"I am returning the letters and thank you most sincerely for letting me read them, as it made me very happy.

"The times are so sad now. Nothing but war. Many of the young men whom I once taught are enlisting. If I did not have " the Truth " now, I do not know how I could stand life's sorrows. Isn't the Bible a beautiful book! I never appreciated it before. It is just as it says in the Book of Ruth, "handfuls of purpose" are let fall for the gleaner. It would seem that I have been blind. Isn't it true that one cannot inherit spiritual truth, cannot be made to receive it as a child is made to learn a lesson; cannot imitate another's belief; cannot be inspired by some one else's happiness; but has to see for himself! And what does he see? christ-the Way, the Truth, and the Life! " May everyone of our readers find indeed God's book "a beautiful book "-a precious book, an enlightening book, "making wise the simple" and leading the soul into what is truly life-life according to God, not the vain show which so many make it.-[ED.

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" (Is. 60:1).

Arise ! for many all around,
Under " the power of darkness" bound,
Sigh for the light that thou hast found:
Arise and shine!

Thou knowest not how near-how far-
The limits of thine influence are;
Then, like a heavenward guiding star,
Arise and shine!

Some that have wandered far astray
May find the "new and living way,"
Led by thy life's inviting ray-
Arise and shine!

" Thy light is come! " why hesitate ?
The Spirit's power will penetrate
The gloom on every hand so great:
Arise and shine!

No quickening light canst thou afford
Save by " the entrance of His Word;
"Then, in "the glory of the Lord,"
Arise and shine!

Dost thou possess no talents bright ?
Think of the noiseless power of light;
And if but silence be thy might,
Arise and shine!

While death, with deepening shadows rife,
Enshrouds this world of sin and strife,
Let us who have the light of life
Arise and shine,

And pour the beams of grace with all
Their healing warmth on those who fall,
Till they, constrained by love's sweet call,
Arise and shine!

Lord, let our lives reflections be
Of this "commended love," so free,
And thus, as witnesses for Thee,
Arise and shine;

For as we gaze "with open face"
Upon the glory of Thy grace,
We would, on our benighted race,
Arise and shine!

And since we'll own Thee without fear
When Thou in glory dost appear,
May we in Thy rejection here
Arise and shine!

Though men Thy light and love deride,
Oh, let us not their glories hide,
But, laying every weight aside,
Arise and shine!

J. M. G.

(Continued from page 301, vol. 34, 1916.)

Chapter IX

Misunderstood and Misapplied Texts

Numerous texts will be quoted by some 1| against the views I have been seeking to show are taught in the Old Testament Scriptures. I shall be charged with overlooking such texts unless I take notice of them. Such persons claim that the Scripture statements they rely upon are not ambiguous; that their meaning lies on the very surface for those not already biased, and that in their light all controversy should end.

Now I have shown how the constitution of man is conceived of in the Old Testament. I have shown the view it takes of death. I have also brought forward certain statements about the dead that are thoroughly in accord with what I have gathered as its plain teaching on these two subjects. For those who believe the Scriptures to be the word of God, it is impossible to admit they make contradictory statements:therefore being firmly convinced that the Bible is self-consistent, I approach the consideration of a few examples of the texts referred to without fear of being confounded. Through Satan's wiles, no doubt, a false meaning is arbitrarily imposed on these passages which are triumphantly quoted as disproving the teaching I have shown to be in the Old Testament Scriptures.

I must call attention to the fact that there are two schools of thought in opposition to the views I am maintaining, which are destructive of each other as well. One school (now happily less numerous than in the preceding century) teaches that death ends all; that when man dies he ceases to be. The other holds that man's soul continues to exist after death, but in a dormant, unconscious state. To establish their views, both schools very largely rely on the class of texts which we are now to consider; and it will not be difficult to show that these texts are misunderstood and misapplied.

In Numbers 24:20, speaking of Amalek, Balaam says, "His latter end shall be that he perish for ever." The annihilationist assumes that "perish" means ceasing to be. Having made the assumption, he argues that when Amalek perishes he ceases to be altogether. But, evidently, Balaam speaks of the latter end of Amalek as a nation on the earth. At the time when the nation of Israel shall be first among the nations of the earth, under the rule of her glorious Head, the nation of Amalek shall have been destroyed from the earth. It will be a nation no more. It will be cut off by a sweeping judgment from them that dwell upon the earth, with no revival from it. What may be after death, is not under consideration; that is not the subject of the prophecy.

Let us quote other examples. In Deut. 4:25-28 Moses warns Israel that if, after they have taken possession of Canaan, they corrupt themselves, they will utterly perish from off that land. The question of the continued existence of the soul after death is not under consideration; it is a question of continuing in the land. It is not even a question of dying, as verse 27 clearly shows. " Utterly perish" and "utterly be destroyed " do not even necessarily mean death. If the people are scattered among the nations they have perished from off their own land. As a nation they are destroyed – have no longer any national existence.
The reader will readily find numerous instances of this threat to Israel of perishing from off her land, if unfaithful to God, and I need not cite them. In no case is cessation of the soul's existence after death even implied. I give an example or two of how the term "perish" is used in connection with the wicked. Ps. 37:20:reads, "But the wicked shall perish." This is taken to mean death, and verse 10 of the same psalm is appealed to prove that death means the extinction of the soul as well as the body ! We shall look at this verse later, but just now let us consider the term "perish." It is used not only in connection with the wicked but with the righteous also. In Isa. 57:i we read, " The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart." Does this mean that the righteous altogether cease to be when they die, or that they are cut off from the earth? The latter surely, as verse 2 sufficiently shows. " He" (the righteous who has "perished," who has been taken from the evil to come) "shall enter into peace:they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." It is a clear case in which "perish" does not mean ceasing to be. If, when we are told the righteous perish, we cannot take it in the sense of extinction of being, strong reasons must be produced to show that when the same term is applied to the wicked it means extinction of soul and body.

But, plainly, in psalm 37 it is a question of the portion of the righteous and wicked upon earth. The wicked may be enjoying greater prosperity now, and the righteous suffer severest affliction. But will it always be so ? No, the day is coming when evil-doers will be cut off, and they who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth (verse 9). The psalm is a prophecy of a judgment upon the wicked which will remove them from the earth, and leave the righteous in undisturbed possession. If it be asked Where will the wicked be after they cease from the earth ? the answer is, If the psalm itself does not tell us, Scripture elsewhere does. Psalm 9 refers to the judgment by which the wicked shall be cleared out of the earth, and declares that they shall be turned into Sheol (ver. 17). Sheol, we have already seen, is the place of the spirits of the dead. The wicked, then, as well as the righteous, continue to exist after death. Furthermore, we have seen that there is consciousness in Sheol. The Scripture doctrines of the continued existence of the soul after death, and of consciousness in that state, are in no wise contradicted by its statements as to men perishing from the earth.

We should give attention to verse 10 of psalm 37 :" For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be:yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." This has been taken to prove that death ends all, that the cutting off of the wicked from the earth is the utter extinction of both soul and body. But the evident intention of the Spirit in the Psalmist is to declare that the wicked shall be no more on earth. He is not speaking of the soul after death, but of banishment from the earth. Living men on earth are not diligently considering the place of the wicked in Sheol. Psalm 104:35 has a similar statement:" Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more." Again, it is out of the earth the wicked shall be "consumed." In neither of these verses is the continued existence of the soul denied. To make them mean that, whether through misunderstanding or not, is to falsify their evident meaning.

One more text of the class we are now considering must suffice. Proverbs 2:22 says, "But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it" (plucked up" in the margin). Again the passage states that it is the removal of the wicked from the earth, and implies their transference to another sphere. The judgment that cuts them off from the earth turns them into Sheol, as we have seen it is elsewhere stated.

All these passages which speak of the cutting off of the wicked refer to judgments on the earth, judgments of a temporal nature, as that of the flood was. In the deluge men were destroyed from off the earth. There is not a word about their condition after it. It was not the design of the record to reveal what comes after their destruction from the earth. If this question is raised we must look elsewhere for its answer, and there is abundance of scriptures to answer it. So as to prophecies of future judgments cutting off the wicked, they are not intended to show what the eternal issues are. Their subject is not what comes after death, but judgment producing death-a judgment in time, not in eternity. To find what the latter is we must consider those scriptures which treat of it.

We turn now to another class of texts, which are triumphantly quoted by those who teach that the death-state is one of unconsciousness, though they allow the continued existence of the soul after death. We shall find the same misunderstanding and misapplication as with the annihilationists.

" For the living know that they shall die:but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten" (Eccl. 9:5). It is said, " Is it not explicitly stated here that the dead are in a dormant or unconscious state?" The question betrays a misunderstanding of the writer's purpose. The consciousness of the departed spirit in Sheol is not at all under consideration. The writer of Ecclesiastes, no doubt through the Holy Spirit's guidance, expressly limits himself to what is "under the sun," that is, to man's earthly life. Verse 3 of this same chapter shows this. One event happens to all under the sun. This was a matter of experience, of universal knowledge. Men are born, they live and they die, and none are exempt; and while men live their heart is full of evil. This too was experimental knowledge. It is added, "After that they go to the dead." And what do the dead know of what is under the sun ? is a question which no man can answer without a revelation from God. As far as experience goes one would say, They know nothing; for who has been a witness of the dead having anything to do with earthly human affairs ? We may at once put down all pretension to this as false. We have seen already that what was called consulting the dead, is denounced by God as wickedness. So far as any reliable human testimony is concerned there is none to show that the dead take part in earthly events, To human experience, then, the dead have no part in what is going on under the sun. To apply this passage to the world of spirits is to misapply it, and it is only by misapplication that it can be made to teach a doctrine which has no Scripture support.

A further illustration of this misapplication is found in the use sometimes made of what immediately follows:"Neither have they any more a reward." To apply this in the absolute sense to the dead is to deny that there is any recompense at all after death. But reward after death is not the subject here; it is reward in present human affairs, and the dead have no more any portion in what is under the sun (verse 6). Ecclesiastes 9:5, then, is not the voice of Scripture as to the consciousness of the soul after death, nor that it is dormant between death and the resurrection. Those who so apply it entirely miss its import. Rightly under-, stood, it is seen to be in full harmony with the view of Sheol, which other scriptures plainly give. We must insist that the application made by advocates of the soul's unconsciousness after death is absolutely false.

Mal. 4:1-3 is a favorite passage with both the schools previously mentioned. One of them says it emphatically affirms the non-existence of the wicked after death. The other, applying it to the final judgment, makes it teach the ultimate extinction of all the wicked not finally recovered, but acknowledges that between death and this final judgment the soul continues to exist-but in an unconscious or dormant state. The argument of the former class is that the wicked are burnt up root and branch, and that it means the absolute destruction of the soul as well as the body.

As already shown in other similar passages of the Old Testament, Mal. 4:1-3 speaks of a judgment on the earth. The error we are opposing lies in the assumption that these passages apply to what comes after death, instead of an earthly judgment which completely prostrates the wicked, and exalts the righteous, who shall continue to live on the earth. Malachi prophesies of the triumph of the righteous over the wicked, when they shall be trodden down on the earth. It speaks only of the extermination of the wicked from the earth. It says not a word of their portion after death, which the New Testament fully unfolds to us:"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). It is one thing to say, The wicked shall be as stubble on the earth, quite another to say, They shall be as stubble in Sheol. Plainly, Sheol for them shall be after being as stubble on earth.

Yes, the passage is misapplied when used to uphold the teaching of extinction of both soul and body after death. It may be done ignorantly, but all the same it is a perversion of the passage.

The other class argues that Malachi speaks of a final judgment. They affirm that the results are eternal; that however long the period of judgment may be, the ultimate issue is the complete destruction of all who finally remain wicked. They reason that the wicked dead must be preserved to be raised for this judgment, but are in a dormant state while waiting for it. As already shown, however, the passage does not speak of the dead at all, but of the wicked upon the earth. There is not a word about the resurrection; it is not the prophet's theme. If in the present day the wicked are proud, boastful and intolerant, and the righteous are oppressed, a day is coming in which the tables shall be turned:the righteous shall be exalted and the wicked humiliated. What there is beyond this, the prophet does not say.

These illustrations of misapplied Scripture passages will suffice. They show that the advocates of soul-extinction at death cannot be trusted in their interpretations of Scripture; and those who teach that departed spirits are unconscious are not more trustworthy. There is blindness as to man's constitution; blindness as to the significance of death; blindness as to the eternal issues; as to the scope of God's ways with man on the earth; as to the limitations and point of view in which some statements in Scripture were written, so that what is perfectly true within a certain prescribed sphere, is assumed to be absolutely so.

Readers of Scripture will feel the need to ascertain what is the point of view when considering any particular passage, so as to distinguish between temporal and eternal things, and to keep in mind the difference between the earthly and spiritual spheres. In reading the Old Testament it is important to see that though eternal things are often hinted at, they are but partially revealed; it is mainly occupied with earthly things. C. Crain

(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 43.)

In our previous paper we saw that the gospel of God was spoken of in Rom. i :2, as "promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." In Romans 16, where the apostle speaks of "my gospel," the expression should be " by prophetic writings" (not "the writings of the prophets"), and the epistles possess this character. In the "writings of the prophets " there is no -reference to the mystery, spoken of in verses 25, 26 ; the present period of time does not come within the scope of prophecy.

The purpose of God in the gospel.

During this parenthetical period the gospel is proclaimed world-wide-not for world-betterment, but to call out a people, irrespective of nationality, set apart to God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's gospel evidently included the revelation of "the mystery," which had been kept secret since the world began.

His commission, received direct from Christ in glory (Gal. i :15-17), led him outside of his much-loved nation-for divine grace could not be bound within its narrow limits. "A people tor His name" was henceforth the apostle's watchword, and his written ministry throughout breathes the spirit of his commission.

For the unfolding of this wondrous truth (simply referred to in Romans 16), we must read the epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. Romans and Ephesians are the only two collective epistles which are not corrective, and they contain the whole truth of Christianity. Romans laying the foundation; Ephesians leading us into the most exalted truths of Christianity, making fully known the secret long pent up in the heart of God. Colossians is closely allied with these two epistles, and the admonition of verse 19, chapter 2, indicates the special character of this epistle.

The administration of the mystery. Committed to the apostle for the obedience of faith, this wondrous revelation took precedence over all else in his mind, and it was for this he gladly suffered (Eph. 3:i). This chapter (Eph. 3) is a parenthesis in the epistle, and clearly unfolds the essential principle and character of the mystery according to the counsels of God. This truth was hitherto hidden, and necessarily so; for, to have put Gentile and Jew upon one level would have been to demolish that barrier which God had care-fully placed between ; and if this line of demarcation were not observed, the Jew sinned; now, however, they are co-heirs of the same body, and this was part of God's eternal counsels before worlds were. It was ever in the mind of God that when His blessed Son, having become man for the suffering of death, should be glorified, He should have companions fitted to share His acquired glory -"all of one," as we are told in Hebrews, chap. 2. Here let me draw your attention to the beautiful rendering of Ephesians 3 :8-12, in the new translation (J. N. D.'s):

"To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ, and to enlighten all [with the knowledge of] what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, who has created all things, in order that now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies might be known through the assembly the all-various wisdom of God, according to purpose of the ages, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access in confidence by the faith of Him."

