" It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Is thy cruse of comfort wasting?
Rise and share it with another,
And, through all the years of famine,
It shall serve thee and thy brother.
Love divine will fill thy storehouse,
Or thy handful still renew;
Scanty fare for one will often
Make a royal feast for two.

For the heart grows rich in giving;
All its wealth is living grain;
Seeds which mildew in the garner,
Scattered, fill with gold the plain.
Is thy burden hard and Heavy ?
Do thy steps drag wearily ?
Help to bear thy brother's burden:
God will bear both it and thee.

Numb and weary on the mountains,
Wouldst thou sleep amidst the snow ?
Chafe that frozen form beside thee,
And together both shall glow.
Art thou stricken in life's battle ?
Many round thee moan;
Lavish on their wounds thy balsams,
And that balm shall heal thine own.

Is the heart a well left empty ?
None but God its void can fill:
Nothing but a ceaseless fountain,
Can its ceaseless longing still.
Is the heart a living power ?
Self-entwined its strength sinks low;
It can only live in loving,
And by serving love will grow.

QUES. 5.-Please explain Acts 22:16, " Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins." Can anything but the blood of Jesus Christ wash away our sins?

ANS.-Nothing can really wash away sins-for eternity and before God-but the precious blood of Christ. But baptism is a figure of salvation through the death of Christ, and therefore the language of the verse can be used. Where there was real faith there was real forgiveness, otherwise there was the mere outward discipleship of which baptism was the badge. The fol-lowing correspondence on the subject of baptism is added as famishing further remarks upon this subject.

Your question as to " baptism " takes us into a large field, although if all were ready to accept the plain inferences of Scripture the task of explaining it would be an easy one. There are five aspects of baptism in a general sense, in their order-viz:Repentance (Matt. 3:) performed by John the Baptist; the Holy Ghost (Matt. 3:11; Acts 2:) ; Water (Mark 16:; Acts 2:; Rom. 6:; Eph. 4:etc); the cloud, and the sea (1 Cor. 10:), and that which related especially to the Lord (Luke 12:50). But as water-baptism is mainly before us, we will keep to that one point. Christian baptism was not instituted until after Christ had risen from the dead, when it became the official mode of entrance into the Kingdom. (See Acts 2:41.) Peter was the first one to use it together with the key of knowledge to the Jews, and in Acts 10:he uses it to the Gentiles. Now one reason why we find in the Acts of the apostles that every believer was called upon to be baptized was, because no one had hitherto been baptized in (or to) the Name of the Trinity or in (or to) the Name of Jesus; those who had been baptized prior to that had simply been baptized unto John's baptism of repentance, but in Ephesus they had not heard whether the Holy Ghost that had been promised, (see Matt, 3:) "had yet come," (Acts 19:2, Rev. Ver.).

What does baptism of the believer typify? Let the Word tell us:in Rom. 6:3, we learn that Christians are baptized unto Christ Jesus (J. N. D.) consequently unto His death. Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism unto His death, just as in the same figure we say that we died on the Cross, we rose again; or to simplify it, our going under the water refers to His death and burial and our identification with Him in it, just as the grave shut Him out from the world, for the last the world saw of Him, was when He was on the cross-so, as Christians when we became that, we were practically severed from the world-our old man, what we were in Adam was, in God's mind, also buried out of sight, so that what linked us to the world and the first Adam has been annulled. Baptism has absolutely nothing to do with the work of salvation, but is the confession of Christ's death as our own, just as His resurrection is the ground of our justification. (Rom. 4:25.) The bread and the wine surely did not save us but speak to us of a Saviour that did. If baptism were a saving ordinance, then men could save themselves just whenever they chose, surely a false impression. No! His work and His alone did that. (1 Pet. 2:24.) Baptism then is my confession to all, of my faith in Christ who died for my sins, and typifies my identification with Him in that death-just as I eat the bread and drink the wine to show His death. It is but a figure-Noah was saved by or through the water, 1:e. the water that was judgment to the world was what bore him away in safety in the Ark, so we-for the water of baptism typifies death, or rather is to me the grave of Christ. Christ passed through death and is risen. We pass through death in baptism, in figure, but it was the Ark that rode the waters of judgement and bare Noah in it. So now Christ having passed through death has atoned for our sins, and we also passing through it in spirit (surely not literally) leave all our sins there (in death) just as Christ really did for us-as another has said, "We pass through death in spirit, and in figure by baptism."Trusting that this may make the subject a little clearer to you,

Your affect, bro., F. J. E.

QUES. 6.-What has been the employment of our Lord since "He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mk. xvi, 19). Is He still seated there?

ANS.-"Whom the heaven must receive until the time of restitution of all things " (Acts 3:21). " Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (Heb. 1:13). "He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7. 25). These and similar scriptures show that our Lord will remain upon the throne till His enemies are put under Him, till He sets up His Kingdom. During this time He is engaged in the blessed and needful work of intercession for His people, and fulfilling His work as Head of His Church.

The moral activities that are abroad are surely immense, and the pressure upon the social system of influences full of deceivableness, I suppose, is beyond all precedent. It is desirable to keep the soul increasingly alive to the fact that the path of the Church is a narrow and peculiar one. Even her virtues must have a peculiar material in them. Her common honesty, her good deeds, too, her secular labors, her fruitfulness, purity, and the like, are to be peculiar in their functions and their springs. Her discipline does not act after the pattern of the mere moral sense of man. Society, as another has observed, would disclaim the offence contemplated in i Cor. 5:; but society would never deal with it as the Church is there called to deal with it. Society, for instance, would never put covetous-ness or extortion in company with it, but the saint is instructed to do so. The moral sense of man would there make distinctions, when the pure element of the house of God resents all alike as unworthy of it. This is "fine gold" dear brother-gold refined again and again. Even the morals of the Church are to be of another quality from those of men. What sanctions are brought in i Cor. 5:6:as to the common matters of life. If the saint be to abstain from fornication, it is because his body is a temple:if he be to refuse the judgment of others in the affairs of this life, in their most ordinary ways of right and wrong, of debit and credit, it is because he himself is destined to be a judge in the seat of the world to come, even from a throne of glory. Is not this "fine gold ?" Does not such sanction make
morals divine ? What, in the world's morality, is like this ? And I ask further, is not the need of this divine or peculiar agency to the effecting any moral results intimated in Luke 11:21-27? If it be not the stronger man possessing himself of the house, is anything done for God ? If it be merely the unclean spirit going out, the end of the history of the house is, that it becomes more fitted for deeper evil. The emptied state, even accompanied by sweeping and ornamenting, is only a preparation for a worse condition, and nothing is done for God but when the stronger enters the house. No instrument of garnishing according to God, but Christ. And in the remembrance of these verses, dear brother, ask yourself what is doing in and for the house of Christendom at this moment. Is not many a broom, many a brush sweeping it and painting it ? Is this making it God's house, or getting it ready to be the house of the full energy-the sevenfold energy-of the enemy ?

Many shrink from public prayer. They say they have no ability for it, and that it would not be for edification for them to make the attempt. And yet is this of God? and if not are we to attempt to excuse ourselves for what is inexcusable? There must be some simple remedy for so glaring a failure-a remedy which the love of God would apply at once if we let Him. Perhaps the cause of this silence in public will suggest the remedy. Let us enquire the cause.

Here is a godly Christian, so far as outward walk, and faithfulness at meetings go. Further, he enjoys fellowship in the things of God, and will readily converse with those like-minded with himself. It cannot be supposed that he neglects secret prayer, though doubtless, like all saints, he needs to be more engaged in it. We are not speaking of those who are in a cold state, but of such as realize the grace of God, and the love of Christ.

Do they pray in the family ? There is small wonder that a brother who does not let his voice be heard at the family altar should be silent at the meeting. The sound of his voice frightens him, he forgets to whom he is speaking, forgets what he wished to pray for, and covered with confusion, resolves never to make another exhibition of himself. Ah, brethren, how much wounded pride is expressed in that resolution. But why was he so embarrassed? Was he not sincere, did he not wish to ask for the desires of his heart? He did, but his voice is not heard in prayer at home, and therefore he is unaccustomed to its sound.

God forbid that we should suggest the thought of using the home as a place of practice for the meeting. Our hearts are too sore to trifle with such a solemn subject, or to suggest a superficial remedy. Why is the voice not heard at the family altar? Does not that tell of failure to be head of the house, or of neglect of responsibility to bring up our children for God? Without doubt Satan has a thousand reasons why we should not have family prayer and reading of the Word. We have no time for it, we leave home too early, and return too late; we have too many interruptions, company coming in, children going to school. Oh, dear brethren, how mean and trivial are all such excuses. We are ashamed of them as we speak of them. Let us throw them to the winds, confess our neglect, and this very day go to God as a family.

Is the reader without fellowship at home? Is it a Christian wife whose husband is in the world? Let her gather her little ones about her and count upon the God of all grace to hear her prayers for her home. Is it the reverse? Let the husband in the fear of God declare that he must recognize Him in the home. Few are the wives who would object, and fewer still who would leave the room. But if she did, let him gather the children about him, and pray. How many questions does such an act raise, and how many does it settle. Has the man's walk been inconsistent? he is reminded of it, and of how many other weaknesses and failures. He may have been selfish and have stumbled his wife, or his sharp temper may have been a reproach, before the children. Let him confess all before God, and his family, and let God be implored that all such dishonor to Him may cease. If there is reality, there will soon be help. Often between those nearest and dearest according to nature there grows up a barrier as to the holiest and sweetest part of the life-the things of God. They shrink from speaking to one another, and so are no longer helpful to one another. Let all such things be owned. Let there be a break, and in family prayer and reading of the Word there will be a sweet recovery.
We are living in busy times, and early and late the mill must be kept grinding. But if there is purpose of heart, God will open the way. There is some time during the day, preferably in the morning, when the family can be brought together. They take their meals together, or they can do so. Let them at the same time devote a few minutes to reading God's word and prayer. A brief quarter of an hour, if no more time can be given, will be better than none, and better perhaps than more, if engagements are pressing. Let the most suitable time be chosen, and dedicated to God. Let nothing usurp its place. We can go without our food better than we can deprive ourselves of this holy privilege.

Dear brethren, this would remedy our silent prayer-meetings, for it is lack at the home that makes the lack in public. It would be no fearsome task to lead in prayer and praise, but the sweetest constraint of love and faith. May our blessed Lord speak to us all.

AN ADDRESS BY S. R.

(Phil. 2:1-14; 3:1-14; Eph. 1:15-23.)

It is very striking, as you have often noticed, to find how the most precious portions of the word "of God spring out of apparently trivial and ordinary exhortations-exhortations which are well nigh commonplace in themselves, and which are so self-evident that one would scarcely say they required more than mere mention and a word of exhortation as to seeking to make them good.

But you find it is just in these places throughout the New Testament that God oftentimes brings in the most priceless illustrations of His truth, giving us that which is absolutely necessary to our knowledge of the truth, or illustrating it in a most striking and wonderful way. You all will think of passages which illustrate this point – how God brings the strongest motives to bear on the least duties. It reminds one of the border of blue on the fringe of the garment that trailed, as you might say, closest to earth, the color of heaven being that which was closest to earth.

It is heavenly truth we need for the daily path:we need the light and joy of heaven to carry out our daily responsibilities, and if we are realizing that this earth is indeed a wilderness, that it is a barren and empty waste, and if the routine of our daily life here is indeed dulness itself, all the more we need within the greatest motives, the strongest inducements and the mightiest power to enable us to go through it well. It is the place where God has left us; it is earth, nothing but earth, but we need heaven's light to go through the earth aright.

It is to those who are servants, to those who are in the place of lowliness and subjection that God
opens heaven, as it were. It is lowliness which gives the power for faithful service, because you will find that God never gives us truth merely to amuse us:

He never gives us truth merely for the sake of giving it:He gives us truth to give us power for the place He puts us in. " Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth."

In this second chapter of Philippians the apostle is exhorting the saints to let their conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, and to walk in all lowliness."If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;" and then he adds, "Let nothing be done through strife," on the one hand, "or vainglory " on the other; contention with one another, or else vainglory, seeking to be elevated the one above the other. "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

You might say, How are we going to do it ? The apostle says, " I will give you an example of lowliness of mind," and in giving the example, he gives the power for us to be lowly. But whom does he give as an example ? Select some faithful servant ? Unfold some precious truth of God as to our responsibility for walk ? If he is going to give us an example of lowliness, he selects the perfect lowly Man, he selects Christ Himself, and gives us His history. He traces Christ from His position on high. There He was with God and in the form of God, partaking of all the glory of God. He traces Him from that point down to the lowest point on earth here, and he says, "There you have an example of lowliness. There is One who had everything, and who had it by divine right, but who gave up everything willingly and gladly, and went down to death."

