(Joshua, chap. 22.)

This was our morning chapter in our studies of the book of Joshua. As we dwelt upon its various parts, we experienced the truth of "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4); and "all these things happened unto them for ensamples " (i Cor. 10:11) is a warrant in the application of the various lessons to ourselves, and for our day. Israel under Joshua's leadership were the people of God, and typical of ourselves now.

If the first twenty-one chapters of Joshua be studied with a prayerful spirit, in the light of the above
New Testament scriptures, we will find each chapter freighted with wholesome and helpful lessons. Israel's very history, their achievements, as also their failures, are written for our learning.

The book opens with a view of the whole twelve tribes, under Joshua, entering the land of promise, and taking possession of what was theirs as the gift from Jehovah their Saviour-God. In this stage of their history we see them a united people. Weakness and defeat may be observed here and there, but they were united under the powerful influence of Joshua, following the mind and purpose of God step by step. Individuals may have sinned, as did Achan, but the whole camp is united in the discipline that the Lord had marked out for the evil of which Achan had been guilty. All this is very beautiful in a people favored of God, and brought near to Himself. This grace is seen in them until they are largely in possession of the land west of the Jordan, from south to north. Their warfare lasted many years, and was all against outside enemies- nations that were hostile to God and His people. God being with His people, the enemies were defeated one by one, until finally they "rested from war." This covers the first twenty-one chapters of the book.

After all this progress, Joshua called the two tribes and a half, whose territory was on the east side of Jordan, and commended them for their service with their brethren on the west side. Then he sent them back to their own possessions on the east side, which they had previously chosen; and as they return, they carry Joshua's blessing with them. All this is very beautiful (chap. 22:1-6). But at no time can the Lord's people say they are safe. Therefore the need of a prayerful and watchful spirit. Prayerfulness and watchfulness give a spirituality that will preserve from what would grieve the Holy Spirit, dishonor the Lord, and work havoc among the people that are to Him as the apple of His eye. Oh that God's people were always before us as a people so dear to Him!

At no times are we in more danger of failure, however, than when the Lord's favors and blessings seem to be enjoyed in profusion. The enemy (ever watching for entrance) gets his opportunity when the knowledge of our blessings fills the mind, rather than the grace of Him who bestows them. If he succeeds in this way, he turns our hearts from the One who alone is our spiritual strength, and who gives us true spiritual discernment in all things. This lesson appears again and again upon the pages of Scripture, and we all have learned it from our own history just as often.

In our chapter the lesson appears plainly. When the two and half tribes returned to their possessions, they built an altar, "a great altar, to see to" (ver. 10). As yet we are not informed what their object was in doing so, and the wise and spiritual way would be to wait until that is made known. But the tribes on the west side " heard say" about this altar (ver. 11):and here we pause to take home to ourselves to-day the needed admonition from Israel's failure.

It is written, "He that believeth shall not make haste." When the nine and half tribes " heard say'' about this altar, we observe with them an evil altogether too common in our own day, 1:e., undue
haste, evil surmisings, etc., etc., and all this before an investigation has taken place to find out the reason for what has been done. Had they not been warned as to how to proceed in cases of supposed evil on the part of any of the tribes? (Deut. 13:12-14.) But the circumstance finds them off their guard, and thus a part of the Scriptures of truth is neglected. As a result, fleshly zeal marks them instead of godly investigation-fleshly zeal, we repeat, for they "gathered themselves together at Shiloh to go up to war against them " (ver. 12).

How sad to see such a quick change from the previous chapters! The wars then were against their common enemies ; now there is a warlike spirit against their own brethren. Many might say that this was zeal for the Lord and His honor in the midst of the nation. "Come and see my zeal for the Lord," said another at an after date. But was it in either case real zeal for the Lord? The history of both will suffice to show that the zeal was a blind, disobedient one, which has so often since wrought dishonor and mischief among God's people. Their preparation for war was all based upon suspicion- "heard say." We need well to be admonished concerning the evil of haste in all matters of Christian life, and very specially in matters which concern the assemblies of the Lord's people-the unity and peace of a redeemed people.

In this case we observe God's merciful intervention, preventing an unrighteous conflict and painful disaster. Phinehas and the princes are sent across the Jordan by the rest of the tribes-not for investigation, which was the course marked out by the Scriptures already given them as their guide, but rather to chide with the two and half tribes, and reprove them (vers. 13-30)

To reprove and rebuke is a needed ministry at times, when it is clear that such is necessary; but there ought to be always the full knowledge of the evil, and the need of such a service; otherwise it may be a ministry misdirected and misapplied. Much may be said and done under the plea of faithfulness, of zeal for the Lord and His truth, of care for holiness, which at the judgment-seat of Christ may not prove to have been a ministry by the Spirit of God. Let us once more be admonished by the words, "He that believeth shall not make haste." Even a word of warning is not for the weak or feeble-minded, but rather tor the unruly.

In this history we see, first, the wrong of the haste of the ten tribes (ver. 12); second, the misapplied ministry of the ten princes-their premature admonition when they reach the two and half tribes. True, it would have been wrong for the two and half tribes to erect an altar to offer sacrifice upon. Such would have been the gravest departure from the Lord, and would have merited severe punishment. But all such surmisings were untrue, and inquiry is God's safe method of procedure; it guards from the evil of punishing the innocent-an evil only too frequent among God's people even in our day, with all these past lessons before us. With all the light we possess, what a revelation the judgment-seat of Christ will be! When every act then is seen in its true light, what self-judgment will be required- what loss suffered!

But the haste on the part of the ten tribes was, happily, not met with haste by their brethren, even
after the unscriptural and unnecessary reproof which was given. This part of the history is very sweet and refreshing amid the dangers that lay before them. It was a very critical moment, but the trial found them in a condition most commendable:"A soft answer turneth away wrath." This is sufficient proof that God was in their midst, and that He Himself was directing the two and half tribes in their answer, and their explanation why the altar was erected-the "great-altar to see to." We commend the whole answer to every reader (vers. 21-29).

The answer reveals the fact that, instead of rebellion, independency, and departure from the Lord, which merited punishment, the two and half tribes had the interests of the Lord and the whole nation as much at heart as the other tribes; and their state, and the spirit displayed, showed a sweeter and more lovely character. It commands, indeed, our admiration as we pursue it now almost four thousand years after its occurrence. As already said, it declares God was there. Trials and difficulties are not a proof that God is not with His people; but it can be rightly said He is never with a wrong, never indorses an unrighteous act, whether it be in an individual or in a company, no matter what the assumption of the individual or of the company may be. The Lord directed the answer of the two and half tribes; it annulled the hasty, warlike spirit of the ten tribes, and thus bloodshed, division and sorrow were averted. How adroitly the enemy sought then to divide God's people! Again, later on, in the early history of the infant Church, as seen in Acts and Corinthians! And in our own day, how, alas, God's people have been off their guard, and repeated over and over again the haste of the ten tribes! Their soft answer turned away wrath ; for when Phinehas and the princes heard the explanation of, and the full intent of, the altar, "it pleased them" (ver. 30), and they said, "This day we perceive that the Lord is among us" (ver. 31).

They then return to their brethren, who were awaiting the tidings on the west side of the Jordan, already prepared for war* (ver. 12); they communicated to them the result of the conference on the east side; they gave them the true meaning of what was sought by the great altar; they understood that the altar was meant to be a witness of their unity, and to guard against the very evil of independency of which they were falsely charged. *An apparent contradiction appears in ver. 33-"and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle." The New Translation (J. N. D.) reads, "and no more spake of going up against them in battle." This gives a complete harmony with ver. 12.*

All this "pleased the children of Israel" (vers. 32, 33), and thus the breach was healed, division averted, and unity preserved. Moreover, they now understood each other better than before, and God once more makes the wrath of man to praise Him. How appropriately Ps. 133 falls into line here! They could say, as the whole nation will yet say it, and as the Church in her heavenly sphere will say, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! "

The altar then was called " Ed "-that is, a "witness "; " for it shall be a witness between us that Jehovah is God." See vers. 10, 24, 27, 34.

With what fears we begin the chapter-division is in the air! but with what relief and joy we close it! Peace and unity are preserved among the people of God. Let us all be warned and admonished by the evil of haste in matters that relate to the honor and glory of God; let us beware of a mistaken zeal in professing to seek the welfare of God's beloved people, whether of individuals or of assemblies.

The Lord Jesus came not to destroy. He was the true Shepherd. He loved His sheep, and loves them still. Woe be to such as beat and scatter them! Blessed will it be if, in the day now near at hand, we get from His lips the precious words, "Well done." A. E. B.

"PERFECT AND ENTIRE, WANTING NOTHING."

who would not covet such a condition? and the terms are simple. "Let patience have her perfect work," that ye may be so.

A subject heart waiting upon God, claims all the fulness of God to supply its need.

He who waits upon God, upon him God waits.

A broken will calls His will into active display for us, and this is the display of His own nature, which is Love.

Thus we are provided for by Him who willed creation into being, and whose will and accomplishment are one.

The Lord give us to prove this practically more.

Aberdeen, Scotland,

August 30, 1909.

Dear Mr. Editor :

I observe in May number of help and food a query regarding verses 25 and 26 of John n.

Will you allow a few lines regarding the most interesting statement the Lord makes to Martha, as answering her words in verse 24:"Jesus said unto her (25), I am the resurrection, and the life." It seems to me that the Lord is here undoubtedly referring to the body. It is not a question of how Lazarus stood with God; so He puts resurrection first. If it had been his state with God, it would, I think, be, " I am the life, and the resurrection." And now, " He that believeth in Me, though he were dead (the body), yet shall he live (the body):and whosoever liveth (alive in the body) and believeth in Me shall never die" (the body). This statement, from the Lord Himself, is the first presentation of that glorious fact which is enlarged on in i Thess. 4:13-18, and i Cor. 15:51-56.

The latter scripture (verse 57) here mentioned, places the soul in the moral power now of that moment which we are taught to wait for, and to work (verse 58) in the hope of. Yours in Christ,

David Souter.

Much is said nowadays of the progress of the world, and the glory of man, and of his achievements; but at best it is the progress and glory and achievements of man away from God, and of a world doomed to meet in the end the judgment of God. The day of the Lord will sweep it all aside.

Morally, for the Christian, it has come to an end in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Man's glory and wisdom came to an end there, when he dared to lay hands on "the Lord of glory," and, because He resisted not, nail Him to a cross of shame. The first man, for God and His people, wound up his history, morally, by that act; for what can be expected from a being that could and would do that ? Sovereign grace may come in (and has, blessed be God), and save, through that very cross, all that repent and bow the knee to Christ. It makes them a new creation in Him risen from the dead (2 Cor. 5:17). But man after the flesh, man of the old creation order, is past remedy. There must be a new creation in Christ. We must be linked with a new Head, the last Adam, the second Man. That is, Christ risen out of death, and glorified at God's right hand. A new creation in Him is every believer. They have eternal life in Him. " Ye have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:3, 4).

This being the case, it is not the glory of man, nor his wisdom or religion, that we are concerned about, but the glory of God. We have been brought to the glory of God. We have been brought to know Him, and now it is His glory that concerns us. There is an infinity in God for us to learn, and we may well turn away from little, self-important man, and his vain glory, and contemplate the glory of the infinite and eternal God, who needs but to reveal Himself to manifest His glory.

And how has. God been pleased to reveal Himself ? The searchings of man are vain here. God Himself must reveal Himself if He is to be known. He has revealed Himself, and it is our wisdom to ask how He has done it.

It must be, of course, by revelation-revelation which He alone can inspire. If He uses men as His instruments, then He must in an infallible way give them those revelations. This we have, blessed be God, in the sacred Scriptures. Faith goes to them as to the revelation of God, given to us by God Himself, whoever may be His instrument.

God's glory is seen and known in various ways. First, in creation; second, in government; third, in redemption.

As to creation, '' the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork" (Ps. 19). Creation is all alive with its testimony of God and His glory, for '' His eternal power and divinity" are displayed therein (Rom. 1:20). "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line (the extent of their testimony) is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun, . . . and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof" (Ps. 19:2-6).

God has spread out before man a constant testimony of Himself as Creator. Man has only to look up, and around, and he sees the glory of a Creator-God in the works of His own hands. Blind indeed must man be not to see it. But so has sin made him, till he, like

" The owlet Atheism, sailing on obscure wings athwart the noon,
And dropping his blue-fringed lids, holds them close,
And hooting at the glorious sun in heaven,
Cries out, ' "Where is it ?' "

To understand creation and be brought into touch with the Creator, faith must come into exercise; for where was man when, '' in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth?" Was he there? Did he take part in the mighty transaction when God "spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" ? (Ps. 33:9.) Was it by his breath, or by the Creator's, that the "heavens were made, and all the host of them " ? (ver. 6.)

If man was not there, and if he had no part in the mighty work, and if it was the work of the Creator alone, then are we surely dependent upon the Creator for an account of how He did it. Thus, " Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. ii:3). That is, it was not evolution, but an absolute creation, calling into being what did not exist before; and calling them into being, not in a proto plastic condition, to follow the law of endless evolution, but what was created was brought into being in a state of perfection, fresh from the Creator's hand, reflecting and displaying His glory. '' He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." "Things that are seen were not made of things which do appear." It was absolute, essential creation. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth " (Gen. i:i).

God's glory then strikes man in the face in the creation by which he is surrounded, "so that they are without excuse " (Rom. i:20).

God's glory is also seen in His government of the creation. He ruleth in the armies of heaven, and also in the kingdom of men. He is "Lord of heaven and earth " (Matt. 11:25). " God is judge Himself " (Ps. 50:6), and He will not surrender His claim as such to another. As such He says, " I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear " (Isa. 45 :23). "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God " (Rom. 14:12).

And this is right. Every right-minded person owns it to be right. If it were not so, moral chaos would fill the universe. But God is God, and all must be subject, or else subjected, to Him. All must have to do with Him, and come under His authority. God is light; there is no moral obliquity in Him; " a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He" (Deut. 32:4).

And " God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil " (Eccl. 12:14).

" God is judge Himself." Omniscience is His; the secret counsels of the heart are manifest to Him; all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do; and withal, He is omnipotent to put into effect His righteous judgment. "There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known " (Luke 12:2).
His glory as the Judge of all, must and will be maintained, however man, blinded by sin and by Satan, may rebel at it. His glory He will not give to another. No man liveth or dieth to himself, he has to say to God. He must own God's righteous sway.

As Christians we have come to "God, the Judge of all" (Heb. 12:23). In a day of increasing lawlessness, there is no more wholesome truth for the people of God to remember than that while we will not come into judgment eternal for our sins, yet the fire of His judgment will try our works as His people ; and in the light of His righteous judgment it will be seen how we have conducted ourselves while here-whether we have lived to ourselves, or to Him who died for us and rose again (2 Cor. 5:15; i Cor. 3:13-15).

