"Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." " As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent." God chastises His children that they may be more and more conformed to His mind, or as the apostle expresses it, that they may "be partakers of His holiness."

There are three ways of treating chastisement mentioned in the word of God. One is to despise it. "Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord." To say in effect that we did not need what has come upon us, is really to despise it, and the One who has sent it.

A second way of treating chastisement is to faint under it. "Neither faint when thou art rebuked of him." The one who faints under chastening, does not see and own that it comes in love,-that the Hand of love has brought it for good,-and so faints under it.

The third way is to be exercised by the chastisement. "Now no chastisement for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceful fruits of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby." The person who is brought to true exercise of soul under chastisement will not be indulging in nice sentimental thoughts, but will be saying the Master's touch means something; and will be diligently enquiring what that meaning is. Is there not something in my ways, the soul will ask, which is displeasing to Him? Have I not something between myself and Him? He is a jealous God, and will not give His glory to another. The exercised one who knows God, will also say in effect, He has sent this chastisement in love, -He means it for blessing to me. He wants my whole heart and life. Oh, if this exercise goes down deep, the soul will see things as God sees them, that is according to its own little, finite measure, and thus will be finding " a path which the vulture's eye hath not seen," and which will shine with growing brightness until it enters the perfect and eternal day. In short this deep exercise is the way to real blessing. " Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby." No blessing in despising chastisement,-no blessing in fainting under it; but simply in being truly exercised by it.

Oh, happy if through chastisment we are brought down from the deceptive clouds of our own vain thoughts, to the terra firma of God's solemn realities. Full blessing is had by fully and practically getting into the current of His thoughts. Full blessing is had by taking sides with God against much that He has seen in us and our ways, deeply offensive to Him. This is self-judgment. Fruit suited to God's taste will follow. R. H.

Our needs and our helplessness compel us to have to do with God. When we know not which way to turn, when all human help is vain, then, if not before, we must turn to Him. Blessed is the exercise that thus compels us to take refuge in His arms. But how much more blessed would it be, not to be driven by circumstances to Him, but ever to abide in His presence.

Los Angeles, Cal.-Beloved Bro.:Here we are about as usual, rather increased numbers at the meetings in English. The Spanish in the city goes more slowly, and a good many are driven to Mexico by the hard times. If I can accomplish it, I still hope to get, the Lord willing, to Mexico for a visit; but there is just now some signs of God working in souls round about us. Bro. Groh and myself made a visit to Santa Barbara, and we broke bread, four in all, one ten miles off in the country could not get in. Although brother Pestor was getting rather discouraged with the Spanish, we had, Sunday and Monday nights, the best meetings I have seen there, and the attention and seriousness quite encouraging. We visited about a good bit and had little companies in the street and on the verandas to read and preach to, several times, at which all however were not well pleased. On the train returning to Los Angeles, I got acquainted with a nice person, a Christian from Carpenteria. He is a Canadian from Quebec, but lightly attached to sects because of the allowed evils in them. He told one of their being many Mexicans there, and invited me to go and see him if I went there. Since then brother Pestor was at Montecilo and found a Mexican who appears like a seeker after truth, and who told the priest the last time he went to confess, he would never go to him again. Pestor also spoke of Carpenteria as a good field and that many were not caring for the priest and his religion. I doubt not what they have read has been in a way through God's mercy helping to break their bonds.

