In the matter of salvation it cannot be too clearly and strongly put that no one can come between the soul and Christ. Saving faith and repentance are individual things, as new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of each one singly. It is to be feared that in the effort to secure converts this may be overlooked. Great crowds flocking to hear popular and attractive preachers, even where a certain measure of the truth is preached, are not always a sign of the most effectual work. Moving narratives which touch the emotions, sweet melodies of gospel hymns, even earnest and importunate appeals, while perfectly right in themselves, may, if not properly safeguarded, sweep large numbers on the crest of emotional waves into a profession which is not justified by the after experience.

Far be it from us to say a single word derogatory to earnest effort, but we do feel increasingly the absolute importance of remembering that the stupendous work of salvation cannot be effected by twentieth century energy. God reserves, and ever will, for Himself alone, the prerogative of introducing sinners into His own holy presence by the power of His word and the Holy Spirit. Let it be ours to be so obliterated that we shall simply be the channels to convey God's blessed message to perishing souls.

There would be less cause to mourn over backsliders and false professors ? were greater care given not to intrude human energy into the domain of the Spirit of God. Does some .one say that this blocks the wheels of gospel effort and causes the hands to hang down in indifference ? We are sure that none who know what the presence of God is will dare make such a remark. It is unintentionally a slur upon the power and willingness of the Holy Spirit.

The same is also true to a great extent in connection with the life of individual communion with God of the soul. If private prayer and reading of God's word, and the daily exercise of faith, are neglected, it will be found that all the social side of our Christian life is incapable of making up the deficiency. There must be the walk with God as though there were no one else in the world but ourselves.

This being recognized as true, we can now take up the other side, which is of the greatest importance, and speak of our mutual relationships as Christians. It is striking and strange that where one side of truth is neglected, even though the other side may be in a sense exaggerated, yet its true bearing is lost. Thus to-day, where the inner life is so largely ignored, the mutual life is equally disregarded; for, after all, great concourses of Christians, conventions, and the good-fellowship of hearty greetings and pleasant intercourse, savor rather of this world's gatherings than of that sweet and quiet growth which the word of God indicates. Let us take up some of the passages of His precious word which bring out mutual relationships.

It is important, first of all, to see that there is nothing of a voluntary character, as we might say, in the relationship of God's people. There is no thought of "joining the Church " in Scripture. Thanks be to God, He has not left that to our volition. No wonder that where "the church of our choice" is made the basis of our fellowship there should be the multiplicity pf denominations which are the sorrow of every Christian heart. No, God has made Church-membership an expression of His own sovereign will, and an organic, vital connection which cannot be broken. " By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (i Cor. 12:13). "There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling " (Eph. 4:4). The blessed truth is here seen that the same life, the same activity, permeates the entire body; every believer is united by the Holy Spirit to Christ in glory, and that same vital connection is established with all His brethren. How precious, and yet how searching a truth! Who dare dispute the connection with Christ ? Now, how unspeakably precious is the thought that our bond of union with Him in glory is a divine one, the presence of the Holy Spirit of God! While this is an added truth to the fact that we are also individually partakers of the divine nature by the new birth, yet it is closely allied with it. The two cannot be separated in the present dispensation. But how many of us realize that the link with Christ is no stronger than with one another ? We are persuaded that if this truth be grasped, or, rather, grasps us, it will work a revolution in our thoughts and ways.

Growing out of this is the simple fact that we are members of one another, because members of the same body (Eph. 4:25). " We being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another" (Rom. 12:5). A most comprehensive and beautiful expression of what this means is found in another familiar verse in Ephesians:"The Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every. joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."How varied and complete are the provisions here!

But, tempting as it is, we must not allow ourselves to be drawn from the object of our present little paper, which is not so much to enlarge upon these precious principles as to glean some practical words with which Scripture supplies us, and which will appeal to heart and conscience, we trust, in a practical way.

Perhaps the first and most obvious thought in connection with our mutual relationship is that love pervades the whole body. The epistles of John are full of this, so that we need do no more than refer to them. " See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently " is what Peter says. What a blessed contrast to the condition of the natural heart described in Titus 3:3:"Hateful, and hating one another." This love is the best guide, for it is divine and not human affection, and therefore supremely subject to God in all things:"This is love, that we walk after His commandments." This explains such a passage as "Love covereth the multitude of sins," which does not mean that it seeks to "hush them up," but rather to bring them into the presence of God in intercession, and then, in faithful, gracious ministry, to touch the heart of the wrong-doer.

The spirit of love is the spirit of service. Love must find an expression for itself, and therefore is ever active. "By love serve one another " is indeed not merely the command of grace, but the instinct of the new heart. In what holy contrast is this to that fleshly activity so faithfully depicted in the same chapter of Galatians:" If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another," and "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another" (Gal. 5:13, 15, 26).

But let us look a little in detail as to the activities of this love. We have said that love desires to serve. It is equally true that it desires companionship. We long to be with those we love, and this is most graciously provided for:'' We have fellowship one with another" (i John 1:7). This is true of those who are "in the light," where "the blood of Jesus Christ," God's Son, "cleanseth from all sin." Sin is judged in the light of God's holy presence, and His provision of grace in the blood of Christ effectually gives rest and peace there. The soul can say with the apostle, who writes, not as placing himself above other children of God, " Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ," and we can say the same. But the fellowship with the Father demands, may we not say, fellowship with one another as well ? " Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him ?"

