Relationships

Three circles or degrees of relationship are pointed out for us in Ephesians 4:4-6, to each of which privileges and responsibilities naturally attach. First and nearest is the relationship of

The One Body

Each member of Christ is united to Him by faith. He is the life in every one of them, as the sap, or life, of the vine is in the branch. But the members of Christ are also united together by the Holy Spirit into one body, of which Christ is the Head. The unity of this body is what we are exhorted to "endeavor" practically to keep even here on earth, but which we, together with the whole church, have so grievously failed in. May godly sorrow, and turning to the Lord for healing, as far as may be, mark all those who confess the Church's unity in Christ.

The Confession or Profession

Secondly, there is the relationship with all those that profess faith in the Son of God as Saviour, by whose atonement upon the cross, God's righteousness is maintained and glorified in saving sinners. This is what the enemy is now so boldly and widely assailing throughout Protestant denominations. May all who love our Lord and His people pray fervently that the true believers may no longer remain associated with "thieves and robbers" who have entered those folds, and would remain therein devouring the sheep.

Prayer for all men and those in authority

The third relationship extends to all men as "offspring of God" by creation. The needs, trials, and welfare of our fellow-men have claims upon us all. Therefore we are exhorted to "pray for all men," and to "do good unto all," as children of our Father who "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Linked with all mankind by nature, and dependent upon one another as we all are, let us remember the apostle's exhortation, to "pray for all men," and "for all that are in authority" (1 Tim. 2:1, 2). Government is God's institution from the days of Noah (Gen. 9), for the repression of evil doers and the protection of them that do well (1 Pet. 2:13,14). Do we not forget what an awful place this world would be if governments should break down under anarchism, as Rev. 6:4 seems to indicate they will for a time? These are difficult days for those in authority. Let us pray for them, and beware of disrespectful language toward our rulers, nor permit a glib tongue to offend against God's appointments(Jude 8).

A stand against modernism

In connection with one of the above mentioned circles of relationships, we quote the following report, which appeared in the New York Tribune of Feb. 4th, in which the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of the New York Diocese frankly ranged himself as unalterably opposed to Modernist preachers within the churches of his diocese.
Bishop Manning read his sermon, entitled "A Message to the Diocese," to more than 3,000 worshipers who crowded the huge church on Morningside Heights, as it seldom has been.

"We have had," he said gravely, "in times past discussions upon questions of lesser moment-questions of ritual, of Biblical criticism, of speculative theology in the sphere of that wide liberty which this Church allows. But the questions which are now before us are different. They touch the very soul and center of our faith as Christians. They relate to the person of our Divine Lord Himself, His bodily resurrection, His ascension into heaven. These are not matters of doctrinal detail or opinion…. They are the basic facts upon which our faith in Christ rests, without which the Gospel would cease to have reality or meaning

"Christianity stands or falls with the facts about Jesus Christ as declared in the creed and in the Scriptures. If these things did not happen Christianity has no basis whatever; the whole message of the New Testament is a mistake. It is these great realities of the Christian faith which are now being questioned within the Church itself.

"In the ordination service every member of this Church, bishop, priest or deacon, is required before his ordination to make and sign the following declaration:'I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.' On this understanding each one of us received, and holds, his commission. So long as we continue in the teaching office of this church this obligation rests upon us."

Bishop Manning dwelt on the doctrine of the virgin birth, denying the assertions of Modernists that it is "unimportant." He said, "If by the incarnation we mean only that God was in Christ in the same way that He is in all of us, if Jesus Christ is, after all, only a man in whom the Spirit of God was especially manifest, then the creed, and with it the whole faith and worship of the Church, become foolish, unmeaning, superstitious-as some say that they are."

At another point the Bishop disclaimed any apprehension that vigorous opposition on his part to Modernism would weaken his campaign for funds with which to complete St. John's Cathedral. "If this suggestion," he said, "were true, my answer would be that a thousand cathedrals are of less importance than one foundation fact of the Christian faith. Better that the cathedral should never be built than that a Bishop of this Church should fail to bear his witness for the full truth of Jesus Christ."

Let the prayers of those who love the Lord and His people hold up the hands of all such, that their stand for the truth may be maintained.

Translation of a French Letter

My Dear Brother:-The Lord's service, here as elsewhere, requires the exercise of patience and faith, but it also gives frequent and great cause for thanksgiving. Through strength supplied I have made several good journeys for evangelization. A number of open doors have been given me. For many of my hearers, it was an entirely new thing to hear of God's salvation free, while they have been taught to acquire it by good works and money paid to the church (the priests). One needs to be very simple with them, for the mass are so ignorant of spiritual truth that it is to them like a foreign tongue.

But I thank God that souls are by the Holy Spirit's power brought to the feet of our Jesus in many localities. I have re-visited several places where I previously labored to take note of what fruits the precious seed sown was bearing, and I thank the Lord that they have generally kept the truth-though a few did return to their old ways. At Villers-la-ville, the old town of monks, I called on those who had been impressed by the gospel when I labored there six years ago. Some are not yet well-established, but I was rejoiced in seeing the others abiding in the gospel. The last time I visited this place, a farmer's wife was made very happy in finding the Saviour, but her husband, a strong Romanist, would not listen to the gospel. By the Lord's will, he was at home when I called. He put many questions-not in controversy, but for inquiry. At last, having understood what the errors of Rome are, he broke into tears in finding Jesus as his Saviour. Turning to his wife he said, "Wife, there is only one thing to do-to turn away from the priest to the word of God." He was a chorister in the church. May grace from God be given him to bear well the assaults the enemy will surely make against him.

At a place called "Le Congo" there is a class of workmen, very poor, and rude in habits, and my tracts were scornfully refused. Yet the Lord gave me joy there too. An old coal-miner and his wife heard that a Protestant evangelist was in town. They found me out, and said, "Monsieur, you have not called on us." (They live in a very small place behind other houses.) I went with them. The aged wife related to me their many trials. "I had the priest to come and bless our house," she said, "but it has done no good." Seeing they were under superstitious power, I spoke to them very simply of the love of God and of His grace in providing for our salvation; and they understood that it is not in man, but in the Lord we are to put our trust for peace and salvation. Then the old man said in their Walloon tongue, "Sir, you will come again to tell us more of this; will you not?"

In two other villages I was encouraged in some visits. On the street, meeting two gentlemen, I offered a tract to each one, which they received graciously. "I am a free-thinker," said one, "and I am always seeking for truth."-"Sir, have you a Bible in your library?"-"No, T have not."-"Well, that is the Word of God, and the greatest of treasures." The other gentleman asked my address, saying, "Your talk on the Gospels interests me much, and I would like to speak more at length with you." I trust he has received Jesus as his Saviour through our subsequent interview.

Precious moments too I spent with an old school-friend, now R. R. inspector-an upright and humble man, who recognizes himself a sinner, and was made to rejoice in Jesus giving His own life for our salvation. What does not God's grace do! This man's father was an active atheist, and lo, his son is made a child of God! Glory be to God! Truly, God works in wonderful ways, as with a brutal man who recently came in one of our meetings, where he heard the message of God's grace to sinners. Meeting him again another day, he stopped and said, "Mons. Dandoy, has not God converted other men as bad as I have been?" and as he said this joy beamed in his face. "Surely," I answered, "our Lord Jesus died for all those who confess to Him that they are sinners." A few days later he was killed in the mine.

But I close. Remember us before the Lord, and His work, dear brother. Octave Dandoy

Feb. 29, 1924.

Gospel work is enlarging in France and Belgium, and new laborers are entering the field. Ministry to help on the work will be gladly forwarded and duly acknowledged. -[Ed.

"Enter not into the path of the wicked . . . avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to jail" (Prov. 4:14-16).

Sir Isaac Newton, the great astronomer and genius in the sciences, was also a sincere Christian. It is said that he was wont to uncover his head whenever God was spoken of.

Among the learned friends and scientists that visited him was a man of note-an atheist. A large globe representing the heavens was in Newton's study, and on it were the many constellations and notable stars represented in their exact positions. It was a masterpiece of skill and knowledge. Having examined it, charmed with its beauty and skilled workmanship, the noted atheist inquired, "Who made this?"-"No one," quietly answered the great astronomer with a twinkle in his eye.

The atheist understood, and was silent.

Calendar:Oct. 16th to Nov.

DAILY BIBLE READING……….Oct. 16th, 2 Sam. 23;

Oct. 31st, 1 Kings 14; Nov. 15th, 2 Kings 7. MEMORY WORK …………………… 2 Timothy 2.

GOOD READING:……. "Life and Times of Elijah" by C. H. M., paper covers 25 cents.

MONTHLY QUESTION:What difference in thought is suggested by the two expressions "the house of God" (1 Tim. 3) and "the great house" (2 Tim. 2) ?

Our Memory Work

As we commit to memory the chapter for this month, let us particularly note the characters which should mark the believer as taking part in the conflict of the gospel.

The first; is that of strength. This is not found in the flesh, in man, or in organization such as the world boasts of, but in "the grace that is in Christ Jesus." That grace may be thought of as displayed in Christ personally (John 1:14; 2 Cor. 8:9); then as expressed in our standing or perfect acceptance (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 1:6, 7); and in connection with the future at His coming (1 Pet. 1:13).

Secondly, faithfulness in the stewardship of God's manifold grace communicated through the word of truth. Then in the soldier-character which requires devotion to the Lord whom we serve.

Next, the believer is viewed as a contestant for proffered reward. To acquire this, there must be purpose of heart, and obedience must be rendered. He must expect also to be a sufferer; must study that he may be a good workman; and must be a watchman guarding against profane and vain teaching.

Finally, he is called to be a vessel meet for the Master's use. This requires a godly separation from evil associations, from vessels to dishonor. May we be watchful and prayerful so as to give expression to these characters.

Defenders of the Truth

The need for us to be always ready, in a right way and in a right spirit, to contend for the truth of God is increasing every day. More than ever conditions demand from us much more than mere dogmatism and assertion. They call for the truth to be manifested in the life of those who make profession of it, and defend it. There is power in our testimony when others can plainly see that what we speak of has power over us. God expects the life we live .and the word we speak to be in accord.

In the second place, because infidelity is increasing so rapidly, "evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse," we must not become apathetic, nor let a feeling of feebleness overcome us. If we do, the ever watchful enemy will gain some advantage, and we may lose our crown. We cannot hold fast what we have unless we defend the truth against the assaults being made upon it. Because the end is near we must not permit relaxation, but rather increase our vigilance and zeal. "Behold, I come quickly:hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Peter said that "the end of all things had drawn nigh," nevertheless he called for soberness, watchfulness and vigilance. We have the example of Paul, Peter, John, and of the Lord Himself. They resisted, those who sought to undermine or deny the truth. They suffered in defense of it. With only two or three exceptions all of Paul's epistles were written in defense of the faith. So also with 2 Peter, Jude and John's letters. The Lord Jesus often defended Himself and His teaching (e.g., Matt. 12; John 5, 7,8). The greatest of David's mighty men are signalized as those who "brandished the spear," and would not give up even a plot of ground bearing lentils, the food of the poor; they gave no place nor quarter to the ungodly Philistine hordes that would trample down and devastate God's heritage. In all of this, however, we must ever remember that the arms of our conflict are not carnal but spiritual (2 Cor. 10:3-5); and that we need to know what it is to be in the secret place) as well as in the arena.

There is a third thing needed for our defensive endeavors:it is the spirit of wisdom by which we may rightly discern, between good and evil, ability to take forth the precious from the vile. With this in view, we are cautioned to "take heed how ye hear" and "what ye hear;" to "beware of false prophets" who come "in sheep's clothing, but are ravening wolves;" to "prove the spirits," and to "prove all things:hold fast that which is good." On the other hand we are assured of the unction of the Spirit to enable us for this testing work; and those who receive not what the Holy Spirit has given through the apostles-are not of God. Our responsibility is plainly set forth. Our equipment which God has provided is complete. Our contribution must be obedience and devotion.

"Be strong in the Lord… put on the whole armor of God."

FRAGMENT Walking in separation unto the Lord, and so from evil,, we enjoy His companionship, sitting at His feet, refreshed and strengthened for the journey. As we walk with the:Lord, the world will reject us, and make us feel its reproach. But it is being reproached with Christ. Better far to walk with Him through present trials than in the future to have the fire of His holiness bum up as worth
less the work; of a selfish life. How great the loss in the latter case! In the former, how His smile will recompense the sufferings of this little while.

Our Daily Bible Reading

This occupies us with the closing scenes of David's life; the accession of Solomon to the throne and his glorious reign; the dividing of the kingdom and the history of the kings which followed, giving those of Israel in most detail. The ministry of Elijah and Elisha is largely dwelt upon, to show how in the darkest period God in grace raises up special testimony. When the enemy comes in like a flood He raises up a standard against him.

Solomon's early years of glory and power pass into the shadow of great failure and weakness toward the end. Because of this departure, Jehovah must smite. His history at the close shows how our enemies arise from our own failures and sins. Though even in such circumstances faith may rise up and lay hold of God's grace and mercy, yet the course of God's government can not be turned aside. The dark close of Solomon's life surely turns our thoughts to Him in whom no darkness is found nor shade of turning from the way that is right, the scepter of whose kingdom is righteousness, and His kingdom everlasting.

Jeroboam, though given his place and power by Jehovah, cannot trust Him to preserve it to him, but raises up centers of idolatry for fear that he might lose his people if they go up to Jerusalem to worship. This fatally affects the whole history of the ten tribes. Jeroboam's folly is often repeated. How vain of man to think that he can keep for himself through his own devices that which he never could have possessed at the first unless God chose to bestow it.

As we read day by day these chapters of Israel's kingdom-history, may we seek to get some practical lesson for our daily life. In the changing light and shadow of this history many circumstances are brought into relief which will richly repay time spent in prayerful meditation upon them.

Let us think too that as God has patiently recorded the bright and the dark, the good and the evil, in the lives of these kings and servants of His, so will the record of our lives be unrolled in detail in the day of manifestation. What will the record show?

Servants of God

All the redeemed by Christ Jesus are His servants. And this, not merely in some things of a special nature, but in all things. Life for them is to be a continual and joyful service to God. In the measure in which this is not allowed, it is failure.

This blessed soleness of object in the Christian's activities constitutes a great purifying factor in life. The purpose that thus comes to rule the heart leads to separation from evil, excluding what cannot be rendered as service to God. The flesh will say, This means loss; it may mean present disadvantage-it usually does, but the Christian's recompense is found in fellowship with God through obedience to His word, and as to circumstances, for what can we think He is not sufficient? His promises "are exceeding great and precious."

"Have faith in God"

Consecration of life as to purpose and object.
Holiness in daily walk and relationship.
Rejoicing in spirit whether prospering or suffering.
Inspiration for all activity in life.
Strength for all in life.
Transformation of life according to the perfect will of God.

"CHRIST, all things, and in all." (Col. 3:11, New Tr.)

To the editor of help and food:-

My dear brother:-In reading the "History of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ," a most scholarly work by Dr. Dorner, I came across a passage from one of the earliest Christian writers, which so impressed me that I am enclosing it that the readers of Help and Food may share in the enjoyment of the clear grasp of truth, the adoring gratitude and worship of our blessed Lord which it breathes.

It is from the pen of a cultured, scholarly man, who is conjectured to be Quadratus, author of a defense of Christianity, which he laid before the Roman Emperor Hadrian, about the year 20 of the 2nd century.

Dr. Dorner says of the letter, "It breathes an air of eternity; it is marked by an inner harmony and clearness; and precisely because it was so direct an expression of the eternal element in Christianity, does it bear so few traces of any particular period; indeed it might have found a home in any age of the Church's history."

I also add a few brief quotations from others of the early "Apostolic fathers," who lived close to the beginning of the Church of God, upon the great foundations of our most holy faith. It is good to recognize "the like precious faith," once for all delivered to the saints, for which Jude exhorts us earnestly to contend. In these days when the wretched pride of man would turn away from "those things which are most surely believed among us," it is well to remember those "guides" who in the days of intense mental activity, as well as of persecution, when God's truth was being assailed on all sides, stood loyally for the Person, the Work and the Resurrection of our blessed Lord. Let us keep rank with these "fundamentalists" of old, in the face of all that would exalt reason against revelation, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). S. R.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace-
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

'Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer;
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request,
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sin, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart,
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more-with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

"Lord, why is this?"I trembling cried;
"Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?" "
'Tis in this way" (the Lord replied)
"I answer prayer for grace and faith.

"These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free,
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thine all in Me."

Newton

Calendar:June 16th to July 15th.

DAILY BIBLE READING:…….. June 16th, Deut. 15; June 30th, Deut. 29; July 15th, Josh. 10.

MEMORY WORK …………….. James 2:14-3:12.

GOOD READING:-"Can I be assured of salvation, and how?"A precious treatise on this subject for anxious souls. By W. Trotter. Paper covers, 8 cents.

MONTHLY QUESTION:-What is the difference between conflict with Amalek and conflict with the nations of Canaan?

Our Memory Work

There are only a few names to record for successful work in the recitation of our last memory portion-John 13-17.

We had hoped there would be many more, and trust there will be for successful work in the study of James' epistle.

Our Daily Bible Reading

Take as the key thought for Deut. 15:1-18, liberality -love to one another; for chaps. IS:19-16:-17, God's claim upon His people founded upon redemption:(1) He claims the first place and all authority (vers. 19-23); (2) redemption and separation from evil (vers. 1-8); (3) grace bestowed and grace ministered to one another (vers. 9-12); (4) rejoicing in the glory (vers. 13-17). This chapter gives us redemption, holiness, service, worship. Chaps. 17-19 give thoughts concerning God's government among His people, and the way in which His mind is made known to them. Chaps. 20-26 give instructions concerning various relationships and responsibilities, both toward God and man. Chaps. 27-30 present, in contrast, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, with exhortations and warnings. In the closing chapters we find Moses and Joshua together, the departing leader and his successor, with the charge given to him in view of entering the land. Moses's song, and his prophetic blessing of the tribes fill chaps. 32 and 33. In them we find set before us the ways of God, in grace, mercy, power, and holiness, for the manifestation of Himself and the blessing of His people.

Commencing Joshua, we pass out of the wilderness into the land, where war must be carried on to practically secure and enjoy the inheritance given them according to Jehovah's promise.

The first eleven chapters bring us through various conflicts to rest from war. This does not mean, however, that there is not continued need for vigilance, that the watch-tower can be abandoned, and ease and laxity rule. No; it is a question of keeping in subjugation defeated enemies, of being persevering, diligent, watchful, obedient to and dependent upon God, else the enemy will soon rise up again. This is just what happened because Israel failed in these things, as to which Moses had so earnestly exhorted them before his departure. This sad failure of Israel brought in the conditions which the book of Judges so graphically describes. These things are written for warning and instruction to us.

