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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God haste that day, when,

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

" The Way of Peace they have not known (Rom. 3:17,18.)

The world- honored Doctor" Charles W. Eliot, president emeritus of Harvard University, has written a new statement of the Unitarian belief, which is to be sent broadcast. Some of its cardinal tenets are:

" We believe in a loving God, who inspires and vivifies the universe, and to that God we attribute in an infinite degree all the finest, noblest, sweetest, loveliest qualities which human nature embodies and displays in infinite forms . . .

" We Unitarians believe in the essential dignity and goodness of human nature. We believe in good will, co-operation for common ends, and freedom from all restraints and subjections, except those involved in preserving the same freedom for thy neighbor.

" We recognize that there are great evils in the world, but refuse to accept them as inevitable, and we combat them with every form of intelligent human effort, and with every means which modern science puts into our hands . . .

"We recognize that human wills are often weak, and human bodies and minds often defective ; but we do not infer thence that the human race is depraved and is to be controlled and redeemed only by fear and terror.

" We believe that mankind would get along better than they do now if it were positively known that the heaven of revelation had been burnt, and hell quenched."

These statements of M^belief go out with approbation from Unitarians (who falsely retain the name of "Christian" while rejecting the Divinity of Christ and atonement by His blood), and are favorably received by many who have "turned away their ears from the truth, and have turned them unto fables" (2 Tim. 4:3, 4).^ For is it not fables to talk of "the goodness of human nature," and ascribe the wicked deeds of which the world is full to "weakness of human wills," or "defects" of human bodies and minds ! Thus is sin disguised and God's word slandered by so-called Christians who hold that " mankind would get on better than they do now if it were positively known that the heaven of revelation had been burnt, and hell quenched." Ah, that is the trouble-IF it were positively known. But " It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" said the Voice to mad Saul in his endeavors to stamp out the name of Jesus; and Divine mercy turned him to preach salvation through the Jesus he had sought to destroy.

"The goodness of human nature"-in the face of constant reports of ever-increasing crimes, schemes of wickedness, violence, adulteries, corruptions not only of individuals, but of high governments treating their own solemn pledges as scraps of paper ! A few years ago believers in human goodness saw such progress of the human race, and nations had become so civilized that wars had become almost impossible; all differences between nations would henceforth be settled by arbitration in the Peace Palace erected at The Hague for this purpose. But, lo! suddenly the world is plunged into the most frightful conflict this world has ever known, and the most civilized nations have invented and used most diabolical methods to destroy opponents and innocents alike!

Alas! man created in the image of God is fallen; millenniums of trial in various ways have only demonstrated the impossibility of self-recovery; yet the true Deliverer is rejected-that precious Saviour who came from heaven to deliver those who, in their need, lay hold of One mighty to save! "Thou shalt call His name JESUS (Jehovah-Saviour), for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. i:21).

Reject His Divinity, reject His atoning sacrifice, and what hope is left? Only the "fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Heb. 10:27).

I have a Friend whose faithful love
Is more than all the world to me;
'Tis higher than the heights above,
And deeper than the soundless sea:
So old, so new, So strong, so true-
Before the earth received its frame
He loved me.-Blessed be His name!

His was the highest place above,
Adored by all the sons of flame,
Yet, such His self-denying love,
He laid aside His crown, and came
To seek the lost:
And at the cost
Of heavenly rank and earthly fame,
He sought me.-Blessed be His name!

It was a lonely path He trod,
From every human soul apart;
Known only to Himself and God
Was all the grief that filled His heart:
Yet from the track
He turned not back
Till, where I lay in want and shame,
He found me.-Blessed be His name!

Then dawned at last that day of dread
When, desolate, yet undismayed,
With wearied frame and thorn-crowned
head
He, now forsaken and betrayed,
Went up for me To Calvary;'
And, dying there in grief and shame,
He saved me.-Blessed be His name!

Long as I live my song shall tell
The wonders of His matchless love.
And, when at last I rise to dwell
In the bright home prepared above,
My joy shall be His face to see,
And bowing then with loud acclaim
I'll praise Him.-Blessed be His name! -C. A. Tydeman

The life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ are a standing rebuke to every form of pride to which we are subject.

FRAGMENT

The trend of modern preaching has been, and is, to deny, or purposely to omit, the doctrine of the atonement-that is, of the sacrifice of Christ for sin. Objection too is made as to the phraseology of some popular hymns concerning the death and blood of Christ; they have been pronounced "untrue" and "objectionable." All this should lead us to a close inquiry as to what Scripture does say, rather than how hymn-writers describe these facts. One of the objections most frequently raised is to the statement that "the innocent suffered for the guilty." It is true that the statement, as such, is not found in Scripture. The association with the word "innocent" is that of ignorance. We speak of an innocent child, and we mean that the child has had no opportunity of contact with evil knowledge, and has a mind pure in consequence. But this is not the fact, nor what is meant, when we describe the Son of God. He was pure and holy, was fully aware of the whole awful condition of sin which was infecting the world and destroying every human being. His was not the innocence of ignorance, but the purity of God. Therefore, the word "just" is the word used to describe Him. "He died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." The word "just" implies a righteous mind, perfectly aware of the full existence of sin, but uncontaminated by it. Hence the objection raised against the "innocent suffering for the guilty," falls to the ground. If He suffered with the full consciousness of all it would involve Him in, and with the full consent of His will and the purpose of His own heart, no objection can be raised on the ground of "fairness," or "legality," or "morality."

The death of Christ is viewed, usually, in reference to the provision for human need, and the salvation that is thus supplied. Let us, however, look at it from another, from God's viewpoint, and get the profound mystery of the Cross into another, and may we not say, a truer perspective.

Let us imagine ourselves as spectators, remote from this world, without being affected by its results. In the far-distant past, we see the great work of Creation, when the whole universe came into being under the Divine fiat and control of the Son of God, who is called the word, and who is spoken of "as upholding all things by the word of His power." From the hand of God has sprung a perfect Creation. A perfect Creator must have a perfect law for the true government of His universe. A perfect law must have a perfect administration both for its protective and punitive policy, should any rebellion occur. A perfect law must also have a perfect penalty for its infraction. Such a government, with such perfection of law and executive, cannot overlook nor palliate the guilt of law-breakers. It can only fully carry out its own perfect policy, both in protection and punishment. Any mere manifestation of mercy would be illegal, and therefore subversive of government. It would offer a premium to rebellion. Hence any manifestation of mercy must be strictly righteous, and can only be possible after there shall have been the full and righteous settlement of all the law's claims against law-breakers. Human justice must always be imperfect. Human law leaves many loopholes for escape. No human administration is fit or able to carry out law strictly as law, but must give some latitude, and be pitiful to those who are arraigned before it. But this is impossible with Divine law. The Throne of God is established on judgment and justice (Ps. 89 :14 ; 97 :2).Righteousness is the foundation of that throne. Therefore the administration of its government must be absolutely above suspicion of mere pity or lack of absolute righteousness.

In the due course of the Divine will and purpose, man was created, according to Genesis i :26, 27. God said :" Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. … So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him." But before the creation of man had taken place, something else had transpired. In 1 Peter 1:18-20, it is stated that the Lord Jesus was the Lamb foreordained from before the foundation of the world. The word Lamb, in relation to our Lord, is used only in connection with sacrifice for sin. What, then, is suggested ? Surely that long before the creation of man, before this world was prepared for man, a counsel had been formed and an arrangement entered into that, in the event of rebellion of the world's occupant, man, the Son of God would hold Himself responsible to the Divine government by taking upon Himself all the liabilities in which man would be involved. The Lamb was " foreordained before the foundation of the world." To what remote date this statement refers the purpose of the atonement! And why ? Is there no connection between the creation of man in the image of God and His Creator making Himself responsible for him and for the race in the event of rebellion ?

But the dire act of rebellion took place, in disobedience to God's word and will, as recorded in Genesis 2 and 3. Yet how simple was the will of God for man. Only one restriction was placed upon him; but that one was sufficient to. test man's will and conscience toward God. Man disobeyed ; the law was broken. There was necessity for the maintenance of that law, and the vindication of the righteousness of the government that had enacted that law:the rebellion was in full view of the Universe. Myriads of unfallen loyal intelligences and angels were spectators of this rebellion. For them too it was essential that the law should be maintained in all its righteousness, though little is said in Scripture about this.

Pausing here for further reflection, do we not see that when the rebellion broke out in the world, on this small sphere in the vast universe-a province merely of the Great Empire-there were two alternatives before the mind of God ? He might in His sovereign will and power simply annihilate and exterminate the rebellious province of earth, and for ever extinguish it with all its infection. Or, He might devise some scheme whereby He might reconcile the world unto Himself. This latter would be an act of sovereign grace, undeserved, unsought, unexampled, unexpected, which would manifest a new and hitherto unknown attribute of His character. Were there no sin, there could be no grace. Were there no rebellion, there could be no reconciliation. Were there no transgression, there could be no pardon. Thus out of abounding sin has appeared abounding grace and love, which otherwise could have had no possible manifestation.

" Oh, 'twas love, 'twas wondrous love,
The love of God to me ;
It brought my Saviour from above
To die on Calvary."

It is to the infinite glory of God that He should thus seek to reconcile the world unto Himself by the death of His Son. Shall puny, wretched man, impugn God's right, justice, and love in the Just One dying for unjust ones, to bring them to God ?

Christ came, lived a life of absolute sinlessness on earth. He fulfilled all the law's demands, showed how He loved God with all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength, and His neighbor, man, not only as the law demanded, but in giving His life for His enemies. Thus was the heaven opened over His head on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the voice was heard:"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The glory of His home streamed down upon Him and through Him, as though the doors were flung open, inviting Him to ascend there and then, and return to the bosom of the Father. But had He done so, He could have taken no one with Him. He would not thus depart, but conversed with Moses and Elijah of " His decease." From another mountain top there would be another exit (Luke 24:50, 51).

"This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven " (Acts 1:11). -Extracted

" When I stand by the grave and see four men lower the casket into its resting-place, the scene is not unlike another where four men from the roof of a house in Capernaum let down their friend out of sight, but into the immediate presence of Christ. They cover up the roof, which is only part of their faith's work, assured that their friend is all right, and will walk out another way, liberated and with new life.

" So cover up the grave. Your dear one is in the presence of the risen Christ. Fear not! By His mighty power he will walk out another way-liberated and glorified!"

All those who know the character of the ministry, both written and spoken, which God in grace has given and committed to us as a people, must surely realize that it is a most gracious and precious privilege, and that with it is connected a weighty responsibility.

It is simply the recognition of a fact that those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus are, in these closing days, practically the only part of the Church of God which, as a body, are standing unitedly for the truth as taught in the Scriptures. And this we recognize, not in a spirit of boasting- God forbid-but that, in grace, God has committed to as a great deposit of truth, which is both a wondrous privilege and a grave responsibility to minister it to others.

This ministry is of two kinds:first, the oral ministry, preached and taught by those whom God has gifted as evangelists, or pastors and teachers, "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ;" and, second, the written ministry by those to whom
God has given ability to put His truth in this more permanent form, which may be multiplied by the press and widely circulated.

What spiritual riches have thus been accumulated ! What variety is thus made ready to our hand!

Again, let us say, this is not boasting, but the simple recognition of a fact, which should bring home to the heart and conscience both our privilege and responsibility in connection with the trust. Do we realize our responsibility to make this precious truth known ?

The word of God says that " the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine ; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). Do we not see this very thing now on every hand, and in the very places where, within our remembrance, the Scriptures were owned as the word of God ? When orthodoxy is giving way, when old – time faith is capitulating to Satan, when creeds based on Scripture are giving place to "new thought" and "up-to-date" theology, what a privilege it is to have men of God holding the truth with pure conscience, going from place to place preaching the word of life to all that will hear, or teaching the word of truth to enlighten and bless the people of God! And what joy it is to see our children, our friends and neighbors, brought to the Lord Jesus; the feeble strengthened, the faint cheered, and the saints edified ! What a privilege to have the truth of God thus ministered, when so many of God's people have but very partial truth presented to them, if not positive error.

But let us remember that these privileges have their responsibilities. In the first place, no gathering should put its stamp of approval upon any brother desirous of going forth to preach or teach until it is evident that God has called such an one to this work. No doubt many in the fresh joy of salvation are desirous to give up their ordinary labor and devote all their time to Christian service. The desire is good, but it is not needful to leave our regular occupation to engage in Christian work according to our God-given measure. If the Lord has called to leave all for His service, it will be made manifest in due time to God's people. All else is bound to end in failure and confusion. The Lord will give the necessary wisdom and ability to one whom He calls, and make it plain to his brethren. Until the Spirit of God clearly designates and qualifies for this work, let us be slow to urge or encourage one beyond what the Lord has qualified him for. Trial and confusion have resulted in times past by our lack of attention to our responsibility in this matter.

