Matt. 9:11.

All around Him and beside Him,
Sinners sat at meat –
Sinful men and sinful women –
Bread of heaven they eat.

There, for Him who hath no money,
Wine and milk He pours
From the blessed fields of heaven,
God's exhaustless stores.

So they drank, the weary, thirsty,
That unfailing tide;
And forever and forever
They are satisfied.

He on heavenly food was feeding,
Meat to them unknown,
Blessed will of God who sent Him,
Needing that alone;

Sent to seek the lost and guilty,
Outcasts and despised,
Gems the hand of God would gather
For the crown of Christ.

So He fed amongst His lilies,
Saw them fair and white,
In the garden God had planted
For His own delight.

Only sinful men and women
Men could see and scorn ;
He beheld them crowned with glory
Of the heavenly morn –

Saw them with their palms of triumph,
With their harps of gold ;
Yet the same who sat around Him
In the days of old.

Mrs. Frances Bevan.

(2 Tim., Chaps. 1:, 2:, 3:)

There are just one or two thoughts on my mind, I beloved brethren, in connection with this scripture, that I would like to give expression to for our mutual profit. It is very blessed, surely, to have brought before us those wonderful blessings that God has given us in Christ. How sweet to know that we have died with Christ:not only that He died for us, blessed as that is, but that we have died with Him-that we are risen with Him-and that we are seated in Him in the heavenlies, as the epistle to the Ephesians teaches us! All that is surely very blessed. But then, there other lines of truth as well as those, and it behooves us to be prepared to look at and take in any truth that God by His Spirit may bring before us.

The tendency of the day is to set aside certain truths-to let them drop out of our ministry-out of our conversation; in fact, to drop them altogether, as being subjects on which we shall never all agree, and which are therefore best left alone; and this is just the very thing Satan desires and aims at. It is admitted they are truths taught in the Word, but" it is said, "you know it would not be wise to take up church truth, or the question of separation, as Christians may be present who do not agree with us on those subjects, and it would perhaps be wiser to let them alone and speak of what we are all agreed upon."

Beloved brethren, are we the servants of God, or men? "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable;" and whatever the Holy Ghost leads to must be for profit to some one, if not to all, and must not be withheld to please either the devil or worldly-minded saints who think more of being friendly with Christians than they do of the glory of God. Never was there a time when it was more needful for us to understand and maintain the truth of God "as good soldiers of Jesus Christ" than at the present-to understand our orders and obey them at all cost, and thus stand for God in an evil day, and in spite of the increasing difficulties.

We only need to read these verses in z Tim. 3:, and look around, to see that we are living in the last days, and that the perilous times have come. The characteristics of those times are seen full blown on every hand. It is really a very solemn thing to think that the very same things which characterized the heathen world as set forth in Rom. 1:29-31, are here set forth as characterizing the so-called Christian world, and at the close of its history on earth, with this addition:" Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; " and the Spirit of God adds, " From such turn away."

Now, beloved brethren, are we doing that ? Do we turn away from such, and accept the path of separation from evil as being the path where we can expect God to walk with us ? It is He who says,
"From such turn away." How often we find that when the Word begins to press on our conscience, and narrow up our path by its insistence on separation, we then want to set it aside! Have we not heard it said, "We will leave that question, and talk about something we shall agree about" ? But is not separation a truth taught in the Word ? Are we not to agree about all God's word ? or is it just certain parts, that suit ourselves, and we can let all the rest go ? We need to beware of all these and such like efforts of Satan to hinder our progress in the things of God.
If we look at this second epistle to Timothy I think we shall see the marks of failure and declension, and now they come in and work. But first of all we see how wonderfully God has blest us in saving us and calling us with a holy calling, etc., as chapter one shows us. He has also given us the Holy Ghost to dwell in us, as well as with us, in answer to the Lord's prayer in John 14:16-17. We must not forget there are these two aspects of the Spirit's presence; nor must we confound them. All the children of God have the Spirit dwelling in them; and that brings in the thought of union. We are united to Christ as the head of the body, and we are united to each other as members of the body, as i Cor. 12:shows us. Then there is the other thought, " Know ye not that the Spirit of God dwelleth among you ?" (i Cor. 3:16-New Version); and "builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 2:22). Here, then, we have a set of totally distinct ideas from the other. Here we have the Spirit as controlling in the house of God-leading, guiding, directing, helping-the power for worship, prayer, or discipline; and thus by the ministry of the Word teaching us "how to behave ourselves in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (i Tim. 3:).

We need to look at God's truth as one blessed, harmonious whole, and not pit one bit against another. It is one blessed whole, and all connected with Christ and His glory. It is not the gospel as against the Church, or the Church as against the gospel, but one blessed whole; and no part can be dispensed with- all is needful. Were there no gospel to preach to sinners, there could be no Church to be loved by Christ and presented to Himself. It is by the gospel that sinners become saints, and find their place in the Church and outside the world. A holy place surely, but a happy place when taken up in faith and pursued in faith. In walking in that path we find we have to turn away from many true children of God, because of their associations, and because the Word commands our consciences, and says, "From such turn away;" while at the same time it exhorts us to " follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." We love all the Lord's people nevertheless, though at such times it is very difficult to get them to believe it. But the Word says, '' He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him " (i John 2:8).

Then, if we think of the apostle's own path as set forth in this epistle, what a path of separation and isolation it was! What pain it must have given him to have to write, "All they that are in Asia be turned away from me "! and he then names two men who seemed to be leaders in that path of declension, Phygellus and Hermogenes. They found the path too narrow for them. They had no faith to go on in it. They were not whole-hearted for Christ, like Paul, and they turned away and left Paul to go on alone -yet not alone.

It is very striking that, in this epistle, we have in each of the first three chapters two men mentioned. They seem to be leaders, and characterize the decline and its progress. In chapter one, as I have noted, they have turned away from Paul, not necessarily from Christ; but they could not go on any longer with the testimony. This is the first outward step in declension; for surely the heart must have been wrong before such a step was taken. It is the evil servant who first says in his heart, "My lord delayeth his coming," and then begins to show his state' by his public acts; and he "begins to eat and drink with the drunken," etc. Beloved brethren, we need to keep our hearts with all diligence. The moment true affection for Christ begins to wane, we are then open to receive any suggestion of Satan, and are soon manifested in our true state:we cannot long hide it.
Then, again, it will ever be found that when once our hearts get away from God the testimony of the Lord soon becomes irksome and the path too narrow, and we want to widen out and be more liberal-minded, and not so exclusive, especially towards nice Christians whom we meet and who are not with us (and perhaps do not want to be); and thus we put our foot into that delusive current, and are ignorant of the power that causes its flow; and sometimes Christians in such circumstances only wake up when they find themselves wholly carried away. There is a power behind these seductive thoughts that even Christians do not reckon on-an awful power; and when once we get off our feet into it, the moral senses become blunted, the vision becomes dimmed, and the spiritual judgment becomes wholly perverted, while honestly thinking we are still all right and doing right.

The next thing we find in the steps of declension as set forth in this epistle is, bad doctrine (chapter two). Now, you will often find that when saints do turn away from the testimony of the Lord, they fall into bad doctrine. They have no safeguard, for they have given up faith and a good conscience. In this chapter we have other two men brought before us-" Hymeneus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure." How dreadful to think that men could be so foolish and so deceived as to believe and teach such a stupid doctrine! Is it not another proof of the blinding influence of Satan ?

Then, again, is it not a solemn thing for us to know that none of us can take a false step without affecting some one else ? These leaders " overthrew the faith of some." We all know that once a backslidden saint gets hold of false doctrine, he is most anxious to propagate it-much more so than he was the truth, and he is delighted to make proselytes to his new faith. We might well ask, Does it end there ? Alas, no; and I turn you just for a moment to the other and further step in this decline. In chapter three we have other two names mentioned-representative men. It is true they are men of a past age; but they are representative men none the less-Jannes and Jambres. They withstood Moses. They were open opposers of the truth of the living God.

Beloved brethren, these things may well solemnize us as we look at them; they are set forth as beacons to warn us. (i) Turning away from the testimony of the Lord; (2) Falling in to false doctrine; (3) Open and downright opposition to the truth. Have some of us not seen it in our own short histories ? Have we not seen men who went on well for a time, then they got cold, and began to complain, first, of the inconsistencies of their brethren (never of themselves); then of the narrowness of the path; then they turned away from it-in some cases becoming more energetic in their new path than ever they were in the true one. Then they embraced false doctrine, and at last became bitter enemies and opponents of the truth. And is it not always the case that those who have most light, when once they are turned aside, are the most bitter against those who let that light shine ? Does it not fulfill that word, "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! "

What then remains for us ? What is the great preservative against this awful state we have been looking at ? Things will not get better. There will be no wholesale recovery. Nay, rather, "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." But God remains, and His Spirit and Word remain. " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Have we found our path from that Word ? Then let us "continue in the things which we have learned, knowing of whom we have learned them." Let there be increased dependence on God and subjection and obedience to His Word, and then, and only then, shall we be preserved from the snares of the enemy, and from that awful declension which ends so disastrously. May the Lord Himself enable us to take warning from these beacons, and encouragement from the fact that He is with us, and will help us, if we desire to do His will. W. E.

