(Continued from page 126)

4.God's Testing of Man (chap. 35).

In the previous chapter Elihu had devoted himself chiefly to vindicating God's character, as seen in His beneficent government, as well as in the self-evident fact that the Source of all right, justice and government, must Himself be the embodiment of what we partly see even in this fallen creation. The present chapter is so intimately connected with this that it has been taken as a part of the same division. But from the fact that there is evidently a fresh beginning in ver. i, as well as from the contents, it seems more fitting to give it a separate place. As the fourth portion of Elihu's address it is fittingly a test of man, which is the subject, rather than a vindication of God, as in the previous chapter. This test, however, is largely along the same lines as the previous vindication of God. And how true it is that what manifests His character, in its perfection, discloses the nature and ways of man as he is.

The chapter may be divided into three portions:

(1) God's transcendent greatness (vers. 1-8).

(2) Why the cry of the oppressed is not answered (vers. 9-13).

(3) A call to trust Him (vers. 14-16).

We notice again the gracious tone of Elihu. He is appealing to Job's reason and conscience, seeking to win him from his hard and sinful thoughts of God to simple trust in One who may hide Himself in the darkness, but who must be good in all He does. Already we have seen flashes of this in Job, but he must yet be brought to judge everything inconsistent with the noble words he uttered at the beginning:"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

(1) Quoting again Job's thoughts, if not his exact words, and drawing the proper conclusion from them, Elihu points out the monstrous deduction- "My righteousness is more than God's." Forbad not Job brought himself to just such a conclusion ? " I have not sinned to deserve such treatment; my life is blameless before man and God; there is no reason for His afflicting except for glaring transgressions, therefore He is unjust!" Well it is for us to face our conclusions, and learn the folly of our reasonings.

The following verses, 2, 3, seem to be a repetition, with enlargement of what had been previously said in chap. 34 :9. Job had declared that his claim was more righteous than God's, because (ver. 3) God was utterly indifferent to whatever he did. There was no advantage in righteousness any more than in sin! Imagine an upright, God-fearing man bringing himself to such a conclusion! It leads to, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."

Elihu's reply is not what we might have expected. He does not apparently contradict Job's conclusion; indeed he takes his thought, but uses it to vindicate God's character. "You say, O Job -and your companions are but little better in their reasonings-that your conduct cannot be of any value, whether it be good or bad, for God is indifferent to it either way. Yes, God is infinitely above you, and your conduct cannot directly interfere with Him. Why then have you charged Him with unfairness and arbitrary selfishness in afflicting you ? " According to Job's reasoning, God was unaffected by what man did, was not injured by his sin, nor profited by his righteousness. Elihu therefore asks, "How is it that you say He does pay attention to man, and so much so that He most unrighteously afflicts you ? " Here is manifest contradiction on Job's part.

Elihu, as usual with him, dwells upon God's side. He does not for the moment speak of His relations with man, or His intimate care and divine interest in man's walk. He would have Job look up into those very heavens which he thought were against him, and ponder the character of One who is infinitely perfect, unaffected by the puny activities of men on earth, who are as grasshoppers in His sight. How could such an One, infinitely holy, divinely sufficient unto Himself, act unjustly toward one whose conduct may and does affect himself and his fellow-men, but cannot penetrate those serene heights ? This is but one side of the truth- a side already seen in measure by both Job (chap.7:20) and Eliphaz (chap. 22:2, etc.).

(2) Having shown that his own view of God's independence of man was a reply to his accusations, Elihu at once proceeds to show that there is a divine concern in man's ways. God slumbereth not. He sees and hears. It grieves Him at His heart when men sin. His infinite perfections are outraged by evil, and it is for this reason that He does not, cannot in faithfulness, answer the cry of the oppressed for relief. Elihu is not speaking directly of Job, but of all afflicted ones, including him. There is a reason why they do not get relief from the Almighty.

And this reason is that, occupied with their own misery, seeking relief only for their own sake, they have no thought of God's will or of His glory. They do not ask, Where is God my Maker ? What can I learn of Him in these things ? And is not this well-nigh universal ? Where do we find men turning to God in their affliction ? The hungry want bread, but they do not want God. Give them bread, and they are quite content to go on in perfect ignorance of Him. "Ye seek Me . . . because ye did eat of the loaves, and are filled. Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which en-dureth unto eternal life . . . And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee." Are men grateful to God for His blessings; do they seek after Him for what He is ?

And yet are we not immeasurably above the beasts ? God teaches us more than they can know. Yes, He giveth songs in the night of trial. Indifference to all this is the heart-breaking fact that, " When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful." Is it any wonder, then, that God must let poor man feel the weight of his sufferings, if perchance he would seek after the only One who can, not only give relief, but prove a satisfying portion ?

Pride, vanity, self-will, are what turn the heavens into brass. The Lord is nigh to them of a broken heart. This is the burden of the "Lord's prayer"-God's glory comes first. If men ignore that, they need not be surprised that their prayer for daily bread seems to be ignored.

Elihu is here dealing with principles, and it need hardly be added that he is only explaining God's silence when men cry, and not alluding to His kindness and care of His creatures. " The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." Might not Job learn the needed lesson if he would but give heed ? He had been the recipient of abundant mercies from God ; must there not be a reason for His apparent silence now?

(3) There has been some difference as to the meaning of ver. 14-some holding it as a quotation of Job, as though Elihu would say, "If God does not hear pride, much less will He hear thee, when thou sayest thou seest Him not, the cause lieth all before Him, and yet thou art obliged to wait in vain upon Him." This is quite in accord with the previous words of Elihu ; but our version, which turns them into an exhortation, makes an appropriate conclusion:"Although thou sayest thou shalt not see Him, yet judgment is before Him, therefore trust thou in Him." Do not think God has forgotten; be patient; learn the lesson He would teach thee. How admirable and scriptural is this advice-exactly what Job needed. "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord."

Elihu puts the other side also before Job. He is not to imagine that because God does not smite, He does not know. He fully sees all man's presumption. This is the probable meaning of ver. 15, which is so obscure in our version. " Extremity" has been rendered as "wide-spread iniquity," well answering to "presumption," or " sullenness." The conclusion is, " God is not mocked." Let not men despise His patience.

Therefore Job has opened his mouth in vain; he has multiplied his words without knowledge. This is what God will later on bring home to his conscience in that terrible introductory question:"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge ?" Thus Job is being prepared to listen to that Voice. Truly, Elihu is answering to his desire for a daysman, and Job's silence may well be taken as a token of beginning conviction. S. R.

(To be continued.)

What an astonishing act of love was this for the Father to give the delight of His soul, out of His very bosom, for poor sinners ! All tongues must need pause and falter that attempt the expressions of His grace; for expressions here are swallowed up, in that, " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." So loved them ? How did He love them? Ah, here you must excuse the tongues of angels. Which of us would deliver a child, the child of our delights, an only child, to death, for the greatest inheritance in the world ? What tender parent can endure parting with such a child ? When Hagar was taking her last leave (as she thought) of her Ishmael, "she went and sat her down over against him, a good way off … for she said, ' Let me not see the death of the child ?' And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept" (Gen. 21:16). Though she were none of the best of mothers, nor he the best of children, yet she could not give up her child. Oh, it was hard to part !

What an outcry did David make, even for an "'Absalom, wishing he had died for him ! What a breach has the death of some children made in the hearts of some parents, which will never be closed up in this world ? Yet, surely, never did any child lie so close to a parent's heart as Christ to His Father's; and yet He willingly parts with Him, though His only one, the Son of His delights; and that to a death, a cursed death; for sinners, for the worst of sinners. Oh, the admirable love of God to men! Matchless love! A love past finding out! Let all men, therefore, in the matter of their redemption, give equal glory to the Father with the Son (Johns:23). If the Father had not loved thee, He had never parted with such a Son for thee. Selected

(Continued from page 216.)

And so God showed His wrath on Pharaoh and his hosts-on "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." He wrought miracle after miracle to manifest to the poor enslaved Israelites that He was indeed Jehovah. The gods of Egypt were mocked once and again; and when the dreadful plague of vermin covered man and beast, the priests of Egypt (whose custom it was to shave and wash themselves daily with scrupulous care, else they were not fit to minister in the temple before their gods) were set at nought.

Manifestly there was a power at work superior to any and all of their gods-a power which mocked them all, and rendered their priests unfit to approach them. " This is the finger of God " (Ex. 8:19) was the unwilling admission of these workers of magic. And not simply "the finger of God," but His almighty arm was to be made bare in wrath against Egypt; and so having "endured with much long-suffering these vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction," He overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea.

It has been said that the mummy of the Pharaoh of the Exodus has been found in Egypt, and from this an attempt has been made to discredit the Scriptures which declare that Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea. Psalm 136 :15 plainly declares that the Lord overthrew pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea, As others have pointed out, the finding of his mummy in Egypt, if it be a fact, is in nowise contradictory to his having been drowned in the sea, for it is written, " Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore" (Ex. 14:30).

What could be more probable, if Pharaoh was among the "dead upon the seashore," than that his body would be honored by the people, and duly embalmed. Are not some of our own prominent men, who were drowned in the awful "Titanic" disaster, their bodies having been recovered, buried in their own family vaults ? The eagerness of unbelief to discredit Scripture may overreach itself.

But if there are "vessels of wrath," there are also "vessels of mercy," the suited objects upon whom God might make known the "riches of His glory." "Vessels of mercy"-those who, in the extremity of their need and helplessness before God had, on the one hand, turned from the proud self-righteousness of the Jew, and on the other, from the open wickedness and idolatry of the Gentile-those to whom the gospel had come "not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Those vessels, emptied of self-sufficiency, and so ready to receive mercy, are being prepared of God for glory, and in the ages to come they shall be to the "praise of His glory" who trusted in Christ during the period of Israel's rejection of Him. Wrath and destruction for the haughty and unbelieving; mercy and glory for the penitent who receive God's glad tidings.

Thus, those Jews connected with the unbelieving nation, had become " Lo Ammi" (not my people); those turning to Christ had become "My people"; and the Gentiles having turned to God from idols, had become the " children of the living God."

The apostle's appeal to Scripture is beyond gainsaying. Isaiah had plainly proclaimed that irrespective of how numerous the children of Israel might be, only a remnant should be saved; and also, had it not been for the mercy of the Lord of Hosts they would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah-utterly obliterated.

What shall we say, then ? That is, What is the meaning of all this ? It means, " That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone :as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed " (Rom. 9:30-33). The poor Jew, refusing to recognize (despite his position as under a foreign yoke on account of his sin) the uselessness of seeking righteousness by works of law, found in Him who came to seek and to save the lost, only a stumbling stone. For, blinded to his own condition before God, proud in his Pharasaic self-righteousness (looking for Messiah as One who would come as a warrior-king to put honor upon him and drive the Roman from the land), could only stumble over Him who was "meek and lowly in heart," and could only find in Him a "rock of offence," who came "not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The Pharisee might be ashamed of One so contrary to his own carnal conception of Messiah; but "whosoever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed." In that day, when the words of the prophet to the rejecters of Messiah will be fulfilled, they shall then be covered with shame :" Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish :for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you " (Acts 13:41).

Those who despise Him now shall wonder when they behold in Him their God, who would have been their Saviour but for their unbelief. Alas, whilst they wonder, they perish under the awful sentence of their doom coming from Love's reluctant lips:"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." The Gentile, who had no "law of righteousness," but was festering in the open sore of his corruption and idolatry, attracted by the unconditional grace of the gospel, in believing found that righteousness which is by faith.

What a spectacle for the apostle to behold, and what a burden for his heart to bear-his poor brethren, blinded and astray, "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us ; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved " (i Thess. 2 :15, 16). Whereto shall he turn his eyes, and where shall he ease his burdened heart? He turns his eyes to God, and pours out his heart to Him who alone is sufficient for these things:"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved."

The heart's desire leads to prayer that the desire may be met by God Himself. And how much like Israel is the condition of Christendom to-day- self-complacent and self-righteous, and yet blinded and astray. What is my heart's desire towards the great religious multitude of the present time? And, reader, what is yours ? Can we say, in the fear of God, My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved ? May God grant it to be unfeignedly so.

The apostle could "bear them record that they had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge;" and this was manifested in that "they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." They did not know how righteous God is, and so they could hope that the patchwork of their human efforts might somehow be made acceptable to Him. Therefore when the Baptist came with the sentence of God upon a guilty nation, "The axe is laid at the root of the trees" (Matt. 3:10), it was after the fertilizing of mercy and the pruning of law had alike been without avail. The whole tree must be brought down to the dust of death. "And all the people that heard Him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized of John."

Those "vessels of mercy" accepted the sentence of God upon their guilty souls. They declared God righteous in the pronouncing of the sentence of judgment upon them. " But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves"; in refusing to be baptized of John, they went about to establish their own righteousness. Alas, it is possible to have a zeal for God which neither takes into account one's own true condition nor yet His righteousness.

The apostle now brings in that which is of first importance-that in rejecting righteousness on the principle of faith, they were giving up that which Moses had pointed out as the only hope of the nation in the closing days of their extremity, and in combating the gospel going out to the Gentiles they were ignoring the plainest utterances of the prophets. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."* *This passage is sometimes misquoted, "Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth." It is surely true that "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law," and that He has "redeemed us from law " as a principle of obedience to God. But we have now sonship, arid the Spirit of His Son is in our hearts, and in the power of this "the righteousness of the law [the righteous requirement of the law] is fulfilled in us." Thus it is manifest that Christ is not and could not be the '' end of the law to every one that believeth." But He is, thank God, " the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."* He that believes has renounced all hope of a righteousness by the law. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is by the law, That the man that doeth these things shall live by them"-shall live in virtue of having done "all things that are written in the book of the law." But the fact that men died showed that they had not "continued in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them."

"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise; Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ down from above), or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart." This whole passage, with the exception of its two supplementary clauses ("That is, to bring down Christ from above "; and, " That is, to bring up Christ again from the deep," or, "from the abyss") is cited from Deut. 30:12-14, and speaks of the secret things which belong unto the Lord (Deut. 29:29). The things of the law belonged to Israel and to Israel's children, and therein lay their responsibility. But when scattered and peeled among the nations in the latter days, and brought to realize through bitter and sore experiences that righteousness comes not through the deeds of the law, they are not to ask, Who shall bring Messiah down from heaven; or, Who shall bring Him up again from the dead ? Brought to realize that their hope is in their Messiah, when bewildered and perplexed, God comes to their rescue and "circumcises their heart" (Deut. 30:6), and makes good to them the truth that the "righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart." He will put that word in their mouth and their heart which will bring to them the righteousness which is by faith. But that word upon which the ultimate salvation of the nation hangs, "That," says the apostle, "is the word of faith which we preach:that if with thy mouth thou shalt confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." He whom they had esteemed as "stricken, smitten of God and afflicted" (esteemed Him as an impostor), they will confess as Lord.

