(Read 1 Kings 20 :22-28 ; and 22 :1-3.)

I think I shall not be misunderstood when I say that our lives as Christians are made up very largely of hills, and plains, and valleys. I am not referring to the tips and downs of experience which some Christians have-sometimes full of doubts and misgivings, and at other times on the mountain-top singing for joy. I refer to the hills and valleys that all of us have in our lives. There are times when we are indeed on the hill-tops. It may be when we are in a meeting like this, and God makes the power of His word felt in our souls. It may be when we are kneeling alone in our homes, and a floodtide of heavenly sweetness comes rolling into our rejoicing hearts. God knows how 😮 give us wonderful seasons on the hill-tops of blessing and privilege. Then there are valleys, which we all have-valleys of trouble and trial of one sort or another. How many a Christian family just now is passing through the valley of bereavement! There are other valleys-valleys of poverty, ill-health, care and distress. Then, besides the hill-tops full of sunshine, and song, and joy, and besides the valleys with which we are acquainted, there are plains, the ordinary levels of every-day life.

To illustrate what I mean, I call your attention to what we have in these verses. The people of God had gained a notable victory against the Syrians. The Syrians had to admit defeat, but they sought for some plausible reason to let themselves down gently-some apology for their defeat. They soon found what seemed to them a very good reason. "Oh," they said, "Jehovah, the God of the Israelites is evidently a deity of the hills; but, depend upon it, He is not a God of the valleys. Let us catch them next time on the level, in one of the valleys, and we will come off victors in that conflict." So they came on, to choose the battleground, one which they thought would be favorable to their arms. They did not, as they thought, have to meet " the God of the Hebrews" this time, but GOD. He would care for His own glory; so He sent His servant with the message, "Because the Syrians have said that Israel's God is a god of the hills, and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this great multitude into your hand;" and God proved Himself to be God of the plains and valleys as surely as He was God of the hills.

Now I want to apply this in a practical way. We may all have proved in our experience that God is a God of the hills. It may be that we all know what it is to be in God's presence – not only speak to Him, but have Him speak to us. On the hill-tops of communion and praise and blessing we have proved that God is our God indeed; but when we come down from the hill-top to the plain, when from the Lord's day, with its precious privileges, we come down to the humdrum and monotonous level of business-life on Monday, what about God then ? Is He left behind as though He were a God of the hills only, a God for Sunday to us ? Or is He a God of the rest of the week ?

I have met Christian people who have an idea that God is a God of meetings, and Sundays, and Christian companionship, but not of the office and the shop, and of practical life. People have gone so far as to say that the Christian life is made up of watertight compartments. Christianity, they say, is Christianity, and business is business-meaning that you must not bring your Christianity into your business. Is it not the old Syrian thought in modern phraseology, that God is a God of the hills, and not a God of the valleys ? Because such a thought is given place in our minds, even though by God's grace some victory has been won on the hill-top, they go down before the enemy when he assails them in the plain of every-day life.
What I mean in plain language is this. It is our holy and inestimable privilege, as well as our duty, o bring God into our business life, and do our ;very-day work, not only in the fear of God, but minting upon God for help and blessing.

Some of my hearers are young, and have not had much experience, but those whose hairs have grown grey in life can tell us many instances of how God was, in times of difficulty or of emergency, wonderfully cleared up the way. I will give an example. In his early days Mr. Charles Stanley was a commercial traveler for goods required by the cutlery trade in Sheffield. He had made the mistake of laying in a rather large stock of a certain kind of emery not used in the Sheffield trade. It was a serious loss to him, this dead stock, with no purchaser. Now Mr. Stanley was not only in the habit of asking God's guidance in connection with his preaching, but also in his business. His prayer was:" My God, help me to find a purchaser for this emery powder." Do you ask, "Are we entitled to go to God about such things? " Yes; I believe it honors and pleases God when we seek His guidance even about such things. As Mr. Stanley was going down the street he seemed impelled to cross over and call at a certain office. He was rather surprised when he got there to see that it was a leather merchant's office. Still, he went in and presented his business card. He said he had a certain quantity of black emery powder, and asked if they wanted anything in that line.

The gentleman in the office looked at him and said, " Has anybody been telling you about our correspondence of this morning ? We had a letter from an Australian client enquiring for several barrels of black emery powder; we have been sending all round, and could not get any. How much have you got?" "I have so many barrels," said Mr. Stanley.

I need not go further with the story. Here was the customer found, and for the exact quantity which the Christian merchant had on his hands. You may think it strange to be guided like that, but God is God of the valleys as well as of the hills.

Now turn to what we have in the 22nd chapter. Here is the king of Israel, and it comes to his mind that Ramoth, part of the inheritance of Israel, was in the hands of the Syrians. It was numbered among the cities given by God to His people, and was conquered by them under the leadership of Moses. " Know ye not that Ramoth in Gilead is ours ? " he says. Why are we so apathetic ? Why do we not go and take it ?

It is interesting to know that Ramoth means "heights." I take it to be a little illustration of certain heights-heights of blessing, heights of privilege, which are indeed ours by God's gift- ours as a result of the victory gained by our Lord upon the cross-ours in title; but as the king of Israel said, "Why are we still and do not take them ? " It is one thing to have a thing in title, and it is another to appropriate it.

Now this is what I mean by having a thing in title, yet not appropriating it as our own. The children of Israel were told that the title to all the land was theirs-practically theirs only so far as they set the sole of their foot upon it.

I trust none of you dear young Christian men entertain the idea that you have reached the end of all that is embodied in Christianity, as if there were nothing more for you to lay hold of. In olden days, when the Phoenicians sent their ships to the western extremity of the Mediterranean, they came up to the great "Pillars of Hercules," as they were called-Gibraltar on the European side and a spur of the Atlas mountains on the African side. It was thought that there was nothing beyond. That was the ' 'Land's End" to them. They thought they had reached the very edge of the habitable world. So the early Spaniards, the descendants of these mariners, engraved upon their coins and coats of arms the Latin words, Ne plus ultra, which mean, " Nothing beyond." Centuries after, the famous Genoese navigator, Christopher Columbus, boldly sailed the broad Atlantic, and came back reporting that a vast continent lay far beyond the line where the sky met the ocean. The Spaniards saw that the motto on their coins and coat of arms was no longer true; they struck out the negative word, and to-day they have only the Plus ultra-"more beyond."

I wonder if you have taken that as your watchword, dear fellow – Christian-"more beyond." There is more to follow. No matter how much you have put your foot upon, "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (Josh. 13:i). You have full, divine title to all that God has bestowed on His people, but there is territory that you have not yet entered upon, so far as the enjoyment of it is concerned. May God awaken in each heart a keener spiritual desire to reach forth to what lies ahead.

There are indeed certain things which are not for us to appropriate. There are crown jewels in the Tower and valuable gems that belong to the British crown which you can see but are not entitled to appropriate. Even so there are Jewish promises and blessings which are peculiarly theirs, and not ours. We must not, when we read about the wonderful things God is going to do for His ancient people Israel, cross out Israel and substitute the Church, and apply these promises to ourselves. No; Israel is Israel, and the Church is the Church. But, thank God, there are even greater things than what belong to Israel, which God has given as our blessed portion, and for us now to appropriate. There are blessings and privileges which are brought down very near us, and God has given us the Holy Spirit that these things may be made real to us and enjoy them. They are not to be pigeonholed in our minds, and then say, "Oh, yes, I know that is mine." That would be doing what the Red Indian chief did, who received from the Federal Government a certificate of pension for his services in the American Civil War. This Indian made a hole through this beautifully engraved treasury certificate, tied a string to it, and wore it round his neck as an ornament to the day of his death. Then it was found he had never drawn a dollar from it. Are any of you doing like that ? -content to have all the blessings promised in your Bible without the enjoyment of them as your present portion ?

I will give you an illustration of what I mean. Take the wonderful blessing of sons hip. " I know I am a child of God," you say, but do you day by day exercise the wonderful privilege of a child ?
Do you draw near to God in the consciousness of ;hat holy and blessed relationship ? Do you truly, consciously, address God as your Father, and count upon Him as One who is interested in your smallest concerns; who has counted the very hairs on your head; to whom nothing about us is too small to be of interest? I do not mean, is it part of your creed, but is that " Ramoth " of wonderful relationship practically yours ? Is the joy of it yours ?

And there are heights, too, of communion with God which are open to us. There are heights in connection with believing prayer-oh, the marvelous things that believing prayer can obtain! Then there is the wonderful"Ramoth" of service and testimony. Ah, are we content as it were to throw India-rubber balls against the rock, which leave no impression ? or, like the disciples, toil all night to catch nothing ? In connection with service and testimony there are " Ramoths " which are not inaccessible to us, but within the reach of any one who, in the energy of faith, will appropriate them. I trust I have said enough to lead some to desire greatly to go in and possess these things, that they may be yours for present enjoyment. How many just squat down as it were upon the coasts of Christianity; just upon its borders !Fellow-believer, we are no longer of the world ; we belong to Christ. There is the whole land of blessing before us. It is all ours. Let us not be content to live poverty-stricken while there is abounding wealth at hand if only there be true desire for it, and persevering faith and prayer to God to lay hold of it. May God help us to do so. H. P. Barker

(Continued from page 325 of Vol. 82.) (Chap. 4:1-6.)

In the New Testament we have the full revelation of God, and in connection with this revelation is unfolded to the children of God the nature and practical character of their relationship with God. It is by the" Holy Spirit come down from heaven that this knowledge is given them. In Old Testament times God's children were marked by the practice of righteousness and loving one another. The divine life in them was thus exercised; but they were not told these are the marks of divine life; they were not even told they possessed this life eternal. We can thus understand why the practical character of eternal life was never unfolded to them.

Thus those born from above in Old Testament times never were able to say, " Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." The revelation in which such knowledge is found was not given them. They could not be in the conscious enjoyment of what had not been revealed to them; the Spirit that reveals it to us had not come to them. When the Spirit came, He gave the children of God not only the revelation that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but also what is the nature and character of the relationship into which new birth brings us. Hence we are able to say, "We know that He abideth in us." It is by the Spirit bestowed upon us that we know it (chap. 3'- 24).

But there are many false prophets who have gone out into the world claiming to be speaking by the Holy Spirit. In every age since the apostolic times, various systems of teachings have been urged upon the people of God. They are usually antichristian in character. They are usually commended as a perfecting of, or progress beyond, the Christian revelation. Their propagators claim to be taught by the Spirit of God. It becomes necessary therefore to test the teaching we are invited to receive. Our apostle warns against believing every spirit; he exhorts us to try them, to see whether they are of God (ver. i). He gives us also the infallible tests by which to try the claims or pretensions of all who profess to speak for God.

And what are these tests ? He gives us two sure rules by which we may judge whether a teacher or prophet is bringing the truth of God. If John tells us not to believe every spirit, he means that we must not accept as true the profession one may make that he is .speaking by the Spirit; and if he says, "Try the spirits whether they are of God," he would have us realize there is an absolutely sure way of detecting false claims, and exposing the pretensions of those who are assuming to be what they are not.

His first test is:" Hereby know ye the Spirit of God ; every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ come in the flesh, is of God" (ver. 2). If we apply this test to Christianity as apostolically established, it proves itself to be of God. In the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3), Jesus Christ come in flesh is fully acknowledged. He is the very center of the system of teaching which the apostles promulgated. The " form of .doctrine " which they delivered gives Christ His true place. In the form of "sound words," of which they were the human instruments to communicate to the Church of God, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate One, is honored and exalted. Jesus Christ come in flesh is everywhere confessed in the New Testament Scriptures, and this one fact is evidence that they are of God. It is the proof that the Spirit of God has given them. The Christian revelation meets fully the test of the apostle. It is evident that the New Testament writings are a system of teaching which the very brightest human intellect could not have conceived. The Spirit of God is their true author. They are a revelation of things which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived." They are a revelation from God by His Spirit (i Cor. 2:9, 10), and the great proof of it is that everywhere they confess Jesus Christ come in flesh.

We should be reminded here it is not merely to confess that Jesus Christ did come in flesh; the idea of the verse in the original is the confession of Himself, the acknowledgment of who and what the Incarnate One is-the bowing of will and heart to Him-confessing the claims and rights of the Incarnate One. Now this, we may say, is the distinguishing characteristic of the New Testament writings. Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, is everywhere the theme:His rights, His claims, .His honor, His glory are, not simply recognized, but owned. Christianity, or what we call the Christian revelation, stands the apostle's test. It is a divine system in which God speaks by His Spirit.

No other system of teaching meets the test. Every other form of teaching betrays its human, or perhaps in some cases, Satanic origin; very high claims may be made; it may be professed that God is the source of what is being taught, that by His Spirit He is addressing Himself to men, while yet Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God is in various ways dishonored-in many cases even denied. His claims are not owned and submitted to; His rights are ignored and even refused. There are systems of teaching in which He is wickedly degraded and blasphemed.

Such systems of teaching are not of the Holy Spirit. Another spirit is at work in them. Our apostle tells us that every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Incarnate One, is not of God, but is the spirit of antichrist (ver. 3). The New Testament apostles and prophets warned the people of God that this spirit of antichrist would come. John, the last of them, now tells them that it has already come. It is not that the Antichrist himself has come, but that many have come who are characterized by his spirit-the spirit of insubjection to the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. We are justified, therefore, in rejecting as not of God, every system of teaching in which Jesus Christ come in flesh is disowned or dishonored.

The family are now assured that they are of God. The apostle would have them know that he is not implying that any of them are of the false spirit concerning whom he is warning them. Nay, the Spirit of God is dwelling in them ; He is greater than that which animates the false teachers that have gone out into the world; and, indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit, God's children have the victory over those of the antichristian spirit.

These antichristian prophets and teachers are of the world ; they speak according to the world ; therefore, the world hears them. The natural man receives not the things spoken by the Spirit and deposited in the Scriptures for the children of God. They that are of the world are not subject to the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, come in flesh.

But some one may say, This test was for apostolic times, to distinguish between the divinely-called apostles and impostors. But how are we to test those who have risen up as teachers since the departure of the apostles? How can we determine which of the many conflicting voices is really the voice of God?
The difficulty as to this is not so great as it seems. The apostle provides us with a sure test of the reality of all that professes to be of God. He shows us there is a spirit of truth and a spirit of error, and puts in our hands the means of distinguishing them. To test and decide upon the claims of those who profess to speak by the Spirit of God is thus very simple.

Let us turn to the rule he has given by which we are to know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Notice that in the first place he insists on the divine origin of the apostolic mission. He says, "We are of God; " which means that those in apostolic times who had introduced and established Christianity had done it by the authority of God; that by divine sanction, by the Spirit of God, they had given the faith its permanent form-the form in which it was to be handed down to succeeding
generations. John teaches that the New Testament Scriptures are given to us by the Spirit of God, and to be held as such. If we speak of teachers, since the days of the apostles, we need ask but one question :Do they hear the apostles and prophets who by the Holy Spirit have given us the New Testament Scriptures? John says:"He that knoweth God heareth us" (ver. 6). The way to know whether a teacher or prophet is of God, therefore, is by the teaching he brings. Does he teach apostolic doctrine and practice ? Whatever his claim maybe, if he does not do this he has no claim to be received as sent of God.

All atheistic, pantheistic, and materialistic teachings are marked by the spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ come in flesh. The many systems of so-called Christian philosophy, antagonistic to the faith proclaimed in the Scriptures, are excluded from the fellowship or support of the children of God. Unitarianism, as degrading the incarnate Son of God, is manifestly shown not to be of God. Universalism, as denying a part of apostolic teaching, is clearly not of the Spirit. In the same way Millennial Dawnism, Christadelphianism, and all kindred systems, are by our apostle's rules shown to be of the spirit of antichrist. Christian Science, Mormonism, Spiritualism, are stamped as anti-Christian. The many so-called holiness and Pentecostal movements fail to meet the test which John admonishes us to apply to them. Even many schools of thought existing among those who are undoubtedly to be recognized as Christian people, as for instance, the various unapostolic conceptions of the nature and character of the gospel, cannot establish their claim upon the confidence of the children of God.

But we need not enlarge on these lines. It needs not to enumerate all the systems of human or even Satanic origin; the great thing is that the apostle has given us infallible rules by which to detect what is of God and what is not-what is by the Spirit of God and what lacks the mark of His approval.

May we faithfully employ the rules of the apostle, and thus preserve ourselves from complicity with, and support of, what has not the endorsement of the Holy Spirit. May we remember it is by the Spirit that we have right knowledge. It is in what He has given in the New Testament Scriptures that we have the knowledge of our blessings from God and of the relationship in which we stand to God and its practical character. It is as having the Christian revelation – the common possession of all saints in this dispensation-that we have the knowledge which enables us to say, We dwell in God and God dwells in us. C. Crain

(To be continued.)