New Zealand.

When the Moravian missionaries went to Greenland, in 1733, they thought that the most rational way of instructing the heathen was to speak first of the existence and perfections of God, and to enforce obedience to the divine law; and they hoped by these means gradually to prepare -their minds for the reception of the gospel. But this proved wholly ineffectual. For five years they labored in this style, and could scarcely obtain a patient hearing from the savages. But circumstances, unexpected and uncontrived by themselves, led to an entire change of procedure.

In the beginning of June, 1738, Bro. Beck, one of the missionaries, was copying a translation of a portion of the Gospels. He read a few sentences to the heathen; and after some conversation with them, he gave them an account of the creation of the world, the fall of man, and his salvation by Christ. In speaking of the redemption of man, he enlarged with more than usual energy on the sufferings and death of our Saviour, and exhorted his hearers seriously to consider the vast expense at which Jesus had ransomed the souls of His people. He then read to them out of the New Testament the history of our Saviour's agony in the garden. Upon this, the Lord opened the heart of one of the company whose name was Kayarnak, who, stepping to the table, in an earnest manner exclaimed,"How was that? tell me that once more; for I too desire to be saved." These words, which were such as had never before been uttered by a Greenlander, penetrated the soul of Bro. Beck, who, with great emotion, gave them a fuller account of the life and death of our Saviour, and the scheme of salvation through Him. Some of the pagans laid their hands on their mouth (which is their usual custom when struck with amazement).On Kayarnak an impression was made that was not transient, but had taken deep root in his heart. By means of his conversation his family, or those who lived in the same tent with him, were brought under conviction; and before the end of the month three large families came with all their property and pitched their tents near the dwelling of the missionaries, in order, as they said, to hear the joyful news of man's redemption. Kayarnak became eminently serviceable to the mission as a teacher of his countrymen, and adorned his Christian profession until his death. The missionaries now understood the divine mode of reaching and changing the heart of savage or of civilized. They began to preach at once Christ, and Him crucified. And no sooner did they declare to the Greenlanders "the word of reconciliation" in its native simplicity than they beheld its converting and saving power. This reached the hearts of their audience, and produced the most astonishing effects. It opened a way to their consciences, and illuminated their understandings. They remained no longer the stupid and brutish creatures they had once been:they felt they were sinners, and trembled at their danger:they rejoiced in the Saviour, and were rendered capable of sublimer pleasures than those arising from plenty of seals, and the low gratification of sensual appetites. A sure foundation being thus laid in the knowledge of a crucified Redeemer, the missionaries soon found that this supplied their young converts with a powerful motive to the abhorrence of sin and the performance of every moral duty towards God and their neighbor. It taught them to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; animated them with the glorious hope of life and immortality; and gave them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God as the Creator and Saviour of men. The missionaries themselves derived benefit from this. The doctrines of the cross of Christ warmed and enlivened their own souls in so powerful a manner that they could address the heathen with uncommon liberty and fervor, and were often astonished at each other's power of utterance.

And is this to be wondered at ? Is it not that which the apostle Paul taught of old:"The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:but we preach Christ crucified ; unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (i Cor. 1:22-24) ? The Christian ministry is one of "reconciliation," and its great theme is "that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." It was this "word of reconciliation" that the apostles addressed to the hearts and consciences of men to bring them back to God. "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us:we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him " (2 Cor. 5:19-21). The death of Christ in man's stead is the only basis of reconciliation between the offended God and the offending creature; the announcement of it is the only means by which the heart of the offender can be subdued and won back to loyalty; and the belief of it the only means by which his conscience can be freed from the burden of guilt.

Selected.

The butterfly has long been recognized as a type I of resurrection, though there is no statement of it in the Word. It is intimated that "there are other parables in nature than those explained, and that we are expected to know them. Mark 4:13; i Cor 11:14; Psa. 19:i; i Cor. 14:10; Psa. 3:2; Job 12:7-9; Prov. 6:6; Matt. 13:; Prov. 25:2.

The family Lepidoptera (scale wings) is the most conspicuous of a number of insects which go through a complete transformation in three stages. Those which fly by day and have knobbed antennae are called butterflies. The body is small compared with the size of wing, allowing the motion of the wings to be slow, and the insect often floats without any motion, thus displaying the brilliant colors to advantage.

Moths generally fly at night, evening, or morning, and have heavier bodies in proportion to size of wing. Hence the wing motion must be more rapid, sometimes like a humming bird, and the beauty is not seen. They generally hide by day, so the colors are sober, or match their hiding places in order to protect them from enemies; the antennae are never knobbed but clubbed, feathery, or thread-like. Butterflies as a rule are handsomer, and the finest varieties are found in the tropics.

The parent, with remarkable intelligence, lays the eggs on or near the leaves which are to be their future food, and leaves them to take care of themselves. After a number of moultings the pupa stops feeding. Then some varieties burrow in the earth, where they pass the pupa stage; others remain above ground, spinning cocoons or hanging to trees or bushes. After a longer or shorter time comes the phenomenon which has attracted so much attention- it breaks the case and comes out a perfect butterfly. All traces of the slow, crawling, despised worm have disappeared, and instead it has a new body, mouth, eyes, and wings-a being fitted for and belonging to the free air of heaven and the sunshine, with a wide range of vision, new powers and tastes, a spiral tongue fitted to sip the nectar from flowers-in short a perfect picture of a life of pleasure in a higher sphere.

This seems plainly a type of resurrection-when the Lord comes. Those transforming below ground (the grave) might suggest the sleeping saints, and those above ground the saints which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (i Cor. 15:51, etc; i Thess. 4:13).

But the analogy does not end with this. In connection with the marvelous change, see i Cor. 15:42, 43; first a caterpillar, afterwards a butterfly. Vers. 47-49, whatever the butterfly was that laid the egg just such will the worm be, every one after its kind. 2 Cor. 5:1-9; i John 3:2; Phil. 3:20, 21. It is the butterfly that gives name to the caterpillar, though the latter may not look like its parent. Just so we are now children of God. This is only our larval stage, we do not look like heavenly beings, or different from the rest of the world, and the world knows us not (i John 3:i).

Who that had never seen or heard of it would believe this phenomenon? If God is left out it is contrary to reason, just as resurrection is. It is strangely interesting to note that Prof. Drummond, a pioneer in the line of things we are looking at, quotes approvingly a passage which distinctly denies resurrection, ("Natural Law in the Spiritual World," p. 236.) What would he have to say as to this type?
As to the change in the nature, who that knows and mourns the evil of his own heart could believe that at "that day" we shall leave all the evil, the flesh, the carnal mind (Rom. 8:1-8) forever behind? Rom. 8:29 and i John 3:2 refer not only to the body but the whole being. See again i Cor. 15:47-49.

"No stain within, no foes or snares around,
No jarring notes shall there discordant sound;
All pure without, all pure within the breast;
No thorns to wound, no toil to mar our rest."

MOTHS.

Butterflies flying by day seem to represent the children of light, Eph. 5:8; i Thess. 5:4-8; John 12:36; Prov. 4:18; and moths flying by night, the children of darkness, Eph. 5:6, 7. There shall be a resurrection of both, John 5:28, 29. Most of them shun the light, John 1:5; 3:19-21; Prov. 4:19; Rom. 1:21; Eph. 4:18; i Pet. 2:9; Jude 13; Col. 1:13, etc.

How striking that we find among the moths most of the remarkable cases of imitation or deception. They imitate the bark of the trees or bushes where they hide, or various leaves in color or shape so closely that it is difficult to recognize them, though looking at them. In the economy of nature this is a marvelous adaptation of means to an end-protection from their enemies displaying God's wisdom, Psa. Cxiv. 10; 19:2; 104:24. Still the spiritual lesson remains:deception is very naturally and suitably associated with darkness, and there should be no association of light with darkness, Gen. 1:4; Eph. 5:ii; 2 Cor. 6:14-18. The above as to deception applies rather to the winged insect than the worm, and there are exceptions. I have no doubt with more knowledge each variety would yield a special lesson.

The worm and the butterfly seem to be living pictures of 2 Cor. 5:1-9. The worm, like this earthly house in which we groan; and the butterfly, our house which is from heaven. Wings in nature seem always to speak in some way of heaven; and if so, what a simple language! In an evil sense, the birds of the air, Matt. 13:4-19; in a good sense, Isa. 6:2; Ezra 1:6; Psa. Ixxxiv. 3; and in Matt. 24:28, indicate that judgment will come from heaven.