First, the crossing of Jordan is typical of the cross on the one hand, and on the other of the Christian's identification through it with Christ, as accepted in Him according to the truth of resurrection-place and power. The knowledge of this, ministered by the Spirit, is the entering of our spiritual Canaan; our possession of which is opposed by the powers of spiritual wickedness.

Canaan, then, is not a type of our future entrance into heaven as a result of resurrection at the Lord's coming; but it is a type of our spiritual portion in Christ, of which we are now to take possession. It speaks of entering through faith the spiritual conflict according to Ephesians 6. It is really what engages us until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Then with the enemy cast out we shall hear of war no more. Till then we (like Israel), under the Holy Spirit's leadership (Joshua), and as obedient to the Word (the book of the law), are to be warriors and conquerors. (See Josh. 1.)

Note that Gilgal is the base of operations. There, the reproach of Egypt was rolled away-the world in its Egyptian aspect, and the flesh ever in alliance with it, judged and set aside. Then Jericho falls, another type of the world, but in a different aspect from Egypt. It is a picture of the world in its pride, power, and seeming pleasantness, which our great spiritual foes, "the universal lords- of this darkness," would use to bind us hand and foot, spiritually speaking -destroy separation to God in holiness and obedience through "artifices of the devil," causing our spiritual portion to lie unpossessed, and to be ruled over instead of ruling. Ecclesiastes exposes Jericho fully under spiritual light. The Jericho world-aspect is largely what John's first epistle has in view. Egypt is different, though found after all to be close companion to Jericho. Egypt is rather the world in its moral debasement, slavery in sin, under the sinister influence and control of Satan. Egypt is more the "filthiness" of flesh, while Jericho is that of spirit (2 Cor. 7:1). Read, for example, Romans, chaps. 1, 2, and 6. Yet, though giving different aspects, they are under one control, and are linked together.

A word, here, as to the passage of the Red Sea (so similar in character to that of Jordan), may be helpful. There are differences in these also. Moses and the rod of power are prominent at the former; the ark and the priests, with Joshua and Eleazar, at the latter. The Red Sea emphasizes our death with Christ for deliverance from the dominion of sin. Having died with Him to sin, in faith's reckoning, we are no longer under sin's dominion. Jordan emphasizes our resurrection out of death with Christ, with power to take possession of our heavenly portion while yet here on earth. This last leads into conflict with the enemy, of course, and a realization of association with Christ as our leader is necessary for this. The waters of the Sea and of Jordan remind us of the death of Christ, and our association with Him in both aspects. The 8th chapter of Romans gives one aspect of this Canaan blessing; the Cross is at the beginning, and the throne at the close. Ephesians chaps. 1-3 give us another aspect, but the Cross is there too as well as the throne.

At the Red Sea we look back at the old place out of which we are delivered, and rejoice in what God has done for us (Exod. 15). At Jordan we enter upon our new place, and go in to possess. At the former we look at overthrown and smitten enemies, at the latter we look at the glorious One typified in the ark, by whom the waters of judgment are rolled back, making a dry path for us to pass over, and lay hold of our inheritance-invested in the panoply of God and armed with the sword of the Spirit.
These are only general hints. By studying these types, you will find not only these main lines, but many side lines of truth with a great variety of instruction, with rich blessing and enjoyment for both heart and mind.

Joshua has been referred to as typical of the Spirit of Christ in us, in connection with the new place He has entered in glory; thus Eleazar is associated with Joshua in the leadership of the people.

While interpreting the type in this way, it must not be concluded that the Holy Spirit is not with and in the believer until he experimentally enters into truth represented by the Jordan and Canaan. The Spirit of God is with and in the believer from the very beginning of his path, which, like that of Israel, is linked with and begins under shelter of the blood (Rom. 3:20-25)-just as the pillar of cloud and fire accompanied, guided, and protected the redeemed people. (Rom. 5:1-5).

There are differences in the types, that in observing them we may better see the all-various wisdom of God, and better understand the many sided character of Christian truth. And while order and relation are to be diligently observed in both the typical and doctrinal presentation of the truth, we must not try to establish a time schedule as to when certain things or blessings become ours, for they are all ours the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus. Time, of long or short duration, does indeed come in between that moment and the practical enjoyment or appropriation of our blessings. Having, and the knowledge and enjoyment of what we have, are different. According to the fulness of divine grace and purpose, in having Christ we have all; but our knowledge and enjoyment are conditioned upon our spiritual growth in grace and obedience to the Word, and we are practically sanctified by it through the Spirit's work.

Dishonest, Worldly, Unenlightened

DISHONEST

The dishonesty of Modernism is apparent in its use of double-speech – a combination of literal and figurative language. By this artifice it has for a time deceived the Press. For competent reporters, hearing various clergymen deny their creeds, found that their reports of these matters were repudiated by the speakers in question. It was claimed that a false impression was being given to the Press; that reporters lacked the needed training to grasp and convey ideas peculiar to religious experts. It was admitted, however, that some blame did attach to a few excited preachers who forgot the approved method of dealing with Scripture and Creed, and in consequence were labeled as "crude."

For, be it noted, a trained Modernist does not verbally deny either Scripture or Creed; he "interprets them in terms of modern science." He repeats the statements "heartily," but he discreetly educates his congregation to perceive that what the Bible writers and the Creed writers meant is not what he means when he repeats the unaltered statements. He is quick, however, to scent danger, and occasionally permits some of his hearers to suppose they are listening to the Faith of their fathers; for it is hoped that when the old generation passes away, the new one will be sufficiently imbued with the new theology to permit a more avowed abandonment of the old gospel than would be permitted today.

Indeed, if teachers who were instructed by more upright men are resorting to such tactics, what is to be expected from students trained by such teachers? How much of the God of truth is going to be learned from graduates who are addressed by their Professor in these words:"Young gentlemen, you are coming up for ordination before long. If you state the doctrine as I have just stated it, you will not be ordained, so let me translate it into verbiage that will get by." (!)

Yet there is conflict within the Modernist school-& conflict caused by the only thing it agrees upon. For every wing of that school, from the most conservative to the most radical, agrees in denying "the inerrancy of Scripture." They explain that Scripture is composed of the writings of men who were "inspired" in the same sense as Shakespeare or Longfellow-even if in greater or lesser measure. In result religious instructors are permitted to say what they please about God or Christ; for although their remarks may sound blasphemous to some, the new theory of inspiration furnishes no way of defining blasphemy. That is left to conscience. But if the alarming innovator believes he is "inspired" to speak in open language, the penalty is to be labeled "crude."

Nevertheless, serious -though his naked blasphemy may be, it is not as hurtful to the hearers as the covered treason of the expert Modernist. For expert Modernism retains Bible statements merely as a screen behind which it destroys the substance of the truth set forth in these statements.

WORLDLY

The worldliness of the ancient thing called "Modernism" is pointed out in 1 John, chaps. 3 and 4. In chap. 3 God's presence among His children is said to be demonstrated by the Spirit whom He has given to them. But in chap. 4 marks of this Spirit are given to protect them from the imposture of "false prophets." These marks are:(1) The confession of Jesus Christ as come in flesh. (2) Listening to the apostles as God's mouthpiece (4:2,6).

There are some who insist upon the humanity of Christ and deny His deity; and some who insist upon His deity and becloud His humanity; while others dissect His per son by explaining what He did "as Man" and what He did "as God." But those who honor the Father will not dishonor the Son by indulging in intricate arguments about His person. They remember it is said, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father" (Matt. 11:27); hence to them the facts of Scripture suffice, for therein they discern the Father's way of describing the Son in so far as He is pleased so to do. And surely He has been, pleased to describe Him as only the Father could. He tells us that His Son became man, and even reveals in much detail the manner of His incarnation. Indeed, He has so wrought that the Christian's whole moral being responds to the revelation, and gladly confesses Jesus Christ as so come.

In this connection the apostle John explains that two spirits are at work-that which is "of. God" and honors Christ, and that which is "not of God" but is the spirit "of antichrist." Alas! this latter is being evidenced today, not so much in Jewish, Mohammedan or heathen circles, as in Christendom, and especially among some of its religious instructors, who refuse to confess the Christ of God, and labor to foist upon men many false Christs- the conceptions of their own minds. Indeed, some have no Christ, and speak about what they call "the Christ myth."

However, the apostle continues:"¥e are of God, little children, and have overcome them:because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (ver. 4). In this conflict Christians are assured that victory is theirs, now and hereafter, that undismayed firmness becomes them, for the battle lies between the Spirit of truth who indwells them, and the father of lies who rules in the world.

Of the adversaries in whom and through whom the evil one works, it is said:"they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them" (ver. 5).

1st. They are of the world. Not being born from above, they cannot rise in their minds beyond the system they belong to.

2nd. They speak of the world. Even in discoursing on Scripture they lower its purport into a message of religious worldliness, a message that fits into the world system.

3rd. The world heareth them. While believers in their congregations hang their heads and "wonder why our minister doesn't preach the gospel," kindred spirits approve the worldliness of the speakers and of their message.

UNENLIGHTENED

The spiritual darkness that characterizes the adversaries of Christ is now described by their attitude to the apostles. To the friends of Christ the apostle John had said, "Ye are of God;" of His adversaries it was said, "They are of the world." Now he says:"We are of God:he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (ver. 6).

The apostles are of God. Hence the apostolic message is divine; it comes from God through their lips or writings-and their writings are with us today.

But who discerns the significance of this? Only those who know God. "He that knoweth God heareth us"-he listens to what the apostles say. On the other hand, "He that is not of God heareth not us"-he refuses to listen to what the apostles say. Ignorance of God and alienation from God is the solemn explanation of the rejection of the apostolic ministry.

Modernism refuses to listen to the apostle John. He says:"Herein is love, that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). But Modernism describes Christ's death as merely that of a martyr, promoting the welfare of the race by the service of a costly example. But the fact is, that when men took up "stones" to cast at Jesus He "hid Himself" (John 8:59), and when they sought to throw Him over the "brow of the hill whereon their city was built," He made His escape through the crowd (Lk. 4:30). None the less, "He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Lk. 9:51)-to the Cross, in obedience to the divine command that He be "the propitiation… .for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). For it was written, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree" (Gal. 3:13); and since fallen man lay under the curse, Jesus would only suffer that form of death which the uplifted serpent of brass foretold-that kind of death wherein God's abhorrence of sin and His condemnation of man after the flesh could be manifested. Henceforth the Adamic race is not on probation, for God permitted it to demonstrate its op position to Him when presented in the Son. Therefore He directs the attention of all men to "Jesus only" as the Saviour of sinful man. And when Christ is submitted to, He becomes the "life" of those who receive Him, and thus in some measure is reproduced in this world in a practical way, in the power of the Holy Spirit who is given to indwell all those who believe.

Modernism refuses to listen to the apostle Paul. He declares that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and… .was buried, and…. rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3, 4). Modernism concedes that Christ's "death" was bodily, that His "burial" was bodily, but it denies that His "resurrection" was bodily. By accepting two-thirds of a verse in its self-evident literalness, and unlawfully changing the remaining third into a figurative sense, it interpolates its "interpretation in terms of modern science," in violation of the text.

Dr. Win. Merrill interprets the Resurrection thus:"The resurrection of Christ is the seal of the unquenchable hope of immortality in the human heart." Just what does the Doctor mean? Well, he is censuring those who say there can be "no real resurrection unless bodily." Ah! Then he does not believe the resurrection of Christ was bodily; and therefore does not believe what Christ Himself said to the Jews as to the temple of His body:"Destroy THIS TEMPLE… .and in three days I will raise IT up" (John 2:19).

Modernism refuses to listen to the apostle Jude. Citing Enoch's prophecy, Jude says:"Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince [convict] all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14,15). But the now rejected, yet rightful Heir, at His return will know how to "convict" the ungodly who have thus "spoken against Him." How solemn then is the outlook for those who have intrenched themselves in places of advantage and religious influence to betray Him! Modernism, however, cynically asks:"Where is the promise of his coming?" -as God foretold it would, and coolly affirms that as Jude's description of Christ's appearing is "catastrophic" and contrary to Mr. Darwin's hypothesis of evolution, it must be rejected (!)

Modernism refuses to listen to the apostle Peter. He affirms that, "No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. 1:20, 21). Thus he shows that no one part of Scripture's prophetic scheme is of self-interpretation, but must be considered in its relation to the entire record; for although various men wrote different parts, they did so under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, thereby contributing their quotas to a communication from one Mind.

But Modernism contends that Scripture prophecy is of "private interpretation" and did come "by the will of man," that free moral agents left the record of their ideas, which in due course were compiled in the collection called Scripture; that this collection is fragmentary, often contradictory, and sometimes immoral; that it reveals the researches, exercises and achievements of many minds and many wills:nevertheless that it is profitable when interpreted as Modernism insists it shall be.

To sum up:

1. Modernism is not frank; it is making an unlawful use of language.

2. It is worldly; it refuses to confess the Christ of God; it confesses false Christs of its own conception, and even informs us about "the Christ myth."

3. It has no light from God, for it refuses to listen to the apostles. R. J. Reid

I would dwell a little here on the two fundamental aspects of the Cross, as the basis of our worship, and of our discipleship. The one is the basis of our peace with God and worship; the other expresses our position toward the world.

If as a convicted sinner I look at the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, I behold in it the everlasting foundation of my peace. I see sin judged and put away by it for all them that believe.

I see God to be, in very deed, "for me," and that, moreover, in the very condition in which my convicted conscience tells me I am. The Cross unfolds God as the sinner's Friend-it reveals Him in that most wondrous character, as the Righteous Justifier of the ungodly sinner. Creation never could do this:providence never could do this. Therein I see God's power, His majesty, and His wisdom. But what if all these divine attributes should be ranged against me? Looked at in themselves, abstractedly, they would be so, for I am a sinner; and power, majesty, and wisdom, could not put away my sin, nor justify God in receiving me.

The introduction of the Cross, however, changes the aspect of things entirely. There I find God dealing with sin in such a manner as to glorify Himself infinitely. There I see the magnificent display and perfect harmony of all the divine attributes. I see love, and such love as captivates and assures my heart, and weans it, in proportion as I realize it, from every other object. I see wisdom, and such wisdom as baffles devils and astonishes angels. I see power, and such power as bears down all opposition. I see holiness, and such holiness as repulses sin to the very furthest point of the moral universe, and gives the most intense expression of God's abhorrence thereof that could possibly be given. I see grace, and such grace as sets the sinner in the very presence of God-yea, puts him into His bosom. Where could I see all these things but in the Cross? Nowhere else! The Blessed One against whom we had sinned making atonement for our sins by the sacrifice of Himself! Ah, reader, this is the glory of the gospel, the glory of Christianity. Look and search through all the religions of the world-the religions of man-and you will look in vain for any such thought, or anything approaching to it!

Look where you please, and you cannot find aught that so blessedly combines those two great realities, namely, "glory to God in the highest," and "on earth peace."

"O God, the thought was Thine!
Thine only it could be-
Fruit of the wisdom, love divine,
Peculiar unto Thee.
For, sure, no other mind,
For thoughts so bold, so free,
Greatness or strength, could ever find,
Thine only it could be!"-[Ed.

How precious, therefore, is the Cross, in this its first phase, as the basis of the sinner's peace, the basis of his worship, and the basis of his eternal relationship with the God thus so blessedly and gloriously revealed! How precious to God, as furnishing Him with a righteous ground on which to go in the full display of all His matchless perfections, and in His most gracious dealings with the sinner! So precious is it to God, that, as a recent writer has well remarked, "All that He has said-all that He has done, from the very beginning, indicates that it was ever uppermost in His heart. And no wonder! His dear and well-beloved Son was to hang there, between heaven and earth, the object of all the shame and suffering that men and devils could heap upon Him, because He loved to do His Father's will, and redeem the children of His grace. It will be the grand center of attraction, as the fullest expression of His love, throughout eternity."

But now, as the basis of our practical discipleship and testimony, the Cross demands our most profound consideration. In this aspect of it, I need hardly say, it is as perfect as in the former. The same Cross which connects me with God, has separated me from the world. A dead man is done with the world; and hence, the believer, having died in Christ, is done with the world; and, having risen with Christ, is connected with God in the power of a new life-a new nature. Being thus inseparably linked with Christ, he, of necessity, participates in His acceptance with God, and in His rejection by the world. The two things go together. The former makes him a worshiper and a citizen in heaven; the latter makes him a witness and a stranger on earth. That brings him inside the veil:this puts him outside the camp. The one is as perfect as the other. If the Cross has come between me and my sins, it has just as really come between me and the world. In the former case, it puts me into the place of peace with God; in the latter, it puts me into the place of separation from the world, 1:e., from a moral point of view; though, in another sense, it makes me the patient, humble witness of that precious, unfathomable, eternal grace which is set forth in the Cross.

Now the believer should clearly understand, and rightly distinguish between, both the above aspects of the Cross of Christ. He should not profess to enjoy the one, while refusing to enter into the other. If his ear is open to hear Christ's voice within the vail, it should be open also to hear His voice outside the camp-if he enters into the atonement which the Cross has accomplished, he should also realize the rejection which it necessarily involves. The former flows out of the part which God had in the Cross; the latter, out of the part which man had therein. It is our happy privilege, not only to be done with our sins, but to be done with the world also. All this is involved in the doctrine of the Cross. Well, therefore, might the apostle say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Paul looked upon the world as a thing which has been nailed to the cross; and the world, in having crucified Christ, had crucified all who belonged to Him. Hence there is a double crucifixion, as regards the believer and the world; and were this fully entered into, it would prove the utter impossibility of ever amalgamating the two. Beloved reader, let us deeply, honestly, and prayerfully ponder these things; and may the Holy Spirit give us the ability to enter into the full practical power of both these aspects of the cross of Christ. As to obedience to God's call, the history of Abraham furnishes us with lessons of greatest value. "The God of glory" had appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, his native country, and said to him, "Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred.. .and I will bless thee;" but burdened with such as God had not included in his call to Abraham, caused his stop in Haran. We are not told how long Abraham tarried at Haran; yet God graciously waited on His servant until, freed from nature's clog, he could fully obey His command. There was, however, no accommodation of that command to the circumstances of nature. This would never do. God loves His servants too well to deprive them of the full blessedness of entire obedience. There was no fresh revelation to Abraham's soul during the time of his sojourn in Haran. It is well to note this. We must act up to the light already communicated, and then God will give us more. "To him that hath shall more be given"-this is God's principle. Still, we must remember that God will never drag us along the path of true-hearted discipleship. This would greatly lack the moral excellency which characterizes all the ways of God. He does not drag, but draw, us along the path which leads to ineffable blessedness in Himself; and if we do not see that it is for our real advantage to break through all the barriers of nature, in order to respond to God's call, we forsake our own mercies. But, alas! our hearts little enter into this. We begin to calculate about the sacrifices, the hindrances, and the difficulties, instead of bounding along the path, in eagerness of soul, as knowing and loving the One whose call has sounded in our ears. C. H. M.