The Lord will put His laws in their hearts then, and in their minds He will write them, and with the heart they will believe unto righteousness, and with the mouth shall they confess unto salvation. So then, for the nation in its extremity in the latter days it will not be a question of bringing Christ down from heaven; nor yet, if He should come and die for that nation, of raising Him from the dead, but of confessing that Jesus whom they rejected as a blasphemer, and crucified as a malefactor, is the Christ. Thus the gospel concerning Him who died and rose again, which they so bitterly opposed was, in the reception of it, their only hope of righteousness. G. MacKenzie.

(To be continued.)

A vessel crossing the Bay of Biscay fell in with a disabled ship. By the fury of the sea it had been reduced to a mere hulk; its masts and boats were all swept away, and apparently there was not a living soul on board.

The captain of the ship, not liking to pass by the derelict without seeing if there were any onboard, sent a boat to see. The sailors reached the vessel, and got on board. For some time their search was fruitless, but finally they found a human being rolled in coverings. It was a man, reduced to skin and bone and not able to help himself. They took him up and brought him to the ship. The people gathered round to see this strange wreck of a man who as yet had not spoken.

Presently, as they were gazing upon him, to their surprise he said, "There's another man!" "Another man!" meaning that another man was on the doomed ship. The mariners went, searched, and found him, and brought him in safety to the ship; and both were saved.

Is there not a voice to us in this ? Being saved ourselves out of the sinking wreck of this world, we are conscious that others are there in danger of being lost for ever, and the Captain of our salvation bids us to search for the other man.

As soon as this poor man was saved the instincts of his heart made him think of the "other man," who must inevitably perish, if not rescued. Brother, sister, let us think of "the other man." A. E.

The second part of Jacob's history begins with J. the 28th chapter of Genesis; there he begins to be seen under discipline, and becomes the chief or leading character in that part of the book.

In his journey out toward Padan-aram, but before he left the borders of Canaan, the Lord appears to him at the place called Luz. This was not his father's bed-side, where he had been sinning, but a lonely spot, where his sin had cast him, and where the discipline of His heavenly Father was dealing with him. In such a place God can meet us. He cannot appear to us in the scene of our iniquities, but He can in the place of His correction. And such was Luz to Jacob. It was a comfortless spot. The stones of the place were his pillow; the lofty dome over head his covering; and no friend but his staff. But the God of his fathers comes there to him. He does not alter his present circumstances nor reverse the chastening. He lets him still pursue his way unfriended through twenty years hard service at the hand of a stranger, with many a wrong and injury to bear. But God gives him heavenly pledges that hosts on high should watch and wait around him.

The Lord had made, as we know, great promises to Abraham:the same were repeated to Isaac, and now, at Bethel, they are given to Jacob. But to Jacob something very distinct is added:"And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places wither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land ; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of" (ver. 15). This was a new promise, an added mercy, for Jacob needed it, as Abraham and Isaac had not. Jacob was the only one of the three who needed the promise that the Lord would be with him where-ever he went, and bring him home again.* *In perfect grace the promises of God are made to Jacob:"Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land " etc.; but Jacob, in his vow (5:20) put it all in doubt:"If God will be with me and keep me," etc. May we not learn from Jacob that, in order to believe God, our heart needs to be near to God, as Jacob was not at that time. What a contrast to these "ifs" were the aged patriarch's ways and words in the latter part of his life. See Gen. chs. 48, 49-all this as the fruit of the Holy Spirit's patient work and discipline. Compare Heb. 12:6-10. [ED.* By his own naughtiness, Jacob had made this additional mercy necessary to himself, and, in abounding grace, he gets it-the vision of the ladder pledges it. The promises to Abraham and to Isaac had not included this providential, angelic care. They had remained in the land; but Jacob had made himself an exile, and needed the care and watching of a special oversight from heaven; and he gets it. It is to this, I believe, that Jacob alludes, when he says to Joseph, "The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors" (Chap.49:26). This angelic care, that watched over him, under direct commission from heaven, in his days of exile and drudgery, which his own error had incurred, distinguished him as an object of mercy, and gave him "blessings" above those of his "progenitors." And in this character he reached "the bounds of the everlasting hills."He was heir of the kingdom as a debtor to special mercy, through that abounding grace that had helped him and kept him amid the bitter fruits of his own naughtiness. As David, in his day, triumphed in "the everlasting-covenant "made with him, though for the present his house was in ruins through his own sin (2 Sam. 23).

This is God's way-excellent and perfect in the combination of grace and holiness. And upon this, let me observe, that in all circumstances there are two objects, and that nature eyes the one, and faith the other. Thus, in divine discipline, such as Jacob was now experiencing, there is the rod, and also the hand that is using it. Nature regards the first, faith recognizes the second. Job, in his day, broke down under the rod because he concerned himself with it alone. Had he eyed the purpose, the heart or the hand that was appointing it (as we are exhorted to do, Micah 6:9), he would have stood. But nature prevailed in him, and kept his eye upon the rod, and it was too much for him.

So in failures, as well as in circumstances, there are two objects. Conscience has its reason, and faith has its object. But conscience is not to be allowed to rob faith of its treasures, the treasures of pardoning and restoring grace, for which the love of God in Christ has provided.

There is great comfort in this. Nature is not to be over-busy with circumstances, nor conscience with failures. Nature is to feel that no affliction is for the present joyous, and conscience or heart may be broken, but in either case, faith is to stand at its post and do its duty. Much of the gracious energy of the Spirit in the epistles is engaged in putting faith at its post, and encouraging it to do its duty. The apostles, under the Holy Spirit's guidance, take knowledge of the danger and temptation we are under by nature; and while it is abundantly enforced that conscience is to be quick and jealous, yet it is required that faith shall maintain itself in the very face of it.

To know God in grace is His praise and our joy. We naturally, or according to the instincts of a legal mind, think of Him as one that exacts obedience and looks for service. But faith knows Him as one that communicates, that pardons, and speaks to us of our privileges, of the liberty and the blessing of our relationship to Him. J. G. Bellett

REPLY TO AN ATTACK IN DR. STRONG'S " SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY."

(Concluded from page 76.)

(5) Christ's non-atoning sufferings.-It is very questionable whether Dr. Strong has any conception of the theme he dismisses so curtly. Are there any Christians who do not believe Christ endured sufferings that were not in themselves atoning ? Do we not rejoice in a Great High Priest who suffered, being tempted ? Is that atoning ? Do we not adore Him for His tender, human sympathies, which could not but cause Him to suffer greatly in a world like this ? Did such sufferings make atonement ? He suffered in the Garden, in view of the Cross. Was that atonement ? If so, why go to the cross at all ?

The subject is too sacred and holy for controversy. Dr. Strong had better study his Bible on the great theme of Christ's sufferings, until he can distinguish clearly between Christ's sorrows as the Servant of God and man on the way to the cross, and His atoning sufferings when our sins were laid upon Him, and He was made sin upon the cross. It will open up a wonderful vein of truth that will stir the heart to worship and move the lips to praise.

(6) Denial of the moral law as the rule of life.- Well, if," Brethren" are heretics because they teach that Christ, not the law of Moses, is the rule of life, they are in excellent company-with many devoted and enlightened Baptist ministers who teach the same. Literature on this subject is abundant.* *C. H. M.'s little booklet, "The Law and the Gospel," 3 cent., is clear and convincing. Any of the "Brethren's" expositions on Romans or Galatians are helpful. List sent on application.* No one need be in the dark as to what is taught on the important subject of "law and grace." "Brethren" teach that "the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." We are not under law (Rom. 6 :14). We are neither saved by law nor under the law as a rule of life; nevertheless, we are not lawless, but "under law (enlawed) to Christ." We stand firmly by the apostle Paul when he declares, "I through the law died unto the law that I might live unto God" (Gal. 2 :19). Is Christ Himself a lower standard than the law given from Sinai ? Or is the latter needed to complete the former? Surely no intelligent believer would so speak. This is not antinomianism, but its very opposite. It is subjection to Christ as Lord of the New Dispensation and Mediator of the New Covenant.

(7) The Lord's day is not the Sabbath.-If it is, let Dr. Strong produce the scripture that says so. The Sabbath was the seventh day. The Lord's day is the first day of the week. The Sabbath was given to an earthly people, and its observance prescribed under severest penalties for disobedience. The Lord's day is kept by a heavenly people, with no legal requirement or penalties attached. The Sabbath was for Israel; the Lord's day for the Church. They that love the Lord gather together on that resurrection day to remember the Lord's death till He come.

(8) Perfectionism.-One is here wholly at a loss to know what is meant. When and where have "Brethren" ever taught the doctrine of perfectionism, save that perfection which all believers have in Christ ? But that Dr. Strong himself evidently believes; so he must mean ' 'perfection in the flesh." This is a doctrine that "Brethren" have ever refused, and constantly confuted. Believing that the sinful nature remains in the believer so long as he is in the body, and is ever ready to act if there be a moment of unwatchfulness, how can they be truthfully charged with holding to perfectionism ? Any who so accuse them, are either wilfully ignorant of their real teaching, or utterly fail to understand its import.* *Having, myself, written a book on this theme, " Holiness, the False and the True," I beg leave to commend it to the inquirer who is anxious for a fuller statement of the subject, 50 cent, same publishers.*

(9) Secret rapture of the saints-caught up to be with Christ.-Yes, if this be heresy, " Brethren " are heretics; for they do indeed teach that at the coming of the Lord to the air all His saints will be caught up to meet Him, and the world left to pass through the great tribulation. But he is a bold man who would dub this "blessed hope" heresy in the face of i Cor. 15:51-56; i Thess. 4:13-18, and kindred passages. And again, be it remarked, "Brethren" are in good company, for Dr. Strong need not go outside his own denomination to find a host of honored servants of Christ who believe as thoroughly as " Brethren" do in the "secret rapture of the saints." But it passes our comprehension how any man, or set of men, with an atom of genuine love for the Lord and His people, can deliberately brand as heretics fellow – believers whose lives are usually fragrant with Christian graces, who stand unflinchingly for the inspiration of the entire Bible, simply because they hold different views on prophecy. Dr. Strong evidently does not believe in the secret rapture of the saints, but in the coming of the Lord in judgment at the end of the world. "Brethren " would not brand him as a heretic for this, though they feel he has lost much by his defective views. The same general remarks apply to the last charge of heresy- gratuitously hurled at " Brethren " by the Doctor himself.

(10) Premillennial advent of Christ. It is true that "Brethren," without any written creed, have learned from Scripture itself that the descent of the Lord from heaven will precede His millennial reign. Together with a goodly fellowship of saints in all the centuries since Christ's first advent, they are waiting for His second coming. Seeing no warrant in Scripture to expect a millennium before He appears, their expectation is for Himself, according to John 14:3, and they find this glad hope is a purifying power, a marvelous incentive to Christian life and service. They deeply regret that the Doctor, with many others, unconsciously says, "My Lord delayeth His coming." Is it because of this that such begin to belabor their fellow-servants and to call them heretics and schismatics ? But whether or no, "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh," and "Blessed are all they that wait for Him."

Having briefly noticed the charges of heresy brought against those whom Dr. Strong calls "Plymouth Brethren," let us now consider some further remarks he has made concerning them and their teaching.

Dr. Strong believes there is evidence in the Bible "of a developed organization in the New Testament Church, of which," he says, "only the germ existed before Christ's death." He first attempts to trace this out by citing the different names used to denote the children of God or Christ's followers, as "disciples" in the Gospels; (and in the Acts, though he overlooks this) then in the Epistles, as "saints," "brethren," "churches." This, he thinks, proves clearly that the Church is not "an exclusively spiritual body, destitute of all formal organization, and bound together only by the mutual relation of each believer to his indwelling Lord."

While his argument is not clear, one can readily admit that his conclusion is correct in measure; for surely the Church is not what he describes, either looked at as the body of Christ, or as expressed by local churches or assemblies. The "one assembly of God" consists of all believers baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body. Of this Dr. Strong seems to know nothing. It is not here a question of being "bound together only by the mutual relation of each believer to his indwelling Lord;" this is not Paul's doctrine of the Church at all, nor is it what "Brethren" maintain. They believe that before Pentecost believers were individually all children of God, were all possessors of eternal life, were all bound for heaven, and waiting for "the promise of the Father;" and on the fulfilment of this promise, something altogether new was formed. The Holy Spirit having come upon them, He baptized the believing Jews and Gentiles into one body. This is the Spirit's unity, and to this body every Christian belongs. There are no unsaved persons in it.

But when believers are gathered locally together, it is evident that some among them may be unreal, and when manifested it calls for discipline. This, as we have seen, is connected with another aspect of the Church-as the "house of God," not as the "body of Christ."

When Dr. Strong attempts to show what "Brethren " hold as to this, his biased mind throws all into confusion. He goes on to say:"The Church, upon this view, as quoted above, so far as outward bonds are concerned, is only an aggregation of isolated units. Those believers who chance to gather at a particular time, constitute the Church of that place or time. This view is held by the Friends and by the Plymouth Brethren. It ignores the tendencies to organization inherent in human nature, confounds the visible with the invisible Church, and is directly opposed to the Scripture's representations of the visible Church as comprehending some who are not believers. Acts 5:1-11-Ananias and Sapphira-shows that the visible Church comprehended some who were not true believers, i Cor. 14:23-'If therefore the whole Church be assembled together, and all speak with tongues, and there come in men unlearned or unbelieving, will they not say that ye are mad ?' Here, if the Church had been an unorganized assembly, the unlearned visitors who came in would have formed a part of it. Phil. 3 :18-' For many walk of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ"… The Plymouth Brethren dislike church organizations, for fear they will become machines ; they dislike ordained ministers, for fear they will become Bishops; they object to praying to the Holy Ghost, because He was given on Pentecost, ignoring the fact that the Church after Pentecost so prayed." Then Dr. Strong cites Acts 4 :31 as a proof-text! I have quoted at length, that his argument may be connected, but one is pained by the irrelevant use he makes of Scripture to prove the unprovable, and to bolster up what had best be torn down.

The Friends can speak for themselves; but so far as those whom Dr. Strong calls "Plymouth Brethren" are concerned, I say unhesitatingly, that he (either through ignorance or malice-the former, I feel sure) completely misrepresents their teaching.