The worm has two kinds of legs fitted for slow crawling. The butterfly has six legs, uses them only to crawl out of the cocoon and resting on flowers while feeding, but seldom walks. This only emphasizes the fact that it lives on the wing.

THE EYES.

The contrast between the eyes of the caterpillar and the butterfly is very marked:what is commonly supposed to be a large eye on each side of the head of the worm, is only the rudiment of what will be eyes in the butterfly. The real eyes are very small, twelve in number, and are set six on each side on the under side of the head. Apparently they are of not much use except to see what is close to the mouth. When they travel they raise the whole front of the body and move the head about, apparently indicating poor vision, 2 Cor. 5:7. As we constantly use sight as synonymous with knowledge this illustrates our scanty knowledge in the body of our humiliation in contrast with the future condition, Phil. 3:20, 21; i Cor. 13:9-12. (The butterfly has, in some of the varieties, as many as 30,000 eyes.) As twelve is the number of government, it shows we are now learning God's ways in government. The butterflies' eyes are arranged nearly like a ball to see perfectly in every direction-backward, forward, up, and down. Backward, to the present time; forward, into the future; upward, things in heaven; downward, things in hell; i Cor. 4:4, 5; Luke 12:2, 3.

Each of these 30,000 eyes is six-sided like a honeycomb, and six is the number of victory. This may perhaps indicate the manifestation then of our character now as overcomers, i John 5:4, 5; 4:4; 2:13, 14; Rev. 2:7, etc; 21:7; possibly that the whole scene in heaven is a scene of victory, and the Victor the one who fills the vision-the Center of the worshiping throng.

THE WINGS.

Butterflies are among the most beautiful things in nature. As we have seen, the beauty is mainly in the wings, due to the tiny scales which cover the colorless membrane. If you brush off the scales it can fly as well, so the beauty put upon the wing is not a necessary part of it. These scales are deeply corrugated to get more color in the same space; and moreover the color of each scale is due to the refraction of the light by its thin skin for the same reason that a soap bubble and mother of pearl are bright red, blue, etc.-no coloring matter in it, only the light refracted. If you look at a chromotype picture with a magnifying glass you will find all the delicate shades of color are made up by only three-red, blue, and yellow-arranged in such proportions and in such small spots that the general effect is of delicate shades and neutral tones. Just so the minute parts of each scale are of such thickness that the different pure colors are sent back to the eye in such proportions as result in the beautiful tints we see in the wings. When we consider the wonderful range of color, such an elaborate system to accomplish it becomes marvelous, especially when a simple pigment-like paint, would have answered just as well but for the spiritual truth involved which is this-that all the glory of the saint in heaven will not be due to what we have accumulated here, but that which comes directly and continually from the Sun of Righteousness, the glory of Christ reflected-not that which belongs to us naturally, even as saints.

"The bride eyes not her garments,
But her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory,
But on my King of Grace;
Not on the crown He giveth,
But on His pierced hand:-
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel's Land."

How suitable that the beauty should be on the wings which indicate the heavenly condition, and that the insect should fly by day in the sunshine!

God in all this has not omitted the question of our responsibility. One of the most prominent characteristics of the caterpillar is that it is an enormous feeder. In the economy of nature this fits it for a scourge as suggested in the Scriptures where the word is found. The spiritual lesson is that, if we are really God's caterpillars, we should be large spiritual feeders. The provision is the word of God, John 6:27, etc; Jer. 15:16; the only thing by which we can grow, i Pet. 2:2.

It is the worm that increases in size, not the butterfly. So our capacity for the enjoyment of heaven must be made here and now:there will be no increase of capacity up there. Each one will enjoy it to the full extent of his capacity, but a cup differs from a barrel though both may be full. Thousands of Christians who neglect their Bible here, expecting to make it up in heaven, will be woefully disappointed when it is too late. A neglected Bible and a lean soul go hand in hand.

There are those who hold that at death the soul sleeps in unconsciousness till the resurrection. The pupa answers to this period, and whenever it is handled it shows unmistakable signs of life and consciousness by its squirming. Does not this indicate that God has carefully guarded against the doctrine in question in type, as He surely has in the Word?

Caterpillars are often handsome, but not as compared with butterflies; and often the plainest worms become the handsomest butterflies, Luke 13:30.

One summer evening I stood in a crowd listening to the preaching of the gospel on the street. After a while I noticed an old woman who had gradually found her way to the front and stood, quite unconscious of those around, drinking in the glad tidings of God's grace. She was old, not handsome, and poorly dressed. I watched her with a good deal of interest, and after the speaker stopped I offered her a leaflet and said, " You know the Lord Jesus don't you?" "Oh yes," she said, "He's all I've got. Isn't it good! oh isn't it good!" Her hearty answer left no doubt that she was a child of God. I had a short conversation with her, then we noticed some well-dressed rude young men standing around ridiculing her. As she turned away she said, "You may make fun of a poor old woman, but I've got what you haven't-the Lord Jesus Christ." And I thought as she disappeared through the crowd, "Here is one of God's caterpillars, poor, unknown, and despised now; but wait till the resurrection, then the shriveled, homely old woman will be changed in a moment, with a body like His glorious body; and the old grey shawl and dilapidated straw hat will be exchanged for shining garments beautiful beyond anything on earth."

"We wait, blessed Lord, in Thy beauties to shine,
To see Thee in glory-the glory divine;
With all Thy redeemed, from the earth, from the tomb,
To be to-Thy praise, blessed Saviour at home."

T. M.

"Absolute consecration to Jesus is the strongest bond between human hearts. It strips them of self, and they have but one soul in thought, intent and settled purpose, because they have only one object." J. N. D.

(Gen. 6:) A GOSPEL ADDRESS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is not our desire to indulge in personal criticism, or needlessly to occupy the saints with movements manifestly not according to God's word. But when fundamental truths are openly denied, we are responsible to warn the beloved people of God against error.

The two prominent doctrines of Mr. Dowie have been, apparently, what is known as divine healing, and the establishment of a restored earthly church, which he calls Zion. These two features of his
movement have been presented in every way to at-the attention of the public; the most common method, apparently, being that of abuse of all who _er from these views. The well-nigh blasphemous assumption of the name Elijah, coupled with a re-to the legal system of tithing, an elaborate rit-J and a complete clerical system, show the whole movement to be devoid of those elements of Christian truth known to the simplest babe in Christ who ! has been at all instructed.

It would be easy to remind the child of God that by this system he is robbed of the precious truth of the priesthood of believers; of the blessed assurance that we are not under law, but under grace; of the knowledge of a heavenly position as united by the Holy Ghost to a glorified Christ, while we wait for His coming again. Practically, for occupation with Christ is substituted occupation with this man.

But we may be assured that Satan has even deeper errors hidden beneath this mass of self-glorification and legalism. His object is ever to attack the person or the work of our blessed Lord; and of this we have evidence in the present case.

The following extract from the official organ of this movement, "Leaves of Healing," is taken from Mr. Dowie's address prior to the visit of himself and several thousand to New York:

"The Christ who went to hell to preach to the antediluvians, who in the days of Noah rejected Him, is still the same Christ; and although men make their bed in hell, even there shall His right hand find them.

"We will tell them that the Good Shepherd will seek them throughout the earth, throughout hell, and throughout eternity, until He finds them and brings them back to Himself, and that not one shall perish ; for He said that if He be lifted up He would draw all unto Himself.

"We believe that the Father hath given Him power and authority over all flesh, to give them eternal life; and if not in this life, in the life to come, the Saviour will seek the sinner until he sins no more.

"We will carry the gospel of everlasting hope to the hopeless, sorrow-stricken hearts of those who are taught the infernal lie that God has sent their dear ones into a hopeless hell, from which they can never come.

"May God help us in presenting the gospel, which bids men to know that His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting; that it is above the heavens and deeper than hell; and that some day, somewhere, the Master, the Shepherd, the Saviour, will bring home the last sinner!
" Oh, I thank God for that gospel!(Amen.)

"The gospel which saves to the-uttermost-the gospel which will seek in eternity as well as in time, until the last sinner is saved."

Here we have simple restorationism, the denial of the eternity of punishment for the ungodly-similar to the error propagated by the advocates of " Millennial Dawn." Let our readers then take warning. They have not merely to combat error, abuse and levity in connection with "faith healing," etc., but to turn from this old lie of Satan, "Ye shall not surely die." We need hardly add that the equally deadly error of annihilation is to be guarded against on the other side.

Solemn and awful truth-to bring us on our faces in prayer, and to lead us to plead with men-souls passing out of this world without Christ are hopeless for all eternity. " Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."

(Neh. 3:)

(Continued from page 246.)

Thus we pass on our journey round the walls, and come next to

THE GATE OF THE FOUNTAIN

"The gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah:" (ver. 15).

This is surely in beautiful order. First, the body owned as the Lord's; 2d, humility; 3d, judgment of what is unclean ; and now, the freshness and power of the Holy Spirit in the life ; for of this, clearly, the Gate of the Fountain speaks to us.