SUBSTANCE OF AN ADDRESS BY HAMILTON SMITH

I desire to call your attention to some of the moral characteristics that should mark those who confess Jesus as Lord.

Three scriptures will bring before us the Lordship of, Christ. Peter, in preaching to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, proclaims the great fact that Christ has been exalted to the place of supremacy; he says:"God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Turning to Acts 10 :36 we glean the further thought that His supremacy is a universal supremacy-" He is Lord of all." Passing to a third scripture, Phil. 2:9-11, we learn that if Christ has the place, of universal supremacy, every created being in the universe will at last have to acknowledge Him as Lord; and, furthermore, when every created being acknowledges Christ as Lord, it will be to the glory of the Father. If a man attempts to take the place of universal sway on earth, it is invariably for his own glory, and God will put that man down. Universal dominion belongs to Christ alone, and His glory He will not give to another. Any other man who seeks this place is usurping the rights of Christ, and will inevitably come to his ruin.

I now pass from that which is general and universal, to that which is particular and individual, because, while Christ may be confessed as Lord of all-and the devils shall have to do that-those who are brought into blessing today are those who through faith say not only He is the Lord, but He is my Lord. I think you will agree that there are a great many Christians who know Christ as their Saviour (they would not be Christians if they did not), and yet do not submit to His authority as Lord.

Let me remind you, here, that the co-relative of Lord is servant, and the instant I say that Christ is my Lord, I practically say that I am His servant. Let me turn your attention to some scriptures which will bring before us the marks that should characterize those who confess Christ as their Lord, and who thus take the place of being His servants.

We turn first to John 20 :11-16, and I think we shall see that the first great characteristic of the servant is affection for the Lord. Here we have a woman who definitely confesses Christ as her Lord. She says :"They have taken away my Lord." I think you will admit that every line of the passage reveals a heart aflame with love to the Lord. Love brought Mary to the tomb ; love held her there when all others had gone. The disciples may return to their homes, but love for the Lord is more to Mary than home or anything or anyone else. Love made her think that the Stranger she addressed would know who she meant when she said, "If them have borne Him hence, tell me where them hast laid Him." Love made her oblivious to her own frail body, when she said, " I will take Him away." The world had crowned Him with a crown of thorns, but Mary crowned Him in the affections of her heart. Ah, brethren, we sing sometimes, and quite rightly, "Crown Him Lord of all," but have we crowned Him as Lord in the affections of our hearts, to "reign without a rival there ?"

Turning to Acts 22 :6-10, we shall see that another great characteristic of the servant is obedience. In the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the light and the voice from heaven reveal to him Jesus in glory, with the immediate result that Saul confesses Him as Lord, saying, "What shall I do, Lord?" He owns Him as Lord, to direct him, and he takes his place as servant to obey Him. 'Saul was naturally, as he himself tells us, an insolent, overbearing man, a man with an iron will, more used to command than to obey, but so thorough is the change wrought by his conversion, that from the outset of his Christian career, he is delivered from his own proud will, and seeks only the will of Him who had appeared to him.

Let us pause and challenge our hearts as to how often we have asked the Lord this great question:"What shall I do, Lord?" Is this the question that governs my daily life ? The question is not, What can I do this day that will be right ? or, Can I do this without offending my conscience ? or, How can I best serve the country? but, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" Dear brethren, we may go through the day doing a good many things that are right and nice, and yet from the beginning to the end of the day we may not have done a single thing as the Lord would have us do. Do we realize that we have been left in this world to do the will of the Lord ? How am I spending my time ? My time is the Lord's, and it is not a question of what I think right, or of what my conscience would allow me to do. The great question is:"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" We want so to walk in the path of obedience to the Lord, that when we have finished we may receive His "Well done." Let us not wait till the end of our days to repent of having wasted our time, but seek henceforth to do the will of the Lord.

But, it maybe asked, How am I to know the will of the Lord ? Let us turn to Acts n :19-23. Here we shall see that another great characteristic of the servant is dependence. Only as we are dependent upon the Lord can we know His will. This passage records how some of the believers, who were scattered by the persecution at Jerusalem, went to Antioch "preaching the Lord Jesus," and we read, "The hand of the Lord was with them." Alas, how much of the evangelistic work of today is marred by the organizing hand of man, with the result that though by the grace of God many souls may be brought to the knowledge of the Saviour, yet they do not come under the sway of Christ. But at Antioch "the hand of the Lord was with them;" therefore, we read, "a great number believed and turned unto the Lord." They not only believed, but the Saviour they believed in became their Lord. The tidings of this work reached the assembly at Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas to Antioch, "who, when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad, and exhorted them all (all converts) that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." Now herein lies the secret of knowing the will of the Lord. This word "cleave" comes from the same Greek word that in John 15 is translated so many times by the word, "abide." Abiding with the Lord conveys the thought of a daily, practical, dependent walk in nearness of heart to the Lord Jesus. Beloved brethren, do we covet this ? Shall we ever know the will of the Lord unless we are walking with the Lord ? It involves daily prayer in which we speak to the Lord, and by which our souls and spirits are put in touch with Him, and also daily reading and meditation of the word of God, in which the Lord speaks to us.

Turning now to John 15:14, 15, we shall see that by abiding with the Lord we become intelligent in the mind of the Lord. The Lord is speaking to His servants, but He calls them His friends. He says:"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Mark, He does not say, "I will be your friend, if you obey Me." He was our Friend when He went to the cross and died for us as poor sinners, but we are His friends when we abide with Him and do His commands. A friend is one to, whom we can speak of our intimate affairs, even though they are not personally concerned. And thus the Lord treats His friends ; for He says :"All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." Not simply the things that concern the Church, but "all things," the things that concern the glory of Christ. Thus we get spiritual intelligence in the mind of the Lord.

Turning now to 2 Timothy 2:19, we read, " Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (N. Trans.). Here we have another important mark of the servant of the Lord. He must be separate from evil. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity, and separate from vessels to dishonor, if he is to be "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use." Beloved brethren, we mourn that there are so few conversions, so much preaching and so little apparent result. I would suggest that perhaps one reason is that we are not careful enough as to our ways, our associations, etc.; not sufficiently exercised to be vessels meet for the Master's use. All the talking and preaching in the world is no good if there is not the separate life in communion with the Lord.

These then are some of the characteristics of the true servant of the Lord. Others will occur to you, such for instance as diligence, sobriety, gentleness, self-control, and the like, but none perhaps are more important than those we have looked at, viz., affection for the Lord, obedience to the Lord, intelligence in the mind of the Lord, and holy separation to the Lord, for His use.

In closing, let me point to one more scripture, that will bring before us the blessed end of the servant's path. In 2 Tim. 4:7, 8, we read:"I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith :henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day:and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." At the end of the path is the "crown of righteousness." But, let us remember, there is also "the way of righteousness" (Prov. 12:28)), and "the armor of righteousness" (2 Cor. 6:7). We must first put on the armor of righteousness and fight the good fight; we must walk the way of righteousness if we would wear the crown of righteousness. We must gird on the armor now, if we are to wear the crown in eternity.

Very soon we shall take the last step in the course and fight the last fight in the conflict, and then, at last, when the servant puts off the armor, the Lord will put on the crown.

The first step in this blessed path is taken in the present time, when the servant crowns his Lord in the affections of his heart, and the last step is in eternity, when the Lord crowns the servant with the crown of righteousness.

" Take Thou our hearts, and let them be
Forever closed to all but Thee ;
Thy willing servants, let us wear
"The seal of love for ever there.

Firstborn of many brethren, Thou!
To whom both heaven and earth must bow;
Heirs of Thy shame and of Thy throne,
We bear the cross, and seek the crown."

(Continued from page 71.)

(Chaps. 4:20-5:13.)

The apostle proceeds now to expose the pretensions and claims of those who seek to be recognized as being children of God, though lacking the marks by which such are distinguished. One may say, "I love God." He is claiming to know God, to know the love that is of God. We have seen that love in God is active. His love pours out, so to speak, on the objects of His love. One who says he loves God professes therefore to participate in the activities of that love which must, in some measure, be present in every one who loves God. Instead of this the false professor shows hatred to those whom, by his profession, he is bound to acknowledge as his brethren. The apostle uses a strong term as to such:he says, "He is a liar" (ver. 20).

In speaking of hating his brother, the apostle is not thinking of some sudden, provoked, or unprovoked, outburst of temper, though we may be sure he would not excuse this, but would unhesitatingly call it sin:it is an interruption, for the time, of the flow of communion between the Father and His child. But the apostle is not treating of that subject here. He is speaking of what we may call the uniform activity or state of the soul, its continuous habit. One characterized by hatred of God's children speaks falsely in saying that he loves God. He does not know God, is not dwelling in love.

But the apostle not only denounces such an one as " a liar," making a false profession, but he would have us realize the utter impossibility of that profession being true. "No one has ever seen God at any time," he says; God is invisible; and how can one that does not love those whom he sees, love One he does not see ? It is put in the form of a question only to add force in the conscience that it is impossible-the profession is not true.

There is another consideration to be mentioned. We have received a commandment from the Lord to love one another (Jno. 13:34). By obedience to this injunction we prove ourselves to be His true disciples, and make manifest that we are His "friends." Everyone who professes to love God professes to obey Him; but hating one's brother is not obedience. Obligation to love rests on every child of God; but it is not met by mere profession. Obedience to Him who is the source of love in His children is the mark by which it is shown to be in us (ver. 21).

Another mark of the children of God is the reception of Jesus as the Christ. One may not have much knowledge, may not be able to tell the blessings that are the heritage of the children of God, but bowing the knee to Jesus, his soul submitting to Him as the Christ of God, marks the true child of God. Being thus manifested as born of God, such are embraced by us as objects of love. It is true that many of their natural characteristics may still be seen in them. As long as we remain in the natural body we must expect it, but the spiritual tie is a stronger and dearer tie than the natural one. These natural characteristics cannot obliterate the spiritual tie. Even the failures which we see in one another cannot annul it. They may call forth grief, pity, even stern rebuke, but the tie remains unchangeable, and its preciousness abides.

The love that is from God dwelling in us cannot be selective as regards the objects it embraces. To love in community with God is to embrace all the objects of His love. He loves every child as a child. Even though it may be at times disobedient, needing correction, and severe discipline may have to be administered, yet the tie, that through His grace has been established, abides, and is precious with Him, God loves His children with an abiding and unchangeable love. If then we have learned from Him what love is, and love in community with Him, then the objects of His love are the objects of love in us. We love the children of God as that-every one who has received Jesus as the Christ.

Again, loving in community with the Father implies that we love for the Father's sake, that is, because they are His children. We would not be true to Him if we did not; our love would not reflect His. This is surely implied in "Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him." It means that we entertain His thoughts toward His children.

But this does not imply indifference to wrong conduct, disobedience, or fellow-shipping evil ways. The apostle carefully guards the true character of love here. Love according to God must be of the right quality. Hence we read, " By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments" (ver. 2). Our love to one another is not true love unless it is defined and limited by love to God, which is proved by submission to His will-obedience to His injunctions or instructions. In verse 3 the apostle insists that obedience is the mark of loving God. We show our love to Him, not by professing it merely, but by unfeignedly governing ourselves by His instructions; they are by no means irksome if we truly love God.

In verses 4 and 5, another mark of a child of God is given. The true love of God, which is in His children, overcomes the world. The world is alienated from God, is in enmity to Him. The manifestation and proof of this is its rejection of the Son of God when He came into it. It did not recognize Jesus as the Lord of glory. It refused all testimony that He was the Son of God. His presence troubled the world. His teachings, and His testimony that He came from the Father were resisted and contradicted. His works of power were ascribed to the devil. His continuance here could not be tolerated, and they nailed Him to a cross between thieves. And the world has not reversed its judgment of Jesus. It still denies Him His rights. It is a great triumph over the world whenever an individual reverses the world's judgment of Jesus. Through the power of His love, individuals have, and still do, bow the knee to Him-owning Jesus as Lord of all. A mighty victory this!

But who are these victors-these overcomers of the world? Are they the adherents of humanitarian movements ? the disciples of human philosophies? the promulgators of world-reform movements? No; these things, whatever the outward effects produced, leave the hearts of men unchanged, heralded though they be as great victories. Victories over certain forms of evil in the world they may be, but not victories over the world.

Children of God alone are overcomers of the world -those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Faith, faith in Him-which sets to its seal that the divine testimony to Him is true-is the real victory. What a triumph of the truth it is when a soul steps out of the ranks of unbelievers, of rejectors of Christ, and takes its place in the ranks of those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God! " This is the victory that overcometh the world-our faith."

I must notice here an idea which some have urged, in a mistaken way putting verses 1 and sin contrast. It has been stated that the faith which confesses that Jesus is the Christ is a lower faith than that which acknowledges Him to be the Son of God. But the Spirit of God makes no such contrast here. The idea cannot be justly drawn from the apostle's argument. The two things, in fact, go together:believing that Jesus is the Christ, and believing that He is the Son of God. It is not a question of the measure of intelligence in either case. Nathanael in John i, acknowledges Jesus to be the King of Israel because he is divinely convinced He is the Son of God. Martha, in John n, says, "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world," expressing thus the faith of those who inwardly, divinely, received the Old Testament Scriptures. Peter's confession, in Matt. 16:16, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," is the expression of the faith of those who through the gracious activities of the Spirit in their souls hearkened to the voice of the Father as He had spoken in the Old Testament writings.

These illustrations (with others which might be cited) make it plain that, as already said, believing in Jesus as Messiah and believing in Him as Son of God, go together. There may have been indeed lack in distinguishing; there may have been much misapprehension as to both titles. The full truth connected with them could hardly then be realized. The faith that was in them as a germ was to be expanded later, but in that germ there were both conceptions of the Lord. Their divinely given faith owned Him to be both Messiah and the Son of God. What victors they were over the leaders and teachers who, assuming the seat of Moses, were not obeying Moses !-who instead of listening to Him of whom Moses wrote, rejected Him and did everything in their power to hinder others from receiving Him. The faith that triumphed then is the faith that triumphs now. Those who now are the overcomers of the world are those who set to their seal that the testimony of God concerning Jesus is true. C. Crain

(To be continued.)

*This article has been in our hands some time. We were waiting in hope, with others, that the pamphlet in question would be withdrawn, as it had been strongly objected to with both its author and its publisher. As this has not been done, we now feel quite free to publish this criticism.-[ED*.

Editor of Help and Food:

In a pamphlet by J. Boyd, which has come to my notice, he says:

"But our blessed Lord not only speaks of seeing the kingdom but of entering into it. For this, water and the Spirit are the means used. I am persuaded this carries us into Christianity. To enter into the kingdom is to enter into the practice of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14:17). Now in order to produce righteousness one must be indwelt by the Spirit (Rom. 8:4-10). Therefore it seems to me that while fitness for seeing the kingdom maybe produced by the simplest element of truth, a full gospel is necessary for entering into it."

This teaching tells us that one may see the kingdom without entering into it:that it is only necessary to receive "The simplest element of truth" in order to see the kingdom, but those only who know the gospel in its fulness enter into it! What new doctrine is this ? And what are the writer's grounds for such statements ? He speaks of his being "persuaded." Where in Scripture does Mr. B. find warrant for any such "persuasion?" Does he mean that he is persuaded that some believers (those who know but the "simplest element of truth") only see the kingdom, while others (the comparatively few) who receive a "full gospel" get further and enter into it ? As for myself, I am " persuaded," and for scripture reasons (Col. i:13), that one is either under the "power of darkness" or has been translated " into the kingdom of God's dear Son." Can there be an intermediate place between these two distinct conditions, where the soul only sees the kingdom, not yet into it, and yet delivered from the power of darkness ?

The writer completes his confused paragraph by remarking, "It is not for no purpose the Divine Teacher passes from seeing to speak of entering into the kingdom." Yes, but it does not follow that it is the purpose Mr. B. reads into it:that of dividing up believers of the present time into two distinct classes, one outside (though seeing it) and the other safely landed within the kingdom. That entering into the kingdom is an advanced thought on seeing it no one would question, but to say that two distinct classes or grades of believers are meant is to pervert its meaning entirely.

As an example of Mr. B.'s unwarranted assertions I take the following:"Now in order to produce righteousness one must be indwelt by the Spirit." Standing alone, no fault whatever could be found with this statement. But when it is borne in mind that the same writer holds that some believers, those only born again, :have not the Spirit, it follows that such cannot produce righteousness. But i John 5:4 assures us that those born of God overcome the world, and practical righteousness is never ascribed exclusively to the possession of the Spirit, i John 5:1-5 makes it the result of faith and new birth. And did not the Old Testament saints "produce righteousness " ? Most assuredly. But how could they, according to Mr. B., since they had not the indwelling Spirit? Heb. n:33 tells us it was "through faith." So his confident assertion stands flatly contradicted by the clear, unmistakable statement of the word of God.
Another sample assertion from the same pamphlet will show how unsafe this teaching is on those lines. Speaking of eternal life he says:"To possess it the believer must appropriate His death (John 6:53-56)." Note this:the believer, he says, must do this in order to possess eternal life. So according to this teaching one may be a believer and not yet be in the possession of eternal life. Who is right, Mr. B., or the Lord Jesus Christ? Read John 6:47.