The Church can never be "an aggregation of isolated units," for all believers are united into one body by the Spirit, as we have seen. Has Dr. Strong never learned this ? Does he know nothing of the great "mystery" which formed the burden of the apostle Paul's ministry ? Has he never read i Cor. 12, or Eph. 3 and 4, or Col. i and 2 ? It would be well for him to consider these scriptures if he honestly desires to know what "Brethren" hold as to the Church. Believers everywhere constitute the Church as the body of Christ. All believers in a given place-whether met together or not-constitute the Church of God in that place. Wherever two or three such are gathered together unto His name, our Lord vouchsafes His presence (Matt. 18:20). What more could be desired? Will formal organization give us anything better than this ? Christ in the midst is enough for every emergency. It is true that "Brethren" care very little about "the tendencies to organization inherent in human nature." There are a great many other things inherent in human nature we seek grace to judge and mortify. But has God not already organized His assembly ? The Church is a divine organization; every member is set in its place there by God Himself. Can man improve on that ?

As we have said, when believers come together locally, unreal ones may be among them. Such may "creep in" and "feast themselves without fear," but they are only in the assembly in its outward aspect-they are not actually in the body of Christ.

As to Ananias and Sapphira, has the learned Doctor inside information not given to others ? Is he absolutely certain they were not true believers ? It is true they sinned grievously, and were judged therefor ; but how many saints before and since may have to confess sin as grave as theirs.

1 Cor. 14 :23 has no bearing on the case, "The whole Church" is assembled together, and an unbeliever comes in afterwards. How can he be said to be a member of the Church ?

"Brethren" are not engaged in building organizations, not because they "dislike" them, or "fear" what they might become, but because they find no scripture for this-only the " inherent tendency in human nature," which they dare not substitute for "thus saith the Lord." They have no humanly-ordained ministers because, though they have read their Bibles well, they have never been able to find a case of a man being ordained to preach or teach. If the passage is in the Book, let it be produced. Men were ordained to serve tables and ordained as elders, but where were they ordained as ministers of the gospel ?

As to Phil. 3 :18, would Dr. Strong include "enemies of the cross of Christ" in his church ? "Brethren" believe such have " neither part nor lot in this matter."

His readers are further told that the "Brethren" would "unite Christendom by its dismemberment, and do away with all sects, and are themselves more narrow and bitter in their hostility to existing sects than any other." Again we find complete misunderstanding as to the aims, methods, and spirit of those whom he criticizes. "Brethren" are not attempting to either unite or dismember Christendom. They know too well that outward unity will never be again displayed until "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him." Meantime they simply seek to walk together as brethren, acknowledging the Lordship of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church to guide them through the written Word. As so walking, they desire not to judge others who do not see eye to eye with them, but rather to pray for all men, and seek to manifest the compassion of Christ to all His sheep, wherever found.

It must be owned that some may have shown an uncharitable spirit toward fellow-saints remaining in the sects, but this has ever been condemned by the spiritually-minded among them. One whose writings have had a larger place than those of any other in molding and influencing his weaker and less instructed brethren, wrote once, "I do not believe attacks on anything to be our path, but to be for the truth in grace." Such was the spirit of J. N. Darby, and such will ever be the spirit of those who endeavor to follow him as he followed Christ.
With only one more quotation and a few brief comments, this already too lengthy paper must be brought to a close.

Dr. Strong tells his readers that "the tendency to organize is so strong in human nature, that even Plymouth Brethren, when they meet regularly together, fall into an informal, if not a formal, organization:certain teachers and leaders are tacitly recognized as officers of the body; committees and rules are unconsciously used for facilitating business. Even one of their own writers, C. H. M., speaks of ' the natural tendency to associate without God-as in the Shinar association or Babel-confederacy of Gen. ii, which aimed at building up a name upon the earth. The Christian Church is God's appointed association to take the place of all these; hence God confounds the tongues in Gen. ii (judgment); gives tongues in Acts 2 (grace), but one tongue is spoken of in Rev. 7 (glory).' "

To C. H.' M.'s apt remarks we add a hearty "Amen! " and are astonished that the Doctor should quote such words and not see how well they answer his own objection to "Brethren's" position. It is indeed ever the tendency of human nature-even in saved and enlightened people-to confederate, and seek by human organization to accomplish what would be better done in simple obedience to the Word. Undoubtedly "Brethren" also have failed in this very thing. But does failure to act on a right principle invalidate or vitiate the principle itself ? Surely not. To the C. H. M. referred to, a man once said:"Do you know that Dr.–, the — minister, is lecturing against the Brethren ? " To which C. H. M. replied, "Give him my compliments, and tell him I am doing the same in the Brethren's hall. Only he is lecturing against their principles, and I against their practices."

As gathered to the name of Christ, "Brethren" thankfully accept all spiritual ministry, and seek to recognize the gifts given to the Church by the ascended Christ. As they bow to the instruction of Holy Scripture they find no need for human organization nor man-made rules, inasmuch as no eventuality can arise that is not provided for in the Book. They do not claim perfection, however, but mourn over their low estate, desiring grace daily to enter more fully into the mind of Christ, and be sanctified by the truth.

That their fellow-believers and fellow-members of Christ's body may find the same blessing, is their earnest prayer. 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 nowise enter into the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. 18 :1-3).

Our Lord here presses lowliness upon all His disciples, and uses a little child as His text in answer to their question, which evidenced their need of such instruction. There had been a dispute among them, the other Gospels tell us, as to who among them should be the greater. The Lord's words about the keys to Peter (ch. 16:18, 19), and His joining Peter with Himself in payment of the temple-tax, may have led to this; but the cause is not stated, nor is it important. The important thing was the condition of soul which the question itself revealed. 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, with one of His emphatic affirmations, "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 question is a more fundamental one than that which they had started. One must enter it, in order to be great in it; and ambition could not even enter. They have in mind the time when "greatness" will be established by the King, and receive its reward, and the Lord states the necessary condition for even entrance into it.

The little child reminds us of the way in which God has ordained that men should enter the present life-surely, in lowliness and feebleness enough. The long drill and discipline of childhood might well seem intended to "hide pride from man," and the mercy of God it is that provides, for beings so helpless, the love and care which, even in such a world as this, so generally wait upon the birth of children. So also is it with the beginning- of spiritual life, which we enter not as doers of something great, but in feebleness and poverty to receive grace-not our due. And the end is as the beginning:it is in grace we grow-at the end as at the beginning; 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; and in proportion to the simplicity with which this is done will the true character of the kingdom be attained. "A little child" may indeed have in its heart the seed of ambition as of all other evil, but to the man who estimates himself but as that, no ambitious thought is possible. The Lord in His grace identifies Himself with the least of His own, so as to assure everyone that his littleness will not make him of little account to Him. This is an assurance which prevents the consciousness of nothingness becoming a distress ; nay, rather, it enables us the more to realize the sweetness of a love so great-a love that wraps itself about the objects of it, like a mother with a babe, and grows, as one might say, passionate in denouncing those who would injure them. And so, "whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a great mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and he sunk in the depths of the sea;"-so does God care for the feeblest of His own!
From Numerical Bible, on Matt. 18:1-3.

We copy the following from "Our Hope" in warning as to the trend of these times:

A monotheist writer in the N. Y. Sun of May 19th asks the question, " Is the great war a world redemption ? " and answers it affirmatively in the following blasphemous poem :

"Not pagan, no! Yet hardly Christian-I,
Who understand not how a God may die.
But my mere human sight envision can
A great salvation when Man dies for Man-

"As now he dies-he dies for you, for me;
Redeemer he goes forth to set us free
From condemnation, in-unknown ways earned ;
By him the falling Mow aside is turned!

"Not that One Death in ages gone sufficed-
A thousand-thousand are become the Christ!
Lo, yonder, in the four years harrowed field,
The eager sacrifice in blood is sealed !

"The scarred land yields no tree-to make the cross ;
Yet is man ' lifted up'-to save our loss ;
For us he dies; and all that we have dreamed
Of right, of Best, through him shall be redeemed.

"You ask, Shall he upon the Third Day rise
And show himself again to longing eyes?
Oh, on the spirit's road to Emmaus,
Even now the vision must be glorious ! "

" This monotheistic teaching, the rejection of the Deity of our Lord, the rejection of His atoning death and of His Word, has had the widest acceptance throughout Germany years before the war. It is rationalism of the worst kind. If our nation falls in line with it, God will not spare as in His coming judgments."

It is with reluctance that we put before our readers' eyes such daring anti-Christian expressions. But, in variously modified forms, the doctrine of this blasphemer-who thinks himself "Not a pagan, yet hardly Christian"-is being preached to multitudes to suit the popular cravings of these times. Christian, beware! The father of lies is at work. Have no fellowship with his works, but rather reprove them.

"As it was in the days of Noe. . . 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).

Oh, Jesus, Saviour, let me stay
So near Thy side
That I Thy presence may enjoy alway,
And there" abide:
That I upon Thy blessed face may gaze,
And hear that voice
Which my glad heart throughout eternal days
Shall make rejoice.
Then gazing, Jesus, on those hands of thine
Once pierced for me-
The very tokens of that love divine
On Calvary's Tree-
Thyself, Thy love,
Thy worthiness may fill
This gladdened heart;
And keep me watching, waiting, praising, till
I'm where Thou art.

(Continued from page 68)

2. – The purpose of God in chastening (chap. 33:8-33).

Having cleared the way, in his introductory address to the friends and to Job, Elihu plunges at once into the heart of the matter. We note a marked change in the manner of his treatment of the subject from the method of the three friends. There is an evident expectation of results. He does not propose to let such momentous questions as had been raised remain in the chaotic condition they now were, when all the contestants had fought to a standstill, and none were convinced. His addresses therefore are not a declamatory statement of his own principles, but an appeal to Job's conscience and reason. There is a marked absence of the abusive and insulting manner of the friends, while there is a most faithful and unsparing uncovering of Job's faults, without stirring up opposition.

Underlying all that was said by the friends was a wretched suspicion, growing into a certainty, that Job is a hypocrite. For this they had not the slightest proof, but everything to the contrary. They were forced to it by their theory, and for the sake of that they trample under foot all natural and gracious affection. Nothing wounds an upright and affectionate man as unfounded suspicions and charges growing out of this. From all this Elihu is entirely free. He takes Job as he knows him and as he finds him. He entertains no suspicions, makes no unfounded charges. Much indeed he has to say, but Job's own words are his evidence. Evil there is, but it is not evil acts, but pride, self-will, doubt as to God-things which can be brought home to Job's conscience.

As we have therefore admitted, there is a great measure of truth in what the friends have said, but it has been one-sided truth, distorted and vitiated by a wrong principle-that all suffering is for wickedness, and is a proof that every afflicted man is only a sinner found out. The contrast in Elihu will appear as we examine his address. It has been contended that he repeats, in a feebler way, the statements of Eliphaz; but as we examine the points of similarity, this will be abundantly disproved.

This much may also be said:that the long and futile controversy had prepared Job to listen to Elihu, as he probably would not at the first. He had "talked himself out," had poured out his lamentations, resented his friends' charges, declared his own uprightness, and withal had manifested his faith in God, while most gravely failing to see His character. All this had been brought out by the addresses of the friends, and to that extent they served a useful purpose. It may be well to add here that Elihu himself does not bring everything to a full conclusion. That is left to Jehovah Himself.

From its salient features, the present address may be divided into four parts:

(1) Job's charge against God's justice refuted (vers. 8-13).

(2) God's twofold dealing with men, and its object (vers. 14-22).

(3) His righteousness revealed, and man's recovery (vers. 23-30).

(4) Job tested by these words (vers. 31-33).
(1) Elihu's chief concern throughout is the vindication of God's character from the aspersions cast upon it by Job. He is not so much occupied with what Job had done or what he was-although entertaining no unworthy suspicions-but Job had uttered sentiments in his own hearing which he could not allow to pass unreproved. This is as it should be. God must ever be first, His honor the chief concern of those who know Him. In this Job had sadly failed.

Elihu refers to many of Job's own statements in proof of the dishonor done to God. Some of these he quotes exactly; for others he gives the substance of much that Job had said. He quotes him as saying, "I am clean, without transgression; I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me"(ver.9). Compare such statements as these:"Thou know -est that I am not wicked" (ch. 10:7); "Not for any injustice in my hands; also my prayer is pure" (ch. 16:17); "Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go:my heart will not reproach me so long as I live" (ch. 27:5, 6).

It may be said that Job was simply refuting the charges of wickedness brought by the friends; but he was also accusing God of dealing unfairly with him, in punishing an innocent man.

This is manifest in the next quotations:"Behold, He findeth occasions (or, malicious things) against me, He counteth me for His enemy" (ch. 33:10). So he had declared, "These things hast Thou hid in thy heart . . . Thou humblest me as a fierce lion . . , changes and war are against me" (ch. 10:13-17). "Wherefore hidest Thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?" (ch. 13:24; so also ch. 19:n). Thus the insult against divine majesty becomes glaring-Job is pure, but God treats him as impure! "He putteth my feet in the stocks; He marketh all my paths" (ch. 33:11).This is a verbal quotation-"Thou putteth my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths " (ch. 13:27). So Elihu does not misrepresent Job, nor catch at a random expression. Indeed, the chief sorrow of the patriarch was he seemed to be losing that beneficent Being in whom he once delighted. It will not do to say that in spite of these doubts Job also admitted God's power and knowledge; that he also expressed his confidence in. Him and a desire top lead his cause before Him. But how could this be harmonized with such statements as those quoted by Elihu ?Such charges must be met, and Job convinced of their falsity, or he could never have peace in his own soul, and a dark blot would rest upon God's honor.

How then will Elihu answer ? Will he imitate the friends by going into elaborate statements ? Will he apologize for the apparent discrepancy in God's ways, and seek to explain it away ? No ; in one brief sentence he sets aside all human reasonings-"God is greater than man." In other words. God is God. If we are to reason, let it not be from the lesser to the greater, but from the greater to the less. Let us say, How could the Almighty, all-perfect. Being commit an unrighteous act? "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25). So Paul answers to one who would question the righteousness of God:" Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" (Rom. 9:20). And a Greater than Paul rested in the absolute infallibility of God:"Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight " (Matt. 11:26).

So long as a soul raises a question against the character of God, he is in no state to have his difficulties met. Let the potsherds of the earth strive one with another; God will not stoop to such a conflict. "Why dost thou strive against Him ? for He giveth not account of any of His matters " (ver. 13). This is the general and evident meaning of the passage. Slight changes are made in the translation-"God is too exalted for man"; He is too exalted to enter into controversy with man (Enosh, frail man). Ver. 13 is rendered, "Why hast thou contended with Him that He answereth not concerning all His doings ? "-that is, Why is Job complaining at not receiving full replies to all his questionings? The soul must find its rest in God, not in our reasonings. " How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! " (Rom. ii:33).