I hope next week to take in San Buenaventura, Carpenteria, and Santa Barbara again. I made a visit this week to Wilmington, to look up the Portuguese and Spanish again there, and found some progress, and a Frenchman opened his house for preaching any time. Also a German who had been a disciple of Ingersoll, but converted, now oilers me a room for preaching and will furnish chairs as far as able. So as a number seemed desirous of hearing the Word, I think we shall arrange for next Lord's day a meeting in English and in Spanish after. The old Portuguese sailor I have spoken of before, 84 years old, I trust is really the Lord's, and was very glad of a visit. Another young Portuguese who was very reckless and infidel says he now reads his Bible every night, but does not understand it. He seems to feel his sins a burden and I hope is on the way. Several have asked lately if the end of the world is near, there seems to be an impression of impending calamity. Many are hard pressed to live, and California feels the pressure of the times perhaps more than most countries. Besides this, the tramps come here to winter from all parts of the United States, and some of them are desperadoes of the worst class. Righteousness is so far departed from, that government is weak and crime is rampant. We take no daily paper, and seldom see one, but we hear enough to fill one's mind with horror, and thanksgiving to God for His mercy in giving us to know Himself and an inheritance above.

Spokane, wash.-Sear Brethren:Just returned from !, country, where I have had meetings for three weeks, with mi interest. Several among the Christians got cleared as to the salvation and security, the Lord's coming and kindred truths I left them plenty of reading matter, and hope to see them get on. There were also some nice cases of conversion. Brother Morgan has been holding meetings six miles from here, and reports five or six cases of conversion. One young man who was converted at the meetings when I was here before, went home to Montana, and commenced giving out the truth; he reported blessing, and desires some one to come there. Brother Morgan purposes to go; the Lord seems to be fitting him for the work. Another young brother called Dicken seems led out in the same way. The Lord may be raising up help for the great need.:. Brother Hume of Lowry is encouraged in the work in Idaho about one hundred miles from here. Here the work is going on nicely, and more are being added. They have begun a Sunday school, and have six or seven classes already. Love to all Yours in Christ.

The patriarch was not drunk at the beginning, but he became a husbandman, planted a vineyard, and then drank of the wine. " Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing ?" the soul may indignantly reply !-but if the hidden tempers of the dog be allowed, his active fury will break out in time. "Walk in the Spirit,"-that is the divine security,- " and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." The holy, watchful habit of denying the flesh, its tempers and its lusts, will keep the appetite fresh and ready for the new and better wine; and into all this may the gentle and strong hand of the Spirit lead our souls daily !

It is the desire of the writer to call attention to one of those beautiful harmonies, which, occurring so often in unexpected places, touch up and revivify with a new beauty some familiar portion of the Word, and thus keep the reader in that expectant attitude which becomes him who at any time may find a rich treasure beneath his feet and would not pass it by unwittingly.

So many similarities have been found between the teachings of Paul and the Gospel of Luke, that some learned critics have wanted to make out that Paul referred to it, when speaking of "my gospel." However we may differ from them as to this, we may still welcome all correspondence that can be pointed out, as witness to one Master Hand, controlling and combining the music of these distant and various players into one grand symphony of praise. "He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him," but how much sweeter the song of those chanting,-

" Wondrous stories of the glories of His grace."

A verse in the tenth chapter of John, says, "When He putteth forth His own sheep He goeth before them," and what I want to point out is, how Paul seems to respond, in those wondrous seven platforms of grace in the second chapter of Philippians, "But when the lost sheep wandereth away, He followeth in every footstep." Luke gives the footsteps of the sheep; Paul, of the Good Shepherd. Let us ponder them together, and think as we do, of the apostle's exhortation, " Let this mind be in you."

The first antithesis is this, "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery (a grasping), to be equal with God." Luke, "And the younger of them said unto his father, Father, give me the portion of goods which falleth to me." Here we have in a nutshell the whole course of the first Adam portrayed. What privileges he lost by his grasping spirit. Luke gives them with a touch of the pen, when he says, Adam was the son of God. Likewise the prodigal ! Not content with his happy home, an overflowing abundance, he must have something which he can point out to an admiring world as his own, as completely in his power; the title fully his, not his father's any longer. "Thus no doubt," he ponders, "I shall be respected and looked up to, as my father is; I will have power." Ah, fellow-Christian, cannot we recognize the old tempter's voice again, "Ye shall be as God, as your Father." The younger son will let his father divide his living, to gratify his own grasping spirit. How beautiful the contrast in Philippians, where we see One, with title to the whole universe, not grasping after it, but with a spirit ready to give up everything. The blessed Shepherd thus blots out the first soiled footmark of the lost sheep.