It is not proposed to give in this brief paper anything like a treatise upon this subject, but rather to gather the teachings of Scripture for the benefit of those who desire a concise statement.

The word"Antichrist" occurs only in John's epistles (i Jno. 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jno. 7).Twice in these passages the apostle declares the coming of Antichrist had been predicted. He connects this with the last days, and adds, " Even now are there many antichrists." These are recognized by their apostasy from the truth, the denial of the Father and the Son. We have therefore two thoughts connected with the word:a denial of Christ, no matter by whom; and the great apostate of the last days who is specially characterized by this denial. It is a solemn fact therefore that all denial of the fundamental truth of Christ is linked with the final apostate whose end we shall see in a little. It is however with the individual, the Antichrist, that we deal now. We shall have no difficulty in recognizing him in the various passages to come before us.

1. Matt. 24:24:"There shall arise false Christs and false prophets." Frequently, in this His last prophetic discourse, our Lord warns His disciples against deceivers coming in His name. This therefore again points to the "last days"-not during the Church period, but just prior to His return and kingdom-as the time when this false Christ shall appear.

2. 2 Thess. 2:3, 8:"A falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed . . . Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth," etc. Here again the time is "the last days." So long as the Spirit in the Church is here (and that is until the Lord catches His Church away), so long is there a hindrance to the development of full apostasy and the revelation of the Antichrist. He is marked by the apostasy we have already spoken of, and here it is added that he exalts himself as God in His temple.

This mention of the temple shows us not only that the Church period is past, but that the one who falsely assumes divine honors does so in connection with the "Temple." He must therefore be one who links his false claims with Jewish hopes and expectations. He must therefore be a Jew.

3. Dan. ii:36, 37:"And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished . . . neither shall he regard the God of his fathers." The identity of this person with the one just described in 2 Thess. is manifest. Indeed the apostle Paul was evidently quoting from this scripture. Notice the expression "the God of his fathers." Therefore he is a Jew, for none other would be so described.

4. Rev. 13:11-18:"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon," etc. This second beast (in contrast with the. first beast of this chapter, who comes up from the sea, the nations) comes from the earth or land, a well-known type of Israel. Here again we see his lying wonders spoken of in 2 Thess. His lamb-like appearance also marks him as the false Christ, while the speech of the dragon shows the Satanic power which is behind him.

At this point we must point out the contrast between these two "beasts" in Rev. 13. The first beast rises from the sea, whose turbulence under the power of the wind is a figure of the nations lashed into fury by the "prince of the power of the air." He is the ruler who, by conquest, under Satan's energy gains possession of the revived Roman Empire. He is atheistic and blasphemous, but his rule is political rather than religious. He is a great persecuting power, the man who oppresses the true remnant of Israel. (See Dan. 7:8, "the little horn; " Dan. 9:27, "the Prince that shall come.") It is in this latter way that he comes in touch with the Jews, and makes a covenant with them, which he violates in the " midst of the week," leaving the 3^ years, or 42 months, or 1260 days in which the great tribulation (Rev. 7:14) will take place. This "Beast" will, by conquest and agreement, receive the imperial power from the ten confederate nations of western Europe. (See Rev. 17:12-14.) The Antichrist, on the other hand, is the false Messiah, the religious ruler of the Jews, who for purposes of his own gain makes the covenant with the western power. He thus becomes the religious representative of the great Imperial Power of Rome, and both are arrayed against another power of evil – the Eastern " Desolator " of prophecy.

5. Rev. 19:19, 20:"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet . . . These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Here we see the end of both the political and the religious apostasy-the Beast and the false prophet. Blessed consummation for a groaning earth, which has been "destroyed" by the violence and wickedness of the apostasy.

Returning for a moment to the first scriptures referred to, we read with a fresh solemnity:" Even now are there many antichrists." Shall we have fellowship with that apostasy which, under whatever name-of progress, culture, philosophy-denies the Son of God ? The inevitable doom of all antichrists is the same-the lake of fire. S. R.

(Continued from page 275.)

4. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

Our preceding study has prepared us for the conclusion stated in Rom. 3:28 :"Therefore we conclude a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law; " and again, " It is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith " (ver. 30).

Faith in connection with justification is illustrated for us in Abraham (Rom. 4:3), and stated to be as simply believing God's testimony, rendered to us by His Son (Heb. i:2). This, plainly, is very different from the principle of law which is to do, to fulfil its requirements ; but no justification is possible on this ground, as we have before seen.

It is by faith, by believing God, because, first of all, it is owning the truth of what God says as to our condition-ungodly ; it is also the acceptance of God's blessed provision made in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Thus we become " of the faith of Jesus," 1:e., He is the object of our faith; and such God justifies. He can justify us on account of this faith, because it lays hold of Christ, it identifies us with the work of Christ, and God's righteous character then covers us as a shield. Therefore it is manifested through faith apart from law. (Read Gal. 2 :16 and Gal. 3:8, 9.)

Rom. 5:1:"Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." We are cleared, fully acquitted, because of faith in God's testimony concerning His Son. And this result is not dependent upon our feelings or measure of apprehension, but upon the value which God finds in Christ and His work. How perfect and unchanging therefore is our acceptance, and the peace to be enjoyed! This is enforced for us in the next verse:"By whom we have (the perfect tense denoting the continuance) also access by faith into this favor in which we stand." It is an ever-abiding position before and with God. Hence, the hope of the glory of God is our boast; we have no longer any fear to enter into it. How different all this is from anything that could have been obtained through the law!

The blessedness of this is further developed for us in that our justification is linked with the resurrection of Christ. It is connected with Him in that place of glory, given Him by God in acknowledgment of the eternal redemption accomplished by Him through suffering. Our position and security is therefore to be measured by that of Christ Himself, who was our substitute, and is now our representative before the face of God. Let us look at the scriptures which bear upon this particular feature.

5. JUSTIFICATION CONNECTED WITH THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

" Now it was not written on his account alone that it was reckoned to him, but on ours also, to whom (believing on Him who has raised from among the dead Jesus our Lord, who has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification] it will be reckoned "'(Rom. 4:23-25). We see from this and its connection with Abraham that, as in his case so in ours, the God of resurrection power has wrought on our behalf. We see what is "the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe " in the way He has wrought in the raising of Christ from among the dead. In Christ's resurrection we have God's public declaration before all His intelligent creatures that He justifies those who have faith in Jesus-blessed evidence that our justification is an abiding one, since He has proclaimed it in this public manner! For if anything could possibly change the favor in which we thus stand, it would be derogatory to Christ who was raised for our justification :it would be a denial of the efficacy of His work, the perfection of which was witnessed to in His being raised up.

It is one of the glories of Christ that, as seated on heaven's throne, God can ever point to Him as the blessed Person, and to the perfect work accomplished which enables Him righteously to justify those who have put their trust in His Son. " Be it known unto you, therefore, brethren, that through this Man remission of sins is preached to you, and from all things, from which ye could not be justified in the law of Moses, in Him every one that believes is justified" (Acts 13 :37-39). J. Bloore

(To be continued.)

When I remember Thee, O Lord,
And break the bread,
I think of all th' indignities
Heaped on Thy head;
Of all the sorrow, shame and scorn
Endured for me,
By Thee, thou blessed Son of God,
On Calvary.

I think of those three awful hours
Of darkness, Lord,
In which Thy Father's loving face
From Thee was barred;
Of God forsaking Thee, and Thy
Heart-rending cry-
I marvel Thou couldst bear so much
For such as I.

And when I take, at Thy request,
The cup, and drink
The joy Thy sorrow won for me,
I can but think
Of joy and glory I shall share
So soon with Thee-
When I'll no more with bread and wine
Remember Thee.

Oh blessed hour, from week to week,
Just heart to heart-
The blessed earnest, that ere long
We ne'er shall part.
There is no place like this on earth
To me Thou'st given,
Which seems so much from earth apart,
So near to heaven.

Shut in from turmoil, care and strife,
With only Thee
To contemplate and feast upon,
Continually;
Forgetting even others there
Who feast with me;
Yea, e'en myself, O Lord, when I
Remember Thee.
The sweetest of all earthly hours
To me, shall be
The time I've spent while here, O Lord,
Remembering Thee.
Each time, I think, perhaps may be
The last-who knows ?
And thus the path of faith for me
Forever close.

Then close my heart to thoughts and cares
That trouble me At times;
I'd spend the hour alone
Remembering Thee.
These hours shall be the sunbeams of
My earthly way,
When looking o'er my path, from that
Eternal day.

How can I but remember Thee,
Lord, who didst take
The lowliest place found here on earth,
And for my sake!
The felon's portion-yea, the slave's-
That I might be,
Though guilty, by Thy cross indeed
Forever free.

How could I e'er forget the love
That brought Thee down
To that dread cross for me-the spear,
The thorny crown-
The glory all Thine own, which soon
Mine eyes shall see,
Nor yet thy tender last request-
" Remember me."

How can Thy children bear, O Lord,
To be left out ?
Ah, do they know the sweetness ?-nay,
I can but doubt.
Oh, may they hear Thy voice and heed
Thine own request,
Nor rob Thee longer of Thy joy,
And be at rest.

H. McD

(Continued from page 36.)

(Chap. 4:7-19.)

We now pass on to other subjects treated of by the apostle in this section of the epistle. It will be remembered that in John i :18 it is said, " No man hath seen God at any time." That statement is repeated here, but not for the same reason or purpose. There, it is in connection with the revelation of God. No one has ever seen God to be qualified thus to witness to what He is-only the Son who has come from the bosom of the Father, who has personal knowledge of God, is personally acquainted with the perfections of His nature and character-He is thus a competent witness ; He speaks what He personally knows-what He has seen and heard (John 3:32).

Here, in this epistle (ver. 12), the apostle is not thinking of the Son of the Father testifying among men to what God is, but of God being manifested in His children. The children of God, loving one another, are displaying in their measure the love that is in God. "No one has seen God at any time," but if we love one another that is a display of Him. The moral nature of God is in us. This, as we have already seen, is an active nature. If it is present at all in a man, it is present in activity. Since it is the moral nature of God, it is proper to say God is dwelling in us. God dwells in us by a nature and life from Himself. It is His love that is in us. In loving one another, that love is having its normal activity in us. This is what is meant by the expression, "And His love is perfected in us."

The apostle is not speaking here of some advanced Christians, as if there were a class of believers of whom it is not true that the love of God is perfected in them. He is speaking abstractly, as he so commonly does. He is speaking of what is characteristic. He is not thinking of degrees and measures, but of what is normally and characteristically true, and marks every child of God. It is as loving one another that the children of God manifest themselves as those in whom God dwells-in whom the love of God is in activity.

If then we are marked by loving one another, God has given us "of His Spirit." He has given us a nature which is of His Spirit. We are born of the Spirit. By this nature God dwells in us and we in Him; and it gives capacity to recognize those on whom it has been conferred. By this activity of love we realize our dwelling in God and His dwelling in us (ver. 13).

Along with this communicated nature there is the apostolic testimony that "the Father sent the Son, the Saviour of the world." They had seen the Son manifested upon earth as having the glory of an only-begotten of the Father. Their contemplation of it had wrought in them a divine conviction. They could say, "We have seen," and testify. If "no one has seen God at anytime," they personally were witnesses that the Father sent the Son, the Saviour of the world (ver. 14.)

The world has refused Him who was sent to save it. It has rejected its Saviour, but the fact that the Father sent the Son to save the world may be appealed to as a manifestation of the love of God. If no man has ever seen Him, His love has been manifested. It cannot be said, No one has ever seen His love. Multitudes have seen it and live in it. All who have received the Saviour whom the Father sent, dwell in the love of God. Every one who inwardly submits to Jesus as being truly the Son of God, lives in the love of God. All such are born of God. A new life, a moral principle, is begotten in their souls in the power of the Spirit, by which God dwells in them and they in God (ver. 15). It is the characteristic fact, true of every one who in reality confesses Jesus as the Son of God. The degree of individual realization is quite another matter ; the apostle is not speaking of this here.

Loving one another, then, characterizes, more or less, all the family of God, and gives capacity to know or recognize one another. Undoubtedly there are hindrances in all to any full capacity for this. The great point urged by the apostle is that we have received a common life from the Spirit, and with it a full and reliable testimony to the love of God by personal witnesses of its manifestation. Those therefore who have become participators in this life through faith in Jesus, are those who know and believe the love God has to us. God is love; they are in community with Him; they dwell in God and God in them (ver. 16).

But while love may be in us, in a nature perfect in itself, yet it is quite another thing to be perfect in our apprehension of it. It is of immense comfort to be assured, as the word of God does assure us, that in new birth we have received a new and perfect nature-received eternal life, which abides for ever-an imperishable life indeed! Many who believe this do not realize that it stamps us as being already (even while still here in this world) as Christ is. If the day of judgment causes fear, love (the apprehension of it) is not perfect with them.

There is need to consider well the apostle's words, and to weigh them. First, let us notice a defect in our ordinary translation. Verse 17 reads:"Herein is our love made perfect." Now our love, our response to the love of God, is never perfect. It is never what it should be. To say it is, would be very pretentious. No child of God, unless under some deceptive influence, would claim that his love for God is perfect. In marginal Bibles this very serious defect of translation is corrected. They give " Love with us," instead of "our love." We should read, then, "Herein is love with us made perfect," which gives an entirely different sense. It is evident the apostle is not thinking of our love of God, but of the love which God has manifested.

Again, if the apostle speaks of the love of God being made perfect with us, it is plain he speaks of our apprehension of it. What is meant by this is what we must now consider.

Clearly it does not express the same thought as when we say, We are the objects of God's love. It is a great thing to know that. But many know this, heartily believe it, yet manifestly have not been made perfect in love. Love, in the perfection of its nature, is in them as we have seen; yet it has not been made perfect -with them; the apprehension of what it is needs perfecting. The apostle, speaking of the day of judgment, says:" Herein is love with us made perfect, that we may have boldness in respect of the day of judgment." (The Greek preposition en often has the sense of "in respect of," "in view of." I so translate it here.) Have we "boldness"-peace, rest of heart-in view of the day of judgment ? If so, then, according to the apostle, love has been perfected with us. But if this is lacking, if there is timidity in our souls as we think of that day, there is a defect in our apprehension of the Love that dwells in us. What then is the defect ? The answer to this question is found in what immediately follows :"Because as He is, so are we in this world." This is what is not realized where boldness in respect to the day of judgment is wanting. The thought in the minds of many is that they are to be made as He is, not that they already are as He is. How many a child of God shrinks from believing that now, in this world, he is as Christ is!
It is said, We are not where He is yet. Our bodies have not yet been changed and fashioned after His body of glory. Quite true; we are still in the body suited to this life-not yet in a body suited to heaven. Our present body is a sinful and mortal body. But the apostle is not thinking of the body; he is not occupying us with the thought of physical likeness to Christ. If he were, he ' would not say:"As He is, so are we in this world." We shall be physically like Him when we are changed into His likeness, but until then our body continues to be a natural body.

In what sense then are we now as He is ? Let us remember that the apostle is looking at the children of God as characterized by community of life with God. From that point of view, the thing that is true in Christ is true also in them. They are one with Him in the new nature given them-one with Him in life. The apostle thinks of us as identified in nature and life with Christ. As having the same nature with Him, we are as He is. As having community of life with Himself, we are already what we shall be in the day of judgment. Christ is not, cannot be, an object of judgment. As children of God, neither are we objects of judgment. The apprehension of this blessed truth, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, is what the apostle calls "Love perfected in us." C. Crain

(To be continued.)

The Evidence that the Church of God is about to Close its Earthly History

(Continued from page 101.)

Predictions of two directly opposite conditions are made in the word of God in regard to events to be consummated immediately before the end. By that end is meant the return of the Lord to establish His kingdom and close up the Times of the Gentiles. If therefore we see these predictions within a small degree of being already fulfilled prior to the rapture of the Church, we may be certain that the coming of the Saviour to the air is very near at hand.

The predictions referred to were made:-one directly by the Lord Himself; the other by the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul. To the question of the disciples, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age ? " the Lord gave a lengthy answer recorded in Matthew, chaps. 24 and 25 ; but the prediction I refer to now is that of the 14th verse of chap. 24:"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the nations; and then shall the end come." Now I recognize, in common with others, a distinction in aspect between "the gospel of the kingdom" and "the gospel of the grace of God," but I regard it as a mistake to say that the gospel of the kingdom is not, or should not be, preached now. Each are but different aspects of the one gospel; and Paul preached both.

