CHAPTER IX. (Continued from page 240.)

The last two verses of Chapter VIII. connect with the opening words of this chapter. The more Ecclesiastes applies every faculty he has to solve the riddle under the sun, robbing himself of sleep and laboring with strong energy and will, he becomes only the more aware that solution is altogether impossible. The contradictions of nature baffle the wisdom of nature. There is no assured sequence, he reiterates, between righteousness and happiness on the one hand, and sin and misery on the other. The whole confusion is in the sovereign hand of God, and the righteous and the wise must just leave the matter there, for "no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them." What discrimination is there here ? Do not all things happen alike to all ? Yes, further, does not Time, unchecked by any higher power, sweep all relentlessly to one common end ? Love cannot be inferred from the " end " of the righteous, nor hatred from the "end" of the sinner; for it is one and the same death that stops the course of each. Oh, this is indeed an " evil under the sun."

Darker and darker the cloud settles over his spirit; denser and still more dense the fogs of helpless ignorance and perplexity enwrap his intelligence. For, worse still, do men recognize, and live at all reasonably in view of, that common mortality? Alas, madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead; and then all hope for them, as far as can be seen, is over forever. Dead! What does that mean ? It means that every faculty, as far as can be seen, is stilled forever. The dead lion, whose majesty and strength while living would have even now struck me with awe, is less formidable as it lies there than a living dog. So with the dead among men :their hatred is no more to be feared, for it can harm nothing; their love is no more to be valued, for it can profit nothing; their zeal and energy are no more to be accounted of, for they can effect nothing; yea, all has come to an end forever under the sun. Oh, the awfulness of this darkness! "Then I will give," continues Ecclesiastes, "counsel for this vain life in conformity with the dense gloom of its close. Listen! Go eat with joy thy bread, and merrily drink thy wine; let never shade of sorrow mar thy short-lived pleasure; let no mourning on thy dress be seen, nor to thy head be oil of gladness lacking; merrily live with her whom thy affection has chosen as thy life-companion, and trouble not thyself as to God's acceptance of thy works-that has been settled long ago; nor let a sensitive conscience disturb thee:whatsoever is in thy power to do, that do, without scruple or question;* for soon, but too soon, these days of thy vanity will close, and in the grave, whither thou surely goest, all opportunities for activity, of whatever character, are over, and that-forever! " *I believe this is distinctly the hearing of these words, and not as in our version.*

Strange counsel this, for sober and wise Ecclesiastes to give, is it not? Much has it puzzled many a commentator. Luther boldly says it is sober Christian advice, meant even now to be literally accepted, "lest you become like the monks, who would not have one look even at the sun." Hard labor indeed, however, is it to force it thus into harmony with the general tenor of God's word.

But is not the counsel good and reasonable enough under certain conditions ? And are not those conditions and premises clearly laid down for us in the context here ? It is as if a whirlwind of awful perplexities had swept the writer with irresistible force away from his moorings,-a black cloud filled with the terrors of darkness and death sweeps over his being, and out of the black and terrible storm he speaks-Man has but an hour to enjoy here, and I know nothing as to what comes after, except that death, impenetrable death, ends every generation of men, throws down to the dust the good, the righteous, the sober, as well as the lawless, the false, and the profligate; ends in a moment all thought, knowledge, love, and hatred;-then since I know nothing beyond this vain life, I can only say, "Have thy fling;-short, short thy life will be, and vain thou wilt find this short life; so get thy fill of pleasure here, for thou goest, and none can help thee, to where all activities cease, and love and hatred end forever."

This, we may say, based on these premises, and excluding all other, is reasonable counsel. Does not our own apostle Paul confirm it ? Does he not say, if this life be all, this life of vanity under the sun, then let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ? Yea, we who have turned aside from this path of present pleasures are of all men most miserable, if this vain life be all.

And are we to expect poor unaided human wisdom to face these awful problems of infinite depth without , finding the strongest evidence of its utter incapacity and helplessness? Like a feather in the blast, our kingly and wise preacher (beyond whom none can ever go) is whirled, for the time being, from his soberness, and, in sorrow akin to despair, gives counsel that is in itself revolting to all soberness and wisdom. Nothing could so powerfully speak the awful chaos of his soul; and-mark it well-in that same awful chaos would you and I be at any moment, my reader, if we thought at all, but for one inestimably precious fact. Black like unto the outer darkness is the storm-cloud we are looking at, and the wild, despairing, yet sad counsel, to "live merrily" is in strict harmony with the wild, awful darkness, like the sea-gull's scream in the tempest.

Let us review a little the path of reasoning that has led our author to where he is ; only we will walk it joyfully in the light of God.

" No man knoweth love or hatred by all that is before him."We have looked upon a scene where a holy Victim-infinitely holy-bowed His head under the weight of a judgment that could not be measured. It was but a little while, and the very heavens could not contain themselves with delight at His perfect beauty, His perfect obedience ;but again, and yet again, were they opened to express the pleasure of the Highest in this lowly Man. Now, not only are they closed in silence, but a horror seems to enwrap all creation. The sun, obscured by no earth-born cloud, gives out no spark nor ray of light; and in that solemn darkness every voice is strangely hushed. From nine till noon the air was filled with revilings and reproaches-all leveled at the one sinless Sufferer; but now, for three hours, these have been absolutely silent, till at last one cry of agony breaks the stillness ;and it is from Him who was oppressed and afflicted, yet opened not His mouth; was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so opened He not His mouth:- "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani"-"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ! "

There, my beloved readers, look there! Let that cross be before us, and then say, " No man knoweth
love or hatred by all that is before them." Are not both revealed there as never before ? Hatred ! What caused the blessed God thus to change His attitude towards the One who so delighted Him that the heaven's burst open, as it were, under the weight of that delight ? There is but one answer to that question. Sin. Sin was there on that holiest Sufferer- mine, yours, my reader. And God's great hatred of sin is fully revealed there. I know "hatred" when I see God looking at my sin on His infinitely holy, infinitely precious, infinitely beloved Son….

Let us meditate upon, without multiplying words over this solemn theme, and turn to the Love that burns, too, so brightly there. Who can measure the infinity of love to us when, in order that love might have its way unhindered, God forsakes the One who, for all the countless ages of the eternal past, had afforded Him perfect "daily" delight, was ever in His bosom-the only one in that wide creation who could satisfy or respond, in the communion of equality, to His affections-and turns away from Him ; nay, "it pleased the Lord to bruise Him"; "He hath put Him to grief." Ponder these words ; and in view of who that crucified Victim was, and His relationship with God, measure, if you can, the love displayed there, the love in that one short word "so" – "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ; "-then, whilst viewing the cross, hear, coming down to us from the lips of the wise king, "No man knoweth love or hatred." Hush! Ecclesiastes, hush! Breathe no such word in such a scene as this. Pardonable it were in that day, when you looked only at the disjointed chaos and tangle under the sun; but looking at that cross, it were the most heinous sin, the most unpardonable disloyalty and treason, to say now, "No man knoweth love." Rather, adoringly, will we say, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And we have known and believed the love that God has to us."

Yea, now let "all things come alike to all:"-that tender Love shall shed its light over this stormy scene, and enable the one that keeps it before him to walk the troubled waters of this life in quiet assurance and safety. Death still may play sad havoc with the most sensitive of affections; but that Love shall, as we have before seen, permit us to weep tears; but not bitter despairing tears. Further, it sheds over the spirit the glorious light of a coming Day, and we look forward, not to an awful impending gloom, but to a pathway of real light, that pierces into eternity. The Day! We are of the Day! The darkness passes, the true light already shines !t Then listen, my fellow-pilgrims, to the Spirit's counsel:" But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day:we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the Day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation."

Our poor preacher, in the darkness of the cloud of death, counsels, "merrily drink thy wine." And not amiss, with such an outlook, is such advice. In the perfect Light of Revelation, lighting up present and a future eternity, well may we expect counsel as differing from this as the light in which it is given differs from the darkness. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand:let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the Day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." A men and A men.

(To be continued.)

Question 8.-Please explain Heb. 13:10:"We have an altar, whereof they have no right to cat which serve the tabernacle." Does it apply to those in system ? S. H.

Answer.-The Epistle to the Hebrews, as its name would suggest, shows the contrast between Judaism and Christianity. A glance at the various subjects will show this. Prophets, angels, Moses, Aaronic priesthood, carnal sacrifices, the law,- are all contrasted with, only to give way to, the Lord Jesus Christ, who through His death and ascension to the right hand of God has displaced the worldly sanctuary and a worldly religion, to introduce His people into the presence of God in the joy and liberty of a spiritual worship, and to make them strangers and pilgrims here. The whole epistle shows that Judaism and Christianity are mutually exclusive. This is what the verse in question teaches. The altar is put for the whole system of Christianity founded upon the sacrificial work of Christ. Those who are united with Judaism-an earthly anticipative thing – have no right to claim any link with the spiritual heavenly fulfillment. The principle may, of course, be applied to any worldly system of religion which is but a feeble copy of Judaism. Care must be taken, however, not to press this in a harsh way, and to remember that the Lord has many who while outwardly linked with such systems are in heart separated from them, but lack knowledge and faith to "go forth unto Him without the camp bearing His reproach."

Question 9.- Please explain John 3:3, 5. Is it true that it applies only to the Jews and to their entrance into the kingdom of our Lord upon the earth, as Son of David ? J. N. G. W.

Answer.-The passage is by no means to be confined to the Jews, though it includes them (Ezek. 11:19). The expressions "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" are similar, though not exactly synonymous. The latter is used in Matthew, the dispensational gospel, and applies to all forms of the kingdom, to the admixture of evil introduced by the enemy, etc. (Matt, 13:) The term "kingdom of God" is more general, and often used in a moral and special sense, excluding evil in a way that the other term does not (Rom. 14:17, etc.). It is in this sense that the passage in John is used. When our Lord sets up His kingdom in power, He will then purge it, leaving only those born again to enter into the millennial kingdom. Meanwhile it applies now spiritually.

Question 10.-What is the scriptural way to treat one who conies to the breaking of bread, an entire stranger to every one, and who desires to break bread with us?

Answer.- The breaking of bread is the expression of the fullest fellowship, and fellowship is always intelligence. We must know a person before we can know he is a child of God. If we received him otherwise, there would be no fellowship and no exercise of care or responsibility. Receiving means the fullest expression of confidence:how could we have that in one with whom all were unacquainted ? One in a right state of soul would readily recognize the propriety of this, and would not force himself upon the consciences of the Lord's people. In this connection it might be well to suggest greater care in the matter of giving letters of commendation to those going where they are not known. If we realize our responsibility in this we will be careful to see that the letter is never omitted.

Question 11.- What is the scriptural way to receive one we are well assured is a child of God, untainted with moral evil or false doctrine, but who is connected with some denomination ?

Answer.-Ecclesiastical knowledge is not a test of fellowship, but godliness in walk, doctrine, and association is. We could not refuse one connected with an evangelical denomination, simply for that reason. Our responsibility would then begin, and we should endeavor to enlighten him and lead him to separate in heart from that which is unscriptural. It must be added, however, that since the inroads of infidelity, under the guise of Higher Criticism, and of false doctrines of various kinds, especially denials of future punishment, much greater care must be exercised. We must guard, on the one hand, from a mere rigid exactness-"he followeth not with us" ;-and, on the other, from a looseness which would speedily quench the lamp of testimony, and reduce all to the level of that which surrounds us.

One of the most beautiful parables of our Saviour is that in which He teaches the lesson of human dependence upon Divine care:"If God so clothe the grass which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Nature in Summer impresses this parable upon our mind. The lesson of Jesus is illustrated and enforced by the silent but eloquent beauty of the May field. An emerald rainbow of mercy is then around the warm, quickened bosom of the earth, assuring us that He who clothes the naked soil will clothe us too. Nay, we see the very process by which the Divine covenant is being fulfilled going on day after day under our eyes. We see the flax extracting from the earth the materials of those fibers which are to be woven into garments for us. We see in our pasture-lands the sheep converting, by some mysterious vital action, the grass which they eat into snowy fleeces to keep our bodies warm. Our food and raiment come from the same humble source; and the grass may, therefore, well be employed to teach us our frailty and dependence upon God for our temporal blessings. We know that the same law which regulates and limits the supply of our food from the grass, also regulates and limits the supply of our raiment from the grass. We are apt to think that, by the aid of our vast mechanical appliances, we can produce the materials of clothing in unlimited quantity, but the slightest reflection will convince us of the fallacy of this idea. Wool and flax are in reality as difficult to produce as corn; nay, more so; for, while they are equally subject to the vicissitudes of the season-to blights and storms and diseases they cannot, like the corn be produced in every country, being confined to certain regions and peculiar climates. The annual stock of clothing materials, like the annual supply of food, is sufficient only for the annual consumption of the human race; so that year after year, we have to work for our raiment as we have to work for our meat. We can no more accumulate and lay up in store our wool and flax than we can accumulate and lay up in store our corn. . . . And in all this we have a most convincing proof of the beautiful harmony that exists between the moral and physical laws of the universe. He who " causeth the grass to grow for the cattle," and by this agency brings food and raiment out of the earth for man, has commanded us to " take no thought for the morrow." And the limitations which He has imposed upon the production and preservation of our food and clothing, the only true riches of the world, teach us most impressively that "by taking ever so much thought we cannot make ourselves independent." We are brought back from all our vain efforts and covetous desires after an inexhaustible store of life's necessaries, from the faithless faint-heartedness, which is too often the principal motive in the pursuit of the phantom independence, to a simple, childlike trust in Him who hath promised to feed and clothe us as He feeds and clothes the grass of the field.- "Bible Teaching in Nature" (McMillan).

Self is our greatest foe, our most dangerous enemy :we generally admit this, and yet we do not act under the influence of it :happy is the man is habitually afraid of himself.

Question 3.- If the natural man is utterly corrupt, what is the moral value of the so-called amiable qualities, such as natural affection, benevolence, etc.? Are these evil? A. M. C.

Answer.- We must remember, first of all, that God has a different standard of measurement from man's. He measures motives, which we cannot; and secondly, He tests everything with relation to Himself. If these two factors are present in our tests of the naturally amiable qualities in man we will find their true worth in God's sight. As to motive, "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31.) Does the benevolent worldly man act from that motive? Does the parent love his child because the love of Christ constrains him? We know that such is not the case. How often is selfishness only too apparent in much that passes for love,-desire for approbation in what passes for disinterested benevolence. But unquestionably there is much that is amiable between man and man, in which God is left out entirely. Sinners lend to sinners, and salute their friends. But God's glory is far from their thoughts. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh." It may not be low or immoral conduct, but it does not rise to God. Spiritual death consists in separation from God; and, alas, the stamp of death is upon all that is fairest and sweetest in the natural man. Even his religiousness but sharpens his hatred of God, as witness Saul of Tarsus.

It will be remembered that honey, as well as leaven, was excluded from the offerings to God. Natural amiability could have no place before Him. It is by Christ, and Christ alone, we draw near to God. In Him alone are we complete. Honey may do to taste, as Jonathan did, and was refreshed; but he only dipped the end of his rod in it,- a mere taste. The sweets of this life, even when apparently most innocent, do but allure us. from God, if we are not careful.

It is a great thing, in days of declension and fickleness, to be steadfast. One may not be brilliant, may seem to have no special gift, but if he is reliable he is a power for good. In the heavenly warfare (Eph. 6:) the word "stand" is prominent. It shows the courage which is ready to meet the enemy, and is the presage of victory. After his wondrous exposition of the great doctrine of the resurrection (i Cor. 1:5), the apostle presses as a practical outcome of that doctrine:"Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." What an inducement to steadfastness! Christ is victorious :we, through Him, are sure to be more than conquerors. Let us, then, stand firm,- in our daily walk, our testimony, and in all that relates to our fellowship with another. How much good one does who is always present at the prayer or reading meeting. His steadfastness in that is a constant example to others. And so in everything else. The Church needs gifts, and Christ has provided them; but it needs simple daily steadfastness on the part of all.

THE CHURCH.– ITS MINISTRY. (Continued from page 248.)