But when the Lord has gifted and fitted one for His service, it is our responsibility to aid such an one in every possible way-by prayer, by earnest fellowship, by financial support, that we may share with him in the joy and blessing of service to the Lord in ministering to precious souls.

Then as to our written ministry:How much the Lord has given in this way! Year by year this large treasure has been increasing, both in the rich and varied presentations of a pure gospel-in little booklets, tracts, pamphlets and books; and for the believer, what an unfolding of the riches of God's word-in doctrine, in exposition, in prophecy, in rightly dividing the word of truth, in dispensational teaching, in refutation of errors, etc., etc.

What a privilege is ours to see to its circulation. And what a simple and ready way to spread the precious gospel and comfort souls is thus made ready to our hand. We cannot tell short of eternity what untold blessing comes from the circulation of such literature. How easily we may buy a package of tracts, give them away, with prayer to God for His blessing upon them. A few cents each day or each week will in the course of a year enable one to give out a fair quantity of these precious publications; and those who cannot speak in public may thus very well present tire pure gospel to their fellow-men, and bring the glad tidings of God's salvation to perishing souls who do not otherwise hear it.

Each individual Christian should realize the precious privilege God has thus given us of scattering His truth broadcast. Each gathering should feel its responsibility to encourage and support such distribution, by having a tract case where a constant supply of gospel literature is alway attainable, and let the prayers of the saints uphold those who write and those who distribute.

Brethren, this privilege is ours, and its responsibility also. Let us enjoy the one dnd bear the other, to the glory of God. And it will be not only for blessing to others, but it shall be for our own blessing as well. The time is short. "The night cometh, when no man can work " (John 9:4). F.

(Continued from page 167.)

2. – The Third Address of Bildad-Job's Reply (chaps. 25, 26.)

Bildad, in this third address, is the last of the friends to speak. Zophar remains silent, having poured out all his impetuous heart in his former addresses.

Judging from the brevity of Bildad's address, and the fact that it contains practically nothing new, it would seem that the friends have exhausted all the arguments that their position permitted them to advance. And this is saying a great deal, for they were men of sober thoughtfulness, with abilities for expression rarely excelled. Their language is noble and elevated, their metaphors of rare beauty and force, but their position and contention were wrong, narrow, and untenable. Hence the brevity of these closing words.

Yet we cannot speak contemptuously of these few sentences, for they state the two great basic facts which stand out in their clearness at the close of the book. They may almost be said to be prophetic of "the end of the Lord," which Job himself will acknowledge at the last. But Bildad is scarcely conscious of the force of what he says, for he links it with his theory, and thus tries to prove that Job is the evil man they have all along maintained he was. But his words were as true for himself and the other friends as for Job. The address may be divided into two parts, which give prominence to the two great facts which will yet stand out.

(1) God's greatness (vers. 1-3).

(2)Man's nothingness (vers. 4-6).

(i). "Dominion and fear are with Him." Who can declare the infinite greatness of God, who fills heaven and earth, and transcends all His limitless creation? "The heavens, even the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee." Nor is this infinitude of being powerless; He reigns over all things, the government is His-

" He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve His might."

Well may we pause and meditate with reverent awe upon the majesty and power of God. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance ? . . . It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth . . . that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in …. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created thee things, that bringeth out their hosts by number:He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power:not one faileth " (Isa. 40 :12, 22, 26).

"Great God, how infinite Thou art!
What helpless worms are we! "
Who would not fear such an infinite .Being ? And yet what an awful proof of man's apostate, fallen condition we have in the well-nigh universal lack of the fear of God. He before whom the seraphim veil their faces, is ignored and blasphemed by puny sinners !

"He maketh peace in His high places." Those heavenly orbs display not only His power, by their immensity, but His wisdom and skill in the harmony with which they pursue their appointed courses, held fast in their orbits of unthinkable greatness by Him who created them. " Not one faileth." There is no discord, no clash-all makes melody as they declare His glory,

" Forever singing as they shine,
The Hand that made us is divine."

Similarly the angelic hosts, who are associated with these "morning stars," are kept in peace, with one purpose, to "do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word." There is no strife or discord among those exalted beings :all is maintained in peace. Or if we think of the discord which did intrude, when Satan fell from his high place, and when the angels kept not their first estate, God was not thwarted, His throne was not shaken. The rebellious angels were "delivered into chains of darkness," and if Satan was allowed freedom for a time, we see that it is only for a limited period; the time is coming when he will be cast out of heaven, bound and cast into the abyss, and eventually, with all who follow him, be eternally confined in " the lake of fire." Peace will be maintained in the high places.

Among the asteroids there seems to be evidence of a collision among some of the planets, but all has become quiet, and each body has found its right place-all is at peace. One day the heavens about us will pass away with a great noise. But "we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Thus at the last all creation will vindicate the statement of Bildad, " He maketh peace in His high places."

" Who can number His armies?" At one word our Lord could have received "more than twelve legions of angels." " The number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." The "innumerable company of angels . . the general assembly." What are the armies of men compared with these ? The prophet prayed that his servant's eyes might be opened to see the mountain "full of horses and chariots of fire" (2 Ki. 6:17).

" God is light," and His hosts are hosts of light; they shine in a glory not their own, "Whom doth not His light surpass ?" Let any of these sons of the morning vaunt themselves, and their brightness would become dim. "Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness " (Ezek. 28:17). Of God it must ever be said/ "Who dwelleth in light unapproachable." His light surpasses that of all His creatures, be they never so exalted. It rises above and exceeds infinitely the light of the brightest of them all. This gives a meaning more in accord with the context than that of our version -" Upon whom doth not His light arise?"

(2) Having in a few grand strokes depicted the greatness of God, Bildad turns to the littleness of man. " How then can (mortal, frail) man be justified with God ? " How can one whose very mortality is a witness of his sinfulness stand before the Almighty ? How can one born of woman, with a nature inherited from the disobedient one, be clean in God's sight ? Is it not true that all right apprehension of the greatness and majesty of God begets a sense of sin and uncleanness ? It was so with Job and with these friends at the last.

Behold the moon; its light is dim in His holy presence. The sparkling stars are not clean in His sight. How much less is sinful man-a worm .of the dust ! Bildad selects the heavens at night rather than the sun by day for this noble comparison. "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:3, 4). While not so intense, the light of moon and stars is more brilliant by contrast with the surrounding darkness; and this is especially the case with the eastern skies over the dry lands bordering the deserts. The moon and stars speak of God in a special way, and by contrast bring home to man his nothingness. We have, thank God, the divine answer to the question, "What is man?" We see Jesus, who was crucified, crowned with glory and honor.

Thus, while apparently repeating the words of Eliphaz (chaps. 4:18; 15:15, 16), Bildad's close is far beyond his thoughts and suspicions. We will rest in what he says, rather than in what he thinks of his poor, suffering friend. We will not charge him with weakness or imitation, but subdue our own spirits under the quiet light of those heavens which witness to our nothingness, and turn us to Him who is our " Strength and our Redeemer."

Job's Reply (chap. 26).

Viewed from the personal standpoint, Job's reply is adequate and conclusive. He declares that Bildad's words, in the present circumstances, are utterly beside the mark. They do not touch Job's case. He then continues in the lines of his friend's words, and mounts even higher than he had, taking also a deeper and wider view of the greatness of God. It is all most admirable from a literary point of view-grand, sublime poetry; and it is much more, as the inspired record of the thoughts of a soul seeking after God.

The reply may be divided into seven parts.

(1) The futility of Bildad's words (vers. 1-4).

(2) God's domain in the depths beneath (vers. 5,6).

(3) His sway in the heavens (ver. 7).

(4)He rules the clouds and the waters (vs. 8-10).

(5) The earth and the sea (vers. 11, 12).

(6) His victory in the sky (ver. 13).

(7) More beyond (ver. 14).

The brevity and conciseness of these words of Job enhance their beauty and force. He shows himself the equal or superior of his friends in compass of thought and beauty of expression; for he also has pondered upon God in the night seasons.

(1) He first replies to Bildad's argument as it refers to himself. Admitting that he is the. one " without power," of what good are the lofty words of Bildad ? Do they help to solve the dark enigma of present suffering ? Has he given any counsel to Job, or unraveled the tormenting mystery of God's treatment of him ? The last verse seems to intimate that Bildad may have been repeating t-he thoughts of Eliphaz-"Whose spirit, or breath, came from thee?" Or it may be that Job asks if this manner of speech comes from God. In these few caustic questions he fully 'disposes of the argument of his friend, if it could be called that.

(2) Bildad had dwelt upon the glories of God as displayed in the heavens; Job declares His domain in the depths. It is not "dead things," but rather the "shades," the "things under the earth" (Phil. 2:10). This may refer to the evil spirits, to infernal things; and, according to the manner of the Old Testament, to Sheol and its inhabitants. (See Ezek. 32 :18, etc.) " Dragons and all deeps " tremble at His presence. It is folly to think of the abode of the lost as independent of God. Whether it be "the spirits [now] in prison " (i Pet. 3:19), or the bottomless pit, or the lake of fire, God, not Satan, reigns. His will at last must be obeyed. "If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there" (Ps. 139:8).

(3) Looking upward, Job still traces the footsteps of the Creator's power and wisdom. " He stretcheth out the north over the empty place." The bell-like canopy of the northern skies, where the pole-star is suspended over emptiness, has no pillars to support it. In these few words and those following, Job seems to have anticipated the great facts of astronomy regarding the earth and the heavens. He "hangeth the earth upon nothing"; how immeasurably above the cosmogonies of the heathen philosophers are these few grand words! In them we have as in germ the discoveries of a Newton and a Kepler. It is a great mistake to think Scripture does not teach scientific truth. It teaches all needed truth, even if not in scientific language, yet with scientific accuracy.

(4) Passing from the starry heavens to those more immediately connected with the earth, Job describes in beautifully poetic, and yet scientifically accurate language, the clouds as the containing vessels for the waters above the earth. It is God who gathers the vapors of the firmament and condenses them into the thick clouds. If these waters were to be poured upon the earth without restraint, a destructive flood would be the result. He binds these waters in the clouds, and sends them down in gentle showers according to His will, and as needed by the thirsty earth.

Beyond those clouds is His throne, enshrouded from the view of our eyes:"Clouds and darkness are round about Him:righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne" (Ps. 97:2). But, with all his knowledge and skill, man fails to penetrate those clouds and to behold Him who sits upon
His throne. Faith alone beholds Him there-the face of Him who rides on to victory.

"He compasseth the waters with bounds," These are the waters of the earth, the "great and wide sea," whose proud waves cannot pass their appointed bounds. "Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again- to cover the earth" (Ps. 104:9). "To the boundary between light and darkness." The boundary is far distant, marked, only where light merges with darkness, "from the dim verge of the horizon." This gives a more beautiful and appropriate meaning than that of our Version.
(5) Earth with its lofty mountains, seeming to reach the sky as "the pillars of heaven," trembles beneath the word of the Mighty One. The sea is divided by His power, and by His understanding the proud (Rahab) is pierced. This rendering of our Version, and the"arouseth " of Delitzsch, seems to contain a remarkable reference to the smiting of Egypt and the dividing of the Red Sea. " I am the Lord thy God that divided the sea, whose waves roared " (Isa. 51 :15 ; so also Jer.31 :35). But in Jer. 47 :6 the same word is rendered "quiet," and this gives a clear meaning to all these passages. If the Book of Job was reduced to writing in the days after Solomon, the reference to the passage of the Red Sea is natural. But if we retain the thought of its patriarchal date, it is more difficult to think of such a reference-for prophecy would be unlikely-especially as the entire book is singularly free from such allusions. The general thought, therefore, is preserved, which yields a clear meaning :"He stilleth the sea by His power, and by His understanding smiteth through the proud." See also chap. 9:13. "Rahab " is the poetic name for Egypt (not, of course, the Rahab of Joshua, a different root),and this is easily derivable from the generic meaning" of the word. (See Isa. 51:9.)

(6) Verse 13 is even more difficult than the preceding one. "By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent." Delitzsch renders it, " By His breath the heavens become cheerful; His hand hath formed the fugitive dragon." But a clear meaning of the verb here translated "form, "is "wound, or pierce." This accords with Isa. 27 :i, where the thought is a blending of these two verses, 12, 13. The connection, therefore, would suggest the overthrow of the enemy-Satan, the embodiment of pride, "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan" (Rev. 20:2). This would accord, in its spiritual meaning, with the words of Bildad, "He maketh peace in His high places" (ch. 25:2).

On the other hand we may, as some do, apply it all to the creative power of God. He has garnished the heavens, and His hands have formed the crooked serpent – the constellation Draco, which winds about the northern skies. From the astronomical knowledge displayed in the book, this is a quite possible rendering.