In Acts 20:24, 25 we find the two aspects intimately connected in the ministry of the apostle Paul:"None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more." See also Acts 14:22. When he wrote, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus," it involved the present phase of the gospel of the kingdom; when he added, "And believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved," it was the gospel of the grace of God. Christ Jesus is Lord. He is also Redeemer. Men are called on to own Him in both characters. In the Jewish age, and in the coming tribulation period, the kingdom is the emphatic phase. Now, where there is intelligence, it is the grace of God that the gospel preacher will lay special stress upon.

Now it is the individual believer who owns the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Tribulation era, when Matt. 24:14 will be completely carried out, the whole world will be called on to own the sway of Him who is about to appear as King of kings and Lord of lords to reign over His world-kingdom.

But why this effort to show that the gospel of the kingdom is now being preached ? Because, my reader, the end comes when it has been carried into all the world, for a witness! And even now it has gone to the uttermost parts of the earth, so that it can confidently be said that with the possible exception of a few wild tribes of Indians in South America, or Negroes in Africa, there is probably no nation to whom the witness has not already been given. The nineteenth was the greatest missionary century since the days of the apostles. In one hundred years the whole world was practically entered with the gospel after a millennium of lethargy and indifference to the claims of the heathen. This great missionary awakening is like the trumpet blasts that herald the King's approach. In this twentieth century the work of carrying the gospel to the pagan world has gone on more extensively than ever. None can say when the last tribe or nation will get the witness message, but when they do, "then shall the end come." And, mark it well, it is not before the rapture, but after it, that the final call is to be given. It will be Jewish saints, and not Christian missionaries, who will complete the work of world-wide evangelization; therefore the coming of the Lord as predicted in i Thess. 4 must be very near !

But now we turn to consider the other prediction to which I referred in the beginning. "That day," writes the apostle, "shall not come except there come the apostasy first" (literal rendering of 2 Thess. 2:3). This is startling surely:-the gospel going into all the world-the apostasy sweeping all before it-and both just before the end, or the day of the Lord shall come!! How strange a paradox, and yet how exactly are both Scriptures being fulfilled ! Never before such wide-spread missionary activity ! Never before such far-reaching apostasy! Earnest workers guided by the Holy Spirit are hazarding their lives to carry the good news of Christ's incarnation, atonement, resurrection and coming again to the heathen world. Equally earnest, but Satan-inspired, men at home are tearing the Bible in pieces and railing at these very truths once for all delivered to the saints, and, alas! their unholy rationalizing is fast finding its way into the fields of missionary endeavor, where education is taking the place of the gospel; and culture, character building, and various accomplishments are put in place of the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners!

Theological seminaries are hot-beds of infidelity in many instances. Schools, and colleges are busy, as Harold Bolce graphically expressed it, in "Blasting at the Rock of Ages." The rising generation in so-called Christian lands bids fair to be a generation of Bible-rejectors. " The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so, and what will ye do in the end thereof ? "-That end is almost upon us, and "When the Son of Man cometh shall He find the faith on the earth ? " It is fast being supplanted by human speculations and "oppositions of science falsely so-called."

The leaven of man-worship is rapidly leavening the whole lump and preparing the way for Antichrist who shall, if it were possible, deceive the very elect. Thank God, it is not possible; but it behooves every regenerated soul to hold fast to the revealed word of God and utterly refuse the lying systems of the enemy. To sit in churches and listen to preachers of the apostasy, or to support such in any way, is treason against Christ! "He that biddeth him [the false teacher] God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."

It would be a great mercy if every converted person would refuse positively to listen twice to a minister who denies the inspiration of the Bible, or to give a penny to a church or a missionary society that gave the right hand of fellowship to men of this type. To stay the on-rushing apostasy is impossible. To protest against it and to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" is a positive duty.

In closing let me press my point again:- the world-wide gospel proclamation and world-wide apostasy at the same time are clear proofs that the end is close upon us! It is too late to trifle.

Reader, be in earnest for the few remaining hours! H. A. I.

QUES. 33.-Will the unbeliever be punished for his sins or for rejecting Christ?

ANS.-Eph. 5:6 answers your question. After enumerating, in verse 5, some of the sins of men he says, in verse 6, "Let no man, deceive you with vain words :for because of these things (the sins mentioned) cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." "The children of disobedience" are of course the rejectors of Christ; by rejecting Him they seal all their sins upon themselves, and the wrath of God comes upon them because of those sins.

QUES. 24.-Has the exhortation of 1 Tim. 2 :12 to do only with the ministry of the Word, cr does it cover more ? Would it permit women to start the hymns in the singing at meetings of the assembly or for the gospel, and lead on in loud tones ? If such leadership is not permissible some of the sisters with us need to subdue their praises.

ANS.-The passage in 1 Tim. 2 :12 mentions two things:Teaching and Authority, both of which he denies to the woman among the people of God. The first has to do with the public ministry of the word of God; the other with the government of His people. In both cases the woman is "to be in silence." As to "subduing her praises," she belongs to the assembly and is a worshiper of course, as truly as any of the men, but she is not to dominate, and "loud tones" dominating the rest are offensive in all, especially in women. Wherever, in any assembly of God, the woman leads and dominates there is something wrong. In a matter of starting a hymn we need carefully to distinguish between a desire to lead or only a desire to help in difficulty. Even then it might, perhaps, be better to let the men feel the shame of their inability to start a hymn, for if they loved God's praises and sang them at home they would not be so backward at the meetings, even though they had no musical talent. Where things are right, and the assembly in a good state, leaders in singing among the men will soon develop, for they will feel the need of it. Singing in the home should be cultivated. It is far more important than many think, for it not only develops the voice for public use, but it promotes a cheerful spirit and happy intercourse in the family.

Some answers remain for next No. of Help & Food

(Continued from page 216.)

2. WHEN ARE BELIEVERS JUSTIFIED? AND

The connection of justification with being "in Christ."

It is important for the believer to apprehend when justification attaches to him, for upon this largely depends his enjoyment of an established peace with God; it also gives ability to look with holy confidence to the future, and to "rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

In Rom. 3:26 we see that God is just in justifying him who has faith in Jesus; it does not say when he has attained to a certain degree of knowledge as to Jesus, but simply speaks of him as having the faith of which Jesus is the object.

Rom. 4:5:"To him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." Here the important point is a righteousness imputed, which, as we gathered from our first study, is linked with the faith which brings us into justification. God justifies the ungodly who believe, and this "believing God " is reckoned as righteousness. In believing we acknowledge that we are ungodly; and owning Christ as our Saviour, having the faith of Jesus, we are justified. The whole question of our standing before God is settled by it.

Abraham is given as an example of this- Of him it is said, he "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." This righteousness was not of any works which he had done, but from the fact that he believed God:it became his justification (Rom. 4:3-5). The last statement of ver. 8 is very beautiful:"The Lord in no wise will reckon sin." It is a future tense, which in the Greek indicates continuation in the future. So this, with the preceding verse, which we might say is a statement of what justification means for us, distinctly affirms our previous conclusion that justification is once for all, it abides for ever, it subsists in continuity. In contrast to this, and yet confirming it, the "are forgiven " and "are covered "of verse 7 are both in the tense which indicates an action or event completed in the past. At the moment of believing, all was "forgiven" and "covered"-such is the value of the precious blood of Christ; and as to the future, the Lord will in no wise impute sin.

How complete and perfect is the standing thus given us! Therefore, it is not that one day we are justified, and, should we not have walked as we should, the next day less justified. God's children do fail, indeed, but even so He will not entertain a charge against them, but deals with them as the Father who disciplines in His own perfect way that we maybe made partakers of His holiness. Hence "If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (i Jno. 2:1). Note that it is with the Father, because it is a question of interrupted communion with the Father into whose fellowship we have been introduced, and not a question of the imputation of sin. Sin is not imputed to the justified person, for the one sacrifice having been made which perfects forever, the whole question of sin and sins has been forever settled. We are in definite and fully established relationship as children with the Father. Now if sin comes in, it interrupts the communion between us and the Father, and our blessed Saviour on high meets the case by His advocacy with the Father. Though we sin, there is no fresh imputation of sin to us, for Jesus Christ is our Advocate before God, and of Him it is immediately stated, "He is the propitiation for our sins;" He ever lives, righteously to maintain us before God.

Thus being once purged there should be no more conscience of sins. If there were a fresh imputation, there must needs be a fresh application of the blood, for without it there is no remission, and remission is needed when sin is imputed. But Christ offered one sacrifice for sins, and "sat down in perpetuity;" there is no need to deal with that question again. As a result the apostle can speak of the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord will in no wise reckon or impute sin; and to that man righteousness apart from works is reckoned, or imputed. It is the blessed security of this position that we are called to keep in mind.

In Acts 13:38, 39 an important thought is added as to justification :" Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:and in Him all that believe are justified from all things" (J.N.D.'s Trans.) It is "in Him" that they who receive the word of salvation preached are justified. The same view of justification is given us in Gal. 2:17:"Now if in seeking to be justified in Christ we also have been found sinners, then is Christ, the minister of sin?" (J. N. D.'s Trans). As the subjects of justification, we are looked at as "in Him." Not only does justification attach to us the moment we believe, but as the immediate consequence of faith, we are " in Christ." So also in Gal. 5:6, " in Christ Jesus " (the correct order of the name) that which avails is not law but faith working by love; that is, the power of God's love manifested toward us in His Son causes faith in us to be operative from the very first and throughout the Christian path. " In Him" neither has Jew nor Gentile any place as such, for the believer is "a new creation" (Gal. 6:15)- God's workmanship "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Eph. 2:10).

Thus plainly "in Christ" means for us life and nature according to God. We have put on the new man, wherein there is no natural distinction but Christ is everything. For "if anyone be in Christ, . . . the old things have passed; behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God" (2 Cor. 5:17, J. N. D.). This is our standing the moment we believe; for it is as "in Christ" we are justified, and we are "in Christ" the moment we believe. How perfect is the believer's security and standing before God. J. Bloore

( To be continued.)

QUES. 41.-What is the meaning of Matt. 9 :17 :"Neither do men put new wine into old bottles:else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish :but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved?"

ANS. -Matthew, a customs officer, or "tax-gatherer," hated by the Jews and counted a great sinner because of this, had just proved the grace of our Lord Jesus, and made Him a feast at which " many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples." This was great offence to the Pharisees, who trusted in their own righteousness and could not therefore understand nor appreciate grace ; so they found fault with the Lord who, as the true Physician, sought for the sick and perishing. Even John's disciples did not understand the Lord's grace, for John's ministry was still a ministry of requirement and not of bestowal; so they came to enquire. The marvelous change from law to grace, from demanding to imparting, angered the many, puzzled others, and called for an explanation ; so the Lord gives it in its external or dispensational aspect in verse 16, and in its internal or moral effect in verse 17. In verse 16 He says in effect, You cannot mix Christianity with Judaism ; like an old garment which has had its day and use, Judaism is passing away, and Christianity-a totally new thing-is taking its place. To mix them would be to spoil both-as it is now seen throughout Christendom. Luther, and others with him, with many more since, and to this very hour, have labored and suffered to keep them apart and to preserve a pure gospel ; but like the life-boat in a rough sea, no sooner has one wave been overcome than another follows.

The language of verse 17 is:Grace is known only by newborn men. To the natural man it is but encouragement to sin-the ruin of both grace and himself. Because of not understanding this, Christian rulers fail seriously in their government, and cause grace to be despised. Though the grace of Christianity may, and does, temper government, it is impossible to govern natural men on the principle of grace, for they know nothing of its power. Only the children of God can appreciate grace, and the sensitiveness to sin which it produces in them preserves both it and them.

Perhaps you know that "bottles" in the original is "wineskins." They were made of goat-skins prepared for that purpose; as they grew old they grew weak, of course, and were unable to resist what fermentation " new wine " might yet develop after being transferred from the great fermenting vats to these wineskins for transportation.

The patriarchs had come forth from the place of nature or of the flesh, in the faith of a promised inheritance in the land of Canaan. And what is to be noticed in the strength and victory of their faith is this:They cling to that promise, in spite of two very severe trials of it; that is, in the face of the poverty and sorrow and disappointment which they experienced in the place of the promise, and also in spite of the desirableness and attractions and advantages which they enjoyed outside of it.

This is much to be observed, and it may be encouragement to us in such a time as the present.

There was a famine in Canaan in the days of Abraham, and again in the days of Isaac, and again in the days of Jacob. Abraham, moreover, witnessed in that land the abominations of Sodom, and the common strife and contention of the potsherds of the earth. Isaac is forced from one spot of it to another by the injurious treatment of the natives of that land. Jacob is forced out of it by the threats of his brother Esau; and further, it was the scene of humbling and of discipline to each of them in their day, by reason of their own evil ways in the sight of the Lord.

Such was Canaan to the patriarchs. They were, I may say, dishonored and disappointed, and well-nigh heart-broken in that land of promise. But that which lay outside it was altogether different. It was just as attractive to them as Canaan had been trying and humbling.

Egypt, for instance, enriches Abraham when Canaan had left him at death's door; and to Jacob the same Egypt had become the scene and the occasion of all that heart or flesh could have desired, for he came to the end of a weary pilgrimage in that land. He had known plenty of sorrow in Canaan, both before he left it for Padan-aram, and after he returned; but Egypt at last made up to him, and much more, for all his losses and sorrows. By royal grant he received the fairest and richest portion of it. He was honored and cherished there, and saw his family in increasing prosperity around him. The desires of his heart seemed all to get their answer there ; and, to crown all, Egypt restored to him what the wild beasts of Canaan had robbed him of-Joseph, whom he had thought some beast in the promised land had torn to pieces, was alive in Egypt, and the second man in the kingdom.

Here was Egyptian flattery and fascination indeed, and that too in full contrast with all that Canaan had been to him. At evening-time there was light ; but it was an evening in Egypt. His eye might well have desired the lengthening and lingering of such a sunset, and his heart might have been tempted to contrast with it the clouds of his morning and noon-day in Canaan. But faith is called an overcomer ; it tries many a question with nature, and in some of the saints it gets many a fair and brilliant victory. And so was it here with Jacob, though it may be humbling to one's own heart to trace it. For we have here before us a beautiful witness that, in spite of all this, Canaan and not Egypt was the patriarch's object.

This is the victory that overcame Egypt then, and overcomes the world to this hour. No recollections of sorrows or disappointments in Canaan, no present possession of honors and wealth in Egypt, moved him. The promise of God ruled in his heart. Of Canaan as promised of God he spoke; in Canaan he hoped; in the place of his present prosperity he was a stranger, and thought of home only in the degraded and impoverished land he had left behind him. It was in Canaan he would be buried. It was there he was in spirit when he blessed his children, and it was there he gave the double portion to his adopted firstborn.

There is something very fine in this, and for us something significant and seasonable. For I may surely say of the present time through which we are passing, there is the poor Canaan and the wealthy and important Egypt. That which, like Canaan to the patriarchs, connects itself with God in the thoughts of faith is in a small and enfeebled state, while the world around is growing in its proper greatness and strength and dignity every hour.

It may be hard to learn this lesson which Jacob practiced. We may see it on the page of his history, without finding it on any corresponding one of our own.

Joseph, however, after Jacob, illustrates this same power of faith. Egypt had received him when Canaan had cast him out. Out of the one land he had been sold as a bond-slave; in the other, he had been seated on the second seat in the kingdom. But withal (for faith is " the victory that overcometh the world"), Egypt never became Canaan to Joseph. The promise of God lived in Joseph's heart, as it had lived in Jacob's. Disappointments and sorrows in Canaan, flatteries and successes and honors in Egypt wrought not their natural results in that heart, because it was thus the seat of the promise of God. This was, in the vigorous words of the apostle (in the patriarchal form which such energy would take)," a laying hold of eternal life " -which some of us know so little of.

But I must observe something further. It is felt by us to be a serious and hazardous thing at times, to let the world know that we have learnt this lesson-that poor Canaan is better than wealthy Egypt. We fully understand that men cannot lightly have the good thing they are nourishing and improving thus slighted. It is a reproach on themselves when the world is undervalued.

There was a moment in Joseph's history, as I judge, when he felt this, when he had this experience of which I speak.

Jacob, his father, when dying, had made him swear that he would bury him in the land of Canaan. When Joseph comes to act upon his oath, he seems to me to feel this, that he was about to venture on a serious and hazardous matter. He evidently sets himself as before a business which had its special difficulties. He was high at court, as we may say; for, as we read, the physicians, the court physicians, were his servants (Gen. 50:2).And we know the resources of the kingdom, the strength and wealth of the realm of Egypt, were at that moment under his hand. But still he hesitates about the matter of burying his father in Canaan, and gets the help and intercession of Pharaoh's near kindred.