And now for the second antithesis. Luke, "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance in riotous living." Paul, "He emptied Himself" (literal rendering). Two emptyings here:but how different ! How short an answer, but what a large field for meditation. Do not pause with the mere pittance of thought here written, but revolve it over and over, and God will bless it to you. "He emptied Himself," but how much must have been laid aside for One equal with God to empty Himself. Let us look at a few Scriptures in this connection. He was " the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person," and yet as we ponder it, we hear Isaiah's low undertone adding its soft minor chord and making both inexpressibly sweet, "We saw no beauty in Him-His face was so marred, more than any man's and His form more than the sons of men." Reverently let us respond.-

"O Head, once full of bruises,

So full of pain and scorn, 'Mid other sore abuses, Mocked with a crown of thorn."

Brethren, we tread upon holy ground. It reminds me of the words, may I not say, admonition, of a Christian upon first seeing that beautiful hymn, the seventy-first in the appendix:* *"Little Flock hymn-book."*" Oh, it seems almost too sacred to sing, does it not ? Again we are told, " He upholdeth all things by the word of His power," but the Psalmist prophetically exclaims, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death." "All things were made by Him," and yet, "Jesus being a wearied sat thus on the well." How we might multiply quotations. He thus stripped Himself, for we had also done so, but alas! in riotous living.

Now comes the third step and third antithesis. Luke says, "And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country," and Paul answers," He took upon Himself the form of a servant." The former seeks to serve himself by serving another; the latter to serve others gratuitously. "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. The gospel of Mark beautifully exemplifies this character of our Lord's life. Here we have those " immediatelys" and " straight-ways," which picture so vividly the busy Servant, having no time of His own. The people so learn the readiness of His touch that they know themselves welcome even when intruding upon His private moments. "And from thence He arose and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house and would have no man know it; but He could not be hid." No wonder Paul delighted to preach "the untraceable riches of Christ" (literal rendering). So many were the dark corners into which the Lord carries and has carried them, through so many "holes of the door" has His arm been lovingly stretched (Cant. 5:4), that the bewildered gaze of man cannot follow. Man's path, on the other hand, can easily be seen; he bestows his goods upon himself. Man's goodness is very patent, for he blazons it abroad with a trumpet. "How beautiful upon the mountains," have been His footsteps, blotting out once more all traces of the prodigal's soiled, self-serving path, in "joining himself to a citizen of that country."

"And was made in the likeness of men." The antithesis here is not so clear. In the next phase of our story the prodigal is seen in the fields feeding swine, and in a state of such destitution as to long for the husks which the swine eat, "and no man gives unto him." Have we not here, however, a sketch of what man really is ? He is a creature of wants, never satisfied, dependent upon others, especially in these days of "division of labor" and "co-operation." Does he not, too, sometimes yearn after husks, the food of swine, because he has wasted his Father's substance? How graciously the Lord also took a position of dependence, as at Sychar's well, for instance. He was wearied, He was hungry, He was thirsty, and in our prodigal state did we ever give unto Him ? Is not the Good Shepherd still on the track of His lost sheep ? Let us watch His next footstep.

"He humbled Himself"! This is not characteristic of man. The opposite mind has so taken hold of him, that to-day he is trying to convince himself, as hard as he can, that he never has fallen. The prodigal, however, has learned better. He goes to humble himself before His father. I don't believe his motives were all right. I think self was still an object to him. It is only because of what he is, he now steps up in stepping down. Perhaps he has heard a footfall upon the mountain. Perhaps in his destitution he has caught a glimpse of a "shining One," bending pityingly over some dark stain upon the rock. Perhaps he has heard a whispered, " Come unto Me," like a sweet strain of far off music from a father's house. Perhaps! Dear brother, can you tell me what it is now brings him home ? Does it not bow our hearts to think that the Good Shepherd's face was towards no home when He humbled Himself!