A third explanation, which we mention only to reject it, is the mythological one, that the serpent, "Draco," is trying to eclipse the light of the sun by winding himself about it. God must constantly wound it, to force it to relax its hold, and the serpent flees away, allowing the heavens to shine again in their beauty ! Can we think of Job making use of this superstition to express the greatness of God in language of singular beauty and truth?

The general meaning, therefore, seems clear :God is supreme in heaven as on earth; creating, controlling and delivering. Spiritually,,. He will overthrow all that mars His fair creation which" proclaims His glory. This will be found to accord with the latter chapters of our book, where God's creative power, and His control of the elements of hostile .pride, are declared by Himself (chaps. 38- 41).

(7) But, in his sweeping glance, Job pauses at the heavens and the earth. After all has been said, the half has not been told; these are "parts of His ways," the "edges," outskirts of His vast dominion. " But how little a portion is heard of Him," or,"How we hear but a whisper thereof." How little do we know of His greatness! We catch little whispers of His power in every passing breeze; we £>e some portion of His wisdom in every tiny blade of grass or drop of dew; but, could we understand, all nature is vibrant with its testimony. What a day will that be when we shall " eye to eye look on knowledge." When the majestic harmony of nature shall blend with the sweeter notes of grace, and all shall tell the glories of their Creator, the Lamb that was slain.

" When the praise of heaven I hear,
Loud as thunder to the ear-
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harps' melodious voice,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know-
Not till then, how much I owe." S. R.

(To be continued.)

QUES. 13. – Some people here say that the millennium is near, and that they shall live on the earth a 1,000 years. lam not clear on that subject. I know we are "a heavenly people," but can't say positively that we shall not live on the earth during that time.

ANS. – The people you speak of confound Israel's hope with that of the Church. The word of God makes them entirely distinct. Those you speak of probably do not know the one from the other, but they are entirely different.

Israel's blessings were to be upon earth in their past history, as they will also be in the future, when God shall turn back a remnant of them to see their crime in crucifying their Messiah, and they will repent in dust and ashes. Isa. 10:20-23 and Zech., chap. 13 – and many other passages – speak of this. Isa., chap. 11, is wholly taken up with the restoration and blessing of Israel upon the earth – with such blessings as they have never known before.

The Church's hope and blessings are elsewhere, and different altogether. The Church comes into existence and is revealed only in the New Testament. The epistles addressed to the Church state positively that our blessings are in "the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3) where the Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus, is now glorified (vers. 20-23). "In my Father's house are many mansions," He said, " I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also " (John 14 :2, 3). Clearly, that is not upon earth, but in heaven. The Church's place is with Christ, where He is note. Therefore it is written, " Our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20) ; and our dwelling-place is the heavenly Jerusalem, symbolically described in Rev., chaps. 21 – 22:5.

It is true the heavenly saints accompany the Lord when He appears in glory (Col. 3:4), "With His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel" (2 Thess. 1:7, 8); but this being executed and the righteous kingdom established upon earth, the heavenly saints' abode is ever with Christ on high.

The earliest portions of the Bible, the Pentateuch and the book of Job, are more than 3,000 years old. In these most ancient of all records every moral question bearing upon man's present and future relation with God-with creation, with time and eternity, with God and Satan, with angels and demons, with holiness and sin-are spoken of. Besides the moral truths and subjects contained in these books which make manifest the absurdities and gross darkness of the ancient philosophies, it contains numerous historical and scientific facts, which "Science" has vainly sought to overthrow. We invite skeptical young men especially to read with care the Bible. Search the book through from Genesis to Revelation; then produce one fact from the realm of nature contradictory to Scripture. Many philosophic schemes have been propounded by minds of past and present ages. Many a scientist has hurled attacks upon the matchless volume of which the Spirit of God is the writer-but where are the opponents of the Bible ? Where are the one thousand theories and conclusions of a proud and unbelieving world ? Look into the temple of science. See it strewn with the wreck of exploded schemes carefully formulated by the world's brightest intellects. The work of many a noble mind has been contemptuously rejected by succeeding investigators, who, in their turn, share the fate of their predecessors.

Almost every Bible fact and statement has been questioned by ancient and modern infidelity, yet the truthfulness and exactness of every word of God are the more apparent by the most searching examination. The countless number of the stars (Gen. 15:5); the rotundity of the globe (Isa. 40:22); the earth suspended in space (Job 26:7); vegetation apart from the light of the sun (Gen. i:11-13); the orderly series of creations (Gen. i); the origin of the human race (Gen. 2); the primitive languages of mankind (Gen. n); the historical origin of nations (Gen. 10); a primal creation, subsequent ruin and restoration of the earth as man's dwelling (Gen. i:1-3); the early ages and characteristics of human history (Gen. 5-9)-these and numerous other facts fill pages of the blessed Word of God, and modern science is only slowly awaking to the discovery one by one of these truths, and vaunting her wisdom in so doing!

We assert the peerless perfection of the Holy Scriptures, and we invite, with unshaken confidence as to the result, the faith of our readers in every statement of the word of God. Subjection of mind and of the moral being to the teaching of Holy Scripture casts light and warmth over, and is an impulse to earnest study, yet a check on human arrogance. Yes, we triumphantly reply to the scepticism of our days, The Bible is indeed the very Word of God. If it were mere human production, why not produce another work like it ? Why ? Because a learned world cannot produce another Bible.

(Continued from page 268, vol. 34.)

3.-Zophar's Address and Job's Reply. (chaps. 11-14.)

It has been thought, with some degree of probability, that Zophar was the youngest of the three friends. He is the last to speak, and his address, while of the same general character as that of the other two, is more intense, lacking in the dignity of Eliphaz and in the argumentative ability of Bildad. He may be said to make up in vehemence what he lacks in reason, and this leads him into harshness and brutal rudeness ill calculated to soothe the sore spirit of the sufferer. Besides this, he, in common with the other three, utterly fails to explain the dark enigma of Job's trouble, and by his theory of suffering being for sins committed, plunges the already distracted man more deeply into the darkness.

In his reply, Job far exceeds Zophar in breadth of thought as well as in vigor of expression. Indeed, it may be remarked that in all the controversy Job has the advantage. This does not mean that he had greater ability than his friends, but that their views were narrower. This confined them to a narrow scope, where each one was compelled to reiterate in some form the statements of his predecessor. On the other hand Job, while without the key which will solve the mystery of his sufferings, takes far wider flights. He goes beyond his friends in their own theme, and passes from that to higher, though more dreadful, thoughts. It can be seen that his mental suffering is intense, as he is driven by his very theory, which is that of the others, to question the goodness and the justice of God. While they falsely accuse him of evil he knows he is guiltless, and this drives him nearer to the awful rocks of regarding God as using His almighty power in an arbitrary and unjust way. Will he suffer shipwreck, or shall his faith hold even over the chasm of his doubts ?

Zophar s Address.

The similarity of Zophar's address to that of Bildad can be gathered from the divisions into which it falls.

(1) Job's torrent of words rebuked, (vers. 1-6).

(2) The greatness of God (vers. 7-9).

(3) All things open to Him (vers. 10-12).

(4) The call to repent (vers. 13-15).

(5) The peaceable results (vers. 16-20).

(I) It is surely most unfair to characterize the writhings of an evidently upright soul as "a multitude (or torrent) of words," and himself as " a man of lips." What fairness is there in calling Job's cries out of the depths " lies," or his keen thrusts as " mockery "? On the other hand, Job had indeed declared himself and his doctrine pure, and could Zophar have disproved this it would have gone far to help the matter. But without proof he charges Job with being such a grievous sinner that even his present sufferings were less than his desert, and he would associate God with this dreadful charge. While perfectly true that divine wisdom is double our highest thoughts of it, he cannot associate that wisdom with unfair suspicions or unjust charges.

(2) This, the finest part of the address, is an enlargement upon what he had just said. He associates divine wisdom with God the Almighty, as in Prov. 8; but he does not carry the thought as far as in that sublime passage, where we see wisdom personified in the Son of God. It is, however, a noble description of God, and we can hardly avoid the conviction that a man who could speak thus was not ignorant of the true God. Ascend up to heaven, we find Wisdom; descend into Sheol, it is still there; the earth for length, the sea for breadth, cannot compass the measure of this attribute of God. We are reminded of two passages, Ps. 139 in the Old Testament, and Eph. 3 in the New, where the presence and power of God are similarly described. But the Psalmist rejoices in that he cannot

"Drift beyond His love and care;"

and in the New Testament, we are overwhelmed, not by a dark and inscrutable mystery or an implacable avenger, but by " the love of Christ which passeth knowledge."

(3) We can only bow to the truth that God is the searcher of hearts, and that nothing can escape His all-seeing eye. He knows the empty vanity of the natural man's heart, who by birth is as a wild ass's colt, and needs to be born again if any true knowledge of God is to be had. This interpretation of ver. 12 seems to give a clear and consistent meaning.

(4) But Zophar spoils the dignity of what he had just said, by calling upon Job to repent as an evil doer having a store of ill-gotten wealth in his tents. It is this utter lack of discrimination that stirs Job to anger, and discloses the superficial nature of the friends' theory.

(5) The conclusion is like singing songs to one who is heavy of heart. Zophar paints a beautiful outcome-as imaginary as were the sins imputed to Job. He would then forget his present troubles, which would slip by him as passing waters; his darkness would be turned to light; he would have security and prosperity, and former calumniators would bow before him. Little did Zophar and his friend dream that they would have to come to this. The closing verse is a warning which Zophar no doubt applies to Job.

Job's Reply.

The fulness of Job's response to Zophar is striking. In it he practically turns from his friends to God; but alas, to find no answer to his awful terror of doubt and darkness. The discourse may be divided into three main parts.

(1) He answers his friends (chaps. 12:i-13:13).

(2) He challenges God (chap. 13:14-28).
(3) A hope of immortality amid despair (chap. 14).

(i) Stung by the charges and platitudes of the friends, Job meets them with bitter sarcasm, followed quickly by the charge of their mocking him. They are at ease, while cherishing their unjust suspicions of him. He almost compares them to robbers, who hold their booty undisturbed (vers. 1-6).

Creation-in earth and air and sea-will confirm him in witnessing that God is everywhere and does everything. His deduction from this, however, leads him dangerously near charging God with being the author of evil. He would appeal to age and experience to confirm this. If he means simply that God is omnipotent, all would at once acquiesce, but the words following show that his gloomy mind and distorted vision are dwelling upon the dark side of nature. It is in this that his danger lies (vers. 7-13).

None, no matter how exalted, can escape Him. He breaks down, and ruin is the result. He shuts, and none can open; He withholds water and a drought results, or releases it only to overwhelm in a flood. All-judges, kings, princes and priests _are held up to contempt by this Almighty One. Truly this is right, if they deserve it, but Job omits that side (vers. 14-21).

Similarly, the nations rise and fall at His word. It is indeed a great but most somber picture of omnipotence. We can only shudder at the awful sight. Job's misery has cast a baleful light upon all God's greatness. How different is the language of faith:"God is our refuge and strength . . . therefore will we not fear … Be still, and know that I am God " (Ps. 46). This closes the reply to the second part of Zophar's speech upon the greatness of God (vers. 22-25).

Next, Job boldly charges his friends with being false witnesses for God, in that they used well-known truths, with which all were familiar, to confirm their charge of Job's wickedness. What kind of physicians were they to treat a case like this? They have decided what his disease is, and misrepresent his symptoms to confirm their diagnosis! And they bring in their theory of God's invariable punishment for sin in this life to prove that Job is a sinner ! Job turns from them in disgust (ch. 13:1-5). He warns them of the unrighteousness of their course. They presume to lie for God ! For are they not falsely accusing an innocent man ? Are they not afraid to trifle with truth, and will not God deal with them ?-for they are but men. Poor Job, he is the victim of the same false theory, and is in danger of blasphemously charging God with injustice. He seems to feel his danger, but he must speak; so he turns from man's unjust surmisings, to God (vers. 6-13).

(2) So the frail creature takes his life in his hand and stands before his Maker. God can but strike dead one who has no hope, but Job must speak out and maintain his ways as upright before God. This is the thought which seems most in accord with what goes before. On the other hand, many, perhaps most, prefer the rendering of our Authorized Version:"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." If it should be rendered thus, it would be a gleam of light in the midst of awful darkness, and seems to agree with what follows. Conscious of personal rectitude, Job seems to think that there maybe hope. At any rate, he must speak (14-19).

But how dare he speak before that One from whose presence he would instinctively flee ? Let Him at least remove the awful dread that chills Job's heart, and relieve him of his pain, and he will answer or address Him. How these words, beautiful in their very anguish, cry aloud for the blessed Daysman, the Mediator. Blessed be God, we can "come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Job could only grope in darkness:"

"An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying for the light,
And with no language but a cry."

