Friend, do you believe it, that the same Jesus who was here once, whose feet trod the land of the Jews for thirty-three years, is about to return to this earth ?

By His first coming, 1900 years ago, was to His I second coming, for which we are looking day by day, what-the foundation of a building is to the building itself. It was made up of suffering, culminating in His atoning death on the cross, by which He obtained an eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12).

By His patient endurance of all the wrongs heaped upon Him and His loving continuance of doing good to men, He did another thing :He made God known as He truly is, and showed the kind of human life which God delights in. No man therefore who reads the life of Jesus believingly, as told in the four Gospels, can be ignorant of the true nature of God, and no one who reads believingly of His death on the cross can fail to see that it was for the putting away of our sins and the opening of heaven's door to us.

So the first coming of Christ prepares all who believe on Him for His second coming. It will be a coming in glory, and all who believe on Him while He is away will share that glory when He comes. Those who have remained in their pride, ) and refused Him as their Saviour, will be in a sad, sad case then! My heart's desire is that none who read these lines may be in that case. There is no more need for a man to be lost than for one to be thirsty with a river running at his feet. A full, free, present and eternal salvation is offered in divine sincerity to every soul of man. Every one who repents of his sins and receives the Lord Jesus as his Saviour is accepted of God (Eph. i:6); has eternal life (Jno. 6 :47) ; has the forgiveness of sins (Col. i :14) ; and can never perish (Jno. 10:27-29). This is what prepares one for the second coming of Christ-which, indeed, makes it an event much desired, because love for Christ has sprung up in the heart; and if we love anyone, we long to see and be with such an one.

The first coming of Christ is the fulfilment of one half of the Old Testament; His second coming will fulfil the other half, as well as all the prophecies of the New Testament.

There has been much confusion in the minds of many about the second coming of the Lord, both through false teaching about it, and through want of simple, child-like faith in the statements of the word of God about it.

The Fact of Christ's Coming Again

is told by the Lord Himself in John 14:3. He was soon to return to heaven, whence He had come, to prepare a place there for His people. So He says, for the comfort of their sorrowing hearts, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself ; that where I am, there ye may be also." Plain enough words, surely. When, He does not say; but He gave His promise:" I will come again." Later on He actually leaves them. He takes them with Him to the Mount of Olives, and as He is giving them a few parting words in blessing, a cloud takes Him from them and carries Him heavenward. Of course
they all looked up, gazing to catch the last glimpse of Him. As they did so, " Behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts i:10, 11).

Could anyone possibly misunderstand or misconstrue such a statement as this ? If there are passages in Scripture which need interpretation, surely this does not. It is "this same Jesus," who was born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary, who "went about doing good," who suffered, who died, who was buried and rose from the dead, who ascended up to heaven carrying humanity there with Him. It is "this same Jesus" who is to "come in like manner " as He went away. And that event is now evidently near at hand. Blessed event for those who are ready; dreadful for those who are not!

The Events Connected with It.

A number of events crowd around it, all of which are full of interest. The first one I will mention, The Translation, is of thrilling interest, at least to those who will have part in it ; it is described in i Thess. 4:16, 17:"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God :and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Is it any wonder that this extraordinary statement is followed by, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words ?" Are they not full of comfort ? Instead of death separating families and friends, this will bring them into happy reunion round about their precious Saviour whose presence will forever gladden every heart, and bind them all together in perfect love. Every grave containing the body of a child of God will have to give up its occupant, from that of Abel to the last one buried. It will be the grand victory of Christ and His people; when all who have fallen during the long "good fight" will rise to their feet, to share with the living, who are then changed, in triumphant joy and bliss. No more a suffering Christ and a suffering people, but a triumphant Christ and an exulting people.

The Transformation.-But to be thus translated from earth to heaven, we need to be transformed from an earthly condition, such as we are in now in spite of our being redeemed, to a heavenly condition, which will be like that of the angels, i Cor. 15 :51-53 describes that transformation in very plain words. It says:"Behold, I show you a mystery:We shall not all sleep (be dead), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (the living) shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." In that condition there will, of course, be no more sinful nature left in us, no more earthly needs and longings as now; no more liability to sickness and suffering as now. We shall be perfectly fitted for heaven, as we are now for earth.

The Judgment of Nations.

After the people of God have been transformed and translated to heaven, the earth will be a sad, sad place. It will be the time of God's dealings with the nations, to bring them to account for their national sins; for as nations and corporations, as such, pass away with time, their judgment for evil is also in time. That of individuals is for eternity, inasmuch as they abide forever.

The present conflict in Europe, if not already the beginning of that sad time, is at least a premonition of it. God is amazingly patient, but He administers justice in the end. He does not lay hold of the sword at once, for "judgment is His strange work," and He waits as long as His patience and grace can avail; but when they avail no more, and grace could be but encouragement to sin, then He takes up the sword and executes justice in as full measure as He exercised patience before. Not a single feature of the sin of long ago is forgotten or passed over. The coming severity of God's justice on all sin unrepented of is as fearful as His present goodness is wonderful. Do you suppose, for instance, that God will always bear with the present insult offered Him by these United States of America in shutting His Word out of the public schools ? The very blessing and superiority of the nation lies in the fact that it started with an open Bible ; otherwise, it would be no different from South or Central America, where darkness reigns supreme, and Romish greed makes merchandise of the very souls of men while dragging them into the deepest degradation and corruption. To now
shut out His word from the tender age of the nation is an ungrateful and insulting act which He will remember when He calls the nations to account. And what nation in Europe has not shed the blood of the faithful witnesses of Jesus? That blood cries out for justice, and will surely be avenged when the reckoning time comes, unless it has been sincerely repented of.

When the Jews were demanding of Pilate that he crucify Christ, and Pilate objected, they cried, " His blood be on us, and on our children " (Matt. 27 :25). Has it not been upon them ever since, and yet they have not repented of their crime. After our translation to heaven, therefore, and God withdraws His hand from holding back the powers of evil, the Jewish nation, now gathered again in their own land, will there, in their land, pass through "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21). This will bring them to repentance by bringing to their minds their merciless and heartless ways toward their gentle and patient Messiah. It will melt them to profound grief. (See Zech. 12:10-14.) There was a feast or set-time in Israel to describe this time (Lev. 23:26-32), for it will be the turning-point of their national history, and is therefore very important, even as the most important moment in any individual's history is when he repents of his sins and turns to the Saviour.

Another great event of that time will be the wonderful activity of the grace of God in the midst of the miseries of men everywhere. This is told in Rom. ii :12, 15, and in the seventh chapter of Revelation. As in Luke 15, the father, upon receiving again his prodigal son, makes in his joy a feast to all his house, so also when God receives again the Jewish nation, so long estranged from Him, He will make a feast of grace to all the world, except those who in the present day of grace "received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thess. 2 :10-12). These will have no further opportunity, but will be given up to "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." The great work of God's grace then will be, first of all, in the Jewish nation, but also among "all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," only passing over those who have heard the gospel of the grace of God, but have loved sin too well to come under its beneficent power.

Thus while men depopulate the earth by their cruel warring with each other, God peoples heaven with all such as turn to Him in sincerity in the midst of their sorrows.

During this time, when all the corporations of men are brought to account with God, there is the judgment of one great and special corporation which Scripture calls "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth " (Rev. 17:5). It is the false church, whose history began soon after that of the true Church, just as the history of counterfeit money begins soon after the making of good, sound money. This false church loudly shouts that she is "the only true church," and that nobody is right except within her confines; as soon as any dissent from her she
calls them " heretics," excommunicates them, and, if the government allows her, persecutes and torments them all she can. She is in league with all the rulers in the world who are willing to carry out her will. The true Church is a blessing in the world; this false church is a curse, a corruptness; under pretense of worshiping God, she causes her devotees to bow down to idols of gold, and silver, and wood, and wax; for money she deals in souls of men as merchants deal in merchandise; under pretense of superior sanctity she hides the most hideous crimes imaginable; because of those in her who still live sincerely and in true piety, God has borne most patiently with her, but now He bids them, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works:in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire:for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her" (Rev. 18:4-8). All shams get their dues in proper time with God, and His balances administer exact justice in everything. Faith, knowing this, waits with God in suffering patience. It can even pity the evil-doer at the thought of his sad end.

The Appearing.-But suddenly and unexpectedly -even while the Pacificist cry, Peace, peace, and vainly urge their theories to end all wars and bring about universal peace-the Lord Jesus descends from heaven in power and glory, accompanied by His redeemed people, whom, as we have seen, He had before translated to heaven. At that time they had no doubt been missed from among men where they lived, possibly with jesting and laughing at their absence, to quiet the unrest and secret dread of many hearts; for many who have no part in this "blessed hope" have known what the Bible says about it.

But the great secret is made fully manifest now. These very same people who had been missed by their fellows upon earth, when the shout of their Lord had called them to Himself above, and taken them into His Father's house out of sight, now appear with Him, when the world shall "see the Son of Man (the same Jesus) coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30).

The nineteenth chapter of Revelation describes this event very graphically in verses 11-16 :"And I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood :and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations:and He shall rule them with a rod of iron:and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, king of kings, and lord of lords."

What a vindication of the rights which men denied Him when He was here, and ever since! And what a vindication too of His people who have suffered in patience, for " if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12) ; and the time to reign is when He Himself comes to reign, as seen in the above passage. But to establish His reign He must first make a clean sweep of all who are still opposed to Him on the face of the earth. It is no longer pleading with them in grace-that time is over. His reign is being set up now, and woe be to all who refuse to bow to Him. It was the evil condition of heart in the Jews, when our Lord was here, which made Him refuse to be made King when they were ready to attempt it. He will not reign over a people who do not yield their heart and their will to Him; and now that the time for Him to reign has come, they must yield or be cut off.

This preliminary judgment of all opposition clears the way for His millennial reign of peace and righteousness. Jerusalem is rebuilt, with its temple, and becomes the imperial city, with the converted Jewish nation as His special, royal nation. Under His perfect government the whole earth lives in peace, prosperity, and godly happiness:no more oppression, no more rebellion, for the hearts of men have been changed. In all the attempts of men to produce a state of abiding peace among nations there could only be failure, for they have no power to change the nature or heart of man. The new birth is necessary for that, and only God can produce it in a repenting man. New birth having been wrought in those who enter the kingdom, new conditions are produced; and instead of destroying one another, they then love one another. Until those new conditions are produced, all the best efforts of men to bring stable peace on earth are utterly futile and vain. It required the almighty power of Christ to transform and translate His people from earth to heaven, and only the same power can fit men for His kingdom on earth.

My reader, if the next thing heard were the Lord's shout calling His redeemed people to Himself above, would you be of those who would respond to it ?

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

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

FRAGMENT

QUES. 5.-Does the expression, "Israel and Judah," often recurring in Scripture before the division of the nation under Rehoboam, indicate that the characteristics of the ten and the two tribes respectively were such as to warrant that distinction before the actual separation ?

ANS.-yes. The characteristics which produced the break were there before the actual separation as well as after. See 2 Samuel 19, 20. What chafing between the tribes! Notice also that when the nation is reunited, the characteristics which divided it are removed. " Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim " (Is. 11 :13).

An important lesson suggests itself to our mind as we write this :When Rehoboam started a movement to reunite the tribes, the Lord forbade it. Why? Did He not love and desire its unity? He certainly did ; more so than anyone else. Was it not to His reproach that the nation was divided ? Surely it was. Why then oppose Rehoboam's attempt to reunite the tribes ? Because Rehoboam could not remove what had produced the division. God alone could do that, and God alone can again make the nation one. This is of great importance to us now in the actual conditions of the Church. It is a sinful condition which produces division among the people of God now, as it did then, and if that condition is not removed, bringing back the people together is but for the worse. The proof of the evil condition being removed is in the genuine repentance of the people, a repentance which lays the roots of the evil bare before God and all concerned. Israel is yet divided, and shall be one again only after that tribulation (such as never was nor ever shall be after) has stripped them of their stubbornness and pride. Then will they individually flow together as naturally as drops of water meet and flow together.

QUES. 6.-Until what age are children responsible to be subject to their parents ?

ANS.-The law among men has settled upon ages which are supposed to be ages of discretion, and as a rule such laws are just and wise :on one hand, condemning lawlessness ; on the other, tyranny, for there is danger in both. A refined moral sense will go further than age limits, and demand subjection in the child during the time of dependence on the parent for support. Where the love of Christ prevails in the family, the children will not be anxious to shake off parental oversight and counsel, but will rather seek, cherish and obey it; nor will parents assert authority unduly, but will rather seek to carefully develop conscience in their children and leave them free, as soon as they deem it safe, to find their own path.

QUES.7. – Would you kindly say if the two verses, Rev. 20:4, 5, are not found in any of the old Greek manuscripts ? There are two women around our neighborhood with "Pastor Russell's" writings, and in one of their papers my eye fell on the above. He explains thus :"It is supposed that it got into the text, not through any desire to corrupt the same and falsify the record, but that in the days when the manuscripts were copied by pen, some copyist made this memorandum on the margin of his manuscript, supposed it to be a part of the original, and incorporated it in the text."

ANS. – All of the ancient manuscripts have these verses (4 and 5). There is not the shadow of a doubt as to them. The denial of which you speak is a pure invention of that impostor, who is probably as ignorant of the Greek as such men usually are, but are fond of making themselves and other people believe that they are very learned.

QUES. 8. – Where there are no brothers but only sisters, would they do the will of God in having the Lord's supper together?

ANS. – From what we know of the word of God, we think not. We have no direct passage in mind, but the whole drift of Scripture, we believe, is opposed to it.

QUES. 9. – Kindly explain who is represented in the angel of Rev. 2:1?

ANS.- We are positively told in Rev. 1:20 that the "stars" are the "angels" of the assemblies – they are essentially one therefore. The "star" indicates the light that shines upon the candlestick ; the "angel " represents the spirit of the assembly, in contrast with the body, or outward form.

The star and the angel therefore represent what light or testimony is found in that assembly.

QUES. 10. – Should the wife of a brother give to the collection basket, or should her husband be the only one to give? Has Scripture anything to say about it ?

ANS. – It depends on circumstances, in which good common sense serves well. A brother's wife may have an income of her own, or, as we suppose it to be the case generally, receives from her husband a certain personal allowance. In such cases the money is her own, to be spent as her wisdom may dictate. As to Scripture, it says :"Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him " (1 Cor. 16:2). Having some means in hand under her personal control, she is as free and as bound as any other of the Lord's stewards to tax her income for the Lord's use, and put this tax, or what part of it she judges best, in the basket as her husband does. If she has no personal money, she can of course give nothing-a pleasure of which we trust but few husbands would deprive their wives. In some cases the husband brings his weekly earnings in toto to his wife, who then has the responsibility of attending to the expenditures. In such cases an agreement should be between them that he should keep a certain part for the collection basket, or, as the Lord's money, set apart for the Lord's use alone. This fund is then their united fellowship, from which each one draws as occasion may call for. In many cases the wife receives so much per week or month or year for housekeeping expenses. While doing no injury to the housekeeping, she will probably find a way to make it contribute a share to the needs of others, if her heart is with Him who gave even His own life for us.

We would take occasion here to say that the assembly's collection basket is not the only channel through which to bestow our gifts. What we put there belongs to the assembly for its gifts according to its counsel and judgment. But individually one will always find opportunity to bestow here and there out of the treasury which he has set apart for the Lord.

QUES. 11.-Having received much help from your magazine, I desire your Christian advice on a subject which has greatly exercised me of late. I am a young man with ties to one of the warring nations of Europe, and an able-bodied young man is almost despised if he does not enlist for the war. I have no fear as to my life, for I know my sins are forgiven ; but is it right for a follower of the Lord Jesus to be found in deadly strife with his fellow-men? This has kept me back, though it is hard to be despised by one's fellows.

ANS.-Your exercises are quite right. We understand your dislike to being thought unpatriotic, but when faithfulness to Christ is involved we have no choice. We can but obey, let results be what they may.

Speaking of His own, the Lord said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world » (Jno. 17 :16). This gives us a place clean apart from this world and all its enterprises. Again the Lord said to His disciples, "Love your enemies … do good to them that hate you," etc. (Matt. 5 :44). If this is the Christian's path, how can he consistently go to kill his fellows? Of course when appeal is made to help save the fatherland, there is great temptation, for where is he who does not love his native land? Man also naturally loves war,' and when a noble purpose is linked with it brings strong temptation. But the Christian has been born from above. As a Christian, therefore, his true native land now is heaven, where Christ is. This changes everything for him. When their country is in danger, the citizens of this world offer themselves to defend it, and we can understand there is glory in laying down their lives for it. So should we do for the interests of our country whence we have been born-our heavenly country. We also '' ought to lay down our lives for the brethren'' (1 Jno. 3 :16). Christ calls us to walk here even as He walked ; He used no sword, nor may we. If we disobey, we lose communion with Him, and a Christian out of communion with Christ is like a railway engine off the track, or a ship which has lost her rudder.

It must be painful enough if the Christian is constrained by the government under which he lives to take up arms ; it requires much faith to refuse it ; but to do it deliberately, of his own will, is too sad to think of. Thoughts of Christ and of the Christian calling must have fallen very low. We know that many Christians, since the Church and the world joined hands, have not realized the heavenly and separate character of the Christian calling. To them the Church is set here to be a reformer of the world, and therefore to take part in its struggles. God, who is compassionate, and great in patience, may use and even bless His children who, in ignorance', but with a good conscience, are out of their proper place ; whilst He might rebuke another in the same place with more light, but not obedient to it.