You cannot reach higher than the throne of God, and you cannot reach lower than the cross of Christ; these are the two limits, of glory and humiliation- from the glory down to the cross.

Does that take you in ? It takes in every one. It takes in all creation. So you have the example. One says there is a limit to all self-emptying, to humility. Yes, there is; the cross is the limit. One says, What must I give up? How far am I to go? How far did Christ go ? and in the light of that great humiliation we can only hide our faces and confess with shame how little we know of humility and of emptying of self. You have the example, you have more than the example, you have that which humbles you and breaks you down. It is that gives you power. Christ's humiliation gives us power to imitate Him in our feeble measure; and I ask if that precious wondrous humiliation of the Lord were present in our souls, in the Lord's people as they are gathered, in our intercourse with one another, do you think it would be hard to humble ourselves ?

We hear Him as His disciples were gathered to Him there, as He was going into the depths, and He had them around for that last supper, which meant so much for Him, and which means so much for us. We have Him there, and His poor disciples do not want to do a kindly act to one another; they are not willing to serve one another; they each of them wonder whether his dignity would not be offended if he were to undertake the office of servant; and what does the Lord do? He knew that He came forth from God, He knew His dignity, He knew He was going back to God, but in the full consciousness of all that He girds Himself, girds Himself with the linen girdle and takes His place at the feet of His disciples. I am sure as we see Him there and realize His glory, realize the place that He relinquished, we see what humility is. I look at my brother and I am tempted to say,'' I am as good as my brother, I have the same rights as my brother, and I am not going to relinquish my rights." I look at Christ, and I have no rights to relinquish. I look at Him, and I say:"Do not talk to me of my position and my rights and my dignity. Let me be but a faithful representation of Himself, the One who stooped from the glory that He might reach our feet. Let me be a faithful imitation of Him."

That is what gives power. The one thing that will give power-Christ Himself:He will give you power to imitate Himself, if you are occupied with Him.

The apostle sets Christ before you, and he says in a very strong and simple way, "Let that mind be in you." You cannot take your position as He took His, but you can get His mind,-the desire that your own dignity and your own position may be sacrificed in order that you may please God and serve God's people.

But I wanted to speak a little more particularly about our blessed Lord alone. We have Him in this passage traced from heaven's throne back to heaven's throne-alone as you might say. You do not find redemption in these verses. The cross of Christ is spoken of, and it is after all the cross which brings peace to the sinner. It is not considering the cross as where He was made sin for us. Here He is the burnt-offering. He goes down into death for God Himself, and He is brought up out of death for God Himself, and He takes His place on high for God Himself. God puts Him there. If there were not a sinner saved in all the universe of God, the emptying of Christ, and His death upon the cross would fill heaven with everlasting fragrance.

We sometimes say, and say rightly, that the Lord sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied when poor sinners are saved. Blessed fact, it is true, and God's love comes out to the guilty lost ones, reaches out to them, but back of it all God has a delight in Christ, unaffected by the question of whether men are saved or whether they are lost. God has had Christ before Him, has Him before Him now, and in this wonderful description of our Lord's progress from the glory to the cross, there is no eye which watches Him as the eye of God, and apart from its effects for us, apart from our salvation we see God's delight in Christ. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him " not a name, as it reads, but "the name which is above every name." There is only one such name, and that name, beloved, is connected with His emptying and obedience unto death, apart from our salvation at all.

And so it will do us good to stand afar off and see the burnt-offering ascend to God. Surely we can say our redemption is in it, our salvation is in it, but we want to see that God has His share, has His delight in Christ, and it is important that we should get God's point of view rather than our own.

How do you gauge spiritual things ? Which part of your Bible is most marked ? Which part of your Bible are you most familiar with ? I venture to say, that you are most familiar with the part that concerns you. We are all alike in that particular, the part of the Bible we are most familiar with is what concerns us. Our spiritual interests are selfish; we speak of our benefits through Christ and through His death, and we are losers oftentimes because we are not familiar with God's part, that which gives God's delight in Christ.

So you and I are left out of this part we have been reading-we are not there. God's eye is only for Christ in that passage. He is watching Him. He sees Him lay aside His glory, leave that place which He had with the Father before the world was, leave, all the glory by which He was surrounded, the place of dignity and the place of honor in heaven, being in the very form of God, the very dignity, honor, glory, which belonged to Him by right because He was God; He lays all that glory, all that dignity, all that honor aside. He counted it not a thing to be snatched at, not something to be grasped and held fast and clutched-we clutch our dignity, we hold fast to our reputation; the Lord did not esteem it a matter to be clutched and held fast that He should be equal with God. He humbled Himself, emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and became in the likeness of men.

God watched Him, God saw all He was doing, and I repeat it, it was God and Christ and none other. He saw Him humble Himself, He saw that wondrous, that amazing self-emptying:that relinquishment of His rights. It furnishes the object lesson for all eternity.

And so God's eye is upon Him. He goes down. He is found in fashion as a man. The manger is not the lowest point reached; His whole life is a downward path. At His birth the angels worshiped, and a few whose hearts were open to recognize. But He goes on down and down until He goes to Gethsemane, He goes to death, even the death of the cross. God heard the lonely Weeper in the garden of Gethsemane; God heard Him pouring out His soul with strong crying and tears. God heard Him who said, " O, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."

What is God's answer to all that 1 Christ takes His place down in death. What is God's answer ? "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him." It was the Lord's will to humiliate Himself:it was God's to highly exalt Him, and give Him the Name which is above every name; and so we bow at that Name.

And so you have the whole course traced from the beginning until He is back there. We are to be occupied with that priceless, wondrous exhibition of obedience and lowliness. God is first to have leisure to see it, and then we are brought in as happy worshipers to bow at the name of Jesus.

Do you get the thought which I would seek to set before us. It is true that He came to seek and to save that which was lost; that He died the Just for the unjust. But leave your side a little, and take God's side; get God's thought and you will bow in the place that God would have you, bow at the name of Jesus, ever at the name of Jesus:

" The mention of Thy Name shall bow our hearts to worship Thee."

I rejoice and I am sure you rejoice that while He has saved us, delivered us from wrath and judgment, and given us a place in heaven, yet we can say somewhat as the poor Hindoo woman did that she was satisfied if she saw Jesus glorified, no matter what became of her.

You remember what Mephibosheth said. He is brought in from the distance, eats at the king's table. He says, " I am a dead dog." He is brought into that place by grace; the kindness of God is shown to him. David flees from the face of Absalom his son; he has been rejected. Mephibosheth has been misrepresented by Ziba as being desirous of claiming the throne again, and all that, and when he comes back David treats him severely, till Mephibosheth makes plain that David is under a mistake, and that Ziba has lied to him. David says, "Well, thou and Ziba divide the land." Oh, Mephibosheth says,"The land, I am not thinking about the land; let him take all; the king has come into his own again." And as we realize Christ glorified up there, we join in the acclaim which says He is worthy to be there, worthy to be in that place, for He humbled Himself down to death. Oh, that is the sweetest song in heaven, and that is the sweetest note we can strike upon earth; the unselfish devotion of hearts that have seen Christ glorified for what He did for the Father, apart entirely from what He did for us.

I would lay it on all our hearts:let us seek, let us crave, let us not rest until we enter into the thought that gives the Lord His place apart from ourselves, apart from blessing, that gives Him the place He has because God has put Him there. Oh, the joy, the rest, the exaltation of spirit that comes from seeing Christ in His highest glory, and seeing Him there for God, and we delighting in Him. We see what Christ is to God, we see Him as the burnt-offering which has gone up to God as a sweet savor, and the only response that God could give to it, the only response was to place Him on the throne.

In the third chapter the apostle Paul speaks of the Lord in glory in another way.

You know how the apostle shows that all fleshly excellence is nothing; that our own standing, our own righteousness, everything of that kind is fleshly. He says, " If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more;" and then he goes on through his whole little stock of righteousness, fleshly glory and honor-small enough it is when measured by Christ's glory. '' Circumcised the eighth day ; of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the Church; touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless." He has not much to say of his zeal, except that he was persecuting. He had been exceedingly diligent, exceedingly zealous. He says, "I will show you where my zeal was." "Concerning zeal persecuting the Church." He speaks of his righteousness, and then he says, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ."

Of what effect was the eighth day circumcision ? being an Israelite, a Benjamite ? what did the zeal amount to ? Go with him on his trip from Jerusalem to Damascus. He falls down before that light from heaven, and there his righteousness disappears. Damascus was called the pearl of the East. It is said of Mohammed that as he journeyed to Damascus, and reached the hills that overlooked it, and saw its lovely gardens and its white houses gleaming through the green, he said:"There is only one paradise we can enter and I want to enter heaven," so he would not go to Damascus. It was a lovely city, a beautiful place, everything was there to attract the eye. Here is one whose genealogy was above reproach, whose life was blameless, whose zeal was all that could be desired; here in mid-day glory, the fairest city of the East before him, into which he was about to enter and do what he thought a good work, and in a moment it has all crumbled into dust and blackness before him.

What makes the change ? It was God's Son whom he hated up to that time, whom he now saw in the glory of God. A voice comes to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me." "Who art Thou Lord." He knew it was the Lord. He knew it was the Lord Jehovah. The Lord is Jehovah. Jehovah is Jesus whom he is persecuting! What was the result of his being in that place ? Like Job, he has heard of Him by the hearing of the ear, but now his eye sees Him. The light that is above the brightness of the sun is but the reflection of His glory; he sees Him, and all his mantle of self-righteousness, all he glories in drops off:"What things were gain to me those I counted loss for Christ."

He had seen Christ, he was convicted of his sin, and he lost his self-righteousness. There was an end of his self-righteousness; and if he had lost self-righteousness, what had he gained ? Christ was his righteousness.

"When it pleased God," he says, "who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace to" what? "to reveal His Son in me." That was it, Christ revealed in him; Christ now for him, his righteousness, his standing before God. Everything now is loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. He has seen Christ, that is it; Christ in glory revealed in him, and the result is that all he had boasted in is disgusting and loathsome to him. Christ has been substituted, Christ in glory his righteousness; and he says:"For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Not only that he may be my righteousness before God, but that it may be Christ who takes possession of my life, who fills my soul, who is also the measure of my standing before God. Christ eclipsed everything else, took possession of his soul; and Christ in glory marked the career of Paul from that day until he went home to be with the Lord.

Christ at God's right hand is now the measure of our standing, our acceptance, our righteousness. Talk about dignity, talk about righteousness, talk about law ? Where is that boasted circumcision, that self-righteousness ? Christ has eclipsed everything else.

And so the apostle says:"I count all things but loss"-not only these things I have mentioned, but "all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." There He is on high, my righteousness, but more than that-my Lord and my God.

Christ on high. What a. perfect righteousness. How well delighted God is with it; how satisfied God is. Your righteousness incomplete? then Christ will be incomplete. Is there anything lacking about Him? He has fully glorified God, He has fully magnified His will, and God has put the mark of His approval upon Him by placing Him there at His own right hand, and He is there as our righteousness, and if you want to get rid of self-righteousness completely, the only way is to behold Christ in glory, and as you behold Him in glory you will be delivered from the last shred of self-righteousness that you have here. That is Christ in glory for our righteousness, and as I say I want to keep that constantly before us-a glorified Christ as the measure of our standing before God. We want to keep fast hold of that. I believe Satan seeks to rob us of it. I believe he seeks to draw our minds away from the understanding of what our perfect standing before God is. Let us remember that we have the gospel of the glory of the blessed God as a testimony in this world. It is the gospel of the glory-Christ in the glory of God, the measure of the believer's standing before God. How many truths are connected with it, cluster about it.

Here is a poor soul groaning as if he might be lost. He may say, "Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." What is the remedy? To see our standing before God as connected with a glorified Christ. We stand accepted in Him; He Himself beyond death, beyond judgment, beyond the question of sin. How could we be lost ? Could Christ descend from heaven? He is our righteousness up there.

That settles many a question. As I say, our security, our responsibility, and all that, is connected with Christ in glory.

Take another thing. You believe in the Lord Jesus, but you do not know whether you are saved. Satan perplexes you with doubts. He tells you it is right not to be too sure. But if Christ in glory is my righteousness, I cannot be lost. My assurance is Christ on high, and we will refer every doubt and every question to Christ on high, not to our feelings here.