"Wherefore, receive ye one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God." This we might call the first act of acknowledgment of the link that binds us together. Reception, does not merely mean to this or that. Nor are we referring to full fellowship at the Lord's table. In a day of difficulty like the present there may be details which require patient and careful dealing. Surely we are not to be indifferent to the claims of the holiness of God, nor to our responsibility to maintain precious truths which "one another." He has entrusted to us, but there should ever be the gracious reception and recognition of every blood-bought child of God whom we can truly recognize as such. . There should be, so far as possible, the acknowledgment of that common life and love upon which we, have been dwelling.

Such reception as this, even where of a general character, involves added responsibilities. Do I recognize one as a child of God ? Then I owe it to him, as well as to God, to seek to lead him on further in that which is our common treasure. This will at once be the delight and desire of our hearts. But how much care this involves! "Be of the same mind one toward another." Our brother may need to have many wrong thoughts corrected, and to get a view of many truths of which he has hitherto been ignorant. To be of the same mind does not mean that we are to adopt his opinions, or to allow them to go on unchecked, but to give place rather to that one mind of Christ which shall control us all. See, also, Rom. 14:5. It is not an easy thing to be of the same mind one toward another. It means the subjection on the part of us all to the word of God, and a readiness to bow to its authority. This is the only basis of a true spiritual unity of thought. To be "perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" when neither the mind nor judgment are those of God, would be, for faith, to leave the divine path for one of man. It is, alas, only too easy to reach accord in a carnal way; but to be of one mind in a divine way means the obliteration of self and the true exercise of divine love.

But reception and unity are not all. "That the members should have the same care, one for another."
'' Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). '' We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (Rom. 15:i). Here again is the simple activity of love which seeketh not her own, but is occupied in ministering to the need of others:and oh, how much care, how much burden-bearing there can be among the saints of God! Beloved reader, we would ask, How much do you know of this in a practical way ? Could we have but one petition granted in connection with these things, it would not be that God would raise up more gifted public preachers, but rather that He would lay upon us all in love the grace of burden-bearing and a loving care one for another.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things is suggested in our next quotation:"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God " (Eph. 5:21). See, also, the similar passage in i Pet. 5:5, where the thought is not so much that of being subject one to another, but "be girded with humility toward one another," so to be ready to receive whatever of admonition may be offered. 'Connected with this, also, is the exhortation in James 5:16:"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." This does not mean merely, going to the brother whom I may have wronged and acknowledging the fault,-this should surely be done,-but rather that confidence of love in the helpfulness of our brethren, and realizing our oneness to such a degree that we are free to open our hearts and unburden ourselves to those to whom our confidence will be as sacred as though whispered in the ear of God alone. The confessional of Rome has so shocked the moral sense that there is an utter revulsion from the very name of confession, and yet we are persuaded that much of God's chastening would be lightened, as is suggested in the passage we have quoted, were there more of that true, hearty simplicity which would enable us to be more open with one another. It is fully recognized that this cannot be a one-sided matter. Alas, the spirit of speaking evil of one another has been all too common, and this is a most effectual check upon that exercise of true, hearty loyalty which could receive the secrets of our brethren into the silence of our own bosom to be spoken out to God alone!

"Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." See, also, Col. 3:13. There are many forms of bearing a grudge, from the open and avowed enmity, with its accompanying malicious evil speaking, to that secret alienation and chill upon the heart that forms such a sad contrast to the previous "sweet counsel" which the saints took together as they went to the house of God. There is nothing sadder than to see coolness coming in where once existed the most implicit confidence and fullest love. We cry out against all this, and often in our helplessness ask, Must it be ever thus ? Is there no remedy? Yes, surely, a remedy here, as for every ill to. which the saints of God are subject, though an humbling one. (But who ever was humbled before God without blessing Him in their souls ? Humility is, after all, the true exaltation of the soul.) The remedy is simple and clear-forbearance and forgiveness; and lest it should be thought that this forgiveness is a merely negative thing, in which we can go on in chilling coolness toward those we have forgiven, we are reminded that the measure of it, as well as its character, is seen in the way we have been forgiven by God in Christ. As the Father's arms of love are about us, with the kiss of forgiveness, and all the joy flowing into our hearts from the sense of that, we do not dare to confound that pride which calls itself forgiveness with that exercise of divine love which meets the erring one and loves out of him the last remnants of envy or jealousy or bitterness; and so confidence is restored.

But it may be said, we must be faithful with our brother, and lead him to a true sense of his wrong. Yes indeed so, but there is nothing like love to melt the hard heart, and forgiveness of a divine character will do this. Unquestionably, if there is pride and persistence in a course of wrong-doing, faithfulness to God will forbid the exercise of that which may be struggling for expression in the heart; but this must not be confounded with that hard and unrelenting spirit which waits in all the stiffness of self-righteousness for the first signs of breaking in the other!

Where there is this forgiving, and the other exercise of which we have been speaking, how much more will there also be! We will "tarry for one another" (i Cor. 11:33). The strong will not rush along, feeding on high truths beyond the reach of the lambs of the flock, nor will there be the over driving of the tender. We will "salute one another," as seen at the close of so many of the epistles. It may seem a trifle, but in the things of God nothing is that, and the intentional avoidance or willing omission of this act of brotherly love too often speaks of a coldness in the heart which is not a trifle. How fervent were the salutations of the apostle! What love, what confidence, what winsomeness there was in it! Let us not be too superior to hearken to the admonition suggested here.

The same applies to the "hospitality which is to be used one toward another without grudging" (i Pet. 4:9), and to that edification and admonition which will ever find a place. (See Rom. 15:14, 14:19; i Thess. 4:18, 5:n.) In short, dear brethren, let us examine these precious scriptures prayerfully and carefully as to all our varied relations one to another. We need to be stirred up as to these things, lest we drift into the helpless formalism by which we are surrounded.

" And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching" (Heb. 10:24).