Why all this ? Was it not a small thing for so great a man to do? Yes; but a request to be buried in Canaan was, in some sense, putting a reproach upon Egypt. It seemed to say, after all, the Canaan of degradation and poverty was better than the Egypt of honor and wealth – that the gleanings of such an Ephraim were better than the vintage of such an abuser.

This was the language of Jacob's request ; and Joseph felt it to be a serious thing to convey such language to the ear of Pharaoh. But he did. Faith again triumphed ; and after this manner is he a witness to us, that we should let the world distinctly learn from us, that, with all its advance and promise, it is nothing to us, while Christ's thing, though in weakness, is our object. J. G. B.

Oh the grace of Christ my Saviour,
Far above all earthly ken,
Leaving His eternal glory
To redeem poor fallen men!

Can it be for me so wretched,
That He came to bleed and die;
That for me He now is pleading
E'en at God's right hand on high ?

Yes, the message reads so clearly,
Sinners Jesus came to save:
On the cross He made atonement,
There His precious blood He gave.

All my sins were laid upon Him,
Jesus bore them, every one;
From the dead His Father raised Him,
Now He sits upon the throne.

Soon He'll come for me,
His purchase (Ransomed trophy of His grace!):
I shall then behold His glory,
I shall see Him face to face!

Let me then, in my weak measure,
Live to praise Thee, Lord, below,
Till I reach the many mansions
Where eternal praises flow.

F. A. E.

John 1:17. " The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Law and grace are diverse principles; the law demands, grace gives.

Gal. 3:10, 13. The law says:" Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them "-the law has cursed every soul that is under it, for none have fully kept it; but " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (ver. 13). One is law, and the other grace. What a contrast!

Rom. 10:4. " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth;" Christ not only fully kept the law, and glorified God in all His life, but died for our sins, bore for us the law's curse, and He is our righteousness before God.

Rom. 7:4-6:" Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. The believer has " become dead to the law " by Christ's death, " that we should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead."

Gal. 2:16-21. " I, through the law am dead to the law" (condemned, put to death by it, and so dead to it) " that I might live unto God." This deliverance from the law, and joy in God's grace, gives power to please God and walk in His ways.

Gal. 5:1, The apostle's exhortation is:" Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage "-1:e., the yoke of the law, of which the apostle Peter speaks in Acts 15:10-" which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear."

The apostle Paul writing to the Galatian saints who had received the gospel, had been saved by it, and delivered from the bondage of the law, asks, " How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, where-unto ye desire again to be in bondage ? " and in chap. 5:3,4, he testifies to them:" Christ has become of no effect unto you who are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

These are searching truths for those who would, in this "dispensation of the grace of God," put themselves under the law.

Some may say, and have said:This doctrine of "grace" for the life and walk of believers is a very dangerous doctrine, for it allows them to live in sin, to please themselves, with no restraint. This very question is raised and answered in Romans 6. The answer is " God forbid:How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" The truth is, the true believer, being born of God, now hates sin (as before he loved it,) and his earnest desire is to live and " walk in newness of life." He loves God and hates sin. " The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge that… He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again " (2 Cor. 5:14,15). Love to our blessed Lord is the power for the new life.

The standard for the daily walk of the believer is a high standard; it is higher than the law, it is Christ Himself. It is written in Col. 2:6-8, " As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him." Col. 3:1:" If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

1 John 2:6:"He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked."

1 Peter 2:21:" For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps."

John 10:27:" My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

The believer in Christ is born again-born of God (1 Peter 1:23; John 1:13). He is justified by faith, and at peace with God (Rom. 5:1). This is all of God's grace. " It is of faith, that it might be by grace" (Rom. 4:16). Again, in Eph. 2:8-10, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God:not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Think of it, fellow-believer; what marvelous grace!

Acts 13:39 shows what the law could not do for the believer:" By Him (Jesus) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Since "no man is justified by the law in the sight of God" (Gal. 3:11), how can the law be either the rule of life or of daily walk for him who is not under it (Gal. 5:18), who is dead to it (Rom. 7:4), and who is by faith united to the risen, glorified Man at God's right hand? In Gal. 2:21, the Holy Spirit's emphatic statement is, "For if righteousness come by (or, is through) the law, then Christ is dead in vain"-has died for nought. With the word of God in his hands, how can the believer go back again to the law, when the law is not of faith, but is the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones? (2 Cor. 3:6-11.)

In what we have had before us from the word of God, it is plain that the law has no claim upon the believer. He is looked upon as freed from the law. His standing before God in grace is perfect, because it is in Christ, being accepted in the beloved (Col. 2:10; Eph. 1:6)-not accepted in himself, or anything he has done, or for any righteousness of his own, but accepted in the full value of Christ's finished work for him. R. D.

" Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee" Ps. 76:10.

The history of man, dark and cruel as it is, has perhaps few pages as dismal as the ones now making in Europe. One could hardly imagine that any good could be found growing out of such a scene of carnage and devastation. Yet there has perhaps been no war in which the activities of the grace of God have been more marked or beneficent. Christian men and women have been extremely active, especially in the distribution of the Holy Scriptures among soldiers of the various armies. As these men have been chiefly under the religious training of the church of Rome, and the Scriptures there are kept from the people, the Book is entirely new to those men. They had conceived Christianity as made up of mummeries, of ceremonies, of images, of trust in saints and the Virgin Mary, and behold, the Book ignored all such things and talked to them in plain and simple language of Jesus, His lovely words and deeds and teachings. They were amazed, attracted and riveted by the words and tales of love. Christianity then had something real in it. It addressed itself with intelligence to men who had needs in their souls which nothing had ever met before. This met the needs, brought them face to face with God-a God who had given His only Son to save them, and who sought their salvation and present and eternal welfare. There was incentive to read such things, and those who could not read gathered about one who could, that they also might learn the wonderful messages from heaven.

One writes to Ms wife:"My comrades at first laughed at seeing me read 'my mass,' as they called it; but little by little, in face of the daily dangers and by the help of the Holy Spirit, they laugh no more. Not a few of them ask me for my New Testament, and others, when they find me reading, gather around and ask me to read to them. Pretty much all confess that the teaching is surely divine. This leads me to pray earnestly for my comrades, that God may open their hearts to His love, and I feel sure that fruit to His glory will come out of it all. I beg all Christians everywhere to cry to God on our behalf, for all about me I hear it said, when the war is spoken of, 'It is because of our sins that God has sent us this terrible trial.' Therefore, fellow-Christians, all over the earth, on our knees let us supplicate our Saviour-God to intervene in mercy by producing repentance and the confession of our faults, that thus He may shorten this nameless trial, and that many, laboring under the burden of their sins, as once we did, may with us also find forgiveness, peace and joy in Christ. I cannot doubt God will do this.

" I do wish you could see my comrades around me, asking me how it is that I can be so peaceful at the thought of leaving this world under the assurance that I have eternal life and my sins all forgiven. How good to be able to tell them that it all comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, by His dying upon the cross for us. We constantly talk together of these things. As soon as the bullets and shells leave us a little while of quiet in the trenches, we draw near together and our talks go on. A number seem really affected."

Sons of Christian parents also, who had resisted the teaching and influence of their environments, now that they were going to face the stern realities of death, turned to the Lord, and have become earnest witnesses to their companions-in-arms. One of them writes as follows:

"My joy is great in finding that many of the children of Christians (who, like myself, had remained deaf to the appeals of our dear Saviour through His servants while we were at home) have at last responded and taken their part in the eternal bliss which awaits those who have bowed at the feet of Jesus."

Nor are these blessed activities of the grace of God confined to the army. A Christian lady who went to see her relatives near to the Swiss frontier just before the outbreak of war, and was unable, until recently, to get away again, reports a wonderful change in the civil population. In former visits she was repulsed by all, for she was faithful in speaking to them about their souls. On this visit, she says, not only did they no more repel her, but sent for her, begging her to visit them and bring her Bible. They gathered around her in each neighborhood to hear her read from her Bible and talk to them of God's grace.

How exceedingly blessed thus to see once more fulfilled the sure word of God, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee" (Ps. 76:10), while we wait for the fulfilment of the rest of the verse, "The remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain," that is, He will not permit the iniquity of man to go beyond what He can use for blessing. Thus we sing, while yet the conflict rages:

"How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable Friend ;
Whose love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end.

" 'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We'll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that's to come."

Were only all the nations involved in this frightful conflict to humble themselves before God and confess their sins they would doubtless soon find peace dawning upon them-a righteous peace, for a righteous God can bless no other peace in any circle of men. What lessons for the nations of the earth are in the history of Israel, if they would but hearken to it.

Back of the immediate causes which have to do with the present awful conflict in Europe, there is an underlying one which we should not ignore.

We stand amazed at the terrible sacrifice of human life, of the tens and hundreds of thousands of souls ruthlessly slain on the fields of battle-on land and sea, and even in skies; and we ask ourselves:Why is all this ? Why this terrible slaughter ? In trying to form some idea of it all, the mind is staggered at the contemplation. Is human life after all only a game of chance ? Is it, as the philosopher put it, but "the survival of the fittest"? Yet we have had some dreams of Universal Peace; we have built our Peace Palaces, and had our Peace Conferences, and we are rudely awakened to find all our fond hopes dashed to pieces! We are as far as ever from a solution of this fond hope of universal peace and of human destiny.

If evolution be true, how are we to account for the fact that the most enlightened nations are the very ones engaged in this death-struggle ? The very ones who had given the bright hope of peace and prosperity are now convincing us of the folly of ever expecting such a thing from men, be they ever so enlightened or progressive, if indeed progress can now be taken in any other sense than the ability to invent means for the destruction of our fellow-men. For though the responsibility of this awful war in a great measure rests on the shoulders of a comparatively few, can those few, or the many, or all mankind put together, stop this gigantic conflict ? Is it not, rather, like a fearful conflagration which has got beyond human control, and needs a master-hand to subdue it ? But where is that master-hand to be found? And why is it not stretched forth to stay the conflagration which has caught the mightiest nations, and is ravaging some of the fairest countries of the earth, leaving myriads upon myriads of homes and hearts desolate ?

May we not go further and ask, If this destruction could have been prevented, why was it not prevented ? These are questions which have agitated the minds of many. What is the answer ?

The answer is dependent upon another question -"Is there a God ?" For if God is not, then we are indeed but irresponsible animals; more intelligent than the horse or sheep, but just as unfortunate; for today we eat and drink, and to-morrow we die. Then the sooner we die and end our misery, the better.

But we cannot subscribe to the Suicide's Creed after this fashion; the whole nature of man revolts against it, and everything around us in its normal condition testifies against it too. Ah, yes, there is a true and living God, who is absolute Sovereign, master of every situation, no matter how difficult; One who is never taken by surprise, but is prepared and competent for every emergency.

Why, then, does God not prevent or arrest such i thing as war ? If He has almighty power, why is it not put forth in such a way as to give us universal peace and prosperity? How often do we hear the denial, or the blaspheming, of God on these very grounds:That if there is a God, why the permission of evil ?

It may not satisfy the average reader to say that a time is fast approaching when God will manifest Himself in the subduing of all evil; when He will be universally owned and submitted to in His government over the earth. Such however is the case, and must fee if God exists at all; for of necessity, He must sooner or later be recognized by all His rational creatures, and His authority must be owned. But it' there is one thing more than another that this period of which we speak as coming will manifest, it is that mere power cannot really subdue evil; for as soon as God's hand is removed, the evil springs up in an intenser form than ever, and God will be obliged to put it down, and keep it down forever, by the power of His wrath.

The whole question, then, is this:If God is to be God, His intelligent creatures must give Him His true place among them as Sovereign; they must manifest their loyalty to Him by unfeigned subjection and obedience. But is not this the very thing that God has been denied by His subjects? Has there not been a conspiracy against Him by those who should be loyal to Him ? Is not this the basic reason of all the ills that affect the world, that man has proved a traitor, and instead of working in the interests of his King and Sovereign, he has worked into the hands of an arch-rebel, and joined in the rebellion against the God of creation ?

Can we wonder then that things are going wrong with man, or that he has troubles that he cannot cope with ? Little as he may be willing to admit it, there is no other answer that the universal conscience of man can give. W. Huss

Satan and Christ

No one could plead for righteousness more than Satan does. Go where you like, in any new field, and proclaim to men the gospel of the grace of God, and at once Satan will raise a host of advocates of righteousness who will say that your preaching means "Let us sin that grace may abound." They plead righteousness, but they love not man, and the righteousness they plead drives men from God.

Christ pleads for righteousness too, and He loves to uphold righteousness. He threw Himself between it and its violators at the cross to bear the righteous results of their violations. He is the Friend of men; the righteousness He pleads brings them to God. Oh, the blessedness of knowing that "God is just" in being the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus (Rom. 3:26). It brings a peace to the soul which is unshakable, for the soul of man knows well that God is a righteous God, and that nothing therefore can be stable and sure unless it be in harmony with that attribute of Love, perfect love, displayed in the "eternal redemption" which Christ has obtained for us by His blood (Heb. 9 :12). Love alone is not enough ; it must have righteousness for its foundation, else it cannot answer the claims of God's nature, nor minister true peace to the soul of man. The Christian, too, like his Master, will plead for righteousness; not like Satan, who in pleading it is "the accuser of the brethren," but as Christ who, in maintaining righteousness, secures the blessing and happiness of His people.

"Fervent Prayer"

As one passes from the book of Judges into i Samuel, what

a striking change! There all ends in the lowest degradation:Samson, the last judge of Israel, a profligate Nazarite ; Micah's idolatrous worship, with a Levite for its priest ; the tribes at war through the lowest of crimes-all is dark as midnight. Ruth, "a stranger," follows – a lovely illustration of what faith is. Then i Samuel, opening with the case of a sorrowful woman, introduces us to prayer and the results following.

Hannah, too sorrowful to eat and drink and enjoy the feast with others, has gone into the Tabernacle then set up at Shiloh, "and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore." She was so truly in the presence of God alone that "she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard." Oh, that this had been the condition of the nation of Israel; they would have known none of the miseries which have followed them since and until now. Even Eli, the high-priest, poor, dear man, more accustomed to the ritual than to reality, takes this praying woman to be drunk with wine. How patiently and sweetly she answers:"No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit ; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord." Therefore, though as yet there is no change in her circumstances, "the peace of God which passeth all understanding"-none the less real on that account-so possesses her soul that " the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad." She knew in her soul that she had the petition that she desired of Him (i Jno. 5 :15). And, brethren, He is not changed; He is the same now as then, and hears the "effectual fervent prayer" of faith now as He heard it in that Israelitish woman.
But there was in her petition far more than a mere personal desire, and that is what gave it such fervency. The man-child she prayed for would be " given unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head;" he would be a man separated to God by his mother from his earliest infancy. How much we ask and do not get, because we would consume it upon our lusts (Jas. 4:3), and do ourselves and others harm with it. In the second chapter, having obtained what she prayed for, she is full of praise; she proclaims the grace of God which she has proved for herself, and who they are that benefit by it. But though, as a true mother, she would no doubt gladly have hugged her child longer to her bosom, he had been lent to the Lord, and he must go where the Lord's interests center to manifest there the full fruition of "effectual fervent prayer."

How attractive and instructive to the Christian heart all this is, for if Christendom has fallen as the Jewish economy has done, such prayers as Hannah's will still be productive of blessing.

Holiday Gifts

The holidays are nearing when, according to custom, many presents will be given and received. We would put in a plea for "lectures on the tabernacle," by S. Ridout. We believe it would be difficult to find a more excellent gift to be made to sober-minded Christians. The subject is gone into with fuller detail than any other publication we know of on the subject, and the illustrations by John Bloore, all original, have been made from a careful study of the text. Its price is $2.00, sent post-paid anywhere. Such a gift does not necessarily give a temporary pleasure, but leaves in the reader's soul the sweetness of Christ with fresh views of the beauty of truth.

QUES. 1.-Is the Lord Jesus Christ a man in heaven now, and is He literally to rule over this world as a king rules over his nation ?

ANS.-Yes, surely, though in a glorified state. He is as truly a Man in heaven where He is now as when He was here upon earth in a state of humiliation. After His resurrection, He remained on earth forty days, appearing to His disciples again and again. See in Luke 24 :38-1:5 how the Lord convinces them, even by eating before them and showing them the wounds in His body, that He was the very same Man that suffered on the cross, and with whom they had companied for three years.

When He finally left them, to return to heaven, they saw Him taken up bodily from among them on the Mount of Olives. As their eyes remained fastened heavenward, while He had passed out of their vision, angels were sent them to say, "This same Jesus (His human name) which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven " (Acts 1 :9-ll). Meanwhile He is declared by Scripture, in a special manner in Hebrews 7, to be a Man in heaven', filling there His office as High Priest of His people. When the time of judgment comes, it will be "by that Man whom He (God) hath ordained" (Acts 17:31). When He takes in hand the ruling of the world, it will be as the One of whom it is written, ''Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given," etc. (Isa 9 :6, 7). When the Son of God became a Man it was forever and ever. He will no more cease to be Son of Man than He will cease to be the Son of God. If He did, we would lose Christ, for Christ is both God and Man; and if we could be without Christ in heaven, it would cease to be the heaven promised by our Lord in John 14 :2, 3.