Now in the latter part of the chapter, we have that he had not already apprehended. He has Christ for his righteousness, but he says, "I have not yet attained." What does he want? It is a wonderful thing. He wants more of Christ. Well, you say, have you not Christ perfectly for your righteousness. Oh yes, I have, but I want to be with Christ. I am in Christ, but I want to be with Christ.

People say to us:"Do you not get tired of preaching and speaking of only one Person all the time?" I do not, brethren; do you?

" Jesus, of Thee we ne'er would tire;
The new and living food
Can satisfy our heart's desire,
And life is in Thy blood."

"In their hearts they turned back to Egypt," but the more we know of Christ, the more we want of Him. We can say with the poet:

"To Jesus, the crown of my hope,
My soul is in haste to be gone."

Why are we longing for the coming of the Lord ? Is it to get out of our troubles? People in the world would like to get out of their troubles. What makes us heavenly minded? It is the view of a glorified Christ. That is what makes us pilgrims here. That is what takes our feet out of the mire. That is what makes us racers. The prophet girded himself and ran before the chariot of Ahab. Our hearts have been taken captive by Christ on high. The apostle would not rest until he was with Christ in glory. He was pressing forward to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

That is what makes heaven for us. Christ up there; that is what makes us pilgrims. We know Him. The Lord of glory appeared unto Stephen. That is it. Stephen had the glory in his heart; then they saw it in his face. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, and took him from home and kindred, and everything else. It was a glory that made him a pilgrim to wait until he could enter into the glory. The glory will make you a pilgrim to the glory; it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. We are pilgrims here. We have no continuing city. It is not that we want to be pilgrims; we are pilgrims.

Suffer a word for our consciences just here. How is it with us? I have been speaking of Abraham, it was the glory that made him a pilgrim. Look at the other side-there is Lot. What was the matter with Lot? What was wrong with him? The poor man's life was the very opposite of the path of the just. It closes in that lonely mountain cave, and we draw the curtain on the scenes enacted there.

Lot went down. What made him go down? He was attracted by the plains of Sodom. It was not the wickedness of Sodom that attracted Lot. It was not the corruption of that city that drew him. What drew him? Self-interest. In this same chapter the apostle speaks of those who mind earthly things, whose god is their belly; it is characteristic of mere profession. Is there not a danger of our taking the place of Lot instead of the place of Abraham? Is there not a danger of our settling down? People say they do not want much here; still you want it here. That is the point. You want it here. But we are pilgrims; and we ought to want it there. In the sermon on the mount the Lord said, " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."

How can you lay up treasures in heaven? If Christ is our treasure it is very simple, for He is there. Our treasure is laid up in heaven where Christ is, and our hearts are there because He is there.

I need not want to know what you are engaged with, if your heart is in heaven. If your heart is there, you will be satisfied only when you see Him, and your only desire will be to please Him. To know Christ where He is will make us pilgrims down here. To know Christ there makes us pilgrims here. What a blessed portion. What is wealth, position, dignity, reputation, compared with that? Who would exchange them for Christ in glory. Brethren, where is our treasure? Is it Christ on high? Then I am indeed a pilgrim here.
" 'Tis the treasure we have found in His love,
That has made us pilgrims below."

Let us look now at the passage in Ephesians. Ephesians gives us in an especial way the Church. You can say that the characteristic word of Ephesians is "in Christ." You have in a wondrous way His people associated with Him risen and glorified. In the second chapter the believer's position is seen as in Christ. We were dead in sins, but we are quickened together with Christ, and made to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That word "together" tells us something. "When we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." It is not only that we are quickened, but quickened "together" with Christ. We, both Jews and Gentiles, are associated with Him. We are co-quickened, as you may say, with Christ. After the Lord rose, He said to Mary, "Tell my brethren." He did not call them His brethren until after His resurrection. There He associates them with Himself, "Go, tell my brethren," He says, "I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and to My God and your God." Thus He associates His people with Himself in glory, and sets aside all distinctions which would separate them from one another.

In the epistle to the Ephesians we have Christ in glory as the Head of His Church upon earth. You have Christ in glory as marking our corporate position. We have seen Christ in glory for God alone. We have seen Him as the measure of our standing, our righteousness. We have Christ in glory as the One toward whom we are to press on; but here you have a view of a glorified Christ as the center of gathering. The corporate view of our Lord in glory is one which we must not lose sight of.

Just let us look at it for a few moments. It is precious to those who understand it. If it is dull, it is dull only to those who do not understand it; but it is precious to those who do, and who are familiar with it; and this precious truth of the body of Christ, which is the precious truth of what the Church of God is, is doubly precious to those who are alive to the value of it, who dwell upon it and praise God for it.

He speaks of three things. In the eighteenth verse he says, "That ye may know what is the hope of His calling." He has called us for heaven. We are from heaven and heavenly men by birth. Exodus xii:"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months." That is our birth time; and the eighty-seventh psalm, "This man was born there." That is our birthplace.

The birthday. What is your birthday ? When you found the Lord Jesus Christ? You were born again. The day of your birth was the day on which you came under the precious blood of Christ. What is our birthplace? Where were we born? I was born again, one says, in this or that place. Do you know where you were born? You were born from heaven; that was your birthplace. The Lord said to Nicodemus that he must be born again. We must have a nature to fit us for heaven. It is not like one who has been away from the old country, the old homestead, and who says, "I would like to go back to the old place where I was born and see it again;" and he crosses the ocean, he sees the old house, but everything is changed; and he says, "After all, my birthplace is marked by the dear ones; it is not the house or the material, but it is marked by those who live there."

You do not have to go back to your spiritual birthplace. You have been born from above; we are born there and there we are. That is our birthplace. That is what the apostle is saying to these saints. He says, "I want you to know what the hope of your calling is."
Second, "The riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints." He wants them to know that. It is a wonderful expression, "God's inheritance in the saints." I suppose many think of it as God's inheritance in us. Israel went into Canaan; but it was God who went into Canaan in Israel. Israel took possession of the land, but it was God's land- His inheritance in Israel.

We are going to have an inheritance there, but after all what a joy it is to think that it is God's inheritance and not ours-His inheritance in us. It is like a father buys a farm, he stocks it, puts everything on it, and gives it to his son. He says, " My boy you live there and enjoy it, it is my place:I got it for you."

And so the inheritance is God's inheritance, but He inherits it in the saints, and our portion there is ours, because it is God's, and ours will be God's. You have known some fathers who have had sons to whom they could not give their property. They would have mortgaged it, or sold it, or done something unwise with it. The fathers have kept it.

God holds our inheritance. I have the blessedness of it, but God has the title. It is His inheritance, and it is in the saints. They enjoy, and He keeps it.

Third:"What is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come."

The power. How much power have you, how much have I? Do you say, very little-very little power to live and act for God. We see the saints have very little power. How much have we? What kind of power? How am I to know? It is feeble enough. But how am I to measure the power? Look at Christ; Christ raised from the dead; Christ lifted from earth to heaven; Christ exalted above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. God says He is the power. It is right in us-the resurrection power of Christ Himself.

You have got power, you have all the power of heaven. All the power of heaven has been shown in raising Christ on high, you have that power for present use.

The trouble is, beloved, that we have separated between the power and ourselves. We have not allowed the power to work. It is like some mighty engine:there is an immense amount of steam upon the boiler, but the engine is almost motionless, why? Because the throttle valve is closed. If you open the throttle the steam passes in, and you find that the engine is powerful. It had the power, but it was not in use. There was a hindrance. How often there is a hindrance to the working of God's mighty power, that resurrection power. There is a hindrance because of the throttle. Communication with God is closed, and there is no practical power in the life. The apostle speaks of this power, in the third chap-ter, as the power of the believer's life. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." The very power that worketh in us is the power by which we are to be filled unto all the fulness of God. There is no limit-the only limit is God's fulness, and our capacity.
If we know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and if we know the wondrous power that is in us,-what next? It is that Christ is Head of His Church; Lord and Head of His people, and when we see that truth we see what the Church is.

Christ in glory. Christ at God's right hand as Head of His Church, and if you realize that you are a member of a glorified Christ, a member of His body, I believe things will drop off; self-righteousness will drop off-all low thoughts of His Church- all thoughts of the Church as being divided by parties and that kind of thing, will drop off if you see Christ glorified as the Head of His Church.

If I see the Lord as Head of His Church, I will see that church-truth is not a theory. God has linked church-truth with Christ on high. If you say there is no church-truth, you may as well say, Christ is not glorified, that He had better get off the throne of God.

But He is Head of His Church. He is sovereign, His people are gathered to a glorified Christ. It is
the truth of a glorified Christ that will gather His people here. Some talk about our being all one. If there is anything further away than another from the truth of God as to the Church of Christ, it is that believers are all one, in themselves. "Let us merge our differences:let us all recognize one another as dear brethren; let us be one." If I could bring together every child of God on this globe by turning over a page of this book, I would not do it; it would be a failure, it would be the worst kind of pride.

Leave out Christ glorified, and put man in His place! Think of it. Put in the place of a glorified Christ your dear brethren, and what have you got? You have made an idol of man, and God is going to break your idol to pieces.

You have put something in the place of Christ. The only kind of unity that God recognizes, the only kind of unity that faith recognizes is the unity which puts Christ in His place, which gives Him His place as Head of His Church. There can be no unity that leaves out the person of Christ, and the authority of Christ, and the sovereign rule and direction of Christ Himself, who is the Governor of that Church which is linked to Himself as His body. Just as He said to Saul of Tarsus, "Why persecutest them Me." In persecuting the weakest and humblest of His people, he was persecuting Christ, so dear brethren, every believer is a member of the Church of Christ and therefore a member of Christ.

Do you see the point of view? Do you see that Christ in glory is Head of His Church, the body of Christ here? The Church is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all

When the doctrine of this one body, of which we are members, is seen as linked with Christ in glory, you have that which will deliver from many things. Only those who are occupied with a heavenly Christ, and whose souls are in obedience to a heavenly Christ, will form an expression here of the oneness of the body of Christ which His heart yearns to see.

The Lord's people are divided. You can bring them together only in one way, and that is in subjection to a glorified Christ, and you will have practical unity. Leave that out, and instead of doing away with divisions, you make trouble and strife.

No, we keep our eyes simply on Christ, and we have Christ's will and Christ's authority, and Christ's headship, and the truth of the body of Christ here on earth.

Let us fix our hearts upon Him alone. First; What He is to God alone. Second; We see Him in glory as our righteousness:we discard all forms of self-righteousness. We see Him there as the One on high who is beckoning us, who has taken our hearts.

And then we see Him as Head of His Church.

The apostle said, "To me to live is Christ." Beloved, may it be so for us all.

7. NEARER THAN THE NEAREST.

Chapter 4:Continued from page 161.

The nearest kinsman promptly consents to redeem the inheritance for Naomi. The law, as we have seen, had this merciful provision, and whenever one or the people turned truly to God and kept His law, He would be "merciful unto His land and to His people." So long as it was of Naomi's hand that the purchase was to be made, and for her, the kinsman consents at once, for she was the widow of "our brother Elimelech." So long as it is Israel according to the flesh, and merely disobedient, the law, with the merciful provision to which we have referred, could interpose and bring back the forfeited inheritance.

We have more or less complete illustrations of this in the history of the people. Again and again, during the period of the Judges, they sinned against the Lord, and were delivered over to the hands of their enemies to be oppressed. But when they turned in penitence to Him, He raised up a deliverer who restored them to their heritage. But the nation went on in the downward path of declension, until the ten tribes were carried off into hopeless captivity and merged into the Gentile nations by whom they were taken captive, beyond all human recognition. The two tribes also were carried off to Babylon and the throne of God, the ark of the covenant, permanently left Jerusalem. Truly a brighter Light shone in the temple at a later time, but not to be accepted by the people. Of this we will speak in a moment.

Even after the captivity at Babylon there was a partial recovery (though the throne had passed from the house of David to the Gentiles). It was as though the law, the nearest kinsman, was going as far as possible in seeking to buy up the inheritance.

But at last after the restoration from Babylon, God sends His Son, the rightful heir of the inheritance. "This is the heir, come let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours "-how fully this shows a mind absolutely alienated from God and His thoughts. God's Son, the true redeemer, the only deliverer, is slain. The blinded leaders cry "we have no king but Caesar," and thus they deliberately and permanently forfeit all right to be considered the people of God. They have identified themselves absolutely with the Gentiles and are now on the same ground as the despised Moabites or Ammonites. They are " lo-ammi, not my people," and are as fully Gentiles as though they were not of the seed of Abraham.

The law, even with the most merciful construction, could no longer interpose. "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever" (Deut. 23:3). The apostate people had deliberately given up all claim, and so far as the law was concerned, were cut off.