So he appeals, and is ready to ask for charges against him (vers. 20-23).

And yet immediately he renews his charges against God, for he is not yet ready to be stripped of all his fancied righteousness. God holds him as an enemy; drives him as a withered leaf before the blast; accuses him of those almost forgotten sins of youth (ah, Job, it seems that even you must acknowledge there have been sins); He watches him, and makes his fancied robe of righteousness look like a moth-eaten garment. So Job charges his Maker, and does not pause to hear what He will reply (vers. 24-28).

(3) The close of this address, bringing to an end the first series in the controversy, is a most beautiful dirge, descriptive of the frailty and uncertainty of human life. Man cometh up like a flower, and is cut down and withereth. We are listening to the wail of the 90th psalm, but without its faith in God, and not yet followed by the triumph of the 91st psalm.

But how sadly true are vers. i, 2! And will the mighty God enter into judgment with such a frail creature-not only frail but impure by nature! Ah, let Job ponder well his own words. But he passes on in self-pity to beg that he be let alone for a little, until as a hireling he completes his day! (vers. 3-6).

Looking onward to death, Job expresses the hopelessness of man by contrast with the rejuvenation of trees which, though cut down, send up fresh shoots from their roots. But it is not so with man^ he breathes his- last, and where is he ? He lies, down and rises no more, so long as earth and heaven remain. This is not -exactly the language of unbelief, nor yet of faith. It is one speaking as a man, and of things upon earth. It resembles much the thought in Ecclesiastes:"That which now is, in the days to come shall all be forgotten " (Eccl. 2:16). Thank God, even in the Old Testament there was more light (vers. 7-12).

Job next seems to give expression to a hope- vague and marred by evil thoughts of God-of a bright hereafter. He desires to be hidden from God in Sheol until this mighty Being had changed His mind and ceased to pursue His creature. Job would patiently wait till that change came. Then, God would regard him; but now He only watched him in enmity! Inexpressibly sad is this, for a man who knew God. But such is unbelief even in a saint. We can catch the gleam of faith in the desire and the question, and know that one day Job will see clearly, and repent of these utterances (vers. 13-17)

Again the darkness shuts down upon his soul, and Job describes man as a mountain once strong, but now prostrate, and worn away by the onrushing waters. Death's shadow falls upon the face once bright and smiling, and we bury our dead out of our sight. A man's sons come to honor and are brought low, but " the dead know not anything." A man lives, suffers, groans and dies-and that is all!

"Oh, life as futile, then, as frail-
What hope for answer or redress?"

And so Job ends his series of replies to the first assault of his friends. Little has been gained but a sense of the injustice of man and an awful suspicion of God on Job's part, and on the part of his friends a determination to press him further with charges of sin and wickedness until he shall break down. Thus are we by no means at the end of our book. S.R.

(To be continued.)

He comes! He comes! the Bridegroom comes
To take His ransomed Bride.
She will not here much longer roam
Away from Him, away from home.
He wants her by His side;
She too is longing for that hour
When He shall exercise His power-
With Him be glorified.

He comes! He comes! Messiah comes
To gather Israel's race;
He'll bring them forth from every land
And plant them by His mighty hand
In their appointed place.
Then o'er Judea's hills shall ring
The praises of their glorious King
For His restoring grace.

He comes! He comes! earth's rightful Lord,
To hush creation's groan ;
He'll take away its thorns and woes,
It's wastes shall blossom like the rose;
He'll claim it for His own.
All distant isles His praise shall sing,
Redeemed creation homage bring
And bow before His throne.

Then come and sway Thy scepter Lord,
And reign from zone to zone;
Thy saints and angels long to see
The crowns of glory worn by Thee,
And Satan overthrown.
Lord, hasten on that promised day
When evil shall be put away,
And Thou upon Thy throne. C. C. Crowston

(Continued from page 94.)

Section 3.- The third addresses of the friends- conclusion of their argument. Job answers them all, and remains unmoved by them, but still in darkness and self-satisfaction (chaps. 22-26).

With the present series we reach the conclusion of the controversy, so far as the friends were concerned. Beyond a wearisome reiteration of their former arguments, if such they can be called, there is nothing of importance advanced by them. Eliphaz, indeed, who opens this third section of the controversy, continues to maintain his original contention, and speaks with dignity and much poetic beauty, with some slight return to gracious-ness. But the address is marred by a painful spirit of gross unfairness. Bildad, the second speaker, closes feebly and briefly. Zophar remains silent. This, their last attempt, is fragmentary therefore, and may without injustice be considered a failure.

On the other hand, Job waxes stronger and stronger. He replies with vigor and a good deal of conclusiveness to the remarks of his friends, and in a way which effectually closes their mouths. But his own mouth remains open to pour forth the misery of his unrelieved heart; and the dark cloud still hangs between himself and God. All this will appear as we take up each address and its reply. These fall into two parts-Zophar, as we have said, taking no part.

1. Eliphaz:False charges against Job; the promise of restoration if he is penitent. Job's reply (chaps. 22-24).

2. Bildad :Renewed statement of God's greatness and man's sinfulness. Job's reply (chaps. 25, 26).

1. Eliphaz's Address.

This may be divided into seven parts, a complete summing up from his point of view of the entire argument:

(1) Job's sin in view of God's greatness (chap. 22 :1-5).

(2)The direct charge (vers. 6-n).

(3)All is known to God (vers. 12-14).

(4) The way of the wicked (vers. 15-18).

(5) Their just punishment (vers. 19, 20).

(6) Final call to repentance (vers. 21-25).

(7) Prophecy of a bright future (vers. 26-30).

(I) In this first portion Eliphaz dwells upon God's infinite greatness and sufficiency unto Himself. Is man profitable to God ? Does he add anything to the infinite fulness of the Creator ? A wise man is profitable to himself, but in no sense is God dependent upon him. His righteousness is of no special profit to God (not " pleasure," for surely He does take pleasure in His saints). As the self-emptied One declares, "My goodness extendeth not to Thee" (Ps. 16 :2). If therefore Job refuses to repent of his sin, he is not injuring God, but himself, and must reap the consequences. Eliphaz asks Job, does not his chastisement prove his sin ? For would God rebuke a man for piety-his godly fear? Therefore Job's sin is proven! Surely an easy way, in a world of suffering, to prove man a sinner. But it proves too much, for it includes every sufferer-the righteous as well as the wicked.

We must, however, take exception to the first part of this declaration, as well as to the manifestly mistaken character of the second part. Has not God suffered, not in His blessed nature, but in what should have displayed it-righteousness in His creature ? All has been created for His glory and pleasure. God is therefore a loser by the failure of man to exhibit in his life that which manifests the wisdom and goodness of his Creator. Judgment is not vindictive, therefore, but retributive, and wrath is for actual sin against God. Such is the conviction of sin brought home to the conscience by the Spirit of God:"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." We get but a cold view of God as Eliphaz describes Him. On the contrary, the word of God presents Him as deeply concerned in all our affairs, as intimately associated with His creation. There would be no room for the gospel in the partial statements of Eliphaz. God is not simply" holding the balances of justice as a disinterested observer, to mete out punishment to the one who comes short. If such teaching obtained, where would we find place for, "Like as a Father pitieth His children;" "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth;" "He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness ? "

(2) Having laid down his erroneous principle with such positiveness, and having declared that Job's sin was infinitely great (for God does not punish a pious man) Eliphaz opens up a most startling series of statements as to Job's actual conduct. It is no longer implied sin in the call to repentance,
or innuendoes in likening Job's suffering to those of the wicked, but as outrageous accusations of actual sin as could be imagined. Job has taken away his brother's goods on a false claim! He has stripped the poor of his last covering! He has refused water to the languishing and bread to the starving! By sheer power he has taken the lands of others and dwelt there himself as a great and honorable man! Widows and orphans have been driven away by this heartless monster! Proofs? Witnesses? What need of these, when the theory proves all so satisfactorily without going to the trouble of establishing facts! Thus, out of his "inner consciousness," does the grave and gray-haired Eliphaz evolve conclusive proof that the suffering friend and patriarch before him is a monster of iniquity! From such friendship and perversions of truth, may God deliver us.

But even now, is not suspicion of others all too common ? One is not successful in business, has illness in his family, loses loved ones, and the hasty conclusion is that he is being chastened for some imaginary faults. How cruel this is, and contrary to the plain direction, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." Let us be slow to suspect, and slower to charge unknown evil, leaving that to the Searcher of hearts. If He calls upon us to declare evil, it is of what He has unmistakably manifested.

Concluding his charge, Eliphaz declares these sins explain why Job is caught as in a snare, and overwhelmed with fear. Can he not see the darkness which envelops him, and the flood of waters in which he is engulfed ?
(3) This portion continues the unfair suspicions of Eliphaz. He makes Job say that God dwells in heaven, and has His abode among the stars, therefore how can He see what is taking place beneath the clouds which hide the earth from His view ? He walks about in the vault of heaven in satisfied ignorance of everything that goes on in the world below! Has Eliphaz forgotten Job's strong declaration of the omnipotence and omniscience of God in chapter 9 ? The title of this section is rightly given however as "All is known to God," for Job's imagined unbelief is intended to bring out into all the bolder relief the great truth that nothing can be hid from the Searcher of hearts.

(4) Recurring to the oft-repeated example of the wicked and their punishment, Eliphaz depicts their temporal prosperity and the inevitable judgment which overtakes them. Like the grass which groweth up only to be cut down and withered, they perished before their time. Their apparently solid foundations were swept away by a flood (or, perhaps more accurately, turned into a flood). The meaning is the same in either case, and there may be a reference to the days of Noah, when they ate and drank, married, and were given in marriage, "until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." As samples of the ungodly at all times, these men before the flood had defied the God who had bestowed His blessings upon them:"Depart from us!" and what can the Almighty do to them ? From such impiety Eliphaz-we may believe with all sincerity-turns in horror; "The counsel of the wicked be far from me." He is quoting the very words of Job (chap. 21-16)-why will he not allow to his former friend the same abhorrence of evil as himself ? Instead of this, it would almost seem that he is expressing his repulsion from Job, associating him with those who defy God.

(5) This godlessness can receive but its merited punishment, at which all the righteous shall rejoice. "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.' So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous:verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth " (Ps. 58 :10, n). There is, however, this difference between the position of Eliphaz and that taken in many of the psalms :these give us the final cleansing of the kingdom " of all things 'Sat offend and them which do iniquity" (Matt. 13:41), after full space has been given for repentance, and when evil shall have been manifested as incurable rebellion against God, as the absolute barrier to all full blessing upon the earth. Therefore the righteous rejoice at the deliverance rather than the mere judgment, although all will be seen as perfectly in accord with the full character of God. So, too, there is joy in heaven when Satan is cast out (Rev. 12 :10-12), and when Babylon receives her long – deferred judgment (Rev. 18 :20 ; 19 :1-3).

But we can see how unfair Eliphaz's judgment is, in view of the admittedly various life and end of wicked men, and especially in view of the suffering of many of the righteous. It is particularly painful, as it seems to be spoken with a relish by Eliphaz, in reference to Job's state, which is all too apparent.

(6) But the oldest of the friends is going to bring his remarks to a decorous end. He will once more hold out the offer of restoration to the offender- if he will but repent. The language is of great beauty, and we might well wish it had been used in a worthier way. ' 'Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace :thereby good shall come unto thee." This might well serve as a gospel text; for is it not eternal life to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent ? And what peace is found through this knowledge-"peace by the blood of the Cross"-peace preached and peace possessed by faith! What good, for time and eternity, flows from this acquaintance! But he is addressing one who does know God-that is, according to the Old Testament revelation-and therefore the apparent tenderness of the exhortation is turned to gall. "Receive, I pray thee, the law (instruction) from His mouth, and lay up His words in thy heart." The comfort to God's people, "We glory in tribulations also," or the "weeping with them that weep," is not found in Eliphaz's words:" If thou return to the Almighty thou shalt be built up, if thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles."

A gain, we must warn God's people of the snare into which Eliphaz has fallen. All pious exhortations to repent, to give up sin, to judge a course of evil, if not based upon known facts, are but insults, and savor of a pharisaic spirit, which, as with Eliphaz and his friends, must itself be repented of.

Eliphaz holds out, in an almost prophetic way, the prospect of a restoration of all Job's former prosperity-wealth and happiness. Verses 24 and 25 have been rendered in different ways. The Authorized Version begins the promises with the close of verse 23, " thou shalt put away iniquity," etc., "Then thou shalt lay up gold as dust," etc. The ordinarily excellent version of Delitzsch makes all conditional up to the close of verse 24:" If thou lay by in the dust the gold ore, and under the pebbles of the brooks the gold of Ophir, so shall the Almighty be to thee gold ore in abundance, and silver to thee of the brightest luster."

