"The word of God is quick, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

How often we are hindered from discerning the Lord's body and appreciating the presence of the Lord by the waywardness of our minds, so aptly expressed in the lines of the hymn by J. N. Darby:

"No infant's changing pleasure Is like my wandering mind."

But we have the living and powerful Word of God as the discerner (the critic, or analyzer) of the thoughts of our inmost mind, and it is by allowing these wonderful Words of Life to permeate our being that we come to apprehend and enjoy the presence of the Lord.

A prevalent error, and one into which we are very liable to fall, is extracted from that scripture, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. 3:6), by wresting it from its context relating to the ministry of the New Covenant in contrast to the ministry of the Covenant which had been annulled.

We do well to hold fast to the letter of Scripture, because the tendency of the present day is to ignore the letter, and to make the spirit or the interpretation anything which suits the wayward mind of man to conceive. But while holding fast to the letter may we seek to be under the influence of the Spirit, and to cultivate acquaintanceship with the living, operative truth, because it is the spirit of truth which alone can expel the spirit of error, indigenous to the natural mind.

It is a prime necessity that we should indeed "believe not every spirit, but that we should try the spirits whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). The trial, or test, is by the living Word. The apostle John put on inspired record, "He that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us" (1 John 4:3). T. Oliver (Galashiels)

Calendar:April 16th to May 15th DAILY BIBLE READING ……. April 16th, John 19; April 30th, Acts 12; May 15th, Acts 27.

Inasmuch as Young Believers' Meetings are still held in various parts, we would welcome letters as to these for publication in the Young Believers' Department.

One such meeting has been carried on in Jersey City for years. It is held bi-monthly on Saturday evenings, and young Christians come from distant points to the homes designated for the various dates. One of the main features of these gatherings has been the asking and answering of questions. This has proven helpful and edifying, as it causes interesting and instructive discussions among those present. Local and laboring brethren have helped in the conducting of these meetings, but notes were not taken in the past. It is hoped, however, that this may be done in the future and a summary given here for the help of all.

On New Year's Eve we had a Watch-Night Meeting, the first part being taken up with the regular meeting, followed by hymn-singing, recitations, etc. Our brother John Bloore then gave a stirring message suited to the entering of the New Year, after which refreshments were served. Many expressed joy in having spent so profitable an evening dwelling on the things of the Lord.

While rejoicing that the Lord had blessed and kept us through the distressing conditions of these changing times, we hope and pray that this account will serve as an encouragement to similar meetings everywhere, and that there may be a renewal of interest where such have lagged or broken down. -Wm. B. Bigger.

(Isaiah 43:2)

(A letter from one in trial)

Thank you so much for your letter, also the tracts which I can use, for never have we felt our responsibility as now in being faithful to our blessed Lord who has done so much for us. When we see how hard the Devil is working to blind people's eyes and to mar the testimony of God's people, we His children who have power through Jesus Christ our Lord should never lose one single opportunity. Truly, wickedness is fast ripening for the coming judgment, and oh, brother, join me at the Throne of Grace in a petition to God to send a mighty revival amongst His children, beginning with my own heart. There is a dearth in the land, and it is only by our humbling ourselves before God, confessing our sins, seeking His face, allowing Him to search our hearts and try our thoughts, that He will answer our prayers and we be in the place where He can bless us and use us. May we be occupied with Him, doing always those things that are pleasing to Him, for we shall soon be looking on His blessed face, like Him, and sharing His glory. What an eternity before us! Even so; come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! Amen.

How I would like to see some of my brethren! It has been eighteen months since I have been outside the house, but am hoping, if the Lord tarries and it be His will, to get out when the weather settles. As soon as this month is over we will have to move into cheaper quarters, maybe in rooms, for obligations are getting heavier every day and no work, but are trusting the Lord to deliver us and make plain His will for us. Bear us up in prayer for guidance and help in this problem. I am around again, but not downstairs, and am feeling so much stronger. Please remember me to all my brethren, and tell them that my heart overflows with gratitude to God for laying it on their hearts to be so mindful of my needs. May the Lord doubly repay them and bless them.

In a world denied by sin, blighted by the curse, in the embrace cf the wicked one, its course disobedience, its doom approaching, strangership characterized the holy, sinless, blessed Lord. Nor can His true followers find this world to be anything but a barren wilderness, and their lot that of strangers, because they are away from home on the pilgrimage that proclaims they "seek a better country" fulfilling Heb. 11:13 by embracing "heavenly promises," viewing by faith the approaching glory and hastening thither with hearts "set on things above," where Christ is, sharing His earthly pathway and proving that "the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."