Here, then, was a distinct manifestation of the wisdom of God. Creation had been the silent witness to His almighty power and glory; the earth, the scene of His government and"providence; and afterward, Christ manifested in flesh showed His intervention and kindness on man's behalf; but here was something entirely beyond all that had been manifested before. His manifold wisdom is manifested to the highest of created intelligences by bringing into blessed union with the risen and glorified One, the Church, which is His body, which, though called out on earth, does not- belong to it.

The assembly is His fulness, or complement, as Eve was to Adam (Eph. i:23). He fills all things, and the Church united to Him forms the mystery which is now revealed.

Surely the knowledge of this, and the place given us in God's counsels as to His blessed Son, should bow our hearts in worship, and fill our souls with the desire to walk worthy of this high and holy calling. For this the apostle prays (in chap. 3), that Christ, who is the center of all this glory, might be the supreme, commanding object of our affections, and that we, in company with "all saints " (the circle of His love), may joy in hope of the glory of God.

" O keep us, love divine, near Thee,
That we our nothingness may know,
And ever, to Thy glory be,
Walking in faith while here below."

This surely is the great antidote for all worldliness and laxity in our daily life. " Not holding the Head" was the Colossian snare, exposing them to philosophy and vain deceit-a needed word of admonition in our day, when there is such feeble apprehension and appreciation of the glorious truths which constitute Christianity. J. W. H. N.

(To be continued.)

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.' (Prov. 25 :11.)

Only a word! It was breathed in a whisper,
For the sweet story was tremblingly told,
But in the deep hidden life of the listener
It was embedded like apples of gold.

Fain would we utter "a word fitly spoken,''
We cannot tell what it yet may unfold;
But are our lives like the "pictures of silver,''
Needed to grace the bright apples of gold ?

Many around us have heard of the Saviour,
Yet to His love they are lifeless and cold;
Still, as we meet them, we'd joyfully greet them
With His own life-giving apples of gold.

But let our souls be so " filled with the Spirit,"
That we shall neither be bashful nor bold:
Then with a life that is calm and consistent,
We shall be " framing " our apples of gold.

Though to some friends we can say but a little,
They will believe what their eyes can behold,
And while preserving the pictures of silver,
May we not watch for the apples of gold ?

Have we just found in the mine of hid treasure,
Some precious promise that never grows old ?
Priceless it is ! Might not some fellow-searcher
Welcome it too, as God's apples of gold ?

Oft it may seem we have foolishly wasted
Words that we thought were too good to withhold,
Yet we may find that some mute overhearer
Seized with delight the choice apples of gold!

Lord, we would speak of Thy grace and Thy glory,
More is to tell than has ever been told:
Oh, may our lives be kept blameless and holy-
Pictures of silver for apples of gold !

J. M. G.

QUES. 10.-Will you please give in Help and Food a brief statement of your reasons why a true Christian should not engage in war?

ANS.-A true Christian is one who is "born of God " (Jno. 1:12, 13) and a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of such the Lord Jesus said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (Jno. 17:16). Our "citizenship is in heaven, " therefore, "from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, (Phil. 3:20). " As strangers and pilgrims" here on earth, our conduct towards Governments is outlined in 1 Pet. 2:11-17, and Romans, chapter 13.

Please note that as "strangers and pilgrims our conduct is to be respectful to the authorities, and to pay tribute, customs, etc., but there is not one word as to how to rule or take part in earthly government.-"Why? Because a Christian in .the place of rule on earth would be out of his place, being a citizen of heaven, and a stranger and pilgrim on earth. Now kings and rulers call upon their citizens, not upon "strangers, " in their warfare with other powers. With this the Christian should have nothing to do. For how could the Christian who is called to "walk in love, " and to "love his neighbor as himself " (Rom. 13:19), smite to death his fellow-man because Governments are at war, whilst he himself is a stranger and pilgrim here?

QUES. 11.-Will you please answer this question in Help and Food.

Is it right for a Christian to carry insurance on his life, his automobile, or property? I put this question to three brethren. One said, "It would be lack of faith to insure anything-trust God." Another said only lack of means prevented him insuring his car. Another said it was good business policy to insure:that a man was not providing (or his own that did not carry insurance on all-his life included.

ANS.-The first and last answers to your inquiry from three brethren are each correct from their different points of view. (1) If our trust is really in God, not only for our soul's salvation but for the present needs of this life, and God's care is such as our Lord expressed it in Matt. 6:26-34, what else need we have? Will an Insurance Company make it more secure ? (2) On the other hand, if God be left out, or if He does not care for our needs as to this life, it is only common prudence to provide against possible or probable future needs.

The world has provided various ways to avoid a felt dependence upon God. Surely none will contend that it has helped faith; and "without faith it is impossible to please Him " (Heb. 11:6).

QUES. 12.-Please explain through Help and Food what is meant by, "The idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence.'' (Isa. 19:1).

ANS.-Exodus 12:12 points out the meaning. Egypt was filled with idolatry. Not only were the sun and the Nile worshiped as benefactors of Egypt, but the frog, the crocodile, cats, beetles, etc. were revered as connected with some divinity. Every city and town was dedicated to its special god and protector. Hence when God's judgments fell upon Egypt, their gods were smitten before the eyes of the Egyptians, whom their gods could not protect.

(Continued from page 216.)

Section 2.- The wisdom which is above all price. (chap. 28.)

Continuing his monologue, Job next contrasts the doom of the ungodly rich, as described in the previous chapter, with the true riches, which can never be lost. The connection is clear, and the transition natural and striking. The opening part of the chapter describes the toil and care with which men search for the "delved gold," which so often brings but the "strife and curse which o'er it fall." He then passes on to the true riches-wisdom ; where shall it be found ? The search for it in earth or sea is vain; nor can all the wealth of the world be compared with^t. Where is this priceless treasure to be found ? Even the dark shades of death can only witness to its existence, but do not tell how or where to secure it. It can only be gained through the revelation of God; not only in His works, but in His Word, He appeals to the conscience and heart of man. The whole passage is beautiful and noble in its conception and expression, and indicates that the one who speaks knows that blessed One whom he describes. This chapter would prove that Job could not be the hypocrite his friends would make him out to be.

The entire chapter however is outside the atmosphere of controversy. Job is not here seeking to maintain his righteousness, but, for the time at least, loses sight of himself, and breathes the pure air of truth, unmarred by the noxious fumes of self-righteousness and unbelief. We can but feel the moral elevation of it all.

The chapter may be divided into seven portions.

1. The treasures of earth (vers. 1-6).

2. The hidden treasure (vers. 7-11).

3. Not revealed by nature (vers. 12-14).

4. Its priceless value tested (vers. 15-19).

5. Its report (vers. 20-22).

6. The Revealer (vers. 23-27).

7. The Revelation (ver. 28).

I. Job is evidently acquainted with all the processes of mining, whether from the rich deposits in the Sinai peninsula, or the nearer ones of the rocky regions of Bashan and Syria. He knows and describes the difficult and dangerous search for these treasures of earth, the "gold which perisheth."
All this is knowledge acquired by man, who spares no toil nor danger to gain the coveted stores.

There is a mine for silver, the "current money with the merchant." How much labor is represented in that shining white metal used so largely in the East as the medium of exchange. Alas, of that of which it is a type (the redemption-price for the soul of man, Ex. 30 :11-16; 38 :25-28) men know little and care less. Of this however Job does not speak.

Gold, too, refined in the fire and made into ornaments of beauty and the kingly crown, men will travel to the ends of the earth for it. The true gold, the righteousness of God in Christ, is treated by most as valueless. Iron, so much needed in every department of labor, is laboriously prepared from the dust of the earth. Man labors for these earthly necessities, but forgets Him in whom alone is strength. Brass, or copper, with its unyielding strength, was and is melted from the containing stones; but the unchanging judgments of God are little valued by men.

In his search after these treasures, man delves into the dark recesses of the earth with his lamp, making an end to the darkness as he penetrates into the farthest extremities (rather than "perfection") of the mines, searching for those ore-laden " stones of darkness "-stones hidden in the darkness. The bowels of the earth are like the shadow of death, and often entomb the hardy miner in their depths, but nothing holds him back. Men will give their lives for gold. They are not content with the fertile earth yielding food for man's need; they tear it and search its depths as a fire burning and destroying. Such seems to "be the clear meaning of verse 5. It is wealth, gold, jewels, glory, that man seeks after, and for which he is ready to barter his very life and soul. A glance at the history of the mining camps of modern times will confirm all that is said by the, patriarch. What covetousness, lust, violence, reign in these places, in the arid mountains of the West and the frozen land of Yukon. What a contrast to the peaceful pursuits of gathering the bountiful harvests God has provided upon the very surface of the earth. The typical and spiritual teaching here is very clear:"Having food and raiment (covering), let us be therewith content."

It is not meant of course that these precious things are sinful in themselves, nor that their proper use is not necessary. But the restless craving for them is significant of the poor heart of man, seeking for what can never satisfy. If he had but used the same earnestness in seeking for the true riches, how different would be the result. "My son … if thou criest after knowledge, … if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasure, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord " (Prov. 2:1-5).

2. This portion (vers. 7-11) has been by Delitzsch connected closely with the preceding, as describing the search after earth's precious stores, and part of it does go into further details; but the similarity of ver. 21 to vers. 7, 8, suggests that even thus early in the chapter Job is hinting at his main theme-the true riches. Verse 12 confirms this thought. We therefore accept it.

There is a way-another way than in the depths of earth, or the loftiest mountain crags-the way of wisdom. We have seen that man does not get it in the mines ; here it is unknown to the birds and beasts. As we see the eagle high in air, with vision far wider than ours, there may come into our hearts a longing to soar, like them, above the earth, and to see what we have not here.

But those heights do not reveal what man must know in order to be happy. The boundless deserts, where the proud lion roams unfettered by the fear of man, discloses no treasure which the heart craves. The hermits, " desert dwellers," have failed to get peace to their souls by their fastings and immolation of the body.
Returning to the search for treasure, Job describes this fruitless quest in which man takes hold upon the rocks (possibly pebbles), and overturns the mountains. We see him washing and sifting the pebbles and sand, or blasting in the solid mountains. He cuts his way deep down, following the vein as a river in its course, and looking with greedy eyes upon the rich shining treasures locked up therein. If waters flow in, he finds a way to divert them, that he may pursue the hidden wealth thus laid bare.

Again we ask, why will not men labor thus for the "hidden wisdom ?" Why will they not seek to sift it out as it lies so close by, or, if need be, in faith remove the very mountains of difficulty. If the sweeping rush of "the course of this world," as a river, would engulf the true riches, why do men not stop it, or turn it from them, that they may possess themselves of this whose value is above all wealth? "He that seeketh findeth," is still true, though the seeking and the finding are different from what the toil for gold would indicate. The wisdom is hidden, the way to it is not known, because God is not known, and men will not hearken to Him.

3. But while man is told to seek, this wisdom is not found in nature, nor by human effort. The question is asked, Where is wisdom found ? Where is the place where understanding has its abode? Man, frail mortal, knows not and has not the price to obtain it, for it is not found in the land of the living. If it were within reach, then some would be able to attain to it; some rich man would have the price to pay for it. But it is beyond man; "It is high, I cannot attain unto it." In the fathomless depths of the abyss-"the waters under the earth" -the call for wisdom awakens but the reply, "It is not in me." The wide sea, in all its vast expanse, holds not this priceless treasure. Nature, in itself, is powerless to furnish a simple clue to this heavenly, this wondrous good.

What then is this wisdom, of such infinite value, and yet so unattainable ? We shall be told in a little while by the Author of it. It must suffice us here to say it is the knowledge of the truth, the nature of all things, obtained from God Himself; a knowledge which does not puff up, nor separate from God, but gives the soul a living principle of peace and joy in communion with Him. No wonder man would search and toil in vain for this priceless treasure.

And yet, when once God is known, we find all nature eloquent of Him. Those depths below and above declare His glory and power. The "great and wide sea" tells of the depth of His wisdom, care and goodness. The earth, with its myriad forms of life, speaks of Him as the Author and Maintainer of all life, from the lowest vegetable form up to the highest spiritual intelligence. The great creation psalm (104) declares this:"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all:the earth is full of thy riches" (ver. 24). How sad it is to see men of vast knowledge, of profound reasoning powers, gazing into the glorious heavens and failing to find God or wisdom there, or analyzing the dust of the earth yet not perceiving Him who "wrought by weight and measure." Truly the words of the apostle state the solemn fact:"The world by wisdom (human knowledge) knew not God" (i Cor. i :21). How blessed it is then to have the true wisdom- "Christ the wisdom of God, and the power of God;" to know Him through that Cross which sets aside all of man's pride, his wisdom and his righteousness, and gives in its place the key to all truth- "the unsearchable riches of Christ."

We do but anticipate the full Christian revelation in speaking thus. If Job had not so wide a view, he at least had the germ of that to be revealed later on.
4. A thing of such priceless value is now tested by all that man counts treasure. Pure gold and silver, weighed out in unstinted measure cannot purchase it. The fine gold of Ophir, the precious onyx and the sapphire-"a king's ransom"-have no place here. Again gold is mentioned, along with transparent crystal-"pure gold, as it were transparent glass"-jewels as beautiful as rare; corals, pearls, rubies-wisdom's price exceeds them all. The topaz of far off Ethiopia finds its luster dim beside this bright jewel of God's glory. Nature is ransacked in vain to find something to compare with that whose price is above all earthly treasures. Would that men realized this, that they might find the one jewel of eternal value. All else is nothing without it.

"Were the vast world our own,
With all its varied store,
And Thou, Lord Jesus, wert unknown,
We still were poor."

5. But why speak of that which all searching cannot find, or wealth cannot buy? The question of verse 12 is repeated, not hopelessly, but to show man the futility of a merely natural quest. "Whence then cometh wisdom, and where is the place of understanding ? "

"Stars o'er us are silent,
Graves silent beneath us."

And yet, had the poet but ears to hear, those graves would at least whisper back a hint that the present life was not all-that wisdom lies beyond time. "Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears." How true it is that those who consider their latter end are near to wisdom, ready to receive the revelation which God gives. This is the wisdom which cometh down from above, and is given to the meek.

6. We turn now from nature to its Author, from creation to God. He knoweth the way, and He alone can reveal it to man. Nor is it merely God as Creator, but as Revealer in the person of His Son

-"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." He has said, "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes . . . No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." He it is whose all-seeing eye sweeps the heavens, who has given its weight to the viewless air, and its appointed proportions to the water, who sends the gentle rain, and with it gives a course to the lightning's flash. He has seen wisdom; nay, He is that Wisdom.