This explains why the kinsman, no matter how willing he might be to restore the heritage to Naomi, could not take it to raise up by Ruth the name of the deceased kinsman. His own inheritance would be marred. How truly that law, "holy, just and good" would be marred if the smallest jot or tittle of its righteous demands were abated. It abides in all its majesty and perfection. It is not made void, as it would be were a single item of its requirements ignored. So for the guilty people who rest in the law and vainly boast in their privileges as a nation there is nothing but condemnation. They are in the place of the Moabite.

But if the law does not and cannot do aught in such a case, it does and can relinquish all right to the inheritance, and transfers those claims to Another. The kinsman draws off his shoe, the usual mode of procedure when property changed hands. The shoe was that which trod upon the land, and to draw it off and pass it to another would seem to indicate that all claims upon the property had passed from the one to the other. How good it is to know that "the law was our schoolmaster till Christ." That it transfers all its own claims to Him.

But let us notice also that this is done before a jury of ten men, witnesses of the law and facts. These ten may well remind us of those "ten words" or commandments which bear full testimony to the claims of God, the ruin of man, and their own powerlessness to redeem. All is done legally. '' I through the law, died to the law," says the apostle. The law itself witnesses to its own powerlessness to redeem. "That I might live unto God," he adds-the law transfers its claims to Another. All is settled righteously and "witnessed by the law and the prophets." Thus "we establish the law."

Boaz is now left free for his heart to act upon its own gracious impulses, and in presence of the same ten who had witnessed the refusal of the first kinsman to purchase the inheritance he buys all-the inheritance and Ruth too, the Moabitess, as she is called to remind us of the grace of the transaction. It is now his, and she is his, truly owned as his bride, and yet linked with poor Naomi the barren, widow of the dead Elimelech.

How beautifully does all this speak of the grace of Christ shown to a poor and unworthy people! Christ risen, beyond death, beyond all claims of the law, betroths to Himself forever in righteousness; the poor stranger and the wanderer finds rest at last.

Such, in some feeble measure, is the teaching of this lovely portion, and we will presently look at the further teaching of the prophets upon this subject. But it is important to dispose of that which too often disturbs the beloved people of God, through ignorance or misapplication of the word of God.

This nearest kinsman, the law, was, as we have just seen, absolutely debarred from taking a gentile into association with himself. And yet, in face of this plain fact, Christians will persist in looking upon all men as under law, and then upon the saints now being still under it as a rule of life.

As to the first, the apostle in the early chapters of the epistle to the Romans, shows the difference between those "without law "-the Gentiles, and those "under law"-the Jews. The law was given only to Israel. God was trying man under the most favorable opportunities. A nation was rescued from servitude, brought into an inheritance and fenced off from the surrounding nations. They were the recipients of God's bounty, the object of His constant care. What more could He do for a people? He challenges the disobedient nation, and waits in vain for a reply. Thus the law was tried under the most favorable circumstances and proved helpless.

But this practically settled the question of justification by law for all mankind; so it is written, "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Thus "every mouth is stopped, and all the world becomes guilty before God." In the trial of Israel, God has tried the world, and settled forever the question of justification by the law. That trial need never be repeated, it is final and conclusive.

But should one say that he desired to be put under the law, he is not as a fact under it, though as a matter of fact it always works in the same way, and he will find-if he truly and honestly makes the effort-that he is condemned before God. He will learn that God's trial of Israel was perfect and complete, and he has but confirmed the results of that divine probation.

A great deal has been made, however, of the distinction between the law for justification, and as a rule of life. It is impossible to separate these two- in fact Scripture does not separate them. Under law, in any way at all, is to be under the curse. The law can only pronounce a curse upon disobedience. Thus if a saint were under the law as a rule of life he is, "debtor to do the whole law," and if he sins in one point is guilty of all, and condemned. Sinai has but one voice. What folly to think of a rule of life from a place which but thunders out death and judgment for the least disobedience. " If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. 3:21). As a matter of fact the law is "the strength of sin,' and the apostle, in that wondrous seventh chapter of Romans, shows that it is as powerless to produce righteousness in a saint as in a sinner. Would to God that His people realized this. How much abortive effort, and despairing longing would they be spared!

No, beloved brethren, we are in no sense under the law; as a matter of fact we never were. Let us then not mar that perfect witness which perfectly declares God's mind for man, but as perfectly declares he failed to answer to God's mind. We leave it with its testimony, and bow our heads to that testimony, humbly acknowledging that were life or liberty to be gained in that way our case was as hopeless as the widowed Naomi, or the Moabitess Ruth.

But, blessed be God, this leaves our risen Lord free to pour out His heart's love to us in fullest measure. We are dead to the law by the body of Christ that now we might bring forth fruit unto God, being joined in links of everlasting union to Another, even to Him who is raised from the dead. So our Lord has His way, and the very law but witnesses to it, and to its own relinquishment of every claim upon the poor helpless "sons of strangers," who find their home close the heart of the Mighty One.

( To be continued.)

This needs to be put before the people of God, I and their attention called to it. It is strange, but we are always looking for a sort of perfection in our fellow believers. The word of God while providing for a life of faithfulness shows us the failures of the most illustrious saints, and reminds us that "in many things we all offend ;" and yet we are so surprised and disappointed when failure comes. It would save us all a great deal of disappointment if we would not expect so much from our brethren, if we were prepared for things to turn out very differently from what we expected and from what we think is the right way. We need to remember that our way may not be God's way, that whatever the failure on man's part or on His people's part, He cannot fail.

Too often we are so much taken up with the failures of others that we forget the faithfulness of our
God. We think so much of what is being done down here, that our hearts and eyes get off from what He is up there. Our God never fails, never changes. His word and truth are always the same. We can turn away from all here below and should do so often, and fix our eyes on the things up there where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. The Man in the glory should so fill our eyes and fix our hearts that the things of earth, failure and sin, would not move us as they often do. We would then have the priestly power of intercession, and perhaps be used in restoring one who had been " overtaken in a fault."

It makes a great difference whether we are in communion with the Lord about the failures of fellow Christians. To dwell on them apart from communion with Him is great loss to the soul. Many are thereby ensnared and their peace destroyed, their usefulness hindered or ruined entirely. Satan likes nothing better than to get saints to thinking of the failures of others, occupied with them so as to forget the power, grace, and love of God. From this comes much of that backbiting, gossip and whispering which so often grieve the Holy Spirit of God. J. W. N.

(A Meditation on Mark 1:, il, 3:)

In those three chapters we get the divine record of two parallel lives, and, at the same time, the greatness of their contrast will be observed by the thoughtful reader. One record, perfect and divine, the other that of Iranian nature away from God, hence sinful, and in the end demonstrated (as in chap. 3:) to be exceeding sinful.

In the gospel of Matthew (the first twelve chapters), the Holy Spirit goes over the same ground, and gives the same development of good on one hand and of evil on the other, but with more material added suited to the object of that Gospel. The two, if studied together (Matt. 1:-12:; Mark, 1:-3:), give much light, and the lessons are full of profit for meditation, but we will devote ourselves in this meditation to those three chapters.

In the first chapter we are at once introduced to the Lord Jesus as the perfect Servant. How wonderful, we exclaim, the grace, that sinners ever should be brought into His presence and introduced to Him before whom seraphim veil their faces, yet it is true, and as we trace His every step we behold the face of Deity, yet veiled with a true and perfect humanity.

In these three chapters they hear Him preach, teach, and see Him heal, and also deliver the oppressed, and as a Shepherd call His own sheep by name. But if they thus behold a prophet, teacher, and servant, it was none less than the Son of God who was all this.

As we open the chapter we note the sevenfold witness to Himself given:

1.Prophets prophesied of Him (ver. 2).

2. John bore a faithful testimony to Him (vers. 4-8).

3.The Holy Spirit descends upon Him (ver. 10).

4. The Father's voice proclaims Him, ''Thou art my Son, etc." (ver. ii).

5. Satan has to leave Him, after tempting Him forty days and finding nothing in Him.

6. Wild beasts are harmless and tame in His presence, Lord of Creation (ver. 13).

7. Angels at such a period of trial and temptation, yet of triumph and victory, come and minister to Him the Servant of servants, and yet Lord over Creation. Thus, as we view Him presented to Israel
and the earth, the glory of His person is recognized and borne witness to. Blessed truth which commands the worship of our hearts now and forever.

He commences His service by preaching the gospel and calling upon men to repent, the first lesson for man away from God and in his sins, " Repent ye and believe the gospel (vers. 14, 15).

Next He calls His servants, four in number (fishermen), to follow Him. At this time we begin to trace His path as servant here below (16-20). What an honor conferred upon those men of humble life to be called to follow Him during the time of His sojourn here! They were vessels, no doubt, long thought of, and already prepared for the occasion (although, doubtless, unknown to themselves), and by their humble life fitted in this way to be companions of One who was the very embodiment of humility ; hence suited to Him they were, as suited to them was He.

Next we trace His steps from the seaside to Capernaum, and there He entered the synagogue upon the Sabbath where we are informed He "taught," as before He had preached (ver. 14, 21, 22). Then as the Shepherd of Israel He delivered one of His sheep from the grasp of a cruel foe (vers. 23-27).

When we reach this stage of His ministry we observe how the masses are attracted by His word and work. "They were astonished at His doctrine:for He taught as one that had authority, and not as the scribes" (ver. 22). Note here with care, "Not as the scribes," for the contrast between His ministry and theirs could be readily seen. The scribes were mere formalists; religion was their business, and they taught simply as they learned from their books. His ministry was far different. He came forth from the presence of God, and in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit spake the word of God, presenting it to the heart and conscience of men. The masses felt preaching of that character was the very voice of God to their souls. This is where we note the first contrast of the two parallel lives now before us in those three chapters.

If this new teaching was received by the masses, the scribes felt their popularity as teachers would wane, and their teaching fade away. Here we see human nature put to the test, and we see it manifests itself in the presence of One the very embodiment of perfection itself. Man cannot tolerate being set aside, cannot take a low place. And if even Jesus, the Father's gift to men, is introduced, and in the power of the Holy Spirit manifests Himself, on the part of man there develops envy and bitterness. Such was the case in the history of the religious leaders of that day. These things, we observe, develop until at the end they place Him upon the cross (chap. 15:18; Rom. 8:7).

But to return again (vers. 27 and 28). The people are further amazed, and His fame soon spreads through the whole province. He commences at the seaside, then passes to the synagogue, and from there the report of His teachings and miracles spread, until all Galilee hears the message. "The Lord hath visited His people in giving them bread." Wonderful days were those days for that favored land and people!

He pursues His labor of love and enters Peter's home, giving proof of His mission by raising up his
mother-in-law from a bed of sickness. " And at even, when the sun did set they brought unto Him all that were diseased and them that were possessed with devils, and all the city was gathered together at the door, and He healed many that were sick of divers diseases and cast out many devils." Marvelous was the work and marvelous the grace and love that met their need that day.

The next day we trace His footprints, and very early; " In the morning rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed" (ver. 33). What an example is here given us for the profit of the after servant, and what a lesson for those just called, and now walking by His side day by day. What lovely perfection we behold in the lowly life of Jesus here on earth, and what a contrast to that of the scribes and Pharisees who prayed, not in "a solitary place," but upon the corner of the streets to be seen of men.

Here we behold in the early morn the Lord of life and glory upon His knees, as a man, as a servant, expressing His dependence upon the Father. Lord, may we here pause and learn the lesson more fully, drink in this sweet, lowly and dependent spirit that ever characterized Thy life when here among men, and learn from this "solitary place " the importance of following the example, using our knees, as well as hands and tongues, for Thee.

Simon and they that were with Him soon follow, and when they found Him, they said, " All men seek for Thee." A busy day had just been passed, till evening the masses had thronged Him. But again, early, the disciples say, "All men seek for Thee." Let us again pause and note another lovely perfection of that life which was perfection itself at every stage. "And he said unto them let us go into the next towns:that I may preach there also:for therefore came I forth " (vers. 37, 38). He, ever perfect in doing His Father's work, desired to press on and finish His work. He was not deterred in the least from any part of that work by the popularity of the hour. That was nothing to Him, no bait that the enemy could use to hinder Him pursuing His Father's work, caring for His glory alone while here. Yet it is a bait often used by the enemy since to turn servants aside from quietly pursuing their course with humility of heart.

Nothing could hinder Him being in the "solitary place," nor yet pursuing His work from place to place with a decided and steady purpose, seeking His Father's glory and not His own. What a lesson, we repeat, for us all. Let us know the power of those two lessons; let us know what it is to look and care for the smile of the Master of every true servant. Let us seek His approval; let us watch against the wiles of Satan, who may suggest, as a bait for the flesh, that we are important, and that all seek for us. Let us imitate what the Lord here sets before us as an example so needed if we are to be here on earth servants for Him. How much this implies. "And He preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and cast out devils."