The usual rendering, however, seems to be preferred. Old Testament usage, and particularly that of the book of Job, associates the enjoyment of temporal wealth with the favor of God. Thus Eliphaz promises restoration of all the wealth that Job had lost. TK$n, too, it would seem nothing short of satire to exhort a man who had been already deprived of his wealth, to lay it aside in the dust, or as worthless stones of the brook. It has been therefore contended that Eliphaz is speaking figuratively, and that Job is told to lay aside the covetous love of gold in the dust. We leave therefore the rendering of our excellent version largely as it is. The Almighty will be a high place of defense for the penitent, and abundance of wealth will be his.

(7) Eliphaz now reaches his peroration, picturing the joys that await Job if he will only-? acknowledge that his false accusers are right! Then he will enjoy communion with the Almighty, basking in the sunlight of His countenance. Prayer will receive its answer, and the vows he has made in his affliction will be accepted. He shall make plans which will not be frustrated, and the light will fall upon all his paths. If these paths should seem to take a downward course (ver. 29) Job will need but to say, "Arise," or "a lifting up," and all will be well. For he will be one of the humble whom God exalteth. Yea, Job shall be a succorer of others, the once guilty (not, "island of the innocent") will be rescued by him whose hands have become clean.

Thus the friend closes. He has sought to make out his case, and to mingle promises with denunciations. Sometimes it would seem that he was foretelling the recovery of Job, but all is marred by his wrong principle, and is therefore in itself valueless. And yet there are many noble and beautiful utterances here. How important it is therefore to have the true point of view, that the opening of our mouth may be right things. S. R.

(To be continued.)

(Concluded from page 154.)

Till He come.

No greater privilege can the believer enjoy this side of heaven than, as gathered to Christ's name and with those who love Him, around Himself, to show forth His death in the blessed expectation of seeing His face.

'What more simple and effectual way could the Lord have taken to recall our oft-waning affections and warm our poor hearts, than this feast of remembrance ? And its oft recurrence constantly keeps before us His wondrous, eternal love, told out in all its greatness upon that shameful cross. Our hearts are melted as we remember it was '' upon that same night"-the night of Gethsemane's sorrow and of His betrayal-that He, knowing well our forgetfulness, instituted this blessed memorial feast.

May we never approach it with feet unshod, and may we ever be preserved from treating this holy supper as a mere religious form. This would surely be to eat and drink to our condemnation (i Cor. ii:29). Self-judgment becomes us, so that without callousness or distraction, with hearts set free, we may discern the Lord's body.

Oh teach us, Lord, Thy fathomless love to know,
Thou who hast died;
Before our feeble faith, Lord Jesus, show
Thy hands and side,
That our glad hearts responsive unto Thine,
May wake with all the power of love divine.

Till He come, blessed hope! The desert sands will soon be over, the last weary footsteps trodden, and we shall see His face !

Our Lord keeps in mind His promise, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where .1 am there ye may be also," and if the thought of His coming thrills our hearts with gladness, what is His joy as He patiently waits for that day, when He will present His loved one, His Bride, to Himself, all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

The present parenthetical period will close with this blessed event. No more need then for the emblems of His death, for we shall see Him in all His t glory, and our everlasting song will be of His worthiness (Rev. 5:9). Kept out of the hour of tribulation, according to His promise (Rev. 3:20), the heavenly company will be with the Lord before God resumes His dealings, according to prophecy, with His earthly people. Her origin heavenly, and her destiny heaven, the Bride must necessarily be removed ere the thread of prophecy is resumed.

May the Lord deepen in our hearts the appreciation of what is so dear to Him-the Church, His Body, His Bride-and give us, while we wait for His return, to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. J. W. H. N.

Apostle and High Priest

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession (confession),Christ Jesus" (Heb. 3:i).

" No man hath seen God at any time;" but " the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him " (Jno. i:18). In Jesus, the eternal God has come to us, His glory being veiled in flesh. In Jesus we see, we hear, we learn who God is-His character, His ways, himself. " I and the Father are one," He said to the Jews. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," He answered to Philip; "how sayest thou, then, Show us the Father ?"

That we might better see Him, hear Him, know Him, the Holy Spirit has given us a four-fold view (as of a great monument seen from four different standpoints), a four-fold record of the life, teachings and works of this Sent One from the bosom of the Father. How we should eat His words, and meditate upon His ways as He opens to us the heart of God, the ways and purposes of God-the treasuries of God! Consider, then, the Apostle of our confession-the revelation we have received of Him, the truth which we confess.

Now, in Christ risen and ascended, those begotten of God on earth are presented to the Father as the "brethren" whom He has sanctified and cleansed by His blood, whom also He represents before the Majesty on High. On the shoulders of Aaron, Israel's high priest, and on the jewels of the breastplate upon His breast were engraved the names of the sons of Israel.

Weary traveler, faint-hearted believer, see thy name engraved and borne there upon the heart and shoulders of our High Priest !

"O God, we come with singing,
Because Thy great High-Priest
Our names to Thee is bringing,
Nor e'er forgets the least :
For us He wears the mitre,
Where "Holiness" shines bright;
For us His robes are whiter
Than heaven's unsullied light."

Holy hands

In i Tim. 2:8, the apostle uses a significant expression in connection with prayer:" I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands."

To pray " everywhere" is in contrast, no doubt, to the Jewish custom of "going to the Temple to pray" (see Acts 3:i; Luke 18:10); this was according to Solomon's words at the dedication of the Temple (i Kings 8:33-49):"When thy people Israel be smitten . . . and shall turn again to Thee, and confess Thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto Thee in this house, then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Israel." But when He who was the glory of Israel was finally rejected by them, their house was also left finally desolate, and the Romans then razed it to the ground-not one stone was left upon another. The time is now come, as our Lord said to the Samaritan woman, when the true worshiper worships the Father in spirit and in truth. What " holy hands " are to be extended in supplication to "Him that is holy, Him that is true." "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be-reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matt. 5:23, 24) -"Lift up holy hands, without wrath or doubting."

The following was addressed to our beloved brother, Paul J. Loizeaux, but was received after his death.

My Dear Brother … By grace I have been led to see that the Bible is not to be taken as a study book, from which to learn some truths, nor to read its narratives simply as good and true stories, but rather to hear God's voice speaking to me in it all. As, on the Lord's Day, in remembrance of Him who gave Himself for us, we take the bread and wine, not merely as bread and wine, but as the symbols of His flesh and blood; so in the Bible I love to seek not merely for knowledge of truth, but to find him whom the Holy Spirit would set before me. So, instead of taking the Bible to learn something as out of a book, I would let the Lord draw me to Himself by it, revealing the beauty of His ineffable love, and cause my heart to rejoice before Him with divine joy-not merely a book, then, but the Lord Jesus causing His own sweet voice to be heard through it, and revealing Himself whom no eye can see!

" Like Mary to be at Thy feet,
To behold, to hear, and receive.
Then, my heart for Thee thus made meet,
To rise in that joy to serve Thee."

As the dew coming down from heaven to refresh the earth, so the word of His lips comes to comfort and refresh the heart that looks for Him. Is it not thus the Father would have His children renew their strength for a consistent and faithful testimony?

While waiting for that happy day when we shall be with Him for ever, Affectionately, your brother. Henry Ruga
.

(Rom. 8:35.)

I’m bound for my fair home above,
And none can bar my entrance there:
My Saviour in His power and love
Shall bring me home His joys to share.

I know that numerous foes arise
To turn me from the upward way;
But through my Lord I'll gain the skies,
And dwell with Him in endless day.

The flesh within, the world without,
And Satan's host in fierce array,
Cannot succeed to shut me out,
Since Christ doth lead me in the way.

The One who made all worlds that shine
In heaven's boundless vaults of night,
His arms of love doth round me twine
And He shall keep me by His might.

To give me life-eternal life,
It cost my Lord His precious blood:
He met all foes in mortal strife
And conquered in the whelming flood.

Redemption cost Him far too much
To let my soul be Satan's prey;
To wrench me from the tyrant's clutch
He passed through Calvary's deadly fray

His love and power for me unite
Against all foes however strong:
So I'll defy the hosts of might
Since I by grace to Him belong.

Then rest my soul in sweet repose;
Omnipotence is on thy side.
Should worlds on worlds my way oppose,
I shall with Christ be glorified.

C. C. Crowston

QUES. 1.-Will you please explain in your next issue of " Help and Food " the last verse of chap. 6 of Isaiah, with special reference to the latter part:" So the holy seed shall be the substance thereof."

ANS.-"The holy seed" is the remnant of the Jews which shall constitute "the Israel of God," the new nation in the kingdom of Christ upon earth. The devastating judgments of verses 11, 12, sweep away the mass returned to their land in unbelief. Then '' the holy seed'' will bear the character described in Matt. 5 :3-10.

QUES. 2.-Will you please give through Help and Food an explanation of 1 Cor. 7 :29 as compared with Eph. 5:25, 28, 33 and Col. 3:19?

ANS.-The thought in 1 Cor. 7:29 is made plain by vers. 30, 31 -neither marriage, nor sorrow, nor causes of joy, nor increase of property, nor enjoyment of thing? for this life should come in between our souls and the Lord to hinder in His communion. How easily they do, many of us have proved. To have a heart free for the Lord (ver. 32) is the great desideratum for the Christian.

Eph. 5:25, 28, 33 and Col. 3:19 show, on the other hand, that when the word of God rules in our hearts, the relations He has established become occasions for the display of His grace.

QUES. 3.-Some professing Christians here have thought to prove by 1 Cor. 3 :16,17 and Acts 1:25 that a child of God can perish. Please give us some light through Help and Food.

ANS.-The very Scriptures they cite condemn their theory, for Acts 1:25 states that Judas (the betrayer of Christ) "went to his own place." Of him the Lord had said, long before, "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? " (Jno. 6 :70.) Appointed as one of the twelve, in fulfilment of prophecy (Jno. 13:18; Ps. 41:9), Judas' real character and object became manifest:" He was a thief," says John 12 :6. He seems to have aspired to treasurership in the expected kingdom. That failing, he sold his Master for SO pieces of silver. Are these the marks of one born of God, or the self-seeking natural man?

As to 1 Cor. 3:16,17, the Corinthian Christiana were the "temple of God." Evil teachers had come in among them-defilers of God's temple. God will destroy such, in His own time. (See 2 Cor. 11:12-15).

(Continued from page 102.)

The Body of Christ

This blessed truth, with which the apostle's conversion was connected, was his unique testimony. What a revelation-what a discovery for this man of Jewish prejudice whose zeal carried him into a whirl of hatred to " the Name," supposing that zeal for Judaism-was service to, and approved of God.

His life was revolutionized by the revelation of Christian glory; his whole course was exposed by it, and he learned that the feeble few he had so recently persecuted were actually linked with a glorified Christ! "Saul! Saul! why persecutes! thou Me f" Those despised, afflicted ones were "bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh," and in touching them, this self confessed enemy of the Lord persecuted Him. It gives an impetus to our Christian life when we learn that not only has the Lord Jesus died to deliver us from the just consequences of our sins, but to "gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John 11:50-52).

"By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body."

Not only has the believer on the Lord Jesus been sealed by the Holy Spirit (God thus marking him out as His own), but by the same blessed Spirit he is joined to, and is made a member of the Body of Christ. The knowledge of this blessed fact must necessarily affect us, both in practical conduct toward our fellow-members, and in our ecclesiastical associations. These two aspects are plainly indicated in the following scriptures :

"We being many, are one Body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Rom. 12:5).

"The Head from which all the Body by bands arid joints having nourishment ministered increaseth with the increase of God" (Col. 2 :19). It is well to keep these two aspects distinct:failure to do so must result in confusion.

The first scripture quoted is the divine regulator of conduct, and leads us to care for one another; giving to each his or her place, and all this flowing out of the knowledge of God's grace. Headship is not the subject here, but the fact that we are members of "one Body." But we must not stop here, where in fact many do stop; consequently, while conduct toward fellow-believers maybe exemplary,
there is little or no sense of Christ's Headship over us. It leads to independency, to the exercise of self-will in the assembly of God, and the soul is in danger of being beguiled by philosophy and vain deceit (Col. 2 :18-23).

As the head of the natural body directs every member, so it was destined that the spiritual Body be directed by Christ, the living Head, and deriving all from Him, should, by nourishment ministered, increase with the increase of God.

This blessed work is carried on through the gifts which Christ has given, as unfolded in the fourth chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians. Having ascended on high, after coming down into the enemy's domain, and having led captivity captive, Christ received gifts for those who were once the enemy's spoil. These He has bestowed upon His servants for the edification and upbuilding of His own, and the deliverance of others who are still captives.

