There are two kinds of imitators:imitators of God I as dear children, and imitators of the works of God's servants. The first all saints are to be. God has presented Himself as a model for our imitation, and in such a way that we cannot fail to understand. In His blessed and perfect Son as Man we have One who has left us an example that we should follow His steps. Christ is the object before us, to imitate Him is our life-work, and to do this we are to be occupied with Him ; we all with open face beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory." When His people are before us, it is not them, but their faith we are to imitate-"whose faith follow." In the account before us, we have, of course, mere imitation, without any faith. These godless Jews will use the names of Jesus and Paul to conjure with merely to gain notoriety and power. The satire of the evil spirit is striking:"Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you ?" Satan does not recognize sham power. While this is true in its fullest sense for the unsaved, there is a lesson for all the servants of the Lord. We hear an evangelist who is gifted with the power of presenting the truth in a bright attractive way, and we seek to imitate him, only to find the power and brightness have all gone. Or a brother is walking on the waters calmly and surely, and we step forth only to sink. These, and numberless other cases, only show us that faith is an individual thing, that we must imitate none, follow the Lord only. What a relief, if one has perhaps been trying to imitate a brother, to come down from the stilts, to lay aside Saul's armor, and to trust the Lord for himself-to let Him work by His Spirit in His own blessed way, using us as His instruments according to His will. Effort ceases, and now, instead of a colorless imitation, there is power. God would use every one of us, but often He is hindered from the fact that we want to be used as others are :so often we remain idle and silent, or, worse yet, are but as sounding brass.

Does not this explain why many of His dear ones who might help the saints are silent in meetings. They speak freely in social intercourse, but in the meeting their lips are sealed, because they may not speak as well as others-their prayers may not be so well expressed ! Away with such thoughts ! Oh, let us be more simple, willing to be used in a small way if He use us. Thus God's Church would be refreshed by thousands of channels which are now choked and dry, pouring forth the water fresh from the fountain.