(2) But though infinitely above man, and beyond his comprehension, God is not indifferent to His frail creatures, nor arbitrary in His dealings with them. When once the soul is subject to God, and has taken its true place, He can unfold His ways to it. As soon as it is ready to admit that God has some wise purpose in view, He will show that affliction is but one of the methods of God's dealings with men, and that it has a definite object. This, Elihu now proceeds to explain. So long as Job accuses, he gets no answer; let him submit and God will make all plain.

There are two methods of the divine dealing of which Elihu speaks:the one is God instructing by dreams; the other, by affliction. These are closely connected, and may therefore be spoken of together.

In the days of the patriarchs, we may say that there was no revelation of God save that imparted to the individual. God thus made known His mind to Noah, to Abraham, and even to those who were largely ignorant of Him, as Abimelech and Laban (Gen. 20:3, etc.; 31:24). A dream or vision was often employed, but it was a divine revelation. Eliphaz refers to such a communication, in beautiful language, but not so definitely as Elihu does here (see ch. 4:12-21).

Elihu makes it plain that God thus speaks to man. When the light of nature is withdrawn, when all is silent, He speaks in "a still small voice" and makes known His mind. Thus instruction is sealed upon the heart of man. His object is to correct wrong thoughts and actions, to withdraw man from "mischief," or his purpose, and to hide pride from man (geber, the hero or mighty man). This goes deeper than action, for pride lurks in the heart, and God would hide it from man-hinder its control over him. " Keep back also thy servant from presumptuous sins" (Ps. 19:13). Thus man is kept back from destruction. He bows to the correction of God's truth, and is thus spared from the smiting of the rod, or of the sword.

The same truth is in even fuller force now, for we need not a revelation by dreams and visions, but have it in the written word of God. He who spake in many ways (dreams among the rest) has now given us the full revelation of Himself in His Son, and this revelation-the entire word of God- we have in the Scriptures. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness " (2 Tim. 3:16).

It is by this Word that God now speaks to men, to withdraw them from their purpose, to deliver His own from the snare of pride. Thus our Lord would have deterred Peter from his course of self-confidence. Had he hearkened to the word, he would have been spared the shameful experience of his failure (Luke 22:31-34).

Alas, we must say that though God speaks thus once, yea twice, "yet man perceiveth it not."

But God has another way of speaking to men. If they do not hearken to His word, He may send them His rod. In enlarging upon this, Elihu practically describes the case of Job. Sore chastening pains come upon him, and his bones seem to wither in mortal strife. " My bones are pierced in me, and my sinews take no rest " (ch. 30:17). He is brought so low that he abhors even the food which would sustain his life. "The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat." " My soul is weary of my life" (chs. 6:7; 10:1). His flesh is wasted away, and his bones look and stare upon him. " My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh" (ch. 19:20). He is at the last of life, drawing near to the grave, or the more dreadful "pit of destruction." I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living" (ch. 30:23).

Elihu does not in so many words say that Job has refused to hearken to God's admonitions, nor does he say he is describing his case exactly. He speaks of God's method of dealing with men. Has it no voice for Job ? Can he not at least see that God is speaking in the affliction and that He has something to say ?

(3) If man is to profit by this chastening of God, he must understand its purpose and for this is needed one who can explain it. The word for "messenger" is "angel," and this suggests a supernatural revealer of the mind of God. This we find frequently throughout the Old Testament, where the "angel" made known the will of God (see Judges 2:1; 13:3, etc.). The " angel of Jehovah" is indeed His representative, so completely so as to be referred to as Jehovah Himself ("The angel of His presence," Isa. 63:9, etc.). Here we have a suggestion of the Mediator, and this is accentuated by the next word, "an Interpreter," or "Mediator" (see Gen. 42:23; 2 Chron. 32:21)-one who, as an ambassador, is sent to make known the mind of God. Nor will an ordinary messenger suffice; it must be "one of a thousand"-a phrase reminding us of "the chiefest among ten thousand " (Song 5:10).

Further than this Elihu could not go. He must let the veil remain until "The only begotten Son" should come, to declare God perfectly. But can we refuse the typical suggestion of Elihu's words?* *"The Jewish prayers show that the Interpreter was always identified in their minds with the exalted Redeemer of Israel; thus, Raise up for us the righteous Interpreter; say, I have found a ransom.' The whole passage is quoted at the sacrifice, still offered in many countries of Europe, on the eve of the great Day of Atonement." -Canon Cosh, in Speakers' Commentary.*

For who, after all, can or has explained God's ways, save Him ? Our light affliction is but for a moment, and He has "brought life and immortality to light; " by Him " we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28).

"To show unto man his uprightness." Whose uprightness ? Some would say man's; 1:e., the interpreter would show man how 'to act in order to please God. Others would define this uprightness as penitence and confession; others, faith. Unquestionably man must be brought low if God is to exalt him. But does not an interpreter suggest one who reveals God ? Was not Job's difficulty that he did not understand God's uprightness in His dealings with him ? And was not the object of Elihu to make this uprightness plain? This will indeed produce confession and self-judgment, and order the walk aright, but confidence in the uprightness of God lies at the foundation, "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me" (Ps. 119:75).

It is therefore the uprightness or righteousness of God that is declared; and here again we find the fuller light of the New .Testament furnishing us with suited language:"To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness:that He might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). This indeed goes further than a declaration of God's uprightness in His ways; it shows us His' essential attribute of justice displayed in the Cross of Christ, where justice has indeed found the suited ransom.

In Elihu's words we find a beautiful expression of the evangel of God-" Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit:I have found a ransom; " or, in the language of the New Testament- " having obtained (Gk., found) eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:12).

Thus a freshness better than that of youth is given-as Naaman furnishes an example. "His flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean " (2 Ki. 5:14). It is a new birth, by the incorruptible seed of the word of God.

Now we see the blessed results of this work of the Interpreter in the ransomed man. He can now pray with confidence, and rejoice in God's favor, beholding His face with joy. He has found a righteousness-not of his own goodness but of Another -"the righteousness which is of God by faith." Doubtless this includes the recognition of faithfulness in a child of God-as in Job's case ; but the principle carries us much further.

As he is able now to speak to God in prayer, and to behold His face with joy, so the ransomed soul can speak to his fellows. " He looketh upon men,'1 rather, "He singeth to men." It is part of the new song he has learned, which many shall hear, and be turned to the Lord. "I had sinned and perverted what was right"-Job will soon acknowledge his sin in perverting, misunderstanding, the righteous character of God. So the sinner can look back to the time when he was " a blasphemer and injurious." But this iniquity has not been requited to the once guilty one. " It was not recompensed to me"-for so should the last clause of verse 27 read. "He hath delivered my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall see the light," ver. 28.

This, declares Elihu, is the secret of God's ways; time and time again it has been seen in the case of the sinner brought low into God's presence by the holy conviction of His word, and the sense of His hand upon him:so also in the case of the saint, who can say, "It is good for me that I was afflicted."

(4) And now, Job, what have you to say to all this? Elihu desires to bring out Job's true condition-he would not justify his wrong, but treat him with all fairness. He pauses for a reply:Job is not to be coerced, but does he not agree with what has been said ? May we not interpret his silence as an acknowledgment of the truth of what we have been dwelling upon ? S. R.

(To be continued.)

The thing now preached to soldiers by some, that heroic death on the battlefield gives absolution from sin and makes peace with God, comes perilously near to what the word of God states in 2 Thess. 2:10, 11, " Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved-for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie." And that this delusion may wax "strong " is in the trend of men's mind at the present day.

So long as this outrageous doctrine was advocated by notorious infidels and freethinkers like Mr. Bottomley, Mr. Maxse and other representatives of English national heresy, it might call for no more than passing pity from Christians; but when the professing Church sanctions such awful teaching, when professing ministers of Christ utter it from their pulpits, when congregations have their sense of righteousness and reverence for truth corrupted by these utterances, then it is high time to follow the injunction of Ephesians 5:11 and 14.

The Spirit of God alone is able to estimate the spiritual darkness of those who advocate the heresy of an atonement by death on the battlefield. The atonement by the Son of God on Calvary is the only answer to Job's question:" How should a man be just with God ?"

But let history tell the shameful story of the doctrine of atonement by man's self-sacrifice.

Toward the close of the sixth century the gradual rise of Mahomet to unprecedented claims gave to the world the remarkable spectacle of one professing to be a prophet of God, in the new dispensation, enforcing his doctrines by the sword.

The Christians of Europe alarmed at the extraordinary success of this hitherto obscure and indigent adventurer, were more excited when it was learned that the reason for the invincible courage and inflexible determination of the pagan hordes were due to the prospect of Paradise which the impostor had, with blasphemous confidence, promised all who were killed in his service.

The story is thus related by Gibbon:"The religion of the Koran might have perished in its cradle had not Medina embraced with faith and reverence the holy outcasts of Mecca (Mahomet and Abubeker) . . . Seventy-three men and two women held a solemn conference with Mahomet, and pledged themselves to each other by a mutual oath of fidelity. After asseveration of esteem and devotion, the new disciples asked, If we are killed in your service what will be our reward ?'' Paradise,' replied the Prophet."

This promise was afterwards extended to the whole army in the following Oriental ecstacy:" The sword is the key of heaven and of hell. A drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer:whoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven:at the day of Judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermillion and odoriferous as musk:and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." "The intrepid souls of the Arabs were fired with enthusiasm:the picture of the invisible world was strongly painted on their imagination, and the death which they had always despised became an object of hope and desire."

Over four hundred years later this abominable doctrine is detected in the mountains of Asia. Hume, in his History of England, tells us of the "Old Man of the Mountains." He who had acquired this sinister title was "a petty prince of Asia, who had acquired such an ascendancy over his fanatical subjects that they paid the most implicit deference to his commands; esteemed assassination meritorious, when sanctioned by his mandate; courted danger, and even certain death in the execution of his orders, and fancied that when they sacrificed their lives for his sake, the highest joys of Paradise were the infallible reward of their devoted obedience."

Two of these thugs murdered Conrad of Austria:"They rejoiced in the midst of the cruel tortures to which they were subjected, and triumphed that they were destined by heaven to suffer for their master."

Such is the origin of a doctrine that to-day is heard from the mouths of professing ministers of Christ! Is it too much to assert that the teaching is not only subversive, but Satanic, and that there should be no hesitation in denouncing its expositors in the words of Galatians i:8, 9. "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

Modified forms of this Satanic doctrine are found elsewhere. Titus, the Roman general, encouraged his soldiers during the siege of Jerusalem, by telling them that all who fell would be exalted to the heavens and shine as stars. In the Council of Clermont, plenary indulgence was proclaimed by " His Holiness Pope Urban to all who should enlist under the banner of the Cross:the absolution of all sins and complete discharge for all that was due of penance."

But what say the Scriptures ? " Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth nothing" (i Cor. 13:3). Yes, indeed! The soul unsheltered by the atonement made by the Son of God on Calvary, shall receive nothing but judgment, whether such soul dies on a battlefield or elsewhere. "When I see THE blood I will pass over you;" God shall never change it to,' 'When I see your blood I will pass over you." Soldiers of any flag shall share with those of Mahomet and the Old Man of the Mountain if they die out of Christ.
H. C. Christie

The cloud that shut Thee from our sight,
In dear old Bethany,
Is growing thinner, Lord, these days
Of war and tyranny.

It seems as though all heaven bends
To see the awful sight
Of nation against nation rise
In one most ghastly fight!

All gone!-man's cherished dream; all gone
Of bringing endless peace
Upon a world where man can but
His savagery release.

Ah, yes, the clouds grow thinner,
Lord, That hide Thee from our eyes;
And oh, the hope that we shall soon
Behold the glad surprise!

Yea, Lord, they seem so thin at times
That peering earnestly,
We almost see Thy shadowy form
Move in its majesty.

It seems as though all heaven's alert
Beyond that shadowy mist,
And that we almost hear the hosts
Preparing, as we list.

Yea, Lord, Thy clouds are passing fast:
Their faces, dark towards earth,
All brightness on their heaven-ward side,
Reflect Thy glorious worth.

But oh, those darkly rolling clouds
Which are not meant for us,
How threatening to the souls who are
Not sheltered by Thy cross:

Those clouds of judgment coming fast
Which every eye shall view,
When all the earth shall weep and wail,
And they who pierced Thee too.
O clouds of glory, haste, we pray:
Surround Him on the throne,
When every nation, every tongue,
Shall own Him Lord alone.

H. McD

(Rom. 9 to 11.)

The third chapter of the Epistle to the Romans JL opens with that which might well be the exclamation of an angry Jew:"What advantage then hath the Jew ? or what profit is there of circumcision ? " This reveals the blending power of his religious self-esteem and the consequent ignorance of his ruin.

In the first two chapters of our epistle, the apostle has, first of all, made declaration of "The gospel of God "-the good news of which God is the source; good news from God, because in righteousness He has declared Himself for the sinner who will believe Him. He then proceeds to show how deep is the need that this good news, if it is to be indeed good news for man, must come from God.

This He does by going over the salient points in the moral history of the human race. The openly wicked and morally-debased Gentile is brought before the bar of God; guilt is here unmistakable. Next we have the more cultured and philosophical Gentile, who, with his ability to descant on moral questions, would fain make for himself an apron of fig-leaves therefrom. But culture, philosophy and ability to find fault, give to him no protection from the wrath of God. In the indictment of the Gentile, the apostle would have no difficulty in carrying with him the approval of the Jew, but when the Jew is shown to have been as grossly untrue to his later and greater light and privilege as the Gentile to his earlier and lesser light, he, too, is brought in under the just judgment of God-lo, the apron of fig-leaves again in the "Jew" and the "circumcision." These things, by which God meant to uncover him to himself, he uses to hide his nakedness.

But to the question, "What advantage then hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision ? " the apostle replies, "Much every way:chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God" (Rom. 3 :2). "The oracles of God" is the title given by the Spirit of Truth to the Old Testament Scriptures, and hence, in the words of our blessed Lord, " The Scripture cannot be broken " (Jno. 10:35). But these very oracles of God had been distorted and abused by those to whom they had been given, and the conduct of the Jew, so richly blessed of God, .had been such that His Name had been "blasphemed among the Gentiles" on account of it. Their place of light and of privilege had become to them (because of their refusal of the light, and their abuse of the privilege) an obscuring to their souls of the true character of God; their privileges being taken for immunity from penalty.