We cannot but be reminded of the grand passage in Prov. 8, in which this divine Person, the true Wisdom, declares His character and power. "When He prepared the heavens, I was there:when He set a compass upon the face of the depth; when He established the clouds above . . . then I was by Him as one brought up with Him; and I was daily His delight . . . And my delights were with the sons of men" (Prov. 8:27-31). The similarity of this and other passages in Proverbs to portions of Job, especially the chapter we are considering, has given color to the theory that both books date from the same period, of Chokma, or wisdom. Taken reverently, the word of God allows such questions ; but when men go further, and doubt the authenticity or authorship of books declared to be written by certain men, as Moses, Solomon, Isaiah, etc., faith turns from the whole as dangerous and unholy speculation. It is also significant that as second in the Experience Books, Job is closely connected with the Chokma writings.

7. What then is the true wisdom ? What does God declare it to be ? It is most significant that it is not mere truth, but truth applied to the conscience, truth which puts man in his true place, and thus fits and enables him to receive what God has to say. The fear of the Lord (Adonai, the supreme Ruler and Master) is wisdom-the bowing in humiliation before Him in whose presence seraphim veil their faces, before whom Isaiah cried, "Woe is me, for I am undone." This fear is not mere dread, but reverence, submission, worship. It includes repentance, as evidenced in the words of the thief:"Dost not thou fear God ? " To know God thus is preparatory to and inclusive of the knowledge of His mercy and grace-for us the full knowledge of the gospel, and accompanying Christian revelation. It is not knowledge of God, but being brought to Him, and learning His grace and love. This is more than mere knowledge; it is the key to it; it is eternal life.

That Job could speak thus, shows that he had in some measure this wisdom, could not therefore be classed with the wicked. But how feebly had he grasped the great fact of which he had spoken. A little later this fear of the Lord will lead him indeed "to depart from evil"-from an evil heart and from himself. That was for him, as it is for us, the true wisdom. With this wisdom we can pass over the earth, or search beneath its depths, can cross the seas, or soar towards heaven, only to find God and His witness everywhere.

It is this moral character which marks out God's word as distinct from all other writings. It is addressed to the conscience of man, producing that "fear of the Lord," which is clean, enduring forever." S. R.

(To be continued.)

In common with many of the dear children of God everywhere, the writer experienced a keen sense of personal loss when apprised of the fact that our beloved P. J. L. had been called home by the blessed Master. It was our happy privilege, on the occasion of a visit to New York City during the past summer, to come into personal contact with him at a Lord's Day morning meeting. After the meeting, the dear brother, in his kindly, sympathetic way, engaged us in a brief conversation. The writer tried to express to him the feeling which many of us who are younger entertain for those who have been for so long a time connected with the testimony to the name of our Lord Jesus. Mr. L. sought to impress the responsibility devolving upon us in connection with that testimony. His parting words, accompanied by a smile of encouragement and love, were:"No doubt the stigma of bigot will be put upon you; but be steadfast, and turn neither to the right nor to the left."

Upon learning that Mr. L. had departed to be with Christ, the writer's mind was impressed with the final charge of Joshua to the people (chaps. 23 and 24), "Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left." The keeping of that charge was a thing not to be lightly entered upon in the complacency of past accomplishments; it required moral courage in each individual. And is it not true that only by obedience to the whole word of God we become, so to speak, symmetrical Christians ? Nearly every error in modern-day Christendom finds its origin in a perversion of Scripture, in misplaced emphasis upon certain truths, to the neglect or exclusion of others. How important then to become acquainted with and obey every part of God's word, that we may not be led astray to the right or to the left.

In these last days God has graciously recovered to us many precious and fundamental truths of Scripture, which had long been covered over through man's failure to keep what God had given for his blessing. The blessed hope of " the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" has again become a living reality in the hearts of thousands of the children of God. The gospel of Christ has been, for many of us, disentangled from the various entanglements of works and traditions of man. Great portions of the word of God have been opened up to His people-but have any of us lost the freshness of our first love ? Has the special goodness of God to us become, in any measure, a common-place ? Do the spirit and the reality of separation characterize us as a people as fully as in years now past ? If we, who have been brought into association with the testimony to the Name of Christ, "do in any wise go back " to associations from which our gracious Lord had delivered us, let us "know for a certainty" that those very associations will be "snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes."

Let us rather "remember our leaders who have spoken to us the word of God." Let us follow their faith, as they were followers of the Master, "considering the issue of their life." It is only by increasing acquaintance with the word of God, and sincerely putting its teachings into practice, that we shall be enabled to withstand the world's blandishments and make progress in the things of God.

In writing to Timothy, the apostle Paul exhorts him to "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus " "The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also." But let us notice the necessary condition of such service:"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life." True, we need to gain our livelihood in the world, but then, blessed be God, "we are not of the world ! "

The apostle pressed home upon the saints certain matters of which he would not have them ignorant. It is our obvious responsibility to avail ourselves of such helps-written or oral-to the understanding of His word. How many of us are "ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear ? " To what extent are we familiar with the precious truths which God has revealed to us in these last days ? A vast amount of literature, throwing wonderful light upon the Holy Scriptures, is accessible to us. How many of us diligently use it in connection with our Bibles ? What treasury in the "Numerical Bible," the "Notes of C. H. M.," the "Synopsis "of J. N. D., and others! What God-given helps they have been for the opening up of His word to us !

How gracious God has been to us! We have come to know Christ as our own personal Saviour; we have the full assurance of eternal salvation; we have learned to know what it is to be watching for our Lord's return; and still the word of God is in our hands to gather fresh food for our daily wants, and to speed us on our journey. But special privileges imply special responsibilities. Shall we not then, in the words of the dear departed servant of Christ, " be steadfast, and turn neither to the right nor to the left ?" C. G. Reigner

" When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an ax against them :for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege. Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for food, thou shalt destroy and cut them down :and. thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued " (Deut. 20 :19, 20).

Many are the salutary lessons which the Holy Spirit has put before us by means of the instruction given to Israel. We are familiar with the fact that the things which happened unto them were our types, and written for our learning. And such is the passage quoted above. Just as, when God commanded Israel, saying, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," He had His own servants in mind (as so clearly shown us by the apostle Paul in i Cor. 9 :9-14), so here may we not see pictured by the "trees good for food," these same servants in another aspect, and made the objects of the Lord's particular care?

Israel were admonished against all recklessness and "waste in felling standing timber when they besieged the cities of the land. They were carefully to ascertain the character of each particular tree before venturing to lift an ax against it. All fruit trees were to be spared, because they were part of God's gracious provision for ministering food to His people.

And may we not say that God would have us make the same distinction to-day ? There are trees, to the very roots of which the ax must be laid; trees that are either mere cumberers of the ground, or producing only that which is noxious and poisonous. Such are the present-day advocates of human righteousness as a basis of acceptance with God, or the propagators of wicked teachings that deny the very foundations of the faith. Soldiers of the Lord of Hosts may be assured of His approval when they use the ax against these-exposing their fallacies. "Every plant," said the Lord Jesus, "that my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." To fearlessly oppose such evil teachers and denounce their doctrines and practices, is in accord both with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus and of His apostles. None reproved hypocritical pretensions more scathingly than Christ Himself. No modern controversialist, with any claim to piety, would be likely to use stronger words than those of John the Baptist when he sternly arraigned the "generation of vipers" of his day. Tremendously telling are the denunciations of the apostle Paul, when necessity compelled him to meet the errors of false teachers troubling the early Church. John, Peter and Jude, hesitated not to decry the antichrists, the purveyors of damnable heresies, and the ungodly men "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ," who were creeping in among the saints, and seeking to overthrow their most holy faith.

But, be it noted, those so solemnly accused and vigorously- combated, were not erring saints, or brethren with mistaken views, but they were relentless "enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things." And wherever such are found today, and manifestly proven to be such, they should be dealt with in the same way.

But there is grave danger lest the ax be lifted up against another class altogether-the fruit-bearing trees-whom the Lord has forbidden our judging or condemning. Every fruit tree is the object of His tender solicitude. Such are truly born of the Spirit, and genuine lovers of our Lord Jesus Christ. They may at times, in their zeal for God, or their earnest passion for the souls of lost men, over-step bounds and use methods of which their more conservative or better-instructed brethren disapprove, but they are the Lord's servants, who has said, "Who art thou that judgeth another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth."

The spirit of criticism may lead to very unhappy results, and ofttimes one is in danger of finding himself arrayed against men and movements which God is owning and blessing. The utmost care is required to distinguish things that differ-that what is of God and what is of Satan may not come into the same sweeping condemnation. And our Lord Himself has given us the rule whereby we may make this distinction. He has said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." A corrupt tree produces corrupt fruit, whereas a good tree brings forth good fruit. In either case, the fruit may not always be the same in quantity or quality, but it will be either deleterious or "good for food." Because healthful fruit is sometimes small, or not up to the standard, one does not necessarily chop down the tree, but rather, wisely uses the pruning knife, and purges it that it may bring forth more and better fruit.

And this pruning process is one that all God's fruit trees have at times to undergo; and often lie uses one servant to correct and help another; but this is accomplished far better by a kindly personal admonition, or a brotherly effort to instruct, than by unkind criticism and a hard judging spirit. A beautiful example of this gracious care for one of God's fruit trees is given us in the book of Acts, in the case of Apollos, whose earnestness and love for the Scriptures appealed to the hearts of Priscilla and Aquila, though he was not at all up to the standard of New Testament truth. He had not got beyond the baptism of John. But this godly couple, instead of exposing his ignorance to others, or roundly denouncing him as a legalist without true gospel light, take him into their home, and there in true Christian love expound unto him the way of God more perfectly. What precious and abiding fruit was the result!

It is to be regretted that the same gracious spirit does not always characterize us when we meet with, or hear of, those who are manifesting similar devotedness, while ignorant of much that we may value. How senseless the folly that leads us ofttimes to array ourselves against such servants of Christ in place of manifesting a godly concern for them ' We thoughtlessly lift our axes against God's fruit trees, and would destroy where we might save Many a one who is ignorant of such precious truth is nevertheless bearing fruit in the salvation of souls and the refreshment of the spirits of believers; while, on the other hand, one may have a very clear intellectual grasp of divine principles, and understand much that is called high truth, who produces very little of this same blessed fruit.

Oh, beloved brethren, let us keep our axes sharp for the deadly Upas -trees of sin and fundamental error that abound on every side; but shall we not seek grace from God that we may have spiritual discernment to refrain from damaging in any way trees that are good for food ?

Satan and his emissaries can be depended upon to bestow enough abuse on real Christians and true servants of the Lord Jesus, without their fellow-servants joining in the same unworthy business. Let us not forget the words already quoted, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth or falleth." And the Holy Ghost goes on to say, "Yea, and he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand." H. A. Ironside

"At that time the disciples of Jesus came unto him, saying, Who, then, is the greater in the kingdom of heaven ? And he called to him a little child, and set it in the midst of them, and said, Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18 :1-3).

FRAGMENT Lowliness of spirit is here insisted on. The Lord uses a little child as His text, in answer to a question proposed by His disciples which evidenced their need of such instruction. There had been a dispute among them as to who among them should be the greater . . . Greatness was what they sought; and in that which they owned to be the kingdom of heaven, but which (as they are shown later) they are making but a kingdom of the Gentiles in their thoughts-a place for the gratification of ambition and self-seeking. In this, a little child was capable of being their instructor. "Jesus called to Him a little child, and placed him in the midst of them and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The little child, as a symbol, reminds us of the way in which God has ordained that men should enter the present life-in lowliness and feebleness enough. The long drill and discipline of childhood might well seem intended to "hide pride from man," and it is the mercy of God that provides for beings so helpless, the love and care which so generally wait upon the birth of children. So is it also with the beginning of spiritual life, which we enter not as doers of something great, but in feebleness and poverty to receive grace-not dues. And the end is as the beginning:it is in grace we grow; it is salvation that we receive; reward at last is not claim, but mercy. In this way it is as little children that the kingdom of heaven must be entered. A little child may have in its heart the seed of ambition as of all other evil, but not the man who estimates himself but as that. The Lord in His grace identifies Himself with the least of His own, so as to assure every one that his littleness will not make him of little account to Him. This is an assurance which prevents the consciousness of nothingness to be a distress; nay, rather, it enables us the more to realize the sweetness of a love so great.

-From Numerical Bible on Matthew

"A Poisoned World "

Thus is characterized the world’s present condition by Ex-President, Mr. William Howard Taft, in the National Geographic Magazine, in speaking of the principles by which leaders of a great nation have wronged multitudes and filled the world with heartrending scenes of sorrow. He says:

"The doctrine preached openly in the philosophy of that country was that there is no international morality; that there is no rule by which a nation may be governed except that of self-preservation, as it is called, which means self-exploitation over the ruins of other civilizations, of other peoples and other nations.

" So deftly has that conspiracy been carried on that the minds of a great people-a people that have demonstrated their greatness in many fields – have been poisoned into the conviction that it is their highest duty to subordinate every consideration of humanity to the exaltation and the development of military force, so that by that force they can take from the rest of the world what is needed to accomplish their destiny, at whatever cost of honor or principle.

" I yield to no man in my admiration for most of the qualities of the German people except this obsession that they have been given through the instilling of that poison in the last fifty years."

As examples of how and what these principles have wrought, we quote from the report of Mr. Frederick Walcott, speaking of the Red Cross' unprecedented needs in its efforts to relieve vast and unspeakable misery. He says:

I want to impress upon you what that system stands for, and what it is costing the world in innocent victims. I went into Belgium to investigate conditions, and while there I had opportunities to talk with the leading German officials. Among others I had a talk with Governor-General von Bissing (who died three or four weeks ago at 72 or 73)… a man steeped in " the system," born and bred to the hardening of heart which that philosophy develops.

I said to him, "Governor, what are you going to do if England and France stop giving money to purchase food for this people?"

He answered, "We have got all that worked out for weeks, because we have expected this to break down at any time. Starvation will then grip these people in 30 to 60 days. Starvation is a compelling force, and we would use that force to compel the Belgian working-men -many of them very skilled-to go into Germany to replace the Germans, so that they could go to the front and fight the English and the French. As fast as our railway transportation could carry them, we would transport thousands of others, fit for agricultural work, across Europe into Mesopotamia, where we have huge irrigation works, and, with water, that land will blossom like arose.

"The weak, the old, and the young remaining, we would concentrate before the firing line, put firing squads back of them, and force them through that line, that the English and French could take care of their own people.''
All this was direct, frank reasoning. It meant that the German Government would use any force in the destruction of any people, not its own, to further its own ends.

I had never thought in such terms. I had read von Bernhardi and others, but I had not believed them; but the truth of it all began to dawn upon me.

After that some German officials asked if I would not go to Poland, as the situation there had got the best of them. There, some three millions of people would die of starvation and exposure if not fed between then and the next crop-last October. "If that thing goes on it will demoralize our troops," they said-again that practical reasoning.

