(Continued from page 121.)

SUNSHINE AND CLOUDS.

For some weeks after the eventful experience before described, I lived in a dreamily-happy state, rejoicing in my fancied sinless-ness. One great idea had possession of my mind; and whether at work or in my leisure hours, I thought of little else than the wonderful event which had taken place. But gradually I began to "come back to earth," as it were. I was now employed in a photographic studio, where I associated with people of various tastes and habits, some of whom ridiculed, some tolerated, and others sympathized with, my radical views on things religious. Night after night I attended the meetings, speaking on the street and indoors, and I soon noticed (and doubtless others did too) that a change came over my "testimonies." Before, I had always held up Christ, and pointed the lost to Him. Now, almost imperceptibly, my own experience became my theme, and I held up myself as a striking example of consecration and holiness! This was the prevailing characteristic of the brief addresses made by most of the " advanced " Christians in our company. The youngest in grace magnified Christ. The "sanctified" magnified themselves. A favorite song will make this more manifest than any words of mine. It is still widely used in Army meetings, and finds a place in their Song or Hymn-books. I give only one verse as a specimen:

" Some people I know don't live holy ;
They battle with unconquered sin,
Not daring to consecrate fully.
Or they full salvation would win.
With malice they have constant trouble,
From doubting they long to be free;
With most things about them they grumble;
Praise God, this is not so with ME!"

Will the reader believe me when I say that I sang this wretched doggerel without a thought of the sinful pride to which it was giving expression ? I considered it my duty to continually direct attention to "my experience of full salvation," as it was called. "If you don't testify to it, you will lose the blessing," was accepted as an axiom among us.

As time went on, I began to be again conscious of inward desires toward evil-of thoughts that were unholy. I was nonplused. Going to a leading teacher for help, he said, "These are but temptations. Temptation is not sin. You only sin if you yield to the evil suggestion." This gave me peace for a time. I found it was the general way of excusing such evident movings of a fallen nature, which was supposed to have been eliminated. But gradually I sank to a lower and lower plane, permitting things I would once have shunned; and I even observed that all about me did the same. The first ecstatic experiences seldom lasted long. The ecstasy departed, and the "sanctified" were in very little different from their brethren who were supposed to be " only justified." We did not commit overt acts of evil:therefore we were sinless. Lust was not sin unless yielded to; so it was easy to go on testifying that all was right.

I purposely pass briefly over the next four years. In the main they were seasons of ignorantly happy
service. I was young in years and in grace. My thoughts of sin, as well as of holiness, were very unformed and imperfect. Therefore it was easy, generally speaking, to think that I was living without the one, and manifesting the other. When doubts assailed, I treated them as temptations of the devil. If I became unmistakably conscious that I had actually sinned, I persuaded myself that at least it was not wilful, but rather a mistake of the mind than an intentional error of the heart. Then I went to God in confession, and prayed to be cleansed from secret faults.

When but sixteen years of age I became a cadet; that is, a student preparing for officer ship in the Salvation Army. During my probation in the Oakland Training Garrison I had more trouble than at any other time. The rigorous discipline and enforced intimate association with young men of so various tastes and tendencies, as also degrees of spiritual experience, was very hard on one of my supersensitive temperament. I saw very little holiness there, and I fear I exhibited much less. In fact, for the last two out of my five months' term I was all at sea, and dared not profess sanctification at all, owing to my low state. I was tormented with the thought that I had backslidden, and might be lost eternally after all my former happy experiences of the Lord's goodness. Twice I slipped out of the building when all were in bed, and made my way to a lonely spot where I spent the night in prayer, beseeching God not to take His Holy Spirit from me, but to again cleanse me fully from all inbred sin. Each time I "claimed it by faith," and was brighter for a few weeks; but I inevitably again fell into doubt and gloom, and was conscious of sinning both in thought and in word, and sometimes in unholy actions, which brought terrible remorse.

Finally, I was commissioned as Lieutenant. Again I spent the night in prayer, feeling that I must not go out to teach and lead others unless myself pure and holy. Buoyed up with the thought of being free from the restraint I had been subjected to so long, it was comparatively easy this time to believe that the work of full inward cleansing was indeed consummated, and that I was now, if never before, actually rid of all carnality.

How readily one yields himself to self-deception in a matter of this kind! From this time on I became a more earnest advocate of the second blessing than ever; and I remember that often I prayed God to give my dear mother the blessing He had given me, and to make her as holy as her son had become. And that pious mother had known Christ before I was born, and knew her own heart too well to talk of sinlessness, though living a devoted, Christlike life!

As lieutenant for a year, and then as captain,* I thoroughly enjoyed my work, gladly enduring hardship and privation that I fear I would shrink from now; generally confident that I was living out the doctrine of perfect love to God and man, and thereby making my own final salvation more secure. *Perhaps I ought to explain for the benefit of the uninitiated that a "captain " has charge of a corps, or mission. A "lieutenant " assists a " captain."* And yet, as I now look back, what grave failures I can detect-what an unsubdued will-what lightness and frivolity-what lack of subjection to the word of God-what self-satisfaction and complacency! Alas, "man at his best estate is altogether vanity."

I was between eighteen and nineteen years of age when I began to entertain serious doubts as to my actually having attained so high a standard of Christian living as I had professed, and as the Army and other Holiness movements advocated as the only real Christianity. What led to this was of too personal and private a nature to publish; but it resulted in struggle and efforts toward self-crucifixion that brought disappointment and sorrow of a most poignant character; but it showed me beyond a doubt that the doctrine of death to nature was a miserable sophism, and that the carnal mind was still a part of my being.

Nearly eighteen months of an almost constant struggle followed. In vain I searched my heart to see if I had made a full surrender, and tried to give up every known thing that seemed in any sense evil or doubtful. Sometimes, for a month at a time, or even longer, I could persuade myself that at last I had indeed again received the blessing. But invariably a few weeks would bring before me once more that which proved that it was in my particular case all a delusion.

I did not dare open my heart to my assistants in the work, or to the "soldiers" who were under my guidance. To do so I felt would be to lose all influence with them and to be looked upon as a backslider. So, alone and in secret, I fought my battles and never went into a holiness meeting without persuading myself that now at least, I was fully surrendered and therefore must have the blessing of sanctification. Sometimes I called it entire consecration and felt easier. It did not seem to be claiming too much. I had no conception at the time of the hypocrisy of all this.

What made my distress more poignant was the knowledge that I was not suffering alone. Another, one very dear to me, shared my doubts and anxieties from the same cause. For that other it eventually meant utter shipwreck of the faith; and one of the loveliest souls I ever knew was lost in the mazes of spiritualism. God grant it may not be forever, but that mercy may be found of the Lord in that day!

And now I began to see what a string of derelicts this holiness teaching left in its train. I could count scores of persons who had gone into utter infidelity because of it. They always gave the same reason:" I tried it all. I found it a failure. So I concluded the Bible teaching was all a delusion, and religion was a mere matter of the emotions." Many more (and I knew several such intimately) lapsed into insanity after floundering in the morass of this emotional religion for years-and people said that studying the Bible had driven them crazy. How little they knew that it was lack of Bible knowledge that was accountable for their wretched mental state-an absolutely unscriptural use of isolated passages of Scripture!

At last I became so troubled I could not go on with my work. I concluded to resign from the Salvation Army, and did so, but was persuaded by the colonel* to wait six months ere the resignation took effect. *Answering to a bishop in other denominations.* At his suggestion I gave up corps work and went out on a special tour – where I did not need to touch the holiness question. But I preached to others many times when I was tormented by the thought that I might myself be finally lost, because, "without holiness no man shall see the Lord"; and, try as I would, I could not be sure I possessed it. I talked with any who seemed to me to really have the blessing I craved; but there were very few who, upon an intimate acquaintanceship, seemed genuine. I observed that the general state of "sanctified" people as was low, if not often lower, than that of those whom they contemptuously described as "only justified."

Finally, I could bear it no longer, so asked to be relieved from all active service, and at my own request was sent to the Beulah Home of Rest, near Oakland.
It was certainly time ; for five years' active work, with only two brief furloughs, had left me almost a nervous wreck, worn out in body and most acutely distressed in mind.

The language of my troubled soul, after all those years of preaching to others, was, " Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" Finding Him not, I saw only the blackness of despair before me; but yet I knew too well His love and care to be completely cast down. H. A. I.

(To be continued.)

QUES. 21. – Will you please explain the 5th and 6th verses of the first chapter of the Song of Solomon ?

The Song of Solomon expresses the relations which will take place between the remnant of Israel and the Lord Jesus, her king, at the time of Israel's restoration to favor (Rom. 11).

She says, "I am black' – "the tents of Kedar" probably referring to this, as they were made of black camels' hair." The scorching sun – the "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be " – has burned her and she has learned her natural, sinful state. Yet she is comely "as the curtains of Solomon." They were beautiful curtains, those curtains of Solomon. So grace will make Israel beautiful when they repent of their sins, even as with us when we repent, though with us, the Church, grace goes much farther, and lifts us much higher.

And have not the Jews been made to suffer among all nations, instead of living in peace and happiness in their own land, had they not rejected their own Messiah? No wonder therefore this converted remnant will exclaim, "They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept."

As in creation God has a system which appears in all His creatures, however great differences between them may be, so in redemption He follows the same course with all, however great dispensational differences may be between His people. Thus, whilst this book describes the relations between Christ and returning Israel, and the relations of Israel with Christ are very different from those of the Church with Christ, yet are the exercises therein described most instructive to us individually.

We would advise you to procure from our Publishers "The Song of Solomon," by Andrew Miller, 65 cts., and ''Meditation on the Song of Songs," by H. Friend, 20 cts., post-paid.

Note to a former question from a European subscriber.

Dear Mr. Editor, – Kindly allow me some remarks on Ques.. 18, in your June number. Your correspondent asks of whom the man in the parable bought the field. I believe the body of Scripture permits us to answer with precision.

We know that in this "man" is figured the Lord Jesus Himself. The field represents the world-the scene where man has become the slave of sin and of Satan.

The work of redemption has for its object to deliver such as believe on Jesus from the power of sin, of death, and of Satan. The price of this redemption, which the Lord must pay to deliver us righteously from those powers, was His life. He therefore offered it up for us, "an offering and a sacrifice to God"; not, of course, to Satin, " the prince of this world." By this sacrifice-this obedience unto the atoning death of the cross-Christ has acquired the possession of all that trust in Him.
But there is more :The scene of God's first creation having been alienated by man-man placed as head and ruler over it-the Redeemer had to make it all good, and glorify God where He had been robbed and dishonored; so the Redeemer "sold all He had" (what had He left as He hung on the cross in those hours of darkness?) to get possession of that world which, now defiled, was only fit for destruction. And this is true not only of the earth, but of the heavens also, where the work and power of Satan are seen as well. Therefore are they given to Jesus in resurrection (Matt. 28 :18).

Satan presented himself to Jesus in the temptation to sell Him the field, with its riches and glories. But he lied when he said all these things were delivered unto him. It is by craft he became "the prince of this world," and by the false use of the superior power given him originally as a creature. We learn in the Revelation that it is by the same means he will lead men into the most abominable forms of apostasy. The Lord would not have the field from him, nor did He yield for an instant to his pretensions. The cross was the only righteous means of redemption ; and so, in infinite love, He submitted to the cross.

The "Treasure" and the "Pearl" (Matt. 13:44-46) were precious in His sight. The "Treasure," that is, Israel (see Ex. 19 :5 and Ps. 135 :4), had been given the earth for its possession. Christ came to possess Himself of this treasure as -Hi's people and His kingdom upon earth; but being rejected, He left the treasure hidden until a future day, when, having received the kingdom, and the remnant of Israel being born of God and His true people, then the treasure will no longer be hid.

In the actual form of the kingdom as seen in the parables of Matt. 13 (a form greatly changed on account of the absence of the King), they who are children of God form the Church, as represented by " one pearl of great price." Special love seems to mark this. A pearl is for personal adornment, as the Church is to be for Christ. The "Treasure "has twelve tribes. The " Pearl" is " one pearl " of supreme value to the Purchaser.

Christ has bought the field for the sake of the "Treasure " in it, from the hand of Him who could righteously have destroyed it and all it contains. The love of Christ has done this ; and Christ is more precious to God than all the creation ; but all has become precious to Him which has cost the sacrifice of His Son to redeem it. S. C.

Translated by the Editor.

QUES. 22.-How do you reconcile Acts 9:7 with Acts 22:9? In the former the companions of Paul are spoken of as " hearing a voice," and in the latter it is said,"They heard not the voice." In the former the Greek word translated voice is in the genitive case, and in the latter it is in the accusative; but speaking of the apostle the accusative is used in a similar expression in Acts 9:4, and the genitive in Acts 22:7, without apparently any difference in meaning.

ANS.-The "voice" in the first case is simply the sound, whilst in the second it is the matter communicated. An illustration occurs in John 12:28, 29. In answer to the Lord's call, "Father, glorify Thy name," there came a voice from heaven, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." The people standing by heard the voice but said that "it thundered." Evidently they had heard the sound but not the matter uttered. Others who, in the voice, seem to have heard more than the mere sound said, "An angel spake to Him." Thus it could be said that they all heard the voice in the sense of the sound, and yet all did not hear it in the sense of the matter communicated.

In 1 Cor. 14:2 we have an exactly similar case to Acts 22:9-The word " understandeth " is the same in the original as in Acts 22:9; so we may say of one speaking in an unknown tongue, "no
man heareth him."

(Continued from p. 270.)

THE THIRD AND FOURTH DAYS. VERSES 9-19.

As the second day teaches lessons of separation to God for heavenly relations, with their ministry and blessing, so the third day speaks of resurrection-power and its results in the manifestation of the new nature. The earth brought up out of the waters typifies the new nature. The waters typify the old nature, or man in his natural state. The expanse and its agencies tell us of the domain and workings of the Spirit. On the third day we have that for which this ministry is specially intended. The earth must be brought up, that the benefit of the expanse may be ministered to it. And for the earth, now brought up, to produce fruit, it is dependent upon the influence of the expanse.

The earth thus brought up from under the mantle of death point to the state of liberty-that holy liberty in Christ Jesus which gives power over evil. Yesterday it was living in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Today it is walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16).

The waters subside-the evil nature is put and kept in its place. The earth appears-the creature, as new-born, emerges from under the watery swathe of sin and darkness into the light and the heavenly ministry of the expanse. As a result, the earth is covered with the garment of life. It is the manifestation of life.

There are distinct features to mention as to this day's work.

1. Let the waters be gathered together. At both the Red Sea and Jordan the waters were gathered together that the dry land might appear, and thus open the way of victory for God's people:first, over the power of reigning sin (Rom. 6:1-14); second, over the body of sin and death to which the Christian finds himself linked (Rom. 8).

2. Let the dry land appear. We who were dead in our sins (under the waters) He has quickened together with Christ, and we are risen with Him (the earth appears), and are now to seek those things which are above (the expanse, the realm of the Spirit and His things) (Col. 2:13-3:i).

3. The dry land is called earth; that is, "to be firm," as the root of this word means. This tells of the eternally stable character of God's new creation work. It abides, without the remotest possibility of ruin, in the perfection and glory of its Beginning- Christ (Rev. 3:14).

4. The waters are called seas, from a root '' to roar," as breaking in noisy surf. Thus does the old nature, the flesh, chafe against the bounds set for it by the new. " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit" (Gal. 5:17). How often it dashes as noisy surf against the judgment held out against it in the cross of Christ, by which alone it is put and kept in its rightful place!

The preceding features of the day seem linked together as presenting the position of the new creature in Christ Jesus. In the following it is the fruit of the new life in progressive fulness. They follow in their order.
5. The earth brought forth grass.

6.And herb yielding seed after its kind.

7. And trees bearing fruit wherein is the seed thereof after its kind.

In the first place, it is grass, from the root "to sprout"-the first shooting out of the new life. The herb adds a further thought. Its root, "to glisten," gives the idea of testimony. The new life manifested in such a way as to glisten with a heavenly character yields seed that will produce fruit in its turn. Should there not be with us more of the seed-yielding from a clear and shining testimony? Does not the manifestation of divine life with us stop too often with the sprouting grass, instead of going on to the herb ? May God search our hearts as to this! We come to the full thought in the tree, its fruit and seed. The root word is "to fasten, or make firm." The roots penetrate the soil far and deep, establishing the tree in firmness and strength. So we, "rooted and built up in Him" (Col. 2:7), "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord" (Isa. 61:3; Jer. 17:7, 8), can bring forth that fruit which the Planter loves. It is precious when the new life is thus abundantly manifested. And do we not find here the three classes of the parable of the sower-the thirty, sixty, and hundredfold-bearing? Oh that we knew more the blessedness of such growth! The great snare of these last times is giving undue attention to growth in the things of this world, like a rank overgrowth along the cursed ground, instead of the shooting upward toward heaven above, tree-like, firmly rooted in Christ, and yielding abundant fruit for eternity. If we are to be fruitful branches in the vine, we must entwine around Christ, and not follow the serpent's trail in the dust.

We have seen that the new life we have in Christ is a life in resurrection. It brings us at once into a new scene. Christ, the source of it, is in glory, and our relationship is with Him and the heavenly things where He is. When under the waters, we could see nothing of this glorious sight. We were like the man born blind. But as raised up and in resurrection-position we walk in "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

We are told then that God made (1:e., arranged, or brought into relation to the earth) two great lights; also, the stars. Considering what the third day has taught us, does not the fourth reveal to perfection "the mystery of Christ" (Eph. 3:4)? The central orb-the sun-is Christ, the Sun of God's eternal day. In conjunction with Him, the redeemed, as expressed in the moon; then "every family" in the heavens, as told in the stars. All now linked up with Him, the Center and Head of glory. What an unfolding, to the eye of faith, of God's purposes and counsels is seen here! The revelation of this in Paul's epistles, of which we have here an illustration, tells how desirous God is to elevate faith into the realms of His new creation-a creation which issues from under the deep waters which rolled over our Saviour's soul as He hung upon the cross under the judgment of sin. All this is over now, and yonder He is, risen and glorified, the mighty Orb which rules the day, and we, once poor lost sinners, united to Him in all His glory.

Yes, even now, in all the weakness and unworthiness we justly realize in ourselves, we who are of faith are one with Christ as He is one with His Father-one with Him who, raised from the dead and set at God's right hand in the heavenlies, is ''far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come." As such He is Head of the Church, and-wondrous beyond all conception!-He says of that Church she is "His body, the fulness [complement] of Him who filleth all in all" (Eph; i:23). Save that He put such words into our mouth, we dare not utter them. It is grace beyond compare!

