Every event or fact recorded in Scripture is significant. There is some purpose in its being recorded. This is true not only of events or of facts that are directly stated, but also of those with which we become acquainted by comparing two or more passages. Our knowledge of those which belong to this latter class, of course depends on our diligence in the close study of the Word which such comparison of passages necessitates. But "the diligent soul shall be made fat." All effort of this kind, if really in humble faith, will result in abundant reward.

As an illustration I call attention to the fact of Hezekiah's association with his father Ahaz for about
two years. It is nowhere directly stated that it was so. But we know it was so by comparing the passages which describe the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Hoshea king of Israel. Hoshea began to reign in the twelfth year of Ahaz (2 Kings 17:i), Hezekiah began to reign in the third year of Hoshea (2 Kings 18:i), and Ahaz reigned sixteen years (2 Kings 16:2). 2 Kings 18:9, 10 shows that the fourth and sixth years of Hezekiah respectively correspond with the seventh and ninth of Hoshea. At first sight it might be thought that these verses are in conflict with the first verse of the chapter which apparently makes the first year of Hezekiah correspond with Hoshea's third instead of with his fourth, as consistency with vers. 9, 10 requires. But it may be that in the troubled times which followed the death of Jeroboam II., the beginning of the year for the Israelitish kings was somewhat later than it was for the kings of Judah, even if it was not so from the revolt of the ten tribes under Jeroboam I. This supposition entirely meets the difficulty and avoids resorting to the conjecture of a scribal or copyist's error in ver. i as formerly I have done. If, then, Hoshea's third year began somewhat later than Ahaz's twelfth, it is easy to see how Hezekiah's first may have begun in Hoshea's third and yet for the most part have corresponded with his fourth. But Hoshea's first corresponds with Ahaz's twelfth, only beginning later; therefore Hoshea's fourth, corresponding with Hezekiah's first, corresponded also with Ahaz's fifteenth, and since Ahaz reigned sixteen years Hezekiah must have been associated with him for two years, or at least for parts of two years.

If now by the comparison of the passages we have deduced the fact, it is necessary to inquire what it signifies. For what purpose is it thus put on record? Has it any meaning? Is there any lesson to be learned from it ? That the fact is significant we need not doubt. Everything in Scripture has significance. That the Spirit of God had some purpose in putting it on record we must accept. That there is design in the form of the record is also evident, and the study needful in order to discover the fact and which is necessitated by the form of the record only the more emphasizes its importance. The trouble to which we are put in order to find out what the fact is fixes our attention upon it, arouses our interest in it and provokes in us the inquiry, What is its meaning ? The assertion that every scripture "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," impels us to ask, What doctrine, reproof, correction or instruction in righteousness has this fact to give us ? If the things that of old happened to Israel were for " ensamples," in what is this, then, an ensample ? If they were written for our learning, what, then, are we to learn from these two years' association of Hezekiah with Ahaz ?

A glance at the personal charter of Ahaz and the distinguishing features of his reign will start us on the road to what we are seeking for. Unbelief seems to have been the predominating element in Ahaz's character. He had no faith in God and put no reliance on His word. This principle of unbelief was accompanied with hypocritical pretension and mock humility. (See Is. 7:10-12). Being a man of such a character we need not wonder at the sad features of his reign. He did not take David for his pattern, but the kings of Israel. Prom the beginning of his reign, and as his own deliberate choice, he turned away from the path of faith to follow the wicked kings of Israel and to imitate their example in sin and disobedience. What an unhappy choice!

But one misstep leads to another, and so we are told next that he also imitated the heathen, making his son "to pass through the fire" and sacrificing and burning incense "in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree."

In subjection to the chastening hand of God is another element in the character of Ahaz. On account of his sins God delivered him into the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel, and also to the Edomites and Philistines, who inflicted upon him a terrible humiliation. They reduced him to very great distress, but instead of bowing to God in self-judgment and repentance he appeals to the king of Assyria for help. Isa. 7:shows, too, that he does this in the face of gracious encouragement and warning from God. It is therefore in headstrong self-will that he turns to the king of Assyria for aid. He will not submit to God, but he must have at all cost the help of man. He gave to the king of Assyria, to secure his help, not only the gold and silver in the treasuries of the king's house, but also that of the house of the Lord, appropriating thus what had been dedicated to God to his own personal ends.

Having thus voluntarily placed himself in the position of dependence upon the king of Assyria, he trespassed yet more against the Lord. He sacrificed to the gods of Syria, he put a stop to the worship of the Lord, closing the doors of His house, and established instead idolatry, making altars in every corner of Jerusalem and high places to burn incense to other gods in every city of Judah. He gathered together the vessels of the house of God, cutting them in pieces, and sent them to the king of Assyria, taking what belonged to God for his own uses.

What a dark picture! How plainly the reign of Ahaz sets forth the pre-dominance of those principles of unbelief by which the people of God are turned from walking in the steps of Christ-the one blessed path of faith, to perverting and corrupting the faith, and finally to the complete denial of it. It is a very solemn warning and example.

But we must turn now to the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah. While Ahaz is yet reigning Hezekiah is in some way, and for some reason that we are not told, put upon the throne. But whatever the reason and in whatever way, this is the simple fact. We cannot be far astray in supposing that there must have been great exercise on the part of those who sought to be faithful to the Lord in those exceedingly dark and difficult times. They may have urgently demanded the exaltation of Hezekiah to the throne. Discerning in the heir-apparent one who gave promise of the energy of faith, his association on the throne would satisfy them and rally them to a brave effort to reverse the obnoxious policy of Ahaz. But we need not speculate on what may have been. The one thing with which we are concerned is the fact that simultaneously with Hezekiah's coming to the throne a new movement began which gathered the faithful and true, and which under the wise counsel of Hezekiah, and by his authority, irresistibly established itself, and this, too, while Ahaz
was still living. The predominating forces were powerless to prevent it. The doors of the house of the Lord were opened, the priests and Levites sanctified themselves and cleansed the house of the Lord, and the worship of the Lord, in the form which He Himself had required, was again established. It was a return to faith, to the truth, to obedience to God and to dependence upon His word.

What a picture this movement under Hezekiah is of the recovery of the people of God to the faith once for all given them, and of the reestablishment of that faith at a time when they have been in departure from it and are giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils!

Now the point which I wish to emphasize above all others is that this movement was initiated and established before the death of Ahaz. Hezekiah, after coming to the throne, did not wait for Ahaz to die before he undertook to reverse the policy of his father. In his first year, and at the very beginning of the year too, he began the work which so distinguished his reign. This year we have seen corresponded with Ahaz's fifteenth year. He was then associated with Ahaz for two years. Is this fact significant ? Has it a lesson to teach us ? Let us see. Principles of unbelief are predominant now- principles which destroy our precious faith. How generally prevalent, too, they are. The word of God is ignored and set aside, the truth as He gave it is trampled on, pure human inventions are substituted in place of what has been ordered of God, and divine things prostituted to purely human ends. It is a time of departure from the faith and the truth which is from God. Such is the state of things which exists to-day. Figuratively speaking, Ahaz is reigning now. The principles for which he stands, and of which his reign is the expression, still prevail.

But must faith wait till they cease to act or exhaust themselves before it claims its God-given portion? No, thank God! Faith has a right to the word of God, to the truth as God has revealed it. Though unbelief in certain popular phases usurps it and uses it to further its own interests, Ahaz-like, still it is faith's prerogative to claim it. This is what we see in Hezekiah. He claimed and used his liberty to obey the word of God, to do what was right in the sight of the Lord, to pattern after David. He had the energy of faith to do it.

We do not read of any resistance to this movement on the part of Ahaz. But whether he assisted or not is no concern to us. Our picture is that of faith in irresistible strength on the one hand and of the powerlessness of unbelief on the other to hinder.

If there is energy of faith to claim and obey the word of God, unbelief is helpless. It cannot stand before one who submits in simplicity to the Scriptures. It is weak to hinder simple dependence upon God. Unbelieving principles, however prevailing, have no power to prevent faith's enjoyment of the things of God or hinder its efforts to recover and possess itself of the inheritance which belongs to it in the word of God.

Let us, then, be like Hezekiah. Let us follow his example. Let us waste no time in brooding over the ruin unbelief has wrought all around us, and in wishing the prevailing conditions about us to change, but in the face of them and in spite of them, let us put our trust in God, go forth to obey Him and live
in simple-hearted dependence upon His Word, that Word being our only warrant for the path of faith. In such a course we shall receive not simply greater, but higher blessing than that given to Hezekiah. C. C.

" By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down ; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem ; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."

While this psalm, as may be plainly seen, applies primarily to a godly Jewish remnant in the days of the Babylonish captivity, yet it seems to be equally clear that it has a deep and very solemn meaning for ourselves, both as individuals, and as members of the true Church of God. It has lessons for these days in which, as all godly Christians must own, that which professes to be the Church has sadly departed from the truth and is, in great measure, under the control and influence of the world in its varied forms, as pictured in Babylon.

In ver. 1, we see these captives sitting down (under compulsion no doubt) by the rivers of Babylon. As these rivers were formed from the small brooks and streams which came from every part of the land, we find, in type, as they pass along before the eyes of these captives, the combined influence of the world in its most attractive forms presented to us. And what is the result? Do we, like these captives, turn away from it and with weeping "remember Zion," or does it attract our attention, occupy our time and engage our thought? Alas that such should be the case, that there should be so little weeping, so little turning away to the things of the Lord and to the city of His Name! The harp is silent, and in its place there is weeping and earnest prayer that, "in the day of Jerusalem," which to faith will surely come, vers. 7-9, vengeance may come upon those who now triumph over them.

The songs and mirth required (ver. 3) of these captives by their conquerors were probably a means of furnishing amusement and sport to these heartless victors. At least, the refusal to continue to "sing the Lord's song in a strange land" would seem to indicate as much. Surely had it been that some were really moved by the reality of these things in the hearts of the singers, there would have been no complaint whatever. As the apostle says, (i Pet. 4:14), "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye." The world, ruled over by Satan, "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4), is indeed a hard and heartless master. How sad it is to see the professing church so thoroughly submitting to his power without protest! Truly it is a cause for much weeping, prayer, and confession of sin to God.

But we can thank God that there are those who have been brought to realize that such a position is, in truth, "a strange land," and that "the Lord's song "cannot be sung there. Of the wicked, Jer. 12:2 says, " Thou (the Lord) art near in their mouth, and far from their reins." In contrast with this, John 4:23, 24; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16 all show that true worship and praise must come from the heart. If, in the first place, the heart is not right with God, we may be assured that all the cold formalism of so-called worship is nothing but a mockery. In view of this, is not the question of ver. 4 raised at once in the minds of honest Christians? If so, let us face the question squarely, let us remove that which so seriously hinders our spiritual growth, and so deeply dishonors the name of our blessed Lord, and let us not be satisfied with anything which deprives us of the great privilege of meeting together with His own where we can, "in spirit and in truth " sing "the songs of Zion."

Through God's goodness, this may now be the happy privilege of each one of us, but for the Jew of those days it was a glorious event for which, as we have already seen, faith was steadily and persistently watching, and in vers. 5 and 6 we see how this question so completely occupied the attention of this godly remnant, that other things which natural men regard as of utmost importance were not in any measure to be compared with it.

" If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." All the natural skill, energy and strength so carefully trained and developed for providing the many necessary, useful or enjoyable things of life were to be entirely forgotten or laid aside. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem." No other subject of conversation was to be considered of such importance, neither was any earthly pleasure to be allowed so large a place in the heart.

And why did Jerusalem fill such a place in the mind of the Jew? It was the city that the Lord had "chosen to place His Name there." It was here that the people came together for worship. It was indeed to them, as its name implies, the foundation of peace. To us it speaks, no doubt, of the presence of God reached through the cross, the true foundation of peace, where He "made peace through the blood of His cross " (Col. 1:20). It is on this ground that we may gather in His name to worship Him "in spirit and in truth " and to " sing the Lord's song" not "in a strange land" but in His very presence (Matt. 18:20).

In closing, I would simply call attention to the important spiritual application of vers. 5 and 6 to ourselves in the light of these things. May the sharp rebuke which is found there, right upon the surface, be taken home by each one of us and may it be blessed to us all, turning our hearts, our thoughts and our lives more and more away from this dark scene unto Him who loves us and gave Himself for us. We may be assured that such a return to the things of the Lord would be owned by Him and would result in large blessing and spiritual growth in our midst. In the words of the beautiful hymn-

Lord, let us ne'er forget
Thy rich, Thy precious love,
Our theme of joy and wonder here
Our endless song above.

O let Thy love constrain
Our souls to cleave to Thee,
And ever in our hearts remain
That word, "Remember Me."

F. W. H.

"By the grace of God I am what I am:and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain" (i Cor. 15:10).

Once, a lost and helpless sinner, Rom. 3:23.
At the cross of Christ I stood, John 3:14,15.
Saw the Son of God there dying, Mark 15:39.
Sealing pardon in His blood; Isaiah 55:7
And, by grace, on Him believing, Eph. 2:8.
As the "Lamb," who bore away John 1:29.
all my sins "in His own body," 1 Pet. 2:24.
I was saved that very day. 2 Cor. 6:2.
.
Refrain:

Saved by grace, to God be glory ! Eph. 1:6.
I would sing it o'er and o'er- Col. 3:6.
Gladly sing redemption's story- Eph. 1:7.
Saved by grace for evermore. Heb. 7:25

I had often heard the gospel, Heb. 4:4.
And, as often, failed to see 2 Cor. 4:4.
That the Son of God, in dying i John 4:14.
For lost sinners, died for me. i Tim. 1:15.
But my rebel heart to Calvary Rom. 5:10.
By the grace of God was led, Titus, 2:2:
There to find that, for my ransom, i Tim. 2:6.
Jesus' precious blood was shed. i Pet. 1:18, 19.

Now I love to tell to others Psalm 40:3.
How, a fellow-sinner, I Gal. 3:22.
Found a loving God had given John 3:16.
His own son for us to die ! Rom. 5:8.
Found that Jesus, once for sinners, Heb. 9:26.
Was "made sin " upon the tree, 2 Cor. 5:21.
And from judgment all believing John 5:24.
Are for evermore made free. Rom. 8:1:

G. K.

Ps. 122:and 127:

Notes of an Address by S. R., Saturday Evening, Dec. 30, 1599 Philadelphia. "''

These two psalms form part of those songs of degrees, beginning- with the hundred and twentieth psalm,-fifteen of them. They are all of a similar character, evidently connected together and developed in a very beautiful and orderly way. You know that in the last or fifth book of the Psalms, from the hundred and seventh to the end we have that which answers, as we have learned, to the book of Deuteronomy. It is the book of results going over again with God the lessons which have been learned, and getting the completion of all.

It reaches on to the very end, so that what you have at the close are just the repeated hallelujahs of a ransomed people for whom there is nothing left but worship and joy and praise. God has taken every other occupation away, and so filled them with His blessing that praise is their occupation. Thus the book of Psalms ceases amidst an outburst of hallelujahs in which not only ransomed Israel, but all the redeemed and all the earth-nature animate and inanimate, even the trees of the field-join in praises and worship that are the fruit of all that God has done.

Therefore I think, as it is the closing book of the Psalms, that the nation is before us as having begun again a national existence. It is not merely private experience, as you have in the earlier psalms, but it is now the whole people, their corporate place, and they are gathered in connection with Jerusalem and the government of God's house.

It is very suggestive to notice that the psalm which precedes these songs of degrees, is the hundred and nineteenth, that longest of all psalms. It is entirely occupied with setting forth the perfections and sufficiency of the word of God. It is divided into twenty-two parts, each part named after one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse in that part beginning with that letter. It is as though the psalmist would say that he had exhausted the whole alphabet, the whole language, to give expression to the fulness and perfection of the literal word of God.

Then, as there are eight verses in each of these divisions, it seems to suggest the new creation of which we were speaking to-day, that new covenant that is made with the house of Judah and the house of Israel, which is characterized by the law being written in their hearts. The law, not written on the tables of stone, not a condition now, but written in their hearts, so that they can say:"Oh, how love I Thy law. It is my meditation all the day." That is the word of the regenerate nation, the law of God is now in their hearts, and you have, as a blessed result of that, their ascent up to the house of God.

These songs of ascents, songs of degrees, suggest the approach, drawing near to God's house. You have, for instance, in the eighty-fourth psalm one longing and crying for the courts of the Lord. He is at a distance. It is one of the Levites, the sons of Koran. His "soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord;" his "heart and flesh crieth out for the living God," as he thinks of that home where even "the sparrow," the lonely bird, worth nothing in itself, "hath found an house" for itself; and the "swallow." a restless bird, flitting here and there, moving about, finds "a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God."