What a triumph of grace, that here, where Satan succeeded in seducing man from dependence upon and allegiance to God, this exalted and glorious Person should communicate gifts for the gathering out of those who shall be His companions in glory, and who in the day of display shall be manifested with Him in that glory, to the confusion of all the adverse powers.

Let it be noted that the gifts here in Eph., chap. 4, are not as in i Cor., chap. 12, spoken of as coming from the Spirit, severally divided; neither are sign-gifts mentioned. They are brought before us in Corinthians as tokens of power, destined to affect the unconverted, but here as endowments from
Christ, that all may be effected according to the mind of God, and the Body edified.

In i Cor., chap. 12, the Spirit's work is especially in view, distributing gifts as He wills, but all exercised under the direction of the Head. No natural ability may be present, and it is not independent, voluntary power – servants remain servants, and must acknowledge the Lordship of Christ alone, He directing the exercise of gifts according to His perfect knowledge and grace. In the early history of the Church we see this blessedly manifested; each exercised his divinely-given gifts in responsibility to the Lord for the benefit of the whole Church.

Alas, what confusion has arisen and what loss has ensued from ignoring these blessed truths ! Christendom, broadly speaking, has entirely lost sight of them. Consequently schism (condemned by Scripture, i Cor. 12 :25) has become virtuous, and the various sects are justified as helping the spread of truth. The old adage, "Unity is strength" is a truism ; and the strength of the Church's testimony has departed through sectarianism and world-conformity.

How much modern day usages are at variance with what was established at the beginning, the reader can judge. True, apostles are no more, and sign-gifts (as in Corinthians) are not with us- but the gifts spoken of in the epistle to the Ephesians remain, and the Spirit still distributes as in i Cor., chap. 12. Our responsibility, therefore, is to return to first principles and refuse absolutely all that militates against these blessed truths. J. W. H. N.

(To be continued.)

This exhortation applies with special force to those who bring the Word of God home to the conscience of sinner or saint; for the servant of Christ needs to be particularly careful that his testimony consists of "sound speech that cannot be condemned."

The writer has a most vivid recollection, as a newborn babe in Christ, of being cast into deepest dejection at the time by the reiteration in a public meeting of this text, "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ."" The blessed consciousness of peace with God through the sacrifice of Christ, which he had lately enjoyed, gave way to fearful doubts. The thought came, How can I know my sins are forgiven when I must needs stand before the judgment-seat of Christ ? The preacher closed the meeting without one -word of explanation to ease the load upon a despairing human soul. It was not until months after that the writer learned that though the Christian shall be " manifested" (as the word really is) before the judgment-seat of Christ, it will be when he is already in the likeness of Christ in his body of glory. The terror of that judgment-seat is all gone for those who previously will have been caught up and changed in the likeness of Christ, when we shall see Him as He is, and be like Him (i John 3:2). With a true comprehension of the force of the passage, God's Word can now have its due effect upon the heart of the child of God in promoting holy fear as to his walk and life down here.

On still another occasion it was stated in a meeting of Christians that " not all Christians shall rise to meet the Lord in the air. Only such as have clean hands and a pure heart shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord." This, surely, is not calculated to give "understanding to the simple." It was afterwards explained that the brother could not have meant that, but that "not all professing Christians shall 'rise to meet the Lord in the air." This is quite true, but how different from what was said. Those who as teachers deal with the conscience and hearts of their hearers, should realize how much harm may be done by slipshod statement of a fact. It has been demonstrated that to root out wrong conceptions is far more difficult than to implant them in the mind. Negation is much less readily comprehended than affirmation; and it is not otherwise with those who are learners in God's school. How easily are the babes in Christ wounded, and how ready Satan is to use loose statements and half-truths to cloud their peace of soul.

It is not meant that the statement of truths from the Word of God should be in the dry, measured forms of formulas. God forbid. When speaking to those who know not Christ, who would not be stirred in his very being as he realizes the importance of his message and the value of the soul? If privileged to feed His sheep, who would not, in dependence upon the Spirit and in much love, seek to make the Word of God a source of consolation and encouragement to his fellow-Christians ? It is our high and holy privilege to minister Christ in all His fulness. But how much pain, through misunderstanding, may be inflicted upon sensitive souls -which need not be, if the servant of Christ was careful to "hold fast the form of sound words . . . in faith and in love which is in Christ Jesus! " C. G. R.

We need to take "the whole armor of God" in order to be "able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." There are special evil days. There are times when the power of the enemy is gathered against us in a very marked way,-after all, not the times in which we are in greatest danger. After success and joy of victory, there may be a carelessness brought in by the victory itself, which may allow us to fall as it were without a battle. When Gideon had defeated the hosts of Midianites and Amalekites, he falls without a battle at all by the ephod which he makes -a thing bred of the very place which God had given him. He has offered sacrifices before at God's command. This entitles him, as it seems to him, to intrude upon the functions of the regular priesthood, and this connects with the further and worse failure in his family afterwards. When he has refused the kingship in Israel for himself, his son Abimelech grasps it openly. Thus, when we
have done all, we have to stand. Nothing but the constant sense of our dependence upon Another, the watchfulness which comes from this consciousness of inherent weakness, will enable us to find constant success.

The details of the armor are then presented to us. First of all, our loins are to be "girt about with truth." " Truth," notice, comes here first,- the action of the Word; and what does it do for us? It girds the loins. It prevents our garments, our habits, as we may interpret it, hindering us. The power of heavenly truth upon our souls will make us, in our whole character here, simply as those who are passing through and not settling down. Our garments in that way will never be loose about us. The strife is constant. We must not expect rest. We have a rest, indeed, in Christ at all times, but that is another thing. The time of rest has not come. We are to be as soldiers of Christ, who, as the apostle says, are not to entangle themselves with the things of this world. When the enemy is meeting us with the darkness of this world, how important for us, first of all, to have this girdle about the loins!

Next comes the " breastplate of righteousness." The breastplate covers a vital part. If indeed there is not righteousness with us, the accuser has a fair means of attack. His pretension is that of Adonizedek (lord of righteousness). Righteousness is his constant plea before God when he would sift us, as he sifted Job or as he sifted Peter. If we are God's wheat, we must expect such sifting, which accomplishes, after all, as in Job's case and in Peter's, blessing for us; but at the same time it puts us to the test. "Righteousness," let us remember, is practical consistency with our position and relationships, and thus if we are indeed heavenly men, this righteousness will be a very different thing from what the, world would call such. The only righteous thing for us is to be practically what we are professedly in every thing; even the showing of mercy is only righteousness for those who have had mercy shown them, nor can righteousness exist apart from the love which we owe men at all times. Thus, the "breastplate of righteousness " is indeed important, and we see how the truth must have gone before it, to put us in the place which defines for us what practical righteousness must be with us.

Next, we have the feet shod for the way. We remember, as to Israel, how perfectly their feet were shod, how their shoes never wore out, spite of the flinty desert they were traversing all the forty years. Our feet are shod in a higher way. Our "preparation" is that which is wrought by the effect of "the gospel of peace." It is not a question of carrying the gospel to others. It is our feet that are shod with this "preparation; " it is a peace which God has preached to us in it, the peace with Himself, which gives peace, therefore, as to all things:"For, if God be for us, who can be against us ? " It is this peace that arms the feet for all the difficulties of the way. What circumstances are there which are not in His hand ? What difficulties can be too much for Him ? The wilderness is still the wilderness. The trials and difficulties are there. They are best met in the consciousness of our being unable to meet them, but they must be met also with the faith that the God of peace Himself is with us and that He will give us peace always, by all means. That is the Lord's word for His people:"In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in Me ye shall have peace." Here are shoes that never wear out. How blessed the experience of the way in which God has furnished us thus!

The body thus perfectly provided for, we still have need of the shield of faith "over all," as we should read. This is that practical confidence in God which should never fail us at all times, even in the midst of the sense of failure and the need of self-judgment. Let the armor be fitted to us as it may, there is always room for some apprehension, if we simply think about ourselves, that somewhere we may have left opportunity for the enemy; but the shield of faith covers all the armor. Confidence in God is our security and rest; only we must remember that the putting on of the armor comes first. There must be honest endeavor to have all right in this way. We must not try to shield a body evidently exposed; but when we have all apparently right, we have need still of that practical confidence which, let us notice, has for its object specially to "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." These "fiery darts" are indeed terrible weapons. The fire speaks of wrath, of judgment, and it is with this that the enemy would assail us. He is the accuser. His aim, as already said, is to bring distance in some sense between our souls and God. How great a necessity, therefore, to maintain this happy confidence in Him, which, while it does not excuse failure in the least, yet finds all its confidence in Him who has undertaken for us. "All the fiery darts of the wicked one" can thus be "quenched" by the "shield of faith."

Besides this, we are"to have the "helmet of salvation," not, as in Thessalonians, the "hope of salvation." There it is the world with which we are in conflict. Here it is the consciousness of a salvation already attained, which sustains us against the enemy. This is not a hope. It is a realized certainty. The helmet covers the head. We are preserved by it from blows which would rob us of what we rightly call "presence of mind." It is this presence of mind in the midst of perils which is the best kind of courage, and the salvation of God is that which may well secure it for us.

Then we have one, only one, offensive weapon, "the sword of the Spirit"-the word of God, as that which enables us to penetrate all the wiles of the enemy, to expose and baffle him. How impossible it will be to oppose that of which we are not positively sure whether it be his voice or the voice of God Himself ! If there is any confusion as to this (and the great work of the enemy is to promote this confusion), of necessity we have no right to dismiss from our mind what may be merely his temptation. How much we want to be armed, therefore, by "the sword of the Spirit ! " How we must have God's word furnishing us at all points if we are to be ready for every form of assault ! But let us notice here, that it is "the saying " rather than the " Word;" that is to say, if we think of the Word of God, it is the whole book which He has put into our hands. What we want for the conflict, is the special word, the text which suits the occasion ; that is what '' the sword of the Spirit" really is. It is the word of God as applied by the Spirit of God, used therefore, with the wisdom of God, as with our Lord in the wilderness, where always the special text is brought forward which decides what is before Him. But for this, let us remind ourselves again, we must be in the energy of the Spirit. The use of the sword requires practice and to be on the alert and watchful.
All this is closed with what John Bunyan numbers amongst the weapons. It is the weapon "all prayer," and it is very striking as coming in here, after all the high and blessed truth into which the apostle has been leading us through all the epistle. There is no text, perhaps, which insists so fully upon the necessity of prayer as that which we have here. "Praying at all times, with all prayer," and not mere prayer, but "supplication," that is, earnest beseeching, the soul thoroughly conscious of its need, and guided by the Spirit in that which we seek. How much prayer is there which is merely the contention of our own wills with God, which, however earnestly we may pour it out, leaves us rather exhausted with the contention than at rest in having made known our wants to Him !

-From Numerical Bible, on Eph. 6:13-18.

" Mary sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word" (Lk. 10:39).

" When Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died" (John 11:32).

" Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed at the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair:and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment " (John 12:3).

FRAGMENT We find this Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, thus three times mentioned, and in each instance she is at the feet of Jesus.

In Luke, "she sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word." She was an earnest, diligent hearer then, treasuring in her heart the blessed revelations of grace and truth from the lips of Jesus.

In John 11:32, she rises at once to go to Him, and falling down at His feet she poured out "all her grief there. She had learned to trust Him, then.

Then, in John 12:3, she lays all her treasure at His feet. The "very costly" spikenard is poured out there, and her hair serves as the towel for those blessed feet! Precious picture, and beautiful steps of development in a soul surrendered to Christ- "the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely." May it attract our own souls to the same blessed Lord, our Saviour. F.

" Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more " (2 Cor. 5:16).

That Christ had a standing "after the flesh" is the plain statement of Scripture. That He had such a standing shows that "after the flesh" is not necessarily connected with & fallen state.

The language of i Cor. 10:18, "Behold Israel after the flesh," referring as it does to Israel under the law, defines for us the significance of the term "after the flesh:" it is a position on earth, given of God to man, in which he is responsible to meet his obligations toward God. Did not the commandment of God to Adam, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it," give to him a standing "after the flesh ?" Law, as & principle in Adam's case, and as a system in the case of Israel, brought forth the words of the prophet, "But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant" (Hosea 6:7, R. V.).

Furthermore:Is not the Gentile viewed in his standing "after the flesh" when, in Rom. 2:7, eternal life is set forth as the reward of those "who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and incorruptibility ?" Is not this the ground of personal responsibility for them ? The moral perfections of God's nature are what man must express in heart and life if he will meet with acceptance with God on the ground of personal responsibility. But in the seed (Adam), in the bulk (the nations), or in the well-cultivated sample (Israel), the failure is seen to be sad and utter.

