Birthright is a word the sense, at least, of used by many in appraising their relationship to God
and eternity. It may be defined as "the rights of persons born in a family." Let us consider this
thought of "Birthright" in four different categories, as presented to us in the scriptures.

1. In the beginning Adam and Eve were created to enjoy, and to have dominion over all that God
had made, and to multiply and replenish the earth. That was Adam’s birthright, and Eve was to
share all those blessings through Adam and with Adam. But this beautiful scene of blessing was
broken up and destroyed. One of God’s created angels, Satan, as a result of his own sin and
subsequent fall (Isaiah 14:12-20), became the persistent and malignant foe of all mankind, and
through disobedience to God and yielding to Satan’s temptation in the garden, sin came in and
Adam forfeited his birthright. Therefore all born into this world have no right to God, in their
natural state. (Rom. 5:12; Heb. 9:27), Not until these facts are known and really felt, and one’s
own sins acknowledged in true repentance to God, is one ready to receive the new birth into God’s
family through the work of Christ on their behalf, without any added effort needed or accepted
by God for salvation. (Eph. 2:8,9).

2. Birthright is also presented in the Old Testament as Israel’s relationship to*”God in principle
and subsequent blessing. The story of Esau in Gen. 25:31-34, gives us a picture of one who places
no value on his birthright and the blessings attached. He, in order to satisfy his natural hunger,
sold out, and lost his eternal blessing, although he later sought it unsuccessfully with tears. (Heb.
12:16,17). In this present day of God’s grace, new birth is scorned by many, and bartered away
for the pleasures of this world, and their souls are eternally lost.

3. Birthright conveyed to some the fancied spiritual advantage because of being born into any so-
called religion. An outstanding example in scripture is that of the apostle Paul. He was born, grew
up in, and adhered to the popular religion of the day, and was zealous toward God beyond
reproach. He took great pride in his birthright. Yet he was so blinded by what he thought was
right, that he rejected Christ and persecuted Christians. Had not the Lord Jesus intervened in rich
grace, and revealed Himself to him (Whom he received into his heart), he would have died in his
sins. The chief mark of Satan’s counterfeits is a religion without the cleansing blood of Christ.

4. Birthright also conveyed to some the mistaken idea of a standing before God because of having
godly parents. By far the greatest opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ and His ministry when on
earth, was from those who claimed to be the children of Abraham, but in reality were under the
bondage of Satan, and needed new birth. Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." There is a
birthright now being offered by a loving God to all who have forfeited theirs through sin.

Man is born into the first category, but he need not stay in any of the other three except by his
own will.

Although the canon of Scripture closed with the apostles, God continues to speak not only through
that written Word but in actions that are in full accordance with it. Every heart must mourn the
violent death meted out to the late President, John F. Kennedy, which is one of the crowning
tragedies of the immediate past. It is not the only event which seems to be rapidly reshaping this
present scene ripening for judgment and making ready to receive the man of Sin.

It is striking when we realize how many of the heads of government attending Mr. Kennedy’s
funeral have been in office for only a short time. Writing before the assassination of President
Kennedy, the Editor of Christian Truth magazine cried out in almost prophetic utterance:"When
we consider the upheavals internationally, let us note that a severe pain, a doctor’s visit, and then
an operation, brought the prompt and unexpected removal of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
from the British government. The same week, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (the man who helped
rebuild war-stricken Germany into a powerful and prosperous nation) resigned. How suddenly
great changes take place! When President Kennedy arrived in Italy late in June the government
of Premier Amintore Fanfani had fallen, and the Pope was dead. Dare anyone predict who will
head the major world governments a year from today? With elections due in the United States,
Germany, and Britain in another year, and only a heartbeat separating any man from removal
from office at any time, who can predict? In fact, every major power could have a new ruler
within a short time. We ‘know not what shall be on the morrow,’ but we know Him who does,
and who keeps His own counsel. He will do according to His own will, and work out all His
purposes, the major part of which is that His Son will be honored here where He was cast out and
is still despised. He is going to rule with a rod of iron and subject all under His feet. At the
present He sits at God’s right hand until that moment when God will ‘make His enemies His
footstool’ (Psa. 110)." November 1963.

Is there nothing behind the events we are considering? God’s hand, unseen by many, may begin
to take shape when we recall the internal scandal of moral degradation which shook the British
government. This may have been one of the contributing factors responsible for the changes we
see there.

In this country a great deal of similarity between the assassination of Presidents Abraham Lincoln
and Kennedy were noticed. There is, however, a striking contrast of which very few are aware.
Father Charles Chiniquy, an ex-priest of the Roman Catholic Church, in his book, Fifty Years In
the Church of Rome, writes in greatest detail of unsuccessful plots of Jesuit priests to kill Lincoln,
and finally of the assassination plotted and executed by instruments of Rome. He writes how
Professor Morse, famous for Morse code and telegraphy, when in Rome discovered plots to kill
Lincoln. How striking is the contrast of Rome’s plotted assassination of Abraham Lincoln and now
the recent assassination of the first man in Rome’s Church to have ascended to that position in this
country. Solemn beyond words is the fact that the caisson prepared for Abraham Lincoln a century
ago should be the very vehicle to carry our late president to his grave. "God requireth that which
is past," says Solomon in Ecclesiastes when writing of the things he observed under the sun. Have
not we observed the same?

Christian, may God give you a sense of the nearness of our Saviour’s return, which is our hope,
and the urgency to speak to many, seeking to bring brands from the burning. May each moment
be more lived for Him while He tarries, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

"How good it would be if He came tonight!"

Upon hearing these words, Ellen looked up from the book she was reading.

"If who came tonight? Are we having company?" thought Ellen.

Her curiosity was aroused, and as she listened, she found it was the Lord Jesus her two friends
were talking about. At once the answer came to her mind.

"Oh, no! it would not be good if He came tonight, because I am not ready to meet Him."

She knew very well that the Lord Jesus was coming back again, and that only those who were
washed in His precious blood_whose sins were forgiven, would go with Him, and that those who
were not ready would be left behind for judgment.

But "coming tonight"_somehow Ellen had not thought that possible. And as for death, was she
not young, and well, and likely to live a long time? She believed what Satan said:

"There was plenty of time yet."

After thinking it over a few moments, she turned to the book she had before thought so interesting
to find that it had now lost its interest, and in her ears were ringing the words,

"Coming tonight; coming tonight"

Days and weeks passed, and instead of getting rid of the feeling, she was awakened to see the
danger she was in.

"I am not any worse than other girls, and a great deal better than some; I really mean to be saved
some day." These were thoughts that came into her head. But many a night she lay awake, unable
to go to sleep for fear the Lord Jesus should come, and she would be left behind.

On Sunday evening she went to a Gospel meeting. Before this she had been glad when the
preaching was over. Tonight, however, she listened to every word. At the close of the meeting
a friend said to her, "Do you know the Lord Jesus?" Ellen could not answer.

Then he took up the Bible Ellen had been reading so diligently during the past months, and turning
to Isaiah 53 made it personal, reading it this way:"He was wounded for my transgressions, He
was bruised for my iniquities, the chastisement of my peace was upon Him, and by His stripes I
am healed."

That night Ellen learned that the Lord Jesus had died for her, but yet she could not say that she
was saved. She tried to feel saved, before she had learned to know it.

She was hoping and doubting, until she almost despaired of ever knowing the peace she longed
for. Finally, in despair, she shut herself in her room, and falling down on her knees, told Jesus
everything:how she had tried to make herself better, and how she had failed, and that if He would
just take her as she was, she would give herself to Him.

As she knelt there in the deep consciousness of being in the very presence of God, the words came
into her mind:"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37).

Ellen accepted the Lord Jesus just as she was, and O, what peace and happiness filled her heart!

Thus Jesus speaks:who will reply,
O, Lord, I come to Thee;
Thy precious love hath won my heart,
Thine henceforth I will be?"

"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28).

How touching and impressive is this account of how young Ellen was saved. The Lord’s return
is very, very near now.

Are you ready? If not, won’t you make the above poem personal, and put your name in there, and
say:I "will reply, ‘O Lord, I come to Thee!’"

If you have already accepted Christ as your Saviour, and can thankfully say, "Thy precious love
hath won my heart," let me ask you; is His promised return in your thoughts_yes_every day?
It is in His thoughts, Who loved you and gave Himself for you!

"Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching:verily I say unto
you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve
them." (Luke 12:37).

"And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (I John 3:3).

There are various marks of ripeness in the Christian character which are well illustrated in the
fruits of the field.

One mark is beauty. As the fruit ripens, the sun tints it with surpassing loveliness, and the colors
deepen till the beauty of the fruit is equal to the beauty of the blossom, and in some respects
superior. There is in ripe Christians the "beauty of holiness."

Another mark of ripe fruit is tenderness. The young green fruit is hard and stone-like; but the ripe
fruit is soft, yields to the pressure, can almost be molded, retains the mark of the finger. So it is
with the mature Christian; he is noted for tenderness of spirit.

Another mark of ripeness is sweetness. The unripe fruit is sour, and perhaps it ought to be, or else
we should eat all the fruits while they are yet green. It may, therefore, be in the order of grace
a fit thing that in the youthful Christian some sharpness should be formed which will ultimately
be removed. As we grow in grace we are sure to grow in sympathy and love; we shall have
greater and more intense affection for the person of Him "whom having not seen we love"; we
shall have greater delight in the precious things of, His gospel; the doctrines which perhaps we
did not understand at first will become marrow and fatness to us as we advance in grace. We shall
feel that there is honey dropping from the honeycomb in the deep things of our God. We shall as
we ripen in grace, have greater sweetness toward our fellow Christians. Bitter-spirited Christians
may know a great deal, but they are immature. Those who are quick to censure may be very acute
in judgment, but they are as yet immature in heart. I know we who are young beginners in grace
think ourselves qualified to judge everything, but when our virtues become more mature I trust
we shall not be more tolerant of evil, but we shall be more tolerant of infirmity, more hopeful for
the people of God, and certainly less arrogant in our criticisms.