There it is the longing, and what we get here is the longing fulfilled. Now their "feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem." They are drawing-near to the house of God, and these fifteen psalms, songs of ascent, seem to mark the approaches, the steps. They tell us that they sang these songs on the steps that led to the temple, to the house of God. Be that as it may, the truths which we have in them beautifully set forth the principles on which God's people will draw near to Him and be indeed in His house.

We turn now to the first psalm that I have read, the 122nd. It has been pointed out that these fifteen psalms also form another little pentateuch in themselves, in which three psalms are grouped together. The 122nd is the third, the Sanctuary psalm of that first division. You have, for instance, the lowest step in the 120th. "In my distress, I cried unto the Lord." How simple it is, dear friends, and how blessed that the very first step in approach to God is taken in distress.

Just here, one feels tempted to say a word in case there should be a single soul here in distress as to salvation. Do you know the first step to God is in your distress ? There is where Christ meets the soul -in its distress and away from God. And if there is one needy soul here to-night that has nothing but distress because of sin, nothing but a sense of guilt and helplessness and the oppression of sins, like enemies all about them, remember that where Christ meets the soul is in its distress. He does not ask you to leave your distress before you find Him, but He meets you in your distress. He took our place in a distress which, thank God, we shall never know, in order that He might meet us and take away forever that distress of soul which the guilty sinner has.

I do not apologize for stopping just to ask any stranger that might be here to-night, to come and join us in these songs of ascent in going up to the house of God. You can begin now, if you take your place in distress of soul because of sin; and you can find that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is for you just as much as it has been for any of us. How good it is, as we are enjoying the precious things of our Lord, to be privileged to hold out an invitation to the stranger, to those young men who have not known Christ though they have heard of Him all their lives; to offer Christ to them and assure them that their fathers' Christ, their fathers' Saviour is ready to be their Saviour too, ready to meet you as you are, in your sins,-to save you.

The next psalm-121:-gives us the help that cometh. It is another step, as it were, "the hills from whence cometh my help." "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."

When you come to the third one, which we want to look at to-night, you get the sanctuary:"Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."

Thus we have three plain steps:first, the distress; second, the help,-salvation; third, the access into the place of blessing. How simple this little ascent is for every soul who desires to draw near to God. Your distress, your salvation only in Christ, and then access into the sanctuary, the presence of God.

But, of course, all these psalms apply to Israel. They refer to the nation in the last days. Redeemed Israel is the people, as I said, who have the law now in their hearts, and who are learning and have learned to sing these songs of access into the presence of God. So you find,-in a way that I do not propose to go into, for I want to speak of something quite different-that the whole thought of this psalm is corporate blessing for Israel. They go up unto the house of the Lord, at Jerusalem, the beautiful city, compact and built together. The tribes all go up there to the testimony of Israel to give thanks to the Name of the Lord. It carries us back to Deuteronomy and to Leviticus, where God made provision that wherever He put His Name, all the tribes of Israel should go up to the feasts of the Lord three times a year, to give thanks to the name of the Lord; at the Passover, where they celebrated redemption; at Pentecost; and then at the feast of Tabernacles at the close of the year, the feast of ingathering after the day of atonement, to give thanks to His Name.

In the epistle to the Hebrews, after having spoken of the blessings of the new covenant, the apostle contrasts the old covenant under the law with the new. He says:"Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched," that is, to mount Sinai, but "ye are come unto mount Zion," the earthly Jerusalem. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is mount Zion."

We need not be reminded that as Christians we have not come literally to the earthly Jerusalem; so you will remember that the apostle goes on immediately to say that we have come also to the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. That is, we have come to our proper and appropriate blessings as Christians. But it is on the basis of grace, of which mount Zion speaks, and that is in one sense suggested by the new covenant. Mount Zion is where God will establish His blessing with the people according to the new covenant, and therefore, as the earthly place is a figure and shadow of the heavenly, it seems to me that it is doing no violence at all to the real meaning of this psalm to apply it to ourselves as members of the Church of Christ.

Remembering that our mount Zion is simply the grace of God which has brought us into His presence, and that our Jerusalem is not an earthly city nor an earthly government, but that the house of God for us is a real place and that the government of God's house is a real thing; what I want to do to-night is to try and point out for us some of the thoughts that we gather in that way from this Psalm. Grace is always the same, though it may act in different connections; and holiness is always the same, though it may act in different circumstances. I feel sure that we can get for ourselves, as Christians, some lessons both of grace and holiness in connection with the house of God, from this psalm.

"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the Lord." How our hearts have often responded in the same way! How blessed it is to be able to say, from the depths of our hearts, that we are glad to go unto the house of the Lord, that we are glad to have to do with that which speaks of the presence of the Lord and His government.

For that is what is suggested by the house. It is not a question of individual salvation, nor is it a question of individual communion. When you speak of a house, I suppose you might say the simplest thought of a house is a place where more than one person lives. It suggests the thought of society, of association. The place where God dwells is called His house, in relation with His people.

But here we are confronted with a contrast. For an Israelite, God dwelt in solitude in His house. He might in His mercy call His people about the gates of that house, but then they had no access, no entrance into that house, no way of approach beyond the outer court. It was only for the few privileged priests to enter any nearer than that. Thus in connection with the house of God for Israel, we have suggested that distance which the veil down and un-rent always implies, distance and not nearness. But how blessed the contrast is for us, beloved. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. There is access right into the house of God where God Himself dwells. More than that, and most wonderful is what the apostle Peter says; that we have come to Christ, the Living Stone, to be "a spiritual house." We ourselves are built up to be the house of God, or, as the apostle Paul puts it to the Ephesians:" Builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

So the thought of a house with us suggests association with God. It is God's house, and first of all there must be association with God. Beloved, fellowship is a sweet thing, but what is it that binds us together, that makes us in any sense the house of God? It is because God is recognized in the house. It is God's house, and our association is first with Him, or we could not have any true fellowship one with another. I put it to you, dear brethren, when you say, "I was glad," what is the first joy? Is it not to meet the Lord Himself ? Is not that the first joy of all, dear as it is to meet one another and to have the sweetest association together, the gladness that is so spontaneous in our hearts is that we are going to meet the Lord.

Now, I want to be very simple to-night, so simple that we will think of the real lesson and riot of the way in which it is put. "Where two or three are gathered together unto My Name, there am I in the midst." There is the house of God for us, where the Lord is in the midst; and, brethren, if our gathering together is going to be a real spiritual thing for us, it is always to be a gathering together unto Christ Himself.

We hear people sometimes say they are leaving this and that, leaving system and all that kind of thing. Yes, alas, we have to leave our fellow-Christians oftentimes, if we are to be faithful to the Lord. But it is not anything that we leave that puts us into the house of the Lord. It is not a negative thing that makes us right. People that are always occupied with negative things never have anything real for their own souls. You will find them too often occupied with the failures of their brethren, rather than with the blessings and glories of Him whom they have come to meet. The true coming unto the house of the Lord is to meet the Lord.

You remember, in the early part of the book of Judges we are told that the name of Bethel was Luz at the first. Its natural name was Luz; its spiritual name was Bethel. Luz means "separation," "cutting off," " separating from." The monk is the most separated kind of man. He is separated from his home, separated from his friends; gives up his own name even, goes behind stone walls and leads a life of rigid separation. That is Luz, the natural name of separation. What is its spiritual name? Bethel, "the house of God," the presence of God. The Lord makes manifest Himself, and, if we are going to have any enjoyment of Bethel, it must not be a negative thing,-separation from,-it has got to be the actual positive attraction to the Person of the Lord Himself.

It is being gathered unto Him; and beloved, let that mark us, let that be the thing that characterizes us, a people who have to do with the house of God. Let it not be that we are sharp critics because others are not clear as to those priceless things, but let us rather be those whose souls are absorbed in one precious thought, that we have met the Lord Himself.

You remember that when they came to this place, Luz, and wanted to get possession of it, they did not seem to have the courage of faith to take it. Thank God, faith can always take what He has given us title to; but they spied out the city and found one of its inhabitants whom they promised to spare if he would show them the way in. So they got possession of Luz, and called it Bethel. But they let the spared inhabitant go off, and he, as will always be the case, went and built another Luz, a city after the same name as the one which had been captured:I sometimes think there have been many inhabitants of Luz who have been spared and gone off and built the same old city again, marked by the mere separation . from and not by the presence of the Lord Himself.

That is as to the general principle of gathering. Take now, in a very simple way, our gathering on a specific occasion. We will say, take any Lord's Day morning meeting. I am sure as the Lord's
Day comes around, hearts glow with gladness. O brethren, is there a joy like it this side of heaven? To be gathered to the house of God! Again, let us remember that if it is the house of God for us it is that we go to meet the Lord Himself personally. We do not go to hear gifts and all that kind of thing. We go to meet the Lord; you have an appointment, as it were, with the Lord Himself.

Sometimes we complain of dull meetings. Do you think meetings would be dull if we were really meeting the Lord Himself and not meeting one another? Ah no, " In Thy presence is fullness of joy "-a joy that must find expression in fullest worship. I am sure that we need to remember that as we come together it is to meet the Lord in person, so we will be glad when they say:" Let us go unto the house of the Lord." Our feet then "stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."

That is the first point, and I want to press it. I trust, if the Lord tarry a little season, that which will characterize us will be this positive sense of the presence of the Lord. As we go on further, we will find other things coming in too, judgment and government and all that, but the first thought is His actual presence.

Do you remember what Jacob said when he awoke out of his dream after he had seen an exhibition of God's grace? He says:"How dreadful is this place." "It is the gate of heaven." We do not say it is a dreadful place, but surely if Jacob felt the holiness of the place, realized the holiness of God's presence, how much more should we who have the full blessing of that grace shining in the face of Christ, realize how holy is the house of God where we meet Him!

"Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together." When you have a given center of attraction and many drawn together, you have compactness. You remember in the epistle to the Ephesians, after the apostle speaks of the body, the whole body joined to the Head he shows the results in the body:"The Head even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth." Here you have the house of God, Jerusalem built as a city compacted together. What is going to compact the saints together? Holding the Head. How much that implies, of individual, living communion with the Lord Jesus, constant, individual fellowship with Him. From that comes the outflow all around. There will be not only the inflow of communion with Christ, but the outflow, compacting the body together by that which every joint supplies; the outflow of grace one toward another. Here you have a center, and every one is attracted to the Center. If every one is trying to get as close to the center of this room as possible, they will be close together.

The secret of real unity in the assemblies of God's dear people is for each to be drawn personally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, we cannot legislate that kind of compactness. We can talk about our duty to be close together, but if we are drawn to Christ, as, thank God, I am sure our hearts are being drawn, are we not knit together? is not heart knit with heart?

It is not because we are loving one another first. We are not ashamed to say that we love Christ better than one another. The nearest natural tie is nothing compared with that which binds us to Him. We do love one another, just for the simple reason that we are drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. That will be used of God to heal the things which you cannot describe. Are things holding together very loosely? Saints not knit together? You cannot force them. Saints are distant toward one another, suspicious of one another, whispering comes in? You cannot deal with it as if it were some overt act that you could discipline about. But if you are drawn, if Christ takes hold of our hearts and draws them together, I defy all the power of the world and all the power of Satan to keep us apart from one another.

Beloved brethren, is there not a need of our being drawn to Christ, not as a means of being drawn to one another, but because the distance from one another tells of a greater distance of heart from the Lord Jesus Himself? If we recognize these things, if any of the assemblies represented here recognize these things here is the blessed remedy. "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together," a united, a living, really vital connection one with another, that the world looks upon and can no more understand than it can understand Christ Himself. "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."

Now, you have the tribes going up. "Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel." We hear a good deal sometimes about a testimony. We want to be a testimony. You notice it is a single word, one united testimony. As we were seeing in the second chapter of 2 Corinthians, the saints are "manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ." It is not epistles, as if there might be many of them, but only one-one testimony, one commendation. Think of God, as it were, sending a letter of commendation in His living people, that even the world itself can read and understand, that which recommends the grace of God.

Here we have the tribes going up to the testimony of Israel. The Lord's people are to be a testimony for Him, and, dear brethren, let us not forget that if God, in His infinite grace and mercy, has raised up a testimony to the truth of His Church, it is one of the highest honors that can be conceived, to be connected with that testimony. Do you thing lightly of the privilege of being associated even with two or three who are gathered on the principles of God's truth to the Name of Christ ? I tell you, brethren, next to the salvation of your souls there is no more momentous event in your history than your being brought by the Spirit of God to see the truth of the testimony which God has raised up.

It is no light thing. It is no trifling thing, which God has put into our hands. It is no trifle, brethren, that we are connected with a testimony like this. From the depths of my soul, I can bless God that in His infinite grace, He has entrusted me with a share in this holy, blessed testimony. O beloved brethren, think of it, a testimony in a time when everything is going to pieces. It is not merely a testimony to God's way of salvation, but a testimony to that which is nearest and dearest to the heart of Christ- of anything in the created universe. That is the Church, the Bride. We are associated with the testimony to that blessed fact. If you believe it honestly-talk about possession of wealth, or learning, or anything of that sort, it is trash, rubbish, compared with this commanding truth.

If Israel, in looking around, could say, "We have a strong city, salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks," beloved, how much more can we acknowledge the amazing grace that has connected us with the testimony as to the Church of God. It is not the testimony of a few people-do not think for a moment, that we are the only people, it is the testimony for the whole people of God. Just as Israel meant the whole twelve tribes, and just as Elijah with the ten tribes and in a day of ruin, builded the altar with the twelve stones that spoke of undivided Israel, as a testimony of Israel, so we, a feeble remnant,-often that which is despised as to its numbers, and ability, and endowments, and things of that kind,-are standing for the whole Church of Christ.

Unless we are sure that we are a witness for all the people of God, we have not a sense of the responsibility and dignity of the position. You may say that is high Church doctrine; but the Church is high ; we cannot tamper with it; we cannot trifle with it; we cannot adopt half-way measures in connection with the Church, the Church of Christ, the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth, as the apostle declares it. We cannot speak slightingly of it. If we are not connected with a testimony of that kind, we had better at once give up the whole thing. If it is not a testimony for the whole Church of Christ, I am not surprised to see disintegration and every thing of that kind.

If it is a testimony for all the people of God, you need not be surprised that it is going to be assailed and mocked. As in Nehemiah's time the enemies did everything to break up the little feeble testimony to the truth of Israel in that day, so he will do in this. If the enemy lets us alone as to our testimony, we may be afraid that it is not a clear testimony. If there is difficulty in connection, we may thank God that He permits difficulty, because Satan would never trouble a thing that was not a real menace to himself.

So it is the testimony of Israel-all the people of God. That will keep the heart large. What a despicable thing it is to see a man looking down with contempt upon Christ's beloved people ! You will not have that feeling if you realize that the testimony which, by God's grace, you are seeking to maintain is for the whole Church of God. Ah, brethren, we are, by His grace, standing firm and seeking in our little measure to obey God, for whom ? Who are these brethren and companions for whose sake He says:"Peace be within thee " Brethren and companions are the whole people of God, whoever they are. The very ones who may despise us and hate us for what they call our exclusiveness are the ones for whose sakes, next to God's glory, we are seeking the peace and prosperity of the house of God.

What a dignity, what a wonderful thing to be entrusted with such a testimony ! I repeat it, that if you realize it, you will thank God every day of your life that you are put in connection with it. You will realize it to be the highest dignity and honor that could be given to any creature on earth.

They go up "unto the testimony of Israel." Then you have:"To give thanks unto the name of the Lord," and that shows what we are gathered for. We are not gathered, as you might say, to be a testimony. That is a result of it, but a man who is always trying to be a testimony will be occupied with his testimony, rather than with the One for whom he is to testify. But we are gathered unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

What a lovely thought the Lord gave that poor sinful woman of Samaria, when He said, "The Father seeketh worshipers." It is expressing the appreciation of the heart of God. It is offering back to God the appreciation of hearts to whom He has given the knowledge of Himself. We give back to Him our appreciation of what He has made known to us. He is seeking hearts that will respond to the manifestation of His grace. What is your thought of heaven ? Is it not worship ? It is offering eternally the apprehension of the glories of the character of our blessed God, which He has made known to us through Christ, and which we will there know in its infinite fulness. We are together to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

We come together to the house of the Lord in our little weekly meetings, realizing that it is the testimony for all Israel. What do we give? It is worship, if we are rightly gathered. It is the Lord Himself who is to be before us, and worship will characterize our meeting. Surely our hearts must be in a cold state if giving thanks to the name of the Lord does not mark our gathering as a testimony.