But God is holy, and being holy the unbelief of the mass cannot affect the blessing of those who were of the "faith of God" (Rom. 3:3)-those into whose hearts the light had revealed their need, and who, in the consciousness of their failure and their sin, had by their legal privileges been shut up to God; in the depth of their need they were taught that the privilege of the sinner is to come to God.

The apostle pursues his theme-the gospel of God-its freeness to all; the grace of it; its sovereign declaration of justification of the ungodly who believe in Jesus. And further, what I am as a son of Adam's race-a condemned man, under God's displeasure and just judgment – crucified and put away from God's sight in the crucifixion of Him who, while bearing that displeasure, was yet the full object of His Father's delight. The dominion of sin is broken:" Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under law, but under grace." I am redeemed from the curse of the law, and more, free from law as a principle of demands, free from its fretting interdicts; free now to serve God, not in the oldness of the legal code, but in the gladness of the new nature, empowered by the grace of the Spirit of God.

Then the glorious climax :" No condemnation." "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" " Who is he that condemneth ?-it is God that justifieth." "If God be for us, who can be against us ? "-and no separation from the love of God ! Sweep the universe with faith's unfearing gaze, embrace in that gaze every object, every power, and there shall be nothing found that is able " to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"The gospel of God, concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord "-in that gospel behold what God is ! Whether we stand in the wilderness of this world, which is but " the valley of the shadow of death," or whether we stand in faith with John, the servant prophet, on the eternal strand, thrilled with the visions of glory, rejoicing in the final triumph of God's grace, we bow low in worship, as
the whole character of God is revealed to us in that wondrous truth-a truth which, because it so reveals God, commands the reverence of heaven; a truth to which the throne of God proclaims itself a debtor. God has been glorified by it. G. MacKenzie

(To be continued.)

Different Rests

are spoken of in Scripture which should not be confounded. We might call them (1) The present rest of faith, (2) the rest of submission to God, and (3) the eternal rest The Christian is now in the position of Abraham- called out of his country-justified by faith, and in favor before God-then a pilgrim in the land to which God had given him title, but not possession as yet.

The Present Rest of Faith

To every sin-weary, sin-burdened soul, our Lord Jesus opens wide His arms and says, "Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest" (Matt, n:28). It is the present rest, enjoyed by every soul that believes the record, or testimony, which God has given of His Son:"And this is the testimony, that God hath given us eternal life"-the life which is in His Son, so that "he that hath the Son hath the life; and he that hath not the Son hath not the life" (i Jno. 5:11, 12). To them who have received Him-received Jesus the Word, the Life-" to them gave He power (the right, or title) to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name" (Jno. i:12). All sin; forgiven! Justified by God Himself, with title to take our place, even now, as children of God-what joy ! This is faith's present rest, which our Saviour gives to those that receive Him.

" Thou Holy One of God,
The Father rests in Thee;
And in the savor of that blood
Which speaks to Him for me,
The curse is gone-through Thee I'm blest!
God rests in Thee-in Thee I rest."

The Best of Sub-But this rest of faith in Jesus needs mission to God the accompaniment of submission to Him through the varied circumstances of life's journey. So our Lord adds, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls"(Matt. 11 :29).His "yoke" means submission to His will, in whatever circumstance He may lead or permit us to be, as He Himself submitted to the Father's will, even to the taking of that terrible cup, as to which He said in Gethsemane, " O my Father, if this cup may not pass from Me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matt. 26:42).In submitting ourselves to the Lord's will, the Holy Spirit delights to pour into the heart those deep realizations of the love of God which bring forth"songs in the night." "We glory in tribulations also," triumphantly exclaimed the apostle in Rom. 5:3-5,"because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."In this realization of God's love toward us, what comfort, what rest is found!

"The slave of sin and fear,
Thy truth my bondage broke;
My willing spirit loves to bear
Thy light and easy yoke;
The love that fills my grateful breast
Makes duty joy, and labor rest."
The Rest Eternal

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God," wrote the apostle in Heb. 4:9-11, and he exhorts the Hebrew Christians, and us, saying, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief"-as Israel did when in their hearts they turned back into Egypt, and as some who call themselves Christians turn back to the world. This rest of God, the eternal rest, is typified (as Heb. 4:4 indicates) by the 7th day of Gen. 2:1-3. All the six days' work being finished, we read, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good," and God "rested from all His work." He "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." Note that no mention is made of "an evening and a morning," as on each of the previous six days (Gen. i:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31), as the 7th day points to that rest of God in eternity, when time shall be no longer reckoned. It is of this the apostle says, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." It is in view of this we are to "run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith," for

"Soon the bright, glorious day,
The rest of God shall come;
Sorrow and sin shall pass away,
And We shall reach our home!
Then, of the promised land possessed,
Our souls shall know eternal rest."

Dear Brother :Referring to Question No. 15 in Help and Food for September and the reply to it, may we not say that "the day of the Lord" includes the Great Tribulation and the Millennium, as well as the time referred to in 2 Pet. 3 :10? Each day in Genesis 1 has its "evening and morning"; closing in darkness as well as beginning in darkness … I judge the millennial day is introduced by judgment, 1:e., "the Great Tribulation,"and closes in judgment, 1:e., the scene depicted in 2 Pet. 3. This is clear from ver. 10 :"The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night:in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

Another also writes:-I would like to say a word in regard to your answer to Question 15," The millennial kingdom therefore hardly comes under the designation of ' the day of the Lord.'1 " It is current teaching amongst us that we are now living in "man's day" (1 Cor. 4 :S,marg.); that this day will be followed by the "day of the Lord," which begins with His appearing and extends through the millennium to the eternal state; and is, in its turn, followed by the "day of God" (2 Pet. 3. 12), 1:e., eternity. In Isa. 2 ; 12 we have, "For the day of the Lord of hosts," and ver. 17, "The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." So also verse 11. Is it not the thousand year-day of His supremacy, during which righteousness reigns ? (Chap. 4 :2. See also Zeph. 3 :8-11.) So 2 Pet. 3; 10, "The day of the Lord . . . in the which " would seem to be conclusive that all the intervening time from the appearing was included in the expression. Pardon the criticism.

We give the above letters that all our readers may "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." It is quite possible that "the day of the Lord" includes the millennial reign of peace and righteousness, though every passage in which "the day of the Lord" is mentioned speaks of judgment.

We welcome criticism in a Christian spirit. As members of Christ we need one another. None can say to the other, "I have no need of thee," and brotherly criticism often helps to elucidate the truth, which it is our earnest desire to present to God's people.

Concerning the special notice on 3rd page cover of September Help and Food a brother writes :

"I cannot but express my surprise and regret at the repetition of the counsel to Christian men subject to draft for military service. . … It seems to the writer that the advice you offer falsifies their position simply as Christ's, and thereby practically deprives them of what should be a precious opportunity for real testimony for Him. Moreover the suggestions offered place all those who have been led out to Christ Himself, in these last and apostate days, in the position of mere sectarians. The writer, while profoundly thankful to God for the testimony raised up by His chosen and justly honored instruments about 1827, absolutely refuses to be classed as a member of a sect having its origin at that date, or any other time."

The writer strangely overlooks the fact that the answers given are to questions put by the Government, and must be answered as the Government puts them, which allow no argument or explanation. We trust that we are no nearer to acknowledging ourselves a "sect" than the brother who objects. Our single purpose has been to help many young brethren to answer difficult questions of the Questionnaire which allow but few words in answer. If others can do better we shall gladly welcome it.

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread" (Acts 20 :7).

"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come'' -(1 Cor. 16:1,2).

In each of the above passages we have the same expression, "Upon the first day of the week;" but I think it is safe to say that among many of us the first one has a great deal more attention than the second. Delivered through mercy from man-made rules and methods of ecclesiastical procedure, it has been with much joy that we have learned from God's own Word something of the precious-ness and simplicity of gathering together on the first day of the week to the One only Name, assured of the Lord's presence in the midst, to remember Him in His own appointed way in the breaking of the loaf and the drinking of the cup. No formal commandment was needed to impress upon us the privilege of thus honoring Him who has redeemed us to Himself at so great a cost. We felt it was a very little thing indeed thus to remember Him who had remembered us in the hour of our soul's deep need, and had given Himself for us.

And yet at times possibly the legal spirit has controlled some of us, even in regard to this blessed feast of remembrance. We have thought of it as an implied command, even if not formally expressed. And so we have often been ready to sit in judgment on some who might not yet have seen their privilege in this, and were absent when the two or three were gathered together on the first day of the week. It is well to give way neither to legality nor license, but to be directly under the control of the Holy Spirit of grace, who ever delights to honor the Lord Jesus Christ.

But have we been as much exercised in regard to the distinct commandment of the Lord by the same Spirit through the same apostle, when he writes, " To all who, in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord" (i Cor. i :2), and positively commands us to "lay by in store, on the first day of the week, according as God has prospered us," and this in view of the collection for the saints. This latter term undoubtedly implies a putting-together of contributions into a common fund to be distributed by the assembly, as such, in ministering to the needs of the poor and the support of the Lord's servants at home and abroad. The matter of ordinary assembly expenses, such as paying the rent of a meeting-room, janitor-work, and similar things, is another matter altogether, though saints may agree to put aside for this at the same time.

How often, when a company of believers are gathered together on the first day of the week, can it be said that every one of them has first acted on the commandment of the Lord, and at home quietly and faithfully in the presence of God, has set aside the Lord's portion of their income, according as He had prospered them? Were this faithfully observed, how much more generous would be the offering for the care of the poor and sick among us, and for the sustaining of the work of the gospel!

Is it not a lamentable fact, and a cause for shame, that very frequently our offering at the Lord's day morning meeting consists of a few coins hastily selected from the purse or pocket without any godly exercise, or any thought of " setting aside " a portion which would, in any proper manner, set forth the Lord's goodness to us in the past week. Surely He who of old sat over against the treasury, and observed how the money was cast in, is not indifferent to the same thing at the present time.

But some will ask, What are we to understand by "giving as God hath prospered us ? " Surely none desiring to be faithful in this matter need be in any doubt. In His dealings with Israel of old, God commanded that the tenth of everything be set aside for Himself and the service of His house. None could give less than a tenth, many gave more. Without becoming legal, may we not take this as giving us at least more than a hint as to the Lord's portion ? Will not the willing heart be likely to say, "If I were a Jew under law I would be obliged to give a tenth. I could offer no excuse for giving less, no matter how small or how large my income ; the tenth would be the least. But I am not under law, I am under grace, and the love of Christ constraineth me. Can it be possible that I will now give less free-heartedly than I would be obliged to give if I were a saint on Old Testament ground ? "

I know it will be objected that some cannot afford to give a tenth, and that for others the tenth would be altogether too little. But both these objections are, I believe, very puerile and even utterly false For no matter how poor the person objecting might be, still the fact remains that if he were under the legal economy he would be obliged to give the tenth, and God guaranteed to make it up to him. Are any to-day poorer than the widow who cast in two mites, even all her living ? Did she suffer for this? Surely not for long; for He who said, " She hath cast in more than they all" would be no widow's debtor. And for those who can afford more, there need be no legal thought of limiting their gifts to a tithe, but they may gladly render all that a loving heart suggests to Him to whom they owe their all.

Suppose that on a given Lord's day morning, after the offering had been placed in the box, the Lord Himself were to appear visibly among the saints and say, "My command was to give as God had prospered you. I have observed everyone's offering, and through the coming week I will take you at your own estimate, and I will prosper you according as you have given to Me." How many of us would be ready for such an estimate ?

Of course one must recognize the fact that the Lord's portion need not all necessarily go into the common collection. Doubtless many will have special burdens laid upon their hearts for individual ministry, meeting particular needs, and thus do what is upon their heart in a quiet unobtrusive way, not so much as letting the left hand know what the right hand doeth. But, over and above this, there is to be taken into consideration the "collection for the saints," as indicated in the portion we are considering. Just what part of the weekly store laid by in the presence of God should go into this special ministry, each one must decide as between the Lord and himself.

It is, generally speaking, a praiseworthy, and certainly scriptural custom, for the assembly as such, to minister when possible, rather than merely for certain well-to-do saints to give individually. Doubtless many of the Lord's poor have often been hindered from ministering to a servant of His, through whom they have found refreshment and blessing, because they felt their gift was so small. And yet, small as it might be, a real need might have been met by their small offering. If the collection is made up from the gifts of all, however, the widow's few pence and the wealthy brother's dollars being put together, the offering is ministered as from the entire gathering, thus permitting all to have a happy share in communicating in temporal things in return for that which was spiritual.

The Lord put it upon all our hearts to be as faithful in carrying out i Cor. 16 :i, 2 as Acts 20 :7. Most beautifully the two sides of a Christian's worship and service are presented in Heb. 13 :15, 16:" By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not:for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Will the sacrifices of praise be really acceptable to God if the sacrifices of communicating, or sharing what we have with others, be neglected ? H. A. Ironside

QUES. 1.-A brother, recently come among us, does not, as we now find, acknowledge water baptism. He says that those baptized by the Holy Ghost need no water baptism. It is making a division here, and we should be glad of what instruction you can give us as to it.

ANS.-It is sad and strange that any who profess to believe God's word should deny that baptism is enjoined upon every disciple of Christ. Scripture is perfectly plain as to it. Let us trace it there.

In Matt. 28 :19, the risen Lord commands the apostles to go to all nations, to teach and to baptize in the name of the Trinity.

In Mark 16:15,16, the same command is given, to go and preach the gospel, and the responsibility to be baptized is there put upon those who believe (ver. 36).

After our Lord's ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, we see the Lord's command carried into practice (Acts 2:29). The preaching is, " Repent, and be baptized every one of you in (unto) the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost;" and verse 41 says, "They, that gladly received the word were baptized." Would they have been accounted disciples if they had refused to be baptized? Verse 40 answers the question.

So far, it was among the Jews. Now, in chapter 10, we come to the Gentiles. A godly company were assembled with Cornelius, the Roman captain, and as Peter spoke to them of the salvation by Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came upon this Gentile company before they were baptized unto the name of Jesus Christ -which was not the usual order. As the Jews had great prejudice against keeping company with Gentiles, they might otherwise have refused fellowship with Gentile Christians. Peter himself had to be shown that those whom God has cleansed are not to be called "unclean;" therefore God marked them out as cleansed and sanctified, by the Holy Spirit coming upon them. Peter then said, "Can any one forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized."

If we yet needed anything more, we have it in the epistles. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, expounds to us the meaning of baptism, in Romans, ch. 6, as he does the Lord's Supper in 1 Cor. 10:15-21. Baptism, he says in Romans 6:4, is a figure of our burial with Christ, and he goes on to develop the truth which baptism typifies. Col. 2:12 speaks in the same way, and Eph. 4:5 speaks of the circle of Christian profession as the confession of "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." He who says, "Those baptized by the Holy Spirit need no water baptism," is opposing Acts 10:48; he also opposes the apostle Paul's teaching ; and contradicts the Lord's own command!-a very serious thing indeed.