Another and very sure mark of ripeness is a loose hold of earth. Ripe fruit easily parts from the
bough. You shake the tree and the ripe apples fall. If you wish to eat fresh fruit you put out your
hand to pluck it, and if it comes off with difficulty you feel you had better leave it alone a little
longer; but when it drops into your hand, quite ready to be withdrawn from the branch, you know
it to be in good condition.

Ques.:What does salt signify in scripture? "Salt is good:but if the salt have lost his savor,
wherewith shall it be seasoned? . . . (Luke 14:34,35).

Ans. "Salt" is grace in spiritual energy. That is, the saints being witnesses in the world of the
power of holy love instead of selfishness. Salt is the consecrating principle of grace. If that is
gone, what is to preserve? Salt is rather grace in the aspect of holy separateness unto God than in
that of kindness and meekness, though, of course, these are also inseparable from grace. If the salt
has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? If I have meat without salt I can salt it, but if there
is no saltiness in salt, what can I do? What a character we have here of an unspiritual church or
an unspiritual saint! Like the vine which represented Israel, good for nothing at all but to dishonor
the Lord, its owner, and be destroyed. Mercy, it is true, may recover us, but as saints we should
have the savor of Christ. Whatever enfeebles attachment to Christ destroys power. It is not gross
sin that does it, which, of course, will be met and judged, but it is the little things of everyday life
which are apt to be chosen before Christ. When the world creeps in the salt has lost its savor, and
we show that a rejected Christ has little power in our eyes.

The Lord keep us in the path with Christ, where all is bright and blessed. If the film of this world
has been drawn over our spiritual vision, hiding Christ from us, He alone can remove it.

FRAGMENT
Oh, give us hearts to love like Thine, and in Thy brethren see
That gentleness and grace that spring from union, Lord, with Thee.

Leaven is always a picture of evil in its typical meaning in the Bible. It is never offered in
sacrifices. When the Israelites were to keep the feast of unleavened bread, which began with the
passover, no leaven was to be found in their houses. This passover is a picture to the Christian of
the death of Christ on the cross. The feast of unleavened bread, observed for seven days, is a
picture of the complete life of th«J Christian here during which the old leaven of malice and
wickedness is to be purged out! We are called to be unleavened in our walk of holiness so as to
be consistent with the position we enjoy before God_"as ye are unleavened". (I Cor. 5:7). This
is preceded with the verse "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" In I
Corinthians the leaven pictures moral evil. But the same truth is given again in Galatians 5:9
where a "little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" applies to doctrinal evil. In practice the purging
out of leaven, of both kinds in our personal lives is not without the discomforts and heart
searchings of self-judgment. In our assembly lives, the purging out of evil, when imbibed by
many, or about which only a few hearts have been truly exercised, has necessitated the separating
from evil and consequently from those in association with said evil; judging it to be leaven and
them part of the leavened whole. The plea often when evil doctrines or practices arise is that it is
only a little evil. How wise of God to have anticipated this plea."A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump." (Gal. 5:9).

How is it then that the various branches of the evangelical camp of Christendom are sometimes
referred to as "fundamentally sound"? They are fundamentally leavened! What with the caste
system of clergy and laity denying both the place of the Holy Spirit and the priesthood of all
believers, to say nothing of its practical denial of the truth of "holding the Head," how can God’s
people, enlightened by and walking in the path of separation, refer to such leaven as
"fundamentally sound"? The independence of the churches in doctrine and discipline savors not
of the truth of the One Body either! How can the evil of every man doing "that which is right in
his own eyes", to the total neglect or gross perversion of God’s word as to the truth of the
assembly, be called anything but leaven?

It is needless to multiply words but rather to come to the point. If God’s word and truth have
separated us from "the camp", if we have really gone forth unto Christ outside that camp; then
let us not be found in attendance at "camp meetings" for the gospel or otherwise, lest we come
away from the leavened gathering with but a little of the little leaven which will leaven all! Don’t
deceive yourselves, my brethren; those who are well taught in the Word know better and have no
need for "camp preaching". But be warned that those whose state is so lonesome and poor, with
the desire to be warmed by "another gospel", have not "their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil" and cannot come away with only good.

The Lord says "Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13). Occupy means to fill our hands with the work
of God in the place He has called us to walk. There is more to do here than we imagine. If in the
path because of conviction and exercise, then walk so as not to be personally leavened with the
leaven of the Pharisees "which is hypocrisy." What is it but hypocrisy to be professedly separate
as to our ecclesiastical position and yet ‘go back to the camp when it is convenient or there is a
special speaker, leavened but a little?

At the close of Genesis 26:34,35, we read:"And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife
Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:which
were a grief of mind to Isaac and to Rebekah."

This has much for us in the way of admonition, but to use it aright, I must look to things
connected with it or like it in the earlier history of Abraham and then in the future histories of
Jacob and his son, Judah.

The command to the nation of Israel at the very beginning was to keep the way of the Lord, very
particularly as to marriage. They were by no means either to give their daughters to the sons of
the Canaanites or take the Canaanites’ daughters for their sons (Deut. 7:3). If they did so, it would
be on the pain of being no longer owned of the Lord (Josh. 23). According to this, the apostate
days of Solomon are marked by disobedience to this very thing a Kings 11); and afterwards, no
real recovery of God could be admitted, without a return to the observance of this principle in
their marriages (Ezra 10; Nehemiah 10).

Obedience, therefore, in this thing was a peculiar test of the state of the nation. And it is thus that
I look at it in this earliest book of Genesis. For though divine law was not then published, divine
principles were then understood. It may be regarded as the witness of the state of family religion
then, as it was of the state of national religion afterwards.

ABRAHAM. Abraham in this matter, eminently keeps "the way of the Lord," (ch. 18:19) and so
Eliezer, one of his "household"; and so our Isaac, one of his "children." For Abraham sends a
special embassy into a distant land, in order to get a wife "in the Lord" for his son_Eliezer goes
on that embassy with a ready mind _and Isaac in patience waits for the fruit of it, not seeking any
alliance with the nearer people; and though sad and solitary, keeps himself for the Lord’s
appointed helpmate. Like Adam, he waited for a helpmate from the Lord’s own hand, though it
cost him patience and sore solitude. This his meditation in the field at eventide shows. He
endureth. He might have gotten a daughter of Canaan; but he endured. He will rather suffer the
sickening of his heart from the deferring of his hope, than not marry "in the Lord," or take him
a wife of any that he may choose. And all this was very beautiful in this first generation of this
elect family. The father, the servant, and the child, each in his way, witnesses how Abraham had
ordered his house according to God, teaching his children and his household the way of the Lord.
See Chap. 18:19.

But we notice a course of sad decline and departure from all this.

ISAAC. Isaac in his turn and generation, becomes the head of the family. But he is grievously
careless in this matter, compared with his father; as this scripture, the close of chapter 26, shows
us. He does not watch over his children’s ways, to anticipate mischief, as Abraham had done.
Esau his son marries a daughter of the Hittites. Isaac and Rebecca are grieved at this, it is true;
for they had righteous souls which knew how to be "vexed" with this; but then, it was their
carelessness which had brought this vexation upon them. This we cannot say was beautiful. But

still there was a happy symptom in it. There was a righteous soul to be vexed, a mind sensitive
of defilement. And this was well.

JACOB. Jacob, however, declines still further. He neither anticipates the mischief, like Abraham,
nor does he, like Isaac, grieve over it when it occurs. But with an unconcerned heart, as far as the
history tells us, he allows his children to form what alliances they please, and to take them wives
of all whom they chose. This is sad. There is no joy for the heart here, as in the obedience of
Abraham; there is no relief for the heart here, as in the sorrow of Isaac and Rebekah.

JUDAH. But Judah afterwards goes beyond even all this in a very fearful way. He represents the
fourth generation of this elect family. But he not only does not anticipate mischief, like Abraham,
in the ordering of his family, nor grieve over mischief when brought into it, like Isaac, nor is he
simply indifferent to it, whether it be brought in or not, like Jacob, but he actually brings it in
himself! For he does nothing less than take a daughter of the Canaanites to be the wife of his son
Er (chap. 38:6)!

This exceeded. This was sinning with a high hand. Thus, in all this, in this history of the four
generations of Genesis patriarchs, we notice declension, gradual but solemn declension, till it
reaches complete apostasy from the way of the Lord.

But if this be serious and sad, as it really is, is it not profitable and seasonable? Can we not readily
own, that it is "written for our learning"? How it does warn us of a tendency to decline from
God’s principles! What took place in the same elect family, generation after generation, may take
place in the same elect person, year after year. The principles of God may be deserted by easy
gradations. They; may first be relaxed, then forgotten, then despised. They may pass from a firm
hand into an easy one, from thence to an indifferent one, and find themselves at last flung away
by a rebellious one. Many have at first stood for God’s principles in the face of difficulties and
fascinations, like Abraham_then, merely grieved over the loss of them, like Isaac_then, been
careless about their loss or maintenance, like Jacob_and last, with a high hand, broken them, like
Judah. This is suggested by the scene at the close of chapter 26.