Is praise stinted ? is the spirit of worship feeble amongst us ? Oh, brethren, worship feeble in the house of God, with all the display of what grace has done for us, with the presence of the Lord Jesus amongst us, with the Holy Ghost unfolding His word to our wondering souls,-and worship feeble?

Take the Levitical offerings. Suppose a company of God's people attempting to offer back in praise and thanksgiving the truths connected even with the burnt-offering. Suppose they sought to present before God the perfections and beauties of Christ as seen in the bullock-in its full strength. They see Him without blemish and without spot, with the outer covering removed, all the hidden springs laid bare, and with the word of God applied, but bringing out only the perfections and purity of His character. They see Him divided apart, head and feet, and all the various parts, speaking of Christ, His thoughts, His ways, His deeds, everything connected with Him. They think of all that going up in death before God. The memory of all this is presented at the meeting for worship where we come to give thanks to God. Would there be any dearth in the praises ? But that is only one; take all the offerings. Take all the types. Leave the types. Come to the plain, simple word, the wondrous unfoldings of Christ, as you have them in the Epistles.

Talk about stinted praise, silent lips! My dear brother, is there any one here who never opens his lips to give thanks to the name of the Lord ? What are you thinking of ? Yourself ? Stop that, and think of Christ, and as you think of Christ, I am sure that you cannot keep your lips closed.

" Our hearts are full of Christ, And long the glorious matter to declare."

As you have it in the forty-fifth psalm, "My heart is bubbling up with a good matter ;I speak of the things which I have made touching the King." "Thou art fairer than the sons of men." If I could only be used here to-night by God's grace to unseal a single heart, to unclose a single mouth in the assemblies of God's people, I would bless Him from the depths of my heart. Silent brothers in the meetings where we give thanks to the name of the Lord ! Is it a characteristic weakness amongst us? We want to be stirred up about it. It is a dishonor and shame for those who have had such grace and such love shown them. Let us go into our closets. We want no formal praises, but living praises, from loving hearts that have been set free in the holy presence of our God.

That suggests a whole line of thought, a whole connection that I will not enlarge upon. Our own conscience, our own sense of need, will lead us on in that line. Beloved, let us remember that we are gathered unto the testimony to give thanks.

Think of a man who is able to defend the position, who has not a word of thanks when he comes to the Lord's table. Beloved, if there is one thing that ought to mark us, it is the spirit of worship. What is it in that little hymn-book that makes it different from any book of praise you ever saw before ? It is Christ who is before the soul there. And if Christ is before your souls as you gather to His Name, the praise and worship of your heart will not be the form of singing hymns, but the irrepressible bubbling up that will bring refreshing and joy to our blessed God. He seeks worshipers. We are only giving Him what His blessed heart of love craves, to see His people happy in His love, pouring out their souls in thanksgiving.

"There are set thrones of the house of David." They speak of government and rule. What we have had thus far is grace, that which brings out the love, the attractive side. He is the God of all grace. But now right in the center, in Jerusalem, in a very real sense in the sanctuary, you have mention of thrones. What was the mercy-seat ? Do you know, we have a very selfish way of looking at the mercy-seat? We think of it as a place where we have access. It was more than that, it was the throne of Jehovah in the midst of His people. What a wonderful thought that the place where God has His throne is the place where His grace is magnified in the acceptance of the guiltiest sinner, and the blood upon the throne and before the throne, tells us of our perfect acceptance according to the will of God, and that His righteousness and judgment have been fully vindicated. His throne established in that which is the foundation of peace, the work of Christ.

There is no doubt the psalmist had in his mind the government of those thrones of judgment, in connection with Messiah's rule. But, applying this to ourselves, as before, that which is to characterize the assembly of God, is judgment, the throne, the ordering of divine government. What is it that makes an assembly differ, we will say, from a sect? You will say, we have no denominational name. Is that all ? Why, such are scattered all around-any little company of Christians that chooses to come together- and is that an assembly ? No wonder God's people are harassed and scattered if they think that is God's mind of an assembly. An assembly is marked by a throne of judgment, government exercised. It is the place of divine judgment. Of course, I am only adapting the language to spiritual things. The throne of David suggests the Lord's place of supremacy that we recognize in the assembly.

You cannot have true worship unless you have a true sense of the governmental authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not subjection to my brother, not obedience to the assembly, but it is the whole assembly in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the throne of judgment. How much it suggests ! Do we recognize that sufficiently, the absolute supremacy, the Lordship of our blessed Saviour ? Where is self-will when that is recognized ? Where is there any room for self-will ? It is no question of my will against my brother's will. It is no question of seeing who can gather the most saints and pull in opposite directions. It is only the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He rules, and by His word He makes known His will; and whoever may point to that will, to the authority of Christ and His word, beloved, we have got to bow to that word as absolutely as though it were sounded in thunder from Sinai itself or from heaven.

Bowing to the authority of Christ ! Think of Christ being enthroned amongst His people. He is our Lord and we own His absolute authority. But, then, the throne of judgment suggests another line of things. In the East the ruler had to judge the cases of wrong doing and everything of that kind, and in the assembly of God, the throne of judgment not only suggests in a general way the authority of Christ, but in a specific and particular way the investigation and the dealings with all matters connected with the government of the house of God. That is just as characteristic of an assembly, as is the relationship that we were speaking of.

Discipline begins with the examination of persons to be received, Some one comes and says, I have
brought my friend with me and he is a dear child of God, and I would like to have him break bread. Does that settle it? Is that the throne of judgment? Is that letting the Spirit of God discern for us? Is that the solemn weighing and testing whether or not the Lord Jesus Christ desires that this one should be received into the company of that which is to be a testimony for the whole Church of Christ? Reception is a solemn thing, it is not dropping in and then dropping out again. Beloved brethren, it is no violation of the unity of the Spirit, and surely it is no denial of the unity of the body, to exercise the greatest discrimination and care in receiving those who seek to have a share in the solemn responsibilities of the house of God.

Trace the troubles in the assembly of God back to their source and you will find that one fruitful source of trouble has been the reception of those who have not been properly exercised in conscience as to the immense responsibilities of the place they have come into. They have come in lightly, without learning in their souls what it is to be in the presence of God.

They have not learned the end of themselves, and so they bring in that which can only bring discord and sorrow and trouble. Is it not so as we trace our common sins, and common shame? Has not much of it originated with just this, the failure to exercise judgment in reception?

Apply it to the spiritual condition of every one of us in the assembly of God. We were saying that we ought to be intimately acquainted with the spiritual state of every one in the assembly,-not by being a busy body in other men's matters. Never make the mistake of prying into the details of others' lives; let them alone unless God brings it out for you. It is always a mistake to do that. It brings fresh sorrow and trouble oftentimes. But we can be acquainted with the spiritual condition of every one in the assembly without prying, and without pretending, any of us, to be better than the other. Surely each of us ought to have a godly love, a jealous care for the spiritual condition of our brethren. May the Lord revive amongst us a sense of that real genuine love for every one. May provoking one another unto love, be aroused amongst us more than ever, that we may, as it were, get close to the heart of every one in the assembly and find out just where they stand before God. How often would the evil be checked.

Why is it that evil springs up in the midst of gatherings? Who is to blame for it? If there had been more exercise, more prayer, more discernment, more true fellowship one with another, how much would be checked and cut off that now, alas, is al-lowed to come out to its full fruitage, to the shame and sorrow of all! May the Lord make us more jealous in this phase of judgment in the house of God!

I do not speak of discipline, except to remind us that it has its place, it must have its place amongst a company who are to be a testimony for the people of God. Painful,-who can tell the sorrows connected with it?-and yet, beloved, it is that which makes us realize that we are together, because we have passed through common sorrows. There must be and will be the exercise of discipline indeed in an assembly of God. Let it be marked by prayer, by a humble spirit. Let the government and discipline spring out of worship, and be but a needful part of that.

Peace is the result of all that. If that characterizes the house of God, peace is the result. So we find that it comes next. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." That does not mean peace at the expense of truth and divine principles. It is in connection with the thrones of judgment that you have praying for the peace of the Lord's people. And, dear brethren, " They shall prosper that love thee." Have you seen brethren who began to awaken to the needs of the assembly? They have made comparatively little growth, perhaps, for many years. They have gone on in a quiet kind of way; perhaps you have lamented that there has been so little progress. But now there has been an awakening to the sense of the needs of the assembly of God, and they have been praying for the peace of the assembly of God, really awakened and exercised. The result is, their souls prosper. " They shall prosper that love thee."

Christ loves the Church. Christ loves every little testimony to His truth. Oh, from the depths of my soul do I pray for the whole gathered assembly of Christ in connection with the grace in which He has put us! "Peace be within thy walls,"-that which separates us from the outside,-and "prosperity within thy palaces,"-the assembly of God which for us is a palace, even the palace of the King. And, as I was saying before, "for my brethren and companions' sake," for all the beloved people of God throughout the world that meet not with us, will now say, "Peace be within thee." It is for His house, and whatever we may do, no matter how menial the service, I am sure that the least thing and the most menial thing, the most self-denying thing that is done for the house of the Lord has His approval upon it.

Psalm 127:emphasizes the lesson of faith in connection with the house of God. We must ever be reminded that all our effort, all our poor, puny work is nothing in itself. As Solomon says here, or David, who writes for Solomon, as the temple is growing up there in its beauty:"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it." I am sure we are not sorry to say this. We will be willing to let our labor be in vain if the Lord is not building His house. If the saints who are being added in grace,-if it is not the Lord's work, all our Bible readings and trying to unfold Scripture is useless. Unless the Lord is working, "They labor in vain who build it." Thank God, He is working, we can count upon Him. Let us never forget it. As Solomon watched that temple rising with its beautiful proportions, and could say that all the labor that was done upon it would be in vain and worthless if the Lord did not build it, so let us remember that it is God who is working and not man. It is not the instrument He may use.

It is none of ourselves who are building. It is God who is building the house, and unless He does it, all our work is in vain. That stops your trying to pull the fruit before it is ripe. It stops all these unseemly arguments about truth that oftentimes are humiliating rather than edifying. If it is God who is doing the work, we can leave it with God. When He is done with us, we drop into our place and the work goes on, for it is God who is building.

Here the watchmen go around the city walls, looking to see that no unclean person comes around.
Watchman, what of the night? They go about, looking, but there is an Eye that never closes, there is One who never slumbers nor sleeps. How sweet it is to know that it is not our watching, it is not our care, it is the Lord, who keeps the city, and unless He does it, all is in vain. Will the watchman go home and go to bed? Not at all. He will watch all the more vigilantly. He will be careful to do God's work with pains, the porter will be careful to see that no unworthy person draw near. His faith in God will only make him all the more careful as he seeks by His grace to keep the city where the name of our God is placed.

How restful it is, how sweet to know it is God who is working. " If God be for us, who can be against us?". How that stops all restless Martha-service. "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows:for so He giveth His beloved sleep," or sleeping.

" O earth so full of dreary noises;
O men with wailing in your voices,
O delved gold, the wailer's heap;
O strife, O curse that o'er it fall-
God makes a silence through you all,
And giveth His beloved sleep."

What is a house without children? A house where the children have all gone out, and found homes for themselves,-what a lonely kind of a place it is to the old people who are left behind! They miss the prattle, they miss the dear little hands and feet, busy perhaps in mischief, running around the house, but they miss them. " Children are a heritage from the Lord." What we have been saying applies to Christians. But my heart has often wept, as I have thought how few spiritual children there are in God's house.

Where does God get most of His children born? Outside. Evangelists who know little about the truth of God, earnest men and women, knowing a little, gather precious souls, saved souls. Why should there not be some of this heritage of the Lord amongst His gathered people? Oh, you say, but we are not evangelists. I do not believe it takes evangelists to see souls saved. Beloved, I sometimes wish there was no such thing as a platform in the meeting room of the saints. It is not preaching that we are after. It is souls born again,-children born. How? By the word of God. There is that mother in the assembly, she has her little children. Are they going to be born again? Who are going to be the ones used of God to bring them into the marvelous light? Some teacher in a mission school, or some one off yonder? What a reproach! Our older ones, are they going to get their blessing in the house of God amongst us or elsewhere?

"He rewardeth them who diligently seek Him." It is the reward. " Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them." It is as though they were' weapons. How many souls have been saved in connection with the assembly where you are, during the past year? "Oh,"you say, " don't put it that way." Why not put it that way? Why not have exercise in that direction? Souls born again! "When Zion travailed, she brought forth," and, beloved brethren, if there were that pouring out of soul in prayer, if there were that which would take no refusal from God, if there were that which would plead and claim from Himself this token of His favor and approval amongst us, we would hear the prattle of the new born souls, praising and rejoicing in our God.

It is said of our Lord Jesus:"Thou hast the dew of Thy youth."He never grew old, blessed be His Name, fresh in communion with His God in His whole life, He never lost it for a moment. How is it with our souls? Is Christ just the same for us as the day when we first found Him for our souls 'Is He? Then may you not expect some "children of youth?"If your soul is fresh and tender in your first love, that is what is going to be rewarded in this way.

I was thinking of this in connection with what we always have, thank God, on Lord's days at these meetings, the gospel of the grace of God. What for? Just to hear how nicely this or that brother can put the gospel? Is that what we have been thinking? "A nice gospel," we say. What is a nice gospel, brethren? It is that which will bring some soul to life. What I want to pray for, is that if it be God's sovereign grace to do so, we will see some child born. I do not care who preaches. If we all got down here and wept and owned our departure from God, and some child of some parent would, as a result of it, cry:"Oh, I must find God to-day!" that would be a reward from God.

We want to hear the assemblies of God sounding with the speech of infants. Our own dear children, shall not these be born in the house of God? Where is the natural source of supply for assemblies? I assure you, I do not believe it ought to be picking people out of the sects. I would far rather see souls brought to Christ and find their homes in the assembly, than to have people gathered out of the sects even. Thank God for every one who sees the truth and comes out clear. Who would say nay? But, O brethren, for a distinctive work in the gospel of God's grace in connection with the house of our God. We would not be ashamed then. Go right into the gate, right into the place of judgment. Let the enemy come, let him say, "You brethren do not have much blessing in the gospel." But we are ashamed, and sometimes we say, "You know brethren's distinctive work is to edify Christians." Why do we say so? Because we have so few children to show. But if we turn to our God, thanks be to Him, the fresh dew is ever ready for us, and if that freshness of dew is upon us all, I do not believe that He will refuse us this token of His favor that He is using His beloved people.

May God grant it! Amen!

The following circular is inserted in the belief that it may be of interest to all our readers, as manifesting somewhat at least the unity of the Spirit in which the Lord's beloved people are held, together, and which it should be the endeavor of all to keep " in the bond of peace." ED.

To the Saints gathered to the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ:TORONTO, July 2, 1900.

BELOVED BRETHREN –

Having been assembled here from various parts, it is on our hearts to send a word of loving greeting in recognition of the unity that binds us together in the body of Christ, and in the endeavor '' to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Our conference has been a happy and profitable one. Saints gathered in goodly numbers both from points near by and a distance, and we have enjoyed together sweet fellowship in the things of God. Our time has been occupied with the study of the Word

-the first part of the epistle to the Romans,-meetings for mutual exhortation and prayer, and in addresses to the saints, with a good hearing for the gospel, both within doors and upon the streets. We have been reminded of our common privileges, warned of our common dangers, and aroused as to our common responsibilities. If was indeed a joy to sit down together at our Lord's table in such large numbers, and to have a foretaste of that worship which shall soon be given by all the saints when we are gathered to our Lord on high.

Truly, beloved brethren, we are a "happy people"

-blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ; pardoned, justified, made nigh; possessors of eternal life, members of the family of God; sealed, baptized, and indwelt by the Spirit; members of Christ's body, enjoying the precious ministrations of our glorious Head, by the Spirit through the various "joints and bands"-yea each of us privileged to be a channel of blessing from the Head to our fellow members. We have in our hands the precious word of God, which unfolds to us these and other wondrous truths. Surely we can thank and bless our God.

Nor can we ignore the fact that we have been intrusted with grave responsibilities corresponding to these wondrous blessings. What manner of men should we be in walk and testimony! How we should prize the precious word of God, and how careful we should be to maintain the holiness and order of His house! Sadly true it is that we are living in days of ruin -even the people of God do
that which is right in their own eyes-but let us never forget that the truth of God remains unchanged, the word of God is ours, and the Spirit abides with us.

When we remember the watchfulness of our adversary the devil, the allurements of the world, particularly for the young, and the deceitfulness of the flesh, we realize in some measure our dangers. Surely, beloved brethren, we are living in. difficult days, and need to "put on the whole armor of God."
How unfeignedly should we thank our God for the mercy which in these days has left a testimony, even if comparatively feeble, to the truths of His grace and of His Church! With no lofty pretensions, and with much brokenness because of our manifold failures, we would bless God for the mercy which has put us in this place-as gathered to our Lord's Name – of privilege, responsibility, and danger. Knowing, from our own experience, the dangers by which we have been beset, we would mention in a few words some of the responsibilities which concern us as individuals and as gatherings.

