"I hear to-day that beloved Mr. Ridout has passed to his rest, and feeling something of the greatness of the loss that you have sustained along with all the dear brethren whom I know and love in U. S. A., I must send you a line of true brotherly sympathy. Three things struck me about our beloved brother:First and most, his Christ-like spirit, then his wise, well-balanced judgment, and then his grasp of the truth of God. You will miss him greatly in these things, yet they will leave among you a fragrance that will not soon pass away, and I believe will stir you up to follow his faith.

It is a comfort to know that the Lord cares for His saints. It was this care that made Him raise up and fit such an one as Mr. Ridout to love and care for you all, and He can raise up and fit others. Yes, in spite of the increasing declension, He will still care for you all. You were thankful to have such a brother among you so long, but you were not dependent upon him, but upon the Lord who gave him, and the Lord remains, and upon Him and His eternal changeless love, you can cast yourselves in your sore bereavement.

What a welcome our beloved brother would get! How wonderful to think of his joy in the presence of his Saviour! And great will be his reward for all his labors and suffering for the Lord's sake! You will rejoice in these things while we wait for the fulfilment of all our hopes at our Lord's return."

-J. T. Mawson.

"The sad news came to us yesterday, of the taking away of our beloved brother, Mr. S. Ridout. But in our grief we also rejoice as we think of him in the presence of the ONE he loved so well, and of whom it could very truly be said, without any question, that like John the beloved, he too lay "on Jesus' breast." Now the Lord has called him out of this scene of suffering and sorrow and strife, to rest in His presence, till that day when all His own shall be called to meet Him in the air.

We feel especially for the dear sorrowing family and the dear saints in Plainfield and vicinity, to all of whom our beloved brother had so endeared himself by a life and testimony patterned closely after his blessed Lord and Master. How his familiar face and voice will be missed by those who, like yourself, knew him so well! The sweetness and strength of a character such as our dear brother sustained through good and evil report can only be possessed through constant and conscious abiding in Christ.

May the Lord graciously uphold you and all the dear saints with you in this great loss and sorrow. May you be able to look up to the ONE who has taken His honored and faithful servant to Himself, and receive from Him that consolation and comfort needed in an hour like this, when the heart and mind are dazed, as it were, through a sudden blow, in having had taken from among you one who, more than most, was a living type of Him who said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart."

We know that our blessed Lord, who "loved and gave Himself for the Church," will continue to minister from His own heart of compassion and infinite love all that His saints need in this world. If He has taken His dear servant away from us-one who loved to serve the beloved saints-He will raise up other channels, and our prayer is that this may be so. May the encouragement and cheer and warning and instruction so much needed to-day by old and young be vouchsafed to us. May our beloved brother's written ministry left behind, as his voice "yet speaking" to us, be much blessed to saint and sinner, and may the memory of a life so fragrant with the love of Christ, so true to His Word, so filled with devoted service to the saints, whom, next to the Lord Himself, he loved dearly-may the memory of it all come to us as a precious reminder of Christ Himself, endearing to our hearts more and more that ONE who indelibly inscribed His own character in the life here below of His dear departed servant.

Words fail us in a time like this, but we can look back and remember our beloved brother as we knew him, so patient and loving and true. And we can look forward and contemplate that bright and glad day when we shall be gathered around our blessed Lord, and meet him again with all of the redeemed."

-Wm. Huss.

"Thanks for your letter, but I had already learned of the home-going of our beloved brother.

Our loss is truly great. What a servant he was! And how like his Master! Who is there to take his place?

Our debt to him could never have been paid. My own is great indeed. I have learned much from his ministry of the Word, but I have learned more from his example. His graciousness and patience under provocation, his humility in his attitude toward others, and his readiness to recognize and commend merit in his brethren, however small, marked him as a disciple of Christ and fitted him for leadership among his brethren. He was justly beloved and revered. May his memory live among us, and let us be thankful that we have known him."

-P. P. Wahlstad.

". . . How sad the tidings Israel hath fallen. How he presence and ministry. What a blank it seems.

He was a "husband" in his spirit and manner, gracious and gentle to all, one of the most Christ-like men I have ever known. How he suffered amid the recent upheaval in the meetings, who shall say? But that is past, and he rests from labors and his works follow.

But our Lord remains and never fails His own. 'Certainly I will be with thee,' should encourage us to 'go in and possess' yet more of the goodly land our brother spied out so well." -INGLIS FLEMING.

"Thanks for sending us word concerning the home-call of our dear departed and much loved brother Ridout. It will be a great loss to the whole testimony, and many beyond our small circle will regret his departure. But it is his gain.

The cruel treatment which his name received by some who should have commended him, he felt more keenly than most realized. But his work is finished, he has entered his rest. May all of us copy his patience and gentleness, walking softly and lowly until the end." -A. E. BOOTH.
"It was with a sense of a great personal loss that I heard a week ago of the death of my old friend Samuel Ridout. We met often and intimately when, some years ago (it may have been twenty), he was living in active Christian service in Baltimore, the recognized leader of the Assembly on Mosher Street. Since then, I have only seen him at fairly long intervals ; once to my great surprise he hailed me from a small motor boat far down among the Keys in Florida where I was collecting lichens and getting impressions of a remarkable new terrain.

My early memories are particularly happy, including many privileges of attending the weekly gatherings of the brethren and enjoying his ministry at the meetings and his generosity as a teacher in my own home. To him I owe a better acquaintance with the Scriptures, and the works of F. W. Grant, J. N. Darby, Charles Stanley, C. H. Mackintosh, and others.

Mr. Ridout always impressed me, as he doubtless did all his hearers, with his love and understanding of the Bible as in very truth the Word of God; as a teacher he was lucid and winning. It is a pleasure to think of him as having entered into the presence of that glory so long anticipated and upon which he was wont to dwell with such persuasive earnestness." -HOWARD A. KELLY.

"It was most considerate of you to send us notice of dear Mr. Ridout's passing and funeral. We remember him as God's choice saint, who now sees his precious Saviour face to face, and is in that dear, dear country, the mention of whose glory is unction to the breast, and medicine in sickness, and love and life and rest. We can only congratulate him and think how fitting it was that he finished his earthly ministry in that city where he began it many years ago.

For you, my dear brother, my heart beats in tenderest sympathy, since I know how loving a friend has been taken away from you for a brief period. It cannot be for long; our eagerly looked-for Lord may come at any time, and even if He tarry, the pilgrim journey will soon be over, and oh, what a blessed meeting! How rich Heaven will be, richer even now because of that dear saint, whose body you are laying to rest while I am writing these lines.

The Lord remains, He is sufficient, and by His grace we will work while it is day, looking forward to the Blessed Hope, when "the dead in Christ shall rise first, and when we who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air." -ERNEST LAYCOCK.

"Just read the wire apprizing me that our beloved S. R. has entered into the presence of the Lord. What a welcome he has had up there! But how he will be missed down here! Wish I were near enough to be at the funeral to-morrow. How I thank God I had ever known him! It seems strange to think that sweet, patient- yet intellectual-countenance will never be seen again till Jesus comes."-H. A. IRONSIDE.

"Yours received telling us about the home-going of our dear brother Ridout. Now he is at rest, having fought the good fight. We will miss him daily, but we thank God that he is at rest. We will meet again at Jesus' feet." -DR. C. J. LOIZEAUX.

"… It is sad news, and creates an aching void in our breasts, and fills us with sadness to think that we will never hear that voice again here, and never again see that face, nor read lines from his pen. Oh, what a loss to the Church of God, and to his dear family, but what a day for him to be at home with the Lord he so longed to see and so loved to serve, and away from these scenes of conflict and strife. Oh, how we will miss him if the Lord further delays His coming! … I feel we shall have to pray in a special way for the whole household of faith, and especially the testimony with which we are connected, desiring that the glorious Head of His Church will be pleased to preserve His people at this time, and that He, the great Shepherd of the sheep, will preserve and shepherd the flock which will so keenly feel this shock. I think especially of our dear young people who were so attached to our beloved brother." -JAS. N. DUNCAN (Detroit).

"We were very sorry to hear of the death of dear brother Ridout. We have lost a good friend and teacher. We are thankful he came to the coast three years ago, otherwise we never should have seen his face in the flesh. For him it is rest from his labor; with Christ, which is very much better. May God raise up others to take the place of these men who have gone home to be with the Lord in the last 3 or 4 years. Though we sorrow, we will not despair, because our Lord has pledged Himself to be with us, even unto the end of the age." -JAMES F. PAULSEN (San Francisco).

"Thirty-five years, and more, ago, my Heavenly Father placed me in the pathway of life of Mr. Ridout. He immediately gave me a place in his heart-and he began at once to feed me with the "Bread of Life," for I had received the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, but was remaining only a babe in Christ.

Our friendship grew deeper and deeper, and it included my whole family-wife and children- and we all loved him for what he meant to us.

I am so grateful I heard his last message here in Baltimore-which was so wonderfully inspired.

Hoping our Lord will come soon, so we can all be caught up to be together,

-ROBERT L. HASLUP."

"I was greatly shocked to hear of Mr. Ridout's death. Surely I know few whose life so reflected his close walk with God. If those of us who admired him from afar, and in a way which he doubtless little realized, will miss him, I know his loss to those who were his intimates will be irreparable. For me Mr. Ridout has always occupied a place above and apart from most men."

-J. STEPHEN BLOORE.

(Concluded from p. 155.)

The answer given by the Modern Critics

What is called Higher Criticism has had a large place in modern theological literature; and its so-called "assured results" are now generally accepted as truth by unconverted preachers and unsaved professors.

What then is the Higher Criticism? and what has it to say in answer to the solemn query, "What think ye of Christ?"

And, in attempting to answer this in a very limited space, it may be best to explain first another kind of criticism, which no real Christian objects to if properly informed.

The lower criticism is that perfectly legitimate system of investigation for which every believer should be unfeignedly thankful, that occupies itself with determining the exact original text of Scripture. By comparing ancient manuscripts, versions, and quotations embodied in early letters and treatises, the reverent critic of the sacred text endeavors to eliminate interpolations and glosses, and to supply any lacking words or phrases. Some of the very best results of this eminently useful investigation will be found in the translations of the Bible made by J. N. Darby, and later, of the New Testament and parts of the Old by both F. W. Grant and W. Kelly, as found in the commentaries of these able expositors.

It is to this branch of criticism that men like Tregelles, Tischendorf, Griesbach, Westcott and Hort, and many others gave themselves and it is through their painstaking efforts that we now can be assured of a Greek and Hebrew text which is an almost exact counterpart of the original autographs, which have all been lost for many centuries.

But the miscalled higher criticism is something very different to this. It professes to determine by a careful examination of the language and phraseology of a given Scripture its authorship, authenticity, and time of production. It began by uniformly rejecting all that the Bible itself says on these subjects, and has been busy ever since its inception substituting ever-varying and contradictory theories of its own for the Scripture declarations.

That the Lord Jesus declared the Pentateuch to have been written by Moses, and attested the inspiration of Daniel the prophet, Isaiah, David, and indeed the entire Old Testament, has no weight with the exponents of this system whatever. Yet some of them profess to believe in Him as the sent One of God, and pretend to own His Lordship and divinity.

How then do they presume to set aside His statements. On the ground of what is called Kenoticism, based on the Greek word, Kenosis, meaning to empty.

The 7th verse of Philemon 2 declares that Christ "made Himself of no reputation," or, literally "emptied Himself." These modern critics base upon this the teaching that in assuming manhood, He divested Himself of the omniscience of deity. Hence as a Man, they hold that He was subject to all the limitations and ignorance of the men of His day. He really supposed Moses, Daniel and Isaiah wrote the books assigned to them in the Bible, but He was not a critic. His education was defective. His means for securing information were limited. Consequently He could not speak with the authority of these latter-day professors, who are by no means emptied, but filled as full of carnality and conceit as they well can be!

Others indeed unhesitatingly deny his Deity in toto and see in Him only a God-intoxicated man, who was under all the ordinary delusions of the times in which He lived. They read the Scriptures as the "best thoughts of the best men in those ancient times," but spurn the idea of definite divine inspiration in any other sense than that of a spiritual exaltedness such as characterizes some of our great poets and moralists.

But no soul subject to the Spirit's teaching would ever accept views so derogatory to the Holy Son of God. He emptied Himself of the glory that He had with the Father ere the world was (John 17:5), and of the riches which were His in heaven (2 Cor. 8:9), but He was ever God manifest in flesh, and He spake with all the authority of Deity. He who owns this in his soul is forever delivered from the pretentious blasphemies of the Higher Critics. H. A. I.

(Luke 18:1-43)

This entire Gospel strikingly presents from early days the perfect manhood of our blessed Lord. Well might we dwell upon its general features, but let us now simply consider some of the related details which are found in our chapter. We may divide it into seven sections.

First:PRAYER:(vers. 1-8).

Here the Lord presses upon the disciples "That men ought always to pray, and not to faint." By the parable He gave, He instructed them as to the need of prayer, the importance of urgent solicitation when engaged in prayer, and encouraged them concerning God's readiness to answer prayer.