Beloved brethren and sisters in Christ,_the day of the apostasy is hastening on with rapid strides,
and also the day in which the Lord shall come to snatch His own away. The present moment is
of so solemn a character that I feel constrained to address you the word of exhortation. The time
has evidently arrived when one must speak plainly and decisively, and ask you where you are, and
what you are about. You have, by grace, been gathered out of the seething mass of idolatry and
wickedness which now threatens Christendom and the world with an overthrow more awful than
that of Sodom and Gomorrah of old; and the question is whether you are adequately impressed
with the responsibility, as well as the blessedness, of the ground you are on, and walking like men
and women whose eyes have been opened. Satan’s object is to withdraw your attention from
Christ, while you suppose you are on safe ground and have nothing to fear. He would destroy you
with the very truth itself. For, mark the subtlety, you are on safe ground, but only while Christ
is your all in all. Here is where he is drawing some away. Satan has his eye specially on you, for
the purpose of interposing the world in some form between your soul and Christ. It is not
necessarily by anything glaring that he seeks to ruin you, but in small and seemingly harmless
things_ things that would not shock or offend any one as things go, and yet these constitute the
deadly and insidious poison destined to ruin your testimony and withdraw you from Christ. Do
you ask what are these, alarming symptoms, and where are they seen? Brethren and sisters, you
are being infected with the spirit of the world. Your dress, your manner, your talk, your lack of
spirituality betray it. There is a dead weight, a restraint, a want of power, that reveals itself in the
meetings. A form of godliness is seen among you as plainly as in Christendom generally, but
without power. As surely as you tamper with the world, so surely will you drift away to its level.
This is in the nature of things. K you become engrossed with the world, the privileged place you
occupy, instead of shielding you, will only expose you to greater condemnation. It must be Christ
or the world.

Beloved, I am persuaded better things of you, and I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you
will bless Him for these few faithful words. Nothing can be more glorious than the position you
are called to occupy in these closing days. Saints have stood in the breach, have watched through
weary nights and days these nineteen hundred years, and you only wait for the trumpet of victory,
to go in and take possession of the glorious inheritance. Other men labored, and ye are entered
into their labors, and yet, forsooth, you are lowering your dignity to the level of the poor
potsherds of the earth.

Beloved, you belong to Christ, and Christ to you. Let not the betrothed one be unfaithful to her
Bridegroom! Why should you be robbed and spoiled? And for what? Empty husks and bitter
fruits, while you waste this little span of blessing! All the distinctions acquired here in the energy
of the Spirit, will but serve to enhance your beauty, and render you more lovely in the eyes of
Him who has espoused you to Himself.

H Sam. 6:14-16. "And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded
with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with
shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of
David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing
before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart."

II Sam. 6:20-23. "Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul
came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered
himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly
uncovereth himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me
before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over
Israel:therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be
base in mine own sight:and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had
in honor. Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death."

David’s dancing is sometimes referred to in hope of finding scriptural sanction for Christians to
dance today. This is truly a carnal plea, for David’s dancing was not a romantic waltz with a
feminine partner at a gala affair, it was rather an overflow of personal joy and thankfulness to
Jehovah, the God of Israel, who had blessed His people. This blessing resulted from the ark of
the covenant being placed, at last, "in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it."
vs. 17. In no way can this be construed to sanction dancing today. Nor are we, guided in this
dispensation of grace to conduct ourselves exactly imitating saints in time of old. We learn much
from the principles these incidents display_"all these things happened unto them for en-samples"
for us. (I Cor. 10:11). The types and shadows must be understood in the things they portray and
not in the literal acts themselves.

David’s dancing has often been a perplexity since many think that he was unclothed or naked as
seemingly inferred from Michal’s remarks. No doubt her own father was shamefully unclothed
when prophesying among the prophets in I Sam. 19:24. However, in the instance we are
considering, the Spirit of God would seem to guard us against this thought by telling us plainly
that David was "girded with a linen ephod", (v. 14). This is truly more in accordance with the
Word when we (recall that God plainly told Moses of the clothing required for Aaron and his
sons, the priests, specifying that they wear linen breeches "to cover their nakedness." (Ex. 28:42).

Just what then are we to understand from Michal’s disgust at David’s conduct? It seems that
Michal saw little in David’s person but everything in his position among men. He was king! When
David danced before the LORD simply clothed in the ephod, he made himself of no reputation
and simply let his heart overflow to the LORD. It was his kingly garments that he did not wear
at this time. This seems to be the reason for her despising David. That this was foremost in her
eyes is indicated by the statement that she "saw king David dancing. . . ." Also she taunted him
who came to bless by the remark, "How glorious was the king of Israel today." Such sarcasm
displayed her lack of affection for his person. Truly, without the kingly garments which she prized
so highly, David seemed to her as she said, "shamelessly uncovered." Self-abasing humility

toward God is ever despised by the flesh. Yet no position more becomes the joyous thankful soul
before the living God.

Michal’s own barrenness until her death typifies the barrenness of the soul who fails to see the
glories of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true David, though veiled by his humility here. "We . . .
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Phil.
3:3). This is the true spirit of David’s dancing! May it be truly shared by more of His own today.

Same root-word uses of "AUTHOR" shown in bold type. (Greek, Arch-egos).

". . . Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author
(Leader) and Finisher (Perfecter) of faith; . . ." (Heb. 12:1,2).

"For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in BRINGING many
sons to glory, to make the originator of their salvation perfect through sufferings." (Heb. 2:10
FWG).

"But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One . . . and killed the Author of life . . ." (Acts 3:15
FWG).

"The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, . . . Him hath God with his right hand exalted as
Founder and Saviour" (Acts 5:31 FWG).

Same root-word uses of the first part of "Author":

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Rev. 22:13). (See
also Rev. 21:6).

"And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power." (Col. 2:10).

"In the beginning was the Word. . . . (John 1:1).

Same root-word uses of the last part of "Author."

". . . in bringing many sons to glory . . ." (Heb. 2:10 FWG).

"He calleth His own sheep by name and leadeth them out." (John 10:3).

"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold:them also I must bring, . . . and there shall
be one fold and one Shepherd." (John 10:16).

"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd
of the sheep, . . . make you perfect. . . ." (Heb. 13:20,21).

"But that also He should gather together in one the children of God that are scattered abroad."
(John 11:52).

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
(Matt. 18:20).

". . . He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. . . ." (Acts 8:32).

". . . them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." (I Thess. 4:14).

"The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." (Rom. 2:4).

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, . . ." (Matt. 7:14).

".. . The law was our schoolmaster (to bring us) unto Christ. . . ." (Gal. 3:24).

I wish attention could be roused to this question_ "Have you any principles? and if you have, are
they Divine, and such as will make good for you, if you are consistent with them, a steady
position when all things are shaking round you?"

Clearly they who are walking with God, as did Enoch, can say, "Through grace I have such; for
the great leading circumstance to me is God, who, nearer to me than my own self, never changes
and if I am kept true to Him, when He has overruled things for Himself, the same grace which
keeps me now by steady adherence to Him, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, will
cause it to appear before all in His own Day to the praise of His own grace."

3. Independency. At first glance this view may seem identical with that of local sufficiency, but
there are a number of radical differences. However, extremes meet; and this is illustrated in the
elements of similarity between these two views.

The characteristic feature of Independency is, as its name indicates, that the local gathering is a
unit, whose association with other gatherings is very slight. It is competent not only to decide as
to local matters, but as to matters which are not local. Thus the fact that a person has been
received or ex-communicated by a neighboring gathering does not decide it for other gatherings.
Without dictating to the other gatherings, they will decide upon the case afresh, and act
accordingly_it may be in opposition to the previous decision. But this divergence is not a ground
of separation; the independency permits them to go on together, in a general way, with one who
is allowed at one place and refused at another.

Growing out of this is a denial of a "circle of fellowship"_various assemblies recognizing one
another as holding the same truth and having the same order. They claim that all fellowship is of
individuals with Christ; that this individual fellowship with Him is also the fellowship of His
Church, the only link and title to be recognized; that in this sense there is no real local assembly,
but only the general fellowship of the whole body. Closely connected with this is the teaching that
the possession of life is the only title to fellowship, and that we can only debar those who are not
really Christians. This is held only by some, and has been modified so that those under scriptural
discipline are also excluded.

At the close of a gospel meeting one evening, a timid old lady felt that she ought to speak to a
couple of young men about their souls, but it was some time before she could find courage to do
it. She had been a believer from her childhood, but she was so reserved and naturally quiet, that
she shrank from doing anything that would bring her into the slightest prominence.

Finally, however, she made the effort, and trembling, she went to the young men and begged them
to turn to the Lord. Her nervousness made her talk to them in such an odd and hesitating way that
both of them laughed in her face and made no reply. This so humiliated her that she began to cry,
and returned to her seat, telling herself that she would never again attempt to speak with people
about their souls. She would leave that work to preachers and others who were gifted that way!

Now it happened that the two young men to whom she had spoken shared the same bedroom in
the house where they boarded. During that night one of them was awakened by hearing his friend
groaning, as if in great pain.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

"Oh," replied the other, "I am disgusted with myself for the way in which I treated that good old
lady. It was a hard thing for her to come and speak to us, and I hate myself for laughing in her
face as I did. I wouldn’t like anyone to act that way to my mother. She wanted to do me good, and
I should at least have been polite to her."

The other young man agreed with all of this, and seemed to feel it as much as the first. In a little
while they were both under deep conviction of sin. They knelt down by their beds and began to
pray. Before morning they were both soundly converted.

One of the two became a preacher. The other is today a successful business man in the town where
he was converted, and is an earnest, devoted Christian.

All this came about through God’s blessing as the result of a feeble effort of a timid woman, who
was laughed at in her first attempt to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and say a word for
Christ.

FRAGMENT
Speak just a word for Jesus,
Why should you doubt or fear?
Surely His love will bless it;
Someone will gladly hear.
K.O.B.

Worship and adoration are the fitting expressions of hearts which have learnt something of the
preciousness of the Lord Jesus. "To you therefore who believe (is) the preciousness. . . ." (I Peter
2:7 J.N.D. trans.) What does this mean? It speaks not only of faith in the work accomplished, but
it also tells out in some measure the knowledge of the Person who has accomplished it; and so we
read in I Peter 1:8, "Whom having not seen ye love:in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." But sad to relate, how many children
of God know little or nothing of the preciousness to be found in Him. What hearts we have! Do
we "want to see the Man that saved us?"