When the evangelist has awakened the sinner and led him to Christ, through the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit, he has introduced him into the Church. Here his work as an evangelist ceases. To be sure the saved soul will love to hear the gospel of salvation again and again for his joy and establishment. He will find, if he goes on with God, that his relish for the simple elementary truths of redemption increases. To lose taste for the gospel is to lose taste for the love of God, and is one of the surest marks of spiritual declension. But though he delight in it, he no longer listens to it as one who needs to be saved. In that sense he is out from under the care of the evangelist, and needs other ministry. We might remark, in passing, that the evangelist, in the love which he surely has for new-born souls as their spiritual father, will see to it that, as they have through the Spirit of God been introduced into the Church, the body of Christ, so also they will be brought into fellowship with that Church as it may have local expression. It is strange to think of a true evangelist, with a real passion for souls, after they have been brought to Christ, showing indifference as to their ecclesiastical associations. And yet, do we not hear of new converts being advised to enter "the church of their choice," or of their family? Was it thus when the gospel was put before them ? Were they left to make choice of various ways of salvation, as by the law, or reformation, or by religious profession ? Ah, no.! they were told there was but one Way, and that out of Christ they must be lost forever. Scripture was given to prove this, and they were not left alone until they had accepted God's way of salvation.

So should it be in the matter of church fellowship. The evangelist-in imitation of the good Samaritan- having bound up the sinner's wounds, pouring in the oil and wine-the blood of Christ witnessed to and applied by the Holy Spirit,-brings the wounded man to the inn, where he can be taken care of. And in this matter of church fellowship, surely as great care should be taken as in the matter of salvation ; for God's honor is in question in both cases. So, instead of inviting the new convert to enter the church of his choice, he should rather be shown that he is already in the Church, a member of it, and now should simply recognize those who, in the place where he resides, form the local assembly. Scripture is here, as in all else, the guide. In answer to the objection that this would plunge him into difficulties, our answer must be, they are not made by the Word of God, and can all be resolved by it. We are bound to sadly own that it must be bewildering to the soul who has just found peace, to be brought face to face with the sectarianism which is our common shame; nor need we wonder if many are stumbled. But Scripture has a remedy even here, and the obedient following of that infallible guide will give relief, in its simplicity, for those who are really desirous of learning and doing God's will.

But to return. The evangelist introduces the convert into the Church. Here ministry of a new kind awaits him. After evangelists, in the passage we are considering, come "pastors." The word is literally "shepherds, " and fittingly designates those whom the Lord has qualified to "feed the flock of God." The sheep of Christ need care. The "good Shepherd," who laid down His life for them, will see that they are not merely delivered from the enemy, but guarded, led, and fed as well. It is here that the importance of the gift of pastor is seen. His it is to look after the Lord's people; to see that they do not go astray, and to seek to recover them if they do ; to comfort them under affliction ;to cheer and sympathize with them under trial; to warn them if they grow worldly or careless. He must be watchful, prayerful, constant. He must watch for souls as one who must give account. The pastor's work is necessarily largely of a private character. He need not be a public speaker, nor apparently take a prominent place. He deals largely with individuals alone, or in the retirement of the family circle. Here the true pastor finds his sphere of service, nor is it a limited one. And how such an one is welcomed by the Lord's people. Here is one who can rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep, – ready to give counsel, encouragement, or correction. Beloved brethren, can we be sufficiently thankful for pastors ?What would the Church of God be without them? – open to the attacks of the enemy, the weak neglected, the wanderers unsought, the unruly unwarned. And is it not well for us to pray that this precious gift of Christ may be more recognized and made use of ? Let those who have the care of Christ's flock awaken afresh to their responsibilities. They have a work which no man can do for them. That such a gift exists at the present time who can doubt, with this scripture before them ?But externality and superficiality are the characteristics of the day. Showy talents, eloquence, popularity, are now the most appreciated, and the useful ones, which look beneath the surface, which minister to the true health of the body of Christ, are too often despised and neglected. As a consequence the saints suffer ; they grow lean, and where a true pastoral care might develop them into usefulness, they shrivel up into spiritual decrepitude, and remain weaklings all their lives. . Of the qualifications for pastoral care we need but speak briefly. They are given in general in those passages which speak of oversight, and eldership. Of office we shall speak in a short time, and will ask the reader to dismiss from his mind, for the time being, all thought of official character in considering the following passage :"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop (literally, if a man desire oversight) he desireth a good work. A bishop then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous :one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity ; (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God ?) not a novice lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." (i Tim. iii 1-14, see also Titus 1:6-9; i Pet. 5:1-4.)

In general we would say, that the pastoral gift is the gift of rule and oversight. As is well known the word translated to rule (Matt. 2:6, Rev. 2:27 etc.,) means literally to shepherd, and is rendered "feed," in Jno. 21:16, Acts 20:28; i Pet. 5:2, where pastoral care is spoken of. Rule in Scripture is service, and he rules best who serves best.

We have noticed as one of the qualifications for a bishop that he must be "apt to teach, which means that he must be able to meet and answer questions, and make use of Scripture, in the performance of his duties. Closely linked, however, with the gift of pastor is that of teacher. In a distinctive sense, as contrasted with pastor, the teacher is he who is gifted to unfold the word of God. All God's children have an unction from the holy One, and need not that any man teach them; yet this does not do away with the need of teachers, as divine gifts. It is because they know all things that they are written to. (Jno. 2:20, 21.) By the Spirit they can understand, and so receive that which is given to them. They are privileged, and required, all of them, to search the Scriptures for themselves, and will be richly rewarded for diligent search. And it is the most diligent who will most appreciate the teacher – one who is able not only to understand but to impart truth.

Of the importance of this gift it would be almost impossible to speak too strongly. It is the truth that makes free, and keeps free; and it is the work of the teacher to minister the truth to the people of God. The word of God is to be unfolded, its perfections to be exhibited, its doctrines expounded, and its difficulties explained. The teacher is the student of this Book ; he gives himself wholly to it. In days like this where all sorts of error abound, from the open blasphemy of the infidel to the countless forms of parasitic growth which profess to be derived from the Scriptures,-in days like these when the very foundations are being undermined, we need teachers, men who turn us back to the "law and the testimony," and show us that, in the midst of the confusion of tongues, there is still a voice that speaks with no uncertain sound. It is the teacher who must meet the assaults of annihilationism, restorationism, higher criticism,-evils which have fastened themselves upon the very vitals of professing Christendom, and which are eclipsing many testimonies, and doubtless leading many souls to destruction. It is the teacher who leads us into the deep things of God's word, and by satisfying us with good, leaves no relish for evil.

The Lord did not intend that we should stop with the gospel of our salvation. That is but the beginning. Yet how prone we are to remain just there, to leave the wondrous truths hidden in the mines of Scripture, and to go on all our lives as babes and paupers.

The teacher prevents this, and for those who will hear, opens the treasure-house and brings out "things new and old." Let us pray for teachers ; that they may be kept dependent, and so, free from error; that they may keep the even balance of truth, and so present "the whole counsel of God; "and that the study and impartation of the treasures of God's word may never be with them a cold intellectual task, like the water which rusts the iron pipe through which it passes; but rather that all their service may be as the river which brings beauty and fertility to its own banks while it bears refreshment on to the country beyond.

Such, then, are the gifts of an ascended Christ to and for His Church. They are given for the whole Church, not for a part of it only. An evangelist or a teacher is such for the whole body of Christ. No denomination can claim them, no local assembly monopolize their services. The pastor may never exercise his functions beyond the pale of one assembly, yet he is a gift to the whole Church, and ministers, in his place, to the entire body.

There are other scriptures which give us the same gifts in somewhat different form, but these are the main ones, and others are modifications or parts of these. See Rom. 12:4-8, where prophecy, exhortation and teaching, rule and ministry, would all doubtless be included under the teaching and pastoral care of Ephesians. So also in i Cor. 12:we have the gifts of the Spirit where, leaving out those which were of a miraculous and therefore temporary (i Cor. 14:22.) character, all might be grouped again under the pastors and teachers of Ephesians.

While not all have the characteristics of, or qualifications for, prominent service in any of these ways, it is still true that all are needed, and none can be ignored. None are too insignificant to render valuable service. Nay,'' those members which seem to be more feeble are necessary." Every member of the body is a member of Christ, and is gifted to do a work which will edify the whole. How can he know his gift, and how exercise it ? Not by thrusting himself forward, in restless service, but simply by abiding in Christ. "But holding the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ:from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (Eph. 4:15, 16.)

How beautifully does each member fall into its place and do its appointed ministry here ! And what is the secret of this harmonious and effectual working ?-holding the Head.

(Psalm 59:10.)

IN THE NIGHT HIS SONG SHALL BE WITH ME.

'Past, restless day,
Ne'er to return.
I would forget,
And e'en would spurn
To look upon the foolish things
Which pierced my troubled heart like stings
To-day. My Saviour, let me rest
In quietness upon Thy breast.

Come, quiet night,
And cradle me In thy soft arms;
I long to be
Alone, my blessed God, with Thee;
For then Thou seem'st so near to me.
Oh, kindly screen, that hides from me
All, all, my gracious God, but Thee!

Then may I ope
The fountain deep
Of my heart, Lord;
Nor would I keep
One word from Thee; Thy holy eye
Must search me; Thou couldst ne'er pass by
One thought unholy, act unkind;
I would unburden all my mind.

Self-judged, I'd lay
Me down, my God,
In arms of love,
Nor fear Thy rod.
Each day I'd pass unceasingly,
My Father, 'neath Thy watchful eye.
Thy love restrain my heart and feet
From thought and word and way unmeet!

O Thou, my God, my Saviour, be
My guide-star o'er life's dangerous sea!

H. McD.

Jesus! the only One !
The One that grace has given;
My soul, trust Him alone
Of all in earth or heaven ;
He gave His life upon the tree
That I, the culprit, might go free.

Jesus, the living One!
He lives no more to die-
Full proof that all is done;
Yea, more, He lives on high;
He lives His precious blood to plead,
He lives for me to intercede.

Jesus! the absent One!
Ah, few His absence mourn-
Few "crown Him Lord" alone,
Or sigh for His return;
And yet, while He remains away,
Sin, tears, and death will hold their sway.

Jesus ! the coming One !
He waits to come again;
He'll come to claim His own,
And they shall live and reign:
My soul, be waiting for the Son-
Be watching for the coming One !

Jesus ! the judging One !
To Him all judgment's given;
To Him each knee will bow,
In hell, or earth, or heaven;
Oh, happy they who bow to grace !
All else may dread to see His face.

R. H.

THE CHURCH.–ITS UNITY.

We have seen in the preceding paper that the Church is the Body of Christ, united to a glorified Lord by the Holy Ghost, who came from heaven at Pentecost; that all believers are now in the Church, which will be complete when our Lord will descend from heaven, call His redeemed from their graves, and the living ones from the earth, to meet Him in the air, after which the union of the Church to Christ in glory will be consummated:the marriage of the Lamb will then take place. Such connections, and such a destiny made, we saw, the Church a heavenly, not an earthly body, a stranger here, with hopes and affections elsewhere, expressed by the longing:"The Spirit and the bride say come," "even so come, Lord Jesus."

We now pass to the examination of a truth which grows out of the nature of the church, and which is self-evident-its unity. Scripture has for us again a brief but most definite statement of this fact:"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." (Eph. 4:4.)

Unity is here connected with three words, each of which gives us a distinct view of the same truth, yet all harmoniously blended together:We have unity of the body, of the Spirit and of the hope of the church. "There is one body;" "The Church, which is His body." Who could ever, with such scriptures before him, for a moment question that the Church is one and only one? What need for efforts after unity, for alliances and confraternities? What need to endeavor to do what God has already done?

"He is our peace, who hath made both " (Jew and Gentile) "one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." (Eph. 2:14-16.) Between Jew and Gentile there was a dividing wall which separated them not merely into distinct but hostile bodies. The Jew occupied the place of nearness as to privilege ; but this only emphasized the distance of the Gentile and brought out the enmity between them.

The cross obliterated all this:the law of commandments was taken away-the Jew was condemned by it and the Gentile would perish without it (Rom. 2:12. etc.), Christ in grace bore the penalty of a broken law, and so established the righteousness of its claims. (Rom. 3:29-31.) Thus the law which kept the Gentile at a distance, while it condemned the Jew, was removed by the cross. " Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." (Col. 2:14.) The effect of this was twofold:Jew and Gentile were both reconciled to God, but in one body, that is they were reconciled to one another also, and all previous distinctions were taken away. So in Christ there is a new man, and " neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:but Christ is all and in all." (Col. 3:2:) The cross makes possible the manifestation of that "mystery," "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel." (Eph. 3:6.)

To all this, it may be replied, Who denies it? Theoretically, perhaps none; but all these scriptures are applied to "the invisible Church," as it is called, and so lose their practical power over the hearts and consciences of God's people. We have nowhere in Scripture the expression, or thought of the invisible Church. Our Lord's prayer for His people was that they might be one, not theoretically or invisibly, but '' that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:20, 21.) The Church was to manifest that divine unity which would be a witness to the world, divided into innumerable bodies, as self interest would dictate, that here was a power of which it was ignorant, a power which spake of the reality of Christ's divine mission. We cannot close our eyes to the importance of this testimony, and it sweeps away at once all thought of the invisible Church.

Passing from the cross, which has set aside man, whether Jew or Gentile, and so made unity possible, we come naturally to the resurrection, which gives us the positive side of this truth. "In Himself" is the one new man to be made. Christ only became head of a new race in resurrection. This is plainly shown as to individual fruitfulness. (Rom. 7:4) It is equally true as to His headship over the church. (Eph. 1:19-23.) As risen and ascended He has been made '' head over all things to the church which is His body." But Christ is one; He is undivided; hence His Church is also one and undivided. Who that thinks of that glorious One at Gods right hand could for a moment conceive of His Church as being anything but one? He has given His name and character to it. It is one in His eyes. It all belongs to Him.

We come now to the next phrase-"There is one Spirit," the Holy Ghost sent from heaven at Pentecost, and He has formed but one body. This is entered upon at large in i Cor. 12:" For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:So also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (Vers. 12, 13.) We have the oneness of the body linked in the clearest way with that of the Spirit. The very diversity of the members,-the various individuals who compose the body-is but a confirmation of the truth that the body is one. Most striking too is the expression, "So also is Christ." Reference is here made not to the person of the Lord Himself, but to Christ and the Church; He as Head and it composed of many members, yet the whole forming one body. What amazing grace in Him to give His name to His Church! And what room, we may add, is there for any other name or body alongside of His?

"Whether Jews or Gentiles" reminds us of how completely those distinctions have been removed, in order that the Holy Spirit might link us with Christ alone. Christ is all and He is enough. As risen we have done with all other ties which would in any way be the rivals of His claims. We have not only life in Him, but a living divine Person who dwells in us and unites us with Him. The Holy Spirit not merely unites us to Christ, but by that very act puts us into His body, unites us to one another.

From this we can see the unscripturalness of the thought of a Christian voluntarily joining the church. . The moment he believes, this is done; and not by himself but by the Holy Spirit. Every believer is a member of the body of Christ, because he has received the Holy Spirit. He has been made to drink into one Spirit, to partake of the precious ministry of the Holy Spirit who is in him as a well of water.

Equally clear is the teaching as to the Holy Spirit dwelling in the house of God. "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord:in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph. 2:20-22.) "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (i Cor. 3:16.) The thought of unity is essential to the meaning of these passages. The foundation is one-Jesus Christ; and there is but One who dwells in the temple-the Holy Spirit. Every believer forms a part of this holy temple-a "living stone," as the apostle Peter says, (i Pet. 2:5.) We are not only builded upon the foundation, by faith in Christ, but are builded together, formed into a habitation of God. Each believer's body is a temple of the Holy Ghost (i Cor. 6:19), but the passages we are considering go further, and show that all believers form a unity, indwelt by One Spirit.

Before leaving this part of the subject, we need but to ask, Is the Spirit of God doing contradictory work? Is He serving diverse interests? or is His one work to glorify Christ and to secure that oneness of the church which He died to effect?

We are called in "one hope" of our calling. The oneness of the church is here again taught. When Christ left His own upon earth, He gave them the promise that He would come for them. Into the blessed fulness of this we will not now enter, save to touch upon some of the most striking features of 'that blessed hope." Christ has gone on high, having rent the veil which separated us from God. The work of redemption is completed and we even now have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." This is for faith. But our Lord does not mean to leave His Church upon the earth and He to remain in Heaven. True, He "ever liveth to make intercession for us"; He restores us if we wander, and His almighty power and everlasting love are ever engaged in our behalf. But this is only for the interval. His heart longs to have us with Himself. ' Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." (John 17:24.) He will not ^>st till the Church which He loved and for which He gave Himself that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, is presented to Himself a. glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. (Eph. 5:25-27.) This includes the changing of our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. (Phil. 3:20, 21.) "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is." (1 Jno. 3:2.) This is the hope of our calling-a calling on high of God. (Phil. 3:14.) " And so shall we ever be with the Lord."