Next the record of cleansing the leper is given and the result was, as he published abroad the fact, they came to Him from every quarter (vers. 39-45).

In chapter twenty-one we see Him once again in Capernaum, where we first beheld Him casting out a demon, and now upon His return He still finds it the place of need, the field was white, the harvest ripe, the need was great. We will next see how unable were the leaders to ease the burden for the oppressed, and how little the desire they had to do so. At this time they bring a palsied man, and through the roof they let him down, and He seeing their faith grants the blessing, and even this beyond their faith; they desired the body healed, but He grants forgiveness also, and the man receives a double blessing. " Thy sins be forgiven thee." How sweet these words must have been to that man's ears; what music they contained to cheer his drooping spirit. But for the scribes it was far otherwise, to forgive and bless had no charm for them. This work was new, the ministry powerful, the results marvelous, so that the populace were carried away:"We never saw it on this fashion."

Now we note the development of a life so different to His, so opposite, and even hostile; envy was deep seated in the hearts of those men, the scribes; their popularity as teachers was on the wane, and the teaching of another was growing in acceptance. " But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies ? Who can forgive sins but God only?" This was the thought of their hearts; true, not yet expressed, but the Lord read it there. He was a teacher, so were they, and their own glory as such they sought, but with Him different. What a lesson for us as servants now! When nearness to Him is cultivated and the drinking in the lowly spirit that so characterized Him, the perfect Servant, the moral characteristics of His life will be displayed. When we see God attaching special honor and blessing upon others, when we see them advance, then let the heart beware, for the flesh within is ever ready to manifest itself as do the scribes in this chapter. They complain, look for some accusation, but the spirit of the Lord was the very opposite. An old writer wrote, " None are so slow to recognize gift in others as preachers themselves." This fact is truly exemplified by the spirit of the scribes, and here every servant, every teacher, every preacher, no matter what the sphere of service may be, needs to pause and seek to cultivate that spirit. "Let each esteem other better than themselves" (Phil. 2:3-11). Beware of the flesh within that seeks its own glory and the advancement of self. Let us turn from that unholy spirit, the envy, the jealousy, the bitter feeling which we see here in its germ with the scribes, and which when fully developed led them to put Him upon the cross. What a hateful thing the flesh is in the presence of holiness!

But all this opposition on their part did not deter the Lord in the least. The need lay before His eyes, and the desire to meet that need lay heavy upon His heart. So He adds to the palsied man:"Arise and take up thy bed." What grace! What power! How strengthening and cheering to Peter, James and John, as well as the others whom the Holy Spirit had attracted to Jesus, were these things. Yet with the scribes it was far otherwise. They watch Him with a keen eye, yet He goes on with His work, as the Shepherd of Israel, seeking the sheep however far astray. A. E. B.

(To be continued)

Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke is. 23).

The ordinary thought of self-denial, whether among saints or the people of the world, is giving up. There may be great diversity of thought as to what is to be given up. Some would limit it to certain characteristically worldly things- card-playing, dancing, the theater, etc. Others would confine it to a certain season, during which time pleasures which are freely indulged in the remainder of the year are rigidly eschewed, and even in the food and other habits the change may be noticed.

Others who see much more than this, still look upon self-denial as a matter of details. This, that and the other is to be given up, as pleasing to the natural man. Nor is it possible that such an interpretation should not tend to foster spiritual pride; for does not one deserve credit for relinquishing so much?

But is this the thought of the passage, "Let him refuse himself"? Self is to be refused, to be given up. A man may give up anything, and well-nigh everything, but so long as he holds fast to himself, he has not learned the first elements of self-denial. " I am crucified with Christ," says the apostle. Did he mean that he was doing this or that distasteful thing, and so practicing self-denial? Ah no! Paul himself was denied; he was done with himself, and now it was Christ who lived in him. Can we think of Paul as occupied with a multiplicity of questions, as to whether he had to give up one thing and another? The cross settled all that for him. There was an end to himself, as well as an end to the world, so far as he was concerned. And with this went the entire mass of questions that monasticism has tried in vain to settle.

And does not this explain the taking up the cross, which comes in the immediate connection? Let him " take up his cross daily and follow Me." ' The ordinary thought of taking the cross is doing something that is disagreeable. So people talk even of prayer and public confession of Christ as taking up the cross, But to the disciples the cross meant something very definite. They looked upon it as the sign of death, and death at the hands of the Romans. In modern language, we might substitute the word gallows for the cross. The ignominy, judgment and reproach of a shameful death go with it.'' To follow Christ, to take up the cross, then, means something more than doing a few distasteful duties. It means an end of self. Reckoning ourselves to be dead indeed to sin,

But beloved, what relief we have here, what rest of soul. The root is cut and soon the fading leaves of human pride will drop off. Does the world persecute? does it threaten with the cross? It can have no terrors for one who knows the preciousness of the cross in his own soul.'' He has already taken it up, applied it, not to a few details; and in the end of himself, he has reached the end of struggling. The whole thing has gone, he is alive now in Christ Jesus, and can walk in the newness of life which goes with that. Now he will find power for laying aside every weight, and instead of a path of sorrow, he has one of unutterable peace and joy-the path of the cross, which ends in the cloudless glory of God.

The subjoined testimony as to the condition of the heathen is inserted with the desire to remind the people of God of their true state. There is a tendency to think of them as merely unfortunate and scarcely responsible. It is even taught that many of them have the true knowledge of God, by the light of nature, or by some gracious work of God in their soul apart from revelation. The word of God says nothing of this, and leaves us to the awful conclusions stated in these remarks.

But what effect should this have upon those saved by the precious blood of Christ ? Will it give them a self-satisfied assurance that they hold the truth, or will it stir their souls afresh with ardent desire to carry the good news to the perishing millions who have never heard the gospel ? Surely every saved soul has a responsibility as to this. May we not pray to see awakened interest in sending the gospel to foreign lands, and may we not also ask that the Lord will raise up and send forth more laborers, more heralds of the gospel into the dark places of the earth ?

"The second speaker of the evening was Rev. L. D. Morse, returned missionary. Mr. Morse spoke of the doubts entertained by some Christians as to the condemnation and lost condition of the heathen. He had not to settle the fate of the heathen. But nothing could change the law of God. It is impossible that God can create sin. Paul teaches in Romans that the wrath of God is revealed against those who hold the truth in unrighteousness. The heathen have the testimony borne to God in nature;
and yet knowing God, they reverence Him not as God. It is not true that the heathen do not know sin, as their fierce condemnation of those who sin against them shows. There are plenty of words in the Telugu language to express the idea of sin. Their doctrine of transmigration and their confessions show it. Their sacrifices also show their consciousness of sin. The converted heathen never utter a word to indicate that they have hope of the salvation of their ancestors. He had not found men among the heathen seeking after God, until influenced by the Word and the Spirit, through the preaching of the Christian missionary. Let there be no doubt about these people needing the gospel in order to salvation. Of the 330 million gods of India, the vilest are the most popular. He had mingled with all kinds and castes of the heathen men, and had not found a holy man among them.

The pictures exhibited in their temples in the name of religion are altogether too vile for description. Have we any message, the speaker asked, for these people ? Let us go with the gospel to them and save them from sinning and suffering eternally. The great commission properly understood is the great condemnation of the heathen world. Christ came to save the lost, and if the heathen are not lost there is no reason why we should send the gospel to them. It was not for him, Mr Morse said, to say to any man that it was his duty to go to India but he could say to every one that it was his duty to be surrendered to God's will, and for himself he counted it joy to go where God wanted him to go and be what God wanted him to be. From the "Messenger and Victor."

It is characteristic of faith to reckon on God, not simply spite of difficulty, but spite of impossibility. Faith concerns not itself about means; it counts upon the promise of God. To the natural man the believer may seem to lack prudence; nevertheless, from the moment it becomes a question of means which render the thing easy to man, it is no longer God acting. It is no longer His work where means are looked to. When with man there is impossibility, God must come in; and it is so much the more evidenced to be the right way, since God only does that which He wills. Faith has reference to His will, and that only, thus it consults neither about the means nor the circumstances; in other words, it consults not with flesh and blood. Where faith is weak, external means are, beforehand, reckoned on in the work of God. Let us remember that where things are feasible to man, there is no longer need of faith, because there is no longer need of the energy of the Spirit. Christians do much and effect little-why ?

119 GROVE ST., PLAINFIELD, N. J., July 12th, 1900.

BELOVED BROTHER,-I trust that this may be a first instalment, so far as correspondence goes, of a large indebtedness.

I am, through mercy, daily and uninterruptedly going on towards recovery. It has been that all round, and with a steadiness which surprises the doctor, who while not professing Christianity for himself, says that the prayers of Christians, and not his medicines, have brought about my recovery. May the after-fruit manifest still more that it is indeed the work of Him who delights to answer His people's prayers ; and whose every thought is blessing for them.

"Afterward, the peaceable fruits of righteousness" should now apply, although one feels the dreadful shallowness of our deepest convictions. The negative side of the world's worthlessness I can realize in good measure, but the touch of death naturally dispels illusion here. The positive enjoyment of our own things is where one's weakness shows itself, and in the dulness that thus creeps over the soul. The medicinal effect of evangelistic activity is I think of the highest use self-ward here, which no constancy of occupation with the Word even can replace; and the lack of general activity amongst us in this respect seems to lose for us often the brightness which many have with so much less light. I long for that combined evangelistic effort among us I have often advocated and yet, alas, let drop through lack of spiritual energy to persevere in face of the indifference which seemed to greet it. However, I am not upon this theme now, though I trust the future may have something for us in this. I am only, as it were, just lifting my head to look around, and my first duty to the Lord and to my brethren is to own with a thankful heart how He has been repeating to us in living example the first lessons of Paul as to ministry in the epistle of ministry (2 Cor. i), and how God has joined the body together so as to make this a necessary consequence of membership in it. My sickness has in this way gained me much by showing me what was indeed mine already but had not had the same opportunity of displaying itself. I thank the brethren heartily for the expression of a love which is rooted and grounded in that which is beyond knowledge. May we keep ourselves in the love of God, as the apostle enjoins,-in the enjoyment of the fulness which necessitates the outflow again of what we have received from Him. Let it only be remembered that now I need prayer for the fruitfulness of the life restored, and that the hand of God may manifestly not have wrought in vain.

We were glad to hear of the many at the T– meeting, trust for permanent blessing. There has been plenty of plowing of the soil there; may the time have come for the quiet growth of that which has been sown there, which has not been a little. It was my first place of meeting with J. N. D.;-of those who gathered round then how few remain. That, in the natural way, is not to be wondered at; but the spiritual history of many, alas, what has it been? A startling warning, surely, of the need we have of Philadelphia's exhortation. God is the God of resurrection, and the old fields can blossom afresh. This lesson well learnt, the discouragement becomes encouragement. We need not, because amid the fruits of a long history of failure, dwell under the shadow of this, but under His shadow, and still " with great delight."

I have really no news, arid can only cover paper with repetition of familiar things. Yet they are not things of which we weary. Please give my love and thanks to all, and let them give me large credit for what I do not say.

Very affectionately ever in Christ. F. W. G.

(Continued from page 96.)

There are about twenty-five parables in the Gospels, as well as numerous parabolic sayings beside, although different numbers may be obtained according to the place where we put the dividing line. They are largely drawn from the various occupations of the people of that day, and cover most of them.

It has been said that the parable of the sower was given to draw the farming class, that of the merchant seeking goodly pearls, the traders, and that of the net let down, the fisher folk; and although perhaps there is room to differ as to the specific application, yet the principle is a beautiful one and serves as another of those side lights which illumine the Lord's life with their radiance. The apostle speaks somewhere of becoming all things to all men, and this our Lord was for the very blessed reason that in a certain sense, we may say, men were all things to Him. He had a wonderful and touching sympathy with toiling humanity around, entering into their daily duties in a manner that is very precious, and ready always to address the heart thereby. So there is scarcely an occupation in life from which His parables are not drawn. There are about eleven of these and though to the Christian they are, of course, familiar, it may be profitable to take a sort of bird's eye-view.

They dealt with high life and low life. We hear of the rich man's son running away and spending his all, and of the poor woman with her ten pieces of silver, of the shepherd tending his flock. We see
the merchant entering on a large venture, or the fisher gaining a precarious living in the great Deep. Then again we sit in the palace of the king in high festival, or wander with the sower at noon tide. We go with the traveler to Jericho and see the thieves strip him of all that he has, or we visit the courts of the city, where high handed injustice for long resists the cry of importunity.