I went into Poland under the guidance, and always in the company, of German officers-many of them high officers on the general staff. I briefly give you what I saw there, and again what that system stands for.

By the collapse of their great fortification at Lodz, the whole Russian line (300 miles long) collapsed; … it retreated through Russian Poland 230 miles, clear into Russia. I motored along those roads, two running toward Petrograd, and one toward Moscow. They were all in very much the same condition. The German officers and the Poles who were with me agreed that, in about six weeks' time, approximately one million people along this Moscow road were made homeless; of these at least four hundred thousand died in the flight along that road.

As I motored along that road, only a few weeks after that terrible retreat, I began to realize what had happened. Both sides of the road were completely lined for the whole 230 miles with mud-covered, rain-soaked clothing. The bones had been cleaned by the crows which are in that country by countless thousands. The Prussians had come along and gathered the larger bones, useful to them as phosphates and fertilizer. The finger bones and toe bones were still there with the rags. The little wicker baskets that hold the baby were there by hundreds upon hundreds. I started to count them for the first mile or two, but gave up because they were so many.

We saw no building in that whole 230 miles. All had been destroyed-nothing hut bare, black chimneys; no live stock-no farm implements.

I saw between fifty and sixty thousands, of the six or seven hundred thousand refugees, gathered about barracks hurriedly put up by the Germans. They were lying on the ground in broken families, with one starvation ration a day, dying of disease, and hunger, and exposure. They had not had their clothes off for weeks; buttons were gone, and their clothes had to be sewed on. There were no conveniences of life, and the filth was indescribable.

Going back to the cities where the destruction was not so awful, mothers and children were leaning against buildings or sitting on the sidewalks, rain-soaked, and too weak to take bread that might be offered them. All the wealthy people of Poland were giving everything they owned to save their nation.

One day a Pole, head of the Central Belief Committee, wealthy before the war, but who had given everything he possessed to save his people, showed me a proclamation of the German Governor-General, in Polish, which he translated for me. It made it a misdemeanor for any Pole having food to give it to any able-bodied Pole who refused to go into Germany to work. The "system" had put it up to each head of any family to go into voluntary slavery, knowing it would be to work in a German factory, sleep on the floor, and the money earned would be taken for the food he ate, leaving his family in starvation, and unable to hear from or communicate with them.

I went to the Governor, and asked him what this meant. He said, " I don't know ; I have to sign so many of these things. Go to the Governor-General of the Warsaw district; he will tell you."

I went there, in a rage. He told me these were the facts. I arose and said:"General, I cannot discuss this thing with you; but it is worse than anything I ever heard of. I did not suppose any civilized nation would be guilty of such a thing " ; and I started to go out.

He said, " Wait a minute; I want to explain this thing to you. We do not look at it as you do. Starvation is a great force, and if we can use it to the advantage of the German Government we are going to use it. Furthermore, this is a rich alluvial country. We have wanted it for a long time ; and if these people die off through starvation perhaps a lot of Germans will overflow and settle here and after the war, if we have to give up Poland, the liberty of Poland will be settled forever, because it will be a German province."

What is true in Poland is true in Serbia and Roumania. In Serbia, approximately three quarters of a million people have died miserably. In Roumania some six hundred thousand were murdered in cold blood by Turkish troops officered by Germans.

O reader, these are almost too painful scenes to recount, and you may justly ask, Why do it ? Well, just this-though painful in the extreme, it should be a solemn lesson taken to heart. You remember that only five years ago it was confidently affirmed by many intelligent, cultivated and influential people, that the age of wars was past in this civilized and progressive age; that present intelligence and culture would not permit it, and that all international differences would be settled by a court of arbitration in the Peace Palace at the Hague, prepared for this very purpose. A world-wide peace, with ever-increasing progress, development, affluence and a general uplift was the outlook-with God left out. Behold, how in one hour all this has crumbled ! The most "civilized " nations have used the most diabolical means by land, by sea, under the sea, and in the skies, wantonly to destroy foes and innocents alike ! !

God has been mocked, His Word denied or flouted by the very ones that had profited through the emancipating power of the truth, and God has withdrawn His restraining hand, leaving man to prove the bitterness of his own ways. Oh, that the afflicted nations might turn to Him with sackcloth and ashes !

Alas, the dream of a world-peace by human arrangements, by "democratizing" the world-not by turning to God-is yet held up as the encouraging and bright prospect " after this war." May God put forth His hand to stay the stream of blood and misery following :but, Christian, let us not be deceived; He who cannot lie has said, "As it was in the days of Noah . . . and as it was in the days of Lot . . . even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed " (Luke 17:26-30). Of the days of Noah we read, " The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:u), and in all Sodom not ten righteous persons were found (Gen. 18 :32).

Let us then, in love to our fellow-men, like Noah, be "preachers of righteousness"-warning them of coming judgments, seeking to save them with fear, "pulling them out of the fire," whilst keeping ourselves in the love of God, and " looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life " (Jude 21-23).

Wait on the Lord J nor deem thy prayer forgot;
Silent He may be, but He slumbers not.
Power tarries; power can well afford to wait.
The buds of promise will not blossom late.
Joyous the Harvest Home will prove; but see-
" Handfuls of purpose" now He drops for thee !
His love attends thee while the days are dim,
For " blessed are all they that wait for Him.'
Ps. 27:14:Isa. 30:18.

Trust in the Lord:His promise He'll sustain.
He fainteth not; trust on, 'tis not in vain. '
Hast thou asked much ? Ask more, and be more blest;
"Much land remaineth yet to be possessed."
Let faith then claim her own as every year
Silently passing tells the end is near.
The leaves of autumn whisper as they fall,
" His word for aye endures:trust Him through all."
Josh. 13:1; 1 Pet. 1:24, 25.

Rest in the Lord i such sweet, secure repose
Only an all-confiding spirit knows.
Unbosom thy desire, and in His breast
Thy suppliant heart will find her glorious rest.
Oh, rest divine ! no earth-born solace this!
It is the wellspring of Heaven's depths of bliss.
E'en here thy soul it richly will suffice,
But oh, the fulness waits in Paradise!
Ps. 37:7; 16:11.

J. M. G.

Dear Mr. Editor:

May I be permitted to express my hearty approbation of F. J. Enefer's timely word of admonition in November Help and Food? As illustrating what he says as to being carried away with brilliant entertaining speakers, and desires for big meetings, I will relate what occurred some years ago here at the place from which I write [place not given]. It is a contrast of two markedly different types of men, their preaching, and the results.

One came with a dash and a flourish, much advertising, with his own photo, if I mistake not:first, in a tent, to crowds, and later in the hall, filling the poor, unpretentious little room as it had never been filled before. Results- "Nothing but leaves;" the "popular" evangelist gone, and the crowds gone too.

Then came another man-grave, unostentatious, careful in his statements, an earnest, whole-souled preacher of the gospel, Mr. Edward Acomb, now for some years with the Lord. He went quietly to work, preaching to an attentive few nightly, and visiting industriously about the neighborhood during the day, remaining the same length of time as the first-mentioned. Results?-One precious soul, an old man, a fearful blasphemer, hoary in his sin. Day after day Mr. Acomb visited him in his little shop, speaking to him patiently and tenderly, yet faithfully, of Christ. Finally the old man came to the hall, was saved, received among God's people, and after a few years of brightest testimony to the saving grace of God, was " put to sleep by Jesus."

No, this feverish desire for big exciting "meetings is not a healthful indication; and it is no more by mirth and music now than it was by "might or power" in Israel's day, that souls are really won for Christ, but by God's Spirit. C. KNAPP.

I have had difficulty in obtaining proper text cards and literature for Sunday-school work as some of the publications from my sources of supply are very unscriptural. One would expect not to find unsound literature in publishing houses where the truth of God's word is known, but it is not so.

A conscientious teacher must closely scrutinize all supplies received in order to avoid passing out to the children that which will undo the sound doctrine taught in the Sunday-school.

For example, the following quotation from a text card of evident Episcopalian origin, "God has called each one of us as He called Jacob. He called us in baptism. We promised then to serve God, to renounce the devil, to believe the Creed, to obey the commandments. We must keep our promise to God, for a promise made to God is a very holy thing. God blesses those who show their love in obedience."

Would that the heads of these Bible Literature Depots were more careful in their selections of supplies for Sunday-school work ! A Sunday-school Teacher. Answer :

Allowance must be made for the difficulty those Depots are in sometimes to supply the requirements of S. S. teachers, for as the demand is very limited in their circle of trade, publishing each item is beyond their power. They have to supply themselves from publishing houses whose specialty is S. S. work. As these houses supply the various denominations of Christendom they are likely to incorporate the more or less unscriptural views of one or the other, and unless the Bible Truth Depots which have risen up confessedly to supply only what is scriptural, jealously watch against what is unscriptural, objectionable matter is likely to slip in.

We do hope the spirit of merchandising may not prevail in this holy work. Its first promoters not only had no thought of making gain out of it, but did not even aim at making it a successful industry. Their one burning desire was the blessing of men-providing them with a literature which would keep before them what the Scriptures taught. It was therefore a work for the Lord, whose difficulties, when they arose, could be carried in prayer to Him, in confidence that He would make them His own care.

In the days of types and shadows, they who ministered before the ark of God had to carry it and all its appurtenances on their shoulders. David seems to have forgotten this, or looked upon it as too much of a burden. So he made a new cart upon which to carry it, and by it brought on a painful breach (2 Sam. 6). He had not approached God's holy things with the piety and reverence due them. His wisdom therefore proved unacceptable to God.

-From papers left by P. J. L.

Two roads to me a pleasure are,
On each I'm often found;
One upward is, where Christ doth sit-
Most surely, "Holy ground."

That priestly place, through Christ's own blood,
Though closed indeed to sight,
I often enter in by faith,
And name you with delight.

This, surely, is a meeting place
Which love divine hath given,
The present portion, joy and home
Of every heir of heaven.

The other road my spirit takes
Is straight across the sea,
And greeting you with cordial love,
Companion fain would be

To drink those draughts of water, clear
As crystal from the throne,
Which you so often give to me
Though stranger to your home.

Blest prospect, shining through the night
Of all this pilgrim way,
That God's great joy is us to bring
To His eternal day.

And there, decked with immortal robes,
Like His own Son to be,
We'll sing His everlasting praise
Who once died on the tree! James Forbes

April, 1916

(Found among the papers left by our beloved P. J. L.)

QUES. 8. – How far is it possible for a Christian to go into sin if he yields to the flesh? Does 1 Pet. 4 :15 teach that he might be a murderer? Does 1 John 3 :14, 15 exclude the possibility of such a sin by a Christian ?

ANS. – We give the substance of several questions on this subject, and will endeavor to give a brief outline of the teachings of God's word regarding it.

The reply of a coachman when examined as to his abilities occurs to our mind here. In answer to, How near can you drive to a precipice? he said, "I keep as far from it as I can, sir."This is the constant manner of Scripture:"Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? " (Rom. 6:1)." Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16)."Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" (1 Cor. 6:9,10). "The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry , witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like :of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:19-21). These and other scriptures show how all Sin in the child of God is abhorrent to God. Notice that sins are not pat into classes in these passages. There is no distinction, as the church of Rome teaches, between mortal, or deadly, and venial, or pardonable sins. Side by side we find the unspeakable vices of which "it is a shame to speak," the awful crime of murder, and the all too common "wrath, strife, emulations." In 1 Pet. 4:15 murder, theft, evil-doing, busy bodying are grouped together. There is no such thought as a " little sin" in the sight of God."All unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17).It comes from the natural man's heart – "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders," etc. (Matt. 15 :19). In John's epistle, where the distinction is so constantly drawn between the two natures, their source and destiny, the apostle declares, " He that committeth sin is of the devil;" "Whosoever is born of God doth not Commit sin" (John 3:8,9). Nor does the translation, "practice," make the distinction between occasional and frequent lapses. John describes the child of God and the natural man, One is marked by righteousness, the other by sin.

But the possibility of a child of God's committing sin is considered, and provision made for his recovery. " My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not (that ye may not sin). And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father "(1 John 2:1). "If a man be overtaken in a fault (transgression), ye which are spiritual restore such an one" (Gal. 6:1).

The "flesh" is capable of every evil, and incapable of really pleasing God. The believer is not "in the flesh," is no longer "in Adam," in God's sight, but "in Christ," and "in the Spirit." If there is carelessness, lack of self-judgment, want of "walking in the Spirit," there can be only one result-" the works of the flesh" will manifest themselves; it may be in a carnal state, levity, malice, etc., or if previous tendencies led that way, in drunkenness '' and such like.'' Indeed, did not the mercy of God interpose, into what extremes of evil might not one fall? Here, of course, previous training, public opinion and many other external deterrents may prevent extremes in which others in different circumstances might fall.
As to 1 John 3:15, "He that hateth his brother is a murderer:and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him," the apostle speaks of what is characteristic. Alas, a child of God may entertain such a feeling, if he does not walk with Him, until he is led to judge it. Thank God, the characteristic of His people is love of the brethren, for whom "we ought to lay down our lives" (1 John 3:16).

Let us guard against extreme statements which may be misunderstood, and injure the truth. Sin is too serious to strive over; it crucified Christ; it mars all communion and testimony in the saint; it dooms the unbeliever to the eternal abode of wrath. "Be not ye therefore partakers with them."
S. R.

Questions bearing neither name nor address are received, but we do not answer persons who hide their identity.

Lot now becomes the occasion of trial to Abraham (chap. 13), as the famine in the land had lately been. But the lesson gotten through his going down into Egypt has borne its precious fruit, and Abraham's faith triumphs, I may say, to admiration. The very style in which he gives this trial its answer seems to say, that he will return fourfold to the life of faith for that which nature had so lately taken away from it. The herdsmen of these two brothers, the elder and the younger, cannot feed their flocks together. They must separate. This was the occasion of a new trial. But "Let Lot choose," is Abraham's language. In a fine sense, he will act on the divine ways of Genesis, "The elder shall serve the younger." Lot may choose, and leave Abraham what portion he please. The well-watered plains may be Lot's; Abraham can trust the Lord of the earth in losing them. He may have to dig wells instead of finding them; but it is better to dig for them in the strength of God, than to find them in the way of covetous-ness; better to wait for them in Canaan, than to go after them again down to Egypt.

This is beautiful recovery. And in this way will faith, at times, exercise judgment on unbelief, and clear itself. And now the Lord visits him, as He had not, as He could not have, done in Egypt. The God of glory, who had called Abraham into Canaan, could not go with him into Egypt:but to the man who was surrendering the best of the land to a younger brother, in the joy of restored confidence in God, He will delight to show Himself.

Where are we, beloved? I ask:Where is our spirit ? On which road with Abraham are we at this moment traveling ? Are we knowing Egypt in the bitterness of self-reproach, or a regained Canaan in the joy of God's countenance ? Is it a walk with God we are taking every day ? The life of faith knows the difference between the checks of the worldly mind and the enlargements of the believing mind.