It has been asserted by many that until the Christian surrenders himself fully to God, he does not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is a mistake, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. 8:9); "After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13)-sealed, too, "until the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30); "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts" (Gal. 4:6).

But that there is often in the experience of many what looks, indeed, like a "second blessing," no observant believer can deny. What is really meant by it? Simply this:that though the Holy Spirit indwells all children of God in this dispensation, yet in many worldliness and self-pleasing are so characteristic that He who should control us for Christ, and fill us with freshness and power as He ministers Christ to our souls, is become like a fountain choked with stones and rubbish, and thus the life is barren and the testimony powerless. Awakened at last to see the folly of such a life of uselessness to God and reproach to Christ, the saint humbles himself in self-judgment, the filth is put away, and now the once-choked fountain is running over, and the Spirit of God in power takes control of the believer to use him for the Lord's glory, and to make him a vessel of refreshment to others. There is a fountain of living water within, and out of his inward parts flow rivers of living water for others (John 7:38).

" Be ye filled with the Spirit" is a word the importance of which cannot be overestimated. May every child of grace go on to know more of it in power as he walks in obedience to the word of God! For there are two things that in Scripture are practically inseparable:I refer to the Spirit and the Word. A Spirit-filled Christian will be a Word-filled Christian.

THE WATER GATE

"Moreover the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out" (ver. 26).

The Nethinim were servants, and it is meet that they build up the Water Gate, for water is very generally a type of the word o£ God. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way ? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word " (Ps. 119, 9).

"Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the Word," etc. (Eph. 5:25, 26.)

It is remarkable that what in Ephesians is connected with the Spirit, is in Colossians joined to the Word.

Compare Eph. 5:18, 20, with Col. 3:16. Both alike are a source of joy and blessing. And we need not wonder at this similarity in effect, for of the Word it is said, "Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

In chap. 8:of this book (Nehemiah) we see all the people gathered together "as one man into the street that was before the water gate," there to listen to the reading of the word of God. The result is joy and blessing.

O fellow-believer, I beseech you, "meditate on these things, give thyself wholly to them," and thus '' let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," for '' all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). This, then, is the servant's furnishing. He is to study to show himself "approved unto God, a work man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth."

And this means far more than reading books, however helpful, written on the Bible. It necessitates diligent, painstaking study of the sacred Word itself. Other books may help, often, to lead out the mind on certain broad lines, but the Book must supersede them all if there is to be real growth in the knowledge of God.

By this alone will you overcome the wicked one, if "the word of God abideth in you " (i John 2:14).

It is this that fits us to carry out the lesson suggested by

THE HORSE GATE.

"From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house " (ver. 28).

The horse is used with striking frequency in Scripture as a figure of the warrior.

It is so described in Job 39:19-25, where " He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off." In Zech. 1:8, and in Rev. 6:, we read of four symbolic horses, which speak of warrior powers; and when the eternal Word of God, clad in blood-dipped vesture, descends from heaven to the battle preceding the awful supper of the great God, at the beginning of the Millennium, He is seen in vision riding on a white horse, and the saints are seen similarly mounted.

The ass is the symbol of peace; the horse, of war. When the Prince of peace rode into Jerusalem of old, it was on the ass. When He comes to judgment, it is on the horse.

The Horse Gate may speak, then, of soldier-service in a world opposed to God and His truth. It bids us '' earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints " (Jude 3, R. V.).

The truth has been given to us at great cost, not only to the One who is Himself "The Truth;" but for its preservation, and recovery when lost at times, myriads of warrior-saints have suffered and died.

Alas that we, children of such glorious sires, should so lightly value what to them was dearer than life!

We live in a day, not so much of open persecution, as of laxity and latitudinarianism. We are affected much by the spirit of the times. Hence there are few among us who, like that mighty man of old, grasp the sword of the Spirit to defend the truth of God, and fight till the hand cleaves to the very weapon it holds. (See 2 Sam. 23:9, 10.) But God's Eleazars will have rich reward in the day when many will be saved, but so as by fire.

Let me quote here the words of another, which might well be written in letters of living fire:

"Renounce all the policy of the age. Trample upon Saul's armor. Grasp the book of God. Trust the Spirit who wrote its pages. Fight with this weapon only and always. Cease to amuse, and seek to arouse. Shun the clap of a delighted audience, and listen for the sobs of a convicted one. Give up trying to please men who have only the thickness of their ribs between their souls and hell; and warn, and plead, and entreat, as those who feel the waters of eternity creeping upon them."* *Archibald Brown, London.*

And remember, beloved, as you fight, that the day of testimony for God is fast passing away. It will
soon be too late to stand for the truth, and too late to minister Christ to needy souls.

Of this we are reminded as we pass on to

THE EAST GATE.

"After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate" (ver. 29).

The gate of the sunrising points on, does it not, to the morning without clouds, when He shall come down upon the mown grass, and as clear shining after rain ?

For that glad morning weary saints of all ages have waited and longed, straining their eyes to catch the first glimpse of the bright and Morning Star. Wicked servants have said, " My Lord delayeth His coming; " but He "is not slack, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish" (2 Pet. 3:).

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand." It is high time to be aroused from our lethargy, for already the long-expected midnight cry is ringing through the world, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet Him! "
The shout of the Lord, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, will soon resound through the vaulted heavens, announcing the return of the long-absent One, and ushering in the morning. But for many it will be the beginning of the darkest night earth has ever known.

Oh, let us be up and doing while it is called today, that we may not be ashamed before Him at His coming. "Even so, come Lord Jesus."

THE GATE MIPHKAD

is the last in order.'' After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner" (ver. 31).

The word Miphkad, according to the dictionaries, means review, or appointment (for judgment). It was doubtless the gate where controversies were tried, after the Eastern fashion. How solemn is this! For it is when the Lord comes that "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." That will be the gate Miphkad for the believer. There will be the last great review. Every detail of the saint's life will come up for inspection. It will be then that

'' Deeds of merit, as we thought them,
He will show us were but sin;
Little acts we had forgotten,
He will tell us were for Him."

Oh, the unspeakable solemnity of it! All our ease-loving and self-seeking brought to light then! All our pride and vanity manifested! Everything put on its own proper level! All our works inspected by Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire!

In that day how many of us will wish we had been more true and real in our work down here. Things we valued highly on earth, how lightly will they weigh up there!-as the very small dust of the balance ; yea, lighter even than that; altogether lighter than vanity!

And those things we have neglected and foolishly ignored in the days of our pilgrimage, how much more precious than gold will they appear in the light of that judgment-seat!

O beloved, shall we not seek to be now what we shall wish we had been then; do now what we shall wish we had done then; turn now from what we shall wish we had judged then ?

The Lord grant to awaken His people to the reality of these things, and the importance of living for eternity!

And thus we have traveled round the wall from one part to another, and have, I trust, been blessed in doing so. We might close our meditations here, only that God does not end in this way, for in the last verse we come back again, having made the circuit, to that with which we began,-

THE SHEEP GATE.

"And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants."

It is as though God would not have us turn away without reminding us that the Cross with which we began will be before our souls for eternity. After all has been gone into at the judgment-seat, we shall turn from it to the Judge Himself, who is our Redeemer and Bridegroom. We shall see Him as a Lamb that had been slain. At His once pierced feet we shall fall in adoration, and forever sing praises "unto Him that loveth us, and hath washed us from our sins in His own blood."

We shall never get beyond the Cross. It shall be the theme of our praises throughout all the ages to come. Oh, to ever live in the light of it now! It speaks of sins forever put away, and also of a world under judgment for the rejection of God's Son. Our place, then, is outside of it all. "Let us go forth therefore into Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come" (Heb. 13:13, 14).

So shall we be in a position to learn aright the lessons of THE GATES OF JERUSALEM. H. A. I.

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 176.)

We come now to that which manifests the character of the new king in a far more searching-way than was possible in the matter of the children of Ammon, and this for two reasons. The enemy, the Philistines, were nearer at hand and had a longer and more complete hold upon Israel than the enemy on the east. Saul also was to be tested as to his dependence upon God, and patient waiting brings out the inherent unbelief of the heart more quickly than activity. The nature of the Philistine oppression has already been dwelt upon, and therefore there is little need to enlarge upon it again. We need only remark how natural such a state of bondage is where such a man as Saul is reigning. He exemplifies the condition of the people at large, and this is, after all, in a spiritual sense, Philistinism itself. The flesh can be religious. We shall find this as we go on with Saul. Philistinism stands for the religiousness of the flesh, and therefore is fittingly that which oppresses those who are walking according to the flesh. On the other hand, there is an apparent resistance of this enemy, with but little power, however.