These lights are located in the expanse – that which we have seen as presenting the domain of the Spirit of God, the realm of faith. Their light and glory could only be received through the agency of the Spirit, who takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us (John 16:14, 15). Physically the expanse absorbs, takes in, the light, and communicates it to us. So also the Spirit. He is filled with the things of Christ:if we are filled with the Spirit, we will therefore think and speak of Christ also. By this means are we, moreover, "changed from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:18).

Distinct features are found in this day also.

1. The lights divide the day from the night, f he day is marked by the ruling of the sun. If we are in the light, therefore, which we truly are if we are Christ's, we are of the day, and thus under the direct rule of Christ. We thankfully own Him Lord. The night is divided from the day by the absence of the sun. It is ruled by the moon, which gives but a borrowed light-the light of God's people during the night of Christ's absence. It announces a coming day, however, the day when " they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

2. They are for signs, seasons, days and years. Surely, as signs, what a pledge they are to us of the fulfilment of every word of God. The certainty and exactitude of their movements regulate every movement of man on earth. Were every clock out of time, and every almanac false, those great luminaries would be still on time, telling truth while all else lies. To those of faith they tell the greater things of the new creation, and the sure accomplishment of every pledge and purpose of God.

3. "For lights in the expanse to give light upon the earth." Surely, if this expanse is typical of the Spirit's domain, the realm of faith, it is easy to understand the typical meaning of this feature. This domain is illuminated by "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James i:17). In the bliss and sunshine of such unchanging and unchangeable love we may well rest and worship.

4. "The greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night:the stars also."

God's people are delivered from the authority of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of God's love (Col. i:13). He rules over them. They, reflecting His light, shine in the night-the time of Christ's absence. The stars may well suggest angelic ministry incessantly going on. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 'shall be heirs of salvation ?" (Heb. 1:14.) If we, believers, are thus invested with the light which rules the night, how careful should we be that nothing in our lives and doctrines impair or cloud that light! What zeal we should have, every one, in pressing forward everywhere to spread the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!

" O fix our earnest gaze
So wholly, Lord, on Thee,
That, with Thy beauty occupied,
We elsewhere none may see."

And thus will our light truly shine. Thus shall we be like the "full moon," giving the light of eternal life in a scene of death and darkness. Thus, also, shall we "divide the light from the darkness," making men know and feel that though we are in the world, yet are we not of it (John 17:14). J. B.

(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 247.)

THE SECOND DAY.

VERSES 6-8.

The prominent feature of the work of this day is separation. In considering it, we must speak a little of the physical aspects of what God does, and see what spiritual lessons may be drawn therefrom. Spiritually, separation is plainly the next step after the work of the first day, which closed with its lesson that those who believe are "children of the day"; all others are children of the night. It is natural that we should now see them set apart to their own sphere, and learn there the functions and blessings which belong to it. They are a people separated through the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience of Jesus Christ (i Peter i:2). For this He first brings in the Light. He must first of all have the full manifestation of that obedience unto which His people are separated. So God separates the waters from the waters by bringing in the expanse and the activities carried on in it. Through the agencies at work in this expanse, waters are continually drawn up, and there purified and used for blessing to a parched earth. This illustrates the work of the Spirit in new birth, with its holy and blessed results. As in the previous day division had been effected between Light and Darkness, so now between the tumultuous, stormy waters below and the purified waters of blessing above. It is the children of day who, spite of their weakness, are in true blessing to a world in sin and ruin. All this tells the activities of the Holy Spirit, who, rising as it were from the brooding over the watery waste, stretches out heavenly wings to lift up high above the earth those waters (sinners saved by grace),and fit them both for God's enjoyment and the blessing of those who are yet of the night. Thus, as to position, they are above the earth, not of it any more. Their activities also are heavenly, though they be for the earth's blessing-all through the work of the Spirit of God.

The density of the dark and misty atmosphere which enshrouded the earth has been dissipated by
the bringing in of the expanse. The light is therefore diffused, and illuminates the whole scene. It is skylight. So the separation of God's people from the world is the diffusion of the light in which the Spirit has placed them.

The bringing in of this expanse was absolutely essential to all that pertains to life and its maintenance. So is the separation of God's people in the power of the Holy Spirit essential to all that pertains to eternal life and the maintenance of its outcome in the earth. A people professing to be God's, and walking on a level with the world, are no longer fit to be His instruments of blessing.

This expanse is the great reservoir of celestial heat. It tempers and retains the rays of light in the way the creature needs it. So God's separated people, furnished by the word of God, are God's depositary of truth for its distribution and ministry to all the world, according to the working of the Holy Spirit, who gives to each one such ability as He sees fit.

The expanse holds the light of departing day, and graduates the brilliancy of the dawning light, thus adapting the light and the shades of evening to our comfort. Thus does God give wisdom to a people in communion with Himself so to adapt the truth to the needs of men as to bring peace and rest through it.

It is also the medium of sound, and without it all the delights of human speech, music, etc., would be impossible. Dead silence would reign. It would be but a vast grave. Thus, apart from what the Spirit of God produces in a people separated to Him, what sound would there be heard on earth for the blessing of man, were there not a people who would hear the sound of the gospel of God's grace? And were that hushed, what sound would there be? What other sound is there whose music abides forever ? What tremendous things are in sound! An angelic choir sounding out in the expanse, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," has gladdened and set free millions of burdened hearts.

This expanse, laden with vapor, subdues and softens the dazzling brightness of the light which would otherwise be overpowering. The light thus becomes a transforming instead of destructive power (a Cor. 3:18). Without the expanse there would be no aerial perspective or gradation of color in the landscape; 1:e., we would not obtain a comprehensive view of objects, nor perceive the harmonious color effects which pervade nature. Thus, only through the Spirit do we get the proper perspective view of God's works and actions, and only so do we perceive the harmonious glories which fill them all.

Well may we exclaim with the psalmist, '' Praise Him in the expanse of His power" (lit., Ps. 150:i); and truly "the expanse showeth the work of His hands" (Ps. 19:i), whether in the natural or the spiritual realm. It is in the domain of the Spirit that we alone can trace aright the finger of God displayed in power, and see, wonder-filled and amazed, the marvelous works of His hand. May we enter into the domain thus opened up to us by the presence and indwelling of the Spirit of God, whose loving service it is to reveal the deep things of God to us (1 Cor. 2:10). J. B.

Three Remarkable Prayers.

They are in the ninth chapter of Daniel, the ninth of Ezra, and the ninth of Nehemiah- three men whose hearts yearned for the interests of the Lord in relation to Israel. They loved the Lord; and as His heart was set upon Israel, so were theirs. Israel's prosperity was to God's praise, and that was their joy. Israel's downfall was to God's reproach, and that was their sorrow. Such is God's delight in such men that He thus calls one of them:"O Daniel, a man greatly beloved."

Daniel had understood in reading Jeremiah the prophet that a rebuilding of Jerusalem and a reviving of exiled Israel was about to take place. It produces in him priestly intercession; he not only confesses his own sins, but the sins of the whole people; he does not accuse any one; he takes, in prayer and supplications, fasting, sackcloth and ashes, the place which it becomes all Israel to take before God.

Oh for such hearts now to be found in like manner before God in relation to the Church, which is the body of Christ! Were the desolations of Jerusalem-Israel's place of gathering and holy joy-and the scattering of the nation greater than what is now seen in the Church of God ?

The word of God by Jeremiah was fulfilled, and the prayer of Daniel answered. Jerusalem was rebuilt and the nation restored in part; but God leads His "man greatly beloved " further on:He directs his eye to the coming of "Messiah the Prince" "to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."

How far beyond Daniel's highest thoughts and expectations all this is! But so it is in God's ways:if only we have a heart that takes earnest interest in what God loves, in the measure in which we know it, He leads us further on. Who are they that enter in truth into the glorious purposes of God toward Christ and the Church but such as weep over present conditions.

Ezra's prayer follows in the sequence of events. The same love for the nation is in Him as in Daniel. He seeks nothing for himself-no wealth, no place, no power, no glory. Israel is linked with Jehovah's name, and that is cause enough for all the exercise and labor he passes through. He knows all blessing for the people depends on the place which God occupies in their hearts. The Altar and the Temple are therefore preeminent in his thoughts. If the atoning sacrifice of Christ-the basis of all true gathering to God-is not the prominent thing, there is nothing real, no tie with God.

But this great sacrifice, by which we draw nigh to God, tells in unmistakable terms of the holiness of God. What holiness must be God's holiness if the Son of His love must die and put away sin before we can approach God! And the people gathered back in the land had not realized that holiness. They had not separated themselves from what was an offence to God. They were still doing what had originally scattered them.

This prostrates Ezra, and makes him pray and confess. He does not proceed to smite the offenders. He does not drive the Lord's flock. Nor does he forsake them. To smite them would not have corrected the evil. To drive them would have scattered them into parties. To forsake them would have been to discourage them by saying, " I am the only righteous man left." He is a man of God, and therefore he does not so. He identifies himself with their sin, and confesses it before God. He is a true priest. This gathers the people to him; it makes them weep with him; it unites all against the wrong; it corrects it.

Oh for men of God to-day who can weep over the sad failures of those who had left Babylon to return to God's center of gathering, who do not pretend to be superior ones, or to occupy a superior place, but can eat the sin-offering for all as their own, confess it, and wait upon God! It is sweet to the flesh to draw a few around us and think our self some one. It is the power of grace to be nothing, that our Lord may have what belongs to Him. Nor does this wink at evil, as Ezra's subsequent course bears witness.

What a lovely effect all the foregoing has produced, as seen in the third prayer in Nehemiah:Israel as a whole is in the place where we have seen both Daniel and Ezra. The word of God has resumed its power over them, and it leads them to hearty confession. They recognize that as God had judged their enemies because "they dealt proudly against them," so had He judged them because " they dealt proudly " toward God. They recount all His mercies, are ashamed of their past pride and wilfulness, own their lowly estate still, yet praise and worship Him.

What lessons the word of God has for us all!

Reviews.

A number of things have been sent us for review, all of which prove how rapidly the spirit of apostasy is developing-a leading sign of the approaching end of the dispensation in which we are now.

Love "rejoiceth not in iniquity," though the rising apostasy intimates that the blessed hope of the people of God is drawing near. Iniquity necessitates judgment; and if judgment is God's "strange work," it must also be so to the Christian mind. But may we all realize the present special need of clinging to the word of God!

One of the publications sent is "Baptism in Plain English," issued by the "American Christian Missionary Society."Its gospel is baptism by immersion in water-not the Cross of Christ. To be "born of water" in John 3:5 is baptism by immersion- not the word of God. Paul preached baptism by immersion-this was his gospel. Now, as he said "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed," it logically follows that any one who does not preach this gospel of baptism by immersion must be accursed. (!)

It is painful indeed to see how men can thus be deceived and labor to deceive others; for, far from making baptism his gospel, Paul himself contrasts his gospel with baptism in i Cor. i:17.There he says,"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." Men therefore may baptize and rebaptize, and harp on baptism, and yet not preach '' the gospel of God . . . concerning our Lord Jesus Christ." This seems to be the case with the publication in question. It preaches salvation by works, and easy works at that-to be put under Water. Paul's gospel is, " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:it is the gift of God:not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).

Another of these publications is, "A Sermon by the Rev. John H. Dietrich, St. Mark's Memorial Reformed Church, Pittsburgh, Pa." After ridiculing the account of the creation in Gen. i, aspersing the character of God in the Old Testament, denying the downfall of man, making a jest of the inspiration of the Scriptures, accounting the atoning blood of Christ of no saving value, denying the existence and actual power of the devil, he cries down everlasting punishment, etc.

A paper which recently came to our hands, though written for another purpose, and not altogether in the form which we might choose, sheds so true a light on most of this "sermon" that we give it here as our answer; at least, that part which is adapted. The paper represents Satan "as having assembled the "principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world," and addressing them thus :

" I have convened you for a purpose of more than ordinary importance. You have been both enthusiastic and painstaking in executing, even to its details, all the work that has been committed to your hands during the ages of our warfare against the kingdom of heaven, and I want to thank you.

"The project about to be divulged I count the most difficult of any I have ever set before you. The time is short. We are approaching the end of the age, and whatever additions are made to my kingdom must be made quickly. We are operating in every avenue of possible gain except one. I propose that we shall now enter the circle of the very elect, and by concession of everything but the essentials of Truth seduce the good from the path of salvation. We will enter, permeate, and paralyze the churches. We will operate the plan only among people of character, culture, and knowledge.

"Many centuries ago I taught you the simplicity of the plan of salvation perfected and launched by Jesus Christ for the saving of sinners. It was made so easy that children and fools might understand it. Faith in Him as Son of God and Saviour of men was all that was required. We have succeeded in surrounding these only essentials of salvation with great masses of debris, which have deceived the multitudes and kept them in our hands. Nevertheless, we have not been altogether successful.

"Now I propose to create a church of my own, which will so counterfeit the genuine that it cannot be detected save by experts in the knowledge of God.. It will teach love, joy, humility, peace, gentleness, longsuffering, patience, hospitality, integrity, justice, liberality, and nearly all the fruit of the Spirit of God. None of these things which I have named as the essentials of my church are the essentials of salvation. I propose to appropriate such of the fruits of salvation as I can, and leave the salvation itself out. I will give the people the apples from the tree, but they shall not have the tree, nor the life in the tree which produces the apples.

" But how will you conceal the essentials of salvation from the people ?" asked one of the princes.

"By allowing them to suppose that they are included in the system," was the reply. "As I have said, there are but two of them. The first is that Jesus Christ is Deity. We will tell them that Jesus is the Son of God, but that they also are sons of God. We will not teach Christ as the only begotten of the Father, but we will constantly inculcate the doctrine of their own divine sonship. As they become exalted in their own opinions consequent upon this teaching, the necessity of exalting the doctrine of the Deity of Jesus will disappear. Thinking they worship Jesus, they will be really worshiping themselves, which is equivalent to worshiping me."

"The other is that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. But the Scriptures say that 'the blood is the life.' We will ring the changes upon this, and by the time we get through with it the blood will have disappeared and the life only remain. We will continually show forth the beauties in the life and character of Jesus, and discount the value of His sacrifice and death. We will also show how shocking to refined sensibilities is the thought of blood. It will not be long until the sort of culture we teach will reject the blood as a sanguinary and abhorrent topic. They will then prefer to hear about His life and virtues. We will teach them that the imitation of His life is sufficient. When questioned concerning the blood we will simply declare that ' the blood is the life,' and it is the life we are after. We will have nothing unpleasant in our religion. You will admit that so long as the membership of our church do not believe in the Deity of Christ and blood-atonement for sin they may believe and practice everything else in the Bible and still belong to us. Is it not so ?"

Alas, it is but too true! And this is what comes of setting up as teachers of truth men who may have been at man's school, but not at God's; who have never been born of God; never learned their own hearts in the presence of God; men who therefore have no need of the Saviour whom God has provided for sinners. And can it be that a whole congregation of professing Christians can sit under such a "sermon" without misgivings and fears rising up in their bosoms ?

IN TWO PARTS.

PART ONE:AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL.

PART TWO:DOCTRINAL.

BY H. A. IRONSIDE.

Preface.

For over twelve years I have considered the advisability of penning these papers. There seemed some good reasons why it might not be wise; there seem to me now to be more why I should undertake it.

The two chief reasons that have come before me to hinder my writing them heretofore are these:

(a) The detailing of a large measure of personal experience is necessarily involved. This is distasteful to many, and to none more than to myself. But I have been much impressed lately with the many instances in which the chief of the apostles uses his experience as a warning and lesson to others who would put confidence in the flesh. For this cause alone I am at last persuaded to narrate my own endeavors to attain perfection by following the so-called "holiness teaching." There can surely be no charge brought against me of glorying in self in so doing. The record is too humiliating for that. Nor do I desire to take a morbid satisfaction in detailing my failures. But for this recital of my past errors and present blessedness I have not only apostolic example, but the entire book of Ecclesiastes is a similar record; written only that others might be spared the anguish and disappointment of treading the same weary path.

(b) It is difficult to write an account like this without apparent criticism of the organization to which I once belonged, both as to its methods and its doctrines. This I shrink from. Many of my old "comrades" are still toiling as I once toiled in what they believe is a God-raised-up and God-directed "Army"; whose teaching they consider to be fully in accord with Scripture; and I know this record must give some of them pain. I would spare them this if I could. But when I reflect that thousands are yearly being disheartened and discouraged by their teaching; that hundreds yearly are ensnared into infidelity through the collapse of the vain effort to attain the unattainable; that scores have actually lost their minds and are now inmates of asylums because of the mental grief and anguish resultant upon their bitter disappointment in the search for holiness; I feel I should not allow sentimental reasons to hinder my relating the unvarnished truth, in the hope that under the blessing of God it may lead many to find in Christ Himself that sanctification which they can never find elsewhere, and in His Cross that exhibition of perfect love which they will look for in vain in their own hearts and lives.

Therefore I send forth these papers, praying that both the experimental and doctrinal parts may be helpful to many and hindrances to none; and in commending it to the reader's spiritual intelligence, I would earnestly beseech him to "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good."

(Concluded.)

I desire now to add a few words on the prophetic Scriptures.

The prophets who were used of God to give them to us have passed off the scene and entered into their rest. The Scriptures have been completed; but we still need, as we have already said, the ministry that brings the written Word home to us-a ministry that brings heart and conscience into exercise before God, deepens the work of the Spirit, and maintains the life in practical sanctification. The need of this ministry is apparent to all who love the truth and the interests of the Lord, and it will be needed to the end.

Nor should we neglect the prophetic Word. We need to be versed in the whole word of God if we would be men suited to God; for could He have revealed anything which He would have us indifferent about ? Do we not lose something therefore in our Christian character and equipment if we neglect any part whatever of the Scriptures ?