But there is more than this. In this variety of action in the life of faith, we notice its intelligence in" the mind of Christ, or the spiritual sense which discerns things that differ, which has capacity to know times and seasons according to God. This fine endowment of the saint we find in Abraham, in the next passage of his history-in the battle of the kings, in chap. 14.

Whilst that was a mere contest between kings, Abraham has nothing to say to it. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds. But as soon as he hears that his kinsman Lot is involved in that struggle, he stirs himself.

Everything is beautiful in its season. There is a time to build, 'and a time to pull down. There was a time for Abraham to be still, and a time for Abraham to be active; and he understood the time. Lot was taken prisoner; and the kinsman's part was now Abraham's duty. The battle-field in the vale of Siddim shall be his now, as the tent had been his till now in the plains of Mamre.

Excellent and beautiful indeed in a saint is this intelligence of the mind of Christ, and beautiful is everything in its season. Out of season the very same action is defiled and disfigured. For the success of an action is not enough to determine its character; it must be seasonable likewise. Elijah, from his elevation, may call down fire from heaven on the captains and their fifties, but it will not do for the companions of the lowly, rejected Jesus to act thus on the Samaritan villages. It is only in its season that anything is really right. How was the garden of Gethsemane (made sacred as it was by the sorrows of the Lord Jesus) disfigured by the blood which Peter's sword drew there! What a stain on that soil, though the power of Christ was present to remove it ! When vengeance is demanded, when the trumpet of the sanctuary sounds an alarm for war, vengeance will be as perfect as grace and suffering. It is for God to determine the dispensational way, and to make known the dispensational truth. That being known, the life of faith is just that which is according to it. " The duties and services of faith flow from truths entrusted. If the truths be neglected, the duties or services cannot be fulfilled." And the good pleasure of God, or His revealed wisdom, varies in changing and advancing ages.

This is much to be observed ; for the distinguishing of things that differ, and the rightly dividing of the word of truth, is expected, among other virtues, in the life of faith. Abraham was endowed with this fine faculty. He knew the voice of the silver trumpet; when to gather to the tabernacle, as it were, and when to go forth to the battle.

Two victories distinguish our patriarch at this time-one over the armies of the kings, and one over the offers of the king of Sodom.

The first of these Abraham gained because he struck the blow exactly in God's time. He went out to the battle neither sooner nor later than God would have had him. He waited, as it were, till " he heard the going in the mulberry trees." Victory was therefore sure; for the battle was the Lord's, not his. His arm was braced by the Lord; and this victory was as that of later ones-of a sling and stone, or the jaw-bone of an ass, or of a Jonathan and his armor-bearer against a Philistine host; for Abraham's was but a band of trained servants against the armies of four confederated kings.

The second, still brighter than the first, was achieved in virtue of fellowship with the very springs of divine strength. The spirit of the patriarch was in victory here, as his arm had been before. He had so drunk in the communication of the King of Salem-had so fed on the bread and wine of that royal, priestly stranger-that the king of Sodom spread out his feast in vain, for the soul of Abraham was in the fellowship of Heaven.

Happy soul, indeed! Oh, for something more than to trace the image of it in the Book! Zacchaeus, in his day, was a son of Abraham according to this life and power. Zacchaeus so drank in the joy and strength of the presence of Christ, that the world became a dead thing to him. He had sat at table with the true Melchizedek. Jesus had spread a feast for His host at Jericho as He had in other days for Abraham in the valley of Shaveh; and, strengthened and refreshed, this son of Abraham, like his father of old, was able to surrender the world. "Behold, Lord, "says he, "the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wronged any man of anything by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. " He could give Abraham's answer to the king of Sodom, for he had Abraham's refreshment from the King of Salem.

Surely, beloved, this is the way of victory in all the saints. The springs of strength and joy are found in Jesus. May you and I be able to look at Him and say, "All my fresh springs are in Thee." "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." J. G. Bellett

In the much neglected little book of Obadiah there is a remarkable expression concerning Israel in the 17th verse, to which I desire to draw my reader's attention. "Upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." It is this last clause that strikes one at first as rather singular. But is it not true of most of us in the present dispensation of grace, as of Israel generally in a previous age, that we do not possess in a practical way, those things which God has made our own ?

When Israel were about to enter the land of Canaan, after their long wilderness wanderings, God declared He had given them all the land as their possession. Then, through Joshua, He afterward said:' 'Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses" (Joshua i:3). All was theirs in title. It was the free gift of God's grace, not because they were stronger or better than the nations, but because of His loving unmerited favor.

To hold title to the land, however, was one thing; to possess it was quite another. The latter required spiritual and physical energy, confidence in God, and obedience to His word. Only thus could they drive out the seven nations of Canaan-enter upon and enjoy their inheritance. Indeed, they never did fully "possess their possessions." Not even in the palmiest days of Solomon did they have undisputed possession of all that God had given them title to enjoy. For though Solomon extended his sway to the utmost limits of the territory promised to Abraham, the people did not possess themselves of the whole land. Solomon himself was misled by the heathen women he had married, building "high places" for the worship of their gods, thus incurring God's anger (i Kings 11:7-9), and forfeiting much he might otherwise have enjoyed.

But according to Obadiah, and the testimony of the prophets in general, a day is yet to dawn for Israel when "there shall be neither adversary nor evil occurrent," and they shall come into full possession of all that God hath spoken concerning the land and the people. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the nations which are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this. . . And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them. . . And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God" (Amos 9:11-15, R- Ver.).

It is interesting indeed to connect this with the four closing verses in Obadiah:"And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall burn among them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for Jehovah hath spoken it. And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the lowland, the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and
Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South. And saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah’s" (Obadiah 18-21, R. V.).

Note the various peoples whose lands the house of Jacob shall possess in the day of Jehovah's power. The house of Edom (type of the flesh) will be completely subdued, and Israel shall possess their ancient fortresses. The plain of the Philistines, typifying, as the late F. W. Grant so strikingly put it, "the intrusion of natural men in spiritual things," will be added to Israel's unmolested portion, for all spiritual blessings will then be enjoyed unhinderedly by them. The field of Ephraim ("fruit-fulness ") will yield rich fruitage for Israel's enjoyment; the field of Samaria, where an imitation of Jehovah's worship was once set up, shall become the possession of those who worship in spirit and in truth. Benjamin shall possess Gilead, the rich pasture land on the east of Jordan, picturing for us God's natural gifts in earthly things, which we are called upon to use but not abuse, for all things are ours (i Cor. 3:22, 23). Looked at spiritually, it is a striking picture of the believer's present portion as one with Christ.

The extent of our possessions, in contrast to those of Israel, is set forth in three notable passages in the Epistles. In Ephesians i:3-14 we read:" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved:in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; that, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in Him. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."

In Col. 2:10-12, we are told:"And ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power:in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; buried with Him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead."

Finally, our possessions are summarized in a marvelous manner in i Cor. 3:21-23:"For all things are yours:whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come-all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's."

What a wonderful vista is here presented to the eye of faith. Like Moses on Pisgah, we can view the wondrous inheritance that is covenanted to us in Christ, but in how feeble a measure we have possessed our possessions ! Israel only possessed what they trod upon in triumphant faith. We only possess what is ours in Christ as we appropriate what God has already declared to be ours.

In other words, all spiritual blessings have been made over to us by God; but only as we feed upon His word, as we receive it in the obedience of faith, do we actually " possess our possessions." To every Christian is given, for instance, eternal life, forgiveness of sins, justification from all things, as present possessions, but how many of God's beloved people go on for years doubting and questioning, simply because they have never, in the energy of faith, laid hold of these truths. And what liberty, joy, and blessing, come into the lives of such, when, for the first time, they turn away from self-occupation, and rest implicitly on the unchangeable word of the living God.

All believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but how few have ever learned to give Him his rightful place in their hearts and lives, and so are continually being defeated in their conflict with sin, and overpowered by the flesh, when they might live joyous, triumphant lives, did faith but lay hold of the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within, not merely to give assurance of salvation and comfort in the hour of trial, but to control us for God, and to give us practical deliverance from the enemy within, of which Edom of old was a type, according as it is written, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh."

To all believers God has given His holy Word. It is as much the inheritance of the simplest Christian as of the most learned doctor. Indeed, human learning, unless subjected to divine guidance, may prove a hindrance in understanding the Holy Scriptures. But alas, alas, how little have most of us ever entered upon this portion of our possession! Whole books of the Bible might as well have been left unwritten so far as many of God's beloved children are concerned. Precious unfoldings of the divine purpose and counsels many are as ignorant of as if they had never been revealed. It is as though one possessed a magnificent library and was content with looking at the bindings while leaving the leaves uncut. Here in the Word of God are "all things that pertain to life and godliness," everything needed to " thoroughly furnish the man of God unto all good works," but feebly we "possess our possessions " as set forth in this Holy Book. In this connection it is of the greatest importance to remember that we never really know any truth that we are not walking in. The Scriptures must be translated into lives of practical holiness if we would, in any proper sense, possess them. We are called to manifest the truth in love, and again we read of "holiness of truth." This is in accordance with the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ," Sanctify them through thy truth; thy Word is truth."

It is well to bear in mind that this is no merely negative thing. It must be distinctly positive. Testifying against evils is very different from walking in the truth. Fault-finding and denouncing others does not by any means show that one is himself living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our testimony must be positive; it must consist in maintaining the truth committed to us, rather than in merely fighting error, if we would truly "possess our possessions." May it be ours thus to appropriate and enjoy all that the Holy Spirit, through the Word, waits to make good to the willing and obedient. H. A. I.

Jesus brought me here. By His will I am in this strait place; in that will I "rejoice " (i Pet. 4:12, 13).
Even here He will keep me "in His love" (Isa. 63:9) and give me "grace" and "glory" (Ps.84:ii; Rom. 5:3, 5).
Surely He will make the trial" a blessing " (Deut.23:5) teaching me the lessons He means me to learn (Heb. 5:8).
Under the trial I will be quiet (Ps. 37:7, marg.), for in His good time He will bring me out again-
just how and when, He knows best (Zeph. 3:19,20).
So then, I am here-
By God's appointment (2 Tim. 2:12).
In His keeping (i Pet. i:5).
Under His training (Rev. 3:19).
For His time (Eccl. 3:11).
That I may glorify Him (i Pet. 4:16).
And comfort others (2 Cor. i:4-6).

(Continued from page 50.)

CHAPTER XI.

The Resurrection and the Eternal State

That the Old Testament teaches a resurrection both of the just and unjust, has been abundantly made clear; also, that it implies that the condition of men after resurrection will be their final and permanent condition. As has been said, the resurrection will not be a bringing back to their present earthly life. Neither the righteous nor the unrighteous will be subject to physical death in the resurrection state. The spirit brought out of Sheol, and the body recovered from corruption, being reunited will never again be separated.

It is certain that, in Old Testament times, they knew that man's present condition was not a final one. Indeed they did not need revelation to tell them so. It is certain also that believers in revelation knew that Sheol was not the permanent and final home of the departed spirits. We are absolutely sure that those who received the divine testimony believed in a future life, not only beyond death, but also beyond resurrection, in which both just and unjust would be in a condition of life to abide for ever. It will be not so easy, of course, to determine what their conception was of man's final and eternal condition;, nor can we speak with precision as to their idea of the distinct portions of the just and the unjust in that eternal condition.

There are, however, a few things which we can confidently predicate. There can be no doubt that
such as believed in the promise of life and incorruptibility understood that they would then stand in the unchanging favor of God-however feeble may have been their grasp of the blessedness promised. I do not mean that they realized the full truth of either God's eternal favor or disfavor. Neither had been revealed then. God had not fully manifested either His love or His wrath. But believers in God's promise made to faith, knew that the condition of life promised them would be in God's eternal favor.

This appears evident in various ways. Not only is it implied in the promise of life and incorruptibility in Gen. 3 :15, but the ways of God with men of faith indicate it. Take, as an instance, God's clothing Adam and Eve with coats of skins. It was a token to them of His acceptance of them on the principle of faith-a pledge that He passed over their sins, with promise of life and incorruptibility. Those coats of skins must have meant to Adam, not merely a temporal release provided for them, but the promise of eternal salvation, with recovery of the body that had been doomed to return to the dust. These coats of skins gave them a divine warrant to say, I am carrying about the sign of life beyond death-of life in resurrection-of life depending, not on my obedience, but on the promised Seed, whose heel will crush the serpent's head; and life depending on Him must be eternal. The acceptance of Abel's sacrifice was testimony to him that God accounted him to be righteous, not in himself, of course, but in virtue of the One on whom his faith and hope were fixed. This testimony of God to him would mean an abiding acceptance before God, and apledgeof the life and incorruptibility which God had set before faith.

In the translation of Enoch, those who believed in the promise of life and incorruptibility must have seen a fulfilment of that promise. It was a testimony to the power of "the Seed of the woman " to deliver not only from sin and Satan's power, but to transform and transfer from the earthly condition into a heavenly one. Enoch taken up to be with God and abiding there, implies the spiritualization of the earthly body;, and however dim their apprehension may have been as to the condition of life upon which Enoch had entered when he was translated, it was a plain intimation of the condition to which God would ultimately bring the subjects of His grace. Though the full blessedness of the condition of life indicated was not yet revealed, there can be no doubt that it set forth a condition of life in which God and redeemed men would be together in perpetual harmony.

Passing on to Abraham, we see him represented as a pilgrim and stranger on earth, on his way to an abiding home. We have the authority of the New Testament for asserting that the explanation of his pilgrim life is in the fact that "he looked for a city which hath foundations" (Heb. ii :10). On earth he had no permanent dwelling. He looked for a city established by divine hands, which cities on earth are not. An eternal city he had in mind. The country he was journeying to was a heavenly one, in an abiding condition of life. Abraham went on in his pilgrim path undisturbed by fears of forfeiting the country which God had called him to, believing that God would carry him through into the eternal portion He had set before him. He knew that, whatever intervened, the final goal was secure. He knew death might intervene; that he might be a sojourner in Sheol, yet that prospect could not make insecure the final and everlasting abode God had prepared for him. He knew that, should he die, he would rise again, and that as a complete man he would inhabit the city of God.

I am aware there are some who say that all the illustrative cases we have considered are taken from times before the law was given. It is thought that the great change in God's ways, initiated by the giving of the law, must have operated to greatly obscure the vision of eternal things; that even men of faith could not face eternity in the same confidence that seems to have characterized believing men before the law. The case of Hezekiah is sometimes pointed to as showing this. But it is a mistake. If the account of Hezekiah's experiences and burdened mind be carefully considered, it will appear that they related to earthly things rather than heavenly and eternal ones. In Isa. 38 :9-20 his plea is that if he is cut off from among the living, as God has intimated, he will be cut off from the service and worship of God on earth. As a believer in the prophetic word, his faith had laid hold of certain promises, such as the visible manifestation of Jehovah in the land of the living-of Messiah on earth. If he must go to the land of the dead he would miss the realization of the hope of every godly Jew. Hence he pleads, "I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living :I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world."