May the Lord keep you faithful to Himself and your Christian calling, with what light you have, while suffering the consequences in patience and love.

For lack of space, answers to other questions must be deferred till next number.

(Continued from page 128.)

(Chaps. 4:20-5:13.)

In receiving Jesus as the Son of God, the believer, as we have seen, is simply building on God's own testimony. We may now inquire, What is the testimony of God on which faith rests in unshaken confidence ?

In Old Testament times God had made promises. Faith believed God and waited for the promise. But we are not waiting for the promised Seed of the woman, or the Seed of Abraham, or the Heir of David:this now would be rank unbelief. Faith now manifests itself in receiving Jesus as the Son of God. Faith affirms and maintains that He who came in the world 1900 years ago, whose personal name was Jesus, is the Son of God. God has in a most remarkable way given testimony concerning Him. The testimony is threefold:the water and the blood that poured out from Jesus' pierced side when He was dead, and the Spirit that came down from heaven after He had risen and ascended back to glory.

But we must consider this more carefully; and in doing so we must first give a better translation than the one in our ordinary version. Verses 6 to 8 should be read:"This is He that came in the way of water and blood, Jesus Christ; not in the power of the water only, but in the power of the water and the blood; and it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. Because there are three that testify:the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three are with a view to one [testimony]."

"This is He that came in the way of water and blood"-what does the apostle refer to here ?It has been referred to the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist:but there was neither cleansing for man nor expiation for God in the baptism of Jesus; therefore the Spirit cannot have this in mind here. The same objection applies if it be thought the reference is to the birth of the Lord Jesus into the world. The Lord's own statement, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone" (John 12:24), should be sufficient to settle all controversy as to whether there was cleansing for man or propitiation for God in either the birth of our Lord or His baptism. It is evident the apostle is occupied here, not with the fact simply that the Son of God became man, but with God's purpose-the great object that was in view, in the coming of Jesus. Coming to be a Saviour (chap. 4:14) involved His death, because men were under the sentence of death-a righteous sentence, which therefore could not be set aside. The only possible way of effecting a deliverance from it was by the Substitute assuming the sentence, and providing a new life for men-a. life beyond the death and the judgment to which men are appointed. Those upon whom this new life is conferred become new creatures. They are thus clean creatures, having been born from above – of water and the Spirit. Their new birth, for which the death and resurrection of Christ is provision, is their cleansing. The Son of God came in this manner, with this purpose, to provide cleansing for men denied by sin.

This cleansing from sin, we must remember, is not at the expense of the glory of God. That death, which is the means of life to us, has fully met every demand of the nature and character of God. It is a perfect satisfaction to God's nature. This- expiation is fully acceptable to Him; it is a propitiation that vindicates God in every way; it leaves no stain on His glory; the throne of government is untarnished. Our acceptance is in no way inconsistent with the nature and character of Him who cannot look upon sin. In our salvation He has not winked at our sins. His grace to us is in full harmony with His holiness and righteousness.

The Son of God, then, came in the way of cleansing and propitiation. This is the apostle's thought when he says, " This is He that came in the way of water and blood " (water being the symbol of cleansing and blood the sign of propitiation), laying down His life in vindication of the character and glory of God.

But the apostle adds, "Not in the power of the water only, but in the power of the blood." Why, in the Greek, does he now use a different preposition- "in the power of" instead of "in the way of ? " "In the way of" indicates the manner, method, way or means. Moral cleansing for men and perfect satisfaction for God is the only suited method of dealing with men in the condition in which they are through sin; but it is not only a suited method, it is thoroughly adequate; it is the only effective way of meeting man's need. In coming to provide cleansing and expiation, the Son of God has interposed in man's behalf with what is fully efficacious; hence the added expression, " Not in the power of the water only, but in the power of the blood." The death of Christ provides both, and both effectively; so that the soul that comes under the power of the cleansing Word, symbolized by the water, is turned to God to stand before His face with the assurance that he is made fit for His presence, having been made whiter than snow by the blood-the sign of propitiation accomplished, which means the unqualified acceptance of the one who believes and confesses Jesus to be the Son of God.

Having thus spoken of the water and the blood, the apostle adds,, "Arid it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth." He plainly refers to the water and the blood which came out of the pierced side of the dead body of Christ, as a divine testimony which God gave concerning His Son. It was not a natural phenomenon, but a supernatural one (see John 19:35), by which God was testifying that the death of His Son provides cleansing, or a new life, and propitiation. In recording the pouring forth of blood and water from the pierced side of Christ after death, John adds, "And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true; and he knoweth that he saith true." The Spirit by John thus attests and confirms the testimony of the blood and the water.

There are, then, three witnesses:the water, the blood, and the Spirit-a threefold testimony, but a united testimony, and thus one. The Spirit and the water and the blood affirm the same thing. They unite in witnessing that life is in the Son and for men through His death. They bear their united testimony to the truth to produce faith:-"That ye may believe that Jesus is the Son of God." In the epistle, however, John is writing to believers, and he urges that the testimony he has been speaking of is divine testimony-the testimony of God concerning His Son (ver. 9). The believer needs to have the sense of this in his soul. The power and enjoyment of the blessing that is his as a believer will be much affected by the consciousness, or lack of it, that the testimony is Divine. If it has been received only as the word of men, it will not have its full sanctifying power in the soul. We receive the testimony of competent, trustworthy men without question; but how much greater is the testimony of God! He speaks what He knows; with Him knowledge is absolute, not relative. He witnesses to the truth as He alone fully knows it.

But again, what is the apostle occupying us with here ? To what end is God so emphatically and solemnly testifying? It is this:Life, eternal life, is in the incarnate Son of God, and through faith is communicated to the believer on the basis of His death (ver. 11).

Perhaps this statement requires to be expanded, and guarded against misunderstanding. Let the reader specially notice this:Life is in the incarnate Son of God; and this form of expression is more important than at first appears necessary. But it must be remembered that men have forfeited their life in Adam, and it is a question of a new life in man, a life of such a nature and character that the recipients become by the very fact, not merely new creatures, but children of God:for those born of God, born from above, are in a higher and more intimate relation to God than Adam was, even as unfallen.

But how could this be ? Only through a new Adam. The Son of God became incarnate in order to be this new Man. Now if we think of Him as incarnate, He was a Man who had life in a double sense. Being a divine Person He had divine life. Having become a human Person He had human life. He had thus both divine and human life; but, be it remembered, not two lives (one divine and the other human), but one life which was both divine and human. He was thus a unique Man.

Now keeping this in mind we can understand that He was a Man who had both uncommunicated and communicated life-both independent and dependent life, 1:e., one life having both characteristics. John 5:26 shows this plainly. While as an eternal Person He has eternal, divine life, as become Man, as incarnate, He has life as given Him, 1:e., as a communication. Mark, too, it is given or communicated to be in Himself. It is intrinsic and essential to Himself. We therefore may speak of Him as having divine, or eternal life in a dependent form.

But even so He was alone in it. He, alone, had it intrinsically. It was in Him alone essentially. He had to fall into the ground and die as the corn of wheat to provide a basis for its communication to others. His death-a death in behalf of men- procures life for men to be received by faith. His death is God's justification in giving life to believers at any time, Old Testament times or New.

It should be manifest that the form of the life that is communicated to believers is the form of life possessed by Him as incarnate-a form of life assumed by Him in order to be the Source of life to us. Dying and rising again He lives, a Man still having both uncommunicated and communicated life.

The testimony of God concerning His Son is, as we have seen, to the effect that eternal life is communicated to us-believers. This communicated life, life in dependence, is in Him. He is the fountain-source of it. It is not life as He possessed it eternally-independent life; it is life as He possesses it as Man, but a life having, -even in us, the twofold character it has in Him; a life in which we are men still, yet the children of God also.

Now the believer characteristically has this witness of God in himself (ver. 10). The testimony of God received produces in the soul divine conviction of the truth. He may not be able to unfold or explain all that goes with it, but there is an inward sense of being connected with Jesus the Son of God, and that thus he is in relationship with God. The unbeliever, by his disbelief of the testimony, charges God with lying. What a dreadful thing! What bold effrontery on the part of those who refuse the united testimony of the water, the blood, and the Spirit ! How sinful to treat their testimony as being false! To charge Him who cannot lie with lying in giving testimony concerning His Son by means of these three supernatural witnesses is audacious !

Now, let us mark again, this testimony of God concerning His Son is not only that Jesus is His Son and that life is in Him intrinsically and essentially, but that it is communicated to us-to believers
(ver. 11). God has given to us the life that is in the Fountain-head. We have it in ourselves, but not as intrinsic to us. It is in us a communicated life in dependence upon the source from which we receive it. If we have it is as in Him who became Man to die, and thus to become the source of it to others; as the apostle says, " He that hath the Son hath the life " (ver. 12).

If then the life is in Him, if the incarnate Son of God dead and risen is the source of life, and if only those who believe on Him are the recipients of it, then whoever does not have the Son does not have the life.

To all this the apostle adds, "These things have I written in order that you may know that you have eternal life-you who believe on the name of the Son of God" (ver. 13), Believers now are given the full knowledge of the truth, which could not be given before the incarnation and death of the Son of God. However truly God acted anticipatively in Old Testament times in conferring the life on believers before the incarnation and death of the Son of God, He did not give them the testimony that He has now given to us. The full truth of our relations to God is now given. The revelation of it has been authoritatively communicated, not simply that we may know we have the life, but that we may enjoy, appreciate, and live in the power of it.

The measure of our enjoyment, of course, depends on the measure in which the power of that revelation dwells in us. Perhaps I should say, on the measure of our receptivity. This conscious enjoyment and appreciation of the life given us is characteristically true of all who now have the life. There may be inward realization and true enjoyment where there is not that full intelligence which a divine conviction of the testimony produces in the soul-a sense of being in relationship with God. However weak his faith, the believer knows he has eternal life. C. Crain

(To be concluded in next"number.)

The Evidence that the Times of the Gentiles have nearly run their Course

(Continued from page 191.)

And if we would watch intelligently it is necessary that we be able, through familiarity with the Word of God, to discern aright the signs of the times. In three short verses our Lord Himself has given us a marvelous epitome of the conditions that would prevail immediately before the great tribulation. Weigh carefully Matt. 24:5-7, and ask yourself if anything could more aptly describe the days in which we live. "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars:see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." With this, couple the equally pertinent words of Luke 21:25, 26:"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."

The context makes it clear that these are the outward evidences of the near approach of the end-times. They do not definitely fix the time when the Lord must come. They simply show that the days of vengeance are coming on a pace. And one might fearlessly challenge anyone to give us a better description of our own days than we have in these verses, taking brevity into consideration. Note the leading features of the two passages:First:Many Antichrists. It might be said that there has never been a time since the very days of the apostles that this sign has not been manifested; and this I readily admit. But in a certain sense the whole Christian dispensation is marked by all those things predicted by our Lord, for ever since apostolic days men have lived in what John calls '' the last hour." The greater part of earth's time or course has been run; only the last hour remains ere the kingdom be ushered in. But while this is so, we gather that the characteristic features of the age will be accentuated at the close. And so it is at the present solemn moment. We hear of antichrists on every hand, and those who are deceived thereby may well be called legion! In all lands these false Christs are found. In America we have witnessed the"powers and signs and lying wonders" connected with the system miscalled Christian Science, which venerated its woman-founder as the second coming of Christ, and holds its false philosophy to be the promised Comforter, thus blaspheming against the Holy Ghost. Lesser lights have flickered and flamed up, then died down, leaving hosts of disappointed dupes, like Dowie, the pseudo-prophet of Chicago; Sanford, the Elijah of New England; Dr. Teed, the Koresh; and others too numerous to mention:and as they pass away, other deceivers take their places, for men would rather believe any lie than God's truth. A Persian
antichrist, Abbas Effendi or Abdul Bahai, appears in Europe and America and is accorded the liberty of proclaiming his propaganda from "Christian" pulpits, and now has his societies in such numbers that they recently held a great congress at the World's Fair in San Francisco-and this in a land of Bibles! The Order of the Star of the East, a Theosophical off-shoot, is increasing by leaps and bounds, and all its members are avowedly waiting for "the coming one"-who is not Christ, as they dream, but Antichrist. The Christ of God comes the second time from heaven. The-Antichrist will come from the earth-born in a natural way. No earth-born person, however wonderful, can deceive the elect, who wait for God's Son from heaven.
Second:A period of terrible unrest and warfare among the nations would manifest " the beginning of sorrows." Men have flattered themselves that the world would never again be desolated by wars and wholesale slaughter. In the very month that the present European conflict broke out, the organ of the Peace Society, published tn Toronto, contained an .ably-written article declaring that war was now an impossibility, and a great world-conflict could never occur again! Clergymen, oblivious of Scripture, and carried away by the loose theologies of the day, were loudly voicing the same empty boast up to the day before the awful conflict began; and, ever since, our Lord's words have been fully applicable. Nation after nation has been drawn into the struggle, and the end is not yet. The nations seem war-mad and demon-led as the time draws near for the great Armageddon conflict yet to be fought out in the land of Palestine, when all nations shall be drawn into -the fray. Even should peace intervene, it will prove to be but a temporary truce; for there can be no lasting peace until all Gentile dominions are destroyed, and He comes whose right it is to reign.

In the third and fourth places we read of famines and pestilences, the very natural outcome of war, which are even now reaping fearful harvests, though the science and skill of the world are endeavoring to successfully cope with them. Already many high-spirited and noble-minded physicians and nurses have laid down their lives in the overpowering conflict in trying to hinder the on-rushing pestilence, while the charity of the world is strained in its efforts to check the ravages of famine-and what may it not yet be in the near future ?

In Luke's account we get the fifth sign that the end is drawing near, calamities such as the world has never previously known. Were the dreams of evolution true, we should long since have passed earth's formative period, but events of recent years show us that this very globe is going through great and momentous changes, preparatory to the conditions prophesied of for millennial times. Surely never have there been so many terrible disasters on land and sea as since the midnight cry summoned the virgin band to trim their lamps. Earthquakes, tidal waves and kindred phenomena have occurred with amazing frequency. Is it any wonder that we see the sixth sign on every hand?- "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth? " Confidence is shaken. Nations are bewildered and perplexed. Pledges even of nations are violated,
and promises broken. Individuals are in fear and dismay where a cheery spirit of optimism prevailed but a short time ago. Yet, amidst it all, the Christian need not be in perplexity or doubt. The Word of God has forewarned of all this. Minutely it has foretold existing conditions, and the fulfilment of its solemn prophecies should only strengthen the faith of the believer as he turns from all men's empty vaporings to the unerring and inerrant word of God. H. A. I.

(To be continued.)

Chapter III

Evidence from Israel's History and Present State that Points to the Speedy Consummation of this Age

(Continued from page 237.)

If the evidence we have been considering shows that the Church of God is soon to close its earthly history, and that the Gentile dominions must shortly surrender their lease of power to Him who shall reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, that which Israel's past and present condition furnishes is of an even more startling character. The Lord Jesus said to his eager, inquiring disciples, in that great prophetic discourse which we have already noticed in part, " Now learn a parable of the fig tree:When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors " (Matt. 24:32, 33). And again in the companion passage in Luke, we are told, "He spake unto them a parable; Behold the fig tree and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh. So likewise ye, when ye see these things being fulfilled, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh" (Luke 21:29-31). Mark 13:28, 29 is almost the exact counterpart of Matthew.

Now why does our Lord direct special attention to the Jig tree ? Is it not because it is the particular symbol of Judah, which was likened to "a fig tree planted in a vineyard?" See Luke 13:6-10. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel," as depicted in Isaiah’s:1-7. Because of their sin the Lord rooted out the vines of all the twelve tribes and left His vineyard desolate. After the Babylonian captivity Judah was planted as a fig tree in the desolated vineyard. This fig tree, Christ Himself nurtured in the three years of His ministry. He came seeking fruit, only to find none. When this was manifested as the settled condition, and "nothing but leaves" was found, the fig tree fell under the curse and withered from the root. But, in the last days, the fig tree of Judah is to revive and to put forth leaves and bear fruit. When revival is noticed, the end will be near. This is the clear teaching of the Lord in the "parable of the fig tree." As we look upon the Jewish nation today, who can fail to see the leaves and fruit both pushing out from the stock which has been dry so long ? Judaism is experiencing a revival of the national spirit, and, as never since apostolic days, Jews are turning in heart to the Lord whom they once rejected.

The national revival might be likened to the green leaves. The spiritual awakening would more readily answer to the developing fruit.

We look first at the "leaves." For centuries, Jewish history has been the verification of prophecy. Israel, scattered and peeled, have been outcasts among all nations; a people despised and scorned; yet provoking the envy of their Gentile neighbors, and a certain feeling of awe likewise. This is something about the undying Jewish people which the nations cannot comprehend. The Jew assimilates with none, yet pervades all. He is the unquestionable man of destiny, for he represents that race, or "generation," which shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.

Persecuted and oppressed, it is true to-day as in Egyptian times that "the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew." Yet, though the Jew has ever secretly cherished the hope of a coming Messiah and restoration to Palestine, for centuries his national spirit seemed utterly crushed, and he lacked the sense of solidarity which alone can assure the integrity of any nation. Yet in his most wretched estate the Jew has never become identified with the peoples among whom he wandered. We speak of men of other lands, naturalized in another country, after this fashion:as German-Americans, or Anglo-Americans, or Scotch-Canadians, and so on. But we do not speak of Jewish-Britons, or Jewish-Americans, or Jewish-Germans, etc. Instead we know them as American Jews, English Jews, Russian Jews, and so on. Wherever born, they are Jews, and only Jews.