"And became obedient unto death." Is not the parallel close here ? His path is now especially emphasized as one of obedience to His Father, while in Luke it is the father that says, '' This my son was dead."

"Even the death of the cross." That death was one which involved the curse of God's law, and separation from His Father, while in Luke the death is characterized by the words "was lost." Ah, now the last stain is gone. The utmost penalty has been paid, and the music of the father's house bursts upon our ear; yet it seems amid it all we may turn back and wonder, "How He followed in every footstep." F. C. G.

The writer takes up his pen to give a few lines on what he considers godly order among the people of God, who are professedly gathered to the Name to the Lord Jesus, which we verily believe are at this time "the things that are wanting." Who can fail to see the evil tendency to looseness and lawlessness of a grave character almost everywhere ? In political circles it is felt keenly, "who despise government," (the outbreak of man's will against authority and government as ordained of God). The cry of democracy (man's rule) is to be heard everywhere. Almost all nations under heaven are battling with this state of things, from favored England on to heathen China and the tyrant Turk; and the same spirit of democracy has entered church circles also. Whether it may be in the most popular denominations of Christendom down to the comparatively little flock of God's people professedly gathered to the Lord Jesus, and in professed subjection to the word of God. To these last we pen our lines, for with doctrines such as Higher Criticism and other evils which sap the foundation of our most holy faith, we have nothing whatever to do, save to testify against and seek in love to get earnest and honest hearts delivered from such. Our path is truly in separation from all such persons, and systems, and gathered out to the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in true hearty subjection to the word of God. This we accept without a reserve, as a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path. This is our profession, as it was also that of the early Christians in the apostle's day; yet he left a Titus at Crete to set in order things that were wanting. The word of God alone can meet this need, and establish one or more in the matter of godly order.

We verily believe the great lack among many at this present time is not rightly distinguishing between privilege and responsibility, and the difference is immense and important, and the calm, sober, and godly heart will always seek to give each its due proportion. Yet we plainly see the tendency with many, and the snare into which some have fallen, is accepting all the gracious privileges of Christianity, and at the same time shirking the many responsibilities. These we insist never can be divorced without great loss to those who do so, and great dishonor to the Lord. Yea, more, each one of us can but own how that the tendency of his own heart, considering the character of the times, is to fall into line with such, and the path for nature will appear easier. But then what are the holy claims of our Lord Jesus upon us ? and what is the very word of God left us for ? Surely to guide us in these as every other form of our path in this world; and true subjection to God, and the word of His grace, alone will preserve us from such godly order; or, disaster. Men to-day want broader principles, they tell us, more liberal thought, broader lines to work upon, and hence by some we learn of a "larger Christ," and a "larger hope," etc., etc.; and in a day like this, when everything almost everywhere is enlarging its stakes, and in the world we get among professing Christians a much larger scope than the word of God will permit, then I put it to the reader, Is our remedy to change our position, our principles, to suit the breadth of man's thought to-day ? Surely, surely not, will, we are sure, be the answer of every upright mind and loyal heart taught of God. To do so would be to drop into the down grade movement and surrender part of that most holy faith delivered to the saints. We believe from the very depths of our heart we need nothing more than the word of God, and the same breadth of principles there taught by the great Head of the Church, and left to guide us in an evil day, amid all the dangers of a, hostile world, and an adversary such as the devil, ever on the watch to destroy any testimony on earth for God and His beloved Son. Let us now look for a brief space at some of the privileges and responsibilities in connection with the Church of God.