It is not that Hezekiah did not believe in the resurrection. He knew there would be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust, and that it would not be a coming back to this present earthly life, but in another condition. Death seemed to him to involve the loss of a great blessing and privilege. And to be " cut off in the midst of his days " implied being under the displeasure of God. God's promise to annul death had not yet been accomplished ; death, therefore, was viewed as penalty for sin. Faith laid hold of the promise as to life and incorruptibility-giving courage to face death-yet many questions could not be answered until the full revelation came. Hence, until the resurrection of Christ, in whatever energy faith looked on to the eternal issues, death would be feared, with a consequent state of bondage (Heb.2:15).

If we have rightly explained the state of mind of Hezekiah, we can understand that his exercises were not as to the eternal issues. We apprehend that the men of faith before the law had similar questions and exercises. Job is a clear illustration of this. That he believed in life and incorruptibility beyond death is certain. He also was assured that he would have part in it (Job 19 :26). But he dreaded death. He shrank from Sheol. Many questions as to that untried condition he was not able to answer. Yet with all the exercises indicative of a perturbed state of mind as to Sheol, no doubts appear as to the final and eternal condition of life, but many indications that he conceived of it as a state of blessedness. As a risen man, in soul and body reunited, he would "see God." It would be a recovery to God, to an eternal abiding in Him.

But if Old Testament believers contemplated a future and final condition of existence in communion with God, what conception could they have of the eternal portion of the wicked ? "It shall bruise thy head" certainly implies, as we have seen, the complete overthrow of the kingdom of evil – the absolute undoing of the work of Satan. The condition of the wicked in resurrection, therefore, would be one of reprobation and of eternal subjection – one in which activities in sin would be impossible. In their case, dying would be, not in hope, but in their iniquity. Resurrection would bring no escape nor deliverance from the due of their sins. Raised, they would still be of the race of Satan, and for ever at enmity with the race raised up through the promised Seed; for clearly the enmity put between Satan's seed and the woman's Seed is perpetual. But once Satan's power is completely crushed, he can no longer rule his own seed. The all-conquering Seed of the woman shall rule over them. "It shall bruise thy head " was a divine pledge that the existing enmity would be forced into perpetual subjection.

The full realization of this eternal subjection to the power of the promised Seed – the Second Man – could not be until illuminated by the cross of Christ. There it is where the wrath of God is revealed (Rom. i :18). But if saints of O. T. times could but dimly see God's eternal wrath, they could say, it must be eternal. Believing in God's testimony of the resurrection of both just and unjust, they would believe in the existence of the wicked under an eternal reprobation. Sheol being, so far as the wicked are concerned, a prison-house where their departed spirits are confined (Isa. 24:22), they knew that was not the final condition of their existence. They knew, on the authority of divine testimony, that the wicked dead will rise as well as the just; that their final judgment will be eternal; and that in bodies raised from the grave they will be in their final and permanent condition. I think we may say that believers in the testimony of God could not suppose the eternal state of the unjust to be "life and incorruptibility." They would surely feel that if the righteous were living with God, the wicked would be living without Him. C. Crain

(To be continued.)

A Criticism

An esteemed brother objects to the application made in the article, "Care for God's Fruit Trees," in March Help and Food. He thinks that " fruit trees," there taken in their symbolical meaning, rather represent beneficent institutions in the nations, such as hospitals, schools, etc., of course in the hands of the world.

The expression of divergent views, or controversy in a Christian spirit (and only thus), is profitable as stimulating to research in God's Holy Word. It is in view of this that we mention the above correspondence.

In the following scriptures, Judges 9:8-20; Ps. 104:16; Ezek., chaps. 17 and 31; Dan. 4:20-22; Rev. 8:7, rulers or persons in eminent positions are represented. In like manner fruit trees should, we believe, suggest prominent ones among God's people, in ministry to them. Our Lord and His godly ones are represented as such in the first psalm. The returned remnant of Israel from the captivity, represented in their leaders, was but a fruitless fig-tree, with leaves only.

"Sound speech that cannot be condemned."

My brethren, the preaching of the Gospel minister should always have soul-winning for its object. Never should we seek that the audience should admire our excellency of speech. I have in my soul a thousand times cursed oratory, and wished the arts of elocution had never been devised, or at least, had never profaned the sanctuary of God; for often as I have listened with wonder to speech right well conceived, and sentences aptly arranged, I have felt as though I could weep tears of blood that the time of the congregation should be wasted listening to wordy rhetoric, when what was wanted was plain, urgent pleading with men's hearts and consciences. It is never worth a minister's while to go up to the pulpit stairs to show his auditors that he is an adept in elocution. High-sounding words and flowery periods are a mockery of man's spiritual needs. If a man. desireth to display his oratory, let him study for the bar, or enter Parliament; but let him not degrade the cross of Christ into a peg to hang his tawdry rags of speech upon. C. H. Spurgeon

"My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (i Cor. 2:4, 5).

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16).

How much fruitless intercourse have I had with you! I have not been like a shepherd crying after the lost sheep, nor like a physician among dying men, nor like a servant bidding you to the marriage, nor like one plucking brands from the burning! How often have I gone to your houses to try and win souls, and you have put me off with a little worldly talk, and the words of salvation have died upon my lips! I dared not tell you were perishing-I dared not show you plainly of the Saviour. How of ten I have sat at some of your tables, and my heart yearned for your souls, yet a false shame kept me silent! How often I have gone home crying bitterly, "Free me from blood guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation! " -McCheyne.

I should be greatly grieved if "brethren" ceased to be an evangelizing company of Christians. Indeed, they would fade in their own spiritual standing, and probably get sectarian-not in theory, but in practice, because the enlarging principle of love would not be there. Thank God, it is not yet so. But grace alone can maintain the testimony. I confess I feel a sort of envy of those whom God has called to evangelize. My want of courage keeps me humble, but it would be better to be humble without it. But our part is to be where God calls us, and I trust I am ready to feed, if it be given me, the weakest of the flock, and count it a privilege. To souls getting peace and liberty, God has blessed me, but comparatively little in awakening, though He has also, where I have served in this way

God is not always awakening souls in a marked way:it is done in a place, and ceases; but souls may be converted afterwards. An awakening may again occur through other means; another layer being reached, and by those morally nearer their state. The evangelist may have to go on elsewhere . . .

At the beginning, brethren were engaged (and pretty much alone) in the roughest evangelizing- fairs, markets, regattas, and everywhere in the open air. Gatherings grew up, and the care of them became needful, though evangelizing went on and was blessed-and in a measure is, in many places. Others since have occupied the field who are really their followers under God. If even contention mix itself with this, if Christ be preached we ought to rejoice.

But the care of the scattered gatherings is most precious work, not altogether neglected, but the laborers are few. There is no reason why–should not exercise this local care for a time, and there is large room for it. If God still calls him to evangelize, he will find the craving after souls forcing him out to that work. At all times, we have to, as Paul says to Timothy, "do the work of an evangelist." Those nearer the state of the unconverted are often more apt for it. This may be imperfection, but so it is; and if they don't go on, they grow little, and meet little the spiritual wants of these last days …

Evangelizing in Christendom is different from evangelizing in heathenism. In Christendom it is necessarily separative, and hence the need of wisdom in that work; but sorry indeed should I be if it were given up. There is joy and gladness in conversions, even in heaven. But making a fuss about them, and writing up the people, I dread. God indeed bears with many things; still the feebleness of the work is felt afterwards … I am the Lord's servant, desiring only His will; when my work is finished, there it ends, and He will gather His own people, in which I shall rejoice in that day.

The Lord be with you and keep you near Himself -humble and serving; but get more of Him than you spend in service . . .

Dated, New York, February, 1875.

QUES. 14.-Is King Darius spoken of in Ezra, ch. 6, the same as the one mentioned in Daniel, ch. 6?

ANS.-No; the Darius of Dan. 6:1 is "Darius the Median," mentioned in the last verse of ch. 5, who overthrew king Belshazzar and his Babylonian kingdom.

The Darius of Ezra, ch. 6, was called Darius Hystaspes; he succeeded Cyrus (who proclaimed liberty for the Jews to return to their land), about 40 years after " Darius the Median."

QUES. 15.-In 1 Cor., ch. 12, the apostle says, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant;" and in ch. 14 he says, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." "Were they gifted so they could speak different languages without study of them, or were these gifts developed? In Acts 19, when Paul laid hands upon those disciples, they spake with tongues and prophesied. Please explain through Help and Food.

ANS.-It is plain from Acts 3 :4, 5, 8-12, that the miraculous gift of tongues was immediately imparted to the disciples by the Spirit of God coming upon them ; so that " the wonderful works of God " and salvation through the crucified and risen Christ were proclaimed to the devout Jews come from all parts of the world in the very tongue of the countries where they were born. God had miraculously broken up man's one language at Babel when they united in pride to "make themselves a name" and a center of power (Gen. 11:4); now He enabled His servants to proclaim at once the good news of a Saviour and salvation for all, in their own tongue. Had men heartily responded, the whole world might have possessed the knowledge of salvation within a year.

Note that the gift of tongues was not given them to call attention to themselves (as some poor, deceived and deceiving people now do, uttering strange noises without meaning) but to declare the wonderful things of God in the languages of their hearers. The Spirit of God forbids speaking in a language not understood by the hearers (1 Cor. 14 :28).

QUES.16.-There is a movement here called "Our Day," devoted to collection for Bed Cross work. The Committee sent a circular to all the churches requesting that a special collection be taken up for this purpose. It was also sent to the assembly here, and I stood against its being recognized by the assembly. I am anxious to have a word on this matter.

ANS.-We have a corporate and an individual place in the world. As individuals we have duties toward our fellow-men-to humanity as a whole. Eph. 4 :6 points to this widest circle of relationship, as I understand :"One God and Father of all, who is over all, and in all." In this relationship we are to "do good to all" (Gal. 6 :10)-to minister to the needs of all. We may do this directly, which is preferable, or indirectly, through the Red Cross, etc. Our Lord Jesus "went about doing good" (Acts 10 :38)- healed the sick, fed the hungry multitude, gave to the poor.

As to the assembly, its testimony as such is to Christ crucified and rejected by the world, but owned of God and glorified. The assembly's offerings are connected with its worship and thanksgivings. It seems incongruous to use these offerings for the Red Cross or similar objects.

(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 1 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).

1. 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.'' 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 hi? 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.)

QUES. 4.-Is there anything unscriptural, or is there any valid reason -why individual cups may not be used in the breaking of bread?

ANS.-The Lord's supper is associated with the holiest and tenderest memories. Our whole Christianity centers round those sacred emblems of the body and blood of our Lord. Here, if anywhere, the world is shut out, and "with Christ within the doors," occupied with Him, the things suggested would be an intrusion. Can we not for this brief hour be left free from questions which suggest modern man rather than " that same night in which He was betrayed? "

Let what the cup suggests occupy our hearts and minds and we shall see the inappropriateness of emphasizing the individual. 'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread (loaf), one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread (loaf)" (1 Cor. 10 :16, 17). One word stands out here-"communion," joint participation. While unity is more definitely stated in connection with the loaf, joint participation is prominent in both the bread and the cup. This thought is marred in the individual cup ; but joint participation in a common redeeming love is seen as we all drink of it-the cup. If the meeting is large, of course more than one cup may be used, provided there is this sharing together.

But it may be asked, Should we not take sanitary precautions ? Yes, but not to mar the simplicity and sacredness of the Lord's Supper. If some special case is thought to endanger the health of others, it may be kindly asked, or the person himself suggest, partaking of the cup after the rest ; but let us not turn this joint memorial of our blessed Lord in that amazing and divine love unto death into a "sanitary " act.

One may easily become morbid about contagion and germs. Beyond a few simple, ordinary precautions, we must be content simply to trust our gracious Father's care and protection. "He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence." We clasp a brother by the hand; shall we think that possibly some microbe has been transferred, and before we break the bread wash our hands ? ! May He keep us trustful and simple. S. R.

QUES. 5.-A brother does not like to see the money-offerings after the breaking of bread put on the table beside the bread and the cup. Do you know of anything in Scripture to justify such a practice?

ANS.-A careful consideration of Deut. 26 :2-4 and Heb. 13 :16 will exactly answer your question. The first passage is an acknowledgment that all we have is God's gift, and the presentation of the first-fruits of the land is a joyful acknowledgment of this ; as such it was set "before the altar of the Lord." The second passage dignifies our giving by associating it with praise to God, and calling it a "sacrifice" with which God is well pleased.

The very question well-nigh answers itself. J. '' Blessed are the meek; blessed are the peacemakers." " Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil" (Matt. 5:5, 9, 38, 39). " Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath" (Rom. 12:19). " Let your moderation (your yieldingness) be known unto all men" (Phil. 4:5). "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world " (Phil. 2:15).

As we contemplate the character of Him who was "meek and lowly in heart," by whose "meekness and gentleness " the apostle appeals to us (2 Cor. 10:i), the path of the follower of Christ is made very plain. The angels celebrated His advent on earth by, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." His public ministry and attitude toward men was one of reconciliation:"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. 5:19).

There was opposition stirred up by His walk and testimony, but it was the opposition of evil to good, of darkness to light. To opposition and violence on man's part our Lord submitted with perfect lowliness:" He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." All power was in His hand, and He could have called for "more than twelve legions of angels," but He submitted Himself to man's designs when His hour was come, saying, '' But this is your hour and the power of darkness" (Lk. 22:53).

That the purpose of God was thus to manifest man's absolute enmity, and to effect redemption in that very connection, emphasizes what we are dwelling upon. For there are two sides to the cross- human hatred and divine judgment. It is of the former only that we speak. The latter's depth and terror is seen in the thick darkness that enveloped our Lord "from the sixth hour to the ninth," when the cry of anguish is wrung out, " My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Then, the rent veil, the vacant tomb, the ascended Lord seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, declare that love and judgment, righteousness and peace are united to save the sinner who believes in Jesus.

"I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2) in the many mansions in the Father's house-"that where I am, there ye may be also." This is the "blessed hope" before the believer, which makes the coming of the Lord not the dreaded appearing of a law-giver and judge, but of " the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:20, 21). "And so shall we ever be with the Lord" (i Thess. 4:17). Is it any wonder that the Spirit-taught cry of each ransomed soul in response to His Word, "Surely, I come quickly," should be, "Amen; Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20) ? Rightly understood all this answers the question of this paper.

After His ascension, according to His promise our Lord sent down the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer, and in the Church as a whole. He it is who gives power to the child of God to represent his absent Lord. He makes possible in us the fulfilment of our Lord's words:"As my Father hath sent Me, even so send I you" (John 20:22).

In the two great fundamental facts of which we have spoken, we have the three great essentials of Christianity:(i) The Cross of Christ, by which we have redemption. (2) A glorified Christ, who is soon coming for His people. (3) The Holy Spirit in the believer to make good these great truths, and to empower us to live according to them. There are certain great results which flow from these at which we must now look.