The apostle enjoins us to "walk in the Spirit." If we should be asked, What does he mean? what would we answer? What does it mean to each of us, in our various walks in life, to "walk in the Spirit?"

"We wait for Thee, O Son of God,
And long for Thine appearing;
'A little while,' Thou'lt come, O Lord,
Thy waiting people cheering.
Thus hast Thou said:we lift the head
In joyful expectation,
For Thou wilt bring salvation."

Our Lord has given to His people this hope as a banner amidst the fast growing apostasy; and with this promise He links a word of admonition:"Behold, I come quickly:hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Rev. 3:11). For the enemy has become exceeding bold, and makes battle at the gates of the fortress.

Professed Christian clergymen, in all Protestant denominations hitherto considered orthodox, are attacking and seeking to destroy what they had solemnly pledged themselves to preach and defend. Skeptics have for long attacked Christianity from without, as open adversaries, but the Church having schooled and "ordained" unconverted men as "ministers of the gospel" finds that a religious garb and a vow to promulgate the teachings of the creeds has not changed the heart of the natural man in his enmity to the Christ of God. So, like the heathen who make gods of their own imaginings, skeptics, now within the churches, discarding the Word of God, preach a Christ and a religion according to their own mind-no virgin birth, no atonement for the sinner's sins, no true resurrection, no session at the right hand of God, no return in glory for His kingdom, and no eternal judgment by the Judge of all! Such is Modernism, battling to remain within and to be recognized in "Christian" churches!

Thank God, there is a protest rising against this abomination-an active protest which, let us hope shall spread from East to West, with courage to act according to God's command, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be to Me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17,18).

The first week of last December was devoted to daily meetings in the large Calvary Baptist church, New York, for addresses on this momentous subject by those who hold to the Word of God, called "Fundamentalists." The following report is copied from the N.Y. Tribune of Dec. 4:

Once again last night nearly 1,000 Baptist Fundamentalists filled the pews of Calvary Church to rally their forces for the attack on Modernism and to show that their outburst Sunday afternoon was no mere breeze, but rather the first blast of a mighty storm. They came in sterner mood, these men' and women, preparing to do battle for the faith of their childhood. And it was well that they should be so disposed if they were to accept the message of the preacher, the Rev. Dr. T. T. Shields, president of the Baptist Bible Union of North America:

"This is war," he said solemnly."You had better stay home from the battle unless you are willing to be spat upon and be called 'unlearned' and 'unthinking'-unless you are willing to leave father and mother and wife and children. This is a war which may mean the breaking up of families, the severing of friendships of half a life time. Christ demanded that we put Him before all else, and we cannot walk with Christ when we have dealings with these antichrists who would lead the people from the simple paths of revealed religion.

"As surely as I know that the Bible was inspired of God, I know that Modernism is inspired by Satan. Antichrist is in the world, and we cannot fraternize with his cohorts. We cannot take their hand, we cannot eat their bread. The Russian empire fell when its soldiers began fraternizing with the Germans, and the Kingdom of God will be imperilled if we continue friendship with His enemies. This warfare may break our hearts, but we shall never win until we put God before all else that we hold dear."

A hushed "amen" sounded from almost every corner of the church-almost the only time during the solemn hour through which Dr. Shields spoke.

"We are not denying the Modernists freedom of conscience," the preacher went on, "we simply deny them the right to pollute the house that gives them shelter. We do not approve any form of coercion in religious matters. We believe that the Unitarians who have found shelter in Baptist institutions should have full liberty to leave them. But we also believe that Modernists who receive salaries from Baptist churches and societies while propagating their destructive views are not only unworthy of Christian fellowship, but are also unworthy to associate with ordinary honest men.

"If we surrender our belief in the divine authority of the Bible we surrender everything. No true Baptist has a right to think a thought contrary to what Christ taught. How can a man believe in Christ as the Son of God without believing He knew more than Harry Emerson Fosdick, or W. H. P. Faunce, or Shailer Mathews?"

Let all who love our Lord and His truth pray that such may be sustained in their purpose of fidelity to Christ and God's Word; for, besides the host of open Modernists, there is not lacking those of feeble knees, who, for peace's sake, seem inclined to bow the knee to Baal. This is shown by an effort made in the Episcopal church to hush a clamor that has arisen between outspoken Modernists and Fundamentalists on these same lines.

The Presbyterian body too is expecting a renewed and more serious conflict than that of last summer in their General Assembly when it convenes a few months hence as the following excerpt from the Tribune of Dec. 15 shows:

The division between the Modernists and the Fundamentalists, which is active in nearly all the Protestant churches, received fresh impetus from the report that a committee of 150 liberal Presbyterian clergymen is preparing to issue a statement of their Modernist position early next year.

Who knows what God is, unless God Himself shows it? Heathenism answers with its lies. No man hath seen God or known Him; He Himself must show Himself. He has, however, showed Himself through faith, to which alone it is granted to see God. God is a friend to man, and long-suffering toward him… A great unutterable thought hath He thought, which He hath communicated to His Son alone. So long as He kept it secret, and retained His counsel, He seemed to have no care for us. But when He uncovered that already prepared from the beginning, and revealed it to us by His beloved Son, He sent to us what no one could beforehand have expected.

In the preceding times, men were convicted by their own works of being unworthy of eternal life, incapable of their own strength of entering into the kingdom of God. Thus God delayed in order that we might be made conscious of our own guilt and impotency. But as that was filled up, and it was rendered manifest that death duly awaited us, the One Love continued true. It hated not; it departed not; it remembered not evil; but was long-suffering, and bore, nay itself took on our sins. It gave His only Son as a ransom for us; the Holy for the unholy, the Sinless for the wicked, the Pure for the vile, the Immortal for the mortal.

For what else could cover our sins than the righteousness of Him? Whereby could the unholy and ungodly be justified but by the Son of God? Oh! sweet substitution! Oh, what an unsearchable device, what unexpected blessing! The unrighteousness of the many to be hid by the righteousness of the One; the righteousness of the One to justify many sinners! In Him has God showed to us a Saviour who is able to save what it was not possible to save [without Him]. In Him has God first loved us; how canst thou sufficiently love Him in return? But if thou lovest Him, thou wilt be an imitation of His goodness. . . After the previous time had showed to us the impossibility of our reaching life through our own nature, He sent His only-begotten Son, the Logos, that He might shine upon the world; and, speaking boldly and clearly, might reveal all things-despised by the people, preached by the Apostles, believed on by the Gentiles. He who was from the beginning, is He who appeared anew. He, who was forever, is now reverenced as the Son, by whom the Church is enriched, and grace displays itself and increases in the saints, giving understanding, and opening mysteries . . . What He reveals on earth is God Himself, the Truth; and this He does not by word alone, but above all by His death. Thus also there is revealed by deed the highest concept of God, the glory of God-Love. On him who despises this, falls the weight of judgment at the second Parousia (coming) of Christ.

-the epistle to Diognetus, about 120 a. D.

"An archive to me is Christ; my incorrupt Bibliotheca is Christ's cross, death, and resurrection."

"He was conceived in the Virgin Mary according to the counsel of God, of the seed of David, and of the Holy Ghost." "He is the Lord, who is truly of the lineage of David according to the flesh, but the Son of God according to the will and power of God; born really of a virgin really crucified under Pontius Pilate in the flesh.. .He hath lifted up a standard for all times, by His death and resurrection."

"Stop your ears when any man says aught against Christ, who was truly born, truly crucified and dead, truly raised from the dead by the Father."

-Ignatius-died A. D. 117.

"Whosoever confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is an antichrist; and whosoever acknowledges not the martyrdom of the cross is of the devil; and whosoever … says there is neither resurrection nor judgment, is the firstborn of Satan."-Polycarp-about same time.

THE READER SHOULD ALWAYS TURN TO THE BIBLE AND READ THE PASSAGES REFERRED TO.

QUES. 6.-Will you please explain to us 2 Cor. 5:21, also Gal. 3:13? How could the Son of God be "made sin for us?"

ANS.-There is but one word for "sin" and "sin-offering" in Hebrew or in Greek. Therefore the verse may be equally well translated, "He hath made Him (Jesus), who knew no sin, to be sin (or sin-offering) for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

The thought, when understood, bows our soul in worship. Look at Leviticus, chap. 4. When sin was charged to an Israelite-whether a priest (ver. 3) or the congregation (ver. 13), or a ruler (ver. 22), or any of the common people, the offender was to bring a blameless offering before Jehovah, put his hand upon the head of the victim (his guilt thus typically transferred to the victim who is made "sin" or a "sin-offering") and it was slain in his stead-the victim's life, or blood, being put upon the horns of the altar and accepted by Jehovah. God's righteousness thus is fully maintained while He absolves us from all guilt. Glory be to God!

QUES. 7.-Questions were raised as to some parts of the tract, intended for professing Christians.

ANS.-I have received the booklet "HE that hath an ear, LET HIM hear," and read it over with care. The passages you have marked, if taken apart from what precedes and follows, may present some difficulty. But the whole tenor of the booklet is to exercise as to one's conduct, and to test the profession by the life of the one professing to be saved. Read 1 Cor. 1-12; Phil. 3:18; Col. 1:23; Heb.4:9-11, etc., and you will see the booklet's teaching is in the same line as these scriptures. These passages of Scripture, and the booklet referred to, do not put in question the final perseverance of the saints, but they do test, and are meant to test, the profession by the life or conduct of those who profess to be saved.

It is of God's mercy that such warnings and tests as the above-mentioned scriptures are given, that none should deceive themselves or others in thinking themselves secure while walking in the broad road of the world. In the very epistle which conclusively shows that the sinner's acceptance before God is on the principle of faith in Christ, apart from works, we read, "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die (that is, on the road to death):but if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Rom. 8:12,13). Of necessity God's children must be holy, for He is holy. And it is fruit that the Father seeks for in those that profess to be His (John 15:1-8); and fruit is not a little outward show, but the life, the ways and mind of Christ produced in us, through the Word fed upon, with faith and prayer.

Ministry on these lines is much more needed amongst us now than fifty years ago. Then, coming among "Brethren" was with reproach from the world. But increase in numbers, and more conformity to the world, alas! make these warnings increasingly needful. Taking shelter in the blood-sprinkled house while in Egypt, it is easy to say, "0 yes, I am saved" (and we hope it is real), but the profession needs to be tested; and if there is a continuing in Egypt-no true separation from the world, from its pleasures, associations, ways and pursuits-it raises questions whether Christ is in the heart, or not. It becomes us, therefore, and it is true love, to warn such, as Scripture does. The issues are of such tremendous import, and the heavenward pathway is strewn with so many and various temptations-from the flesh within, and the world and the devil without-that the true Christian life is a warfare.

It is in such connections that, writing to the Philippians (2:12), the apostle says to them, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only" (he had faithfully watched over and exhorted them when present with them), "but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"- salvation from the pitfalls and snares on their heavenward way-for God Himself was working in them to this end. In like manner Peter (4:18), writing to his brethren concerning God's holy ways and discipline upon His people in view of their deliverance from the evil surrounding them, and of which they are in constant danger, says, "If the righteous be difficultly saved, where shall the ungodly (who has no realization of God's overwhelming judgment) and the sinner (who takes pleasure in sin) appear?"-when God makes inquisition and brings "every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccles. 12:14).

A Series of Meditations on Prayer

THIRD PAPER

HINDRANCES TO PRAYER

It is a lamentable fact that, although all Christians pray (for prayer is indeed the believer's "vital breath"), yet there are many who seldom record in actual experience a definite answer to the cry of their hearts. And because of this there is a tendency, as previously mentioned, to think of prayer as of value only in its reflex action upon the souls of those who thus wait on God, rather than because of any possible answer.

It is important to bear in mind that there may be, and often are, certain hindrances on our part that cause God to withhold the gift we ask. To Israel He said, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that He will not hear" (Isa. 59:1, 2). And the Psalmist plainly declares, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Ps. 66:18). Are not solemn words like these often forgotten? Do we not come carelessly into the Lord's presence beseeching Him to undertake for us, only to get no answer from heaven because of our careless ways or unjudged sin?

Let me give a typical incident out of many that have come to my notice. A young lady who had, when converted, turned from the world and its follies, was afterwards persuaded by carnal friends to break down that vail of separation which at first had been reared between her and the frivolous society out of which grace had called her. To the grief of those who watched for her soul, she absented herself from the appointed gatherings of the Lord's people, and instead was found in the world's halls of refined pleasures, which nevertheless are enmity against God. To any who pleaded with her as to these things she had but one answer:She detested narrowness, and could see no harm in the things that godly saints shrank from as dishonoring to Christ.

Some months went by, and her loved father was stricken with a severe illness necessitating a serious operation from which he never rallied. His death was to her a great shock, but instead of turning her back to God it seemed rather to harden her against Him. Meeting her some months afterwards I sought to help if possible, but when I inquired as to her spiritual state she replied, "I am filled with doubt and uncertainty. Ever since my father died it has been a fight to keep from going into the darkness of infidelity. I cannot pray. I cannot read my Bible. I am miserable. When my father was taken to the hospital I was in great distress, but turning to my Bible my eye fell on the words, 'Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' It seemed like a direct message to me. I went into my room, and, claiming that promise, I prayed earnestly that my father might recover and be restored to us. I did not have a doubt that God would answer me. I trusted His word absolutely, and you know the result! When word came of his death it seemed as though the light went out of my life. My confidence in prayer was shattered. My faith even in the Bible received a fearful blow. I have never been able to regain the confidence I once had, for it seems to me that God did not keep His word to me! I know that this is an awful confession to make, but that is how I feel."

As I looked into the tear-stained, anguished face, my heart ached for her, and I prayed for just the right word to help. "Tell me," I inquired, "what do you call a person who tries to cash a check that was made out to some one else?"

"Oh," she answered, "that would be forgery. If one tried to pass a check not in his name he would be a forger."

"Well, I fear that is your case," I replied. "You tried to cash a check on the Bank of Heaven that was never intended for you. Look at John 15:7. Read the whole check. See to whom it is made out. "If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Were you abiding in Christ as you floated over the ballroom floor? Were His words abiding in you as you sat in the theater? Was it abiding in Him that kept you from the prayer meeting and took you to the opera instead? What right had you to try to cash that particular check?"

Startled, she saw the point and burst into almost hysterical weeping. "Oh," she cried, "I see what you mean! You would tell me that my worldliness murdered my father. It is I who killed him by my ungodly ways! If I had only been living for God I could have prayed so that he would have been healed. I can never forgive myself!"

"Now you are going to the other extreme," I replied. "If you had been abiding in Christ you would not have demanded of God what was clearly not His will. He saw that your dear father's work was done. It was time for him to go home. You did not take this into account because you were out of touch with the Lord. The Word says, If we ask anything according to his will, He heareth us' (1 Jno. 5:14). The subject soul will say with his Lord, 'Not my will, but thine be done.' You overlooked this, and so you have had a bitter lesson to learn."

I am glad to say that ere I left we knelt together and she contritely returned to the Lord, and was, I have every reason to believe, restored in soul.

But are there not many like her, who forget there are conditions that must be met if prayer is to be definitely answered. There are hindrances that must be recognized and dealt with, if we would come to God in the Spirit's liberty, and in the assurance of faith.

We have already seen that iniquity in the heart or life precludes the possibility of the prayer of faith. But I desire to notice some very definite New Testament Scriptures indicating the exact nature of some of these hindrances.

And, first, let me instance a condemning heart. In Jno. 3:20-22 we are told, "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence before God; and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." The; entire passage, from verse 14 to the end of the chapter, is most illuminating, and shows us that he who would pray in confidence when his own need arises must ever walk in love and consideration for others, and minister to their need as he has opportunity. Otherwise how can he go to God with an uncondemning heart when in distress himself? It is written, "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself but shall not be heard" (Prov.21:13). If, therefore, I desire mercies of the Lord for myself, let me see to it that I show mercy to others; otherwise my own heart will condemn me, and I cannot pray in the Holy Spirit. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Harshness of spirit, indifference to the need of others-whether spiritual or temporal-will effectually hinder my prayer getting through to the ear of God. The principle is of wide application. Whatever condemns me in my own conscience hinders prayer. Till it is judged pleading and wrestling are in vain. Let me first search and try my ways and see if I am allowing anything in my life that is grieving the Spirit. If so, I cannot pray as I should, for God has not promised to hear the cry of one whose own heart condemns him. But if all is judged, the line is clear, and I can pray with assurance. Then I shall know beyond a doubt that I have to do with the living God who heareth prayer. H.A.I.

(To be continued.)

Hark! 'tis the watchman's cry,
"Wake, brethren, wake!"
Jesus Himself is nigh,
Wake, brethren, wake!
Sleep is for sons of night,
Ye are children of the light,
Yours is the glory bright,
Wake, brethren, wake!

Call to, each wakening band,
"Watch, brethren, watch!"
Clear is our Lord's command,
"Watch, brethren, watch!"
Be ye as men that wait,
Ready at their Master's gate,
E'en though He tarry late,
Watch, brethren, watch!

Heed we the Master's call,
"Work, brethren, work!"
There's room enough for all,
Work, brethren, work!
This vineyard of the Lord
Constant labor doth afford;
Yours is a sure reward,
Work, brethren, work!

Hear ye the Shepherd's voice,
"Pray, brethren, pray!"
Would ye His heart rejoice?
Pray, brethren, pray!
Sin calls for ceaseless care,
Weakness needs the Strong One near,
Long as ye tarry here,
Pray, brethren, pray!

10:10:

As presented to us in Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

These fifteen verses form a little pentateuch of three verses each:the Pentateuch of Moses being the basis of divisions of all Scripture. The 27 books of the New Testament itself fall into five divisions, which correspond not only in number with the five books of Moses, but in a more noteworthy manner correspond in lines of thought.

For example, if Genesis gives the origin and beginning of creation in its present state, the Gospels give us that which the apostle John recalls us to as another "beginning"-a brighter and better one, a new creation, in Him who is second Man and last Adam.

If Exodus tells the story of redemption from Egyptian bondage, the book of Acts shows us the Church brought out from Jewish "bondage, under the elements of the world."