I. ESTABLISHMENT IN THE GOSPEL IN THE GOSPEL. We need to remember the exhortation to "keep ourselves in the love of God." Let us never lose our "first love," that tender, lowly apprehension of His grace, which will compel us also to tell out the gospel to others. May we all realize that we have been "put in trust with the gospel," and in public and private may we, out of full hearts, " testify the gospel of the grace of God." Oh, to see souls saved through the gospel amongst us! Let us all awake more earnestly to this work. To this end we trust to see an awakened interest in tract distribution, – a work in which all, sisters and brethren alike, may constantly engage.

2. A WALK WITH GOD. May we be a holy people, truly separate from the spirit and ways of the world, walking in all lowliness, and thus adorning "the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.'' To this end shall we not afresh turn ourselves to the word of God, and devote more time to its prayerful study? May the written ministry be used to this end, and may we not urge one another to read and circulate the periodicals, tracts, and books devoted to unfolding the word of God ?

3. ASSEMBLY CARE AND ORDER. We are deeply impressed with our responsibilities in connection with the assembly, realizing that God's thought is that our entire lives are connected with it. We would point out a few matters of great importance in this connection:Care in reception-that none be received without prayerful and faithful examination. How much sorrow would assemblies be spared were there more care, and above all more prayer, in receiving those who seek fellowship. We would also emphasize the importance of giving letters of commendation to saints visiting gatherings, and thus maintain scriptural order (2 Cor. 3:1-3).

Pastoral loving care. Reception is but the first act, and if the Lord's beloved saints expect to see His work prospering, there must be that self-denial of love which " seeketh not her own." We long for ourselves, and for all the Lord's people, to exercise more pastoral care and oversight. This leads us also to refer to our great need of wisdom, gentleness and love, as well as faithfulness, in all matters of discipline. Let us guard against the extremes to which we are so constantly exposed, of laxness, weakness and indifference on the one hand, and undue haste, harshness and severity on the other. We rejoice to know that we are learning these lessons and our desire is that we may enter more fully into these grave responsibilities.

We also desire, beloved brethren, to point out our mutual responsibilities as assemblies in the various localities where our God has placed us. We are separated upon the wall, and the work is great, but the wall is one. We have been drawn very closely together at our conference, and while not desiring to intrude into purely local matters, feel the need of common principles of divine truth being clearly understood and maintained in all the firmness of divinely given conviction. May we present, beloved, a united front against every form of attack upon these principles.

We would also send a word of cheer to our beloved brethren and sisters who may be standing alone, or who are but few in number. Let such remember that one Eye is upon them, one Heart cares for them, and that they are not forgotten in prayer by their brethren at a distance. Let them not be discouraged nor cast down. "David encouraged himself in the Lord His God" (i Sam. 30:6).

May we not also express our earnest desire for the recovery to the Lord of any who have grown cold and wandered far? Nor can we refrain from praying that those who have sacrificed truth in any measure, may be brought to value it afresh, as that which God has committed to us.

Our present meeting has impressed us anew with the great importance of frequently gathering together thus. Saints from small assemblies, and those who stand alone, received great encouragement; the faith and love of all is revived, and heart is knit to heart. A little earnest faith will overcome most obstacles, while the gain resulting will far outweigh the needed labor.

May our God bless us "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think."

Affectionately your brethren in Christ our Lord, for the saints gathered.

C. B. Street
F. L. Nicholson
F. J. Enefer

"What hour like thine is clothed in depth of gloom,
O Cross! thy speech is that of judgment for man's sin.

For in that hour the Christ of God is seen,
The Sinless burden Bearer of man's sin,
His breast all bared to ward the Judge's stroke;
The gathering clouds of wrath divine on Calvary's
hill-
They burst with anger on the center cross,
Whereon that precious Victim hung, the Life of men.

That cry speaks forth the sorrow of Thy heart,
And yet Thy voice sends forth its note of victory
Which tells of judgment passed, the work all done,
The darkness of that hour now pierced; the cloud,
too, gone,
The scabbard holds the sword; the sinner freed
And all the claims of righteousness are fully met
Whilst now the stream of love has found it's course.

O Cross! Thou tellest forth that God is love;
Thy story, too, the summing up of ages past-
The consummation of the sin of man.
Yet fully in it all we trace Divine decree
And see the shining of eternal truth!
There from the Lamb of sacrifice the blood has flowed
Which washeth every stain of sin away
And changes all the depth of sin's deep scarlet hue
To snow-white purity.

Thus opened are the channels of eternal love.
The purposes and counsels of the past eternity
Converge and meet, encircling round Thy thorn-
crowned brow-
Their answer fully given ; the heart of God is satisfied
In that blest One the cross has borne twixt earth
and heaven
For us to gaze upon, and life be given to every one
Who, with the heart believing, looks upon that
stricken One.

But, now we see Thee on the Father's throne
No longer stricken ; Thou art now the Glorified.
Thy once pierced brow is crowned with many crowns,
And with eternal glory Thy blest visage shines.
We gaze upon Thee there, we wait Thy call-
The Victor's shout, heraldic note, the angel's trump;
And with Thee we shall rise, and, like Thee; then
Forever in the glory Thou hast made our own
With Thee abide.

J. B. Jr.

VI. SALVATION AND REWARDS

Heretofore we have been looking into God's Word with reference to the necessity, assurance, and blessings of salvation, and now it might not be amiss to look at the same unfailing source of truth concerning the distinction between salvation apart from the effort of man; and rewards as the result of the faithful service of believers. Some of God's saints seem to be confused upon this point, and are in distress of soul, or at least, not in assured peaceful rest, in consequence.

I. Salvation is God's free gift to any one who realizes himself or herself a poor, lost sinner.

In the fourth chapter of John's Gospel Jesus is seen speaking to a poor woman whose life was stained with sin of the most open and defiling kind. She "had five husbands " and he whom she then had was not her husband, and yet to her a despised Samaritan, Jesus breaks the blessed news that salvation is a free gift. "If thou knowest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water " (John 4:10).

What marvelous love, amazing grace, wonderful picture, the spotless One of heaven offering to the sin defiled of earth salvation as a free gift.

See also Rom. 6:23; Is. 55:1:2; Rev. 21:6; 22:17; John 3:16; 5:24; 10:28 etc.

So that the very first thing required of a sinner is that he or she accept the gift from God, and He publicly proclaims to all who take their place as such, forgiveness, justification, eternal life; in other words, salvation with all its attendant blessings.

On the contrary rewards are mentioned in Scripture as the outcome or result of faithfulness in the life and service of the believer, 1:e., the one who by simple faith, believing God's statement as to salvation accepts it as a free gift; so that while salvation is obtained by faith, rewards are obtained by works.

2. The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian saints distinguishes clearly as to the distinction this article is intended to bring out.

In the third chapter of his first epistle to them he says the foundation "is Christ," and in vers. 14, 15 he speaks of those on the foundation as being saved, apart from their works, for which however a reward will be given if the works will stand the test, otherwise they will be burned up. " If any man's work abide which he hath built, he shall receive a reward.

" If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved:yet so as by fire." The believer is saved, because his salvation is the result of Christ's work-His death on the cross -but no reward for his works, unless they be able to stand the searching eye of God's holiness. How God's grace is thus seen in saving sinners apart from their works (Eph. 2:8, 9), and how His holiness is magnified in a test of the believer's works afterward, in that all that is done must have as a motive, not the benefit of man merely, nor in expectation of a reward, but for "the glory of God." "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (i Cor. 10:31). This last verse will govern decision in every doubtful moment, and action.

See also Matt. 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:7, 8; i Cor. 9:24, 25; Rev. 2:10; Phil. 4:i; i Thess. 2:19; James 1:12; i Pet. 5:4, etc.

3. God's salvation is a present possession of the sinner the moment he accepts it by faith.

" He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life "… (John 3:36).

"As many as received Him, to them gave He power (right or privilege) to become the sons of God " (John 1:12).

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life "… (John 5:24). See also John 6:37; 2 Tim. 1:9; i John 5:ii; i Cor. 1:18; Tit. 3:5. Notice the words " hath life," "are saved," "saved," "hath saved," as clearly showing a present position and standing before God.

We are nowhere told in Scripture that we have to wait until we come to die, either to be saved or to have knowledge of it. i John 5:13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know"-that salvation is ours now, the moment we believe.

4. Just the reverse is the matter of rewards which will be future, conferred upon the believer at the judgment-seat of Christ, and manifested before the world at the coming of the Son of man. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to "his works" (Matt. 16:27).

The apostle realizing his course on earth was about over, writes to Timothy:"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall give me at that day "… (2 Tim. 4:8). Surely he could not mean salvation here, or righteousness conferred, for he claims in his first letter to his "dearly beloved son " that he was saved, see i Tim. 1:9; and writing to the Corinthians claims that as sin and its judgment were borne by Christ, so he was made, as all believers are also, the righteousness of God, in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).

It is only necessary to read 2 Cor. 11:24-29 to see that Paul did not receive any reward here for his services, although in all his utterances stating he was saved.

See also i Pet. 5:4; 2 Tim. 4:8; Luke 14:14; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:19).

Thus as believers on the Lord Jesus Christ we have God's free gift now; and, with purpose of heart to serve Him, for "the glory of God," by life or in death, we may expect a reward hereafter, when with our blessed Lord in the glory. But we are not to labor or live with any lower standard than to be "acceptable" unto Him (2 Cor. 5:9); and even as Abraham looked for a city, so we have an expectation, we look "for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20).
May reader and writer ever have Him, and Him only, before them. B. W. J.

We thank our brother for his notice of what indeed seems a more correct view then what is given in the passage referred to. He is probably correct in his view, which is the usual one. This does not invalidate the force of what was deduced from the passage, simply applying the same thought to her being sufficed before she could give to another. ED.

Luke 8:3.

Jesus, who could supply others by miracles, lived Himself by the providence of God. The Lord of the universe, who at first created the world, and who still by His providence makes the earth fruitful for the supply of man and beast, instead of supplying His wants by immediate creation, drew His supplies from His people. Wonderful humiliation! The Lord of heaven and earth condescends to live on the bounty of those who are supplied by His own providence! Thus He gave the most amazing instance of humility, and afforded an opportunity to His disciples to manifest their faith and love. In this way He still acts. He makes some of His people poor, that others may have an opportunity of ministering to Him by ministering to the saints; for what is done to His people is done to Himself.

[It is with deep gratitude and joy that we insert the above from our beloved brother, feeling that it will be received by the saints in the same way. As widespread prayer for his recovery was offered, and deep and general exercise of soul before God resulted from what we realized to be a chastening upon us all, it is but proper that now in equal measure thanksgiving to our God should abound. May we not, too, take earnestly to heart one of the evident lessons intended for us-a fresh interest and deeper concern in the salvation of souls? Our brother has himself referred to this, as it has also been laid upon many other hearts. May our God's mercy to us awake us as never before, and deepen in every way His work among us. ED]

QUES. 24.-What is the New Testament teaching as to the Lord's day ? I have been much exercised as well as grieved to see the carelessness of many as to that day, who might be expected to know better. Some have quoted Rom. 14:5:"One man esteemeth one day above another ; another esteemeth every day alike." They have said this provides for entire liberty on the Lord's day. Is this correct ?

ANS.-Our brother's question, not the only one on the same subject received of late, touches upon a most dangerous error, and a very common failure among the people of God. In the first place, the scripture adduced from Romans has nothing to do with the subject, but refers to the observance of Jewish days and ordinances, and is similar to the passage in Col. 2:16, 17. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day " (Rev. 1:10), shows that the day is one of spiritual and not carnal observance. But does the fact that we are not under law but under grace give us license to live in carelessness? Supposing even that it were not contrary to the New Testament, have we not a responsibility to give no occasion of stumbling to the world ? What does the world think of a Christian who engages in unnecessary labor on the Lord's day? What is the effect upon a man's own family ? Further, what can be said of the spiritual state of one who, with all the week for secular work, takes the precious hours of the Lord's day for his own use ? Surely there is more than enough to fill and occupy the few hours of that day of privilege. We meet to remember and to worship our Lord, and again to preach His precious gospel, and to teach the young. There are sick or needy ones to be visited, and a few precious hours to be devoted to reading and meditation. Oh, the folly of wasting such a day with temporal labor. Let the beloved people of God turn from the thought with abhorrence. We are persuaded that it is one of the signs of the latter day apostasy. God is despised, His word neglected, aud the day of our Lord's resurrection made a time of carnal enjoyment or worldly business ! May we be aroused as to this, and make conscience before God of our conduct on this day.

QUES. 25.-Please explain Isaiah 28:23-29.

ANS.-The connection shows that the prophet is pronouncing God's judgment upon both Ephraim and Judah. He foretells the conflicts of the last days-the coming of the overflowing scourge, the Assyrian, or king of the north ; the alliance with the Beast, or head of the western empire, in order to ward off the attack ; and the end in overthrow and death for those who thus make lies their refuge. Then God tells of His provision in the "tried corner stone," Christ, and of the security of those who believe in Him. It will thus be seen that the scene is laid in the last days, and the purposes of God will be fulfilled in His "strange work " of judgment. In this connection he asks, Is it always plowing time? After the land is plowed, is not the seed sown-each in its appointed way and place? Then later comes the threshing-time. So with His people :God is longsuffering, but He will not always be preparing the soil. Nay, He has plowed His people and cast in the seed of His truth. Then conies the harvest aud threshing time when He will beat out and thresh-the time of judgment. All will be done in divine wisdom and suitability. But judgment will surely come.

This principle can also doubtless be applied in other connections. Everything is to be done in due proportion. In preaching the gospel, we are to plow the ground and then cast in the seed. Souls are to be convicted of sin and then the precious gospel has a place in which to take root. Then comes too the time of discrimination when souls are set free from the chaff of unreality and manifested as precious grain. But this is only a secondary application of the figure.

QUES. 26.-Referring to the article in the October number on Verbal Inspiration, where it is shown that if all the periods of captivity during the time of the Judges were added together, it would be found that exactly this number of years was to be deducted from the entire period from the deliverance out of Egypt till the building of the temple. The lesson was that God cannot use lost time, spent in captivity to evil. But there is another captivity of eighteen years which was omitted, and which seems to overthrow the teaching. Judges x, 6-9 was not included. What is the reason for this ?

ANS.-This has been noticed before, and the answer given, which seems probable, that this captivity was not a complete one. They were oppressed by many enemies, but we are told they were "sore distressed." For instance, the Ammonites only threatened, had not completely taken possession. We see that Jephthah prevented them from going further. Thus the lesson remains, and we see God's desire to count as much as He can. It might be well to mention that another explanation is that these periods of oppression were not necessarily at different times, but some of them may have occurred at the same time in different parts of the nation. Of one thing we may be certain. God's chronology, as all else, will be found to be absolutely correct, and apparent contradictions are not really that.

QUES. 27.-What are the four fasts referred to in Zechariah 8:19?

ANS.-They could not be regular set times such as the day of Atonement, for these were never abrogated. The whole connection would show that they were special commemorative fasts connected with the captivity. We find these dates given in Jeremiah-

The fourth month, Jerusalem was taken (Jer. 52:6).

The fifth month, the temple was burned (Jer. 52:12, 13).

The seventh month, Gedaliah was slain by Ishmael, and the remnant scattered to Egypt (Jer xli, 1, etc.)

The tenth month, the siege of Jerusalem began (Jer. 52:4).

These would seem clearly to be the events commemorated by the fasts referred to, and therefore in the restoration they would be changed to feasts.

THE MAN AFTER THE FLESH. INTRODUCTORY.

In a certain sense, a king is the product of the times in which he lives. He represents the thought and condition of the masses, and while he may be beyond the individuals composing the nation, he will represent the ideal, which they exhibit but partially in their several lives. The king, though above the masses, must be one of themselves, only a greater. Just as the gods of the heathen are but the personification of their own desires and passions enlarged.

In a similar way, every man is a representation of the world at large- a microcosm. He is a sample, as we might say, of the whole, having certain characteristics in greater or less proportion, certain ones obscured by the overshadowing prominence of others ; but all features which compose the mass as a whole, present in greater or less degree. It is a solemn thought, and illustrative of our Lord's words to Nicodemus, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."