Dear Christian reader, He prizes thy love; wilt thou not seek to refresh His heart? "Where two
or three are gathered," He says, "together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt.
18:20). Are you found there? His Name, remember. And if so, is it a joy for you to get there, in
His presence? Then His Name avails us in our supplications to our God and Father. If you see
then the darkness, the will of man asserting itself, of saints turning aside, think of Him; is He
worthy of your love? Think of that tender, pitying eye upon you as if He were saying, "Will ye
also go away?" Ah, to whom should we go? No, beloved reader, let us hold fast His precious
Name, and in so doing we shall not deny His Word. Hold fast what thou hast. He is coming soon.
Let that thought cheer us, that we shall soon be conformed to His image.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. The bright and morning star will soon appear. And then
to praise Him, no more to pain the Lamb once slain. Think of it, dear reader. Oh, let it hold us.
Let your attitude be uncompromising towards aught that slights Him. Shall we put saints before
Him? No; in all things He must have the pre-eminence. But what grace should characterize us,
what patience, what forbearing one another in love. Blessed Saviour, we adore Thee, for Thou
art worthy to receive all the praise and homage these hearts can give! We do long to see Thee to
praise in full measure!

"God our Saviour . . . will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the
truth." (I Timothy 2:4).

"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (II Timothy 3:7).

"Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God:I speak this to
your shame." (I Corinthians 15:34).

"And he that doubteth is damned [condemned, JND] if he eat, because he eateth not of faith:for
whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23).

It is evident from the scriptures that there is a great difference in the condition of the assembly in
its beginning and manner in reception (Acts 2:41-47), and that condition of the assembly described
by the Apostle Paul in n Timothy 2:16-22. This latter condition brought forth special instructions
from the Lord Jesus through the Apostle Paul to His people as to how to act in the matter of
fellowship and reception in view of the mixed, defiled conditions existing.

As we approach our first scripture, I Timothy 2:4, the apostle would make known the heart and
desire of our blessed God, "who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth", and as the Apostle Peter would tell us, "there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Surely this would lead us on to Colossians
1:10:"that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God."

In our second scripture, n Timothy 3:7, the Apostle Paul would inform us that there are some who
are "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Perhaps we wonder,
"Why is this?" With an open Bible in their hands, should they not know? We are sorrowfully
persuaded that many are not interested enough to know. But worse still, there are some in
Christendom taking the place of ministers, who having a large knowledge of the truth, FAIL to
act, themselves, on the instructions given by the Apostle Paul, and so are powerless to instruct
others and lead them aright.

Does not this state amongst the Lord’s people help to maintain the abnormal condition described
in our first paragraph? Oh! do WE love the Lord Jesus and His truth enough, and really love His
dear people enough to tell them of the way He would have them go?

In view of these abnormal conditions amongst God’s people, do we not need to give heed to the
Apostle Paul’s instructions to us in our third scripture, II Corinthians 15:34? Oh, "some have not
the knowledge of God." When a person expresses desire to be in fellowship with us at the Lord’s
Table, are we acting righteously and are we not sinning if we do not make known to this person
"the knowledge of God" in reference to our subject of "reception"? Are we not responsible to
make known to this person (after we are sure that the person who is seeking fellowship is
personally saved) the awful, immoral, unspiritual, and unrighteous associations believers may be

found in, as in I Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, with the Lord’s instructions as to what
to do about it in the same chapters; also the iniquitous conditions described in n Timothy 2:16-22,
with instructions what to do about it in verses 19-22, same chapter?

So, the person desiring fellowship should be somewhat advised of some of the awful conditions
in Christendom, and that unless he permanently separates from these conditions, he would be
practically leavened or defiled and so defile us if he were received) into fellowship with
us,_unless he honestly judged and separated from that which the scriptures tell him to separate
from. Thereby both the person seeking fellowship and the assembly would be working out the
scriptural warning, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (I Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9).

Coming to our fourth scripture, Romans 14:23, we are confronted with our great responsibility
not to stumble a person who desires to have fellowship with us, but is not really ready to take the
step in faith. It is possible that in our over-zealousness or lack of care (which is really a lack of
true love both to the Lord Jesus and to the one seeking fellowship), to hasten the one to take the
step which as yet he has not faith for. This may happen by our not properly advising the one
seeking fellowship as to what the Lord Jesus expects of His children (2 Timothy 2:19) on account
of the conditions, afore stated, in Christendom. Thus we may contribute to his stumbling by
helping him to act not in faith and so cause him to sin, which is very serious.

All of the foregoing may seem like a long, drawn out affair_but it is not. Surely there has been
some conversation ^with the one in the assembly who has been contacted by the one outside,
desiring fellowship, and when the person desires to come in, these things can be reasonably talked
over in one-half to one hour’s time. It is not necessary to explain every division amongst God’s
people. One illustration may be all that is necessary. In the case of one recently converted, in his
fresh new found Love_his Saviour, he is more easily teachable and more apt to respond to the
desires of the Lord Jesus _that he should "depart from iniquity."

May our God and Father and our Lord Jesus bless these few remarks on our responsibilities
connected with reception.

"… If I have found grace in thy sight, SHEW ME NOW THY WAY, that I may know thee, that
I may find grace in thy sight. . . ." (Ex. 33:13).

What a wholesome desire, and if Moses needed it in his day, how much more do we.

The headlines of the 107th Psalm are "God’s manifold providence in divers varieties of life". And
what a record it presents, not only in showing the definite need of being shown the way but also
the wondrous provision God has made for every step of it.

This Psalm begins with an appeal to give thanks unto the Lord for He is good and also because
His mercy endureth forever. The redeemed of the Lord are to say so, whom He has redeemed and
gathered out. So we doubtless can see through it all an appeal to our own hearts. He tells of how
they WANDERED IN THE SOLITARY WAY, and how solitary a way it is when we wander
instead of being led. Yes, "A SOLITARY WAY", and left alone to wander.

Oh keep my soul, then, Jesus,
Abiding still with Thee,
And if I wander, teach me
Soon back to Thee to flee.

"They wandered in a solitary way in the wilderness, they found NO CITY to dwell in."

Prone; to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love:
Yet Thou, Lord, has deigned to seal it
With Thy Spirit from above.

The loneliness and their experiences cause them to cry out in their trouble. "And He led them
forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation," (Ps. 107:7). Oh, to find grace
in His sight, and to be shown His way!

"Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies (literally
those which observe me)." (Ps. 27:11). See also Ps. 54:5; 56:2; and 59:10, for "mine observers".
"Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness because of (mine observers); make Thy way straight
before my face." (Ps. 5:8). "Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth:unite my heart
to fear Thy Name." (Ps. 86:11). "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up
my soul unto Thee." (Ps. 143:8). "0 Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself:it is not
in man that walketh to direct his steps." (Jer. 10:23). "Order my steps in Thy word. . . ." (Ps.
119:133). "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. . . ." (Ps. 32:8).

"The meek will He guide in judgment:and the meek will He teach His way." (Ps. 25:9).

Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. He desired to be shown God’s way, and God showed

it to him and said, "Thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way
wherein they must walk, and the work they must do.” (Ex. 18:20). Yet it was said of them ". .
.the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way". (Num. 21:4).

"And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou
wouldest keep His commandments, or no." (Deut. 8:2). These things were to be taught their
children. "And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deut.
11:19). God was greatly Concerned for His own and is still concerned today. ". . . That ye may
know the way by which ye must go:for ye have not passed this way heretofore". (Joshua 3:4).

Departure and decline marked Israel’s day as it does ours. "And yet they would not hearken to
their judges, . . . they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the
commandments of the Lord; but they did not so." (Judges 2:17).

What a testimony is borne to Samuel. ". . . there is in this city a man of God, and he is an
honorable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass:now let us go thither; peradventure he can
shew us our way that we should go." (I Sam. 9:6).

Listen to his message, "For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake:
because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people. Moreover, as for me, God forbid that
I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you:but I will teach you the good and the right
way:Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart:for consider how great things
He hath done for you." (I Sam. 12:22-24).

"Yet Thou in Thy manifold mercies forsook them not in the wilderness:the pillar of the cloud
departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew
them light and the way wherein they should go." (Neh. 9:19). May it ever be for each one of us
to pray to God, saying, "cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. . . ." (Ps. 143:8).
And, "Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God. . ." (Ps. 143:10). And, "Thine ears shall
hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand,
and when ye turn to the left." (Isa. 30:21).

In Exodus 30:34-38, God gives us an account of the sweet incense. There were to be four
ingredients in its composition, each of them in themselves being "sweet spices"_"stacte, onycha,
galbanum, and pure frankincense." The peculiar and aromatic properties of each of these it may
be impossible for us to express; but the moral virtue and value of each, when "tempered together"
after the art of the apothecary, according to Divine instruction, it would be impossible to miss.
Never had there been anything like it before "to smell thereto". Never has there been anything like
it since, until the blessed Lord came into the scene and brought into actuality in His own Peerless
Person that unique fragrance to God which the sweet incense typically set forth in the days when
He was foreshadowing that beloved Son in the tabernacle of old.

That it must have been something beyond measure delightful to God goes without saying, seeing
it was that which God chose to set forth the fragrance of the moral glories of His Son, and
intensified by the action of fire (judgment); and that of which each ingredient was absolutely
perfect.

Moreover, the cloud formed in the holiest of all on the day of atonement, by the incense put on
the burning coals of fire in the censer (Lev. 16:12,13), was not formed to envelop the high priest,
though doubtless it did so, but "that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat." It was God’s
provision to surround Himself with that which typically portrayed the intense satisfaction and
delight which God found in the moral fragrance of the Person of His beloved Son, and doubtless
through which He viewed the high priest when he entered to make propitiation by blood.

Nor was this action of the high priest with the incense in Leviticus 16 the making atonement,
though intimately connected with that work. It was a setting forth of the first and greatest of all
lessons for sinful creatures to learn_namely, that the Person of Christ comes first, before all else,
even before His infinitely precious work.