Lev. 25:23 lends sweetest encouragement. The High and Lofty One, the Lord of Glory, still confides to loyal hearts the loving assurance; "Ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." We take no heavenward steps alone. He gives His company to those who walk apart with Him. On the Emmaus road we read that "Jesus Himself drew near and went with them." "Lo I am with you alway" insures such companionship by the way "even to the end," that our hearts may well "burn within us" while "He talks to us and opens to us the Scriptures."

His desire to have us share His strangership our hearts should prize and respond to in the words of the Psalmist; Midst "prayers… and tears… I am a stranger with Thee and a sojourner" (Psalm 39:12). "I am a stranger in the earth" (Psalm 119:19).

The attractions of companionship with the heavenly Stranger induces separation from the world, and godly living, as 1 Peter 2:11 contemplates. "Fleshly desires which war against the soul," we readily "abstain from," who company with Him and occupy the place of sacred privilege as children in the "household of God" (Eph. 2:19), where no strangership obtains.

"No more strangers and foreigners," but at home in that dear circle of the Father's love, we may even now and all the while we are journeying heavenward as a "holy" and "royal" priesthood, minister "acceptable sacrifices" Godward, and before men, we may "show forth the virtues of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light," thus responding to the divine appeal to "strangers and pilgrims" to evidence that the One "disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God," is the "preciousness" that attracts our hearts away from even the brightest and best of transient earthly objects, impelling us to sing;

" 'Tis the treasure we've found in His love
That has made us now pilgrims below."

E. J. Checkley

Life is one of the greatest words in the New Testament. Christ is reported in the four Gospels as using it more than seventy times. Paul used it fifty-two times, Luke twenty-seven, and John more than seventy. All these evidently loved the word. Life, eternal life, is what the believer has, and which the unsaved have not. No matter how great a man is in this world, or how wealthy, or learned, if he has not the life that Christ gives, the life which is the gift of God, he has nothing but an opportunity to obtain it. So no matter how poor, weak, ignorant, or despised any one is, if he has life in Christ he is safe, saved, blessed for eternity.

Life means joy, peace, every blessing that man can possess-that is the life in Christ, the life that is God's gift. The one having this life may suffer much; in the world he has tribulation and chastening because of this new and blessed life; for Satan and all the powers of darkness hate those possessing this wonderful gift. They cannot have it. In this the poorest and weakest human being is vastly superior to any and all the powers of darkness. To be a human being and have the opportunity of obtaining life, places a man vastly above any evil spirit or power of darkness. Life, light, and salvation are in the reach of any human being who is not guilty of an eternal sin, and so long as he is on the earth; but no demon, no evil spirit of any kind or degree, has the least hope of privilege of life or salvation.

Life is the gift of God. Existence is that. But eternal life, which is the life that comes through Christ, is far more than existence. If we read 1 Tim. 6:19, "That they may lay hold of that which is really life," we get the idea. Unbelief will not have it that there is another life distinct from existence, but this is a doctrine of darkness. If men's minds can be kept from thinking there is another life, eternal life, they will not look for it, will not obtain it, but will share the eternal abode of Satan and his angels. How men hate the truth that would set them free from death, deliver them from the power of Satan, and make them eternally happy with Christ!

"Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me love death" (Prov. 8:34-36). "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). Those who have not this life need to be stirred up to "lay hold on eternal life;" those who have it need to be exhorted to prize it, to enjoy it to the full, to live daily in the power of it. Note, reader, that this life is obtained by receiving a Person, believing in Him, trusting Him, giving ourselves to Him, yielding ourselves into His hands to be saved, kept, blessed.

Then, when we have this life, we are to walk with this blessed Person daily and steadily, loving Him, trusting Him, rejoicing in Him. It is wonderful that we can begin every day of our life here communing with this glorious Person, living in Him, and by Him, rejoicing in Him, praising Him, thanking Him, asking Him for whatever we need. Doing this is "really life." The weariness of existence is gone for ever. The heart-hunger is satisfied. There is a peace dwelling within of which
nothing can rob us.

But there are storms, testings, chastenings, corrections, instruction in righteousness. There are sorrows, losses, tribulations, just as Christ said there would be. "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).He who spoke those words spoke eternal truth. He had overcome the world. A few moments afterwards He said, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do [hast given Me]" (John 17:4). God saw the work done. He calls "those things which be not, as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). The world had not caused Christ to swerve one hair's breadth from doing the will of God; His power is for our path through the world; we can always and ever "take courage" from Christ's presence. Many possessors of life in Christ have had their eyes so opened, the "eyes of their hearts," that they see Christ with them in every trial, danger, temptation, and need.