That this hope has so largely died out of the hearts of God's people is at once their loss and shame. But God's calling remains the same, and it is the common hope for all His people. There is only one hope, one destiny. And this gives additional emphasis to the truth we are considering. With but one destiny, there can be but one body-there will be but one heavenly bride. Ah! did we but have that blessed hope more simply before us, how clearly would be manifest that oneness. Was it not thus to link us together that our Lord set this hope before us? "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John. 17:22.)

We have thus looked at the scripture teaching upon Church unity from various points of view. Let it be remembered that we are speaking of no mere unity of sentiment or affection-but distinctly of organic unity. The church is one by its very constitution, its nature, its Head, its Life, its destiny. And this unity, as we have seen, was meant to be visible. Of our personal responsibility with regard to this, it is our purpose to speak in another paper. For the present we would submit to every thoughtful conscience that there must be wondrous privileges as well as immense responsibilities in connection with this truth. We could not, if we would, shirk these responsibilities. Let it be ours to calmly face them, asking with subject heart, "Lord what with thou have me to do? "

Samson's life in general is a warning rather than an example. Endowed with amazing strength and marked out as an instrument of the Spirit of God, he falls far short, and instead of setting his people free, leaves them, and himself dies, in bond-age to the Philistines. The cause is not far to seek:himself, though set apart as a Nazarite, exhibited the very failure which marked the whole nation of Israel-mixture with the heathen. Truly may we say at all times, "Vain is the help of man."

The account before us, on its face, seems but the trifling of one who could have used his strength to some purpose in throwing off the yoke of the enemy. But beyond that, there was a direct violation of a command:and further, when we look at the spiritual significance, a fighting against the people of God, not for them.

"When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them:for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege." (Deut. 20:19.) Even when it seemed so necessary to use every means, as in a siege, the trees of the field which bore fruit were to be spared:how much more when there was no such stress !This was the work of the Midianites and Amalekites who came up into the land of Israel and "destroyed all the increase of the earth until thou come to Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel." (Judges 6:2-6.)A lawless Absalom might do similar work to compel the attention of Joab (2 Sam. 14:28-31), but it seems most clearly to be unfriendly to the best interests of God's people. The spoil of their enemies belonged to them, while to destroy the spoil and leave the enemy seems the very reverse of any act of deliverance.

And this is seen more clearly when we remember the typical meaning of the fruits of the land. When Israel had left the wilderness and come across Jordan into their inheritance, the manna ceased, and they fed on the old corn of the land. (Josh. 5:12.) The manna, we are told plainly (John 6:), represented Him who came down from heaven and humbled himself unto death that He might give Himself to be the food-in death-of His people, so giving them life and sustaining them in this world. Similarly the old corn evidently refers to a risen and glorified Christ, the fruit, as it were, of heaven's field, who is the food of His people as risen with Him and in Him in the heavenly places. (Eph. 2:)

Similarly the typical meaning of foxes or jackals is plain. The cowardly feeder on carrion-night-roamer, cruel and worthless, fittingly stands for that flesh which, as enmity against God, only finds its food in the "unfruitful works of darkness," the corrupt lusts of the old man.

But what work then to turn loose the flesh with firebrands – the tongue setteth on fire the whole course of nature (James 3:6)-and allow it to burn up the good corn, the vineyards and olive-trees! It may be said these things were in the hands of the Philistines. Then let the Philistines be conquered and the spoil taken from them.

Have we not often in this day, too, something that answers to this fox-warfare ? '' The weapons of our warfare," says the apostle, '' are not carnal, but mighty through God." (2 Cor. 10:3, 4.) How easy it is, alas, to take up that ever-ready nature and to turn it against what may really be a spiritual foe! But Satan never yet cast out Satan, nor the flesh its own lusts:and the effect of turning it loose is only to destroy, as it were, the Christ who is our food and leave untouched the enemy we were aiming at.

The application of this is plain, and can be made by our own conscience. Let us not destroy our food. How often, in attempting to set our brethren right, we may be but letting loose an evil in ourselves that will devour what there is of good amongst us. How desolating a fire is ! leaving in its track nothing but the charred embers of what was once a fair field of ripening grain or a fruitful vineyard. The strife of tongues can do this. Let us guard against it as we would against a literal fire.

Question 1.- Was the Lord Jesus capable of yielding to temptation? A. M. C.

Temptation is of two kinds,- from without and from within. The former would include all circumstances, whether of trial or allurement, met with in life. That our blessed Lord was exposed to every form of such temptation, both at the hands of man and of Satan, it is needless to say. After His baptism we see every kind of allurement presented to Him by Satan, only to be rejected" in the power of simple obedience to the word of God Later, when Peter would turn Him from the cross (Matt. 16-23), He, with equal simplicity, put the temptation away. That such resistance to evil meant suffering is most clear. "He suffered, being tempted," but suffering is the opposite of yielding. All through His holy life, He was brought in contact with that which caused Him acute pain. We, alas! are so dull as to appreciate but little what it cost Him to live in a world like this. Doubtless, in the garden of Gethsemane the tempter pressed Him most powerfully to leave the path of pain His love had chosen, but not for a moment did He waver. Oh, what obedience!-what perfection! It calls for worship more than analysis; and yet, in a reverent spirit, it is our privilege to see the Burnt Offering flayed (the inmost thoughts revealed),- separated into its parts, and the whole to be washed in water,- not to cleanse, but to show its purity. In all this we have the perfect Man.

The second kind of temptation is that from within. "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." (James 1:14.) We need but to ask the question, Did the Lord Jesus have lust – desire to sin in any form? – to see the blasphemy of the hint of such a thing. But it may be objected that Adam was innocent until he yielded to temptation; and was it not possible that the Lord Jesus might have yielded in the same way? – being a man. This may be more subtle, but is none the less a denial of His perfection. The Holy Ghost is most careful to guard the incarnation from any such misrepresentation. Adam was a man,- a mere man. The Lord Jesus was something more than a mere man. As to His humanity, He was conceived by the Holy Ghost. "Therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35.) So that even as to His humanity He was the Son of God. Further, He was one person, not two. His divine nature gave character to the whole. "The word was made flesh." (John 1:14.) In the language of the type, the gold covered the shittim wood. Even when showing His perfect sympathy and humanity, the Holy Spirit guards most jealously the uniqueness of that humanity. "Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same." (Heb. 2:14.) The word translated "are partakers" is different from that rendered "took part." The former is used for man, and implies the most intimate association. 'I he children are partakers,- that is their nature. "Took part" suggests the thought of one from the outside, and in a sense remaining ever distant, who in grace. takes up a nature similar to that of His people. Thus, that there might be no mistake, a different word is used for each. Our Lord was, and is, perfect man. If He was capable of sinning, He is still so,-I speak with reverence,-for He is "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." He was perfect man in His thoughts, feelings, desires, as well as in His ways and words. Perfect to sympathize and to succor when we are tempted. He knows human love, He knew human dependence; but He was ever the only One. Let us guard most jealously the spotless integrity of the One who has laid open the holy mystery of His incarnation to our view. Let us ever be worshipers here, and be most quick and sensitive to reject the faintest whisper that He could have been by any possibility anything else than He was and is. The jeweler tests gold to see" that it is gold. If it failed to stand the test, if it were possible that it could not, it would not have been gold. Temptation simply manifested what the Lord Jesus was.

Question 2.- Please explain Eph. 4:25. In the similar passage, Col. 3:9, it is "lie not one to another." Why is it "neighbor" here? Is it to all men? Then how " members one of another"? J, J. D).

Of course truthfulness is to characterize a Christian in his dealings with all men. The term "neighbor" simply means the person with whom we are associated. The following clause applies exclusively to members of the body of Christ. An unbeliever could not be a member of that, for it is formed by the Holy Ghost, who unites us with our glorified Head, and so with one another. See 1 Cor. 12:13, Eph. 1:13, 23. Evidently, then, the persons contemplated in the word "neighbor" are believers. To make the passage teach the universal brotherhood of man would be to do violence to the whole context and to the entire teaching of Scripture.

It is interesting to note the reason assigned for the need of truthfulness, in each epistle. Ephesians is devoted to the unfolding of the great truth of the Church – the body of Christ, the building of God, in its perfectness and unity. It is fitting, therefore, that an exhortation to truthfulness should be based upon that fact. We are members of one body, have a common life, a common hope, and common interests. A man might as well lie to himself as lie to his brother. We are members one of another. In Colossians the theme is the glory of Christ, and our identification with Him in death and resurrection. So the exhortation to truthfulness is based on the fact that we have in the death of Christ put off the old man, and in His resurrection put on the new. The subject is treated at Jarge in the third chapter.

In the epistle to the Romans the law is looked at in a different way from, that in the epistle to the Galatians. In Romans it is looked at from the side of human experience of it. "That which was ordained to life I found to be death." (Ch. 7:10.) It is his own experience, what it turned out to be on trial. In Galatians, on the other hand, the question is not so much how man finds it, as how God gave it. So much the more weighty is the argument as against the Galatian heresy, that it is God who is shown to be against it.

Every word of this chapter, largely a list of names, is a precious storehouse of meaning for the edification of the people of God. First, we will see how God placed His people in the land. These things happened unto them for types. The type is the chief thing, this means ; and thus it gives the New Testament truth in the Old. The light of the New enables us to search it out. Every type is a prophecy. Thus we have the plainest ground for the assurance of the inspiration of God's word, and it is capable of being made perfectly simple. I trust we shall find in it the truth which sanctifies.

The people of Israel represent the Christian family, and so every tribe illustrates one aspect of the children of God. Judah means "praise." In Genesis 49:all these names are dwelt upon by Jacob, and Judah has a beautiful significance. Judah is the Royal tribe, the law-giver, as the one who was to have the scepter till Shiloh came; and it did. Then they refused Him, and it was taken away. Till then it was the seat of empire, and this will return to it again, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the Lamb that was slain.

In that tribe was the capacity for rule. Judah represents believers as a worshiping people, and this is ever the secret of strength. Israel's sweet psalmist and Solomon were of the tribe of Judah. It is the spirit of praise that is the spirit of power. It is also what enables us for the battle-field, and so we
find Jehoshaphat putting the singers in the front of the army, and God gave him the victory when they praised the Lord.

Judah has thus the first place when they come into the land beyond Jordan, and is apportioned its inheritance before any of the other tribes have anything. Judah has nearly all the south of the land (Simeon only certain cities, and Dan also inside Judah). Judah's territory ran from the salt sea to the Mediterranean. What we have to learn in all this is, that God's thoughts about His people find expression in it; nothing is accidental. What is shown in placing this tribe thus is that for rest in the land there must be the spirit of praise; He must have worshipers. In those words of Psalm 22:, " O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel," we see that the praises of His people furnish His dwelling-place. The blessedness, too, of heaven is constant praise. The infidel ridicules this as the monotony of heaven, but it is the expression of the heart filled up to overflow. It is the proof that the heart of man is brought back to God absolutely. It is unprompted praise, as when the Lamb takes the book, in Rev. 5:, the elders fall down at once and worship. It is the necessary outflow of hearts that are full. Is it not this that shows us God for what He is ?

Judah (meaning "praise") is the first to enter the land and the last to leave; and when he does leave, it is a complete break-up.

Joseph next inherits.

In Joseph, which means "adding," two tribes, or a double tribe, take a place in the land. This brings us to 2 Pet. i:"Add to your faith virtue,"-that is, courage, etc. Add is not exactly the thought, as a man in building would add one brick to another. It is rather the kind of addition which a plant or tree makes to itself from air and soil; and so the bud, flower, and fruit come. And so it is in Christianity. The new nature has in itself the nature of God morally, and so of necessity it unfolds in us the likeness of God. We need exhortation, of course. Alas, how much of feebleness of growth, and in many what would seem to be none at all! If a plant throws out branches, there must be the hidden work of spreading roots as well. See Peter's failure. He did progress, and the failure became a necessity for progress ; by it the ground became more plowed up and the roots got better hold, and in due time the fruit came.

In Joseph, then, there is the spirit of progress- courage first added, that the rest may be right. Let me say, if we have faith, the next thing we want is "virtue" (valor). In the midst of a hostile world, you will need to show your courage. And so we find, in Rom. 10:, while with the heart man believes unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Unless a man bears outward testimony to Christ in the world, you cannot credit him with faith; but faith in the believer is invigorated by the act of confession. We have only to have courage, and leave results and consequences to God. Joseph has first to know the pit, as afterward the prison; and if we haven't this courage, how are we to get on to knowledge, which follows it ? How should God give us knowledge, when we have no mind to use and walk by it? "Whereto we have attained, let us walk by it." If we do use it, and walk in it, we shall have to suffer for it; even perhaps as Joseph, who was separated from his brethren.

Manasseh means "forgetting"; Ephraim, "fruit-fulness." We must know how to forget old experiences. A man busy with what is before him is not occupied with what is behind. So Paul, " forgetting the things that are behind, I press toward the mark, for the Prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus;" he presses on to that which is before, viz., Christ-in glory. Alas, how little of this Christians really show.!

Ephraim and Manasseh represent the practical side of Christian life-what the world looks for. It does not trouble much about worship, but it insists upon your being a good man. You must have good fruit. We have, then, in Ephraim on the north, and Judah in the south, the two sides of Christian character which (strangely) tend to fall apart – on the one hand, those who are strong for doctrine; and on the other, the mass who think very little about that. They love Christ, and are all for service, but care little about doctrine. The Bible, for them, has far too much in it. Even as to the Lord's coining, etc., they think there is no need of these things. The falling apart in Israel began rather in Ephraim than Judah, though there was fault in Judah. These things, then, have significance.

Judah lay to the south; east of it the Salt sea, the Sea, of Judgment, and Jordan running into it. Jordan, the river of death, runs down from beginning to end without watering anything, and falling at last into the deep pit of 1,300 feet below the Mediterranean ; and it never returns out of it-from it there is no escape. Yet it is but a "lake." And so God does not speak of Eternal Judgment as a sea – as a boisterous element, but as a "lake of fire," subdued under His hand. There is no mutter of blasphemy, no indulgence in sin there. Judah rises up from the lake right up to where the Temple of God and the voice of praise are; and it will be forever so.

Judah, then, to the south; Ephraim to the north, between them an interval, as if already ready to fall apart. They are apart:are they to remain so ? God has two tribes to put between to hold them fast. On the Jordan side, Benjamin:what does Benjamin mean? Jacob means "heel-catcher;" he was always grasping-grasping-often after what God wanted him to have ; but his methods were any thing but right. As with the birth-right, so all through. Never waiting quietly upon God; never trusting Him; full of restlessness, which, alas ! characterizes so many, and which is so often mistaken for spirituality. At Peniel he is crippled in this human strength, learns to cling to God instead of wrestling with Him ; and at Bethel that the secret of power is subjection to Him who is El-bethel, "God of His own house." On the way to Hebron, Benjamin is born. Rachel disappears, and Benjamin takes her place. Son of my sorrow, she says; son of my right hand, says Jacob. Benjamin is the type of Christ in us,-Christ as power on earth, as in Galatians:"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." What does this mean ? It is not conversion, or life merely. He has looked into the face of Christ, and seen it dimmed with the agony of death for him. He has looked into heaven, and seen the glory shine out of that face ; and now the cross is the end of Paul.

Christ is in the glory. He is the One to glory in. God has accepted Him for you; but He is also to be accepted by you for yourself. . . So Benjamin beautifully links these two-worship and fruitfulness-together. Be you sure this is the true and real holdfast. It is as Christ is before us, as we abide in the sunshine of His glory, that we find what holds these things together in the Christian, and among Christians. It is now no more self, good self or bad self, but Christ that lives in me:and so will the heart well up in praise and worship, as well as overflow in fruit-fulness.

The praise and worship are thus maintained on the one hand (Judah) with fruitfulness on the other (Ephraim). Benjamin holds both fast in power. Can we then say, beloved, " this one thing I do "?

It is easier to make Christ a whole object than half an object; we like, alas! better our own way, and have at last to meet God, not displayed as the true friend He is, but, Jacob-like, in opposition. We might have all the joy without the sorrow, all the gain without the loss. How much better it would all look to us when we look back in eternity, and we shall look back. Beloved, Christ is all. How blessed to let Christ clasp together for us our praises and worship, doctrine, and fruitfulness and activities in service.

And if there be a want in your soul unmet, then listen to those blessed words, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink, and then rivers of living water will flow out of you. How ? Drink! Nothing else ? Nothing ! As surely as you drink, out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water! F. W. G.