How needful to grasp it, and own it with worship-ping hearts! The Person of Christ upholds His
cross, as the cross upholds the Person who hung on it. Touch that glorious Person in anyway sq
as to detract from or tarnish the glory of what He is in Himself as the "pure and holy" One, like
the incense, and His work is valueless, and we lose the Saviour, the beloved Son, Jehovah’s
Fellow, and leave ourselves helpless and hopelessly lost souls! God preserve us all in this respect!

As before remarked, the "sweet incense" in itself sets forth the moral fragrance of the Person of
Christ. And in its connection with the burning coals in the censer on the day of atonement, it is
seen intensified by contact with fire (judgment); and forming the cloud with which Jehovah
surrounded Himself on His throne.

Let us briefly glance at what is said of these ingredients which God calls "sweet spices" (Exodus
30:34; 37:27). They were not to be taken at random and used indiscriminately simply because
each was "sweet". No; each was to be carefully measured and weighed_"Of each there shall be
a like weight". Human wisdom had no say in this matter. God was setting forth what was to be
for His pleasure, not for man’s! Then these "pure and holy" ingredients had to be "tempered

together," not merely put together in a vessel, but mixed_blended together. Then some of it had
to be "beaten very small," and set aside for use, as we see in Lev. 16:12,13. Thus it was to be a
"pure and holy" and "most holy" perfume.

All these details as to the composition and compounding of the incense are exceedingly precious,
and reveal to us in typical language the absolute perfection in every minute particular and detail
of that which was to set forth the moral fragrance of Him who was then to come, and whom,
when He came and was manifested, God called "My beloved Son in whom I have found My
delight" (Matthew 3:17).

What He was in Himself could only be known to God:"No man knoweth the Son but the Father."
But He has taken these ways to picture it out to us, in order to increase our delight in His Son
likewise. "Sweet spices" _"of a like weight"_no one spice predominating over another, each
equally perfect. "Tempered together"_ blended so perfectly that no one overpowered the rest.
"Beaten small"_so that the smallest particles, produced by "beating" (suffering) and blending,
expressed the perfection of the whole.

In speaking of Leviticus 16, where we see the use the "sweet incense" was put to, a brother used
to say, "It takes a cloud to meet a cloud." How true this is. In that chapter we see God hidden in
His glory cloud (verse 2), and prohibiting man from rashly meeting his doom by entering His holy
presence except in His prescribed way. Man, in his sinful state, is utterly unable to be in the
presence of God except on the ground of atonement. But who can tell how God will be
approached? or what He requires in order to approach Him? Only God Himself could make that
known, and that He has done in this beautiful chapter. At present, however, I must confine myself
to the first lesson.

What then was the first thing to be done after the victims were selected? What could meet the
glory cloud but the incense cloud! And thus we see, as already noticed, God setting the first lesson
and typifying the moral fragrance of the Person of His beloved Son who was to be Offerer,
Offering, and High Priest, and make propitiation by blood; the only One who, because of who and
what He is in Himself, could at any time, and all times, stand in the presence of that glory-cloud,
and therefore was fitted to do all else that was needful for God and man.

But what a cloud was that incense cloud! See that high priest a» he passes within the vail into the
immediate presence of God enthroned in His cloud on the mercy seat! Slowly he enters with the
censer of burning coals hanging on his finger, and both hands full of sweet incense. Then he sets
it down and empties his hands of the incense on to the burning coals; immediately it ignites and
sends forth its cloud of aromatic fragrance; thus, and there,, and then surrounding the throne of
Jehovah and giving satisfaction and joy to His heart, speaking as it did, and as only He then could
understand, of the perfections of His Son. God, in His holiness in the cloud, was met by the
purity, and holiness, and preciousness of Christ seen in the incense cloud. What a wonderful
thought! Now, for us, we can sing:

The veil is rent, our souls draw near
Unto a throne of grace:

The merits of the Lord appear,
They fill the holy place.

Blessed be God it is so, and our hearts know it and respond to it in holy and happy worship, based
of course, not merely on what Christ is, but what He has done in His blood-shedding and death
on the cross.

David had some faint idea of the value of incense to God when he prayed "Let my prayer be set
forth before Thee as incense" (Psalm 141:2). Moses and Aaron too knew its value when Aaron
put it in the censer and ran among the rebels and made atonement for them and thus stayed the
plague (Numbers 16:46-48). It will have its place once more when God is again dealing with His
earthly people after the removal of the church to heaven; and thus we see in Rev. 8, the angel with
the golden censer and much incense given to him to offer with the prayers of the afflicted and
suffering saints in that day. How precious this is! God, even then, still seen to be the Hearer and
Answerer of prayer, and the prayers rising up to Him mingled with the sweet perfume of the
incense.

Many other thoughts will doubtless connect themselves with it in the minds of thoughtful readers
of their Bibles. The Lord give each one of us in a fuller and deeper way to enter into His thoughts
about the Son of His love in every way in which He has been pleased to make them known.

"Of course! you will, sooner or later," most men will answer.

"I DO NOT KNOW," is the answer which most Bible students ought to give.

Of believers, it is only those who have a special revelation that they will die, as Peter had had
(John 21:19, H Peter 1:14), and Paul (H Tim. 3:6), who are justified in saying, "certainly I shall
die." Peter could say so, for the Lord Jesus had promised to him in particular the martyr’s crown;
Paul knew the same of himself. But I am only an ordinary Christian, and I do not pretend to be
either a Peter of a Paul, and I do not either pretend to have had any revelations direct from the
Lord Himself to me about my own private self in particular. Therefore, I am obliged to be
satisfied with the general light which God, in His word, gives to His family as such,_that clear
and broad light which shines upon the people of Christ as such.

I am thus obliged to be satisfied with such words as these, "As it is appointed unto men [man as
a sinner? not (as often wrongly quoted), unto all men] once to die, but after this the judgment;"
(Heb. 9:27) So far we read of what awaits man in fallen nature:death and the judgment.

Then comes what is true of the believer only:"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation." (Heb. 9:28).

AS mere man is a sinner, and as such is appointed to death and judgment:

SO the believer (every believer) had all the penalty due to his sins borne by Christ. He looks for
Him_ "unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Again (I Thess. 1:9), "ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait
for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from
the wrath to come."

Again (I Cor. 15:51), "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."

Again (I Thess. 4:15), "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive,
and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Again John (in the Revelation 1:7) says, "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and (chap. 3:11, the
Lord says to John, and to us too,) Behold, I come quickly; and (in chap. 22:7,12) Behold, I come
quickly; and ver. 20, when the Spirit and the Bride (ver. 17) invite Him to come_ "The Spirit and
the Bride say, Come."

He answers, "Surely I come quickly. Amen." To which John replies, "Even so, come, Lord
Jesus."

These Scriptures and many others show:first, that the path of the believer, as laid down in
Scripture, leads the mind, not down to the grave, but up to meet the Lord at His coming; and
secondly, that the believers in apostolic days did look up that bright and shining way to the Lord
returning as their hope, even as it becomes those "whose conversation is in heaven, from whence
also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ". (Phil. 3:20).

Thus did they, as I, having no special communication of my death,_act up to the word of the two
in white apparel, who stood looking up steadfastly toward heaven (where a cloud had received
Jesus from their sight):"Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
(Acts 1:10,11).

Being myself only one of the flock_nor a bell bearer, nor a shepherd_the prospect of the flock
is my prospect, no more or less. Special communication to myself, as an individual, as to what
ought to be looked for by myself in particular_have l none_so I must content myself with the
hope set before all Christians, and seek to be like unto one that waits for his Lord from heaven,
"who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according
to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things to Himself" (Phil. 3:21).

It must be so, the Lord has not yet fulfilled the promise which he gave to poor self-confident Peter
(see John 13:38, and 14:1,3).

"Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow,
till thou hast denied me thrice."

"Let not your heart be troubled:ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are
many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a plate for you, and if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also." Yes! such is our hope_"that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with Him in glory". (Col. 3:4).

Some one may say, If these things are so in the Scriptures, how come the religious people of our
day do not see them?

To this I answer that the Pentecostal Christians were by faith and through the Holy Ghost occupied
with the ascended Lord who, having by His death cleared them of all guilt, was in heaven caring
for all their heavenly and spiritual interests, and about to come again that He might receive them
unto Himself.

Few of the religious now-a-days know even what the value of His death and resurrection is to
them; they therefore cannot study His glory in heaven; and they do not long for His return, or
even wish to do so.

It may be said, "Are you alone right" and "every one else wrong?" I reply, "Thank God I am not
alone in this; but if I were alone, I would be alone in truth rather than with a multitude in error."

But are you sure you are right? Of this I am sure _first, that God’s word is with me; and
secondly, that God will not suffer those that prayerfully search His word, and lean not to their
own understanding, to err in their faith and hope.

Certainly Christ in His coming, and not death, was the hope of the early Christians. Certainly,

too, it is written at the end of the Revelation (and it cheers my heart to read it for others’ sake as
well as for my own), "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come."

"Surely I come quickly. Amen." "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

"Be ye thankful" (Col. 3:15). When you find one professing to be a Christian yet having no spirit
of praise and thanksgiving, you have to conclude either that the person is not a believer at all, or
that he has made little progress. Thanksgiving to God is spoken of more than 125 times in the
Bible, and we cannot obey His Word without giving of thanks. Christian life is largely devoted
to prayer and thanksgiving, if it is what it should be. We might go so far as to say that if a person
is a real Christian, prayer and thanksgiving will certainly form a part of the life. The Christian
loves prayer, loves to thank God for the blessings received. Cold, hard duty has nothing to do
with thanking the One we love more than all else for what He has given and is giving to us.

Thanksgiving is a sure sign of happiness. The Christian is happy because he has salvation from
sin, has the presence and guidance of Christ, and has the Spirit of God dwelling within. When you
think of what it means to have Christ dwelling within, you do not wonder at the words, "I have
Christ, what want I more?" To have Him as Saviour, as our Sin-bearer, our Redeemer, to have
Him for all things, what can we want more? Day by day He is giving us life, food, shelter, a
degree of health, and so much besides. Every good and perfect gift is from Him, and such gifts
will bring out our thanks, unless we are very thoughtless.