We know His Spirit dwells within us. We know that He .meets every need. Have we failed in any way? Have we been unfaithful?1 John 1:9 and 2:1 tell us what to do. Any one who has life can lift up the heart to Christ in any place, at any time. He hears, He sees the need, He can meet it. There will surely be tribulation, there will be chastening. Why? Because in no other way can we learn the lessons He sees we need. He takes sinners, saves them, but they need teaching, training. They have life, but where there is life there is growth. He will have us learn His power to provide, but if there were no need He could make no provision for need. He teaches us to trust in Him. "Taught of God!" The daily living is daily learning, and what a difference it makes when we are conscious of walking with Him! We are learning what it is to live out the life God has given us.

It is important to notice that the Lord called these men to Himself. It was His call that caused them to forsake that which had engaged them, that they "might be with Him." It was to be in His company, to sit at His feet, to hear His words, and also to share in His work among men, to which they were called. They did not first of all choose this; it was His choice for them. It was His call; and in obedience, they rose up and followed Him. There was faith in Him on their part which recognized the heavenly Voice with which He spoke. It commanded their immediate acceptance. Had there been hesitancy it would have revealed their unfitness for that to which they were called. But the Lord knew His men, for He had already implanted the seed of faith in their souls. They had listened to the testimony of John, the Lord's fore-runner, and believed that testimony, and so were "prepared" for the Lord. When He called, they obeyed and followed HIM.

These men were not yet apostles. First they were disciples, that is, learners, students of their incomparable Master. They did not study books, although there was one Book which they had known from childhood, and it was their familiarity with its sayings which enabled them to recognize in John's teaching the authority of Heaven. By the same Scriptures they knew that Jesus was from God; for they found in Him the exact fulfilment of Him that was to come, as the Scriptures had foretold.

Aside from the Old Testament Scriptures, these disciples had no other writings. But they had what was infinitely greater. They had the Lord Himself. The Lord of glory was here in their very midst, and He had confined Himself to their nation, choosing His ancient people Israel as His temple, that from them the glory of His grace and truth might shine out .to the nations of the earth, lighting them up with its bright rays, dispelling darkness and sin throughout the earth.

Yet it is most significant that coming to Israel, the Lord did not choose as His followers those who were the recognized leaders and teachers of the nation. Indeed, He seems to have passed by Judea, with its great temple, and all else which man esteemed so highly. Having Himself become poor, He chose some from the poor of the flock to feed and to shepherd His sheep. And if it stirred to envy the Pharisees and the scribes that Jesus did not identify Himself and His ministry with Judea but rather with despised Galilee "of the Gentiles," it bore witness too that in all they counted worthy He saw nothing which bore the image of His Father.

We see the Lord's grace in the fact that He called those illiterate and humble men to be associated with Him in dispensing His heavenly bounties. Not that those who were regarded as the great ones among men could have added any luster to such a position; for it is not what man is able to attain to by human effort, nor any place which his fellows can afford him, be it ever so honorable in the eyes of men, that can make him truly great. It is ever and always according to the divine mind that, "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, but he that exalteth himself shall be abased." And in the Judaism of His day, the Lord found abundant growth of pride and its many evil accompaniments; but nothing of the lowliness and humility which became a people to whom so much had been committed, and who had yielded so little of the precious fruit of the Spirit.

But the Lord's grace is seen in this rather, that while He needed not any help of man, it pleased Him to link men with Him in His ministry to man. He called these fishermen, tax-collectors, and others around Himself, that they might get to know Him, and thus to train them in His inimitable manner for that to which He was about to commission them. How wonderful that the Lord of all creation, abundantly sufficient to care for any and all need, however great it might be, should yet lay hold upon these few despised Galileans, that through them, and others like them, He might dispense His grace and truth to a needy world!

It is to be noted that Peter, James, John and Andrew, were pursuing their daily occupation when called by the Lord. He saw them as they went forth to their work, and how with purpose of heart they entered upon their humble calling. They were not ambitiously minded, as if restless for something higher in the estimation of this world, and as engaged in their work only through force of circumstances. It was rather that they regarded their fishing and all that belonged to it as part of their lives, to be lived before the eye of God who had set them in their lowly place. How different this from so much which is seen today in men and women eager to be seen and heard by their fellows, and forcing themselves to the front, that they might, perchance, be "highly esteemed among men."