His glory as " Judge of all," and " Lord of heaven and earth," has been seen on various occasions.

Satan, and the hosts that were involved in his rebellion and wicked aspirations, illustrate that glory. Conceiving sin in his own heart, refusing God as the proper and true center of the universe, he made himself a center. Enamored with his creature-beauty, his God-given wisdom, his brightness, his lofty principality, he fell into pride and covetousness, and dragged down multitudes with him (Ezek. 28:12-19). Therefore the warning of i Tim. 3:6:" Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation (fault) of the devil." Alas, how many in the Church of God have fallen into that fault!

Satan's awful course will eventually end up as it is stated in Rev. 20:10 :"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

God's government will take its course, and His glory as the Judge of all shall be displayed.

It was seen in the flood in the days of Noah; again, in the destruction of the cities of the plain; again, in the tower of Babel, and the overthrow of Nineveh, Babylon, and Jerusalem; nation after nation being made to feel that God is indeed "Judge of all "; and at last, when the end is reached, in the judgment of the wicked at the great white throne, when all who have had part in Satan's rebellion, and have not repented, will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15; 21:8).

But it is in Redemption that the glory of God shines out in brightest luster. It was a new way indeed; a way which God only could have devised; which the universe of redeemed ones will delight in for eternity; of which the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the basis.

There was a glory of God "manifested forth" at the marriage in Cana of Galilee (John 2); later on, in the raising of Lazarus. "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." Again, '' Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou should-est see the glory of God ?" (John 11:4, 40.) Again, when He, creation's Lord, arose from the pillow where He as weary man had lain asleep, and He stilled the tempest and there was a great calm, there was a glory manifested, and a testimony given as to who He was-'' God manifest in flesh,'' who '' is over all, God blessed for ever" (i Tim. 3:16; Rom. 9:5).

But in Redemption, in "the death of the cross," it was not a display of divine power, for our Lord "was crucified through weakness"; it was a moral question, in which the nature and character of God, the judgment of sin, the overthrow of "him that had the power of death," the salvation of His people, and the bringing to pass the great and glorious purposes of God in " the new heaven and the new earth," were involved. This was no mere question of power, but one infinitely deeper, and which involved, for the Son of God, all that the cross meant for Him.

The Son of God who said, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God," undertook to do a work by which God could righteously put that "will" into effect. He who did the work was glorified in the doing of it (John 13:31) and in its accomplishment glorified God in His holy nature and righteous character. So much so that He could say, "I have glorified Thee upon the earth:I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do " (John 17 :4).

Sin was in question, and the putting of it away. That which had dishonored God and defiled His creation necessitated the "death of the cross." In no other way could sin be expiated. In no other way could God's glory be maintained and the need of man met, and God be just and the justifier of the believing sinner (Rom. 3:25, 26).

Only One could accomplish this, and that was the Son of God.

It was a scene of darkness indeed. Satan's power was there; man's hatred was there; God's holiness
and righteousness were there; God's judgment and wrath were there; the Divine forsaking was there, and the love of God told out in providing such a wondrous victim to endure and accomplish it all. It was a deep that none but He, the spotless One, could pass through and survive. And in it all the '' Son of Man was glorified," and the universe will ascribe to Him universal praise.

God was manifested in Christ; His nature, His heart, His disposition toward man-all were told out in Him who came to reveal God, to break Satan's power, to accomplish eternal redemption, and save poor man who could not save himself.

It was a glory peculiarly its own. Creation told of God's divinity and power. Government, of His rights as "Judge of all"; but in Redemption God Himself, in all that He is in Himself, in His hatred of sin and His love for man, in His tender mercy, but also in His inflexible justice-all is fully revealed.

"God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (i Tim. 3:16).

What an eternity of glory is connected with this !

And see the result:a universe of bliss; "a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness"; God all in all; the tabernacle of God with men, He dwelling among them, they His people, He their God, and tears, sorrow, pain and death, forever gone; "the former things have passed away " (2 Pet. 3:13; i Cor. 15:28; Rev. 21:1-5).

God's glory shines out in all this, and with worshiping hearts the redeemed will witness and enjoy that glory forever. E. A.

(1 John 3:2.)

Speaking of the time when the Lord shall appear to introduce that grand era, called the Millennium, the prophet says to Israel:"Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty" (Isa. 33:17). But to us the Spirit's testimony through the apostle is, "We shall see Him as He is."He is now in heaven, the First-born among many brethren; He is also the Head of the body-the Church:He fills the place of Intercessor as our Great High Priest, robed with garments of glory and beauty. The names of all His people are borne upon His heart and upon His shoulders-He represents them before the Father continually according to His worthiness. As He appears then in heavenly glory upon the Father's throne, He is clothed with human and official glories; and far beyond these is His divine, eternal glory which He had before the world was ( John 17:5). In the midst of all these, "we shall see Him as He is." What will it be, oh beloved redeemed ones, to see, to gaze upon the face of Jesus thus!-glories both human and divine, far, far, beyond what the Queen of Sheba saw when she beheld Solomon in all his glory, "and there was no more spirit in her." She saw but a type of the greater than Solomon which our eyes shall behold. As we gaze upon Him then we shall be able better and in a fuller way to understand the grace that brought Him from heaven to earth to die upon the cross for us, and shall praise Him as we would.

And even after all the present blessedness into which the Holy Scriptures now lead us, in the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18; Heb. 2:9), yet each of us, as we see Him, will doubtless exclaim as did the Queen of old, "And, behold, the half was not told me," for His divine, heavenly, eternal glories will assuredly surpass and excel our highest thought and expectation. A. E. B.

are a grand triumphal arch, spanning the interval of time between two eternities. Of this arch, Christ is the Key-Stone. Take but this support away, and the whole structure collapses; the entire universe, with its freight of angelic and human life, sinks into hopeless ruin; life, light and immortality have forever fled; nought remains save darkness and chaos.

But, blessed be God, we are not shut up to such dire forebodings of evil. Christ, the central stone, is also the Living Stone. It can never be moved. " Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven."

Every blow aimed by the wily foe at this Stone only causes it to send forth scintillations more and more intense in brilliancy, and the Precious Stone itself shines with a luster all its own.

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift"!

"What glory gilds the sacred page !
Majestic, like the sun,
It gives a light to every age;
It gives, but borrows none.

Let everlasting thanks be Thine
For such a bright display,
As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day."

L.

IV.

(Concluded from p. 167.)

The scapegoat, correctly interpreted, becomes the key to the understanding of the order of procedure in Lev. 16. The atonement made by sacrificing the bullock and Jehovah's goat and presenting their blood and the burning incense within the sanctuary-why should this be separated, by the intervening work of the scapegoat, from the offering upon the brazen altar of the rams of burnt-offering and the fat of the sin-offering, and from the burning of the bodies of the bullock and goat outside the camp ?

Because the type figures much more than the making of atonement. It pictures faith's acceptance of the work, and shows how the value of the Person and sacrifice of Christ are by God put to the account of a believing people.

In other words, the work of Christ is presented in two distinct aspects in Lev. 16. First, Christ's sacrifice is viewed as an offering unto God, glorifying Him by atoningly covering in His sight all sins and sin, so purging the heavens and the earth :it being the necessary demand of His nature in view of the creature's sin, irrespective of whether the creature himself be saved or lost.

Secondly, thus done, the work is offered as a perfect refuge for the guilty creature, if he will have it, becoming the righteous basis of the reckonings of faith in the believer, who regards all that he was as a sinner by nature and practice as crucified "with" Christ in the judgment at the cross, and himself now as a new man, quickened and risen "with " the risen One, and " alive unto God in Christ," through a divine work of new creation.

But let us briefly trace the order of the type, observing its beauty and significance.

1:The sacrificial death at the high priest's hand of the bullock and goat of the sin-offering and the rams of burnt-offering,* pictures Christ's sacrifice, Himself Priest and Victim, upon the cross :the endurance of death and curse by the incarnate Son of God-true God, true Man-whose infinite suffering for sins and sin, under an infinite outpouring of divine wrath, has by a righteous God been accepted at its true value, as a complete and glorious atonement for all evil. *In perfect accordance with what has been said, the sin-offering, peculiarly linked with the claims of God's nature, is prominent in the first part of 1he chapter; while the burnt-offering, characteristically for man's "acceptance" (Lev. 1:3, Heb.), is conspicuous in the latter part. Yet in each part both sacrifices appear, joined together. Since Scripture does not state when the rams actually were plain-whether with the bullock and goat, or just before the rams were offered on the altar, as from verse 24 we might assume -this point is immaterial. But the text is explicit in linking the rams with the bullock and goats (vers. 3 and 5), so as to associate every aspect of the fragrant death of Christ with this part of the ritual ; and Aaron was expressly commanded to enter the sanctuary with the ram as well as the bullock (ver. 3). He entered not alone with the bullock's blood, but with incense laid on coals from the altar (ver. 12), representing the burnt-offering as "an odor of rest."*

The bullock, goat, and rams, themselves innocent, were slain in the judgment of the sin of guilty
men, and thus figure the feature of substitution in the death of Christ. He, holy as these were innocent, died for the sins of His creatures.

2. Aaron's entrance into the sanctuary with the sacrificial blood and burning incense is doubtless typical of two things. It sets forth the immediate acceptance of Christ's sacrifice in the moment of His death ; the sprinkling of the blood, to "make atonement" for the tabernacle and other things connected therewith, expressing the instantaneous efficacy of our Lord's work in purging the universe from sin. Secondly, Aaron's entrance into the holiest also figured amid inevitable contrasts, Christ's entrance into heaven, after His resurrection, in the value of His sacrifice "to appear before the face of God for us" (Heb. 9:24).

3. Aaron necessarily came out of the sanctuary again to confess Israel's sins upon the scapegoat. But Christ fulfils this part of the type by His work as glorified and enthroned Saviour. For, atonement accomplished, He entered heaven, in virtue of it, as the great Melchisedek-Priest and Minister of the tabernacle, to dispense the eternal redemption He had secured, with its wealth of blessing. And this is what the scapegoat pictures-the removal of sins from guilty souls who, in faith, repentance, and confession, "come unto God by Him." If Heb. 9 gives us the doctrine of Christ's entrance into the heavenlies, having first purified them by putting sin away through His sacrifice (vers. 23-26), in Heb. 10, following, we have the doctrine of the purged conscience and the remission of the sins of the worshipers (vers. 1-4, 14-18); just as in the type, the sacrificial death and application of the blood of the victims, with Aaron's entrance into the holy places, is followed by the scapegoat service in removing sins from the people.* *In passing we may note the difficulty of some who correctly interpret the scapegoat as a picture of the removal of Israel's sins in a coming day, but question the application of the type to Christians. It is said, that for Aaron's house, figuring the holy priesthood of heavenly saints, there was no scapegoat.

But, surely, Aaron included his own and his sons' sins in his confession of Israel's iniquities upon the goat. Had the priests' sins been excluded, in the removal of sins to the "cut off" laud, the entire ritual would have broken down in its most vital point-the purging of the priesthood, which stood between God and the people. But this could not be, as a careful scrutiny of the inspired text makes clear.

In Lev. 16 :17, when the atonement made for Aaron and his house is distinguished from that for the rest of Israel, the people, apart from the priests, are styled the "congregation" of Israel. But in verse 19, where the altar is sprinkled with the blood, both of the bullock (the priests' offering) and of the goat (the congregation's offering) it is said to be hallowed from the uncleanness, not of the "congregation," but of the "children" of Israel, a term embracing all. Now on the scapegoat (verse 21) were confessed the iniquities, not of the "congregation," as excluding Aaron's house, but of "the children of Israel," explicitly including all, priests and people.

The true guide to interpretation, therefore, is not found in excluding Aaron's house from the service of the scapegoat, but in noting that the priests had no special scapegoat. Hence we infer that the special dispensational application of this feature is, indeed, to Israel, in a coming time, when God will "remove the iniquity of that laud in one day " (Zech. 3:9)-a collective application. In the present dispensation the application is not collective, but strictly individual, as each soul believes. And indeed, as we have just seen, Israel's new-covenant-blessing, of sins removed and remembered no more by God (Jer. 31 :33, 34), is expressly applied to Christians in Hebrews 10.*

4.Following the removal of the people's sins by the scapegoat, Aaron offers up the fragrant burnt-offerings upon the brazen altar, to "make an atonement for himself and for the people," and burns upon the altar "the fat of the sin-offering" (Lev. 16:24, 25). So is it in God's dealing with souls. The instant there is faith and repentance, God not merely remits sins, as figured in the scapegoat, but puts to the soul's account the full value of the sacrifice and person of Christ.

In Heb. 10, accordingly, we not merely find the blessing of remission, but also what answers expressly to the altar and rams upon it in the type:Christ come into the world (the Word become flesh, the copper and acacia wood of the altar) to accomplish God's will through sacrifice-the burnt-offering aspect of the cross (vers. 5-10). Moreover, it is our side-the burnt-offering presented to God for our "acceptance," or, more strictly, viewed as the working of God's will in accomplishing blessing for us righteously, that is, through sacrifice. "By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once" (ver. 10).

Again, the altar, with its "continual " burnt-offering, especially figures Christ's sacrifice as, in His person, a perpetually abiding value before God; and this too, we find in Heb. 10:11-14. "For by one offering He hath perfected, in perpetuity, them that are sanctified." This, in principle, embraces the entire body of judicial reckonings, through identification with Christ in His judgment, death, quickening and resurrection, to which faith is entitled the moment it turns to Christ.

Briefly epitomizing what we have just looked at, notice how closely the interpreting epistle to the
Hebrews follows the order of the type. The heaven-lies are atoningly purified (Heb. 9), as were the tabernacle and sanctuary. Remission of sins and a purged conscience (Heb. 10) answer to the service of the scapegoat. The sanctification and perfecting of the worshipers (Heb. 10) corresponds to Aaron's service at the altar of burnt-offering.

Two beautiful consequences follow. There could be "no man in the tabernacle" until Aaron had completed the work of atonement (Lev. 16:17). But with the tabernacle purged, their sins removed upon the scapegoat, and the burnt-offering from the altar ascending to God for their "acceptance," Aaron's sons might freely enter the holy place and perform their priestly service through another year. And so, in just this connection, we find the exhortation in Heb. 10:19-22:" Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus [the sacrifice], by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh [His person, of which both altar and veil were types], and having a high priest over the house of God [in type, Aaron], let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water"-answering to the service of the scapegoat.

The other thing is linked with the altar. This, with its offering upon it, was the gathering center of Israel and their meeting-place with Jehovah. The fire upon the altar never went out, and the rams offered on the day of atonement were followed by lambs each morning and evening, so that the service at the brazen altar for the people's "acceptance " on the day of atonement was, in a sense, continued "in perpetuity." And " there," God had said, "I will meet with the children of Israel " (Ex. 29:43).