But not merely is the world of man a field of illustration, but a number of the facts of animate and inanimate creation are summoned to bear their testimony. "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow," and remember that not one of the sparrows falls to the ground without your Father. Ye read the signs of the sky, and why not the signs of the times? The reader can think of other fields which are covered.

But now let us remember that no one can imitate save in a very imperfect way, our blessed Lord, and yet if our heart grow more into that Divine compassion that filled Him, we too shall be able to find in sea and sky, in life and death, avenues to the consciences of our fellow-men, and all things shall subserve the work of our ministry. Some like anecdotal preaching, (which in a certain way answers to the parabolic), and some a more purely didactic discourse, but in the parables and in the sermon on the mount we have parallels of each, and we know that His ways are divine. And more or less we can grow to be like Him in this. One man is anecdotal because he has a healthy sympathy with the pulsating human life around, and another is perceptual and doctrinal as entering warmly into God's ways and laws in Holy Writ. Both are needed and each may gain of the other as each learns more of the heart for everything that moved Him.

When we come to consider the didactic and perceptual part, we will be surprised to find how much it is illumined by metaphor and simile. There are about two dozen metaphors and similes in the so-called sermon on the mount, and much of the same is scattered through the Gospels. To examine into the examples of these and consider their beauty would be rather beyond the purport of this paper, and yet some are so beautiful we fain would pause and consider them.

"Ye are the salt of the earth," says the Lord. Salt is known for its preservative qualities. It prevents rot and decay. And so Christians are those who "having escaped the corruption that is in the world " are God's witnesses in it. But evidently the primary application is to the usefulness, the preciousness of salt-its savor, which is such that, where absent, men have risked their lives to procure it. It is as if He had said, Ye are the choice ones of this earth; but then if you lose that which makes you this, you are like savorless salt, good only to be cast away. Salt too is that which turns the fertile place into a desert. O brethren, have we so much salt in us that this world has indeed become a wilderness to us? "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid." By day its gilded domes glitter in the rays of the sun, and by night its lights shine out, a beacon to the wanderer and the weary. Christian, do you too shine in the full day of prosperity and in the dark time of tribulation?

But this use of metaphor and simile by Jesus points clearly to the amount of lesson there is in the
world around, which we might use to draw our fellow-men, and by which we might admonish our own heart. In preaching as in teaching let us remember how our great Teacher pointed his remarks by metaphor and simile.

Throughout our Lord's teaching there is also a large use of what is called antithesis or contrast. Thus in the very portion with which we are dealing, the sayings of those of old time are brought into vivid juxtaposition with His own blessed precepts.

What the disciples should do is contrasted with what the hypocrite actually does. We have the contrast of the two roads, one broad and leading to destruction, and the other narrow and traversed by few, but ending in life. Finally, a vision of two houses is presented to view, one standing on the unstable sand and swept away by the rush of the flood, and the other grounded on the rock, presenting an immovable front to all the torrent of the tempest.

What a mass of contrast there is even in this short sermon, and when you come to examine the rest of the Gospel, you will be surprised to see how often these vivid contrasts confront one another. There is at least one powerful use of what we may call suggested contrast; when He asks the bystanders, "What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? A man in soft raiment? In king's palaces?" One can imagine the people crying out:"No, no indeed, that certainly John was not." But, O reader, how much those contrasts weighed upon His loving heart. Do they weigh upon yours? The light and joy of Heaven? The blackness and doom of hell? The purity of Divine holiness? The loathsomeness of sin? How many lights and shadows are falling on the shores of time, and how miserable our thought of the things around if we fail to see them?

But do not let us close this portion of our meditation with the mere remembrance of the facts just brought to our notice; let us ponder very often the reason for their use on the part of our Lord, and let us seek to be drawn closer to Him by it. Was it to attract or move His hearers that He used metaphor, simile, and antithesis? It was; but consider that He also saw that in them which was worthy of use, and let us seek to see these parallels, these strange antitheses in Nature and in life. One philosopher has been so impressed by these likenesses that he has built up a theory of the universe, in which each atom or "monad," in addition to that which gives it its own individuality, has contained within it all the qualities of the monads beneath it.

Another thing to be observed is the frequency of the use of the specific for the general, the concrete for the abstract. Thus although we have the so-called Golden Rule given as a general principle of action, yet before it is enunciated there is much specific example of the same. For instance, we are told not to turn away from him that would borrow of us, and when smitten on the one cheek to turn the other, etc. So hell is never spoken of in a general way as a place of torment, but as a place of darkness, symbolic of its hopelessness, or as a place of fire, typical of the burning of the wrath of God, or as a place where the worm dieth not, portraying the pangs of conscience. Instead of saying, If there be something about you that causes you to do wrong, get rid of it, He declares:" If thy right hand cause thee to offend,"etc. General principles alone are too broad to probe, the keen edge of the particular must be used.

This brings us face to face with a question that is certainly worth a close examination. Does our Lord, and do the apostles in preaching, speak usually of men being sinners, or of their being committers of specific sins? Certainly they are punished for the fact that they have committed specific sins. They must give an account of the deeds done in the body. Then again, men are perfectly ready to acknowledge that they are sinners, but scarcely, that they are liars, or selfish, or of violent and cruel temper. In conformity with this, I think that examination will reveal that the Lord and the apostles too, more often charge men with the specific sin than with being sinners in a general way.

Compare His terrific arraignment of the Pharisees and His interview with the woman at the well. Take in fact, almost any of His charges and I think this truth will be made manifest. Then if we pass to the discourses of the apostles, Peter charges the people with the crucifixion of Jesus; Paul, in preaching to the Athenians, asserts that superstition is one of their prominent crimes; and even when we go to the epistles, although they do not so much deal with the individual as with doctrine, yet how largely are such charges as, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," followed by long catalogues of detail. Even when he comes to speak of a nation, and through Timothy to them, he says, "The Cretans are liars." Is there not too much generality in the preaching of many, and should not this proposition be examined in the light of God's Word?

As to the use of the concrete for the abstract, we merely adduce the following instances, which may be supplemented at will. "I came not to send peace on the earth but a sword." "If he ask for a fish will he give him a serpent?"' This usage however is not so extensive as that of the general for the specific.

The next subject which we have to consider is our Lord's use of "object lessons." Perhaps the most familiar example of it, and one that will occur to every mind, is the taking of the young child and placing it in the midst, and saying:"Except ye be converted and become as this little child, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven." What a beautiful scene it was :the group of grown up men that had once barred the way of the children into His presence, and the little creature before them. How they must have been ashamed of their proud thoughts and felt the power of the rebuke. But how much more vividly it must have been brought to their minds, to see the little one there. To take another instance. We all remember how He asked for the coin upon which was the image and superscription of Caesar, and pointing them out, demanded whose they were and said:"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."

If metaphor and simile and object lesson be used by our Lord, if He thus summon analogy to bear Him witness, He also avails Himself of citation of authorities. This seems so obvious and plain to any reader of the Scripture that it will perhaps not be considered necessary to notice it, but there are some lessons that may be drawn which if duly considered ought to be of profit. Is it not wonderful that He should have so often cited those who held a station so much beneath Him? We say that He came to glorify His Father and His Father's word, and all that is very true. We say that it was Scripture that He quoted. Now there is truth in that remark and yet it is one of those half truths that often blind us to what is beyond them. For instance, when David went into the house of God and ate the show bread, it was scarcely scriptural to do so, although the fact itself is found in Scripture. The Lord, of course, knew that what David then did was right or he would not have cited him, but still it is the citation of David's action and in support of His own, and Scripture itself does not lend authority to the action of David. This is a wonderfully gracious thing on the part of the Lord to do. Are we always ready to cite one whom we know to be beneath us in knowledge, just because he is trusted by those to whom we speak? It is a part of true humility at any rate. But we have something further to learn. Is it not a justification of what learned men call "the argumentum ad hominem"? Is it not as much as to say, "You make your boast in David, and although a greater than David is here, yet I will take you on the ground on which you place yourselves, and so doing find justification for what I Myself have done?"

Just to touch for a moment on a subject which might better have had an earlier place in this paper, and then to pass to the Lord in conflict with those who oppose themselves. It is another of those trite remarks which when stated in all their nakedness seem so obvious as to be taken for granted, and which, for that very reason so often are passed over. The Lord said the right thing at the right time. Now a man may give a perfectly correct answer, and yet that answer may be far from the correct thing to say. This is paradoxical and yet true. When He spoke the parable of the sower going out to sow, He was seated in a boat overlooking the green fields that swept away in their verdure from the shore of Galilee. It is even quite possible that one of those sowers may have been in sight as He spoke, and the mustard-tree have waved in the fresh breeze from the lake, as He passed on to speak of the smallness of its seed. Again, the hiding of the leaven in the meal, although spoken from the same place may easily have been suggested by some domestic scene within view. No doubt too the house into which He entered, and where He talked, with His disciples about the net let down and the merchant seeking goodly pearls, was in the near neighborhood of the scene in which they had just been, as well as in consonance with the trade of those to whom He was speaking. Some of the other parables are a little hard to judge of because the place in which they were spoken is not clear, but I think that you will notice that very largely what I have been trying to bring out, has exemplification in those incidents in which locality is more prominent. There is in all these facts, much that goes to show the perfection of that Manhood which, while never in harmony with that which was evil, seemed always, in so far as was fit, to adapt itself to the environment in which it moved.

Passing now to our last topic, how often does He meet objection by a question, either in reality, to which he expects an answer, or else in interrogatory form. "Whose is the image and superscription?" "Can the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?" "Whether is easier to say:Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk?" "If Satan cast out Satan, how then shall his kingdom stand?" In this latter instance He had first of all made the direct assertion that a house divided against itself could not stand, and the interrogation is a formal one. There are so many of these questions asked by our Lord and they are so familiar to the reader of the Bible, that there will be no need of further citation, but I want to pause a moment and consider the wisdom of this style.

When people are compelled to confute their own reasoning, the confutation is much more thorough, greater attention to the answer being necessarily given, and furthermore, where an answer is vouchsafed, the position of the objector is more clearly seen and there is no possibility of his falling back on some unacknowledged point after the whole argument is over, and of thus breaking its force. He stands self-convicted before all. Then too he is necessarily more open to the argument because he has already granted points, which if he had seen their bearing, he might have absolutely refused to grant. He answers truly, with unbiased mind and must necessarily, even if he afterward withdraw his concession, see that there is at least a very large amount of probability on the side of his opponent. Here then is wisdom; but how often this wisdom is adorned by a touching grace. The interrogatory method in itself is a less dogmatic, self-assertive method. Of course, the person that uses it may be the most dogmatic of all persons and may use it purely because of its advantages, but with Him, who was meek and lowly in heart, how well it consorted. I think that at times when He saw that some poor man was bolstering himself with the pride of his knowledge, and answered in this questioning way, a sort of shame must have fallen on that falsely proud heart, and inward reverence and worship must have arisen as he beheld the meekness of that mighty Miracle Worker. Surely we can pray to Him as we close:

" O teach us more of Thy blest ways
Thou holy Lamb of God!
And fix and root us in Thy grace,
As those redeemed by blood."

F. C. G.

The brief sentence which forms the heading of I this article presents to us the earnest aspiration of one who had found an absorbing and commanding object in Christ-the utterance of a soul whose one desire was to grow in the knowledge and appreciation of that blessed One who fills all heaven with His glory. The whole passage from which our motto is taken is full of power. We must quote it for the reader, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."

Let us specially mark the words, "what things were gain to me." The apostle is not speaking of his sins, of his guilt, of things of which, as a man, he might justly be ashamed. No; he is referring to his gains, his honors, his distinctions, his religious, his intellectual, his moral, his political advantages- of such things as were calculated to make him an object of envy to his fellows. All these things he counted but loss that he might win Christ.

Alas! how few of us understand anything of this! How few of us grasp the meaning of the words-the real force of the expression, "That I may win Christ!" Most of us rest satisfied with thinking of Christ as God's gift to sinners. We do not aim at winning Him as our prize, by the surrender of all those things which nature loves and values. The two things are quite distinct. As poor miserable, guilty, hell-deserving sinners, we are not asked to do, or to give, or to surrender anything. We are invited, yea commanded to take-take freely-take all. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. "If thou knewest the free giving of God, thou wouldst have asked."