We would not wish to be thought of as seeking to discourage any, even the most humble, who might consider that the Lord was calling him to something other than that to which circumstances here have placed him. But it is one thing to have even a right desire, and quite another to have the Lord call one to a field of labor other than that which his hands have found to do. If I choose for myself, even though my choice be a noble one, it is far short of waiting for the Lord to choose for me how and what He would have me do for Him. May it not be that many of the self-chosen ones are responsible for the mischief which has come upon the testimony of our Lord in this day? If I intrude myself into a path for which the Lord, has not fitted or called me, what can follow but disaster, for myself and for those with whom I come in contact?

If my wish is to attain to a public place, where I may be seen and heard, that is a most unworthy desire, one sure to result in dishonor to Christ, distress to my brethren, and great harm to myself. Indeed, the very desire shows a state of soul far from God. Though I might long to serve the Lord in some particular sphere, unless He has fitted and called me to that place, I must rebel against Him if I follow out my own wish in regard to it. Certainly the Head of the Body knows what place He has assigned me in which to serve His members. I need have no fear that He has left me without service of some kind. There is no member but what is needful to the Body, and, we may add also, to the Head. The members of Christ are said to be His "fulness." He in His infinite grace, has taken that place in regard to His people during this present time, in which they are so related to Himself that they are necessary to fill and satisfy His heart. And while He can have no need or insufficiency in Himself, yet, since His members are part of Himself, as much as the hand is part of the body, we are therefore ministering to Himself when we minister to the least of His own. We are helping to fill up the lack which might exist in the Body of Christ, when we serve Christ in that place for which He has called and fitted us. The disciples called by the Lord were first of all attracted to Himself. He it was who filled their eyes and heart. We read of the two disciples who heard John musing of the Lord as the "Lamb of God," that they "heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." That was true ministry on the part of this truly great servant. His own soul was filled with the glory of the One who was both the "Son" and the "Lamb" of God. His blessed Person and His sacrificial work were the burden of John's tongue. John was carried completely outside of himself as he saw and meditated upon Jesus! And not only were his own heart and soul filled with joy and wonder at the sight of Heaven's delight; his mention of it caught the ears of his two disciples, and they now became attracted to Jesus. They followed Him.

But they followed Him to worship and adore. It was not service here, which would have been as much out of place as it was later when Peter talked of making tabernacles. How often perhaps have we intruded our service before the eyes and ears of men, when we should have been at His feet in adoring worship! We may be sure that the sight of saints worshiping the Lord, pouring out their hearts before Him in contemplation of His infinite sacrifice and love, has far more effect upon men's hearts than the busiest service in which we might engage. It is not that service is to be despised. No; for true worship must ultimately lead the soul engaging in it to serve Him. But we should never allow our work, even for Him, to so engross our minds as to cause us to lose sight of Himself.

Those therefore whom the Lord called to publicly witness for Him were men whom He had fitted for that place. As we have seen, they were first of all filled with His glory, attracted to Himself. Whatever their own defects-and they were many-they had begun to see in Jesus the very effulgence of GOD. And as they went about daily in their ordinary calling, pursuing it with that purpose which showed that their hearts were lifted above seeking a name or place for themselves among men, they heard and responded to the Voice which said to them:"Come ye after Me, and I will make you to be fishers of men."

Brethren, let us imitate these men of God. Let us have Christ so before the eyes of our soul as to carry us away and beyond the many unworthy and low ambitions which take hold of hearts which walk at a distance from Christ. Remember, it is not what we profess but what we possess which is of value. If we make a loud profession of being His servants, and have but little of His goods in our possession, what is it worth? Let us be willing and glad to undertake whatever service He has entrusted to us, however lowly or unnoticed it may be. Let us not count a place before men as of value, but find our joy in serving Christ, even if no one sees us but Himself. And if He has called us to a public sphere, let us above all seek to glorify Him in bearing His marks before men. It is not among our credentials to be marked by a spirit of strife, spreading discord among brethren, but rather, seeking to draw the hearts of the saints to Himself and thus to one another. And if, by any chance, we have chosen the path we are in for ourselves, apart from His guidance and choice, let us have grace to confess it to Him, and seek His face that we might henceforth fill only that path to which He has appointed us. Wm. Huss

Calendar:July 16th to August 15th

DAILY BIBLE READING ……… July 16th, Phil. 4; July 31st, 1 Tim. 3:; August 15th, Heb. 4.