After the scene at Gilgal, which we have dwelt upon, there was an apparent season of quiet, as suggested in the first verse of the thirteenth chapter. All Israel have returned to their various homes, save 3,000 men, chosen to be the personal guard about Saul; 2,000 of these are with himself, and 1,000 with Jonathan. We have here the first mention of that beautiful character whose presence relieves the gloom of Saul's history, and the pride and self-righteousness which developed apace. Jonathan was altogether a lovely character, a man of genuine faith and devotedness to God; as unlike his father as it is possible to conceive. It will be a pleasure to trace his course, which is brought into clearer relief by contrast with his father's.

Jonathan is really the forerunner of David, and in a marked way he is merged into the man after God's own heart. We will doubtless have occasion to speak of him in other respects at the proper time, but unquestionably the main lessons of his life are most profitable and attractive. From the very beginning, he takes the initiative against the proud enemy, and smites their garrison in Geba the fortified hill.

Of course this was most audacious on the part of a subject people, as evidently the Israelites had become, even so soon after the deliverance effected by Samuel. The Philistines hear of it, and of course at once begin to move against the people who were even in such little measure as this bestirring themselves. Faith does not fear to strike, no matter how absolute the oppression. Formalism may have laid its deadly hand upon the saints of God so completely that none dare lift his voice in protest; but faith will smite wherever there is an opportunity. It does not coldly calculate the effect, nor count up the numbers the enemy will be able to bring into the field to crush it. It counts rather upon God alone. Here is that which is not according to Him,- it must be denounced-it must be smitten. Such faith was that exhibited on many a page of Church history, where some genuine soul has seen and smitten abuses which had become so intrenched that it seemed an impossibility that God's people could ever be delivered from them,-and what results have followed!

As we "said, it is Jonathan who does this, and not Saul; but he will be at least a second in such work. His own pride, perhaps also a real interest on his part, would lead him not to be behindhand. He blows the trumpet, therefore, to assemble all Israel, saying:"Let the Hebrews hear." He does not use the familiar name "Israel," which had so many blessed suggestions in it; but rather the natural name of the people, going back to their descent from Abraham, the Hebrew. Of course there is a spiritual use of the word "Hebrew" which suggests pilgrim character, but this evidently is not in Saul's mind. He simply arrayed the nation of Hebrews against the Philistines. But there does not seem the same energy and decision that marked him in the case of Ammon. There, he would take no refusal of the people, but urged them with threats to go out with him and Samuel against the enemy. He is evidently on even lower ground here than there. Israel hears the report, too, of this preliminary victory of Jonathan, only ascribing it to Saul, as the prowess of many a subordinate has been ascribed to his commanding general.

The state of the people, however, is sadly brought out by the manner of their reception of the news. So far from it thrilling them with vigor and arming them as one man now to make an end of this proud enemy, they are filled with terror. They realize that they are now held in abomination by the Philistines, and are more occupied with that than the possibility of their deliverance from them. How like unbelief in all time is this! It fears the consequences of any measure of faithfulness." Know-est Thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?" said the disciples to our Lord when He had been boldly denouncing the formalism of the leaders of the "people. They were afraid of the consequences of such faithfulness, and while perhaps acknowledging the truth of what our Lord had said, shrank from stirring up opposition. Alas, we know much of this timidity in view of opposition. What will men say ? What will our friends say ?Oh, how often has this deterred many an one whose conscience has been awakened as to his path, from going on in simple obedience to God, regardless of what men say! Truly, "the fear of man bringeth a snare;" and to be occupied with the effect of our action upon the enemies of God, rather than with Himself, is indeed to invite defeat. Truly the Philistines had gathered together in enormous numbers to fight with Israel, chariots and horsemen and people as the sand on the seashore, a most formidable host; and if they have only conferred with flesh and blood, no wonder the children of Israel are terror-stricken. This is too sadly the case, and the people, instead of boldly confronting this host, remembering that it was against the Lord that they had come forth and not against His feeble people, they flee to the caves, and hide in the thickets and rocks, in high places and pits. Some of them also flee further yet, over to the east side of Jordan and the land of Gad and Gilead, and there is apparently utter nervelessness in the whole nation.

Poor material indeed is this, and yet doubtless many amongst this terror stricken people were groaning with the sense of the dishonor done to God by their subjection to this enemy.

(To be continued.)

Sardis may be naturally called to repent in view of what she had received, but in Philadelphia's keeping the word of Christ there is found, not simply the abiding by what has been already received, the keeping a certain fixed and limited deposit of truth, but rather the listening to a living voice which leads on in necessary progress. If we will keep the word of Christ, if there is in us the heart to do this, then it will be found that we have a creed which is continually enlarging. The Word is becoming more and more to us a living voice that leads us on; and certainly there is no holding fast where there is no progress. A certain measure of truth held but not increased, tends inevitably to become less to the one who holds it. It becomes dulled by that sort of familiarity with it which demonstrates its nature by the very lack of desire for increase. Exercise about it is gone. We are established in it perhaps. We cannot, or think we cannot, be moved from it; but it no more calls up in us the energy that it once did, and thus the decline is already manifest:for as all error is connected together, so that one little point of it that we hold, followed out to its results, will blight all the truth that is in connection with it; so, on the other hand, all truth is so connected that every point in this way gained is a point of vantage, and gives us a view of that which is still beyond-a blessed, attractive view also, which leads us on to the attainment of what is not yet attained. It is still the apostle's rule, " Forgetting that which is behind, and pressing on to that which is before;" for indeed, is not all truth, in one way or another, just the knowledge of Christ Himself? and can there be any right pressing on after Himself which does not take advantage of that which He has given, in order to make Himself known to us, and to give us fellowship with Himself?

Thus the word of Christ and growth in knowledge of it become an inevitable necessity. God has not erred in His knowledge of our need and in that which He has given us, but of which we have not yet possessed ourselves. How can we even imagine what there may be for us stored up in that which we have to confess we know not what it is? How can we measure the unknown? Alas, in our estimate of what is essential and what is non-essential, let us remember that if we apply this to the formation in us of the mind of Christ, we must not tell Him that what we know not is not essential to know-that we can afford to leave it out and find no loss by it. Let us be sure that if we would have for ourselves that commendation which the Lord gives to Philadelphia, there must be that quick ear for everything He utters, or would utter to us, which will enable Him thus to lead us on. We may be sure that he who is truly a keeper of the word of Christ shall, in proportion as he is so, find that Word becoming more clear; He will emphasize for us the encouragement of this word, "I have set before thee an open door, and no one can shut it." From the Numerical Bible on Revelation.

(Col. 1:15-18.)

(Continued from page 74.)

We pass on now to His second title, " First-born from among the dead." This brings in a different line of truth. It brings, first, the thought of His death, which is the prime consideration in such a connection. But, of course, we cannot think of His death and not bring in all that is connected with it. We must consider what death means in relation to the creature. Introduced with man's fall, we know it as part of the judgment he fell into because of sin. It is therefore the judicial means in God's hands for the removal of the creature from the scene of his re-rebellion and wickedness, and it is the introduction into that unending sphere of existence, the character of which is governed by the course and conduct followed before the removal of the responsible creature from the place he occupied."By one man sin entered the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."We understand then that the wages of sin is death and that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after death the judgment. This is the inevitable result for the creature, who remains in his fallen condition. Death in this way is a real mercy from God to ruined men. For have they not fallen and filled the world with all the sorrow and pain of sin, with all its bitter fruits and suffering? What, if they were allowed to live on and on without death's hand to smite? Can we comprehend what this scene would develop into, and the awful character it would assume? Words would fail to describe it. How well God knew all this and brought in, therefore, that judicial removal of man by death. It means removal into judgment for them from which there is no escape, but which is eternal. Is it interposed that such a thought is against the character of God and His love for the creature? It is not. Does not the man who dies a sinner remain that eternally in the condition into which he passes? And. this being so, can judgment, which was his rightful due as a sinful man, be anything less than eternal since he remains in the character of a sinner for eternity? The holiness of God's character could allow of nothing less. But the judgment is not only the due of sin, but of necessity also the means of restraining it.

Death and judgment after it bring in of necessity resurrection after death for judgment, and the man
must be raised up to receive the execution upon himself of the sentence of his condemnation.

To be the first-born one, therefore,, from among those who are under the sentence of death and under judgment, it would necessitate an absolute passing beyond the ultimate end of which death speaks, and the reception of a new life as new born beyond all the power of death and what it is the judicial entrance into-eternal judgment. The one doing this for the first time is, the First-born from among the dead. It is plain that no mere creature could arrive at this position of blessedness, because death removing him as such, judgment awaits and his doom is fixed. We are told, therefore, that Christ is the First-born from among the dead. This implies that He passed through death and judgment and reached the other side, as it were, with a life beyond all touch of death and its consequences. This required Him to be in the creature's place to which death and judgment attached. Has not He, who being in the form of God, counted equality with Him a thing not to be grasped at, taken upon Himself the form of a servant, taken His place in the likeness of man, and having been found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death? A man then He was, and that in all the full meaning which this implies. He grew in wisdom and stature. He could be weary at times and sleep. He would weep with the sorrowing, and be grieved in His spirit, while He could rejoice also in season. All perfect in their exhibition in Him as in no other, but nevertheless showing how truly man He was, preeminently therefore the Son of man, a title in itself which implies creaturehood.

