There is that which Scripture calls "believing," in which no vital faith exists. Instances of this are recorded for our instruction. In the parable of the sower (Matt. 13; Mark 4; Luke 8), we learn of four classes of hearers which are described as wayside, stony ground, thorny and good ground.

The wayside hearers are those who do not understand the Word. The good seed lies exposed in an unreceptive heart, a heart hardened by the feet of this world's traffic, and the devil catches it away. The stony ground hearers seem to give promise of fruit-bearing, but they believe only for awhile (Luke 8:13); they had no root in themselves, conscience had not been awakened, emotion took the place of conviction, and feeling, the place of faith. The trials and persecutions of the path expose the shallowness of their profession, and they fall away. The thorny ground hearers are those who, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (Luke 8:14). The world as the place of the Lord's rejection was not in their knowledge; the Word in them was not mixed with faith. The good ground hearers are those who understand the Word (Matt. 13:23).They realize it exposes them in their guilt before God, and it makes them grateful recipients of His mercy. They received it in an honest and good heart; honest because accepting God's judgment; good, because they trusted His grace; so they being sustained in faith bring forth fruit with patience.

Now instructive all this is! Here, the sower and seed are perfect, but the results seem disappointing. The seed sown meets with hardness of heart, levity of soul and sordidness of mind, thus preventing a fruitful reception. How soberly the gospel ought to be preached and with what dependence upon God. For if the Word as preached by the Lord met with such partial success in fruit-bearing, nothing but patient love to souls and waiting in faith upon God will rightly sustain the preacher of the gospel in his service to Christ.

In John 2:23-25 we read of those who, when they saw the miracles which the Lord did, believed in His name, but He did not commit Himself to them, knowing what was in their hearts. These were evidently convinced of His claims on the ground of external evidence. Their convictions were only mental. John 3:1 reads, "But (unfortunately, "but" is omitted in the A. V.) there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus." This "but' contrasts Nicodemus with those spoken of at the close of chapter two. His exercises were deeper than those of his fellows. He came to the Lord with those exercises, had them deepened, answered, and divinely satisfied. Again in Acts 8:13-23 it is recorded of Simon the sorcerer that he believed and was baptized, but, so far as the record of Scripture goes, he was not saved.

The solution of this apparent difficulty is found in Hebrews 10:38, 39. In this scripture two classes are contrasted; those who draw back and those who cannot draw back to perdition. The reason given why this latter class cannot draw back to perdition is because they have believed to the saving of the soul. Thus we see there may be believing which is not believing to the saving of the soul. To believe to the saving of the soul is to come to Christ as a sinner trusting Him for salvation. In James 2:19 the question is that of believing there is one God. It may be well to notice how the Spirit of God rebukes those Jews who were resting in their monotheism. They were saying, "We believe there is one God," the answer is, "The devils also believe (that there is one God) and tremble."

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, having sensed our sinfulness and having come to Him in faith, we have found joy and peace. We are left in this world to live for Him who died for us and rose again. We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10). The Lord's exhortation is:"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).It is not our works that are to shine, but our light. Christ is our light, and our witness for Him is that which casts the light of heaven on our works and brings glory to our Father. God is our Father; we are His children. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs:heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16, 17). We are heirs of God by right, that is, because we are His children. Grace having made us children, as such, we are heirs of God. This ought not to be hard to realize. "For He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). Having given His Son to die for us, it is no marvel that He has made us heirs.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth" (Rom. 1:16). This salvation, as unfolded in the Epistle to the Romans, involves the salvation of the body at the coming of our Saviour. Meantime we are kept by the power of God, through faith, until He shall come and usher us into our inheritance. The Lord having come and brought us to glory (1 Thess. 4:13-18), and His grace having acknowledged our service to Him whilst here on earth, He shall return to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." -Geo. Mackenzie.

Correction.-In "The Destiny of the Unbeliever," p. 489, Dec. No., "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been dead for seventeen centuries," should read, "two centuries."

Tale-Bearing