Gloomy thoughts filled my mind as the good ship ploughed the grey waters of the Northern Atlantic; thoughts of the condition of the world, and the stress and trials of life in consequence for many of God's children, of the increase of evil in it, for evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, of the state of things in the professing Church of God, the increase of worldliness, the departure from the truth of many in whom one had placed hopes, the lack of power in service and testimony, the few that seemed able to truly present the truth as those of old:all these things filled my mind, and upon them I brooded as I lay in the night. The ship rolled from side to side in a stormy sea, and the surroundings were suited to my thoughts. The night wore on; then came the changing of the watch; the middle watch gave place to the morning, and as the bell chimed forth the fact, the voice of the quartermaster rang out, "All's well."

The ship still rolled and pitched, and the darkness seemed deeper than before, but that call of the morning changed my thoughts; I remembered Paul's shipwreck, and how when things seemed their blackest the Angel of God stood by him saying, "Fear not, Paul." The ship on which Paul sailed went to pieces, but all hands came safe to land, and it would seem as if the divinely recorded incident has a prophetic bearing. Every organization of man will fail as vessels of truth, and all hopes placed in an arm of flesh will perish, but the work of God will remain, and every soul touched by His gracious Spirit, and brought to Christ, will come safely to his appointed destiny, to stand there in all the glory of the fulfilment of God's eternal purposes. And until that day of glory, God will keep and care for all His own; indeed, so minute is His care for them that we read, "Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." The Father knoweth all their needs.

This was a heartening theme, and as I dwelt upon it, my spirits rose, for the cheery "All's well" sang through my soul, and though I knew that no change for the better could be looked for, in that faithless profession that has joined hands with the world that murdered her Lord, yet the bright prospect of God's triumph in spite of all, shone as a light in the darkness. My thoughts and faith turned from earth to heaven, to the One whose hand has overthrown the dominion of death and who lives now in all the power of resurrection life upon the throne of God. He must triumph and His Church shall triumph with Him. The darkness is passing, and by faith we can see the bright Star of the Morning already shining, and we know that all is well.

When at last the dawn broke through the cabin window, I took the Scripture Text calendar to read the text for the day. It was this:"I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isa. 41:13), and, "He giveth power to the faint" (40:29). Yes, He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and it is as our great Intercessor that He secures for us, and ministers to us, grace and mercy in time of need. It is thus that faith is strengthened by our gracious Lord, and as He holds the hand, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness, we will keep the watch and look out for the morning, "the morning without clouds," cheering the darkness about us with faith's cry, "All's well. J. T. Mawson

INDIAN WORK

Mrs. Anderson writes from Valentine, Arizona:-

Mr. Anderson met with an accident two weeks ago while working here. He fell some ten feet, and broke one wrist and sprained the other, also hurt one big toe badly. He is doing very well however, and was able to preach last Sunday at Kingman. We are so thankful he did not hurt his back, as he fell backwards to a cement floor. Romans 8:28 is true. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Spring weather is here after two months of extremely cold weather, and it makes it so much easier to get around to the meetings.

From Miss Holcomb at Shiprock, New Mexico, we have the following:-

"O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" These words seem most fitting as we think of all His goodness to us the past few weeks. What a joy it is to know that we can commit our ways to Him who rules the world, and be absolutely sure that He will rule and overrule for His own glory and our best good in every detail.

Yesterday the mail came, and what a mail it was! We had no new mail for thirty-seven days, although early in that time we received one sack containing a very little mail that had been carried beyond us, and was a month old when we received it. The snow has been deep all along the north side of the mountain between here and Shiprock, so that travel has been difficult all winter. About the middle of January, when we hoped that the worst of our winter was over, more snow came, and for weeks the road was scarcely open at all. Occasionally a truck would break through, but the loose snow blew into the tracks immediately.

Early in the winter we had been asking the Lord that if we were to be snowbound, as we were for two weeks last winter, He would let us have what we needed for the time, in advance, specially coal, flour and grain for the stock. Now that the road is opening up again and we are again able to bring in supplies, we praise our dear Lord that we have lacked nothing. " Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus."