Who then shall stand to "the glory of God" on the ground of personal responsibility ? The answer of God is-Christ after the flesh. As the voice from heaven expressed it at His baptism, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased " (Matt. 3:17).

For, "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law"-"made of a woman" and as under the law, therefore a man "after the flesh." We see Him, at twelve years of age, " in His Father's business " in the temple at Jerusalem. On Jordan's banks we see the Holy Spirit descending upon Him as the seal of His perfection (Matt. 3:16; Jno. 6:27)- the seal of His personal fitness to meet the requirements attached to that standing, or position; the seal, too, of His fitness to make good that which He had just pledged Himself to in His baptism in Jordan's waters, to meet the righteousness of God in its demands upon those who had been confessing their sins, and were baptized by John.

In the wilderness, having fasted for forty days, and being hungry, we see Him being tempted of the devil:"If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." But He meets the tempter as man, as "Christ after the flesh," not using His divine power to meet His own need; in lowly subjection to God He replies, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). In all His pathway, from Jordan to the dread reality of Calvary, of which Jordan was a type, we see Him as the "Leader and Completer of faith" (Heb. 12:i), answering to the moral perfections of God's nature, glorifying Him, and meeting every responsibility attaching to man " after the flesh."

On the banks of Jordan, "Through the Eternal Spirit He presents Himself without spot to God." What a sight is this! A man "after the flesh" walking in the beauty of holiness, drawing down the approbation of heaven! A man justifying God in the creation of man-a man, yet the Redeemer of men. "I am come to do thy will, O God,"is the language of His heart. And when the time came for the fulfilment of what He had pledged Himself for at His baptism in Jordan, we see Him going out on that eventful night, with a hymn of praise, to offer Himself for our sins! For-oh, wondrous fact! -this was " the will of God " which He had come to do. "By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10).

His death closed the condition of "Christ after the flesh." Mary, who had followed Him on earth with intense affection, thinks she has recovered Christ after the flesh when He appears to her on the morning of the resurrection (Jno. 20:15-17). But the Lord says to her-Not so. He must go to the Father, where He now is; and she, and we all in this dispensation, cannot have "Christ after the flesh;" a heavenly Christ it is that calls forth our faith, and love, and hope. Of this heavenly Christ, and the Church's association with Him up there, Paul was chosen to be the minister. Not in Adam, but in Christ we are accepted before God. It is a new creation, of which Christ is the Head. "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh:yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more." G. MacKenzie

(Continued from page 38.)

2. Bildad's Second Address-Job's Reply.

The principal difference between Bildad's address and that of Eliphaz is the brevity of the former. He follows the lead of Eliphaz largely, but in a manner all his own. His address abounds in beautiful poetic imagery and true declarations as to the inevitable doom of the wicked; but it is beside the mark in that it utterly fails to establish any relation between Job and the wicked, whose end he so graphically describes. His address may be divided into six portions, the last being a brief concluding word.

(1) Fresh reproach (chap. 18 :1-3).

(2) The sure doom of the wicked (vers. 4-7).

(3) A snare falls upon him (vers. 8-11).

(4)Disease and death his portion (vers. 12-15).

(5)Root and branch dried up (vers. 16-19).

(6) The end of his day (vers. 20, 21).

(I) As usual in the later speeches, the address opens with "a reproach, indicating the absence of the courtesy which marked the first address of Eliphaz. Bildad, who is quite moderate in the length of his speeches, accuses Job of multiplying words, and of being so full of talk that he will not listen to others. It is noteworthy that Bildad addresses Job as if others were associated with him:" How long will ye hunt for words ? " as verse z has been rendered. This does not necessarily mean that others were directly associated with Job at that time and place, but he is looked upon as the representative of the whole class of those who would question the position of the friends. But, as we know, Job, at least in his opposition to their contention, was maintaining the truth, we may think of him as standing at the head of that great company of the righteous who have passed through deep suffering without any apparent reason. If Job had used strong language, there had been great provocation in the charges of the friends.

(2) Taking up his charges, Bildad reminds Job that all his lamentations are unavailing-he is only tearing himself in vain rage-a most unkind description of the laments of the afflicted man. He goes on to tell him that all his cries will not change the fixed order of the earth; it will not become desolate for his sake, nor will the stable rock of retribution for evil be moved out of its place. The light of the wicked may burn brightly for a little while, as Job's had done, but it would be put out. The light of home, with its beckoning attraction, would vanish. His vigorous steps would begin to falter, and he would fall by his own evil counsel.

When we remember that by implication all this referred to Job, we can imagine how galling it was to his bruised spirit. It was painful enough to lose all he once had, and have the bright light quenched which once glowed in his hospitable tent; but to have this, and the inroads of the dread disease which was gnawing at his vitals and sapping his strength, cited as proof of his wickedness, was intolerable to human nature. It is as though he were saying, "Now we have found you out; you are reaping the fruit of your sin, and all this misery is a visitation from God for your wickedness."

(3) It is this retribution that Bildad enlarges upon, using imagery whose pungency would burn like salt upon raw flesh. He tells him that the wicked is driven into the net by his own feet, whose perverse ways carry him into those paths whose end is destruction. True, he was stating a solemn fact as to the wicked, but it remained to be proved Job was such. He declares that, all unknown to himself, the wicked walked over a snare which would take him when he least expected it:"The wicked is snared in the works of his hands." Repeating this with painful reiteration, Bildad assures Job of the certainty of the heel being caught in a trap, of a noose encircling him, as verse 9 has been rendered. The snare, skillfully covered in the earth, is ready for him; the net in his path is ready to enclose him as an unwary bird. No wonder that terrors affrighted him on every side, and fill him with dread at every step. Bildad selected words rich in poetic imagery, to force upon Job- what is untrue!

(4) But the captivity of the wicked will not satisfy the stern denouncer of evil; he must smite even unto death. So in this portion he traces the misery of the evil-doer until he falls into the jaws of death. His " calamity," as the word is rendered, preferably to "strength," is represented as a beast with hunger gnawing at it, ready to pounce upon him as he falls. Surely Job had felt this in the calamities which had come upon him. In the following verses there is even a closer description of the miseries of the afflicted patriarch. Calamity devoured the various parts of his skin, and "the first-born of death "-a solemn and poetic description of the bodily disease which devoured Job- devours his members, and leads him on to death, "the king of terrors." Strangers inhabit his tent, and brimstone-the final judgment of God – is showered upon his abode. It has been thought that in this last we have an allusion to "the fire of God" which fell upon Job's property, and the destruction of his family. But at any rate, the general meaning of fierce judgment is apparent.

(5) Bildad next describes the overthrow of the evil man's family, or rather of himself and family. Changing the metaphor, as he had already done, from the snares of various kinds to the extinguishing of the light in a home, he now likens the evil man to a tree, whose root withers in the parched land of his affliction, and the branches are lopped off-as the cutting off of Job's children. All this is scripturally accurate. Does not the Psalmist say, " I have seen the wicked . . . spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not" (Ps. 37:35, 36); and, "Cursed be the man . . '. whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert" (Jer. 17:5, 6). As repeatedly said, the fault lies in the application of such words to a man whose life gave the lie to their insistent"charges of flagrant wickedness. Pursuing his theme, Bildad declares that name and remembrance shall fail the evil man- "the memory of wicked shall rot"-he is driven off into darkness and none of his kin shall escape the disaster. Here is a sharp thrust at the bereaved parent, which must have made him wince with pain, though not in guilt.

(6) With this parting stab, Bildad closes his speech, reserving as a conclusion the declaration that all behold the fall of the wicked, both east and west-rather than those who went before and come after-and be filled with dread. Thus are the wicked recompensed.
Job's Reply.

No matter how greatly pained he might be at the cruel language of Bildad, Job's reply does not indicate the slightest consciousness of guilt such as had been laid at his door. Indeed, as ever, he more than holds his own against the sharp lash of calumny, and with far more justice than his friends charges them with cruelty and malignity. He defies them to show any evil in him, and goaded on by their implacable theory (which had also been his own), boldly charges God with having wronged him. He is the object of divine cruelty and of human scorn. And yet it is wonderful to see the poor crushed spirit rise from the dust in those words of faith and hope, " I know that my Redeemer liveth." There is a most pathetic, though futile appeal to the friends for pity. But we must look at each part in more detail. The response in its six parts balances the address of Bildad.

(1) Reproach (chap. 19 :1-6).

(2) God's hand (vers. 7-11).

(3) The scorn of man (vers. 12-20).

(4) The plea for pity (vers. 21-24).

(5) The triumph of faith (vers. 25-27).

(6) The close (vers. 28, 29).

(1) We must take Job's words as literally true; the speeches of Bildad and the others crushed him
by their cruel severity. "Ten times"-a complete number-they had heaped reproaches upon him, and had amazed him by the unjust charges they had shamelessly made against him. What proof had they of sins in his past ? If he had really erred, the secret lay in his own bosom, where they had no right to intrude. They goad him on to declaring, as he had already done, that the wrong was not his but God's! It is this root of suspicion of the Almighty which must be searched out; but these men's false charges will never accomplish that.

(2) There follows now a fearful arraignment of God. Well is it for Job that he is accusing infinite patience, or he might have had a real taste of divine anger. But God bears with it all, waiting His own time to bring the poor distracted man into His own holy presence. Job cries out for judgment and help, but no answer is vouchsafed. God had hedged him about, as he had previously charged, and as Jeremiah in his lamentations had complained. He had brought him into darkness, had torn his honor from him, and dashed the crown of dignity from his head. Like an uprooted tree, he lay prostrate and helpless under the fierce wrath of God.

(3) Passing to man, Job sees the same injustice, which by implication is from God. It is His troops who beset him. His own brethren have forsaken him; kinsfolk have forgotten him. His very slaves look upon him as a stranger, and even to his own servant he is obliged to address words of persistent entreaty before he will be heard. Worst of all, the wife of his bosom recoils from the foul stench of his person. Boys mock him, friends abhor him. His bones cleave to his skin, and he has barely escaped death thus far, as by the skin of his teeth; that is, everything is eaten away except the slight covering about their roots. It is a dreadful picture of a horrid disease, unutterably sad when we remember that he could not turn to God for comfort.

(4) The plea for pity and sympathy might well move hearts of adamant, but apparently Job's words fall on unheeding ears. It was their contention that God's hand had been upon him-for his sin. Job asks, will they persecute him as God was doing (awful charge!), and madly feed upon his flesh with unsatisfied desire ? Such injustice renders him almost frantic. He longs that his words (charging them-and God) were written, indelibly engraved in the rock forever.

And then, in the midst of all these lamentations, he utters those magnificent words of faith:"I know that my Redeemer liveth." But this was the very God whom he was just now charging with injustice! How good it is to see Job's faith amid all this turmoil, turning to the very One whom he was maligning! Truly these-not his own protestations of innocence-are words worthy of being graven upon the enduring rock. This Redeemer, this Daysman, shall rise for him, though it be in the last days, after his death.

Here, then, we have a glimpse of the blessed Lord whom we know-not as One who shall arise, but who has already triumphed over death and the grave. He has vindicated us, not from the impugnment of an imagined righteousness, but from sins of deepest dye, and enabled us to say, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ?" (5) In the following words commentators have found varying meanings, according to their translation. We may resolve these into two:Does Job say, "In my flesh I shall see God," or "From (away from) my flesh I shall see God ?" In other words, does he declare his belief in a spiritual disembodied condition after death, in which he will behold God and get his vindication ? Or does he plainly state his conviction of the truth of a literal bodily resurrection ? While the New Testament clearly teaches the spiritual consciousness' of those who are out of the body-"To depart to be with Christ, which is far better"-yet it ever points forward to the resurrection of the body, in glory and incorruption. The words of David, prophesying the resurrection of our Lord, "Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption," show that the resurrection of the body was foretold before the advent of our Lord upon earth.

Does not Job speak here of beholding the Lord with his own eyes, and does not this necessitate a resurrection ? It does not seem that he was looking for the Redeemer to act for him in this present life, but after his death-in a glorified body. Thus, as has been beautifully said, " he plants the flag of victory upon his own grave."

We leave the statement of his faith therefore as we find it in our Authorized Version, a beautiful and clear confession of the truth of a risen, living Redeemer, who will also restore his poor corrupted body into a glorified one in which he will behold God face to face, and learn the secret of all his sorrows here. Surely a man with such faith must overcome in the end, for "This is the victory … even our faith."

(6) He turns therefore to his friends and asks why they should persecute one in whom this living indestructible root of faith is found. Rather, he tells them, they should ask themselves the reason for their implacable pursuit of him. His reply to Bildad, about the same length as the words that called it forth, he closes with a solemn warning lest they fall under the stroke which they vainly imagined was laying him low.
We may safely leave these addresses side by side to speak for themselves. In the light of all that has been before us, can we doubt that the moral advantage has been with Job ? S. R.

