ques. 38.-Kindly explain Luke 11:24-26.

ans.-In what precedes yon will notice the Lord has been casting out a demon-plain proof that He is "stronger" than the devil, the lord of demons. " With the finger of God" He was cleansing Israel, proving thus that the kingdom of God had come to them. But their wills were unbroken, and their hearts were not changed, whatever power the Lord manifested on their behalf. Satan would again, therefore, take possession in Israel, and with greater intensity and power than before, as will be seen when Antichrist appears among them. Their last state will indeed be worse than the first; for when at the first they refused Christ, there was yet afterward opportunity given them for repentance and salvation (Acts 2); but when they receive Antichrist all hope is over. See Rev. 13 :16 and 14 :9-11.

Morally, at the present time, the principle is applied in 2 Peter 2. The "false teachers" there spoken of, and the "many" who "shall follow them," are in and of Christendom-the house of God;-have seen the powers of Christ in the deliverance of all kinds of sinners ; have been themselves checked from degradation by their Christian surroundings; have made a profession; but their wills have never been surrendered to Christ, nor their hearts won. Oh, their awful end!

ques. 39.-What is "Election," as taught in Scripture?

ANS.-It is God's sovereign grace still in activity when all that that grace had provided for the salvation of a lost and guilty world has been scorned and refused by that same world. God foresaw this, and, that His Son might "see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied," He chose out of the world such as He would, and by the power of His Spirit calls and brings them to the feet of Jesus.

On the same principle He elected Israel as a nation. All the nations of the earth had become idolatrous. AH had cast off God. In sovereign grace then He chose Israel, that in her He might still maintain the knowledge of the true God in the earth. Had God ceased in the activities of His grace when man had violated all his responsibilities, there would not be one ray of light to-day upon the face of the earth.

It is this principle which renders the Gospel of John so different from the other three, for it begins with the universal rejection of Christ, and must then proceed, of course, to present Christ in relation to the elect. Yet no one affirms more fully and boldly Christ being for the whole world than John; for election does not mean that there is not as full a provision made for those who are lost as for those who are saved; nor does it mean that salvation is not as free to the one as to the other; neither that the lost are not as responsible to repent and believe the gospel as the saved; it means, as already said, that when man had set at naught all that infinite love could do and had done for him, God had further resources of grace for the fulfilment of His purposes and the filling up of His house.

ques. 40.-Does rest, referred to in Heb. 3 and 4, mean the eternal rest ?

ans.-In chapter 3 :11, "My rest" refers to the Holy Land. God had set apart that land for Israel, His elect nation. He had taken them out of the bondage of Egypt, brought them to Himself, and led them for forty years through the labors of the wilderness. Canaan was to end those labors for Him and for them. He would have His palace at Jerusalem, and they would dwell, each one, under their own vine and fig tree; all of which was in a little measure realized in Solomon's reign. They refused to trust Him on the way, though not all; so they who believed not could not enter in. Israel went in, but the unbelieving ones fell by the way.

In chapter 4 he applies this to the eternal rest which will be God's when He has finished all His work of the New Creation, and our rest too who belong to that creation, and are now journeying with God toward it.

He shows that the former rests spoken of, whether the sabbath rest after the work of creation, or the Canaan rest after the forty years of wilderness journeying, were not the true rest of God, though symbols of it; for after both had been reached, God still speaks of another rest for a future day.

ques. 41.-Will you please explain the latter clauses of verses 6 to 14 of the third chapter of Hebrews ?

ans.-Israel was the house of God over which He had set Moses as a servant. See verse 2. Christ is now over His own house, which is Christendom. But as many under Moses had no faith, so now many under Christ. The forty years of wilderness journey was God's sieve :those who had no faith perished on the way; those who had faith persevered to the end. So it is now among Christians :the false ones cannot endure the trials of faith, for God puts faith to the test again and again along the way; so they give up. The true ones abide; they know God; they can trust Him; when He tries their faith, they but hide themselves in His bosom; if they fail, they confess their sin and go on with fresh courage; they wait upon the Lord, and "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings, as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint" (Isa. 40:31).