In prayer we express felt need, and real dependence upon God. On every hand there is increasing departure from faith in God, and from that great principle of practical life-"the just shall live by faith;" and so many sadly fail in the practice of the prayer life. In both respects, men now called to preach the Word, as were the disciples here addressed, should be examples to others. None should be more marked by a prayerful life than those who labor in the Word. "We will give ourselves up to prayer and the ministry of the Word" (Acts 6:4). One has said, "A prayerless preacher is a fruitless preacher." God honors a life that honors Him.

Many of our Christian assemblies seem manifestly weak in prayer. Our spiritual state, our worldliness, our broken and scattered condition ought to convince us that everywhere we should give ourselves to prayer-earnest, urgent, and persevering prayer. Ministry that will stir us up by way of remembrance is necessary everywhere. A dead, or dull prayer meeting indicates a dead, or dull assembly, and lack of aggressive energy in the Gospel.

When united, fervent prayer is combined with united energy and activity, God will manifest His presence with power for the blessing of men. One special feature of the Lord's life was prayer as this Gospel (Luke) repeatedly records. By ministry and example He urged the disciples ever to pray. There must be linked with this the exercise of faith in God, and the suggestion of this may be found in the Lord's question, "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?"

Only let us, one and all, take a fresh survey of conditions in the world around, especially as relating to the whole Church, to our assemblies and our individual lives, and the great importance of and need for more prayer must impress itself deeply upon our hearts.

Second:SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS (vers. 9-14).

Here we are warned against the features of a Pharisee's life; self importance, self trust, self righteousness. To fasten the lesson upon the minds of the disciples, the Lord uses as an illustration two men praying in the Temple,.

Men who live near to God learn the holiness and the majesty of God. This teaches them their own nothingness, then humility and self-abnegation take the place of self importance and pride. How necessary this second lesson. It grows out of the first-prayer. In Christ, Whose perfect life is revealed in the four Gospels, humility, from His lowly birth until He offered Himself to God upon the cross, was ever a chief feature. "He « humbled Himself," and He had no carnal nature as we have. Yet in wondrous grace He was ever the self-emptied Saviour Who came here to serve, not to be served.

Third:LITTLE CHILDREN (vers. 15-17).

Now we see another beautiful feature of that perfect life. "They brought to Him also infants that He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me." He understood perfectly those parental affections. He knew as none other the value of each of those precious infants, each one having a human soul worth more than worlds of wealth.

The disciples had not caught the spirit of their Master,, and so they rebuked them. This was entirely out of place. Rebuke should not be administered before we are sure beyond a question that there is a wrong that needs the rebuke, otherwise some one is made to suffer wrongfully. "I.. .beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ."

Fourth:RICHES (vers. 18-27).

A certain rich ruler addressed a question to the Lord. The Lord who could read the heart perfectly answered him according to his need, but not his expectations. He went away sorrowful.

The Lord's words were a test. "Sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor." To possess wealth is a great trust, a privilege entailing great responsibilities. Men so favored are compared to stewards, entrusted with what really belongs to another (the Lord). Scripture abounds with instructions concerning those who possess wealth (Deut. 6:11,12; 8:16-18; Luke 16:9-14, R. V.; 1 Tim. 6:6-11,17-19). Men should never set their hearts on riches, but hold and distribute with wisdom what has been entrusted to them. "That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate." How beautiful the example of our blessed Lord Whose grace is seen in that "though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich."

Fifth:SELF DENIAL AND SERVICE FOR CHRIST WILL ALWAYS BRING REWARD (vers. 28-30).

The Master's instruction given to the ruler made a deep impression upon the disciples, and drew a question from Peter. "Lo, we have left all, and followed Thee." The Lord's answer develops further truth. He had called them at the first, they had obeyed His call to a higher order of service. Now they learn that no service which calls for sacrifice and self denial will ever be overlooked. This is applicable to service by all believers. He that calls them will see that they are amply cared for now while in service, and at the end when the sum total shall be given, at the judgment seat, they will receive their reward; and also the Master's "Well done" (1 Cor. 3:8-15, 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10). It is like what we see in the Lord's case, the throne is reached by way of the cross. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?"
Sixth:HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION (vers. 31-34).

What a wonderful life has been manifested on earth I From the first, the Holy Spirit through the evangelist, the beloved Physician, has revealed to us step after step the words, ways and doings of the perfect Man, Christ Jesus; but now the end is near so we read, "Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished." His path was drawing to a close, each step in this last journey to Jerusalem brought Him nearer the greatest crisis in the history of man-"The tragedy of the ages." His death was but a few paces ahead, His final rejection on earth, in which both Jews and Gentiles took their part. But after its accomplishment, He would rise again on the third day. Then the triumph would be His. Omnipotent power was with Him at each step, and displayed in every miracle performed by Him. His Omniscience was manifested in His perfect knowledge of all the past, and perfect knowledge of all the present. He knew the hearts of men, and could read their every thought. He had perfect knowledge as to the future, both as to what was near at hand, and what was in the distance.

In this section He informs them once more of what He first told them in chap. 9:22. He had repeated it again and again, yet they understood not His saying (see Lk. 9:22; 9:44,45; 9:51; 11:29-30; 12:50; 13:32,33; 17:25; 18:34; Mark 9:32).

What was upon His heart they little knew. The clouds were soon to gather and pour forth their fury upon His blessed head. He knew perfectly every prophecy that spoke of His sufferings and death from Genesis 3 to Malachi 4. Then later, when He had accomplished the work that was given Him to do, and was raised from among the dead, He appeared to them again and again. Then their faith in Him, and the whole prophetic word in the Old Testament, as also His own Words, was strengthened and confirmed by the fulfilment of what He had previously spoken concerning His death and resurrection.

This last journey to Jerusalem and Calvary resembled that of Abraham and Isaac as they journey together with the young men to Mount Moriah. Abraham had the sacrifice of Isaac upon his heart as a heavy burden, but to ease its weight he had also the faith of resurrection, when he parted with the young men and left them in the distance behind. He left them a promise that both he and Isaac would return to them (Gen. 22:5,19; Heb. 11:17-19). In this last journey to the cross, only the Father and Son knew what would take place, but the promise of resurrection and return to them was left with the disciples.

Seventh:THE BLIND MAN (vers. 35-43).

"A certain blind man sat by the way side begging- and he cried saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me, And they that went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace." But the Lord Who knew the man's great need, and his desire to be healed, gave him his sight. Here another miracle of mercy and power gave fresh proof that the Son of Man (vers. 31) and Son of David (vers. 38) was also the eternal Son of God from heaven.

The second Person of the Godhead was present to heal, save, forgive and bless. The blind man represented the whole nation morally, yea, all men, for by Adam's fall sin had plunged the whole world into moral, spiritual darkness. How little do men realize that darkness, and how little do they know the mercy of the Lord for them also! Beautiful it is to trace the divine and perfect ways of grace, goodness and mercy displayed by Him.

Some rebuked the blind man. This is the second time in our chapter that we see a rebuke wrongly administered. Though in the nature of a digression, let us briefly consider what the Scriptures teach concerning a rebuke.

(1) "If thy brother trespass (sin) against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him" (chap. 17:3, 4).

This instruction is individual, and was because of a personal trespass or sin. It is trespass beyond all question, not a case of supposed offense. If there was question or doubt, an inquiry would be the God-appointed exercise to pursue first (Deut. 13:12-14). Action is not to be premature, in haste or in heat (Eph. 4:31,32). God has given these safeguards lest mistakes be made. Then, too, questions may arise between believers, in which there may be reason for difference of judgment, yet each be conscientious in the judgment formed. In such a case, rebuke would be entirely out of place, rather patience, a grace of the Holy Spirit, becomes such a case after inquiry and counsel. Otherwise, injustice may be done, and the ways and government of God among His people be brought into ill repute.

(2) "Them that sin rebuke before all." (The whole Christian Assembly, 1 Tim. 5:20). In this case, the offense goes beyond what is personal and is a sin that has distressed and still distresses the assembly testimony (2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:10-13 and 3:10). Such a case requires great care and caution to see that the sin is present in the individual and detrimental to the testimony of the assembly, for, "Holiness becomes God's house." But rebuke should not be for a sin committed in the past, that had been confessed and repented of, but rather a sin yet continued in. If repentance has taken place, and confession made, the Lord's words are clear, "forgive him." Rebuke at this juncture would not be in order, according to the ways of the Lord, but rather a sense of relief to heart and mind, that would give cause for thanksgiving. Repentance and confession ever closes such matters before God. Scripture teaches this by example and precept. If these lessons are not observed, and a rebuke administered improperly, a brother is made to suffer from what may be another's carnal haste and passion. This is sinful. Then it may be well to remark that, in the Scripture quoted, Paul delegated Timothy to administer rebuke. He was a man whose character, as well as care for the assemblies, was beyond question. Does it not suggest that the proper person to administer rebuke is one who manifestly acts for God in the interests of the truth and the assembly?

Again, we need to bear in mind the object of a rebuke, to bring home demonstratively to a man's conscience, to put to shame, reprove, conquer, rebuke, but with conviction (J. N. D., note on 1 Tim. 5:20). In all our exercises, in Christian testimony, let our first concern be to have the Lord ever with us, and to consistently follow the ways of justice and truth. Let us seek ever to guard against mistakes from hasty action. When differences arise and shepherd care is needed in our dealings with each other, our safest course is to proceed with caution at each step; (1) Counsel; if this fails, (2) Exhort,-"exhort one another;" if that fails, (3) Admonish one another; (4) Reprove; if that, and pastoral brotherly exercise fails, then it seems the last in individual discipline is (5) Rebuke, and this for the recovery of the erring brother. A. E. Booth

II.-COATS OF SKIN

(Gen. 3:21)

(Continued from p. 326)

We may trace in the beginning of man's history, as recorded in Gen. 3, some striking principles and features of character. These are found to govern and mark that order of human development which had its sad commencement in departure from God and subjection to Satan's influence.

Little though we may be able to penetrate the inner workings of the creature mind from which sprang the words and actions related in this chapter, yet we may discern what is of abiding significance for the whole course of time. This is true whether we consider the word and deed of the serpent, the man and woman, or the Creator Himself.

In his approach to the creature, Satan insinuates a question as to the goodness of God, then holds out a false hope to be realized by disobedience to God, and finally, by denial of the truth of God's word, aims to remove the fear of His judgment for the wickedness of disobedience to His known will. These features mark his activities throughout the ages. Thus his wiles and devices are unveiled to us at the beginning.

Not less clearly we may observe the principles which rule man's life in his alienation from God. We cannot say what first wrought in the human heart and mind, so that there is addition to the terms of God's command, showing an exaggerated view of His required obedience, and then a diminishing of His word of judgment, so that it rather appears as a possibility than a dreadful certainty, yet we know from experience that these two features are manifest in man's attitude toward God. Then, too, the three general principles which dominate him in his path of disobedience-

The lust of the flesh,
The lust of the eyes, and
The pride of life

appear as deciding factors in breaking God's command (ver. 6 with 1 John 2:16).

New conditions arise from this. At once there is a realized change in circumstances-a new state with needs before unknown, which make necessary new provisions of which God had not spoken. Man's disobedience put him outside of God's then present provision. It threw him on his own resources to meet the unexpected need. This marks the world as a product of man's self-will. It is that system of things in which all is made to revolve around man, and to depend upon his own devices. However sufficient these may appear to him as caught by the craft of Satan and through his influence inflated with pride, their utter failure to meet the prevailing conditions is evident at once in the light of God's presence.

But these new conditions involve a change for God Himself. He is put to the necessity of searching out His creature, of pronouncing judgment, and of bringing in provision to meet the need caused by His creature's sin.

First, however, the utter inadequacy of human effort must be made manifest. Man's device can never suffice. This lesson is written for us at the very beginning, so that no trust or confidence should be placed hi any plan or scheme of human wisdom and power to overcome the sad results of human sin. From that day to this, how busy man has been in efforts to cover his moral and spiritual nakedness-to overcome by his own inventions the sad results of departure from God! In this direction his efforts are legion, yet not one, nor all of them together, could avail to effectually overcome the manifest evils of his condition. This is not evident to men until the voice of God is heard and they are brought into His presence. Until thus searched out, the delusion prevails that they have accomplished some real result in covering their sinful nakedness. But when God's searching voice is heard, fear displaces the false confidence fostered by pride in human achievement, and the insufficiency of our own provision drives into the darkness of doubt and distress. Human pride, like that of Satan (of which it is the offspring), must be smitten into the dust. So, too, like Adam, his children must learn to say, in spirit at least, "I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I feared, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

In this appears another characteristic of fallen man's attitude. He is more occupied with the effects or consequences of sin than with the sin itself. He speaks of the evil results he has reaped rather than of the heinous-ness of his lawless act. But God's way is to bring us to face the latter. To this end He directs His questions as He searches out the matter. He must fully expose the root from which the evil consequences have come. The man's answer discloses the subterfuge so often used since that early day to avoid if possible full responsibility for sin-he endeavors to shift responsibility by blaming others, even God, and attendant circumstances. How the inspired words of this brief, concise record search into the inner workings of fallen human nature in its course of life!