To those for whom I write the broad truth as to the Church will be clear. Yet its divine unity needs again and again to be emphasized. If we look at the Church as a pearl, to adorn the person of the Lord Jesus forever and ever, yet it is but one pearl; if as a flock, with its many sheep and lambs for His care, the good Shepherd, yet it is but one flock; if as an epistle, with its many pages, yet it is but one epistle; if as a body, and there are various members, yet but one body; if as a bride, yet but one bride, a chaste virgin ; and if as a house, for God Himself to dwell in, yet one house. These are a few of the blessings and privileges of the large wealthy place into which we the people of God are brought, in this highly favored dispensation. Great is the grace that has enriched us, and great the riches we have been enriched with, yet in receiving those blessings and riches from His hand, still marked with all the solemn memories of the cross, we need to ponder well, what claims has our ever blessed Lord upon us ? what are our responsibilities ? Some of them it will be our task to point out to the reader.

The Church is one, as we have before said, and comprises all God's people through the wide world (Matt. 16:; i Cor. xii), and although (as in the apostle's day) many local representations of that Church were to be found in various places here and there, yet all were subject to one Head, taught by one Spirit and guided by the same Word. This, to commence with, will be an immense help if rightly understood. To that Church left here to represent the Head while He personally is in the glory, a close tie existed, her relationship very near; yet while all this was true, grave and solemn responsibilities remained with her, and only as she rightly fulfilled these, would she be preserved as a vessel from wreck and disaster. Did that Church, so fair and beautiful as she was, and careful in practice, fulfil her responsibilities and keep her first estate, is a question which scarce needs an answer. Failure is stamped on everything left to man to fulfil. While she walked in a path of separation, a path of holiness, a path of faith, watchful and careful, all went well; when, instead of keeping true to her post, as a faithful watchman, as the night grew on, she grew careless about the interests of Him to whom she owed her all. Soon, like Sampson, she fell asleep in the arms of this evil world. Need we wonder if her strength is shorn as his ? and to find even now her very enemies using her to furnish them sport and entertainment, as did Sampson ? Very humiliating are these lessons for us, and we need to lay them more to heart.

Now we will commence at the door, for here we believe responsibility commences, and this in connection with whom she receives among her number.

Reception. The Lord Himself, ere He left, gave part of the instructions to guide her, and those instructions are completed in the Acts and Epistles. May we glean in this field what God has for us in this respect. If the reader carefully reads Matt. 18:18; John 20:23, "Whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ; " and again, "Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained,"- in this we get some of the responsibilities resting upon the Church of God as the House of God; for in a house we expect to find rule, order, good government. This has been sadly overlooked by some, and hence confusion has been the result. Some that we have met of late boldly affirm we have no responsibility here at all, but it remains solely with the one who comes, and we are simply to trust the Lord. But Scripture teaches far differently, and we purpose to abide by Scripture precept and example. " Whoso-soever sins ye remit," and " whatsoever ye shall loose" we verily believe furnish us with instruction in the reception of individuals into the fellowship which belongs to such a place as Christians occupy according to the Word. The Church as a whole, we grant, has failed; but has God's word failed ? Is not God's order ever the same ? and does not the foundation of God stand sure ? Surely, surely it does ! If the persons coming are received, all that might have been against them in their past life, be it a Paul a persecutor, yet they are forgiven, between men and men ; all that was righteously against them is now no more so. We believe God has forgiven them, and hence all being now right with the Lord, we forgive (upon the same principle as 2 Cor. 2:7 and Eph. 4:32). This applies to one upon his first reception, or after, if ever excommunicated, as 2 Cor. 2:applies. How wise our God is, thus ever providing for His poor weak people in an evil day !