And so is the glorified Christ-Himself the living memorial of His sacrifice-the meeting-point and gathering center of His people, not in heaven alone, but on earth. The golden altar, within the tabernacle, pictures Him in heaven, the Sanctifier of His people and of all their gifts, identifying Himself with them and upholding them in their approach unto God in the holiest. But He is also the gathering Center of His people on the earth, is "in the midst," and is the Sanctifier of them and their gifts. "As He is, so are we in this world" (i John 4:17). It is of course, the same truth, in its earthward aspect, and represented by the brazen altar, with its sacrificial "odor of rest," in the outer court where the people gathered. And this, too, we find in Hebrews (13:10,15):"We have an Altar … By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually."

5. Lastly, in the type (Lev. 16:27), we have the burning outside the camp of the bodies of the bullock and goat, the sin-offerings. Altar and burnt-offering figuratively link our acceptance by God-sanctification, and judicial perfection with the sweet savor of Christ's person and sacrifice. But in the burning of the bodies of the sin-offering outside, found in this place in the type, we see how God puts to our account, for faith's appropriation, the substitutionary aspect of the cross-Christ made sin for us, and we crucified with Him.

This total consumption of the sin-offering by fire pictures an eternal abiding under God's judgment. In the judgment at the cross, Christ alone could emerge from divine wrath, for He only, being infinite, could exhaust it. But all that for which He stood, the evil judged in the judgment of Him for it, Scripture views as still left upon the cross, forever condemned, eternally crucified.

This is Scriptural substitution. Of itself, it slays, condemns, crucifies-does not save. "One died for all, therefore all have died" (2 Cor. 5:14, Gr.). If, by substitution, "our old man" were saved to live and torment us for ever, instead of being eternally crucified, where would we be? or how should "the body of sin" have been " annulled " (Rom.6:6,6 Gr.)? And what substitution does for me, as a child of wrath by nature, it does also for the whole world:" The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world " (Gal, 6:14). This effect of substitution is far indeed from universalism!

On the other hand, we who believe-not the "world " -are indeed risen with Christ. But what is risen? That which is "quickened" with Christ, newborn of God, made partakers of the divine nature, a new creation in Christ Jesus! We are this new thing; and it becomes a boundless joy to learn that the cross has infinitely separated us from what we were, by the very fact that it has left "our old man" (our old self) under God's judgment forever ; whereas " we " (the new man "in Christ") are eternally before God's presence "unreprovable, in love."

But the cross which separates us from our old self and all its ways, separates us from " the world," religious or irreligious, by the same "gulf." This is the full lesson of the burning of the bodies of bullock and goat in the type; and this, again, we find in Hebrews (13:11-13); "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as sacrifices for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate."

This"sanctification" is our eternal separation from our old selves and the world by the cross of Christ. Crucified to all the evil, He is risen, apart from it all. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach. F. Allaben

What is faith but dependence upon-occupation with – reception from, Another? Self is never faith's object, clearly. Thus, for the "new man, renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him," " Christ is all."

If it be testimony to Christ and fruitfulness in the world that is in question, the accomplishment of it is in this way:" If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; and he that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out his belly shall flow rivers of living water." The precepts of the New Testament must be read in the light of passages such as these. If I were to say to a person, "Get yourself warm," he would scarcely think I meant it to be by exercise if he saw my finger pointing to the fire. Thus do the Scriptures point unceasingly to Christ in whom "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." F. W. G.

Notes of a Bible Reading.

(Eph. chap. I:1-7.)

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus;

2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

4 According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved;

7 In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

These verses which we have read bring before us some of our spiritual blessings-only a few, for the balance of the chapter, and also chap. 2, is a further unfolding of our portion-our heavenly portion in and with Christ. Therefore we read the repeated expressions "in Him" and "in whom," for Christ Himself is the golden casket, so to speak, in whom all our spiritual treasures are.

Our portion in Christ is spiritual. They are the things that are unseen and eternal. " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:9, 10). We have some of these things here, as we shall see.

The object of this epistle is to reveal to us the eternal counsels and purposes of God in regard to Christ and the Assembly, and the heavenly blessings and vocation of those who form part of that Assembly. Chaps, i and 2 give us our blessings and vocation; then in chaps. 4, 5 and 6 our responsibilities and warfare, flowing out from our heavenly privileges.

The expressions "in the heavenlies" and "in Christ" give us first the character and also the position of our calling. It is heavenly, not earthly; in Christ, not in Adam, the first man.

It is a specific epistle to open up to us the present purposes of God in bringing many sons to glory; it also reveals to us the mystery of the Body of Christ, of Jew and Gentile formed into one body as the bride of Christ.
(ver. i) " Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."

Paul was preeminently the apostle of the Gentiles; the sent one of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. In a special way he was the heavenly messenger of Jesus Christ as the glorified One, to minister what none other did; viz., The heavenly calling of the saints and the counsel of God in regard to the Assembly as Christ's body. He addresses the saints (" at Ephesus" is very doubtful-see note in J. N. D.'s Trans.)-and the faithful in Christ Jesus. We who are believers and love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity (chap. 6:24), are contemplated in this verse as saints and faithful. This is not in the sense of attainment or fidelity, but as being separated' from the world, and belonging to the household of faith. The word "saint" means one set apart, and "faithful" those who belong to the faith. It is not what we should be, but what we are.

And this is ever God's way of teaching:He first tells us what we are, and then exhorts us to be in character what we are in fact. In this way it may be said to a person, You are a prince, now act like a prince. So in this verse He tells us we are saints and of the household of faith. We see, then, our separation, and our position-saints and in Christ. Should we not find our joy and delight to be with our own company-the saints ?

How often we fail to "seek the company of the saints, and to realize that God has separated us from the world for Himself. But blessed be God, the God of all grace, our failing in what we should be in no wise lessens what we are. Israel shall dwell alone, was the first prophetic blessing pronounced upon them by Balaam, who had the vision of the Almighty. May the Lord give us to see the typical teaching of it in regard to us, for we are set apart, and that by the blood of Christ.

(ver. 2) " Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

Here we have the salutation of God the Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is grace and peace. We stand in grace (Rom. 5:2), and our eternal portion is peace. The one disposition of God the Father is grace. All the grace of God the Father is shown us in the incarnation and death of His Son. " For ye know," says the apostle, " the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor," etc.

Then, peace was made by the blood of His cross. We deserved it not. If, then, such be the unchanging disposition of our God and Father toward us, should we not be so to each other ?

(ver. 3) " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ."

Now we have an ascription of praise founded upon what God has wrought for us in measureless blessing. Oh to lift our hearts to Him like this! Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ-His God our God; His Father our Father. What a privilege! In such a manner we should approach our God in the intimacy of sons. This is true Christian worship, worshiping the Father and the Son in the realized consciousness that we have been brought into the same circle of love and relationship.

We are not blessed with earthly blessings as Israel was. No, such is not Christianity. We are blessed with spiritual blessings, in a new creation; not in Adam but in Christ; not in Canaan, nor in this world at all, but in heaven where Christ has gone. We are to know them and enjoy them here, however. We have the grapes of our heavenly Eshcol now.

(ver. 4) "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."

This verse brings us to our blessings. The Spirit of God first tells us that we are blessed, and then mentions the blessings.

FIRST.

The first of these blessings is election:-chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. God made Adam in view of Christ, and the world in view of His saints. Christ and His redeemed ones were before His eye when He created all things. In opening out to us the purpose of His grace God begins at the source; and when we have met our responsibilities in repenting and believing, we learn that but for the electing grace of God we would have chosen the pleasures of sin for a season, rather than the eternal bliss with Christ. All is of grace, from end to end-the Saviour, and the faith which trusts in Him. Outside the gate, it is, "Whosoever will, let him come"; inside, we learn we were "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world."

SECOND.

Now we have our place before Him, "holy and without blame." We are righteous and holy alone as seen in Him. The righteousness and holiness in which we stand before God are not our righteous and holy practice produced by the Spirit in us. Aaron standing before the Lord to represent Israel is a beautiful type of this. He wore a mitre, and on the mitre a plate of gold. On this plate were inscribed the words " Holiness to the Lord." In like manner our Lord Jesus-the true Aaron-represents us before God, without blame and in holiness. All our blame was upon Him when He died upon the cross. And it is only as we are occupied with Him that we are formed in practical holiness. And the Spirit is here to form Christ in us. We in Christ- that is what gives us our place before God. Christ in us-that is what produces practical holiness and fruitfulness.

THIRD.

We are also before God the Father in love:our place, in the Son, is a place of intimacy and affection, as well as of righteousness and holiness. David said of Mephibosheth, who had been of the rebel house of Saul, "He shall eat bread at my table as one of the king's sons." Love seeks for objects to be there in love. The Father ever loved the Son; yet the Son said, "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again." He brings His sheep into the same circle of love before the Father by virtue of His life laid down and taken up again.

FOURTH.

(ver. 5) " Having predestinated us unto the adoption [of sons] by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."

Our next blessing is that of sonship, God's purpose is to bring many sons to glory. It is a different thought from that of children, as we have in John's ministry. A person born into my family partakes of the same life and nature. This is the truth presented to us in John's ministry, and is ours. But here we have the thought of sonship. According to law, a man can take a stranger and foreigner and adopt him and bestow upon him all the privileges and advantages of a full-grown son.

Such is one of our spiritual blessings here opened up to us. We were strangers and foreigners, as we see in chapter a; but now we are sons by adoption.

FIFTH.

(ver. 6) " To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."

In this verse we have our acceptance-accepted in the Beloved. "As He is, so are we in this world." Happy people! Yes, the saints of the Lord should be a happy people. In fact, I often think, dear brethren, that the key-note of the truth presented in Ephesians is acceptance in the Beloved. It should be the strength and joy of our hearts. As the king held out the sceptre of grace to Esther, so the sceptre of grace is always held out to us, to be touched by faith. We need not put ourselves under law and say, " If I perish, I perish," as we go into the presence of God; for we are accepted in the Beloved.

SIXTH.

(ver. 7) "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

The sixth blessing is redemption by blood. "Fear not," God continually says to us; "I have redeemed thee; thou art Mine." We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; and, dear brethren, God will never forfeit His claim upon us. We needed redemption from two things:the curse of the law, and the power of Satan.

In the epistle to the Galatians we learn very clearly that we are redeemed from the curse of the law, Christ having been made a curse for us. Redemption means liberation from a power or claim. Through the death of Christ, we are forever liberated from the curse and every claim. Through His death, we pass on to new ground. We are freed from these enemies:

The guilt of sin;
The power of sin;
The power of death;
The power of Satan;
The power of the Law.

SEVENTH.

Also, our sins are forgiven. Our daily portion is forgiveness of sins. Not long ago, I was reading some of the written ministry of the late F. W. G., and I very much enjoyed the thought that the saints, or the assembly, are always on the ground, before God, of forgiveness of sins.

God will not charge Christ with our sins again. He did so on the cross. Truly our sins are gone, never to arise again. If they are sought for, they cannot be found (Jer. 50:20).

These are some of our spiritual blessings. They are enumerated one by one; and in the close of the chapter, after telling it all out, he bows his knees, and prays that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, that we might know it all in the power of the Spirit.

We should not read the Word like cold, formal lawyers who might read a will to state its legal exactness, but rather as children who read a will to learn their portion and interest in it all.

The spiritual blessings we have looked at one by one are, then:

1. Our election.

2 Our place in holiness and righteousness.

3 Our place in love and affection.

4 Our sonship.

5 Our acceptance.

6. Our redemption.

7. Our forgiveness.

And all these, with how much more, are " according to the riches of His grace"! May the Lord increase our interest and delight in these our own things!

"Thy deep, eternal counsel
Chose us in Christ the Son
Before the earth's foundation,
Or sin had yet begun;
That we might all the nearness
Of the Beloved know,
And, brought to Thee as children,
Our children's praises flow."

D. C. T.
A Song of Thanksgiving.

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).

O holy wings that brought Thee down
Upon that blessed One!
On Him whom God the Father sealed-
His Own beloved Son.

O blessed wings, with tidings glad,
That brought Thee from above-
A heavenly guest of this clay house,
To minister Christ's love.

O silvered wings that brought to me
Redemption's story sweet!
That brought me all my Savior's love,
And laid me at His feet.

O glorious wings that shed Thy light
Upon sad Calvary!
And showed me that the shadow-side
Was not the side for me.

O wings of light that scattered night,
And brought me endless day ;
O wings that brought me heavenly peace-
Drove all my fears away.

Eternal wings, that evermore
In holy ministry
Will bring the blessed things of Christ,
And shew them unto me.

O Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove!
Me Thou wilt never leave;
Teach me to walk with Christ my Lord,
That Thee I may not grieve.

H. McD.

I am sure you recollect one place in Scripture that speaks of believers in Christ Jesus:"Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord:whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" (Rom. 14:8). That is a blessed truth as it stands; and it is written, "Our life is hid with Christ in God." But I see also a constant use of that word in the sense that we are the Lord's, as being separated to Him-subject to Him who now is in the glory, and to return. Not only is it a truth, a fact, but it ought to be running always in our minds, till "I am the Lord's" becomes the fixed habit and thought of our soul. It will keep us free and separate in the strivings of the world, or its disturbances; it will keep our eyes from its pleasures; it will keep us from its devices; it will keep us, as it runs in our hearts, lively in duty. So may it prevail more and more in our hearts and minds! We may go here and there, up and down, with this circumstance or that, yet "I am the Lord's" going with us, will keep our paths as becomes the brightness of His coming. Be careful about everything, that, because you are the Lord's, you may not fail in anything; but be not anxious about anything, making known your requests, great and small, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving; and the peace of God, such peace as God has, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

"And He that sent Me is with Me:the Father hath not left Me alone ; for I do always those things that please Him "- John 8:29.

They who fight the Lord's battles must be content to be in no respect accounted of; to be in no respect encouraged by the prospect of human praise.

If you make an exception, that the children of God will praise you, whatever the world may say, beware of this; for you may turn them into a world, and find in them a world, and may "sow to the flesh" in sowing to their approbation; and you will neither be benefitted by them, nor they by you, so long as respect for them is your motive. All such motives are poison and a taking away from you the strength in which you are to give glory to God. It is not the fact that all that see the face of the Lord do see each other. It is not the fact that the misapprehension of the world is the only misapprehension the Christian must be contented to labor under; he must expect even his brethren to see him through a mist, and to be disappointed of their sympathy and cheers of approbation.