During the winter eight cars have broken down between here and Shiprock, and have stood by the roadside several days waiting for repairs. There are only about ten cars out here. Our own was one of those that broke down, and it was wonderful the way the Lord cared for us. We were coming home with a load of supplies, and about half-way out from Shiprock, on an uphill pull through the snow, the transmission tore out. There we were, a woman and a small boy, five miles of bad road from any white person's dwelling, and night was coming on, with the temperature around zero. But our dear Father had planned it all for us. Five miles before that, when we had stopped at the trading-post there, we found the Government farmer just ready to come on to his home five miles this side of where we broke down. He insisted on our driving ahead of him, so when our car gave out he took us and the freezable part of our load in his car to his place to stay all night, and the next day sent us on home, thirty miles farther. The rest of our load was all safely locked in our car till Mr. Girdner could go after it a day or two later. Then when our load of coal came out two days later, the men who brought the coal took the car in for repairs, and we were thankful to be able to get it done.

The snow has not made much difference in our work here, as our Navahos have to go past us to the trading-post from time to time, and then too the snow has not been as deep here. Each day has seen some callers at the Mission and most of them have listened to a gospel message. Mr. Girdner has given the message for those who are here for evening prayers, and I for those who are here for morning prayers or during the day.

CHINA

The following letter and extracts from letters recently received give much cause for thanksgiving, showing as they do God's faithfulness in keeping His servants safe amidst many difficulties, and His goodness in allowing them to see fruit from their labors.

Tientsin, Feb. 27, 1933.

We have come to Tientsin to get the canvas and other necessities for the repairing of the tent and the summer's camping trip, and are nearly ready for the return on to-night's train to Changli, where our cart has been since Monday night. It was not wise to permit the boy to return alone to our station, since cars and animals are being commandeered daily by the soldiers.

Although there is, and likely will be for some time, disturbance along the northern border and through the province of Jehol (to the north of us), we so far have not seen anything indicative of danger in our immediate district, and are anticipating another happy summer in the tent-work, and do not expect to have to leave, though should that necessity occur Miss Hancock who is soon leaving on furlough, via Germany, has already offered her house and station-work to us at Kwang-ping-fu in the southern part of this province. We hope in the mercy of God to be going on with our own work.

The improved roads on the mail lines of travel make getting about much easier, even though the traffic is much increased, due to troop movements with their equipment supplies and commandeered conveyances.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of a little visit from a military missionary, Lieut. Harrington, of the 1st Queen's Regiment (British), who told us of a real work for the Lord among the soldiers and officers, in which he has seen the happy conversion of many, one by one, through prayer and after many months.

It is nearly two months since we heard from Brother Foggin but his last letter indicated he was happily at work distributing tracts, putting up Gospel posters, and speaking, as opportunity offered. He had visited a new station opened by Mr. Bell near the border of Tibet, and spent about a month there.

CHARLES AND ESTHER KAUTTO.
Extracts from other letters of our brother Kautto:-

In these difficult days we are constantly proving the faithfulness of God in many unexpected ways and we are being kept in peace.

Banditry which is rampant all around has kept me from itinerating as much as I should have liked, but seeing my inability to visit the outlying districts, the isolated believers have managed in one way or another to come in and see us, and get help through the meetings. Several walk long distances to remember the Lord each week, and we are cheered by their warm-heartedness.

A few days ago we heard of a Chinese Christian living in this district who, although he had been baptized, did not understand the power of prayer until he became very poor. He began to pray that God would supply him with food and clothing. One day he had the assurance that God had heard Ms prayer. He went out to the hills to get firewood. He was returning at twilight, and was not far from home when he heard a noise in the bushes, and said to himself, "This is God's provision for me." He found it was a big wolf coming stealthily towards him. He picked up a big stone and threw it. It caught the animal's legs. He said only God could have made the stone do its work. He had no other weapon, not even a stick. He went up to the wolf after throwing a second stone, killed it, and then took it home and skinned it. The following day he took the fur to town and sold it for sufficient to purchase food and clothing, and was overwhelmed with thankfulness and praise. He prays about everything now, and will never forget his first lesson in the prayer life.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." There are several, I am glad to say, who last year worshiped idols at New Year but this year they have texts up where idols had held sway before.

We were rejoiced to find Chang standing well and confessing Christ before others. He is diligently learning to read.

We have met several interesting cases in the village and some seem real in their faith in the Lord Jesus. One of them, Mrs. Che'n, had disposed of her idols and other heathenish things, willing to make a clean sweep of all. Just recently, after two months, we have seen her again. There is no trace of idolatry in her home, and she tells us she is being persecuted.

NOTE

We have just learned from the newspapers that on March 24 the home of our brother and sister Kautto at Taitowying, just south of the Great Wall, was bombed by two Japanese airplanes, and nine Chinese were killed. Though the lives of our brother and sister were endangered, in the Lord's great mercy they escaped harm. Let us continue in earnest prayer for them.