If Leviticus unfolds to priests in the sanctuary the power and value of the various sacrifices with which they drew near to God, the epistles of Paul establish us before God in all the value of that one Sacrifice which, taking the place of all of these, brings us, as they could not, really to Him.

If Numbers gives us the order and provision for the camp in the wilderness, and how God brings through, to the glory of His name, a people continually failing under every testing, the other epistles furnish us for that path through the wilderness of this world, of which Israel's journey is but the-figure.

And, lastly, if Deuteronomy presents those governmental ways of God, according to which a blessing or a curse follows the way which leads to either, the book of Revelation, as a perfect Deuteronomy, traces those ways by which the Church or the world reaches the final consummation-the end nowhere else in Scripture so fully detailed.

This by the way; I do not dwell upon it now:though I may say that the whole canon of Scripture is, as I believe, a Pentateuch of Pentateuchs, four of which belong to the Old Testament:-the first consisting of the books of Moses; the second, of the rest of the historical books; the third, of the five psalm-like books, the utterances, under divine inspiration, of the human heart in its exercises, its sorrows, and its joys; the fourth, of the prophetic books, in which God's voice as it were answers man's voice.

The passage begins with the 13th verse of the 52nd chapter, and goes down to the end of the 53rd chapter, embracing fifteen verses, and these divide into five sections of three verses each, stamping the whole of it thus with the significant numbers 3 and 5. Our readers are probably aware that Scripture numbers have significance- that a uniform significance prevails throughout it. Three is the divine number, the number of the divine fulness- of the Trinity. It is the number which speaks of divine manifestation also; for only as Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) is God fully manifest. Five, on the other hand, is the number significant of weakness, and on that very account the human number-taken it may be from the number of those senses by which man is in constant relation with the scene in which he is placed. These two numbers then characterize this prophecy as the story of Him in whom, bodily, all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt, and who in this way was fitted to be what he alone was -"God manifest in the flesh."

Again, it is not merely because of its five divisions that I call this a Pentateuch, but because each of these divisions takes up in some way the theme of one of the books of Moses, and in the same order. The full proof of this we shall have as we take them up in detail; though it may be glanced at here, since this is no mere curious resemblance, but one which gives us the main features of the picture before us; and this is the use of all such matters-to be helps to the spiritual apprehension of what might otherwise escape us. I trust we shall find this true in a very marked way here.

Take the first three verses, and you will easily discern the voice of One who, as in creation at first, is the Molder and Fashioner of all things, who can thus speak confidently from the beginning of what the end shall be. It is God who speaks here of His Servant; He decrees the exaltation of the One who humbled Himself to that unequaled suffering by which "His face is so marred more than any man's, and His form more than the sons of men." It is God who presides, as we may say, at the blessed work of redemption as at that of creation; though the actual Redeemer, as the actual Creator, is the Word now made flesh.

In the second section (53:1-3) the speaker changes. It is now the testimony to Him who is the "power" or "arm of Jehovah," and notice that as "the Almighty" is the characteristic Divine title in Genesis, so it is Jehovah in Exodus, when God takes up and redeems His people according to the significance of that name. "Jehovah's arm" is thus the power of God in redemption, and this is the prophet's special testimony, rejected by besotted man. In the third section (vers. 4-6) we come, as in the opening of Leviticus, to the sacrificial character of those sufferings so misreckoned by unbelief. It scarcely needs to insist on the correspondence here.

The fourth section (vers. 7-9) exhibits Him under the pressure of evil, tested by all He passed through as none other ever was:the world to Him a. wilderness beyond that of which the book of Numbers gives us the history. Israel's testing brought out their innate evil; with Him it brought out nought but His own perfection.

Finally, the last verses (10-12) give us in perfect Deuteronomic sequence, the way and the end:the end as blessed as the way was full of unexampled sorrow:"When Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.. .the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand:He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." Let us now look at these sections more in detail.

"Behold, my servant shall act wisely:He is exalted, and raised up, and become very high" (Isa. 52:13).

The word "servant" is a very characteristic word in this latter part of Isaiah. First it is Israel that is God's servant (chap. 41:8) :"But thou, Israel, art my servant .. .whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away." But while in God's purpose and grace this thought still abides, it is one which Israel as a nation has not yet fulfilled; and in chapter 40 we find another in this place-called even by the name of Israel:One who does not fail, and whose work is owned of God. His work too is there defined:"It is a light 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 ends of the earth."
Thus the Person before us in this 52nd chapter is not introduced here abruptly for the first time. He is the Servant-Saviour, the Servant whose work is salvation, but who in it is above all else Jehovah's Servant-the only one among men who filled perfectly that blessed place. And with this was connected the wisdom He displayed. His was the perfectly clear eye, undimmed by any veil of self-interest-the single eye which made the whole body full of light. Wisdom is not an attribute of mere intellect. The eyes are in the heart, as Eph. 1:18 really says.

This characterizes His path then:it is the path of true service-thus of clear-sighted wisdom; a path which ends in exaltation, for "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." He then "is exalted and raised up, and become very high." It is what Phil., chap. 2, speaks of, admonishing us to have "the mind that was in Christ Jesus." What an effectual rebuke to pride and self-seeking this exaltation of the lowliest! And what an incentive for us to the path of obedience which we had forsaken is this free choice of it by Him who owed none! And what a place of glory it is that awaits us, where the highest are they who realize best the blessedness of service, and highest of all is He who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many!

"As many were astonished at Thee; his visage was so marred more than any man's, and his form more than the sons of men" (ver. 13).

The unequaled sorrow is revealed here in its effects, in the outward signs which were before the eyes of beholders. Its depths were known to God alone, indicated to faith indeed in one pregnant word, which unbelief would misconstrue. Even in the Gospels, which give us the history of those sufferings, the veil of reserve is maintained; and that cry', "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" is recorded without comment. Faith, taking this up reverently, is led further by this cry in the opening of the 22nd psalm, and finds there a prophecy of the Spirit of God in which all that may be told is told:while unbelief finds David only, or a rhapsody. But it is the Christ (dumb before His enemies) revealing Himself in the circle of His friends. We acquiesce fully in this reserve, which nevertheless invites to intimacy those who desire intimacy. In this same way is (more or less) all Scripture written, not for formalists to make out a creed, but "that the man of Gad may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

But what sorrow is this that could thus mar the human form of the Man of Sorrows! As He speaks of the astonishment of the beholders, the divine Speaker's heart turns towards Him in this place of humiliation, and breaks the sentence with an abrupt address to Him-"As many were astonished at Thee;" then He returns to announce to men the result of this unparalleled suffering:-

"So shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at Him:for that which had not been told them they shall see; and that which they had not heard, shall they consider" (ver. 14).

Strange news, these gospel-news! and with strange power! What all the tomes of philosophers have never done has been accomplished for low and high, for Greek and Barbarian, by the power of the Cross alone:the heart is sprinkled from an evil conscience, the body washed with pure water. That which was lacking in all human wisdom, in Christ, God's wisdom, is found "righteousness and sanctification and redemption." Man's need is met, his soul satisfied-and satisfied with God, in unspeakable love and grace revealed to him in Christ; his heart is cleansed and his life changed. All other greatness bows its head in presence of the Cross, and every tongue shall yet confess that the Crucified, Jesus Christ, is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
Thus, in this introductory section, God as sovereign in counsel declares His purpose concerning His elect, that Jehovah's "good pleasure" was to prosper in the hands to which He could commit it absolutely, assured of the result. "I have laid help upon One that is mighty," He says-I know Him; I can answer for Him. Just so, in the presence of the multitudes at John's baptism, in which He had just pledged Himself to this very work, heaven is opened, and the Father's voice proclaims His Son the object of His good pleasure; and the descending Spirit hastens to give Him up, after forty days of fasting in a wilderness, to let the devil sift Him as he may. Yes, God can rest all, whether for man's salvation or His own glory, with perfect satisfaction and delight upon Him.

But where is this mighty One? And how is this might displayed? John looked in heaven for the "Lion of the tribe of Judah," but with wonder saw a "Lamb as it had been slain." In the conflict of good with evil, not force avails, but good; and the Cross was such a battle-ground, when He, "crucified through weakness," becomes the power of God. At the cross power was upon the side of evil:it was as the Lord told the Jews "their hour and the power of darkness." On His part there was none:he who used the sword was only rebuked for it; of the legions of angels He might have had, none stirred on His behalf. The forces of evil were loosed:He is bound, and unresisting. Then as He hangs on the accursed tree, the night which falls over all proclaims that God has withdrawn. He, is left alone, unsuccoured, in the awful distress of that abandonment, to meet the full flood of evil at its height!

And if the darkness passed, and He were heard "from the horns of the unicorns," crying "with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him out of death," it was, as the apostle says, " or his piety." He was heard, winning back life and light-eternal blessedness-out of the jaws of death and hades. It was the victory of goodness, greater immeasurably than all power arrayed against it.

This, then, is the divine plan, the counsel of God, which the following sections open out in detail. In the next the speaker changes; and henceforth it is the prophet that speaks, connecting himself with the "election of grace" in Israel, the believing remnant of a future day. F. W. G.

(To be continued.)

Deity of Christ is the very foundation of the Christian faith; no truth is more vital, none more preciously treasured by the devout heart, and none is more insidiously and persistently assailed. The attestation of the Voice from heaven at the commencement of our Lord's public ministry, "This is my beloved Son," was speedily challenged by Satan's subtle "If"-"If Thou be the Son of God." Alas, the arch enemy has had many followers throughout this dispensation, but it remained for these "last days " to witness a widely-diffused denial of this fundamental truth of Christianity by professed
Christians!

Solemn indeed is this defection from the faith, which is being taught and tolerated amongst many of the bodies hitherto regarded as evangelical. The lowly, dependent place to which our Saviour stooped, when in infinite compassion as Son of Man he assumed the burden of a fallen creation in order to redeem it, is made to serve in denial of His supreme glory as God the Son; and the very perfections of His human personality in His pathway of obedient service, are adduced as disproof of His Deity! Whilst the sublime life of Christ is eulogized, His vicarious death is ignored or flatly denied. The Christian "religion" is accorded an honored and a leading place in the world, while "the Church which is His body," is practically unknown and unrecognized. Our Lord's preeminence as a moral and ethical teacher is universally admitted, while His divine mission to redeem to God by His blood is coldly discredited. As was the Son of Man of old, so the Son of God to-day is betrayed with a kiss.

But the Scriptures cannot be broken, however much men may wrest them to their own destruction, and Old and New Testaments unite in bearing manifold record that the One who came of the Jews according to flesh, "is over all God blessed for ever. Amen." On this divine foundation we stand with divine assurance; for "Ye are complete in Him," declares Scripture, "in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9).

No intelligent being can reasonably doubt that God had a supreme purpose in creation, which still awaits consummation. Mere human thoughts and theories as to man's destiny are vain and contradictory. Scripture alone can in errantly speak on this momentous question; and a divine revelation as to it is given us in Eph. 1:9,10:"Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself:that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth." This purpose of God is not contingent on the fall, nor summed up, as some think, in the recovery by the Second Man of what the first man lost. The first man could not claim, as did our Lord in resurrection, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." By no mere man could such omnipotent power be wielded, and assuredly no mere man, nor angel, could "redeem and reconcile sinful man to the most holy God.

Every counsel and purpose of God centers in the Son; in Him all the promises of God are yea, and in Him. Amen. The reconciling of all things in heaven and in earth unto Himself, the gathering all under His headship in a blessed and abiding unity, awaits final accomplishment by that One who "is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature"-"God manifested in flesh."

Isaiah 9:6 sheds a glorious ray of prophetic light on the Christ who was to come:"Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." What depths of grace, and heights of Godhead glory! A babe in a manger is The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father! Well may the creature adoringly bow and worship in contemplation of such grace and glory, and exclaim with Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"

Of the dispensational periods, or ages, wherein fallen man is being tested and proved under varying conditions, their true bearing can only be understood as it is realized that there is throughout a consistent progression towards the consummation of this purpose of God. And is there not an illustrative analogy between the marvelous"Name" of Isaiah 9:6 and the manifestation of the divine presence in the three latter dispensations?

"From the time when Jehovah brought His people out of Egypt "with a mighty hand . . . with signs and wonders;" in their journeyings through the wilderness; in their establishment in the land; in the years of declension and captivity, until Ezekiel saw the Shekinah glory departing from the temple and the city-the great outstanding fact in Israel's checkered history was the presence of "The mighty God" in their midst.

With the advent of Christ a new era began in the dealings of God with man, with a fuller and more blessed revelation. The person of the Son, "God manifest in flesh," is introduced with miracles and signs in attestation of His grace and power. "Whom say ye that I am?" is the great question now. To the caviling Jews our Lord emphatically says, "I and the Father are one." To one of the twelve asking, "Lord, show us the Father" He answers, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father;" and the divine relationship into which the believers are brought by the redemption He has accomplished, was then made known by the message Christ sent to His own on the morning of His resurrection, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God"-thus linking them with Himself. Therefore, writing to the believers at Rome, the apostle of the Gentiles says, "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father;" and John writes, "Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." These and many other passages show that the coming of the Son revealing the Father brings in a new era in fulfilment of the purposes of God; and linked with this, and on the ground of an accomplished atonement a new and divine relationship is established and proclaimed. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," writes the apostle, "who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heaven-lies in Christ Jesus"-in contrast with the earthly blessings promised to Israel.

But the "times of the Gentiles" must be fulfilled and the usurping prince of this world must be overthrown before the varied glories of the "Name" of Isaiah 9:6 are fully manifested. "Peace on earth," no less than "peace with God," must rest on a divinely righteous basis. Like Melchisedek, Christ must first be King of Righteousness, and after that, King of Salem-that is, King of Peace. The wars of David were a necessary prelude to the glories of Solomon's peaceful reign. Every power hostile to God and inimical to man's blessing must be subdued, and every knee must bow to the rightful Heir and Lord of this poor earth before it can enter on that glorious age of blessing and felicity, so long foretold, under the righteous and beneficent rule of "The Prince of Peace."

While one divine affirmation ought surely to be sufficient for the creature, the God of all grace, forbearing with man's fallen condition, has multiplied the testimonies as to the deity of our Lord. Fulfilling the prophetic decree of the 2d psalm, "The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee," the angel Gabriel, a thousand years later, announced to the virgin Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Then, on entering His public ministry, the Spirit like a dove descended upon Him, and the Father's voice testified, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And when His rejection by the nation was fully manifest, a glimpse of His glory and kingdom to come is afforded us on the Mount of Transfiguration, and again the Voice out of the glory-cloud proclaims, "this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased:HEAR YE HIM."

Concerning the whole race of Adam, the Holy Spirit's verdict is, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"-negatively failing to glorify God, and positively sinning against Him. In glorious contrast the challenge goes forth to the inimical Jews, "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" Who but the beloved Son of the Father could say at the close of a life of service, "I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do?" And who save the Son of God could add, "And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was?" Every life but His was justly subject to death because o-f sin; but He, the Lord of life and of death, could say concerning His life, 'No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again;" and having this power, He voluntarily, out of love and deep compassion for a perishing world, "By the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God." Here again we see the same blessed Trinity acting in unity for man's salvation.

Satan, aspiring to an equality with God, revolted, and seducing both angels and men, assumed sovereignty over a fallen world. Thus, in revolt, he became exposed to the divine judgment. In wonderful contrast, Christ, the Creative Word and earth's rightful Lord, being in the form of God, voluntarily took the form of a servant, that in manhood and by death He might bear all the judgment resting upon sinful man, and thus retrieve and reconcile what sin had utterly alienated from God. At infinite cost, He bought the "pearl of great price" (the Church which He loves) and "the field" also-which is the world:but while the inheritance has been "purchased," it still waits to be delivered from its present bondage. And while we see not yet all things put under Him to whom all power in heaven and in earth is given, and the manifestation of God's purpose remains in abeyance, we see Jesus, victor over sin, Satan, death, and the grave, exalted to heaven, and crowned there with glory and honor. Who could conceive of any mere creature being seated on the eternal throne in equality with God? Yet no less than five times, is this predicated of the Lord Jesus in the epistle to the Hebrews (chaps. 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).

As revealed in Ephesians and Colossians, God's purpose embraces two spheres of blessing-the earthly and the heavenly. In keeping with its heavenly calling and destiny the blessings of the Church are spiritual, and in the heavenlies. But the O. T. prophets foretold the blessings and glories of a Messianic age to come-the kingdom of God on earth. In due time Israel's King, of the house of David, came to "His own;" but instead of receiving Him, led by their rulers they cried, "Away with Him-crucify Him!" The Messianic kingdom therefore is deferred by their rejection of the King; God meanwhile is visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name; the mysteries of the purpose of God, and of the Church, being also revealed.
The natural branches (Israel) were broken off the olive tree because of their unbelief, and the Gentiles are grafted in the place of blessing and testimony. God's earthly people are dispossessed and scattered till the "fulness of the Gentiles" be come in; and Jerusalem remains trodden down until the "times of the Gentiles" be fulfilled, and the rapture of the saints to meet our Lord in the air takes place when "the fulness of the Gentiles" has come in. The parables of Matt. 13 give the history of the Kingdom of Heaven in mystery, during this dispensation.

Because of their rejection of Christ the Jews were cut off dispensationally, and the Gentiles grafted in dispensationally also:then conies the warning, "Thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded but fear;" for, if not abiding in God's goodness, "thou also shalt be cut off." Have they continued? Alas, the mystery of iniquity has been at work, even from apostolic times, and is now rising up into an apostasy which will finally be headed by the Antichrist. In view of this Jude exhorted the saints to ''earnestly contend for the faith once delivered." And what of to-day? No one conversant with Scripture, and taught of God, can doubt that we are in "the last days." Laodicea is an open page. Rapid indeed has been the awful downgrade "progress" of the last few years. The departure from the vital and fundamental truths once delivered, with the unsettlement and upheaval in every relationship and activity of life, too surely tend, not towards that peace and equity of which men so vainly dream, but towards a universal apostasy.

But, thank God, ere the full development of the mystery of iniquity, the Lord shall descend from heaven and with a quickening shout gather home the saints of all the ages to be for ever with Himself. Cast out of heaven with his angels, Satan finds the earth-with the exception of Jewish and Gentile remnants called out and preserved of God- seething in apostasy, rapidly culminating, under his leadership, in open antagonism to God and to His Christ. Judgment swift and terrible falls. The opened heavens shall reveal the once-despised Nazarene, now robed in glory and in omnipotent power, as King of kings and Lord of lords, will smite the nations, redeem His earthly people, consign Satan to the abyss, and establish in power the Kingdom of God on earth. Delivered from the dominion of the arch-deceiver, the curse removed, and basking in the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, the remnant of Israel shall hail the Deliverer with songs of rejoicing and thankful praise, and the nations in universal peace enjoy the fulness of earthly blessings.