Now as we enter the doors of the house of God upon earth (for such is every rightly gathered company of saints), we ought to have the humility to inquire diligently from the word of God, what is the order and government of such a holy place, for "Holiness be-cometh Thine house, O Lord, forever." (Ps. 93:5.) And '' God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him." (Ps. 89:7.) And again, to a Timothy, " That thou mayest know how thou ought-est to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (i Tim. 3:15; Ps. 131:) All these passages herein quoted have by many of us not been seriously thought of. We know there have been other extremes, rigid rules have been by some laid down, and wherever this is true, such a fellowship would be legal and sectarian bondage; and we are aware of late years Matt. 18:18 has been abused, used even to sanction subjection to unholy and unrighteous acts, and yet bound in heaven; and the righteous Lord, who loveth righteousness, is made to sanction unrighteous actions. Far be the thought. This we believe worse than Rome. She says her actions are infallible, and must be submitted to. The others say, they may fail and be wrong, yet all must submit. We are indeed thankful to be outside of both systems, Rome and the other, although we feel deeply sorry for God's dear people in either. But because this extreme is taken by some, are we to allow the pendulum to swing and carry us to the opposite ? Surely, surely not ! See the care exercised in the apostle's case (Acts 9:26, 28). They knew what his past life had been. Now he professed conversion. But more than profession was required, and so Barnabas came forward, and declared not only the truth of Paul's conversion, but also gave them positive marks which verified the truth, "how he preached boldly," etc, and hence to their satisfaction, he was received. They did not fold their arms and say, This is his responsibility, and we will just trust the Lord, as to whether it is right or wrong; and so, in such a free and easy way, permit him to come among them, and partake of that sacred institution given by the Lord Himself. (Luke 22:) Surely, Abraham's care in watching the sacrifices of old would have put them to shame. The Church as yet had not got so far down the stream of time as Matt. 13:25, Rev. 2:13; but understood too well the need, as the Levites, who as porters guarded the doors and gates of the Lord's house of old. (i Chron. 26:and Ps. 84:) The holiness of God's house they understood too well and holy government of such a place to be guilty of such grave neglect.

The things we believe essential to all coming, are, 1st.That they are known to be believers.

2nd.That they are known to be sound in Christian doctrine, and godly in life.

3rd.That they are known to be free from evil associations, which would defile a gathering.

The importance of this we believe we cannot too earnestly press, and this responsibility rests not upon one or two merely, but we believe with the whole gathering as such, every one ought to be exercised about a question which concerns the glory of the Lord Jesus. Matt. xviii and Jno. 20:were given to all, not one or two leaders to legislate for all. We are quite aware some have the place of rule or government, and "the elders which rule well are counted worthy of double honor," and "he that ruleth, with diligence," is enjoined, Rom. 12:8:1 Cor. 12:28; i Tim. 5:17.God forbid we should pen one word to weaken the force of such passages, and God be praised in an unruly age as this is, to find faithful men who have this place and amid the many difficulties, "rule with diligence," "rule well."They will meet the Lord's approval in that day we are sure, if not always from their brethren now. Yet their place and importance need a word. Amid difficult times such men understand the Word, and point out to the gathering what is proper and in accord with the holiness and government of God's House, from the Word, and when this is done, the rest ought to thank God for such ;and if it is otherwise, we may rest assured self-will is at. work, and i Thess. 5:14 may be a word at such a time, "warn the unruly." But when godly order is thus made known, and the holiness of such a place pointed out, every conscience ought to be in exercise, and not one godly exercised conscience overlooked. We believe in this as all else it should be true, "He that believeth shall not make haste,"ought to characterize one taking such a step, and as to the gathering itself in receiving, the principle also true "lay hands suddenly upon no man." This we believe is of paramount importance, if we are to '' keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" as we are enjoined in Eph. 4:If even one sister has a serious doubt in her mind as to the one coming, and the person coming would press his reception, his spirit would be far from what the Scriptures enjoins, and if the gathering would receive among them people to the disregard of any exercised one among them, they override the conscience, and commit we believe a grave sin. What fellowship in the Spirit could such an one coming, or such a gathering receiving, enjoy at such a time when they knew they had by such an act already crushed and wounded some hearts, and broken the unity of the Spirit of Eph. 4:? Would such be in accord with ver. 2, "with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love?" A. E. B.

(To be continued.)

Ques. 6.-In 2 Cor. 5:3, is "naked" the same as "unclothed," verse 4 ?