The more we think of the cross (we have come as sinners needing it, but as Christians, reconciled to God, we can sit down and contemplate it), the more we see it stands totally alone in the history of eternity. Divine glory, man's sin, man's perfectness, Satan's evil, God's power and love and righteousness, all were brought out and met there. Accordingly it is the immutable foundation of man's blessing, and of everything that is good in heaven and earth. Then, when our souls are reconciled, we look at Him and learn of Him:" Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest." He sees that the world had given Him up :there was no rest upon the earth. He searched with wonderful patience for a place of rest, but there was no such thing to be found. He knew it, and had tried it; the Son of Man had not where to lay (not merely outwardly) His head, but to rest His heart; no more than Noah's dove found rest for the sole of her feet. " I looked for some man to take compassion, but there was none." Yet feeling this, it is just there He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest:take my yoke," etc., "and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

CHAPTER V. (Continued from page 121.)

The "sermon on the mount " is the manifestation of the kingdom in its inner spirit and holiness, – still, of course, as a kingdom to come, and not actually come. There are seven parts :the first (vers. 1-16), fittingly, consisting of the "beatitudes," blessings pronounced by the Lord Himself upon the heirs of it:first, in view of their personal character (1-9); then as sufferers in the midst of a world hostile to them (10-12); and lastly, as ministers, in the face of that hostility, of a blessing which shall be realized in the world, when the long-expected kingdom comes (13-16).

The old covenant also had its blessings, which were conditioned upon legal obedience, in result proving only the utter hopelessness of blessing under it, so that the very "song" of the law-giver is a witness against the people, and his blessing of the tribes has to look for its fulfillment in times beyond the law:in fact, in the very times of the kingdom which the Lord here announces. How suited that the Messenger of the new covenant should begin with blessing, – blessing still upon obedience, (for in the nature of things there can be no other,) but now with a positiveness and assurance which imply the grace that the covenant, with its glorious "I will"s, so royally expresses (Heb. 8:8-12). For those under it there is no Mount Ebal, no curse or woe at all. The sweet authority of divine love constrains and restrains together. Christ is king of a kingdom like which there is no other, where the ingrafted Word is "law," yet a "law of liberty," and every individual conscience is His throne.

There are seven blessings pronounced on character, and as in most sevens elsewhere throughout the Word, the first four arc distinguished from the last three here, by being connected with what is more negative and related to outward position; while the last three give us the more specific divine lineaments which are found in all the children of God as partakers of the divine nature. The first four show us the heart set upon a blessing which is not yet come, upon the kingdom of heaven itself, and thus distressed at all that which is the moral opposite of this in the world around them. The last three give us the positive energy and activity of good amid the unceasing conflict of evil with it. But let us look at them more particularly in their order and connection with one another, all which has its meaning and importance for interpretation and spiritual application.

First, and therefore of first importance here, we have "Blessed arc the poor in spirit." This is in contrast with mere external poverty, but like it in its own sphere. When the heart is set upon things to come, present things of necessity lose their power to satisfy. There is "absence of mind," as we say; the gaze is on the unseen. And this is characteristic of faith, which is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." With this, therefore, we must begin, for '' without faith it is impossible to please God." Yet this poverty of spirit is only the negative side of faith, the emptying and not the filling. There is power in it, however,- deliverance from a world which is known as vanity,- from the vain show in which men walk and their equally vain disquiet,- from the temptations, therefore, and distractions of it. The soul's bonds are cut; it can move, it can make progress. To such an one God's word becomes a necessity, as the one link with the invisible. And such a seeking has its invitation and blessing from the Lord Himself:"theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

How much more, not less, forceful for us should this be, than for those to whom the Lord was directly speaking, or even for the people who will stand upon the threshold of the kingdom in days soon to come! True, the earth's crisis will be upon it, and Israel's travail-time of intense anguish, out of which, as in a day, a nation will be born to God. But for us is the revelation of a brighter inheritance, higher as heaven is above the earth, the meeting-place of the redeemed, the dwelling-place of God and of the Lamb. Had we divine affections, such as should be formed by the revelation, how little would mere circumstances have power over the formation of a character like this! Granted that Satan's tactics for us have changed, and that instead of funeral pyres for martyrs, there are now premiums in abundance for unfaithfulness to Christ,- a condition of things formed indeed by a compromise between the Church and the world,- should this have power to dim the eyes of faith? What would it be to say this, but to own it right and reasonable that Satan should gain his object?

Christ in the world at least must be poor in it. It was the place, without any question, of His poverty. If, then, He be the example for us, how much does this imply? If He, too, gone out of the world, is the object for our hearts, where will our hearts be ?

Approached from this direction, the next point is soon attained, the character of "the meek." Amid the lusts and strife of earth, if like others you have your portion to contend for, you must strive as they do. If you have nothing here to live for but God's will, it is sure, beyond doubt, that this will be done:you can afford to be quiet. Be sure for yourself of a Father's love and care always over you,-the infinite love and wisdom concerning itself with all your path, and such knowledge will of necessity subdue all the rashness of self-assertion, and make you careful only to give God His way, to cease from the folly of your own. Here, too, the Lord leads His own:" Learn of me," He says, "for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." There is the blessing of it now, and how great it is, "rest to your souls"! – rest from all restlessness, quiet in the knowledge that God is God:what an in-estimable joy is this.

When "the meek shall inherit the earth" is again the blessedness of that future time when judgment shall return to righteousness, the reins of government being in the hands of the Righteous One. It will be a wonderful thing in this world, whose history has been one long strife of ambition, and whose heroes have been so often made such by the hecatombs of their slain, to have the inheritance belong to the meek! Promise for the earthly people as it is, we shall still enjoy it, and in a better way. We are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ," and shall reign with Him over the earth. We have no need, therefore, to covet Israel's promises, and should not be enriched by them in the least. Whether to them or to us, '' the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."

The third blessing is that of those that mourn; and here we are not to think, as exhaustive at least, of sorrow over our sins. Christ was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," and, necessarily, as the Son of God in a world astray from Him. '' For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up," He says, "and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." (Ps. Ixix. 9.) His tears fell over Jerusalem. The cross He bore for men was fullest witness to the intensity of His anguish upon their account, while justifying the holiness of God in all He suffered for them.

Little need to dwell upon the causes for mourning in the world, such as we know it. Its open sores are revealed enough day by day, in a time when the most hidden things are exposed as a matter of course before the public gaze, as having unquestioned right to know everything! And yet, after all, these are only specimens from the mass of evil and of misery too great to be gaged or realized. What must have been the oppression of it to Him whose eye saw through all, and whose heart had none of the callousness with which we throw off or the weakness which makes us faint under too great a burden.

But "they shall be comforted." There is a rest of God to come, a rest into which we shall enter; a sabbath-rest, where rest shall be not only allowed but sanctified. How sweet the thought of a "rest of God," where He with His holiness, He with His love, shall rest, and "rest in His love." Yes, this is possible still, and shall at last be actual.

There is yet one special form of sorrow to be noted, and it is one that men are feeling intensely to-day; not because there is more of it than in the past ages, or at least not that there is necessarily more. Rather, perhaps, because all these questions are coming up for answer, as the day of settlement nears, and the harvest of the earth approaches ripeness. '' Judgment shall " yet "return to righteousness," long divorced as they have been, but it is not yet so:still the cry of oppression goes up into the ears of God, and He is quiet, and men think He regards not. And because they think so, they are rising up to-day, to take things into their own hand, and settle them with their own hands, and after their own fashion. Yet they can never be so settled. Where are the righteous that arc fit to rule ? Arc the few who have shown their unfitness other than fair samples of the many that have never had a chance to try ? Ah, no ! ' 'As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest:for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."

There is no hope in the rule of the many, then. There is no hope but in the rule of One whom men long since rejected, and whom they reject to-day. The cry, "We have no king but Caesar," has been answered by the long reign of Caesar. Men have chosen, and to-day choose, as of old:they may say, no doubt, "rather myself than Caesar," but if that cannot be, "rather Caesar than Christ." Try experiments and politics they may, and dethrone Caesar! Christ they do not want.

Yet "blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. . . . stablish your hearts:for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

This is the remedy,-the only and unfailing one :and blessed, meanwhile, is the hunger after that which only the clay of Christ will bring. There is One who can safely be trusted, only One; and He sits even now upon the throne of God, and waits till His enemies are made His footstool. While He waits, we can wait. The general state cannot be remedied until He comes; but even now abundant power is His, which He delights to use, in His way of fullest wisdom, for the good of His own. His long-suffering is salvation. He waits, not in helplessness, nor in inactivity, but to secure designs of perfect goodness, which eternity will unfold to us. Meanwhile this waiting becomes for us the discipline of faith, the opportunity to trace a little more on earth the path he has trodden, the extension of a special time of service, which He will remember. '' Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching :verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth, and serve them." (Luke 12:37.)
(To be continued.)

Anxiety reflects upon God, weakens and discourages our souls, and gives Satan an occasion against us. If God is our Father, and if His promises are true, He will provide for and supply us:why then should we be anxious ?

Smooth paths are not always safe paths ; in them we grow careless, selfish, and proud ; then a fall or an affliction has to follow. It is the rough road that makes us cautious, prayerful, and dependent on God; then we are safe.

Nature shudders at the thought of being thrown only and wholly upon God, for body and soul, for time and eternity :only grace can make us satisfied with this, and only grace upon grace can make us happy in it.

In the contemplation of the wood, hay, and stubble, we are again confronted with the further display of God's wondrous grace; for the same grace that would encourage our hearts to build upon the foundation the gold, silver, and precious stones would also emphasize the warning "let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon," by showing us the true character and absolute loss of all work that fails to have for its object and motive the glory of Christ.

Again, our hearts bow in deep thankfulness for the grace that will forever remove from His sight that which we ourselves would not wish to abide; and deep as will be the loss we suffer, we will rejoice in the faithfulness of the test that will thoroughly try all our work, consuming everything found to be wood, hay, and stubble, leaving only the gold, silver, and precious stones.

Again, too, we would praise Him for the eternal value of the work in which we stand accepted before God, – that blessed work that nothing can touch. Oh, how precious the words-"he himself shall be saved." May God grant for each one of us that, whilst much of our poor work may not abide, that of none of us it may be said "so as by fire."

We would, then, seek to contrast now the wood with the gold, the hay with the silver, and the stubble with the precious stones; for if the interpretation of the one is according to the unfailing word of God, its corroboration will be found in the harmony of the contrast, and the light of other scripture will throw its rays equally on the one as on the other. So, then, if the gold, silver, and precious
stones speak of the work and its reward, we should find a corresponding contrasting voice in the wood, hay, and stubble, for which there is no reward, but the suffering of loss.

Wood, of course; is only the tree cut down, and the word is the same word used for tree in other parts of the Scripture; and as the tree in its beauty and grandeur is figurative of man in his worldly glory and exaltation, we have the thought of the Spirit suggested in the very word itself. "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, and with a shadowing shroud and of a high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs:therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field." (Ezek. 31:3-5.) Again, "the tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong; whose height reached unto the heavens, and the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much. … It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth." (Dan. 4:20-22.)

Sufficient, surely, are these divine illustrations to show that the tree is symbolical of man, in his glory and self-exaltation. How solemn, then, the warning "Take heed " ; for if the divine glory of the person of Christ as the object before us is made to give place, in any form or to any extent, to the thought of the glory or exaltation of man, every bit of such work will in that day that shall declare it be seen to be only wood, the tree cut down, the life gone, and, under the test of the fire which shall try every man's work of what sort it is, must be consumed:it cannot abide; and the builder – oh, solemn words!-"shall suffer loss." Then, instead of "how sweet will be the reward," how great will be the loss, and instead of its being manifest that in fellowship with the Father we had sought to set forth the glories of His beloved Son, it will be seen that out of communion with Him the glory of man had" been before our hearts and actuated our work. May our souls turn with distrust from all that would tend to rob our Lord of His glory and ourselves of our reward.
HAY.- In the light of the same blessed word, which is so really the "lamp to our feet, and the light to our path," hay will be seen in contrast with the silver, which speaks to us so plainly of the glories of our blessed Savior in His redemptive work for our souls,- that work which the poor sinner sees to be for sinners, for him,- and upon which his dying soul feeds and finds life; that flesh of which, except a man eat he has no life in him, that when appropriated by faith is found to be the eternal life which Christ gives to as many as His Father has given Him. Oh, the glories of Jesus as He is thus set forth .as the bread come down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die! Oh, the glories of setting forth such a work,- the food and life of poor perishing souls; this is, indeed, the silver which shall have its reward. Now contrast with it the hay, which is grass or fodder, and again we have food, but food without life, used only by and fit only for the beast. How truly, then, every bit of work that would set before hungry dying souls the empty husks that the swine eat is only fit for the fire, and must be burned. Blessed be our God! Nothing in our hearts short of the glories of Christ as the living bread will be reckoned as the silver, or stand the test in that day.

Then, again, instead of "how sweet the reward," how great the loss, to find that we have thus substituted for His flesh, which He said He would give for the life of the world, that which could not give life nor satisfy the poor heart, and thus have built upon the foundation that which is again life and glory gone, grass cut clown, only fit for the fire, and condemned to be burned. Thus, too, the absence of fellowship with the Son in setting forth other than His precious work will characterize the building of the hay in sad contrast with the silver.

STUBBLE , or straw, is emphasized in Scripture as the expression of what is worthless; the glory of the grain gone in the fruit which has been reaped from it; "that which remains after harvest, left either to be driven before the wind or burned to the ground. In Isaiah we have it referred to as that which the fire easily consumed. '' Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be in rottenness and their blossom shall go up as dust:"-clearly that worthless chaff left standing after the fruit has been harvested. This is also corroborated by the account given in the Bible dictionaries describing the ancient method of reaping by cutting off only the heads of the grain, leaving the straw to be cleared off the field by fire. We have further light in the thirtieth chapter, where the woe is pronounced upon the spoiler:"Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble. Your breath, as fire, shall devour you."Enough in these references to give us the thought of the Spirit in choosing the word, when He would show us the worthless character of the stubble as contrasted with the divine value and beauty of the precious stones. How necessary, then, if we build upon the foundation the precious stones (those lights and perfections) which set forth the richer deeper glories of all that Christ is, that we should be filled with the Spirit, who alone can know them,-who, ungrieved and unhindered, would prove Himself to be that " same anointing who teacheth us of all things." (i John 2:2.) And as the Lord Himself said, "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive:for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:38, 39.) But now He is glorified, exalted at God's right hand, the glory of God shining in His face; the Spirit is given, and He searches the deep things of God and reveals to us those things which aforetime ear could not hear nor heart conceive. How awful, then, if, in the ministry to God's dear saints, the deep things should prove not to be the things of Christ, but only the researches and learning of man,- that which displaces His glory and sets forth another – the worthless, fruitless stubble. In such a ministry there are depths, but depths in which the person of our blessed Lord is lost. Food there is, but fit only for the beast,- the scientific husks on which this poor world feeds. Glories there are, but, alas! only the glories of poor human intellect, which, instead of setting forth the things of Christ, make only a display of learning.

Oh, servant of the Lord, be not drawn aside by the subtle influences of these perilous times! Seek not your own glory; study to show thyself approved; turn, with a devoted heart, to Christ, from all that exalt self. Be an imitator of the apostle who counted the things that were gain to him loss for Christ, who could say "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." How dare we attempt to build upon the blessed foundation God hath laid for us, anything but the glories of Christ ? Must not all else be the wood, "hay, stubble ? Must it not be burned ? Let us, then, take heed that the absence of fellowship with the Spirit, on whom all depends, does not characterize "our service; that we do not turn the sweetness of reward into the suffering of loss; and let us seek, with all our hearts, to have only Christ Himself before us, setting forth His divine person – His precious work-His eternal glories, as seen in all that He was, all that He has done, and all that He is as now glorified at God's right hand, that thus, through grace, we may build upon the foundation only the gold, silver, and precious stones. J. F. P.

Are you in trouble, afflicted, bereaved ? Remember the great High Priest, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, and who raised him from the dead. Here we have divine sympathy and divine power. " His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me." Support and affection ! And this He has for all His people.

THE CHURCH.– ITS DISCIPLINE. (Continued from page 306.)

In taking up the subject of Discipline in the Church of God, we should be impressed with its great importance on the one hand, and with the danger, on the other, of approaching it in a careless or legal way. When we consider the almost universal neglect of discipline and the corresponding weakness thus occasioned to the Church, we feel doubly the importance of examining the teachings of Scripture on the subject, and of endeavoring to impress upon all the responsibility that rests upon every member of the Church of Christ in this respect.