No intelligent Christian thinks or says that baptism with water has any part in the eternal forgiveness of sins or final salvation. But it has to do with our discipleship here, and with governmental forgiveness in the sense of being owned as disciples of Christ-as in Acts 2:38. Every loyal soldier is required to put on the army uniform, though we know that some who wear the uniform may not be loyal in heart. Let us not think lightly of our responsibility to confess Christ. See Rom. 10:8, 9.

QUES. 2.-Those who grieved the Lord "in the provocation in the wilderness" forty years (Heb. 3:8, 9), who did not enter the land but died in the wilderness-are they lost?

ANS.-To go from Egypt to Canaan was an earthly journey; failing to reach Canaan was an earthly loss. The eternal issues of life were not in question ; that remains with God; but these things typify spiritual and eternal things and destinies, and are used by the Holy Spirit for our admonition.

QUES. 3.-In the 5th chapter of John's Gospel, five porches at Bethesda's pool are spoken of. Have they a typical meaning ? If so, what?

ANS.-Bethesda (house of mercy) seems to speak of the law mitigated by mercy; and the five porches would point to human responsibility. Multitudes of sick and infirm were there, hoping for some mercy while abiding under law. Israel as a nation was in that condition all the period of the law. It is still the case with multitudes at the present time. For full examination of the passage, see Numerical Bible, Gospel of John, pp 507-509.

QUES. 4.-Who is the speaker in Isaiah 25:1-5?

ANS.-It is the prophet himself. He personifies and speaks for the remnant of Israel when, through deepest affliction, they shall turn to, and own the Lord Jesus Christ as Jehovah their Saviour.

QUES. 5.-Are "the two anointed ones" spoken of in Zech. 4:14, the faithful remnant in Israel? If not, who are they?

ANS.-The whole chapter speaks of the ministry of divine light and grace to Israel's remnant when they returned from Babylon to the land. It should have been through Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, as representatives of kingly power and priesthood, but we know this was not then accomplished, for this same remnant is seen in a deplorable state in Malachi-the last prophet. The prophecy therefore must look to a time yet to come, and the "two witnesses" of Rev. 11:3 seem to answer to the "two anointed ones" of Zech. 4:14. They prophesy in sackcloth, because of the nation's condition-they maintain the claims of God's character in the face of apostasy. Whether they are two prophets, or a faithful remnant bearing the double testimony as to God's authority, as manifested in Moses, and of God's judgments, as exemplified in Elijah, we are unable to say positively, but think it is the latter.

QUES. 6.-What, and who, are the "four carpenters" in Zech. 1:20, 21?

ANS.-They are the agents in God's hand for there-establishment of the Jewish nation in their own land, as the four "horns" (the four world empires) had been their destroyers.

QUES. 7.-What does "by the disposition of angels" mean in Acts 7:53?

ANS-See Ps. 68:17. Stephen presses upon his accusers that they had in every way resisted the Holy Spirit. They had persecuted the prophets who foretold the coming of the Just One ; they had betrayed and murdered Him when He came. The law, which they pretended to honor, and which had been handed to Israel through angelic ministry, they had not kept. What remained now-but judgment?

QUES. 8.-Will you explain in H. & F. Isaiah 30:33,"Tophet is ordained of old "-what is the meaning?

ANS.-Tophet was in the ravine south-west of Jerusalem, called "valley of Hinnom ;" it was the place where they sacrificed children to Moloch-see 2 Kings 23 :10. The godly Josiah denied the place to abolish this abomination. It was made a dumping ground for refuse from the city. Fire was kept burning there ; carcases of animals were brought there also. The fire and the worm amid corruption became a symbol of Gehenna-hell, and so used by the Jews.

This judgment was appointed of old for the apostate king mentioned in this 33rd verse, which seems to be the same as the Antichrist of Rev. 19:20-cast alive into the lake of fire.

Dr. R.– had lent "Notes on Exodus," by C. H. SI., to a lady patient in London. A clergyman friend called to see her, and finding her in such a happy state of mind, asked her what had produced such a change. So she lent him the book that had been blessed to her, and his letter to her shows how the Lord used it for him also.

Base Hospital, France. May 9, 1917.

" My very dear Friend,

They tell me I have not many days to live, so before I become too weak to write, I want to send you a few lines to tell you all is well with me, and to thank you for your faithful friendship which (looking back) I see the dear Lord has made the channel of my return to the fold.

"When I heard, six weeks ago, that you were in London, I was constrained to go and see you. You know how I found you enjoying a peaceful and profitable time with our Lord at the foot of Mount Horeb, where I joined you (see " Notes on Exodus "). Never shall I be able to express the sudden joy that came into my soul as we talked ; and then you allowed me to bring away that precious book. I read it all the way home in the train, and before I went to bed that night the truth was brought home to me that I had never seen until then, for I really had not known or loved Christ before-my so-called ministry had been but profession. So I went down on my knees and offered my life anew to Him. I learned my lesson in the back side of the desert; and after this He sent me here, like Moses of old, to speak words of comfort and cheer to the oppressed.

"I cannot write much more. I hope you will be able to read this pencil scrawl, written by degrees. Will you kindly let my mother see it?

"Thank God for having permitted me to speak of Him to many of our dear boys. On the last occasion my fellow stretcher-bearer was killed, so I pulled my precious burden to a more secluded spot. The poor boy was dying, I knew, but he begged me not to leave him-he was only 19, of gentle birth, and so fair to look upon. I lay down flat beside him, feigning death, until the night should fall, for this was my only chance of safety. Soon he whispered :"I am going. Will you kiss me?" I leaned over him, and putting my face close to his, whispered words of comfort. He managed to put his arms around my neck and gasped; " God bless you. Please tell my mother I am safe in the arms of Jesus." … At that moment I raised my head, and a sniper shot me in the back. They found us locked together, and at first thought we were both dead, and they had great difficulty in removing his arms, which were tightly clasped around my neck, for we had lain many hours thus.

" God bless you, dear friend. It will rejoice the heart of your Dr. to know that you have passed his teaching on to me, and that this book has been so abundantly blessed to my soul. This will be sent to you after my death."

Signed, "John."

The sequel to the above is also interesting ;
"John's only brother-a former Colonel in the Life Guards, ejected through drink-felt his brother's death (the chaplain's) deeply, and asked to see the book which had been blessed to his brother. My husband's patient lent it to him," says the wife of Dr. R–, "and he wrote later, confessing the Saviour, and groaning over his past life."

" Last Wednesday week he was in the train at Liverpool Street Station, when it was bombed; he was fatally injured, but passed away rejoicing in the Lord. His former fiancee, a titled lady, was with him, and declared she never could have believed it possible that any man could have been so changed. How great is the grace of God, and how wonderful this miracle of grace!" -From "Work in Many Lands."

What food God has furnished for those who believe,
Within His own Word there concealed !
As honey is sweet to the natural taste,
So is truth by the Spirit revealed.

What wells God has furnished for those who believe,
Within His own Word deeply stored!
Free draughts for the weary and thirsty to drink,
For such by His Spirit is poured.

What health God has promised for those who believe !
By the word of His grace they will grow,
And more than the strength of the swift and the strong
Is promised to them e'en below.

What light God has furnished for those who believe !
Within His own Word it doth shine,
Revealing both present and heavenly joys,
By His Spirit, to those He calls "Mine."

What nearness is furnished for those who believe!
Within God's own Word, clear and plain;
"In Christ," "by His blood," from afar we are brought,
By His Spirit we joy in His gain.

What wealth God has furnished for those who believe !
Within His own Word there contained ;
More precious than gold, tho' fine it may be,
Are things His own Spirit hath named.

What a portion is theirs who truly believe!
Such things as are heretofore shown,
As food, wells and health, light, nearness and wealth,
In God's Word, by His Spirit made known.

Js. Fs.

Let us observe the special publicity God has given to the last act of our Lord Jesus Christ -to His death upon the cross. He came to Jerusalem to die, and would have all men to know it. When He taught the deep things of God, He often spoke to none but His disciples; when He delivered His parables, He often addressed only those that followed Him. When He worked His miracles, it was usually but before a few:but when the time came that He should die, He made a public entry into Jerusalem. He drew the attention of rulers, and priests, and elders, and scribes, and Greeks, and Romans to Himself. The most wonderful event that ever happened in this world was about to take place; the eternal Son of God was about to suffer in the stead of sinful men; the great sacrifice for sin was about to be offered up; the great Passover Lamb was about to be slain; the great atonement for the sin of the world was about to be made. He therefore ordered it so that His death was eminently a public death. He overruled things in such a way that the eyes of all should be fixed upon Him; and when He died, He died before a multitude of witnesses.

We can see here one more proof of the unspeakable importance of the death of Christ. Let us treasure up His gracious sayings. Let us strive to walk in the steps of His holy life. Let us prize His intercession. Let us long for His second coming. But let us never forget that the mightiest, the crowning fact in all we know of Jesus Christ in His coming to earth, was His death upon the cross.

From that death flow all our hopes. Without it we should have no basis for our salvation. May we prize that death more and more every year we live; and in all our thoughts about Christ, rejoice in nothing so much as the great fact that He died for us! Bishop Ryle.

Diverse and strange doctrines more and more abound in these days. It seems that Satan in matchless cunning, has taken special pains to link many of these to the truth of the second coming of Christ, either to bring that precious doctrine into disrepute, or to mystify and confuse honest souls, to rob them of the comfort and blessing which God intends we should derive from the " looking for that blessed hope."

One of these strange doctrines is that only a part of the Church will be caught up at the coming of Christ, and the rest left behind to pass through "the great tribulation." It is called the "Partial Rapture."

That this teaching is both unscriptural and pernicious we shall show from Scripture; for the word of God is so clear and concise on the subject that any attentive reader should know just who will be caught up when the assembling shout is heard.

Let us turn to a few scriptures showing beyond doubt for whom Christ is coming. "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3). Has our Lord in view a special class among believers here ? Did He say, Some of you-those who shall be on the lookout for Me ? Those of you who shall be in a suitable condition of soul ? Or, those who have attained to a certain degree of knowledge or holiness ? No, He includes them all, "you," "ye," with no added condition; and what He said to them He says to us all. (See Mark 13:37.)

Take again that well-known passage, i Thess. 4:13-18:the pronoun " we " there is found five times; and four times out of the five it undoubtedly means all the Thessalonian saints, as well as the apostle, with Sylvanus and Timotheus his companions. The one exception is:"This we say unto you by the word of the Lord," etc. (ver. 15), which means, of course, Paul and his companions. The others are as follows:" For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then -we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

So it reads:" If we believe "; " we which are alive and remain " (twice repeated); " so shall we ever be with the Lord." Is "we" a special class here- some particularly holy ones among the Thessalonian believers, those reckoned " overcomers " only, the most devoted from among them ? Or does it mean all the Thessalonians ? All of them, most assuredly-everyone is it included in the "if we believe," etc., all who believed in the death and resurrection of Christ for their sins and justification.

And have the terms been changed since? Has a divine decree gone forth that faith in Christ is no more the only ground and condition of acceptance a partial rapture? -that something more is required for fitness for His presence, or another title to glory than His precious blood, shed upon the cross ?
Look at the same epistle, chapter 2, verses 19, 20:" For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming ? For ye are our glory and joy." "Ye"; to whom does he refer-a class among believers, those of special merit, of peculiar holiness or extraordinary devotedness ? or does the apostle mean all to whom the epistle is addressed, "the church of the Thessalonians " ? There can be but one answer:he means them all, every one who by God's grace had "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven."

And were all these Thessalonian saints serving the living and true God with equal or adequate devotedness and zeal ? We have but to read the second epistle addressed to the same company, and written but a few weeks after the first, and see that some were " disorderly, working not at all, busybodies" (chap. 3:n). Is there any hint or threat (open or veiled) that some of these might be left behind at the rapture ? Not the slightest. And surely this would be the place to indicate a segregation of believers if something in them were to prevent a part of them from being "caught up" at the coming of the Lord. But the apostle hints at nothing of the kind, for he knows, as he elsewhere taught, that at Christ's coming all His own shall be "caught up together," and that grace, the grace that saved, is the ground of it, and the blood that atones for sin is the only and all-sufficient title to share in that glorious event for which he encouraged all believers everywhere to look.

Again, look at i Cor. 15:51, 52, where we have three times the first personal pronoun "we." "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." To whom do these "we" refer-to some, or to all of them ? To all, unquestionably. And if a Christian's conduct could affect his title to have part in the rapture, this would be the most suitable occasion to teach it; for these Corinthians, as the apostle says elsewhere, were indeed carnal; schismatic; glorying in men; were exalting human wisdom, yet babes in Christ; going to law one with another. Yea, "Ye do wrong, and defraud," he says, "and that your brethren." Some of them misconducted themselves at the Lord's supper, eating and drinking of the Eucharist unworthily, and bringing upon themselves the just chastisement of the Lord. Yet in no wise did the apostle suggest that any really converted person among them might miss being taken at the rapture. No, without any qualification he says, "We (the living) shall be changed."

And another thing:What gives the saint fallen asleep in Jesus title to have part in the first resurrection ? Is it his conduct while living on earth, or was it through grace ? Through grace alone, most certainly. And is it not just the same with those who shall be changed as with the dead who shall be raised incorruptible ? Were not some of them very deficient in their conduct while upon earth ? Yet they shall not be left in their graves at the "resurrection of life" any more than the living believer be left behind at the coming of the Lord. The two events, "the resurrection of the just" and the translation of the saints, occur at the same moment, and the title to either rests on the same basis-on " the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin."

And on what does this teaching base the idea that only a part of the company of the redeemed shall go to glory at the coming of the Lord ? On two things, principally:First, on a misapprehension of the gospel-failing to see that the sinner's real title to anything pertaining to heaven, or spiritual favor, rests upon grace. Second, in spiritual pride-in the vain conceit that some superior devotion to Christ secures a better claim to the "blessed hope," which less holy or spiritual fellow-Christians fail-to attain.

Now as to the first, What is the ground of our entering glory at any time before or since the Cross, at death now, or at the coming of the Lord by and by ? The ground is grace, redeeming grace alone. It is not, it could not be, any merit of our own, for this would cloud the gospel and contradict the written word of God. The Thessalonian converts were instructed to wait for God's Son from heaven, with never a question as to any superior claim to be among those translated at that happy moment. The youngest convert's reason for expecting Christ to come for him is the same message of God's grace that came to him as a sinner, and told him also of his Saviour's coming again- and for whom? Why, for all who receive that message, " The gospel of our salvation." Has the youngest believer any less claim than "such an one as Paul the aged ? " Or any more than the Corinthians or the Thessalonians ? All alike are partakers of that " heavenly calling," and shall share alike in the fulfilment of "that blessed hope." If being caught up to meet the Lord in the air depends on the believer's state of soul or conduct, it brings us back to our own merits, instead of the grace of God and the love of Christ.