As we search these prophetic portions we find that it is "a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the Morning Star arise " (2 Pet. i:19). With such an assurance before us how can we, without loss, neglect such a precious part of the sacred Scriptures ? What mines of wealth are there for our enjoyment! What vast fields to explore, in which to enrich our minds, our hearts, and our lives! But for this we need to be in sincere communion with God. Mere intellectual pleasure would soon serve as a snare, as a mere acquirement of knowledge, which in itself "puffeth up." When the prophet ate ''the roll," and John the "little book," it was first in the mouth sweet as honey. But this was only the first stage of exercise with the truth; later it became bitter (Ezek. 3:1-3; Rev. 10:7-11). This last was for them, and will be for us, the true and proper effect of prophetic truth upon the soul.* *We are never to place a premium upon ignorance of any part of God's revealed truth. God looks for intelligence among His people and He has furnished them with every requirement to that end.*

At first when the mind takes in the great truths concerning the future, whether of the Jews, of the nations or of the Church, a flood of light is given by it, with great enjoyment at getting a clear grasp of those great revelations which, when seen in their true setting, make the Holy Scriptures from end to end one harmonious whole. Many, however, we fear, remain here. It is the sweetness of the honey. What but sweetness could it be to be made the depositories of the mind of God ? To be let into God's magnificent plans and purposes concerning both the heaven and the earth! John and Ezekiel, upon reaching this second stage, in taking home the full import of these communications, and the solemn realities of God's dealings with all of man's sin and rebellion upon the earth, experienced the "bitterness" of the communications, as at first they tasted its sweetness. Thus God leads His servants to experience the import of what is conveyed in His word; and from this let none turn aside, that no traffic be made with such serious and sacred things. The heart must feel the bitterness as well as the blessed sweetness, else we play into the hands of the enemy-with how
much injury to our souls as well as to the truth which we may communicate to others. It cost the prophets and apostles through whom they were communicated bitter tears and trials in their pathway. Their state of soul must needs be in keeping with their message, and their pathway in accord with the pathway of Him who is ever' the Center and Soul of every communication of God. All therefore who become depositories of these communications must, if they would please God, needs be "vessels unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use."

The day to which the prophetic word points is drawing near, when the Lord's people of our present dispensation are to be removed from earth to heaven (i Thess. 4:13-18). Then come God's dealings with all evil upon earth in a series of judgments poured upon the unbelievers-the unconverted left behind-the preliminary of their eternal damnation. We who are the children of God will be delivered from those judgments, as we are from the eternal judgment, for we will be with Christ on high.

Prophecy informs us of these coming events, for God wants us to have fellowship with Him. This makes our blessings very great, but also our responsibilities. May they move us in such a way as to make the roll of prophecy bitter as well as sweet. May we upon our knees cry, Lord show us Thy way, and give us grace to take up in a prayerful spirit our responsibilities, and serve Thee, in passing on to others the truth as revealed, as well as the gospel that saves men, before the final crisis comes.

The prayerful student of prophecy will by the power of the truth be transformed into a wholehearted evangelistic worker, and the whole truth in all its parts is the means by the power of the Holy Spirit to produce practical sanctification. In this manner is the true spirit of Christianity displayed; and anything that stops short of this has failed in the object of the word of prophecy concerning us. The true evangelistic spirit follows the taking to heart the whole truth revealed in prophecy. The service may be by voice or by pen; from the platform or from door to door; through the press, by individuals, or a collection of individuals; but truth in the heart is bound to work. It turns every talent to good account. It produces in its service the self-denial and love which ever characterized our Lord Himself, who always sought the good of others. The natural selfish heart is changed into a liberal giver. "Freely ye have received, freely give."

Before the flood God opened the great future to Enoch who walked with Him. Afterward, to Abraham the friend of God, He revealed the doom of Sodom. Joseph, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets all along the line, had the prophetic Word before them. How different it was with the Antediluvians, and Lot in the very days of Abraham. They remained in darkness as to God's mind. May we, like Enoch be the depositories of the truth; like Noah, faithfully warn others; like Abraham, keep free from the world soon to be judged. May we have our loins girt about, our lamps trimmed and shining, and be "like men who wait for their Lord." A. E. B.
"AS UNKNOWN AND YET WELL KNOWN."

Badges.

The badge of Judaism was circumcision. That of Christianity is baptism. The first is a piece of the man taken off. The other is the whole man buried. Therein lies the immense difference between the two. Judaism, whose principle is law, and was ordained of God for a new test of man, proposed only the cutting off of his bad ways and the taking up with good ones. Christianity, introduced and established upon the revelations made by that test, reaches to the root. It says in its badge, You have been proved sinful to the core; you need not wait till the day of judgment to be tried; you have been tried and are condemned already; by the sentence of God you are now a dead man and you need a new life-not a mending of the old, but an altogether new one, the eternal life which dwells in Christ from all eternity, which He imparts to every one who casts the look of faith upon Him. It is a life whose nature is like God's, holy; to which sin can never attach, and from which sin can never proceed. And the Holy Spirit imparted to those who possess it, gives power to that new life to bring forth fruit to God, and to make it manifest that they are the children of God.

Thus, while the principle of Judaism is Law, because man was yet under trial, the principle of Christianity is Grace, because man under the trial has been condemned, and a condemned man has no hope save in the grace of supreme power.

This explains too why man naturally loves Law and hates Grace.

The one leaves him still a hope of getting on without a Saviour; the other leaves him none. Only such as are conscious of being condemned already can possibly love Grace, and to such the Lord Jesus Christ is everything, for "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Such also learn to glory only in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it was there the claims of God's holy law were met, and from there grace righteously flows down to us unto eternal life.

"Glory unto Jesus be !
From the curse who set us free ;
All our guilt on Him was laid,
He the ransom fully paid."

Why God MUST judge sin, and judge it ETERNALLY?

There is no subject which, disturbs men like that of eternal judgment. There is no end of the twisting and turning to which they have resorted to nullify the plain and abounding statements of it in Scripture. Yet it requires but little thoughtfulness to see the absolute necessity of it.

Sin produces abundant wrong between man and man, as we know too well, but though we may thoughtlessly imagine this is all of it, it is far from being so.

"Sin is lawlessness" says the correct rendering of i John 3:4. That is, it is that mind in the creature which refuses subjection to Him who, being the Creator, is also the Governor. The question then is this, Is God going to govern, or the creature ? Who is finally going to occupy the throne which will rule heaven and earth, to the eternal peace and blessing of all who love what is good ?

Suppose some wicked man, robber and murderer, gathered to himself others like himself, and sought to overthrow the government of the United States, what would be the plain duty of the government? These men might commit crimes against their fellows, but that is not the root of the matter. They want to overthrow the Power, so that they may have their own way at all times and everywhere, and this is what must be put down, and put down for good. Love for the nation and its welfare demands it.

Lawlessness, or sin, has come into that great creature, Satan. He is a robber and a murderer, and he wants the throne. Man, another great creature, has done the same. He has joined with Satan to cast God off the throne and have it for himself. God must judge the rebels or be dethroned by them. He must consign them to eternal chains, or they would forever disturb the peace and bliss of His realms, as they have been doing ever since they rebelled.

Under limitations God has permitted this revolt to go on thus far, because of great, and good, and glorious ends which He has determined to bring about in connection with His Son Jesus Christ, and all who now own Him and cease to be rebels.

But those ends which He has revealed in His Word are now nearing completion, and then, swiftly and in the majesty of His power, He will show that the throne is His, and that none shall henceforth disturb its blessed, fatherly rule of love forever.

The Secret of Power for Christian Testimony.

" Many things I suppress and hold back for the sake of the prince and our university. If I were elsewhere, I should vomit them out against Rome, or rather Babylon, the devastator of Bible and Church. The truth about the Bible and the Church, my Spalatin, cannot be discussed without offending this beast. Therefore do not hope that I shall be quiet and undisturbed unless you wish me to give up theology altogether. Let our friends think me mad. This affair will not have an end, if it be of God, until all my friends desert me, as His disciples and acquaintances deserted Christ, and truth be left alone, which will save itself by its own power, and not by mine, nor thine, nor any man's. This hour I have expected from the beginning. If I perish, the world will lose nothing. The Wittenbergers, by the grace of God, have already progressed so far that they do not need me at all. What will you ? I, worthless man that I am, fear I may not be counted worthy to suffer and die for such a cause. That felicity belongs to better men, not to so vile."-Luther.

We underline those words of Luther's which reveal the secret of his power in testimony. Truth had set that dear man's soul free. He knew its power therefore, and trusted it. As to himself, he was nothing. He may well be borne with for the violence of his language against that great enemy of truth-Rome.

Had the multitude of so-called Protestants, who are n ow drifting back toward Rome, known the power of truth in their souls as did Luther, they could never smile on that " Mother of Harlots" as they do. Were even statesmen true lovers of their country, they could never offer her protection, for they must know that instead of being "subject to the powers that be," as the word of God enjoins upon all Christians, she is ever plotting to bring the powers in subjection to her.

To the editor of help of food

Dear Brother:

In "Correspondence"of last month's help and food (page 276) Mr. Ironside has strongly and justly commented upon a paper by A. C. F. Allow me space to add a few words concerning a statement in the said paper which, I believe, should also be exposed.

In the 3rd paragraph of the quotation from A. C. F. it says:" Of these defective human laws it is written in Rom. 13:1-5, ' They are ordained of God.'" I would call the attention of your readers that in neither this, nor any other portion of Scripture, is such a doctrine ever found. How is it that a Christian can make such an untrue statement and dare refer to Scripture to support it ? Scripture indeed says, " There is no power but of God:the powers that be are ordained of God." Governments have thus their origin and authority from God. They have been appointed of God for the maintenance of order in a sinful world, for the protection of them that do well, and the punishment of them that do evil. We learn this in the 4th verse, and in Gen. 9:5, 6, where government with discipline extending even unto death is first committed to man.

But where has God given man authority to frame " defective laws" and invest them with His authority ? " The powers that be are ordained of God," truly; and we joyfully submit to, and thank God for, them as God's appointed ministers, paying tribute for their support. If God's minister, or servant, turns against God-what then ? A. C. F. falsely answers, " Of these defective human laws it is written, ' They are ordained of God.' " Scripture not only says not this, but flatly contradicts it. As Mr. Ironside has pointed out, Peter and John are not deterred from obedience to God by the religious rulers' command in Acts 4; and in chap. 5:29 they answer again, "We ought to obey God rather than men," and in Dan. 3, we hear the three faithful young Hebrews give the same answer to the highest potentate of earth. Only let it ever be in the spirit of obedience to God-not of independence or rebellion against "powers" miscarrying their authority. The endeavor to fasten upon God's people an admittedly wrong church-judgment betrays A. C. F. into allying himself in doctrine with "that woman Jezebel which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants " (Rev. 2 :20). T.

QUES. 29.-Would you kindly give some thoughts on "Free Agency?" Is man a free agent, saved or unsaved? Is not a lost sinner a slave of Satan, and thus not a free agent ? Could you say of a saved man that he was a free agent, and in what sense ?

ANS.-"Free Agency" is a theological tenet the discussion of which has ever made two parties among the people of God; one practically denying that man is a lost, ruined being; the other, that he is a responsible being, fully accountable to God for all he does, or refuses to do-this tending to fatalism. The word of God maintains both, and thus makes an end of party-making.

It declares man absolutely lost in his natural state, "horn in sin," "guilty," and "condemned already," without a shadow of hope outside of Christ; he must be "born anew "-not improved, but born. But God has made the fullest provision for man in this state, Christ has been lifted up on the cross to impart, through faith, new life to men. He is the propitiation for the sins of them all, that they may be freed from their guilt and condemnation. So now He commands all men everywhere to repent-to confess their lost condition and their guilt-and by faith to lay hold of His gracious provision in Christ.

That man of his own will refuses all this is true; that by his refusal he compels God to proceed further in grace, that Christ may have a "seed" and "see of the travail of His soul," is also true. Thank God for this, else " we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrah." But God, who knows man to his depths, and who understands perfectly where his responsibility begins and ends, and who cannot be unjust, holds him fully responsible to repent, to be born anew, and to be washed from his sins. If he refuses this rich provision made for him in Christ, he must not only give account to God for all the sins he has committed, but also for his rejection of that provision which would have cleared him from all.

Notice well that everywhere in Scripture, when God's sovereignty is brought to the front, it is after man has violated his responsibility. The message being refused, the messenger turns back to God, in whose sovereign grace alone there is hope.

(Continued from page 24.)

FAITH’S RESOURCE.

"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference; but others save with fear, snatching [them] out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh " (vers. 20-23).

Dark and gloomy as the picture has been drawn for our warning by the pen of inspiration, there is yet no cause for despair. "Upon this rock," said Christ, " I will build My Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it." The final result is sure. Victory will rest on the blood-stained banner of the Prince of peace. In the hour of His triumph His faithful ones shall be the sharers of His glory. And in the present moment of their trial and His rejection they have an abundant solace and cheer, however the power of Satan may be manifested and error seem to be about to vanquish truth.

The saint of God needs to daily build himself up on his most holy faith. It is the revealed will of the Lord that is so called here, as in verse 3, That faith has been once for all revealed. On it the believer rests. Assured that it forms a foundation impregnable to every attack by men or demons, he is now to build himself up upon it. This implies continual feeding upon the Word, that the soul may be nourished and the spirit edified.

But linked up with this we have prayer in the Holy Spirit:not perfunctory saying of prayers, but soul-communion with God, bringing to Him every need and every difficulty, assured that He waits in grace to meet the one and to dissolve the other. Praying in the Holy Spirit can only result from a walk in the Spirit. For if there be not self-judgment prayer will be selfish. We shall ask and receive not because asking that our own lusts may be gratified. But when Christ is before the soul, and the heart is finding its delight in Him, the Holy Spirit will Himself indite those petitions that God delights to grant.

A definite command follows:"Keep yourselves in the love of God." Mark, it is not, "Keep God loving you." Such a thought is opposed to that glorious revelation of Him whose nature is love. The Cross has told out to the full all that He is. Daily the believer is given to prove this loving-kindness. Nor does the apostle exhort us to keep loving God. The divine nature in every believer rises up in love to Him whose grace has saved him. "We love Him because He first loved us."

But here we are told to keep ourselves in the love of God. It is as though I say to my child, " Keep in the sunshine." The sun shines whether we enjoy it or not. And so God's love abides unchanging. But we need to keep in the conscious enjoyment of it. Let nothing make the tried soul doubt that love. Circumstances cannot alter it. Difficulties cannot strain it, nor can my own failure. The soul needs to rely upon it, and thus be borne in triumph above the conflict and the discouraging episodes incident to the life of faith.

Then we have a fourth exhortation, carrying the heart on to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to await His mercy unto eternal life. We have eternal life now, by faith in Him who is Himself
the life eternal. But we are going on to the scene where life shall reign, where everything will be suited to the life we already have communicated by the Spirit. This is at the end of the way; so the trusting soul looks up in hope and waits in patience for the return of the Lord.

The next verse tells us how to deal with bewildered souls, led astray by the wicked deceivers against whom we have been warned.

There is considerable manuscript variation here In addition to the text given above, the following is suggestive:"And some convict, when contending; but others save with fear, snatching them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." There is not much difference in the meaning of the exhortations. Either would direct that a godly discrimination be used in dealing with persons taken by error. A hard and fast rule for treating all alike is contrary to this verse, and to the tenor of all Scripture.

Undoubtedly souls have been driven more completely into evil systems by the rigor and harshness of well-meaning but unwise persons who so dreaded contamination with the error that they did not seek, in a godly way, to recover and clear the deceived one before refusing him their fellowship.

2 John 10 is decisive and simple as to a wilful teacher of what is opposed to the doctrine of Christ. Such are to be shunned, and even refused a common greeting.

But other methods apply to dealing with their dupes, often entrapped through ignorance; though undoubtedly a perverse will has been at work or they would have been kept by divine power in the
truth. Often what is needed is to deal with the perverted one as to his ways, rather than the teaching he has imbibed. When there is self-judgment the Paraclete can be depended on to do His blessed work of guiding into all truth.

Others need to be snatched from the fire; energetic effort made to warn and deliver ere the evil gets so firm a hold upon them that it will be too late to seek their blessing. But in every instance one needs to remember that unholy teaching is defiling and linked up with unholy living; so, care must be exercised lest, in seeking to aid another, one become himself besmirched by the evil influence, and become unfit to help others because his own fellowship with God in the truth has become marred.

Truth is learned in the conscience; and only as one walks carefully and soberly before God is there security from error. Because Hymenaeus and Alexander did not maintain a good conscience, they made shipwreck of the faith-as have untold thousands besides (i Tim. i:18-20). This is the necessary result of enlightenment in divine things depending on the Holy Spirit's activity in taking the things of Christ and revealing them to His own. Where He is grieved by a careless demeanor and loose ways He no longer establishes the soul in the truth, but His activity is manifested in bringing home to the conscience the sin and failure that have dishonored the Lord. Therefore, if there would be growth in the knowledge of His Word, there must be a walk in the power of the Spirit ungrieved.

So, in seeking the recovery of those who have erred from the truth, this ministry to the conscience must not be lost sight of. Otherwise there may be ability to overthrow the reasonings of one astray, to meet all objections by direct Scripture, even to cause one to see that his position is biblically and logically untenable, while yet the state of his soul is as wretched as ever.

But when the deceived one is dealt with in the fear of God, in holy faithfulness, his restoration to communion will be the first step sought:then he will be in a state to appreciate the seriousness of the evil teaching in which he has been taken as in a net when he wandered out of the right way.

But in all this there needs ever to be a godly concern lest one become himself defiled when seeking to recover another from defilement. This is what is especially emphasized in verse 23. H. A. I.

(Concluded in next number.)

CHAPTER I.

MY CONVERSION TO GOD.

It is my desire, in dependence on the Lord, to. write a faithful record, so far as memory now serves me, of some of God's dealings with my soul during the first six years of my Christian life, ere I knew the blessedness of finding all in Christ. This will make it necessary at times, I have little doubt, to "speak as a fool" – even as the apostle Paul did:but as I reflect on the need for such a record, I think I can say with him, "Ye have compelled me."

If I may be privileged to thereby save others from the unhappy experiences I passed through in those early years, I shall feel abundantly repaid for the effort it will take to thus put these heart experiences before my readers.

From a very early age God began to speak to me through His Word. I doubt if I could go back to the first time when, to my recollection, I felt something of the reality of eternal things.

My father was taken from me ere his features were impressed upon my infant mind. But I never have heard him spoken of other than as a man of God. He was known in Toronto (my birthplace) to many as "The Eternity Man." His Bible, marked in many places, was a precious legacy to me; and from it I learned to recite my first verse of Scripture, at the age of four. I distinctly recall learning the blessed words of Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost." That I was lost, and that Christ Jesus came from heaven to save me, were the first divine truths impressed on my young heart.

My widowed mother was, it seems to me, one of a thousand. I remember yet how I would be thrilled as she knelt with me as a child, and prayed, "O Father, keep my boy from ever desiring anything greater than to live for Thee. Save him early, and make him a devoted street-preacher, as his father was. Make him willing to suffer for Jesus' sake, to gladly endure persecution and rejection by the world that cast out Thy Son ; and keep him from what would dishonor Thee." The words were not always the same, but I have heard the sentiment times without number.

To our home there often came servants of Christ- plain, godly men, who seemed to me to carry with them the atmosphere of eternity. Yet in a very real sense they were the bane of my boyhood. Their searching, " Henry, lad, are you born again yet ?" or the equally impressive, "Are you certain that your soul is saved ?" often brought me to a standstill; but I knew not how to reply.

California had become my home ere I was clear as to being a child of God. In Los Angeles I first began to learn the love of the world, and was impatient of restraint. Yet I had almost continual concern as to the great matter of my salvation.