The last century has intensified this national feeling in a marvelous way, and resulted in the birth of the world-wide Zionist movement, having for its avowed object the return of the Jews as a nation to Palestine, the acquirement of their ancient patrimony, and the foundation of an independent Jewish state-possibly a protectorate, under the care of one or more of the great world-powers.

Has the present fearful war in Europe jeopardized these plans or disheartened the Jew ? Has the present season of intense suffering in Palestine made such a scheme seem foolish and futile ? Not at all. More than ever the Jewish spirit is asserting itself. More than ever the Jews feel they must establish a Hebrew commonwealth. As things now are, whoever wins in this world-war, the Jew must lose. Jews are fighting in the ranks of all the great opposing armies. Jews are suffering in all the lands desolated by strife and the unspeakable horrors of famine and pestilence. The Jew is caught, as it were, between the upper and nether millstones. He does not want to be found in such a plight again. To avoid it he sees only one way. That is, to become once more an independent nation.

And this plan appeals not only to the Hebrew race, but to Gentile statesmen as well. What the final outcome of the war will be, none can fully forecast, but the necessity of establishing in Palestine a buffer-state appeals to nearly all the powers. It is confidently asserted that serious consideration is being given to such a plan in diplomatic circles; and no one who believes his Bible will be surprised to hear at any time that an active movement has been started to bring this about.

Prophecy has foretold all this. The Jews are to be gathered back in unbelief to their own land by the help of some great maritime power (see Isa. 18), and given a place in the counsels of the nations. Before our very eyes we see all heading up toward this consummation. The fig tree is putting forth her leaves. The national life-sap, if I may so put it, is once more manifesting itself in the one-time dry and desolate tree of Judah. And this is the sure indication that the period of Gentile domination is fast drawing to a close.

Money is flowing into the coffers of the Zionist societies. Influential Jews hitherto indifferent, because largely agnostic and rejecting their own Scriptures, are giving their countenance and aid to a scheme that once seemed to them visionary and absurd. National feeling has wrought where of religious feeling there was none. And thus men who believe not the prophets are fulfilling them in their ignorance.

At about the beginning of the present war it was common report that a member of the powerful Rothschild family was negotiating with the Turkish government in regard to giving a mortgage on the land of Palestine. The Porte, needing money, had turned to the great Jewish banking house for the accommodation. The daily papers declared the Rothschilds were ready to accede to the Sultan's desire if the coveted land of Israel were given as security, and free access granted to all Jews, with full religious toleration and other privileges. If this be indeed true, the war will only prove a means of making such an arrangement more desirable at its close. But, by whatever means it may be brought about, we may rest assured that Jerusalem will soon be the Jewish capital and Palestine a Jewish state.

And now I desire to press the solemn truth that all this forces upon us. The coming of the Lord ·must be very near, for the prophetic scriptures give us no reason to believe that such a condition of things as we have depicted above, will be brought about so long as the Church is on earth. But time speeds on, and preparations are fast taking place for the re-gathering of Israel and their establishment in their own land after the Church has gone. And the Church will be caught away from this scene at the coming of the Lord to the air; hence the solemnity of the sign of the green leaves ! The Midnight Cry sounds louder each passing day !

"Trim your lamps and be ready,
For the Bridegroom's nigh." H. A. I.

(To be continued.)
I Shall be Satisfied

"It is prayer, meditation, and converse with God that refreshes, restores, and renews the temper of our minds at all times, under all trials, after all conflicts. By this contact with God we receive continual accesses of strength. Without this healing and refreshing of spirit, duties grow to be burdens, events of life chafe our temper, they make us irritable and impatient.

"It is impossible for us to make the duties of our lot minister to our sanctification without a habit of devout fellowship with God. This is the spring of all our life and the strength of it."

There are two expressions in the epistle to the Romans which indicate the special character of the apostle Paul's ministry. "The gospel of God" (an expression which occurs in the introductory verses of the epistle, chap, i:1-17) clearly points to the source of the gospel; while the other expression, "My gospel" (chap. 16:25), introduced in a sort of doxology, speaks of a blessed revelation, though not developed, which distinguished the apostle's teaching from other of the Lord's servants. It would be difficult to estimate our loss if we fail to grasp these two important truths.

We live in a day when the faith of God's people is sorely tried! Many are genuinely perplexed and distraught by the condition of things both in the political and religious world. This, doubtless, is the result of the soul not being established in the truth, and is often due to wrong teaching as to the scope and purpose of the gospel.

A question frequently made of late is no new one, though recent happenings in Europe have forced it more prominently on the attention of the thinking public. "Has Christianity failed in its mission?" was the query raised by a leading secular magazine some time ago. The writer was drawing attention to the existing awful conditions in war-riven Europe.

Such a question is raised on altogether wrong premises; it could never be asked, were the natural man's condition and the purpose of God in the gospel understood.

In the minds of most, an idea exists that God has sent out the gospel to improve the world, to make it a more congenial place for men to live in; and to find the world more hopelessly evil than ever, after strenuously preaching its improvement, has dismayed many a " 20th century " preacher, and thrown his listeners into confusion and despondency as to the outcome of what they thought was the gospel. Misapplied Scripture, often torn from its context, has been made use of to support the teaching that gradually the gospel preached must permeate the world and result in the establishment of the millennium-which, however, is entirely foreign to the Scriptures.

The Gospel of God

Nowhere do we find the apostleship of Paul placed on more positive ground than in the epistle to the Romans. He had not yet been at Rome, but, as the apostle of the Gentiles, he would fulfil his mission, which he had received from the Lord Himself for the Gentiles (Acts 26:17, 18). According to God's administrative order, Peter was specially commissioned to the circumcision; Paul to the nations, or Gentiles (Gal. 2:7, 8).

Little need be said here as to the character of Peter's ministry, "but an interesting point may be referred to. This whole-hearted servant of the Lord preached (as recorded in the Acts) forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ, but did not associate with this the truth of justification; while Paul, in his preaching, added this blessed truth:

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38, 39).
The gospel (or good news) was not about man- though it was sent to man; there was nothing joyous to say about him-in heathenism, wantonly corrupt ; in philosophy, hypocritical; under law, a transgressor:every mouth was stopped and all the world was shown to be "guilty before God." Man conclusively proved himself unable to bring forth righteousness for God.

Concerning His Son

He is the blessed theme of the gospel; the glad tidings are concerning Him. He is presented in a two-fold way:First, in connection with the promises, "Seed of David according to the flesh," and, second, "Son of God with power" by resurrection of the dead ("the dead," here, is in the plural, dead ones).

The gospel of God had been announced by the prophets in the Old Testament; it had been promised before it came; thus every possible objection which might be raised should be silenced before the unfolding of what God's gospel is. In the person of the Son, God has found One able to undertake and accomplish all His purposes, and fully make known all His thoughts of love for men. He alone could solve the problem that man raised centuries before, and could not settle-the question of good and evil -and settle it to God's eternal glory. What marvelous grace that He should enter the dark domain of death where man lay in ruin and exposed to eternal wrath, taking upon Himself all the weakness of man once and for ever rob the enemy of his spoils, take away the armor in which he boasted, and completely triumph in resurrection over all the enemy's power.

The new life received by the believer is a life given and founded on the eternal value of what has been accomplished by the Son of God. In this blessed gospel God reveals a righteousness/br man who has none; but a righteousness from God-is revealed to, and on the principle of, faith. This is the grand theme of the epistle.

Into details we do not enter, only to point out what is its connection with the expression which titles this article. Let it suffice to say that in Romans the believer is looked at as justified, righteousness being imputed to him through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, that he may walk here in this world in the power of the risen life of Christ, having the glory in view.

This epistle, and that to the Ephesians, are the only two written by the apostle to the saints which are not corrective; the others had in view certain existing conditions to correct. In these two epistles we have the unfolding of positive truth:the former laying the sure foundation, and the latter giving the blessed structure built thereon. In a subsequent paper we may see what is God's purpose in sending forth the glad tidings. J. W. H. N.

"The Wily Pastor"

The New York Tribune in its issue of February 20th, publishes the following :

RUSSELL'S CASH REFUSED

From " The Continent."

Pastor Russell has had a great many bumps in his career, but he has seldom, if ever, been jolted worse in public prestige than by the simultaneous cancellation of his advertising contracts by the two chief morning dailies of Chicago, "The Tribune" and " The Herald." The former openly apologized to its readers for having ever published the pastor's sermons even for cash. As a reason for rejecting further Russellite "copy," "The Tribune" cited not the pastor's religious teaching at all, but his shady business record, including his connection with the United States Investment Company and with " miracle wheat." These financial matters, and Russell's domestic relations, too, " The Tribune " exposed in a series of articles beginning-Tuesday, February 2, and running through that week. It would be a useful thing, if citizens in other cities where Russell is so lavishly buying space for sermons in the daily press, should call attention of the publishers to " The Tribune's" good example, and ask them to consider the grounds on which that paper decided not to abet any longer the wily "pastor's" game.

The Scripture states that "some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after" (i Tim. 5:24). The reason for this providential difference is probably that, in the first case, their sins being exposed to men's eyes it is for a warning to others, and to so discredit their perpetrators before men as to take from them their power to deceive the simple. In the other case, where "they follow after,"-1:e., are made manifest at the final judgment-it is the time "when God shall judge the secrets of men" (Rom. 2:16); when He will "render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:6).

The Writers of Poetry

Perhaps we owe it to our friends who send us pieces of poetry for publication, to tell them that while we are quite able to heartily enjoy a piece of genuine poetry, we have always felt our inability to edit that class of writing. Under that consciousness we did the best we could while waiting for the help of some one better able for that work. While in Scotland a few years ago we met a Christian lady gifted in those lines, who kindly accepted the task as a service to the Lord. The understanding was that the poetry would be sent to her; that what she did not deem suitable for publication she would destroy; from what she judged suitable she could remove, according to her ability, what defects there might be, while disturbing as little as possible the thought of the original.

An editor cannot please everybody (and should not seek to please anybody); yet we hope our friends concerned will be satisfied with the result.

A Good Testimony
We received lately a paper put out by the 'North Baptist Church," of Wilmington, Del., bearing a good and firm Christian testimony against the blasphemous utterances of " W. R. McNutt, Pastor of the Prospect Hill Church of Moore, Pa., and Moderator of the Delaware Baptist Union Association." His utterances in the opening sermon before the Association are too blasphemous to be repeated here, yet the church, over which he is pastor (rather, the wolf in sheep's clothing) when called upon to deal with him, was already so leavened by his infidelity that it justified him! Against this the North Baptist Church of Wilmington, Del., gives a clear and faithful testimony, appealing not to mere sectarian tenets, but to the word of God. Then, following this, it further obeys the word of God in withdrawing from fellowship which shields, and therefore identified itself with such iniquity. " Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" is God's command (2 Tit. 2:19). Once evil has built itself a nest among the people of God, the only-divine remedy is departing from it. To remand linked with it is but to insure our own downfall.

More Folly

While writing the above, another proof of the rising apostasy comes to our hand Its title page professes to be a "Syllabus of a Course of eight Bible Studies; the Origin and Significance of the Bible ; Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore; M. H. Lichliter, Minister."

Turning over the page for the details concerning these " Bible Studies " one finds they consist of the usual catalogue of " Higher Criticism's " apostasy. The class will be treated to an investigation into the origin of the Bible. Every one who, according to these men of "science," has had a hand in getting it up, will be duly credited- except God, oi course. As He is practically left out of Creation it would be unnatural He should be given much room in Revelation.

The class will be told about two kinds of writer in the Bible:one the Elohistic, the other the Jehovistic. As God bears the names of both Elohim and Jehovah, it seems impossible to these men of science that one of His secretaries should be able to use both names. That is, the historian of a public man could not call him Judge as he speaks of him in court, and then suddenly name him as a father when he views him at home among his children! Thus Moses who calls God " Elohim" in the first chapter of Genesis could not have written chapter 2 when God (in relationship with a completed Creation) adds " Jehovah" to His former name!! But these scientific men are so wise that they can learn nothing.

The class will also be told about "the two Isaiah’s." As at chapter 40 the subject changes somewhat, the same writer of course could not have written the first 39 chapters. The original editors of the Book were stupid men indeed for such an oversight! Wisdom will surely die with these 20th Century teachers! Hats off to them, please! The class will also be instructed with regard to Daniel, and the date of his book pushed way onward, for how could a man have written such accurate descriptions and details of things which happened long after the date ascribed to him ? These men of "science" have well-nigh reached the devil's promise to man, "Ye shall be as God " (Gen. 3:4, 5). They cannot therefore conceive that God should tell us about the future, since no one knows with certainty. Come down, therefore, Daniel, and own that thou art but a historian, and not a prophet of the Most High.

One wonders if such men can possibly have any honesty, for, if learned as they profess to be, they must know the full, complete answers to their theories which have been published and which they cannot refute. Yet they go on repeating the same stale twaddle as if nothing had been said. By Solomon it was written:"Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him" (Prov. 27:22).

Mr. Lichliter, however, makes the gracious announcement that, in spite of the Bible being made up of "oral traditions, legends, myths, folk-lore, wonder stories," compiled by some clever editors, then revised by more clever ones, the New Testament at least " will probably remain unchanged! "

But try it, gentlemen-try to change that blessed Book-and then face the storm when it comes upon you! Thank God, there are yet thousands upon thousands who have heard a voice more than human in that Book which no more needs the commendation of human authorities (Jewish or Christian) than the sun needs the help of a candle. Perhaps some poor needy sinner reads in Isaiah, "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed," and the voice in Isaiah comes to him as the sweet voice of salvation-the pardoning voice of God. Another hears Him say, through Luke:"Thy sins are forgiven, … thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace," and he goes in peace treasuring in his bosom his divine clearance. Ah, "critics," rearrange that holy Book, -and even Balaam's ass will-rise up to rebuke your folly. Your "science "and time were better spent in remodeling the heavens, assigning to each star and planet a more reasonable and suitable place according to your imagination.

One mourns for Christ's poor sheep under such guides. But is there not in them too the guilt of being willing to have it so ?

Readings on 1 John

Owing to constant journeyings of late, our brother Grain's serial article on i John could not be sent for this issue.

O little bulb uncouth,
Ragged and rusty brown,
You have no dew of youth,
You have no crimson gown!
Plant me, and see
What I shall be-
God's fine surprise
Before your eyes!

O fuzzy ugliness,
Poor, helpless crawling worm,
Can any loveliness
Be in that sluggish form ?
Hide me, and see What I shall be-
God's bright surprise
Before your eyes.

A body quite worn out,
A crumbling house of clay-
Oh, agony of doubt
And darkness and dismay !
Trust God, and see
What I shall be-
His best surprise
Before your eyes!

Our purpose is to consider the subject of Justification in the various ways it is presented in the Word of God. By it a deep sense of security is established in the believer's soul, and the blessedness of our place before God is realized.

Of first importance is the fact that justification is God's act; and, second, to know when it takes place. Then, that it is apart from law and works of law, but that it is based upon the work of the Cross.

It is presented in various aspects, and thus we have:Justification by faith; by grace; by blood; by the Spirit; in Christ; from sin; of life; by-works; and it is closely connected with the resurrection of Christ.

We can see at once it involves much precious truth, which may it please God by His Spirit to enable us to gather together for profit and blessing.

1. GOD’S ACT.

Justification is the act or declaration which clears a person from every charge, or imputation of guilt. In justifying the believer, God clears him according to His own character, in righteousness; it also sets before us the ground upon which this position is maintained before God.

In Romans 3:21-26, God is shown to be "just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus:" that is, faith acknowledging, or receiving Jesus, God appropriates all the value of Jesus to him that has faith. We see from this scripture that a special character of God – His righteousness – is connected with justification. It also tells us how this righteous character is manifested (whether as to the "passing by " before, and in view of, the Cross, or the present "justifying" of the believer); it is through Christ "set forth a propitiation (or mercy-seat) through faith in His blood." Christ is thus presented to faith, because in Him is "redemption." Thus, righteously, God can be "towards all." He makes the gracious offer to justify every one who believes in Jesus. The sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross provides the righteous ground on which God's righteousness is not simply "toward " but over, as a shield, to everyone who "believes in Jesus."

That is a very blessed thought! God's holy character, His righteousness, which cannot be abated one whit, is now over us, our protection. For God demands not twice satisfaction for the same thing. The sacrifice of the Cross having met completely God's character and righteous demands, His righteousness becomes our protection. " Over " is better than "upon," for this "righteousness of God" is not considered as put upon us like a garment, nor is it what is imputed to us, nor is it exactly the righteousness we are said to be in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21); but it is simply that character of God which must be against the sinner as such, but which becomes a shield from all charges against the believer. This is all founded upon the redemption wrought by Christ; and having faith in Him, its full value is made ours-conferred upon us. Acceptance with God is on the basis of the precious blood of which the Mercy-seat speaks. By it, God clears, acquits, justifies the self-confessed ungodly who come to Him like Abel, trusting in the blood of the slain Lamb.
Now let us consider a little the distinctions as to righteousness. We are not made righteousness:nor do we become "righteousness of God," through justification. Nor is it in this way reckoned or imputed to us. That which is imputed as righteousness to us is the fact of believing God (Rom. 4:1-5). Now if by reason of faith in the blood God justifies, and this faith is reckoned as righteousness, then in connection with justification there is a righteousness attaching to me. It is called "righteousness of faith " (Rom. 4:13).