Much of what we have said above answers your second question. You cannot clearly understand the Old Testament apart from Christ, the promised Messiah, being realized as a temporal Euler -the King of the Jews. To us, in the New Testament, He-imparts spiritual blessings which link us with heaven. But in the Old Testament He is promised as the King of Israel, issuing from the royal house of David, heir to David's throne, and as such to subdue all the nations under His authority. When the Church, now in formation, is completed and taken to heaven (1 Thess. 4 :14-17), the dispensation of heavenly things is over ; then the Jewish or earthly dispensation is renewed for the fulfilment of all the promises of God to Israel. It is this which brings about Armageddon about which men now anxiously inquire. The nations of the earth will refuse the temporal reign of Christ as they have refused the spiritual. They will also seek to destroy Israel, with whom is linked the Lord's temporal reign, as they have sought to destroy the Church, with whom is linked His spiritual reign. Satan, the prince of this world, will assemble them against Jerusalem, where they will meet with complete defeat.

Mixing together or confounding the earthly with the heavenly things, causes confusion and darkens the understanding of the word of God. " Rightly dividing the word of truth" is of vital importance.

A LOST QUESTION

We have in mind receiving from some one, not long since, a question concerning the hours mentioned in some parts of Scripture. In some way it has slipped away from us, for we cannot lay our hand upon it. If the writer will kindly put his question again, we will seek to make it secure until answered. Meanwhile we ask his forbearance.

FOREWORD

The day has passed when writers or preachers need to tender thoughtful men an apology for calling their attention to the supremely important subject of the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only the wilfully blind and culpably ignorant can fail to discern the signs of the times that so clearly indicate the near approach of Him, for whose return saints in all ages since our Lord's ascension have earnestly yearned.

It was once the fashion to scoffingly refer to pre-millennial teachers as " visionary enthusiasts " and "rank pessimists," when they declared that the coming of the King and not humanitarian agencies would alone bring in the reign of peace on earth predicted by the angel host. But the pessimists are now on the other side. The frightful European convulsion of the last few months has caused a despairing wail to rise from thousands of throats once given to lauding the achievements of civilization and the evolutionary progress of the race. The so-called Christian nations, whether Romanist, Greek or Protestant, have proven to be only veneered barbarians, and the conditions predicted to prevail immediately before the coming of the Son of Man are rapidly being developed. The seals of the roll taken by the Lamb have not yet been broken, but little discernment is needed to see that few changes will be necessary to prepare the world for the riding forth of the four horses and the shaking of all things terrestrial. Therefore the need of sounding out with all faithfulness, in the little time that remains, the awakening midnight cry :

"BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM!"

It is late – midnight is already past. The dark hours preceding the shining forth of the Morning Star are upon us. Lamps must be trimmed and provided with oil now, or it will shortly be too late to go in with Him to the wedding. To rouse the sleepers is the object of this paper. May God speed the message and bless the present truth!

It is late in the dispensation, so late that everything else pales into insignificance before the great blazing fact of all facts that "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." To all His own the cry rings out in power :

"AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST !"

The Lord Jesus told of ten virgins who went forth to meet the Bridegroom. It depicted the early days of the Church's history, when love was warm and saints longed to behold His face once marred for them on Calvary's tree-now shining with a radiance brighter than the mid-day sun. Wherever apostolic preachers went they carried the good news, not alone of a Saviour who had come in grace, and in deepest humiliation had suffered and died the Just for the unjust to bring men to God, but they also declared in language unmistakable and with solemn assurance that the once-Crucified was coming again ; coming to summon His own to Himself above, and take them in to the Father's house; then, with all His redeemed, to appear visibly before an astonished world and, putting down all other rule, to take His great power and reign.

The Old Testament had predicted the sufferings and the following glory of Him who was to be Israel's Messiah and a Redeemer for the whole world. Apostolic preaching was based on these two great pillars of divine revelation. He had come to suffer. He was coming again to bring in the glory! And so, the Christian company, like virgins waiting the call to go in to the marriage-feast in the Bridegroom's train, turned their expectant faces toward the glory-gate longing for their Lord's return.

But clays and months and years slipped by. The expected One had not forgotten. He did not willingly delay His coming. But His heart yearned over others who had not yet found eternal blessing through His sufferings, and because He was "not willing that any should perish," He waited in mercy till many more might be saved. It was right to look for Him daily; but it was wrong to assume that He must come in any particular generation. And here the virgins failed. They strained their eyes for One whose face they did not see. They yearned for One who seemed to disappoint their hopes, and then they took their ease, gave up the waiting attitude and slept among the dead.

And while they slept, they dreamed. The dreams were strange and wonderful, but different far to the reality their waking eyes had looked upon. The whole professing Church seemed lulled to slumber as by the devil's opiates. And then it was the dream of a converted world and a Christless millennium drove from the mind and heart the truth that earth's only hope was in the coming One. Fitful was the slumber at times, deep and heavy the sleep at others, as through the long night the professing Church dreamed on. But at the mystic midnight hour a Voice broke in upon the drowsing virgin company that roused them from their visionary deceptions, and startled them to preparation for the forgotten One they had gone out to meet. It was the cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh! " And loud it swells and louder, waking every sleeping saint-yea, and arousing some who only have a name, and many more who have not even that ! To-day the loudest voice on earth is that of the announcer of the coming Christ! Everywhere the midnight cry is sounding out, bringing with it solemn responsibilities, and causing many hearts to fail with fear, while others leap for joy. It is heard in the cannon's roar and the rattling musketry-fire on scores of battlefields. It sounds in the swelling tumult and wordy war of capital and labor. It cries aloud in the widespread apostasy from the once-for-all-delivered faith and the turning of Christendom unto fables, to tickle itching ears. It rings out in power in the great awakening among Christians in all lands, stirring them to Bible study and calling to preparation of heart and life in view of the Bridegroom's coming. Israel, too, unknowingly, are helping to shout the warning, yet joyful announcement, that " the coming of the Lord draweth nigh!" The "fig-tree" of Judah and "all the trees " of the Gentile nations are putting forth their green boughs declaring that summer is nigh.

It is in view of all this that I would solemnly challenge my reader :What will the Lord's personal coming mean to you ? Do you know the Coming One, or are you still a stranger to the long-promised Deliverer of this groaning creation ? His advent draws on apace. Yet a very, very little while and the Coming One will come and shall not tarry. And you, how does such news as this affect you ? If redeemed to God by the precious atoning blood, if saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, you may well leap for joy at the very thought of soon beholding your Saviour's face. But if still in your sins, still "in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity," it is high time that you be awakened to the seriousness of your condition. For, whether you are ready to meet Him or not, He is coming again, and His advent will mean fulness of blessing- for His own, but unmitigated wrath for those who have trampled upon the offers of His grace.

Reader, awake! Open your eyes, unstop your ears ; arouse yourself while yet there remains a moment of mercy. The midnight cry rings loud and clear :

" BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH ! GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM."

But on every hand is also heard the voice of the scoffer and objector. The unfaithful servant shuts his eyes to the most manifest signs of the times and cries, "My Lord delayeth His coming." The unbelieving scorner asks ironically, "Watchman, what, of the night? " and tarries not for the answer:"The morning cometh, and also the night!" The scornful cynic exclaims:"Where is the promise of His coming, for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." But he is wilfully and culpably ignorant of the solemn fact that all things do riot continue as they were, for changes of vast import and momentous consequences are taking place- politically, religiously, and even physically, in the earth beneath and the heavens above. Even earnest Christians are not wanting who ask, hesitatingly perhaps, but none the less unbelievingly, "What special reasons are there for expecting the Lord Jesus now, that have not always existed since He ascended to heaven ? The apostolic band and believers in the earliest period were all looking for His return. Yet He came not, and long centuries have since elapsed. What evidence is there that now His advent is so nigh, and that there may not be as long a time yet to elapse ere He comes back than has already passed ? "

We admit the reasonableness of the queries, while grieved at the latent unbelief they manifest. To answer them is the writer's present design, and in order to do so there are a large number of scriptures relating to the Jews, the Gentiles and the Church of God, which it will be necessary to examine. To take them up in their inverse order may be most helpful at the present time, so we shall first of all inquire, What can be gleaned from the past history of, and present conditions prevailing in the Church of God that would indicate the soon closing-up of the present age and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be the theme of our next paper, if God will. H. A. Ironside

(To be continued.)

Note,-All persons sending communications for this department of our magazine, are especially requested to sign their names in full, and to give their P. O. address. One reason is that we can often find, and would send them, some publication in our Publishers' Catalogue which answers the question asked better and more fully than we can do in our limited and often over-crowded space. Another reason is the necessity of guarding scrupulously the integrity of the purpose of this department. editor.

QUES. 15.-A brother among us for many years, a faithful man, some time ago seemed suddenly to fall out of the way, apparently through a break-down under the pressure of trial and the circumstances of the way; physical conditions may also have had a hand in it. He ceased to take part with his brethren in the breaking of bread, while continuing much as before to minister the word of God; this has caused friction among the Lord's people, some accepting his ministry gladly as before, others claiming that it is an inconsistent course which should not be allowed. A word from you would be welcome.

ANS.-It would seem evident, from what you say, that the brother is under the Lord's discipline, for what cause we may never fully know here, but we know the Lord's discipline is always for a good cause, for He never judges arbitrarily. If this be so with the brother, let others take heed lest they add to it, and be found as "Job's comforters." Order should surely be carefully maintained in the house of God, but priestly sympathy certainly holds no second place to it; indeed there is a time when sympathy and ,love must be first, and due order wait for its proper time. The Lord's table is not our center, but Christ is. Every case therefore should be measured accordingly. Have those whom the brother has heretofore faithfully served sought in return to serve him in patience and love in view of his restoration to cheerfulness and happiness ?

QUES. 16.-Can we say that all Christians are subjects of the kingdom? This question is asked with the knowledge that Christians occupy a closer place by far than mere subjects.

ANS.-Most assuredly all Christians are subjects of the kingdom. We cannot call Christ Lord without confessing this; and, after the name Saviour, is there a sweeter one than that of Lord to the believer?-that is, if we surrender ourselves to Him, body, soul and spirit, to live henceforth only unto Him. A wife, though the nearest of all to her husband, tenderly loved by him and cared for as is no other being, is not thereby released from subjection to him; she is within the circle of his authority as well as all others in the house. The kingdom has other forms beside that of the dispensational, millennial kingdom, when Christ shall take the rule of this world in His hand and have sway everywhere. The 13th of Matthew gives much light on the subject.

QUES. 17.-What is the meaning of 1 John 5 :16?

ANS.-1 Cor. 11 :30-32 explains it; it is God's government among His people in this life. In psalm 73, the psalmist while out of communion with God complains of this government, but he sees it all plainly when he gets back into the sanctuary. A "sin unto death'' would be such high-handed evil that God, who must maintain the holiness of His character, could not release the guilty one, but exercise His discipline in bringing him to death. Of course, "life" and "death" in that passage (as in all those which refer to the government of God in His house) apply to this life and to the body of the believer; his soul never ceases to be under shelter of the blood of Jesus; but this in no wise interferes with God's discipline. Our children never cease to be our children however sorely we may have to discipline them. Grace and government are two very distinct lines of truth treated of by the word of God ; they never of course interfere with each other, having very different purposes.

QUES. 18.-"Will you kindly explain the apparent difficulty in Rev. 17 :8-10? "The beast which thou sawest, was, and is not. And there are seven kings, five are fallen and one is," etc. If, as seems clear from Daniel, "the beast'' here referred to is the fourth or Roman empire, why does the angel say, "the beast. . . is not," for we know it was the beast that banished John to Patmos, where he had the vision.

Further, if as in verse 8, "the beast is not," how are we to understand, of the seven heads on the beast which are in part explained to be seven kings, that " five are fallen, and one is." If the beast "is not," at the point of time from which the angel speaks, how can it be said in verse 10 of the "seven kings" that "one is?" The answer maybe simple, but it is a difficulty to many.

ANS.-The important figure in Rev. 17 is the woman, not the beast; it is her character and connection with the empire, and her destruction finally by that empire which is emphasized. Thus we must consider what is said about the beast from the standpoint of the vision. What makes John wonder is the woman-"And I wondered, seeing her, with great wonder" (ver. 6). Now the woman is the false church. In John's day she was not in the position of mastery upon the beast; she was to attain this position at a future time-which is the standpoint of the vision. For us, the fulfilment of the vision began in the past, when the Roman See attained to supremacy. She is continuing to-day in an abated form, and will rise again to supremacy in connection with the seventh head of the beast, continuing in that position during the existence of the seventh head, who "must remain [only] a little while" (ver. 10).

Now what is said about the beast is in view of the woman. From this view-point, the beast was, 1:e., had its pagan imperial existence. During the sitting of the woman it is not, 1:e., no longer has the same character while the woman sits upon it. The heads and horns are given as means of identifying what it is the woman sits upon-not as contemporaneous with her, except as to the seventh head and ten horns; for, clearly, the woman did not exist till near the end of the sixth head, of which it is said to John, "one is."

Then the third state of the beast is given-the eighth head- when it rises up again "out of the abyss," after it has received a mortal wound ; doubtless this is brought in here because it is under that head, in union with the ten kings, that the woman is destroyed. It is this confederacy also which makes war with the Lamb, when the beast also reaches its end-he "goeth into destruction."

QUES. 19.-A matter is exercising quite a few here, namely, the making of shells and munitions of war, and I wish to ask a question on behalf of all the exercised ones. Is it consistent for Christians to be engaged in such business ? An aged brother says that Gen. 9:6 has not been revoked ; hence it stands good, and is a national right, according to Rom. 13 :1-4 ; therefore the call to arms by a government to chastise a guilty nation, is just, and not in opposition to God's word.
ANS.-Your question, though containing more than a previous one (see Ques. 11 in March number), has been already pretty fully treated. First of all, we would say that no Christian can be conscience for another; each one is pleasing to God only in the measure in which he acts for God according to the light he has. We agree with what the "aged brother" has said. Many nowadays having imbibed mistaken views, would turn the rulers into ministers of grace, whilst God has made them ministers of justice. There is no need of a sword to minister grace, but there is to minister justice. If thieves and robbers arise to commit depredations, the ruler is to go after them with the sword ; if a nation comes to do the same thing, it is to be met in the same way, though this may require the calling out of all the forces the ruler can command. War, if just, is but the extreme of government. The Christian, who is called upon to follow in the footsteps of Him who came "not to destroy men's lives, but to save them," naturally shrinks from having part in this, and as far as lies in him, will avoid it as well as every feature appertaining to it.

QUES. 20.-It is customary at our general meetings for the local assembly to direct as to who shall preach in the evening gospel meetings. Is this scriptural ?

ANS -Scripture does not cut out every detail for us. It lays down broad principles, and then expects us to fill in the details as those in whom dwells the Spirit of God. In this case the broad principle is, " Let all things be done decently, and in order." If the local assembly has called together a promiscuous lot of people to offer them the ministry of the word of God, they should see to it that the best which they can do, is done. A few wise men, without prejudice or favoritism, might justly be entrusted with this responsibility by the local assembly. They know best the people in attendance and the spiritual condition prevailing ; they can therefore most intelligently judge what ministry is most suitable.

QUES. 21.-Does Hebrews 6 :4-6 and 10 :26 teach that a person who has professed Christ and fallen into sin, perhaps for years, could never have another chance ; whilst a true Christian, having done the same thing, can be restored upon repentance?

ANS.-These passages teach no such thing. To "sin wilfully " (chap. 10:26) is the same, now in Christianity, as it was in Judaism to "despise Moses' law" (ver. 28). It is wilfully despising, or rejecting, the truth of Christianity which they once professed. It is evident that such place themselves beyond the bounds of salvation, because the Christ they deny is the only means of salvation God has for men.

"When an Israelite sinned, he was to confess it upon the lamb that was slain for him, and the sin was "forgiven him" (Lev. 5 :1-10). In like manner, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous :and He is the propitiation for our sins." But the despiser, whether Jew or Christian, despises the provision which God has made for putting away sin.

The passages do not say that the persons in question must necessarily abide in the condition in -which they are, but they do teach that while in that condition they are beyond all power to save them. The true Christian who has been saved by the grace of God, and is kept by the power of God, does not fall into that state, though it is a warning to him to keep near the Lord.