But let us think of God as manifested in this scene. If on the one hand we discern the indications of what will characterize man's course, we learn also what is God's way. He reveals Himself as the God of judgment, yet of grace and mercy. So before sentence is pronounced upon the fallen man and woman, and thus also upon the race as seen potentially in them, God gives promise of victory, and of the complete overthrow of the power of evil manifested through the serpent. This of necessity brings in the great principle according to which alone henceforth the creature may know the blessing of God-faith in God's word. It comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Here the word is preached -God Himself being the Preacher-and man, hearing, received the message, as later becomes plain. Though judgment must take its course, here at the very beginning, the open door of grace and mercy is set before the fallen and ruined race.

Thus in the light of promise and hope, faith springs up. This introduces a new order of relationship with God. It is of spiritual character, and to be sustained in this scene amid the very opposite of all the rich and varied natural blessing known before the fall, even amid groaning, laboring, suffering, and so to subsist in what is spiritual as resting in God-given promise and hope.

That these first rays of God's glad tidings, as shining forth in His word concerning the serpent and the Seed, penetrated into Adam's heart, is confirmed in the significant name he gives to his wife. In the light of the spoken word he perceives and believes that in some way salvation for the race is to come through the woman. This manifests his faith. Faith in God's word becomes evident by works; without them there is no faith that is according to God.

In this we see the creature's response to God's gracious intervention by which, though man's sin is brought into relief, the enemy's character and destiny is disclosed, and the glorious victory of God's purpose assured. On the other hand, we have in God's provided covering for the man and woman the figure of His divine answer to their need. It suggests also the portion belonging to that new order of relationship to which the principle of faith introduces, as already indicated.

The dreadful result of the enemy's work must be met by a provision of God's making, for it has been seen already that no human device can suffice to meet the need. Here is a lesson of far-reaching import. Its bearing is not merely individual, but universal. It tells us at this very beginning of the ages, that in man and his work-be his wisdom, power, development, however great-there cannot be found the sufficient remedy for the condition in which the race is found. That this alone can be realized through the action of God Himself is proved by the history of the ages, and the Apocalypse, in which we learn the end of all God's ways in His dealings with the race, seals the truth of this early lesson.

The change in man involved a change as to God's relations with him. How marvelous to see that from the first God became the Seeker! Man guilty and afraid seeks the darkness in a vain effort to hide from and shut out God. God might have left him to his doom, but He calls him into the light to learn his true condition, to hear of judgment, to receive both promise and provision for his need. This indicates the way of God in view of what is disclosed to us of the way of Satan and of man in his fallen state.

The change in man makes covering his great need. He himself feels this and seeks to supply it. God's hand alone can provide it. This He does, not by setting aside His righteous judgment, but as declaring and maintaining it fully, while providing what gives confidence to stand before Him. It is this we see foreshadowed in the coats of skin.

Many details we would like to know are omitted from this narrative. For example, we are told nothing as to how God procured these coats. We do not know by what, if any, impressive act or word He taught on this occasion a first lesson as to sacrifice for sin-the guiltless suffering for the guilty-but the absence of such details may have its explanation in the fact that what was involved in this God-given provision would come out in fulness of form as God's written revelation was given to men. Now possessing that revelation in its completeness, we can look at this figure in its fulness of light, and may see divine principles of mercy and truth governing God's action on this occasion. How this witnesses to the unity and perfection of these Holy Scriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation!

God clothes us in our moral and spiritual destitution. He covers us, having first sought and found us in our sinful nakedness with enmity and fear lurking in our hearts. He gives the garment suited to His presence and the relationship with Him which results from faith in His word. Ultimately we must be "clothed upon" with that form which alone suits the realm to which those of faith now belong.

Could this covering be obtained except by sacrifice, by death, in which the Just One suffers for the unjust? Must it not speak of the robe of righteousness which God gives to replace the utterly inadequate garb of our own works, our own supposed righteousness, which does not take away our fear nor cover the shame of our sin when God brings us into His presence? Does it not suggest that way of death by which we now enter the inner sanctuary of God? Is it not preaching to us that God provides what delivers us from fear, removes our shame, affords us confidence, giving rest from an accusing conscience, peace to the troubled heart, joy in accomplished reconciliation? Yea, and even much more as we think of what must be the basis of such happy and glorious results.

"The cross! the cross! Oh that's our gain,
Because on that the Lamb was slain!
'Twas there the Lord was crucified,
'Twas there for us the Saviour died."

"Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have also access by faith into this favor in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God." We are clothed, we are at peace, we stand in the blessing of God's favor, we boast in view of His promise by which the certain realization of His glory is made the hope of our souls. Shortly "the God of peace shall bruise Satan under" our feet.

The bare statement of God's act may seem by itself of little significance, but when contemplated in the light of that completed Word of which it forms a part it shines with a comprehensiveness of meaning in which the reverent, trustful spirit may discern some of the sublimest aspects of divine truth.

"Thy Word is exceeding well refined" (Ps. 119:140, TV. Tram.).

J. Bloore

(To be continued, D. V.)

AFRICA

We are glad to insert the following letter from our young brother Bill Deans:

Irumu, Congo Beige.

The Lord is certainly blessing the work here. On Sunday the eighth, twenty-seven people were buried with the Lord in baptism in the stream which runs close to the mission. All except one were of a black skin, and that one exception was my brother, Bob. Mr. Searle spent almost two hours before the service in thoroughly questioning those who desired to be baptized and after conferring with the other brethren it was decided that as certain had not shown by their lives that the "old man was "crucified with Christ,'' baptism should be denied them for the present until their walk showed that their hope for eternity was "the blood."

Several have confessed the Lord recently. Last week there were five, who, without any persuasion of any kind, or even an invitation, said that they wished to accept the Lord, with contrite hearts. And questioning proved that they had the truth, for they understand that He died for them, that they can approach God the Father through God the Son when their sins are covered by the death of the Lord. And they look forward to His early appearing with glad hearts and songful lips.

We had quite an experience on Saturday, December 7th. Mr Searle, Dad and I had been gone all day working on a bridge which was being built to replace another at the entrance of the Mission road. We arrived home about 5-30 Mother said that we were to have supper at Mr. and Mrs. Searle's house up the hill. We lost no time in departing to accept their kind invitation, for we were, as you can imagine, quite tired and hungry from being in the bush all day in search of suitable logs.

We were eating supper, and someone asked for the definition of a Kingwana word. Mr. Searle gave it, but went to his dictionary for confirmation. He was just sitting down again, when his eye happened to turn toward our house. With a cry of, "Your cook-house is on fire,"' he ran to have the drum beat to sound the fire-alarm, and everyone ran down the hill toward the house crying, "Let Mai" (Bring water).

The fire had gained control of the cook-house, so natives climbed on the roof of the dwelling-house to keep the fire from spreading to it, if possible. The rest of us, aided by several hundred natives who lent willing hands to save the goods of the missionaries, removed practically everything from the house.

While this was going on, a huge mass of flaming grass fell from th? cook-house on to the verandah of the home. Flames shot upward, and the entire verandah was afire immediately, causing those on the roof to leap to safety on the ground below. One fellow sprained his ankle rather badly in jumping. As soon as the fire caught the home there was no hope of saving it, and it was the work of a very few minutes for the entire roof to be alight. Despite the sorrow of the occasion, one could not help but be impressed by the sight of hundreds of half naked bodies scrambling through the house, the fire casting a red glare over their glossy brown skins.
People came from all the nearby villages, and none stood idle-men and women helped alike. The medical dispensary was afterward needed for the many cuts and bruises incurred. We thank the Lord that nothing was stolen, and that the goods came through with a surprisingly small amount of breakage.

While the building was still in flames, we all sang, "Praise the Saviour, ye who know Him," in Kingwana, joined by all the Christian natives. Mr. Searle gave a word of the gospel and of appreciation for the assistance the natives had rendered. Many were there who, I am sure, have never heard the gospel before, so the carelessness of a native in starting a fire has been turned by God to His own glory.

We spent the night surrounded by our belongings at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Searle, and remained there for two days until the former home of Misses DeJonge and Wilson (which was being turned into an assembly hall and school-house since they have moved to Mombasa, the new station) was made suitable for living in. We are staying there now, and instead of rebuilding the other home will make this our dwelling.

When Bellinyama, the chief of this district, heard of the fire he wrote that he would supply 100 forest trees, labor and materials necessary for the re-construction. So shortly, if the Lord wills, a new assembly hall and schoolhouse will be erected on the old walls, some of which can yet be used. The chief is sending men to help with the construction work, and even now I can see a string of women carrying loads of grass to the site. He will supply the cambe for tying the rafters, and the elephant grass which is used as lath work. He expects nothing for his kindness.

Yesterday he attended the gospel service in the morning and brought three of his Capitas of headmen along. He declared that he intends to come and bring them every Sunday. Pray for the conversion of this chief. He is favorable to the gospel, but his conversion would have a great influence on his people.

Dr. Woodhams came in from Mombasa last night by motor-bike, and our news of the fire was somewhat dimmed by his announcement of the birth of Robert James Woodhams. He was happy to report that all the folks were well and that the Word was reaching many who are out of Christ. The people there are mostly Mohammedans, so are even more difficult than the simple native. These folks have the conceit of "worshiping God," but omit the necessity of a sacrifice as atonement for sin. What a blessed thought it is that our Lord is our sacrifice and lives now to intercede for us at the Father's throne.

Everyone is well, and we are all studying Kingwana diligently that we may be able to preach the Word shortly. Kindest regards to yourself and all the other saints.

Brother Amies gives the following account of his visits to out-stations, etc. We would also draw attention to the last paragraph of his letter concerning his wife's health:

Congo Beige.

We want to thank all who had a part in the collection taken at Silver Bay Conference, part of which was sent to us as a token of love and fellowship. We have generally made two journeys every six months, covering the whole district, each journey lasting about two weeks. Other journeys are of course made on the Inkongo road frequently.

We have a conference with the native teachers every six months, and the journeys generally follow these conferences. During this last year or so we have not been able to follow the general order because of the illness of Mr. Westcott. We did have the .conference here in June, and I was able to leave for the first journey, but Mr. Westcott was so ill later that I was unable to leave the station, but went on a shorter journey on the Inkongo road, as far as Lusambo. The first journey was very encouraging. We had very good numbers to the gospel meetings in each village, and the work of the teachers was also encouraging.

In one section of Bena Beli villages there is nothing doing, because the two teachers who had been there have gone back altogether to the things of the world. I am very sorry because there was such a good work there before.

I fear if the way is not opened in the near future for us to leave for furlough my wife will have a nervous breakdown. We do seek your prayers that we may be led of the Lord in this matter.

CHINA

Our brother Kautto and his wife have also been visiting the out-stations. The conditions of travel both in central Africa and China, where our brethren are located, are indeed difficult, and we would commend them to the prayers of the saints as from time to time they undertake these journeys for the furtherance of the gospel.

He writes as follows from Taitowying, China:

We left for the cut-stations on December 6, and were gone exactly a month and one day, first staying at Shu-ang-Shan-tze for ten days, where we had very interesting meetings; from there we went to Mutouteng, had meetings for sixteen days with deep interest and a full hall, and it fell to my lot to speak, usually, three or four times a day, which took from three to five hours, and I had a couple of native helpers who were no less busy. There were nearly twenty who wanted to "join," but of course it does not mean that they were converted; and there were many more who sent their names through others, according to the Chinese custom of using a middle-man, to be put down as inquirers. All their knowledge of this custom has come from the Roman Catholic "church" which is about thirty miles from Mutouteng. And although I have tried to explain to them that there is only one way of joining, that is being "born again" through the Word of God by the operation of the Holy Spirit, yet they think that it amounts to the same thing that the Roman Catholics are doing, jotting their names down, giving them a catechism, and after they are able to answer the questions satisfactorily they are baptized into that organization.

Wishing you God's richest blessings and health and happiness for this, another year of His grace, and may it please Him to use us this year for His glory more than ever before (Psalm 62:5).

WEST INDIES
Brother Hoze writes from Barbados as follows:Our Lord still continues to be very gracious and tender toward us, and the little assembly is being happily maintained before Him, growing well in grace and in the knowledge of Himself. Others are interested as to the steps they should take but we seek to allow only the faithful Word and the Spirit to act upon and exercise their heart.

COSTA RICA

Our brother Lamorue who has been in ill-health now for a considerable time writes as follows:

I am not able to do much, but we have a native worker with us, and our meetings and Sunday School are growing and many souls coming.

I am praying our Lord for strength to reach out into some towns more to the interior, where we have had open-air meetings at different times, and would much appreciate your prayers. I have been here nearly eight years, and have been thinking it would be good for my health and spiritual welfare to spend three or four months of our coming wet season in the U. S. (D.V.).

ARGENTINE

Brother Montllau who is now settled in the Argentine sends us the following letter:

Since our arrival here, we held meetings in Lanus East, Lanus West, Villa Argerich, Villa Progreso, Villa Obrera, Gerli, Espeleta, Los Hornos, Quilmes, Buenos Aires and Pueblo Nuevo. We had invitations from Lanus East, Lanus West, Buenos Aires and a town near Quilmes to locate there. We were perplexed as to what place we should choose, but after much prayer were directed to Lanus West. We held cottage meetings there, and several have confessed the Lord as their Saviour and applied for baptism.