A different thought is given us in i Cor. i:30. Christ, there, has been made to us righteousness. He is this for tis in a positive way, for He is ever "Jesus Christ, righteous" (i John 2:1-without the article):it is His character. He is absolutely "righteousness of God"; He is the expression of what God is; and having met the whole question of sin by sacrifice in which our faith now rests, it can be said we "become righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). How we come to be "in Him " we shall see as we go on with our subject.

We have then three distinct thoughts:1st, righteousness of God over us like a shield, and, imputed righteousness, through the act of faith. 3rd, we become righteousness of God, are positively according to His character as being in Christ, for so we are looked upon by God. It is our position.

It is well to note that there is no difference of measure as to justification. "For there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely." One is not more justified than another. Christ is the measure of our acceptance before God; the same for every believer. All are alike fully cleared, and that "from all things." It is through the redemption "in Christ Jesus." Mark the order of the names, for we will find in the study of Scripture a distinct reason for the order in which the Spirit of God mentions the names of Christ. Redemption, then, is the basis of God's justifying us-as being in the exalted, glorified Saviour. Justification is necessarily connected with life-life in Christ.

In verse 26 (Rom. 3) it says, "Justifying him who is of the faith of Jesus " (New Trans.). It is the participle present in the Greek. This is very precious. Justification is not simply an act of the past taking place when we believe, but it is a continuous, subsisting state-always applying to us before God. It is as unchangeable as God is, His righteousness being linked with it. Let us look now at other passages which show it to be God's act.

Rom. 3:30. "It is one God who shall justify the circumcision on the principle of faith and uncircumcision by faith." Rom. 8:30:"But whom He has predestinated, these also He has called; and whom He has called, these also He has justified; but whom He has justified, these also He has glorified " (New Trans.). Here justification is plainly connected with God's purposes; it is as enduring therefore as His purposes which can never fail. This is all spoken of as in the past, and is linked primarily with God's foreknowledge. Therefore all these things, justification included, apply to us from the first moment we are brought into relationship with God-from the moment we believe God. Rom. 8:33:"Who shall bring an accusation against God's elect ? It is God who justifies." Since it is God's act, no accusation, no charge from Satan can possibly avail against us. Redemption through Christ Jesus makes it possible for God to justify, and be righteous in so doing.

Gal. 3:8:"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations on the principle of faith, announced beforehand the glad tidings to Abraham:In thee all the nations shall be blessed."
Finally, Rom. 4:5:"But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness" (New Trans.). J. B.

(To be continued.)

INTRODUCTION

Immortality is a subject of transcending interest, and has therefore been extensively spoken of. In many of the discussions on this subject rather startling statements are found as to what the Old Testament teaching about it is. Some writers go so far as to say it has nothing to say on this subject. This is an extreme statement, which very few would endorse, no doubt; yet many have expressed surprise that so little light was given in Old Testament times on a subject of such importance. That there must have been absorbing interest in the matter is not denied, but that men should have been left so long without an authoritative revelation, as they think, seems strange. They regard it as unaccountable that God should have left men to their own inferences and guesses while there must have been an intense craving for authoritative light.

I propose two questions:1. Is immortality taught in the Old Testament ? 2. If so, to what extent is the truth as to it unfolded ? Are there in it any divine, authoritative pronouncements on this vitally important subject ? If there are, are they so clear and full as to answer the earnest inquiries that must have been raised by exercised souls as to it ?

Before taking up the examination of Old Testament Scriptures in answer to these questions, it is important first to determine what is meant by immortality. For if our idea of immortality is vague and undefined, or if we start out with a false idea of what it is, we may be turned aside into paths which would make our investigation fruitless, at least so far as our present object is concerned.

In i Tim. 6:16 we find the expression, "Who only hath immortality," which we understand here clearly to mean deathlessness. For God is, indeed, the only being to whom deathlessness is intrinsic. He is essentially deathless-immortal. He is not dependently so, but intrinsically, essentially deathless. There are beings-as angels, fallen or un-fallen-who do not die, are immortal; but they are created beings, their existence is dependent, so that their deathlessness is dependent immortality-it is not intrinsic to them.

As firmly believing in the truth affirmed in the passage above mentioned, we are persuaded that there is nothing in the Old Testament to contradict or in any way to conflict with it. Consequently there are limitations within which our inquiries are confined. We are not seeking the voice of the Old Testament on that form of immortality possessed by God alone. We do not exactly assume, but accept as an ascertained fact that the Old Testament Scriptures uniformly represent God as having absolute immortality-an underived endless existence, without beginning and without end- eternal:that this is affirmed, in all those passages in which God speaks of Himself or is spoken of as the living God.

Our inquiry as to immortality will be, therefore, in relation to men. For, as to angels, we take as unquestionable the testimony of our Lord in Matt. 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20 :36 that the angels are immortal-not intrinsically, of course, but as derived from Him who created them, which in no wise conflicts with i Tim. 6:16, as the angels are created beings, and as such have dependent immortality.
But men are creatures too, as well as the angels. Do they, like the angels, possess dependent immortality ? If so, to what extent is it true ? Is there a sense in which it is not; and if so, in what sense ? Does the Old Testament give us any light on these questions; and how much does it afford us?

The questions thus raised indicate the necessity of taking into consideration man's complex nature or being. Man has an inward and an outward nature-a higher and a lower, a spiritual and a corporeal, nature. He is a being, constituted not of a single element, but of three-spirit, soul and body (i Thess. 5:23).

It is not necessary to discuss at any length the issues between Trichotomy and Dichotomy. There is truth in both these views of man's constitution. For if we consider the immaterial side of man's nature as a unity, which we may rightly do, then we are in sympathy with the latter theory, 1:e., we are viewing man's constitution as a duality. On the other hand, if we think of the elements forming the immaterial side, or the parts combining in it, then we are viewing man as a constituted trinity, 1:e., as a being possessing three parts, or elements. To press the dualistic view to the extreme of denying in man's immaterial side of his being either the sentient, or soul-element or the spirit-element, would be to go beyond the truth into serious error. To press the trinity conception so far as to deny the unity of the soul and spirit elements would also be serious error in another way. We must avoid both errors, yet firmly maintain the truth that is in both views. It is of very great importance.

I repeat then that man has spirit, soul and body. He is not all spirit, or all soul, or all body. Three distinct elements belong to him. If any part were lacking, then he would not properly be a man. The body without the soul or the spirit (whichever term we employ to express the immaterial part of man) is not the man. It is simply his body, just one of his constituent parts, the corporeal part, which, without the other, is lifeless, dead, corrupting, or gone to corruption. It is not the living man.

Again, the separated soul or spirit is not the man. It is a human soul or spirit, but yet it is not the man. A lifeless body is not what man is. Nor is the disembodied soul or spirit what man is. Man is a being of a complex nature; each element being a constituent part of his person. As a person, he can say, my spirit, my soul, my body; each one belongs to him-is a part of himself.

Now death is the dissolution of the man, a separation of these parts, at least so far as the inner and outer parts are concerned. The immaterial part of man becomes separated from the material part in death. The separated spirit or soul of the man is not the man-only a part of him. So with the body; the corporeal part is not the man, but a part of him-the part which goes to corruption-returns to dust.

It is because man is subject to death, to dissolution, that we speak of him as being mortal. But when we say man is mortal, do we mean that mortality applies to all of his parts ? We certainly apply mortality to the body. We speak of it as disintegrating; and rightly say, it perishes. But this cannot be said of man's immaterial and imperishable parts. Hence while we use the expression, Mortal body, we cannot say, Mortal spirit or soul.

By human immortality then we do not mean the immortality that belongs, is inherent, to the human spirit, whether we think of it as in or out of the body. The term human immortality is likewise inapplicable to the imperishable human soul, whether connected with the body or separated from it. Mortality applies only to the body. Mortal, indeed it is, subject to death, as we full well know. The question, Was man's body, as originally formed and in breathed of God, subject to mortality or death ? will be discussed later. I do not here anticipate the answer of Scripture to this.

But it may be asked, Does not Scripture speak of mortal man ? It does. Man as now constituted (one of his essential parts, the body, being subject to death, doomed to corruption and to return to dust) has a temporary existence as a man. The existence beyond death, 1:e., in the separate state, is another form of existence-a temporary one- but it is not the form of the human existence. The spirits of men subsisting simply as spirits are not thus properly men, but only spirits of men.

I have said the separate state is but a temporary form of existence. This means that there will be a return to the human form, in its final and permanent form, in which the body, as well as the spirit or soul, will share in immortality. It is this final and permanent state of human existence which is meant when speaking of the hope of immortality- of human immortality.

It is not the place here to speak of the blessedness of the saved and the misery of the lost in the final form of human existence. Nor do I need to discuss here whether the wicked's final state of existence as men (which is evidently a permanent and eternal state) is included in the scripture conception of future human immortality. This question is better left for later consideration.

Our present task is an examination of the Old Testament Scriptures to see what light they shed on the great question of future human immortality. Is it taught there at all ? If so, to what extent ? Did God there reveal to men a future life of immortality, not only a separate state of existence for the spirit or soul after death, but a life beyond the grave, a life in which the body as well as the soul would share ? Is the resurrection of the body an Old Testament revelation ? Is life and incorruptibility at all declared in it ? Did the Old Testament saints have distinctly before them the hope of a human immortal life ? Were they, by means of the light which God gave them, able to look beyond the life of the separate existence of the soul to a life in which both soul and body would participate ? Was it revealed to them that they would exist as complete men in a state of permanent and eternal duration? C. Crain

(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 297.)

We may now consider Acts 26:6, where Paul, making his defense before king Agrippa, tells him he is being judged for the hope of God's promise to the fathers – a hope that the twelve tribes, fervently serving day and night, hoped to attain. It was concerning this hope the Jews were accusing him. The apostle here speaks of a hope declared in the Old Testament-a hope that, in his enlightened understanding, involved the resurrection of the dead. That Paul firmly believed that the resurrection of the fathers and the heirs of their faith is the teaching of Old Testament Scriptures, is made manifest by the question he puts to Agrippa and his August associates. He says:"Why is it judged incredible with you if God raises the dead ? "

We have only to compare verse 6 with chaps. 23:6 ; 24:14, 15, 21; 26 :22, 23, 27, to see that Paul views the Pharisees as guiltily resisting what they acknowledged the Old Testament teaches, and the Sadducees as nullifying altogether its doctrine of a future life, while he makes a strong appeal to Agrippa against opposing himself to the assured voice of the prophets.

I turn now to i Pet. 1:3,4. We shall see later that Abraham and his heirs (the true children of faith) were taught to look for an inheritance in heaven. They had thus before them a hope of life and incorruptibility (a state of permanent immortality) in which their possessions and blessings would be incorruptible, undeniable and unfading, in contrast to the land in which they were dwelling as strangers and pilgrims. Now this hope was connected with the promise of a Seed-the Messiah. But when the Messiah was rejected by the nation, and crucified, it was apparently the death of faith's hope. It looked as if the promise was a mockery. But God raised the Crucified One, and through His resurrection the hope of faith was revived. The children of faith were begotten again to their living hope. Peter clearly implies that the Old Testament encouraged the children of faith to expect a future state of immortality.

He indicates the same in chap. 3:13 of his second epistle, where, speaking of the dissolution of the present heavens and earth, he says, "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth." Where is the promise of a new heaven and new earth in the Old Testament ? We may perhaps say, It was in God's mind when He promised the woman's Seed. We may consider it to have been in His mind when He taught Abraham to look beyond and above the earth for an abiding home. We may believe that it was in His mind when He gave believers the promise that they should enter into His rest (Ps. 95 :it ; Heb. 4 :i). But new heavens and a new earth are specifically promised in Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22, and Peter clearly refers to this promise in the above-mentioned passage. But a permanent heavens and earth-new heavens and a new earth -abiding before God as the eternal dwelling-place of righteousness, certainly implies that its privileged inhabitants will be in a state of abiding immortality. Men could not be mortal there.

Hebrews 6:1,2 may now engage our attention. It should be observed that, beginning with chap. 5:12, the apostle is contrasting the Mosaic with the Christian economy-the old legal dispensation with the present dispensation of grace. To him, the old Jewish revelations are the beginning of the oracles of God, while in Christianity we have their completion. This distinction is of great importance. The Old Testament is not the full revelation of God ; it is the beginning of it. It is in the New Testament that God's revelation is completed. (See Col. i:25:"To fulfil the word of God" should be read, " To complete, or fill out, the word of God.") Another important matter to be noticed is that the apostle, in chap. 5:12, speaks of the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God. And what are these elements ? Do we not find them in chap. 6:i, 2?Are they not the underlying principles on which is built the whole structure of the oracles of God ?The Hebrew believers, whom the apostle here addresses, were inclined at least to go back to the Old Testament order of things, though they had professed to receive the newer communications from God. To return to what they had been familiar with was but too natural to them-to rites and ceremonies, to the figures and shadows connected with the beginning of the word of Christ; but to return to this (after the proclamation of the "so great salvation," the announcement of which was begun by the Lord, and continued by those who heard Him, God Himself attesting them as His witnesses, chap. 2:3, 4) was a very serious matter indeed, as the apostle testifies in chap. 6:4-6. In this newer revelation, this unfolding of the
Christian doctrine of Christ, a new foundation had been laid on which a new structure had been built. To renounce the new revelation (Christianity) and return to the old (Judaism) could only be considered as fatal apostasy. It was returning to a dispensation that God had displaced-an economy that He had put aside by introducing a new one of an entirely different character.

The apostle now plainly states what the old foundation was-the underlying principles upon which the old Mosaic order of things was built. Six principles of truth underlay the Mosaic economy. The apostle gives them in three pairs.

The first pair is " Repentance from dead works, and Faith in God." The apostle is practically saying that the primary object of the Mosaic system is not to teach men the way of life, but the utter worthlessness of works which are not the fruit of life ; consequently, it showed man's dependence upon God for life. While promising life on the condition of perfect obedience, the law was necessarily unable to give life, and man's works under it were "dead works." For man to have life- true life, eternal life-the life in which he knows and enjoys God, God must come in sovereign grace. This is the great underlying lesson of the law.

But this necessitated that the law should be a system of rites, ceremonies, statutes and judgments to be observed-an established ritual. Moses therefore set up a system of Washings ("baptisms ") which sanctified the flesh but outwardly- washings which, while typical of that washing in which the conscience is once for all purged, did not give a cleansed or purged conscience. In connection with this there was also a teaching about the " Laying on of hands," the meaning of which was that the offerer was identified with the victim by whose blood he was outwardly and temporarily purified. Hence we see that another lesson or fundamental principle of the law is the need of a washing for a real cleansing. The law was especially constructed to emphasize that need.

The third pair of principles on which the Mosaic dispensation was based is a "Resurrection of the dead" and "Eternal Judgment." The view of death in the law of Moses is that it is a part of God's governmental penalty on sin – a temporary judgment; that the dead will therefore be raised, and that eternal judgment is the final doom to which man is exposed. While the Mosaic economy proceeds on that basis, it does not manifest the salvation of which it shows man is in need.

Now these six principles are the very first elements – the first principles of the oracles of God – the beginning oi the word (the doctrine or teaching) as to Christ. They are the foundation of the Mosaic system. The apostle here exhorts the Hebrew believers to leave the order of things which was built upon this foundation, and to go on to the fully developed word of Christ.

It is not necessary here to develop what this full "word of Christ " is, nor what is the foundation on which the whole Christian system is built; but if the fundamentals of the Mosaic economy are what the apostle tells us they are, we may expect to find in the Old Testament Scriptures more or less distinct references to man's final future state.

Before turning to Heb. n, let us note two passages (2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. i:2) which are of Special value in connection with what we are considering. The last of these particularly speaks of the "hope of eternal life" as promised by God "before the times of the ages" (Greek). The evident allusion is to Gen. 3:15, where we find in God's announcement of His judgment upon the Serpent, a revelation of an unconquerable Seed of the woman. While God is directly addressing the Serpent, He speaks in the presence and hearing of our fallen first parents. Surely the declaration of a Conqueror-Man was for faith. Hence it was a promise of life-of imperishable life, which would deliver from death, the result of sin. God gave this promise, this hope, before He drove man out of the garden to begin the ages of his history as an exile from God.

That this promise of life, of incorruptibility, was God's eternal purpose, we cannot doubt, for the first of the passages above cited speaks of it as "given to us in Christ before the times of the ages." The purpose and grace which were eternally in God's mind and heart were specifically given to us (to faith) in the announcement of the coming obedient Conqueror-the woman's Seed.

This promise of life incorruptible was a ray of light for faith, and faith walked in the light thus shining upon its path. There was need of the "life and immortality" (incorruptibility) being fully illuminated. No doubt the men of faith longed for this full illumination, and heartily welcomed every fresh revelation which God gave them all along the ages. But the life and incorruptibility which the saints of old embraced as God's promise, was made fully manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Man who has annulled death; and this life and incorruptibility, fully manifested, is now shining forth through the gospel (2 Tim. i :10).

With these two passages before us we may turn to the Old Testament in the confidence that we shall find eternal life to some extent unfolded there; that incorruptibility for man is there taught, though not in the fulness of New Testament revelation. It is there as a promise, it is there as a hope, it is there as light on the path of faith-as solace, cheer and comfort to those who in faithful walk before God and testimony for Him incur the enmity of those living in earthly things. C. Crain

(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 22.)

Chapter X. The Portion of the Just and of the Wicked in Sheol

If now we accept the fact-abundantly made evident in the Old Testament, as we have seen- that death does not end all; that at death men enter on another condition of conscious existence, an interesting and important question naturally arises:What is the difference between the portion of the righteous and of the wicked in the place of departed spirits ?