We are living in lawless times. The air is full of independence of all kinds of authority,- in the government, the workshop, and the home. We need not wonder then, if the same spirit characterizes the professing church. As in the days of the judges in Israel, every man does that which is right in his own eyes. Authority is scoffed at, and the idea of godly subjection to one another is resented as an insult to manhood. It seems to be a characteristic of these "last days" that a sense of responsibility is wanting, too often even among the people of God. And yet grace and responsibility go hand in hand. "There is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared." (Ps. 130:4); and the grace which brings salvation also teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world (Tit. 2:11-15). A careful, godly walk is the vessel in which the grace of God exhibits itself, and where it is wanting testimony fails and shipwreck is the result (i Tim. 1:19, 20). A people may be intrusted with vast stores of precious truth; they may speak with ease and precision of "standing and state," "eternal security," "resurrection life," and all the rest of the unspeakably precious doctrines recovered for God's people in these last days; but if the walk do not in some measure correspond to the truth that is held, it is worse than useless,- it is absolutely injurious. Let it be remembered that in the epistle which most fully unfolds the grace of God and the heavenly position of the saint, there is the most ample and minute instruction as to the walk upon earth of the believer whatever relation he occupies (Ephesians, fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters). The Corinthians (i Cor. 1:5-7) were enriched in all utterance and in all knowledge, coming behind in no gift, yet such was the condition of the assembly that the apostle could only speak to them as to babes, and was obliged to correct in the severest way their tolerance of awful moral and doctrinal evil (chaps. 5:and 15:). But we need say no more to justify us in examining this most important subject with care and prayerfulness.

There are seven points to be considered:the Necessity for discipline; the Object; the Occasion; the Character of it; the Spirit in which it is to be administered ; the Recovery of those who have been dealt with; and the Authority for discipline. We will briefly consider these in the order given.

I. That the Necessity for discipline exists will not be questioned by any who have eyes to see or a heart to understand the teaching of Scripture. False professors creep into the professing church unawares, while men sleep (Matt. 13:25), and when once within exhibit either in doctrine or walk the fruits of evil. It is this presence of false professors among the people of God that accounts for the warnings as to continuing in the truth which we find in the epistles to the Hebrews and Corinthians,- the "ifs" which have troubled so many of God's people. The possibility of the presence of such people among the children of God would of itself show the necessity for discipline.

But it is objected that in the very parable to which allusion has been made, wheat and tares were to grow together until harvest; and this, it is claimed, would obviate the necessity for action that might "root up also the wheat with them." When we see, however, "that "the field is the world" and not the Church, and that our Lord teaches the impossibility of eradicating evil once introduced into the kingdom or outward sphere of responsibility-Christendom-it becomes plain that He was only showing the futility of vising an arm of flesh to put down evil. Rome has failed to observe this, and in the many efforts to weed out what was thought heresy has really but persecuted the saints of God. Even had the doctrines been evil, this parable shows we cannot stamp them out. But this is no warrant for the Church to allow evil men in the midst of saints. Them that are without God judgeth; but the saints are distinctly told to put away from among themselves the wicked person (i Cor. 5:12, 13).

But alas the necessity for discipline is seen not only from the possibility of the presence of false professors, but from the fact that the flesh still exists even in the true child of God. This is not the place to discuss the two natures in the believer. It is sufficient to refer to such passages as Gal. 5:13-25 as proof that such apparently contradictory scriptures as i John 3:9 and i John 1:8 are not really so. In the one we have the normal state of the Christian when walking in the Spirit, and in the other the existence of that "flesh" which makes sin possible. Spiritual pride is a most dangerous thing, and one of the most awful and perilous forms of it is that self-complacency which claims sinless perfection for the child of God.

Not only has the believer the flesh, the old nature, in him, he is also in a world that is away from God, a very death-chamber (Numb. 19:14, 15), where, if he is not covered with a covering of the Lord, he will be defiled. The devil, with all his wiles, is ever ready to make use of the world and the flesh to lead the child of God astray. A glance at Scripture history will show how often this has been done. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David were all men of God, yet each one, at some period in his life, Ml into sin. Peter is a notable New Testament example. Surely, with these instances before us, it is needless to ask if the believer can fall into sin; and this shows the necessity for discipline.

2. We come next to inquire the Object contemplated in discipline. Our first answer must be the glory of God, the honor of His holy name. In i Cor. 5:, in connection with the case of discipline then brought before the Church, the apostle declares (5:6) "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." He does not mean that all the Corinthians would commit the same sin as that awful crime of the case in question; but he does mean that indifference to the Lord's honor, carelessness as to the conduct of those who professed His name, would, if persisted in, give character to the whole assembly. We beg the reader's earnest attention to this point. Many will say "I. have only myself to look after:I am not responsible for other men's sins." Our scripture answers most convincingly for every subject heart, and the exhortation which follows shows the path of duty (5:7):"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened." This last states what is the fact before God,- we are unleavened, sanctified by the one offering of Christ. Since this is the case, we are to maintain this unleavened condition practically by purging out the evil, that we may always be a new lump, an unleavened company. If this is not done we link the holy name of Christ, our passover, with the leaven of malice and wickedness. How solemn the thought!

But a secondary object in discipline is the recovery of the erring one and his restoration to communion with God and His people. Unjudged sin in the believer leads to death (i Cor. 11:30). God must intervene if we do not. The flesh is to be destroyed (i Cor. 5:5). If no notice is taken of sin it will go on until all are defiled. If the offender is dealt with in faithfulness we may expect to see the results. Our object should not be to get rid of a disagreeable or disgraced person, hoping never to see him again, but rather in the confidence that our firmness will be owned of God in leading him to true repentance. Such is especially the case in the minor forms of discipline which we shall presently consider, but even in the extreme of cutting off we may look for God's blessing on the offender.

3. We are ready now to see what are the Occasions for discipline. The passage we have been considering (i Cor. 5:) shows that immorality, whether of the grosser licentious kind as that which was the occasion of the chapter, or the less repugnant forms, such as maliciousness, covetousness, and railing, was a matter for the most faithful dealing. Scripture does not give us a list of all known sins; we are told in general what the works of the flesh are (Gal. 5:19-21), and we find wrath, strife, seditions, mentioned along with lasciviousness, witchcraft, drunkenness, and murder. Wickedness, no matter what form it may take, is what must be dealt with.

But there is a class of evil even more dangerous, because more subtle, than immorality. Wicked doctrine may go in company with an outwardly blameless life; indeed, such is often the case, – both Satan and his ministers are often transformed into angels of light. In all matters where there is no fundamental truth in question love will allow the largest liberty. To make, for instance, the question of baptism a test of fellowship, or views as to this or that text of Scripture, would be narrow and sectarian. The apostle rebukes it (Phil. 3:15).But when a doctrine is introduced that touches the person of our adorable Lord Jesus Christ,- His divinity, His true yet absolutely sinless humanity,- the perfection of His atoning work or His coming glory, there is no place for charity, falsely so called. In like manner, if the truth of justification by faith, freely by God's grace, be denied, or the necessity of regeneration, or the final and eternal doom of the impenitent-whether by annihilation or restorationism, in any of their forms – be denied, we are in the presence of an evil more deadly than drunkenness or immorality, for it is more deceptive. A man may hold and teach most blasphemous doctrines, and withal be as pious in his language as the most devoted child of God. Let the beloved people of God be on their guard. The enemy has ten thousand forms of deadly error with which to beguile the simple. As to doctrinal evil, as well as moral, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (Gal. 5:9.)

But there may be the most pressing need for discipline where the person has been guilty of neither moral nor doctrinal evil. We mean association with it. At first sight this may not seem so clear, but the scriptures we have been considering lead us up to it. If a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, then the lump partakes of the character, in God's sight, of the leaven. If a company of God's people knowingly associate with a wicked person, a drunkard, or a thief, or one who holds false doctrines, they are as defiled, in God's sight, as though personally holding or practicing the evil. For what is their state of soul ? Are they not indifferent to the holiness of God, to the honor of His name ? Could we associate with one who assailed the character of our friend, our wife, our parents ? And can we go on with one who blasphemes that name which is above every name ? Would not even the world hold us as guilty? – nay, more guilty ? For he perhaps is blinded by Satan, and may think he does no harm; but those who associate – with open eyes – with known evil are deliberately indifferent. '' If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." (2 John 10, 11.)
Let the reader weigh this matter well. When Achan had committed his trespass, it was said "Israel hath sinned" (Josh. 7:i, ii), and when the awful sin of Gibeah was committed (Judges 20:, 21:), the whole tribe of Benjamin was held responsible, because they refused to give up the offenders. The reverse is seen in the case of Bichri at Abel (2 Sam. 20:14-22). And can we not see the wisdom of God in thus holding associates with evil as responsible as the doers of it ? What guarantee would there be that evil would ever be judged ? The whole company of Christians would be defiled by the presence of unjudged sin, because of the false tenderness or indifference of some.

4. The Character of discipline varies with the nature of the evil with which it has to deal. There is no hard, fast, uniform way of dealing with it. There can be no code of laws laid down, no method of unvarying procedure adopted. We shall see, when , we come to consider the spirit in which it is to be administered, that discipline is a priestly function; it has to do with communion, and only in communion can one be guided. The punishment is not the same in all cases. Draco might make every offense punishable by death, but we cannot exclude from our fellowship every grade of wrong-doer. This will appear, however, as we proceed.

We may divide discipline into three classes,- preventive, corrective, and preservative. Preventive discipline begins with reception into fellowship. The assembly of God is responsible as to whom it receives. A person must be known to be not only a Christian, but one who is walking consistently. If a new convert, it should be clear that he has really believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he recognizes His claims upon him:if he has been some time a Christian care should be taken that he is godly in walk, association, and doctrine. Reception is by the assembly, and there should therefore be the fellowship of all with the act. An introduction by several who have examined the case and are competent to judge will usually suffice. We need hardly warn against mere human judgment. Guidance comes from God alone, and His mind should be sought in every case. Joshua and the princes of Israel seemed to have abundant evidence to justify them in receiving the Gibeonites without asking counsel of God (Josh. ix). Let us remember this. How many persons who have been carelessly received have afterwards given much sorrow, and drawn away others after them. But even where the person should be received, he may need an awakening of conscience which can best be done at that time. "Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God." (Rom. 15:7). Here we have the tempering together of grace and care, which should ever characterize discipline.

Having been received into the assembly of God's people, the person now comes under all the varied care and ministry of the Spirit of God. And here much in the way of preventive discipline may be accomplished. If there is a tone of godliness, an elevation of piety, a wholesome example set by the assembly, much evil can be prevented. How many cases of falling into open sin. may be traced to the lax tone of a gathering! Where all are worldly, it is easy for one specially so tempted to fall into covetousness. A general habit of "whispering" will open the way for backbiting and railing, while a care against the very appearance of such things will be often a sufficient check against the tendency. The Lord graciously awaken His beloved people to see their responsibility in these things. When the body is in a debilitated condition, those forms of disease to which a person may be specially liable make their appearance, which would have been kept down by a healthy vigorous tone. So is it in spiritual things:if an assembly is going on happily in the things of Christ, engaged in the work of the Lord and ministering to one another in love, sin will not likely lift its head.
Passing on now to corrective discipline, we find it necessary, when, either through our carelessness or in spite of our care, evil does arise in one or another. But it has not yet developed into actual flagrant sin. Here is where the pastor's care and wisdom is needed. A wholesome loving warning may often check the person in a course that would have led to fatal results ; a rebuke administered in all firmness, the withdrawal of our company from a disorderly brother, not counting him as an enemy (2 Thess. 3:6-15), even the public rebuke before all (i Tim. 5:20):these means may correct the evil before it goes too far, and they often will. This corrective discipline is almost entirely individual, rather than by the assembly. It is to prevent matters from coming before the assembly. It is the work of the spiritual (Gal. 6:i), and its effect is restoration. It is washing one another's feet (John 13:). Of personal trespass we do not speak here, as not properly Church discipline.

But alas, sin may fasten itself so deeply upon a person that none of these means are efficacious. The person is defiled,- he has committed a sin that cannot be dallied with. To hesitate now would be treason to the Lord. If the assembly is to maintain itself in communion with the Lord, it must purge itself from leaven, and the wicked person must be put away. All wicked persons must be so dealt with. Without enumerating the offenses, all will understand what cases are meant. Whenever evil is manifested as wickedness, there is but one word, "Put away from among yourselves that wicked person." (i Cor. 5:13.)

But it must not be on mere suspicion that he is so dealt with. The evil must be manifest, or acknowledged by the person, or established "in the mouth of two or three witnesses." (2 Cor. 13:1:) If these are wanting, then there must be waiting on God and asking him to bring all to light. But the suspected person could not be allowed to go on as if all were well. The directions in the case of the leper (Lev. 13:) furnishes some needed instruction here. There were certain clear and unmistakable signs by which the disease could be recognized, and when these were present the most immediate action was demanded:the leper was put out of the camp. So there are clear cases of wickedness which need but to be seen to be recognized as such. Prompt putting away is the only thing to be done. But there might be certain symptoms which looked like leprosy,- a boil, a burn, baldness,- and which yet were too obscure to be treated as such. It would be manifest injustice to put such a suspected person out of the camp, and equally would it be unsafe to leave him at large. He was shut up seven days, until the disease should have manifested itself; and if doubt still remained he was again shut up. Even after being discharged, if the disease appeared he was at once dealt with.

Now there may be evil in a person,- some of nature's humors may come to the surface, or spiritual decay (baldness) may be manifest. Such symptoms are sad and call for attention, but unless there is the characteristic sign of real wickedness it would not do to exclude the suspect. Spiritual decrepitude is not absolute wickedness, and such a person is not defiled, but in danger. He would not be held under suspicion. The being overtaken in a fault, the rash hasty speech, the ebullition of temper,- all these sad manifestations of the flesh are not leprous, though leprosy may be developed out of them.

Where the evil is of a serious character, yet not fully developed, it will not do to let the person go on as if all were well, he must be "shut up," not allowed to enjoy the freedom and privileges of the assembly of God,- not permitted to break bread,- until his case is made plain, either by a full development of evil or by his recovery. Even where all suspicions have been removed, and the person goes in and out among the saints, if the evil reappear as positive wickedness, he must be put away. The maxim of the world, that no one must be tried twice for the same offense has no place. The Church is not a court of law. The leper was put "outside the camp," away from association with the people of God and the worship of God. So the wicked person is "put away from among yourselves." The apostle could deliver to Satan, which seems to have been authoritative act of power, (i Tim. 1:20; i Cor. 5:5.) It may be questioned whether the Church has this power, and it is immaterial. The point is that the Church has a duty to put the wicked person out, and obedience is all that is needed. When outside, the person is no-doubt in Satan's world, and may feel the power of his enmity, as did Job, for other reasons. It need hardly be mentioned that a person put away is to be let alone. How abhorrent the thought that we could have social intercourse with one too wicked to remain in the company of the saints. "With such an one no not to eat."

(To be continued.)

This precious portion of the inspired word, which gives the most exalted view of the Christian calling, emphasizes the fact that we are indebted to the grace of God, and the blood of Christ, for this marvelous position, of which we could not even have thought. "God, who is rich in mercy," thought of this. "By grace ye are saved." "Ye who sometimes," or formerly, " were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." And how nigh are we thus brought ? " Made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;" or, as it is expressed in the first chapter, "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Israel was blessed with all temporal blessings in earthly places on condition of keeping the law. Those who believe in Jesus are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places as the gift of grace through His precious blood.

It must be by grace that we have this calling on high. Even if Adam and Eve, while in their state of innocence, had been given a place in heaven, it would have been a matter of pure grace. By their obedience they could only keep their first estate. They could not earn a higher one. If so, it must indeed be grace which gives us a place there, – us who were away from God, lost and undone through sin ; lying, as a Christian poet expresses it, " at hell's dark door." But while grace alone might have been sufficient to give our unfallen parents a place in heaven, it required more than grace to give us a place there; that is, it required grace to lay a basis on which God could righteously pick us up, and give us a place in His holy presence. Justice required that sin be atoned for; as, without it – " without shedding of blood-is no remission." Hence it is said in our passage that we are "made nigh by the blood of Christ."

