All true discipline, whether directly from the hand of the Lord upon the believer, or, under the Lord's authority, through His people, has one special object in view, namely, the correction of the wrong that necessitates the discipline. In every case where the wrong is judged and confessed, grace flows from the Lord immediately; there is forgiveness, and, as a result, restoration of heart to Him. There may be yet in the individual, while enjoying His forgiveness, a bitter sting left upon the heart and mind for long. This will, as the person grows in nearness to God, produce self-abasement and a careful, lowly spirit, while there is the enjoyment of forgiveness and restoration. The Lord, in all His dealings, thus is seen to be perfect in His holiness as well as in His grace.

This principle of God's dealings with us, whether in holiness or grace, we need to remember and carefully consider. If not, we may fail in maintaining the holiness of His house as a people left here for His honor, or fail in the grace that He extends in restoration. In our limited knowledge of God or understanding of His ways, we are very liable to run from one extreme to the other; at times, under the plea of holiness, fail in the grace urged upon us; and at others, in extending grace, forget the sanctity of God's house and what is due to the Lord because of what He is.

In all cases, even when the extreme act of discipline is incumbent upon an assembly, there is the deepest need of a chastened and broken spirit in each one concerned. Would that such a spirit were
always seen at such times in those who act; then might the same be the sooner expected in the offender.

A great help toward possessing such a spirit is to keep before our heart and mind the object of discipline-the restoration of the person. Have we not failed again and again in this-lacking the chastened spirit in the sight of God at such times ?-not keeping in view what the discipline is intended to produce ? " And ye have not mourned" was the apostle's reproach to the Corinthian saints on a similar occasion, while he wrote to them "with many tears." Have we not too often sought to get rid of the trouble by getting rid of the troublesome person, and thus get through with the matter ? But this is not God's end, for the person is a brother. When this has been the case, what exercises will be needed to return to the place where the true path with God has been missed, that His object may finally be attained! How good to deliver ourselves, at any cost, when we have done wrong to His name by the misuse of what He has ordained for blessing! How refreshing to watch every indication of recovery and restoration of heart! We need to challenge ourselves before the Lord about these things. It is a lamentable fact that in the many cases of putting away, so little effort is put forth for the recovery of the erring; and, accordingly, few are recovered. What voice has the Lord for us in this ? Could it be again Ezekiel's complaint against the shepherds of Israel:"The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd:and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill:yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them" (Ezek. 34:4-6.).

If we have lost the sense of the sanctity of God's house, we will do well to take up i Cor. 5 again, and go over every part of it with care, that we may recover it. Or, if we have lost the true object of discipline, we will do well to consider afresh, with the same earnest care, 2 Cor. 2:6-11.In it we shall see the grace of the Lord in the apostle, two years after the man was put away, urging not only forgiveness, but also to comfort such a one. If we fail in this grace, those yet dear to Christ notwithstanding past failure, are made to suffer by our indifference or hardness. (See Prov. 24:11, 12.) Our Lord sits upon a throne of grace; our dispensation is one of grace, and the gospel we announce tells of grace flowing out to the ends of the earth. We ourselves are daily the subjects of grace-oh, how much! Let us, then, beware lest we fail in that grace to others. A. E. B.