I was but twelve years old when I began a Sunday-school and set up to try to help the boys and girls of the neighborhood to a knowledge of the Book I had read ten times through, but which had still left me without assurance of salvation.
To Timothy, Paul wrote, "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15). It was this latter that I lacked. I had, it seemed to me, always believed, yet I dared not say I was saved. I know now that I had always believed about Jesus. I had not really believed in Him as my personal Saviour. Between the two there is all the difference that there is between being saved and lost, between an eternity in heaven and endless ages in the lake of fire.

As I have said, I was not without considerable anxiety as to my soul; and though I longed to break into the world, and was indeed guilty of much that was vile and wicked, I ever felt a restraining hand upon me, keeping me from many things that I would otherwise have gone into; and a certain religiousness became, I suppose, characteristic. But religion is not salvation.

I was nearly fourteen years old when, upon returning one day from school, I learned that a servant of Christ from Canada, well known to me, had arrived for meetings. I knew, ere I saw him, how he would greet me; for I remembered him well, and his searching questions, when I was younger. Therefore I was not surprised, but embarrassed nevertheless, when he exclaimed, "Well, Harry, lad, I'm glad to see you. And are you born again yet ? "

The blood mantled my face. I hung my head, and could find no words to reply. An uncle present said, "You know, Mr. M–, he preaches himself now a bit, and conducts a Sunday-school! "

" Indeed! " was the answer. " Will you get your Bible, Harry?"

I was glad to get out of the room, and so went at once for my Bible, and returned, after remaining out as long as seemed decent, hoping thereby to recover myself. Upon my reentering the room, he said, kindly, but seriously, "Will you turn to Rom. 3:19, and read it aloud ? "

Slowly I read, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." felt the application, and was at a loss for words. The evangelist went on to tell me that he too had been once a religious sinner, till God stopped his mouth, and then gave him a sight of Christ. He pressed on me the importance of getting to the same place ere I tried to teach others.

The words had their effect. From that time till I was sure I was saved, I refrained from talking of these things, and I gave up my Sunday-school work. But now Satan, who was seeking my soul's destruction, suggested to me, "If lost and unfit to speak of religious things to others, why not enjoy all the world has to offer, so far as you are able to avail yourself of it ? " I listened only too eagerly to his words, and for the next six months or thereabouts no one was more anxious for folly than I, though always with a smarting conscience.

At last, on a Thursday evening in February, 1890, God spoke to me in tremendous power while out at a gay party with a lot of other young people, mostly older than myself, intent only on an evening's amusement. I remember now that I had withdrawn from the parlor for a few moments to obtain a cooling drink in the next room. Standing alone by a refreshment table, there came home to my inmost soul, in startling clearness, some verses of Scripture I had learned months before. They are found in the first chapter of Proverbs, beginning with verse 24 and going on to verse 32 Here wisdom is represented as laughing at the calamity of the one who refused to heed instruction, and mocking when his fear cometh. Every word seemed to burn its way into my heart. I saw as never before my dreadful guilt in having so long refused to trust Christ for myself, and in having preferred my own wilful way to that of Him who had died for me.

I went back to the parlor, and tried to join with the rest in their empty follies. But all seemed utterly hollow, and the tinsel was gone. The light of eternity was shining into the room, and I wondered how any could laugh with God's judgment hanging over us, like a Damocles' sword, suspended by a hair. We seemed like people sporting with closed eyes on the edge of a precipice, and I the most careless of all, till grace had made me see.

That night, when all was over, I hurried home, and crept up-stairs to my room. There, after lighting a lamp, I took my Bible, and, with it before me, fell upon my knees.

I had an undefined feeling that I had better pray. But the thought came, "What shall I pray for?" Clearly and distinctly came back the answer, "For what God has been offering me for years. Why not then receive it, and thank Him ? "

My dear mother had often said, "The place to begin with God is at Rom. 3, or John 3." To both these scriptures I turned, and read them carefully. Clearly I saw that I was a helpless sinner, but that, for me Christ had died, and that salvation was offered freely to all who trusted in Him. Reading John 3:16 the second time, I said, "That will do. O God, I thank Thee that Thou hast loved me, and given Thy Son for me. I trust Him now as my Saviour, and I rest on Thy Word, which tells me I have everlasting life."

Then I expected to feel a thrill of joy. It did not come. I wondered if I could be mistaken. I expected a sudden rush of love for Christ. It did not come either. I feared I could not be really saved with so little emotion.

I read the words again, There could be no mistake. God loved the world, of which I formed a part. God gave His Son to save all believers. I believed in Him as my Saviour. Therefore I must have everlasting life. Again I thanked Him, and rose from my knees to begin the walk of faith. God could not lie. I knew I must be saved.

(To be continued.)

BY W. KELLY.

(Introductory to chapter 24.)

With the parable of the marriage which the King made for His Son (chap. 22) was terminated the double trial of the nation:first, on the ground of their responsibility as under the law; and next, as tested by the message of grace. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees-the leaders of the nation-are exposed and answered. It belonged to the Lord now to ask them the question of questions, not only for a Pharisee, but for any soul:'' What think ye of Christ ? Whose son is He?" He was David's son-most true. But was this truth the whole truth ? " How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, Jehovah said unto my Lord ?" etc. It was the key to all Scripture-the way, the truth, the life-the explanation of His position, the only hope for theirs. But they were dumb. They knew nothing, and could answer nothing. "Neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions." They were all silenced, those who pretended to most light! Not believing in Christ, they were destitute of the only key to Scripture; and in chap. 23 their judgment is pronounced according to divine justice.

But how touching is the Lord's lament over the guilty city-His own city:"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate " (vers. 37, 38). His glory shines out more than ever; the rejected Messiah is in truth Jehovah. He would have gathered, (and how often !) but they would not. It was no longer His house nor His Father's, but their's, and it is left unto them desolate. Nevertheless, if it be a most solemnly judicial word, there is hope in the end:" For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Israel are yet to see their King, but not till a goodly remnant of them are converted to welcome Him in Jehovah's name.

In this prophecy of our Lord on which we are now to enter, we see a confirmation of a great principle of God:that He never opens out the future of judgments on the rebellious, and of deliverance for His own people, till sin has so developed itself as to manifest total ruin. Take the very first instances in the Bible. When was it said that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head ? When the woman was beguiled, and man was in transgression through the wiles of the enemy; when sin had entered into the world, and death by sin. Again, the prophecy of Enoch, given us by Jude, was uttered when the term of God's patience with the then world was almost closed, and the flood was about to bear witness of His judgment on man's corruption and violence.

Thus, whether we look at the first prediction of Christ before the expulsion from Eden, or at the testimony of the Lord's coming to judge before the deluge, prophecy comes in when man has wholly broken down. So Noah, when failure in his own family, and in himself too, had come in, we see him led of the Holy Ghost into a prophetic summary of the whole world's history, beginning with the judgment of him who despised his father (even though it were to his own shame), and proceeding with the blessing of Shem and the portion of Japheth. So, later on, with the prophecies of Balaam and of Moses, "yea, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those that follow after;" for Samuel's is the striking epoch which the New Testament singles out as the commencement of the great line of the prophets. And why ? It was the day when Israel openly abandoned God as their King, consummating the sin which their heart conceived in the desert, when they sought a captain in order to return into Egypt. It was a proud crisis in Israel, whose blessedness lay in being a people separated from all around by and to Jehovah their God, who would surely have provided them a king of His own choice, had they waited for Him, instead of choosing for themselves, to God's dishonor and their own degradation and sorrow, in order to be like the nations.

The same principle conspicuously applies to the time when the great prophetic books were written
-Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest. It was when all present hope had fled, and David's sons wrought no deliverance, but rather through their towering iniquity and profane insults of God, He was at last morally forced to pronounce the nation Lo-ammi- "not My people." Before, and during, and after the captivity, the Spirit of prophecy laid bare the sin of kings, and priests, and prophets (false ones), and people, but pointed to the coming Messiah and the new covenant. And Him we have seen in our Gospel actually come, but growingly and utterly rejected by Israel, and all their own promises and hopes in Him; and now in the near prospect of His own death at their hands, and by it their worst of deaths, the rejected Lord takes up this prophetic strain.

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple." For what was it now ? A corpse, and no more. " Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.* *"The Lord of the temple was rejected; the house of Israel was given up ; the Glory was returning to heaven. (Compare Ezek. 10:2-4, 18, 19, and 11 :22, 23.) When the judgments upon Israel have turned them back to the Lord, the Glory returns the same way it had departed. Compare Ezek. 43:1-4, and Zech. 14:1-9.-[Ed.* "And His disciples came to Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things ? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down" (vers. i, 2). The hearts of the disciples then, as too often now, were occupied with the present appearances, and the great show of grandeur in God's service; the halo of associations was bright before their eyes. But Jesus passes sentence on all that even they admired on earth. In truth, when He left the temple, all was gone which gave it value in the sight of God. Outside Jesus, what is there in this world but vain show or worse ? And how does the Lord deliver His own from the power of tradition and every other source of attraction for the heart ? He opens out the communications of His own mind, and casts the light of the future on the present. How often worldliness un-judged in a Christian's heart betrays itself by want of relish for God's unfolding of what He is going to do! How can I enjoy the coming of the Lord if it is to throw down much that I am seeking to build up in the world ? A man, for instance, may be trying to gain or keep a status by his ability, and hoping that his sons may outstrip himself by the superior advantages they enjoy. On some such idea is founded all human greatness; it is "the world," in fact. Christ's coming again is a truth which demolishes the whole fabric; because, if we really look for His coming as that which may be from day to day-if we realize that we are set like servants at the door with the handle in hand, waiting for Him to knock (we know not how soon), and desiring to open to Him immediately (" Blessed are those servants! ")-if such is our attitude, how can we have time or heart for that which occupies the busy Christ-forgetting world ? Moreover, we are not of the world, even as Christ is not; and as for means and agents to carry on its plans, the world will never be in lack of men to do its work. But we have a higher business, and it is beneath us to seek the honors of the world that rejects our Lord. Let our outward position be ever so menial or trying, what so glorious as in it to serve our Lord Christ ? And He is coming.
In the cross we see God humbling Himself-the only One of all greatness stooping low to save my soul-the only One who commands all, becoming the Servant of all. A person cannot receive the truth of the Cross without having in measure his walk in accord with the spirit of it. Yet how much saints of God regard the cross, not so much as that by which the world is crucified unto them and they unto the world, but rather as the remedy by which they are set free from fear, to make themselves a comfortable place in the world ! The Christian ought to be the happiest of men; but his happiness should consist in what he knows is his portion in and with Christ. Meanwhile, our service and obedience are to be formed according to the spirit of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man's evil and God's grace thoroughly came out in the cross; all met there:and upon this great truth is founded what is said often in Scripture, "The end of all things is at hand;" because all has been brought out in moral ways and in dispensational dealings between God and man.

The Lord takes up the disciples where they were. They were believing godly Jews. Their associations connected Christ and the temple together. They knew that He was the Messiah of Israel, and they expected Him to judge the Romans and gather all the scattered ones of the seed of Abraham from the four winds of heaven. They looked for all the prophecies about the land and the city to be accomplished. There was no thought in the minds of the disciples at this time of Jesus going to heaven and staying there for a long time, nor of the scattering of Israel, and the Gentiles being brought in to the knowledge of Christ. Consequently this great prophecy on the mount of Olives starts with the disciples and with their condition. Their hearts were too much occupied with the buildings of the temple. But the Lord, now rejected, announces that "there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." This excited greatly the desire of the disciples to understand how such things were to come to pass. They were aware from the prophecies that there was a time of dismal sorrow for Israel, and the)' did not know how to put this together with their predicted blessing. They ask Him, therefore, "When shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and the end of the world (age] ? "

PART II.:DOCTRINAL.

(Continued from page 205.) SANCTIFICATION:ITS MEANING.

In commencing our inquiry on the subject of sanctification as taught in the Scriptures, it is of importance first of all that there be a clear understanding of the meaning which writer and reader attach to the word. For if the writer have one thought in his mind when he uses this expression, and the reader be thinking of something totally different as he peruses the treatise, it is not to be supposed that a common conclusion will ever be reached.

I propose, then, first of all, to let the theologians and the holiness teachers define the word for us; and then to turn to Scripture, there to test their definitions. Examples:" In a doctrinal sense sanctification is the making truly and perfectly holy what was before defiled and sinful. It is a progressive work of divine grace upon the soul justified by the love of Christ. The believer is gradually cleansed from the corruption of his nature, and is at length presented ' faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.' " This is a fair statement of the views held by ordinary Protestant theologians, and is taken from the Bible Dictionary edited by W. W. Rand, and published by the American Tract Society.

The secular dictionary definitions generally agree that " sanctification is an act of God's grace, whereby man's affections are purified and exalted." And this, it will be observed, practically accords with the definition already given.

Holiness writers are very explicit, and generally draw attention to what they suppose to be the difference between justification and sanctification. I shall not quote any of their authorities as to this, but put the teaching in my own language rather, as I often taught it in past years. My reason for this is that all holiness professors reading these pages may be able to judge for themselves as to whether I was "clear" as to the matter when numbered among them.

Justification, then, was supposed to be a work of grace by which sinners are made righteous and freed from their sinful habits when they come to Christ. But in the merely justified soul there remains a corrupt principle, an evil tree, or "a root of bitterness," which continually prompts to sin. If the believer obeys this impulse and wilfully sins, he ceases to be justified; therefore the desirability of its removal, that the likelihood of backsliding may be greatly lessened. The eradication of this sinful root is sanctification. It is therefore the cleansing of the nature from all inbred sin by the blood of Christ (applied through faith when a full consecration is made), and the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, who burns out all dross when all is laid upon the altar of sacrifice. This, and this only, is true sanctification-a distinct second work of grace, subsequent to justification, and without which that justification is very likely to be lost!

The correctness of the definition will, I think, be acknowledged by even the most radical of the "holiness " school.

Now let us test these statements by Scripture. And in order to do so intelligently, I purpose first to look at a number of passages in both Testaments, and see if in any of them either of the definitions
given above would make good sense and sound doctrine. I would observe that holiness and sanctification are equivalent terms; both words being used to translate the one Greek or Hebrew noun. Twelve prominent examples may suffice to show how the term is used in our Bibles.

(1) The sanctification of inanimate objects is distinctly taught in the Word:

"Thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar:and it shall be an altar most holy. And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it" (Ex. 40:10, 11).

Are we to suppose any change took place in the nature of these vessels ? or was there any evil element rooted out of them ?

Again, in Ex. 19:23 we read, "Set bounds about the mount [Sinai], and sanctify it." Was any change effected in the composition of the mountain when God gave the law upon it ? Let the reader answer fairly and honestly, and he must confess that here at least neither the theological nor the " holiness " definitions apply to the word " sanctify." What it does mean we shall see later, when we have heard all of our twelve witnesses.

(2) People can sanctify themselves, without any act of divine power, or any work of grace taking place within them. "Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves " (Ex. 19:22). Were these priests then to change their own natures from evil to good, or to destroy from within themselves the principle of evil ? Once more it is the readers' province to judge. I adduce the witnesses:they must be the jury.

(3) One man could sanctify another. "Sanctify unto Me all the first-born:… it is Mine" (Ex. 13:2); and, again, "The Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them; . . . let them wash their clothes" (Ex. 19:10). What inward change, or cleansing, was Moses to perform in regard to the first-born, or the entire people of Israel ? That he did not eliminate their inbred sin, the succeeding chapters amply testify.

(4) Persons can sanctify themselves to do iniquity. "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord" (Isa. 66:17). How monstrous a sanctification was this, and how absurd the thought of any inward cleansing here !

(5) The Son was sanctified by the Father. " Say ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John 10:36.) They, not He, blasphemed; and equally vile would be the blasphemy of any who said that sanctification, for Christ, implied a corrupt nature eradicated, or a perverse will changed. He was ever "that Holy Thing . . . called the Son of God."

There are not wanting "holiness" advocates who impiously dare to teach that the taint of sin was in His being, and needed elimination; but they are rightfully refused fellowship, and their teaching abhorred by all Spirit-taught Christians. Yet He, the Holy One, was " sanctified by God the Father," as Jude writes of all believers. Are we to suppose the expression means one thing in relation to Christ, and quite another in regard to saints ?

(6) The Lord Jesus sanctified Himself. "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17:19). If either of the definitions given above is to stand, then what are we to make of the fact that He who had been sanctified by the Father, yet afterward sanctified Himself ? Is it not plain that there is some great discrepancy here between the theologians, the perfectionists, and the Bible ?

(7) Unbelievers are sometimes sanctified. " For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by (in) the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by (in) the husband:else were your children unclean; but now are they holy [or sanctified]" (i Cor. 7:14). Here the life-partner of a Christian, though unsaved, is said to be sanctified. Is such a one, then, free from inbred sin, or undergoing a gradual change of nature ? If this be too absurd for consideration, sanctification cannot mean either of the experiences specified.

(8) Carnal Christians are sanctified. " Paul, called an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus." "I brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. . . . For ye are yet carnal:for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? " (i Cor. i:i, 2; 3:i, 3.) Carnal, and yet free from inbred sin ? Impossible! Nevertheless they who are declared to be sanctified in chapter 1 are said to be carnal in chapter 3. By no possible system of logical reasoning can the class of the latter chapter be made out to be different from those addressed in the former.

(9) We are told to follow sanctification. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness [sanctification], without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). In what sense could men follow a change of nature, or how follow the elimination of the carnal mind ? I follow that which is before me-that to which I have not yet fully attained in a practical sense, as the apostle Paul tells us he did, in Phil. 3:13-16.

(10) Believers are called upon to sanctify God! '' But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (i Pet. 3:15). How are we to understand an exhortation like this if sanctification implies an inward cleansing, or making holy what was before unclean and evil ? Is it not manifest that such a definition would lead to the wildest vagaries and the grossest absurdities ?

(11) Persons addressed as sanctified are afterward exhorted to be holy. "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. . . . As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (i Peter i:i, 2, 15, 16). Think of the incongruity here if sanctification and holiness refer to an inward work whereby inbred sin is rooted out of one's being! The sanctified are exhorted to be holy, in place of being informed that already they have been made absolutely that, and therefore need no such exhortation.
(12) The sanctified are nevertheless declared to be perfected forever. "For by one offering He hath forever perfected them that are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14). Who among the perfectionists can explain this satisfactorily ? Nothing is commoner among the teachers of this school than the doctrine of the possibility of the ultimate falling away and final loss of those who have been justified, sanctified, and have enjoyed the most marvelous experiences ; yet here the sanctified are said to be forever perfected-consequently shall never be lost, nor ever lose that sanctification which they have once been the objects of.