Sonship always implies likeness to him with whom this relationship is connected, and to be a son of man means to be in the likeness of man. But Christ is not a son but the Son, the One who above all others is in the likeness of man because according to God's mind. What then is man properly? I do not mean as fallen, for he is not that properly, but as a creature of God ? He was created in the image of God, and that image should have been manifested in him and his associates. A son of man is one in whom this likeness is reproduced. But man has fallen, the image is broken, its character marred, and God is not manifested by that which He had made in His own image. Therefore Christ as a man among men is the Son of man, because in Him we find the likeness of man, fully and perfectly developed and exhibited. The image of God how perfectly it showed itself in Him, and how the relationship, which this existed was fully manifested to the praise of God and also to the vindication of His work in making man in His likeness, and the perfect fulfilment of His purpose in so doing.

But how then, since He was so perfect, can death and ensuing judgment which He must pass through and beyond to be First-born from the dead, attach to Him? Death and judgment were the fruits of man's fall. But Christ was the perfect expression as a man of God's purpose, without taint of sin, perfect in His every part. The shadow of the fall had never been thrown on Him. He was the unique Man in Himself, the embodiment of the thought of the Creator.

Here comes in the blessed truth that meets the need of the creature in his ruin. Can we think of Him as coming into this world simply to be a justification of God's creation ? Surely this would only add to the condemnation of the creature. Man had ruined himself and ..come tinder judgment, because God is light and cannot look upon sin. But God is love, and He will not, if it be possible, execute the sentence of eternal doom upon him. So we have a note of deliverance and promised victory at the very beginning. The woman's seed is to bruise the serpent's head. And this develops and expands as the ages roll on, voicing the one essential truth, in all type and shadow, of the deliverance first promised.

The reason for all this is plain. We have said that death and ensuing judgment are the creature's portion as fallen, and God cannot in one iota abate the holiness which claims this as the righteous judgment of sin; and therefore if the creature is to be delivered, these must be born and endured to the full. Then His love can flow in an unobstructed channel of endless blessing. Who then shall meet this requirement and bring deliverance to the creature ? One under the ban of them never can. It must be one who nevertheless is a creature, and yet beyond their power or applicability to him. Who has ever occupied this position but the peerless Son of man, alone qualified to be the Substitute for fallen creatures and bear what was their due because of sin?

Will He take this place ? He had claim upon life beyond all reach of death and judgment because of His own perfection. Will He be the Substitute for those who have forfeited all claim to such a life ? He is the only one that can be; if He will not, there is no hope. Thanks be to His all worthy Name, that when the agonizing anticipation of what this meant for Him was upon His soul, He said:"Not My will but Thine be done."And God's will was for the blessing of His creatures, and the endurance by Him of death and judgment was the only possible way to accomplish it.

We know Him thus as having been made an offering for sin, the load of our sins borne in His own body on the tree, making in this way full and perfect atonement for sin, effecting propitiation, that is the appeasal of God's righteous wrath, and as a result, accomplishing reconciliation between God and His rebel creatures, and insuring all the blessing of His hand being bestowed upon them.

The glorious witness to all this is in resurrection. He was raised up by the glory of the Father. The glory He had so wonderfully served demanded the exaltation of the servant, and so, He having made purification of sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But in this very resurrection, the passing beyond death and judgment, He is the Firstborn from among the dead. He has come out the triumphant Victor over all, and the only One having rightful title to life eternal beyond the power of death and judgment, the necessity of bearing which devolves on every creature, but which now He has borne for them, if they will receive the provision thus made. 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 page 8.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(To be continued.)

This is the mainspring of everything. And yet we make excuses, and say we cannot find time. But the truth is, if we cannot find time for secret prayer, it matters little to the Lord whether we find time for public service or not.

We can find time to talk with our brethren; and the minutes fly past unheeded, until they become hours; and we do not feel it a burden. Yet, when we find we should be getting into our closet to be alone with God for a season, there are ever so many difficulties standing right in the way. "Ten thousand foes arise " to keep us from that hallowed spot, "thy closet." It would seem as if Satan cares not how we are employed, so being we seek not our Father's face; for well the great tempter knows if he can but snap the communications between us and our God he has us at his mercy. Yes, we can find time, it may be, even to preach the gospel and minister to the saints, while our own souls are barren and sapless for lack of secret prayer and communion with God!

When we go into our closet and shut the door, no one sees us, no one hears us, but God. It is not the place to make a fair show. No one is present before whom to make a little display of our devotion. No one is there but God.

Ah, it is a searching spot-alone in the presence of God ! It is the lack of spending time there that is the secret of so much of the lifelessness and the carnality that abounds. What we want to see is a great revolution in the praying habits of God's people. We cannot pray by proxy-that is, by another doing it for us any more than our bodies can thrive by der taking our food for us. There must be individual closet work.

prayer meeting will not suffice us, blessed privilege though it be. "Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet; and when thou hast shut the 'door, pray " (Matt. 6:6).How many there may be who have gradually left off secret prayer until communion with God has been effectively severed!

We do not speak at random. Any one who does a little in coming and going among souls will have discovered this by experience. The terrible downward current of these last days is carrying the many before it-yea, the many even of God's people; and the great enemy of souls could not have hit upon a more deadly device for making merchandise of the saints than by stopping the supplies at a throne of grace When closet prayer languisheth, the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint.

The lack of secret prayer betrays a lack of heavenly appetite. It implies a positive absence of desire for the presence of God. Those who are strangers to the closet fall an easy prey to temptation. Satan gets an advantage of them at every turn. Nothing comes right; everything happens in an untoward way, for

Thorny is the road
That leads my soul from God.

If a brother is not at the prayer meeting for a time or two, you can speak to him about it, and exhort him. His absence is a thing you can see. But if he is absenting himself from the closet, that is a thing beyond your observation. You only feel, when you come in contact with him, that something is sapping his spiritual life; and who shall estimate the eternal loss that follows the neglect of secret prayer!

How different it is with those who watch with jealous care that the Lord has always His portion, whoever may have to want theirs ! Their going out their coming in, their whole manner of life, declares that they have been where the heavenly dew has been falling. Their Father, who saw them in secret, is rewarding them openly. They carry about with them, although all unconscious of it, the serenity of the secret place, where they have been communing with God.

Let secret prayer be urged on God's people as one of the great essentials of spiritual life, without which our grandest service will be barren and fruitless in the eyes of Him who looketh on the heart. And let each one of us ask himself the question, "Am I delighting in the secret place-to plead with the Lord -to renew my strength-to have power with God and prevail ? "(Adapted.)

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 240.)

Having delivered his faithful witness to the king, nothing further holds Samuel at Gilgal. The place had lost, for the time being at least, its spiritual significance-the state of the king little answering to it. We hear of the prophet no more, for Samuel-though, as we know, his heart was sorely grieved at the development of evil-cannot go on with it. He apparently withdraws to the same place, Gibeah of Benjamin, whither Saul comes; but as no mention is made of any intercourse between them there, it is probable that the prophet did not tarry long.

The people have dwindled down to a paltry 600; enough surely, if they were with God, to do all the works which David with a like number did later on; but the one thing needful is lacking. They abide in Gibeah of Benjamin, near Saul's native place, and with painful suggestions of the past associated with it. The Philistines encamp in all their power at Michmash-as Young gives it, " the place of most," or, translating the latter name, "a fire," answering to the desolation which marked their occupation of the land-a burnt-over territory with no verdure or fruit.

From this center they devastate the entire land. One company goes to Ophrah, the city of Gideon, to the land of Shual, "the jackal;" very significant in this connection, for surely wild beasts were devouring the heritage of Israel.

Another goes to Beth-horon, "the house of destruction ;" and still another passes on across the land until they can look down into the valley of Z’s-boil, where all fertility had been quenched with the fire from heaven, at the time of the destruction of Sodom. Thus, fittingly, from Michmash, "the place of fire," radiates that which consumes all the fair heritage which God had given them. How true it is that religious formalism burns up every Christian thing, every sign of real life to God!

How are the people to meet this devastating horde ?Their pitiable condition is seen in the fact that there was no smith found throughout all the land. The Philistines had taken them away to prevent them from manufacturing weapons of war for the Israelites. Even for the peaceful pursuits of agriculture they were dependent upon their masters, and were obliged to go down to them to have their plowshares sharpened, or the ax, or even the mattock. Nothing remained for them but a file for the mattocks and plows, which could put a poor and temporary edge upon their implements. We are reminded of the lament of Deborah over the condition of the people in her day:"Was there a shield or spear seen among 40,000 in Israel ?"