We reproduce this frank expression of Dr. Judson's difficulties in his missionary work because we believe it applies to present conditions. Not only is the love of ornaments often seen among Christians, but even a tendency to imitate the voluptuous fashions of the day, which are no doubt responsible for much actual crime. Oh that there may be among God's dear people such a laying hold by faith of our glorious portion in heaven, now so near at hand, as will set us to "perfecting holiness in the fear of God " (2 Cor. 7:1).-[ED.

By Adoniram Judson-late missionary to Burma.

To the female members of Christian churches in the United States of America :

In raising up a church of Christ in this heathen land, we have found one chief obstacle in that principle of vanity, that love of dress and display, which has been a ruling passion of the fair sex, as the love of riches, power and fame has characterized the other.

That obstacle became more formidable lately through the admission of two or three fashionable females in the church, and the arrival of several missionary sisters dressed and adorned in that manner which is too prevalent in our beloved native land.

On my meeting the church after a year's absence, I beheld an appalling profusion of ornaments, and saw the demon of vanity was laying waste the female department. At that time I had not maturely considered the subject, and did not feel sure what ground I ought to take. I apprehended also that I should be unsupported and perhaps opposed by some of my coadjutors. I confined my efforts, therefore, to private exhortation, but with little effect. Some of the ladies out of regard to their pastor's feelings took off their necklaces and ear-ornaments before they entered the chapel, tied them up in a corner of their handkerchiefs, and on returning, as soon as they were out of sight of the mission house, stopped in the middle of the street to array themselves anew.

In the meantime I was called to visit the Karens, a wild people, several days' journey to the north of Maulmain. Little did I expect to encounter there the same enemy in those wilds. But I found that he had been there before me-had held sway from time immemorial. On one Karen lady I counted from between twelve to fifteen necklaces, of all colors, sizes and materials. Three was the average. Brass belts above the ankles, neat braids of black hair tied below the knees, rings of all sorts on the fingers, bracelets on the wrists and arms, long pieces of metal perforating the lower part of the ear, and reaching nearly to the shoulders, fancifully constructed bags enclosing the hair and suspended from the back part of the head, not to speak of the ornamental part of their clothing, constituted the fashions and the ton of the fair Karenesses. The dress of the female converts was not essentially different from that of their countrywomen.

I saw that I was brought into a situation that precluded all retreat-that I must fight or give up.

For a few nights I spent some sleepless hours, distressed by this and other subjects. I considered the spirit of the religion of Christ. I opened to i Tim. 2:9 and read these words of the inspired apostle:"I will, also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array." I asked myself, Can I baptize a Karen woman in her present attire ? No. Can I administer- the Lord's Supper to one of the baptized in that attire ? No. Can I refrain from enforcing the prohibition of the apostle ? Not without betraying the must I have received from him.

Again I considered that the question concerned not the Karens only, but the whole Christian world; that its decision would involve a train of unknown consequences; that a single step would lead me into a long and perilous way. I considered Maul-main and the other stations; I considered the state of the public mind at home. But "What is that to thee ? follow thou Me,"was the continual response, and weighed more than all. I renewedly offered myself to Christ, and prayed for strength to go forward in the path of duty, come what may-come praise or reproach, supported or deserted, successful or defeated in the ultimate issue.

Soon after coming to this resolution, a Karen woman offered herself for baptism. After the usual examination I inquired whether she could give up her ornaments for Christ. It was an unexpected
blow. I explained the spirit of the gospel. I appealed to her own consciousness of vanity. I read her the apostle's prohibition. She looked again and again at her handsome necklace-she wore but one -and then, with an air of modest decision that would adorn beyond all outward ornaments any of my sisters whom I am addressing, she quietly took it off, saying, " I love Christ more than this." The news began to spread. The Christian women made but little hesitation. A few others opposed, but the work went on.

At length the evil which I most dreaded came upon me. Some of the Karen men had been to Maulmain, and seen what I wished they had not; and one clay, when we were discussing the subject of ornaments, one of the Christians came forward and declared that at Maulmain he had seen one of the great female teachers wearing a string of gold beads around her neck.

Lay down this paper, dear sisters, and sympathize a moment with your fallen missionary. Was it not a hard case ? However, though cast down, I was not destroyed. I endeavored to maintain the warfare as well as I could, and when I left those parts, the female converts were, generally speaking, arrayed in modest apparel.

On arriving at Maulmain, and partially recovering from a fever which I had contracted in the Karen woods, the first thing I did was to crawl out to the house of the patroness of the gold necklace. To her I related my adventures, and described my grief. With what ease, and truth too, could that sister reply, "Notwithstanding this necklace, I dress more plainly than most ministers' wives and professors of religion in our native land. This necklace is the only ornament I wear. It was given me when quite a child by a dear mother whom I expect never to see again (another hard case), and she begged me never to part with it as long as I lived, but to wear it as a memorial of her."

O Christian mothers, what a lesson is here before you! Can you, dare you give injunctions to your daughters directly contrary to apostolic commands? But to the honor of my sister be it recorded, that as soon as she understood the merits of the case, and the mischief done by such example, off went the gold necklace, and she gave decisive proof that she loved Christ more than father or mother. Her example, united with the efforts of the rest of us at this station, is beginning to exercise a redeeming influence in .the female department of the church.
Dear sisters, having finished my tale and therein exhibited the necessity under which I lay of addressing you, I beg leave to submit a few topics to your candid and prayerful consideration:

1. Let me appeal to the conscience, and inquire, What is the real motive for wearing ornamental and costly apparel ? Is it not the desire of setting off one's person to the best advantage, and of exciting the admiration of others ? Is not such dress calculated to gratify self-love, and cherish sentiments of vanity and pride ? And do not those sentiments acquire strength from indulgence ? Do such motives and sentiments comport with the meek, humble, self-denying religion of Jesus Christ ? I would here respectfully suggest that these questions will not be answered so faithfully in the midst
of company as when quite alone, kneeling before God.

2. Consider the words of the apostle before quoted (i Tim. 2:9):"I will, also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array." I do not quote a similar command recorded in i Pet. 3:3, because the verbal construction is not quite so definite, though the import of the two passages is the same. But cannot the force of these two passages be evaded ? Yes, and nearly every command in Scripture can be evaded, and every doctrinal assertion perverted, plausibly and handsomely, too, if we set about it in good earnest. But preserving the posture above alluded to, with the inspired volume spread open at the passage in question, ask your hearts, in simplicity and godly sincerity, whether the meaning is not just as plain as the sun at noonday. Shall we, then, bow to the authority of an inspired apostle, or shall we not? From that authority shall we appeal to the prevailing usages and fashions of the age? If so, please to recall the missionaries you have sent to the heathen, for the heathen can vindicate all their superstitions on the same ground.

3. In the posture you have assumed, look up and behold the eye of your benignant Saviour ever gazing upon you with the tenderest love-upon you, His daughters, His spouse-wishing above all things that you would yield your hearts entirely to Him, and become holy as He is holy, rejoicing when He sees one after the other accepting His pressing invitation, and entering the more perfect way.

Levi's Inheritance

In Joshua 13:33 we read, "But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance:the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them."

If this also was "written for our admonition," as i Cor. 10:ii tells us, what a rich feast for our souls there is in it, for who would not rather possess the spring than to get a glass of water from it from time to time. The other tribes, if they were obedient to God, were to prove the rich blessings of His hand in that "good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass" (Deut. 8:7-9).

Levites would, of course, share all these blessings too, as we Christians share in all the blessings common to mankind. But as a tribe it could not point to any territory, as the other tribes could, and say, This is mine. God counted them out of all status in the nation, even as He counts us Christians out of all status in this world. It was not to leave them out desolate, but to have them near Himself and for Himself, as a king severs a regiment from the army to make them his own body-guard and closer companions. This was great honor put upon Levi, and it is the greatest honor heaven can bestow to be called to have "fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." This is the portion of all true Christians, and the Saviour says of them, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John 17:16). They are a people severed from the world, without a status in the world, political or national, to be to Christ what Levi was to Jehovah. How exceedingly precious to have God Himself, the Father and the Son, for our inheritance! With this we can well afford to give up the world in all its forms, even the most attractive.

There were three families of the Levites, each having special relations with Jehovah, and special responsibilities in the service of the Temple, even as we Christians have three leading characteristics in our Christian relations and services. Out of one was the priestly family whose chief business was with things within the Sanctuary, in the immediate presence of God. So we Christians have for our chief and leading character the priestly worship, praise and celebration suited to the place of nearness in which we are brought to God. We are, all of us, the priesthood of the New Testament; and with Christ, the Great High Priest, among us (Matt. 18:20) and leading our praises (Heb. 2:12). It required all the forms of festivity, vestments, instruments of music and singers of the Jewish economy to illustrate the exalted privileges we enjoy in Christianity-not as now, seen largely in a degraded state, but as revealed in the word of God. It has indeed something higher, infinitely higher, than to go and hear a sermon, no matter how good it may be, and an artistic service of music, no matter how sensuous. True Christian worship- redeemed men offering to God what His grace has wrought in their hearts-is the foretaste of heaven on earth. Rev. 5 gives us a vision of this.

The other Levites were occupied, by God's appointment, some in the outposts of the Tabernacle area -the curtain, the posts and ropes which supported it, etc., the others in the care of the Tabernacle itself; even as we Christians have two great lines of service, one toward the world, for the salvation of lost men, the other toward the Church, for the care and spiritual progress of the children of God. And when we are through attending to these various relations which bind us to our Lord Jesus Christ, what then ? Oh, what then ?

" No heart can think, no tongue can tell,
What joy 'twill be with Christ to dwell."

"We are encouraged to go on ; we lack nothing, and I am very glad to have been led by the testimony of some brethren to trust in the Lord for everything, so that now it is only unto Him I make my appeals. I could mention repeated instances of the recent joy of receiving straight from the Lord's hand-instances in which I knew that none but the Lord could possibly have known the needs pressing upon me. It is a real thing to trust God alone."

Yes, and there is no liberty so sweet and so holy as that which flows from such confidence in God. And why should we not thus trust Him? He has given us just as plain assurances in His Word for our temporal needs as for our eternal ones ; and if there is in our life nothing which hinders communion, we may rest assured that not a word of His concerning our pathway will fall to the ground. This is not great faith that asks for great things, but simple child-like confidence that trusts every word of God. -Ed.

(Continued from page 9.)

Section 2. – The second addresses of the friends- suspicions and charges ; Job rises from despair to hope (chaps. 15-21).

There is practically little new in this second series of the friends' addresses. Indeed, the principle to which they were committed gave little room for new or wider thoughts. They could only reiterate their contention, cite the teachings of others and their own experience and observation, with varied, true and beautiful illustrations drawn from many sources. But the narrowness of their view vitiates all they say, for they are seeking to reach a conclusion entirely contrary to facts. We need not wonder therefore that the discussion loses the courtesy which to some extent marked its beginning, and takes on more the character of threatening and denunciation. They will make up in vehemence and brutality what they lack in proof; they will crush Job by the weight of their charges, and in this way vindicate their own attitude. It is noteworthy also that the appeal to God has less the ring of sincerity and of applicability in it. There is no progress, and each plows in the furrow made by his predecessor.

We may note also that no promises are held out to Job, as at the first, upon his repentance. In their eagerness to convict him they seem to lose sight of a possible recovery. And if the element of hope is wanting, what is left ? So their charges but tend to produce despair.

While they all follow the same line of thought, the individuality of each speaker is apparent. Eliphaz enlarges upon the principle that God surely punishes the evil-doer in this life; Bildad emphasizes this without even a semblance of argument; while Zophar with his accustomed vehemence depicts the inevitable doom of the wicked in spite of short-lived prosperity.

On the other hand Job meets each one on his own ground, and gives scorn for scorn, stroke for stroke, charge for charge. In addition, he enlarges upon the anomaly of his unspeakable sufferings in connection with his reiterated innocence. He not only charges his friends with hardness and impiety, but cannot hide the awful fact from himself that God is against him. It is this that burns in his soul- the suspicion that God is not good and just.

And yet the faint flashes of faith we have already seen, break out here into brighter hope. The very fact that he appeals to God, bringing his doubts and fears to Him, shows that faith has not failed, and cannot. Therefore we find here the noble outburst, which has expressed the faith of the saints of all ages-" I know that my Redeemer liveth."

Yet Job's enigma is not solved, and the dark shadow of death looms before him, with little to cheer. But we must not anticipate.

The section falls, as the first, into three parts, the address of each friend with Job's reply.

1. Eliphaz:the inevitable judgment of the wicked in this life. Job's reply (chaps. 15-17).

2. Bildad:the sure doom of the wicked. Job's reply (chaps. 18, 19).

3. Zophar:the certain and terrible doom of the wicked, in spite of short-lived prosperity. Job's reply (chaps. 20, 21).

I. Eliphaz' Address

As already remarked, Eliphaz loses in this second address the measure of courtesy and hopefulness he had shown at first. We may divide what he says into 5 parts:

(1) Job self-condemned (chap. 15:1-6).

(2) Is he wiser or better than others ? (vers. 7-13).

(3) The holiness of God (vers. 14-16).

(4) The experience of the wicked (vers. 17-24).

(5) Their retribution (vers. 25-35).

(1) Is it wisdom, he asks, for one who presumes to be wise, to pour out empty words like a blast of the east wind-a dry, withering thing ? Job had indeed laid himself open to the charge of casting off fear, in his intemperate language, which was the opposite of prayer or devotion. His own words, says Eliphaz, confirm the suspicions and charges of the friends-of wickedness and impiety. But in accusing Job of craftiness, he charges what is untrue ; for the poor sufferer had poured out his wretchedness with no regard for consequences. Whatever he is, Job is no hypocrite.

(2) He next challenges Job:Where has he gained superior wisdom to them? Has he been in the secret counsel of God from the beginning, before the earth and hills were made ? Only divine Wisdom, the eternal Son, could claim such a relation to God as that (Prov. 8). As for Job, he is like themselves, only with less experience than many to whom Eliphaz could appeal. Being no wiser than others, why does he refuse the "consolations of God " which these friends were ministering to him ? It certainly requires a stretch of imagination to call their galling words-like vinegar upon 'nitre -by such a tender term. The second part of this verse should probably reiterate the first, "And the word gently spoken to thee ?" Why, he asks, does Job's eyes flash the rebellion of his wayward heart, instead of bowing to the charges of the friends? This he reckons as turning from God-a charge of heresy against one who does not bow to his inquisitors-which is common enough.

(3) Eliphaz repeats the statement of his first address as to the holiness of God (chap. 4:17-19). Truly none is like unto Him in whose presence the seraphim veil their faces, as they cry, " Holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." If the very heavens are unclean in His sight, how much less is mortal sinful man! But is not Eliphaz one of these, as well as the poor sufferer ? Why then apply it to Job as though it proved him a sinner above all others ? This, surely, is more like crafty speech than all the hot utterances of Job. Let Eliphaz take his place beside Job and confess that he too is "abominable and filthy." The poor sufferer might have responded to that.

(4) Eliphaz next takes the familiar ground of experience and observation, calling to his aid those wise men whose freedom from foreign admixture made them especially authoritative. This wisdom, he assures Job, has discovered the wretchedness of the wicked. A sword, as of Damocles, ever hangs over their guilty head; even in outward prosperity the dreadful knell of doom sounds in their ear. The evil man has no hope of escaping the darkness; while he seeks his food, he expects the blow to fall
-the '" king of terrors " will smite him. Is Eliphaz trying to terrify Job, or is it an echo of the distant fears of his own heart ?

(5) He concludes the dreadful picture with a narration of the retributive consequences of awful impiety. This imaginary wicked person had stretched out his hand against the Almighty; with stiff neck, and thick bosses of wickedness as a shield, dared to defy God! He had enjoyed the temporary good things of life, his eyes stood out with fatness, he had lived in houses marked for desolation without a thought of change, but his substance fails, the darkness falls, the fire reaches him, and he perishes at the breath of God! Fearsome picture indeed-and he thinks he is describing Job ! We might say he is subjecting the poor distracted sufferer to the "third degree " of probing and accusation to make him cry out for very terror. He lingers over the picture:Let the wicked not trust in vanity, for it shall be his recompense. His branch shall wither, his fruit shall be cast" off, hypocrisy and bribery shall receive their appointed penalty!

Could anyone but an innocent man stand up under the awful thunder of such denunciation ? Were Job the man they have determined him to be, he must be crushed beneath the dreadful avalanche. But what has he to answer ?

Job's Reply

Two things strike us in his answer to Eliphaz:First, nothing that has been said has touched Job's conscience, and this accounts for his moral indignation against his accusers. Second, he is so occupied with his relationship to God that other things are of minor importance. This shows the reality of the man's faith-he must understand God. This indeed is the main theme of the entire book-the vindication of God's ways and of His holiness in dealing with men.

We may divide this reply, as we did the address of Eliphaz, into five parts:

(1) He reproaches them for their heartlessness (ch. 16:1-5).