After carefully hearing these twelve witnesses, I ask my readers, Can you possibly gather from these varied rises of the word " sanctification " any hint of a change of nature in the believer, or an elimination of evil implied therein ? I feel certain that every candid mind must confess the word evidently has a very different meaning, and I design briefly to point out what that meaning is.

Freed from all theological accretions, the naked verb "to sanctify" means to set apart, and the noun "sanctification" means, literally, separation. This simple key will unlock every verse we have been considering, and bring all into harmony where discord seemed complete.

The vessels of the tabernacle were separated for divine service, even as Mount Sinai was set apart
to Jehovah for the giving of the law. The priests in Israel separated themselves from their defilement. Moses separated the people from unclean-ness, and set apart the first-born as dedicated to Jehovah. The apostates in Isaiah's day set themselves apart, on the contrary, to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord. The Father set the Son apart to become the Saviour of the lost; and at the end of His life on earth, His work accomplished, the Lord Jesus separated Himself and ascended to glory, there to become the object of His people's hearts, that they might thus be set apart from the world that had refused and crucified their Redeemer. The unbelieving wife or husband, if linked with a saved life-partner set apart to God, is thereby put in an external relation to God, with its privileges and responsibility; and the children are likewise separated from those who never come under the sound of the truth. All Christians, whatever their actual state, be they carnal or spiritual, are nevertheless separated to God in Christ Jesus; and from this springs the responsibility to live for Him. This separation is to be followed daily, the believer seeking to become more and more conformed to Christ. Persons professing to be Christians and not following sanctification, will not see the Lord; for they are unreal, and have no divine life. The Lord God must be set apart in our hearts if our testimony is to count for His glory. One may be set apart to God in Christ, and yet need exhortation to a practical separation from all uncleanness and worldliness. And, lastly, all so set apart are in God's sight perfected forever, as to the conscience, by the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross; for they are accepted in the Beloved, and eternally linked up with Him. Get the key, and every difficulty vanishes. Sanctification, in the Christian sense, is therefore twofold-absolute and progressive. H. A. I.

(To be continued.)

QUES. 30.-Kindly say, in your question page, whether it is the Lord's face or the believer's that is said to be open whether it is the in 2 Cor. 3 :18.

ANS. It is the believer's face. It is a contrast between the glory of the ministration of death shining on the face of Moses, and that of life and righteousness shining on the face of Jesus Christ. The people cannot look on the first glory; it condemns them all. Every man in Israel, therefore, must needs veil his face. Instead of this, Moses veils his own, which is practically the face of all Israel.

Not so with the ministration of grace which Christ brings. It bestows life and righteousness on man in which to meet God in perfect peace. We fear no more ; we draw nigh with uncovered face. And while the ministry of death comes to an end, this abides. We are brought by it face to face with God for ever and ever.

QUES. 31.-Three books on "Sickness among Saints," by Philip Mauro, were recently sent me, and they have greatly puzzled me. His reasoning seems logical. He says, "You cannot trust God and medicine." I surely desire to trust God ; but am I distrusting Him in using a remedy for my ills? A word from you would he very welcome ; and that not to me alone, but, I am quite sure, to not a few others.

ANS.-First of all, Mr. Mauro has a false notion of sickness, based on a false interpretation of Horn. 8 :11. The quickening of our mortal bodies mentioned in that passage he places at the present time, instead of that of the first resurrection. Of course, if our bodies are already quickened by the Spirit that dwells in us, we have no business to be sick at all. Being sick must be because of some evil way we are in, and therefore a guilty thing. If this be the case, medicine is, of course, not what we need, but confession.

That sickness is sometimes the visitation of God upon His children for evil indulged in there is no doubt. James 5 :16 refers to this; and when this is the case no medicine will be blessed of God till the sin is confessed. But this certainly was not the case with Timothy, to whom the apostle prescribes a remedy for his "often infirmities" (1 Tim. 5:23), Nor with Epaphroditus, who, for the work of the Lord, was sick nigh unto death (Phil. 2 :25-30). Nor with Hezekiah, for whose recovery the prophet Isaiah prescribes a remedy (Isa. 38 :21).

The real fact is that sickness is as truly the result of man's fall as death itself; and while both sickness and death may be used of God for specific judgment on some of His offending children (1 Cor. 11:29-32), they are as natural to fallen man, whether redeemed or unredeemed, as hunger and thirst are to created man.

If we humbly own our fallen state, we shall humbly own death and sickness as our lot here. We shall humbly thank God for preserving our life day by day, and as truly thank Him for any remedy which His providence has prepared for the relief of our ills. We will not run to the physician and medicine as if they were our hope. We will not put our trust in them, nor exalt them above their true place. We will thank God for the skillful physician and for the effective remedy, as we thank God for the faithful minister of Christ, though it is Christ Himself in whom alone we trust.
We do not question for a moment what you say of Mr. Mauro's Christian character, nor do we love him less for refusing his theories in this matter or in others.

We would commend for your reading " Faith's Resource in Sickness," by S. E. (5 cts., or 2 12d.), a most excellent pamphlet on this subject.

QUES. 32.-We know that infants go to heaven ; but once in heaven, are they infants still, or have they become adults?

ANS.-Scripture seems to give us little or no direct information on the subject. From 1 Cor. 13 :12 we learn that all these will be in perfection. With ns adult believers who have enjoyed here already the things of God, the state of perfection is more easily understood, but what will constitute the perfection of babes we are unable to say.

The cross we will surely have if we are faithful; and what of that ? It is a good thing for us; it draws us away from the world; it breaks the will; it delivers from self, by cutting, it may be, the next link to the heart. The cross has a delicious power, though not a pleasant thing:it would be no cross if it were. But it lifts up the believer, and makes him see what a portion he has in Christ, who waits to take those He has redeemed to Himself, "that where He is, there they may be also."

( Continued from page 16.) (Chaps. 9-11.)

In chapters 9-11 the apostle answers an objection which an unconverted Jew would naturally make to Christianity as it has been unfolded in the previous chapters. He would say that Israel, the descendants of Abraham, were the God-chosen nation entrusted with this testimony, and to whom the promises were made. He would claim that God had put into their hands the covenants and the promises, as well as the law. He would argue that Christianity, as the apostle has expounded it, nullifies all this, and makes the word of God to be without effect.

In answering this objection the apostle shows that he knows how to appreciate the force of it as it would be felt by an unconverted Jew who was imprecating Christ. In his own unconverted days he had done the same. He had justified the murder of the Son of God by the Jews. Their solemn declaration, "His blood be on us, and on our children," he had made his own. He had thus "wished himself accursed from the Christ." But now, since He had been revealed to him, and he was prostrate at His feet, there was constant heaviness and sorrow in his heart on the behalf of his brethren according to the flesh. This he affirms in the most solemn way. He is declaring the truth in Christ. He is not lying, as they thought (vers. 1-5).

Having thus assured his kinsmen after the flesh of his deep concern for them, and of his ability to understand their objection to Christianity, he goes on to show from the Old Testament Scriptures that Christianity in no way nullifies the word of God to Israel.

First, he appeals to the case of Isaac to show that the children according to the flesh are not the children of God. Isaac was not the seed of Abraham on the mere ground of the flesh, which Ishmael might also claim; but on the ground of promise it was that Isaac was reckoned to be Abraham's seed. The apostle thus clearly shows that not all who are of Israel are truly Israel. Those merely children of Abraham after the flesh are not counted to be his children in reality-not connected with faith and the promise to faith (vers. 6-9).

Furthermore, the case of Jacob and Esau illustrates still further the same truth. If Isaac was made the seed of Abraham by the word of God, it was the same also with Jacob. He had his place by grace-sovereign grace. It was the purpose and election of God, not works of flesh, that made Jacob the object of favor that he was. It was a calling and election of which God did not repent, as Mal. i:2, 3 sufficiently shows-written as it was after 1600 years of sin and failure on the part of Jacob's descendants. Plainly the election and calling was not founded on any foreseen goodness in Jacob as a man in the flesh. During all these years God had not transferred His favor from Jacob to Esau, though many might judge Esau to have been the better man. But God clearly had acted in His sovereign right in the purpose He had formed for Jacob, and in the call He had given him (vers. 10-13).

Jacob then, like Isaac, was a child of promise. It might be thought this choice of Jacob instead of Esau looks like unrighteousness. This the apostle strongly refuses, and justifies his refusal of it on the ground that in the case of the guilt of Israel in the matter of the golden calf God claimed it to be His right to show mercy to whomsoever he willed to do so (Ex. 33:19). From this the apostle deduces the general principle that mercy is not of the will or work of man, but of God, as having the sovereign right to show it. He also appeals to the case of Pharaoh, to whom God said that He had set him up as the head of Egypt for the express purpose of displaying His power in connection with him, so as to make Jehovah's name known throughout all the earth. Mercy and hardening, then, are both in the sovereignty of God (vers. 14-18).

If now it be objected that if God shows mercy where He wills, and where He wills He hardens, He cannot rightly censure men, the apostle rebukes it as arrogance. Men should remember that it is unseemly to argue with God. Furthermore, it is His right of the same lump of fallen, sinful humanity to make one a vessel to honor, and another a vessel to dishonor. It is His sovereign prerogative to find delight in the part of the lump that submits to His grace, and to be displeased with the part that resists it. Those who reject the Ideal after which His grace would form them are surely vessels quite fit for judgment. God's long-suffering and patience with them make this manifest. On the other hand, those who yield to the formative power of His grace are suited vessels to display the riches of His glory; and this, too, whether such vessels are found among Jews or Gentiles. That such are to be found among the Gentiles the quotations from Hos. 2:23 and i:10 fully show (vers. 19-26).

Now Isa. 10:22, 23 and i:9 show the two kinds of vessels formed from the same lump of sinful, disobedient Israel:on the one hand, a remnant submissive to grace; on the other, a vast body of them resisting grace, and cut off in judgment (vers. 27-29).

It is then to be concluded that the Old Testament Scriptures are not in any way nullified by the grace of Christianity which includes Gentiles among the subjects of its blessings. It is in accordance with their predictions that Gentiles who followed not after righteousness have attained to it by faith; while Israel, seeking it by works, and not by faith, has not obtained it. A new beginning in Christ was a stumbling-stone and rock of offence. He came in grace, but they would not yield themselves to be formed by it. They would not call upon Him. They have stumbled to their great confusion (vers.
30-33).

Nevertheless the apostle earnestly desired salvation for them. He owned they had a zeal for God, but yet it was not according to knowledge-the knowledge of the written Word. Did they know that rightly, they would understand how righteous God is. It is because of their ignorance of this that they are seeking to establish a righteousness of their own; but in doing so they are not submitting to a righteousness provided in grace by God. They are in the darkness of unbelief; for, for believers, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness; Christ being received, He is to the believer all that the law can claim (chap. 10:1-4).

The apostle now turns to explain the difference between the righteousness which is of law and the righteousness that is by faith. The righteousness of the law consists in the doing the things it requires. This the law affirms repeatedly, as every reader of the Old Testament Scriptures should know. Now, to show the character of the righteousness which is of faith, he appeals to Deut. 30 :12-14. In this chapter Moses is informing Israel that after they have fallen under the curse of the law their only hope will be in the grace of God, who will no longer put them on the ground of their obedience as the way of life and blessing, but will circumcise their hearts to love the Lord (ver. 6). This answers to the prophet's word in Jer. 31:31-33, where Israel is told that God will in grace establish them under a new covenant-a covenant of a very different character from that of the old legal one. The principle of the new covenant will be faith, not works. Therefore, instead of doing, in order to have God's law in the heart, it will be having the law in the heart by grace, the doing it being the result. Consequently, when Israel from the heart calls upon the name of the Lord, she will be saved. She will then stand before God in a righteousness not her own, but given her of God-a righteousness which is of faith.

Having thus shown by appealing to Moses the character of the righteousness which is by faith, the apostle now informs the Jew that this is what he is preaching; and if he objects that it should only be preached to the Jew, he shows that the prophets expressly apply it universally:their oft-repeated " whosoever believeth " opens the door of the gospel to the Gentiles (vers. 5-13).

Therefore, if the prophets contemplate the gospel going out to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, it is those who are resisting its world-wide proclamation that are nullifying the word of God. Hearing, whether in a Jew or a Gentile, comes by faith; and faith in the heart is by the power of the word of God. It is by preaching the Word that God reaches the heart. Necessarily then there must be messengers of the Word, and those who seek to carry the message of God's grace to the Gentiles can justify themselves in doing so by abundant Old Testament scriptures (vers. 14-17).

Furthermore, Israel is fully without excuse for resisting Christianity, because, while on the one hand her own Scriptures anticipate it, on the other hand she has been faithfully warned, by Moses himself too, that God would provoke her to jealousy by them that are no people; and Isaiah very boldly declares the turning of the Gentiles to God, and finding Him, while Israel is still a disobedient and gainsaying people (vers. 18-21).

If then Christianity does not nullify the word of God, Israel's present rejection is only temporary- not final. As witness of this, the apostle appeals to his own case. He was an Israelite, yet God had shown him mercy. He was one of a remnant-an election of grace in a day of apostasy, such as God reserved to Himself in the days of Ahab (chap, ii:1-6).

As to the rest, they are in the blindness of their unbelief. Of this present state of unbelief, in the great mass of the nation, their own prophets have sufficiently foretold. But if they have thus been given over to blindness, under God's judicial dealings with them, it is by no means to be the final state of the nation. While they are in this state, God is provoking them to jealousy by the privileges He is conferring on Gentiles. From this the apostle argues that as Israel's stumbling and temporary setting aside from the place of privilege was the occasion of blessing going out among the Gentiles, the recovery of Israel, and her restoration to the position she has temporarily lost, will be the occasion, not merely of widespread blessing among the Gentiles, but of the recovery of the world. The bringing of the world back in allegiance to God waits on the restoration of Israel. As being specially an apostle to the Gentiles, Paul would particularly appeal to this, being desirous of stirring up in his brethren after the flesh the spirit of jealousy (vers. 7-15).

Abraham was called of God to occupy a special place of privilege and responsibility among the nations of the earth, already then swamped in idolatry. Israel had been identified with this place of privilege and responsibility, but the unbelieving part of it have been separated from it. Since their rejection of Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit, come as His witness, only the believing remnant among them have continued on in the special place of privilege and responsibility. But Gentiles have been brought in to occupy that place along with them. The Gentiles, however, are warned by the apostle not to be high-minded. They must remember the place of privilege into which they have been brought is also one of responsibility, and their continuing in the place depends on their meeting the responsibilities of it. The unbelieving part of Israel had been cut off for this very thing-because of their continued failure to meet its responsibilities. In like manner also would the Gentiles be cut off if they failed as Israel had done. How needed the warning! Alas, how unheeded! (vers. 16-21.)

In Israel's case the goodness and severity of God had been illustrated; the believing remnant realizing His goodness, the unbelieving part of the nation experiencing His severity. The same result will be seen at the close of the Gentile period of their time of testimony. Israel was cut off for unbelief. The Gentiles apostatizing in like manner will also be cut off. But the same grace that introduced Gentiles into the place of privilege when Israel was cut off will also restore Israel to the place from which she fell, when from the heart she turns to the Lord. Her blindness is only in part, for a time, while the fulness of the Gentiles is being gathered in. In a day now fast approaching there is to be a remnant in Zion to whom the Lord will appear, and then from Zion He will come forth in the character of Israel's Deliverer, turning ungodliness away from Jacob, in accordance with the new covenant that is yet to be made with Israel. Thus it is clear that as regards the gospel the Jews are now enemies, 1:e., regarded so by God for the sake of the Gentiles; nevertheless, as regards the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes (vers. 22-29).

The Gentiles were once disobedient, but God has shown mercy to them on account of the disobedience of Israel. Likewise Israel has disobeyed God's present mercy to the Gentiles, that in their restoration they themselves may become objects of mercy. Gentiles and Jews alike are shut up in unbelief, so that mercy may be shown to them both. In thus reviewing the dispensational ways of God, how manifest becomes the wisdom of God! Every heart that enters into this mercy of God surely joins with the apostle in saying, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been His counselor ? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again ? For of Him, and through Him, and for Him, are all things:to whom be glory forever. Amen " (vers. 30-36). C. Crain

(Concluded in next number.)

" If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink " (John 7 :37.)

We learn from the early part of the chapter that it was " the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles." This was their best feast, and on the last day, it's great day, the eighth-for there was an eighth day to that feast which makes it differ from every other -on the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink."

Our blessed Lord here, and indeed all through John's Gospel, takes the place of all the types and all the shadows. Instead of shadow, in Him we get substance; instead of picture, reality. In the first chapter we find Him presented as the Lamb of God, God's Lamb. There He takes the place of the paschal lamb, that to which Israel turned as the foundation of all blessing. The Lord is the true Lamb of God, the One that not only removes Israel's sin, but shall remove sin from the whole universe. He is God's Lamb, "which taketh away the sin of the world." He superseded the passover. How infinitely better He is than the type that turned aside the destroying angel! He will flood the universe with blessing as well as deliver from judgment.

In chap. 2:19 He says, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The blessed Lord takes the place of the temple:the shrine where God dwells is His own blessed person. In the person of Jesus we get the true temple, the true dwelling-place of God, just as in the first chapter the tabernacle is superseded in the One that " became flesh and tabernacled amongst us."

In the third chapter He takes the place of the serpent in the wilderness. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." When Israel looked to the serpent lifted up it brought deliverance from death. Here is far more and better. In a lifted up Son of Man we find heavenly things, the opening out to us of God's gift-eternal life. This life enables us to enter into a new sphere of affections; we are introduced into that blessed scene where the Father delights in the Son, and the Son delights in the Father. In the Son of Man taking the place
of the brazen serpent we get a wonderful opening into all the blessedness of heavenly things.

In the fourth chapter the well of water which came from Jacob is eclipsed. Without toil or effort on our part, Christ delights to refresh and satisfy every heart, and fill them so full that they will sing a much richer song than they who drank from Jacob's well. The blessed Lord says, " He that drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" The Lord is taking the place of the well that would dry up; those who drank of that well would thirst again; but here is One who can remove thirst forever.

In the fifth chapter, we find the pool of Bethesda, that pool which intimated God's goodness to Israel. It was the gracious intervention of God on behalf of a people who had wandered away from Him, yet He would not wholly set them outside His mercy. The very meaning of Bethesda is "house of mercy." The blessed Lord visits the pool. What does He see ? Helpless people desiring healing, but lacking power to appropriate the virtues the angelic visitant imparted to its waters. Into that scene the blessed Lord comes, and He says, I am the true House of Mercy. He is the One in whom the mercy of God is brought truly to us. He not only gives the invitation, but He accompanies the invitation with power to appropriate it. When He said, "Wilt thou be made whole ? " He gave the man the power that He needed. How true that is with each of us-mercy brought to our doors and power given to appropriate it given by the One who has brought it to all who desire it.