We have been looking simply at the natural man and from a natural standpoint. Every observant and thoughtful man will confirm what has been said. Water will not rise higher than its source, and the great leaders of men have been but great men, like the rest of their fellows, only with enlarged capacities and greater force. In fact, the world would boast of the truth of this, and glory in the fact that their great ones are but the exhibition of the qualities that mark all. Thus it makes demigods out of its heroes, and then claims kinship with them, thus climbing higher and exalting themselves. It is man's effort to make good the lie of the serpent, "Ye shall be as gods."

It need hardly be said that there is a distinct limit to all this greatness. Between man and God there is still the "great gulf" impossible to pass. Nor is this merely the gulf between creature and Creator, fixed eternally, and which it is the joy of the child of God to recognize-for our happiness is in keeping the creature place of subjection and of infinite inferiority to "God overall blessed forever"-but sin has made the impassable gulf between man and the true knowledge of God. All his development, knowledge, excellence and greatness, is on the side away from God, and every fresh instance of human greatness but emphasizes the fact that man is away from God. "Ye must be born again."

Looking, then, at this mass of humanity,"alienated from the life of God" – solemn and awful thought-we see here and there, towering above the rest, some prominent and striking character who naturally attracts our attention. Opportunity, ability, force of character, have separately or unitedly put him in the place of eminence. It will surely give us a clearer idea of humanity to study it in this more excellent form, just as the mineralogist would seek for the richest specimen of ore to determine the quality of the entire deposit. Having found that, he would then remember that this was the best, the rest not yielding so much as his specimen.

So we take up the great men of earth to see what is in man. We take the best specimens, where natural character, opportunity and education have combined to produce the nearest approach to perfection, and having learned thus what he is, we remember that the mass of humanity are but poor specimens of the same class. We will have to confess with the psalmist that "every man at his best state is vanity." Nor must we leave out the religious element in all this, but rather expect to find it prominent. Man is a religious being, and we will see where his religion leads. This may be a religion based upon God's revelation, and in outward connection with the ordinances of His own establishment. It may make "a fair show " in all this, and under the influence of God-given ministry seem well nigh to have reached the true knowledge of God, and be born anew. We will find food for most solemn thought in all this.

Such-a man was king Saul, the ideal of the times in which he lived, and combining in himself traits of character which all admire, and all possess in some degree. Added to this natural excellence, he was the favored son of a favored nation, with abundant opportunities for the knowledge of God, both by revelation and prophecy. He will be found to have possessed in himself those qualities of ability and excellence most admired by man, and added to them the nearest approach, at least, to the true knowledge of God. It will be our duty to decide, so far as man can decide, whether he was in any measure a true subject of grace.

But we have said that every man is but a specimen of the mass-possessing in greater measure what are the common characteristics of all. We can thus get help in determining the character of Saul by seeing the general state of the nation, more particularly at the time just prior to his reign; and our knowledge of Saul will in turn enable us more fully to put a just estimate upon the people.

We must also remember that Israel was representative of the whole human family. A vine was taken out of Egypt and planted in a fruitful hill, surrounded by a hedge and tilled with all the skill of a divine husbandman. He asks, "What could have been done more in My vineyard, than I have done in it?" (Isa. 5:4.) But it was a natural vine. It was simply the vine of earth given every opportunity to show what fruit it could produce. We therefore, and all humanity, are under review in this examination of king Saul.

So far we have looked merely at the natural man, leaving out of view that gracious work of God which imparts a new life and gives new relationships with Himself. This has doubtless gone on from the time of the fall; God has always had His children-"the sons of God" in the midst of an apostate, godless world. These, His children, have been born of the Spirit, and faith has ever been the characteristic of their life. Whatever the dispensation or the circumstances, faith has been the mark of the people of God, those possessed of life from Him.

We find, therefore, in the history of Israel, no matter how dark the days and how great the apostasy, a remnant of the true people of God who still held fast to Him. It will be for us also to trace the workings of this faith which marks out God's people from the mass of humanity; and here too we will find, no matter how bright the individual instance may be, that this divine life has a character common to all the saints of God. We may see it very clearly in a Hannah, and very dimly in an Eli; but there will be the same life in each. To trace this in contrast to the activities and excellences of the natural man will help us to understand each more clearly.

But here again we will find that our subject is more than a question of persons. We will find that in the same person both these principles may exist, and that this will explain the feebleness of manifestation of the divine life in some, and apparent inconsistencies in all. We will find, and Scripture confirms the truth, that the nature of man remains unchanged – flesh remains that, and spirit also remains spirit; '' that which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

May we not, then, expect real profit from this study of Israel's first king ? Should it not give us a clearer view of the helpless and hopeless condition of the natural man, of the utter incorrigibility of "the flesh " in the believer, and enable us to discern more accurately than ever between these two natures in the people of God ? Thus we would answer more fully to the apostle's description of the true circumcision:"who worship by the Spirit of God, and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh."

Lastly, we will more fully understand the dispensational situation, and see how fully is illustrated the fact that all things wait necessarily for God's true King, for the Man after His own heart, of whom David was the type. King may succeed king, but it will be but the ever varying forms of human excellence as displayed in king Saul. Alas ! the true King did come, and the people desired one of the class of Saul – a Barabbas – rather than the True, for their king is but the expression of their own heart and life. Therefore it is only the "righteous nation " who will desire and have that King who shall "reign in righteousness."

(To be continued.) p. 320

As earthward the Eternal from His throne
Gazed on His offspring earnestly and long
To know if any sought Him-found not one,
So o'er mankind this feebler eye hath hung
Wistful and sad and burning Searching around, within,
And through the grievous file of ages gone,
My aching vision yearning
In scene of curse and sin
Some purity of man to rest upon!

So flew the bird of sorrow and of love
Forth from her sanctuary in the ark,
With gentle eye strained anxiously above
The weary waste of waters wild and dark,
Dread depths of devastation
Wrapping with sullen shroud
Foul earth, whose guilt the wrathful heavens reprove-
Flew, in her desolation,
Restless above the flood,
Till homeward to the ark fluttered the dove!

Not so, alas! the brood of natural birth,
In sin conceived and cankered from the womb:
Once, like the raven, kindred with the dearth-
That evil spirit flapping through the gloom
Guided by vile attraction
Unto congenial rest
On the stale carrion floating o'er the earth-
Sin's ghastly satisfaction
Sated my filthy breast
Amid the wrath, lust, misery, and mirth!

Anon my quickened spirit, purified,
Forth from the Saviour's bosom like the dove
Flew with glad tidings o'er earth's troubled tide,
Expectant messenger of peace and love:
Found but rebuff, rejection,
Lewd man's imperious jeer-
Wedded to vanity in the bonds of pride,
With mine own heart's defection,
Her sin and legal fear-
Then to God's boson fled back terrified!

Vanish vain arts that flatter and allure,
That travesty the tragedy of life,
Tuning to ditties of the troubadour
The raging fury of man's covetous strife!
Ye bards and minstrels singing,
Ye weary the ear of God-
Piping to pride and glossing lusts impure!
Earth's cries to heaven are ringing
For wrath's avenging rod!
Think ye forever God's patience will endure?

Genius, thou spirit fallen, wouldst thou call
All things to pause to embalm thy rank conceit?
Thy painted forms and chiseled figures pall!
The slime-worm lurketh in thy poesy sweet-
Be it Homer's bloody story
Of lusting gods and men,
The pomp of Milton o'er hell's pride and fall,
The passion, filth, vain-glory
Reeking from Shakespeare's pen!
Away! away! degenerates are ye all!

On Thee, Thou Son of man, on Thee alone
My fainting soul may rest her weary eye,
Lost in a Life of love whose pureness shone
From God's own Self-to such vile worms drawn nigh !
Here in our land of mourning,
O lowly Man of grief,
Thy spotless Radiancy from heaven's throne
Passing through hate and scorning
Reached depths 'beyond belief-
For the hard hearts who mocked Thee to atone!

To me dost Thou the rest of God disclose-
Crowning each circle of Thy ransomed host,
The stainless purity of Love's repose
Shall flow from Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
With Thee shall I inherit
Thy filial joys and place
Whilst God the riches of His love bestows;
And by Thy power and Spirit
In Love's own perfect grace
The current of communion ceaseless flows!

Thou vast Infinitude of love and light,
Bosom of God, abyss of bliss divine,
In Thee I hide me from the pain and blight-
In Thee, my Rest, my Refuge, and my Shrine!
By love-chains nought can sever
Bound to Thy Godhead-breast,
Enshrined in Triune depths of pure delight,
With deepening joy forever
Profoundly shall I rest
While endless ages trace their blissful flight!

F. A.

Dear Brother-

In perusing the article on " Ruth " contained in January Help and Food, I found a little difficulty in reconciling a statement therein, with what had appeared to me as a correct rendering of the portion in point. On pages ten and eleven it says-

" After she had beaten out the barley-a grain itself suggestive of poverty and feebleness-she returns to her mother-in-law, and shows her little store, sharing it with her. It will be noticed that she first satisfies her own hunger, before giving to Naomi," etc. Now the difficulty I had was just here, as I had previously understood that what Ruth shared with her mother-in-law was what she had left over of the parched corn given to her by Boaz. That, in fact, the passage would read somewhat in this form-

17-"So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned :and it was about an ephah of barley.

18-"And she took it up, and went into the city; and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned and she brought forth, and gave her (Naomi) what she had reserved (of the parched corn) after she was sufficed (at the house, or at the table of Boaz). It seemed to me that Naomi saw what had been gleaned, that being so, Ruth need not have "brought it (the barley) forth, the results of the gleaning had been seen. It was in all probability understood to be common property. Then Ruth "brought forth" what she had reserved after she was supplied. It was at the table of Boaz she had been sufficed, and had some over. Then again, it would appear to me somewhat out of harmony with the affectionate relationship existing between Naomi and Ruth, to understand it so, to the effect that, Ruth should first cook a meal of the barley, then eat, and that to sufficiency, before giving any of it to Naomi, for this is what it would amount to, and would be very different to Boaz's treatment towards herself. H. G. M.

All true service of God and His people will be distinguished by a consciousness of being sustained and guided in it by God. But in order to do this, there is commonly a hard lesson to be learned by painful discipline-the lesson of our own nothingness, and the vanity of all our own devices and resources.

Moses occupied the highest place in Egypt under Pharaoh, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and mighty in word and deed. All the treasures of Egypt were at his command. We know that even then he was a believer, and by faith turned away from the wealth, honors and pleasures of the world, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God." He had a conviction that God would use him to deliver His people. And no doubt he supposed that all these worldly advantages, which had been so wonderfully bestowed on him, were important means of accomplishing this end. In such a confidence, he chose his own time to interfere in their quarrels; and supposed that they, too, would think as he did, that one possessed of such advantages was the very man to deliver them. But in this expectation he met only with disappointment, and learned that it was not by the strength and wisdom of Egypt that God was to be served.

At the age of forty, in the vigor and maturity of all his natural powers, Moses is a fugitive in the wilderness, and there he spends forty years in tending sheep. The fires of natural zeal and ambition have burned out; all the advantages he once possessed are lost; if remembered at all at the court of Egypt, the remembrance will render his return thither perilous. He is now an old man, well stricken in years. But God's time has now come; and in solitude with himself He has been preparing His servant; and the last step of the preparation was the manifestation of His own glory to one who was to act in His name. The mode of this manifestation was instructive-"a flame of fire in a bush;" and the wonder was that, frail and perishable as it seems, "the bush was not consumed." That fire which devours the enemy, and will at last consume every evil work, is as a wall of defense to God's people, few and feeble as they appear by any carnal estimate.

There Moses stands unshod in the presence of the divine holiness, while God proclaims His name, and reveals His compassion for His chosen but afflicted people. "And now come," He says, "I will send thee into Egypt." Where is now the forwardness and self – confidence which assumed the office of Israel's deliverer, uncalled and unsent ? Now, when God sends, Moses is filled with a humbling sense of his incompetence. "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt ?" He has learned his own insignificance. And never yet did a believer go forth in a service to which he was truly called of God with any other feeling than that which Moses expressed when he said, "Who am I ? "All in which nature glories, and on which nature would count, go for nothing when we come to this point. "Who is sufficient for these things?"Brethren, have you been brought to this point ?As has been remarked, "There would be much more profitable and happy service if we only served God's order."It is delightful to see activity in service; but then it should be connected with communion with God in secret, and the acknowledgment of God's sovereignty. Thus we should serve joyfully, not as though God needed our service, but as desiring to glorify Him in our bodies and our spirits, which are His; not lightly, but "with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire."

To "offend," in a scriptural sense, is a vastly different thing from the worldly thought. "We study to please," is the world's motto. It is ours also, only we seek to please God, not man. We may most surely "offend" a brother by trying to please him. To offend is to put a stumbling block in a person's way, something by which he is made weak. This is often done by trying to please him.

If it was of sovereign grace that Abraham was called out of his heathen state and made to know the living and true God; it was no less of that grace to be one born in his house, for Abraham was one of whom God could say:"I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment."

To know God was no small matter now to Abraham ; he appreciated it, he found his delight in it, and to communicate it to his house would be a moral necessity in his soul, and thus subject it to that God to whom to be subject is the height of man's blessing and honor.

To be born, therefore, in such a man's house is but a part of the sovereign grace that called and separated him from his heathen state and position.

What a high and blessed, as also responsible position, therefore, is that of a Christian at the head of his household – God's means of perpetuating the knowledge of Himself in a world where everything tends to destroy it. Alas, for the Christian who fails to realize this, and who allows his house to drift at will. Woe also to the child who fails to recognize the grace of God in having been born in a Christian household, where God's character was manifested, the truth daily taught and practiced, and everything ordered to maintain what God loves and delights in.

As Abraham's children got more and more remote from him, they lost more and more the knowledge of God, until finally God Himself-the God whom Abraham had so readily recognized, and adoringly entertained, when He passed by his tent door-visiting them in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, was unrecognized, hated, and cast out by them. Their punishment is not small, but how much greater must become the punishment of those who sin against greater light and blessing.

Oh, that every Christian man, in the energy of the Spirit of God, would shake off all this guilty indifference, this unholy pursuit after earthly goods, this dreadful idleness of soul, which cannot trouble itself with the pains of household government; this self-will, which forbids the government of self; and, looking at himself and all his house in the light of the glory where our Lord is now, which is soon to be manifested and we taken into it, take up his task in faith, and give honor to the God who has shown us such marvelous grace and love.

Much failure in detail will even such a man of God have to confess as he goes; but as Abraham will yet behold the glorious ending of his faith in his house when Israel is in her glory, so will every man who has treasured up in his heart the promises of God, and, in faith, turned them into practice.
P. J. L.

Substance of an Address by A. E. B.

"And it came to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord" (i Kings 6:i).

There can be no mistake in the understanding of this statement, can there, beloved friends? .There is nothing ambiguous in it, as if it feared contradiction, is there ? But it has been contradicted-by bishop Colenso. He says he discovered that from Egypt to Solomon there are 573 years.

I believe we shall find blessing in looking into the matter.

In the thirteenth of Acts, eighteenth verse we read:"And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness." This gives us 4 years

Twentieth verse, "And after that He gave them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years." 450 "

Verse 21, "And afterward they desired a king:and God gave them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years." 40 "

"And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David to be their king." 40 "

Now turn to our chapter in the book of Kings-"The fourth year of Solomon's reign," gives us 3 years

Making a total of 573"

Is it not good that a man who does not believe the Bible should give us something ? Perhaps we would not have looked it up if the bishop had not disputed it. But Scripture is right, and the bishop wrong spite of appearances. Let us, my young brethren, take the shoes from off our feet and worship as we turn to Him who has inspired every iota of His word.

There are 573 years from the inspired record itself and yet we have seen in that same inspired record that there are 480 years. Where are we going to get light about the ninety-three years of difference? Go back to Judg. 3:7, 8, "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forget the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia:and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years." Put down these 8 years

Vers. 12-14, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord; and He gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel and possessed the city of the palm-trees. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years." Note down . … 18 "

Chap. 4:1-3, "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead; and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord:for he had 900 chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." Note down ………… 20 years

Chap. 6:i, "And the children of Israel did evil, in the sight of the Lord:and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years." Note down ……. 7 "

Chap. 13:i, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years." Note down 40

Now sum up there are the these five captivities and-
there are the 93

Job says:"Doth He not see all my ways and count all my steps?" God goes over the whole history -573 years. The first eight years they were away from Him, and He will not count that. Next there are eighteen years of being away from the Lord; He says, Drop those out. The next twenty years under Jabin – drop those. Again seven years in captivity to Midian, the Lord drops them out ; then forty years they fall under the power of the Philistines, and God drops them out. He could not-He would not count the time when His people were out of their right place. Ninety-three years altogether His people were away from Him, and God counts them out and says, "Four hundred and eighty years." What a solemn lesson for us all, my brethren.