Ans.-The subject in this part of the epistle is the glory-the final glory-that awaits the people of God. There is not the dwelling upon the intermediate condition at length, save to speak of the blessedness of being " absent from the body and present with the Lord." In verse 1, the apostle says that even in view of the dissolution of the body, we have the eternal heavenly abode-the resurrection body; that our desire is to be freed from this body in which we groan, and to be clothed upon with our heavenly house-our glorified body. He is careful to say that our desire is not death, to be unclothed,-though willing even for that, verse 8,-but the resurrection body. Then he shows, by way of parenthesis, it would seem, that such a resurrection body clothing us is absolutely inconsistent with the thought of being "naked," 1:e., in our sins before God. For when raised, it will be apart from sin forever. This seems to be the force of "naked," not synonymous with "unclothed," (the state of the soul of the believer between death and .resurrection,) but being without a covering before God. This seems to fit in with the line of thought, where it would be natural to show that the "house from heaven" was forever freed from the possibility of the presence of sin. The use, too, of the word in several passages would bear this out (Rev. 3:17, 18; 15:16). A prominent thought seems to be that of the shame of such a condition, connecting it with our first parents. We can hardly think of one clothed with the "Best Robe" being "naked," though he might -as to his earthly body-be unclothed.

Ques. 7.-Is the manifestation at the judgment-seat of Christ, 2 Cor. 5:10, to include all our sins before and after we were saved, or is it the work of believers from the cross until we are caught up to meet the Lord ? And what does "whether good or bad "mean?

Ans.-There can be little question that the manifestation includes the whole life of the believer. The very thought of " manifestation " would suggest that. When we remember that the glory of God's grace will thus be exhibited, we can easily understand why the whole record should come out. It is never the habit of Scripture to hide sins, though God blessedly "covers " them. We know the life of Paul, for instance, before conversion, and of Matthew. The sins of Abraham, Lot, David, and Peter, after conversion, have been manifested in the word of God. We may be sure that what is brought out at the judgment-seat of Christ will only manifest in perfection the wonder of redeeming love.

" Whether good or bad" shows that not merely the failures, but the faithfulness, will be brought out; "and then shall every man have praise of God."

No doubt, too, the moral character of all judgment is alluded to, showing its absolute impartiality', which, while it decides the loss or the reward of the believer for his works, shows the fearful doom awaiting the unsaved. The apostle adds, therefore, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."

Ques. 8.-Please distinguish between "the man of sin," the Antichrist, and "the false prophet."

Ans.-Some have thought the "man of sin" to be (2 Thess. 2:3, 8, 9, 10) identical with the first beast of Rev. 13:(1-10). Notice, however, that the development of the man of sin is in connection with a religious apostasy already working in a mystery; that this man of sin is a false teacher, and works lying wonders, and claims a divine place in the temple. All this would identify him with the second beast (Rev. 13:11-end), called the false prophet (Rev. 19:). None question who this second beast is. He is the religious ally of the imperial rule resuscitated by satanic power, and by signs and lying wonders would deceive, if it were possible, even the elect. Lastly, the man of sin and the false prophet are identical with the Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:18, 22)-a Jew, who, in the last days, when apostasy shall have ripened, will usurp the worship of Jehovah, and claim that he is the true Christ, and divine. That he is intimately associated with the civil power, the first beast, and sets up his image in the temple-the abomination of desolation-has probably been the ground upon which some have thought the first beast and the man of sin were identical. There is no contradiction, however, in his setting up an image for worship, and claiming worship for himself also.

Ques. 9.-As to the eternal city, is not the tabernacle in the wilderness, with the camp surrounding it, a type of it ?

Ans.-Yes ; save that it is important to guard against the thought that the heavenly city is upon earth. That, it never is, but always " eternal in the heavens," like the glorified bodies of those who will inhabit it.

[Other answers deferred.]

Where there is not the faith that keeps the soul on the promises, there is not the faith to keep it out of sin. J. N. D.