In chap. 6 we read that that which sustained Israel in the wilderness was the manna that fell from heaven day by day. Here the Lord says, I have come to bring you something better than that. He presents Himself as the " Bread of God," the " Bread of life," and the "Bread which came down from heaven." That bread is given us as the present sustainment of our souls; the food of eternal life, the gracious means by which we are kept in living freshness and power in communion with God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We eat His flesh and drink His blood, and not only have life eternal, but present communion.

In chap. 7 we find Him at the feast of tabernacles. There He takes the place of the Smitten Rock with its flowing stream; He is here the water of life, just as in the next chapter He takes the place of the cloud by night, which lighted Israel, as the light of life, and says, " He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness."

How blessed it is that the Lord having come, has fulfilled every type, given us substance instead of shadows, saying, I am the reality of it all.

The Spirit of God delights to engage our hearts with Him. It is our privilege to contemplate Him, and see that all that was foreshadowed in type has come out in Him, displayed and fulfilled, as He went through this world.

If we want the need of our consciences met, how do we get it ? In God's Lamb. He is the one, and only one, who can perfectly and fully meet every need. If we want to know the way into all that blessed scene of glory where He is, and into all the divine affections into which He has entered, He is presented to us lifted upon Calvary. Life eternal is in His own blessed person:"He that hath the Son hath life." Do we long for our hearts to be filled with adoring worship and praise ? filled so that they will run over in adoration ? How do we reach it ? It is by appropriating the blessed Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the living spring ever uprising in all its freshness. Thank God, that fountain will never run dry.

God is the One from whom all blessing comes, but it comes through Christ and goes back by the Spirit, in holy, blessed, adoring, worship. If we are not worshipers, the whole secret is that our hearts are not engaged with Christ.

How much does the blessed Lord occupy our hearts, minds, and thoughts ? The Spirit of God is here to take of His things and to show them to us, to bring us into present, living, positive enjoyment of those things that are in Him-heavenly things. There are heavenly things, and these heavenly things are the things that are truly ours. The Spirit of God has come in order to lift our souls outside this earthly scene, and all that belongs to it, into that bright and blessed home where Christ is everything, where the substance is of all the shadows. His great mission is to lift us outside ourselves, outside this world, and bring us into that blessed place where He fills everything. When we get into the glory, what will occupy us ? Jesus, the center of the throng. Jesus, He is everything there, and the Spirit of God delights to lead our souls into that now. We shall get it then-there is no question about that; but one of the reasons, among the many, why the Spirit of God is here, is that He gives us heaven before we. get there. Heaven is what and where Jesus is, and occupation with Him carries us to heaven.

As we contemplate Him in these various ways prefigured in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God delights to fix our gaze on the great Antitype, to present Christ to us.

In the beginning of this seventh chapter His brethren ask, Are you not going up to this feast ? In ver. 8 He says, "Go ye up unto this feast:I go not up yet unto this feast; for My time is not yet full come." Why does He say that ? Because He waited to give them something better than a "Jews' feast."

Picture for a moment the scene in these days. The four golden lamps that lighted up Jerusalem stood in the Court of the Women, irradiating the whole city, whilst daily, for seven days, the priests poured out of silver cups the water of Siloam, and caused it to run down into the brook Kedron, whilst psalms were chanted and people rejoiced. "Those who have never seen the pouring out of water at the Feast of Tabernacles have never known what real joy is" was a proverb in Israel. From all parts of the country, happy and rejoicing, multitudes had thronged Jerusalem. It was the great feast of the whole year, the feast which culminated in joy of every sort.

Jesus tarries until their feast is nearly over, after they have had seven days of joy together. He then comes into the midst and says, Are you satisfied ? (What a challenge to religious ordinances!) Will mere externals do ? Will mere outward joy do ?

They had the right temple; they had the right service, but the Lord of the feast was outside, so He comes and says, Are you satisfied ? I think that is the Lord's challenge to us in the midst of all the
religion we find around us. The Lord is saying, Are you satisfied ? If we admit that we are not, how does He propose to meet the need ? He answers, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." There is our resource. There is our fountain that is always springing, always full; so all we have to do is just what He says, "Come unto Me and drink." And what will be the effect? The effect will be–without effort on our part- "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," that is, streams of refreshment for both saint and sinner. That is what God would have us be. That is what the Spirit of God would produce in us. "Come unto Me" is the secret of it all. It is to get Christ for ourselves, and so much of Christ for ourselves that we can impart of Him to others. If there is a bit of want, or dissatisfaction, or feeling of thirst in our souls, may we ever remember this word, "Come unto Me." Oh, but you say, That is for thirsty sinners. True, but it is also for thirsty saints, they also can ever and always turn to Jesus and be refreshed by the living streams that flow from that blessed One. He is the spring. May God in His rich grace enable each one of us, ever and always, to turn simply to Him, to make everything of Christ. He not only meets the needs of thirsty sinners, but delights to fill and satisfy the hearts of His people, so that we run over in worship to God, and in service to those round about us. That will surely be true, if we respond to His invitation, " If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." H. N.

QUES. 12.-I cannot see in the Scriptures that the heathen who die now will be saved. But will they be punished as the Christ-rejecters?

ANS.-No one will be punished as a Christ-rejecter who has not rejected Christ. Heathen will not even be punished as having had the light of Scripture, which they who live in Christendom have. God is a just God, and punishes no man beyond his responsibility.

Rom. 2:14-16 shows that heathen will be judged according to what their consciences accused them of in their violations of what the law of God prescribes. They know not that law, but the conscience of man, without it, has knowledge of wrong in violating it.

As to their being heathen, Rom. 1:20 declares them to be " without excuse," on account of the light of creation. No man, in the face of the wonderful creation around, beneath, and above him has a shadow of excuse in worshiping any but the Creator Himself.

QUES. 13.-The question to which the following is the answer is a letter which we cannot print here. The answer sufficiently shows what the burden of the question is.

ANS.-Concerning the things of which you write, there are, as a rule, more or less of them among the people of God, which always exercise those who watch for the souls of their brethren- things which call for prayer especially, for patience, sometimes for private, and now and then for public, rebuke.

All the Epistles show this, and we are not a whit above those of the people of God who were directly addressed in them. Perhaps the one of them all in which the sweetest Christian fellowship is expressed is that to the Philippians. Their walk seemed the best of all, calling for least admonition; yet even there two sisters are admonished to be of one mind.

So, beloved brother, be not discouraged by seeing causes for prayer, for humiliation, and for exhortation. It is matter for thankfulness that there are such in the assemblies of God's people who feel what there may be contrary to the mind of Christ. It is the shepherd heart. Only if, as yon say, you are conscious of legal tendencies, beware of it. Legality can smite, and smite hard too, but it never heals. The shepherd may have to smite, but his purpose is to heal, and he usually heals. He goes to God first and all along the way. So when he speaks to his brethren he speaks from and for God-their Father as well as his. The legalist is hurt by what offends him. The shepherd is hurt by what offends God. He feels with God without ceasing to love, as he speaks for God and waits upon God to give it effect.

What you mention is, alas, a growing evil among God's people-the unequal yoke. In some quarters a high-handed Pharisaism has almost cast ridicule on the thought of an unequal yoke, and Satan is using it to remove the solemn importance of it, whether it be ecclesiastical, matrimonial, commercial, social, or otherwise. The love of money grows apace, and, to satisfy it, the dangers of an unequal yoke are overlooked; the will of man also suffers less and less to be opposed, and so the limitations which the word of God puts upon us in our pathway are increasingly resented.
These are not easy days for the "man of God." They never were, but we are warned of the special difficulties of " the last days," for they are to be "perilous times." To be faithful through such times; patient, loving still the people of God, ministering untiringly to them, enduring, praying much for them, will find a bright ending at the coming of our Lord.

QUES. 14.-What is the force of 2 Sam. 24:24,-this part of the verse, "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing " ?

ANS.-The hypocrite, who desires to be praised by men, and who to that end makes offerings for religious purposes, does it in such a way that others have to pay for it after all. The true worshiper, whose heart delights in God, makes his offerings in such a way that the cost of them will be upon himself. There is not a true worshiper but is anxious that all the cost of his worship be his own and not another's. If the very chair he sits on in the worship of God necessitate cost, he will not allow another to bear it for him. Service to God at the expense of others is salt without savor.

QUES. 15.-Is the judgment of Matt. 25 the judgment of nations only, and not that of individuals?

ANS.-It is both:Of individuals and of each nation, one by one. The issue shows this plainly. The individuals of each nation who are found to be "sheep" form the new millennial nations and inherit the kingdom. The others, the "goats," are told, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

Even with Israel this will be the case, as the sealing of the 12,000 from each tribe in Rev. 7 shows. So it is evident that the millennial reign of our Lord will begin with the various nations of the earth purged from the unbelievers. Jeremiah 31:34 affirms this of Israel:"They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." What we have seen of the judgment of Matt. 25 implies the same in the Gentile nations.

QUES. 16.-Please explain why the "Apocrypha" is left out of our Bibles now ? What right have they to leave it out?

ANS.-For good and substantial reasons as follows:

1. They never were in the Hebrew Scriptures-the Old Testament. They were written in Greek, mostly in Alexandria, long after the O. T. was completed, and none of them pretend to have God's authority, and never say, " Thus saith Jehovah."

2. The writers themselves admit possible error, or not having done well, as 2 Mace. 15:38, 39, " Here will I make an end. And if I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is that which I desired:but if slenderly and meanly, it is that which I could attain unto;" and others make statements to the same effect. Some of them have value as history, the same as Josephus, but nothing more.

3. Part of the "Apocrypha" were first put in with the Scriptures by order of the pope, when Jerome translated the Scriptures into Latin, called " the Vulgate." Jerome protested against it, but the pope prevailed, and some of the Apocrypha in consequence were put at the end, and separate from the Bible books. They were afterwards incorporated in the Roman Catholic Bibles by the Council of Trent in 1563.

4. The English Church, under Henry viii, having rejected the authority of the pope and made the king head of the church, the Apocrypha, introduced by the Romish church was retained in the Protestant translations until 1826, when, after much controversy, they were left out from English Protestant Bibles.

QUES. 17.-In 1 Thess. 4:14 what is implied in the expression, "Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him?"

ANS.-Their resurrection from among the dead, even as Jesus was brought up from among the dead.

QUES. 18.-In the 5th parable of Matt. 13 it is said that the Lord bought the field. From whom did He buy it?

ANS.-A parable cannot be used in that way. It has instruction to give on a certain matter to which we must limit ourselves. This one is given to convey to our minds that which our Lord was willing to pass through to redeem a lost people. To this end He made propitiation on the cross not only for that people, but also for the whole world. He has title to all therefore.

QUES. 19.-Would you kindly give us a word on Rom. 10:6, 7, "Who shall ascend into heaven? Who shall descend into the deep? " We are going through Romans in our readings and some of us would welcome a little help on that passage.

ANS.-It is a quotation from Deut. 30:11-14. In reading the previous verses of that chapter you will easily see that it is a prophecy concerning Israel, when "the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee . . . and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed," etc.

This return will not be through their law-keeping, but through God's grace-the grace by which we too are saved now, and which time by Jesus Christ. Moses leaves this still a secret, in Deuteronomy, but Paul reveals the secret in Romans. It is through grace, by Jesus Christ, who went down into the deep and has ascended up into heaven. But grace is not something for which we have to go far off and reach after. Christ went down into the depths and has gone into the heights whence grace conies, so that to us," The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:that is the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Because they refuse a man-ordained ministry some of the Lord's people have been thought to believe in a kind of whosoever-will-ministry. This would surely lead to confusion, and God is never the author of this. Man's will is the source of all the confusion in the Church.

From Rome down to the smallest Christian communion, a humanly accredited ministry is the rule. It is no wonder, therefore, if rejecting it seems generally strange. But is human ordination of God? Let the Word instruct us.

We say boldly that the principle of any man or body of men ordaining others to preach or teach in the Christian assembly is foreign to the word of God.* *It is not gift that is required here, but Christian character. The bishops must be elders, not young men. Nor have the apostles left to any the authority to ordain these. They have left us something better-a clear delineation in the "Word of the character which a Christian must bear to serve as a bishop or a deacon among his brethren.-[Ed.* It is true the apostles ordained elders among the assemblies, but they were not "gifts." They were for the oversight and service of the local gathering-"bishops" for the government of the house of God; and "deacons" to look after the earthly needs, where they lived. Yet this, as most other perversions of Scripture, is remotely connected with divine principles.

We could not think of God loving the Church here without providing in the fullest way for real, divinely-appointed, ministers. But we do not believe He has left the responsibility of furnishing these to the Church.

In order to find God's will in this, we turn to Paul's personal history and teaching. Besides being a pattern sinner and saint, he is also the pattern servant and the minister of the present dispensation, the teacher of the Gentiles. Therefore his own personal history, as well as his teaching, will give us light on this important subject.

We find he was called, fitted, and sent forth by the Lord from glory. Also he tells us distinctly that he was not a man-made apostle. "Paul, an apostle, not of man" (as to source), "nor through man" (as to channel), "but by Jesus Christ," etc. (Gal. i :i). This is not only true of his class of ministers, and of him personally, but in Eph. chap. 4 he places all ministry on the same footing.

There we learn that the Lord, after going to the cross and finishing the work of redemption, ascended up on high and gave gifts unto men. He gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Notice He did not give them in order 'that the Church or the clergy might make or declare them apostles, prophets, etc. He made them such, and then gave them to the Church. Notice also the object:"For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the body of Christ" (ver. 12).

In verse 13 we learn that Christ is to continue the giving of all these ministers '' until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:8-15).

How fully He undertakes all that is necessary for the need of His Church as to ministry and ministers. This thirteenth verse teaches that these ministers would be given by Christ as long as there was any need of them-that is, as long as there is the work to be done by the apostle, prophet, evangelist, etc., He would supply them to do it. This explains the reason for not continuing the apostles and prophets down to the present time. They were not needed, as their work in the completion of Scripture is finished.

In Eph. 2:19., 20, the house of God, the figure of the Church used there, is built upon the "foundation of the apostles and prophets." It does not mean that the apostles and prophets composed the foundation, but that it was their work to lay it. Accordingly we read again, " I have laid the foundation " (i Cor. 3:10)-not I am the foundation.

The foundation they laid is the truth concerning the person and work of Christ:and this we have in their written ministry, so that in that sense we have them yet. The Church has all it needs of these gifts in their writings. If the foundation of a building is properly laid, it need never be re-laid. This foundation was properly laid; hence there is no more work for them as such to do. It was their's to complete the word of God and establish Christianity. God has said all He has to say to us in His Word. There is no more Christianity to establish; therefore no more apostles and prophets are given.

But the need of evangelists, pastors and teachers has existed all through the Church's history, and will to the very end. God's house could not be completed without these. We need the evangelists to get the living stones, who are " born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, . . . and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (i Pet. i:23-25). Then we must have the pastor or shepherd (N. Tr.) to care for these. As long as God's flock is here He will give the shepherds. There will also be the need of teachers as long as there are people to be taught.

We learn in Eph. 4 that the exalted Christ gives gifts to men "for the work of the ministry." A man must have from Him the gift of evangelist in order to be one. We have seen that it does not come from man, nor through man. It is not something a man or a company of men can confer. It is not something we can acquire by our own efforts. It is a gift direct from Christ, the Head of the Church, and is not founded upon what man can teach, but upon what Christ gives. This is the first step, and no other can be taken until this one has been taken.

I am speaking now of the ''''gift" of teacher, shepherd and evangelist. In one sense, all who are Christ's should be this in their measure, both men and women. Women in their sphere, of course-not in the assembly, for there it would be a dishonor (i Cor. 14:35).

The "gift" of a prophet was only for a few, yet we read, "Ye may all prophesy," but this in their measure. The "gift" then of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, is special, and "not of man, nor through man, but by Jesus Christ." The notion that an apostle can make an apostle, or an evangelist make an evangelist, comes wholly from man. It is not in the word of God.

We come now to the next step:The recognition and exercise as well as sphere of these gifts. In this the Church has responsibility, and acts with the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the Church.
If one has the gift of an evangelist, in due time it will manifest itself in the conversion of souls. Or if one has a gift to teach, it will soon show itself by the instruction and edification of the saints. It is not enough for one of himself to conclude he has a gift from Christ. The saints must see it too. The proof of one being a teacher is in his ability to " feed the flock " and "sow spiritual things." The Church will soon see if he is "treading out the corn," or "plowing" up the conscience, or "threshing out the wheat" (i Cor. 9). This is a safeguard, and prevents self-will and keeps out undesirables. It also does away with the need of man's ordination, which is but an invention and an interference.

Then, as to the sphere of gift. One may be able to help only in a local way in doing the work of an evangelist, or teacher, or pastor ; and how valuable are such if there is devotedness and energy. Their work and their walk will gradually determine, and that in the minds of the people of God generally, what is their sphere of labor, whether of a local or a larger kind. Nothing savors of independency in the practical working of the Church of God- ministry or any thing else. It is a body "fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love " (Eph. 4:16). A member of the body out of place always makes trouble. When in place we minister to each other; otherwise, we hinder. This explains some of the difficulties among God's people-difficulties which make them realize their constant dependence and need of prayer. God Himself, and He alone, is our sufficiency. His Word is our guide. His Spirit abides with us. The practical working of the Church is dependent on the owned, recognized, carried out, truth of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

It is easy to see who was off the track in Acts 15:36-41. Paul and Silas were recommended unto the grace of God by the brethren-an example of the Spirit working in the Church. The others go on without this, but they soon pass out of the history of the Acts. In the end they are restored; brethren who go on in an independent course often are not; and how great the loss, both to them and to the Church.

The flesh may get the upper hand and throw confusion over these principles, but to give them up and adopt some of our own is not the cure. Those who have done this have not fled from trouble nor escaped confusion. Let us hold fast this truth of the headship of Christ, the presence of the Spirit in the Church, and the divine sufficiency of the word of God.

(To be completed in next issue.)

The Work of God in Korea.

If we, children of God, have learned our lesson aright, we can say in all sincerity, as well as sadness, "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing." We have learned therefore to look elsewhere than in ourselves for what satisfies the renewed man. In Christ is our all, and that not only satisfies, but it becomes in us " a spring of water, springing up unto eternal life." Of poor, craving souls it makes us a praising, worshiping people.