In answering this question we must remember that the Old Testament does not give the full light of the New, yet here and there we find statements which hint at what is the portion of the dead. We must also remember that the Old Testament treats of man's spirit as that which constitutes him a self-conscious, intelligent being. This is implied, and indeed involved, in being created in the image of God. As Proverbs 20:27 expresses it, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." And since our spirit is a conscious spirit in us now, it is but natural that it remain so in the time of separation from the body, with memory, realization of sin and guilt, and responsibility to God.

If, then, there has been no repentance before death, no taking refuge in the mercy of God, the spirit remains alienated from God and under His wrath in its new condition, and is sensible of it. Of those who died in faith I shall speak later; but, excepting these, there is nothing in the Old Testament to indicate that in Sheol they have not the same sense of guilt as they experienced upon earth. There is nothing whatever to militate against this inference, logically drawn from the nature and characteristics of the human spirit.

But we cannot leave it here; nor do the Old Testament Scriptures permit us to leave it here, for they contain very many allusions to Sheol. Anyone who will take pains to collect all the passages in the Old Testament referring to Sheol will find nothing to indicate that its inhabitants are in any way exposed to the temptations of Satan or to any interference by him. He may practice his delusive arts on men in this life, but not in the world of the dead. He may blind the eyes of men here, but he can do nothing there. Whatever influence he has wielded among the angels of heaven, and controls and uses those who have become evil spirits, it does not appear that access to the departed spirits of men is permitted him. When the dust returns to the dust, and the spirit to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7), it is with God it has to do, not Satan.

I think we may accept it without hesitation that when the spirit is set free from the clogs of the material and the blinding influences of Satan, it then has a greatly enhanced realization of its sin and guilt. In this life, too, the energies of the spirit are largely taken up with pursuits in which much thought and labor are necessarily expended-things ordained of God as needful for men in this present world. We need to eat and drink, to sow and reap, to plant and build-all of them needful and sinless occupations. Caring for the physical and moral welfare of families are plain duties. In all these, and many other sinless pursuits, the mind is largely absorbed; and this mental absorption, according to its intensity, affords much relief from the burden of guilt with which the conscience is oppressed. If "the expectation of the wicked is wrath" (Prov. ii:23), whether it be as to time or eternity, relief from it is found in the occupations and cares of this life.
As we have seen, the Old Testament shows that when men die they are at rest as regards all this toil and exercise. We must infer, I think, that in that state there is no relief for those who die in their sins; but a constant memory of their sin and guilt, with the sense of God's disfavor and wrath.

In this life men often plunge into sinful pleasures to drown the voice of conscience, which ever and anon reminds them of their sin and God's reprobation of it. We may affirm, from what we have seen, that the departed are not able to seek relief in this way. No indulgence in the pleasures of sin are there; no opportunity to drown the voice of conscience; no means to efface the stains of sin and of outrage done to God, from whose wrath there can be no escape since His mercy was refused.

We have also seen that the Old Testament shows that death is but temporary; that the dead are to be raised. True, it says very little about the eternal state, yet it clearly implies, as we have seen, a permanent state of existence for both the righteous and the wicked, in which the spirit will not be apart from the body. The spirits of the departed constantly anticipate this final and permanent state of existence, but it gives no solace to the wicked dead.

Whether warned or unwarned the wicked die in their iniquity (see Ezek. 3:19; 33:9, 13). Death does not end the link with sin. To be of the seed or generation of Satan is a spiritual connection, and continues after the death of the body; they are still of his face when raised. They will be raised in their iniquity-not actively engaged in sinning, of course, but dying in their iniquity they continue to be of Satan's race, and subjects of God's wrath without hope of deliverance. The reflection that they refused what would have led them to reconciliation with the God they had sinned against will only make their condition the more bitter. The justice of God in abandoning them to eternal wrath must be an element of continual torture to the wicked dead – even to those of Old Testament times.

Without any other witness, death itself testified to God's disfavor; it was the sign of His wrath. Quickly after sin came in, God announced a hope of eternal life; those who laid not hold on this hope died with no hope of deliverance after death. No intimation of any such deliverance is given anywhere in the Old Testament. It teaches a resurrection, both of the just and of the unjust, but no hope for those who laid not hold on the promise.

It is true the full reality of what comes after death is n< t declared in the Old Testament, but there are numerous hints of it. Many passages imply that the state of the wicked dead is one of distress and misery, that they are waiting for the reunion of the soul and body, and for a final and eternal recompense.

But we pass on to consider the condition of the departed righteous, as set forth in the Old Testament. It is certain that those who embraced the hope of eternal life, which God announced with the promised woman's Seed, did not die in despair. They did not lose their hope when they died, clearly. We have seen there was sufficient light for them to know that Sheol would not be a condition of unconsciousness, and that man's spirit must necessarily carry its knowledge with it while in Sheol; the spirit evidently retains the faculty of memory.

By way of illustration we may take the case of Abel. In the acceptance of his offering he must have seen his own acceptance. In coming to God with his sacrifice he could not doubt God's acceptance of him when he saw the sacrifice accepted. He could and must have reasoned thus:Inasmuch as God has accepted me on the ground of the sacrifice I have presented, God accounts to me a righteousness which entitles me to a place of favor before His face. This surely was his confidence-the faith in which he died, to which he was a martyr.

But can we think he lost his faith when he was slain by the hand of Cain ? Could his spirit, passing into Sheol, forget the hope that his faith had laid hold of ? Ah, no. Abel in Sheol cannot be tortured or oppressed by the sense of guilt; but appreciates rather, values, and rejoices in the grace and favor of God which his soul had realized before he died.

Of course they carried into Sheol only what light God had revealed before they died. We cannot speculate on what may be given them there. We have no pronouncement on that subject in the Old Testament. But we are fully warranted in thinking of the righteous and the wicked in contrasted portions, widely separated morally from each other; the one abiding in the consciousness of divine disfavor, without hope of deliverance; the other enjoying the favor of God, waiting in confidence for a resurrection in which both soul and body will share in eternal blessedness.

As further illustrative of the contrasted portions of the just and the unjust in Sheol from Old Testament testimony, we may mention the great fathers of Israel. We have already seen that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob regarded themselves as pilgrims throughout their earthly life. They knew themselves to be the objects of divine favor; they had revelations from God which not only secured to them great earthly blessing, but implied also eternal blessedness. They died without either having been fulfilled to them. They did not die in despair and un belief. " They died in faith." They carried their hopes with them into Sheol, both earthly and heavenly.

Abraham certainly knew that God accounted him righteous (Gen. 15:6). Could he forget it in the disembodied state ? It is certain Abraham learned to believe in the resurrection. If God did not definitely declare it to him, He gave him numerous indications of it, besides all the testimony to it that came down to him from the times before him. The hopes of blessing beyond resurrection, which God had implanted in his breast while on earth, would surely be an ever-present cheer to him in the land of the departed-they could not be obliterated.

Again, Abraham and succeeding believers could have believed in the passing away of the old creation and the bringing in of a new. God certainly hinted at this in Gen. 8:22, when He said, "While the earth remaineth," or, more literally, "All the days of the earth." Faith, even in Old Testament times, could anticipate, not only the resurrection of the body, but also a final and permanent condition for creation-a new heaven and a new earth. This knowledge and hope remained with them when they died.

The conclusions we have reached, founded on divine testimony, make it unnecessary, in our judgment, to look for further testimony, so far as our present purpose is concerned. Later revelations cannot contradict, but enlarge upon, those we have contemplated. We do not say that God's children in Old Testament times conceived and realized the full reality of eternal things, but we do maintain that there is ample evidence to say there is a wide difference in the portion of those who passed from earth into Sheol; some passing to an unrelieved misery, which undoubtedly we cannot describe, but intensified by having no hope of a better portion; others, having received the revelation of God, carried with them the comfort of God's favor in which they stood as having received His word.
C. Crain

(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 78.)

CHAPTER I

The Evidence that the Church of God is about to Close its Earthly History

Even in apostolic days the near return of the Lord Jesus was ever kept before the souls-of believers as a present hope;-yet there are many scriptures that, in a hidden way (as we can now realize), intimated a certain series of events, or succession of conditions, which would run their course ere the blessed hope was fulfilled. In the wisdom of God these prophetic forecasts of the Church's history were couched in terms of such a nature that they could not rob the Christians of any period of the expectation of the imminency of the Lord's coming, which was designed to be as a great sheet-anchor to their souls, keeping them from drifting into worldliness and kindred folly. But now that nearly twenty centuries, (two of God's great "days"-2 Pet. 3:8), have elapsed, we can look back over the long course of the Church's pilgrimage and see how all her varied states and experiences were foreknown and foretold, and the heart leaps with joyful expectancy as we look ahead. For the next great event must be the shining forth of the morning star, "the coming of the Lord Jesus, and our gathering together unto Him."

I purpose to trace this out from several different standpoints. In the previous paper we noticed briefly how the Lord Himself intimated what has been mentioned in the parable of the ten virgins. It was a veiled picture of the whole course of Christendom, and plainly divides the Church dispensation into three distinct stages, or epochs:first, the period of eager expectancy. Second, the era of lethargic indifference to the blessed hope. Third, the season of awakening which was the almost immediate precursor of the coming of the Bridegroom. We are living in this last solemn time, and it is well to be trimming our lamps and waiting in holy fear for the summons which may come at any moment to enter in with Him to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

But there are other passages corroborative of this interpretation, and to them let us now turn.

In the two epistles to Timothy we have two distinct conditions predicted as characterizing what the Holy Spirit designates "the latter times "and "the last days." In i Tim. 4:1-5 He speaks of the first of these periods; in 2 Tim. 3:1-9 of the second. A careful reading of both passages ought, I think, to convince any reader that they show the progress of evil.

At any rate, the conditions of the "latter times" were the first to develop, and out of these grew the anarchic state of the " last days."

I quote the first scripture in full:"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared (Gk., cauterized) ; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1911 Version).

Now, while the various things here credited to demoniacal influence are found in many modern systems, such as Christian Science, Seventh-day Adventism, and others, it is very evident that it was the Romish apostasy through which they were introduced. The "latter times" were the times of Papal domination. Their evil .teachings are still to be found on many sides, but the point I want to make is, that the latter times have long since been passed, and we are further down the course of time than many have supposed.

Note well how Rome has fulfilled this prediction to the letter. Departing from the faith of God's word, she has been misled by evil spirits seducing her devotees to believe that the church cannot err, and that her voice is the voice of inspiration. Thus has Satan foisted doctrines of demons on the blinded nations. The very citadel of untruth, Rome, has spoken lies in hypocrisy, her leaders having cauterized consciences which seemed immune to all Scriptural appeals. This the Reformation proved, when God "gave her space to repent . . . and she repented not " (Rev. 2:21).

But one might say:"All this is mere assumption. You tell us Rome is demon-led. You tell us her hierarchy teach lies in hypocrisy. But this is the very point to be proven. What outward evidence have you that she is the guilty one ? "

In reply we turn to verse 3, where God has given us two great marks which none can successfully deny fit Rome, as they fully describe no other large communion. It was Rome who forbade to marry- enjoining an unnatural celibacy upon her vast clergy , and her hosts of monks and nuns, thus setting herself up to be wiser than God (who says:"Marriage is honorable in all," Heb. 13:4), belittling God's holy ordinance of matrimony, declaring the celibate nun far holier than the married mother, and the unwedded priest in a higher state of grace than the godly husband and father.

And what of the second mark ? Who has so assiduously cultivated the dogma that piety is manifested in abstention from certain foods, as Rome ? God created all to be received with thanksgiving. Rome would damn the one who ate flesh on a Friday and gave God thanks therefor! Her numberless rules on such subjects declare all too plainly that she is the one marked out beforehand in i Tim. 4. Others have been deluded by the same demons, but it was in the Roman apostasy that the latter times came in.

Now let us turn to the second epistle:"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unforgiving, false accusers, incontinent, savage, haters of good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with manifold desires, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth:men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further:for their folly shall be manifest unto all, as theirs also was " (1911 Version).

These are the great outstanding features of the "last days"-closing the Church dispensation, and to be immediately followed by the coming of the-Lord. Can any believer in Holy Writ doubt our being now in the very midst of them ?

But it may be here objected:"When have men in general been other than as here depicted? Is not this but a repetition of what Paul has already said in describing the heathen world in his day? (Rom. i:29-32.) In what special sense are they any more characteristic now than then ?" To these very natural queries, I reply:Such things, indeed, ever described the heathen; but in 2 Tim. 3, the Holy Spirit is describing conditions in the professing Church in the last days! It is not the openly wicked and godless who are being depicted here. It is those who have a form of godliness while denying its power. This is what makes the passage so intensely solemn and gives it such tremendous weight in the present day. There are twenty-one outstanding features in this depicting of Church conditions in the last days, and that each may have its due weight with my reader I touch briefly on them in order.

1. "Men shall be self-lovers." It is men self-occupied, as contrasted with the godly of all ages, who found their joy and delight in looking away from self to God as seen in Christ. This is the age of the egotist in matters spiritual as well as carnal. Men find their God "within" them and not without, we are told. They make no secret of it. When they profess to love God they love themselves alone.

2. "Money-lovers." Is it necessary to speak of this ? Colossal fortunes heaped together by men who profess to believe that this world is crumbling! What a spectacle for angels and demons! There was one Simon Magus of old. He has myriads of successors in the professing church to-day, and the command "not to eat" with a covetous man or an extortioner is in most places a dead letter indeed.

3. " Boasters." Read the so-called Christian papers; attend Christendom's great conventions of young people, or old. Listen to the great pulpiteers of the day. What is their theme? " Rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing" ! Great swelling words are rapturously applauded by people dwelling in a fool's paradise, even when uttered by men who are tearing the Bible to shreds, and who deny practically every truth that it contains.

4. "Proud." So proud as to glory in their shame -congratulating themselves on the very things the word of God so unsparingly condemns. Proud of their fancied superiority; proud of their eloquence; proud of their mis-called culture; proud of their very impiety, which is hailed as the evidence of broad-mindedness and a cultivated intellect! How nauseating it must all be to Him who said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart."

5. "Blasphemers"! Yes, there it is-that big, ugly word that one hesitates to use, but which is chosen by the Holy Spirit Himself to describe the men drawing salaries as ministers of Christ who use their office to impiously deny His name! Blasphemers! Aye, the whole host of the new theologians, miscalled "higher critics,"and all their ilk-all who deny the deity of the Son, His virgin-birth, His holy Humanity-blasphemers, every one, and as such to be judged unsparingly in the harvest of wrath so near at hand! And think of the disloyalty to Christ of Christians-real Christians, I mean–who can sit and listen to such men week after week and are too timid to protest, or too indifferent to obey the word, "From such turn away "!

6. "Disobedient to parents." It is one of the crowning sins of the age, and indicates the soon breaking-up of the whole social fabric as at present constituted. Opposition to authority is undoubtedly the characteristic feature of the times. Children will not brook restraint, and parents have largely lost the sense of their responsibility toward the rising generation. Does this seem unduly pessimistic? Nevertheless, a little thoughtful consideration will, I am sure, convince any reasonable person of its truth. And it may be laid down as an axiom, that children not trained in obedience to parents will not readily be obedient to God. We have been sowing the wind in this respect for years, as nations and as families. The reaping of the whirlwind is certain to follow.

7. "Unthankful." It is the denial of divine Providence-utterly forgetting the Source of all blessings, both temporal and spiritual. Straws indicate the turn of the wind, and even in "so small a matter," as some may call it, as the giving-up of the good old-fashioned and eminently scriptural custom of thanksgiving at the table, we may see how prevalent is the sin of unthankfulness among professed Christians. Go into a restaurant or other eating-house ; how often can you tell the believer from the unbeliever ? The haste and irreverence of the day marks all alike, with very few exceptions.

8. "Unholy." The godly separation from the world according to the Bible is sneered at as " bigotry" and "Puritanism." In its place has come a jolly, rollicking worldliness that ill comports with the Christian profession. Piety-that first of all Christian virtues-is ridiculed, and unholiness not only condoned, but applauded. It is not necessary to be outwardly vile and abominable to be unholy. The breaking down of the line of separation between the believer and the unbeliever is unholiness.

9. "Without natural affection." The foundations of family life are being destroyed. Divorce and all its kindred evils cast their dark shadow over the professing church, as well as over the body politic. Marriage is largely a convenience; "They twain shall be one flesh" is dubbed a relic of by-gone ages!

Of the next unholy octave I need not write particularly. To enumerate them is enough to stir the heart and appal the soul when it is remembered how they are tolerated and spreading through the great professing body. 10-"unforgiving"; u- "false accusers" (let us beware lest we be found almost unwittingly in this Satanic company!); 12- "incontinent"; 13-"savage"; 14 – "haters of good"; 15-"traitors"; 16-"heady"; 17-"high-minded." This last accounts largely for the daring things proudly uttered by learned doctors against the Scriptures and the great fundamentals of the faith, and complacently accepted by unregenerate hearers. "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so:and what will ye do in the end thereof ? " (Jer. 5:31.)

18. " Lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God." Would you not almost think the words were written by some fiery-souled exhorter of the present day ? How aptly they characterize in one brief clause the greatest outstanding feature of the religious world. The Church of God has gone into the-entertainment business! People must be amused, and as the Church needs the people's money, the Church must, perforce, supply the demand and meet the craving! How else are godless hypocrites to be held together ? and how otherwise can the throngs of unconverted youths and maidens be attracted to the "services"? So the picture-show and the entertainment, in the form of musicale (sacred, perhaps!) and minstrel-show take the place of the gospel address and the solemn worship of God.

And thus Christless souls are lulled to sleep and made to feel "religious" while gratifying every carnal desire under the sanction of the sham called the Church !-And the end ? What an awakening!

19. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Men must have some form of religious expression, and so the outward thing is sustained after the life is gone out of it. Thus formality prevails where regeneration, conversion to God, the Spirit's sanctification, and everything really vital has long since been virtually denied. The bulk of so-called church-members do not even profess to have been saved, or to be Spirit-indwelt. All this is foreign to their mode of thought or speech. The gospel, which alone is "the power of God unto salvation," is seldom preached, and, by the mass, never missed ! Could declension and apostasy go much further ? Yet there are still lower depths to be sounded !

20. "Feminism." No, you won't find the word -but read verse 6 again, slowly and thoughtfully. Does it not indicate a great feminist movement in these last dark days? "Silly women, laden with manifold desires"-craving what God in His infinite wisdom has forbidden them:authority, publicity, masculinity, and what not ? Thus they leave their own estate and make a new religion to suit themselves. Is it a matter of no import that just such emotional, in subject women were the tools used by Satan for the starting and propagating of so many modern fads ? Need one mention Mesdames Blavatsky, Besant and Tingley of Theosophy; the Fox sisters' relation to modern Spiritism; Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Eddy and her host of female practitioners in the woman's religion mis-called "Christian Science "; the neurotic Ellen G. White and her visionary system of "Seventh-day Adventism"; Ella Wheeler Wilcox and her associates in the spreading if what they have been pleased to denominate the 'New Thought," which is only the devil's old lie, 'Ye shall be as gods," in a modern garb; and the women expounders of the "Silent Unity," or "Home of Truth" delusions ?All these are outside the ;'orthodox" fold;-but when we look within, what a large place has the modern feminist movement secured on the affections of women who profess to believe the Bible, but who unblushingly denounce Paul as "an old bachelor with narrow, contracted ideas, little realizing that they are thereby rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the signs of the times, and clearly shows to what awful vortex the professing body is drifting !

21."Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth"-and that by their own confession. They are "truth-seekers."Ask them if it be not so. They confess it without a blush, and consider it humility thus to speak. According to these apostates, the Church which began as "the pillar and ground of the truth,"is, in this twentieth century of its existence, "seeking" the truth-thereby acknowledging they never yet have found it ! Truth-seekers ! Yet the Lord Jesus said, " I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life."Why then seek further ? Because they have drifted away from Him and His word, so they go on, ever learning, ever seeking, and ever missing the glorious revelation of the TRUTH as it is in Jesus.

Well-this is the end. Declension can go no further than to deny the Lord that bought them, until He Himself shall remove His own to the Father's house. Then the apostate body remaining will declare "We have found the truth at last!" and they shall worship the Antichrist, believing the devil's lie and calling it the truth. And how comes such delusion? "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie; that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:11, 12- ign Vers.). H. A. Ironside

(To be continued.)

The Evidence that the Church of God is about to Close its Earthly History

(Continued from page 132.)

Another line of evidence is presented in the seven prophetic letters of Rev. 2 and 3. For that they are prophetic, and not merely moral- dispensational, and not simply local in their application-is a thought now familiar to many earnest students of the Scriptures. The proof of this is found in their exact correspondence with the seven stages of the history of the Church on earth. This is incontrovertible, however self-styled optimists may object to it,-the objection being chiefly based on the fact that Laodicea closes the septenary series, thus precluding all thought of a triumphant Church and a converted world at the end of the dispensation. Yet the Church shall be triumphant:of that there should be no question. For our Lord Jesus has solemnly declared, "Upon this Rock (Christ as Son of the Living God) I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." But between the Church of Christ's building and the vast complex church of man's devising there is a great difference. The real Church will be triumphantly raptured to glory ere the judgments fall on the great apostate mass of Laodicea.

I do not therefore attempt to prove by argument that the seven letters give us an outline of the Church's course from apostolic days to the closing up of the present age. This has been so well done by others that it would be on my part a work of supererogation to try to make it any more convincing. I only desire in these necessarily brief pages to refresh the memory of my reader by pointing out how aptly the letters fit the history. The inquiring reader is referred to "The Prophetic History of the Church," by F. W. Grant, 25 cents. Same publishers.

Ephesus then, from this view-point, presents the Church in apostolic days:-an unworldly, called-out company who labored earnestly and well in making known the riches of grace, and who walked apart from iniquity, unable to bear those who were evil, as indeed these in turn could not endure the company of God's redeemed, for we read elsewhere, " Of the rest durst no man join himself to them." In those days of primitive simplicity men were tried by the testimony they brought, and if they spoke not according to the doctrine of Christ were rejected as "liars"-a "short and ugly word" that aptly designates many profane hucksters of the word of God today.

But the picture has its shadows too, for even during the very lifetime of the apostolic band declension began, the Church left her first love, and a somewhat mysterious form of evil, "the deeds of the Nicolaitanes," came in, though largely against the desire of the mass, for Ephesus is commended because of hatred to this unholy thing. Leaving their first love was losing the sense of Christ's presence:occupation with work, with service, in place of heart-occupation with Himself. No sect of the Nicolaitanes is known, though some have tried to link the name with the reputed followers of an apostate Nicolas, traditionally held to be one of the seven, in the 6th of Acts, who were set apart to serve tables. He is supposed to have taught his disciples that the indulgence of licentious practices was not inconsistent with the grace of God. This, however, is very uncertain and largely conjectural. They would seem to be right who consider " Nicolaitanes" to be an untranslated Greek word, properly rendered "rulers of the people." In that case Diotrephes of 3 John would be a typical Nicolaitane, who has had many successors. It would be the divine condemnation of the clerical system. Not yet had this system become an accepted doctrine, but the deeds manifested the spirit behind it. Crystallization into an accredited dogma came later (Rev. 2:15).

The second period followed apace, as set forth in the letter to Smyrna. ' It depicts as by a few master-strokes the tragedy of the Pagan persecutions in their efforts to crush Christianity beneath the iron heel of the Roman emperors, from Domitian to Diocletian. Nero's persecution was local rather than general, but the monster who succeeded him set in motion a world-wide effort to destroy the Church of Christ. Historians count ten general persecutions, which are connected with ten main edicts of the emperors. The last under Diocletian went on for ten years, ceasing only with the death of the incapacitated tyrant. "Ye shall have tribulation ten days " seems to hint at this. But a suffering Church is more likely to be rich in faith than a church fawned upon by the world; though in deepest poverty the Church in the Smyrna age was "rich," and prospered, for as Augustine later said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." Those dark days were days of Christian devotion and heroism unparalleled save in similar times of suffering and danger. And yet the picture is not altogether bright, for the clear gospel of grace was largely obscured by the legal teaching of "those who said they were Jews and were not." Such are a synagogue of Satan. Judaism was a divine institution. Christianity is a divine revelation. But the strange mixture of Judaism with Christianity is of Satan. It is a corruption and a counterfeit; and "the corruption of the best thing is the worst of corruptions."

Pergamos followed this, and gives us the period of the Church's relief from persecution and her subsequent union with the world. It is the era of Constantine the Great and his successors, when the Church became the pet of the emperors (save for a brief period under Julian the Apostate), and Church and State were linked in an unholy alliance. Thus the Church sat at ease where Satan had his throne, clung to this for centuries, until the world itself wearied of her and wrenched her from her place of power. He who is familiar with Church history can scarcely read the Pergamos letter without the vast pageant of the fourth century passing before the eye of his mind. The death of Diocletian; the temporary triumph of Maxentius; the Gallic legions hastening eastward led by Constantine :the famous vision of the fiery cross:the "in hoc signo vinces" portent; the Christians coming forth into the glare of publicity from the dens, caves and catacombs which had been their hiding places for so long; the bishops summoned to the general's August presence; his endorsement of the new doctrine and intellectual conversion; the cross-led army driving all before it; the overthrow of Maxentius; Constantine hailed as Emperor of the world; proclaimed head of the church and pontifex maximus (the heathen's high priest title); the bishops seated among princes; the church's mourning over, her eyes dazzled by the unaccustomed luxury and splendor, basking in the imperial favor. Then the Arian controversy; Christ's true deity denied, but maintained at the council of Nicea where despite tremendous pressure the Church "held fast His Name, refusing to deny His faith." Of Antipas personally we know nothing, but we see in his very name (which means "against all") the trumpet-note of Athanasius who, when a later Arian emperor sought to persuade him to endorse the hated Unitarian heresy by crying "All the world is against you," in holy dignity Athanasius exclaimed, "Then I am against all the world."

The Balaam doctrine too was openly advocated by many in those days, and since – urging the mingling of clean and unclean, the unequal yoke of Church and world, a spiritual marriage, which " Pergamos" seems to imply; while Nicolaitanism, or clerisy, had now become a full-blown doctrine, and the distinction between clergy and laity was at last complete. The Pergamos letter is a synoptic description of the conditions prevailing from the fourth to the seventh centuries.

And Thyatira followed as the natural result. Things were going down-hill with fearful rapidity. The church of the middle ages was rich in works of mercy and abounded in "charity." Her monasteries and hostelries dotted the lands and kept open house for the sick and distressed. But doctrinally she had deteriorated tremendously, and the Papal system was fully organized, becoming a church within the church, to which all had to bow. It was the woman Jezebel teaching and leading the servants of God astray. As the heathen princess of old foisted her idolatry on Israel, so this false paganistic thing crowded out the Christianity of Christ and superseded it by a system unspeakably evil and inherently corrupt.

Yet at the Reformation of the sixteenth century she was given space to repent, but she repented not as the decrees of the Council of Trent bear witness. She spurned the light shining from the newly recovered Scriptures and continued in her idolatrous course. For "her children" there is nought but death, though grace ever has discerned even in Rome a remnant, having not known the depths of Satan, whom a gracious Lord owns as His and commands to cling to what they have till He shall come. It is the first intimation that declension has gone so far that His return is now the only hope.

For Sardis, though it speak of Protestantism and its great State churches, is not a true recovery. They had received a deposit of truth at the Reformation, which became crystallized into creeds and confessions but did not quicken the mass. So of the great Protestant bodies it can be said, "Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead," for churchman ship has largely been substituted for new birth, and orthodoxy for conversion to God. Yet there are a few with garments undefiled who know the Lord and love His truth, and who are exhorted to watch for His coming again!

Philadelphia speaks of the great revival period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, assuming different forms in different places, but in all characterized by reality, by brotherly love, by clinging to Christ's word and honoring His Name who is the Holy and the True. They who take such ground will never be popular with the world or the world's churches, but they will be content to know that God approves, and that the Lord Himself has opened for them a door of service which none on earth or anywhere else can shut. They wait in patience for the Morning Star – the symbolic title of the coming Bridegroom.

Laodicea closes the series. It is the solemn arraignment of latitudinarian Christianity with its pride and folly, marked by impudent self-conceit and utter indifference to Christ. It glories in its breadth and culture, its refinements of thought and its refusal of ancient formulas. It congratulates itself on its wealth and following, while, in His sight who stands knocking outside, it is "poor and wretched and blind and naked." All the church machinery can go on without His presence, and without any sense of His absence.

And this is the last state of the professing body on earth. When things have reached this condition the Lord Himself will come, and will spew out of His mouth that which is so distasteful and disgusting to Him. "After this," says John, "I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven." As he is caught up through that open door he beholds surrounding the throne in glory the true Church seated in triumph, as symbolized in the twenty-four elders.
Laodicea is the closing period of the Church's history, and who can doubt that we have now reached the very time depicted ? It behooves us to act as men who wait for their Lord, knowing that His coming cannot be much longer delayed.

We have thus glanced at various Scriptures having to do with the evidences in the professing church of the Lord's near return. We must now look at some movements among the nations which point unquestionably to the same thing. H. A. Ironside

(To be continued.)

It is not ecclesiastical unity the Lord prays for in John 17. He has had to smash that more than once to uphold the honor of His Name. He prays for that unity which is unspeakably higher-the unity of Christian character, which makes the world say, "There is a true Christian"-in whom Christ is seen, as the Father was seen in Christ.

(Continued from page 244.)

3. JUSTIFICATION IS WITHOUT THE LAW AND ITS WORKS.

It is evident from what we have considered that the full blessing of justification is derived from being in Christ. Now Gal. 5:4 gives us an important principle:"Ye are deprived of profit from Christ, ye who are justified by law." Furthermore, as righteousness and justification are linked together, it follows that if we were to be justified by law we must have a righteousness according to the law; which, as the apostle points out, would be that, " If righteousness be through the law, then Christ hath died in vain" (Gal. 2:21). Such a consequence strikingly shows that law and its works have no connection with our justification in Christ. Quotations are from J. N. D, 's translation.

Let us, then, seek to apprehend what place the law properly occupies.

Rom. 3:20. " Wherefore by works of law no flesh shall be justified before Him; for by law is knowledge of sin." Man being a sinner, as before proved (vers. 9-19), all the works of law he could do would not change his character. In putting forth efforts to obey the law he acquires the knowledge of what he is in himself. The very efforts to keep the law show to the sincere soul that sin is in his very nature. The efforts themselves are good and acceptable in God's sight, but they cannot avail to justify, as the law demands a complete obedience, and by reason of failure in this he finds out the sinful nature that is in him. With all the good that he might possibly do, no justification can be gained, for there ever remains something against him, and justification means that nothing can be found against the person.

The conclusion from this, and the succeeding verses which we considered in our first study is, " We reckon that a man is justified by faith, without (or apart from) works of law." And that in a two-fold way:1st, they cannot of themselves avail to justify; and, they cannot be a meritorious cause added to faith for justification. This is evident, says the apostle, for "the just shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:n).

The important truth that justification is linked with a new, a divine, life received by the believer, is here confirmed; and this life we have "in Christ" through an accomplished righteousness (Rom. 5:17, 18). The three are unseparably linked together. The law could not give life, it only condemned; it was therefore a "ministration of death." Hence righteousness could not be by the law, nor justification therefore (Gal. 3:21, 22).

Read Gal. 2:16, 17 as confirming the absence of all connection between justification and law and its works.

In Ps. 143:2 we read, " For in thy sight shall no man living be justified." This points to the truth that apart from death in some way coming in, justification is impossible for the responsible creature. Living men, believers, are justified, but it is as having "life in Christ." For such death has come in; they have died with Christ, and with Him are risen in a new life. In the psalm, man is viewed in his natural life, and God cannot justify such; death is their portion. Therefore the Psalmist pleads,'' Enter not into judgment with Thy servant. "
But the Christian is no longer in this perilous position, for, as we have said, we are looked at as having died out of that position in which we are by nature, and to which justification cannot attach; the Christian has life "in Christ" to which righteousness and justification do fully attach. The law's sentence, death, having been executed upon Christ, our Substitute, we are justified as being in Him, and the law, then, has nothing to say to us. It can only deal with man in the flesh; but we have died at the cross with Christ, and are risen with Him out of the law's dominion.

Acts 13:39; Rom. 4:2, 5 still further confirm that law and works have no connection with justification before God. There is a justification by works which James teaches. Not works of law however. But this we hope to consider separately. They are works which proceed from faith, the very opposite of proceeding from law.

Now the fact that there is no justification by law or works of law, and therefore no blessing for man on the principle of law, involves three questions which we will briefly consider.

I. Is the law made of no effect? (Rom. 3:31.) The apostle answers, "No; we establish the law." How is it established by the fact that we are justified by faith ? It has been established, or made to stand, in the place that really belongs to it; and this is very far from its being made void. And what is that place ? In believing we condemn ourselves; we accept God's testimony against us, and we take Christ as Saviour. But in doing this, the law's sentence of death and judgment is owned as righteous in every way. To this end God gave the law, that man might hear its speech of condemnation, not merely of the Jew who was under it, but of the whole world. And those who through faith are justified, not only hear but bow to its speech; in this we show that the law stands; that it is not overthrown. It produces thus a very important effect in the economy of God's dealings.

2. Why did the law come in ? (Gal. 3:19.) The answer to this we have already partly anticipated. The apostle answers, "It was added for the sake of transgressions." Man indeed was a sinner before the law came; death, the flood also, prove it; but the law came in to show man his sins, to show them as transgressions of God's holy requirements; to show that man's sins did not simply affect himself and his fellows as to the affairs of this life, but that they were transgressions against God Himself, bringing divine condemnation upon him. Thus it was a "ministration of death" to man-bringing sentence of death upon the sinner.

3. " Is then the law against the promises of God?" (Gal. 3:21.) This question naturally arises in connection with what the apostle had just shown, that the inheritance is according to promise, and therefore to those who, like Abraham, have faith in God's word. This promise was entirely apart from law, for by works of law the inheritance cannot be secured. The inheritance is by promise of God- not by the fulfilment of legal obligations. Is the law then against these promises ? No, says the apostle. For if the promises were through law, then it must be a law able to give life, able to provide righteousness. But all are shut up under sin, without a shred of righteousness, under sentence of death and judgment; judicially dead! The law was not given to meet this terrible condition, but to prove its existence. Thus by the law the whole world is brought down to a common level, that the blessing might be given to those who believe. The law has acted the part of a tutor, teaching and proving that only through Christ, the Seed, and faith in Him, the blessing could come in. It is not against the promises, but rather points to them, to Christ as the only way of obtaining them. J. Bloore
(To be continued.)

(Continued from page 307. )

6. JUSTIFICATION BY BLOOD.

But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life " (Rom. 5 :8-10).

We have spoken of justification being "by faith;" that is, faith as the means by which salvation is appropriated, or made ours. Faith is what distinguishes those to whom justification applies. Here we view faith as linking with what makes it of value before God:faith links us with the blood of Christ-with the redemption which is by His blood. Christ died for us, accomplishing our redemption by His sacrifice, and in the power of this we are justified.