A brother donated to us his rights to a lot situated near where we hold the meetings, on which there is only a sum of about $200 to pay. He stipulated that we should raise a hall for gospel meetings. We accepted and expect, D.V., to erect a plain frame hall to accommodate from 100 to 150 people, with a baptistry. The estimated cost is about $1,000. As there is such interest in the Word, we believe the Lord wants us there and that He will supply everything needed. The room we use now cannot contain the people, and is also insufficient for the children attending the Sunday School. It is a poor neighborhood, full of children, but we cannot invite any more at present.

We covet your prayers, and wish you to join us in thanksgiving for the Lord's leading as to our sphere of service, and for the help we get from our three older boys in the meetings and Sunday School.

As this letter will reach you around the middle of January we wish you, dear ones, and saints with you, the Lord's richest blessings during 1930, should He tarry.

BAHAMAS

The following news from the Bahamas is truly a cause for thanksgiving and praise:
We had a season of blessing at the conference, where the Lord gave us souls. Thirteen souls, besides those saved at the conference, were brought to the Lord at Guana Cay, and eleven at Man of War Cay.

May the Lord continue to bless, the work thus begun.

729 Midway Ave., Plainfield, N. J.

Beloved Friends in the Lord:

My circular letter of October told of the work of the gospel going on steadily. Now Bro. Fujimoto writes of an additional opening at the house of Bro. Nagai in Naganomachi, a suburb of Tokyo. People of the neighborhood are coming to the meetings. He asks prayer for blessing. There are many inquirers. Bro. Nagai is on the Tokyo police force.

Brother Tsukiyama writes:

"For a time we thought that the Lord would take my wife home, her fever was so bad, but it seems the Lord had more use for her here below and has raised her up. Please pray for us.

In September a young man confessed the Lord in baptism-Jiro Minoura. He went to Brazil in November Then on December 22, two more confessed the Lord- Takaji Usui and Kokichi Ishiyama. Bro. Usui expects soon to go to Central America. Also one more has confessed the Lord-Shigeo Kobayashi. Please pray for these new converts. Also please pray for a few of the older brethren and sisters who have become careless and inactive; and also that the little flock here, by the blessing of the Lord, may exert their best efforts in testimony for Him."

The young brethren who are studying English are very thankful for the continuance of the magazines which are being sent.

And as usual the brethren and sisters there send Christian greetings and love in the Lord to all here.

Affectionately yours in our Lord, January, 1930 -Eugene B. Craig.

We insert the following that prayer may be made for our dear young brother in his exercises as to the Foreign field:

3729 Longfellow Ave., Minneapolis, Minn.

29th. January, 1930. Dear Brother:

As you will have heard, I am exercised about the great need in Africa.

In the meantime I am doing secular work here in Minneapolis.

Yours in Christ,
-Duncan McNeil.
"AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE"

IV.

The answer given by the Christadelphians (Continued from p. 17.)

Christadelphian means Christ's brother, and in itself shows the estimate the followers of this system put upon Christ. According to them He is a man like ourselves, though divinely generated. Materialists of the grossest type, they are utterly without any true sense of His Godhead glory. I had occasion some years ago, to take up this question with the editor of "THE MIRROR," a Christadelphian publication now happily discontinued. In doing so I took no notice of his peculiar renderings of divine Names but simply submitted a list of scriptures, beseeching him to weigh them carefully, for a mistake here would have eternal consequences. I here reproduce this list, which to my mind leaves no room for doubt as to the full proper Deity and Divinity of the Son of God.* *It is a joy to me to be able to state that this Editor has long since been delivered from his former position and has been for years in fellowship with believers who adore Christ as God over all, blessed for evermore.*

1. He is called God in Isa. 9:6:"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."

2. He is directly addressed as God by the Father. Heb. 1:8:"Unto the Son He saith:Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever," etc.

3. In the same chapter He is addressed as Jehovah. "And Thou, lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed:but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail" (Heb. 1:10-12).

4. He takes the divine title, "I AM," and declares His existence prior to Abraham. John 8:58:"Before Abraham was, I am."

5. The eternal personal Word is declared to be Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word," declares His eternity of Being. "And the Word was with God"-His distinct personality. "And the Word was God"-His absolute deity. "The same was in the beginning with God"-His eternal existence as a person of the Trinity. "All things were made by Him"-His Creatorship. "And without Him was not anything made that was made"- His absolute equality with the Father in creatorial work. "In Him was life"-the eternal Source of life. "And the life was the light of men"- the Communicator of life. "And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness apprehended it not" -as all those who deny His Deity and Divinity.

6. He claims the same honor as the Father:"That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father" (John 5:23). The Father is honored as God. So must the Son be.

7. He declares His oneness with the Father:"I and My Father are one" (John 10:30).
8. He was understood by this to claim Godhead, and He did not correct the thought nor deny the claim (John 10:33). "Thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

9. Isaiah is said to have seen His glory (in chap. 6) when he describes the worship of Jehovah by the seraphim. John 12:40-41:"These things (found in Isa. 6:9,10) said Esaias when he saw His glory, and spake of Him."

10. He is declared to be God over all, in Rom. 9:5:"Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever."

11. Before His humiliation He existed in the form of God:Phil. 2:6:"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God," etc.

12. He was the Creator of all things. Col. 1:16, 17:"By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."

13. He was "God manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16).

14. He is affirmed to be "the true God." 1 John 5:20:"We are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."

15. He was prophesied of as the everlasting One. Micah 5:2:"Whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting."

16. Worship is only to be rendered to God, and He is worshiped by all the host of heaven (Rev. 5, et al.).

In the light of these scriptures how dreadfully solemn it is to deny His glory as the eternal God. All scriptures which seem to give Him a lesser place are clear and simple, and in no wise conflict with this, when it is remembered that "He took upon Himself the form of a servant." He was Man as well as God. In this sense He can speak of being the Sent One, etc. Multitudes of other scriptures might be added to the above, proving His Divine attributes of omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence; but if these be not heard, it is needless to quote others. May the Spirit of truth use the Word of truth. H. A. I.

(To be continued, D. V.)

Christ in the Psalms is omitted this month for lack of space and will (D. V.) be continued in the March number.

(John 17.)

In this wonderful Gospel of John we have the testimony of the Holy Ghost as to the Person and the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also His own marvelous words-the words of which even His enemies had to say, "Never man spake like this Man." And then, His works, works which were given Him by the Father to do, works which bore witness of Him, and in relation with them His marvelous testimony in grace to the world up to the close of chapter 12, after which we followed Him inside the closed doors of the upper room, and listened to His rich unfolding of truth and grace.

And now let us listen to the Lord as He leads out our hearts into His supplication to the Father. We read throughout the Gospel history, again and again, of our blessed Lord being engaged in prayer. For this purpose He went out a great while before day. What an example! From it we can learn that in the midst of all confusion and activity of service, we should never forget prayer. If we neglect it, if in the activity even of ministering the Word of God, we fail to be in the sanctuary alone with God, we will lose the power to present the precious truth. Luther once said, "To have prayed well is to have said well," and on our knees we will gain instruction and knowledge; it is the place from which we will go forth in power to set forth the truth of God.

So in the midst of all His activities, with multitudes pressing and thronging Him, though going here and there in untiring service, our Lord would rob the night of its sleep in order to be alone with His Father. If He, the Son of God, did that, oh, how much more do we, poor feeble creatures, need to be alone with Him who is the source of all our strength?

We read He continued all night in prayer. What did He pray for? Well, when He came down from that holy vigil with His Father, He selected the twelve apostles. May we not believe that in this administration of His service, He considered with His Father the character of each to be selected-the impulsiveness of Peter, the loyalty of John, the boldness of others, and alas, the awful, awful treachery of one who knew Him not nor cared for Him? Then having reviewed it all with His Father in that night of prayer, He comes down from the mountain and unflinchingly selects each one according to the will of the Father.

Thus He has given us, surely, not only a glimpse into His own holy life, but also the secret of how to be guided in the order and government which God may have put into our hands.

In passing, may I just refer to the necessity of this, in all the discipline and government of the house of God? It is so easy to get into a spirit of strife, so easy to seek our own wills, our own vindication, or even, alas, to vent our own displeasure! Oh, beloved, if we are alone with God in the sanctuary in prayer, He will guide us as to the administration of the government that He has entrusted to us.

Again, we read of Him in prayer on the Mount of Transfiguration, just as at His baptism. How the Father must have delighted in the outflow of the heart of His holy Son to Him, so much so that He opened the heavens, to declare, as it were, "This is He, this One here on His knees, this One praying in dependence on Me, this One who has no thought but My glory; He is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!" May we ask what He was praying about on that mount? Was He asking for the glory? Do you think He was asking to be introduced to it? We know what Moses and Elijah spoke of with Him while there on the holy mount. It was the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem! I think that prayer of the Lord at the time of His transfiguration, when the glory shone out from Him and shone around about Him, all from God, I think it must have been that He too poured out His soul to His Father as to that decease, for which He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Only by way of the cross could He enter that glory of which the Transfiguration was the anticipation.

He speaks of other seasons of prayer, but in our chapter we are, as it were, in the Sanctuary itself with our great High Priest. I have been much impressed with the fact that all through this part of John (chs. 13-17) the Lord is bringing His people into communion with Himself, and that in various parts of it He emphasizes the spirit of prayer. Notice, for instance, in chapter 14:13:"And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." In this He shows us the secret of what He says to those whom He is leaving here, "He that believeth in Me… greater works shall he do, because I go unto My Father:" it is prayer. Then, notice too, how in the Lord's references to prayer in these chapters you find, "In My Name," quoted with each one. And what does "In My Name" mean? Is it something like what you write at the close of a letter, "Yours respectfully," or "Yours sincerely," or whatever it may be, as a matter of courtesy? Are not perhaps many of our prayers closed with that courteous expression, if I may so say, "In the Name of Thy dear Son?" I am sure we do not mean it as formality, but sometimes it almost seems like just an appendix to the prayer. No, beloved; to ask, "In His Name," means rather to be taken by the hand and led to prayer by Him; it means, may I say, His kneeling by our side and His desires flowing through our heart. That is what it means.

"In His Name." His Name is what He is, His nature, and therefore to pray in the Name of Christ must mean to pray according to His blessed will. Can I pray for evil in the Name of the Son of God? What I pray for should really be an expression of His nature. Can I do that in prayer? Prayer should breathe the power of the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, the desires of Christ in us and for us. The Lord teach us more and more to pray in His Name. We would not think of closing a prayer, without the very words:"In the blessed Name of our Lord," but then the whole supplication should be infiltrated by, permeated by the blessed Name of Jesus- all according to that Name.

Then another thing:"That the Father may be glorified in the Son." Is that why we pray, dear brethren? Not for ourselves, but "that the Father may be glorified in His Son?" What a holy and blessed motive under the power of which to guide our intercession and supplication!

In the temples of Egypt they had a very stately avenue of columns and statuary leading up to the sanctuary, and as we review these various references to prayer in these chapters, they are like beautiful columns along the avenue the Lord is leading us to the sanctuary where He pours out His High Priestly prayer for us to God. As He thus leads us He is teaching us the spirit of prayer. First, then, "In My Name;" and then, "That the Father be glorified in the Son." How it searches the heart! Let it test us. Is it this that is our first thought of prayer? Am I asking this for the Father's glory in the Son? This will eliminate a thousand selfish, fleshly, superficial requests! What will it leave? The glory of Christ, the glory of the Father. It will make us join with the Lord in the supplications of His heart.

Again we have in verse 14:"If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it." Anything? Ah, there is no limit here, but notice, beloved, it is because we have asked in His Name, and because the glory of the Father in the Son is in view. God can not deny the glory of His Son; He can not deny His own glory; and after all, if we are praying in the Name of Christ, according to the mind of Christ our Lord, we are praying His own thoughts and His own desires. "If ye shall ask anything in My Name." Have we tried it, beloved? Are we trying it? Are we living in that atmosphere of prayer? I know for myself, beloved brethren, prayer is a conflict, and by that I mean, not that it is difficult, one may say, to have the regular seasons of prayer, but to instinctively, without effort, turn to God in prayer about everything. I crave it increasingly; I crave it at times like this, beloved, just to feel that after all it is not my meeting or yours, but one in which the Father may be glorified in the Son, and instinctively the desire should be to pray, "Father, glorify Thy Name in Thy beloved Son,"

Now in ch. 15:16:"Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you"-fruitfulness of life; a fruitful life is a life of prayer. A soul growing in grace is one that pours itself out in prayer. I know there are dangers; sometimes intemperate expressions are used, for instance, that we should read our Bible less and pray more. There is no need for such a statement, for the more you read your Bible the more you are going to pray. The more you feed on it, and let your soul be filled with it, controlled by it, your very thoughts conformed by it, the more you will pray.

A prayerful life is a fruitful life. Even the ordinary normal affairs of life, our meat and drink, are sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. They go together. And so when Mary sat at His feet and heard His Word, the next chapter, in immediate connection with that lovely incident, shows the Lord praying, and His disciples say, "Lord, teach us to pray." Beloved, the more you have His Word abiding in you, the more you will feel your need of prayer; the more you will be compelled to pray. Through the exercise it leads to we learn our nothingness, our helplessness; our own shortcomings and failures pass before us; and because of this we will be forced to turn and cry to Him in prayer. The Lord grant that the fruitfulness which He desires may be realized, but let us remember that for this prayer is essential. With these thoughts on prayer I want to link that wonderful endowment of truth which God has given us. He has opened up His Word to us in the last century in a way that it never had been opened since the days of the apostles. Any thoughtful student of church history can not fail to see this. Great problems were brought up at the time of the Reformation; great problems even earlier than that; but just a century ago, in the year 1828, God began to open up the character of that Word in a marvelous and most blessed way to a little feeble company of His people who searched it and desired to know its wondrous nature. This flood of light, in the mercy of God (and I say it without hesitation) has given character to the Christian teachings and testimony of the past hundred years. Many who despise, or think they despise, certain Christians, have the very truth in which they delight from the source which they despise. I only speak of it that we may thank God for the truth, but not boast about it.

