Calendar:Oct. 16th to Nov. 15th.
DAILY BIBLE READING:. ………. .Oct. 16th, Col. 3; Oct. 31st, 1 Tim. 6; Nov. 15th, Heb. 7.
MEMORY WORK:……………………… .John 15.
GOOD READING:"Christ:not Christendom, nor Judaism," 10 cents.; "The Advocacy of Christ," 15 cents.; "The Priesthood of Christ," 15 cents.-These three tracts, by W. Kelly, will be found a real help in understanding the subjects of which they treat.
MONTHLY QUESTION:-What distinction does Scripture make between Advocacy and Priesthood, and what different lines of truth connect with each?

Our Memory Work

A few names have been received for successful work in the study of John's first epistle. One writes, "I trust that the others who have memorized it have received the blessing that I have. God's word is very precious, and how few there are in these last days who value it. 'Thy word have I hid in my heart,' should be true of more of us."

This time we are sending to the successful ones, "The Captives of Judah," by J. G. Bellett, as promised in our May number. Read it with care.

Our Daily Bible Reading

Finishing Colossians, we read through six of Paul's epistles and get well into Hebrews. This carries us through a wide range in which much varied and important truth is presented.

In Colossians the glories of Christ are set forth in a special way, to show that for the Christian there is none beside Him, in every aspect, of position and relationship. We are complete in Him who is Head over all things, and our Head. Having received Him we are to "walk in Him," that is, in the truth of who He is, of what He has done, of the place He now fills and our identification with Him, sustaining and energizing us as His witnesses here. "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh" is a similar thought.

The Thessalonian Epistles have a common theme-that of the Lord's second coming and related events; but they take second place to none in setting forth the Christian walk through this world. These saints are presented as a conspicuous example of this. The apostle speaks of himself and his co-laborers in reference to their own conduct in service. Their devotion and holy life manifested the true character of Christianity. Thus these saints are spoken of as followers of the apostle and the Lord.

The epistles to Timothy treat largely of individual responsibility. In Timothy we have the example of a true "man of God." The first epistle gives us the godly order to be maintained in the assembly, both as to doctrine and practice, and the preservation of the gospel in its purity. The assembly is God's house in which His government and holiness are to be maintained, with individual purity, devotion to the truth, and unworldliness of life.

The second epistle presents rather the disorder which man has brought in the house of God, and points out the path for faith in the midst of the confusion. There must be individual fidelity to the truth, separation from what links the Lord's name with evil, and fellowship enjoyed with those who follow the course here prescribed. The truth, the Word, is the abiding resource for faith, amid abounding evil. This brings trial, testing, conflict, as the last chapter intimates.

The epistle to Titus is similar to those addressed to Timothy. Godliness of life, springing out of the grace of God received in the heart, is the underlying theme. The faith, the doctrine delivered to us, is the model to which the life is to be conformed.

The letter to Philemon is a touching example of Christian affection toward an escaped, but now converted, slave, and a holy consideration for the master to whom he is sent back. It is the result of God's grace and truth ruling the heart. This is a concrete example of the spirit and practice which are to characterize the Christian.

The epistle to the Hebrews is addressed to God's people in their pilgrim journey, with heaven in view at the end, ministered to along the way, and privileged by faith to draw near unto God. It sets aside the old Jewish order by bringing in the perfection of Christianity, with the fulfilment of the types and shadows of the old dispensation, which was as childhood to full maturity when viewed in the light of the glory of Jesus in whom now everything centers. This epistle sets forth the glory of His person as Son, His place as apostle and high-priest, His work perfecting the believer and giving access to the holiest, His leadership in the path of faith-His glories break out in every chapter, and the presentation of Himself and His work, like the incense in the temple, fills all with sweet perfume.

Correspondence

A letter from one of our readers refers to the opinion held by some that the soul or spirit sleeps with the body until the resurrection, and asks for an epitome of the scripture teaching as to it.

First, death is defined for us as a separation of body and spirit:"The body without the spirit is dead" (Jas. 2:26). The body without the spirit goes to corruption. The spirit "returns to God who gave it." Its distinctness, or individuality, is not lost in the unseen to which it departs. Its condition as to the lost is one of separation from God, with the torment this produces, whilst the condition of the saved is in bliss and rest in God's presence, as Luke 16:19-31 plainly teaches. The whole context shows that it is the state after death that the passage speaks of, in its relation to present responsibility (ver. 9). Could God be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob after they were dead 400 years, if their spirits shared the death-state of the body? The Lord's point in Matt. 22:29-32 is that these men live unto God, though dead to us. This involves consciousness, with knowledge of the past not obliterated; and the future state is to be connected with the past.

When Peter speaks of "the putting off of this tabernacle," he speaks of his decease, or death when the body is laid aside in the grave, while the spirit is with the Lord, a? the following passages fully prove:"To-day thou shalt be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:42,43); "Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better" (Phil. 1:23).

That the New Testament term "sleep " (applied to the death of saints) refers to the body exclusively is evident from the following scriptures in which the question of soul or spirit does not enter-Matt. 27:52; John 11:11; Acts 8:2; 1 Cor. 7:39; 11:30; 15:6,18,20. 1 Thess. 4:14 is not different-sleep in Jesus, or "fallen asleep through Jesus"-for it is throughout connected with the body which is to be raised up. It has been asleep for a while, in death. If the spirit were also asleep in death, must not it be resurrected too? But Scripture nowhere speaks of the resurrection of spirits; it uniformly applies to the body. Hence the great change mentioned in 1 Cor. 15 applies to the resurrection and the Lord's coming for us. Change as to the spirit? No; but of the body, as is plain. Thus the spirit is given its new house (2 Cor. 5).

That the spirit does not sleep, but is conscious of fuller and higher blessing enjoyed with the Lord, Paul is witness in what he says when facing the approach of death (Phil. 1:20-24). It may be true that the spirit, absent from the body, lacks the vehicle by which contact is established with kindred spirits in that world unseen, and that for this the spirit awaits the resurrection, when clothed upon with the spiritual body (2 Cor. 5; 1 Cor. 15); then the fullest blessing will be realized in fellowship with all the redeemed. That perfect state is referred to in Heb. 11:40, yet this in nowise affects the truth that the state of the spirit of believers after death can be called "far better," yea, "gain." Could the state of a sleeping spirit be thus spoken of?-a spirit which, when on earth, enjoyed precious fellowship with God, trial and affliction only contributing to its blessing, then lose all of this in a deathlike sleep; could this be called "much better?" No. It is better, it is gain, to die and be "with Christ," awaiting resurrection in the sweetness of fellowship with Him.