(Continued from page 158. )*

*In June No. page 155, 5th line, a typographical error was overlooked. Please read the blinding power, instead of "blending." Also in place of 5th line on p. 158 please read:" Because the majesty of that throne had been maintained by it and God glorified in it. That truth is:Christ died for sinners.*

We come now to the consideration of our subject proper-the setting aside and the bringing back of Israel to her place of national preeminence. In the scriptures in which this most interesting subject is taken up and dealt with (Rom. chaps. 9-11), the wisdom of God is seen in its workings, not only with the nation of Israel, but with the Gentiles also. The Spirit of Truth, through the medium of the Scriptures, brings before us the easily read lessons connected with the birth of Isaac and Ishmael, of Jacob and Esau, and the plain, bold utterances of Hosea, of Moses and Isaiah, to show how unfounded was the claim of the Jew to the blessing of God on the ground of fleshly, or natural, descent from Abraham; and also how blind the Jew must have been to have overlooked the warnings of the prophets cited, concerning their displacement and the blessing of God going out to the Gentiles. The prophetic significance that "faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness"-not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision-was entirely lost on Jewish self-esteem (Rom. 4:9-17).

How wise that the apostle, before exposing Israel's blindness and her awful peril, should assure them of his own personal affection for them, and should assure them, too, of his knowledge of their being divinely chosen as a nation, and of the great and distinctive blessings which were theirs from God. " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart (for I have wished, I myself, to be a curse from the Christ) for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:1-3). Whether we interpret these words as meaning that, in his unconverted state, the apostle, in his mad crusade against Christ, persecuting His followers, had joined in the Jews' awful cry, " His blood be upon us," and now realized that the blood of Christ upon them meant to be accursed from Him, and his heart was in heaviness and sorrow for his brethren who had not yet repented of that awful cry; or whether we interpret the passage (as many do) that, in the greatness of his love for his Jewish brethren, the apostle breaks out in an unreasoning outburst of affection, willing to be accursed from Christ, if by this they could be blessed-to sacrifice himself for them, as it were-whether this or that be the true interpretation of the passage, the clear intent of it is to assure his brethren after the flesh of his personal affection for them.

His "brethren" who were "Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." What could he say more ? Could the proudest son of Abraham find a flaw in this noble list of place, of honor and privilege ?

"The adoption"-national sonship as contrasted with the alien Gentile.

"The glory "-the Shekinah-cloud, the very presence of God, was with them, while the Gentiles were "afar off."

"The covenants," bespeaking a relationship with God to which the Gentiles were "strangers."

"The giving of the law," and its inner design to bring them to a knowledge of God, while "sinners of the Gentiles" were left in their lawlessness and idolatry.

"The service of God"-all the beautiful ritual of the tabernacle and the temple in which, through priest and Levite, the people participated.

"The promises"-how many, how glorious and glowing these promises, backed by the word of Jehovah, the eternal God, proclaiming the exaltation of this people when God should set His hand to the work.

"The fathers"-had not God proclaimed Himself to be the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ?-the God of "the fathers? "

But glorious as these blessings may be, their glory is dimmed by reason of "the glory that excelleth:" for of Israel, "as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." Than this nothing could be more wonderful and blessed, to be the nation chosen of God to bring forth the Christ, the Saviour. Should they not be satisfied with this inventory of their national greatness ? Indeed so. But did not these very truths contradict the apostle's position, linked as he was with a mere remnant apart from the nation? And worse still, that remnant claiming to be associated in a common salvation with the Gentile (Acts 15:u). What becomes, then, of the word of God, which the apostle had so wisely handled, and which gave to the Israelites this place of greatness and nearness to God ?

The answer is very plain; and while the Jew may not heed the truth of it, deny it he cannot. That answer is:"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called."

How sharp is the blow, how strong the shock to the carnal pride and self-complacency of the Jew who thought himself, not simply the favorite of God, but the exclusive one-and that, too, on the ground of his connection with Israel and his fleshly descent from Abraham ! But how foreign all this was to the word of God; and, verily, how opposite to what the Jew himself would allow. For on the ground of blessing through mere natural descent from Abraham, the Ishmaelite and the Edomite must be included, as the apostle, from the "foreseeing " Word, goes on to show.

Is my reader's hope of blessing resting on his profession of the "Christian religion?" What else could you profess? It is the "national religion." But are you of the " faith of Jesus? " Is your trust in the humbled Son of God-humbled for our sins, brought down under the penalty of our guilt into the dust of death ? Salvation is individual and is by faith in Jesus Christ. Have you this individual, this personal faith in the Son of God as the alone object of faith for salvation ?

It is "the children of the promise" that are counted for "the seed." The promise was, "At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son." How shall the barren woman have a son ? The Living God, the author and giver of life, will preach by this deed that only divine power, His power, can bring forth children for Him. Abraham believed this, and it was counted to him for righteousness.

But was not Ishmael Abraham's son ?Yes, but a child after the flesh, in the ordinary course of nature, without immediate divine intervention. Ishmael was born of the "will of man," "of the Will of the flesh," not "of God."" And not only this,"says the apostle:What of Rebecca's two sons, Esau and Jacob? Are they not equally of the seed of Abraham ? Is not Esau, by priority of birth, entitled to the place of pre-eminence rather than Jacob? But God will not have the flesh to glory in His presence, and priority in nature is set aside by Him in order that man may learn that blessing is not harnessed to the wheel of nature, but is found only in Him. Not on the ground of faith or conduct, but that the purpose of God according to election might stand, He declared, "The elder shall serve the younger."

There is no question here of election to salvation, or election with eternity in view, but simply of the choice of Jacob to the superior place here on earth. If the principle of, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called " is given up, then the elder must serve the younger. The Jew must serve the Gentile, and this the apostle goes on to develop throughout these chapters. He then cites the word of the Lord by Malachi, " Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Mal. i:2, 3). A word spoken long after the "children were born," when Jacob and Esau had written their history on the page of time, cited to show the utter folly of the Jews' position in claiming blessing on the ground of fleshly descent from Abraham. Think of it-the inclusion of a people of whom God had said, I hate them, within the circle of His blessing. How blind and unreasoning is religious prejudice !

Would the Jew admit the Edomite to his own favored circle. He must, if he will maintain his principle of entitlement to blessing on the ground of his descent from Abraham. But "In Isaac"- according to the principle of Isaac's birth-"shall thy seed be called.""If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:29). G. Mackenzie.

(To be continued.)