We find our great blessing in connection with this, but I want to warn of our great danger-that of holding the truth in a prayerless way. This means to hold it without communion with God, and so without corresponding power in our lives. How vain to talk about the coming of the Lord without truly waiting for that coming; to talk about our complete standing in Christ without delighting, with adoring hearts, in that standing; to talk about knowing the Father, about having the Spirit, without having our whole lives bowed with gratitude and adoring worship because of such wondrous blessing. Oh, I pray for myself and for all of us, that we might not lose the mellowness, the holiness, the earnestness and the prayer which belongs with this marvelous endowment of truth! I believe that our failures, our shortcomings and inconsistencies-and alas, they are only too manifest-can be traced individually and collectively to a lack of true prayer amongst the people of God. I believe it to be so much so that I desire more and more to have my life marked by a spirit of prayer, and for that reason I speak of these things in introducing the wondrous, holy prayer of our blessed Lord.

Look again at ch. 16:23."And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you." The Lord had said, "I will give it you;" now He says, "He will give it you. I and My Father are One." How completely is the Lord in the place of supremacy, and how perfectly He draws out our prayers to Himself and to His Father! I find myself-do you?-praying to the Lord Jesus again and again, and I find, thank God, that I pray to the Father. Some have taught that we ought not to pray to the Lord Jesus, but in the light of this Holy Word you can pray and praise directly to Him. Then, on the other hand, it is our holy, happy privilege to pray to the Father as well, and give thanks to the Father, who "hath made us meet."Perhaps you say, "Why not pray to the Holy Spirit?"For a very blessed reason:we pray IN the Holy Spirit."Ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying IN the Holy Ghost." It is prayer in His power."We know not what things we should ask for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered." The Holy Ghost leads out our hearts in prayer, and He is with us and therefore we do not pray to Him; He prays in us and through us to the Father and to the Son.

How blessed, thus, the whole Trinity, the divine fulness of God, engaged in prayer, and no wonder He says, then, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father"-and in this chapter He is speaking especially of His entering into glory-"in that day ye shall ask Me nothing;" that is, not asking Him as if He were here. "Ye shall ask the Father anything in My name in that day"-in His name -"and He will do it." "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Beloved, joy is the power of our lives; love means joy, and joy and love go hand in hand, and they are both the fruit of a life of prayer. Oh, brethren, I have been speaking to the younger believers and to all of us:snatch time for reading the Word early in the day, the first thing in the morning, the spring of the day. Let me add to that, as that which belongs to it-a part of it- praying, with the word of God. The privilege of prayer is a wonderful, amazing privilege of pouring out our hearts to God, individually and unitedly. What are our prayer meetings, beloved? Is there any savor of dullness about them, any bit of formality, in holding back? Does some dear brother say, "I am not gifted with prayer?" Oh, there is nobody "gifted with prayer;" it is the power of the Holy Spirit in us. A man may have a gift of evangelizing, or teaching, or pastoral care, but I read not a line of having a gift of prayer. That is the mark of all the people of God, and we want to use our holy, happy privilege. The apostle says, in writing to Timothy, "I will that THE men (not merely "that men," but "THE men") pray everywhere;" in like manner THE women fulfil their happy, holy duty in their sphere.

We have another precious pillar along this avenue of prayer in ver. 26. "At that day ye shall ask in My name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father Himself loveth you because ye have loved Me and have believed that I came out from God." We do not have to use the Lord as an intermediary; we are brought to the Father, we can speak directly to the Father, and because we can do that we never omit the Son. But then "the Father Himself loveth you." We look at ourselves; how unworthy of love we are, and yet our blessed Lord assures us that "the Father Himself"-the Father of glory, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Possessor of heaven and earth, "the Father Himself loveth you" Therefore we can ask what we will according to the blessed nature and name of our Lord Jesus, and the answers will surely be given.

This, we may say, is the introduction to this marvelous prayer of our Lord. I doubt not, it is a sample of how we should pray, giving the character of the petitions that should be before us; and furthermore, leads us into the Lord's deep longing for His own who are in the world.

First, I want to mark out the great divisions of this wonderful chapter. There are three. In the first five verses our blessed Lord speaks in view of His going to the Father, of having all power committed to Him, and of entering into His glory. In vers. 6-21 we have the main part of the prayer. It is His desire for His own who are in the world. Then from ver. 22 to the close of the chapter we have the glory into which He is entering, and which is our eternal home.

So you begin with, "The hour is come," when He is to be glorified, and at the end of the chapter He has entered His glory and we are to share it with Him. Whatever comes in between is marked by the character that belongs to those two great parts of His prayer. At the beginning it is His entering into glory with all power given to Him, including that of giving eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. Here there is no sense of feebleness! With us prayer is often the expression of our own feebleness in confession. How different with the Lord! "Glorify Thy Son… as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He might give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." He is the Giver of eternal life, and only He leads us into it. He fills our hearts with that vital principle, never to be lost, which links us with Himself and the glory into which He has gone.

But what a standard for prayer! When we in our feebleness get on our knees, what a blessed thing it is to realize that the Lord is on high, all power being given to Him, not merely to give us the little trifles of food and meat and clothing, but to give us all that the blessed term "eternal life" means; not merely the impartation of that which never can be lost; but more, the enjoyment of it, fellowship with the Father and the Son, companionship with Them, sharing Their thoughts, enjoying the holiness which belongs to Them, partaking of that holiness. This is realized power.

As we listen to Him there, pouring out His heart in supplication, we may be in all the consciousness of what has been given to Him. There is no uncertainty, there is no thought that an answer will not be given, because He already has the power to give it to as many as the Father has given Him.

But I must not pass over the Lord's word:"Father, the hour is come." It had not come at the beginning. To His beloved mother – and He honored her and obeyed her in her place as mother, but she could never intrude between Him and the Father-He said, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come." Until that time, He would not act. Again, "No man laid hands on Him, for His hour was not yet come," and then, later, "This is your hour." Now, at the beginning of His prayer He speaks of it as come, that hour of which He had said, "What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy Name," It meant the Cross for Him, the anguish of suffering unto death for us, the bearing of the wrath of God for us. But He is not thinking merely of the hour of suffering; "Glorify Thy Son"-ah, "for the joy that was set before Him He endured the Cross," He passed through Gethsemane, endured Calvary, entered the grave, but rose in life to sit down at the right hand of the throne of God!

Now why did He pray to be glorified? Did He have some selfish motive? Was it in order that He might be displayed? "Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee." He was here in this world for one purpose-to glorify the Father. Why is He in heaven? To glorify the Father. Blessed be His name! No selfishness in Him there, any more than there was here! It is the glory of the Father which is the one purpose ever engaging Him, His one desire.

Then, from out of that suffering, from out of that Cross, the power is wielded to give eternal life. What is eternal life? I am not going to do more than point out what it is that marks eternal life:the knowledge of the only true God, to whom He is speaking, and "Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." What does it mean to know Him, to know God? Does it mean merely that you believe there is a God? Does it mean merely that you believe there was such a historical person on the earth as Jesus of Nazareth, or even Jesus the Christ, or even Jesus the Son of God? Is it merely to know about Him in that way? Is that eternal life? This is life eternal, to be acquainted with, to have a conscious knowledge, to have a living and vital knowledge in my own soul of Him, the only God, God over all; not man, not the creature, but the living God, and He who has manifested God, Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.

Let us not be afraid to speak freely and fully of these blessed themes; let us not be afraid to discuss eternal life. I deplore the fact that it has been made a matter of controversy, and alas, often thus unspiritually handled. Life eternal brings me into relationship with God; life eternal introduces me into the family of the Father and the Son. Truly our fellowship is with Them. It is a holy theme and a most blessed one. And, blessed be His 'Name, He has given that eternal life to all whom the Father has given to Him!

Just another word:"I have glorified Thee on the earth!" How perfectly He did it! Do you not love to trace His footsteps here? You remember what the apostle says in the Ephesians. Speaking of the new creation, he calls it, "As the truth is in Jesus;" He is the exhibition of it in all of its holy character. It is not merely Christ risen, but it is the truth as it is in Him, in that life which He lived here upon earth. Thus that eternal life which was with the Father was manifested to us, indeed, exhibited in its perfection. And therefore He says, "I have glorified Thee on the earth," and then, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." The Father had committed a stupendous work to the Son, none other than that of bringing back a rebel world to God, vindicating His righteous character. This had been entrusted to Him as having humbled Himself to take the servant's form, even the lowest place. I love to think of that little Babe in its mother's arms, entrusted with the glory of the Father, now grown to manhood and about to go to the Cross and into eternal glory, and looking forward, He can say, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do."

As we contemplate that one great feature of this work, the redemption which He accomplished on the cross, what place has doubt, fear, or unbelief? Shall I not look at Him and say:

"Clean every whit, Thou saidst it, Lord;
Shall one suspicion lurk?
Thine surely is a faithful Word,
And Thine a finished work."

And so He has gone on high, blessed be His Name; angels, principalities and powers are subject to Him. He is Lord and Master of all; our Great High Priest who has entered the holiest of God's presence on high to appear for us, having obtained eternal redemption.

Now let us turn to the close of the chapter, and afterwards we will consider the middle part. At the commencement He prayed, "Glorify Thy Son;" then He says in ver. 22, "The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them." That into which He has entered, He gives to us. We are joint-heirs with Christ. He will not be in glory and leave us behind. As surely as He has entered into His glory, so surely will His people enter into it with Him. Here in weakness, poor creatures of a day, we soon will be with Him in glory. Notice what goes with this:"That they may be one, even as We are." What becomes of our petty divisions, parties, and alienations? What becomes of our poor little pittance of personal dignity and such like things? We will be one in the glory there. Surely our place is to show the reality of that in our lives here on the earth! But it must be on the basis of His glory; it is just in proportion as the sense of it fills our hearts that earthly things will fade out of sight.

Let His glory be supreme in our hearts; that will prevent our being apart; that will draw us together according to the attraction of the glory and the power of the blessed nature which is already ours, and in the power of which we are to live. A man-made union of all the Christians in the world would not be the answer to the Lord's prayer. Were all to vote that henceforth and hereafter there would be no more sects and parties, no more divisions amongst Christians, but we would all be members of one vast Body, that would not be the answer to His prayer. Why? The glory would be lacking ; for only as Christ supreme in His glory is our object, and we live for that glory and in order that He may be glorified, can unity be realized. There is a pathway of unity for the people of God. It is to our common shame that we do not manifest that unity, but the reason for it is that glory is not shining in and shining out in our lives, for this alone can produce it.

You cannot legislate Christian behavior. You cannot legislate Christian unity. It is through the power of the Holy Ghost, and a genuine revival of the reality of the truth of what Christ is to us. That will draw us together, and hold us together as we live in the light of our inheritance in the glory. The Lord grant us to know how in the light of that glory we may be blessedly drawn together so that the power of the enemy is set aside.

Yet another thought as to that glory:"Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." Heaven for us is to be with HIM. But for what purpose? First of all, it is to be with Him. Beloved, is that your idea of heaven? If it is, you are ready to go now; you will be glad to go; you can say,

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

Is that our thought of it:"Let me be with Thee where Thou art?" Wherever He is, that is heaven for us.

Complete in itself as this appears to be, yet He adds a marvelous, wondrous thought as to "the glory." Is it, "That they may share My glory?" No, something better than that, for He will see that we share His glory, but, "That they may behold My glory, the glory which I had with Thee before the world was!"-that matchless glory which was His with the Father in all Eternity, now given to Him as Son of Man, victorious, triumphant on high. To behold Him in His glory, that will be our heaven. Oh, beloved, have we seen that glory? Have we beheld it in such a way that our whole souls are satisfied that He is glorified? Is our joy such as Peter speaks of – "unspeakable and filled with the glory?" That will eliminate selfishness from us; in the power of this alone can we realize the blessedness of this prayer.

We have seen the heavenly opening and closing of this prayer, now let us look at what we might call the earthly part of it. First, He is entering into His glory with all power and dominion in His hand; then He is bringing us into that glory to share it with Him and to behold His glory and worship Him. What in the meantime is it? "Keep through Thine own Name, Holy Father, those whom Thou hast given Me. I am no more in the world." He is about to depart, and what is His thought as He is leaving? "I am no longer here, but they are here, My loved ones are here, those for whom I died. Oh, Father, keep through Thine own Name those whom Thou hast given Me." He had manifested the Father's name to them; they had heard the Word; they had believed it; they had kept it; they were His because they were the Father's, and He was glorified in His own. And the way He is glorified in us is, that we shall be kept. When He was here He kept His own; not one of them who was truly His was lost, only the one that would fulfil the Scripture, the son of perdition, who knew not Christ, nor loved Him; he is the only one outwardly connected with Him who was lost,. But all the others, though feeble in themselves, were kept.