Can it be possible that these are the people who have, but a short time ago, gone so valiantly against their enemies ? Their condition is pitiable. They have been reduced to a worse condition than servitude, being dependent upon their masters even for the means of tilling the soil. But more pitiable is the spiritual condition of the people of God when under similar circumstances. Wherever the power of formalism prevails, as seen in its completeness in Rome, not only are all spiritual weapons taken out of the hands of God's people, but even the needful spiritual implements for cultivating the peaceful means of satisfying our soul's hunger are removed. Our inheritance is a spiritual one. We are "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," and this answers, as we know, to Israel's position in Canaan; but the soil, though fruitful and drinking of the water of the rain of heaven, needed to be cultivated if it were to yield its increase. So, too, in spiritual things. There is no lack in what is ours in Christ. As far as the eye of faith can reach, north, south,, east and west, all is ours, and every part that the foot of faith treads upon practically belongs to the saints; but if the soil is not cultivated, of what use is it ? We might say that our inheritance is contained in the precious word of God, and that our cultivation of this, the diligent digging beneath the surface for its precious things, the turning it over with the plow of conscience, applying it thus to ourselves, answers to the various agricultural pursuits indicated here. The domination of religious formalism would rob us of the means of doing this. Need we ask, With how many of us does our portion lie fallow because we are apparently without implements for its cultivation ? The Bible, in other words, is a closed book; or, if read, seems to be but barren because there is no searching into its wondrous depths; or, if there is this, alas, how the dulness of our spiritual implements, our diligence, our faith, our spiritual judgment, prevents anything like a full yielding of an abundant harvest! To be sure, there is the rubbing of the file, as iron sharpeneth iron through mutual intercourse, which even formalism would completely destroy; but the fire is needed also, and the beating down of that which even in proper use becomes dulled, so that its keen edge may be again restored to it.

These smiths might well answer to what we have later in Israel's history-the schools of the prophets, places where the fire and the hammer of God's word and truth are applied under the direction of the Holy Spirit. They would thus correspond to all proper and scriptural means for developing activity among God's saints. Might we not say that, in their place, institutions of learning would answer to these smiths' shops, where furnishing in the knowledge of the languages in which the word of God is written, and other truths, would equip one to be a diligent seeker in the Word ? Thus, schools and colleges, when in proper hands and used in faith, are most helpful in developing an ability to dig into the word of God. The same is true of all assembly fellowship. Where the Spirit of God is ungrieved, how much spiritual furnishing do we get from association together! We can see, then, what it is for all this to be in the hands of the Philistines. And has not that been the case all too often in the history of God's saints ? Nay, may we not say that it is that which particularly characterizes them at the present day, religious formalism having charge of all education, both elementary and advanced, and even, in great measure, of the people of God ?

A Christian parent puts his child to school; and what is the character of the influence exerted over the little one there ? How often is it Philistine-that which is often in open enmity against God, of so formal a character that no genuine faith is inculcated! This is seen in still greater measure when the youth passes on to college, where infidelity is taught; and if his intellectual implements have a keen edge upon them, he is taught rather to turn them against the truth of God than to explore its wondrous depths.

Institutions of theological education only bring this out still more glaringly, for here the things of God are professedly the objects. Alas, higher criticism, evolution, and various forms of infidelity, are taught in the very places where one should be thoroughly furnished to cultivate the inheritance of the Lord.

We have been speaking merely of the implements used in times of peace; but when we think of the necessary weapons of warfare with which to meet the manifold enemies who are constantly threatening our heritage, here the lack is even more glaring, for not even are there dull weapons. The enemy knows too well that it will never do to leave spear and sword in the hands of those who may be nerved to use them. As we look abroad to-day, how many of God's people are able to meet the attacks of evil on all hands ? Infidelity presses in one direction, worldliness in another, the Philistine formalism in another ; and what power is there to meet it with those weapons of warfare which the apostle says are '' not carnal, but mighty through God " ? Surely, we can never expect Philistia to furnish weapons against itself.

In God's mercy, however, faith can triumph even here. We remember it was with an ox goad, a weapon which could be pointed up with a file, that Shamgar wrought deliverance from these very Philistines. The goad would seem to answer to those words of the wise which are as goads; a word of simple exhortation, admonition, appealing to the conscience, which true faith will ever make use of. Even Philistines cannot deprive God's people of that; and what is an ordinary and needful implement in times of peace can, in the hands of faith, be turned against the enemy with terrible effectiveness.

(To be continued.)

Q. 12.-"Is not the first book of the New Testament entirely Jewish, the book of the Kingdom and not of the Church, which is future? Matt. 16:18. Do not even the parables of the thirteenth chapter apply to the Jews during the time of the tribulation, rather than to the present Church period?

Ans.-Unquestionably, Matthew is the Jewish Gospel and is closely linked with the Old Testament prophets. The Church, too, as in all the Gospels, is future, formed, as we well know, at Pentecost, by the descent of the Holy Ghost; but it would be a great mistake to think that the present period was entirely ignored in the prophetic outlook of that Gospel. The parables of the Kingdom, unquestionably many of them at least, have distinct reference to the present time, notably that of the sower, the mustard seed, the leaven and the pearl of great price. We must not forget that there is a Kingdom aspect of divine truth as well as a Church aspect. We cannot close our eyes to the fact that God holds all profession of allegiance to Himself, responsible. This if false could not be in the Church, which, as the body of Christ, is composed only of true believers. Neither is it in the world, for profession puts one in a different place. The parables in Matt. 13:show how clearly all applies to the Kingdom, that sphere of things where God's authority is outwardly acknowledged by a vast multitude, a part of whom also truly are His. Unquestionably, too, much in Matthew goes on to the resumption of God's ways with His earthly people in the latter days, but we believe it would be a great mistake to eliminate the present period from that Gospel. Much erroneous teaching would follow this; notably that, which we fear is beginning to make inroads already, the denial of water baptism as applicable to the present period. Let us be careful not to allow the entering wedge of any error. God's truth is self-consistent and perfect in its place. To ignore the Kingdom is both to degrade the Church from its high and heavenly place, and to lower the sense of responsibility to God on the part of all who profess the name of Christ.

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

Chapter 7:THE NEW KING. (1 Sam. 10:17-11:)

(Continued from page 118.)

After his public recognition, Saul had returned to the privacy of his daily work and is here found by the messengers from Jabesh Gilead. The humiliating story of the threat of Nahash produces in the people at least sorrow, if not indignation, but there are no stirrings of faith, only a helpless lamenting that such things should be possible. It is different, however, when Saul returns from his labor in the field. Inquiring what the cause of their grief is, he is told the shameful story; there is no weeping on his part, but rather the righteous indignation of God by His Spirit against the insolence of the enemy.

As we said, Saul shows well here. He passes from service into conflict, and the one is a fitting preparation for the other. However, certain things are wanting, which are suggestive. In the first place, let it be noticed that the Spirit of God may come upon one in whom He has not effectually wrought for salvation. The Old Testament gives instances of this, notably in the case of Balaam, who declares the whole mind of God as to Israel, while himself willing to pronounce a curse upon them, and, in fact, afterwards plotting for their overthrow. Thus, it must not be understood that the Spirit that moved Saul was anything more than the external power which the Spirit of God put upon him in connection with his official place. The threat, also, against the people, with the bloody message evidenced through the oxen hewn in pieces, does not savor of that dignity of faith which alone endures. Threats may energize into temporary faithfulness and spasmodic courage, but it is only the inward abiding which can produce lasting results for God. Then, too, we see that Saul is still! leaning upon another arm than that of God, even though it be the arm of the faithful servant of the Lord, Samuel. The threat is, that "Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen." Samuel never claimed a place of equality with the new king. He was perfectly willing to be his servant and that of Jehovah, and it does not look as though Saul fully realized how his relations were to be directly with the Lord, without any human intervention whatever.

However, there is, at any rate, thorough earnestness for the time being, and a real purpose to deliver Israel; and this God recognizes-as He ever does in whatever measure He can, a turning to Himself. Multitudes respond to the threatening call and are gathered after Saul. A reassuring message is sent to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and all is ready for the deliverance. Saul shows skill and wisdom in disposing his army in three companies. There is an absence of precipitateness which argues well. The early rising, too, before daylight, shows an intent-ness of purpose and prudence in taking the first step, which always is a presage of victory.

This reminds us of some of the old conflicts of days gone by, under Abraham and Joshua. In fact, it was under the same leadership, though perhaps with people not so willing and ready as in those days. The result is not for a moment in any uncertainty. Ammon is thoroughly discomfited, his vast hosts beaten down and multitudes destroyed, while the remainder are scattered to the winds, no two remaining together. Thus, the proud flesh, with its knowledge and insolence, is overthrown. Heresy, false doctrine, cannot stand before an attack like this. It is quite significant that King Saul should be more successful in this conflict with the Ammonites than in any of his subsequent wars. There was that in him which peculiarly fitted him, typically speaking, for such warfare.