But what says the Word ? '' They that are Christ's at His coming." Yes; they are Christ's; this is the only reason they have part in the first resurrection; and this is just why you and I, beloved fellow-believer, are going to be caught up at the same glad moment-"because we belong to Christ!" And we are His, not by any thing of ourselves, but by Christ's redemption, and that alone. Are you Christ's ? Then be assured you will have part in this "blessed hope;" for, as with those who have died in Christ, so shall it be with those alive in Him-"They that are Christ's at His coming" (i Cor. 15:23).

As for the second reason of this error (some distinctive or superior worthiness in a believer), who or what am I to expect to have any part in the rapture, if it depended upon anything in me or in my walk ? Did not our Lord teach His disciples to confess themselves "unprofitable servants?" (Luke 17 :10). And does not James tell us that "in many things we all offend? " (Jas. 3:2). And did not the great apostle Paul confess himself "less than the least of all saints ? " (Eph. 3:8). In view of this, who could expect anything else than to be of those "left" at Christ's coming, if it is any question of personal fitness or attainment of holiness? And more:who could tell me, or by what means might I know when I had attained to the degree of holiness, devotedness, or growth in grace (whichever it is), to warrant me to expect to have part in the rapture-if it is conditional upon something else than a simple faith in the work and merits of our Lord Jesus Christ ? By what measure would the teachers of this strange doctrine mete to me or to themselves a decision in the matter ? If their teaching be true as to the translation of select saints alone, we would have to cry out with the aged Samuel Johnson, in reference to justification, "Who can tell me when I have done enough! "

And the teachers of this partial rapture theory, do not they expect to be " caught up " when Christ comes ? If so, what does this argue ? Just this, that they are self-righteous ; that they consider themselves superior to other believers. If I know myself at all-my many failures, my treacherous heart, my utter unworthiness – can I claim the right to anything but that of confessing myself a sinner saved by grace?

Yes, reader, you may be sure there is a subtle self-conceit underlying this teaching, which makes a privileged class among the saints, with the secret self-confidence that the teachers and followers of the doctrine are among the worthy ones, the faithful, the overcomers.

Yes; that is the word they catch at, "Over-comer." Overcomers, they say, will be caught up, for to such alone is the promise made of being kept from "the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth" (Rev. 3 :10). Granted :but who are the overcomers ? Are they a special class in the Church -saints of a superior order, or "disciples indeed," in a sense in which all believers are not ? Let us see.

We turn to i John 5 :4, 5 :"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? " Here we have the divine description of an overcomer:"Whosoever is born of God; " that is, every truly converted soul. It is our faith-faith in Jesus the Son of God – that overcomes the vast hostile system called "the world."

And mark, it is not what some erroneously term "holiness by faith"-the claiming by faith of a "second blessing," "clean heart," "perfect love," "cleansing from inbred sin," etc., but faith in Christ – just such a faith as all true Christians possess. He that overcometh is he "that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." So it is the "over-comer" that will go when Jesus comes, but the term applies to all believers in Christ – not to a select class among them. And so in Rev., chaps. 2 and 3, the overcomer is the true believer, as distinguished from the false. Else what could be made of the promises to such ? " He shall eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God " (chap. 2:7). Is this to be the portion of special saints, or for all true believers ? Again, " He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death " (chap. 2:11); will some Christians not be overcomers and be hurt of the second death ? Just to ask the question is to answer it-No! And so with all the promises in these addresses to the seven churches ; they are not all the same, but are all beautifully suited to the condition and circumstances of each assembly addressed. All true believers shall partake of the promised blessings, for all shall in the end be overcomers, not by any superior degree of holiness or development of the life of Christ in them, but through the overcoming on the cross of Him in whom we are complete (Col. 2:10), even as it is written, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (i Cor. 15 :57); and again, "We are more than conquerors through Him that loveth us" (Rom. 8 :37). Hallelujah to His name! C. Knapp.

(Concluded in next number.)

(Continued from page 158. )*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(To be continued.)

"The Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us… full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

God the Word, the High and Holy,
All creation's Lord and Heir,
Stooped to creature-likeness lowly,
All the creature's load to bear:
God the Word in flesh incarnate,
Sacred mystery divine;
All the fulness of the Godhead
In a holy human shrine.

He whom all the hosts of heaven,
Whom the myriad worlds obey,
O'er His vast creation wieldeth
Sovereign and almighty sway;
From the glory to the manger,
Son of Man, to serve He came-
In obedience and dependence
Glorify the Father's name.

Far from God the world had wandered,
And the Evil sat enthroned;
E'en His own, His chosen people,
His Messiahship disowned.
In the scene He fair had fashioned,
Rich o'er all His mercies shed,
God Incarnate-Man of Sorrows,
Had no where to lay His head!

But the One whose power and wisdom
In Creation we behold,
Came Redemption's greater glories,
Hidden mysteries, to unfold:
Came in love to save the sinful,
Hush earth's bitter wail of pain,
Make redeemed creation radiant
With the glories of His reign.

Oh, how sin had marred the creature
In His own fair image made-
Helpless, hopeless, bruised, and broken,
At His feet despairing laid.
But His mighty love enfoldeth,
Takes the stricken to His heart,
For the Man of Sorrows ever
In all sorrow has a part.

All the Father's love revealing
Spake as never man before;
Power divine in word and healing
Witness to the truth He bore:
Giving all in loving service
In the thronged path He trod,
All the creature's burden bearing
On His heart alone with God

From their sin, their shame and sorrow,
To Himself He called His own;
For He came to seek the wandering,
And to save the lost and lone.
And the weary, heavy-laden,
Sad and sin-defiled, drew nigh,
And the Infinite in Mercy
Stilled each broken, contrite cry.

But the nation sees no beauty
In the meek and lowly One,
Nor the veiled divine Shekinah
Of the well-beloved Son ;
And the God they claim to worship,
As their daily offerings rise
In the glory of His temple,
In His grace they scorn, despise.

David's root and David's offspring,
Royal honors He could claim;
But of thorns His crown was fashioned,
And His throne a cross of shame:
All at naught they set His glory,
While they trampled on His grace,
And they rendered as their homage
Scornful smitings on the face.

Oh, 't is perfect Love's obedience
In death's deepest depths displayed,
When He gave Himself a ransom
On the brazen altar laid:
When the slumbering sword of judgment
Did awake in wrath to smite,
And the billows, dark, overwhelming,
Wrapped His stricken soul in night.

" It is finished! " Love hath triumphed!
The atoning blood is shed!
And the thorns now wreathe with glory
The Almighty Victor's head!
"It is finished! " All the judgment
Due to sin divinely borne;
And His night of death and darkness
Ushers in Redemption's morn.

"It is finished"-Sin's dominion
For the Lord's redeemed is o'er,
And the name of God the Father
Glorified for evermore.
All the way of life stands open
To the sprinkled throne on high,
And the children to the Father
Brought in love for ever nigh.

In the fragrance of His offering,
In the Sanctuary above,
As the Great High Priest, He waiteth
On His ministry of love :
On His hands for ever graven,
Serving ever all His own,
Bearing all in love unwearied,
On His heart before the throne.

W. L. G.

Sowing and Reaping in His government God has established righteous and beneficent laws, in both the natural and spiritual kingdoms, which it behooves us to observe and joyfully obey. Conformity to them will ensure abundant blessing, as their transgression will bring corresponding sorrowful consequences. The apostle reminds the saints of this axiom of truth in Gal. 6:7-9, " Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Material things reflect the spiritual. We plant seeds in the Spring-time, to develop, mature, and tear fruit by and by. So is youth the usual time when habits are formed and character receives direction. Oh that young Christians were thoroughly convinced that the reaping must be according to the sowing. Then, instead of settling down in spiritual idleness, faith would shake off slothful self-indulgence; time wasted on the world's magazines would be redeemed for better, more profitable and enduring things, with the blessed fruits reaped in measure here, but to the full by and by.

Serve where you are.

Occupy in the place where God has placed you, and work around you-in your own home, in your own town, in your neighborhood ; then, if God give you ability and strength for it, spread out on the right and on the left, but don't wait for a large or prominent field. "Distance lends enchantment" is a true proverb, and not a few look for something afar off, when opportunities and need lie all around. Cultivate the spot where you are, and help your neighbors. A sound gospel tract given to a family, with a few kind words, may be to them as the trickling in of the water of life; or the lending of an evangelical book, the introduction of new thoughts and a new life for them. It is the disposition of heart that we want-a heart in fellowship with Christ, ready to serve, to be little, to have the eye on the eternal issue instead of self. Lord, increase faith and love in all our hearts.

FRAGMENT A Conference for the consideration of prophetic subjects, in connection with our Lord's return, is appointed for the end of this month, in Philadelphia; we quote as follows:

"A Bible Conference on the Return of Our Lord, and Belated Events, is to meet in Philadelphia on May 28-30. The call is signed by over thirty pastors, representing different denominations. In the course of its deliberations, the Conference will take up for discussion the themes which, in these days of prophetic fulfilment, are uppermost in the minds of thoughtful Christians everywhere. The restoration of Israel to its own land is already apparently in process of fulfilment, and will, of course, be considered. Such an assembly should furnish a new impulse to missionary work at home and abroad, and should also give stimulus to prophetic study . . . The blessed hope of the world centers on Jesus Christ.

" We would ask that Christian people everywhere pray that the Conference may be wisely guided; that extreme views and all tendencies toward fanatical interpretation might be avoided, and that one result of such a gathering might he realized in a new consecration, a firmer trust in God and His goodness, a more loyal obedience to His will, with prayerful ness for the revealing of the divine purpose in the great trial through which the world is now passing."

I knew a roadman who, as he went to his daily work, made it a point to ask the Lord to enable him not only to do his work well, but that he might be enabled to speak of Him to the passers-by during the day.

One day, after the early hours of the day had passed away with little opportunity to do what was on his heart, a gentleman with a fine buggy came along, but our friend the roadman feared to speak to such an one.

Just then the gentleman pulled up and said:

" Can you tell me the road to Ford Castle ? "

This unexpected question opened the way for the roadman to carry out his desire.

"Yes, sir," he replied; "go straight along this road for four miles, and you will reach the castle."

"Thank you," added the gentleman, touching his horse with his whip.

"Beg pardon, sir," said our friend, "may I ask if you can tell me the road to heaven ? "

" How can any one be sure of that ? " replied the gentleman.

"Are you sure, sir, that you are on the road to Ford ? "

"Certainly; you who know the way have told me, and I believe your word," replied the gentleman.

"Well, sir," said the roadman, " God has told us the way to heaven, and I believe Him."

"And what is the way? " asked the gentleman.

Thus an opportunity was made for our friend to state with clearness the one and only way to heaven -Christ and the atonement He made for sinners who will receive Him.

"Well, now," said the gentleman, " I have learned more in these ten minutes conversation than I had known before ; and, to tell you the truth, I have written a book on ' Faith,' which I had intended to
get printed, but now I see that it is all wrong, will throw it into the fire when I get home!" J. W. S.

Conscience is not sufficient to guide man aright. Speaking of his early days, Paul said, " I verily thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." He had bitterly persecuted those who believed on Jesus, believing he was doing service to God; but when he learned that Jesus was the Son of God, from that moment he became as zealous in serving Him as before he had been in endeavoring to stamp out the religion of the Nazarene from the earth.

The word of God, then, is the only safe guide; to it appeal should be made – not to this or that man's conscience. All sorts of things may be held, and conscience appealed to as vindicating this or that line of conduct; for God alone can truly teach us what right is. Alas, how few care for what God has said ! For many there might as well be no God, and no revelation from Him at all. He who was, and is, God, who stooped in infinite grace to become a man, has shown, when assaulted by Satan, that the word of God is to be obeyed, no matter what may seem to be gained by disobeying it, or lost by obedience thereto. Neither prospective results nor difficulties can justify a man in going contrary to God's revealed will.

Much has been said of late about conscientious objectors to military service, and various opinions have been expressed as to them. Some would use violence against them – imprison them, disfranchize them, etc. ; while there are conscientious objectors who cannot reconcile the slaying of their fellow-men with the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ -whose utterances are indeed against these things for those who claim to be His disciples. The epistles of Paul and of Peter give definite instruction for the guidance of Christians in relation to "the powers that be." In Rom. 13 Paul speaks of the powers as "the ordinance of God," and the authority as " the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Peter writes of "the ordinance of man" (i Pet. 2:13), meaning thereby the form of government in whose hands God has entrusted the power for "the punishment of evil-doers, and the praise of them that do well." Here too it is God who determines what doing good or doing evil is.

By the hand of Moses God gave to Israel, His earthly people, a code of laws which was to be maintained by their rulers; and punishment was to be inflicted on transgressors, and these laws do not change.

God will, we are told, set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and Israel, restored to their land, chastened and purged by judgment, shall have the law written in their hearts. They will love it and keep it. He who gave the law could if He wished modify or add to it if He thought fit to do so; and did introduce certain changes for the land. When David came to the throne, it was called the throne of Jehovah; but failure soon came, as it always has, and the ten tribes went into captivity, and Judah went to Babylon, the kingdom ceased, and passed away from Israel into the hands of the Gentiles-to Nebuchadnezzar, who had to learn that " the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men." Yet God is the supreme ruler, who could and did override the commands of this haughty monarch. God's saints in this day are to obey, to submit to authorities'; they do not share in the rule. To rule is not theirs, save in the home or in the business. The husband rules in the one, the master in the other. In the State they obey, save and only when the State assumes to override God's authority. It is no punishment to deprive a Christian man of the franchise if he never made use of it. To send him to prison, or to hold him up to contempt and ridicule because of following Christ, is either great ignorance or great wickedness. God will deal with that in His own time and way.

Government is founded on righteousness. The Christian is to follow Christ. "Grace and truth," not law, "came by Jesus Christ." We, Christians, preach grace; our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; our lives and our testimony are to be in accord with this. We are to honor all men; to fear God; to honor the King. We are to be meek and gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. Poor soldiers the followers of Christ will make in the fearful conflict now raging. Our warfare is with unseen foes. Our weapons are not carnal but spiritual. We can boldly say that none can give the Government such help toward the ending of this awful war and the establishment of a righteous peace as does the simple, earnest and obedient Christian who pleads before God for it- with peace in his soul, trusting in God, yet weeping over the misery that sin has brought, he in-treats on behalf of the precious souls exposed to danger and to death. Nor that only, but, as commanded, prays for those in authority "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." When these prayers are answered, the State reaps the benefit, little thinking what they owe to those who have been so occupied.