While many features of the Kingdom-age will foreshadow and partake of the blessedness of the eternal state, it will none the less be also the final test of man under the most favorable and blessed additions. Although Satan will be bound, and the divine glory manifest, yet sin (though restrained, and manifest wickedness effectively curbed-shall still be existent; like all previous dispensations, this also, alas! closes in judgment.

When a thousand years of Christ's beneficent reign shall have run their course, the arch-enemy, set loose for a little season, shall find unregenerate man, though yielding feigned obedience, in heart at enmity against God still. Chafing under the restraining rod, and loving darkness rather than light, hosts innumerable are found ready to flock to the Satanic standard of revolt. Fire from God out of heaven falls upon the rebel hosts. The dissolution of the earth and the heavens follow, and the judgment of the dead at the great white throne. The conflicts of the ages shall end with the destruction of that trinity of woe-Satan, sin and death for ever.

As to the eternal state, some conceive of earth, restored to Edenic conditions, as the abode of all the redeemed; while others, ignoring the earth entirely, think of heaven only in connection with the display of God's glory in redemption. Both conceptions are more or less at variance with the divine revelation. According to Scripture, distinct companies of the redeemed shall occupy the new heavens and the new earth with different blessings and glory, throughout the endless ages. Peter, in his first epistle, writing to believers of this dispensation, tells of an inheritance "reserved in heaven for you;" while in his second epistle, after referring to the dissolution of the present earth and heavens, he adds:"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The promise referred to, doubtless, is that of Isa. 65:17, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind;" and in Isa. 66:22-"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain"-may we not infer that, in fulfilment of the promises to their fathers, Israel is destined, in the purpose of God, to occupy on the new earth a place of distinctive blessing analogous to that accorded to the church of the Firstborn in heaven? As star differeth from star in glory, the companies of the redeemed may likewise differ, according to the wisdom and purpose of God. One spirit shall pervade and unite all in the blessed bonds of Infinite Love- the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, "of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named."

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them . . . And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21:1-4).

Thus shall redeemed creation enter into and share for ever, to His praise and glory, the ineffably blessed and inviolable rest of God. Glorious consummation of the divine purpose! W. L. G.

Oh the peace of full surrender-
All my joy to do His will!
Mine to trust His faithful promise;
His the promise to fulfil.

Oh the glory and the rapture
Thus to dwell with Christ the Lord;
New delight and wisdom gaining
From the study of His Word.

Pleasure's songs no more entice me,
Nor the bugle note of Fame;
Sweeter far the holy music
Of my dear Redeemer's name.

Oh the glory and the rapture-
Earthly burdens pass away!
Stormy winter turns to summer;
Lonely darkness into day.

F. R. Marvin

Calendar:Apr. 16th to May 15th.

DAILY BIBLE READING:……….Apr. 16th, Lev. 17; Apr. 30th, Num. 4; May 15th, Num. 19.

MEMORY WORK ………………….. James 1:1-20.

GOOD READING:.. "Recovered Truths," by E. Dennett, paper covers, 30 cents.

MONTHLY QUESTION:-What is the difference in view as to justification as presented by Paul and James?

Our Memory Work

The Epistle of James is a book to which, generally speaking, not much attention is given. It is very practical in its teaching, and quite distinct in its viewpoint. Some think it was written before any of the other New Testament books, among which 1 Thessalonians ranks as the earliest. Some features of the epistle we are to study point to an early date, such as reference to the synagogue (2:2, margin) and other things of a Jewish tone, which may be taken to indicate that it belongs to the early transition period, while the Jewish Christians were being weaned from the old economy. Note those to whom it is addressed (the 12 tribes, 1:1); their place of meeting (the synagogue, 2:2); the way in which Old Testament characters are brought forward-Abraham, Rahab, Job, Elijah; God's name (5:4); the idea of law and practical obedience to which the epistle forms an almost continuous exhortation. While there is much that would thus appeal directly to the Jewish mind, there is a manifest similarity between the teachings of this epistle and the Sermon on the Mount-simplicity of faith, heavenly-mindedness, unworldliness of spirit and conduct, and so the spirit and mind of Christ are evident throughout.

The following contrastive thoughts may prove suggestive:

Chap. 1. Christian endurance over against world-trial.

Chap. 2. Christian lowliness over against worldly attitude.

Chap. 3. Christian works over against world-boasting, independence of God, inconsistency, hypocrisy.

Chap. 4. Christian submission over against worldly ways, self-pleasing, lust, and worldly friendship.

Chap. 5. Christian patience over against worldly oppression.

Our Daily Bible Reading

Leviticus, chap. 16, presents the great truth of atonement. In chap. 17 there are two main thoughts. First (vers. 1-9), emphasis is laid upon recognition of the divine center, the tabernacle, in relation to all sacrifices. Thus God would be given His rightful place as dwelling among His people. Secondly (vers. 10-16), the sacredness of blood, it being the symbol of life, which belongs to God alone. This shows that the creature has no inherent right to life. We have it only in constant dependence upon God, both in the natural and spiritual realms. In chapters 18-22 the theme is sanctification-the conduct becoming those who walk in the light of their relation to the sanctuary. Chapter 23 gives the divisions of the Jewish sacred year, which are prophetic of those periods through which God's purposes reach their accomplishment.

Ways of grace and government in various relations occupy chapters 24, 25. The last two chapters speak of the testing by the way.

We cover about half of Numbers, the book of wilderness experience through which God is known in the grace and mercy which meets His failing people along the way, and through which what they are in themselves becomes manifest. As the priestly house is prominent in Leviticus, because it is a question of the sanctuary and of access to God, so in Numbers the Levites are prominent, because it is a question of the transportation and care of the Sanctuary through the wilderness. In the former, it is service particularly Godward; in the latter, particularly manward. the first ten chapters have as their general theme, God's order for His people. This is developed in respect of their unity, service, sanctification, separation, giving, and direction for their journeying. In the next ten chapters (11-20) we get lessons concerning God's gracious provisions and His ways in government brought out through the people's failure. Note their murmurings, lust, envy, and rebellion against divine authority. On the other hand we find prevailing intercession, the resources of priesthood, means for cleansing from death's defilement, and refreshment ministered.

Some guiding precepts for the believer in these last and perilous days (2 Tim. 2:21, 22).

These verses give us eight such precepts. Let me say a few words on each one.

(1) "Purge himself"-that means individual separation to the Lord from surrounding evil-not as self-righteous, but self-judged; not in pride, but in meekness and humility; not as making pretentious claims, but in confession of the ruin and deep failure.

(2) "Unto honor"-that is, bearing a good report, both from those within and without, avoiding what would compromise the Lord's honor and truth.

(3) "Sanctified"-that means being set apart to the Lord in heart and daily life-not allowing what is a mere pleasing of the flesh, a gratifying of its desires (trying to veil itself sometimes under the guise of what is spiritual), but following what is pleasing to the Lord.

(4) "Meet for," or, "serviceable to the Master" (New Tr.)-this is in contrast to being of no profit, useless. To realize this fitness we must tread His path, manifest His spirit, lift up holy hands, maintain holiness in our intercourse with saints, and with men in general. "Be thou an example of the believers-in word, in conversation, in charity (love), in spirit, in faith, in purity"(l Tim. 4:12).

(5) "Prepared unto every good work." This means readiness to give immediate response to the Master's word, whether to His simply expressed desire, or command.

(6) "Flee also youthful lusts"-not fight, not struggle against them, but flee. Next the apostle tells us what to pursue (a stronger word than simply "follow"). Here we might refer to the apostle John's admonition to the young men of God's family (1 John 2:15-17). Let me give here the thoughts of a devoted servant of Christ:

The young men, being characterized by vigor, does not mean natural energy, for there is nothing of grace in that. It was spiritual courage and power; and what maintained and regulated it was the word of God abiding in them. They so loved the Word that they had it always not merely by them but abiding in them … the Word puts an end to man's thoughts, and strengthens as much as it governs us, and rebukes our presumption. "Love not the world." Why is this warning particularly laid on them? Does this seem strange for souls spiritually so vigorous? Nay, this very vigor creates a danger. They went forth earnestly to spread the truth; fearlessly testifying of Christ, and the very victories won prove a danger; and commerce with men exposes to loving the world. For we are not to suppose that loving the world is merely a taste for show and pleasure, or what is grosser than these. The world is a subtle snare, far more so than the flesh. For many lusts of the flesh one may despise himself; and others, intensely devoted to the world, might be ashamed of such ways. But worldly lust is quite another thing. It looks eminently respectable; for is it not what is done by those of consequence? It is to covet what society likes; what is thought well of by those of light and leading. This has an immense influence, especially on the young. But this leads them boldly to venture here and there, thinking that they can go anywhere. At least they know the Saviour, and where may they not go? In this zeal they are warned particularly as to the world.

This speaks not of the world as God made it, of course, nor of the relationships in life which He has established, nor of the activities necessary to their maintenance does this speak, but of the moral character and the ruling spirit of the system of things built up by man away from God. It is marked by pride, lust, corruption, strife for preeminence, and in such efforts God and sin are easily forgotten.

Undoubtedly many conveniences found in the world can be used by a Christian. But one dark mark stamps it- the absence of the beloved Christ. Tell me one thing that Christ puts His sanction upon; Where is all that Christ valued, lived for and loved? This is the criterion which will prove sharp enough to (.at off a great deal; on the other hand, all that is outside Christ can be an object for the heart of fallen man; and such is the world.

Therefore it becomes a serious peril for the spiritually young, vigorous as they might be, if they do not retain an ever-growing sense of their relationship to the Father. For the danger is that world-principles are taken up because of what their use seems to achieve-strength is found in union; ease through compromise; position and fame, etc. The spiritually young need to beware of the world, lest in their ardor for accomplishments some of its varied features become valued objects.

Two precepts close the verses in 2 Tim. 2. (7) This defines the things we are to pursue-righteousness, in obedience to the will and word of God; faith, as dependent upon God alone; love, which is the manifestation of what God is in holiness and truth (1 Cor. 13); peace, as being with God in relation to all things. (8) The company with which we are to walk.

Let us be of those who can say, "I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep thy precepts" (Ps. 119:63).

Correspondence for the Y. B. Dept., please address to Mr. John Bloore, care of Loizeaux Brothers.

Could we command our very sinful past
To move before our eyes in great review,
Not yet we'd know God's mercy-all so vast;
Nor ever thus find power to start anew.

Instead, we look upon our blessed Lord,
And see the agony which He passed through:
Doomed to the cross, reviled by the horde
Of enemies of God, and of Him too!

We measure thus the mercy of our God,
Not by our thoughts of our iniquity,
But by the depths of love thus told abroad,
For which we'll praise Him through eternity.

G. S. A.

(Levit., chap. 23.)

"These are Jehovah's set times-holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons" (ver. 4).

1. The Sabbath-verse 3.

First month of the year:

1 The Passover-verse 5, and Unleavened Bread-verse 6.

2. Sheaf of First-fruits-verse 10.

3. Pentecost (7 weeks after First-fruits)-verse IS.

Seventh month of the year:

1. The Blowing of Trumpets-verse 24.

2. The Day of Atonement-verse 27.

3. The Feast of Tabernacles-verse 34.

The Sabbath is put first, as the great end to be kept in view, and to which all the rest is tending. It is separated in a way from "the Appointed Times" by the repetition at verse 4 of "These are the appointed times of Jehovah," which applies to what follows. In Genesis. 2:2 the Sabbath is spoken of last-after, and as the result of, the six days' work. All being finished, and pronounced "very good," God rested from all His work, and "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." The Sabbath therefore points to that eternal rest, of which Heb. 4:9 also speaks:"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God," when God Himself shall rest in His love-all being finished and pronounced "very good."

Two series or groups of these "appointed times" as leading up to that Rest (Sabbath) are now given. The first series is at the beginning of the year. The second series comes only after a long interval in the 7th month of the year.

The first of these divine footsteps is

1. THE PASSOVER, with its attendant

Unleavened Bread, which the apostle interprets for us in 1 Cor. 5:7,8:"Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." The soul at peace with God through faith in Christ's atoning work, and walking in His ways, already enjoys something of that "rest which remains for the people of God.
2. THE SHEAF of FIRST-FRUITS tells of Christ risen from the dead, the pledge of the harvest to follow (1 Cor. 15:20). With His resurrection comes the announcement of the new place into which He brings His people with Himself:"Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (Jno. 20:17). The corn of wheat having fallen into the earth and died, "bringeth forth much fruit"- "bringeth many sons unto glory" with Himself.

3. PENTECOST. Seven weeks after the presentation of the Sheaf of First-fruits, a second presentation is made- two loaves from the gathered grain of the fields. But, note, they are "baked with leaven" (ver. 17). They represent the people of God "accepted in the Beloved." The evil in their nature-not in activity, but baked in the loaves-is acknowledged in this. Therefore a sin-offering accompanies their presentation (ver. 19), whilst a large burnt-offering (ver. 18) expresses the fulness of their acceptance in Christ. It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came upon the assembled disciples, marking them as God's own, and enduing them with power for testimony to Christ glorified.

Thus far we have seen in the first group of these divinely appointed times what characterizes true Christianity. A long interval now occurs, until the 7th month is reached; then we have another group of three "Appointed Times."

This second group (all included in the 7th month) as clearly applies to Israel as the first group applies to Christianity.

1. THE BLOWING OF TRUMPETS-ver. 24. With the rejection of unfaithful Christianity (Rom. 11:22-26; Rev. 3:16), God in sovereign grace takes up Israel afresh. There comes a recall to the ancient people so long under discipline, and reckoned as "Lo-ammi"-not my people. They are to be grafted in again upon their own olive tree of grace and testimony. The trumpets shall sound in Israel's ears, and God's word shall cause the dead bones to come to life again (Ezek. 37). This recall is naturally followed by

2. THE DAY OF ATONEMENT-at which time they shall "afflict their souls" (ver. 27). Zechariah 12:10-14 sets forth this time of Israel's repentance, followed by, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness," when they shall look upon Him whom they pierced. Then it shall be that the scape-goat for which atonement was made at the Cross (Levit. 16:21, 22), will carry away their sins to be remembered no more.

Israel redeemed from their wanderings, turned back to God and washed from their sins, will then celebrate

3. THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES-a feast in restored blessings, enjoyed in peace and security under the gracious eye and hand of God (of which the "booths" speak), and in remembrance of past wanderings.

This "feast" continues the full week-the millennial period.

Who that understands these "appointed" or "set times of Jehovah" but must own the Eternal has spoken in them-millenniums before He has brought them to pass!
"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18).

"The LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.’"

Dark were the days for Israel when
The Philistines laid waste their land;
God's arm indeed seemed shortened then,
Withdrawn His strong protecting hand.
The mighty Samson started well,
But lost the holy Spirit's power;
And Saul in disobedience fell,
And failed them in the needy hour.

But all the time God had in view
One who His purpose should fulfil-
A man of perfect heart and true,
Prepared by Him to do His will.
"Go now to Bethlehem," said the Lord,
"Anoint the one whom I shall name"-
And faithful Samuel, at God's word,
To Jesse's house at Bethlehem came.

And now the sons of Jesse stand
Before the prophet, one by one,
And Samuel, horn of oil in hand,
Waits to anoint the chosen son.
The seven pass by, of stature tall,
But still the oil he does not use;
God shows him that among them all
There is not one whom He can choose.

Is there no other? Yes, indeed,
The eighth remains; but what is he?
His duty is the sheep to feed-
That boy a king?-it cannot be!
"Send now and fetch him," Samuel said;
And soon the ruddy youth they bring:
The oil is poured upon his head,
And David is anointed king!

Man in the flesh, with all his might,
Has failed to do the will of God;
With truth, indeed, one well may write
Across his record, "Ichabod."
But God has now His Chosen One,
The One who, risen from the dead,
Is seated on His Father's throne,
O'er all things the exalted Head.

If asked the question, "What is man?"
There's many an answer might be given;
Yet all man's glory never can
Redeem or fit his soul for heaven.
And God would turn our longing gaze
From man down here, though great he be,
And, pointing to His Son, He says
With satisfaction, "THIS IS HE."

Just as the heart of Samuel turned
From Saul to God's well-chosen one,
So we through His great grace have learned
To love His well-beloved Son.
Though by the world despised, unknown,
We own Him now as King and Lord,
And long to join with all His own
To sing His praise with one accord.

And oh, what rapturous joy 'twill be
To see Him as He comes again,
In triumph and in victory,
O'er all the earth as King to reign!
Of David's line a Son is given,
And soon our hearts and lips shall sing,
With all on earth and all in heaven,
His praises, and acclaim Him King!

H. Wilson

(Continued from page 322 Dec. No.)

Lecture VI. THE ACCOMPANIMENTS OF THE PASSOVER (Exodus, chap.12.)

Having considered the passover itself, let us now look at its accompaniments. The former shows what faith receives from God; the latter points to its Godward results. First, the unleavened bread-"roast with fire, and unleavened bread." These two things are purposely brought together, as we shall presently see. But first let us look at the "unleavened bread."

Literally, it is "compressed bread"-bread of which the particles have not been separated by the ferment of leaven. There are two words for leaven:the one means a "leaving, or remainder," because it was a lump of dough left from a former time; the other is simply "leaven," or ferment.

The "unleavened bread" is spiritually translated for us by the apostle as "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Of leaven itself we have various interpretations. There is "the leaven of malice and wickedness" in 1 Cor. 5:8. In the Gospels we have the "leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees," which, we are told is their "doctrine;" and the "leaven of Herod," which from its connection with these we must interpret similarly. Ritualism, rationalism, worldliness, are identified severally with these three, and give character to what they taught. They point to three paths, not far separated, by which souls have ever been seeking to escape from God. They may also be characterized as only different forms of the leaven of malice and wickedness, in contrast to "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

The "old leaven," of which the apostle speaks in the same passage, gives a connected and very significant thought. It refers to the lump of old dough which was used as the ferment of the new lump. "Purge out therefore the old leaven," he says, "that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened." The introduction of the "old" into that which God has made "new," is what the enemy ever seeks to use, to transform and corrupt what is of God. It may be the spirit of the "old," legal covenant into God's "new" covenant of grace; or that which is of the "old," natural man, into the "new" man, the Christian. It may come in as formalism and superstition, or more positive Sadducean unbelief, or adaptations to the world. In either case it is corruption-leaven; and in every case it betrays real departure from God. If we leave Him and His directions, what can we do but take up with our own? And this evil is not negative and passive, but works. The nature of all evil is a ferment, a revolt, an antagonism to what is of God.