The first three verses tell us of the condition in which grace found us, namely, "dead in trespasses and sins," etc. But God who is rich in mercy, loved us in this condition, and sent the Son of His love to meet our deep need. He came where we were. Yes, while " a certain priest," and "likewise a Levite," could look on, but bring no relief – in other words, while Judaism could really do nothing for either Jew or Gentile, He who was rich in glory, and for our sake became poor, proved Himself to be the good Samaritan, -He came where we were! He did this in the fullest sense, – He put Himself in our place, died as our precious substitute on Calvary's cross, as an atonement for the trespasses and sins in which we were dead; thus, to meet our sad condition, He became, in a sense, dead with us. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, that we by His stripes might be healed. And then, as a proof of finished atonement, God, as is stated in the previous chapter, '' raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come."And as the exceeding greatness of the power which wrought this in Christ is to us-ward who believe, therefore in the next chapter – the portion we are dwelling upon-it is said that "God, for His great love, wherewith He has loved us … hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us," Jewish and Gentile believers, "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Of course, the value of Christ's atoning death is not divinely appropriated to us till we receive Him in a true faith. But as soon as we do receive Him, the value of His death is ours, and therefore we are at once in God's eye seen as dead with Him – a truth taught in other epistles of Paul, -that is, we are seen as having died with our Substitute when He gave His life for us on Calvary; and, as a consequence, we are, as stated in the passage before us, quickened with Him, raised up with Him, and seated in the heavenly places in Him. In short, we are at once identified with Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension, which took place more than eighteen hundred years ago. Yea more, we are identified with Him as now seated in the heavenlies. We are seated there in Him. As sure as He lives before the face of God, we live also. Such is the present exalted position or standing of all true believers in Jesus, however poorly they may be taught in these precious, truths. Of course, the work of Christ is perfect. If so, the standing of believers before God is perfect. It being in Christ, it must be perfect. Thus we start with perfection. God must have perfection, – He must have it for us; and therefore, in His great love, He provided it at His own cost. Hence we can in deep lowliness bring Him perfection by pleading Christ, by trusting in Him whom He delivered to death for us, and who is now in His presence in cloudless acceptance as our representative. Praise our God for this gracious and perfect provision! He has given us One on whom we can rest our .weary souls with the fullest confidence- One in whom the pure light of heaven cannot discover a spot or a flaw ; and as He is, so are we in God's thoughts.

"We praise, then, our God ; how rich is His grace ! We were far from Him once-estranged from his face; By blood we are purchased, are cleansed and made nigh, And blest in His presence, in Jesus, on high ! "

We have next, verse 7, God's purpose in giving us this perfect standing in His presence, namely, " That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."Thus, while we have even now this exalted position in Christ, and thereby a present object for the heart, we have a bright and sure hope of being with Him where He is,-the position and the hope being inseparably connected. "If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." The hope, our verse tells us, is to be realized "in the ages to come." The saints who depart this life before the Lord comes are now with Him; but the apostle here passes over that, and fixes the eye on ,the great hope, when the whole family, in redeemed bodies, will be at home-

" Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in."

This world has had its ages. This age is called '' the present evil world" or age. Satan is designated " the god of this world"-of this age. No wonder, then, that though God can and does work in this scene, He cannot rest in it. His holiness cannot rest where sin is, and His love cannot rest where misery is. If, then, our fellowship is with Him, we, entering into His thoughts, walking with Him, we cannot rest here. But '' in the ages to come " when all things will be brought in accordance with His mind, He will rest, and when He rests, His children can rest. They enter into His rest-a rest which will be forever.

"There we shall bathe our weary souls
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across our peaceful breast."

God can then freely "show" all that is now in His heart-freely and fully "show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." God is exercising the riches of His grace toward us even now, blessed be His name ; but we walk by faith, then by sight; all will be fully manifested forever. Beside, all will be absent which here vexes and annoys, and everything present which can minister to our perfect and ever-enduring blessedness. And the brightest thought of all is, that we who were undone and defiled by sin, shall "be holy and without blame before Him in love " forever-in spirit and body suited to His holiness and love.

"Yes, in that light unstained,
Our sinless souls shall live;
Our heart's deep longings more than gained
When God His rest shall give.

" His presence there, my soul,
Its rest, its joy untold
Shall find, when endless ages roll;-
And time shall ne'er grow old."

" Our God the center is-
His presence fills that land,
And countless myriads, owned as His,
Round Him adoring stand."

And all this "through Christ Jesus." We shall need Him in glory as well as now.

And we now are to walk according to all this, and in the sense and power of it. The apostle mentions this in verse 10, and exhorts thereto throughout the epistle. Though the apostle teaches in verses 8 and 9 that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works, yet in the next verse he says, " For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good. works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."Thus, though we are not saved by works, but simply on the principle of faith,. yet, being saved, we are to walk as saved persons. When we are"created in Christ Jesus," in other words, when we are quickened with Christ, raised up with Him, and seated in heaven in Him, surely we are saved, justified, born again, and good works must come in here, not to get this place in Christ, but because we are in it. The subsequent exhortations in this epistle accord with this. Says the apostle, "I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.""Be followers," or imitators, "of God, as dear children, and walk in love as Christ hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us." Thus we are to imitate the One to whom we are brought, and the love which brought us there. "For ye were sometimes," or formerly, "darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light." Further, we are exhorted to "put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." He is ever busy seeking to get us down from a sense of our heavenly calling, for if he can do even that, our walk, though it may to the eye of the natural man be correct, yet it will not be a heavenly walk, and we cease, till restored, to be a real testimony for Christ. Whereas, if we, in spite of all the powers of evil, maintain a true sense of the place which grace has given us, and of the consequent hope, and walk in the power which is for us, others may notice that, our eye is on the unseen-that our backs arc toward this poor world from which, through the cross, we have been delivered, and that our faces are set toward that into which, through grace, we are brought, with its bright outcome.

In closing, it may be well for us to be reminded that the apostle prayed that these Ephesian Christians might have "the eyes of their understanding enlightened," or, rather, the eyes of the heart, as the original word means, enlightened, that they might really know the calling of God, and its blessed hope. And surely we no less need prayer for this end. Oh, let us see that we have much more than an intellectual knowledge of these things. Let us be more before our God, asking that the eyes of our hearts may be more and more opened-that we may see with growing clearness our calling on high, and the sure hope it gives; so that the eyes of the heart seeing all this, the poor heart, prone to be untrue, may be taken captive in view of abounding grace, which has done, and will do, all this for us; and then out of the heart the mouth will speak; yea, more, the feet and the bands; that is, we shall have a word for Christ, also we shall run with alacrity in the path of obedience, and be glad to serve in any way, and this to "the glory of our God and Saviour. God is our sufficiency for this. R. H.

The first of these texts has no bearing whatever on the question of perfection in the flesh. It is the revelation of the name of our Father which is in heaven, and the character practically which suits the kingdom of heaven. The mere Jew was responsible to render testimony to the righteousness of Jehovah ; the believer now is responsible to show forth the grace of "our Father." Vengeance on the Canaanites was then a righteous thing; now '' if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." The children are bound to sustain the family character, "that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. . . . Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Other scriptures prove, if proof were needed, that sin still abides in the saint here below, however bound he is to disallow and mortify it. This text simply exhorts us to imitate our Father's grace, even to those who deserve His judgment.

The other scripture (i John 3:p) regards the child of God in that point which distinguishes him from the world, in the possession of a life from God which is absolutely sinless. No intelligent Christian will therefore forget that the flesh is still in us, though we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

CHAPTER V. (Continued from page 186.)

Fourth. -" For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first."

Another sweet and holy word of comfort. We have seen Jesus putting His saints to sleep, as to their bodies; and here we see the same Lord Jesus Himself bidding them rise. No indiscriminate general resurrection this:"the dead in Christ" alone are concerned:they rise first. He who died for them knows them ; and they, too, have known His voice in life:that same voice now awakens them, and bids them rise as easily as the little damsel at the "Talitha Cumi"! How precious is this glorious word of the Lord! How perfect the order! No awe-inspiring trumpet, 'sounding' long and waxing loud," as at Sinai of old, awakening- the panic-stricken dead, and bidding them come to an awful judgment. Such the picture that man's dark unbelief and guilty conscience have drawn. Small comfort would we have for mourners were that true. God be thanked it is not. Their Saviour's well-known voice that our dead have loved shall awaken them, ringing full and true in every tone and note of it with the love He has borne them. Then the voice of the Archangel Michael, the great marshal of God's victorious hosts, shall range our ranks. This accomplished, and all in the perfect divine order of victory, the trumpet shall sound and the redeemed shall begin their triumphant, blissful, upward flight.

Fifth.- But the Spirit of God desires us to get and to give the comfort of another precious word, In no strangle unknown company shall we who are alive and remain start on that homeward journey, but "-together with them." Who that has known the agony of broken heart-strings does not see the in-finitely gracious tender comfort in those three words, "together with them"? There is reunion. Once more we shall be in very deed with those we love, with never a thought or fear of parting more to shadow the mutual joy. In view of those three words it were simple impertinence to question whether we shall recognize our dear saints who have preceded us. Not only would such a question rob them of their beauty, but of their very meaning. They would be empty and absolutely meaningless in such case. Sure, beyond a peradventure, is it that our most cherished anticipations shall be far exceeded in that rapturous moment; for we can but reason from experience, whilst here the sweetest communion has ever been marred by that which there shall not be.

How sweet the prospect, my sorrowing bereaved readers! We shall, as God is true, look once more into the very faces of those we have known and loved in the Lord on earth. They awake to recognition as Magdalene at the word "Mary;" not to a renewed earthly companionship, nor to a relationship as known in the flesh, as poor Mary thought, but to a sweeter, as well as higher; a warmer, as well as purer communion; for the tie that there shall bind us together is that which is stronger, sweeter than all others, even here,-Jesus Christ the Lord.

But stay! Does this really meet fully the present sorrow? Docs it give a satisfying comfort ? Is there not a lurking feeling of disappointment that certain relationships with their affections are never to be restored; therefore, in certain ways, "recognition"is not probable ? For instance, a husband loses the companion of his life. He shall, it is true, meet and recognize with joy a saint whom he knew on earth, but never again his wife. That sweet, pure, human affection, is never to be renewed. Death's rude hand has chilled that warmth forever. The shock of death has extinguished it forevermore. Is that exactly true ! Is that just as Scripture puts it ? Let us see.

We may justly reason that if, in the resurrection, relationships were exactly as here, sorrow would necessarily outweigh joy. To find broken families there would be a perpetuation of earth's keenest distresses. To know that break was irreparable would cause a grief unutterable and altogether inconsistent with the joy of the new creation. Marriage there is not, and hence all relationships of earth we may safely gather are not there. But the natural affections of the soul of man have they absolutely come to nothing?

That soul, connected as it is with that which is higher than itself – the spirit – is immortal, and its powers and attributes must be in activity beyond death. It is the seat of the affections here, and, surely, there too. Why, then, shall not these affections there have full unhindered play? Let us seek to gather something from analogy. Knowledge has its seat in the spirit of man, and here he exercises that faculty; nor does the spirit any more than the soul cease to exist; nor are its attributes therefore to be arrested. Yet we read of knowledge in that scene, "'it shall vanish away." And why? Is it not. because of the perfect light that there shines ? Human knowledge is but a candle, and what worth is candle-light when the noonday sun shines ? It is overwhelmed, swallowed up, by perfect light. It "vanishes away,"-is not extinguished, any more than is human knowledge, by the shock of death or change; but perfection of Light has done away with the very appearance of imperfection. Now is this not equally and exactly true of that other part of the divine nature-Love ? Here we both know in part and love in part. There the perfection of Love causes that which is imperfect-the human affection of the soul-to "vanish away." The greater swallows up the less. The infinite attraction of the Lord Jesus- that "glory" which He prayed that we might see (John 17:) – overwhelms all lower affections with no rough rude shock as of death, but by the very superabundance of the bliss. His glory! What is it but the radiant outshining of His infinitely blessed, infinitely attractive, divine nature, -Love and Light, Light and Love,- each swallowing up in their respective spheres every inferior imperfect reflection of them that we have enjoyed here in this scene of imperfection, leaving nothing to be desired, nothing missed; allowing perfect play to every human faculty and affection,-crushing, extinguishing none. Death has not been permitted to annul these faculties. The perfect love of the Lord Jesus has outstripped them, swallowed them up in warmer affections, sweeter communion. The coming of that precious Saviour is close:just as close is the fulfillment of those words, '' together with them." "He maketh the clouds His chariots," and in those chariots we are taken home "together."

Sixth.-"To meet the Lord in the air." Another word of divine comfort, again. How bold the assertion ! Its very boldness is assurance of its truth. It becomes God, and God only, so to speak that His people may both recognize His voice in its majesty and rest on His word. No speculation; no argument; no deduction; no reasoning; but a bare, authoritative statement, startling in its boldness. Not a syllable of past Scripture on which to build and to give color to it; and yet when revealed, when spoken, in perfect harmony with the whole of Scripture. How absolutely impossible for any man to have conceived that the Lord's saints should be caught up to meet Him "in the air." Were it not true, its very boldness and apparent foolishness would be its refutation. And what must be the character of mind that would even seek to invent such a thought ? What depths of awful wickedness it would bespeak! What cruelty thus to attempt to deceive the whole race! What corruption, thus to speak false in the holiest matters, attaching the Lord's name to a falsehood! The spring from which such a statement, if false, could rise must be corrupt indeed. But, oh, how different in fact! What severe righteousness! what depths of holiness! what elevated morality! what warmth of tender affection! what burning zeal, combined with the profoundest reasoning, characterize every word of the writer of this same statement! Every word that he has written testifies that he has not attempted to deceive.

There is, perhaps, one other alternative:the writer may have believed himself thus inspired, and was thus self-deceived But in this case far gone in disease must his mind have been; nor could it fail constantly to give striking evidence of being thus unhinged in other parts of his writings. This is a subject with which unbalanced .minds have shown their inability to be much occupied without the most sorrowful evidences of the disease under which they suffer. Let there be independence of the Scriptures (as there confessedly is in this case), and let man's mind work in connection with this subject of the Lord's second coming, and all history has but one testimony:such minds become unbalanced, and feverish disquietude evidences itself by constant recurrence to the one theme. Find, on the other hand, one single in-stance, if you can, in which such a mind makes mention once, and only once, of that subject that has so overmastered every other as to have deceived him into the belief that falsehood is truth, his own imagination is the inspiration of the Spirit of God!

Have you not wondered why this wondrous word of revelation occurs thus in detail once and only once ? Is it not one of the weapons of those who contend against this our hope that we base too much on this isolated Scripture text ? Not that is true, for all Scripture, as we have said, is in perfect harmony and accord with it; but what a perfect, complete, thorough answer, this fact gives to the other alternative- that the writer was self-deceived. This is impossible; or, like every other self-deceived man that ever lived, he would have pressed his one theme in every letter, forced it on unwilling minds every time he opened his mouth or took up his pen.

"No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest
Till half mankind were like himself possessed."

'Tis an attractive theme. Long could we linger here, but we must pass on; but before leaving, let us see if we were justified in saying that whilst this word is based on no previous Scripture, yet, when spoken, it is in harmony with all. First, then, is it not in perfect accord with the peculiar character and calling of the Church? Israel, as a nation, finds her final deliverance on the earth. Her calling and her hopes have ever been limited to this scene. Fitting then, indeed, it is that she be saved by her Deliverer's feet standing once more on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4), and the judgment of the living nations should then take place. But with the Church, how different:her blessings heavenly; her character heavenly; her calling heavenly. Is it not, then, in accord with this that her meeting with her Lord should be literally heavenly, too? Israel, exponent of the righteous government of God, may rightly long to "dip her foot in the blood of the wicked." Nor can she expect or know of any deliverance except, as of old, in victories in the day of battle. The Church, exponent of the exceeding riches of His grace, is of another spirit; and our deliverance "in the air" permits-nay, necessitates-our echoing that gracious word of our Lord, '' Father, forgive them."

Then too, how beautifully this rapture follows the pattern of His whom the Lord's people now are following even to a dwelling that has no name nor place on earth (John 1:38, 39). The clouds received Him:they, too, shall receive us. Unseen by the world He left the world, too busy with its occupations to note or care for the departure of Him who is its Light. So the poor feeble glimmer of the Lord's dear people now shall be lost, secretly, as it were, to the world in which they shine as lights, leaving it in awful gloomy darkness till the Day dawn and the Sun. arise.

Nor is illustration or type lacking. In Enoch, caught up before the judgment of the flood, surely we may see a figure of the rapture of the heavenly saints before the antitype of the flood, the tribulation that is to try "the dwellers upon the earth," as in Noah brought through that judgment, a picture of the earthly ones.

In this connection, too, what could be more exquisitely harmonious than the way in which the Lord thus presents Himself to the expectant faith of His earthly and heavenly people? To the former the full plain Day is ushered in by the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in His wings:for that Day they look. To the latter, who are watching through the long hours of the night, the Bright and Morning Star shining ere the first beams of the Sun are thrown upon the dark world is the object of faith and hope.