But if we have been brought into a good land- " a land flowing with milk and honey "-it is also a land full of enemies. We are in danger on every side, and need therefore to "put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Having learned the grace of God, and the wonderful privileges it confers, is there not the danger- the imminent danger-of forgetting, or neglecting, its corresponding responsibilities ? Under the fear of this, we had it upon our heart to use the year-end to call upon God's people, both as individuals and as local assemblies, to take the matter deeply to heart, and consider it before God.

While thinking of this, a paper by Mr, William Barker, Editor of Simple Testimony, comes to our hand, and we give it in part to our readers because such an object-lesson tells better than all else what characterizes a people devoted to Christ. Brethren, may it indeed tell upon all our hearts and lives!

May we, as we see such sweet fruit in others, ask ourselves conscientiously, What have the interests of Christ cost me during this year ? What has gone forth from us as a local assembly toward those interests ? Have we prayed for laborers in the Lord's harvest ? Have we strengthened the hands of those in whom we have confidence as being already sent of Him ?

Mr. Barker says :

"Our readers will have heard from time to time of the work of God in the kingdom of Korea. It may interest them to know how things go on there at the present moment; so we give a few particulars drawn from a recent report-not issued by any one laboring in Korea, but by one who went there to see with his own eyes the true state of things, and whether the accounts that had been given were borne out by actual facts.

"The Koreans are passing through a period of national humiliation owing to their country having come under the control of the Japanese. Poor they have long been-made so by the long-continued exactions of the official class; so that the majority of the people live from hand to mouth. And recent changes tend to intensify their poverty rather than relieve it. Yet these troubles, instead of embittering the Christians' lives, are accepted as being the will of God for them, working for their good, and fitting them for the high spiritual destiny to which they believe they are called. Not their eternal destiny, of course, but the place they are destined to fill in connection with the work of the Lord in their own and other lands.
"The Korean Christians-those of them who, for various reasons, travel through the country-proclaim everywhere the gospel they have received and wherein they stand. The persecuted Christians of Pentecostal days who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. In like manner these Koreans, some of whom are traders and peddlers, in pursuing their ordinary callings, preach the glad tidings even to the utmost boundaries of the kingdom. They cannot help doing so:the love of Christ impels them.

"A striking feature in the spiritual life of the Koreans is their intense love for the Holy Scriptures. They study the Bible as God's message, and seek to fashion their lives according to its high and heavenly teaching. Besides this individual love for the word of God, it is the habit of many congregations to devote the early part of the Lord's day to united Bible study.'We have seen,' says the writer of the report, ' as many as two thousand women gathered together in one building fox this purpose.'On asking where the men were, he was told that when the women had finished and were gone, two thousand men would take the vacant seats. Nor was this a solitary instance. Six other places in the same city were visited on the same day, and the same sight was seen, with this difference-the numbers were limited to eight or nine hundred persons, owing to the seating capacity of the buildings not being great enough to take more. And this is not all. Many of the Korean Christians arrange to spend from two to four weeks together at some convenient center for the prayerful study of the Scriptures, availing themselves of the help of some foreign servant of Christ better instructed than themselves. Last year, at different centers, nearly ninety thousand Koreans came together for that purpose. It seems almost incredible. But such was indeed the case; and those competent to judge attribute the vigorous life of the Korean Christians to their great love of the Bible. And doubtless they are right.

"Nor is prayer neglected. The week-night meeting for prayer (the barometer of a rising or falling church, as it has been well called) is not forgotten. On one bitterly cold night in December, with snow falling thick, some eight hundred people were found gathered together at their customary weekly prayer-meeting. And there would have been many more had it not been that an epidemic of influenza was raging. No Christian ever dreams of being absent, and many who have not yet confessed Christ will not keep away.

"Another happy feature is their interest in the Lord's work in other lands. To this, in their deep poverty, they contribute largely. They believe that God is training many of them for evangelistic service, especially in China and Japan. Nor is this their own thought alone. Many servants of Christ believe that the Korean Christians are destined to play an important part in the carrying out of God's purposes of grace in reference to those adjacent lands. God grant that it may be so!"

Christmas.

We would at this time call the attention of our readers to a little i6-page booklet entitled Christmas. It is not new, but its matter is ever new, and richly adapted to the season. It will refresh the Christian soul to read it; and the reading of it will urge its distribution, which, if with fervent prayer, will yield fruit. It will be found at the Depots everywhere. If not, it will be sent direct by our publishers at 18 cts. per dozen or $1 per 100 postpaid.

A Warning.
The following reaches us with the request to give it publication :

Dear Mr. Editor :

Will you kindly warn the readers of your magazine against a work called "The Book of Knowledge; the Children's Encyclopedia. " It is cleverly written and attractively illustrated, but it is full of evolutionary teaching. We bought it for our family, but upon finding it full of such teaching we, as Christians, and therefore believers in the Scriptures, were constrained to reject it. F. H. W.

"Who shall roll us away the stone ?" "And when they looked, the stone was rolled away." and how oft, through the anxious provision of man, Flashes in with a silence God's unforeseen plan!

A LETTER.

My Dear Brother:

In a previous letter, " How God is Leading His People," I dwelt upon the fact that we can be sure God is leading His saints, if we have hearts to follow, so long as He leaves us in this world. I tried to point out a few of the indications of the way in which we might expect Him to lead:We would be brought to a humbling sense of our own failure, which would remove from our minds all high thoughts of pretension; while, on the other hand, there would be no sacrifice of the principles of God's order for His Church.

I would like to add a few words, seeking to follow up the same subject a little further. The passage quoted is from the well-known scene of Elijah on mount Carmel. The issue whether Jehovah or Baal was the true God had been raised. The answer was to be given by fire. The priests of Baal were given the first opportunity, and all during the day they cried in vain to their god. The deliberateness and dignity with which Elijah acted was in marked contrast to the frantic efforts of the idolaters.

I do not dwell upon the details here, though they are very interesting. The altar with its twelve stones speaks surely of an Israel united in the mind of God, although outwardly divided. The burnt-offering as clearly suggests the true bond of union-the worship and service of the one Jehovah on the ground of an accepted sacrifice. The prophet is not content with having the prescribed number of stones in the altar, nor with providing the material of the sacrifice:there must be greater care now taken to guard against the presence of strange fire than in the case of the priests of Baal. The four barrels of water thrice poured upon the sacrifice and altar, until the surrounding trench was filled, effectually removed all suspicion of a lurking fire not of divine kindling. Whatever now comes must come from heaven.

We too, in some sense, are in a similar position. If, through the mercy of God, extremes of idolatry have been avoided, there has been at least a divided people. The rent, we would all agree, has been caused, in one form or another, by a departure from God or a failure to walk closely with Himself. We are sure that He would be turning our hearts back again to Himself, and that this would result in their being turned one to another. It should always be more of a concern with us that He has His true place, than that we should at once see the immediate effects of this in the healing of our breaches. The action of the prophet in pouring water suggests something similar in whatever we may attempt in connection with a resumption of fellowship between those who have been separated. There should be great caution, a care that the fires of nature are quenched, and that whatever is done shall be of God, and not a human expedient.

Let us first see what the pouring on of water is not, and then seek to gather, in a simple way, some indications of what may answer to it.

First. It is not mere prejudice. We are naturally disposed to self-vindication, with prejudice against what has been done by others contrary to our thought. We may so entrench ourselves behind this prejudice that it amounts to closing our eyes to any real examination of the points at issue. Our wills may also be involved, so that nothing can be done. Where this is the case, of course abundance of water is poured upon any proposal to examine the causes of our trouble, and to ascertain the divine remedy. I need not dwell longer upon this, save to suggest that we should recognize our proneness to fall into it. Prejudice easily asserts itself, and it is hard to divest our minds of it.

Second. It is not indifference. Often the state is rather one of indifference than positive prejudice. For one reason and another, the minds of the saints refuse to be stirred. They apparently are so satisfied with their present position and attainments that conscience is not easily aroused. If anything, this condition is almost worse than prejudice. It is impossible to stir an inert mass into any kind of action so long as this indifference remains. The causes here we may have little difficulty in ascertaining:worldliness, pride, or selfishness, have crept in. There is a low spiritual condition ; for surely, if we were quick to discern the Lord's interest, it would awaken a concern in our own hearts. Where this is the case the voice of human leaders easily takes the place of that of the Good Shepherd, and ecclesiastical pronouncements are substituted for the authority of the word of God. May He awaken His beloved people from the lethargy of self-satisfaction, and keep us from mistaking indifference for "going on quietly," or "waiting upon God." Many a movement of the Spirit of God has been in this way quietly shelved-" laid upon the table," and dismissed from the mind and conscience of the saints.

Third. It is not opposition. There may be an entire absence of indifference, but prejudice may have awakened into an activity that opposes everything. This activity however, is not necessarily a scriptural pouring on of water. It must be tested ; otherwise we should be at the mercy of all forms of opposition to the leading of the Spirit of God. Stephen, in going over the history of the nation, points out that at every critical stage, when God was leading them into fuller blessing, there were those who resisted the Holy Ghost. This opposition frequently culminated in acts of violence and persecution, reaching its climax in the rejection and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. It would never have done for the prophets to cease their call to repentance because it was met by opposition; and had our Lord thus acted, He would have returned where He was before and left us to our fate.

But I need not further dwell upon the negative side, as mere negation will never lead us into the truth. It will suffice us to have the dangers pointed out, in order that we may avoid them.

What, then, for us, answers to the pouring on the water?

First. Without desiring to be in the least fanciful, we naturally remember that water in Scripture is a symbol of the word of God-"washing of water by the Word"; and our passage at least illustrates the application of the word of God to the question in hand. Where a proposed line of action is contemplated, let "four barrels" be filled with water. The " four," to those who have been accustomed to the symbolism of numbers in Scripture, speaks of testing, as we find in its multiple, the forty years in the wilderness, the forty days of our Lord's temptation, etc. Here then we have a hint:Let all be tested by the word of God; not merely once, but thrice-the number of completeness, divine fulness. We should never shrink from divinely-applied tests. We should always lay bare our plans to the action of that holy Word which will detect and quench all fires of mere nature. How often pride of numbers, sentiment, a spirit of shame at division, and even affection one for another, may kindle a movement toward reunion which will not stand the test of the word of God. Let us then welcome this pouring of the water upon our plans. We may be sure that whatever else the Scriptures quench, they will never put out the fire which the Spirit of God has kindled.

Pursuing this a little further, I think we will all admit that the first pouring of the water would come from having the word of Christ dwelling in us richly. This will effectually guard us from being deceived or giving rein to mere fancy and sentiment. But besides the general indwelling of the entire Word, there is the application of special Scripture to the case in point. If a doctrinal question has arisen, let it be tested by the word of God upon that subject. If a question of ecclesiastical action is raised, the Scriptures will decide as to this. If undue prominence has been given to one or another feature of action, the word of God will also detect this.

We cannot emphasize too strongly the necessity of being ever open to this holy action of the Scriptures. Here we will find neither indifference, nor prejudice, nor opposition, to that which is of Him.

A beautiful illustration of this is found in the fifteenth chapter of Acts. The Spirit of God had evidently been leading out, through Paul and Barnabas, to a world-wide proclamation of the gospel and an emancipation of the Church from the trammels of Judaism. It had been met by the prejudice of pharisaic opposition in those who declared that the Gentile converts must be put under law. Indifference would have ignored the opposition, and the Church would have gradually drifted into Gentile and Jewish branches until a division had been consummated. Prejudice would have put a yoke of bondage upon the Gentile converts which " neither we nor our fathers were able to bear," and would have quenched the ardor of their first love; while opposition would have hindered that work of the Spirit which was going on in so marked a way. Neither of these is allowed, but all come together at Jerusalem, where naturally prejudice would have been greatest. Here the whole question is opened up, and full opportunity given for its discussion. The opposition has no cause to complain that it did not have a hearing. Finally, the test of Scripture is applied by James, and a conclusion reached in the fear of God, with apostolic authority as well- "It seemed good to the Holy ghost and to us." The result is great joy to the Gentile saints and a further step in the deliverance of the entire Church from Judaism.

Second. Next to the application of the word of God comes prayer. These are so closely related that they can never be truly separated. " The word of God and prayer " is the scriptural order. The Word shows us our need, our failure, as well as the mind of God. Prayer brings us to the Lord's feet with confession and supplication. It is thus alone that we can expect to be guided. A prayerless movement, we may be sure, is one in which lurks some strange fire. Let us beware of any spirit of self-sufficiency which shall not make us feel the absolute necessity of prayer. Indeed, one of the surest indications that God is stirring among His people is the presence of prayer. When a burden is laid upon the hearts of saints individually in various places, and this burden finds expression in united prayer, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is at work.

How important it is that the most specious arguments, the brightest prospects, the most carefully laid plans, should all be put before God again and &gain, that He may show us His mind, guard us from our natural desires, and work His own will.

Failing in this, we are like Joshua and the princes of Israel when they fell before the wiles of the Gibeonites. To have asked counsel of the Lord would have prevented (end missing) …
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Tis near that glad, resplendent day
When Christ shall call His Church away
To that bright, deathless shore;
Then we shall see the Crucified,
The One in whom we now confide,
And sing the praise of Him who died,
Forever, evermore.

Oh, to the Bride what wondrous joy,
When she shall hear from yonder sky
The Bridegroom's cheering voice!
No more to wander here below
In this dark scene of strife and woe,
But up to her Beloved go,
Forever to rejoice.

Oh, may this hope of glory be
Brightening in us until we see
Our blessed coming Lord.
Then faith shall change at once to sight,
And prayer shall cease with time's dark night,
And hope forever take its flight,
When He gives our reward.

Then we shall evermore be there,
Beyond the sphere of sin and care,
Enjoying endless rest.
We'll gaze upon His glorious face,
And praise Him for His matchless grace
That brought us to that blissful place,
To be supremely blest.

He'll see the travail of His soul;
Full satisfaction then shall roll
Through stainless courts above.
The saved of every land and clime,
Assembled from the fields of time,
Shall His blest name in chorus chime,
In tireless strains of love.

C.C. Crowston

The Books in our Homes.

As one moves about among the people of God there is no subject which excites more pity than the paucity of sound Christian literature found in not a few of their homes.

What would we think of a man who lived in a fine orchard abounding with choice fruit, but who picked up a few wormy specimens for his own food ? Or of another who had an overflowing spring of clear, pure water at his door, but drank from a muddy ditch ? Or of another whose house was full of windows, yet for want of using them weakened his health from vitiated air ?

Yet such is the case too often with regard to reading-matter in the homes of dear people who in other things are wise enough. They would grow rich in spiritual things by having at their hand such treasures as the " Synopsis of the Books of the Bible," by J. N. Darby; "The Numerical Bible," by P. W. Grant; "Notes on the Pentateuch," by C. H. M. ; "Prophetic Subjects," by W. Trotter; "Lectures on the various epistles," by W. Kelly; and others, on different subjects, by J. G. Bellett, S. Ridout, C. Grain, H. A. Ironside, etc., opening up all parts of Scripture, and furnishing mind and heart with learning that perishes not with this life.

A Catalogue of Publications in which godly care has been exercised to choose the best, is furnished free by the Publishers of this magazine. Enough will be found in this catalogue to provide reading for years without repetition of subjects, with the teachings of many of the great gifts which the Lord Jesus has given to His Church-gifts to which all Christendom today is indebted for the great increase of light which shines in it. They were not, and are not, popular, for they accepted the Cross for their pathway as well as for their redemption; but because of this, God gave them the understanding of the wise; and this for the profit of us all.

Besides the large number of volumes, which would make up quite a library, there is a multitude of pamphlets and tracts, containing the gospel for the unsaved and instruction for the people of God, able also to furnish and arm them against the deadly errors of our times, such as Christian Science, Millennial-Dawnism, Seventh-day Adventism, Unitarianism, Higher Criticism, etc., as also against the so-called faith-cures, tongues, and other vagaries of man's mind, which loves to attract attention to itself.

With such a blessed provision from the Lord's treasury of truth, oh why should Christian homes be bare ? And why should questionable reading, to say the least-matter which gives uncertain sound, with crude and undigested ideas-be sought after ? Oh, what loss with such opportunities of gain!

Thankful indeed we are to find that a large and increasing number of assemblies are having depositories of these precious things in their halls, thus doing evangelistic work in disseminating much truth about them, with blessing to themselves and others. But one longs to see these treasures in every Christian home, ready at hand for the leisure moment, for reference at the family worship, for the occasional visitor, for lending to a neighbor, for actual, active, constant service. Oh for marks and proofs in the furnishings of our homes everywhere that to be disciples of our Lord is the great business of our lives! Brethren, dearly loved, is this fanaticism ? Was it not a serious thing for Israel to turn from the manna ? Was it not written to one like us, "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all " ? Shall we arrive in heaven poor, while we may be so rich ?

(Continued from p. 211.)

THE PRELUDE AND FIRST DAY.

VERSES 1-5.

With what sweet joy and rest of mind the Christian can step into the vast realm of creation-God's laboratory-and there investigate in the light of the words which open our chapter; all to be enjoyed in the sense of our relationship with Him, our Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. What great things shall we not see when, in that eternal day, we view the new heavens and earth, and all the universe, in the ultimate end which God has purposed in His mind to give them!

First, then, we are told of the perfect creation, for certain it is that God did not create the earth as the second verse describes it. It is a subsequent condition; chaos and ruin having come in for some reason untold. Then follows God's work of transformation, in which we may trace with no uncertainty the main features of the spiritual antitype. Man was created perfect, in innocency, and well-pleasing to God, having a will given him to exercise for rule, under God, over the earth. He yields his will to Satan, and by reason of his transgression forfeits his place of blessing. The earth's condition, as seen in verse 2, is a vivid picture of man's thenceforth ruined state. Briefly let us examine the terms in which it is expressed.

First, the earth is "without form," or "waste"- a desolation. This is man's condition in his fallen state (Rom. 3:10-18). Then it is "void," that is, an unrecognizable ruin. The chief mark which distinguished man from all other creatures and made him a being in God's image, was the possession of a spirit; that by which, if in a normal condition, he holds intercourse with God. But now in a fallen state it is sin which controls, changing the affections and desires, and bringing in an entirely transformed character. Thus the spirit, which should control, is entombed under the debris of sin's production; the life is governed by the senses instead of the spirit; and thus is man become such a moral ruin that, compared with what he was when he came from the hand of God, he is truly an unrecognizable creature; for who, apart from divine revelation, would have known that he was made in the image of God ? The history he has made on the earth would rather argue that he was after the image of a beast. Little wonder that the "science" which ignores revelation, should formulate its dogma of evolution. So "darkness was on the face of the deep." The word "deep" in the original means "abyss," especially the main source of water supply. We know that the great seas are this by the operation of those physical laws we well know. This pictures the source from whence comes all that we have been looking at, -the heart of fallen man, that abyss and fountain of evil (Gen. 6:5; Matt. 15:19). What awful darkness-satanic darkness-is upon it; who can describe it ? (Eph. 4:18; Acts 26:18). What an awful revelation in proof of this will the great day of judgment be, "When God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." But we have the great power of transition now:'' The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (J. N. D. Tr.)-the brooding of divine love over the moral and spiritual ruin of the creation to effect transformation. From Abel's lamb to John, the herald of the Lamb of God, the True Light, we see evident tokens of the Spirit's work; though not yet the full in break of light. God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. So, at God's time, and in obedience to His word, the True Light came into the world and shed its light upon every man (John i:9). Not now a gleam only, but the full glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. That Light, full of grace and truth, pierces through the past to its remotest age, and reaches onward to the eternal day and the eternal city, for "the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev. 21 :23). From Him emanate the perfectly blended rays of divine love-and righteousness, in which we read the full display of the character and mind of God-God manifest in flesh.