The unleavened bread is that "of sincerity and truth" -Godward, of course. It is the spirit of integrity with Him, which means whole-hearted surrender to His blessed will. It is the spirit which says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; see if there be any way of wickedness in me; and lead me in the way everlasting." It is what the apostle means when he says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." No less than the surrender of all to God can properly be called obedience; as the deliberate keeping back from Him of what is His due, is rather to be counted rebellion. This latter is "leaven," which in the practical life of the Christian betrays itself by the retention of that which belongs to the old natural man, which the Cross has put away.

How solemn and penetrating, then, is the exhortation to eat the lamb "roast with fire, and unleavened bread!" It is as much as to urge that the Holy One's blessed surrender to that awful fire of sacrifice, makes imperative, and should make easy, the full surrender of ourselves to the pure and holy love which has laid hold of us:Therefore at the Lord's table the apostle speaks of examining ourselves, lest we eat and drink judgment to ourselves, not discerning the Lord's body-the holiness of what the feast represents. For how can we bring evil before that awful Cross? or how measure evil, but as insubjection to Him whom we call Master and Lord?

And this leads us to the next point, "With bitter [herbs] shall they eat it." For the discovery of what self is, and the ruin of the old creation, is bitter. It is bitter to realize that our Lord Jesus had to be bruised for my sins. How suited, then, is this accompaniment to the Lamb "roast with fire!" How utterly inconsistent with the deliberate or careless allowance of evil! A chastened spirit surely becomes us in the presence of the Cross. Not yet -not here-can we let out our hearts in a world where that cross has stood.

Beloved, have we understood this? Have we purged out the old leaven which, if allowed, becomes an active power of evil, taking us out of the blessedness which our God even here designs for us, and with whom alone we can "keep the feast?"

Now we have the pilgrim garb in which the pass-over was to be eaten:

"And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord's passover."

They were now to enter upon their journey. What was an impossibility before the passover is now at once commanded to them. The passover itself is to be eaten in haste, as expecting to go forth immediately. Judgment must roll over first. They must start with it behind them-not in front where they would have to meet it. Then, and thus, must they go forth.

Let us note this well, that we also start on our journey heavenward with judgment anticipated and borne for us at the cross, already and for ever passed away. "He that heareth my words," says our Lord, "and believeth Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." Personally, into judgment the believer can never come. He will appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and give an account of himself there to God, and "receive for the things done in the body, according to that he hath done;" but the issue does not affect his salvation from God's wrath, which will be upon the ungodly. Our exemption from God's judgment is by Christ having borne it Himself. He that has fled to Christ is already "saved"- already "delivered from the wrath to come" (1 Thess. 1:10). And it is a first necessity for a walk with God, that this should be so. It is in this way alone that holiness is made possible. We must be at peace with Him before we can walk with Him. The false gospels and half-gospels, which under the plea of holiness maintain a salvation conditioned upon our works, ignorantly destroy the very holiness they contend for.

The power for a Christian life, one who knew it well thus declares to us:"The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Faith, which has Christ before it as its object, works by love; not self-love, but a devout, adoring remembrance of a Saviour's wondrous sacrifice. And the pattern and power for this walk is He whose life and death had been for others, no^ Himself. Thus the apostle could say as to the moral transformation wrought by Christianity, how Christ "died for all, that they which , live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him that died for them and rose again." Not mere correct living, not mere conformity to an outward rule, but a life issuing from devotedness of heart to a Redeemer-God!-this is, in the apostle's view of it, Christianity. But this is in entire opposition, in principle, to a life which finds its motives in personal needs and ends-in fear of eternal judgment. "Faith worketh by love," not by fear; and, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment." Thus God, whose love alone is perfect, casts fear out of our hearts, that He Himself may reign there.

Yet men ignorantly speak as if this tormenting fear cast out of the heart would enthrone there, not God, but Satan! And they bring in the fear of judgment as the motive for holiness-fear to effect what Christ's love alone may not have the power to do! Incentives to self-seeking are religiously brought in, not discerning that it is not Christianity at all that they are producing by it-not real godliness, but the destruction, rather, of true godliness. Think of obedience to a father-of true obedience-being helped in a son's heart by the fear that his father might cast him off! Ah, God is wiser than we are, and He has made Christ to be our sanctification-not the day of judgment. Holiness such as the lake of fire may engender, is not what God calls holiness at all.

And thus, "That they which live may not live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again," teaches us to look back to the Cross to see wrath borne for us there; judgment is removed for ever, that we may begin our path with Him in the light of His love. "God commendeth His love to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," and "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which He hath given us." This is the power, and this the actuating principle of our lives henceforth.

Judgment-personal, eternal judgment-is for ever gone for us. Christ delivered for our offences has been raised again for our justification; and, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only so, but we have access by faith into a relationship of grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Alas, judgment indeed rests upon the land out of which it hastens our retreating steps, but for us it is over; our place with God is definitely and eternally settled. He who has died for us is risen. He took our place and burden on Calvary's cross, and has taken for us another place, in the presence and glory of God. There, love rests, satisfied. There He sits, because His work is accomplished. The eye of God, which dwells with unchanging delight upon His Beloved, sees us there in Him, linked in the bundle of life with Him for ever. "Because I live, ye shall live also." "If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

Now we are prepared for the pilgrimage dress-our traveling dress. It is not the "best robe," which fits us for our Father's house; but it is that which we are to wear in the world. God grant that we keep it on throughout our pilgrim journey.

First, "Your loins girded." "Having your loins girt about with truth," says the apostle. The garments are spiritually what we may designate by the old word "habits." It is the moral guise in which we appear before men-what they identify us with. And if not just "ourselves," we may in many ways be read in them:pride, or lowliness; self-will, or meekness; sloth, or diligence; and in many other things.

The long robes of the East required a girdle, that they might not hinder in a march such as Israel had now before them. Flowing loose they might get entangled with the feet, trip the wearer, and gather the dust of the road. The truth is to be our girdle, keeping us from loose and negligent contact with an ever-ready defilement in a world characterized by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," and from the entanglement to our feet which lax habits are sure to be. It is "as pilgrims and strangers" we are exhorted to "abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." It is having cur eyes fixed on the goal of our journey that will keep us clear of defilement and entanglements.

Ungirded garments are akin to the "weights" which the apostle bids us to "lay aside." Things which in themselves may not be sinful, may yet betray us into sin. Notice the connection in that exhortation, "Lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us." If a pack of wolves were following you, you would quickly understand why carrying a weight would hinder. And herein many a soul may discern why he has so little successful conflict. The "weight," like the flowing garment, shows, that whatever else we may be, we are not racers. And it is to run a race that we are called. Hence the "all things" which might be lawful, as the apostle says, may not be expedient; and though "lawful" unto him, he would not be brought under the power of any. We may permit "lawful things" to gain power over us, while rejecting unlawful ones. But if the power we submit to is not of God, it is against Him; for that which is not with Him is against Him. We do not see the mire that sticks to the bottom of the weight we are lifting, nor even perceive when we have been defiled.

Fit companions then with unleavened bread and bitter herbs are these girt loins. We must arise and depart, for this is not our rest. It is polluted, and polluting.

Next we have:"Your shoes on your feet." Travelers tell us that their shoes are in a short time cut to pieces in the desert that Israel had to traverse; yet Israel, shod of the Lord, traversed that desert from end to end, and for forty years their shoes waxed not old upon their feet. The shoe, so eminently needed, and miraculously preserved to them, what is it spiritually? Scripture gives us a twofold aspect of it. Israel's shoes, or sandals, were of badger skin. Recounting His mercies to Israel God says:"I shod thee with badger skin." The badger, or perhaps, sea-cow skin, is familiar to us as one of the tabernacle coverings, fitted by its nature to repel outside influences, and protect the more destructible materials beneath. This character makes it a fit type of the holiness which abides unchanged by all that surrounds it, preserving the more delicate things from deterioration, as salt does from corruption. This shoe, then, represents that fidelity to God which abides unchanged in an adverse world, resisting all its disintegrating influences.

The apostle gives us another and direct interpretation of the shoe by saying:"Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Here is an important effect of the gospel itself upon us. Bringing us into peace with God, it brings us into peace with all things, which He governs and makes to work together for our good. Our God is over all. Without Him not a sparrow falls to the
ground. The Lord of all is our Saviour. Wh^i provision we have in this for our feet, whatever be the way in which we may be called to walk! "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."

Finally, they were to eat the passover with "your staff in your hand." The staff is God's word that supports our steps in the way He leads us. His promises are our prop and stay. We have but one staff, but it is unfailing. "Scripture cannot be broken." Lean upon it, fellow-Christian; the more you do, the more you will find its strength.

We close for to-night with one solemn thought. Exact and stringent as were all these directions, leaving no room for hesitation or mistake, it is a painful lesson of what man is, to find how, even at this solemn season, they were carried out. We read,

"And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders . . . And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry; neither had they prepared for themselves any victual."

Thus the command seems to have been carried out, not because it was commanded, but because of the necessity of the case:Egypt sent them out in haste, while their bread was unleavened.

When we think of the spiritual significance of all this, it becomes doubly solemn. How little has the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth ever characterized any considerable proportion of God's people! When the world has forced them out of it, then indeed, in times of trial and persecution, brightness and devotedness have become more manifest; but when the storm relaxed, how soon the leaven again was introduced!

Shall we not challenge ourselves in view of all this? Beloved brethren, where are we? Keeping the passover feast according to the ordinances? Or retaining only that which suits our convenience, with more or less affiliation with Egypt? May the Lord keep us from this for His name's sake!

(To be continued.)

Lecture VIII. THE PASSAGE OF THE SEA

(Exodus 13:17-14:31.)

We have before us now the completion of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt. Not till they crossed the sea were they fully delivered. Indeed, salvation is not spoken of until they come to it. It is manifest that salvation, as typified in the things we are considering, implies much more than deliverance from wrath and condemnation; and yet this is the sense in which we habitually use it. Here, at the sea, the question is no more between the people and God, but between them and their enemies. The question with God was settled on the night of the passover-fully and entirely settled. The question here was the old, the first question, that of servitude to Pharaoh or of liberty, but which they had learned could not be answered first. This question God Himself now takes up on their behalf, and they find God for them in a more manifest way than ever yet. Already, from the time of the passover, God was with them; but how vividly the Red Sea makes this manifest to them.

If we look at the doctrinal part of the epistle to the Romans, the first eight chapters, we shall see that the first part of it (to the middle of chap. 5) is occupied with the blood of Christ and its effects. There we see that the righteousness of God itself, which that blood-shedding declares, provides a place of assured shelter. We are "justified by His blood," which in its effects reaches on to the final judgment of the world, and assures us that "much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him." The certainty of final salvation is argued (triumphantly settled, let us say) from the simple and blessed fact of present justification. All possible charges are then repelled; judgment is rolled away for ever; and with our standing in present grace, and glory as our confident expectation, we are enabled to glory even in tribulation also, conscious that it, as all else, is working together under God's hand in blessing to us.

This is essentially passover truth:sheltered from judgment, eating the lamb, and equipped for the journey. But now in the next part of the epistle, from chapter 5:12 onwards, the question of practice at once comes in:"What then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" "Shall we sin, because we are not under the law but under grace?" and when the discovery of the hopeless evil of the flesh is made, one question more:"0 wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

All through this part the question is as to the dominion of sin, from which we are delivered by death, and brought into a new place beyond it:"That the body of sin might be annulled, that henceforth we should not serve sin." It is by death we are "made free from sin;" we have died with Christ, and "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Thus the divine method of deliverance is given us.

But we must look more closely at this, and in detail. By God's grace, may those who listen to me now, trace, if they have never done so before, the steps of this deliverance, and make it their own. It is a wonderful and real thing, and we cannot take for granted that those who have peace with God have this deliverance.

Peace with God we have found already in the 5th of Romans; yet, in the 7th chapter, we find the cry of, "I am carnal, sold under sin!" It is no longer peace with God that is in question; but sin in my nature as a law of sin; this is the subject debated upon. And though souls yet ignorant of peace may pass through this experience, and thus naturally mix it up with the question of peace, the two things are in Romans kept quite apart. Let us not be afraid then to entertain this question:Have we passed through this experience?-for experience it is, and we must pass through it as such. O friends, have we learned that song of salvation as having passed through the sea, untouched by it? Is Egypt finally and for ever behind you? Happy indeed if it be so!

Bondage to Pharaoh!-Does it not cease on the night of the passover? In a most important sense it does. Chains are broken, and a real start is made. God is with them; never can His claim to them be cancelled, nor the enemy retain possession of His people. In a true sense, therefore, their slavery ceased that night; the stroke of judgment upon Egypt became the means of their own escape. But passing from God's point of view to that of the people, with whatever "high hand" they may start, we soon find them trembling again before their old tyrant, and in such fear that the actual presence of God with them does not remove it! Shut in between the desert and the sea, with Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen in full pursuit, their cry is a cry of despair. The question between them and their old enemy has to be taken up afresh by God in their behalf, and to be ended finally. God fights for them; and they do nought but "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."

And so with a soul who has learned the safe shelter of the blood of Christ-seen the judgment of God rolling past; the chains broken off his hands; the question of deliverance from sin's law really settled. God, who has definitely called him from sinnership to saintship, will not fail to make him what that word imports. As in the type of the leper (Levit. 14:14-18), if the blood first sanctifies, or sets one apart to God, the oil cannot fail to be put upon the blood:the power of the Holy Spirit is there to make real and actual that to which the precious blood has redeemed him. But it does not follow that he comes into the proper realization of this at once. Alas, the first teaching of holiness has to be, "That in me (even as a believer), in my flesh, good does not dwell;" and for deliverance from sin in ourselves we have to learn the painful and humbling lesson of thorough and continual weakness.

When one has just learned the blessed fact of justification by the blood of Christ, and seen the shadow of death turned for him into morning by faith in a risen Saviour, whose death has made atonement for his sins, it seems indeed to him as if sin could no more put shackles upon his enfranchised soul. The joy of this deliverance seems as if it would be power from henceforth. Joyfully he starts with God; for God is indeed with him.

"And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night; He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people."

Thus the path is begun with full provision for mastery over the difficulties of the way. By day, by night, they are to make continued progress. So led, so cared for, His presence with them, what progress should theirs be! Alas, in a few days all seemed to have failed. Instead of a short path out of Egypt, by the way of the Philistines, with no sea to obstruct their way, they are turned round by "the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea." In a new way they must learn deliverance from Egypt's
dominion, and out of its territory. They find themselves on the border of Egypt with the sea in front, the desert around, and all Egypt is poured out after them! Do we not hear the cry, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?"

Did it not look as if God had deserted them? And we, in whom God has created holy desires after holiness, have to learn that these desires can only be truly attained in God's own way-to turn away in utter helplessness from ourselves to Christ-and Christ not in power, but in death, where "our old man" was put away, buried out of sight.

At peace with God through the precious blood of Christ, yet how many think that as to inbred sin (the sin that dwells in us) there is no effectual deliverance! Their "mind" is indeed changed. With the mind they serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. They do not see that they have reached the border of Egypt, and that though further progress seems impossible, God is at hand to give such a deliverance as to make their hearts sing of it forever.

The Red Sea is the border of Egypt which represents the world away from God. If we ask how men pass out of the world, the universal answer is, "By death." And our Shepherd has made by His death a dry path for us through death, as the rod of Moses made a dry path for Israel through the sea. The "strong east wind" of adversity blowing through all the awful "night" of His distress, cleaved the way for us through the waters of death, through which, by faith, we pass out of sin's and the law's dominion, as Israel out of Pharaoh's rule.

Let us trace this experimentally, for it is experience we have now to do with. Let us follow the actual track of a person whom God delivered from bondage to sin, and whose history is the type of an actual and realized deliverance.

Let us get before us then this soul just started on the path with God. Full of the precious reality of escaped judgment, his bonds fallen off, the joy of his salvation is too much in his heart for the world to have place there. He almost thinks, in his earnestness and self-ignorance, that he never can fall into sin again. But as time passes, it begins to change:his joy becomes less absolute; the world begins to have more reality and power; he realizes the fact that he has still within him, child of God as he is, a nature which is not all "new." He realizes that sin is in him still. Things presented by the world awaken lusts within, and there begins a struggle of which those who know it realize its painfulness. The old enemy is reviving, gathering strength, and putting on the old chains again; and the soul sinks in dismay at the return of what it thought almost gone for ever. Israel's despairing cry finds its answer in the groan over a body of death which passes its power to deal with, whether to improve or cast aside:"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

It is "between Migdol and the Sea" that Pharaoh comes upon them. We have seen what the Sea is; what is Migdol? It means "watch-tower;" often a military post, as the natural accompaniment of a border region. Did jealous eyes watch the escaping hosts of Israel? Egypt was not friendly now, and a watch-tower in an enemy's country is not a place of help or refuge, but a stronghold armed against them to the teeth.

And the New Testament gives this view. In the 7th of Romans, which is the key to the situation here, we find Migdol (the law) looming threateningly enough to (be soul seeking to escape from sin's law. However strange it may sound to us, Scripture it is that says, "The strength of sin is the law." Yea, even because "the law is spiritual." But, says the one whose experience it is, "I am carnal, sold under sin."

Men will have it that because the law is spiritual it must be power for spirituality, power against sin. But Scripture decisively says, "Without the law sin was dead; for I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; and the commandment which was ordained unto life, I found to be unto death; for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me!" Is not this just the position between Migdol and the Sea, where Pharaoh overtook Israel? Do you know this position? If you have but reached thus far, it will explain itself much better than my words can do? Indeed, if you have not reached it, it will be impossible to explain it. The questions, objections, reasonings, which fill this part of Romans, show the difficulty with which souls apprehend the true power of the law of God. Think of one seeking to obey the divine commandment, finding that the sin he is seeking to subdue, is slaying him by the law he is seeking to keep! That the law instead of being the strength of holiness is actually the strength of sin (1 Cor. 15:56).

Let me remark here that it is not now a question of justification or of wrath; that was all settled before. No; the point now is entirely how "we should bring forth fruit unto God;" a question of being "delivered from the law …. that we should serve God in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter." This is what so many find hard to understand. That the law cannot justify is comparatively simple; but that it hinders fruit-bearing is hard to realize. As sure as Migdol was in the enemy's country, and that Israel must be out of it to escape attack, so must we be out of reach from the law to escape its condemning power. Under the law, self-occupation ends with the discovery of an impracticable body of sin and death, from which I, "wretched man," see no deliverance. I cannot improve this flesh in which sin dwells. I cannot bring about the spiritual state I long for, which would satisfy me. God gives me no help at achieving self-complacency. I desire the consciousness of holiness; but His law gives me the consciousness of sin! Whence then can deliverance come?

