Q. 11.-"In what sense are we to understand 1 Tim. 6:17, 18, 19 ?"

Ans.-The passage is an exhortation to the rich, if there were such, pointing out their dangers and responsibilities. One correction may be noted in ver. 19. Let it read, "That they may lay hold of what is really life." Their riches were in this present age-would not last forever, and even here were uncertain. The two dangers to which they were specially exposed were, high-mindedness and trust in riches. How natural are these dangers! Money begets pride. We think ourselves better than others because richer than they, too often forgetting that God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith. Or how easy to trust in our means rather than in God-to know we will be fed and sheltered, all our needs met, not because we have a Father, but because we have money. These are the two dangers of the rich,- dangers, not confined to the unsaved, but real to all who have any means. Indeed, it is wonderful on how slender a prop man will lean. Opposed to the trust in uncertain riches is that in the Giver of all things. And what a view we have of His kindness ! " He giveth us richly all things to enjoy." He is a liberal giver -even when it is but a crust, had we eyes to see it, it would be a liberal gift. All is given, too. for our enjoyment; no ascetic gloom casts its shadow over His temporal mercies; we are to eat our meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Then as to the responsibilities, – they are to use God's gifts for Him, to share with those who need; and in so doing, they will be exchanging gold for enduring riches. They will be laying up treasures in heaven. They will be making to themselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness – the god, the idol, of the unrighteous ; so that, when it fails, they shall find its fruits in the life beyond, – or, as in our passage, they will "lay hold on what is really life, not what the world calls such, but that which endures eternally. This will be a good foundation for the future – a well-spent life here, the 'fruit of faith, being the opposite of one used in selfish enjoyment and pandering to the flesh. It need hardly be added that this in no way conflicts with the great fundamental truths of the gospel – salvation by faith, on the ground of the work of Christ,- as it refers to the fruits of life, not the root.

Q. 12. – "Please give a few scriptures showing the difference between endless being and eternal life, to refute annihilationists."

Ans. – "God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." The life here is God-given, and has never been taken back – never will, for a punishment that is everlasting must be for those only who live everlastingly. Endless being, then, is what all men have in contrast with the "beasts that perish." Death, as spoken of in Scripture, never affects this endless being, but refers either to the body – the "mortal body" of Rom. 6:12, or to the moral state, as in Eph. 2:1. If those dead in trespasses and sins are yet alive, so those in the lake of fire – the second death – are also alive, for "their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched." Existence is then not the question when life or death are spoken of in the Scriptures. This is the first thing to note with regard to the expression "eternal life." It does not mean endless existence, though, of course, it includes that thought. Eternal life is the gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ – or in Him. It is characterized by knowledge of the "true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." (Jno. 17:) It begins at regeneration, and may generally be described as the opposite of that moral death the condition of all the unsaved. As possessors of eternal life we are "partakers of the divine nature," we are children of God. Of course, along with this go the related truths that we are justified and accepted in the beloved. Endless being, then, is the common lot of all, eternal life of those only who believe in Jesus.