Is not the word that believers shall "meet the Lord in the air" in absolute accord with these different aspects of the Lord as Star and Sun? Most certainly it is.

More than at any other time, a solid foundation for comfort is needed in times of deep grief. Then the hosts of darkness press round the dismayed spirit; clouds of darkness roll across the mental sky; the sun and all light is hidden; in the storm-wrack the fiery darts of the wicked one fall thick as rain. Every long-accepted truth is questioned; the very foundations seem to dissolve. A firm foothold, indeed, must we have on which to stand at such a time. Faith must be seen not at war with her poor blind- or at least short-sighted-sister Reason, but in perfect accord, leading her, with her feebler powers, by the hand. But here is where the world's efforts to comfort – and, indeed, alas, the worldly Christians too – lack. Sentimentalism abounds here; and the poor troubled heart is told to stand fast on airy speculations, and to distill comfort from wax-flowers, as it were,- the creations of the imagination. How solid the comfort here given in contrast with all this. God speaks, and in the Light, that with clear yet gentle ray, exactly meets the needs of our present distress,- in the Love that in its infinite tenderness and beautiful delicacy knows how to heal the wounded spirit,- in the grand authority that rests on no other word or testimony for proof,- and yet in the perfect, absolute harmony with the whole scope of His own holy word, we, His children, recognize again His voice; for never man could speak thus, and we are comforted, and may comfort one another.

It is true. It is divine. We shall meet the Lord in the air. Happy journey that, in such a company to such a goal, – to meet the Lord! Who can picture the joy of that upward flight ? What words extract the comfort of that meeting,- the Lord,- our Lord, – alone with Him,-"together with them,"-in the quiet chambers of the air!

Seventh.-"And so shall we ever be with the Lord." There is an eternity of unmingled bliss. How short the time of separation, oh ye mourning ones, compared with this! The pain is but for a moment, whilst there is a far more exceeding and eternal weight of comfort.

What a contrast! Death is the sad, gloomy, mysterious, unknown boundary for all, groans Ecclesiastes, "for that is the end of all men." There is no end to the joy of the redeemed, says Revelation; and Faith sings "forever with the Lord." What deep need of Himself has this man's heart, that He has made. If in this sad scene we get tine ray of true comfort it is when "with Him"; one thrill of true joy it is when "with Him"; one hour of true peace it is when "with Him." We were intended, meant, created, to need Him . Let us remember that, and then see the sweet comfort in that word, "so shall we ever be with the Lord." Man is at last, may it be said, in his element. His spirit gets the communion that it needs- with Him forever; his soul, the love it needs, in Him forever; his body the perfection it needs-like Him forever! Is not this revelation self-evidently of God-worthy of Him-possible only to Him ? "

Again, let us ask what would Solomon have given for a song like this, instead of his mournful groan "for death is the end of all men" ! F. C. J.

(To be continued.)

CHAPTER V. (Continued from page 77.)

Now may the Lord grant us to realize more fully, as we progress in our book, the awful hopelessness that weighs on man's sad being, apart from the blessed and infinitely gracious revelation of God. May he grant us-you and I, dear reader-to remember that when we look at the great writer of this book, we are looking at one, not only far higher than ourselves-far beyond us-but indeed any that have come after him, in his ability, wisdom, or riches! For so shall his groans of disappointment have their true weight with us, and act as light-house beacons, warning us from danger, or from spending the one short fleeting life we have in treading the same profitless pathway of groaning.

So chapter six opens, still on the same subject of wealth and its power to bless. A sore evil, and one that weighs heavily on man, has Solomon seen:riches, wealth, and honor, clustering thick on the head of one person, and yet God has withheld from him the power of enjoying it all. As our own poet, Browning, writes that apt illustration of King Saul:

"A people is thine, And all gifts, which the world offers singly, on one head combine ! High ambition, and deeds which surpass it, lame craving them all, Brought to blaze on the head of one creature-King Saul.''

So sorrowful is this in our preacher's eyes, and so thoroughly does it bespeak a state of affairs under the sun in confusion, that Solomon ventures the strongest possible assertion, Better, he says, an untimely birth, that never saw light, than a thousand years twice told, thus spent in vanity, without real good having been found. How bitter life must show itself to lead to such an estimate! Better never to have been born than pass through life without finding something that can satisfy. But this is not looking at life simply in itself, for life in itself is good, as the same poet sings:

"Oh, our manhood's prime vigor! No spirit feels waste,
Not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor sinew unbraced.
Oh, the wild joys of living ! the leaping from rock up to rock,
The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver shock
Of the plunge in a pool's living water !
How good is man's life-the mere living ! how fit to employ
All the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy ! "

It is because man has, of all the creation of God, an awful shadow hanging over him-death and darkness and the tomb, with the solemn, silent, unknown "beyond" lying before him, robbing him of rest. Angels have present pure delight, with no such shadow possible-they die not. The beast may enjoy his pasture, for no thought of a coming death disturbs him. Life may be full of a kind of enjoyment to such; but man, poor man, when awake to the possibilities of his own being, as it surely becomes man to be (and that is just the point of this book-we are not looking upon man as a mere animal, but as a reasoning creature, and as such he), is robbed of present rest and enjoyment by an inevitable fate to which he is hastening, and from which there is no possible escape. Do not all go to one place?-that vague " Sheol," speaking both of the grave and yet the grave, not as the end, but an indefinite shadowy existence beyond ? All, all go there ; and with no light on that, better, indeed, '' the untimely birth which came in vanity and departs in darkness;" for this, at least, has the more rest. Bitter groan this, indeed!

For the Preacher continues:"Does man's labor satisfy him ? Can he get what is really ' good ' from it? " No. For never is his appetite filled so that it desires nothing more. The constant return of its thirst demands constant toil; and fool and wise must alike obey its call. This is not confined to bodily food, but covers that bitter hunger and thirst of the heart, as the use of the word soul (margin) shows. The longings of the wise may be for a higher food. He may aim above the mere sensual, and seek to fill his soul with the refined, but he fails, as indeed do all, even " the poor man who knows to walk before the living; " that is, even the poor man who, with all the disadvantages of poverty, has wisdom enough to know how to live so as to command the respect of his fellows. Wise indeed must such be; but he, no more than, the fool, has found the "good" that forever satisfies hunger and thirst, and calms to rest the wandering of the soul, which, like the restless swallow, is ever on the wing. Man is made up of desire, and one glimpse with the eyes, something seen, is at least something secured, and it is better than all mere longing, which is vanity and the pursuit of want. For everything has long ago been named from its own nature; and in this way its name shows what it is. Thus man, too, (Adam,) is, and ever has been, known from his name, from "adamah," earth; his name so showing his mortality. If thus he has been made by his Creator, how vain for him to hope to escape his fate, for with Him no contention is possible. What use, then, in many words (not things) since they afford no relief as against that end ? they only increase vanity. Then the last sad wail of this subject:'' Who knoweth what is really good-satisfying for man-during the few fleeting years of his vain life here, which he passes as a shadow; and when he is gone, who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun " ?

Let that wail sink down deep into our ears. It is the cry that has been passed, in ever increasing volume, from heart to heart-every empty, hollow heart of man echoing and re-echoing, "Who will show us any good?" Now turn and listen to One who came to answer that fully, and in His word to Mary, the sister of Lazarus, He does distinctly, in words, answer it. She had chosen the portion that He could call "good." And was that travail and toil, even in service for Himself ? No, that was rather her sister's portion ; but a seat-expressive of rest-(consider it), a listening ear, whilst the Lord ministered to her; -and that is all that is needful ! What a contrast between this poor rich king, communing with his own heart to find out what is that good portion for man; and the rich poor saint in blessed communion with infinite Love, infinite Wisdom, infinite Power, and resting satisfied ! Surely, Solomon in all his glory had no throne to be compared to hers, as she sat lowly "at His feet." And mark carefully, for thy soul's good, that word of tender grace that the Lord said, This is needful. He who had listened to the groan of man's heart through those long four thousand years, and knew its need fully and exactly, says that this good portion must not be regarded as any nigh attainment for the few, but as the very breath of life-for all. If He knows that it is needful for thee, then, my soul, fear not but that He will approve thy taking the same place and claiming Mary's portion on the ground of thy need alone.

Yes but does this really answer the root cause of the groan in our chapter ? Is the shadow of death dispelled by sitting at His feet ! Is death no longer the dark unknown ? Shall we learn lessons there that shall rob it of all its terrors, and replace the groan with song? Yes, truly, for look at the few significant foot-prints of that dear Mary's walk after this. See her at that supper made for the Lord at Bethany. Here Martha is serving with perfect acceptance no word of rebuke to her now ; she has learned the lesson of that day spoken of in the tenth of Luke. But Mary still excels her, for, whilst sitting at His feet in that same day of tenth of Luke, she has heard some story that makes her come with precious spikenard to anoint His body for the burial! Strange act ! And how could that affectionate heart force itself calmly to anoint the object of its love for burial ? Ah! still a far sweeter story must she have heard "at His feet," and a bright light must have pierced the shadow of the tomb. For, look at that little company of devoted women around His cross, and you will find no trace of the no less devoted Mary, the sister of Lazarus, there. The other Mary’s may come, in tender affection, but in the dark ignorance of unbelief, to search for Him, in His empty tomb on the third day. She, with no less tender affection surely, is not there. Is this silence of Scripture without significance, or are we to see the reason for it in that "good portion" she had chosen "at His feet"?-and there did she hear, not only the solemn story of His cross leading her to anoint His body for the burial, but the joyful story of His resurrection, so that there was no need for her to seek '' the living amongst the dead;"-she knew that He was risen, and she, as long before, " sat still in the house ".' Oh, blessed calm ! Oh, holy peace ! What is the secret of it ? Wouldst thou learn it ! Sit, then, too, "at His feet," in simple conscious emptiness and need. Give Him the still more blessed part of ministering to thee. So all shall be in order. Thou shalt have the good portion that shall dispel all clouds of death, and pour over thy being heaven's pure sunlight of resurrection; and, with that Light, song shall displace groan, whilst thy Lord shall have the still better part-His own surely-of giving; for '' more -blessed it is to give than to receive." All is then in divine, perfect harmony and order. Rejoice and sing, for singing too is also now in harmony. F.C. J.

(To be continued.)

"ABOVE THE SUN."

(Continued from page 17.)

Cease, ye Saints, your occupation with the sorrow-scenes of earth;
Let the ear of faith be opened, use the sight of second birth.
Long your hearts have been acquainted with the teardrop and the groan;
These are weeds of foreign growing, seek the flowers that are your own.

He who in the sandy desert looks for springs to quench his thirst
Finds his fountains are but slime-pits such as Siddim's vale accursed;
He who hopes to still the longing of the heart within his breast
Must not search within a scene where naught is at one moment's rest.

Lift your eyes above the heavens to a sphere as pure as fair;
There, no spot of earth's defilement, never fleck of sin-stain there.
Linger not to gaze on Angels, Principalities, nor Powers;
Brighter visions yet shall greet you, higher dignities are ours.

All night's golden constellations shine but dim as day draws on,
And the moon must veil her beauties at the rising of the sun.
Let the grove be wrapped in silence as the nightingale outflings
Her unrivaled minstrelsy, the eclipse of every bird that sings.

Michael, Israel's Prince, is glorious, clad in panoply of war;
"Who is as the God of Israel" ("Michael" means " Who is as God.") is his challenge near and far;
But a higher still than Michael soon shall meet your raptured gaze,
And ye shall forget his glories in your Captain's brighter rays.

List a moment to the music of the mighty Gabriel's voice,
With its message strange and tender, making Mary's heart rejoice.
Then on-speed, for sweeter music soon expectant faith shall greet:
His who chained another Mary willing captive at His feet.
But, let memory first glance backward to the scenes "beneath the sun,"
How the fairest earthly landscape echoed soon some dying groan.
There the old-creation's story, shared between the dismal Three:
Sin and Suffering and Sorrow summed that Babel's history.

Now the contrast-vain ye listen for one jarring note to fall;
For each dweller in that scene's in perfect harmony with all.
Joy has here expelled all sadness, perfect peace displaced all fears-
All around that central Throne makes the true "music of the spheres."

Now upsoar ye on faith's pinion, leave all creature things behind,
And approach yon throne of glory. Love in Light ye there shall find;
For with thrill of joy behold One-woman-born-upon that Throne,
And, with deepest self-abasement, in His beauties read your own.

Joyful scan the glories sparkling from His gracious Head to Feet;
Never one that does not touch some tender chord of memory sweet;
And e'en heaven's music lacks till blood-bought ones their voices raise
High o'er feebler angel-choirs; for richer grace wakes nobler praise.

Vain the quest amongst the thronging of the heavenly angel band
For one trace of human kinship, for one touch of human hand;
'Amongst those spirits bright, ethereal, "man" would stand a man alone;
Higher must he seek for kinship-thought amazing-on God's Throne !

Does it not attract your nature, is it not a rest to see
One e'en there at glory's summit, yet with human form like thee?
Form assumed when love compelled Him to take up your hopeless case,
Form He never will relinquish; ever shall it voice his grace.

Wondrous grace ! thus making heaven but our Father's house prepared;
Since, by One who tells God's love, in wounded human form 'tis shared.
See, His Head is crowned with glory! yet a glory not distinct
From an hour of deepest suffering, and a crown of thorns succinct.

Draw still closer, with the reverence born of love and holy fear;
Look into those tender eyes which have been dimmed with human tear-
Tears in which ye see a glory hidden from th' Angelic powers;
Ours alone the state that caused them, their beauty then alone is ours.

Look once more upon that Head:finds memory no attraction there
In the time when, homeless-wandering, night-dews filled that very hair?
Brightest glories sparkle round it-crowned with honor now; and yet,
Once it found its only pillow on storm-tossed Gennesaret!

See that Hand ! it once grasped Peter's as he sank beneath the wave,-
Snatched the widow's son at Nain from the portal of the grave,-
Touched with healing grace the leper, gave the light to him born dark.
Deeper love to you is spoken in that nail-print-precious mark !

Let your tender gaze now rest on those dear Feet that erstwhile trod
All the weary, painful journey leading Him from God to God;
Took Him in His gentle grace wherever need and suffering thronged,
Or one lonely soul was found who for the living water longed.

Those the very Feet once bathed with a pardoned sinner's tears,
And anointed, too, with spikenard speaking Mary's love and fears;
Took Him weary on His journey till refreshed on Sychar's well
By that other thirsty parched one letting Him His love out-tell.

Blessed Feet! 'tis only sinners see the depth of beauty there;
Angels never have bowed o'er them with a penitential tear.
Angels may regard the nail-print, with a holy, reverent calm;
Ye who read the love it tells of, must break forth with thankful psalm.

Draw yet nearer, look more fondly; yea, e'en nestle and abide
In that covert from the storm-blast, in the haven of His Side.
That deep wound speaks man's great hatred, but His love surpassing great:
There were focused, at one spear-point, all God's love and all man's hate!
Rest, ye saints ! your search is ended; ye have reached the source of peace.
By the side of Jesus risen, earth's dull cares and sorrows cease.
Here are Elim's wells and palm-trees, grateful shade and waters cool,
Whilst in Christ's deep love there's healing far beyond Bethesda's pool.

Closer, closer, cluster round Him, till the kindling of that Love
Melt your hearts to like compassions whilst amid like scenes ye move.
Only thus abiding in Him can ye fruitfulness expect,
Or, 'mid old-creation sorrows, new-creation love reflect.

Ever closer gather round Him, till "the glory of that Light"
Dims the old-creation glitter, proves earth s glare to be but-night !
Gaze thereon till His attractions wing your feet as on ye run,
And faith merges into sight, in your own home "Above the Sun." F. C. J.

(To be continued.)

Satan is constantly endeavoring to awaken or strengthen within us a high opinion of ourselves, knowing that this will weaken our sense of dependence on Jesus, make us uncharitable toward each other, and put us off our guard.

CHAPTER X. (Continued from page 293.)

The climax of Ecclesiastes' exercises seems to have been reached in the previous chapter. The passionate storm is over, and now his thoughts ripple quietly along in proverb and wise saying. It is as if he said " I was altogether beyond my depth. Now I will confine myself only to the present life, without touching on the things unseen, and here I can pronounce with assurance the conclusion of wisdom, and sum up both its advantages and yet inadequacy. "

The proverbs that follow are apparently disjointed, and yet, when closely looked at, are all connected with this subject. He shows, in effect, that, take any view of life, and practically wisdom has manifold advantages.

Ver. 1. The least ingredient of folly spoils as with the corruption of death the greatest wisdom. (There is only One whose name is as ointment poured forth untainted.)