(1) The Cross is not only the witness of a perfect redemption for us, but the declaration that in God's sight our standing as natural men is ended. " Our old man is crucified with Him (Christ) " (Rom. 6:6); "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20); "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6 :14). In other words, the believer stands as a new man, in a new relationship to God and the world. He has now peace with God, and the link that bound him to fie system called " the world " has been broken.

(2) As Christ is risen, so is the believer ' 'risen with Him," and as such is exhorted to "seek those things which are above" (Col. 3:1). We have been "quickened together with Christ, raised up together, and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6). Need we wonder then that God declares, "Our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20), that we are "partakers of the heavenly calling" (Heb. 3:1)? And does not this truth explain our Lord's words, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world " (John 17:14, 16).

(3) And as these truths are absorbed in the Christian's heart they create a distinct and practical separation from the world. For instance, he does not find his friendships and intimacies with the world; he has different objects, affections and hopes. He instinctively seeks his companionships with those who have "obtained like precious faith." To the world he may appear to have lost interest in what concerns most men; but he has found new interests. He has become, as it were, a stranger in the world, with a message to give it-of the love of God, His grace to sinners, and to entreat men to be reconciled to Him. "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. 5:11).

Growing out of this relationship, we find the path of the believer clearly marked. He is not set to "improve the world." He does not enter politics therefore, nor vote, but acts as having but one testimony to give-"repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts so:21). He is to be kind, gracious, sympathetic, and as he has opportunity " to do good to all"-but one great fact governs him:he is not of this world, even as Christ is not of this world,

Let us ask a few questions in the light of these facts:Would the Lord Jesus bear arms?

Would He strike the blow which would launch a sinner into eternity ?

Would He smite one of His own with the sword ? "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself
also so to walk, even as He walked" (i John 2:6).

Our Relation to the Powers that be.

But let us look carefully at another side of the truth we are considering. What is to be our attitude toward the government under which we live? What would our Lord's attitude be ?

The apostle tells us; "I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (i Tim. 2:1-4). Two main subjects for prayer are suggested here:the enjoyment of peace, and the salvation of souls. So long as the day of grace lasts, we should entreat our God to guide, sustain and help the rulers of the land. What privileges we enjoy in this highly favored country. Even where Christ is not personally known, there is a measure of the fear of God, the opportunity to read the open word of God, and to turn to Him. Surely, then, it becomes us to pray for our rulers.

In particular in times of crisis, the people of God should be interceding for those who have the difficult task of government. Let it be remembered that with God prayer counts more than armed hosts, nor does He forget the entreaties of His saints in times of war, that His will may be done; that multitudes of precious souls on fields of battle may turn to Christ; that the bereaved and sorrowing may be comforted and blessed; and that a righteous peace (so far as it can be so)' may soon come. The wise ruler values the sincere prayers of God's people. ' " Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God :the powers that be are ordained of God . . . For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil . . . Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also . . . Render therefore to all their dues:tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor" (Rom. 13:1-7). In brief, this holy portion of God's word teaches obedience and submission to the existing government. Not merely as fearing wrath, but for conscience sake, the child of God is not to resist authorized power; he is to be "law-abiding," to pay taxes, tribute, and render all honor to those in authority.

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers . .. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (i Pet. 2:13-17). These are the "good works" of a believer which "put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Paul speaks of his gospel testimony while a prisoner in Caesar's court (Phil, i:13). And, let it be noted, they were not "good governments," but such as that of a Nero, with tyrannies and cruelties which made them fearful.

But, it may be asked, How far is submission and obedience to go ? We answer, God's word puts no limit except one:When man's word or command goes counter to the word of God. When there is a clear issue between human authority and God's, there can be but one answer, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye" (Acts 4:19). With this one exception the child of God is to submit to the authorities in every thing; but his soul, his conscience belongs to Christ. He must represent Him.

Questions Answered.

We shall seek now to answer briefly questions as to special passages of scripture.

"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:15-22). Answer.-The connection shows it was a question of tribute, which has already been noticed. Pay tribute, but do not forget the claims of God.
Did not Paul claim Roman citizenship and appeal to Caesar (Acts 16:37; 22:25)? Answer.-He was a free-born Roman citizen, and simply bore witness to the violation of the law in scourging him uncondemned. He was before Caesar's tribunal, and claimed to be judged there rather than unlawfully murdered by the Jews.

" Lord, here are two swords" (Lk. 22:35-38). Did not our Lord tell His disciples to take the sword? Answer.-The whole passage shows He was impressing them with the need of faith in Himself. He was to be taken from them, and to outward appearance they would be thrown on their own resources. But. surely He would have them realize that, though absent, He was still for them. His answer, "It is enough," shows He did not mean they were to take literal swords. When Peter attempted to defend hft Master with the sword and cut off Malchus' ear, the Lord healed the man and said, "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword." .The cup His Father had given Him to drink, He would take.

The soldiers' question to John the Baptist (Lk. 3:14). Answer.-John answered them on the plane they were. They could not have understood Christian truth, but they could understand that they were not to foment insurrection, and to be content with their wages.

What about the Old Testament ? Were not the children of Israel to exterminate the Canaanites, and to fight with their enemies ? Answer,-It was a different dispensation. God was judging the ungodly nations for their sins, and setting up an earthly kingdom. Now He has enthroned His Son in heaven, and is preaching grace to men, beseeching them to be reconciled to God. In the future, when the Lord shall appear to judge the world, He shall smite them with His sword (Rev. 19:11-21); but that time is not come. Grace reigns now, and the servants of Christ shall, preach grace, live grace, and beseech men to be reconciled to God. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds " (see the whole passage; 2 Cor. 10:3-5).

What then is the Christian to do ? Answer.-He is to obey the Government wherever he can without disobeying the word of God. There are many ways in which he can without disobeying the word of God. There are many ways in which he can serve without misrepresenting Christ. There are lines
of duties, as clerical, ambulance service on the field of battle, ministering to the wounded and dying in the hospitals-ministering Christ, as we minister to the body. Above all let us put from us any spirit of cowardice-whether it be physical dread of danger, or moral cowardice which fears mockery, and to confess Christ and His word.

May the Lord keep His beloved people in an attitude of prayer, of deep arid sincere exercise, of simple communion with Him through His word and Spirit. May He bless and guide our rulers, giving to them wisdom in a day of crisis for the world. May this nation and all nations be brought to repentance toward God, with humiliation and prayer. May multitudes be brought to Christ, to know Him as their Saviour, in this day of God's patience.

"The time is short." "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." S. R.

O Lord, if e'er I need Thee
It is just now,
I pray let not man lead me,
But only Thou:
Thou only, Lord,
Through Thy blest word
Canst lead aright-
By faith, not sight.

My path I would not choose, Lord;
Choose Thou for me.
There is too much to lose, Lord,
Ah, hold Thou me.
No strength have I,
I must rely
On Thee alone;
Thy will be done.

Thy word's a lamp unfailing
Unto my feet,
To light my path, revealing
All things unmeet.
Oh may it shine
With light divine,
That I may see
Each step with Thee.

I cannot walk alone, Lord,
I am afraid.
Thy guidance I must have, Lord,
My timely aid.
Let Thy peace rule
Deep in my soul;
While I lie still
Show me Thy will.

Thy flock, O Lord, how scattered,
How sadly torn!
Yea, wounded, world-bespattered,
And laughed to scorn.
O Shepherd, lead
My feet, and feed
In pastures green,
By pools serene.
O Lord, I feel my weakness,
In Thee's all power:
Teach me, I pray, Thy meekness,
In trial's hour.
On Thee I'm cast
And know, at last
Thy will shall be
Revealed to me.

For I would-have no will, Lord,
But only Thine;
Thy joy I would fulfil, Lord,
Thy joy divine.
And Thy strong arm
Shall shield from harm
The while I rest
Upon Thy breast.

Thy cross hath separated
This world and me ;
It was anticipated
For me by Thee.
Then let it be
The sign for me
That Thou wilt guide
O'er desert wide.

I put my hand in Thine, Lord,
Oh, lead me still.
Thou'st made the promise mine, Lord,
Thou wilt fulfil. I pray Thee use
As Thou shalt choose,
And give me grace
To run the race.

H. McD

The Signs of the Times

Israel, not the Church, is the subject of Old Testament prophecies. The times of Messiah's coming to Israel was indeed given in Daniel 9 :24, 25, but all those who have sought to compute the time of our Lord's return (or second coming) from these prophecies, to establish His kingdom upon earth, have necessarily erred. They have applied to the Church what belonged to Israel. The Church was an unrevealed mystery of God's purpose until the Holy Spirit sent by Christ glorified (Jno. 16 :7) had come. A helpful little chart on this subject will be found in the pamphlet, "The Mystery (the Church) and the Kingdom of Heaven," (18 cents. postpaid). It very clearly shows how the Church-the mystery, previously unrevealed-comes in while the prophecies and promises as to Israel are held in abeyance till Israel turns in repentance to the Lord whom they crucified.

Ephesians 3 :3 tells us positively by whom " the mystery" of the Church, the Bride and Body of Christ, was made known. The apostle Paul, Christ's chosen instrument for this revelation, tells us in verse 5, that "in other ages it had not been made known to the sons of men." And as to the length of time of the Church's continuance upon earth, it has pleased God to keep it to His own knowledge -purposely, may we not say-to keep the Church in the attitude of waiting for her Lord.

But if no prophecies have been given as to the set time of our Lord's return for His Church, according to His promise (Jno. 14 :3), we have been warned of the moral conditions that would mark the end of this dispensation of grace. Those conditions are outlined for us in 2 Tim. 3 :1-7 ; 2nd epistle of Peter, Jude, etc. Can anyone, whose eyes are in the least open to the truth, deny that we have been facing such conditions for some period of time already ? God's path for those that fear Him, and seek obediently to walk with Him, is given us in 2 Tim. 2 :15-23.

All this applies to the Church-not to Israel. Israel has been broken off the Olive Tree of privilege and blessing. They have crucified their Messiah, and are for the time lo-ammi (not my people), until the ingathering of the Church is complete, as Rom. chap 9 plainly declares.

Is there any sign that this restoration is near ? In this connection the following from the N. Y. times, of Nov. 9, is of interest and of deep significance :

BRITAIN FAVORS ZIONISM.

London, Nov. 8, 1917.-Arthur J. Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has written the following letter to Lord Rothschild, expressing the Government's sympathy with the Zionist movement:

" The Government view with favor the establishment of Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing will be done that may prejudice the civil or religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine."

Mr. Balfour adds that this declaration of sympathy with the Jewish Zionist aspirations has been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet.

The Jewish Chronicle, commenting on Mr. Balfour's letter, says:

"With one step the Jewish cause has made a great bound forward. It is the perceptible lifting of the cloud of centuries; a palpable sign that the Jew-condemned for two thousand years by unparalleled wrong-is at last coming to his right. He is to be given the opportunity and means by which in place of being a hyphenation he can become a nation. In place of being a wanderer in every clime, there is to be a home for him in his ancient land. The day of his exile is to be ended."

Such an expression from the British Government naturally awoke general interest and great enthusiasm among the Jews generally. The same journal reports a few days later, thus:

The Provisional Zionist Committee yesterday sent a cable message of greeting and congratulation to the Zionist mass meeting which was held in London last night (Nov. 25), to celebrate the promise by the British Government to support the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine. David Lloyd George, or some member of his War Cabinet, was to speak at the meeting, besides Lord Rothschild, Dr. Weitzman, President of the British Zionist Federation, etc., etc. The cable message from the American Committee read as follows:

"The hearts of millions of our people are filled with joy. The declaration of the British Government, approving the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people is epochal. . . . The declaration is the beginning of the fulfillment of the centuries-old aspiration of Israel to re-establish the Jewish homeland. . . . The united Jewry of America will give the fullest measure of support to the practical working out of the plan."

Within the last thirty or forty years efforts have been made, first to obtain permission from the reluctant Turkish Government, and then to help Jewish colonies to settle in different parts of Palestine; but now, at one bound, it is proposed to re-establish the Jews as a nation in their own land! They will, of course, need guarantees of support to secure national independency among powerful and not-much-trusted neighbors. Who will be the Guarantors, if not a coalition of Western Powers? Thus the prospect looms up of what we read in Daniel 9:27-a covenant to be made by the Roman Prince with Daniel's people (the Jews) " for one week" (the 70th heptad], but, alas, to be broken in the midst of the week, and then desolations shall be poured out upon the desolate people. Scripture informs us that it shall be, above all previous ones, the time of "Jacob's trouble " (Jer. 30 :7)-the time of tribulation for the returned Jews such as was not since the world began (Matt. 24 :21), and the direct cause of this tribulation is mentioned in verse 15 of Matt. 24 and Dan. 9 :27; while the time of its duration and its limit is mentioned in Dan. 12:7-13.

Is the time come for the accomplishment of these things? We know not. There may be further preliminaries to them yet; and God means to keep us, His people, in the attitude of waiting for our Lord from heaven, to take us Christians, home to Himself.

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season ?
" Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that He shall make him ruler over all his goods" (Matt. 24:45-47).

"I have been an invalid for over four years-afflicted with tuberculosis of the lungs since January, 1912.

" I want you to know, however, that my affliction has been the most wonderful blessing that was ever bestowed upon me, inasmuch as it has been the means used of God to lead me-poor, guilty, lost sinner that I was-to the Lord Jesus Christ, my Saviour, who loved me and gave Himself for me, that He might redeem me from all iniquity! ' Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name ' (Ps. 103:1)."

FRAGMENT

(Continued from page 65.)

3.-Zophar's Second Address and Job's Reply. (chaps. 20, 21.)

There is, as already noticed, an intensity in Zophar that gives a distinct character to his words. He fiercely denounces evil, leaving no room for doubt that he refers to Job, and depicts the certain doom of the wicked in language whose very vehemence soon exhausts what he has in mind. This seems to be the reason why he concludes all he has to say with this second address. The fiercer the fire the more quickly it burns out. All that he says is true; his own unpardonable error is that he seeks to apply it to a righteous man. This address may be divided into seven parts; the last is but a concluding word.

(1)Brief triumph of the wicked (vers. 1-5).

(2)He is soon cut off (vers. 6-11).

(3) Poisoned with his own venom (vers. 12-16).

(4)Past prosperity unavailing (vers. 17-20).

(5) Retribution (vers. 21-25).

(6) Abiding wrath (vers. 26-28).

(7)Conclusion (ver. 29).

(1) Zophar springs to the reply, as a young man would, feeling that he had abundant thoughts to meet all Job's statements, and convict him of the wickedness they charged upon him. He is not the first man who has mistaken vehemence for argument, and whose haste to express his feelings is an indication of poverty of thought rather than the weight of truth. He seems prepared for reproach, which Job's past answers lead him to expect, but is impelled by his knowledge to make one more attempt to silence Job. As a matter of fact, wounded pride may be the real reason for his eagerness to speak.