(To be continued.)

There's no disappointment in heaven-
That land of delight where I go;
Its skies are not darkened with shadows,
Nor dimmed its celestial glow.

No pining or sickness up yonder;
The inhabitants never grow old;
The joys and the glories of heaven
By mortals can never be told.

No sorrow can enter those bowers;
No dweller shall ever be sad;
There, glorified beings immortal,
In garments of glory are clad.

There, friendship shall never be broken;
No malice or envy shall rise;
There, love never chilleth or waneth,
And nothing there evermore dies.

O pilgrim on time's rugged pathway,
Speed on in thy heavenly race;
O think of the bliss everlasting
That awaits all the children of grace.

But pause, I exhort thee. and ponder
The cross, that the weight of sin
Must fall on thy blessed Redeemer
Ere thou these glories could win.

Every atom of wealth and of glory
That make up the fulness of bliss,
Was purchased by Him in deep anguish,
When He died to redeem and to bless.

Then think not so much of the glory,
The joys, the bliss and the crown;
But seek thou to worship more fully
The Man that from glory came down.

C. C. Crowston

While realizing that the "us" in the opening verse of the epistle to the Hebrews refers to the children of the Hebrew "fathers," none the less is it our blessedness to hear the message from the lips of the Son. And we have heard it in a fuller measure than they who were with Him whilst He was upon earth; for the Spirit of Christ within us reveals the meaning and depth of His utterances.

But, in what is now before us, we have a revelation of God which goes beyond that which "at the end of these days" was "spoken by the Son."

The message, unheeded and refused by those to whom it was first sent, is now in divine amplitude made known to its, who are not the children of those "fathers."

No more complete and perfect revelation of God is possible than the revelation of Himself as "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." These two titles of God form the center around which the whole revelation of His heart and of His mind revolves. "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ'' speaks of God as the object of faith to the eternal Sot, become man.

Consider that faith, I pray you. Faith untarnished and undimmed; faith unceasing in its constancy; faith in storm or in calm finding its blessed repose in the living God; and this faith characterized the humble and dependent Man-the outcast Son of God. Need we wonder that this faith, expressed in lowly dependence, compels the blessed Spirit of God so lovingly to dwell upon all His activities and
utterances? How worthy a task for the Spirit of holiness and of truth to dwell upon that life, to display it in its flawless loveliness and divine perfection. How easily and readily should we realize that no fuller revelation of God is possible than as "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." For such a faith and such a life must command the approbation of heaven; command, too, that the power of God be displayed on behalf of Him who lived that faith, and gave faith to that life.

As the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is "the Father of Glory," the source of divine perfection thus displayed. Sin having come into the world, how fitting it was that God should declare Himself as indebted to our Lord Jesus Christ for the title to display Himself thus to His creatures. How else could God manifest Himself in holiness, righteousness and love than through our Lord Jesus Christ, in a world where He had been so much dishonored through His creatures' sin? How could a just God make sinners the objects and display of His love and grace? How otherwise could He bless us with such a place as '' accepted in the Beloved," and associate us with Christ the Heir and Head of all creation? God glorified concerning sin; God, in perfect equity, finding His delight in blessing redeemed sinners; not other wise could this be than through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How the voices of the prophets move in earnest desire to bear testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ and to His God. When in view of His rejection by Israel He says, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain," 'how brightly in such dark circumstances does His faith appear:"Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." The answer of His God to such faith is:"It is alight thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel:I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest "be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (Isa. 49:4-6). Thus not only shall Israel be fully restored but the Gentiles also shall be blessed, when God shall have completed the fuller display of Himself in Christ and the Church.

In the 22nd Psalm we are given to hear the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ and the answer of His God. Having passed through the awful depths of "that hour," we see Him as impaled on the "horns of the unicorns" – He, the Mighty One, as the lamb for sacrifice; and they, His creatures, in passionate hatred clamoring for His blood. They have nailed Him to the cross; but His faith abides confidingly in His God. "Thou hast heard me," He says, "from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee." In resurrection power and joy He makes known the name, the character, of His God, in all its perfections.

Again in psalm 102, we hear Him in humble, dependent faith, concluding His prayer, "O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days." The answer of His God is:"Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed, but Thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end" (see also Heb. 1:10-12 where God is testifying of His Son, in the language of Psa. 102:24-27).

The crowning answer of His God to our Lord Jesus Christ, "Who in the days of his flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him out of death," is seen in "the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head of all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." George MacKenzie
" DIVINE HEALING "-SO-CALLED

Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the Book widens and deepens with our capacity and advance in the knowledge of God.

FRAGMENT

Yea, Lord, I know that Thou art just:
If not, then who could be ?
Yet oft I'm perplexed, I confess,
Then let me talk with Thee.
Why doth the wicked prosperously
Increase, while dealing treacherously ?

Why do they laugh, and dance, and seem
Light-hearted night and day ?
Yet never think of Thee who lets
Them prosper in the way.
And yet, O Lord, I would not give
The joy Thou givest for all they have.

"I've overcome the world, beloved;
Then be thou of good cheer.
This world is not thy dwelling-place,
There's naught abiding here;
Though grief and sorrow here may try
The glory waits thee by and by." H. McD

(Heb. 10:2.)

With the knowledge of what God is in the majesty of His righteousness, as taught of Him, and yet to have "no more conscience of sins," is a blessing passing wonderful. But, blessed be God, it is mine and yours, my fellow-believer, if we are to accept the testimony of His word.

As we open the book, at the tenth chapter of Hebrews, we are taught that the Jewish sacrifices could not make those who brought them perfect, that is, perfect as to their conscience before God. "For then," it is argued, those sacrifices "would have ceased to be offered," and for this reason, that the worshipers once purged (from an evil conscience toward God) should have had no more conscience of sins. Prom this we infer that sacrifice for sin was instituted by God to meet the need of a guilty conscience, which need could only be fully met in the knowledge that God, against whom we had sinned, had been righteously appeased.

Does not this shed light on why Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to God ? Each had a "conscience of sins." Abel, acting on the testimony which God had given in connection with his father and mother, as to how sin could be met suitably to Him, brought that which spoke of life forfeited under judgment. Cain, though having a "conscience of sins," would meet God on ground other than that of a righteous penalty upon the sin that had given him a guilty conscience. A God who would meet the question of sin on other ground than that of penalty, is but the creature of unholy imaginings.

Again, does not sacrifice, being based on "a conscience of sins," explain the universal acceptance of the doctrine of sacrifice among the heathen? With all their darkness and their ignorance, their conscience is accusing them of sins. And does not this testify against the unholy ignorance prevailing in ritualism, where sacrifices for sins are offered ? For, "the worshipers once purged, have no more conscience of sins."

The sacrifices of the law could not effectuate the pleasure of God, because they could not take away sins. But Christ, laying aside His positional glory, "the form of God," and taking the body prepared for Him in the Virgin's womb, taking thus "the form of a servant," and so giving the glory of His deity to the manhood which He had assumed, and offering Himself in that body as a sacrifice for sin, removes it judicially, not morally, from before the throne of God. "For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified "-them that are separated to God "by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ." Perfected forever-standing before the throne of the Majesty on High un-accused of our own conscience! Whereof, of this standing with a perfect conscience before the throne of God, the Holy Spirit bears witness in these words, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin." Our sins are all gone, put away from before God and purged from our conscience.

" What shall we then say to these things ?" "It is God that justifieth." "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? "

"Unto Him that loveth us and hath loosed us from our sins in His own blood " be all the praise! George MacKenzie

(Concluded from page 83.)

APPENDIX

I add as an appendix a brief summary of the testimony of the New Testament to immortality. If we take the four Gospels together, they tell us, first, of a new Man, a Second Adam, supernaturally born into the world ; hence in many ways He is in contrast with the first Adam. He is a Person incarnate, which is affirming that He is a divine Person; for no mere created spirit-being has the power to become man. He is, then, both God and Man. Being born into the world, He is the Seed of the woman-just such a Man as was promised in Gen. 3 :15. The record of His earthly life proves that He was not, like Adam, of the earth, earthy, but a heavenly Man upon earth.

Assailed by Satan, He was faithful and obedient. He did no sin. Being sinless in life and nature, He was not subject to death-was personally exempt from the death and judgment to which men are appointed. He was a Man having life in Himself, possessing intrinsic power to banish death and annul corruption. In the exercise of this power He proved Himself to be the Deliverer, the Saviour of men.

But His perfections need not be further delineated. Calling attention to them is sufficient to show that He was a unique Man, of an order distinct from that to which all other men naturally belong. This is true, notwithstanding the fact that He was a Man "in the likeness of sinful flesh." Partaking of our human nature-flesh and blood- did not make Him one of us, for He was what none of us are-"holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." But if not one of us, He was in very truth one with us.

I have said that this unique Man was not subject to death. He is declared, however, to have power (the right, competency) to lay down His life. The Gospels represent Him as One on "whom violent hands could not be laid until the hour came when of His own will He should put Himself in men's wicked hands, and willingly subject Himself to the power of Satan.

In the sacrificial side of this we need not enter here. That He laid down His life in atonement for us is a central, a cardinal, truth of Scripture; but we are concerned here with the fact of His death witnessed to by each of the four Gospels. They showed that He died, not from any personal necessity, but substitutionally. And having power to lay down His life, He had also power to take it up again-power to arise from among the dead, as the four Gospels testify He did.

Further, the record plainly shows that, as risen from the dead, His humanity is in a new condition. As born into the world, our Lord's humanity was as that of the sons of Adam-a true flesh and blood body. In that sense His body was a natural body, though not of natural generation, but a body prepared by the Holy Spirit (Heb. 10 :5), capacitating the Son of God for participation in human life and in death.

But in resurrection our Lord's body has been spiritualized. It is suited to a spiritual creation-heavenly and unchangeable. In dying and rising again, our Lord has passed out for ever of the flesh and blood condition of humanity, and entered into its final and permanent condition (2 Cor. 5 :16).

To complete our summary of the testimony of the Gospels, it only needs to add, that they witness to the fact that it was as a spiritualized Man that our Lord arose from the dead and ascended to heaven. He has gone into a spiritual sphere in a body suited for that sphere in which He abides.

We pass on to briefly state the testimony of the rest of the New Testament. After the death and resurrection of Christ, God's message to men takes on a new form. It is no longer a promise of a new Man to come; nor is it the announcement of One who is God's delight here among men that is emphasized, but the great fact that (by way of death and resurrection) He has entered into His glory. He is spoken of not merely as One who has died and lives again forever, but as in a spiritual sphere and glorified body, in which is illuminated the life and incorruptibility that God promised to faith in announcing the coming of the Seed of the woman. By His coming, and victory over death, the promised life and incorruptibility has been manifested-the life and incorruptibility of which the risen Christ is the eternal Head. The way provided to reach that creation is no longer a matter of promise but an existing fact-not what faith infers and dimly foresees, but what it realizes as an accomplished reality.

And, further, faith knows it to be its own portion. As the believer looks back upon the men of past ages who died in faith, he thinks of them now as participators in this life and incorruptibility. As
he sees one and another of faith's family now passing off this scene, he says, Death cannot dissolve the bond of their eternal blessing with Him, where He is. Though they die, they shall live again, and rise to life with spiritual bodies like their Lord's, and in the heavenly sphere and condition upon which Christ has already entered. If he reads of the hour of trial for the world, which is to follow the rapture of the Church, and the unparalleled martyrdom of those who shall then witness to God's and Christ's claims, laying down their lives for the testimony they bear, he knows they shall be raised to life and incorruptibility, and added to the already glorified company in heaven. If he looks further still to the time when the first heavens and earth pass away, and thinks of the multitude who have owned allegiance to Him who died but rose again, he will infer that they too shall be transformed and transferred into the new creation which is to replace that which passes away.

Such is the hope, or prospect, which the New Testament distinctly defines as being the eternal portion of all those who through faith are delivered from the consequences of sin.

I will only add here that the thought of life and incorruptibility, as the New Testament develops it, shows that every member of the family of faith will ultimately be conformed to Christ as He is- with a spiritual body like His own. And, further, when the last company of the saved shall have entered into this spiritual condition, bearing thus the image of "the Firstborn from the dead," God and men shall dwell together in unutterable blessedness forever (Rev. 21:3).

But what of the wicked ? The New Testament picture of their end is exceedingly solemn. They are raised, and thus complete men, in bodies to endure for ever. Yet there is no expression in Scripture whatever to show that their bodies will be like that of the risen Christ. It seems that the inference we are intended to draw is that, while the bodies of the wicked shall not be subject to physical death, they shall yet bear forever the marks of sin. Theirs will be an existence, not of life and incorruption, but of eternal separation from Him by whom life and incorruptibility have been brought in. C. Crain