I will endeavor to show that guidance for believers in Christ and guidance for those in authority are in striding contrast. To the former it is said:"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. . . . Wherefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. In so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." To the latter it is given as ministers of God to take vengeance upon evil-doers:"He is the minister of God to thee for good, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." God's ministers-would to God this was truly recognized! If it were, there would be a seeking to know His will; a confession of grievous failure would follow; then God may be expected to support His servants in the exercise of the authority He has given to them.

We hear a great deal about the rights of humanity. What about the rights of that glorious Being to whom every human soul must give account ? Who can meet Him and stand before His throne ? Not one; all are guilty, all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. He-blessed be His name-has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. He has given His Son, who, in the same wondrous love, offered Himself without spot to God. So God, on account of the death of His Son for us, gives full and free forgiveness to all truly repentant sinners, as Rom. 3 states:"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

We have been told that it is quite right for Christians to take no part in war, but when conscription becomes law, then we are bound to obey. It is alleged that our responsibility to our Lord and Master is set aside by an authority established by God Himself. We answer that no such authority has ever been given. No saint of God is justified in doing what as such he is forbidden to do.

The obedience the Christian is to render to the Civil Power is for the Lord's sake. It is added, " As free;" liberty is his; but he must not use that liberty as a cloak for hostility against the civil power. To do that would be very wrong. In Paul's epistle to Titus he says:" Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men " (Titus 3:i, 2). In the measure in which we acquire the characteristics described in verse 2, we become worse than useless in scenes of conflict and strife. The works the believer is to be ready to do are works consistent with his duty to God and to his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. What these are the New Testament will instruct the obedient heart. Those in authority, whose it is to rule, may learn from what God in past days gave to His people Israel. This is epitomized by the Lord Jesus thus:"And all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." E. R. Wills.

(Heb. 6:19.)

Herein is rest:my anchor's cast
"Within the veil," both sure and fast,
For what, though near some haven lay
To lure me o'er the transient way,
If, while upon the billows tossed,
The hope of landing might be lost ?

But hope is resting by that shore
Where Christ for me has gone before;
And now, no waves that round me roll
Can move the anchor of my soul.
How sweet to know they all must cease,
And I shall reach th' abode of peace!

J. M. Gordon.

QUES. 13.-(1) Is the first epistle to the Corinthians for saints only, that is, for saved people?

(2) Does the "House of God," as looked at in the first ten chapters of 1st Corinthians, include mere profession ?

(3) Does the "House of God" include the "Great House" spoken of in 2d Tim. 2 ?

ANS.-(1) Verses 2 and 8 of the first chapter positively define to whom, and for whom, the epistle is written-not only to the saints in Corinth (though first of all for them) but also to " all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." It is very important to consider it as written for ms as well as for the Corinthians, for therein is given the Lord's directions for God's house on earth in this dispensation.

(2)'While it is God's house (God's dwelling by the Spirit),and to be kept holy as such, there may slip in self-deceived persons, and deceivers too (see Matt. 13 :14,15 ; 1 John 2 :19; Jude 4), by whom Satan seeks to defile the temple of God and dishonor Christ.

(3) This brings on what is called the "great house." The apostle will not call it God's house now, but a "great house," with clean and unclean vessels of every sort (2 Tim. 2 :20), and he gives direction to pious souls, who fear God and keep His commandments, what to do, and how to conduct themselves in such a state of things (vers. 21-26).

When God's time had come to bring Israel out of Egypt, He appeared to Moses as fire in a thorn-bush, which it did not consume. The thorn-bush was Israel, the fire was the Holy One of Israel who, notwithstanding the stiffneckedness and rebellious heart of the people whom He was going to deliver from Egypt, would bring them through the wilderness to their promised land.

As Moses drew near to behold this wonder, he was bidden to remember that to stand in God's presence is "holy ground " indeed. The revelation of Who it is that spoke to him out of the bush is then made known to Moses thus:" I am . . . the god of Abraham, the god of Isaac, and the god of Jacob " (Exod. 3 :6).

What then does this name imply by which God was to be known to His people, as He again says to Moses :" This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations " (ver. 15) ?

The God of Abraham.

Turning to the history of Abraham, we see in what character God revealed Himself to him. Sovereign grace was exhibited in the Divine call that was forever to separate Abram from idolatry, from kindred and country with which he was connected up to that time; for in Josh. 24 :2 we read:"Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood [the river Euphrates] in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor:and they served other gods." It was there and in that condition that God appeared to Abram, and said unto him:" Get thee out of thy country . . . and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee . . . and thou shalt be a blessing:. . . and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed " (Gen. 12:1-3). All this was sovereign grace to one vet in idolatry; divine goodness taking and separating a vessel for mercy which in the Potter's hand was to be shaped, blessed, and used as an example of the counsels of God in grace.

What a lesson this should have been to Israel, and to every opened ear since, not to glory in the flesh-in itself or its doings-but as it is written, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (i Cor. i:31; Jer. 9:23, 24).

This same line of truth-God's sovereign grace- is seen all through Abraham's history. Having come to Canaan Jehovah appears to him again and makes him a free gift of the land-to him arid to his seed, of which he had none at the time (ch. 12 :7); he is bidden to "walk through the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee " (ch. 13:17).

When years had passed, and Abram had been "blessed," and become "great" as God had said, but was yet childless, he felt his solitude. His princely wealth was to pass, as it seemed, to the chief servant in his house. " Jehovah-Elohim," says Abram, "what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless?" Then God brings him out under the starry heavens and says, " Count the stars if thou be able to number them, and He said . . . So shall thy seed be." And Abram "believed Jehovah; and He counted it to him for righteousness" (ch. 15:5, 6). What an hour for Abram! What divine grace! A childless man looking up into the heavens studded with myriads of myriad stars, and hearing the voice of the Almighty God saying, "So shall thy seed be"! Righteousness was then accounted to him, simply because he believed God who cannot lie.

In eternal righteousness Abram thus stood before Jehovah-justified on the principle of bare faith in God, apart from any work. This grand passage becomes the text from which the apostle by the Spirit sets forth point by point, in Rom. chs. 3 and 4, how God justifies the sinner that comes to Him in the name of Jesus, and is accepted and justified before the Throne of Righteousness.

The God of Isaac.

Having accounted faith as righteousness to Abram, it was now to be shown that this gift of righteousness was not arbitrarily made, as we might say, but that it was based upon a mighty sacrifice, in which God's holy and righteous character is fully maintained. Through Isaac this was to be shown.

Resurrection proclaims the power of God. Thus when all natural expectation of having a child was gone, God's time was come to fulfil the promise. He appears to Abram, entertaining the three travelers that had come to him, and says, " I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son " (ch. 18:10); and, "through faith also, Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful that promised" (Heb. 11:11). This "seed," Isaac, this "only" and "beloved son," is probably the most striking type of the Sacrifice of the Cross by which God is proclaimed righteous in justifying sinners who have no righteousness of their own.

The child having grown up into the freshness and strength of youth, the word came to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (ch. 22:2). The multiplication of endearing terms, "thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest" emphasizes the greatness of the sacrifice demanded. Our Isaac has expressed it thus:"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

See there the father and the son in communion ascending Mount Moriah. The wood that is to consume the sacrifice is already bound upon Isaac. Then the beloved of his father in wondrous self-surrender is bound to the altar. In all this we hear, as it were, the words of our Isaac:"Therefore doth my Father love Me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again " (John 10:17).

The type goes as far as type could go, but the Antitype goes through death-"even the death of the cross." Abraham received back his son in a figure as from the dead (Heb. n :19),but our Isaac has been "raised from among the dead by the glory of the Father"-the Father's delight in His Beloved, and His own glory, were concerned in raising from among the dead His beloved, obedient One, and His messengers now are sent through the world to proclaim that "through this Man (Jesus, raised from among the dead) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him, all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 3:38 39). Thus, before the law came, the divine way of justification was pointed out.

This is our Isaac (laughter) who makes all that receive Him to laugh with the joy of God's salvation; and who, ere long, shall make this poor, groaning earth to break forth with singing in deliverance from its present bondage (Rom. 8:19-21; Isa. 35:i, 2).

The God of Jacob

But God's elect have in them a nature of sin, "the flesh," and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring the heirs of glory into practical conformity to the mind and character of God. This is markedly exemplified in Jacob. His history exhibits this work of the Spirit in the children of God.

"Jacob" (supplanter) is the name given him at his birth, and the nature, expressed in his life, corresponds but too well with his name. Having supplanted his brother twice (in the birthright, and in Isaac's blessing) he becomes a fugitive from his brother's wrath. We may note in passing that Jacob is not "profane" however, as Esau. He both valued the birthright, which Esau lightly esteemed, and his father's blessing enough to risk much to secure it. A lone traveler away from home and parentage, with the bare earth for his bed, a stone for his pillow, the lofty skies for his canopy, God appears to him in a dream of the night, and reiterates to him the promises made to Abraham; and to these He adds, "I am with thee, and will keep thee . . . and will bring thee again into this land" (ch. 28:13-15). But the presence of God makes Jacob afraid, and he cannot credit God with such gracious promises. So he makes a vow, and says:IF God will be with me; IF He keeps me; IF I come again, etc., then .. .And so it is ever where self-confidence and self-righteousness have not been broken in the presence of God. The natural mind is unable to credit God with promises that He makes in pure grace.

Arrived in Padan-aram among his relatives, God permits that Jacob should reap there as he had sown at home. Deception is doubly practiced upon himself. God's discipline has begun. Ten times his wages are changed in Laban's efforts to reduce him. Conflict too is experienced in his household. Toil and hardships are upon him; frost by night and scorching sun by day make his life a trying one; yet through it all God's blessing attends him; he is being multiplied as God had said (ch. 30). Laban's face then becomes changed towards him, and God's own gracious voice bids Jacob to return to the land of promise, with the assurance of His protection, abundantly verified in his further history, as God's promises ever are. So the pursuing Laban is not only hindered from harming Jacob, but even asks for a treaty of peace (ch. 31). The angels of God too come to meet Jacob in his homeward way.

Now at the fords of Jabbok, before entering the home-land, comes the great turning-point in Jacob's life. Tidings are received of his on-coming brother Esau with 400 men, threatening utter destruction. The past is brought to remembrance, and Jacob is thrown into an agony of fear, and pleads with God for mercy. And not only is there the fear of his brother, but there alone and in the night, a stranger comes upon him, battling with him till morning light. At length he recognizes in the opposing stranger the angel-Jehovah. As a cripple, Jacob now clings to Him and beseeches His blessing. He has laid hold upon God as a suppliant in extremity, and thus prevails."And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel"-no more supplanter, but a prince of God . . . "and He blessed him there" (32:28).May we not call this Jacob's conversion ? Jacob called the name of the place "Peniel":for "I have seen God face to face," he says, "and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him" (32:28-31)."He halted upon his thigh"-a cripple as we all are-but he is "Israel" in God's reckoning, with title like Mephibosheth to"sit continually at the King's table," though "lame on both his feet" (2 Sam. 9:10). Through the rest of his life this once grasping man is a limping man, dwelling in the Land of Promise like Abraham and Isaac, not in present possession, but dwelling in tents as pilgrims and strangers there.

Trials and sorrows, with encouragements and promises, oft recur through the rest of the patriarch's life, and greatly deepen the work of grace within. His sons dishonor and trouble him (ch-34). Deborah dies and is buried. God's promises in great fulness are reaffirmed to him at Bethel. Then on the way to Ephrath-Bethlehem, Rachel dies in giving birth to Benoni,-the son of her sorrow, which faith changes to Benjamin-the son of my right hand; and Israel comes to dwell with his father Isaac at Hebron (communion), where Abraham had also dwelt.

Then his beloved Joseph is lost to him, and his desolate heart is in mourning. Earthly things have lost their attraction, and famine in the land comes to complete the severance of heart from things here, until the tidings that Joseph is alive and enthroned revive the heart that had grown heavy. Joseph is alive! and bids Israel to come away to him, and "the spirit of Jacob revived." But he is afraid to go down to Egypt, till God appears to him in a vision of the night saying, "Fear not to go down into Egypt … I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again:and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes" (46:1-3).

The brightness of the aged patriarch's faith and communion with God is thenceforth very marked. With confidence he goes down to Egypt, with all his own. Touchingly sweet is his meeting again with Joseph; and when he is presented before Pharaoh, in the consciousness of the riches of God's grace towards himself, he is enabled to bless Pharaoh the king of Egypt. He remains but as a stranger there, however; for as death is drawing near he sends for Joseph and makes him swear not to bury him in Egypt, but in the Land of Promise with his fathers (37 :28-31).

The aged pilgrim, in the remembrance of ' 'the God of Bethel" who had blessed him there, bestows the blessing upon Joseph and adopts his two sons as his own-doubling Joseph as it were. The lads are brought to him, and crossing his hands, he blesses them, putting Ephraim the younger above Manasseh the elder; and when his beloved Joseph says,"Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn," Israel refuses to change his hands, saying, "I know it, my son; I know it … and he set Ephraim before Manasseh" (48:15-20)-wittingly, the blind Jacob does what Isaac unwittingly had done-put the younger above the elder.

Lastly, Israel assembles all his sons, and gives to each a detailed prophetic blessing. His work is done. He gives a parting charge to bury him beside Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah and Leah, and dies a worshiping pilgrim, "leaning upon the top of his staff" (Heb. 11:21).

Is this the same man that we saw fleeing from the wrath of his brother ? Yes, and no. It is the same person, but, behold, " What hath GOD wrought! "

The Father's sovereign purposes in grace; the Son's sacrifice in justification of God's grace, and the Spirit's work in bringing many sons to glory- this is our God-the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

" This is my Name, and this is my memorial unto all generations."

I cannot know if good or ill
My future lot enfold ;
But, Lord, I rest in peace, because
Thou dost that future hold.

And though at times my spirit fails,
And weary seems the day,
I grasp Thy hand and follow on
Through all the lonely way.

I care not if the road be rough,
Or filled with flowery ease ;
The hardest road with Thee is smooth;
Without Thee none can please.

I would not, Lord, apart from Thee,
Bright wealth or pleasure choose;
And what I have, I pray Thee now,
For Thine own glory use.

Thus may I trust Thy holy Word,
And follow Thy sweet will;
Assured that in the darkest night
Thou art beside me still.

Frederic R. Marvin