I was wondering what was going to be accomplished in our souls as the result of our coming together these few days; and I thought that among us, as Christians, I would like to see a deeper, a truer, a fuller work of the Spirit produced in us through the meeting, to the glory of God. I wonder if, in our meetings, some of God's people are not right with Him-if any of them are walking at a distance from Him and not in their right place. Let me tell you, dear brethren, at the judgment seat of Christ our time is all going to be counted. Abraham came out of Mesopotamia, and when they got away, as we have seen in the book of Judges, that is the place where they are carried back – carried back to the very place from which He brought them. We used to have card-parties in our parlors, but earnest evangelists came who gave us better things, and we gave them all up. If we should get the card-parties back there again, will that be to our reward? No, it is all lost for eternity. When we, as Christians get away from our God and under the power of any form of vice or evil, or wrong, mixed up with any worldly association whatever, walking in any wrong company, the Lord whose eyes are holy, who sees us through and through, says I cannot count that time, and that will all be deducted from your account of time before the judgment-seat of Christ.

A brother said to me once, " I see now, as I have never seen it before that the judgment-seat of Christ is going to be pay-day for believers. I had been absent from my work two weeks," he said, "and on the monthly pay-day I went down to get my wages; they handed me the slip, and there were just two weeks of time. There was not a word said about the two weeks I was away from my right place. I see now at the judgment-seat of Christ it is pay-day for the believer." Everyday, yes, every hour, yes, every moment that is spent out of communion with the Lord, He is going to deduct it from your time and you will get no reward for it.

And now dear brethren, receiving the truth is a sacred trust. We are responsible to commit that truth to others. Notice the difference between the little butterfly and the honey-bee. The butterfly will start out in the morning and go out in the garden, light on one flower after another, and then return. If you could talk with the butterfly and ask, Where have you been? it would say, "I have seen many things; heard many things, but brought nothing back. And sad to say, that is the way sometimes with people. They say, " I have read forty-five chapters this week." Well, what have you got from those forty-five chapters ? They cannot take and write down one thought that the Holy Ghost has given them. Now go to the little honey-bee, and ask, Where have you been? " Oh, just to one or two spots; I went to a flower and I went right down to the heart of the flower, and took a lot of honey there; then I brought it back, and here it is." I have thought as to this verse we have considered in the sixth chapter of Kings:Oh, that God would make us like that little honey-bee, to drink the precious honey we can find there.

Although for well-nigh nineteen centuries, the people of God have been assembled to commemorate the Lord's supper, how wonderfully touching still are the thoughts that gather about it and what precious moments do those spend who weekly assemble to carry out our Lord's injunction "This do in remembrance of Me." To such one scarcely need apologize for treating of this theme and the search for the better comprehension of its veiled glories, and even should the search be unproductive of new discovery, it may prove an incentive to further effort.

Those, who spiritualize the memorial, miss one of its first, and a very salutary and blessed, lesson. The commemoration has to do with the "material;" it is not merely a memorial, but as being material, it becomes a reminder. It is a voice to those who are in the flesh, who are creatures of the dust and need as such a divinely given ordinance to remind them of Him, who instituted it and who was figured forth therein. It teaches us to be humble. O brethren, what a sweet, sad thought is here! We need reminder of Him. We stand in need of continual reminder of what He has done, of what He is. It is a sad thought. The " material" must speak to that which is still subject to the influence of the "material." It is a sweet thought. One thinks of the words of a little child, who when asked what was one of the sweetest things replied, " Repentance; it is so sweet to lie humbled before our God." Brother, do you feel thus, when you partake of that bread and wine? Do you recognize that it thus speaks?

But it is a simple memorial. Rome surrounds it with great pageant and forgets two things. Its simplicity is well adapted to commemorate the One who was despised and rejected. It is not so much the Son of God as the Man Christ Jesus, who is set forth therein. But she forgets also that frailty of which we have just been speaking. God ordained it to be simple. The "material" is needed to speak to our frailty but we are so frail that should we surround it with pageant, it would obscure Him, the material would become all. The simple ordinances of Christianity have been chosen with wonderful wisdom, but as with everything else, man has added his foolish adjuncts, and turned a help to a hindrance.

From Corinthians we find that the supper was instituted on the same night in which our Lord was betrayed, and from the Gospels that it was at the feast of the Passover. God's works are all wrought in "due time" and the proximity of the "delivering up" and the "feast" make an impressive combination.

The Passover was a commemoration of Israel's deliverance from judgment and is now associated with our Lord's "delivering up " to judgment. They who had just been celebrating their own deliverance, the deliverance of the first-born, set in judgment upon and condemn the "First-born" of God. Man's enmity and God's love are drawing nigh to that "crisis" of the ages wherein they meet, in the cross of Christ. What a wonderful juxtaposition. What awful hatred, what divine compassion! and as in Adam all die, how much more, in Christ shall all be made alive. Here is bread and wine; true sustenance for life.

But now please consider a fragmentary clause from Luke. "And gave unto them, saying" etc. I want you to notice that participation was a memorial of Him, though He was still with them. He does not say, " In the future this shall be done for remembrance of Me" but "this do in remembrance of Me." It was, if one may so call it, an anticipative retrospect. They were with Him and yet were called upon to remember Him. Him, not His death; Him! We show the Lord's death in partaking of the bread and wine, but in the act in which each too has part, though it be performed by one, we act in remembrance of Him. Oh that we might remember, that even though to-day He be present in our midst, and faith's vision may often behold Him, that it is still Him whom we have to call to remembrance, (strange word!) by His life given up. Not merely what He has done, brethren, but Him in what He has done. How sad when we think only of what He has done as a reminder of what we have got. " This do in remembrance of Me."

He distributes bread and wine to the group around. It is a domestic scene. It speaks in its character of home, the home where we shall be with Him. This He, in His death, has brought about. In such a scene He shone pre-eminently. He had such a way of breaking bread and inviting to a feast that upon two occasions after His resurrection, the disciples are overwhelmingly convinced that "it is the Lord."

No wonder then that the apostle in Corinthians remembers that we keep it until He come. "He will make them sit down and come forth and serve them."

"And He took bread and gave thanks and brake it." There are here several thoughts worthy of consideration. Let us notice first that He gives thanks before He breaks, while it is over the cup, wine already out-poured, that He gives thanks again. Here is divine order, and one may read easily the simple lesson. That time of agony would indeed be bitter to Him. He came for affection and found hatred; He came for a kingdom and found a cross; He came bringing in His own person, life, eternal life, and found death; and yet that Body, that holy Temple which they should destroy was gladly offered. He gave thanks that He had still an offering to bring. Of old had Abraham the father of the faithful found a ram caught in a thicket by its horns, but here is one not caught, only held. He gave thanks. Often may we find one who gives" thanks when he has already endured, but not often that he has means wherewith to endure. Surely, herein is love made manifest.

The bread speaks of the Person, His body given, the breaking, of His dying; while I think the cup speaks of life already outpoured, and thus it is wine that we find therein, that which gives joy to God and man. He gives thanks after its outpouring. It is the cup of blessing. How appropriate the symbol. It is wine-joy. How appropriate the time of thanksgiving; death past, judgment gone! Rememberer, enter now into the joy of your Lord. We have the fruit of the Vine, the result obtained.

" Now He praises in the assembly
Now the sorrow all is past;
His the earnest of our portion,
We must reach the goal at last."

He breaks the bread. " No man taketh it from me; I lay it down . . . and I take it again." The breaking of the bread is, as we have said, His dying, and so we get no pouring out of the wine, for the breaking of the bread is that, and there before us is the Cup.

Oh may the Lord grant us as we gather from week to week and year- to year and as the rolling years pass on "until He come," fresher, deeper, more real participation in a memorial which as divinely instituted, should so present Him as to make us cry yearningly, "Come Lord Jesus," and more and more may we, as images grow brighter unto the shining of the real, ourselves be merged into His image, until "these broken lights of Him " be swallowed up in His glory, who is "more than they." F. C. G.

6.THE KINSMAN-REDEEMER.

Continued from page 15. Chapter 3:

Ruth’s diligence in gleaning has not only supplied the wants of herself and her mother-in-law, but has evidently awakened in Naomi the slumbering hopes which had apparently been dead. The knowledge of Scripture becomes her guide, and as faith has increased, so it will now make use of that which, though well known, before, had seemed to be of no special value. How true this is in every case. How Scripture seems to lie dormant in the mind of the child of God away from Him, and yet when once faith and desire are quickened, the neglected Word is found to be bright indeed with its provisions exactly suited to the needs.

There was a merciful provision in the law (Deut. 25:5-10) that no man's family should be allowed to die out, while a brother survived to perpetuate the line. In Israel, to be childless was a reproach, and for a man's name to be blotted out-his family to become extinct-was regarded as a special mark of God's displeasure. The Sadducees, in our Lord's day, might seek to ridicule the truth of resurrection by bringing in this merciful provision, but they only showed their ignorance of "the Scriptures and the power of God." It was provision for the earthly not the future life, that God had made. Most appropriate was it, therefore, that He should see that names should not be blotted out in Israel, save to mark, as in Achan, His solemn judgment of an awful sin. There seems, too, to be a recognition in His provision of that hope in the heart of every Hebrew woman, that through her in some way the promise of "the woman's seed " might be fulfilled. This was to be done literally in the line which was to be preserved through Ruth.

Naomi is the leader here. It is her knowledge both of the kinship of Boaz and the law of Deuteronomy which guides Ruth in the most trying of all her experiences. " Shall I not seek rest for thee ?" Ruth had been gleaning food, but it had been through constant toil, and but for present needs. She was now to have rest, all her needs met, her labor over. What a change in the state of Naomi, from her unbelief at the beginning, when she would have turned Ruth back to find rest in the heathen home of some Moabitish husband. Would she not now be ashamed of such unbelief, and shudder at the thought of her own folly, which might have resulted so disastrously both for herself and her daughter-in-law ? Yet unbelief in the nation checked any turning that it saw in the people to our Lord when He was here, and did not rest till there was no hope-as they thought -of a national acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. So too in the days of national return to the land, the spirit of unbelief will turn the newly formed hopes of the nation, to seeking rest in some union not of God. False prophets and false Christs will claim, and receive, recognition from many-the man of sin will draw off the most into alliance with "the beast." But faith and the word of God will seek rest for the widowed remnant only with One who is a Kinsman, with a divinely given right to redeem the inheritance and perpetuate the name of those whose hopes had long since died.

In the history, too, of every soul, there comes a yearning for something more than the merest satisfaction of pressing hunger. Every gift from the hand of such a Giver makes us long, not merely for more gifts, but for the rest which can only be found in Himself. It is a blessed fact that the Person of Christ is the necessary goal toward which the Spirit of God ever leads. Nothing short of the Lord Himself will do:" Our souls were made for Thyself, and can never rest save in Thee."

It is this longing after the Person of our blessed Lord which gives the peculiar charm to the Song of Solomon. The affections are the same in all dispensations, and anything that describes the longing of the heart after Christ meets a response in every Spirit-taught heart. From the beginning of the Song throughout, there is a good measure of acquaintance with the Lord, and a conscious though not clearly defined sense of relationship with Him. In Ruth this is not so clear. She is rather seeking an acknowledgment of relationship, which she is not sure will be recognized. But the resemblance between the two books can be seen. We must, however, return to the narrative.

Harvest time is now over, and threshing and winnowing have succeeded. All work will soon be over, and Naomi recognizes that if anything is to be done, it must be immediately. The plan is a simple and bold one; Ruth is to prepare herself, and on that night, at the threshing-floor present herself to Boaz, claiming kinship and pleading the divine provision for cases such as hers.

It was a bold stroke, and would either succeed or ignominiously fail. She would either leave the threshing-floor recognized by Boaz as the proper and honored object of his affection, or, spurned from his feet, be forever after branded as a bold and shameless woman. All hung in the balance; how would it be decided ?

Is it not significant, when we pass from the narrative to its spiritual application, that this trial was to be made at the threshing-time and at night? It is in connection with "the great tribulation,"-literally the great threshing-time,-when the remnant will put forth their claim to the Kinsman, whom yet they so dimly recognize. This is the testing time for the nation, when, through the trials of persecution, the wheat will be separated from the chaff of mere profession. When all goes well, it is easy to profess, but " when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word," the stony-ground hearers are manifested. Thus the time of threshing is the suited time for faith to be manifested as truly that, and for all else to fall away.

The figure of threshing is found quite frequently in the prophets, and nearly always as applied to the nations (See Isa. 21:10 with Jer. 51:33; Is. 41:15; Mi. 4:13; Hab. 3:12). Israel herself will one day thresh the nations, but before that time she herself must pass through the purifying chastening, which will result in the chaff being driven away, and the pure grain alone remaining. It is during this separating time of suffering and trial that the remnant will in faith lay claim to Him who is Lord of the threshing.

Is it not also suggestive that the site of the temple was the threshing-floor of Oman, and that it was at the time of God's chastening the people that He revealed Himself to David, and thus established the basis for His dwelling-place ? David offered sacrifices, and the place where sacrifice and chastening had met was to be the lasting abode of a holy and faithful God. So at the last will the Lord reveal Himself to His people, and re-establish His sure house to all generations.

Ruth is now to lay aside the garments of her widowhood, washing and anointing herself, and thus to present herself as a bride to Boaz. So too the remnant will lay aside their hopelessness, and washed by the Spirit and the Word, will array themselves in a beauty not their own, claiming in faith Him whose mercy they have tasted. They will have learned of Him who gives "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." They will have heard the voice calling to them, " Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem the holy city . . . Shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem:loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion."

Carrying out the directions of Naomi, she is recognized by Boaz at midnight, the darkest hour, and makes her bold claim. Instead, however, of being repulsed, she is blessed by Boaz, who declares it is kindness on her part, greater even than she had shown to her mother-in-law at the beginning. She is reassured, he promises to do all, and affirms that which slander might have denied :"All the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman."

So will the King, reassure the trembling remnant who draw near to Him in the dark midnight hour of trial and persecution. The joy of His own heart in their faith will be greater far than their own. " He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing." Who indeed can measure that joy, save He who wept over Jerusalem ? Who can know the delight of seeing then turn to Him, save the One who was rejected by His people ? " As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."

All this part of the narrative is so entirely typical of Israel's relations to our Lord, that we can only in a secondary way apply it to the history of the individual in the present dispensation. Yet, as we have seen, the affections are the same in all dispensations, and faith nourished will develop in strength and intensity. It is most blessed to know that God has provided infinitely beyond our highest thoughts and strongest faith. So that we have not to obtain, as did Ruth, a place of the nearest and closest relationship, but to apprehend that which is already ours- the gift of grace.

But in the soul's experience, there is much that answers to this progress which we have been tracing. We come as poor outcasts, gleaning bits of blessing with faint heart,

"Not worthy, Lord, to gather up the crumbs,
With trembling hands, that from Thy table fall,
A weary, heavy-laden sinner comes
To plead Thy promise and obey Thy call.

Such is the language, not surely of intelligent faith, but of the soul as it dimly sees mercy even for it. But grace leads on, as we have seen, encouraging and strengthening, until at last the soul, entering into the marvel of divine love, lays hold upon the wondrous secret of Christ's heart-" we are members of His body". . . . "Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it …. that He might present it to Himself." We see Him not only as Saviour, Lord, Shepherd, but find our rest upon His bosom the beloved of His heart, forming with all the redeemed of this age the Bride who shall be His companion throughout the endless day of God. "That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace."

Not at once does the soul grasp this wondrous relationship; alas at best how feebly do we respond to His love. But if the soul follow on under the leading of the Spirit of God, it will surely find its place at the feet of Him who is indeed " a near Kinsman," "not ashamed to call us brethren."

Ruth returns to Naomi with the distinct promise of Boaz, to do all that her heart desired, should there be no obstacle. That possible obstacle is, as we shall presently see, a nearer kinsman. But, even during the suspense of waiting to know the outcome, she receives from Boaz ample provision for all needs.

What a contrast are the six measures poured into her veil, to the ephah of barley gathered by painful gleaning. He would not allow her to go empty to her mother-in-law, and this in itself was a pledge of more bounty to come, yea of himself lord of it all. Thus Joseph feasted his brethren and sent them back with full loads before the union with his family was consummated. And thus the Lord in grace provides for those who yet do not know the fulness of blessing that is theirs.

Naomi meets her returning daughter-in-law, not with her previous question " where hast thou gleaned to-day?" but " Who art thou my daughter?" It was not a question of benefit, but of relationship. It was not "What hast thou," but "Who art thou." For the bride is called by the name of the bridegroom. "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." Fitting words are these to describe the changed relationships of one but lately called Ruth the Moabitess.