AFRICA

We are thankful to have reports from our brethren in the Belgian Congo telling of the steadfastness of the saints at Nyangkundi, and of conversions at Lolua and Mombassa. Brother William Deans is much improved in health and has returned to Nyangkundi, hoping to be able to continue there until the return of our brother and sister Searle.

As mentioned in our last issue brother Searle and family hope to return to Africa as soon as funds are available.

"Whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:because that for His name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles" (3 John 6, 7).

In Second Kings, third chapter, we have the strange alliance of a wicked king, a God-fearing king, and a heathen king. They are confronted with circumstances that threaten their destruction. Faced by these terrible consequences the God-fearing king turns to the Lord. The confusion caused by this unholy alliance is so great, that Elisha, the man of God, is hampered in discerning the mind of the Lord. He calls for a minstrel. His mind must be diverted from all that is around him, and be put in touch with heavenly scenes to know the mind of the Lord. The man of God must have his mind diverted from the utter confusion around, and the consequent distress. If he is to learn how the Lord would have him to act, he must be lifted above the distressing circumstances. In our day, do we not often have need of that which the minstrel signifies?

How often do we hear it said that the coming of the Lord must be near, and present world conditions are cited in support of this statement. It would be worse than folly to minimize the gravity of the present hour in the world's history. Indeed, it cannot be matter of surprise to the student of the word of God that the world should be in the welter in which it finds itself today. When it was put to its election at the Cross of Calvary, it chose a murderer instead of Jesus. Without a dissenting voice the rabble crowd which surrounded the Cross cried:"Away with Him, away with Him; Crucify Him;" "Not this man but Barabbas." And Barabbas was a robber! In stoning to death Stephen, Christ's messenger, the nation of Israel said, "We will not have this man to reign over us."Blindness in part has happened to Israel in consequence (Rom. 11:25).Further, in crucifying the Lord of glory, the princes of this world showed that they did not know wisdom and the whole world system was judged. "Now," says the Lord Jesus, "is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (John 12:31).

Though the death of Christ is, by common consent, forgotten, God will hold this world to strict accountability for it. The execution of the judgment has been suspended until the accomplishment of the purposes of God during this present interval of grace.

God is now visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name (Acts 15:14). The Church is a distinctively heavenly company with a no less distinctly heavenly hope, namely, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to take His people to be with Himself for ever. Since that event is spoken of in every book of the New Testament with the exception, perhaps, of the epistles to the Ephesians and Philemon, it will at once be seen how important it is, and the place it should have in the hearts of all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth.

I might note, in passing, that, in the epistle to the Ephesians the believer is seen as seated in the heavenly places in Christ, while the theme of the short letter to Philemon is practical righteousness. We would, therefore, hardly expect to find the coming of the Lord treated of in either epistle.

The Old Testament deals largely with "the day of the Lord," and the establishment of His kingdom in this world. The truth as to the Church was hidden in God from before the ages of time, and never brought to light till it was revealed to the Apostle Paul (Rom. 16:25, 26; Eph. 3:1-7; 5:30-32), so that the doctrine as to the coming of the Lord, so far as revealed in the Old Testament, has no direct relation to the Church. I do not say that the saints of this present period are not interested in all that the Old Testament has to say on this important subject. The fact that "the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow" are the theme of the Old Testament prophets (1 Pet. 1:11), and that which "Moses and all the prophets" wrote was "the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27) makes all the Old Testament revelation of deepest interest to the believer. But I fear the distinctive character of this present period, and the believer's heavenly origin and destiny, has been very feebly apprehended.

In view of what I have already said as to the prominent place which the coming of the Lord occupies in the New Testament, it is not at all surprising to find that the saints in Apostolic days were looking for the Lord to come, and that during their lifetime. And, despite the fact that He has been absent well nigh 1900 years, the saints were not mistaken in so looking for Him. Why did the servant "begin to beat the mem-servants and maidens, and to eat and drink with the drunken?" (Luke 12:45). Was it not because he said in his heart, "My Lord delayeth his coming?" Observe, he did not say that his lord was not coming, but that he was delaying his coming. And he said it in his heart. His attitude was the very opposite of waiting for his lord. He could not have beaten the men-servants and maidens and eaten and drunk with the drunken if he had been waiting for his lord.

Before He left His disciples the Lord Jesus said to them:-

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3).