This important subject "The Passage of the Sea" could not be all included ii this No. It will be completed in the next, D. V.

(Continued from page 89.)

Lecture IX. THE SONG AND THE TESTING (Exodus, chap. 15.)

Having seen the salvation wrought by Jehovah, and the carcases of their enemies upon the sea-shore, the people sing of their deliverance with praises to God. He has delivered; He will deliver, and bring them in the land to which they are going. Not until now was salvation apprehended in its fulness.

Three things mark this song:First, the deliverance just effected from Pharaoh and his hosts. Second, the assurance that God will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of His inheritance, in the place which He has made for Himself to dwell in. Thirdly, they themselves are going to prepare Him a habitation.

We have already dwelt at length on the deliverance. But we may yet observe, that while the deliverance itself is once for all effected, there is need to have it kept in remembrance continually. While "Christ died to sin once," and therefore -we are dead to sin, once and for ever, we have yet to be reckoning ourselves dead to sin continually. We have not to die continually, nor die at all. We are dead, and must be, before we can rightly reckon ourselves dead. The fact itself is independent of our faith about it, but our faith in the fact is nevertheless what is needed in order that sin may no more reign in our mortal bodies. "Let not sin, therefore, reign." On the Egyptian side of the sea there could not be an exhortation to that effect. It would have been of no use to bid Israel not to let Pharaoh reign. He was master on that side, and not they. But now we can be addressed as consciously masters. If sin reigns, we let it reign. But our death to it must be a constant realization, that sin may not re-assume power in any measure. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof," says the apostle.

Scripture makes a distinction here. Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin may be annulled-practically brought to nothing-that henceforth we should not serve sin. It does not say the flesh is crucified with Christ, but our old man is. Our old man represents what we were by nature-the man in the flesh; but although we are not in the flesh (that is a wholly past condition), yet the flesh is in us, and we may permit it, in fact, to assert itself. It is we that are dead, not the flesh; the flesh remains, but as a foreign thing which is no more accounted our own, from the Christian point of view-that is, from the wilderness side of the sea. It is, in fact, a mere Egyptian carcase; nothing but corruption attaches to it; nothing but corruption can we expect from it; it is the carcase of an enemy, not ourselves. That we are not men in the flesh is a matter of faith entirely. The moment, therefore, we slip out of this, we have the flesh to deal with, either as an antagonist or a tempter.

But notice now, how strikingly God guards His truth from the abuse which man might make of it. It is easy to say that if you reckon yourselves dead to sin it leaves you free to do as you list. But the apostle shows (what is evident indeed upon a moment's consideration) that if we are holding ourselves dead, we have no will of our own to serve, no lusts to serve. It is therefore impossible for a man to be reckoning himself dead to sin and yet living in it-we cannot. If we do, the necessary conclusion is that in our actual faith at the moment, we are not dead to it; and to assert that we are dead would be hypocrisy, which would stand self-convicted. So in this sixth chapter of Romans, the apostle points out to us the responsibility of this position if we take it. First, he asserts positively, "Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace;" then he asks the question, "What then, shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?" And he adds, in answer, another question:"Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey-whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

A person who takes distinctly the position of being, in this sense, free from the dominion of sin, if he is yielding himself to it, chooses a master. He is not at all the person in the 7th chapter, who mourns under captivity to the law of sin in his members, and cannot escape. He is a free man choosing a service; and if as a free man he can choose the service of sin, this will only manifest in the fullest way what he is. Therefore says the apostle, If you yield yourselves servants to sin, the wages of sin is death. You have chosen a master, and will get his wages, however much you may talk about deliverance.

Still, the fact remains that if we are reckoning ourselves dead to sin, we are free, free from conflict and free from its allurement. This position is therefore the very basis of holiness, and of a life to God.

We may notice here, too, the importance of salvation being their song. The apostle enforces this upon the Colossians, that they be established in the faith as they have been taught, and abounding therein "with thanksgiving." If our hearts are not full of the joy of the deliverance, the deliverance can scarcely be in proper realization. There is power in joy to keep the soul. "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Happiness with Christ and holiness are linked together; therefore the apostle at the dose of the first part of the Epistle to the Romans speaks of "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the reconciliation." Joy in God is indeed a further thing, a thing beyond joy in salvation, but here they unite. This song on the other side of the sea is a song of praise to God, and if our hearts are there we shall find emphatically how strong we are. The apostle therefore urges upon us:"Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice;" and this joy is of necessity worship also:it is a song of salvation.

The second point which we find in the song is that now of a certainty they see that God will bring them through to His own habitation. We shall find this character marking the close of the two divisions of the doctrinal part of the Epistle to the Romans. First, in the fifth chapter we have this conclusion, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." And again, "If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." "His life" here, we must remember, is not Christ's life before the cross, but after it, life in resurrection, that life in which He lives before God for us; that life therefore of which He says to His disciples, "Because I live, ye shall live also." It is Himself in the presence of God, Himself accepted, brought finally out of death-Himself abiding in His own unchangeable perfection, abiding there for us and we in Him, which is the absolutely sufficient argument for the perseverance of the saint himself. His perseverance is in fact Christ's perseverance for him; his being carried through is linked with Christ being his representative already in the presence of God.

Therefore in the question of priesthood, of who is able to carry a people through the wilderness-spite of all that is in them and all that is around them-it is the rod that buds out of death in the sanctuary, and bears blossoms and yields almonds, which is the sign of a true priest. He has come through death, and come out of it. He is a risen priest, the representative of His people, whose own presence in the glory necessitates theirs. If justified by Christ's blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. If reconciled by His death when we were enemies, much more we shall be saved by His life.

In the 8th chapter-our position as having passed to the other side of the sea-we have a more decisive challenge, as it were a defiance of everything to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There everything that can possibly come is looked at:"Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come." "Things to come" necessarily must cover whatever there may be of suffering; whatever there may be of temptation; whatever there may be of change.

But notice another thing here; it is to God's habitation we are coming. Now God brings us to His own house. We have nothing of this until we have the story of redemption complete. A redeemed people is redeemed to God-to have for Himself and with Himself forever. "In my Father's house," says the Lord, "are many mansions … I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am ye may be also." "Where I am," is Christ's own eternal dwelling-place. "I am" is the phrase descriptive of unchanging Deity. No earth however beautiful and adorned, not even a new earth, we may say, is for us the "Father's house." The Father's house is where the Father is, where the Son dwells.

But there is a third thing, another habitation which His people are to prepare for Him. "He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation," they say. This points, clearly, to the tabernacle in the wilderness in which God's presence was manifested to His people. This tabernacle which the people's hands and hearts prepared for Jehovah, was of course a very different thing from the people who prepared it. Israel was in no sense God's house. We must go to the New Testament to find this. Now, Christians are His house. We have thus the truth of 1st Corinthians uniting to the truth of Romans. We have passed through the doctrine of Romans, we may say, and now find ourselves in Corinthians. The Church is the house of God. It is also the body of Christ, and here we have what passes all figures. What a wonderful testimony it is, even now, to the completeness of our redemption, that God Himself can, as Scripture expresses it, dwell in us and walk among us! The Holy Ghost can dwell in our bodies, as individuals, and dwell in the saints collectively as the house of God.

It is evident that this could not be, if the question of our sins were not settled, and of our nature also. It is as in Christ before God, sanctified in Christ, and therefore absolutely perfect, that the Holy Ghost can dwell in us. And if we have the house of God before us, and the saints as that house in which He dwells, we cannot but remember how holiness is linked with this house. "Holiness becometh thy house, O God, for ever." He who dwells in it, must have it according to His own mind- must be Master in it. Our own wills will not do, even religiously. It is not every one doing what is right in his own eyes, even though it be right. God's word must be that by which our service is in all things directed.

How little, oftentimes, we think of this. Measuring things by a mere rule of right and wrong, we never really estimate them aright. The question is, What is His will for us? Can He be unconcerned about our path, our walk and ways? Who would desire any other than the way of perfect wisdom and perfect love? Who would desire to follow his own will into the ditch, where it surely would lead him? Who could think of taking more care for himself than God takes for him? or of being wiser than He? or of having power to shape his path which God has not? Thus that sanctification which is ours in Christ becomes a practical thing to us.

We must now follow Israel into the wilderness, which begins from this point. It is not a condition of failure to be in the wilderness, but a consequence of redemption. The world is not for sense a wilderness; it is for faith.

This truth of a wilderness is not in itself a pleasant, but a bitter thing. The good of it is in the necessity that brings God in. The wilderness is a place of most wonderful display of divine power and of divine love, but it is evidently the necessity of the people which occasions it. Had the wilderness brought forth bread for them, there would have been no bread from heaven. Had it produced water, there would have been no need for the water from the rock. God's supplies are not proportioned to the necessity, but occasioned by it. They are more than proportioned; the supply is over-abundant.

Here, in this chapter which is begun with the joy of salvation, we find for the first time the true meaning of the wilderness.

"And when they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore the name of it was called Marah."

Lying low by its shore, the saltness of the sea rendered, and still renders, the waters brackish. It is the sea itself, let us notice, that makes the bitterness of Marah. Now, if the sea is death, as we have seen, we shall easily understand how this gives the realization of the wilderness as the place of death, which not only provides nothing for our thirst, but what is there is provocative of thirst. Just so is the wilderness to us as a redeemed people. It is a place where that death, which in Christ we have passed through, as Israel passed through the sea, meets us and presents itself to our taste.

Naturally we shrink from it. The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? Marah Is in itself never pleasant. The Christian's spirit with regard to all the sorrow and sin that is in the world can never be apathy, never indifference. We are never placed in a position in which not to feel what a scene we are passing through. On the contrary, we are in the very position in which we shall feel it. It is as redeemed we come to Marah. It is as having been brought through the sea that we have to drink it. The Lord has not tasted this path for us to keep us from tasting it; but on the contrary, the death which we have escaped from we are yet called to realize as characterizing the whole scene through which we pass. But God has a remedy:

"The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet."

We know this tree. Surely it is a simple fact that the cross of Christ makes what is naturally bitter sweet to us. It is the fellowship of His sufferings; and the knowledge of suffering with Him, what can it not sweeten? We are sharing His experiences who gives us therein to realize the wonderful path in which divine love led Him for our sakes. We have the reality of His sympathy with us. We have communion with Himself in such a way as we could not else enjoy, for nothing brings hearts together like sharing a common lot of toil and sorrow.

The cross was, as we know, not only that upon which atonement was wrought, but it was also the end of His whole sorrowful pathway; the lowest point in it, which He had been steadfastly pursuing from the first moment of His entrance upon the path. The body prepared Him was that He might die in it. It was necessary for Him to be made in all things like unto His brethren. It became Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Perfect in Himself He always was. Perfect, as the Leader of salvation, He became through suffering, and we follow our Leader in this-not as regards atonement, of course, which is His work alone, as the Lord distinguishes in His words to Peter. He tells him, "Thou canst not follow Me now." When atonement was in view, Peter could not follow; when atonement is made, Peter can follow, "Thou shalt follow Me afterwards."

In that sense, the cross is that which we may bear with Him. It is linked with the glory, as what characterizes our path now. We follow a rejected Master. We are made partakers of His sufferings-sufferings which are peculiar to us as His followers-not the experience of what falls to the common lot of men. It is not the bitterness of enduring the ills which "flesh is heir to," but that which results from being linked with Christ in His path of suffering here. "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him." If we endure shame, rejection, persecution for Him, the sweet reality of being thus linked with Him makes Marah sweet.

Then, it is added, "He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them, and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee." Here a special exemption is promised them:the diseases which God brought upon Egypt are to be escaped from conditionally. But in order to escape from them, they must endure the test which God here applies to them. Marah is in fact this test. It is at Marah, that the Lord makes this ordinance with them. If we accept the path of sorrow and trial which the Lord gives us, we shall escape the afflictions which are His judgments upon His people when they take their place with the world. And how many of His people prove them, because they will not accept the path of rejection with Himself.

How important it is to realize this condition-which, let us remember, is not a legal one in any wise. Let us not confound conditions with legality. Very different, they are. Under the government of God, we must of necessity submit ourselves to the laws of His government, and God will and must manifest Himself a holy governor, who has power to enforce also the statutes of His holiness. And let us be assured, He has made for us too a statute and an ordinance whereby He proves us. The question is to us also, whether we will hearken to His voice and do that which is right, not in our own sight, but in His.

This is what divine love says to us as His redeemed. Love itself cannot give us escape from the necessity of conforming to these conditions. It would not be love to do so. We shall find at the last how only in this way we could enter into some of the deepest secrets of God. It is here in this scene of sin and sorrow that we are in fact learning Christ-the Christ whom we are to enjoy forever. We cannot even in the glory learn what we must learn here upon earth. But to learn Christ's path of sorrow, there must on one hand be sorrow of our own, as on the other hand it is, so to speak, lost in the infinite joy of being made like Him, and learning that in Him which is to be ours forever.

Marah being passed, "They came to Elim where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters." They are the divine provision of refreshment for a thirsty people. When we have conformed ourselves to God's conditions we find that the water is not always such as must be sweetened for us, but refreshingly sweet-a pure unalloyed satisfaction and joy, which has no sorrow in it.

Twelve wells of water give us the thought of God's grace being still in the order of His government. It is in having submitted ourselves to Christ's yoke that we come to this rest-"Ye shall find rest to your souls" (Matt. 11:29). F. W. Grant

Lecture XI.

SPIRIT AND FLESH (Exodus, chap. 17.)

"Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure," says the prophet of salvation. We have seen how the first part of this was fulfilled to delivered Israel; we are now to see the fulfilment of the rest; with deepest significance in their application to us, as those upon whom "the ends of the ages have come," and for whom their accumulated wealth of blessing has been reserved.

In the gift of water, as of bread, we find the stamp of grace. It was in answer to the people's murmuring that it was sent.

"And the people did chide with Moses, . . . and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go:behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink."

Grace is a mightier triumph over sin than is judgment. When we look through the figure to the reality, how mighty is the triumph here! For the interpretation we have the 7th chapter of John, as the 6th has already interpreted the manna for us.

In this 7th chapter the Feast of Tabernacles had come -the remembrance of that wilderness-journey past, of which the manna speaks as of a present thing. Divine power has brought them to the land, but, alas, Israel has not recognized the Hand that has led them there. Himself is there, but unknown, unrecognized-He is not the Master of the feast, but the witness of its hollowness. Thus He goes not up at first, but after it has begun, and not openly, but in secret. Then in the last, the great, day of the feast, in which its mockery would become apparent, "Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." And the inspired historian adds, "This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

Thus if the manna shows forth the Lord upon earth, in humiliation and rejection,. the living water depends upon His exaltation and glory. If men are to be recipients of the Holy Ghost, His blessed life on earth alone suffices not for this:the work must be accomplished for them which alone enables them to receive, or God to give, this unspeakable gift. The glorification of Jesus in fact begins in the very depth of His humiliation. It is on the night of His betrayal-the traitor having been dismissed to do the terrible work to which he had sold himself, and the cross being now in near and full view-that the Lord says to His few faithful ones, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him" (John 13:31,32). Thus, in the cross, the Son of Man was glorified, and all the bright display of divine perfection shone out there. What manifestation of power could so exhibit God in His innermost nature, as where for man He stooped to human weakness and more than human suffering? What judgment upon sin could so tell out His holiness as where in atoning sorrows "righteousness and peace kissed each other?" Nowhere was sin seen so evil-nowhere God so supreme in goodness.

Hence if God were glorified in the Son of Man after this fashion, God must, as the result of this, glorify Him in Himself. Christ's present place is the witness of what that work is to God. He is exalted to heaven that all may see and rejoice in it. And, upon earth, the descent of the Holy Spirit as the divine seal put upon the men who are the fruit of His work, is as complete a testimony to the efficacy of His work.

In view of all this, this scene in Exodus becomes most significant. Here Horeb, "the dry place," yields water. The Lord Himself is there. He stands upon the rock which is to display at once His power, His sufficiency and His grace. The rod which had smitten the river smites it -the rod of power in behalf of His people-and the streams gush out in abundant supply for all Israel's thirsty multitude. The smiting of our living Rock has created for us a spring of refreshment and satisfaction as inexhaustible as the eternal source from which it comes; and its source is in God Himself-the God whose name is love.

The type of water is pregnant with instruction, as that which supplies man's strongest craving, and deepest necessity. Thirst unsatisfied kills sooner than hunger; nor can hunger itself be really satisfied where thirst is not, at least in a measure, met. A glance at the need to which water ministers will enable us to understand this.

Without water most fruitful soil is unable to yield nourishment to the rootlets of the plant, which will die of drought in the midst of abundance. Water dissolves the nutriment, and supplies it in a shape suited to be taken up and assimilated into sap and juice. In the plant, and in the animal body, every constituent part is saturated with water, which alone enables it to fulfil its function and take its place in living relation to the whole. How perfect and beautiful an expression thus of that constant ministry of the Spirit, with which for due and healthy life we must be "filled," and by which alone we are enabled to absorb and digest all spiritual food!

From the beginning of all true life on earth it was so. Every one who has preceded us upon the path of faith has been sustained of the Spirit as born of the Spirit at first. This is not peculiar to Christian times. Yet the streams from the smitten Rock have in them that which is peculiar, and we should learn surely to appreciate and thankfully acknowledge the distinctive grace that has been shown toward us. All streams carry with them the witness of their source to the soil through which they flow. The Spirit of God is come down to us, is the fruit of accomplished redemption and of our acceptance, and the Spirit of adoption is within us, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. A new relationship to God, in and through His Beloved, such as could not have been known before is now made consciously our own. "At that day," says He, in anticipation of it, "ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." Thus the Spirit ministers Christ, and in Him the Father; communion with the Father and the Son becomes our portion, and herein fulness of joy is ours. It may rebuke the littleness of our apprehension of it to be told that, in result of the Spirit's presence in us, "rivers of living water" would flow out from us; for the vessel is not the measure of the stream at all.

The last half of our chapter is the history of another thing. A new foe appears; one but too well known, and conflict with whom is but too constant an experience of the redeemed of the Lord.

The new foe is Amalek; we have his genealogy in the book of Genesis. He was a grandson of Esau or Edom, whose latter name, earned by his actions, is almost identical with Adam. Esau, the "profane person, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright," and when he would have inherited the blessing was rejected, is thus a representative of the "old man."