The man of God must walk alone with God; he must be contented that the Lord knoweth-that God knows. It is such a relief to the natural man within us to fall back upon human countenances and human thoughts and sympathy, that we often deceive ourselves and think it "brotherly love," when we are just resting in the earthly sympathy of some fellow-worm ! You are to be followers of Him who was left alone, and you are, like Him, to rejoice you are "not alone" because the Father is with you, that you may give glory to God. Oh! I cannot but speak of it, it is such a glory to God to see a soul that has been accessible to the praise of men, surrounded by thousands of his fellow-creatures, every one of whom he knows how to please, and yet that he should be contented, yea, pleased and happy in doing, with a single reference to God, that which he knows they will all misunderstand! Here was the victory of Jesus! There was not a single heart that beat in sympathy with His heart, or entered into His bitter sorrow, or bore His grief in the hour of His bitter grief; but His way was with the Lord-His judgment was with His God, His Father, who said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

This was the perfect glory given to the Father by the Son, that in flesh and blood such a trust in God was manifested; and this is what you are called to; you are not called to it as He was, but you are called to see God in Him. God has come near to you in Christ, and here you have a human heart-a perfect sympathy-the heart of God in human nature, and to this you are ever carried. Feed upon it, and remember you are thus to walk in the world-not hanging upon one another.

O Jesus, Master! take my fevered hands in Thine, and keep me with Thee, with Thee, walking above the worthless din of human praise or disapproval. Then shall it be in my ear the empty sound which it is in Thine; and I shall walk in sweet unconsciousness,-too far for some, not far enough for others- but with Thee; putting my whole weight into that which in Thine eyes is service; no longer offering Thee the blind, the lame, the maimed desires of a spirit dreaming of the great things which it would do, but my waking, rejoicing energies.

Lord! shine upon Thy poor plant,-say unto me with power,
"Arise! Follow Me."

As it is becoming a fashion with some Protestants to court the Romish Church, we here give some extracts from the Roman Catholic book of devotion bearing the above title. The said book bears the sanction of John, Archbishop of New York, and is published by the Excelsior Catholic Publication Company, New York City:

1. "It is the will of God that all graces should come to us by the hand of Mary." Page 3.

2. "To honor the Queen of Angels is to gain eternal life." Page 6.

3. " All who are saved are saved only by means of this divine Mother." Page 8.

4. "As many creatures as there are who serve God, so many there are who serve Mary; for to thee (Mary) belong dominion and power over all creatures." Page 12.

5. "The Eternal Father gave the office of Judge and Avenger to the Son, and that of showing mercy and relieving necessities to the Mother." Page 14.

6. "We believe that she opens the abyss of the mercy of God to whomsoever she wills, when she wills, and as she wills; so that there is no sinner, however great, who is lost if Mary protects him." Page 16.

7. "Let us fly to thy feet, and always fly to the feet of this most sweet Queen, if we would be certain of salvation." Page 10.

8. "We can say of Mary that she has so loved us as to give her only-begotten Son for us when she granted Him permission to deliver Himself up to death." Page 34.

9. "Thou hast all power to change hearts:take mine, and change it." Page 43.

10. " My only hope, Mary, behold at thy feet a miserable sinner. Thou art proclaimed and called by the whole Church, and by all the faithful, the refuge of sinners ; thou hast power to save me." Page 60.

11. "He falls and is lost who has not recourse to Mary." Page 67.

12. "God has placed the whole price of redemption in the hands of Mary, that she may dispense it at will. Thou, O Mary, art the propitiatory of the whole world." Page 85.

13."Thou art the only advocate of sinners."Page 95

14. "But now, if God is angry with a sinner, and Mary takes him under her protection, she withholds the avenging arm of her Son, and saves him." Page 98.

15."The only hope of sinners."Page 102.
16. "I worship thy holy heart; through thee do I hope for salvation." Page 105.

17. "Often we shall be heard more quickly, and be thus preserved, if we have recourse to Mary, and call on the name of Jesus our Saviour." Page 112.

18."Many things are asked from God, and are not granted:they are asked from Mary, and are obtained. And how is this ? It is because God has thus decreed to honor His Mother." Page 113.

19. "'To thee does it belong,' says St. Bonaventure, ' to save whomsoever thou wiliest to be saved.' O, then, help me, my Queen ! my Queen, save me ! O, salvation of those who call upon thee, do thou save me ! " Page 116.

20. " In vain shall we seek Jesus unless we endeavor to find Him with Mary." Page 138.

21. "Mary cooperated in the salvation of man." Page 141.

22. " Mary was made the mediatress of our salvation." Page 128.

23. "The way of salvation is open to none otherwise than through Mary. No one is saved but through thee. Page 143.

24. " Our salvation is in the hands of Mary; he who is protected by Mary will be saved; he who is not, will be lost; our salvation depends on thee." Page 144.

25. "There is no one, O most holy Mary, who can know God but through thee." Page 145.

26."She is the whole ground of my hope."Page 175.

27. " Mary is the whole hope of our salvation." Page 148.

28. " All power is given to thee in heaven and on earth, and nothing is impossible to thee." Page 154.

29. " By right she possesses the kingdom of her Son." Page 214.

30. "It is impossible for any sinner to be saved without the help and favor of the most blessed Virgin." Page 197.

31. "Thou art omnipotent to save sinners." Page 251.

32. " She effected our salvation in common with Christ." Page 293.

33. "We are all God's debtors, but He is a debtor to thee" (Mary). Page 252.

34. " There is no one saved but by thee ; no one who receives a gift of God but through thee." Page 354.
35. "Moreover, as she is the universal advocate of all men, it is becoming that all who are saved should obtain salvation by her means." Page 570.

36." Our salvation is in her hands."Page 576.

37. "At the command of Mary all obey, even God." Page 155.

"And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints " (Rev. 5:8). That latter clause is very peculiar, as connected with the grace of God in His own proper eternity. There are things His people suffer from, and that He never forgets. All their prayers are treasured up before God; their tears are put in His bottle, and treasured up. What! the sorrow I have forgotten, has God put that down ? Is that one of the things that will shine ? He can use all for His glory; but can the prayers and groans of a saint be kept and have a special place, be an odor of a sweet savor to God ? The sinner does not know this; but a poor broken one can say, "Not only does God remember my prayer, but He puts it by on His own throne, like the pot of manna which He liked to be laid up, to be remembered as a trophy of the way He carried His people through the wilderness." And so will their prayers tell there what their special need of His presence was here. "Golden vials." Gold marks the divine character of that by which they are kept; the odor, a fragrant incense going up-the fragrance ever the same. Is that said of the prayers of saints ? Yes; not one of them is lost. The Lord Jesus knew them all; they were ever before God. G. V. W.

Those who have any knowledge of the history of God's work in souls will admit that there are two moments in the life of His children when the grace of God is paramount,* and every other consideration is forgotten. * When it ceases to be paramount in the Christian's soul at any time, it is then failure in his course comes in. That grace, found by the apostle on his way to Damascus, and held in power in his soul all along the way, elevated him above self from beginning to end. It enabled him to " fight the good fight," to "keep the faith " and "finish his course with joy." Such is the power of grace, when kept real in the soul of the child of God.

If Christian acquirement and fruitfulness is other than (for us as for him) of divine grace, as well as our acceptance, it then becomes a legal matter-a Galatian principle.-[ED.*

These are, first, the glad moment of conversion; and the other, that of departure to be "forever with the Lord." In neither have the things of self any place; there is an absolute exclusion of all that might thus occupy the mind.

A sense of the supreme blessedness of the grace of God fills the heart. The world, with its attractions, its friendships, its pleasures, its snares and temptations, is at those times out of calculation.

At first the novelty and indescribable blessedness of God's pardoning mercy, the knowledge of the cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ, and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, produce such intense joy that all else is eclipsed

" No tongue can express ,
The sweet comfort and peace
Of a soul in its earliest love "

is the experience of every soul at the moment of its conversion to God. Then, seemingly, at the time of departure for the presence of the Lord, the world has, of course, no further attraction; and while the soul may then review its course here, it gladly repudiates every element of merit in the good works which it may have been enabled to perform; because, in all of them, there must evidently have been an admixture of unfaithfulness and shortcoming.

It allows that in everything of the kind it has been unprofitable; it is then that the breadth of the Lord's saving grace is proved beyond measure and deeply enjoyed.

It is quite true that deathbed experiences differ; but whatever the experiences, it is most happy for a dying saint to find his full consolation in the love of Christ, instead of his own blessing. Nevertheless it is the work of grace in any case which gilds the bed of death. To depart and be with Christ constantly charmed the soul of the apostle, and a similar desire should animate our own.

But there is the interval between conversion and the end, whether it be death (that is but "sleep" for the Christian) or the coming of the Lord in person to take all His people home-an interval long or short, but which is the testing time for faith all the way through. It is then that we are commanded to " make our calling and election sure." It is then that the whole of the word of God must be made good in the believer; and it is here that failure, alas, takes place.

Mark, the Christian starts on his wilderness journey in the possession of a settled relationship with God. He starts as a son. God is his Father; Christ on high is his life and righteousness; he is sealed with the Spirit. The relation is indefectible, and supremely blessed; hence he worships the Father continually. He is in true liberty. He awaits the coming again of the Lord. His power of holiness of life is the Spirit. All this is true of every child of God.

It might well be asked how, with such an investiture, there can be failure! If grace is so surpassing in its actings, how can the pilgrim possibly stumble on the road ?

Just because he "walks by faith." He is "not yet perfected." He is dependent on God each step of the way. An independent believer is a contradiction in terms, though we have to own how ready we are to trust any one, or any thing, but the mighty Arm on which, after all, we do lean.

Now here it is that "appropriation" comes in; and the believer who appropriates most is clearly the best off in things divine. He is "rich toward God." The land has been given him as a matter of grace; he places his foot upon it as one of appropriation. He makes his "calling and election sure." And this is the work of the Spirit in him, and is profoundly important. Every precept, every command, every exhortation of Scripture has this inward work for its object. And yet these commands, however stringent, are in no wise legal. They educate the new nature, instead of repressing the old. They go to form Christ in us, so that His life may be expressed by us. Hence "the fruit of the Spirit," in all its exquisite moral beauty, should characterize the Christian continually. Against such fruit there is no law.

Thus too "the Spirit is truth" inwardly just as Christ is the truth externally, and both are correlative. The subjective is the result of the objective.

In this way that which is true of the Christian judicially should be true of him practically.

Thus we can all thankfully say that "our old man was crucified with Christ," and should be able to say, as the apostle could, '' I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me"*:and yet, alas, who of us can honestly write on his own life, "Not I, but Christ"? * The Christian's right to say, "I am crucified with Christ," does not arise from the practical fulfilment of it in his daily life. It is for faith, and faith alone appropriates this blessed truth ; experience follows where it is said in genuine faith. In that genuine faith the beloved apostle, rebuking the legalism of the Galatian saints, says, "I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, I; but Christ liveth in me. . . . I do not frustrate the grace of God." Every child of God should say this with the apostle without hesitation, on the simple ground of revealed truth. If not, he walks, thus far, not by faith, but by experience ; self-righteousness has not come to au end. Yet, with this holy boldness of faith, when it is a question of experience, none is more prompt than the dear, lowly apostle to say," Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may apprehend" etc. -[ED.* Do people see much of Christ in our words and ways ?

Let us, beloved, evermore glory in the sovereign grace of God, which is the only spring of our blessing and eternal joy; but let us also seek, much more diligently, to appropriate, and possess, and hold, in spiritual vigor, all that God has given us. J. W. S.

1) the earthly people do not go out. Christ comes to the Jews where they are.

(2) It is not a parable to give teaching about a bride, but the conduct of virgins whose responsibility is to go forth to meet a bridegroom.

(3) Going forth did not characterize the Jews when Christ came the first time:nor will it do when He comes to them at the end. The mass of them will have received the Antichrist at the end, and are satisfied where they are; while the few whose hearts are right, 1:e., the remnant, will not go forth, but wait, and look, and long for Him there. The two fives cannot be an accurate picture in any way of those two companies at the end.

It is a picture of Christianity, or Christendom, in its profession as such, and in its responsibility to be ready and watching for the Bridegroom. It is not bridal affections, for it is not the bride, but responsibility as virgins, just as the next parable is also responsibility to use the talents, "each according to his ability." Thus we have in chapters 24 and 25 Jew, Christian, and Gentile.

(4) Israel cannot be the bride of the Lamb; and the only marriage Scripture speaks of takes place in heaven, not on earth. It is wholly the responsibility side connected with the kingdom of heaven in its present phase, which is practically Christendom. W. E.

(2 Tim. 2:19-22.)

It has often been noticed that the first epistle to Timothy instructs the man of God as to the conduct that becomes him as belonging to the house of God; while the second epistle is instruction that is to govern him in respect to the confusion and disorder that have resulted from not heeding the apostle's exhortation as to the responsibility of those who had received from him the foundation which, as a wise master builder, under divine guidance and sanction, he had laid. For those who assent to this, I do not need to say the second epistle to Timothy has special importance in connection with the times in which our lot has been cast. But I have sometimes wondered if we have fully seized the mind of the Spirit in the wisdom He has provided for us, in order that we may cope with the difficulties that confront us, and find faith's path-God's path-in the midst of them.

I desire to offer a few thoughts as to it. And, first, I think we need to get a clearer understanding of what the apostle means when he says, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon" (i Cor. 3:10). Was his thought that he, in the first century of the Christian era, had laid the foundation; that the second-century builders would add a story to it; and that in each succeeding century another story would be built, until now we are building the twentieth-century story ? If such has been our conception, we have wholly missed his idea, or, rather, the idea of the Spirit in him. What the apostle really expressed is this:"I have given form to the Church fundamentally. I have, by the truth given me to administer,-the wisdom we speak among the perfect (i Cor. 2:6),-formed the Church in its internal character and its external order. I have ordained its government and discipline; I have appointed its internal arrangements. The form and character which I have given to it by the entire range of the truth, of which I have been made minister, abides. No man can lay a different foundation. Others are to carry it on in the form I have given it. They are not to modify either its internal character or external order. They are not to make any change in any of its arrangements. To do this is to add excrescences to it. I have formed it to be 'the epistle of Christ' (2 Cor. 3:3). Any addition to my foundation-to that character and form I have given to the Church-will be a display of man, not of Christ. It will be work that will be in vain, for only what is of Christ will abide. Let those, then, who are charged with the responsibility of carrying on my foundation ' take heed' how they build in connection with it." This is plainly the apostle's meaning.

In this understanding of the statement, " I have laid the foundation," I affirm that the truth of God with respect to the Church abides; and when we speak of "ruins," we are not to be understood as meaning that the Church, either in its internal character or external order, has passed away. What we mean is this:the not minding the exhortation, to take heed to build in connection with the apostle's foundation, has brought in results which make it difficult to recognize the Church amid all the excrescences that have been built on to it. Paul's ecclesiastical system abides; it has not broken down. Additions have been built on to it. These additions have made confusion. They are disorder. This disorder is what we mean when we speak of "ruins."

We hear it said sometimes that the one body of Christ is a fact subsisting all the time, no matter what human confusion there may be as to it. So, too, it is said the house of God as built by the Spirit is ever a subsisting fact, in spite of the human confusion. Both statements are true, but it is not all the truth. It is equally true, and necessary also to affirm, that the Church's external order-that order given to it by the apostle under divine guidance and sanction-is ever a subsisting fact. Its divine government and discipline is always a fact-a fact always subsisting. This is true even though it is not always recognized-as true as that the one body is ever a fact, recognized or not.