To be thankful is to live with thanksgiving in our hearts, and often expressed in words, perhaps
silent words in the heart, but the thankfulness dwells within. "Be ye thankful," means a state of
mind and heart, our attitude towards God. It does not mean that we give thanks for some great
gift, though we always have the gifts of Christ and the Holy Spirit to be thankful for. It means
realizing more and more of the goodness of God, and how He gives us all things richly to enjoy.
How great an advance it is to learn to be "giving thanks always for all things to God and the
Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:20).

Think what this means; "giving thanks always for all things." There are many times we are
thankful when some great blessing comes to us. There are great gifts we are sure to be thankful
for, but here it is expressly declared that the believer in Christ is to be "giving thanks always,"
and in so doing there would of necessity be thanksgiving for all things. This is the proper, normal
feature of the Christian life; this is one of the crowning blessings of the Spirit of God dwelling
within us. See how it makes one an overcomer to be always giving thanks for whatever comes to
us. It means that we know God controls all persons and all things. It means receiving all that
comes to us as coming from Him. Good things certainly do not come from our enemies, human
or satanic. And the bad things are made to work together for good to us. That is victory. It is what
God gives us to realize. It is not dead philosophy, or any kind of philosophical reasoning, which
is all that they of the world have for comfort. It is not only a teaching, a doctrine, an abstract truth
which the child of God has; he has a Person, the Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus to be thankful
for, to give thanks to.

This is the wonder of God’s salvation; we are brought to know a Person to Whom we can give
thanks and for Whom we can be thankful. We read of Him in Scrip-tare, learn its teaching
concerning Him, what He is to us, what He has done, is doing and will do for us; and it is all
something to thank God for, to have Christ call us His brethren, and to learn to thank Him for

coming into the world for us, bearing our sins on that cross of agony and shame, dying for
sinners, rising for them, and now making intercession for them. What truths to be thankful for!
They are precious realities, events which really took place, and upon them is founded our present
and eternal blessing.

Scripture places before mankind that which differs from all man-made religions; it gives man a
Person to love and praise and the work of that Person to be thankful for. Search, if you will, all
the chronicles of all the religions of mankind and see if in any of them you find a divine Person
who is both God and Man, to love, to praise, to thank for being the Sin-bearer for men. Christ
is all this and more. He is a perfect Saviour. Think of what it means to have all our sins gone
forever, blotted out by the work of Christ, a new nature given; light, and life, and love, and hope
given in place of the darkness of the world, with an eternity of joy after this life.

Ought not those to whom all this belongs be thankful? We love Christ now; we are going to love
Him much more when He has transferred us to the Glory at His coming and given us His own
likeness. We are now the children of God, on the way to receive an inheritance from and with
Christ our Lord. He is a King but not our King; He is our Lord and Saviour, and a part of His
will concerning us while we are here is that we should be thankful. Can we wonder that Christ
is called "His unspeakable Gift"? (According to the Greek text, "free Gift"). He is God’s Gift to
sinful men, women, children, given freely to all who will receive Him. There is nothing to pay;
Christ has paid all; nothing to do, as men count doing to gain salvation; Christ has done it all.

Christ receiveth sinners and sinners receive Christ. And as soon as a sinner receives Him, the life
of thanksgiving begins. One may lose the spirit of thankfulness, but it should be cherished. Many
forms of temptation and snares are avoided by always being thankful. We should often offer
thanks to God for this and that blessing. It opens our hearts to His great goodness when we often
praise Him for the gifts we enjoy. It is a banisher of depression and fear when we recount to Him
what He has done for us in the past, and think what He has promised to do, thanking Him for the
blessings we enjoy. "Count your many blessings, name them one by one." Looking on their
number, their greatness, their value, is it strange that God would have His children thankful?

FRAGMENT
(Let such thoughts exercise us at the meeting for breaking of bread. Then more will take part in
rising to say even simply:"We thank Thee, Lord, for suffering for us even unto death."

(We draw your attention to this pertinent article. If we forget that we carry within us the seeds of
the leavened and corrupt conditions of Christendom which we profess to have separated from
outwardly; if the overcoming within does not accompany the overcoming without, we need not
wonder at, our present lack of spiritual freshness, and zeal, and power and growth. Will we not
confess that such has been the case largely?

The writer points out what he considers the cause:"resting in present attainment." The effects are
further touched upon. Then, what is of greatest value, the means of deliverance from this, is ably
and simply presented. Ed.)

If we would get the Lord’s watchword, I believe it is, "To him that overcometh" (and that is
within), and if we would know what it is that is to be overcome, I believe it is indicated in that
word, "Thou hast left thy first lave." To suppose that we have not to overcome even within,
because we have taken a position of separation, even if it were separation sevenfold, would only
entirely betray us, and perhaps plunge us in the same corruption. If we then search from the Word
of God, what are the cause* and principles of corruption, what the preservative, I believe we shall
find them singularly simple.

Resting in present attainment, I believe we shall find to be the whole, that is, the general secret
of it.

Look at Israel, and how distinctly do we find it traced! In Deuteronomy 32, after all the marvelous
grace of_"He found him … in a waste howling wilderness, He led him about … made him to
suck honey out of the rock; butter of kine . . . and the pure blood of the grape"_how comes in
the corruption?

He rests self-complacently in the goodness of God to him, instead of resting on, and walking with
God Himself, as a present thing:"Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:thou art waxen fat, thou art
grown thick, thou art covered with fatness"; and, as a natural consequence, "he forsook God,
which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." That whole song is of the last
importance; it is, I think, God’s anatomy of man’s corruption.

We get, I think, the same account of the process, and God’s pain at this leaving of the first love,
in Jeremiah 2:2. "Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember
thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after Me in the
wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the first fruits of
His increase. . . . Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me?" etc. He
reminds them of the desert land He led them through:"I brought you into a plentiful country, to
eat the fruit thereof, and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled My land, and made
My heritage an abomination (v.7)." "They have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and hewed
them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water (v.13)."

Turn now to the Gentile (Romans 11). Its snare would be, "Be not high-minded." In Revelation

2 we get Christ’s own delineation of the corruption. Every evil which you get in Thyatira, Sardis,
or Laodicea, has, I believe, its germ in that simple word at Ephesus "Thou hast left thy first love,"
amidst all the height, to which the Ephesian Epistle evidently shows God had brought them, and
Christ’s address bears witness to (v.2,3).

Surely, then, these things are written before us with a pencil _ of light; and it must be of no slight
importance to the saint to take heed to them. If we would get the preservative, "Christ’s love"
supplies one, and Philippians 3:13, another aspect:_ "Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended:but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things that are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God
in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded" (i.e. perfect in not being
perfect, but aiming at it). This, therefore, should be our spring, kept simple and fresh to the end.

"The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all
dead (or perhaps "all died," i.e., all believers died in, or with Him*):and that He died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them,
and rose again." This, I say, should be our motive, simple and fresh to the end. And then, as the
Apostle says, "forgetting those things which are behind." When this is not the case, when the soul
rests in attainments made, it becomes self-satisfied:it rests in the knowledge, perhaps, previously
heaped up, which, like the manna, only breeds worms, and becomes corrupt for want of being
gathered day by day. And I would remark that all knowledge of truth gathered beyond our present
communion, is not only not a blessing, but an injury. We can place no limit to the extent to which
the Lord may teach and lead us on, but when once knowledge becomes an object to me apart from
the Lord Himself, I may as well, and better, be employed about some other object.

*This is the writer’s view (Ed.).

The hardest conscience of all often to deal with and arouse, is that which knows everything. You
can tell them nothing new. Their previous knowledge without Communion, is like a foil put upon
"the sword of the Spirit," it makes it dull, ineffectual. Further, the being thus laden with vain
knowledge, makes the saint restless, like an overloaded stomach, that does not know what is the
matter with it. He has no longer an appetite for simple things. He must have something new and
overpowering, or something to meet his particular taste. Well does the wise man say, "The full
soul loatheth the honeycomb, whilst to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." Oftentimes
he mistakes this restlessness and dissatisfaction for spirituality, not knowing that the complaint is
in himself; he is not at the right point for satisfaction (John 6:35), and therefore dissatisfied with
everything and everyone.

May we not well look to our own hearts; how is it with ow hearts as to this? Are we as simple and
fresh as we once; were? The example of Ephesus is full to the point. May we then cultivate that
simple taste, cherishing, loving, and receiving all that is of God, be it weak or strong (for one may
err either way, Ex. 23:3-6). Let us love the whole Word of God, not forming to ourselves
particular tastes, and choosing particular parts, for "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine . . . that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished";
neither having particular tastes in the saints we select for intercourse_this leads to a clique and

self-righteousness, and one-sided Christian character:further, the doing diligently what we have
to do of worldly calling, the doing diligently whatsoever God enables us to do in any way of
spiritual service, not critically discussing about gifts; for real ability from God is gift.

"Preach the Word," says Paul to Timothy, "reprove, rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2), do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry" for the love of Christ, for the work of Christ. Do we
take as much delight in His Word, for its or His own sake, not for mere knowledge? Surely there
ought to be an appetite about this _"as new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that
ye may" feed thereupon, and grow_and, in connection with that, putting away evil from our
hearts, for it is impossible to grow without that; "laying aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings" (I Peter 2).

I have endeavored to show then, that the root of all apostasy and corruption (and we know not to
what length that may go_the more has been the knowledge, joy, and devotedness, the deeper it
sinks when corrupted), is to be found in resting in present attainment/’ instead of being kept
freshly in the love of Christ.