Having been justified by His blood, "much more," says the apostle, "we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Therefore, we "wait for God's Son from heaven, whom He raised from among the dead, Jesus our Deliverer from the coming wrath" (i Thess. i :10). And we are assured that "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ; who died for us that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him" (i Thess. 5:9). We see from both these passages that the point of time when this salvation takes place is at the Lord's coming, when He comes to take us out of this scene to be forever with Himself. Thus there is no "great tribulation" for us (Rev. 3:10, n), no " wrath to come " for us, but it is coming upon an ungodly world ; nor wrath at any time for those who have part in that blessed rapture when we meet Him in the air. Then shall have come to pass that which, as counsel, He has already given utterance to, "Whom He has justified, these also He has glorified " (Rom. 8 :30). All this, as we know, is made good to us because of the eternal value of what He is, and of what He has accomplished for us.

Furthermore, we have been reconciled. The death of Christ and the love of God expressed therein brought home to us in the Spirit's power, have banished the enmity which in our unconverted state we had to God, and now His own blessed love is shed abroad in our hearts. This "much more," of which the apostle speaks, assures us of a full, complete salvation for all future time, as He ever lives to make intercession for us. " Because I live, ye shall live also" are His own precious words. His resurrection has given to us a living hope. He Himself is there for us (i Tim. i:i). He who died is now upon the throne, and as to salvation in all its fulness-for body, soul and spirit-He is our hope; this marks the immeasurable, eternal blessedness of our salvation. He is able to save to the uttermost because He ever liveth to make intercession. He lives in the place of power with God for us; as He also entered the place of weakness and humiliation–crucified through weakness – to crush our enemies, and bring us into blessing. J. Bloore

(To be continued.)

" I am more and more thankful for the Numerical Bible. We have been reading it for years, ever since the first part in pamphlet form was issued, and I know it has had a very great deal to do with our spiritual life and growth in grace. It is so wide in its scope, covers such a range of subjects, is so illuminating in every way. We are now reading of Absalom's rebellion; and the wonderful way Scripture has of teaching moral lessons is brought out most vividly by Mr. Grant. We read the volumes through by course, and when we get to the end of the last, begin at the beginning of the first I know this has largely made up for our lack of other ministry." J. W. N.

Does it ever cause you any grief and anxious concern, my Christian reader, that you are so unlike the One whom you trust and love ? I speak now, not of what others may see in you, but of what you know yourself to be.

I have read of a man in India who was so Christ-like in his ways, that when some natives who knew him heard a missionary describe the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus when here on earth, they thought he was referring to their friend! Perhaps you feel that there is little likelihood of your being mistaken for the Lord Jesus! Surely the better we know ourselves the more ready we shall be to own our unlikeness to Him.

Now we find again and again in Scripture the fact that people become like the things they are occupied with, or the persons with whom they keep company.

During the latter part of the history of Judah under the kings of the house of David, after the close of the long series of wars with the Philistines, the two nations settled down to dwell together in amity and companionship. The result was that the people of God became like the Philistines (Isa. 2:6).

We read too that they who trust in idols are like unto them. Their imagination clothes the idol with certain qualities, generally evil, and by constant occupation with that which they conceive it to be, a moral likeness is produced in the idolater (Ps. 115:8).

This principle is stated clearly and definitely in Prov. 23:7, where it says of man, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." A man becomes conformed to the object with which his heart is occupied.

Now this applies both in the direction of good and of evil. If a man's heart is thinking of evil things, he becomes evil in character and ways. If a man's heart is thinking of excellent things, those excellent things express themselves in his life. This gives great importance to the exhortation to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report (Phil. 4:8).

It is not easy, however, to concentrate the thoughts upon abstract qualities, however good they may be- nor is it necessary, for all these things of spiritual excellence have been set forth in the Lord Jesus. As we trace out His pathway here, by the help of the four Gospels, our hearts contemplate things that are lovely indeed, and a certain measure of moral conformity thereto is produced.

More, the One in whom all these things were set forth is not to be numbered amongst the dead. The records of His life are not mere memoirs. He is alive from among the dead, and though the circumstances which surround Him are different, He Himself is just the same (Heb. 13:8). The same Jesus, whom we learn to love increasingly as we read of His gracious and perfect ways among men, is in the glory, and our hearts may be engaged with Him there. We may behold, as Stephen did, the glory of the Lord, and the result will be sure-we shall in measure, as we behold it, be changed into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18).

There is no other way to become like Christ than this. If our desire is to be engaged with Christ in glory, the Holy Spirit will greatly help us. He will delight to do so. In thus keeping company with Christ we shall become Christ-like. Not that we shall be conscious of it in a way that will minister to our pride and self-satisfaction, but others will be able to take note of us that we have been with Jesus. H. P. Barker

NOTES OF AN ADDRESS BY J. B. J.

(Read Ex. 25:31-40.)

The golden candlestick affords a clear and comprehensive figure of Jesus as the True Light, and is also a figure of His people as identified with Him in resurrection and testimony. The candlestick proper (the shaft) is distinguished from " the branches that come out of the candlestick:" the "shaft" representing Christ Himself, while the branches represent His people. Another distinction we likewise must make, viz., between the candlestick itself and the light which it bears. The light is maintained by the oil, and the oil, the regular figure for the Spirit of God, supplies the concentrated light of the seven lamps upon "the face of it " (or " him," ver. 37, marg.). It suggests the full testimony of the Spirit to Christ risen and glorified.

Light supposes darkness; it is the antidote to it; in the physical world its presence dispels darkness. Darkness is never absolute as we know it; it is always relative, being mitigated by the presence of sun, moon, stars, etc.; these may be obscured, but their existence modifies the darkness to a greater or lesser extent.

In Genesis i, we have what we may consider absolute darkness. "The earth was without form, and void:and darkness was upon the face of the deep." Light had not been introduced into the scene, the sun, moon and stars were not shining upon the earth, and its darkness must have been absolute. What "a horror of great darkness " must have existed upon this globe at that time-who can depict or even imagine it ?

A parallel to it is given in John i:9-11 where, speaking of "the True Light which coming into the world lighteth every man," it says:"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own; and His own received Him not." Could darkness be more intense than that? "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not " (vers. 4, 5).

Light must come from outside-from God. God speaks, and at once there is light. Here in John i, the light shines, but it is not received. " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (3:19). Light was in Him -not in the world, not in men. The darkness of man was the darkness of death; man's real need was life (comp. Gal. 3:21), and it is the True Light which makes this manifest. His coming into the world proves conclusively the condition in which man is, as stated in John i:9 (comp. 2 Cor. 5:14).

Light makes manifest "For whatsoever doth make manifest is light" (Eph. 5:13):and light not only manifests the character of the scene upon which it shines, but it makes itself manifest. By coming into the world, our Lord both manifested its condition, and His ability and desire to deliver from that condition. Let us clearly understand that life was in Him, not in the scene into which He had come-not in man, save in those who received Him. There were those who received Him, who "believed on His name; to them gave He the right to become the children of God " (to take their place as such) '' which were born, not of blood [of natural birth], nor of the will of the flesh [of fallen man's will], nor of the will of man [of man's efforts at all], but of God" (vers. 12, 13).

Here was the Life, with full power to give life to all who received Him. How His very presence makes manifest the condition of every one in that presence! In Luke 7, the Pharisee whose guest He was is manifested (ver. 39); the woman, a sinner of the city, who washed His feet with her tears, was manifested (vers. 37, 38, 48, 50), as also those who sat at meat with Him (ver. 49); the scribes and Pharisees in John 8:9 are manifested; they demonstrated that Jesus was "the Light of the world," and that, as He said, "he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (ver. 12). However cultured, however moral, or religious, or eminent of birth, or charitable, or benevolent, every soul that has not bowed to Christ is in the darkness of death. He may think and say he is in the light, but man is born blind, and like the blind man of John 9, must wash at Siloam-the Sent One from God-or remain in the outer darkness. There is no middle ground.

Being rejected by the world, He who was the Light upon earth goes back to the Father who sent Him; from thence He communicates this precious grace and power to others, saying of those who had received Him," Ye are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14); "As my Father hath sent Me, even so send I you " (John 20:21).

The branches of the candlestick were intimately connected with the central stem, their light supplied by the same oil which illumined the central shaft. It furnishes a clear illustration of i Cor. 12:12, 13:"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." This again is like 2 Cor. 4:6:"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the radiancy of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." And again, as in chap. 5:19-21:"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech by us:we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."

We are to remember that responsibility is attached to this place of privilege and blessing:"Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:8). If we have been called out of our darkness into His marvelous light, it is that we may show forth the excellencies of Him who has so richly endowed us (i Pet. 2:9). In order to this we must be "blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15).

Let us see to it then that it is not self, but Christ that may be reflected in our ways. The seven lamps were to "light over against "-that is, upon the candlestick; they united in shining upon the face of that golden candlestick; it is a beautiful figure of how the Spirit's testimony is unto Christ-not to ourselves-not even to the Spirit's work in us. Those lamps must needs be lighted every night and trimmed every morning, that the flow of oil might be unobstructed, and a full, clear light maintained. It suggests the need of constant watchfulness over our ways, our habits, and our associations, that the Holy Spirit may fill every avenue of our heart and mind.

In a certain sense we are going through the night as we step out into the untried future, not knowing what is to befall us:so in faith we must light our lamp. In a certain sense the morning light is upon us as we experience the Lord's goodness:so we can trim our lamp, cutting off the charred wick of past experiences that there may be a fresh surface for a free flow of the divine oil. Golden snuffers are provided for removing what would prove obstruction for the fresh oil; the feeding upon past mercies needs to be removed; golden snuff-dishes are provided for preserving them, but they must not be in the way of present, living contact with the source of supply. The people could not live upon manna gathered the previous day, it must be freshly gathered; so we may not live upon what the Lord was for us in past days, there must be living touch with Him now. When Aaron dressed the lamps in the morning, and when he lighted them at night, he burnt sweet incense on the golden altar (Ex. 30:7, 8). How precious is this thought!-how naturally would one who is walking with God offer the incense of praise and thanksgiving at the thought of the mercies vouchsafed through past difficulties, or as he thought of God's boundless grace to count upon for whatever lies before!

The candlestick was of pure gold-not shittim wood overlaid with gold, as some of the other vessels. This may be to call particular attention to the divine glory of our Lord, as witnessed by resurrection (Rom. 1:4). He was ever the Life of men, He was ever the True Light, and manifested to men as such (i John 1:2):by raising the dead was marked off as Divine.

The almond was very prominent on both shaft and branches:seven buds, blossoms and fruits on each pair of branches, and seven on the central stem. The almond tree is the first to blossom in the spring after the long winter night; the Hebrew word for it is shaqed, from a root which means "to hasten," or "to be wakeful." In Jer. i:n, 12 we may see how the word is used both in the verb and substantive. Jeremiah says," I see a rod of an almond tree." The Lord replies," I will hasten my word to perform it." The force of this is somewhat obscured by translation. It is, really, "I see a rod of a shaqed tree." And the reply is, "I will shaqed my word to perform it." In Psalm 127 the word is rendered "waketh." In Num. 17 Aaron's rod that budded-the dead rod bearing almond buds, blossoms, and fruit-is used to indicate Jehovah's choice of the one who was to go in to God for the people. Life out of death was the sign, and the particular tree chosen was the " hastening tree," referring clearly to our Lord as "risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept" (i Cor. 15:20), and it is thus the Lord proposes to "quite take away their murmurings" from Him (Num. 17 :10). The precious death of Him who has gone in to God as our High Priest, fully atoned for our sins, and His resurrection has operated as clearance papers (Rom. 4:25). As this is realized in the soul, it will afford both motive and power for light-bearing.

The dimensions of the candlestick are not given, but the weight is, " of a talent of pure gold shall he make it" (Ex. 25 :39). This may suggest to us 2 Cor. 4:17, "For the momentary lightness of our affliction worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

May we who have "tasted that the Lord is gracious " see to it that every bit of what would hinder .the free flow of oil be removed; that vain thoughts, worldly ways, questionable associations, be not allowed, or whatever is unbecoming us as lights in a world which lies in the wicked one, that the light may be bright, in testimony to Him.

In Hebrews i, Christ is seen as Apostle-the One sent of God, and part of chapter 2 describes Him as High Priest. Hence chap. 3 opens thus:" Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession (confession), Christ Jesus."

As the Apostle He came to us with the light of God. He was God Himself, and came among us in order to speak to us, instead of speaking by prophets as He did formerly. God has spoken unto us by (in) His Son-literally, "in Son." The Son is the Speaker to man. He declared what God is in His nature, especially did He this at the Cross. And what He said is final, as it is complete. No one can succeed the Son in making God known to man, and nothing could be added to what was said by Him. He fully revealed God. Anything said by any apostle since Jesus died has added nothing to the revelation of what God is, but has been a result of that revelation. Thus it is that there is no allusion in this epistle to any apostle but one -Christ Jesus. The revelation of God, with all the consequent grace in which we stand, has all come to us from Him. In that sense, He is the only Apostle; no other could even be mentioned.

Furthermore, Christ Jesus is the Apostle of "-our confession." The precious truth He brought to us, and which has been implanted in our hearts, is that which we confess. It is called "the confession of our faith" (Heb. 10:23). The Faith is our confession. It was "our confession" long before the "Westminster confession" was heard of, and it was brought to us from heaven by its Apostle. Therefore we are exhorted to consider" Him. His greatness is set forth in Hebrews i in order to show the importance of what He said, and thus to emphasize His apostleship. Hence, the more we consider Him, the more we shall understand and enjoy that for which we are eternally indebted to Him.

Again:we are to consider the " High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus." Now, as the High Priest He represents us in the presence of God:He is on our behalf Godward. In this Scripture, however, He is said to be the High Priest of " our confession :" that is, He is the One who takes care of the entire range of truth which, at such cost, He brought to light.

Do we "consider" Him in this capacity as we should ? We are not now considering by what means He accomplishes this, nor what place His people may have in this connection; we are meditating on the fact that it is Himself who maintains "our confession." What a touching incentive this to take courage! How often have some been cast down at the wide-spread absence of desire after the precious things of God. They may have seen some of the rising generation of Christians indulging themselves instead of denying themselves, and therefore without spiritual appetite, and making no progress in the Christian path. Or perhaps they have seen older brethren becoming depressed and losing purpose of heart. Nevertheless, let us all remember that, whatever levity or lethargy may exist among God's people the High Priest, has undertaken to safeguard the truth, to support "our confession."

How good it is then to consider HIM. There is no darkness in His blessed presence, neither can there be despair. Of old He ordained that His disciples should be "with Him," before aught else (Mark 3:14). Even so is it now. He would have His own much in His company. He would have us becoming better acquainted with Him daily. He would have us increasingly rely upon His love and His power-
" Whose love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end." R. J. R.

The land and the Book match. They correspond in this great fact, that both are universal. It is a universal land that produces the universal Book. In the nature of things, only such a land could produce such a book. It is self-evident that the Book is universal. Is the land universal ? If so, this is the point of wonder, and that is where we see the hand of God. In former times, the point of wonder was the smallness of the land. How could so much come out of such smallness! With the idea of the smallness in their mind, popular writers cast about for analogies to show that this is the rule, viz:small lands have all along given the world its greatest treasures. Greece is small; so is Italy, so is Egypt, so is Scotland, so is England. Yet these have been leaders in the world.

In our day the wonder is not so much the smallness of the land as the universality which the creative Hand has packed into that smallness. It is because the universal has been packed into it that it has produced the universal Book. Things must match, and they do match. This is what modern researches illustrate.

Palestine is no larger than Vermont, but you could not produce the Book in the little State of Vermont. Why ? Because the universality which is found in Palestine is not found in the State of Vermont. In Palestine the geologist finds all the rock-formations of the earth, and all the geologic periods and ages. All the zones are here, and all the climes of the earth. Mt. Hermon is about 9,000 ft. above the level of the sea, and the Dead Sea is 1,300 ft. below the level of the sea; and between the tepid waters of the Salt Sea and the perpetual snows of Mt. Hermon, which never lifts its white cap from its brow, you have packed all zones and climates, from the frigid belt to the tropical equator, and also all the flora and fauna of the earth. You have, too, on its wonderful surface all the life that belongs to all zones. Palestine is the world in a nutshell.

A noted scientist who has spent the most of his life in the study of the natural features of the land says:" There is not another spot on earth where so much of nature is focused as in this little corner. You have Alpine cold and torrid heat. Here are all animals, birds, insects, plants, shells, rocks, of all zones." Accordingly the illustrations drawn from nature with which the Bible abounds are suited to all climes and are understood by all men. The Bible is a world-book made in a world-land. As the Jew is the miracle of history, even so the cosmopolitan land of the Jew is the miracle of geography. Palestine is the Bible in geography. Selected

QUES. 42.-In 2 John 10:11 it says :"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine [of Christ], receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed ; for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.''

A brother from a Presbyterian Church, known by us as of excellent Christian character, but linked up with the current denials of fundamental doctrines of Christianity so prevalent in that body of people, seeks fellowship among us without severing himself from his associations. Does not the passage above quoted forbid our receiving him while he remains linked as he is ?

ANS.-It surely does. We had a similar case in the Assembly where we are. A devoted old man, a member in the Baptist church of a neighboring town, occasionally spent the Lord's day in our town. Having been blessed through our publications he, asked the privilege of partaking with us at the Lord's table. "We joyfully received him-not as a member of the Baptist Church, but of the Body of Christ, of which we were all convinced he was a member as well as ourselves, though the knowledge of that distinction was not in him. He was so happy among us that he came over the more frequently for the Lord's day.