After all, a successful conflict with doctrinal evil is not the highest form of victory. The history of the Church has shown men who were vigorous contestants for doctrinal truth and scriptural exactness, who had, alas, but little heart for the Lord Jesus, and little in their lives that would commend Him. A certain form of the flesh may, for the time being, take special pleasure in overthrowing error. Jephthah, who had previously conquered the Ammonites, showed that a victory over false doctrine can go with bitter hatred of one's brethren; and of this, too, we have illustrations in the history of the Church. Doctrinal contentions that sprang up in connection with the great work of the Reformation are the common shame of Protestantism.

However, the victory is won, and God can be thanked for it. The people, in that revulsion of feeling which is common to human nature, wish, to know who it was that had opposed Saul being appointed king. They are ready to put them to death at once, when perhaps multitudes of themselves had looked with much suspicion upon him.

Saul, however, checks all this, and still shows well in his ascribing the glory of the victory to Jehovah; at the same time he would show perfect clemency to his enemies. There is wisdom as well as mercy in this.

Samuel, however, goes further. He calls the people back:"Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there." Strikingly fitting place indeed was it for all to return to. The normal camping ground after every victory, as we remember in Joshua's day, it is the true place to which we should ever come. Gilgal teaches the great lesson of the sentence of death upon ourselves, having no confidence in the flesh. It was the true circumcision, where the reproach of Egypt was rolled off, the first camping ground in the land after the people had crossed Jordan. It thus emphasizes, as we were saying, the great truth of the Cross applied practically to our lives and persons. It was the one lesson which the nation as a whole needed to learn in fuller measure than they had yet done, and which, for Saul, as their leader and representative, was absolutely indispensable.

So, it is a call of mercy which is harkened to externally, and all congregate at Gilgal. Here Saul is again made king in connection with sacrifices of peace-offerings. It is rather significant that these are the only offerings mentioned. Nothing is said whatever of the burnt- or sin-offering. The peace-offering speaks of fellowship with God and with one another; the burnt-offering, of the infinite acceptability of Christ, in His death, to God; while the sin-offering tells how He has borne our sins and put them away. Communion cannot be the first thought. It is appropriate, at Gilgal particularly, where death to the flesh comes in, that there should be prominent mention of that death of the cross which has put away sin and which is infinitely precious in God's sight. However, peace-offerings show at least a unity of fellowship, which, as far as it goes, is good. We read that Saul and all Israel rejoiced greatly. Poor man, would that joy had a deeper root! It would have borne more abundant and abiding fruit. Nothing is said of Samuel's joy. Doubtless it was there in some measure, though perhaps chastened as he remembered the cause of their being there. He could not forget, spite of all this brave show and recent victory, that the people had rejected the Lord, and that the man before them was not the man of God's choice, but of their own. (To be continued.)

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

Chapter 7:THE NEW KING. (1 Sam. 10:17-11:)

(Continued from page 61.)

The lot declares that Saul, the son of Kish, is the appointed man. But he is nowhere to be found. Flesh-like, he hides himself when he ought to be present and obtrudes himself when he should be out of sight. Self-depreciation is a very different thing from true lowliness of spirit. As the poet says; Satan's "darling sin is the pride which apes humility." He had already spoken to Samuel of his tribe being the smallest in Israel and his family the least in that tribe. All this had been overruled by the prophet who had anointed him. He had already received the assurance that he was the appointed king. God Himself had spoken to him through the signs that we have been looking at, and in the spirit of prophecy which had indeed also fallen upon himself. Why, then, this feigned modesty, this shrinking from the gaze of his subjects? Does it not indicate one who is not truly in the presence of God? For when in His presence, man is rightly accounted of. The fear of man indicates the lack of the fear of God, and "bringeth a snare." In God's presence, the lowliest can face the mightiest unflinchingly. Hear the faithful witnesses refusing to obey the command of king Nebuchadnezzar. There is no hiding there:

'' We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast setup" (Dan. 3:16-18).

But even if this shrinking from the people did not indicate the extreme of fear, it yet showed a self-occupation which' is utterly incompatible with the true spirit of rule. Saul indeed does not appear to advantage here, and we get a glimpse of his character as he hides amongst the baggage, which bodes ill for himself and the people.

Indeed it is the Lord Himself who must go further in this patient care for a perverse people and tell them what has become of their king. The baggage seems a strange place in which to look for royalty; not much dignity about that, and one can almost imagine the ludicrousness of the scene. No wonder that carnal men ask, a little later on, How shall this man save us? He was indeed a part of the baggage and an illustration of the old Latin word for that, " an impediment," no help, but a hindrance to those whom he should lead on to victory.

But he at least appears better than his people. Judged according to .the appearance, he is "every inch a king," head and shoulders above all the rest, one to whom they could look up and in whom they could boast, and if fleshly strength were to count, one who was more than a match for any who would dare dispute his right and title to the place. Do we not all know something of this stateliness of the flesh when it stands in full length before us? Hear another son of Benjamin describing how he stood head and shoulders above his countrymen:"If any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the Church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Phil. 3:4-6). I "profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers" (Gal. 1:14).

Here is another Saul, a king amongst men, too; but, ah how all this shrivels up under the eye of divine holiness and love; in the very noontide of his carnal greatness, he beholds One who had been crucified but now was glorified, and as he catches sight of that glorious Object on high, from the dust he can declare for the remainder of his life:"What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." Would that we ever remembered this when tempted to glory in our flesh, or measure ourselves by ourselves and compare ourselves among ourselves!

Paul was ashamed even to speak of the work of Christ in and through him, save as it was needed to deliver the poor Corinthians who were, like the Israel we are examining, tempted to judge according to the flesh. The only man in whom he could glory was the man in Christ, and well he knew that man was "not I, but Christ." "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me " (Gal. 2:20).

However, there is none of this knowledge of the flesh, even in an Old Testament measure, amongst the people. They compare their king with themselves. He is better than they are, Head and shoulders above them, and exultantly they shout aloud:" Long live the king! " They have found their man. How that cry has re-echoed down the centuries ever since! King after king has been brought into view over great or small nations, and when he is seen, his prowess, his knowledge, his ability, in some sense has been recognized as above the average; at least his position has put him upon a pedestal, and "Long live the king!" has been the people's acclaim!

But faith can detect the wail in this exultation, and the unconscious yearning for One who is indeed the true King, One who is not to be compared with the sons of men, surely not head and shoulders above them; One who took His place as Servant to the lowest, humbled even unto death, the death of the cross, and who now in His exaltation is far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named. Who could compare himself with the King, even to acknowledge His superiority? No, "my beloved is One," "the chief-est among ten thousand;" "yea, He is altogether lovely."

" The shout of a king is in her "; but in this shout there is the echo of that other shout when the Ark was brought out to the camp of Israel and they supposed that God was going to link His holy name with their unrighteousness and give them victory over the Philistines. As we saw, He would rather let His glory be carried captive into the enemy's land then dishonor His name among His people. This shout is like that. We yet wait for the true shout of a King, but it will come, thank God, for Israel and for this poor, groaning earth; the time when all creation shall burst forth in the shout. "With trumpets and sound of a cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. Let the sea roar and the fulness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, for He cometh to judge the earth. With righteousness shall He judge the world."

The scene, however, is not allowed to close with mere enthusiasm. This is not checked; but "the manner of the kingdom" is described, God's will still impressed upon them, if they will but hear it, together no doubt with His warning which we have been considering. All is written in a book, to leave them without excuse, to be there, too, no doubt, for reference, should penitence or faith ever turn to it, a proof of God's faithful care, though His heart was grieved and wounded at the treatment He had received from those He had fed from His hand for so long. The book is laid up before the Lord. Surely it is there yet. He has not forgotten. He never can forget. In His own patience He still waits, and the time is coming when all will be gone over with them and they shall acknowledge, with shame, their own folly as well as His love and faithfulness.

We, too, have the book of the Lord in which His faithful testimony as to the unprofitableness of the flesh is hilly recorded. This He never forgets, and oh, may we remember always that God has put a mark upon it even as He did upon Cain, and may we shrink from every form of that exaltation of the natural man, "hating even the garments spotted by the flesh."

Saul again retires for the time, into private life. The second stage has been reached, the first being his private anointing. Still, however, opportunity must be afforded for him to make good practically that which has been publicly declared. A band of young men are touched by the hand of God and follow Saul. Many yet, however, are skeptical and ask how such an one could save them out of the hand of their enemies. The king is still despised by many of his people. There is none of the honor paid to him, no presents brought to him which would show he is enthroned in their hearts. He, however, is impressed, for a time at least, by the solemnity of all that he had been passing through, and makes no attempt to vaunt himself or claim a place which was not willingly accorded to him. He holds his peace and waits a suited time. Had he continued to do this, a different history would follow.

(To be continued.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Song 1:7.)

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

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

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

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

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

C. W.