Nothing is more healthful to one’s own soul than the carefully bearing forth of the Gospel,
publicly or privately. Distaste for that is a bad sign indeed. "He that watereth others, shall be
watered himself." Finally, the acknowledging of the poorness of our endeavors, and the
hopelessness of the ruin, which we still seek in grace to overcome, holding forth the word of
life_to wait for that which alone will put all right:that "blessed hope, and glorious appearing of
our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

And if our poor hearts at all feel that we have slipped back, and fallen under the power of this
corruption, 0 how blessedly still; does Christ meet us. "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in
the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed." To Him be
glory!

No one can adequately estimate a mother’s influence in the household and over her children either
for good or ill.* It has been said that the first book every child reads, and the last to be laid aside,
is the conduct of its mother.

*The following remarks to mothers would apply no less to fathers, though we believe that
generally the mother exerts the greater influence of the two upon the children. Ed.

She will feel her need of private prayer that God may give her daily wisdom, so that by words,
example, and by the whole current of her life she may be a model of what she would wish her
children to be. Nor will she fail to arrange the affairs of the household that the reading of the
scriptures and family prayer would not fall through for want of time. Even where there is great
rush and pressure a little method can do much. A few minutes spent together in the sanctuary of
God’s presence may yield gracious help all the day.

A wise mother will be careful not to give her children thoughtless commands, but when a
command is given she will kindly but firmly insist on prompt obedience. She will not hastily
threaten, as some mothers are apt to do, but first ask herself whether she intends to carry out her
threat if disobeyed. If not, she will see it to be a thousand times better not to threaten at all.

A sensible mother will never correct her child until she is sure the child deserves correction. The
child’s story will first be heard_the whole of it_and if scolding is needed the scolding will be
given, but not in the presence of strangers, if it can be helped. Nor should a child ever be
deceived, and when a promise is made it should be faithfully kept.

There are many worries, cares, and anxieties in a mother’s life that are not always sufficiently
considered, and which even the husband and father knows nothing of. A little sympathy, an
appreciative word, will sometimes do wonders. But the well-being of the family largely depends
on God’s order being recognized. He speaks in His Word of wives and husbands, children and
parents, servants and masters, and tells us what is right and proper for each (Ephesians 5:22-6:9).
If the directions of God are followed, then His glory and our happiness are secured; but if
unheeded, we need not wonder if many a thing goes wrong.

Faith never expects to learn deep lessons without deep difficulties, therefore she is not surprised
by strange and dark providences. How many are apt to say, "My temptation is peculiar," but we
should remember that it is the peculiar aggravations which make a trial effectual and should not
forget the word "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." (I Cor.
10:13).

Our faith is greatly strengthened when we are brought to see that no one but God can help. No
wisdom but His can guide and no love but His can satisfy.

God has settled in Heaven certain trials of our faith which will as surely befall us as the crown of
glory be given us at Christ’s appearing. God’s purposes of grace are a golden chain, not a link
must be missing. When a trial comes upon me let me look upon it as sent for a peculiar blessing.
If I receive it thus I shall not consider "how heavy it is" nor ask "when will it be removed" but
"how much advantage shall I gain through it." How shall I turn it to the best account?

FRAGMENT
One important end of God in affliction is to fix the thoughts on Him. Though the Sabeans and
Chaldeans took away Job’s oxen and asses and camels, and murdered his servants, yet he said not
a word of their wicked robbery, but declared, "The Lord hath taken away." Perhaps a message
of deeper alarm never wrung a father’s heart, than that which Samuel bore to Eli. With one
thought the venerable man quieted himself:"It is the Lord:let Him do what seemeth Him good."

In Revelation 1:10 we find the expression "the Lord’s Day". John was in the Spirit on that day,
and received communications from the Lord for the saints in Asia. In I Cor. 11:20, we get the
expression, "the Lord’s Supper". Can anyone question what is the meaning of this? Is it not
clearly the Lord’s supper in contradistinction to every one eating his own supper in verse 21? Now
when the day is spoken of, precisely the same word is used. It is peculiarly His day, and His
supper, _ a day and a supper which He claims as His. His supper, too, was observed on His day.

Neither the day, then, nor the supper are common. Shall we treat them as common? What would
we think of a man who held that he could treat the Lord’s supper as his own? This is the very
thing the saints at Corinth were doing, and for which the Lord was rebuking them. But it is His
day as well as His supper, and if we are not at liberty to treat the supper as our own, are we at
liberty to treat His day in this manner? I appeal to the reader’s sense of what is right and fitting
in the light of these Scriptures. I would ask, is it either right or fitting that we should take that day
which He calls His, and use it for our own pleasure or temporal advantage? If His supper is
devoted entirely to a holy and joyful remembrance of Him in His death and sufferings for us, and
not for the gratification of our appetites, shall we not as carefully observe the day as devoted to
Him and His things? But it is to be feared that not a few think that if they go to the meeting on that
day and break bread, when the meeting is over, then they are free to spend the remainder of the
day as they please. Alas! it only shows what and where our poor hearts are! He has not the first
place in them; His claim is ignored; and He is practically shut out by self-interest and worldliness.

It is but right that we should cease from our ordinary labors and activities and devote the day to
Him in a way in keeping with its character, occupying ourselves with spiritual things which will
be for profit to our own souls and the souls of others and thus bring honor to His holy Name. May
the Lord give us to be sensitive to all that affects His glory, and to prove the blessedness of
faithful and loving obedience to all His revealed will.

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." (Heb.
12:14).

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may
edify another." (Romans 14:19).

Our blessed Lord truly was the Peace-bringer. "On earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke
2:14). "Having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Col. 1:20). "He . . . came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." (Eph. 2:17). "For He
is our Peace." (Eph. 2:14). "My peace I give unto you." (John 14:27).

SHILOH _ The Person

In Genesis 49, Jacob gathered his sons together to hear that which should befall them in the last
days. Inasmuch as Christ is the key to all Scripture, we find personal glimpses of Him throughout
this chapter. What a portrayal presents itself to us in the blessing of Judah. "The scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (Peace-bringer) come; and
unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gen. 49:10). Christ alone is the center of
gathering for His people. "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah." (Heb. 7:14).

Shiloh means Peace-bringer, the One Who is the Center and Power of gathering for His own.
When the two returned from Emmaus, they had a surprise awaiting them; they "found the eleven
gathered together, and them that were with them". (Luke 24:33). Eleven_Judas was not there.
Eleven is the number that speaks of harmony_harmony with the traitor gone and Jesus in the
midst of His own, fulfilling His own promise:"For where two or three are gathered together Unto
My Name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20, J.N.D.), "And they told what things
were done in the way, and how He was known of them in the breaking of bread. And as they thus
spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, "Peace be unto you". (Luke
24:35,36). "Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."
(Luke 24:45).

SHILOH _The Place

"The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at SHILOH, and set up the
tabernacle of the congregation there." (Josh. 18:1). Thus the PERSON to whom we are gathered
becomes the PLACE of gathering. The people of God of old were solemnly admonished as to the
PLACE to which they should come.

"But unto the PLACE which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name
there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come. . . . Then there shall
be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; thither shall
ye bring all that I command you. . . . Take heed to thyself that thou offer not the burnt offerings

in every place that thou seest:But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes,
there shalt thou offer thy burnt offerings and there shalt thou do all that I command thee. . . . But
thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the PLACE which the Lord thy God shall choose,
… go unto the PLACE which the Lord shall choose." (Deut. 12:5, 11, 13, 14, 18, and 26). "And
thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the PLACE which He shall choose to place His name
there . . . that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always … go unto the place which the
Lord thy God shall choose." (Deut. 14:23,25).

See also Deut. 16:2, 6, 7, 11, 15; Deut. 17:8, 10; Deut. 18:6; 26:2. "So they gathered themselves
at Jerusalem." (II Chron. 15:10). "They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their
fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul." (II Chron. 15:12). In studying the above
references we find God’s time, God’s way, and God’s place.

As we come into the New Testament, no less is the way pointed out. (Matt. 18:20; Luke 24:33-
36). "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them." (Acts 20:7).

Truly "unto Him shall the gathering of the people be". Here we find both the PLACE and the
PERSON. May it be ours to find that PLACE and abide there, "for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent". (Luke 24:29).

FRAGMENT
We feed on Christ by the appropriation of Him in every character that He is presented to us.

FRAGMENT
The state of our souls may be discerned by the effect produced upon us by the Name of Jesus.

FRAGMENT
"Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." (Gen. 5:24).

He "walked with God"! Could grander words be written?
Not much of what he thought or said is told;
Not where or what he wrought is even mentioned;
He "walked with God"_brief words of fadeless gold!

How many souls were succored on his journey_
Helped by his words, or prayers_we may not know;
Still, this we read_words of excelling grandeur_
He "walked with God", while yet he walked below.

And, after years, long years, of such blest walking,
One day he walked, then was not. God said, "Come!
Come from the scene of weary, sin-stained sadness!
Come to the fuller fellowship of Home!"

Such be the tribute of thy pilgrim journey;
When life’s last mile thy feet have bravely trod;
When thou hast gone to all that there awaits thee:
This simple epitaph_He"walked with God"!
Anon.

FRAGMENT
O worldly pomp and glory,
Your charms are spread in vain!
I’ve heard a sweeter story!
I’ve found a truer gain!
Where Christ a place prepareth,
There is my loved abode;
There shall I gaze on Jesus:
There shall I dwell with God.
H.K.B.

I write as a young man to young men. My object is two-fold. I desire to realize for myself and to
place before others something of the responsibilities and privileges of the Christian life.

We remember the day we were converted, how, in the early feelings of "first love" we determined
to be, and to do for God. Let us sit down now and ask ourselves, "Have we realized our
intentions? Have we been what God intended us to be?" Let us face the question squarely and
answer it honestly.