But, as we have seen, there must still be a brief delay. Brief indeed it is, for, as Naomi declares, "The man will not be in rest until he have finished the thing this day." Ruth can well afford to "sit still" and wait, for all is now in the hands of Boaz himself.

What a glimpse these words give of the tireless love of our Lord both for His Church and for Israel. He did not rest till He had accomplished redemption, and now His love will not rest till all is consummated. What force this gives to those words "the patience of Christ." How He longs to have His people with himself.

"Thy love had not its rest Were Thy redeemed not with Thee fully blest."

He waits now, He longs and looks for the time appointed. How is it with us? Can we say "Lord tarry not but come."?

(To be continued.) 157

Read Judges is. 6-21,

*An extract from "Lectures on Judges," now publishing in No. 13 of "The Treasury of Truth."*

Gideon has died, and his son Abimelech has r risen up as king. His very name, "My father was king,", which was given him by some one, (perhaps by his mother, to show his relation to the great man of Israel, and to cover the shame of his birth) shows how the subtle spirit was to work among the people. A "king" is the very thing that his father was not. His father refused to be king, and said God alone should be their king. And yet here is the son of his father who declares that his father was king, and, furthermore, in the strongest way declares that his son also is going to be king.

He sets himself to exercise authority over the people of God, and in order to do so he builds his throne upon violence. There must be violence if there is rule of that kind; if there is the rule of man, it must be by violence. Therefore, he slays all his brothers, all the many sons of Gideon, with a single exception. Having thus cut off all rivals, he goes to Shechem, the town of his mother, the town according to nature, which is significantly in that very tribe of Ephraim, which is always, as you know, reaching out for rule, and gets the men of Shechem to endorse and recognize him as king. Then it is that his brother Jotham, the one who had escaped, propounds his parable, which is most striking, and embodies the whole lesson of this chapter. This parable on rule and government explains all that occurred, and shows what human government always is in the house of God (chap. 9:7-21).

You have in the parable a picture of what government, or rule, is. The tree itself is a picture of government. You remember that Nebuchadnezzar was a great tree, head of the Gentile kingdom. The mustard seed grew into a tree.

The trees of the wood ask for a ruler, and they naturally turn to those bearing fruit. First comes the olive; they ask it to be king over them, and the olive's answer is that of all the other trees, " Shall I leave my fatness, wherewith they honor God and man, and go to wave over the trees ? " In other words, the olive declares that fruit-bearing is its work and not ruling. The fig-tree and the vine return the same answer. When we apply the parable to the government of God's people, it is beautifully simple.

Who is going to rule over God's people? Naturally, the saints turn, of course, to those who are bearing fruit for God. Here is one, for instance, who will represent the olive. The olive with its oil suggests the energy and illumination, the power and fruits of the Holy Ghost. They say to those who are manifesting the fruits of the Spirit in their lives, "Brethren, do you be rulers." Or, singling out one particular brother, who is full of faith and the Holy Ghost, they say, "You take charge, and be governor of God's people." He says, "Ah, brethren, I am too much engaged in the things of God, to attempt to rule His people." "I am too much engaged in the blessed communion of the Holy Ghost, in that which refreshes the people of God, that which is an honor to God (for God is honored and glorified by the fruits of the Spirit in His people), too much engaged with bearing fruit to be a ruler or a lord."

The fig-tree represents more particularly all that gracious nourishment and healing which is ministered through fruitfulness to God. The fig-tree producing sweet, wholesome fruit says, "If I am to rule, I must stop being fruitful, and I would far rather provide food for the people of God, than I would govern them." And so if the Spirit of God has empowered one in any way to bear fruit that nourishes and refreshes, heals and sustains the people of God,-suggested in the pastor and teacher – who would exchange that kind of a place for any pre-eminence over them as master or lord ?

The reply of the vine is only another lesson of the same kind. The vine, perhaps, reminds us more particularly of the gospel ministry, that ministry which emphasizes the precious blood of Christ, of which wine is a type. Here is an evangelist, one whose delight it is to hold up the cross, the finished work of Christ, and the people say, "He is the right one to rule; give us a good evangelist to rule over and govern us, to take charge of the saints." Ah! he says, shall I leave that which refreshes God, as well as man ?Shall I leave that which cheers the fainting heart of the dying saint, brings peace to the guilty conscience, and glory to the grace of God ? Shall I give up my ministry of the gospel of His grace for an empty honor of ruling over the people of God? Who, then, is to rule over them ?If those who are bearing fruit for God will not be rulers over His people, who really is to be the ruler ?Ah, the lesson, dear friends, of government, is the lesson of service, and he rules best who serves best. He is really, practically, a head of the people, who is at their feet serving them ; the ones who bring them the precious fruits of God's grace, the olive, the fig, the vine, these are the ones, and the only ones, by their service, who rule or lead the saints of God.

The spirit of rule is the spirit of service. The moment it passes into that of rule merely, it passes away from that of service and of fruit bearing. The moment you get away from fruit-bearing, you get emptiness, and that is what you have here. A bramble-bush is elected to be the ruler of the trees, and the bramble's answer is a very significant one, "If I am to be ruler, then you have either got to bow to me, or fire will come out and burn up all the trees, from the cedar of Lebanon, in its height, down to the smallest of them." It is rule or ruin.

What is a bramble but a mere fruitless thing, that, instead of giving its energy, sap and vigor to bearing fruit, has shriveled up and turned in upon itself? Just as the thorn, it is the curse of the earth, an abortive branch. That which might have, if it had opened out, been a branch and borne much fruit, has shrunk up and centered upon itself. So the bramble, nothing but a thorn-bush, figure of a self-seeking, self-desiring man, becomes now a ruler. This rule is of that character which says, You must bow to me, or be burnt, no matter who you may be.

What a lesson as to what rule is amongst the people of God ! How it searches our hearts, as we think of it; how it makes us realize how easy it is to become mere brambles, and to seek a place, not at the feet of the saints, but over their heads. Beloved brethren, he rules who does as Christ did, ministers amongst them. "Whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth ? Is not he that sitteth at meat? But I am among you as He that serveth." Do you want saints to look up to you ? Ah, you are a bramble, if you covet that. The people who are looked up to are those who do not take the place, but who are seeking to bear precious fruit for God, and for the blessing of the saints. Let us be occupied with that fruit-bearing in our own souls. S. R.

In the widow's mite we see that our Lord values work not by the quantity but the quality. It is not how much we do, but how we do it. "By Him actions are weighed." Oh for devoted hearts.

VIII. THE BELIEVER’S POSITION AND CONDITION.

It is important to a correct understanding of Scripture as well as to peace and rest of soul to the child of God, to see clearly the distinction between his position, or righteous standing before God, and his earthly walk. The former is unalterable, unchanging, while the second may be, and alas is, variable.

1. Position, before God, is alone by the finished atoning work of Christ, and from the moment He is appropriated by faith, is permanent and eternal. Faith alone is the means of obtaining this priceless boon of God's grace, and no works of the sinner, or deeds of the believer, can add or aid in any way to obtaining it, or keeping it when once obtained. The title to it is Christ, and it is the free gift of God's grace as fully to the youngest, weakest, most ignorant babe in Christ, as to the oldest, strongest, most learned saint on earth. It is a position of new relationship.

"As many as received Him, to them gave He the power (right, privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name " (John 1:12).

"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26; see also i John 3:2; 5:i). Joint heirship with Christ.

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17). Royalty and nearness.

"Unto Him that loved (loveth) us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father " (Rev. 1. 5, 6). Complete forgiveness, justification, and peace.

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38, 39).

" Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ "(Rom. 5:i).

These and many more blessings as to position before God are the unvarying portion of the believer and are dependent upon Christ alone.

See also i John 5:i; i Pet. 1:4, 5; Eph. 1:ii; 2:13; 1:13; 5:30; 1:3; Heb. 10:19; i Cor. 6:19; John 6:47.

2.This position is unchangeable and forever.

Every one of these gracious blessings is the portion of every child of God, the moment such by faith receives, or believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and is entirely apart from religiousness, character, ordinance, or prayer of the recipient either before or after such faith displayed.
Being then dependent upon Christ's work, they must be the permanent possession of all to whom conferred, for "whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it:and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him" (Eccl. 3:14).

Hear the words of the Lord Jesus:

" I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My
hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand " (John 10:28, 29).

" And ye are complete in Him " (Col. 2:10).

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost (forevermore, margin) that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).

"For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).

"Clean every whit" (John 13:10), "no condemnation" (Rom. 8:i; John 3:18, 36). "Sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30). Thus backsliding Peter could say, " Kept by the power of God" (i Pet. 1:5:see also Jude 24; Eph. 5:25-27 etc.).

3. A believer's condition may be far below his exalted position and yet not affect it.

This is, alas, only too true. The church at Corinth were "sanctified in Christ and called saints" (i Cor. 1:2), and yet it is only necessary to read through the epistle to discover the truth of this.

The apostle writes of them,

"But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the flame of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (i Cor. 6:ii), and yet he speaks of them as "carnal" (3:1-3), "puffed up" (4:18), and resorting to law (6:7). A striking evidence of this is seen in the apostle Peter; compare carefully Matt. 16:17 with ver. 23. And of the same Corinthians even while in the above state it is written, that their body was "the temple of the Holy Ghost" and they were not their own but God's; see i Cor. 6:19 20.

4. The effect of this should be a holy obedient walk.

It should not for a moment be thought that because all this is by the free undeserved favor of God, that a believer has no responsibility consequent upon it, or may walk loosely, or in self-will; far from it, God in grace having placed one in such a position requires he should walk as becometh the dignity of the same.

To the same Corinthians the apostle writes,

"The love of Christ constraineth us" … because "He died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

"Be ye therefore followers (imitators) of God, as dear children," "walk in love," "fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but rather giving of thanks. . . . For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:1-8).

" As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" (i Pet. 1:14, 15).

" For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries" (i Pet. 4:3).

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (i Pet. 2:ii).

"Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances" Col. 2:20).

" If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth" (Col. 3:i, 5; see also Eph. 4:17-32; 6:1-9; Phil. 2:3, 12-16; 4:5-9; Col. 3:i; 4:6; i Thess. 5:12-22).

"And the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (i Thess. 5:23). B. W. J.

QUES. 17.-What path is described in Job 28:7?

ANS.-The connection shows it is the path of wisdom. ''Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding (ver. 12) V Part at least of the answer is given in ver. 28, " unto man He saith, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."

QUES. 18.-What was the vow of Jephthah the Gileadite regarding his daughter? If the thought of putting her to death is here, kindly explain in full.

ANS.-" If Thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Am-mon into my hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me . . . shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering " (Judg. 11:30, 31). Ordinarily there would be no doubt that Jephthah meant to sacrifice in death whatever came out. It being his daughter has raised the question with thoughtful students of God's word whether he could have put her to death, so repulsive to nature and forbidden by the word of God. On the other hand, remembering the sternness of the man, his rashness and the generally lawless state of the people, it does not seem at all improbable that the first impression of every reader of the account is correct – that she was put to death as a sacrifice. This view can be seen at length in " Lectures on Judges."

QUES. 19.-Why were only eleven tribes mentioned by Ahijah the prophet, to Jeroboam (1 Ki. 11:31, 32).

ANS.-Benjamin is the one tribe who, with Judah the tribe of David, makes up the twelve. See chap. 12:21.

QUES. 20.-Please explain the words, " take, eat, this is my body." Do we in partaking of the Lord's supper literally partake of His body and blood?

ANS.-" I am the door," " I am the true vine." No one for a single moment mistakes the meaning of these words, or applies them literally to our Lord. As symbols they are beautiful ; force them in a literal way and all beauty and meaning is lost. So with the symbols of our Lord's body and blood. As symbols they are the sweet precious memorials of One who loved us unto death; taken literally, they become the food of superstition and a carnal religion. We need but to look at the blasphemous use Rome has made of the Lord's supper to see the danger of which we speak. Think of a few words of the priest creating Christ, and that in His divine character!

But even where such gross and blasphemous use is not made of the Lord's supper, any teaching that leads us to look at the bread and wine as anything but simple memorials, feeds superstition. It is Christ with whom we are to be occupied, arid we simply " do this " to call Him to mind.

QUES. 21.-What was involved in the act of Samuel in honoring Saul before the people (1 Sam. 15:30)?

ANS.-In refusing to obey God in the utter extermination of the Amalekites, Saul had fully manifested his unfitness for the throne. This Samuel faithfully and unflinchingly presses upon him, and refuses to sacrifice with him on that ground. As a last resort Saul, tacitly admitting the right of Samuel's refusal to go with him as one In whom God was pleased, asks simply that his office be recognized. There was nothing amiss in this, as it was not God's purpose Immediately to overthrow the disobedient king.

QUES. 22.-What does Scripture teach about Satan's ability- or inability-to know man's thoughts? Are all evil thoughts in man the product of his own wicked heart apart from Satan?

ANS.-We are not aware that Scripture directly teaches as to the first part of the question, and would be slow to assert positively as to it. We would suggest however that Satan, being a spirit, can detect the movements of man's mind, as man in the body could observe the physical movements of men. As to evil thoughts, Satan cannot give them, save as there is a readiness to receive them. Thus man Is fully responsible for what Satan has suggested. " Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost" (Acts 5:3)?

QUES. 23.-What is holiness according to Scripture? Was Adam holy before he sinned?

ANS.-Holiness is a positive, inherent character, the product of a nature. We would therefore prefer not applying the term to Adam, but rather to say he was innocent. Holiness is the character of God, and it is His children who through chastisement are made partakers of that.

In conflicts, not only is Satan defeated, but the tried saint learns fresh secrets about his own feebleness and the resources and grace of God. So, in the wanderings of the heart, in departure from the power of faith and hope, not only is the soul chastened and exercised, but it learns, to God's glory, that it must come back to that posture in which the Lord first set it. J. G. B.

(A Meditation on Mark 1:, 2:, 3:) (Continued from page 86.)

We were seeing the patient service of our Lord, and will trace Him further in His lowly mission. Levi (Matthew), hears a word behind him "follow Me," and he rises up and follows Jesus. Matthew knew the Shepherd's voice and beheld in Him the grace that came to save the lost. This man makes the Lord a feast, and invites a number of publicans and sinners to meet Him and hear His word. This was a double feast, a feast for the Son of God while a Servant among men; a feast such as these scribes and Pharisees had never afforded the Shepherd-Servant. A true love feast this was, and then a feast that widened out and thought of men just like what he had been, whom he desired to see, taste and share the grace of a Saviour-God. What a treat Matthew must have afforded Jesus that day! publicans and sinners heard that day the wonderful words of life. How beautiful to see this grace, the Son of God sitting among publicans and sinners. This heavenly life of Jesus unfolds itself in those chapters like the rose of Sharon, and as it unfolds itself, at its every stage it emits its sweet fragrance of love and grace. But for those, as we have first noticed, who had feelings of envy because He was advancing as a teacher and then because that envy was not judged, we read they "reasoned." Now we observe their character also unfolding itself side by side with His. He the very perfection of good; in them the principle of evil.

At this stage they speak out (not as in vers. 6, 7, in their hearts) but not yet directly to the Lord. They move cautiously and drawing near, ask the disciples, "How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?" (ver. 16). These words are proof of how far their hearts were away from the God of Israel, and also of the wickedness that lay therein, in thus seeking occasion against the Lord of life and glory as He went about doing good. The Lord when He heard it takes up the question Himself and gives the answer, in lowly grace making it the occasion to present to them the very glory and joy of His mission.

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (ver. 17). Such was Matthew, and such were those whom Matthew had invited there that day, and hence the whole work was according to God's plans. The grace of Christ was expressed among that company.

At this feast, the Lord was enjoying another feast, "meat to eat they knew not of." What a contrast between those two lives! He delighting to meet the need of the needy; they opposed to such grace flowing out. By this time we observe the Pharisees have joined the scribes. (In ver. 6, we read of the scribes, in ver. 16, the scribes and Pharisees.)

At this juncture we observe another question asked. Till the end of chap. 3:the contrast develops, and becomes more manifest. But this question was not to the disciples, but to the Lord. If Matt. 9:14 be consulted, we observe the questioners here were John's disciples. Yet even in them we learn how far all were from understanding Him who was in their midst. "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples fast not?" The previous question was addressed to the disciples and concerning the conduct of the Lord; this question is addressed to the Lord, but concerning the conduct of the disciples.