All this is blessedly true, thanks be to God for it! But then, there is another side of the question. What did Paul mean by winning Christ? He already possessed Christ as God's free gift to him as a sinner. What more did he want? He wanted to win Christ as his prize, even at the cost of all beside. As Christ, the true merchant man, sold all that He had, in order to possess Himself of what He esteemed "a pearl of great price ''-laid aside His glory, stripped and emptied Himself of all-gave up all His claims as man, as Messiah, in order to possess Himself of the Church; so, in his measure, that devoted Christian, whose words form our thesis, gave up everything in order to possess himself of that peerless Object who had been revealed to his heart on the day of his conversion. He saw such beauty, such moral glory, such transcendent excellency in the Son of God, that he deliberately surrendered all the honors, the distinctions, the pleasures, the riches of earth, in order that Christ might fill every chamber of his heart, and absorb all the energies of his moral being He longed to know Him not merely as the One who had put away his sins, but as the One who could satisfy all the longings of his soul, and utterly displace all that earth could offer or nature grasp.

Reader, let us gaze on this picture. It is indeed a fine study for us. It stands out in bold contrast with the cold, selfish, world-loving, pleasure-hunting, money-seeking spirit of this our day. It administers a severe rebuke to the heartless indifference of which many must alas! be conscious-an indifference expressing itself in numberless and nameless ways. Where do we see that which answers to the words, " That I may win Christ?" C. S.

Every man has his own natural idea of heaven, according to what to him is perfect bliss. To one it is music; to another, his circle of friends; to another, rest; and so on. "To be with Christ" is the Christian's heaven, for the great sum and substance of Christianity is, Christ supremely loved and enthroned in the human heart.

I ask and entreat you to look and to see, whether in the present time, when through mercy page upon page of Scripture has been brought out before us, we are walking in the power of the truth to the eye of God, to the eye of the Father who loves us, to the eye of Christ who cares about the state of our affections and of our thoughts. He is large-hearted enough to take notice of everything in each one of us; and He desires that we should be practically consistent, since we are sons, and therefore servants of God. G. V. W.

The revelation of the grace of God, the style of the revelation of it, is as wonderful and different from all beside, just as is the grace itself.

The love of God disclosed in the gospel is a love which passes knowledge. And yet the story of it is told without glowing expressions to give it effect, or any help, as from language or description, to set it off to the heart.

This is a wondrous thing. Attempts are not made in Scripture to carry the sense of this love to the soul beyond the simple telling of the tale of it. It is told, but told artlessly. This is the style, the general style or method, of the Book of God.

O Mary, all thy sins forgiven,
Thy place beside the Master's feet,
So holy, if divinely sweet,
Had taught thy chastened soul its need-
Thou knewest thy dear Lord must bleed,
His spotless bosom bruised and riven !

Not thee rebellious pity stirred,
But deeper grief to hear His word
That told His hour of passion nigh-
That He, the Lord of life, must die
And rise again !The sorrow fell
In crushing, unresisted spell
On thy submissive heart that heard-
Thy broken heart that knew too well
Its vileness and its utter need
To dare to reason or to plead
To stay Him from the agony !

Thou knewest in thy feeble measure
That Glory veiled in manhood's dress,-
Knew He was God, heaven's priceless Treasure
Revealed in human loveliness;
Yet knew that curse and death must be,
His person crushed in penalty
And all that glorious preciousness
Atoningly outpoured for sin,
Ere even such a One as He
Thy worthless wretchedness could win
Or save one sinner righteously !

Perhaps thou knewest Jesus dying,
His God and Father glorifying,
Would fill with fragrance perfectly
(As there made sin and made a curse)
The whole created universe
For time and for eternity

At least thy faith set forth the token-
As by the Father gently taught
Thine alabaster box was brought
And by thy hands of love was broken,
To pour the spikenard, pure and sweet,
On Sorrow's head and Love's worn feet !
Thine alabaster casket white
Was like His stainless Flesh, the vase,
The temple of Eternal Light, '
Of Godhead-fulness, Love and Grace !
Broken by loving hands, 'twas like
The Father's Son resigned to spike
And cross-His being crushed-His breath
By wrath consumed for sin in death!

And even as it was the spilling
Upon His sacred Person there
That spread the grateful sweetness, filling
The house with incense-perfumed air;
So His atoning sacrifice
Unveils all beauty to our eyes
While love-outpoured in sweet libation
Upon His agony and shame-
Makes odorous the whole creation
With incense of His fragrant Name!

F. A.

It is most blessed to know that God, who alone knows what sin is, in its awfulness, has in love provided a remedy, which alone satisfies the just claims of His holiness, and as completely meets all the need of the very worst sinner on earth:while all may not be conscious of the terrible results of sin, yet surely all must acknowledge they are sinners before God. "For all have sinned " (Rom. 3:23).

I. What has man, of his own, to offer as atonement for his sin?

Anything to give man a perfect standing must embrace in its efficacy "his whole existence from his entrance into this world to his entrance into eternity. To illustrate, a person born into this world lives say eighty years here and then passes out into eternity. At the age of thirty, such an one is brought to see his sin and desires to be saved. In order to have perfect rest of conscience and heart he must see that what he proposes to present as an offering for his sin must not only atone in the fullest sense for the thirty years past, but for the future fifty years of his life, and give right to God's presence in eternity, fitting him forever for His holy eyes to look on with favor. Now what can one bring? Righteousness is what is needed; has man any of his own which will avail? (Ps. 97:2). " But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:10, 20; Eph. 2:9; Gal. 3:10, comp. Dent, 27:26; James 2:10. Thus the sinner can never get acceptance with God by self-righteous character, works, or amendment of life by law keeping.

2. What does God require for sin? " The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), is the uncompromising sentence of God who is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13). He further tells us, "the life of the flesh is in the blood." . . . (Lev. 17:ii), and that "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22). Thus His justice and holiness demand the full requirement to be met, while for the sinner there can be no settled peace for his conscience and heart in anything less-which is death, or life given up, as an atonement. This was what made the difference between Cain's and Abel's offering; the latter, of course, was based upon faith in this very truth. Comp. Gen. 4:3, 4 with Heb. 11:4. See also Gen. 2:17; 3:24; Rom. 5:12; 6:23; Rev. 21:8; 20:15; Mark 9:42-50; John 8:21, 24.

3. God's provision and remedy for sin.

"The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls:for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Lev. 17:ii). Thus God speaks, not in an arbitrary manner, but according to justice, which demanded the offering up of the life forfeited by sin. It will be observed too that it was "upon the altar" where the settlement was to be made through substitutionary sacrifice. Thus the Old Testament pages are tinged with the blood of bulls, and goats, and lambs, "which they offered year by year continually" (Heb. 10:i), but which could never "make the comers thereunto perfect,"1:e. completely purged as to position and conscience. All pointed on to the one great atoning sacrifice of Calvary.

So when John stands at the Jordan and cries, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), it was an announcement that God had provided Himself a Lamb whose sacrifice should be once for all, absolutely complete.
In the Tabernacle worship, the animal was slain and burned without the camp, the blood taken by the high-priest inside the veil, sprinkled once on the mercy-seat and seven times before it, satisfying the justice of Jehovah and giving a perfect standing to the high-priest as the representative of Israel. This was repeated every Day of Atonement.

But what do we read of the Lamb of God, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ? On Calvary's cross, He bore our sins in His own body (i Peter 2:24), having offered Himself without spot to God (Heb. 9:14), endured the full judgment of a holy God for sin, and completely satisfied all God's claims as to sin for those who believe on Him. He was "delivered for our offences, and was raised for our justification " (Rom. 4:25), and by His own blood has entered into heaven itself, having obtained eternal redemption, salvation for us.

Read carefully the following, John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21; i Pet. 2:24; 1:18-20; Gal. 4:4-7; Rom. 5:6, 8, 10; viii 3; Heb. 10:12-14; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 5:9.

4. How may sinners obtain the benefit of all this?

In that familiar verse, John 3:16, we read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Here God makes a plain, clear, unmistakable promise, but for whom? Why surely for sinners- who else can it be for? Notice God "loved" and "gave;" the sinner "believeth " and "hath." Again "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Again, "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins " (Acts 10:43). Here then are three positive declarations from the Triune God, against whom we have sinned, declaring it a fact that any sinner, conscious of his sinnership and its consequences-for this must first of all be realized–believing on the Lord Jesus Christ has "everlasting life " and "remission of sins." See also John 10:28-30; Rom. 8:i; i Tim. i; 15.

But the question may naturally be asked whom and what and how are we to believe.

First, it is indispensable to believe in the Deity and sinless humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Read i John 2:22; 4:2, 3, 14, 15; John 1:1-3, 14; 5:18, etc. If our Lord was merely a man, He could never be our Redeemer, because divine righteousness would not be satisfied by anything less than itself. He was also sinless, for He "knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21); "did no sin" (i Pet. 2:22); and was "apart from sin" (Heb. 4:15).

Second, to believe that His death upon the cross was a full and complete atonement for our sinful condition, position, etc. (Isa. 53:i-6; Matt. 1:21); (read with emphasis on "He shall"); 20:28; Luke 19:10; John 3:14; 12:32, 33; Rom. 5:8; Col. i, 20; Heb, ii, 9; i Cor. 15:3; Acts 4:24, 25).

Thus it can be seen divine justice has been fully met, and the need of sinners as well-in One who was God Himself, and yet became man (Phil. 2:8).

Third, How are we to believe? (Rom. 10:8-ii); "with the heart," 1:e., a trusting confidence based upon God's word (Rom. 10:17), not on our feelings. James 2:19, shows the devils have feelings, yet they are not saved (2 Pet. 2:4).

"Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (John 9:35). B. W. J.

Envy is a diabolical passion, for it makes war against God Himself; being incapable, in its impotence, of clouding His Sovereign Majesty, it attacks Him in the gifts His beneficence has bestowed upon man.-Book of the Fathers.

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble:I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify Me" (Ps. 1. 15).

It has been said that man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. So that we may be quite sure a text such as this appeals to a great many-It presents to us four points, each of which is worthy of consideration. They are:First, "the day of trouble"; secondly, what we are to do in it-"call upon Me"; next, what God will do in answer to our call-"I will deliver thee"; lastly, the end God has in view-"them shalt glorify Me."

Let us notice first how comprehensive is the statement-"the day of trouble." It is not any particular trouble that is mentioned. This is a great comfort, for if any particular kind had been referred to it might not have been ours. Troubles are so varied; and the thing that is troubling you at the present moment may be altogether unknown to some others. Indeed, someone may be reading these lines who is ready to say, "Surely no one else has endured what I am now called to pass through." Even so, the text applies in your case, for does it not say "the day of trouble," without specifying what may be its nature ? "Call upon Me in the day of trouble."

There is the trouble of ill health, pain, weakness. How many wish they had never seen this day! Time was when they could go where they would, and do what they would. Like Peter, it could be said to them, "Thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldst." But now it is different. Nights of pain and days of weariness are a matter of constant experience. It is the day of trouble. What is to be done? We lately called to see one who, though once a very strong man, injured his spine, and is paralyzed. He frequently suffers intense pain, and for years has been confined to bed. This verse has been his comfort, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble:I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." This is what we are to do. It is often said by those similarly placed that they cannot understand why God leaves them here. This is the explanation-"thou shalt glorify Me." No one can preach such a powerful sermon as a bed-ridden saint. Without uttering a word he or she may be a living sermon on patience, fortitude, and joy; in the midst of suffering setting forth the way in which the grace of Christ can enable them to endure. How is it to be done ? "Call upon Me:. . . I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." Not deliver thee perhaps from the infirmity, but a greater deliverance- from being under the power of it.

But there are other troubles. Trouble which arises from poverty, or loss of property, or what is far worse, some loved one; trouble in connection with business and a thousand other things; trouble brought upon ourselves by our own failure, or what is even a darker trouble sometimes, through the sin and failure of others. Thank God, it is all included in "the day of trouble"-the anxious parent solicitous about the welfare of a child; the individual who finds life a long continued struggle; the tempted, the tried, the downtrodden, the oppressed, are all referred to here-"Call upon Me in the day of trouble:I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."

But we surely need not enlarge upon this. "The day of trouble" is familiar to most of us in some form or other; we rather need to pay attention to the precious injunction with which the verse commences, "Call upon Me." This has a double value. In the first place it is an immense relief to be able to speak to anyone about our trouble, and in the next place that one is God.
It does not say how many times we are to call. Simply, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble." A call does, however, imply earnestness. It is not, "Speak to Me." We may sometimes speak to God as though we hardly meant what we said. But here it is more vehement-" Call upon Me," as though we were in real earnest to make God hear. A child in danger or fright calls to its parent, it does not speak as though nothing was the matter. Now while God knows everything, and can hear even a whisper and read even our thoughts, yet His direction here is, " Call upon Me." If you have called many times before and not yet been delivered, still continue calling. Deliverance will surely come in some form or other, and in the meantime the blessing to your own soul will be immense. You will learn more of God. For it says, "Call upon me." Upon God Himself.