And if not, what has been the cause? Without doubt, it has been divided affections. Then it was
Christ alone; since then it has been, many a time and often, Christ and something else. What that
"something else" may have been, each one knows for himself. But it has meant loss of power. Six
times over it is said of Caleb, "He wholly followed the Lord"; and what a power he was, and what
a hero he became! (Joshua 14:6-15). Young men of Caleb’s type are wanted today as ever
_separated from the world_out and out for God_devoted to Christ_young men in whom the
Holy Spirit of God not only dwells, but RULES. These are a few of their needed characteristics.
Are they ours? If not, let us seek them and let us be in earnest. Let us weigh all our words and
actions in view of the judgment-seat of Christ and in the light of eternity.

What will this produce? A greater desire to be here for God, and a more genuine love for the Lord
Jesus Christ. Self and self-pleasing will be lost sight of, and we shall go out into the world with
a real desire to see souls saved, and blessed with the joy and peace that we ourselves possess. Oh!
my fellow young men, I am convinced God could do great things with us did we but let Him* Do
I speak to one who is yet undecided?

I beseech you to remain so no longer. Life is short and eternity very near. Enlist now under the
banner of the cross, and boldly own the Lord Jesus Christ as your Master and Lord. There is the
deepest possible joy in His company; there is the greatest possible reward in His service; and there
is in Him the highest possible ideal set before you to shape your life and actions by. "Choose you
this day whom ye will serve."

PRECEPT is always addressed to a known relationship. I do not tell my servant to behave as my
child, because he is not my child:nor do I tell my child to behave as my servant, A Christian is
never called upon to examine himself as to whether he is a child of God or not. He is called to
examine himself as to whether he walks like one. Suppose my child begins to examine himself as
to whether he is behaving as he ought_ this is all right and proper. But suppose he sets about
examining his behavior to find out whether he is my child or not?_the thing is
monstrous._Present Testimony 1856.

Ques._What is the meaning of John 6:53, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink
His blood, ye have no life in you"?

Ans._Verse 63, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," shows
plainly that the Lord’s words, of which you inquire, are not to be taken in a material sense. The
eating and the drinking of which He speaks, is not done with the mouth; nor has it the least
reference to the Lord’s Supper, where we eat bread and drink wine, though in eating and drinking
these we profess to be of those who have eaten the Saviour’s flesh and drunk His blood.

It is faith, and faith alone, which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, can and does eat His flesh and
drink His blood. Flesh and blood separated means death. Feeding on the death of Christ by faith
is what the poor sinner does when he realizes himself guilty and condemned. The substitutional
death of Jesus thus received brings him life. Apart from this, the Lord has said, "Ye have no life
in you."

(2) THE FISH-GATE. This the sons of Hassenaah built (chap. 3:3), "who also laid the beams
thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof." Discrimination
appears to be the leading thought in) this gate. In Deut. 14:9 and 10 we see that certain fish are
called clean, and others unclean. In Matt. 13, in the parable of the net, every kind is gathered into
the net, but the good are gathered into vessels, while the bad are rejected. This takes place at the
end of the age; but we are to be in the spirit of that even now. "Do ye not know that the saints
shall judge the world? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain
to this life?" (I Cor. 6:2,3). The present time is the opportunity for practice in these things, for
learning to use "strong meat", becoming "those who by reason of use have their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil". (Heb. 5:14).

But fish as a symbol has another application which must not be passed over, and that is, ministry.
Fish is often used in symbolic language to suggest ministry. (See Matt 7:10). Our Lord fed the
multitude partly with fishes (Matt. 14:19; 15:36; cf. also 17:27). Even He Himself was so
ministered to (Luke 24:42).

The fish-gate then most beautifully fill its numerical place as the second gate, the number two
speaking of difference, hence of discrimination, as also of ministry, aid, help; the two thoughts
being brought together in the verse just quoted from Heb. 5, vers. 12 to 14, placing those
requiring milk, needing to be taught first principles, the unskillful in the word of righteousness,
on the one hand; whilst the full grown, feeding upon strong meat, those who by reason of habit
are able to distinguish both good and evil, are placed on the other.

What qualities are suggested as called into play by those who would "sit in the gate" here! Skill,
patience, vigilance, tenderness in handling_all the qualities of a bishop, in fact. And "the sons
of Hassenaah built" this gate. Hassenaah means "the thorn-bush". Having the article, it is definite,
and must refer to "the bush" of Ex. 3:2-6; of. Acts 7:30-34. The thorn is the badge of God’s curse
because of man’s sin. But here is a thorn-bush burning but not consumed because occupied by One
who has heard the cry of His people, and has come down to deliver them; and because of what
He is, they are not consumed. "I am Jehovah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed". (Mal. 3:6).

"The thorn-bush", then, reminds us of what we were, of what He is (He must consume what will
consume), and of what we are by His grace_deeply fundamental lessons; and it is eminently
fitting that the sons of "the thorn-bush" should repair this gate.

(3) THE OLD GATE. What an atmosphere of rest seems to envelop one as we think of the "old
gate"_the One who said, "I am the door:by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture"; and He changes not; He is "the same yesterday, and today, and
forever".

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good
way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls". (Jer. 8:16).

Jehoiada repairs this gate, his name meaning, "Jehovah knows"; the son of Paseah, whose name
means "halting", or "vacillating".

When we first entered, we entered as sinners. He opened His arms and took us in, "knowing" us
through and through; He picked us up for blessing, and He is able to accomplish His purpose. He
has not wearied, has not been disappointed in us, although we may have been disappointed in
ourselves and in one another at our "baitings" and "vacillations"; but "Jehovah knows", knows
the end from the beginning, and He had not changed; so we can repair the "old gate"; but for this
we need the assistance of Meshullam, whose name means, "reconciled"; the son of Besodeiah, "in
Jah’s secret". "Reconciled" and "in Jah’s secret"! Surely to attempt to repair the "old gate"
without these would be building with bricks_instead of living stones_and untempered mortar.
Again, we say, what an atmosphere of rest surrounds the old gate!

Is the reader of these lines reconciled to God?_ "A sinner reconciled through blood:This, this
indeed is peace."

"The secret of Jehovah is with them that fear Him."

(4) THE VALLEY GATE. We have been on the mountain top with Him whom "we have known
from the beginning". Now we must come down into the valley of practical experience in the
world. The low place becomes us as we think of what we are naturally, and as we consider what
our ways have been since we knew the Lord.

Nehemiah, as he went out by night to view the dilapidated wall, went out "by the gate of the
valley", and returned by the same gate. (chap. 2:13,15). This is as it should be. As he surveyed
the ruin, and remembered that the people had brought it upon themselves by their ungodly ways,
the valley gate would naturally be the gate at which he would begin and end his survey.

But Hanun repairs this gate, and his name means, "favored" (i.e., "shown grace"); assisted by
"the inhabitants of Zanoah"_"to cast off’.

What serious lessons are for us here!

On the one hand, "by the grace of God I am what I am"; and on the other, we see the cross, as
that which alone gives capacity to walk through this valley of death’s shadow; the cross, as the
mark of what the world thinks of us, and what the world is to us. (Gal. 6:14).

(5) THE DUNG GATE. This appears to be lower still than the valley gate. "He raiseth up the
poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes".
(Ps. 113:7,8). How often we fancy that we have learned our lesson of humility, and are walking
softly, when suddenly some trial confronts us and knocks us down. One cannot be knocked down
when he is down.

How hardly is this low level reached! perhaps because the "thousand cubits on the wall unto the
dung gate" (ver. 13) is so seldom repaired.

The number of the gate is instructive, imparting a deuteronomic character to it, i.e., a backward
look, in His presence, at our origin and course, and a forward look at the time when He will "set
us among His princes".

Only in His presence do we get a proper estimate of ourselves. Job got a true estimate of himself
when he said, "But now mine eye seeth Thee:wherefore I abhor myself’. (Job 42:5,6).

Isaiah got a true estimate of himself when he exclaimed, "Mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah
of hosts". (Isa. 6:5).

John the same, in Rev. 1:17:"And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead".

To see ourselves as under the searchlight of God, we should class ourselves with the malefactors
crucified with our Lord in Matt. 27:44. "The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast
the same in His teeth"; and again, with one of them, in Luke 23:40-43:"Dost not thou fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condemnation? and we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward
of our deeds:but this Man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me
when Thou contest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, Today
shalt thou be with Me in paradise." The beggar is raised from the dunghill, and set among princes.

The dung gate is the gate by which we entered, any way, however feebly it may be realized by
us. May we plod on diligently, with sword and trowel, upon the thousand cubits, until it is
reached, remembering that it is here God finds His princes, working under the name Malchiah,
"my King is Jab", son of Rechab, "a charioteer". The latter suggests the warrior-spirit, as well
as the racer, while "the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem" suggests the rest and joy soon coming;
Beth-haccerem meaning, "the house of the vineyard". (To be continued D.V.)

"For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over, it is gone:the flowers appear on the earth; the
time of singing is come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; the fig-tree
melloweth her winter figs, and the vines in bloom give forth their fragrance." Song of Solomon
2:11-13.

Who does not love spring? How delightful is the change from the chill and dreariness of the latter
part of winter; how all nature in its awakening seems to express the yearning and the joy in, the
heart of man.

Spring reminds us of childhood, of the springtime of life. Are not many of our happiest memories
connected with childhood in spring_the hunting for wild flowers, the making of gardens, the joys
of "out of doors"? The beginning of human life upon earth was the springtime of the human
family, in the garden which God planted, and the innocent pair put there entrusted with its lovely
fruits and flowers. Alas, earth’s springtime has passed!

Spring also turns our thoughts to that sunny happy home prepared for us:

"Where everlasting spring abides, And never-withering flowers."

But while the prospect is bright and joyous, we need not wait till the coming of the Lord for the
spring; even now, if we hearken to the witness of the Spirit, He tells us the winter of God’s
judgment is over, the time for the flowers, of the foretaste of heaven, and of singing and joy is
even now here. Let us arise then from the things of earth, and "come away" with the heavenly
Bridegroom:"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth ori the right hand of God."