QUES. 24.-The word of God bids us, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." In my business I have frequent dealings with another who is in the same line, and who is an ungodly man. Is this being unequally yoked ?

ANS.- Not at all. (See 1 Cor. 5 :9-13.) The Christian would give his preference to godly men in business, no doubt, though not to the detriment of the ungodly, to disparage Christianity in their minds. The Christian pathway is a narrow one. To please and honor the Lord Jesus Christ being the prominent object of the Christian, simplifies the way much. We have only Him to please in all this world, and this is much easier than trying to serve two masters, at which no one ever succeeds.

QUES. 25.-In John 3 :5, "Except a man be born of water," the reference in my Bible is to Mark 16:16. Is it water-baptism then the Lord points to for new birth ?

ANS.-Not at all. Water-baptism has nothing whatever to do with new birth. "Water here, as in other passages of Scripture, is used figuratively for the word of God (see 1 Pet. 1 :23 ; Eph. 5 :26). The Spirit of God in sovereign grace, and the word of God received by faith, are God's way of begetting children. Assurance of being such is given to all who believe on Christ, in such passages as John 5 :24 ; 1 John 5:1, and many more. You must not forget that the teaching by references in our Bibles is human teaching, as to which the believer must ever be on his guard.

QUES. 26.-From the parables of Matthew 13, it would seem as if the kingdom of heaven were composed of false as well as true; that is, mere professors. "What then would you say is the meaning of the Lord's words concerning John the Baptist, "He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he ? "

ANS.-"The least in the Kingdom" is not a mere professor, but a real child of God whose place is greater or less than another (see Luke 19:12-24). It was great honor indeed put upon John, that he should be the forerunner of the King, but it is a greater honor to be in the Kingdom itself though one be least there. It is positional greatness, not intrinsic ; as a prince, though a child and feeble, in position is greater than the chief statesman.

QUES. 27.-Would you kindly give us help on the subject of Letters of Commendation? Suppose a brother under a cloud for his moral course in one place goes to another :is any one, or are any number in the assembly justified in giving him a letter to the assembly at the place where he goes without the united voice of the whole assembly which he leaves ?

ANS.-Letters of Commendation have for their reason the holiness of Christian fellowship, and their object is to establish immediate confidence between such of God's people as are strangers to each other. Even in a respectable family, no one is admitted to its intimacy without being known and his character acceptable. How much more necessary and important in the family of God. The "fellowship of saints " is as real as our "fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." Fellowship on earth is the foretaste of heaven. They who know and value it therefore are jealous of anything which would mar it. An unconverted person introduced would mar it, for he can know nothing about fellowship till he knows what it is to be washed from his sins by the blood of Jesus. A Christian living in an unholy way would mar it, for he grieves the Holy Spirit thereby, and it is by the Holy Spirit that this fellowship exists. A Christian holding evil doctrine would mar it, for evil doctrine offends against the truth as a false balance sheet dishonors a bank. A Christian in unholy associations would mar it, for to associate with the evil is to encourage it and make ourselves partakers of it.

Seeing the holiness and preciousness of Christian fellowship, no Christian who knows and values it would ever think of presenting himself for it where he is not well known, or among such as he does not know well ; for there can be no Christian fellowship apart from Christian confidence, and confidence is either by adequate knowledge of each other, or adequate commendation to each other. Christian assemblies which know each other as faithful to Christ, commend to each other persons from among them going where they are not personally known. It is not a piece of "ecclesiastical machinery," without which the person cannot be received. It is a moral necessity among God's people who practice holiness-a means of making the person known where he is not known, that he may without delay enjoy the same confidence and fellowship among those to whom he goes as among those from whom he comes, who know him well, and can conscientiously recommend him.

Understanding the object of letters of commendation, you will see how needful it is that they be thoroughly reliable. If not uniformly and perfectly true, assemblies would lose confidence in each other, to the weakening of true fellowship.

If the brother is under a cloud which cannot be removed before he goes away, it should be honestly stated, that his entrance in the new place be on the same status as his exit from the old.

No brother or set of brethren can be justified in giving a letter of commendation to one in the circumstances before mentioned without the voice of the assembly as a whole. No right-minded person would do so ; for, if done in the name of the Assembly, it would be criminal ; if done in their own name, it would be schismatic, and to be refused by those to whom it is addressed.

Where there is no question, a brother or two giving a letter as from the Assembly, do so in the full confidence that they have the fellowship of all in it, and this is the spirit in which God's people should ever be ; yet the fact should be announced to all, that everything may be manifestly in the light, and the acknowledgment of what is due to all for the maintenance of the holy fellowship in which we walk.

Scripture gives us cases of individual letters of commendation (Rom. 16 :1, 2; Philem. 10-12). Circumstances will often arise now calling for such. For instance, a brother living where there is no assembly, is well known by a pastoral brother who visits him from time to time, and who by letter or word of mouth would introduce such an one where he is not known.

In conclusion then :a brother in the fellowship of an assembly, if going elsewhere, will carry with him a letter from the assembly which he leaves to the one where he goes. If he lives where there is no assembly, some brother who knows him and is known by the assembly where he goes, commends him. A brother going where he is not known, and without commendation, will be refused till he procures a satisfactory one, or by sufficient acquaintance commends himself to his brethren. As the fruit of redemption, Christian fellowship is indeed holy, and carelessness as to it reveals an unholy condition. On the other hand, requiring a letter though the brother be well known, is ecclesiastical machinery, destructive of the Christian mind.

Only as holiness is suitably safe-guarded can Christian confidence and true fellowship exist. Without such fellowship, what an arid desert this world would be to the Christian who is sincerely crucified to the world and the world to him ! It is worth maintaining and cultivating therefore, and to be guarded from whatever tends to destroy it. May each and every one of us contribute to its establishment and growth. Let us not forget that even the most secret part of our life either builds it up or pulls it down.

Before going to press, a communication comes to hand, from which we quote the following :"In reading recently in the family 2 Cor. 8 :23, 24, we were struck with the noble and honorable commendation the apostle gives there to the brethren mentioned. As to himself, the Corinthians and the assemblies in general were his commendation everywhere (chap. 3 :1-3). If others, unknown, needed commendation, he did not; and to have asked it would have been absurd."

Some answers remain for next No. of Help and Food