The light is pronounced good, and so the heavens are opened over the head of Jesus, that God may announce in the hearing of men His pleasure in His beloved Son. What a word, as the Son of God is coming out of the waters of Jordan-where sinners had been baptized unto repentance-pledging Himself there to fulfil all righteousness on their behalf ! How illuminating, how prophetic to the eye of faith! "Behold the Lamb of God! " "I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ:when He is come, He will tell us all things" (John 4:25). "I that speak unto thee am He" The True Light, the Teller of all things, the Revealer of the Eternal God in light and love.

The darkness and the light are now set over against each other. The soul that believes in Jesus as its Saviour and Lord, is called out of darkness into this marvelous light, translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the Son of God's love, and given an inheritance with the saints in light. It is a new life, with darkness, death and judgment left behind. It is "the light of life" (John 8:12).

God calls the light Day, and the darkness Night. Those who have believed are called "children of day " (i Thess. 5:5) Therefore they are not of the night, to which those who do not believe belong. It is worthy of note that the Hebrew word translated " day " has the implied meaning of "forever" or "everlasting," and the children of the day are this eternally. The light of God's presence is their portion forever. That translated "night" really means a "twist." So, spiritually as well as naturally, the darkness of night is occasioned by a turning away from the light of the day. The children of night, the unsaved, are those who have turned away from the Light. Light has come into the world and they would not have it. They loved darkness rather than light, their deeds being evil. A type of this is seen in Gen. n:" They journeyed from the east"-the source of light-and the result was Babel. To a like end apostate Christendom is making rapid progress. All truth known, or light seen, while not acted upon, is a step toward the same end. Who can tell what the slightest "twist" from the light may mean for our souls ? A principle known and not maintained in the life means failure sooner or later. May God give grace to be faithful, for these are "perilous times."

The introduction of light thus means a new beginning. "And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day." "So if any one be in Christ [it is] a new creation " (2 Cor. 5:17). To be in Him who is the light of the new creation, is to have new life. By this first step in the light has dawned the first day of a new era for the soul, every stage of whose subsequent history in this light, is a further acquaintance with our Lord Jesus Christ and into further blessedness. Each evening tells He "was delivered for our offences," and each morning that He " was raised again for our justification "-of that resurrection morn which is to usher in the eternal day.

" Thou glorious Light of courts above,
Joy of the saints below,
To us still manifest Thy love
That we its depths may know." J. B.

SANCTIFICATION BY THE WORD OF GOD. EXTERNAL RESULTS.

(Continued from, page 298.)

Another aspect of this practical sanctification is brought before us in 2 Tim. 2:19-22. We might call it ecclesiastical sanctification; for it has in view the faithful believer's stand in a day when corruption has come in among professing Christians, and the church as a whole, viewed in its character as the house of God, has fallen, and become as a great house in which good and evil are all mixed up together. It is a matter of most solemn import that, whereas here and elsewhere in Scripture he who would walk with God is called to separate himself from unholy associations and the fellowship of the mixed multitude, even though it be found in what calls itself the Church, yet there are large numbers, who testify to "living without sin," who nevertheless are united in church (and often other forms of) fellowship with unbelievers and professing Christians who are unholy in walk and unsound as to the faith. For the sake of such it will be well to examine the passage in detail.* *As I penned a paper on this subject some time ago (published in Help and Food for August, 1910, under the title "From what are we called to purge ourselves in 2 Tim. 2?"), I have largely availed myself of what was then written, in the following paragraphs.*

The apostle has been directing Timothy's attention to the evidences of increasing apostasy. He warns against striving about words (verse 14), profane and vain babblings (verse 16); and points out two men, Hymenaeus and Philetus, in verse 17, who have given themselves over to these unholy speculations, and have thereby, though accepted by many as Christian teachers, overthrown the faith of some. And this is but the beginning, as the next chapter shows, for "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (3:13).

Now I apprehend that the first verse of chapter 3 follows verse 18 of chapter 2 in an orderly, connected manner. The apostle sees in Hymenaeus and Philetus the beginning of the awful harvest of iniquity soon to nearly smother everything that is of God. Go on with these men, listen to them, fellowship them, endorse them in any way, and you will soon lose all ability to discern between good and evil, to "take forth the precious from the vile."

But ere depicting the full character of the rapidly encroaching conditions, Timothy is given a word for his encouragement, and instruction as to his own path when things reach a state where it is impossible longer to purge out the evil from the visible church.

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord* depart from iniquity" (or, lawlessness) (verse 19). *See the Revised. It is the acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ.* Here is faith's encouragement, and here too is the responsibility of faithfulness. Faith says, "Let the evil rise as high as it may-let lawlessness abound, and the love of many wax cold-let all that seemed to be of God in the earth be swallowed up in the apostasy-nevertheless God's firm foundation stands, for Christ has declared, ' Upon this rock I will build My Assembly, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it' "!
But this brings in responsibility. I am not to go on with the evil-protesting, perhaps, but fellowshiping it still-though it be in a reserved, halfhearted way. I am called to separate from it. In so doing I -may seem to be separating from dear children of God and beloved servants of Christ. But this is necessary if they do not judge the apostate condition.

To make clear my responsibility an illustration is given in verse 20:"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor." The "great house " is Christendom in its present condition, where good and evil, saved and lost, holy and unholy, are all mixed up together. In i Tim. 3:15 we read of "the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." This is what the Church should ever have been. But, alas, it soon drifted away from so blessed an ideal, and became like a great man's house in which are found all kinds of vessels, composed of very different materials, and for very different uses. There are golden and silver vessels for use in the dining-room; and there are vessels of wood and earth, used in the kitchen and other parts of the house, often allowed to become exceedingly filthy, and at best to be kept at a distance from the valuable, and easily scratched or polluted, plate up-stairs.

"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (verse 21). The parable is here applied. The vessels are seen to be persons. And just as valuable plate might stand uncleansed and dirty with a lot of kitchen utensils waiting to be washed, and then carefully separated from the vessels for baser uses, so Timothy (and every other truly exercised soul) is called upon to take a place apart, to "purge out himself" from the mixed conditions, that he may be in very deed "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, prepared unto every good work."

Unquestionably this sanctification is very different from the Spirit's work in the soul at the beginning, or the effect of the work of Christ on the cross, by which we are set apart to God eternally. It is a practical thing, relating to the question of our associations as Christians. Let me follow out the illustration a step further, and I think all will be plain.

The master of the great house brings home a friend. He wishes to serve him with a refreshing drink. He goes to the sideboard looking for a silver goblet, but there is none to be seen. A servant is called, and inquiry made. Ah, the goblets are down in the kitchen waiting to be washed and separated from the rest of the household vessels. He is indignantly despatched to procure one, and soon returns with a vessel purged out from the unclean collection below; and thus separated and cleansed it is meet for the use of the master.

And so it is with the man of God who has thus purged himself out from what is opposed to the truth and the holiness of God. He is sanctified, or separated, and in this way becomes "meet for the Master's use."

Of course it is not enough to stop with separation. To do so would make one a Pharisee of the most disgusting type; as has, alas, often been the case. But he who has separated from the evil is now commanded to "flee also youthful lusts:but follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." To do this, what need there is of the daily application of the word of God, in the Spirit's power, to all our ways !
And this, as we have seen, is true feet-washing. Through the Word we are made clean at new birth. " Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3). That Word is likened to water because of its purifying and refreshing effect upon the one who submits to it. In it I find instruction as to every detail of the walk of faith. It shows me how I am called to behave in the family, in the church, and in the world. If I obey it the defilement is washed out of my life; even as the application of water cleanses my body from material pollution.

Never shall I attain so exalted a state or experience upon earth that I can honestly say:Now I am wholly sanctified; I no longer need the Word to cleanse me. As long as I am in this scene I am called to "Follow peace with all men, and holiness (or, sanctification), without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). This one passage, rightly understood, cuts up by the roots the entire perfectionist theory; yet no verse is more frequently quoted, or rather misquoted, in holiness meetings!

Observe carefully what is here commanded:We are to follow two things:peace with all men, and holiness. He who does not follow these will never see the Lord. But we do not follow that to which we have attained. Who has attained to peace with all men ? How many have to cry with the psalmist, "I am for peace:but when I speak, they are for war"! (Ps. 120:7). And who have attained to holiness in the full sense ? Not you, dear reader, nor I; for "in many things we all offend" (James 3:2). But every real believer, every truly converted soul, every one who has received the Spirit of adoption, does follow holiness, and longs for the time when, at the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, "He shall change these bodies of our humiliation," and make them like "the body of His glory." Then we shall have reached our goal:then we shall have become absolutely and forever holy.

And so when the apostle writes to the Thessalonians, in view of that glorious event, he says:"Abstain from all appearance (every form) of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto (or, in) the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it " (i Thess. 5 :22-24). This will be the glad consummation for all who here on earth, as strangers and pilgrims, follow peace and holiness, and thus manifest the divine nature and the fruits of the Spirit.

But so long as they remain in the wilderness of this world they will need daily recourse to the laver of water-the cleansing word of God-which of old stood midway between the altar and the holy place. When all are gathered home in heaven the water will no longer be needed to free from defilement. In that scene of holiness therefore there is no layer; but before the throne John saw a sea of glass, clear as crystal, upon which the redeemed were standing, their trials and their warfare over.

So throughout eternity we shall rest upon the word of God as a crystal sea, no longer needed for our sanctification, for we shall be presented faultless in the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

" Then we shall be where we would be; Then we shall be what we should be; Things that are not now, nor could be, Then shall be our own."

(Matt, 11:28-30.)

Come to Me," I want thy love:
I have opened heaven's door;
Let Me give thee from above
Joys for evermore.

" Take My yoke," and do not fear;
Thou art precious in My sight,
And I long to have thee near:
Walk with Me in light.

" Learn of Me," and thou shalt find
Every lesson I impart
Bringeth constant rest of mind,
And deep rest of heart.

A. E. F.

In the Cloud of Witnesses.

When the judgment-seat of Christ completes "the cloud of witnesses " mentioned in Heb. ii, there are two in New Testament times which will surely shine in a peculiar way. One is the woman in Simon's house, at Bethany. Her act as related in Mark 14 is so appreciated by the Lord that He says, "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her" (ver. 9).

The philanthropists are there to find fault with her act, of course. All they know is the utilitarianism which ministers to man's present comfort, and what this woman has done is a "waste" in their estimation. She has in a brief moment spent a large amount on what seems to profit none.

But this woman has seen in Christ the philanthropy of God-that philanthropy which indeed affects this life too; which turns drunkards into sober men without efforts of their own; makes the covetous empty out their treasures with the right hand and with the left; transforms the dissolute into holy men; delivers the heathen from the degradation of falling before stocks and stones, and sets the captives of Satan free. It does all this, and much more which no human philanthropy can do; but even that is but little compared with what it does beyond this life; for, after all, this life is but a brief space; its joys and sorrows are soon over. It is in the life to come, the eternal one, that the philanthropy of God shines out in all its brilliancy; and this woman has had a glimpse of it. She realizes what the cost of this philanthropy is to the Man of heaven who sits at Simon's board. Her faith has read the blessedness of sin forgiven and the sinner set free; but it has also read the sorrows of the Saviour in providing "so great a salvation" for her- for sinners. She has discovered the depths of His love in this. It has produced responsive love in her own bosom, and she now expresses it-expresses it in a scene where it finds only reproach.

It is easy to be brave when all applaud. This women tells out her heart at a time when, and in a place where, it excites murmuring.

Child of God, let the witness in this woman urge its like in you and me. The scene we are in is the same as the one she was in. The expenditure of devotedness to Christ still is called a waste, whether in time, talent, position, or money. So strong is the human current against all which has Christ for its central object, and therefore must have in its philanthropy the entire and eternal welfare of man, that unless God's people abide in Christ and are ruled by the word of God, they will be carried away with it too:they will value things according to man's judgment, and not God's. What a loss this will be found to be at the judgment-seat of Christ! There, what this woman did in Simon's house will still be told.

The other witness is the thief on the cross, told in Luke 23:40-42. There were many voices heard in that awful scene. High and low, priest and soldier, Pharisee and rabble, all are heard, and one mind rules them all-they are one and all against Jesus:they all accuse Him. Alone, that thief's voice is raised in justification of Him. He rebukes his former companion in sin; he condemns himself; he justifies the Man whom every one condemns; he appeals to Him for mercy when the day of His power and glory has come; he crowns Him King when all crucify Him.
Blessed witness! worthy indeed of a place in that "great cloud," for already in Holy Writ has he "obtained a good report through faith."

Faithfulness.

"Perhaps," said a Christian lady to another, "I should go sometimes with my husband to places of pleasure where he wants me to go with him. I might in that way have more influence over him to win him to Christ."

"God can bless only our faithfulness," replied the other.

This gave warning and revived courage in the tried wife; and who knows what a long, painful downward course it may have prevented ?

Addressing wives in similar trial, the Scriptures say, "Be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the conversation (behavior) of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear" (i Peter 3:i, 2).

How easily may one who is suffering in such a matter interpret such a passage as license to deviate from the narrow path-to do evil that good may come! Those who do this not only miss the object they propose to themselves, but their own soul goes down, and, proportionately, every fruit of the Spirit.

Let such wives fulfil faithfully their duties to their husbands, while fulfilling no less faithfully what they owe to their Saviour and Lord, and they will find that this is what God owns and blesses.

"Christian Science."

A leading "Christian Scientist " in a Western city, recently, having to face the fact that Mrs. Eddy had died, remarked, in pathetic tones, " I do not yet understand how Mrs. Eddy could make such a sad failure."

Poor woman, she could not see the wrinkles on her own face, nor the gray hairs on her own head- faithful witnesses before all that she herself was on the way to the same "sad failure."

How fearfully true every word of God proves itself to be! Of them who have "not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved," it says, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thess. 2:11).

This ministry had a special place in the Old Testament as well as in the New. It furnished the people with a direct link with God. He communicated His mind and will to the people by the means of His servants the prophets.

There were times when He made His mind known by dreams and visions; then again by the medium of angels; but in the ministry of prophecy, the prophet had a special nearness to the Lord; to him He revealed His secrets (Amos 3:7) and to him communicated His messages to the people. This fact the woman of Samaria recognized when the Lord read the secrets of her life before her:" The woman said unto Him, Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet" (John 4:19).

The ministry of the prophets has a dual form, both in the Old Testament and in the New.

First. When the Lord communicates His word it has a present day application to His people-a ministry for both their heart and conscience according to the need. If the prophecies from Isaiah to Malachi are read with care, it will be readily seen that a large part of them take this form. They are by no means confined to predicting future events. Only a part looked forward to the future; much that fills them was a searching ministry from a faithful God to His people-a people who had, alas, of ten wandered from the truth already given, and known by them. And in this we learn how grieved He was on account of their neglect of the truth already known, or their departure from it. By means of the prophets He sent searching messages concerning their sins; then follow the tender heart-yearnings of a Saviour-God. who desired their return of heart to Himself-their restoration.

This form of prophecy, which dealt with the present state of the people, is as truly telling out the mind of God-as all prophecy does-as foretelling future events. Anyone can see this.

In this first form of prophecy the principles of righteousness were never overlooked when there was departure from God. The need of repentance was pressed, because grace then as now must be through righteousness. When those faithful messages were unheeded by them, as was too often the case, alas, then there followed further revelations (all consistent with God's perfect government) which necessitated the punishment of the guilty. He held the rod, and at the proper time inflicted the chastening. These principles abide for us now, the same as in Old Testament times-through all dispensations alike. God's government in this does not change.

Second. The other form of prophecy is concerning the, future-a foretelling of what is in the mind and will of God toward His people Israel, and the other nations of the earth. In the plans and purposes of God, unfolded in this, Israel has a special place; the other nations are in relation to them. Prophecy in this form embraces the whole world, with the land of Palestine for its center. In these prophecies we are furnished with light and truth concerning the judgment of the wicked on the earth, whether among the Jews or among the nations. None are exempt. In the New Testament prophecies apostate Christendom will not escape. Their light has exceeded that of past dispensations; their
privileges have been greater, and their judgment will be correspondingly greater. (See Rom. 11:13-26 ) After this judgment of the wicked upon the earth -which will be when the Lord again returns to the earth-there will follow the establishment of a kingdom upon earth in which men, Jews and Gentiles, will do the will of God on earth as in heaven.
In this form of prophecy, as all can see, God by His servants foretells future events. In all these communications the things to come are opened up for all who have ears to hear, and that with no uncertain sound. All the outlines are given with such precision, with such detail and perfection, that it commands the admiration of all that reverence the word of God; and so much of what has thus been predicted along the way has already been fulfilled, fulfilled with such accuracy, that not a doubt can lurk in their souls concerning further portions yet to be fulfilled.* *If the "Higher Critics" understood this fact, that prophets " spoke of things that be not as though they were," hundreds and even thousands of years before their fulfilment, they would have no difficulty about prophecy, and never need to name a second Isaiah nor second Daniel of Post-Captivity.*

But we do not need prophets now to bring new and fresh revelations to us, for Scripture is "completed " (Col. i:25, margin). What we need now is to search the prophetic scriptures, and learn from them what God has said. They are as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the morning star arise (2 Pet. i:19).

If we do not need prophets now to furnish new revelations, we yet need teachers from the Lord to open up the Scriptures already given, and to rightly divide the truth which we possess. These gifts, Christ, the Head of the Church, has furnished, and will furnish to the end of the Church's stay upon earth.

In the written word of God we possess the mind and will of God for the present and for the future, and for the two spheres of blessing-heaven and earth. It also distinguishes between' the blessing of the Jew and of the Gentiles-to be given to each by and by. It gives both the calling and destiny of the Church, which is the body and bride of Christ.

This double form of prophetic ministry it is important to observe. The overlooking of the distinction has confused many minds. The second has ceased. The first abides; and our next article will (d.5:) give it due consideration. A. E. B.