He now lays down the fact upon which he rests all he has to say. It is a well-known truth, he declares, known from the time man has been upon the earth:"The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite (or evil-doer) is but for a moment." There is both truth and error in this statement. Cain was not cut off immediately after the murder of his brother. On the contrary, his life was spared by God, and he settled down in the world with a city and a numerous progeny. Similarly, the men before the flood prolonged their days in the enjoyment of their pleasures, possessions and inventions. It is so to this day. How often does the wicked seem to prosper, even to old age.

On the other hand, sin naturally tends to shorten life. "Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days." Excesses bring their own consequences, and violence often brings down the arm of human vengeance upon its head. Besides this, God makes examples of evil men, especially those professedly under His government. Korah, Da-than and Abiram are an instance of this in the Old Testament, and Ananias and Sapphira in the New.

But this is not. the universal, nor even the ordinary rule. Many evil men go on for years in outward prosperity, and pass, with little apparent change, to their account in another world:There is no intimation that the "rich man" in Luke 16 was cut off early because of his sins. God varies His dealings with men, that in every possible way they may be left without excuse:swift judgment, prolonged patience, chastening and prosperity have all been tried, if men may by any means be led to repentance. The apostle sums it up thus:"Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after " (i Tim. 5:24)". Our Lord rebukes the tendency to regard sudden death as a mark of special sin (Luke 13:1-5). We would therefore conclude that Zophar was putting a part for the whole, and to that degree his statement was faulty. Job indeed in his reply calls attention to this. So anxious, however, are the "friends" to make good their case, that they do not scruple at extreme and unfair statements, which become positively evil when applied to the grief of a man not proved guilty. We shall find that this tendency culminates in the last speech of Eliphaz in direct and specific charges of evil without the slightest foundation.

(2) Zophar proceeds with his picture, poetic but dreadfully stern-solemnly beautiful, if we can forget his purpose. The course of the sinner is further dwelt upon, and his end contrasted with his ambitions. His hopes may have risen to the heavens, his head to the clouds, in imagination, but he is consumed away like fuel stored up for the winter. The well-known custom in the East of preparing the dung of cattle for this purpose, explains the figure here used. Men will miss him, and ask in vain, Where is he ? As a passing dream of the night he is gone; the eyes that once looked on him behold him no more. His ill-gotten gains are given, reluctantly enough, we may well believe, by his children to the poor. His bones, once full of youthful vigor (as suggested in the revised translation), are now laid low in their parent dust. The section begins with heaven and ends with the grave! Such is the downward path of those who know not God.

(3) Nor is the reason for this dreadful conclusion of the life of the wicked far to seek. He has but himself to blame, and is reaping what he sowed. The poison comes from his own vitals. In a few strokes the speaker draws a dreadful picture of the sinful man, who, gorging himself with sinful pleasures, hidden and cherished beneath his tongue, is like the venomous serpent, preparing the deadly virus which shall bring death to him. His riches, evilly acquired, will be torture to his closing days. Truly, all this is solemnly true. God is not arbitrary in the punishment of the wicked; they treasure up "wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." The "good things" received by the rich man, instead of leading him to gratitude and faith, were used for his own gratification-away from God- and thus did but return to torture him with remorse. " Son,- remember," shows where the thoughts must turn when there is no further opportunity to hide from the consequences of his own acts. As has been pointed out, the name "Gehenna" is from a root, " to be freely given "- '' gratuitous," it might be rendered. How wickedly vain is the talk about God being "too merciful to send men ,to hell; " men show no mercy to themselves; they have only themselves to blame for their doom. All this is accentuated by the fact that infinite love has provided a "gratuitous" remedy, which is rejected by so many.

(4) Zophar next glances at the former prosperity of the wicked, when he quaffed the draught of pleasure as from an overflowing river of honey and cream. What was grasped-from others, must now be given up, and his riches can bring him no joy. Like Ahab, who came down to see the vineyard acquired by the murder of Naboth, and had to hear his own doom pronounced by the prophet, he can get no joy from his possession. The unfinished house he took remains as a monument of his crime ; he cannot even take his most cherished belongings with him.

Zophar is indeed an expert in describing evil and its results. It will be noted that the wickedness described is largely violations of the second part of the law, particularly in regard to dishonesty and violence. Much that he hints at here is directly charged by Eliphaz against Job. The friends thus strengthen one another in their determination to establish their theory that Job is the wicked hypocrite suffering for his own misdeeds.

(5) The thought of retribution is enlarged upon in this portion. Covetousness means an ultimate ruin; the very ones he oppressed (the "needy," rather than the "wicked," ver. 22) shall be arrayed against him. And, above all, God shall pour forth the fury of His wrath upon him, like the fiery rain that fell upon Sodom. Seeking to flee from the weapon of iron, he is pierced by the more deadly arrow; "As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; . . . and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him" (Amos 5:19). With unerring precision the shaft pierces the vitals of the terror-stricken man, and there is no escape.

(6) This doom is final, with no gleam of hope beyond. The sinner has laid up a treasure of "wrath against the day of wrath; " and unquenchable fire, which needs no "blowing upon" to add to its fierceness, consumes him, and those he leaves behind taste the same fire. The heavens are against him ; their holy light only reveals his iniquity. Job had appealed to heaven and earth to witness to his righteousness (chap. 16:18, 19), but Zophar hints the absolute reverse-the heavens do but declare his sin, and earth rises up in the judgment against him. He concludes his fearful picture with the mention of divinely appointed wrath.

(7) "This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God " (ver. 29). Zophar has completed his terrible charges. He has pursued without pity a bruised and apparently dying man. He has refused the appeal of Job for pity, has ignored the declaration of his unshaken integrity, and has pressed his suspicion with an iron hand into the soul of the poor sufferer, and all this under the specious plea of piety pleading for God! However it may end, we feel that no help is to be got from Zophar and those like him, and we do not regret that we shall hear him no more until he comes in a very different spirit to ask the prayers of the friend whom he has maligned.

Job's Reply.

While our sympathy goes out to Job for the treatment he is receiving at the hands of his friends, there is abundant evidence in his replies that he is quite able to answer for himself, so far at least as men are concerned. He meets each of the speakers on his own ground and silences him. In this reply to Zophar he shows that his spirit is still unbroken, and answers with collusiveness the semblance of arguments which he had presented. Job's reply, following the form of Zophar's address, may be divided into seven portions :

(1) The solemnity of his reply, which has to do with God (vers. 1-6).
(2) The prosperity of the wicked (vers. 7-16).

(3) Judgment seen only in their children (vers. 17-21).

(4) Varied experiences of the wicked (vers. 22-26).

(5)He charges the friends (vers. 27-31).

(6) The end in death (vers. 32, 33).

(7) Conclusion (ver. 34).

(1) He begins with a plea that at least they will listen to him. This will at least take the place of the consolation which they refuse to give him. After that they can resume their taunts. For himself, he says he has ceased to expect any right judgment from man; and well he might if that were all his hope. This implies that he has turned to God, which is in itself an indication of the faith at the bottom of his heart. But his difficulties have not vanished ; they may well be astonished, for he himself trembles to speak of what he is now going to lay before them, and it disproves much that which Zophar had just so eloquently set forth. It will be noted, here, that the tone of querulous-ness is absent from this dignified opening of Job. He propounds his difficulty to his friends, and if they are men they must see his point.

(2) He looks at .the other side, at the case of the prosperous wicked, and with ability equal to Zophar's, reminds him that evil men often go on unchecked. They live to old age and become mighty in power. Their families grow up about them, and all abides in quietness without the rod of God falling upon them. Flocks and herds increase ; his children -in sad contrast to the now childless speaker- are like a group of lambs skipping about the home, and in it is heard the sound of timbrel and harp and pipe. All their days are in prosperity until the end comes, although these very men said to God, "Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." Like Pharaoh, they ask, "What is the Almighty that we should serve Him, and what profit should we have if we pray unto Him?" While describing their profane defiance of God, which goes so long unrebuked, Job is careful to express his abhorrence of such impiety:"Lo, their good is not by their own hand " (all that they have is from God); "the counsel of the wicked is far from me " (ver. 16). All this is true, and bears out the teaching of psalm 73, where one is under exercise similar to his own.

(3) In this part Job fully admits that there will be a final manifestation of the sin of the wicked, but it is so often seen in the children instead of themselves; and what do they care for their house after them ? (ver. 21). In opposition to Zophar, he reminds him "how rarely is the candle of the wicked put out," as ver. 17 has been rendered; how seldom does calamity break in upon them, as the scatterings of "snares" or "lightnings" in the wrath of God. While it is true, as the psalmist tells us, that the ungodly are "like the chaff which the wind driveth away " (Ps. i :4), Job reminds his hearers that this seldom takes place in the present life; it is reserved for the "judgment." The two following verses, 19, 20, state the facts (which are put in the form of a desire in another rendering), that God layeth up the iniquity of the wicked for the children, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children." He shall eventually see the result of his evil, though the day is long deferred.

(4) In fact, as Job goes on to show, the experiences of the wicked are varied, and he adds, Who shall sit in judgment upon God for these varied dealings? One dies quietly in the midst of abounding prosperity, as the psalm says, "The wicked have no bands in their death;" another is cut off in wretchedness. Both alike reach a common end in the grave. And this being the case, how ill it becomes his friends to state, as an unvarying rule, that judgment in this life was always a sign of sin, and prosperity of righteousness, in the persons affected. Although he himself had reached no solution to his problem, he could at least urge his friends to "judge nothing before the time."

(5) He now declares their purpose, which they have only hinted at hitherto, that Job was an instance of the soundness of their contention; and see, say they, what has become of him! He throws back their insinuations by the bold question, Have they not learned from observers everywhere that the wicked is "spared " in the day of calamity (not "reserved," as in our version), "to the day of destruction" ? And so powerful is he that none dare charge his sin to him, or inflict deserved punishment-all this, alas, only too common in our own day.

(6) It is in death alone that the end of the prosperity of many of the ungodly is reached; even in his burial outward pomp and display accompany him as far as possible-buried with all the honor that wealth can buy, and the watchman guarding the tomb where his body is laid away. In this sense the very clods of his grave seem to pander to his pride; his gorgeous mausoleum still declaring what a great man he was.

(7) Thus Job concludes a very complete answer to all the magniloquence of his friends. Their "comforts," indeed, are vain, and their replies are lacking in the sincerity that indicates the real seeker after truth.

We have reached the end of the second series in the controversy. As already stated, there are gleams of Job's faith in it, though still clouded with dark questionings of God. On the other hand, his friends have evidently reached the limit of their ability to force a conclusion, although they will make one more effort. On the whole, we may say that distinct progress has been made, and the advantage is with Job. As yet, however, the enigma remains, " Why does God afflict the righteous?" and Job has yet to learn the reply, not from men, but from God Himself. S. R.

(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 130.)

Unity-of the Body and of the Spirit.

"There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all" (Eph. 4:4-6).

Three spheres of unity are presented to us in J. these verses; and in their order each is wider than the preceding one. With the Spirit is linked that essential unity formed between the Lord Jesus Christ and His members, to which the hope of our calling naturally contributes.

Next, with one Lord, profession and baptism are connected; it leaves room for what may be unreal,
as it is individual profession. Water baptism is meant, of course, not the baptism of the Spirit. The line of truth as to the kingdom here and now, applies here.

Finally we have the largest circle :"One God and Father of all:" viz., God's claims and authority over all things, over everyone, and everywhere.

Our subject (Unity, of the Body and of the Spirit) refers to the first circle, as the exhortations of verses 1-3 are manifestly connected with that. The unity of the Body, formed and maintained by the Spirit is indissoluble. We are not exhorted to keep that; it belongs to the eternal position of the assembly; it is vital, and outside the responsibility of man. The unity of the Spirit is another matter; it is the responsibility of the assembly. It is not a unity of sentiment merely, but that oneness established by the Spirit which is to be maintained practically in a lowly gracious walk. As those saved and linked with a glorified Christ, we are individually responsible to refuse everything that militates against this blessed truth. We are exhorted "to walk worthy" of this calling, and so maintain the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace-not exalting self, nor assuming superiority over others, but in a Christ-like spirit of love to all His own.

Love is ever the divine regulator (-1 Cor. 13 and Eph. 4:2). How sadly deficient we have often been in this, even in our sincere endeavor to keep -as we thought-the unity of the Spirit ! How much hardness has often been manifested in connection with this very thing! The Holy Spirit is always careful to guard against extremes:" Speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15). There must be no compromise of truth under the plea of unity. Truth, not mere sentiment, is the rule for our walk; yet, where foundation truth is not involved, we surely are to bear with one another, remembering our own weakness and limitations. It is just here we should be "-endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit."

But how little is this blessed "oneness" understood ! Consequently various Bodies, or ' 'Churches," have arisen, whose very existence depends upon ignoring this most precious truth. If there is "one Body (one Church) and one Spirit," we surely are not left to "join" anything. The believer is already, by the Holy Spirit, joined to, is a member of, the only Church which Scripture recognizes; and to sanction anything other than this must necessarily be a practical denial of the truth. The exhortation, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace" comes in here. Our conduct is to be in line with the unity already formed by the Holy Spirit.

This of necessity separates us from what denies, or is contrary to, this blessed truth. Where it has power over the soul, it delivers from all human organization. It leads back to first principles; it recognizes the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Center of gathering, the Head of His assembly, and the Leader of His people's praises (Heb. 2:12). Some may plead various difficulties, and expediency in view of the broken state of the Church now; but in following God's Word, the path for faith is as plain to-day as ever; and simple obedience is the path of blessing, and well pleasing to the Lord.

In the early days of the Church, believers were together without distinction of names; the "one loaf" upon the table, partaken of in the Lord's Supper, manifested the truth of the one Body. '' We being many are one loaf, one body, for we are all partakers of that one loaf" (i Cor. 10:17). This corporate aspect of the Supper is largely lost sight of to-day. The Episcopalian formula:"Take this in remembrance that Christ died for thee," substitutes individual remembrance for what should be collective, and the truth of the one Body lost sight of.

The question maybe asked, " What is the difference between the "Table" and the "Supper?" Briefly, the former is the manifested fellowship into which the death of the Lord Jesus has introduced us. The latter is the simple remembrance of Himself, and announcement of His death. No company in Christendom has the exclusive possession of "the Table:" every member of the Body of Christ is linked with this. At the same time we should be consistent with the Lord's Table, and here again our responsibility comes in. It is evident from i Cor. 10, that we are responsible to walk apart from all that is inconsistent with the truth connected with the death of Christ, whether it be ecclesiastical relationships or worldly associations, so that it is no mere matter of correct external position. As to "the table of demons," it certainly cannot be applied to any Christian company.

Of details as to the practical carrying out of this truth much has been written, and such can be obtained of our publishers at small cost.

In our next and concluding paper the Church's hope will be our theme. J. W. H. N.