We may now turn to 2 Tim. 2:19-22. In this epistle we find, as has been already said, the wisdom of the Spirit for our guidance in circumstances which are the result of failure in building in connection with Paul's foundation. Innumerable excrescences have been built on to it. There is difficulty in recognizing the original pattern and form, yet we are told the foundation of God is "firm," and "stands." The house of God abides, is a subsisting fact. It exists, and can have no other internal character and external form than God gave to it at the beginning. Its government-its discipline-abides. All the human additions to it have not altered this. The difficulty of recognizing it is great; still, faith will do it, and especially as it has here the apostolic guarantee that it abides, that it remains firm. What a comfort to be assured the foundation of God is firm, and stands! It has not given way, it has not settled, it is intact. The Lord knows His own, and sees them not only as in Christ, but in the collective relationship He has given to them. He knows them as His Church, and as under the internal character and external order He originally established for them. Again I say, What a comfort!

Surely God has not given up His people. He has not abandoned the truth He gave to Paul. He is owning it still. Faith then may do so. But if God still holds to the truth as He gave it at the beginning, and faith finds in this fact its justification for holding with Him, are there any responsibilities growing out of this ? If the fact that the foundation of God still abides guarantees that the Lord knows His people, and owns them as still having the original internal character and external order He gave them, does that fact make any demands upon us ? If it does, what are they ? The apostle must tell us. He says, "Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."If the foundation of God remains, if the foundation laid in apostolic times still abides, its claim on us is that we should be still carrying it on. We are responsible still to hold and carry out apostolic truth, to act on the truth of the Church as given by the apostles at the first.

But to do this we must depart from iniquity. We must turn away from all the human excrescences
that have been added to the original foundation. We must "cease to do evil" and "learn to do well.'' Let us seek to realize what is here pressed upon us. If apostolic truth assures us of the faithfulness of the Lord, it demands faithfulness from us. Are we, then, prepared to be faithful to the truth God gave at the beginning ?Are we ready to carry out that truth practically ?Let us own it is our responsibility. May God give us the purpose of heart to honestly respond to the claims the truth has upon us. But suppose now we start in to put into practice the truth of God as it was revealed at the first. We are resolved to own the Church in its internal character and external order as this was delivered to the saints by the apostle. We have formed the purpose to maintain the government and discipline the apostle ordained for the Church. Well, will we find any peculiar difficulties-difficulties special to the circumstances in which we are ?We surely will, Alas, how much has come in since apostolic times! Not only have unregenerate men been recognized as belonging to Paul's foundation, not only has world-lines been allowed, but clerisy, legality, formalism, ecclesiasticism, individualism, sectarianism, and a host of such-like things, which I need not delay to mention. In the great house-the house as man has built it-there is a great mixture:the saved and the unsaved are associated together; scripture doctrines and the doctrines of men commingle. There are in it, both in persons and things, vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor. "Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity"

-demands of me to separate myself from things as well as persons. It is not alone from unsaved per
sons I must separate, but also from sectarianism, formalism, ecclesiasticism, individualism and all such-like things, that are not of the Spirit of God, are not a part of Paul's foundation.

Suppose, then, I start in to separate myself from clerisy, shall I find any beside unregenerate persons identified with it ? Are there any real saints connected with it ? Alas, how many! But must I separate myself from them ? Ah, here is a difficulty peculiar to the circumstances in which we are. Here is an excrescence that has been added on to Paul's foundation, and there are not only unsaved persons, but real saints, involved in it. It has been asked, Where is there any scripture for separation from saints ? There is no scripture for separation from saints simply as saints; but if saints are involved in evils, separation from the evils involves separation from them. If this is not so, then one's hands are hopelessly tied to what is evil, to iniquity; and here is a scripture, which the Spirit of God has given us for our guidance, that it is impossible for us to obey. If then there are iniquities that saints are linked with, I must separate from them if I obey " Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."

But we are told the word "purge," in the expression " If a man therefore purge himself from these," both here and in the one only case of its use elsewhere in this form (i Cor. 5:7), is "a divine call to self-judgment, not to judge others." An assertion is not proof. All the facts are against the assertion. In i Cor. 5:7 the word is in the plural, not singular. Then too the apostle is not addressing saints as individuals, he is writing to a company. He is addressing them in their collective capacity. Again, the word "lump" refers to the company, not the individual. The leaven is to be purged out of the company. The lump, looked at according to what it has been divinely constituted, is holy, therefore it is responsible to see to it that its practical fellowship be holy. The company, divinely constituted holy, in or-der to preserve itself in its holy character, must not allow unholy ways in those who form the company. Hence they are told to purge out the leaven, to put away the wicked person from among themselves. However necessary self-judgment is, that is not purging the leaven out of the lump:it is not put-ting away from among ourselves the wicked person. Let us look now at the use of the term "purge " in 2 Tim. 2:19-22. It is clear the thought of association is in the apostle's mind. Vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor are associated together in the great house; and this is true whether we speak of persons or things, as we have already seen. Now he says, " Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." We are gravely told that we must not make iniquity mean the children of God. Who does ? Who ever did ?Is it denied that any children of God are involved in iniquity ?If they are, how can I depart from iniquity in such cases unless I purge myself from them ? Are they then vessels to dishonor ?According to what they have been divinely constituted, they are vessels to honor, but according to their practice they are vessels to dishonor. Their participation in iniquity makes them practically vessels to dishonor. Obedience to "Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" requires that we should purge ourselves from them. And only so is it possible to preserve the foundation, laid by the apostle, from human excrescences.

Let us illustrate by taking the matter of Church government and discipline. Has not the apostle ordained this ? Are we not responsible to own the government and discipline that he ordained ? Have not other systems of government been devised? As to this part of the apostle's foundation, have not many additions, many human excrescences, been introduced ? Are there no children of God involved in this ? Well, what is our judgment of it! Is it not rebellion ? Is not rebellion iniquity ? Scripture at least so declares. "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (i Sam. 15:23). If then humanly-devised systems of government and discipline for the Church are iniquity, are they to be departed from ? Surely. Does not this involve separation from saints if they are participating in these systems of men ? It does.

But to return to the term "purge." "If a man purge himself from these." Here it is in the singular, because the apostle is speaking of an individual. But does he mean, If a man judge himself? The context shows he does not. Not that self-judgment is not necessary. Of course it is, but the individual is to purge himself from others The vessels from which he is to purge himself are not simply in himself:they are those he is associated with. Further, it is a serious mistake to make this separation merely external separation:that is not all the apostle is calling for. " Depart from iniquity " means more than that; and so, " If a man purge himself from these" means more than that. But external separation is included. Inward submission to "depart from iniquity " may be seriously questioned if it is not accompanied with the external separation. It is not a mere formal separation:it is an actual separation. But it is unreal if it does not include the external separation. It must be both inward and outward separation from unholy associations.

If now I have submitted to " Depart from iniquity," if I have "purged myself from the vessels to dishonor," have I met my full responsibility? Is my path now to be an individual one ? No. Individualism is a vessel to dishonor. If I am to be a vessel serviceable to the Master, I must separate from this also. I must look for and find those who "call on the Lord out of a pure heart." I must return to apostolic associations. I must assemble with those who hold to and practice apostolic truth.

But two questions are asked us. First, Are only separated brethren used in ministry ? The question is thought to be unanswerable, but the answer to it is simple. Those brethren who have separated themselves from all false systems of teaching on justification, and who teach only the doctrine of Scripture on that subject, are serviceable to the Master in ministry as regards that doctrine; but if they have not separated themselves from false systems of teaching on church government and discipline, they cannot be serviceable to the Master in ministry on this subject. Do we not want to be serviceable to the Master in ministry on every truth ? Ought we not to be ready to minister the whole truth-all that God has revealed; every part of that which constitutes the faith He has given us ? To be at the Master's disposal in this way, we need to get back to the foundation laid in apostolic times. We need to free ourselves from-all the human excrescences that have been added to it. Again, it has been asked,"Do not all saints equally call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart?" As is well known, the word is, "unmixed,"or "unadulterated." We should read, then, "unmixed," or, "undivided"heart. Have all saints equally an undivided heart ?Alas, how many saints have hearts divided between Christ and Romanism! between Christ and Protestantism! How many hearts are divided between Christianity and some ecclesiastical system! how many between Scripture and theology !No, it is not true that all saints equally call on the Lord out of a pure heart. The human additions to the apostle's foundation have a large place in the hearts of many. It is this that constitutes them in practice "vessels to dishonor."It is this that makes it necessary to separate from them, if we desire to own and practice only apostolic truth.

May God teach us to value His truth! May He work in our hearts the sense of the claims which the truth He has given us has upon our obedience. May it displace in our hearts every other object, every other interest, so that we shall indeed call upon the Lord with single hearts-undivided hearts!

C. Crain

In 2 Sam. 7:1-6 we read that both the king and Nathan the prophet said that which was quite contrary to the mind of God. We know that both David and Nathan were men of God, and that they desired to honor His name in what they said and proposed to do.

We learn, however, that they were not in the current of God's thoughts as to this. They desired to make a permanent house, or abode, for Him in this world, when His mind was to dwell in a tent. He would not have a house of cedar until conditions were changed by the accomplishment of certain purposes of His; and if they wished for association and fellowship with Him, they too must be content with a tabernacle for the time. The house of cedar would come later, in its suited time. David's lifetime was the period for the tent, and not for the temple, even as this present time is for us Christians a time of tents-not yet the house of cedar. It has been the history of those who in past days have walked with God, and it will be the history of all who continue to walk with Him, until Christ comes again, and sets up His kingdom in more than Solomon magnificence.

"I have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle," said the Lord; and while He did so, all who had fellowship with Him walked in that mind. The eleventh of Hebrews gives us an array of them. "By faith Abraham . . . sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles (tents) with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." They also "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth "; and although God had said unto Abraham, " Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward ; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever" (Gen. 13:14, 15). The only land of which Abraham actually took possession was a cemetery lot.

These two things marked his whole life:he was a stranger and a sojourner; for the time of possession and rule was not yet.

O beloved, do we know and own our stranger and pilgrim condition in this world, while yet our Lord
is rejected by it, and gone away from it ? When He returns in glory, then we shall reign with Him. All things are His, in earth and in heaven, and we share all He has. So, when He takes possession and reigns, we too will share the same. " In a tent" now with Him, we shall have the house of cedar also with Him when the time has come. This may take us out of many things with which others mingle, but it will keep us in fellowship with God, and therefore preserve us from the evil, and make us fruitful.

There was only one thing which gave Abraham power to " sojourn in the land of promise as in a strange country." It was faith-that blessed thing which can wait on God till He works out all His purposes, and suffer patiently meanwhile. So with us, faith alone will give us power to look on the glorious issues which follow the coming again of our Lord, and meanwhile enable us to "suffer with Him " and be strangers like Him in this evil scene. May we be found in it patiently '' looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works " (Titus 2:13, 14).

"Oh, fix our earnest gaze
So wholly, Lord, on Thee,
That, with Thy beauty occupied,
We elsewhere none may see."

This is the prayer from the heart of every true child of God who loves the Saviour's name, who knows His grace, and who values His love. Let it be ours. F.

Clouds are formed upon dust once belonging to earth, now to heaven:so with the Church, once dead in trespasses and sins, now raised up and seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and thus associated with the character of the glory with which the Father has crowned Him by placing Him on His throne-the greatest honor He could give to man-the most sublime spectacle in the universe today, or that ever will be. Do we realize the wonder and the glory of it ? It seems natural that sunset-the most brilliant scene in nature-should be the type of this.

The Church is the witness of this glory now to a world that is in darkness, and whilst the Lord is absent. So in the type it is only when there are clouds in the sky, and the sun has set, that sunset is seen at its best. We are looking for the Lord's return; but many of us may be called home before He comes. It may be through lingering illness, or intense suffering, or by sudden accident with but a few seconds' notice before we pass into the immediate presence of the One who loves us; but even then
this blessed thought may fill the soul and lift it clean above all fear:for not only have we the assurance that "underneath are the everlasting arms," but the next moment we shall open our eyes on the face of the Lord Jesus on the Father's throne in glory. This present glory of our Lord eclipses His millennial glory, when He will be seated on His own throne, in the measure that honor from the Father eclipses and outclasses all human and angelic glories. To see Him thus will much more than offset the trial of passing through even the most painful death. We shall exclaim,-

" It were a well-spent journey
If seven deaths lay between."

Paul saw it, and he says, " It is not lawful for a man to utter " what he heard. But we should not, and need not, wait till death to enjoy what is now the portion of the saints in light.

Notice, not the inheritance merely for the future, but our present portion up there even now, while yet down here-of course, only for faith now. The thought of this, Christ thus glorified, is able in the most trying moment to rescue the soul from the confusion around, and not only remove all the terror of death, but fill the heart with victory in the midst of it all. If we tarry till He comes, we shall escape death; but if not, we shall be with Him in that "excellent glory."

May every sunset speak in power to our hearts of our Saviour's present glory-and our own as identified with Him.

Sunset belongs then to the night, in contrast with the rainbow which is seen only when the sun is in
the heavens. This seems to fix the application of it to the Church, and that of the rainbow to Israel and earthly blessing promised in the Millennium. Israel is connected with the earth as the scene of blessing, and with the Law (a glorious Law, reflected on Moses' face) and with judgment, though followed by blessing.

THE RAINBOW.

The rainbow is a semicircle whose center is on earth; while the sunset has the absent sun for its center, below the horizon. The bow is seen only on a storm-cloud, and while the rain is falling; it is absent in Revelation, where the Church is the subject, but seen around the throne, in chap. 4:3, when God takes the earth in hand for judgment and blessing after the Church has gone.

The sunset is in contrast with this:there is no sign of judgment here, for the Church is linked with Christ in glory. Again, the bow is a mathematically accurate semicircle, perfect and invariable in size, shape, breadth and color, quite in keeping with the principle of law and order. The ten commandments, the ceremonial law, its worship-all was according to rigid rule.

Not so with the sunset, which we might call a freehand sketch. There is nothing of law or rigidity in the arrangement of the clouds, their formation or color:the scene is not laid out by rule and compass, but changes every moment. This is in harmony with the liberty in Christ Jesus, free from law:and as to worship, whatever the Spirit of God lays upon the heart according to our measure is free to overflow naturally toward God without any rules or regulations but that of the same Spirit. To bring in rules like those of Judaism would be like attempting to paint a sunset by the square and compass; all well enough for a rainbow, but a miserable failure for a sunset. This contrast is emphasized in the epistle to the Hebrews.

FAIR AND FOUL WEATHER. (Matt. 16 :1-3.)