Ver. 2. The wise man's heart is where it should be. He is governed by his understanding, (for the heart in the Old Testament is the seat of the thought as well as of the affections, as the same word, "lehv," translated "wisdom" in the next verse shows), a fool is all askew in his own being. His heart is at his left hand. In other words, his judgment is dethroned.

Ver. 3. Nor can he hide what he really is for any length of time. "The way," with its tests, soon reveals him, and he proclaims to all his folly.

Ver. 4. Yielding to the powers above rather than rebelling against them, marks the path of wisdom. This may be an example of the testing of "the way" previously spoken of, for true wisdom shines brightly out in the presence of an angry ruler. Folly leaves its place,- a form of expression tantamount to rebelling, and may throw some light on that stupendous primal folly when angels "left their place," or, as Jude writes, "kept not their first estate, but left their habitation," and thus broke into the folly of re-belling against the Highest. For let any leave their place, and it means necessarily confusion and disorder. If all has been arranged according to the will and wisdom of the Highest, he who steps out of the place assigned him rebels, and discord takes the place of harmony. The whole of the old creation is thus in disorder and confusion. All have "left their place." For God, the Creator of all, has been dethroned. It is the blessed work of One we know, once more to unite in the bonds of love and willing obedience all things in heaven and in earth, and to bind in such way all hearts to the throne of God, that never more shall one "leave his place."

Vers. 5-7. But rulers themselves under the sun are not free from folly, and this shows itself in the disorder that actually proceeds from them. Orders and ranks are not in harmony. Folly is exalted, and those with whom dignities accord are in lowly place. It is another view of the present confusion, and how fully the coming of the Highest showed it out! A stable, a manger, rejection, and the cross, were the portion under the sun of the King of kings. That fact rights everything even now, in one sense, to faith for the path closest to the King must be really necessarily the highest, though it be in the sight of man the lowest. Immanuel, the Son of David, walking as a servant up and down the land that was His own – The Lord Jesus, The Son of Man, having less than the foxes or birds of the air, not even where to lay his head,- Christ, the Son of God, wearied with His journey, on the well of Sychar,- this has thrown a glory about the lowly path now, that makes all the grandeur of the great ones of the earth less than nothing. Let the light of His path shine on this scene, and no longer shall we count it an evil under. the sun for folly and lawlessness to have the highest place, as men speak, but rather count it greatest honor to be worthy to suffer for His name, for we are still in the kingdom and patience of the Lord Jesus Christ,- not the Kingdom and Glory. That shall come soon.

Vers. 8-10. But then, Ecclesiastes continues, is there complete security in the humbler ranks of life? Nay, there is no occupation that has not its accompanying danger. Digging or hedging, quarrying or cleaving wood,- all have their peculiar difficulties. Although there, too, wisdom is still evidently better than brute strength.

Vers. 11 to 15 turn to the same theme of comparison of wisdom and folly, only now with regard to the use of the tongue. The most gifted charmer (lit. master of the tongue) is of no worth after the serpent has bitten. The waters that flow commend the spring whence they issue. Grace speaks for the wise :folly, from beginning to end, proclaims the fool; and nowhere is that folly more manifested than in the boastfulness of assertion as to the future.

"Predicting words he multiplies, yet man can never know
"The thing that shall be; yea, what cometh after who shall
tell?
"Vain toil of fools !It wearieth him,- this man who knoweth
naught
"That may befall his going to the city."

This seems to be exactly in line with the apostle James:"Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain:ye who know not what shall be on the morrow."

Vers. 16-18. The land is blessed or cursed according to her head. A well-marked principle in Scripture, which has evidently forced itself on the notice of human wisdom in the person of Ecclesiastes. A city flourishes under the wise diligence of her rulers, or goes to pieces under their neglect and sensual revelry. For the tendency to decay is everywhere under the sun, and no matter what the sphere,-high or low, city or house,-constant diligence alone offsets that tendency.

Ver. 19. The whole is greater than its part. Money can procure both the feast and the wine; but these are not, even in our preacher's view, the better things, but the poorer, as chapter 7:has shown us. We, too, know that which is infinitely higher than feasts and revelry of earth, and here money avails nothing. "Wine and milk, "joy and food, are here to be bought without money and without price. The currency of that sphere is not corruptible gold nor silver, but the love that gives, – sharing all it possesses. There it is love that answereth all things:- the more excellent way, inasmuch as it covers and is the spring of all gifts and graces. Without love, the circulating medium of that new creation, a man is poor indeed, -is worth nothing, nay, is nothing, (i Cor. 13:) He may have the most attractive and showy of gifts:the lack of love makes the silver tongue naught but empty sound,- a lack of love makes the deepest understanding naught; and whilst he may be a very model of what the world falsely calls charity, giving of his goods to feed the poor, and even his body to be burned, it is love alone that gives life and substance to it all,- lacking love it profits nothing. He who abounds most in loving, and consequent self-emptying, is the richest there. The words of the Lord Jesus in Luke 12:confirm this:" So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." The two are in direct contrast. Rich here – laying up treasure for one's self here – is poverty there, and the love that gives is divine riches. For he who loves most has himself drunk deepest into the very nature of God, for God is Love, and his heart fully satisfied with that which alone in all the universe can ever satisfy the heart of man, filled up, – surely, therefore, rich,- pours forth its streams of bounty and blessing according to its ability to all about. How thoroughly the balances of the sanctuary reverse the estimation of the world.

But, then, how may we become rich in that true, real sense? To obtain the money that "answereth all things " under the sun, men toil and plan. Perhaps as the balances of the sanctuary show that selfish accumulation here is poverty there, so the means of attaining true riches may be, in some sort, the opposite to those prevailing for the false-"quietness and confidence."

The apostle, closing his beautiful description of charity, says:"Follow after charity." Ponder its value-meditate on its beauties – till your heart becomes fascinated, and you press with longing toward it. But as it is difficult to be occupied with "Love" in the abstract, can we find anywhere an embodiment of love ? A person who illustrates it in its perfection, in whose character every glorious mark that the apostle depicts in this 13th chapter of Corinthians is shown in perfect moral beauty-yea, who is in himself the one complete perfect expression of love. And, God be thanked, we know One such; and, as we read the sweet and precious attributes of Love, we recognize that the Holy Spirit has pictured every lineament of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wouldst thou be rich, then, my soul ? Follow after, occupy thyself with, press toward, the Lord Jesus, till His beauties so attract as to take off thy heart from every other infinitely inferior attraction, and the kindling of His love shall warm thy heart with the same holy flame, and thou shalt seek love's ease – love's rest – in pouring out all thou hast in a world where need of all kinds is on every side, and thus be "rich toward God." So may it be for the writer, and every reader, to the praise of His grace. Amen.

Where are we, in time, my readers ? Are we left as shipwrecked sailors upon a raft, without chart or compass, and know not whether sunken wreck or cliff-bound coast shall next threaten us ? No; a true divine chart and compass is in our hands, and we may place our finger upon the exact chronological latitude and longitude in which our lot is cast. Mark the long voyage of the professing Church past the quiet waters of Ephesus, where first love quickly cools and is lost; past the stormy waves of persecution which drive her onward to her desired haven, in Smyrna; caught in the dangerous eddy, and drifted to the whirlpool of the world in Pergamos, followed by the developed Papal hierarchy in Thyatira, with the false woman in full command of the ship; past Sardis, with its memories of a divine recovery in the Reformation of the sixteenth century:- Philadelphia and Laodicea alone are left; and, with mutual contention and division largely in the place of brotherly love, who can question but that we have reached the last stage, and that there is every mark of "Laodicea about us ? This being so, mark the word of our Lord Jesus to the present state of the professing Church:'' Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, but knowest not that thou art poor, and blind, and naked, and wretched, and miserable." Yes, in the light of God, in the eyes of the Lord, in the judgment of the sanctuary, we live in a day of poverty. It is this which characterizes the day in which our lot is cast,- a lack of all true riches, whilst the air is filled with boastings of wealth and attainment.
Further, I can but believe that we whose eyes scan these lines are peculiarly in danger here. Thyatira goes on to the very end. Sardis is an offshoot from her. Sardis goes on to the end. Philadelphia is an offshoot from her. Philadelphia goes on to the end, and is thus the stock from whence the proud self-sufficiency of Laodicea springs. If we (you and I) have shared in any way in the blessings of Philadelphia, we share in the dangers of Laodicea. Yea, he who thinks he represents or has the characteristics of Philadelphia, is most open to the boast of Laodicea. Let us have to do-have holy commerce-with Him who speaks. Buy of Him the "gold purified by the fire." But Row are we to buy? What can we give for that gold, when He says we are already poor ? A poor man is a bad buyer. Yes, under the sun, where toil and self-dependency are the road to wealth; but above the sun quietness and confidence prevail, and the poor man is the best – the only – buyer. Look at that man in Mark's Gospel, chapter 10:, with every mark of Laodicea upon him. Blind, by nature; poor, for he sat and begged; naked, for he has thrown away his garment, and thus surely pitiable, miserable, now watch him buy of the Lord.

"What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" "Lord, that I might receive my sight." "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." And the transaction is complete; the contract is settled; the buying is over. "Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." Yes; there is just one thing that poor, naked, blind man has, that is of highest value even in the eyes of the Lord, and that is the quiet confidence of his poor heart. All Scripture shows that is what God ever seeks,-the heart of man to return and rest in Him. It is all that we can give in the purchase, but it buys all He has. "All things are possible to him that believeth." In having to do with the Lord Jesus we deal with the rich One whose very joy and rest it is to give; and it is surely easy buying from Him whose whole heart's desire is to give. Nothing is required but need and faith to complete the purchase. Ver. 20. The next counsel of human wisdom is to avoid a word, even in secret,-nay, even a thought,- of rebellion against those in authority. But who can thus control the thoughts ? What can check the word of chafing against authority ? Does' not the clearer light of Revelation again show us the "more excellent way"? Suppose the King has "loved me, and given Himself for me"? – has been "wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities"? His royal head crowned with thorns for me, indeed; and the "rich One for my sake has become poor," shall I – can I – curse "the King," or speak evil of this rich One? Impossible.

"No man speaking by the Holy Ghost calleth Jesus accursed." Human wisdom never could have thought of such a way to do away with that rebellion against authority which is natural to the heart of man. F. C. J.

(To be continued.)

Question 10.-Please explain Matt. 18:10. To what does the expression, "their angels," refer?

Answer.-The first fourteen verses of this chapter are devoted to showing wherein true greatness consists. Again and again did the spirit of emulation show itself among the disciples, and notably so in connection with the prophecy of our Lord's sufferings, as in the passage before us, taken in connection with

Mark 9:30-37. More painful yet, this was manifested at the last Supper, when, we would think, all selfish ambition would be cheeked by the sorrow pressing upon them; but such are our hearts.

In answer to their iniquity, who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, our Lord placed a little child in their midst, and said that only those with the childlike, humble spirit could have any place in the kingdom. Such little ones were not to be offended-better far to be drowned, to lose an eye, a foot, or a hand, than to be an occasion of stumbling. Nor were these little ones, insignificant as they might be in men's eyes, to be despised. On earth they were thrust aside, forbidden to approach the Lord; but how different in heaven! There they had the place of closest access into the immediate presence of God. This brings ms to the expression "their angels." The meaning of the whole passage being clear, we have only to ask what construction of the words in question is most scriptural. Does "their angels" mean guardian angels, those who are appointed to care for the little ones? In support of this view, Dan. 10:13. 20, 21 is cited, to show that there were special angelic princes over nations, as Grecia, Persia, and Israel. Hebrews 1:14. it is claimed, would show the same guardianship in the case of individuals. Of course, it is perfectly clear that angels do minister to the people of God, more especially in the preceding dispensation, as now we have the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. But is the thought of individual guardianship a scriptural one? Does it not rather savor of Rome? National oversight is something different, and hinted at in the mention of "principalities and powers; " but,, then, do individuals have evil guardians as well as holy? No other Scripture has a hint of such a thing.

Nor is such a thought suggested in the passage we are considering; indeed, it would do violence to the context. On earth little ones may be despised; in heaven their angels behold the face of God. " Their angels," then, simply means the little ones themselves, but in spirit, not in body. We have this use of the word angel for the disembodied spirit in Acts 12:15. Peter had been shut up in prison under threat of death. The saints had come together to pray for his deliverance; and while so engaged, Peter, set free by the angel of the Lord, came and knocked at the gate where the saints were. On being assured that it was Peter himself, they said, " It, is his angel; " that is, he has been slain, and this is his spirit.

A similar, though symbolic, use we have of the word angel in the epistles to the seven churches (Rev., chaps. i-3:). Here the angel is the star or light of the Church, the spiritual part, we might say, represented at the close of each epistle by the words, "he that hath an ear ."

We would say, then, that Scripture does not warrant the thought of special guardian angels. They are all ministering spirits, engaged, unseen by human eye, in errands of providential care and mercy for the heirs of salvation. They are not prominently brought forward in the New Testament, doubtless for the simple reason that Scripture, foreseeing the misuse by men of this ministry, putting it in the place of Christ and the Holy Ghost, has kept them in the background. Christ, the Sun, has eclipsed the other lights which in darker days might come more prominently into view.

Question 11.-Please explain John 8:6, "Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground."

Answer.-The first and obvious thought would be that our Lord was seeking to arrest the attention of these accusers of the sinful woman. The silent pause, the quiet writing on the ground, as though writing in their hearts, might well serve to make them pause too, and let memory do its work, reminding them of sins on their part. But failing to touch consciences, hardened by self-righteousness, in this way, He rises, and in unmistakable words says, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her;" and again the pause and the writing, to impress it upon their hearts. And now even their dull consciences are aroused; not, alas, to lead them in confession to Him who is perfect love as well as perfect light, but to leave the light of that presence where all things are detected. .

But our Lord's acts were, beyond question, symbolical, and intended by their very character to convey spiritual truths. His feeding the multitude was intended to show not merely His divine power and goodness, but to symbolize the spiritual food- Himself-which gives life to the world (John 6:). When He opened the eyes of the blind man (John 9:), the spittle and clay cannot but suggest the contrast with the defiling nature of the act in the Old Testament (Number 12:14.). Therefore we can expect to find a significance in each part of this action of our Lord.

The dust of the earth suggests death.-"Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." The writing cannot but remind us of those writings of God, the one upon the tables of stone, in the law, and the other upon the wall-"found wanting; " While the Lord's stooping, Himself, to write thus would suggest both the holy requirements of the law, the fact that they had broken it, and that He in grace would stoop to take His place in death to set the sinner free. "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death " (Ps. 22:15.). On this ground He can say to the poor child of sin and shame, "Neither do I condemn thee:Go, and sin no more."

There is nothing superficial or partial in the work of Christ on the Cross. It is not only the foundation of peace, establishing the ground upon which God can meet the sinner in grace, pardoning all his trespasses, but it effects a new relationship for the child of God.

1. It shows our relation to sin. "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" "He that is dead is freed [justified] from sin." (Rom. 6:2, 7.) This is the fact:it is for faith to make it practical in our lives. '' Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:2:)

2. The Law is the strength of sin (i Cor. 15:56), not the power nor the rule of holiness. The motions of sin are by the law. Sin takes occasion by the commandment to work the desires of the flesh in us. If we are under the law as a rule of life there can be no holiness,- only bondage. "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. vii, 5, 8, 24, etc.) But how clearly does the cross separate us from the law! '' Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Rom. 7:4.) How carefully is the truth guarded here from the charge of antinomianism – of permitting sin! Nay, it is that we may be holy that we have become dead to the law.

3. But the cross not only shows our relation to sin and the law:it also marks our connection with the
world. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." (Gal. 6:14.) The world is under judgment:it is going on in utter carelessness of its doom. We have anticipated that judgment, and in the person of our substitute have passed through and beyond it. That cross was what the world gave the Lord:His relations with the world were marked by it, and for us as well. How many heart-aches, disappointments, failures, as of Lot, would the people of God be spared did we but realize this truth, and not merely submit, but glory in that wondrous cross.

" Forbid It, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the cross of Christ, my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I'd sacrifice them to His blood."

The Levite who presided over the idolatrous worship of the house of Micah, and later of the tribe of Dan, was of the family of Gershom, the son of Moses. Judges 18:, 30, R.V.) Nabal, the churlish world-ling, was of the house of Caleb, (i Sam. 25:3.) What contrasts to their progenitors ! And do we not learn in this to "cease from man," to "let no man glory in men " ? It is not ancestry, but Christ, who saves ; not lineage, but individual devotedness, that insures faithfulness to God.