The Lord's presence among them was truly giving character to their lives and others could see the change. Observe the contrast, and the answer which the Lord gave them truly and fully explains this. "Can the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? "

What grace is expressed in this answer. Not only do we observe the grace and patience in answering such questions and waiting on them for a response, but we would pause and meditate upon the grace expressed in the words of the answer. The Son of God was present among men, His own voice was heard following that of His forerunner John. This voice sought to reach men and draw them to Himself. Men were refusing, but the few fishermen respond. The publican does also. The sinners hear His words, and oh the blessedness, we exclaim, for those whose hearts God had touched. For there was the Messiah long looked for by Israel. There was that great Prophet. There was the Son of God, there the Bridegroom and there the grace waiting to reach them and bless. Would they respond? The Lord saw they would not. His rejection by them becomes clear to Him, and this He now intimates. " But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away." The condition of the leaders was as old bottles which could not contain the new wine. This precious ministry of love and grace the Lord had already begun to unfold, and although the Bridegroom is absent now, yet the Spirit is here and the work still continues among sinners of the Gentiles.

But we will proceed another step and observe another objection to what was transpiring:"Why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?" He had taught in the synagogue and they refused His teaching. He healed and forgave, and they find fault. He gathered publicans and sinners around Him to tell them of the grace that would save, and they question about it. Now as the disciples walk through the cornfields, we might say despised and rejected as associated with their Lord and Master, their conduct is questioned. The Lord again answers, and every answer only develops the grace of His heart, as well as the truth of His ways. At this time He refers to David's course when the nation had refused him. In this typical history they might have seen the parallel. They were careful about the sabbath, the shadow, and to this they clung; but the One the sabbath pointed to ("the body which is of Christ") they had no heart for. They were jealous of Him, the Lord of the Sabbath. What a contrast we here behold in those two bands – Christ and those following Him, and the scribes and Pharisees.

But we observe none of those things move Him nor deter Him from His holy purpose to bless, if they curse. "And He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had a withered hand, and they watched him " (chap. 3:1,2).

"They watch Him,"not to admire and adore Him for the love and grace there expressed, but to detect something "that they might accuse Him." This is the very character also of Satan as given in Rev. 12:"The accuser of the brethren," and by this we see how much they were under his power and unholy influence.

Let us also pause here and learn the contrast as developed in that lovely life of Jesus, a contrast still pursued by Him in the courts above; for there He acts as Priest and Advocate; there He prays and intercedes with God for His own redeemed by blood- His own blood. But He never " accuses." This is the enemy's work as seen in Satan and in the scribes and Pharisees. It is recorded as one of the unholy characteristics of the last days prevalent among professing Christians (2 Tim. 3:3).

Let us be warned ourselves by these scriptures, and "watch," not that we might detect defects and flaws and "accuse," but watch against that unholy work of the flesh and judge the spirit of it, and cultivate the lovely graces of the Holy Spirit. Let us look upon others, not with the cold, heartless suspicion that characterized those who opposed the Lord. Eventually this very spirit of criticism and accusation, largely the development of envy, was that which said, "Away with Him, Crucify Him." Let us cultivate what the divine word enjoins upon us. "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report:if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things" (Phil. 4:8, 9).

This life so beautiful and lovely, when developed as the Holy Spirit here unfolds it, was a life foreign to that of scribes and Pharisees, but it was most fully and perfectly expressed by the very One they accused. As often since, the evil, the wrong is with the accusers, not the accused. Let us then be warned by this example and choose the side true and lovely, that of Christ.

But, to proceed. He healed the man with the withered hand, a fit emblem, had they but known it, of their whole condition, a lifeless withered up profession. Grace was there even for them, but another purpose was theirs. They no doubt felt their weakness, and so we are informed; "The Pharisees went forth and took counsel with the Herodians against Him how they might destroy Him " (ver. 6). First we saw but scribes, then the Pharisees, now the Herodians. Things which have begun, develop very fast; He came to give life, they would take His away; He came to save and bless, they to condemn and destroy.

But we note also the grace of Christ, "Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea" (ver. 7), foreshadowing what would soon be true in reality, His final withdrawal from them, and the grace that would flow out to the Gentiles. Great multitudes now follow Him, and even already some of those Gentile. The Lord ever perfect as a Servant discerns the great need and retires to the mount. There He selects the twelve. The need and press was great, "So that they could not so much as eat bread." What a life was that of Jesus here below, full of love that desired to serve others, unselfish and self-denying and that side by side with a life as seen in others, full of malice, hatred, selfishness and self-indulgence. May we here again pause and meditate the contrast, and copy that life so true and unselfish. The very perfection of servants was He, given us here as an example. Well might we pause and admire as well as worship and adore as we behold Him in dependance "the solitary place" in prayer, our example. In His grace at its every stage, our example. Unwilling also to be hindered in His service by the popularity, unswervingly devoted to His Father's interests, and not seeking self-glory; in this our example. The diligence, the faithfulness and self-denial, "They could not so much as eat bread," our example was He and they with Him at this time. (At this stage His friends cannot understand Him, but the Father did) (ver. 21).

But we will follow on one step further and behold another stage, the seventh of the contrast and the close of our meditation. "The scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out devils " (ver. 22). By this we learn how far away their hearts are from the God of Israel, how far their hearts differed from that of the Lord before them, and how opposed were their words and ways to the work of the Holy Spirit there working in such a wonderful way. Their cup of iniquity was full. Their life and ways but manifest the heart they bear about, and now the Lord answers them (not plainly as before) by parables. There was little use reasoning; little use waiting longer. The more grace is shown the more do they take advantage of it to accuse and gainsay. They had heard Him preach, teach, and seen Him heal, and this every part of it as a man, their Messiah, anointed by the Holy Ghost. Yet they say that all was by " Beelzebub."

At this stage we behold righteousness. They are given up; they are set aside by the just judgment of God (vers. 28, 30). They commence with envy, when Jesus comes to the front and is honored of God in His ministry of grace, and in these three chapters their wickedness develops in all the stages of their opposition and accusations until now we behold violence there, and murder is before them, which terminates eventually in the Cross. Man's life here has been before us in the religious leaders of that day, not only proven to be a failure, but tested in every way and proven to be evil. But the life of Jesus in all His ways, in every answer, in all His words- how beautiful and lovely, worthy of our admiration and imitation.

At the close (chap. 3:) He turns from them; all links with Israel (man as in flesh tried, tested, and proven bad) are broken. We observe the grace that rises over every barrier and the word, "Whosoever" appears. Next He goes to the seaside (typical of where He works now, among us Gentiles) and there as Mark describes by parables, He has labored ever since (chap. 4:).

True He has been crucified, but now risen and glorified at God's right hand. This is the testimony of chap. 16:at its close. His servants who began then and have continued since "went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them." He still abides the Servant, He still labors with those sent forth. He still, blessed be His glorious Name, maintains a hearty interest in the gospel. Let us cultivate hearty fellowship with Him in this service, which will continue "till He come." Then He will still be the Servant, He will serve us, His people, His redeemed (Luke 12:35-37), and this service will be as the Hebrew servant,-reckoned for thirty shekels of silver-a service that will abide forever. "He shall serve him forever" (Ex. 21:1-6, 32). May the choice of our hearts be Himself, not in doctrine and theory only, but in deed and in truth. A. E. B.

When Cyrus gave one of his friends a kiss, and another a wedge of gold, he that had the gold envied him that had the kiss, as a greater expression of favor. So the true Christian prefers the privilege of acceptance [fellowship] with God to the possession of any earthly comfort, for the light of His countenance is life, and His favor is as the cloud of the latter rain.-Buck

The righteous doth bear calamities with patience, but also with joy. For they do not look upon the labor, but upon the reward; not upon the pain, but upon the crown; not upon the bitterness of the medicine, but upon the health which it bringeth; not upon the grief of the chastisement, but on the love of the Chastiser.-F. Lewis, 1590.

There is as much difference between the sufferings of the saints and those of the ungodly, as there is between the cords with which the executioner opinions a condemned malefactor and the bandages wherewith a tender surgeon binds his patient. The effect of the one is to kill, of the other to cure. Believers undergo many crosses but no curses.-Salter.

As announced last month, the first number of a Sunday School paper, to be known as the "The Sunday School Visitor," is sent to our subscribers as a sample. As will be seen, it is specially intended for Sunday School, and to encourage the study of God’s word among children of all ages. It can hardly be expected to be what we wish at once, but the prayers of the Lord’s people are asked that it may be a blessing in many a home and Sunday School.

For prices see order-sheet in center of this month.

The bands of death Thou brokest,
Almighty Saviour Thou,
And to Thy rest hast brought us;
No more at distance now.

Thou hast Thy work completed
Which was for us performed;
Thy sufferings are ended,
And our heart's fear disarmed.

In Thee to us is given
Salvation ever sure;
Thyself our precious portion,
Our life that shall endure.

And by the Spirit guided
Thy yoke is light to bear;
Thou hast the way made ready,
Dost go before us there.

Who can Thy mercy fathom,
Who what Thy love has wrought!
To Thee, while on our journey,
Let constant thanks be brought.

(From the German.)

7. NEARER THAN THE NEAREST.

Chapter 4:Continued from page 225.

As we have already seen, Boaz takes Ruth as his wife in the presence of the kinsman and of the witnesses. Nothing is "done in a corner," no righteous demands are ignored, or any necessary claim set aside. The very law which witnessed against the apostate nation will witness also to the righteousness of Him who restores to Himself on the basis of grace the penitent and believing remnant. The prophets bear abundant witness to this, linking, as we have already seen in some measure, the people's past unfaithfulness as Jehovah's espoused, and the future grace which will restore them. "Of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest playing the harlot" (Jer. 2:20). God had rescued them from Egypt, and they had promised, at Sinai, not to transgress. Alas, the golden calf was set up before the law was brought into camp, and the long list of subsequent idolatries told how they had broken the covenant."High places," for idolatrous worship had dotted the whole land, while in the shade of every green tree the abominations of heathenism had been practiced. Spiritually and literally did these unholy and unclean rites deserve the name of harlotry so frequently given them in the prophets. What could God do with such a nation but put them away?

"They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord." "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you." "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. . . . Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold we come unto Thee, for Thou art our God" (Jer. 3:). This whole portion of Jeremiah is exceedingly beautiful and touching. The tender pleadings of divine love to a bold, faithless, and wanton people, the assurances of forgiveness and everlasting mercy are touching in the extreme.

"Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant, . . . and I will establish My covenant with thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord" (Ezek. 16:60, 62). Here again, after depicting in the utmost faithfulness, the originally helpless condition of the people, their "time of love" and the beauty with which He adorned them, their wanton shameless, faithlessness, and hopeless degradation. God assures them of a recovery and a re-union in the bonds of a marriage covenant "never to be broken or forgotten."

Similarly, in the familiar passage in Hosea, the past unfaithfulness of the people, their present rejection as "Lo-ammi," and their future restoration are presented. " Behold I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her.

And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. . . . And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness:and thou shalt know the Lord" (Hos. 2:14-23).

These touching and beautiful passages may well serve as the link between Naomi and Ruth. The nation departed as Naomi, they are restored-the remnant of them-as Ruth, in deep and true penitence and a faith which renounces all claims in themselves, yet for that reason cleaves all the more fully to the Lord and His grace.

So, as Boaz calls the elders and all the people to witness to his having purchased all the forfeited inheritance and the Gentile widow Ruth, will our Lord call all to witness to His redemption of His desolate people. "Comfort ye, comfort, ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned:for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Is. 40:1, 2). "With a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, the Lord hath redeemed His servant Jacob" (Is. 48:20).

The grace too which will redeem the people will also restore the land to them for their enjoyment. In fact all during their captivity and estrangement from God, the land has enjoyed its sabbaths-sign of the covenant between God and the people. So in a sense the very desolations of the land are a reminder of the unfailing promise of God, who would not give to others that which was reserved for His own. "Thus saith the Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. . . . Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses . . . for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord " (Jer. 32:42, 44). "And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me. . . . Again there shall be heard in this place . . . the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts; for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth forever; and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord " (Jer. 33:7, 10, 11). Mercy to the people must necessarily be accompanied by mercy to the land. The one will not be without the other. "He will be merciful unto His land and to His people " (Deut. 32:43). "I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth (or land); and the earth (or land) shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel" (Hos. 2:21, 22).

This is dwelt upon at length in the beautiful sixty-fifth psalm. Praise silently waits upon God in Zion until the hour appointed for the overthrow of enemies and the final establishment of peace in the land. Then God's mercy to His land will be celebrated; "Thou visitest the earth and waterest it; Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water. . . . Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness, and Thy paths drop fatness. . . . The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing" (Ps. 65:9-13).

Thus the purchase of all that was Elimelech's and his two sons', the land and inheritance, includes also Ruth the widow. And Christ's redemption of His people includes the land as well. How suggestive it is that at this present time we have not only a people without a land, the Jews, but a land without a definitely settled people. Each is waiting for the other, and both, yea all things, wait His time who surely will fulfil all His word. "If My covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances, of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob" (Jer. 33:25, 26).

Gladly do the witnesses respond to the declaration of Boaz. "And all the people that were in the gate" -the ten men, representing the law, and all the others-said, " We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel." These two mentioned were the mothers of the twelve patriarchs, the founders of the nation. When all has apparently failed, the Mighty One comes in and restores, nay far more, the nation to its original greatness. The original redemption from Egypt will no more be the standard, but that last and final one, when He will gather His beloved people, and Rachel, to whom allusion is here made, will refrain from weeping for her children. "There is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border" (Jer. 31:17).

They also allude to Tamar and her children-the one who, we might say, founded the tribe of Judah to which Boaz belonged. Looking back at that history, we find it a sadly blotted page. Sin seems to be written all over it, yet a faith that desires, and Jacob-like will get by artifice, the blessing. Here is the blessing without the stain, but reminding us, as we have been seeing, of grace to a sinful and unworthy people.

Thus the law, magnified and made honorable, not only transfers all its rights to Christ, but claims for the people-unfruitful so far as the law was concerned-a blessing beyond its own through this new relationship.

All is consummated and Boaz takes his bride to himself. Ah soon will the poor cast-off nation be gathered to the arms of Eternal love and "as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."

A son is born to Ruth, but in a beautiful way it is not Ruth but Naomi who comes into prominence here. The aged mother, with blasted life and bitter memories, is before us now with the young babe in her arms. All the past is forgotten save to contrast it with the joyful present. They bless the Lord, as they rejoice, who has not left His desolate people without a Redeemer, and who is indeed "famous in Israel." Ruth too is not forgotten, and her faithful devotedness is acknowledged by all. " Thy daughter-in-law which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him." Israel according to the flesh would indeed have been utterly worthless towards restoring blessing, but this Gentile daughter-in-law-speaking, as we have seen, of faith and penitence-is better than all excellence of the flesh.

This child is to be, as they tell Naomi, "a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thy old age." So the child is called Obed, "servant."

Passing to the spiritual meaning of all this, we can hardly fail to connect this child with that other wondrous Child born of this same line, and who will invert while He makes good all we have been seeing, being Himself also Boaz, the Risen and glorified One; "For unto a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:and the government shall be upon His shoulder:and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace " (Is. 9:6).
It is fitting too that He should have this name of "servant." Israel was God's servant, but how unfaithful ! Then this faithful One comes, who is indeed God's servant, "Mine elect in whom My soul delighteth." Through Him and by His grace the remnant is called out and they too are designated by that same title; while finally all the nation will be restored and rejoice, as once they did in disobedience, to be called the servants of the Lord.

And how perfectly has our blessed Lord illustrated the beauty of faithful service! He came to do God's will, and His meat and drink it was to do it. All along His earthly path He was ministering to the suffering and the sin-sick. Upon the cross He served – blessed forever be His Name!- that we might never know the awful penalty of sin. All this He did gratuitously. He was one who owed no
service-the heifer upon which no yoke had come. Yet He took the form of a servant and did a servant's work-to God and for man's need. Even now in glory He serves His needy people by His Spirit, His word and His all availing work as advocate and intercessor, and His crowning act of service will be to gird Himself and serve His own faithful ones- faithful only by His grace-in token of His approval. Well has He gained this title, and for us no higher honor exists than to follow, in our measure, His own lowly path.

'' And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom." So the aged Simeon took the Babe in his arms and, as we might say, vanishes out of sight in his own song of praise, leaving us to gaze upon the cause of his joy. How the aged widow found joy and warmth as that fresh young life nestled near her heart. Ah, there is the nation's hope, and till He is taken to the people's heart they abide in widowed loneliness.

Returning to ourselves, here we see the one great remedy for all our wretchedness. Has the heart grown cold ? Has our joy like Naomi's waxed faint? It is our privilege in reality, as it was hers in type, to clasp to our bosom Him who once a Babe, still in glory yields Himself to His people's embraces. We never grow warm save as He has His place in the heart.

Grant, Lord, that we may know more of this- Thyself held fast to our hearts by a living faith, as we realize too a mightier love that holds us fast, for-evermore to Thee.

Concluded.