"And now come I to Thee, and these things I speak in the world that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." His joy! Do you think the Lord Jesus was happy when He was here? Do you think He had joy and communion? Do you think that ever a shadow passed between Him and the Father in all that holy life? No, it was a life of perfect communion, and that is what He desires for us. It is His High Priestly prayer for us, and that is why He washes our feet, that His joy should be fulfilled in us. And this is to be in the world, for His prayer is not that we should be taken out of the world. The heart sometimes may leap over all thought of the present, and say, "Oh, that I could be with Him up there!" Yes, blessed it would be, but He does not ask that we should be taken out. He has left us here, as He says, "I have sent them into the world as Thou hast sent Me into the world." We are sent as His ambassadors, His light-bearers, His witnesses, in the world. What He desires is that the Father should "keep them from the evil that is in the world." "They are not of the world." Mark that. He does not say we ought not to be of the world; He does not say we shall not be of the world, but "They ARE NOT of the world." Every one who is saved has the seal upon him that he is not of the world, no more than Christ was of the world. Beloved, I belong to Him, and therefore my life is as much out of the world as His is, and, dear brethren, how it comes home to our hearts:"If that is what I am, does my life answer to it? Is my life an unworldly life?" How far beyond mere moral integrity that goes! This thing of having a high talk and low walk is dishonoring to the Son of God.

One may have a clean ledger, live a very moral and upright life, outwardly, and yet be intensely worldly and belong to this world. No! "Not of the world" means that our hearts are where He is; our treasure where Christ is; and that if you would peel off all the outer coverings of our life, layer after layer, business life, public life, social life, family life, personal life, getting down, down, down to the center of it, it would be found true, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." That is His desire for us.

But He has not left us merely with that thought of it for He adds, "As I am not" of it. Then He speaks of the work needed for the realization of this-sanctification. Not sanctification by new birth, nor yet sanctification by His own blood-the latter gives us a perfect position and standing before God, the other a perfect life-but here it is sanctification by the truth, by the Word of God filling, controlling, the heart and life.

Therefore how necessary that the Word of God should be our meat and drink. It is the vehicle for our sanctification. He says, as it were, to the Father, "Thy Word, which is truth, is power to sanctify My people."

Then one other word:"I sanctify Myself." Need I say that this does not have to do with anything in the personal character of our Lord? Nothing whatever. He was holy essentially; He needed no sanctification; but ah, He takes His place outside of the world to set Himself apart to God; He has entered into the glory, for what purpose? That we might be linked with Him outside of the world, to have our portion with Him.

Well, I have just given you an outline. May this prayer be repeated by the Holy Spirit in our supplications, our hearts rejoicing that He is in that place of glory and power, rejoicing too to think of our share in that with Him, and that we shall behold His glory; meanwhile left here in the world, kept by the Father from the evil. May we realize our Lord's purpose for us as sent into the world to be His witnesses and messengers, sanctified by His truth, and so growing in likeness to Him who gave when here the perfect expression of what such sanctification means for us. This will link us with Him in heaven, and give a heavenly tone to our lives. This will not make us neglectful of duty, nor forgetful of the trifles and amenities of life; rather will it make us more careful of others and truly self-forgetful. It is said of one of the old monks who was walking along the great mountain rim which surrounds the Gulf of Naples and makes it such a lovely, entrancing scene, that he took no notice of this great natural beauty because he was so engaged with the Lord. That may appear wonderfully heavenly, but I believe, beloved, if we were engaged with the Lord we would see that beauty and glory, and we would see Him in it.

I remember when I was in Naples, passing through deep, deep exercise, and I was talking to some friends from this country, and as we looked out on that same lovely scene, presented by the Gulf of Naples, I quoted those lines:

"All around, in noonday splendor,
Earthly scenes lay fair and bright,
But mine eye no longer sees them
For the glory of that light."

Well, beloved, I thought, at that time that was pretty high up, but I don't think so now. I want to look at the glory there; I want to see "in noonday splendor those scenes so fair and bright," and to see the hand of my blessed Lord who made it, and to see My Father as the Owner of it all, and I the joint-heir with Christ, and look out upon His fair creation and say:"These are Thy works, Thou Parent of all good." And I am sure, dear brethren, that at some time you have stood and looked on some fair earthly scene, and seen its radiant splendor like the very day of heaven begun on earth, and then hasn't an involuntary sigh risen from your heart? What was that sigh? "He is not here!" It is that alone, beloved, which makes us pilgrims:Christ is not here!

So let us pray to be faithful, loyal, diligent in every true path of duty, but in it all to be kept from the evil of the world, to be sanctified by His truth and to have our hearts linked with Him, and we will be waiting to go home to glory with Him.

The foregoing is part of notes of Lectures on the Gospel of John given by Mr. Ridout in Los Angeles, in 1927.

We hope, God willing, to issue them in book form in the near future.

(Continued from p. 160)

"Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all -wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to the good pleasure that He hath purposed in Himself; that in the dispensation 'of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him."

We love the Authorized Version, from which the above is a quotation. We love the stately and elevated flow of the language. Its venerable and venerated English, unfolding sacred thought, laves our tired spirits in refreshing streams of reverent gladness. Sometimes it clothes its theme so that it blends with the pealing anthem of the organ and the music of sweet-voiced choirs, or breathes out the living freshness of some fair spring morning, mingling with it the symphonies of softly flowing brooks and the song of feathered choristers. Its English, if ever English was, is like the voice of inspiration.

Nevertheless there are other versions, equally accurate, sometimes even more, that either emend its thought or supplement its meaning. There are, in fact, as we have for some time been insisting, intentional ambiguities in the Greek, that hint at double and even triple blessing for us. Let us profit from them, not in garnering contention, but in an ingathering of joy.

In his Critical and Grammatical Commentary, Bishop Ellicott states that the Greek verb, translated "abounded" in the above quotation, is susceptible of both active and passive meaning and is so used by Paul, and that a better rendition of the original in this instance would be "which he hath caused to abound toward us." Such a change of course lends other force to what follows. The Authorized Version implies that "wisdom and prudence" are God's meters, used in meting out his abundance to us, while his own rendition assures us that same abundant grace is shown in the importation of all wisdom and "discrimination" to the Church. Their common thought is of the abundance of grace, however. To this a whole sermon might be devoted or an entire volume consecrated.

You will remember that the dear apostle, who wrote this lovely epistle, once found a heavy burden lightened by God's assurance that His grace was "sufficient" for him, so that he learned to glory in the infirmities that rendered it necessary. That word "sufficient" suggests the measure of abundance. The apostle John discovers in Christ an ocean fulness, crying:"Of his fulness have all we received and grace on grace." Here indeed is the glory of "the Only-begotten of the Father." Then in our Ephesian chapter we have the "grace upon grace" streaming forth in the whole current of revelation, until in our present text it is "grace abounding," which very appropriately gathers head at the mention of "redemption by His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace." We are reminded of the exclamation of a poor woman, to whom all natural blessings had been stinted, who, looking upon the ocean for the first time, rejoiced that here at last was something of which there "was enough." The apostle in the poverty and strait of his sin had seen another ocean shortly after the glory on the Damascus road, and ever since it had been for him, in its divine refreshment, like the "Rock that followed" the Children of Israel, a perennial flow.

If we now consider Ellicott's idea that all "wisdom and discrimination" have, by God's grace, been imparted to the Church and ponder the reason for its introduction right after "redemption by blood" another avenue of thought calls to us. The wisdom and discrimination are then limited to "spiritual" wisdom and discrimination, for otherwise the statement would scarcely be true. We are thus reminded that "only through the cross" do God's ways with man, either for the past or the future, become intelligible. In it wisdom and intelligence are ours. It is thus the "mind" or "thinking" of the Spirit, and is "life and peace."

It is "life" for it puts us into living communication with the One in Whom is life. It is "peace," for it makes us delight in the ways and plans of God, Who apart from the cross seems as if He had forsaken the world and abandoned the race of man to hopeless despair. The "abounding grace" speaking to us through hallowed memories of Christ's sufferings "lends a light to every age." Thus the cross like a lighthouse towers over the wrecks of the Past and illumines with an undying glory the entire Future. It renders intelligible to us the exaltation of "Jesus Christ of Nazareth" to the throne of the Universe; it makes us eagerly and joyfully and comprehendingly to anticipate the "fulness of the times," the consummation of the ages, with which the apostle now continues.

From one of the peaks of the high "Rockies," upon the sudden lifting of mists that had surrounded and enshrouded him, John Muir, that eminent naturalist and ardent theist, once exclaimed:"To think that He should plan to bring us feckless creatures here just at the right moment and then flash such glories at vs."

Thank God, revelation has rolled aside the mists from our spiritual vision, has unfolded the "mystery" of God's great and grand purposes, "to gather together in one," "to sum up again together" all things in the redeeming Christ. We stand upon the threshold of eternity, and man's history, overshadowed by the bright cloud of God's atoning love, "like a many-colored dome of glass stains" its white radiance, with a golden glory.

There is some difference among commentators as to whether the verb "anakephalaiosasthai" (rendered, gather together, or head up] in which with its onomatopoetic sibilance we seem to catch the seething of the sea of time along the shores of eternity, includes the thought of Christ's headship. Ellicott, from a lexical and contextual viewpoint decides against it. Another commentator, J. N. Darby, of equal piety and great spiritual insight decides for it. To quote the former:"In a writer so profound as St. Paul this is far from impossible. The derivation of the word, however, (kephalaion and not kephale), St. Paul's use of it in its common meaning, Rom. 13:9, and most of all the context, which points to a union in Christ not under Christ, to his atonement rather than his sovereignty render it improbable."

The main argument, however is defective. It is because of the atonement that "God also hath highly exalted him" it is because of the atonement, that "God hath anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows," it is because of the atonement that He is appointed "heir of all things" and wherever his own are gathered together, now or in the ages to come, Jesus is crowned Lord of lords and King of kings.

"He is coming, He is coming
Not as once He came before
Lowly infant, born in weakness
On a humble stable floor
But upon His cloud of glory
In the crimson-tinted sky
Where we see the golden sunrise
In the rosy distance lie."

Yes, and farther too.

F. C. Grant

(Continued from p. 235)

THE GENTLENESS OF CHRIST

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" (Ps. 103:13). "In all their affliction He was afflicted and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and He bare them and carried them all the days of old" (Isa. 63:9).

What a picture this is of the gentleness and tenderness of our Lord, Who is so considerate for the weak and helpless of His flock. We have another picture of His gentleness, when He rebuked His disciples for their harshness and said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:16). Then we see our gentle, yet mighty Lord lamenting over Jerusalem as He said, "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" (Luke 13:34).

Some people confound gentleness with weakness. It takes a strong personality to be truly gentle and considerate in all things. Gentleness is not an attribute of weakness but of strength. What strength is in these lines-"He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young" (Isa. 40:11). Beautiful strength is exhibited in these words united with perfect gentleness.

Then we have this gentle, tender invitation, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30).

We do not see true perfection of character in any human being. In our Lord each quality was perfect. Each virtue and grace were united exquisitely to form a beautiful and matchless character. We should not become so entranced with His gentleness that we forget His omnipotence, nor so absorbed with His tenderness that we disregard His divine majesty and glory. All the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him, so it is no wonder that, as we gaze upon His divine perfection, we are enraptured with His beauty. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be in-treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy" (James 3:17). 0, that such wisdom might be ours, that we might remember always to be gentle and easily entreated, manifesting the spirit of our Lord in perfect gentleness.

Our Father in heaven, we read in Thy Word, that the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. Teach us how to be such servants of Thine. We bow in adoration at the feet of our Saviour, Who is ruling the universe at Thy right hand. We praise Thee for His gentleness to us. How tenderly He leads us. May we not presume upon His loving-kindness, but strive in all things to please Him. In His Name we pray. Amen.

THE GOODNESS OF CHRIST
"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exod. 34:6).

Our Lord Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good" (Luke 6:45). As we study the life of our Lord, we find ^hat He was continually doing good to others. He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers and raised the dead. Those who came to Him with their need went away satisfied. "He went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). Goodness is an attribute of Deity. None of us can lay claim to a character of goodness, yet we see it shining forth beautifully and clearly in the words and deeds of our Saviour. Even His enemies recognized this quality in Him. Pilate said, "I find no fault in this Man" (Luke 23:4). The dying thief said to his companion, "This man hath done nothing amiss" (Luke 23:41).

How often we read the words of tenderness and goodness as they fall from His lips, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). "For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost" (Matt. 18:11). "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole" (Mark 5:34). "Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace" (Luke 7:SO). "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life'" (John 4:14). "I am the Bread of Life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "I am the Good Shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). On every page of the gospels, you may see His goodness glowing with a radiant light in His words, and you will say with those sent to take Him. "Never man spake like this Man" (John 7:46).

Then turn the pages again and see how often the inspired Word tells us, "He was moved with compassion" or "He was filled with compassion." He was not filled with anger and disgust because of the hardness of heart and unbelief of the multitudes who flocked about Him. No, His tender heart was filled with compassion, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Goodness belongs to God, alone, and shines out clearly in the matchless character of the Lord Jesus Christ-God manifested in flesh. "How great is His goodness and how great is His beauty" (Zech. 9:17). "My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the Lord" (Jer. 31:14).

Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, we are satisfied with Thy goodness. We rest in Thy goodness. We glory in Thy goodness. Because we are Thine, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell with Thee forever. O, we long to have this fruit of the Holy Spirit manifesting itself in our words and lives. "The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness." 0, Saviour, may we continually speak of Thy goodness and loving kindness to others, that they, too, may be led to trust in Thee. Amen. E. W. Carlile

(To be continued, D. V.)

In his second letter the apostle Peter addresses his brethren as having obtained "like precious faith" as himself. This faith is "the present truth" (chap. 1:12) of Christianity. It refers to unseen eternal things-to be believed. Therefore it is called the "faith." To those then who have believed, the apostle says:"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." To them are given all things that pertain unto life and godliness, having been called to "glory and virtue." Attracted to Christ in glory they are to exhibit courage until they are with Him. Thus are given unto them "exceeding great and precious promises" setting forth their portion in Christ, that by these they might be "partakers of the divine nature" in its practical expression. In this way they escape "the corruption that is in the world through lust," for occupation with Christ protects from evil (2 Pet. 1:1-4).

Having encouraged them by these words, the apostle becomes intensely minute, desiring them to manifest a faith that is full of the grace of God. This in no wise weakens his earlier remarks, rather is it based upon them. As he says:"And besides this [for this very reason also], giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity" (vers. 5-7).

It is said that the text properly reads:"In your faith have also virtue." The soldierly virtue is meant, even COURAGE. This is one of the first necessities in the path of faith. Without it the flesh controls us, the world retains its advantage over us, for God is excluded from His place in our lives. For this reason we should use diligence to have courage in our faith. We should learn to say Yes! or No! for God. No doubt when thus minded we shall discover that in us there is no strength; but we must take account of what we are "by the grace of God," who has not given us the spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. Therefore, if we seek it, we may have courage in our faith.

The young convert soon discovers his need of this; he realizes that he ought to show his colors; that many will dislike his attitude in the matter; and in fact that there now exists a breach between him and the world. Did he evade this, darkness would settle upon his spirit. We may sometimes observe how this darkness exhibits itself in such questions as:"What harm is there in frequenting places of amusement?" or "In what way will dancing unfit one for the Christian life?" Now such questions as these are not solved by discussing details, but by asking if the enquirer has ever sought to have courage in his faith? For if he has not, how can he be right in anything until he obeys God? But let him begin to carry out the directions of God, and such questions as these will be conclusively answered by himself in an altered and vigorous life wherein he finds no room for worldliness. Indeed there are many questions in the minds of young and old that can be promptly answered if we endeavor to have courage in our faith.

Granting however that we have done so, what then? The apostolic answer is:See that you have "in virtue KNOWLEDGE." For courage, although indispensable, is not sufficient; it requires "knowledge" in it. Therefore we should cultivate the habit of privately reading large portions of the Holy Scriptures. We should also learn to "rightly divide" them, like one in a strange city who begins to find his way by frequenting the well-known streets, and who explores the smaller ones afterward. No doubt too we should read books that are helpful. However, we should not stop there, but search the Scriptures in the company of our brethren. If we can, we ought to attend Bible readings, for they broaden knowledge and remove fanciful notions. Moreover they test our grace with one another and, if rightly used, promote mutual helpfulness. But no good Bible reading consists merely in an exposition of the text but includes a practical application thereof. Knowledge of this sort will not puff up.

It might now be supposed that a courageous and intelligent Christian is a fully equipped one, but this would be a mistake:he is to have "in knowledge TEMPERANCE." How often has a hopeful situation been weakened by the absence of this grace! For instance a few zealous brethren begin to acquire "a grasp of things," but they also become combative, some taking offence unless their view is accepted. Or a logical brother gives "short" answers and reveals the defects in his brother's view with sharpness. But as he goes on with God, he realizes that this is fleshly; hence he learns to exercise restraint upon himself and to serve all in a moderate spirit; in his knowledge he includes temperance.

However we are to have "in temperance ENDURANCE." This is because we are sometimes in danger of giving up. There is therefore need to wait upon the Lord lest we become weary and faint in our minds. So necessary to us is endurance that even an apostle heads the list of his proofs of apostleship therewith. Great were the trials imposed upon Paul in the Corinthian assembly, but not "signs, and wonders, and works of power" among them are first cited as the evidence of his mission, but his "endurance."

Seeing however that endurance implies a test, something perhaps that might tend ultimately to occupy us with men, we are enjoined to have "in endurance GODLINESS." This is the antidote to distraction. It involves prayer, a habit of reference to God as Director, and includes thankfulness. We may see too, in Titus 2:12, that this piety is one of the things which the grace of God undertakes to teach us, hence its absence indicates truancy from the school of God. May we then see that we have "in endurance godliness."

Surely now we have a full faith, but no! We are to have "in godliness BROTHERLY LOVE." Perhaps it is said however:But all Christians do love one another; they are taught of God to do so, and their confession is:"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). This is all true; nevertheless we are told to have brotherly love in godliness, evidently suggesting that it is properly active and recognizable. Have we not sometimes seen how the meagerness of this in a godly brother has brought bondage upon true believers. Their ardor is dampened and their liberty of utterance curtailed in his presence. No allowance is made for their measure and an attempt is made to mold them unnaturally. Have we not seen enough of this to make us appreciate the apostolic exhortation to have "in godliness brotherly love." Where the measure of this is large, there is slowness to censure, there is a kindly atmosphere, there is a readiness to help, and there is liberty.

But the very heart of every quality that our faith should include is love; hence we are to have "in brotherly love, LOVE." It is like the inside box of a number of snugly fitting Indian boxes. It is placed in the innermost position of the seven things to be found within our faith; a living pulsing thing, it throbs through every quality in our faith; it is the nature of God. But it may be asked:Is not brotherly love divine? Beyond a doubt it is. Yet it is properly qualified by the word "brotherly," which limits its measure. Moreover a brother may show his affection to another in such a way that it develops into a form of partisanship. Now none of us might have the skill to adjust this to a proper proportion, but we may submit it to the expanding and purifying energy of a love that is larger than that of brother for brother, even the love of God. This love embraces all the children of God, and includes all mankind as well. Hence if this love is at the heart of every grace within our faith, the brethren with whom we come in contact will be loved with a pure heart fervently; all saints everywhere will be affectionately regarded and prayed for, governments will be interceded for; and the lost will have the gospel preached unto them in sympathy with God's disposition toward them.

May we endeavor then to have these things, making us neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he that "lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." The light that was in him is darkness, the bearing of questions that arise are not plain to him until it is too late, and he has lost the sense of the holiness of the grace that purged him.

"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." R. J. Reid

Grace is the deep sweet well of God's great love,
His sunshine, shed o'er us from heaven above.

It is the attitude in which we stand
Toward Him, the shade of His protecting hand.

Just as the gentle snowflakes overnight
Enshroud earth's blots and blemishes from sight,

So doth He cover our unsightliness,
Forevermore, in His exceeding grace.

He giveth grace, yea, more abundant grace,
The same that shineth in the Saviour's face.

In grace He went for us to Calvary's cross,
Though rich, He stooped to poverty for us.

And with this grace God covers everyone
Whose trust is in the Christ of God, His Son.

O child of God, this jewel bright and fair
By His own hand is given us to wear.

Then let us grow in grace and knowledge of
our Lord,
And glorify His name by feeding on His Word.

Helen McDowell

(Mal. 3:15-17)

The days were evil. Faith was at a low ebb. Israel, the favored earthly people of God, had been carried away captive because of their idolatry. But mercy had been shown to them, and a remnant of their number had been allowed to return and to rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem. But now they had shown that they were no better than their fathers, and so the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi had been sent to them. Their ministry, however, had little effect. The people had ceased to build the house of God, for their own houses had occupied all their thoughts. They had robbed God, yet saw not where and how. They cried "Wherein?" in answer to every statement of Malachi in which he showed their wrong. The proud were called happy and those that did wickedness were set up. The condition in which they were found was serious indeed. Had it not been for the mercy of God they would have been consumed utterly. But He was unchanged.

The opening words of the prophet Malachi, "the messenger of the Lord," declare this:"I have loved you, saith the Lord." He had chosen to love them and He loved them still. Was there a reference in these words to what Moses had said centuries before when he declared to Israel, "The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people:but because the Lord loved you." He loved, because He loved. He had loved with an everlasting love and had chosen them, and nothing would deflect Him from His purpose.

Blessed it is for us in Christian days to know that this is true. "God is love," and He loves us not because of faithfulness on our part, for like Israel, we have proved unfaithful, but because of what He is Himself.

There is a similarity between the times of Malachi and these last days of the Church's history, of which we have a picture in the epistle to Laodicea. In it we see the Lord presented as outside the door and knocking. As it has been said, "That He is outside shows what the Church is; that He knocks shows what He is." He has declared their condition:they were self-satisfied though they were poor and blind and naked. But He counsels and charges them still. And He tells that His heart is unchanged as He declares, "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten."

In the midst of failure and breakdown He remains the same, whether it be with Israel of old or with the Church to-day. His dealings may change, but His heart is unaltered in its love.

In spite of the general indifference and failure of the people generally there were found some whose delight was in Jehovah. Of these we read, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

"They feared the Lord." He had the true place in their thoughts. If all around feared Him not, what mattered it? He had His rightful claims, and they recognized them, and sought to walk in His sight according to His word. They "spake often one to another." They sought one another's company, and found their joy in communion. Though they would feel keenly the state of things about them, they were not soured, they did not isolate themselves. They companied together with those like-minded with themselves, and "spake one with another." This characterized them-they "spake one to another." They knew and communed with those who feared the Lord.

"And the Lord hearkened." He observed what they were doing. He was indifferent hi no wise to what was going on amid the declension and disregard of the people at large. He found pleasure in those who delighted in Him, even as they found pleasure in serving and in speaking of Him.

It is added,, "and heard." He not only gave His ear to listen, but the words uttered in their conversation were heard. Every syllable was treasured by Him who says to His own, "Let Me hear thy voice." He values their speech about Him, as He does their worship and praise.

For these a book of remembrance was written before Him, "for those that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name."

Is there not comfort, great comfort, in this latter clause for lonely ones who possibly are far away from all kindred spirits. For these, and for all of us, there is always the opportunity of meditating upon all that He is, as revealed in His holy Word. It is well to "take an inventory," as it has been expressed, of the names and titles under which He has revealed Himself. Each name or title has its own significance, and should be "thought upon" diligently.

And it might be good for us in these Christian days to make "a string of pearls" of the various names and titles of our Lord Jesus, connecting one or more with each letter of the alphabet as far as it is possible to do so. Having such an alphabet we might go over the names and titles when on a journey, or when sleepless at night. The result of so doing would be that when we come into contact with fellow-believers we can speak of something which has occupied our thoughts when we were alone.

From Malachi to the New Testament is but a step in our Bibles, but a period of some 400 years intervenes as to time. Much has transpired during these centuries of which we need not speak. Now the long-promised Messiah has been born, "A Saviour which is Christ the Lord." His coming brings to light some who fear the Lord and speak one to another-Elizabeth and Mary, Simeon and Anna. Of the last named we read that she, a widow of fourscore and four years, departs not "from the temple, but serves God day and night with fastings and prayers." She comes into the place where the infant Lord is found. She gives thanks and speaks "of Him" to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-38).

"They spake one to another." "She spake of Him." The two statements dovetail well. And we doubt not that the testimony to the coming of the Messiah had been the subject of the conversation of those in Malachi's day as He Himself, when come, was that of Anna.

Happy is it if in our time we seek out the company of those who fear the Lord and speak together with them of Him whom our soul loveth.

He is enough for us now as He was to saints in Malachi's day, and as He was in Anna's; and He will come in and sup with us and we with Him if we but hear His voice and open the door. I. Fleming

Bible the True University, The.96 pp. Cloth,. …. 60

Church According to Scripture, The. ………….. 1.25

The Church; its Nature, Unity, Local Aspect, etc. An Ecclesiastical Trilemma. Corporate Features of the Lord's Supper. Present Day Papers, etc.

Church (The) and its Order According to Scripture.

Paper covers,………………………25 ct.

From Genesis to Revelation. Twelve Lectures on the Structure and Contents of the Bible Books. 262 pp. Paper covers, 50 ct. ………….. Cloth. 1.00

Four Gospels (The).494 pp.; cloth, …………. 1.50

Examines the distinct yet closely connected narratives of the Life of our Lord, each of which presents Him in a special way.

Hebrews, Lectures on the Epistle to the. 315 pp.

Paper covers, 50 cts. ……………. .Cloth, 1.00

Holy Spirit, The Person and Work of the. Seven Lectures. 224 pp. Paper covers, 50 cts. . . . .Cloth, 1.00

I. The Holy Spirit in the Dispensations; II. In Salvation; 111. In Sanctification; IV. In the Church; V. For Power; VI. The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures; VII. The Holy Spirit and Christ.

How to Study the Bible. 270 pp. Paper, 50 cts; cloth, 1.00

Gives practical hints as to methods and provides plans for Bible study from a few minutes up to several hours daily Job, The Book of. An Exposition.264 pp., cloth, 1.00

Judges, Lectures on the Book of. Thirteen Lectures.