If a king, out of pure good-will, should send his only and well-beloved son to one of his colonies in a far country, where an enemy had stirred up revolt, to reconcile his subjects and vindicate the king; if, through great hardships, he should gain signal victory and accomplish his mission; when he returned, his father would receive him with public honors, in which all departments of the government would join. A public festival would celebrate the event, and signal acts of mercy and good-will, as the pardoning of guilty ones, would be in order; but no king would allow such an event to be marred by the execution of his enemies. This would be put off, that the triumphant joy might not be marred. And is not this just what God has done ? Since the triumphant return home of Jesus nearly two thousand years ago, the Father has been holding a great festival, in which all in heaven have joined in willing worship to the Victor (Phil. 2:9-11). Along with this, He has sent out a proclamation of pardon to all His enemies on earth who will submit and in sincerity bow their knees to the Victor.

This proclamation of grace from God in honor of His Son is announced in Matt. 22 and Luke 14. What else could He do in keeping with such a victory as His beloved Son had won by the cross-a
victory which secures eternal salvation to every rebel who lays down his arms and bows the knee to Him, and which reconciles him to God forever ? No ! the feast shall not be marred by judgment. The moral complement of Christ on His Father's throne is a day of grace on earth, and a feast of love. A glorious sunset must be accompanied and followed by fair weather.

Any act of treachery or insult offered to the Victor during such a time would be considered a double outrage, and also a public insult to His Father and to the government, though punishment would be postponed till afterward (Heb. 10:28-31; 2:2, 3). Thus, after the festivities of Christ's present glory and resulting grace have closed, the next thing morally in order is judgment on those who have despised this, and have been offenders against it. Acts 17:31 declares the Judge appointed is the same Man who has been despised, even Jesus.
As surely as the sun sets, so surely will that same sun rise again; as surely as Christ was rejected, so surely must He come again in judgment:and this is what a glorious sunrise heralds-"foul weather." How wonderful that even the weather is governed by moral principles !

The red morning clouds announce the returning sun; evidently this is the Jewish remnant after the Church has been caught up. Matt. 24:14; Rev. 6:9 -ii, and other scriptures, show that such a testimony will go out just before His advent as the Sun of righteousness; Rev. 6. 12-17 and Jude 14, 15 give us the "foul weather."

The sunset fades away into darkness:this is but the history of the Church's testimony. The sunrise
grows brighter till the sun appears; just as the testimony of the Jewish remnant will. The foul weather will be fierce (Matt. 24:21, 22), unparalleled in history, but brief, and followed by a day of a thousand years "without clouds."

THE ASCENSION AND ADVENT.

Christ having been rejected by the world, all who receive Him now constitute this heavenly company pictured by the cloud of Acts 1:9; to it are added the martyrs of the Jewish remnant, the gleanings of the first resurrection (Rev. 6:9-11; 11 :3-12; 14:12, 13; 20:4). In the Lord's case a cloud received Him; He was the Center; while the two witnesses ascended up in a cloud; they were but part of it. All these shall come with Him and reign with Him.

FOG.

In contrast with the sunset-clouds, we have fog. This is exactly the same thing as a cloud; only, instead of being up. on high in view of the sun, it clings to the earth. Instead of reflecting the glory of the absent sun, it only hinders or obscures the vision. Nothing is seen distinctly, if seen at all, and it is the cause of many wrecks. Is not this a picture of worldly Christians who have their minds set, not on things above, but on things on the earth-its pleasures, its honors, or its affairs ? It is impossible for such to reflect the glory of Him who does not occupy the first place in their hearts and thoughts. Does not this mislead and befog others as to the value and reality of eternal things, and is it not the cause of the shipwreck multitudes are making for all eternity ?

Awake, awake, and arise from among the dead, ye sleeping children of God! "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you " (2 Cor. 6:17). How can the world believe your words when they see little or no difference between your pursuits and theirs ? T. M.

"The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." (James 5:8.)

As a falling rock travels faster and faster as it nears the bottom, so do events as the dispensation draws near its end, which is to inaugurate God's great purpose. The return of the Lord Jesus to this the scene of His sorrows and reproach; His supreme exaltation here on earth, where he humbled Himself as none ever did; His reigning and judging in righteousness in the very place where He was judged and condemned in unrighteousness- this, and vastly more, is God's determined purpose from before time began. The fulfilment of that purpose, being near at hand, is just now receiving a fresh and marked proof.

All who rightly read the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments know how intimately the restoration of the Jewish people to their own land, and to nationality, is linked up with the return of our Lord. All who love His return, therefore, watch with eager eye every movement in relation to that wonderful people. Our own portion-the Church's rapture and glory-is reached then too. Indeed, our being taken up all together to heaven is the very preliminary to all the rest. With what delight, therefore, one sees the advances being made to the Jewish people by the "Young Turk party" now in power in Turkey. Turkey, which possesses all the territory unconditionally promised of God to Israel, has all along oppressed the Jews, limiting their return to their land, and treated them as enemies; and it is well known that the great hindrance to the Zionist movement has been the apparent hopelessness of moving Turkey to give them again their land.

Seeing their anxiety to revive their nationality, other nations have offered them territories here or there; but none of this could prosper, for if it is God who is moving the dead bones of Israel (Ezek. 37) to come together, His place of assembling them is their own land, which He gave with unalienable rights to their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now comes a remarkable speech from Ahmed Riza Bey, who is the President of the New Turkey Chamber of Deputies. Addressing himself to the Jewish rabbi who was being presented to the Sublime Porte, he said;

" Of all the elements of which the empire is composed, the one on whom we rely most for the regeneration of the country is the Jew. His sentiments of fidelity to the fatherland, his fraternity with Mussulmans, which has been put to the proof on several occasions, are above suspicion. We consider the Jews as real brothers. This being the case, we must work hand in hand to raise the condition of our country. Your nation is the first in everything- sciences, industry, commerce, finance, etc. We have need of your help. Submit proposals to me:they will have my best consideration. I am well aware that you have relations with eminent Jews in the West:write to them what our sentiments are. Write to the Alliance Israelite Universelle, and intervene also with Baron Rothschild in Paris, who is so deeply interested in colonization work. Inform the great Jewish associations that we are all disposed to receive with open arms, in every part of the empire, Jews from Russia and Roumania :let them come with their capital, in order to devote themselves to agriculture and industry. We have fertile lands, extremely rich, such as Mesopotamia, where there are only five inhabitants to the kilometer. In a word, we have need of the cooperation of your coreligionists, and we rely on you to bring about what we require. I hope you will often come to see me, in order that we may talk about the Jews, that noble nation, which I admire so greatly."

Who, a while back, would have dreamed of such approaches by the Turks themselves 1 How near the realization of our "blessed hope" must be when, in so short a time, events have so followed each other as to bring the Jews in full view of the land where their once-rejected Messiah will descend from heaven to greet them afresh, and when, from the depth of "the great tribulation" in which they will be, they will welcome Him with, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 23:39)!

The New Birth.

There is not one proper inquiry in the soul of man which Scripture is not able to satisfy. It sheds light on all that is dark, and dispels the darkness. On the other hand, it defies all human systems. The focus of God's thoughts lies beyond the reach of man. Man must therefore abide a simple believer until the time appointed of God when he will know as he is known.

A few passages from the Scriptures will, we believe, satisfy every mind subject to God concerning some recent inquiries as to the new birth.

John 1:13 states the fact of the birth. It is those who receive Christ that are born of God, and that
possess the right therefore of being children of God. Only those born of a certain man have the right to be recognized as the children of that man. So only those who are born of God have the right to be recognized as the children of God; and it is those who receive Christ who are that.

John 3:5 mentions the instruments of that new birth-"water and the Spirit." What "water " signifies is plainly told in Eph. 5:26; and i Pet. i:23 with Jas. i:18 add to the witness. It is the word of God-the gospel of Christ preached to men-which, by the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit, produces the new birth.

John 20:31 gives the time of the new birth; "and that believing ye might have life through His name." It is upon believing that we receive life eternal.

Here are plain and simple scriptures. If we have built no system of our own, they will give us all the light we can ask for on the subject.

Bishops and Deacons.

At the beginning of Christianity the apostles ordained bishops and deacons among the Christian assemblies (Acts 6:1-6; 14:23). Titus was authorized by the apostle to do the same thing (Titus i:5). There are now neither apostles nor apostolic delegates to do this, but the word of God does it. Bishops are well described in Titus i:7-9, and i Tim. 3:2-7. Deacons are also well defined in i Tim. 3 :8-12. We have no need therefore of their being ordained by any one; for if we do not recognize men of such characters among us, and submit ourselves to them, neither would we if they were ordained by an apostle in person.

Bishops, or elders, are for the guidance of the flock of Christ-as shepherds guide and feed the sheep (Acts 20:28). Deacons are for whatever services are required among the people of God. Stephen, a deacon (Acts 6:5), "used his office well, and purchased to himself a good degree" (Acts 6:8; 7:59, 60).

If God's people allow self-willed men to rule and lead them, they will surely go astray, as there is abundant evidence on every hand, and as the apostle warned the Ephesian elders (Acts 20 :29, 30). But if they fail to recognize and submit themselves to such as seek to lead them according to God, they will surely be losers, and suffer from it, for they neglect, or despise, what the Lord Himself has provided for their good.

The love of Christ is a deep that knows no fathoming. It passeth knowledge, and telling too, but, thank God, we can know it, and speak of it too, according to our capacity.

But let it be understood that we could never have merited it. There was nothing in us but defilement and alienation from God. Therefore, if we are the objects of such love, it is wholly because it was in Him to love us. And if we do love Him, it is because we have known His love, and have been begotten of God, who has given us a life and nature to love.

There are three aspects of the love of Christ, according to Eph. 5:25-33. Let us ponder them for a little.

1st. "Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it."

At this time, where was the Church ? All in the future, and its members sunk in sin and distance from God. Yet He loved the Church, and gave Himself for it.

Looking through the glass of God's purpose, He saw where the Church was, and would possess Himself of that Church, and would lift it up into union with Himself. But that was a stupendous work, which involved all the horrors of Calvary's cross, of which the sorrows of Gethsemane were but the dark foreshadowing.

In Gethsemane He was in communion with His Father; but on the cross, during those dreadful hours of darkness, He was having to do with God about sin, and hence the bitter cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ?"

Did He love the Church ? would He redeem it ? would He possess it for Himself ? would He bring it into eternal union with Himself ? would He share His glory and kingdom with His Church ? Then all this must be endured. There was no other way. The deep waters of death-and that the death of the cross-must be passed through before all this could be brought about.

So, alone He entered the darkness and conflict of that awful scene, which caused nature itself to veil its face in the presence of the death of its Maker. There was not a wave that did not pass over his sinless soul; there was not a cloud that did not burst upon His head; there was not a stroke that did not fall on Him; there was not a drop in that cup of woe that He did not drink; until expiation for sin was made, the mighty work of redemption accomplished, and eternal peace brought in by the expiring words of the divine Substitute, " It is finished," and He bowed His head and died.

Who can tell the greatness of that work ? who can measure the unmeasurable extent of that work ? who can speak forth the eternal consequences of that work ? Who can fathom the love expressed in it all ?

Oh, let it be written in gold across the sky of eternity, '' Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it".'

But He is risen. The glory of the Father claimed Him from the tomb. The One "crucified through weakness liveth by the power of God," and as Victor has ascended and set Himself down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high. God greeted Him, and said, " Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (Ps. 110:1). So He sat down, expecting until His enemies are made His footstool (Heb. 10:13).

But has He forgotten His Church in all her toils, and needs, and defilements, as she sojourns here in this the land of her pilgrimage ? Ah, no; that could not be. What He endured for her on the cross forbids the thought that He could ever forget her, or the least one that forms a part of her.

Hence it is written, "That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word." This is His present ministry of love for His Church- He "nourisheth and cherisheth it." He has not forgotten or forsaken the Church, and He assures us in Matt. 16:18 that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

His great work now is to sanctify the Church which He has redeemed for Himself by His precious blood. Down here she is in the midst of evil; contamination abounds on every hand. She is in danger of association with the world, of allowing the flesh to act, of Satan's wiles, of doctrinal evils; therefore the need of His present ministry as High Priest and Advocate. His great work is to sanctify the Church, to keep it morally clean, to purify it from every pollution, so that it might enjoy its privileges of communion and worship (Heb. 10:19-22), and fulfil its responsibilities as His representative and witness in this world.

This ministry of love will go on all the while the Church is here. And what a ministry it is! It is not a hard, righteous ministry, but what is set forth in John 13. Having loved His own, He loves them unto the end. During supper He lays aside His garments, and takes a towel and girds Himself, and then pours water into a basin, and proceeds to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. How beautiful! How gracious ! Yea, how divine! Grace shines in every act of the blessed Lord in this remarkable scene. It all speaks of what He is doing on high for His wayworn and often defiled saints as they wend their way through a scene altogether hostile to them. They are not of the world, therefore the world hates them; and Satan's great object is to break up, and be smudge, every bit of testimony for Christ. Hence his craft, his subtlety, to lead the people of God into unholy associations, to allow the flesh, or tolerate evil doctrine-anything that will bring in the sense of distance between their souls and God, that will becloud their communion, and darken their testimony. Alas, how often he succeeds!

But the present ministry of Christ's love is to purify, to sanctify, to remove all such by the wholesome exercise and self-judgment of the saints, and the application of the water of the Word. As in Peter's case, so in the case of each one. This is real work. Ps. 51 speaks of the experience of a saint away from God; Peter's bitter tears also. Restoration to God from failure is no parrot work; it goes down deep into the depths of one's moral being, as the sin is seen in the light of God's holiness, and especially in the light of that love that led the Saviour to that cross of shame to put it away.

Into what depths of darkness have not saints of God had to pass because of their failures! and nothing but the all-prevailing intercession of their great High Priest, and the grace of their Advocate, sustained them as they cried, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee" (Ps. 51:12, 13).

But soon all this will be changed, and the day will come of which it is written, " That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish " (Eph. 5:27).

In Eve's being presented to Adam we have a faint picture of this (Gen. 2:21-23). Adam's sleep points to the death of Christ. The Lord God forms the woman out of that sleeping man's bones and flesh, and then presents her to Adam. Our Lord died for us. He rose again; He has communicated His own life to us; He has made us "one spirit" with Himself-a very part of Himself; and now He awaits the time when we shall be presented to Him, the last Adam, and presented in all the beauty and glory that He will put upon us, and all as the fruit of His own ministry of love on the cross, and now in heaven.

What more blessed than this, "That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish " ? As freed from all the imperfections that characterize her now, how glorious the Church will be in that day! There will be no sign of defilement or old age, but, holy and without blemish, she will be suited to the eye and heart of her beloved Lord and Saviour.

Exceeding joy will fill His heart as she is presented before the presence of His glory; and chastened joy will fill her's as she finds herself presented to Him who loved her even unto death. What thoughts of gratitude and praise will fill her heart as she remembers what she once was, and what she is then, and all the fruit of His own love to her told out in such a remarkable way!