(2) Under the wrath of God and the hatred of man (vers. 6-14).

(3) He appeals to God in it all (vers. 15-22).

(4) The experience of bitter trial (ch. 17:1-12).

(5) The dark outlook toward the grave(vers. 13-16).

(I) Eliphaz had spoken of their addresses to Job (of that part, doubtless, which promised restoration upon repentance) as "the consolations of God;" Job characterizes them as "miserable comforters." Is there to be no end of windy words? Had the friends not exhausted their stock of accusations ? What stirs up Eliphaz to speak further, with nothing new to say ? Job himself could easily treat them after their fashion, were conditions reversed; but he would on the contrary have sought to impart consolation.

The friends had certainly laid themselves open to this rebuke. They have violated all the God-given safeguards of friendship, had given the lie to all their former confidence, and treated Job as a stranger of whom they knew nothing, and whose past life could only be deduced from his present condition. It was indeed an outrage upon the name of friendship, and we can well sympathize with the disappointment and indignation of Job at such treatment. His life had been lived before them in
all uprightness, and now to be accused by them of hypocrisy was bitter indeed. How cruel is the goading of conscience under a false principle !

If we turn to another Sorrow, compared with which Job's anguish was as nothing, what do we find there but meekness, patience, confidence in God, in the face of bitter enmity from those who "laid things to my charge which I knew not;" "who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.1' In this, as in all else, there is none like Him.

(2) Turning to God, in whom he should have found abundant consolation, Job charges Him as the author of his misery and suffering, But his complaint and hot words give him no relief. " Thou hast made desolate all my company," or household. His emaciated body he counts as evidence of the wrath of God which tears him as would a beast ! Truly, Job does not measure his words. He sees only bitter suffering inflicted without cause, and is unwilling or unable to trust God in the dark. This is Job's great error, and linked with it a protestation of righteousness as if he deserved credit for that. Here lies something to be probed into, which all the insinuations and charges of his friends cannot touch. How can the root of this trouble be reached ?

In his blind misery Job links the scoffs of the ungodly, glad at his calamity, with the hand of God. It is difficult in these words of Job to separate between God and evil men; in his blurred view they are all acting together. What awful language to use of God:" He hath also taken me by my neck and shaken me to pieces "-like a wild beast rending its prey, or a mighty giant running upon a puny victim to destroy it.

Let us read the account of our Lord's sufferings at the hands of man and of God, and we find no confusing of the two, nor any charging God with evil. " Many bulls have compassed me:strong bulls "of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion . . . My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me:the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me:they pierced my hands and my feet . . . But be not Thou far from me, O Lord:O my strength, haste Thee to help me" (Ps. 22:12-19). God had been His trust from infancy; His soul still rested upon His goodness and righteousness when all the waves and billows of judgment rolled over Him.

"Oh, what a load was Thine to bear,
Alone in that dark hour;
Our sins in all their terror there,
God's wrath and Satan's power."
Let everything go-man's favor, life itself, and the smile of God-out of the gloom and thick blackness of God's forsaking we hear a cry reaching to the throne of the Eternal, " thou art holy." Blessed be God for One who, while suffering thus for us, did not swerve from perfect trust in Him who had forsaken Him for our sakes.

(3) Poor Job fails to see God in His unchanging love through all these sufferings, and each pang he endures, every tear he sheds, all the humiliation to which he is subjected, is a fresh charge against God. And yet, not altogether, for there is real faith in his heart. While he would let his blood cry for vengeance like Abel's, he instinctively knows there is a just God in heaven who has the record of his life, to whom he can appeal against the false charges of his friends. He knows, not fully, for He has not yet seen, that there is One who pleads for him before God. What he longs for, we know that we have-One that pleadeth for us with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor. We know a High Priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who "ever liveth to make intercession."

But the very fact that Job longs for such an intercessor shows the faith hidden in his soul, which will soon say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Meanwhile he looks down to the grave, without a pause for God to speak to him.

(4) He is marked for death, his very breath declares the corruption for which the grave yawns; and "friends" stand by and mock!

In the next verse (ch. 17:3), Job turns from man to God. Men are ignorant and mere flatterers who cannot be trusted-or, as it has been rendered, " He who giveth his friends for spoil, the eyes of his children shall languish." Thus he threatens his friends for their disloyalty.

Again he mars his testimony by charging his misery upon God as well as man, and declaring that upright persons are stumbled by his sufferings. However, in spite of all, Job keeps on his steadfast way. In relation to the assault of the friends, however, there is a tone of self-complacency which is not exactly suitable to the truly lowly. Verse 10 seems to be a challenge to continue their assaults, since they utterly fail in the discernment which marks the wise. They are holding out light to him, if penitent, while he is drawing ever nearer to death.

(5) His face is now turned toward the gloom of death, with scant gleam of hope of anything beyond. Evidently his spirit has not yet found rest, and victory is not yet his. But, unlike the friends, he sometimes has his face in the right direction, and were his mouth but closed long enough to hear God speaking to him, he would see the full deliverance which comes to those who justify the Lord.

But how doleful are his thoughts; he is related to corruption and the worm, and hope finds little that is congenial amid such dark and gruesome surroundings. S. R.

(To be continued.)

What then is eternal life ? It cannot be saving a soul partly, or up to a certain point from which it can recede. If we accept Jesus Christ as our "one Sacrifice for sins for ever " (Heb. 10:12), and then go back and claim Him in repetition as a second offering, we clearly deny He was an infinite one at first. But our Lord has stated unequivocally that "he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet" (John 13 :10). John 6:39, 40, 44, 54, tell us again and again of the one who has eternal life:"I will raise him up at the last day."

Further, it is declared that a believer is not left to fall down somewhere between being "justified and glorified " (Rom. 8:30), and since glory is the zenith of all dispensations, he cannot come short of a full realization of unbounded and infinite blessing. To say that Christ saves with only a conditional perpetuity is to forget or ignore, yea, it is denying, Him as Priest and Advocate; for while in these offices in heaven He is not, as He was on the cross, "made sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21), yet it does show He has gone on high to continue in never-ending grace and fulness for us that cannot possibly fail. When He finds a sheep that was lost (Luke 15) He does not leave it to its own efforts or experiences, but He puts it, not on one shoulder, giving but a half support, but on His shoulders-the fulness of His power exercised in behalf of His redeemed, as He has declared in another place (Deut. 33:27):''Underneath are the everlasting arms;" and in His ecstatic joy He calls His friends and neighbors
to rejoice with Him, and they together exult that He has found His sheep which was lost, and so securely, that it "shall never perish" (John 10:28). And eternal life is not a restoration back into the state of the first Adam in Eden-that is gone forever-but it is being "created in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2 :10) who cannot pass away, and who, with full authority to say so and power to carry it out, has declared, "Because I live, ye shall live also" (Jno. 14:19). The life which the first Adam had was a creation-a breathing from God into his nostrils- but of the believer it is said, " That God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son " (i Jno. 5 :11). Hence it is not apart from its source, but connected with Him who is not only the " fountain of life" (Ps. 36:9) but "the Resurrection and the Life" (Jno. n:25) as well as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jno. 14:6). Language cannot convey stronger statements than these, and yet some will say eternal life has its origin in us! There was certainly a moment when it was communicated to us, but it has no commencement in itself, for it always existed in "Christ, who is our life" (Col. 3:4). S. J. Patton

Mistaken Zeal

A somewhat radical brother thinks it strange that in our "Notes" of a former number we should speak of "Christ's sheep" among the congregation of a Baltimore minister who receives not the Bible as the Word of God. Similar thoughts having recently been expressed, it may be profitable to take note of them here for general profit.

We fully recognize with these, our brethren, that the Lord would have His own separate from evil; that a clear distinction be made between the people of God and the world, and every link of fellowship between them broken, as 2 Cor. 6:14-18 forcibly enjoins. This we hold to be essential to any circle of fellowship according to God.

But we must remember that when the house of God has become "a great house," with vessels of every sort, "some to honor and some to dishonor," the apostle himself falls back upon the Lord, as it were, and says:" The Lord knoweth them that are His; " then, as to God's path, it is, " Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness " (2 Tim. 2:19). And in Laodicea, the Lord, as outside of it, yet appeals to any who may open the door to Him, that they may yet sup with Him and He with them (Rev. 3:17-20).

When "Babylon the Great" is about to fall under God's overwhelming judgment, we hear the call, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4). Who would have thought to find yet any of God's people there ? The consideration of these facts will not lessen our fear of sin, nor the desire for a holy walk with God, but will free us from a hard, censorious spirit, and maintain in our souls the yearnings of love and grace which marked the pathway of our Lord Jesus here.

Then, as to the circle of God's true people, we find that ,rank evil may insinuate itself there too; nor does it cancel its validity as a divinely owned circle unless the evil is known and allowed.

The presence of evil, and the allowance of evil are very different things. A Judas was among the twelve until he finally manifested himself as not of them. He had been permitted to be there to fulfil Scripture, no doubt, but this does not affect the principle. In Corinth we see how evil had slipped in the assembly, and the apostle labors to the end that they may clear themselves from it, that he might not have to come with the Lord's rod among them, according to the authority given him by the Lord (i Cor. 5:6-13; 2 Cor. 2:1-9; 12:20, 21; 13:i, 2). As long as we are in this evil world we may expect the presence of evil in the most sacred places; nor does it cancel the Lord's relations with His own where evil may be in hiding, which the allowance of it, when manifested, most surely would.

Elijah, the "man of God," becomes a lesson of warning to us when a censorious spirit leads him to say, " I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts:for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left" (i Kings 19:10), while Obadiah had hidden and cared for one hundred of the Lord's prophets from the wrath of murderous Jezebel. Obadiah knew them as prophets of the Lord when Elijah did not. May we be earnest and devoted as Elijah, never compromising with truth and righteousness, while gracious as Obadiah, recognizing and encouraging what is still of God though mixed with the evil. May this Christian character and spirit mark us as the followers of Christ.

"They have defiled my sanctuary the same day" -Ezekiel 23 :38.

It is not merely of the fact that in Israel had committed great evils, that Jehovah complains here.

They had indeed done great evil, for they had intermingled with the nations around them and bowed down to their idols. But what God complains of here is that, while they did this, they still .presented themselves before Him as though everything were right between them and Him. "For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it" (ver. 39). This was utter absence of conscience.

What an awful thing when God's people can thus mingle light and darkness; associate the pleasures of sin and devices of Satan with the holy things of God, thus causing to be despised what should be reverenced in the minds of men. This mixture, in figure, developed among the antediluvians (Gen. 6:4),and the judgment of God soon followed.

Gold-seekers

They who seek for gold find it in clay, in gravel, or in rock; therefore the need of water, or of crushing. to separate it. They also find it amalgamated with lower metals, therefore the need of fire. And they also who seek for souls find them in sin:therefore the command to "preach the Word;"for as water separates the gold from the clay, so does God's word when it enters the soul of man in the power of the Spirit separate him both from its guilt in the sight of God, and from its practice in the sight of men. It also acts as a mighty hammer, breaking the stubborn will, and bringing it in subjection at the feet of Jesus. There is no end of pains taken where gold is found, to procure water to secure the gold; and they who love souls according to God will jealously guard the word of God as God's means to humble and subdue man's will and haughty spirit, and cleanse and sanctify his defiled conscience and heart.

Gold-seekers are not usually men who consult their ease. One passion rules them-to find gold. If they are so earnest who seek the gold which they may lose the next day, what manner of men should they be who seek the gold which is never to perish, and is to be for God's and our eternal enjoyment! The shapeless little masses of the "precious metal" are molded, polished, and stamped with the image or emblems of the Power to which it belongs. Conversion, like the finding of the gold, is therefore but the beginning of care and labor to be bestowed upon the precious souls which are to shine in the likeness to Christ-to bear His image, even here.

The mystery of Godliness,
How great, how wonderful indeed !
That Thou shouldst take the form of man
And stoop to suffer, die, and bleed.

We cannot comprehend it, but
Thy Word is very truth we know.
We wonder as the angels did
That such as Thou couldst stoop so low.

Thou, Heir of all things! yea, by whom
The worlds that are were called to be:
The image of God's person, and
Upholding all things powerfully.

And when Thou hadst created them,
Thou gav'st Thyself, O Lord, for us,
And purged our sin and guiltiness
By dying on a felon's cross.

And now from depths unfathomable,
My risen Lord who came to die,
Is given the highest seat in heaven –
The right of Majesty, on high.

Yea, God was manifest in flesh!
Th' angelic hosts with wonder saw
The mystery, nor questioned it,
But looked, amazed, with holy awe.

Thy majesty, Thy lowliness,
Thy love so undeserved by us,
Thy mercy,- grace, and faithfulness –
For these we gave Thee but a cross!

If it were not for Thy love, O Lord,
I could not look Thee in the face:
My sins had shamed me so that
I Should feel forever my disgrace.

If it were not for Thy mercy, yea,
Thy judgments had overpowered me;
But now I fear them not, for I
Am safely hidden, Lord, in Thee.
If it were not for Thy grace, I'd lain
Forever in my misery;
I'll never cease to thank Thee, Lord,
That Thou didst stoop to pity me.

And, but for Thine almighty power,
I'd been a witless wandering sheep,
At mercy of the elements,
Didst Thou in watchfulness not keep.

And if Thou hadst not risen again,
What darkness dread for me had been!
I shudder at the hopelessness,
For I had still been in my sin.

But, praise Thy great and glorious Name,
My sins are all forgiven and gone;
And I but wait the glorious end,
The while I sing and journey on.

Oh, mystery of mysteries!
The cross (for Thee that dreadful place)
Shall on my earthly pathway shed
Its glory, till I see Thy face.

Eternity will be too short
To fathom this deep mystery;
But through eternal ages, Lord,
With joy I'll search it out with Thee. H. McD

Satan is a fallen creature, and can not possess either omniscience or omnipresence . . . John 8:44 is a distinct testimony. But Satan has a whole multitude of demons under his authority, so much so, that in the poor Gadarene there was a legion:he is the prince of demons.

With respect to the knowledge of thoughts, he does not know them intuitively, as God does; but he, as a spirit full of intelligence and subtlety, discerns with the greatest clearness the motives of the heart, and has gained experience by the practice of many thousand years:but I believe that he understands nothing of the power of love. He was able in his malice to raise up the Chaldeans, through desire of plunder, against Job; but, not knowing the purpose of God to bless him by this means, he did nothing but fulfil it. He did all that he could to get Christ put to death, but he only fulfilled the wonderful purpose of God for our salvation.

However, when he has to do with the evil heart of man, the case is different. He can present objects to awaken lusts. If we (Christians) reckon ourselves to be dead, dead to sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, he is not able to tempt us. At least, the temptation remains without effect; but if the flesh is not held as dead, then he can present objects which the flesh likes, and suggest to a man the means of satisfying his lusts. Thus he put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus for a little money. But man is responsible, because without lust Satan could do nothing:he has nothing to offer to the new man, or if he offers anything, it only produces horror in the soul; the soul suffers as Christ suffered at the sight of evil in this world, or else it overcomes as Christ overcame in the wilderness. But, when the soul is not set free, he can indeed insinuate wicked thoughts, and unbelieving thoughts, and words of blasphemy, in such a way that these words and thoughts seem to proceed from the man himself. Nevertheless, if the man is truly converted, we always find that he has a sense of horror at the things that arise in his mind, and we see that they are not really his own thoughts. If he is not converted he does not distinguish between the demon and himself, as we find in the Gospels. But if he is converted, it is a proof that he has opened the door to the devil by sin, hidden sin it may be, or by negligence.

Further, Satan is the prince of this world, and its god, and he governs the world by means of the passions and lusts of men; and he is able to raise up the whole world against Christians, as he did
against Christ, and so try their faith. He can seek to mingle truth and error, and thus deceive Christians if they are not spiritual; and also, as the demon at Philippi did (Acts 16:16-18), to get Christians mixed up with the world in order to destroy the testimony of God; he can change himself into "an angel of light," but "the spiritual man discerneth all things." Satan has but little power over us if we walk humbly, close to the Lord, following faithfully the word of God, having Christ as the only object of the heart. Satan knows well that he has been conquered; therefore it is said, " Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." His influence in the world is very great through the motives of the human heart, and he acts on men through each other. Likewise, from the rapidity of his operations and actions, he appears to be everywhere; and then he employs a great multitude of servants who are all wicked; but in fact he is not present everywhere.

But God is really present, and if we are under the influence of the Spirit of God, and the conscience is in the presence of God, Satan has no power. "He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not" (i John 5:18). However things maybe with us, if we are truly the children of God, he will fulfil the counsels of God in respect to us; it may be by chastisement, if need be. But God knows all things; He in the most absolute sense, penetrates everywhere:He orders all things-Satan's efforts even-for our good; and if we are armed with the whole armor of God, the darts of the evil one do not reach the soul. J. N. D.