'' I will deliver thee," "I will," not '' I may." No "perhaps." It is definite, certain-"I will deliver thee." Mark, it does not say when. We often fix a time; it must be immediately. And so we get disappointed. It does not say how. We would like it brought about in a way of our own; and because it does not appear to be coming in our way we are tempted to rebel. Nor does it say what form the deliverance will take. We have already made up our minds, perhaps, what form we would prefer; but it may be God has something better for us. Let us leave the form of the deliverance-the how and when -all to Him, resting only in the certainty of the fact "I will deliver thee."

There may be reasons why deliverance is delayed. God has other aims in connection with your life beside the immediate deliverance you are seeking. And He sees how He can in the end use the waiting time to achieve those ends. You have waited, not only days and weeks, but months or even years; and maybe you are still waiting. Sometimes you are almost tempted to think God has forgotten you; but remember, God is not to be hurried. He has His eye upon the whole of your life – yea, upon eternity; and God wants everything to work in for eternity.

"There with what joy reviewing
Past conflicts, dangers, fears ;
Thy hand our foes subduing,
And drying all our tears.
Our hearts with rapture burning,
The path we shall retrace,
Where now our souls are learning
The riches of Thy grace."

May we learn, then, to take a larger view of life, and not be occupied too exclusively with one point. The hour of our deliverance is fixed. It may take the form of actual deliverance, or it may come in the form of such an abundance of grace that, like the apostle Paul, we shall be enabled to take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in distresses, for Christ's sake. In either case may we remember these words, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble:I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."

Yes, there is more than mere deliverance in view. "Thou shalt glorify Me." It is to come about in such a way that He should be glorified, not only in the deliverance itself, but afterwards. How blessed! We thought ourselves almost neglected, as though God had completely withdrawn His former loving-kindnesses, and we seemed like so much flotsam on the ocean of time. But now deliverance has come, and we learn the amazing fact from the very lips of the One we thought had left us to drift hither and thither, – "thou shalt glorify Me."

Can we desire anything more than this ? When we discover that God is working in and through our life, is it not complete ? Is the day of trouble a mistake if it leads to the glory of God ? When we see the end, can we regret the way which led to that end ? Not only was it not a mistake:it was a necessity. And that "day of trouble" is encircled with a threefold cord for the Christian, " Call upon Me," I will deliver thee," "thou shalt glorify Me." That threefold cord is God Himself.

But "the day of trouble," to one who knows not God, can only be a day of blank despair. Come it must to everyone, sooner or later. If one such should read these lines, may you turn to the God of all comfort through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing your sins, and seeking pardon through His name.

Many of God's brightest saints have known full well the meaning of "the day of trouble." Abraham, when he had to cast out Ishmael, and when called upon to offer up Isaac. Joseph, when hated by his brethren and sold to the Midianites, who took him down into Egypt, where he became a servant, "whose feet they hurt with fetters:he was laid in iron:until the time that His word came:the word of the Lord tried him." Moses, when rejected and obliged to flee. But they were all delivered, and God was glorified. And it was not otherwise with David. Think of him at Ziklag on that day when he and his men found it burned with fire, and their wives carried away. The people too spake of stoning him. And this coming upon the top of all he had been suffering for years at the hands of Saul. Surely never did a mere man suffer more acute anguish than David at that moment. But we read he "encouraged himself in the Lord his God." Yes, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble:I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."This was eminently true in his case, for he was delivered, and shortly after ascended the throne. One day to be stoned ; the next we might say, crowned. Such are the vicissitudes of God's people.

Reference might be made to Elijah, to Paul, and many others in a similar connection, but most wonderful of all is it to think that the Lord Jesus was not exempt from "the day of trouble." One of the most reassuring and comforting truths is this, that the Lord Jesus was acquainted with grief, and that He passed through a darker day than we can ever know, with unshakened trust and confidence in God. It is not that the human family alone knows what sorrow and suffering mean. God has taken His part in it in the person of His Son, and in a deeper way than any.

Can anything be sweeter to the heart that knows God than this-" Thou shalt glorify Me"? Who would have supposed "the day of trouble" could have yielded such rich fruit ? There are many men and women too on earth to-day who would not be what they are but for " the day of trouble." It may seem a dark foreground to the picture, but God's pictures have glorious background. "Call upon Me … I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." What a cluster of jewels does this verse contain; and "the day of trouble " is like some dark stone in the center that makes the others shine the brighter. " O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones" (Isa. 54:11, 12). In this way will God be glorified.

"Call upon Me In the day of trouble :
I will deliver thee,
And thou shalt glorify Me."

R.E. "From "Simple Testimony."

1 Cor. 4:20.

The Corinthian assembly was not walking in the truth and light as becometh the children of God, and Paul wrote his first epistle apparently for the purpose of instructing and admonishing them. They had but recently "turned to God from idols," as had the Thessalonians, "to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven," and consequently were not well instructed and established in the truth as it related to the assembly. Hence we have much of what may be called church or assembly truth set forth in this epistle.

In that part now before us the apostle admonishes them of their ways as already reigning, while here in the world, and intimating that if they did reign here it must be as men in the flesh, because the Christian portion here cannot be in the pleasures of this world. He teaches them that in this world we must, if faithful to Christ, suffer with Him. That the world is necessarily in hostility to Christians, as it was to their Master and if they are reigning here something must be out of place with them. He cites the case of the apostles themselves who are suffering here as the outcasts of the world while some of the Corinthians are reveling in sensuous enjoyment. He then tells them that "some of them are puffed up as though I would not come to you, but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the Kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power." "Puffed up" is never of the Spirit, but always of the flesh. "Puffed up by their fleshly minds " (Col. 2:18). The Spirit humbles. He teaches us our own nothingness. As to the flesh, "We are weak with Him; for He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God." So we, to faith, are crucified with Him, ended, dead men, as to the flesh; but we too, like Him, blessed One, live by the power of God !

This life is a new one. It is from above. It is out of death. It is a new creation. It is as born again. It is of God. It is resurrection life. It is beyond the Cross. It is beyond death and the grave. It is divine and eternal, therefore the power of this life is its source. It is of God by the Holy Spirit. "Of ourselves we are not sufficient to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." "We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us."

This is the power that Paul desired to see in the Corinthian assembly. It was not human power as manifested in eloquence of speech or the wisdom of human words, but the power of God in the demonstration of the Spirit. The power of the new life that is in Christians. " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." This is the power of Christian life, for worship and service of every sort and kind. Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him all things are possible. He acts in the assembly by the Holy Spirit when it is in the normal Christian condition. That is with every member conscious of his connection with the Head of the body, and of his place in the body, in full subjection to the Head, as the members of the human body, in health, are subject to its head; acting in obedience to the head. So in the assembly, all of one mind and heart, all in communion with the Father and the Son, having been once for all by the blood of Christ – cleansed from all sin. In this condition gathered by the Holy Spirit unto Christ the Head, He is there in the midst, leading by the Spirit, and His power is manifested; manifested through the earthen vessels.
It is-

" Our hearts are full of Christ, and long
Their glorious matter to declare!
Of Him we make our loftier song,-
We cannot from His praise forbear."

It is this power that is so much lacking in the assemblies of the saints. These cannot be worked by human power. It must be of God. The Holy Spirit not only dwells in individual saints but also in the assembly; and this is wherever two or three are gathered unto the name of Christ,-there He is in the midst; and "whatsoever ye shall ask it shall be done unto you." Of course, there will be no asking for any but spiritual blessings, and these God is concerned that we should ask and desire more and more. He is always pleased to give, and more willing than we are to receive.

In our normal place then as a Christian assembly there will be no lack of this power manifested, but we cannot expect it when an assembly is leavened with unbelief, worldliness and disobedience. It must be in the faith, by the power of God; man subjected, ended. "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." All must be of the Spirit. Neither should the enthusiasm of the flesh be mistaken for the power of the Spirit. The former excites, exhilarates; the latter subdues, humbles, subjects; so that like Paul when caught up into Paradise, we lose sight and knowledge of the body, the flesh altogether, and know not whether we are in it or out of it. J. S. P.

IV. ASSURANCE.

One great cause of failure in many Christians as to their walk and conduct, is the lack of assurance, or confidence as to their eternal salvation. Some seem to be carrying a mirror constantly before them, in which they vainly seek for the reflection of themselves as an evidence of their acceptance with God. Others are searching their hearts, in the endeavor to discover some inward change or emotion to rest upon for their acceptance before God, and as all views of self, whether the sinner's self, or the believer's self, are discouraging, Satan takes advantage of such, and strives to draw them away into deep sin, or failing in this, causes great disquietude and unrest of soul.

Now the word of God gives no "uncertain sound" upon this subject.

In Rom. 1:16 it says, "The gospel of Christ "is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth," and i Cor. 1:18 speaks of the great division which "the preaching of the cross" makes between "them that perish" and "us who are saved;" and in ver. 21 it may be clearly seen that, by preaching the gospel, God declares His purpose "to save them that believe." Heb. 5:9 shows that Christ "became the Author of eternal salvation," so that any one believing the gospel in accordance with Rom. 10:9, 10, must be eternally saved. See also I Cor. 15:2; Tit. 3:5; 2 Cor. 6:2.

This salvation includes complete Redemption,(Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; Tit. 2:14; i Pet. 1:18, etc.);

Forgiveness, (Col. 2:13; Acts 13:38; i Jno.11, 12);

Justification, (pronounced clear of any charge) (Rom. 4:25 ; 5:9 ; Eph. 5:27; Acts 13:39);

Acceptance, (Eph. 1:6).

Here is where the trouble lies, souls do not see that one's acceptance with God is "in the Beloved," not in one's self or changed manner of life, or self-denial, or emotions of sense, whether good or otherwise, but in Christ, in the value of all that He is to God. It is an act of God Himself, not through any evidence in our senses, but the plain, clear proclamation of God based upon His value of Christ's atonement, and this declared to us through the Word. "Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven" (Ps. 119:89), "whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever" (Eccl. 3:14), so that the believer is proclaimed forever accepted with God in the full value of Christ, by the word of God. Thus the same basis of knowledge of one's sinnership is also the foundation of the knowledge of the believer's acceptance. It is this which gives settled peace and rest of soul (Col. 1:20; Rom. 5:i).

Should this meet the eye of any believer who has a doubt in his soul as to full acceptance with God, look away from self, no matter how marvelous a change may have taken place in your life; look away from your ever changing emotions, your resolutions, self-denials, and see Christ, in His unfailing preciousness to the Father as the One in whom your acceptance lies, and rejoice in Him and be at peace.

Eternal life, (Jno. 3:16; 5:24; Rom. 6:23; i Jno. 5:13, etc.).
The Holy Spirit, (Gal. 4:6; Eph. 1:12, 13; 4:30; Jno. 14:16).

Access to God, (Eph. 2:13, 18; Heb. 10:19).

Fitness for Heaven, (Col. 1:12; Rev. 1:5, 6; 5:9).

Such are some of the blessings obtained for us by the Lord Jesus Christ; for God "hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessing sin heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3), and assured to us by His Word.
Thus let every doubting, trembling believer be encouraged to believe the record that God gives us of His Son, and looking away from self, know " that ye have eternal life." B. W. J.

John 9:

Bodily afflictions are all wisely ordered by the Lord, In every case they have an object. But they are not always sent in judgment, though men are prone so to interpret them when others are the subject of them. The disciples, when they saw a man blind from his birth, rashly concluded that it was a judgment either on his own sins or the sins of his parents. Jesus explained that it was not for any particular sin that he was born blind, but "that the works of God should be made manifest in him."He was born blind that Jesus might have an opportunity of giving him sight. All this previous affliction must be endured by the man that, at a particular time, God might be glorified by his cure.

And is not this great consolation to any of the Lord's people who may be subject to this or any similar affliction? They must not, indeed, expect to be relieved by a miracle; but they may rest assured that God has some purpose to serve by their affliction, and that in it they may glorify God more than they could otherwise have done. There are many ways in which this may be true; and each individual may discern something in his own case in which he can realize this. Christians are sometimes tempted to question God's love when they are greatly afflicted. Nothing can be more groundless. What is for God's glory in them, must be for a blessing to them; and in the school of Christ, discipline is as necessary as teaching.

I am more afraid of my own heart than of the Pope and all his Cardinals. I have within me the great Pope-Self. Luther.