If the Lord's present ministry of love is to nourish and cherish the Church, what an example for us in our dealings one with another! But, alas, how little we know how to lay aside our garments (all that is official), and in the instinct of holy love get down to wash one another's feet! The desire would fill our heart-if in communion with our Lord-to remove from each other all that which clouds communion with God, brings in the sense of distance, and hinders our fellowship with each other.

If one of the members of our body gets hurt in any way, every other member in the body seeks to nourish and cherish that member, and they rest not until it is restored to health. So should it be with the members of the Church of God. To revive, to recover, to restore, to strengthen, should be the object before the mind, and not to crush, and bruise, and dishearten. The look of love the Lord gave to "Peter, after he denied Him, broke his heart, and sent him out to weep bitterly. It was a look of love.

Oh for the ministry of love among the saints of God! holy love surely, but love that seeks the good and not the hurt, the uplifting and not the crushing of the fallen one; that nourishes and cherishes according to the example of our blessed Lord.

Well it is to remember that while everything else may fail, " Love never faileth " (1 Cor. 13:8).
E. A.

(Song 2:8-17.)

Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills" (ver. 8). This was as the first rays of light concerning the second coming of the Lord a few years ago. In it we found a key that opened up the bright future for a redeemed people; a key that opened up the prophetic word-yes, the Bible as a whole, and put in one's hand a new Book.

A few years passed away and this blessed hope drew still nearer:" Behold he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice " (ver. 9). Did not these words suggest how much nearer the great event had drawn? "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." The hills and the mountains are behind, and He is at the door. How very near ! This is how things appear in the soul's experience. The heart is waiting, and the heart has no dates. It waits for its object, and finds its delight in the fact that each day brings it so much nearer. He is at the door; nothing more is needed but to hear His voice, and the joy of that blessed hope will be complete.

" My beloved spoke and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away " (ver. 10). The climax has come, the hope is reached. It is what we have waited for. It is the blessed hope made good-the completion of both His joy and our own. This will be for us, i Thess. 4:13-18; for Israel, Zech. 14; for the groaning creation, Rom. 8:19-25.

How soon this now may be fulfilled none can say, but all who live in spiritual exercise are aware that it must be very, very near. For us it will be as the morning star, appearing ; ' for Israel and the nations it will be the sunrise.

"Lo", the winter is past . . . the time of singing is come" (vers. 11-14) The change has come. The past, with all the chill and dreary hours we met with in our journey through the world, is gone, and gone forever. The cold blasts of winter have given place to the bright golden summer; a new life wakes up as life out of death, and the new scene puts on its fresh and beautiful colors. Singing is heard everywhere. The song of a people brought out of darkness into light, from death to life, and who know redemption by the blood of Jesus, fills the balmy air of this fair and eternal summer.

In the meantime, until all comes to pass, we are to be, as He desires us, watchful, careful, and devoted, "until the day break and the shadows flee away " (vers. 15-17) A. E. B.

Bear not a single care thyself,
One is too much for thee;
The work is Mine, and Mine alone;
Thy work is rest in Me.

" Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him " (Ps. 37:7).

(1 Cor. 11:23-26.)

As we take this bread and wine
From that loving hand of Thine,
We would seek, our Lord, to be
In this act remembering Thee.

Thinking of Thee we rejoice
That we soon shall hear Thy voice;
Yet, while waiting, we would be
In Thy death remembering Thee.

When we think of Thy great love,
Which alone our hearts could move,
Thine the face we long to see,
Whilst we thus remember Thee.

'Here with all Thy saints below, '"
Who Thy love and goodness know,
To Thyself we bow the knee,
Through Thy grace, remembering Thee.

There amidst the wondrous throng
We shall sing that glorious song,
Of the love that made us free
Ever more to worship Thee.

R. J. K.

(Isa. 6:1-8).

In this sublime passage of Scripture we notice two prominent objects, namely, the throne and the altar; and, moreover, we perceive the action of these two objects upon the soul of the prophet. The entire scene is full of interest and instruction. May we gaze upon it aright!

" In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple." This was a solemn and soul-subduing sight. It is ever a serious matter for a sinner to find himself standing before the throne of God with the unanswered claims of that throne bearing down upon his conscience. Isaiah found it to be so. The light of the throne revealed to him his true condition. And what was that light ?It was the moral glory of Christ, as we read in the Gospel of John, "These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him" (Chap. 12:41).Christ is the perfect standard by which every one must be measured. It matters not what I may think of myself, nor yet what others may think about me:the question is, What am I as viewed in the presence of Christ? The law may tell me what I ought to be; conscience may tell me I am not that; but it is only when the bright beams of Christ's moral glory pour themselves around me that I am enabled to form a just estimate of what I am. Then it is that the hidden chambers of my heart are laid open, the secret springs of action are revealed, the real condition is laid bare.

But perhaps my reader may ask, What do you mean by the moral glory of Christ ? I mean the light which shone forth from Him in all His ways when He was down here in this dark world. It was this light that detected man, that disclosed what he was, that brought to light all that was in him. It was impossible for any one to escape the action of that light. It was a perfect blaze of divine purity, in view of which the seraphim could only cry out, " Holy, holy, holy!"

Need we marvel then if when Isaiah saw himself in the light of that glory he cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone"? Nay; this was the proper utterance of one whose heart had been penetrated to its very center by a light which makes all things perfectly manifest.

We have no reason to suppose that Isaiah was in any respect worse than his neighbors. We are not told that the catalogue of his sins was heavier or darker than that of thousands around him. He may have been to all human appearance just like others. But ah! my reader, only remember, I pray you, where the prophet stood when he exclaimed, " Woe is me!" It was not at the foot of the burning mount when "the ministration of death and condemnation " was given forth amid thunderings and lightnings, blackness, darkness and tempest. It was not there he stood, though even there a Moses had to say, "I exceedingly fear and quake"; but it was in the presence of the glory of Christ, the Lord God of Israel, that our prophet stood when he saw himself to be " unclean " and " undone." Such was his condition when seen in the light which reveals men and things just as they are.

"I am undone."He does not say, "Woe is me! I am not what I ought to be."No; he saw deeper than this. He stood revealed in the power of a light which reaches to the most profound depths of the soul and discloses "the thoughts and intents of the heart."Isaiah had never before seen himself in such a light-measured himself by such a rule-weighed himself in such a balance. He now saw himself standing in the presence of Jehovah's throne without any ability whatever to meet the claims of that throne. He "saw Jehovah sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up." He saw himself a helpless, ruined, guilty sinner at an immeasurable distance from that throne and from the blessed One who sat thereon. He heard the cry of the seraphim, " Holy, holy, holy "; and the only response which he could send back from the depths of a broken heart was, "Unclean, unclean, unclean."He beheld a gulf of guilt and uncleanness separating him from Jehovah which no effort of his could ever bridge. Thus it was with him in that solemn moment when he gave forth that cry of a truly convicted soul, "Woe is me! " He was wholly engrossed with one thought, namely, his own utter ruin. He felt himself a lost man. He thought not of comparing himself with others, nor of seeking out some fellow-sinner worse than he. Ah, no! a divinely-convicted soul never thinks of such things. There is one grand, all-pervading idea, and that idea is embodied in the words, " I am undone."

And be it carefully noted by the reader that the prophet when under the convicting light of the throne is not occupied with what he had done or left undone. The question before his soul was not as to the evil he had done or the good he had left undone. No; it was something far deeper than this. In a word, he was occupied not with his acts but with his condition. He says, "I am" what? Defective in many things? Far behind in my duty? Deplorably short of what I ought to be? No. These and such-like confessions could never embody the experience of a heart on which the bright beams of Jehovah's throne had fallen in convicting power. True it is "we have done that which we ought not to have done, and left undone that which we ought to have done." But all this is merely the fruit of a nature which is radically corrupt, and when divine light breaks in upon us it will always lead us to the root. It will not merely conduct us from leaf to leaf or from branch to branch, but passing down along the trunk it will lay bare the hidden roots of that nature which we inherit by birth from our first parents, and cause us to see that the whole thing is irremediably ruined. Then it is we are constrained to cry out, "Woe is me! " Not because my conduct has been defective, but my nature is undone.

Thus it was that Isaiah stood before Jehovah's throne. And oh, what a place for a sinner to stand in! There are no excuses there-no palliating circumstances there-no qualifying clauses there- no blaming of men or things there. There is but one object seen there-seen in its guilt, its wretchedness and its ruin, and that object is SELF, and as to that object the tale is easily told. It is all summed up in that most solemn, weighty, suggestive word, "undone." Yes; self is undone. That is all that can be said about it. Do what you will with it, and you cannot make it out to be aught but a hopeless, undone thing; and the more speedily and thoroughly this is understood the better.

Many take a long time to learn this foundation truth. They have not, as it were, stood in the full blaze of the throne, and as a consequence they have not been led to cry out with sufficient depth, emphasis or intensity, " I am undone!" It is the glory that shines from the throne which evokes the cry from the very depths of the soul. All who have ever stood before that throne have given utterance to the same confession, and it will ever be found that just in proportion to our experience of the light of the throne will be our experience of the grace of the altar. The two things invariably go together. In this day of grace the throne and the altar are connected. In the day of Judgment " the great white throne " will be seen without any altar. There will be no grace then. The ruin will then be seen without the remedy, and as for the result, it will be eternal perdition. Awful reality! O reader, beware of having to meet the light of the throne without the provision of the altar!

This conducts us, naturally, to the second object in the interesting scene before us, namely, the altar. The very moment Isaiah gave utterance to the deep conviction of what he was, he was introduced to the divine provisions of God's altar. "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."

Here, then, we have the rich provisions of Jehovah's altar, which, be it well remembered, is seen in immediate connection with Jehovah's throne. The two things are intimately connected in the history and experience of every convicted and converted soul. The guilt which the throne detects, the altar removes. If in the light of the throne one object is seen, namely, ruined, guilty, undone self; then, in the light of the altar, one object is seen, namely, a full, precious, all-sufficient Christ. The remedy reaches to the full extent of the ruin, and the same light that reveals the one reveals the other likewise. This gives settled repose to the conscience. God Himself has provided a remedy for all the ruin which the light of His throne has revealed. " This hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Isaiah was brought into personal contact with the sacrifice, and the immediate result was the perfect removal of all his iniquity-the perfect purgation of all his sin.

Not a single spot remained. He could now stand in the light of that throne which had just detected and exposed his uncleanness, and know assuredly by that self-same light that not a speck of unclean-ness remained. The very same light which manifested his sin, made manifest also the purging efficacy of the blood.

Such, then, is the precious and beautiful connection between the throne and the altar-a connection which may be easily traced through the inspired volume from Genesis to Revelation, and through the history of God's redeemed from Adam down to the present moment. All who have been really brought to Jesus have experienced the convicting light of the throne and the peace-giving virtues of the altar. All have been made to feel their ruin and cry out, " I am undone!" and all have been brought into personal contact with the sacrifice, and had their sin purged.

God's work is perfect. He convicts perfectly, and He purges perfectly. There is nothing superficial when He carries on His mighty work. The arrow of conviction penetrates to the very center of the soul, only to be followed by the divine application of that blood which leaves not a stain upon the conscience; and the more deeply we are penetrated by the arrow, the deeper and. more settled is our experience of the power of the blood. It is well to be thoroughly searched at the first-well to let the chambers of the heart be fully thrown open to the convicting action of the throne, for then we are sure to get a bolder grasp of that precious atoning blood that speaks peace to every believing heart.

We have seen the complete ruin of the sinner; we have seen the complete remedy in Christ; let us now look at the result, as exhibited in whole-hearted consecration to the service of God. Isaiah had nothing to do for salvation, but he had plenty to do for his Saviour. He had nothing to do to get his sins purged, but plenty to do for the One who had purged them. Now he gave the willing, ready expression of obedience to God when, on hearing that a messenger was needed, he answered, " Here am I; send me." This puts works in their proper place. The order is absolutely perfect. No one can do good works until he has experienced, in some degree, the action of the "throne" and the " altar." The light of the former must shew him what he is, and the provisions of the latter must shew him what Christ is ere he can say, "Here am I; send me."

This is a settled, universal truth, established in every section of inspiration, and illustrated in the biography of the saints of God and of the servants been brought to see their ruin in the light of the throne, to see the remedy in the provisions of the altar ere they could exhibit the result in a life of practical devotedness. All this is from God the Father, through God the Son, by God the Holy Ghost-to whom be all the glory, world without end ! Amen and Amen! C. H. M.

(Continued from p. 110.)

In considering a complex type like that of the day of atonement, the mind easily glides into subtle processes which mix the shadow with the substance. We may interpret many elements in terms of the Antitype, yet spoil the consistency of the whole by carrying one feature, uninterpreted, into the result. Is it not so with the mercy-seat in connection with Leviticus 16 ? Israel conceived of ark and mercy-seat as God's throne; of Aaron within the veil as appearing before God on His throne. In some of our interpretations, Aaron becomes Christ; the blood of bullock and goat, Christ's blood; while ark and mercy-seat remain only what Israel esteemed them -God's throne. Thus we have but a half-method. Do not all agree in the ark's interpretation elsewhere, that the beauteous union of acacia wood and gold are the human and the divine in Christ? Then the law-tables within, the golden pot of manna, the priestly rod that budded, is not all this Christ-God over all, incarnate ? This is simple enough; but attempt now to reconcile with it the idea of Christ entering heaven to make propitiation by some dealing with His blood, and see what a lame, ill-conceived thing follows. We have Christ the priest, entering with blood of Himself-the sacrifice; standing before Himself-the ark; and sprinkling His own blood before and upon Himself-the mercy-seat!

But let us seek absolute assurance in our interpretation. Is it certain that the mercy-seat figures Christ? The ark, of combined wood and gold, doubtless symbolizes our divine-human Lord. But was not the mercy-seat of pure gold (Ex. 25:17)- the glory of pure deity ? Even so. Nevertheless, that we may not go astray, the New Testament explicitly names Christ as mercy-seat, or propitiatory.

The Hebrew, kapporeth, rendered "mercy-seat" in our English version of Exodus and Leviticus, is throughout the Septuagint translated by ιλαστήριov "propitiatory." Twice this Greek substantive appears in the New Testament, designating the'' mercy-seat" in Heb. 9:5, and applied to Christ in Rom. 3:25-"Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth, a propitiatory, through faith, by His blood." The mercy-seat of Leviticus 16 is "the propitiatory" of Hebrews 9, and Christ Himself is that propitiatory.

Twice only in the New Testament, the closely related substantive, ιλασμός "a propitiation," appears (in i John 2:2 and 4:10-passages we have had before us). Combining these texts, we have the doctrine that Christ, in person, ascended and glorified, not merely is " a propitiation " for our sins, and for the whole world (cosmos), but also is "a propitiatory "-the mercy-seat.