Then the minister of the church he attended, died. This minister had known the grace of God for himself, and preached it boldly; but his successor proved to be a pronounced "Higher Critic," and his ungodly utterances soon came to our ears. At the next visit of our aged brother, we asked him if what we heard of their minister was true. With a sorrowful countenance he said it was. Then we said to him :"Brother, in obedience to the word of God we must now ask you to sever your connection with that minister and his congregation before we can have any further fellowship ; while you countenance it by your presence, you partake in their disloyalty.'' The dear old brother recognized we were right, painful as it made his position. Soon after, the Lord took him home out of the scene of conflict. But it is "the good fight," which we must carry on here, if we would not he swamped in the morass of the endless heresies and Antichrists of our day.

We have two special dangers to avoid. First, the laxity which would allow sin (which caused our Saviour's anguish upon the cross) and thus ruin our Christian testimony. Then sectarianism, another evil condition in the people of God, which makes them unable to receive as members of the body of Christ such as are in a different ecclesiastical position from themselves, even though they know them to be sound in doctrine, holy in practice, and free from ungodly associations. The first seeks an easy way to escape the trills of faithfulness; the other, a rigid course, where everything is governed by a cold ecclesiasticism, avoids the soul-exercise necessary to deal aright with each case as it arises. Self-love is at the root of both, not the love of Christ, nor love of the brethren. Only the love of Christ and of His sheep can save us from self-love.

QUES. 43.-What is the meaning of " He led captivity captive " in Ephesians 4:8?

ANS.-The expression, no doubt, has its origin in Judges 5 :12, a poetic expression in Deborah's song. Because of their fresh sins the Lord had delivered Israel to Jabin, king of Canaan, who "had nine hundred chariots of iron ; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." So his oppression was the captivity of Israel during those twenty years, and in his complete overthrow by Barak, under the prophesying of Deborah, that captivity was reversed, "and the hand of the children of Israel prospered and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan." Their former captivity (or captor) was now their captive.

So Christ took part in flesh and blood, "that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14, 15). So our captivity to the devil is gone, and so complete is Christ's victory that to our deliverance He adds gifts, that we may use them for Him, to free others ; for a true, living Christian is not a mere negative quantity in this -world, but one who, having suffered in bondage to the devil, and having been set free by the Lord Jesus, is now an aggressive soldier in the ranks of His army.

QUES. 44.-Does the word of God teach that one can be safe and yet not saved ? There is here an N. H. H. brother teaching it. He says Cornelius was safe before Peter was sent to him, but not saved. Please answer in Help and Food, as others are interested.

ANS.-The time has always been, but is especially now, when would-be teachers of the word of God must be required to give "Thus saith the Lord " for their statements. They can talk and reason ad infinitum until, being called upon to give a plain passage of the Scriptures for their authority, the wind drops from their sails.

You should have asked this " N. H. H. brother " what verse in the narrative of Acts 10 said that Cornelius was "safe but not saved." But the statement is not new to us. It was one item in a system of teaching which came from over the sea in the early seventies. It taught that a man may be born of God and yet not have eternal life ; that at new birth some kind of spiritual life was received, but it was not eternal life-that was only after certain experiences which gave larger Christian intelligence. It was similarly taught that a man might have genuine faith in the Lord Jesus and yet not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit; that a child of God might yet be a man "in the flesh;" and the clause " he is none of His " in Rom. 8 :9 was applied to a believer in whom the Spirit did not yet dwell, who was yet "in the flesh"-in Adam, not in Christ.

These are samples of the whole system. It clouded the gospel of the grace of God ; it was attainment and experience-works brought back again for salvation instead of faith ; none could be sure of having eternal life except those who had reached a degree of spiritual elevation. It made two classes of believers ; the high class, the "intelligent" ones, having the seal of the Spirit; the low class, not having " reached " to eternal life yet, nor yet sealed with the Spirit. A new system of Perfectionism was thus set up, together with ecclesiastical pretensions-a little hierarchy to rule the assemblies everywhere and enforce the new teaching. It was the refusing of all this on the one side, and the determined pressing of it on the other, which brought on the crisis of 1884, and caused the excommunication of F. "W. G. at Montreal. As he exposed the new teaching and practice, he incurred the wrath of the hierarchy, and the name heretic, so convenient in the palmy days of popery, was applied to him with treatment in keeping. It is that teaching and ecclesiastical crime which we still refuse today; for, as before said, it insidiously attacks the grace of God; if allowed, it would rob us of the gospel, and bring back in measure the darkness out of which we were delivered.

Dishonor to the grace of God is soon followed by dishonor to the Son of God ; thus the foundations are attacked. How soon and sadly this was proved in this new departure, all who have kept in touch with it know. Scarcely one line of truth was left uncorrupted. Many to this late day do not realize the effort of Satan in this to rob us of the truth and bring us again into bondage. Ask one who is under the power of that teaching if he has eternal life, and we are answered, Ah, this is a great question :"We have the faith of eternal life, but that does not prove that you have the thing itself." Yet before these crooked notions came in, the same persons would not have hesitated to answer:Yes, thank God ; I have eternal life, for the Lord Jesus Himself said, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life " (Jno. 6 :47) ; and John's first epistle was written that believers might know they have eternal life (1 Jno. 5:13).

All this shows we still have need to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). How delightful it would be if we could put off the harness in peace without fear, but we are yet in the enemy's land, and still need to have on "the whole armor of God " to acquit ourselves in such a way as to be approved of the Lord at the end. Our rest is coming, but it is not yet. Nor must we forget that in opposing false doctrine we are laboring for the welfare of those who are entangled in it as well as for our own protection. Love ever has, in all its activities, the welfare of all concerned. "We have seen more than one case of deliverance from this system of error, and it was a sweet privilege to share their joy as also to see the new impetus it gave to their faith. But it also shows that there is bondage in the system from which there is need of divine deliverance. The Lord grant it to His beloved people for His great name's sake, and remember their faithfulness in the past-a faithfulness which has carried rich blessing to the ends of the earth, but has already been largely counteracted by the defection referred to.

"Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (2 Cor. 5:5).

God hath wrought us" by His own sovereign act, by His Spirit, through the Word:He has given to us the divine nature-"Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth" (Jas. i:18). Thus, as begotten of Him, we have been wrought into fitness to receive "the selfsame thing." This "selfsame thing" is "our house which is from heaven." Our present earthly tent-house may be folded up and its occupant pass into heaven, but our hope is that we may be "clothed upon with our house which is from heaven," "that mortality might be swallowed up of life."

As the pledge of this, God has given us His Spirit. The Spirit of God having taken possession of our bodies, is God's pledge that these bodies shall be made the fit witnesses of His power, at perhaps no distant day, when "clothed upon with our house which is from heaven," with wonder we shall exclaim, "What hath God wrought ! "

At present, we have "a spirit of sonship," wrought in us by the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, "whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15,16).

But, concerning God's purpose for His children, it is written," Whom He called, them He also glorified," having predestinated them to be conformed to the image of His Son. Thus we are waiting for the sonship-the full physical likeness to His Son, that is, " the redemption of our body."

Then shall we have this "selfsame thing" for which God has "wrought us," for He has "predestinated us unto the sonship, by Jesus Christ, to Himself" (Eph. i:5).* *In Eph. 1:5 the words "of children" ought to be omitted. We are not children of God by "adoption" but by new birth. "Adoption" in the New Testament I understand to be sonship. Hence the full manifestation of our sonship awaits the time when we shall be conformed to the image of His Son.* "Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He hath before prepared that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). Alas, how frequently the flesh in us hinders the manifestation of this ; but the day is coming when the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, "shall quicken our mortal bodies" -shall make them instinct with divine life.

God haste that day, when,

"All pure without, all pure within the breast," we shall bow before Him who gave Himself for us and say, "Lord Jesus, we owe it to Thy blood." G. MacKenzie

Much has been said of late as to the advisability of the nations putting into operation a plan whereby matters of international importance might, when in dispute, be adjusted by arbitration rather than by war. In some quarters it has even been alleged that such a plan will soon appear so feasible that, in all probability, the world is in the throes of "the last war." To be sure, those who thus speak have been named " optimists " by those of a contrary opinion, nevertheless they continue to make cheerful predictions.

On the other hand, many have recently begun to surmise that the present-day civilization, by its recent "reversion to brutality," has proved itself to be little more than a thin veneer. Of course those of this opinion are called "pessimists."

Now, Christians, in their true Christian character, are neither optimists nor pessimists. They hear what God has said in His word, and this rules their minds. It is therefore proposed to look into Scripture and see what God has said concerning a universal and lasting peace. In so doing, only one or two passages of Scripture will be cited on the points raised, as it would be impossible in a short paper to quote the many with which it is replete.

THE FACT

Isaiah says :"And He (the Lord)shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks :nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more " (chap. 2:4). Again, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:and the government shall be upon his shoulder :and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace " (chap. 9:6).At the birth of Jesus, the heavenly hosts are heard saying:" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14).Such texts intimate the fact of a universal and lasting peace, and call attention to the One who is to achieve such results, and whose advent into the world involves them.

DELAY

It may now be said :Since the fact is affirmed, and the Agent of its achievement announced, how is it that its accomplishment has been delayed so long since His appearance ? The answer is plain. When Christ presented Himself to mankind He was rejected. " He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto his own (Israel) and his own received Him not" (Jno. i:10, n). Mankind in general, no less than the Jews, knew not the day of their visitation, nor the things that belonged to their peace. But it may be asked:Is the situation not altered now ? Is it not true that these Western countries can be called Christian ? Let Scripture answer. Christ said (anticipating His rejection):"Now is the judgment of this world:now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die" (Jno. 12 :31-33). These words teach that the moral system called the world is judged, a fact that precludes the hope of its becoming Christian. Moreover, it is as rejected, and not as popular, that Christ is presented as the gathering Center for mankind. Consequently, it is said, not merely "the world knew Him not," and " they have not known the Father nor Me," but He says of His own:"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." And again, "The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not" (Jno. 17:16; i Jno. 3 :i). The world did not know the Father nor the Son here upon earth, neither does it know "us," Christians.

This partly explains the Lord's words :"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:34-36). Take an example of this. When Severus, a Roman emperor, in the third century, commanded. that suspected Christians should " offer sacrifice for the welfare of the emperor,"Perpetua, a young woman of twenty-two, was entreated by her father, who was a pagan, to comply with the edict. But, notwithstanding the tears of her aged father, and in spite of her affection for him, she firmly rejected his counsel and suffered a martyr's death. And although, in a later day, Christians entered politics, they did not make the world Christian. They indeed merely became corrupted themselves, and obliterated, as far as they could, the line of demarcation between Christianity and the world. Hence, even to-day, if any one will follow Christ, he will discover that the"sword," or enmity of the world against Christ and His followers has not ceased, but still divides between what is of Christ and what is of the world, which Christendom, so-called, really is.

It may now be asked :" Why are Christians left in the world, if not to make it Christian?" They are left in it to testify of Christ-rejected by the world, yet to preach forgiveness through His name to all who will receive Him:and those who believe the message become separated from the world-system and are united to Christ in heaven; they are members of His body on earth while waiting for His return.

We thus see that in this present time peace cannot be established on earth because Christ is rejected, and that His true people, those who have received Him, namely, His Church, instead of altering the situation, intensify this testimony in the measure that they maintain the cause of Christ, which emphasizes the breach between Christ and the world. Meanwhile, Christians await Christ Himself. He is their hope; as it is written:"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first :then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (i Thess. 4 :16, 17).

WAR

After this rapture of the saints to heaven, and before our Lord's public manifestation, when He will appear with them to rule over the earth, two events of great significance will transpire. There will be war in heaven and war on earth. As to the former, it is said:"And there was war in heaven:Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not:neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev. 12:7-12). Being limited to the earth in his sphere of operations, and that only for a short time, it is said:" Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath .but a short time " (Rev. 12 :12).

In the state of things that will ensue, Satan will have recourse to certain agents upon earth ready to carry out his measures. We will but refer the reader to Rev. 13, where he will find two of them mentioned. Speaking in a general way, lawlessness and not righteousness, violence and not peace, will ravage the earth at this time. Take for an example the following:"And when He (the Lamb) had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red:and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another:and there was given unto him a great sword" (Rev. 6:3, 4). Here is described a state so awful that any little peace remaining on earth is said to be removed. It is a phase of things that will develop after the rapture of the saints, and will become more pronounced in a diabolical way after Satan's expulsion from the heavens. It will culminate in a vast militaristic system, notably blasphemous and idolatrous, a system thoroughly opposed to the claims of the righteous Heir of all things, who is to set up His kingdom on earth, and this system shall be totally overthrown (Rev., chaps. 13 & 19).

PEACE

Then for a thousand years, says the word of God, Christ and His saints shall reign over the earth and Satan will be bound during that time (Rev. 20) a time when righteousness shall reign, and peace will prevail as a result.

(1) In psalm 94 :15, a time is described when "judgment shall return unto righteousness:and all the upright in heart shall follow it." Are judgment and righteousness allied on the thrones of the Gentile powers to-day? Alas, no! When Pilate gave judgment against Jesus, it was publicly demonstrated that righteousness had departed from judgment, but when Jesus comes again it will return to it. Thus in psalm 72 :2, Christ, in His Solomon-character, is seen judging His people with righteousness and His poor with judgment.

(2) "He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence:and precious shall their blood be in His sight" (Ps. 72 :13, 14). Today the poor and needy are not "spared," but are the subjects of oppression and domination of rulers; they suffer violence, and their blood is poured out like water ; but in that day they will realize the mercy of Christ's rule, for He will maintain their cause and shall account their blood "precious."

(3) Well might the Psalmist close this section of the book, saying:"Let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen" (ver. 19). The first man had ultimately made his powers apparent in pride, self-glory and destruction, but the Second Man, who gave His life in atonement for man's sin, will make His healing grace apparent in the whole earth. He will come like showers after the mowing of the earth. He will make the earth again to rejoice after the first man has devastated it, and everything will acclaim His glory and declare that HE "has done it!"

" He'll bid the whole creation smile, And hush its groan." R. J. R.

QUES. 22.-In reading Genesis recently, and coming to chapter 11:1-9, my mind flew to the second chapter of Acts, and was all aglow at the thought of a connection between them ; yet I could not explain what that connection is. Perhaps you can throw light upon it.

ANS.-Your experience shows that God may impart to the heart something of the truth and its preciousness, while full intelligence as to it comes with fuller knowledge. There is indeed a lovely connection between the two passages :in the first, proud man is being humbled. He is going to build a high tower to get himself a great name, using the natural intelligence which God in creation had imparted to man, to exalt himself, and, as always follows, to forget God and set Him aside. The confusion of tongues is God's effective means to prevent man's proud purpose. He divides them in their confederacy; he weakens them by scattering them.

In Acts 2, it is just the opposite. Jesus, the Son of God, had accomplished His journey through this world in deepest humiliation ; He had been " crucified through weakness '' that He might become our Saviour and lay the foundation for God's glorious purpose to be displayed at the end ; He had been raised out of all that humiliation and exalted at the right hand of God, and the Holy Spirit had come to exalt His name in the same scene where He had humbled Himself. The disciples who had been with Him could bear witness of Him, but God gives that witness divine power and efficacy by sending the Holy^Spirit to dwell in these witnesses, that with love in their hearts and fire in their tongues, they might be able to exalt the name of their Saviour and Master.

The tongues, therefore, which were to scatter self-exalting men at Babel are now given to exalt the name of Jesus, to assemble the people to Him, and to unite them in Him. Such is God's way. The pride of man He puts down by scattering and weakening them; but with humility and love to Christ, God unites them and makes them strong to bear testimony. It is Christ whom God has determined to exalt and for which the Holy Spirit has come.

One asks me for a word on Peter's confession, as given in Matthew 16:18, and as others may have the same question in mind, I answer in this manner. The great point, I take it, is the new revelation as to the glorious Person of the Lord Jesus Christ-He is "Christ, the Son of the Living God." It is on this that the Church is built. In other words, everything for the Assembly hangs upon this precious truth. This is a distinct advance on what had previously been brought out in this Gospel. Matthew wrote to show that Jesus is the Son of David, who was to "build again the tabernacle of David that had fallen down." It is on the truth thus revealed that He does this. If He were not the Son of David, He could not be Israel's Messiah.

But it is not as Son of David that He builds the Church, nor as Son of Abraham either, nor yet as Son of Man, as in Luke. It is as Son of God. This is the Rock, as Augustine, the greatest of all Catholic theologians, triumphantly declares. The notion that Peter was the Rock came in after the true character of the Church was lost sight of, and the heavenly calling practically denied. Peter, who confessed this great truth, was "a stone" (Pedros) builded on the Rock; and this is true of all believers, as he himself teaches in i Peter 2:1-10. H. A. I.

"A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory " (Matt. 12:20).

However feeble the authority that wields the scepter, our Lord's words remind us that God preserves it:" Thou couldst have no power against Me except it were given thee from above."

However perverted man's administration of justice, we can thank God that though it be but as smoking flax in its administration of judgment according to righteousness, it will not be quenched till He send forth judgment unto victory. No more weakness in government, no more mawkish senti-mentalism for criminals when the Son of Man is King and Ruler over this world! The lawlessness of man's nature which has been so bold for so long will then face a government with which it cannot trifle. But what fearful blows must come to introduce this! How thankful should God's people be that He has promised to keep them from (out of) that " hour of trial ! " (Rev. 3:10). S.