If we compare this chapter in Exodus with the 20th of Numbers, we shall find a strikingly similar scene in the first part of each, though separated in time by nearly forty years. The murmuring of the people in their thirst; the name Meribah (strife) given in each case to the place; the water brought from the rock to supply their thirst; and while in Exodus conflict with Amalek follows, in Numbers, correspondingly, follows a scene with Edom. There are great differences too, but the coincidences are not meaningless; there is nothing hap-hazard in the word of God; and I point them out as confirmation of the view I take, that Amalek typifies the flesh's will, or lust. The apostle Peter refers to this, it seems to me, when he says, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."

"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to the other, so that ye may not do the things that ye would" (Gal. 5:17). "May not" is the literal rendering of this passage -not "cannot," as the common version reads. The constant opposition between "flesh" and "spirit" is to hinder the man who has the Spirit from doing what he would. If it said "cannot," it would deny the power of the Spirit to control the flesh. On the contrary, the apostle says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." But the flesh is still there for all that; ready, alas, ever to assert itself. How solemn in this way to find, when spiritually interpreted, after the water from the rock, the conflict with Amalek!

We must mark just with what Scripture associates this attack of Amalek. The connections in Scripture are very important; and the exact connection we shall find to be this:

"And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim."

That is, the moral link as thus given, is not between the gift of the water and Amalek's onset, but between the unbelief of the people and this attack.

Let us particularly note that Amalek assaults Israel, not Israel Amalek. God had not called to this war. He had not said, Seek out Amalek and destroy him; but Amalek seeks out Israel; and Israel's unbelief exposes them to the attack. So the apostle does not say, "War against fleshly lusts," but "abstain" from them-which, if it were done, no war would ensue; if not, then fleshly lusts war against you:you are entangled, and need to fight.

This sort of conflict is not a necessity of God's imposing, but the result of faith not having been in exercise as it should be. Did we "hold off from" the lusts of the flesh by the whole length of death with Christ to sin, as we have already seen it-were we actually reckoning ourselves dead, as we are bound and entitled to do-conflict of this kind we would not have:dead men neither fight nor are allured. The apostle similarly presses the force of it by saying, "He that is dead is freed" (or rather "justified") "from sin." That is, you cannot charge lusts upon a dead man. This, of course, is faith's reckoning, but it is a true one. Let us hold fast to this, that we have died with Christ, and give no place to the flesh and its lusts. This is faith's prerogative, our privilege, our duty.

This conflict, then, comes from faith's failure, with us as with Israel in the picture here. Being entangled, we must fight in order to be free; and this chapter in Exodus may teach us the method of it.

A new leader appears now against this new foe:

"And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek … So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek."

Joshua is Jesus. The names, as we know, are the same, and Christ in us is our Leader now. Christ acting by the Spirit is distinctively what Joshua represents to us, the Captain of our salvation, who leads us into the practical apprehension of our portion in the heavenly places into which He is gone. It is most important to realize that, for fighting the battles of the wilderness, we want such a Leader. A positive link with the heavenlies must be sustained in order to have successful conflict upon earth. Thus the appearance of Joshua fitly connects with the water from the rock, type, as we have seen, of the ministry of the Spirit. This tells us too that, while in a certain sense, wilderness experience may precede Canaan experience, yet the two must in fact go together for successful traversing the wilderness itself. We want the positive enjoyment of what is ours in the heavens in order to be really pilgrims and strangers upon earth. And this we shall find all through these types henceforth.

Joshua, then, is our leader; but even Joshua's success is dependent, as we see directly, upon Moses being on the hill-top before God, and the holding up of the rod of power-God's rod, as it is significantly called here-before Him. If Moses' hands are kept up, Israel prevails; but if Moses' hands are let down, then Amalek prevails. They put, therefore, a stone under Moses, and Aaron and Hur on either side hold up his hands, and his hands are upheld till the going down of the sun. "And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword."

Moses is here also a type of Christ, as he is almost everywhere. And his position on the mount, holding up the rod of power, speaks plainly enough of Christ gone in to God, presenting before Him the value of that work in which divine power has acted in behalf of His people. All spiritual actings in us depend upon the position Christ has taken for us. And these supporters of Moses' hands figure, as it seems, that in Him (not external to Him) which keeps Him in the place He has taken for us. On the one hand Aaron represents the priestly character of One "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," gracious and compassionate; on the other, Hur, "white," speaks to us as the manna did, of one who fully reflects the light which God is. Here, then, is mercy towards man, with righteousness Godward:an "Advocate with the Father," and also "Jesus Christ the righteous."

Thus we prevail:Christ's action in us depending upon His acting for us; and Amalek is defeated. Blessed be God for this security as to all His own! It is our only hope and confidence.

But, while all this is surely true, I feel that some will ask, Is there nothing on our part in defeating the enemy? The question is reasonable and right. Let us seek to answer it.
In the first place, it is as important as it is plain, that our dependence is upon Christ all through. Joshua, Moses, Aaron, Hur, surround us with testimonies of our dependence and His care. And he who knows himself best, will know how needful is this reminding. We are prone to go in our own strength instead of His, and even when failure testifies of our weakness, we are still prone to lean upon it as if we had strength.

Here, Joshua is the Leader, that is, Christ as entered into the heavenly places. It is occupation with Him there that gives power over our enemies here, and. frees us from the power of earthly things. Of this the whole series of wilderness types constantly bears witness. We cannot insist too strongly upon its importance.

Let us remember, too, that it was "with the edge of the sword" Joshua discomfited his enemies; and the "sword of the Spirit is the word of God." It is this which "pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." It is this which enables for self-judgment, which is really the judgment of the foes of our peace and blessing. Our Amalek is within. Our battleground is that of our own hearts. The citadel secured, all foes have lost their vantage ground and means of access to us; God Himself can be manifestly for us; and if God be for us, who can be against us?

How good to have in this Word what completely exposes us to ourselves, and the world also amid which we move, and with which our natural links are! How blessed, above all, is its testimony to my soul that Christ is for me, loves, is mine own; who not only searches me out, but enables me to welcome the searching! The light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shines down into my heart, and my heart unfolds to receive it as a flower to bathe itself in the warmth and brightness of the summer sun. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Real dependence upon God on the one hand, thorough subjection to His Word on the other, these principles with one who knows redemption and acceptance in the Beloved, are what will carry him safe and victorious through all oppositions and hindrances. They will enable him to break through every entanglement and allurement of the "fleshly lusts which war against the soul." Only let us again remember, and be thankful for it, that what we are called to is not continual conflict, nor (properly indeed) conflict at all, but the happier path of those who have died unto sin once, and in that they live, live unto God; who reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amalek is beaten off, but Amalek is not destroyed. Israel have gained nothing by the conflict; and by the victory only a free and unobstructed road. If we know what this means, let us bless God for it, and in peace pursue our way. The battle with Amalek was but an episode in their history, not a day by day struggle, as so many of us find it, and make it to be. In the epistle to the Philippians, the epistle of Christian experience, properly so called, the flesh is only mentioned to say, "We have no confidence in it"; and these "are the true circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." May we be more fully such!

We reach in the next chapter the end of the first section of the book of Exodus; and of this final chapter I can say little in connection with the story of our redemption. I shall close, therefore, here. We have followed out, so far as I have been able to read it, the deliverance of the people of God from the hand of the enemy, a type of our own from one more dread and mighty. We have traced out briefly, the provision made for them in the wilderness into which they are now come.

May our hearts prize these wonderful lessons more; and may God make them to us all that He designed in writing them, and laying them up for instruction!

Dear Brother L.—

….You will rejoice with us that after long waiting upon the Government, we are now given a site for our Mission to the Navaho Indians. Our daughter Marie and her husband (Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Girdner) have recently come from Albuquerque, New Mex., where they lived for a year and a half because we had no room for them here, and could not build till a site was granted. We (my wife and I) are getting old, and feel the need of younger ones to take our places in this field.

Miss Barker is with her parents in California for a few weeks, which provides a little room for the present; but our young people need a home and should be by themselves, and the Lord is directing us to "arise and build." We have engaged a man to quarry the rock, as we are near a quarry, and lumber and other material are very high, and must be hauled by team about 100 miles, which is very costly. So rock is the cheapest as well as the best material for us. We purpose to build a two-roomed house a few rods from our present place….

With Christian love, H. A. Holcomb.

[It is now three years since our brother made application to the Government for this as a missionary center to the oft-moving Navaho Indians of north-eastern Arizona and adjoining parts of New Mexico. For a number of years Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb, with their daughter, Clara, have done pioneer work among the Navahos through all kinds of privations and self-denial in "a dry and thirsty land"-literally so physically, and spiritually too, although precious fruit has been manifested among the Indians, as was shown in Help and Food, Sept., and Dec., 1922. Let help and the prayers of God's people sustain this pioneer work.]-Ed.

Their P.O. address (over 50 miles from their little dwelling) is:

Immanuel Mission to the Navahos, Shiprock, New Mexico.

Translated from the French Beloved Brethren:

…. What reason we have to thank God who called us, and pushed us into His harvest! The blessing given excites the Roman clergy as you will see by the newspaper clipping I enclose. They warn the people against us, and what they call our "Protestant heresy." But the Lord gives us open doors, and many hearts receive the glad tidings of His grace which they had never heard.

Of late I have labored in localities where I have not been before, and whilst the labor has been arduous many precious souls have professed to receive the salvation of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

At Epinois and Grand Conty great encouragement was given me. I was there four years ago, and set forth the salvation of God to a family in mourning. The aged mother was bowed down in sorrow, but her sorrow was then turned to joy. "I thank God," she says, "for your coming four years ago, for I have been happy ever since, reading the New Testament you gave me." Six more souls there have professed to receive Jesus as their Saviour. A very interesting case was that of the head station-master. Having accepted a tract and a Gospel, in the conversation that followed he opened his heart to me, saying, "I am miserable, with inward troubles, and would like to know the way to God. I have conversed with persons said to be very religious, and one advised doing one thing, and another something else; but instead of giving peace I am more cast down than ever."

Oh, how happy I was to have the precious gospel to present to this burdened and sincere soul! As under the eye of God we turned to the Scriptures. The dear man was shocked by the statement that our righteousnesses, or best deeds, are as filthy rags before God. "Really, is it what God says ?" he enquired. I affirmed that it is, then said, "It is for such that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus, took a human body in which to die in our stead." He wept for joy as he understood that he was the sinner for whom Jesus died, and he exclaimed, "Now I can say that Jesus is my Saviour!" He accompanied me to the station and urged that I should soon come again- which I hope to do-but said, "Now you have the Book (referring to the Scriptures I gave him), read it as God's word to you."

Since my last letter to you, I have labored in 16 different localities, and thank God for the privilege of spreading His "glad tidings."

I pray the dear brethren over-seas, who have at heart the work of God, to bear me up before Him for the prosperity of the gospel in these regions where it has not been proclaimed before. Octave Dandoy.

Dear Brethren:

We have been in Brittany for nearly a month, and the Lord has encouraged us much. Mr. LeGarrec came to meet me in Cholet, where we spent over a week together, and the Congo, who had asked me if he could spend some weeks in France, in order to improve in the French language, and also for his health.

He stayed with us three weeks, and I am glad to say that he was cheered to see the way the Lord was working for us. The time spent was also of great benefit for his health, as he went away feeling stronger and able to take the responsibility of meetings. We managed to accommodate the three of us in the van, though it was a little crowded. The Lord was very gracious to us all along the way.

I hope to start to-morrow on my way back home, and Mr. Le Garrec intends to go to Quiberon, his native place, in this province. I hope to give details of the work through "France and Work," by and by.

With much love to you and to all, Louis J. Germain

A Series of Meditations on Prayer

SEVENTH PAPER "IN MY NAME."

John's Gospel was written to unfold the glories of Christ as Son of God, and because of its wondrous theme is of the four divine biographies, the deepest and most precious, in a volume where all is deep and all is precious! And it is perhaps not saying too much if we add that the very holy of holies of this tabernacle of truth is the chapter-series from thirteen to seventeen. In this section we see our blessed Lord, shut in with "His own," instructing them as to their path, revealing secrets hitherto unknown, and praying for them in the most sacred intimacy.

And it is here that we get much valuable instruction about prayer, which was to be the resource of His tried and needy people during His absence.

He first speaks of prayer in connection with service. In chap. 14:12-14 He says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it."

Perhaps few of His sayings have been more perverted or misunderstood than these. Let us weigh them carefully as He evidently desired that we should. His solemn "verily, verily," is always a challenge to our hearts, and bids us pause and thoughtfully consider what follows.

His works have testified to the Father's delight in Him, and attested His Messiahship. Now He is going away, and He empowers His disciples to continue the hallowed service which He had begun. Undoubtedly this involved, for a time at least, the power to work miracles, though it would be a great mistake to confine it to that. What were "the works" He did? Luke 7:22 gives the answer. "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard:how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." These were His works, and of these the last is by no means least. As for the other works we have only to read the Acts to see how truly they did follow His believing apostles, thus corroborating the message they carried to a godless world. They did not heal everybody, nor were there many occasions when the dead were raised, but they did "go everywhere preaching the Word." This was their great ministry, and miracles were but signs to attest their divine commission.

But what are the "greater works" which He promised they should do? Surely not miracles, as commonly understood. If we think of these, who has ever performed greater works of power than He? Have any of His disciples called from the tomb a man four days dead, and whose body was already corrupting? Have any stilled the waves, and quieted the winds by a word? Have any multiplied food so as to feed greater multitudes than He? The centuries answer, "No." The "greater works" cannot therefore refer to such wonders as these.

But, surely, the opening chapters of Acts, and in fact all the pages that follow, indicate what He meant. The conversion of thousands, the eventual overturning of the paganism of the Roman Empire by the advancing light of Christianity, the miraculous changes wrought, not only in a few individuals, but in whole communities, and even nations, by the power of the gospel, the widespread dissemination of the Holy Scriptures carrying light and salvation to myriads-these are the greater things which have been accomplished through the power of the promised Paraclete. And linked with this promise is His assurance regarding prayer. It is only as His servants pray that they see the glory of the Lord and behold His power working. And so He says, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do.. .If ye ask anything in My name, I will do it."

And again in chapter 15:16, He links the Father with Himself in thus answering, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain:that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you." Here is complete furnishing for the servant's path. All that is needed, all that faith can ask in His name, the Father and the Son engage to supply.

But let there be no mistake here. To present a petition and then to add, "In the name of the Lord Jesus," is not necessarily to pray in His name. If it were so, the promise would have failed more often than it has been fulfilled! For millions of such prayers have gone unheeded, as every thoughtful person knows. Yea, have not you often so prayed only to be denied?

But does this invalidate the promise? Surely not. It should lead one to inquire, "What is it to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus?" And the answer is clearly this:To pray in His name is to ask by His authority; and to ask by His authority is to ask in accordance with His will as revealed in His Word, thus bringing us back to what we were considering in our last paper.

Let me illustrate what I mean by citing three prayers that recently came to my attention. At a political convention sometime since, a chaplain offered the invocation. He prayed "that it may please Thee to give wisdom to select a man for this high office who will lead the party to victory," and he closed with the words, "This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ Thy Son."

At a rival convention a very similar prayer was offered and closed in almost the same language.

Now were either or both of these petitions "in the name" of Him whom the world rejects today as it rejected Him of old? Certainly God could not answer both of them. Nor if He seemed to answer one, by permitting the choice of one party to become President would that in itself be proof that the prayer of the chaplain had been in the name of Jesus.

About the time that my attention was called to these rival "prayers," I attended a little gathering where a few simple-minded Christians had met together to wait on God. There I heard one and another fervently pray for the country, for those in high office and for those aspiring thereto, that all might be so ordered that blessing might come to man and God be glorified, and that His people might lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness. This was prayer in accordance with the Word (1 Tim. 2:1-4), and therefore in the name-that is, by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

The conclusion is this:To pray in the name of Jesus I must be intelligent as to the mind of Christ, and be in fellowship with Him as to God's present and future plans.
If we go through the Acts and Epistles and notice how the expressions, "In the name of the Lord," "For His name's sake," and similar phrases are employed, we shall see this very clearly.

Baptism is in the name of Jesus Christ, or in the name of the Lord Jesus-that is, by His authority-therefore as owning subjection to Him. To the lame man Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." The apostles disavowed any personal holiness or power, but what they did was by His authority-as representing Him (Acts 3:12-16).

They prayed, "when let go," that "signs and wonders may be done by (or in) the name of thy Holy Child Jesus." This was in exact accord with the promise we have been considering. Preaching was in His name. Forgiveness was offered only through His name. Demons were cast out in His name; but when unregenerate men attempted to use that Holy Name as a part of a magical formula, they retreated in confusion, overcome by the power of Satan (Acts 19:13-16).

In the Epistles we learn that valid discipline was "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 5:4), and forgiveness was to be extended to the repentant offender "in the person of Christ," that is, by the apostle acting in the name, or by the authority of the Lord (2 Cor. 2:10). Evangelists went forth "for His name's sake, taking nothing of the Gentiles" (3 John 7), but cast entirely upon Himself, and therefore to be cared for by His people.

To these instances might be added many more, all proving clearly that "In my name" implies "By my authority."

As the soul enters into this, what a solemn thing does prayer become! It is no light matter to come before God bringing the petitions that the Holy Spirit lays upon the heart, in accordance with the revealed will of the Lord. To pray aright we must walk in the Spirit. To pray aright we must study to show ourselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth. To pray aright we must be in communion with Him who has said, "Whatsoever ye ask in my name, I will do it." Lord, teach us to pray! As we become intelligent as to what it is to pray in His name we shall be saved from many a disappointment.

Take, for instance, the question of bodily healing, which occupies so large a place in the thoughts of many to-day, when an ever-increasing emphasis seems to be laid upon what is purely physical. If the Lord had promised continued health of body to all obedient believers in this dispensation, or if His atonement was for sickness as well as for sin, then we would be authorized, not only to pray for, but claim healing on all occasions, providing there be self-judgment and confession of all known sin on our part. But facts are stubborn things, and facts prove conclusively that many of the godliest saints are familiar with affliction, with pain and sickness.

Moreover, those who advocate prayer as the divine and only remedy for illness, invariably succumb at last to some disease from which they pray to be healed, only to be denied. What then is the conclusion? Either that they are not praying in faith, or that it is not the will of God always to heal the bodies of His people in the present age. The latter is clearly the testimony of Scripture. We are "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," but we are not promised all temporal or physical blessings. We still await the redemption of the body. Therefore the prayer for health would be supplemented by subjection to the Father's will. We dare not demand healing "in the name" of the Lord because He has not authorized us thus to pray.
As one becomes better acquainted with the Word of God, and walks in the power of the Spirit, he will understand better what it means really to ask in the name that cannot be denied. H. A. I.
'THE BLESSED HOPE'