What shall we say of a view of atonement which rests its startling peculiarity wholly or principally
on an alleged interpretation of Leviticus 16 in which such important features as ark and mercy-seat are left (necessarily, must we not think?) uninterpreted?

But let us gather our fruits. The ark is Christ; so is the mercy-seat. This being so, let us see what holy beams are shed by it upon the type.

God and man in one person-glorious truth! It is the ark of acacia wood and gold. But more. On the ark rests the mercy-seat of solid gold. So of Him who is "the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:4), "the effulgence of His glory and expression of His substance" (Heb. i:3), we read, "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead "-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-"bodily" (Col. 2:9).

And now another glory:the mercy-seat receives the blood of atonement. Is the mercy-seat's pure gold interpreted in the mighty fact of Godhead-fulness finding its permanent abode in Christ ? A like doctrine illuminates the blood upon the solid gold propitiatory. "For in Him all the Fulness was pleased to dwell, [or "to take up its lasting abode," the verb expressing permanence], and through Him to reconcile all things unto itself, having made peace through the blood of His cross – through Him, whether the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens" (Col. i:19, 20).

Let it be noticed that this reconciliation of all things was effected not by blood of propitiation presented in heaven, but by "the blood of His cross" (Col. i:20). This bold figure carries us to Calvary, not to heaven, and to another striking contrast-the fact that the antitypical sprinkling took place without, and not within, the sanctuary.

If literal blood may at all intrude among these spiritualities, must we not indeed say that not in heaven, but on the cross, the mercy-seat was sprinkled, when, the Roman spear piercing that dead Body, it stained itself with its own crimson life? And when our risen Lord gloriously entered heaven, not alone did our Priest go in, not merely did He present the sacrifice for our sins, but in His own person He carried in the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, and set it in its place forever in the midst of the throne of God!

Christ's entrance into heaven for us I would emphasize, because our divine commentary on Leviticus 16, the epistle to the Hebrews, emphasizes it. But our adorable Lord's great sacrifice awaited not His ascension for its presentation and acceptance. When, commending His spirit to the Father, He expired, I believe His wondrous, work of atonement, finished, divinely perfect, was in all its infinite, eternal, unfathomable value, sacrificially offered up to God in an instant of time, and as instantly accepted; the rending temple-veil bearing witness to this. In our Lord's resurrection, God issued the public proclamation of His acceptance. And even as thus Christ "was raised again for our justification," so likewise afterward did He publicly ascend through the heavens to appear before the face of God for us; and in His mighty person He carried all in with Him.

Mr. F. W. Grant somewhere has truly said that the tabernacle, in Exodus and Leviticus, figures not conditions before the cross, but heaven as we know it now, with Christ enthroned, exalted. Must not such vast differences, conditioning type and antitype, inevitably burst in upon interpretation, transfiguring allegorical likenesses in the vivid light of still more glorious contrasts ?

Before incarnation, the acacia wood was not, nor yet the tabernacle. But "the Word became flesh and tabernacled amongst us." His person comprehended all-beautiful curtains, veil, ark, mercy seat, censer, golden altar, table of showbread, lamp stand! But not yet were the ram skins dyed red, nor was the veil rent, nor were the mercy-seat and other furnishings sprinkled with His blood. His cross accomplished this, sprinkling the mercy-seat, as in Leviticus 16, and "both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry" (Heb. 9:21); and His ascension set all the blood-marked " heavenly things" eternally in place in the veil-rent holies. By His ascension He thus fulfilled His promise, " I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). The place was "prepared" when, in His person, the glorious furnishings were all set at God's right hand.
How much we should lose by clinging to a literal posthumous presentation of Christ's blood! It compels us to conceive of sanctuary and tabernacle, in Leviticus 16, as a picture of the heavenlies before Christ's death, the precious " things in the heavens " thus necessarily remaining mere vague 'things" amid which the disembodied Christ appeared to present His precious blood!

But the "things in the heavens" of Heb. 9 are known. They are "the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him "-unseen, unheard, unimagined indeed by the heart of man, but revealed unto us by God's Spirit (i Cor. 2:9, 10); "the things above," which we are to "seek," on which we are to set our minds (Col. 3:i, 2).

For where, "above," are these things? "Where the Christ sitteth, at God's right hand" (Col. 3:1).
Jesus enthroned, He is "the things"-ark, propitiatory, sacrifice, priest, perpetual incense-censer, golden altar, presenting and perfuming my little praises; showbread-table bearing me up in communion with the Godhead; golden lamp stand, whence from His own face the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shines into my heart for ever!

One word in closing this part of our subject. We have cited Col. 2:9 and 1:19,20, because these scriptures beautifully interpret the solid gold of the mercy-seat, and the blood of atonement upon it, by linking the fulness of the Godhead with the person and work of Christ. We may add, however, that Hebrews 9, although approaching from a different standpoint, gives a closely analogous doctrine. In Colossians we see the Godhead-fulness "reconciling" all things unto itself by the sacrifice of Christ. In Hebrews 9 we see Christ purging the heavens by His sacrifice, which "puts sin away."

By the rendering, "heavenly things," in the last clause of Heb. 9:23, most translations conceal a delicate distinction-one of the lights and perfections which abound in Scripture. In contrast with the old covenant figures "of the things in the heavens" (τωv έv τoις oυραvoις τoύτoις), purged by blood of goats and bulls, the text does not say that "the things in the heavens themselves," or " the heavenly things themselves," needed purging by better sacrifices, but that "the heavenly places themselves" (αιτά δέ τά έπoυράvια-or, literally and better, "the heavenlies themselves " (epourania, with the article, precisely as in Eph. i:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12)- required such purification.

As we have seen, "the things in the heavens" of Hebrews 9, figuratively represented by the tabernacle furniture, are Christ Himself in glory, as identified with His people. In the shadow, the types of this needed purging; in the fulfilment, not their Antitype, Christ, but His dwelling place, "the heavenlies," require it.

In the universe, anywhere, does one unjudged sin abide? Then "the heavens are not clean in His sight" (Job 15:15)! And if, to-day, one evil yet abides, unatoned for, do not the heavens still remain polluted?

But into the heavens Christ entered, to appear before God's face for us (Heb. 9:24). Could He enter them thus, without first purging them? Immediately, therefore, we have what alone could effect such purgation-Christ's sacrifice of Himself to "put sin away" (Heb. 9:26). Mighty atonement! By it the heavenlies have been made pure as He whose glory fills them; and in suck heavenlies we sit "in Him!" F. Allaben

(To be continued.)

(Luke 8:52.)

" But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are ASLEEP, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which SLEEP IN JESUS will GOD bring with Him."-1 Thess. 4:13, 14.

Oh, call it not death-it is life begun,
For the waters are passed, the home is won ;
The ransomed spirit hath reached the shore
Where they weep, and suffer, and sin no more.
She is safe in her Father's house above,
In the place prepared by her Saviour's love:
To depart from a world of sin and strife,
And to be with Jesus-yes, this is life.

Oh, call it not death- -'tis a holy sleep;
For the precious dust the Lord doth keep.
She shall wake again – and how satisfied !
With the likeness of Him, for her who died.
As He rose again, she shall also rise
From the quiet bed where now safe she lies :
Then cheer ye, fond mourners, who sadly weep,
For happy are they who in Jesus sleep.

Oh, call it not death – 'tis a glorious rest;
"Yea, saith the Spirit," for all such are blest;
"They rest from their labors," their work is done,
The goal is attained, the weary race run ;
The battle is fought, the struggle is o'er,
The crown now replaces the cross they bore ;
The pilgrimage path shall no more be trod, "
And rest remains to the people of GOD."

Oh, call it not death – it is true, indeed,
The soul from the shackles of earth is freed ;
'Tis true that dissolved is the house of clay,
And the spirit unchained hath passed away.
'Tis true too the loved one hath gone before,
The home how darkened, that knows her no more!
He chides not your grief, for Jesus too wept,
O'er the grave where His friend, a Lazarus, slept.

But call it not death – a few short days o'er,
Ye shall meet her in glory, to part no more;
What a "blessed hope," lo, Christ shall appear
For " the restitution of all things " here ;
Then (if not till then), you will see her again,
When brought by the Lord with His glorious train,
Those " sleeping in Jesus" shall be restored,
And so shall we ever be with the LORD.

E. E. H.

" Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

QUES. 29.-I enclose herewith a tract which is being distributed in our section. It seems to me to strike a serious blow against our Lord, and to bring Him down to the level of a common man. If you will kindly read it, and make comments on it in your magazine, you will greatly oblige, yours, etc.

ANS.-It has been a painful task to read this tract you have sent us. The authoress, Mrs. F. L. Saxton is a fresh proof of the old saying, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." She has some notion of dispensational truth, and with it she throws dust in the eyes of the ignorant. Thus she denies New Birth to the Old Testament saints. The Lord said that without it none would see the kingdom; and Scripture abounds with proof that they will see the kingdom (Matt. 8 :11).

She confounds the evil nature in man with the devil, and thus makes every man a demoniac.

She reasons foolishly about Eve's fall, and then, by her evil teaching about our Lord's human nature, she denies the scripture, "That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

She knows nothing of the atoning sacrifice of our Saviour. She therefore carefully excludes the first goat from her remarks on Lev. 16, and what she says of the second goat is worthy of the notorious Mrs. White of Seventh-Day Adventist fame.

She calls the blood of Christ the Holy Spirit, and so Christ "sheds it still, and will continue to shed it until the last believer is safe home in glory."

If Mrs. Saxton had heeded the apostolic injunction, "I suffer not a woman to teach," she would not thus have dishonored our Lord, nor herself, nor denied others. She commits no ordinary wickedness in seeking to make Rom. 8:3 responsible for her doctrine, when she says," So Jesus in His 'sinful flesh' (Rom. 8:3) bore our old man," etc.

If people love such teaching, they love not the truth. The truth exalts Christ, humbles man, and makes him glory only in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:30, 31). This teaching degrades Christ, and makes man well pleased with the wonderful perfection he feels within himself.

QUES. 30. -Kindly explain Mark 10:28-30. It speaks of those who have forsaken various things for Christ as receiving a hundredfold here-houses, etc. Yet we do not see men devoted to Christ getting riches.

ans. – Our Lord's words are figurative, as you can see by His including "mothers." No man literally ever gets more than one mother. But whatever he forsakes on account of Christ, for it he receives already in this life a hundred times its value. In this sense "persecutions "are included as one of the rewards, for persecution has present effects of great value, as well as of eternal results.

Ques. 31. – What is the proper form of distributing the bread and wine at the Lord's Supper? I see a scholar makes Matt. 26 :26 ; Mark 14 :22, and Luke 22 :19, read differently from what appears in our common version.

ans. – Never mind "scholars." Follow simply what those passages say, just as they read, and you will not err.

ques. 32. – How can a Christian find out, in the present scattered condition of God's people, the place where he may truly please God ?

ans. – We once asked the same question practically at a meeting for the study of Scripture. We were on 2 Tim. 2:22, and were considering together the admonition, "Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." We asked, "How can one find out those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart? " Some one replied, "If one is himself that, the Lord will soon find the right company for him." To this our soul consented at once, for He who cares for a sparrow is surely interested, and that most deeply, in the path of His people, especially since that path is so intimately linked with their growth and development, and eternal reward. In Ps. 32, after expressing the grace of His heart toward the repentant sinner, He says, " I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go :I will guide thee with Mine eye." Human influences, natural ties, prejudice, selfish motives, love of ease, ambition, and many other things, may hinder our seeing the way His eye points ; hence our multiplied difficulties ; but "if thine eye he single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

We do not, however, forget that " in the last days perilous times shall come," and that those perilous times are sure to increase our difficulties. Therefore the greater need to watch "and pray, and keep very near to the Lord,

ques. 33. – We sometimes hear speeches which expatiate on such trivial matters that it seems to me the majesty of God is lowered. For instance, Job says, "Thou numberest my steps" (chap. 14:16). He feels the searching eye of God, who from His glory looks upon him, and sees the sin of his steps. This is full of majesty, and searches one's soul. But now to expatiate upon such a passage, and to bring God down as if He were busy counting the steps we take – it is this which seems to me out of place. What is the remedy?

ans. – First of all, patience; the range of mind in some of God's people, as well as in others, is not large; if ours is larger, we are more responsible. Then, prayer; how much may be corrected, improved and enlarged in one and the other through the earnest prayers in secret of those who may suffer from others' faults and weakness, but who love. Then, if called for, a word of exhortation :Heb. 3 :13 shows this to be God's way of helping one another.

ques. 34. – Please explain Matt. 20 :1-16.

ans. – The Lord utters this parable to illustrate the last verse of chapter 19. He had just answered Peter's question, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee ; what shall we have therefore?" He had told Peter what reward each would get. But to this He added a warning :"Many which are first shall be last ; and the last first." This warning He illustrates in the verses you ask about. He shows there that it is not those who work for a reward, those who make the fairest show in the eyes of men, who are first at last. Indeed, it is those who have come in at the eleventh hour, those who have made no conditions, but receive all as of grace, who at last turn out to be first (see verse 8). The others do like the elder son in Luke 15 – they murmur ; they do not know what grace is ; they are not in the current of God's thoughts ; they have never read His heart.

Every one will at the end receive his just reward at the hand of a just God; but the reward of the thief on the cross for his eleventh-hour toil in the vineyard may be more desirable than that of many a lauded life of good works. All depends on what actuates the soul.

ques. 35. – Please state when the five forms of government existed that ruled Rome previous to the Emperor which was in John's day.

ANS. – The five forms of government Rome had, prior to John's day, were Kings, B. C. 753 ; Consuls, 509 ; Dictators, 498 ; Decemvirs, 451; and Consular Tribunes, 444. John wrote the Revelation in the 6th form of Roman government, the Emperors, which began with Caesar Augustus, in the time of our Lord.

Morrish's Bible Dictionary ($4.50) would give you all such information and much besides, and valuable helps in all lines of truth.

ques. 36.- Do these two Scriptures point to the same thing? "Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" Romans 11:25. "Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled " Luke 21:24.

ANS. – Rom. refers to the ingathering of the Gentile believers – the Church of God – in this dispensation of grace, The close of which must precede somewhat Luke 21:24 which speaks of the close of Gentile rule, when Christ the "stone cut out without hands," smites the great image upon its feet, breaks it in pieces, and "fills the whole earth" (Daniel 2:31-35).

From Wm. Kelly's "First Epistle of Peter," page 105.

" for the life of which the saint partakes was comparatively hidden from Old Testament believers; yet they had it in Him who had not yet appeared, but was truly hoped for. Now, since Christ came, this, and much more, is cleared up, and the believer is assured that he has it as a present thing, whatever be the added blessedness at His coming again, when the body is swallowed up by the life which the soul already has in Christ. For indeed it is life eternal, and so declared even now; and woe to him who is emboldened by the enemy to deny it!"