332 pp. Paper, 50 cts. …………….Cloth, 1.00

King Saul:the Man after the Flesh. 294 pages. Paper covers, 50 cts.; cloth, ………. 1.00

A tracing of the Spirit's lessons in connection with the natural man-the choice of the people; with David's early history.
Pentateuch.285 pp. Paper, 50 cts.; cloth,……… 1.00

Refutes the infidel assaults upon this part of Scripture, and also shows its beauty of order, general theme, and the place occupied by each of the separate books in this connection.

Ruth, Gleanings from the Book of. Paper covers,… 20 cts

Tabernacle, Lectures on the New edition, with index.

519 pp.; cloth, …………………….. .2.00

A very full exposition, with examinations of the types and their doctrinal applications-with nine plates specially drawn by J. Bloore.

"None of Self-Christ is All"-A Memorial of S. Ridout,
with art cover, and portrait, …………….. 30 cents

Orders for $2.50 sent post free; add 10% for smaller orders.

Men have witnessed no scene more awful than Calvary, when "They crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst"-in the midst of transgressors, an object of human scorn and cruelty, of satanic hate and craft; in the midst, as noonday splendor is veiled in preternatural darkness, of God's judgment dealing with the terrible question of sin-the dread meaning of that hour is interpreted by His cry of forsaken sorrow.

No scene greater in glory, shall creature eye behold than that of the universal gathering of the redeemed, with angels innumerable, assembled around the throne of God, all joining in one mighty paean of praise to Him Who stands in the midst of the throne-"a Lamb as it had been slain"-the Man of the Cross, Whose deep humiliation is thus answered by the mighty anthem of redeemed creation.

And now, we have His precious promise-"where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them"-no place on earth so sweet and holy, or there, we have before us, as meeting together in His blessed Person, all the awful meaning of the Cross, and all the blessedness of an eternal triumph-what a theme for our worship! What a scene for angels to behold! J. Bloore

(Continued from p.240)

One interesting feature in the book of Psalms is the correspondence between certain psalms in one book and certain in another. There are three instances of this in the fifth book. They are psalms 110, 118, and 119.

The 119th psalm answers to psalm 1. In the latter, the blessed man is described who walked not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful. Like an evergreen tree, all his sustenance was drawn from the river of God's pleasure. The secret of such a life is found in Ps.119:God's word, statutes, commandments, were his delight, every thought, desire, action, was ordered by the Word.

Psalm 118 has its complement in psalm 2. The latter shows Jehovah's anointed, refused by the people, but set up in power, King in Jerusalem, while in psalm 118, we find the words quoted by our Lord to the "Chief Priests and elders of the people," "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doings; it is marvelous in our eyes" (Matt. 21:42).

Psalm 110, which is now before us, is the complement of psalm 102. In the latter, we have already seen Messiah cut off in the midst of His days, yet in His glorious person, "THE SAME," the One Who remains when all else is removed. In our present psalm, the despised and humbled One Who went into death is called to sit at the right hand of Jehovah, pending the subjugation of all things to Himself.

The opening words, it will be noticed, were quoted by our Lord when the Pharisees gathered to Him seeking to entangle Him and thus have an accusation against Him. He first asked a question, "What think ye of Christ, whose son is He?" Glibly enough they answered, "The son of David,"-this of course according to Jewish hope. The Lord then put a question which effectually closed their mouths. "How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying:The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on my right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son?" (Matt. 22:45). To rightly answer the question would be to admit that the Messiah must be God manifest in flesh.

In our psalm this glorious Person is seen in the double character of King and Priest. The first three verses set forth the King, and in Hebrews 1, where the concluding words are quoted, "Sit Thou on my right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (ver. 13), we learn how He has reached that place of exaltation.

In Hebrews 5, verse 6 is quoted from our psalm, and linked with psalm 2, and we read in verse 8 (N. T.), "Though He were Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Not that He learned to be obedient, but in the place He had voluntarily taken, He learned what obedience entailed. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It was not for Him "the path of glory leadeth but to the grave," but the path of obedience to death led to the glory.

The first verse of our psalm, therefore, is resurrection ground, and this is clearly seen in the Spirit's interpretation of the words through Peter in Acts 2:34, 35, concluding with the words:"Let all the house of Israel assuredly know that God hath made that same Jesus, Whom ye have crucified, both LORD and CHRIST." We see too, that our Lord's present session at the right hand of God is the earnest of that coming day of displayed glory, when everything, will be subdued to Zion's glorious King. (See Heb. 1:13; 2:8, 9; and 1 Cor. 15:23-28). But this subjugation to God's King in Zion can only be accomplished by force, hence the words, "The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion, rule Thou in the midst of Thy enemies" (ver. 2). Israel as a nation is seen in verse 3 gathered around the King in Zion, made willing in the day of His power. In the day of His manifested weakness, they refused Him. This is clearly seen in the previous psalm, their whole attitude is expressed in the words, "They have rewarded Me evil for good, and hatred for My love." A suffering Messiah (though prophetically spoken of by "holy men of God," Isaiah 53, etc.) did not conform to the hopes and longings of the proud nation, who looked for Jehovah's active intervention and their complete deliverance from Gentile oppression. The words of the two sorrowful travelers to Emmaus, "We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel," voiced the sentiments even of those who attached themselves to Him.

But, now, all is changed. The King is displayed in power and great glory, attended by ten thousands of His saints, "in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the dawning," and the psalmist adds, "Thou hast the dew of thy youth." These words would seem to speak of children of grace, a remnant drawn especially to Him, united to Him by the sympathy and love of His heart.

"The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedek." These are remarkable words. As another has said, "This is promise and prophecy." He is not only King, but Priest, and to this God bears witness and in these words grace and love shine out. The Priest, bearing all the weaknesses of the people, went in to God, presenting to Him the sacrifice, and then came out in blessing the people. But Aaronic priesthood was wholly insufficient, and even the promised blessing to the nation could not be insured by the Levitical economy. A better priesthood was necessary, and this is insured in this glorious Person to Whom it was said, "Thou are a Priest forever, after the order of Melchisedek." This is enlarged upon and fully detailed in the epistle to the Hebrews (chaps. 5 to 8). The people needed, not only a King, but a Priest, one who could offer atonement. Thus only could He be "King of righteousness, King of peace," and bless Abraham's children, as Abraham himself had been blessed by Melchisedek, when returning from the conquest of the kings. In verses five and six which follow, the day of judgment upon the King's enemies is anticipated, when His enemies will be made His footstool, and every opposing power will be completely broken. A remark of J. N. D. as to verse 6 may help to a proper understanding of a somewhat obscure passage. He says, "I suppose in verse 6 it is the head over a great country, the head of power in the earth, not Antichrist, nor even the beast. These are destroyed on His coming from heaven. Self-exalting man is brought low." (Synopsis).

Thus, His conquest is complete, and the way prepared for the setting up of that glorious Kingdom which shall never be destroyed or superseded, but shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44). The will of God shall then be done on earth as it is in heaven.

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more."

The last verse seems to give the reason for His exaltation. "He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up the head." The words remind us of Gideon's three hundred and the Lord's word, "By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand." The humble dependent One, "drank of the brook in the way," refreshment given by Jehovah sustained Him. "I have meat to eat that ye know not of," was His word to the disciples, and to the poor woman of John 4, He speaks of Himself as the Giver of living water.

The three psalms which follow are "Hallelujah" psalms, and beautifully reflect the ways of God, praise flowing to Himself, as the result of His intervention in righteousness is seen. Psalm 111. His works are seen and remembered, Jehovah is gracious and merciful, holy and reverend is His name.

In Psalm 112, the character of those who fear Him is dilated upon, and praise ascends for the security and deliverance of the "generation of the upright." We must ever keep in mind that the sentiments expressed are distinctly Jewish, and it is impossible to apply much in the Psalms to those who are the subjects of sovereign grace during this day of grace-this Church period. The last of the series forms a beautiful finish, praise universal to Jehovah's name, over all the earth. The exhortation to the servant of Jehovah, "Praise ye," is answered by the words joyfully given, "Blessed be Jehovah's name, from this time forth and forevermore." Fullest praise and worship is given as the result of Jehovah's ways is seen, the wide creation is the scene of His glory:"From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same," the Lord's name is to be praised. Israel's God "is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens," His dwelling place is on high, but His grace takes interest in all that concerns the sons of men.

In the remaining verses, Hannah's song is quoted, and in it we see reflected Israel's story; grace triumphant over all man's weakness and failure. The application of Hannah's words in Isa. 54:1, and Gal. 4:27, to Jerusalem is most instructive. Again the psalmist reiterates "Hallelujah!" ?

"Yea, Amen, let all adore Thee,
High on Thine exalted throne;
Saviour take the power and glory;
Claim the Kingdom for Thine own;
Come, Lord Jesus!
Hallelujah! Come, Lord, Come."

J. W. H. N.

(Concluded)

Thoughts on Psalm 18

The title of this most comprehensive psalm gives us the circumstances under which it was written; and while the letter of it doubtless is what the soul of David felt- which the last verse clearly shows-in substance it unquestionably applies to our blessed Lord.

It is a song of celebration. Jehovah is Himself the Deliverer, and the writer, in the first three verses (which form the thesis of the entire psalm), expatiates upon His glorious power and declares his trust in Him. In the remainder of the Psalm-as is usually the case-the circumstances are dwelt upon which gave rise to the sentiments expressed in the thesis. Psalms 16, 17, and 18 are most complete as to the Spirit of Christ. In Ps. 16 His thoughts are of Jehovah and the saints, having taken the place of dependence as Man, perfect in His trust, Jehovah His delight. In Ps. 17 He is seen in the midst of evil, but perfectly righteous, the world and Satan overcome, and finally looking on to resurrection glory. In Psalm 18, Messiah is seen as the Center of all God's ways. His sufferings are the groundwork of all the ways of God from Egypt to the bringing hi of the glory, the final victory of Christ as Son of David.

That David wrote the psalm is unquestioned-2 Sam. 22 makes this clear-but in its entirety it could only be true of David's Son, the Anointed of Jehovah. In David's distress, we see a foreshadowing of those deeper distresses and sufferings through which our Lord passed, as in Gethsemane. This is the groundwork of all the remainder. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and carried them all the days of old" (Isa. 63:9). The Lord in spirit here takes the remnant's place and goes down into the deepest sorrows, not as a vicarious Sufferer under the judgment of God, but crying out to God under the sorrows of death (vers. 5, 6). The Sufferer crying out to God in distress has the consciousness of being heard, "He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His ears." This is a contrast to Psalm 22 where the Sufferer finds no response to His agonizing cry.

The weight of death is upon the spirit in this psalm, as in Gethsemane, "The floods of ungodly men made me afraid." Actual death does not take place in this contemplation, He endures its sorrows, He having voluntarily associated Himself with Israel, all the power of darkness waging war against Him, as will be the case with the godly remnant in the last days.

In vers. 7 to 16, we have, in principle, Israel's complete deliverance from Egypt by the mighty power of the Saviour God. These, however, were not all the sorrows of Israel, but all that they have passed through and will yet have to meet, has been anticipated and entered into fully by their Deliverer.

We next find the Righteous One before God (vers. 19-26), taking the place of Israel, and therefore all the value of His perfectness is before God for them.

It is necessary, however, to keep in mind that we have the state of the remnant personified in David here, hence the words, "I kept myself from mine iniquity." We are again reminded how important it is, in reading the Psalms, to discern where the Spirit of Christ as having voluntarily associated Himself with Israel, speaks. Intrinsically perfect, He could not say personally "Mine iniquity," for He had none.

Another has pointed out that it is the government of God which we have distinctly before us in vers. 25, 26. In the following verse we find another side of that government. God, in unfailing kindness and mercy, saves the afflicted people, and humbles the pride of men. "To the righteous there ariseth light in the darkness" (Ps. 112:4).

In the remaining part of the psalm another scene is presented. The One who had in fullest grace associated Himself with His people's sorrows, now associates them with Himself in victorious power. The power and glory are His. "Great deliverance giveth He to His King, and showeth mercy to His anointed, to David and to His seed for evermore." Resistless victory marks the latter part of the psalm.

Verse 43 is worthy of careful meditation! Three classes are before us, the people, the heathen, and a people not known before. "Thou hast delivered Me from the strivings of the people, and Thou hast made Me head of the heathen; a people whom I have not known shall serve Me." Messiah finds deliverance in God from the strivings of ungodly Jews, and is made Head of the heathen. An unknown people are brought under His sway, and this evidently in the Millennium. "The Lord liveth," is the glad exclamation of faith.

"Let the God of my salvation be exalted." It has been questioned whether Antichrist is alluded to at the end of verse 48 as "the violent man," or whether an enemy from without. The latter seems more probable, for were it Antichrist the praises would be Jewish, but the speaker in verse 49 says, "Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and will sing praise unto Thy name." J. W. H. N.

Calendar:June 16th to July 15th

DAILY BIBLE READING:…….. June 16th, Rev. 3; June .30th, Rev. 17; July 15th, Gen. 10.

SUPPLEMENTARY-READING …. June 16th Ezek. 9; June 30th, Ezek. 23; July 15th, Ezek. 38.