If He had to go and prepare a place for them He must of necessity go to the Cross and accomplish redemption's work. But, in the words just quoted, He also intimates, I judge, that His presence in His Father's house would prepare the place for them. He has gone back there where He ever was, but He has gone there in a new character-as man-not only showing us that redemption's work is accomplished (wondrous thought!), but also the place which the counsels of God destined for those many sons He is bringing to glory. His presence there, as man, is the earnest or pledge that they will be there also.

I may refer to 1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Phil. 3:20,21; Heb.9:28 and 1 John 3:1-3 as clearly indicating that the coming of the Lord was the immediate hope of the Church.

I turn now to Acts 1:-

"When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of Him saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power… And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight, and, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (verses 6:7,9-11).

Note the expression, "The times or the seasons." It occurs again in 1 Thess. 5:-

"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (verses 1,2).

In Acts 1 "the times or the seasons" clearly apply to the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, and in 1 Thess. 5 "the times and the seasons" refer to "the day of the Lord." In neither case is it connected with the Christian's immediate hope. The early Christians were waiting for Christ because their hearts were set upon Him.

I do not say that the "times and seasons" are not instructive and suggestive for the believer. Scripture has much to say as to them. Suppose, however, the world was not suffering as it is to day, but, on the contrary, was in the midst of abounding prosperity, and that the nations were apparently living in amity one with the other, would the coming of the Lord, therefore, not be so near?

The Thessalonians had "turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God," and were waiting for His Son from heaven. They were expecting Him to come in their lifetime. As the result of this hope, the gospel sounded out from them in Macedonia and Achaia, and their faith toward God was spread abroad, so that the Apostle did not need to say anything as to them. All who knew them were aware they were waiting for God's Son from heaven (1 Thess. 1). But they were soon plunged into sorrow because, in the meantime, some of their number had been put to sleep by Jesus, and they thought that these would miss the blessing which would accompany the return of Jesus. In his first letter to them the Apostle says:-

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words" (chap. 4:13-18).

Here, and here only, do we get what is commonly called the truth of the rapture or the catching away of the saints to be with Christ, though of course it is involved in other scriptures. From his second letter to them we see the Thessalonians were again in trouble. They were passing through "persecutions and tribulations," and Satan, acting through his emissaries, had circulated among them a letter, as if it were from the Apostle Paul himself, to the effect that "the day of the Lord was at hand" (lit., "was present"), the persecutions and tribulations being witness. How does the Apostle meet that error? In the second chapter (vers. 1, 2) he says:-

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind; or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ (the Lord) is at hand (were present)."

He proceeds to show them what must happen before that day can come; but note,-that by which the Apostle exhorts these troubled Thessalonians was, "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him."

"Times and Seasons" will be of great significance to saints of the coming dispensation. For example, in Matthew's gospel, we read:-

"When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains" (chap. 24, vers. 15,16).
Then will be the period of "the great tribulation," or "the time of Jacob's trouble," and the godly remnant of Israel will be suffering under awful tyranny of the Antichrist. It will be a period such as was not since the beginning of the world to that time, no, nor ever shall be (Matt. 24:21). At the Cross the nation said, "We have no king, but Caesar" (John 19:15), and "His blood be on us and on our children" (Matt. 27:25); and in chapter 24 of this gospel we have a prophetic and most graphic picture of the experiences the nation of Israel will pass through in that day as the result of its having rejected its Messiah when He came in grace and by wicked hands crucified and slew Him.

The setting up by the Antichrist of "the abomination of desolation" in the holy place will be a sign, and a most portentous one, to the elect of Israel, and what comfort and encouragement will the Olivet discourse in Matt. 24 be to them in that day.

But we of this dispensation have the faithful promise of our Lord Jesus Christ that He is coming for us and that He will keep us from (out of) the hour of temptation (trial) which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10). He Himself is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1). We do not need "times" or "seasons" to tell us that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is near:His heart yearns for the moment when He will have His own with Him. When the last stone has been added to that "building, fitly framed together, which groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Eph. 2:21) our blessed Lord Jesus Christ will rapture His saints to glory, and then, and not till then, will His heart be satisfied. His love could not rest until His own are with Him, and like Him, fully blest.

May we covet more earnestly the blessedness of communion with Himself so that we may be found here to His praise and satisfaction, and be like unto men who wait for their Lord.

"Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus." James R. Elliott

That which the believer upon the Lord Jesus Christ is freed from through the atoning sacrifice of Calvary is well known and rejoiced in by the children of God. But many are unaware of that which Christians are made in the grace of God. Yet if we turn to the Scriptures we shall find that into which the saint is brought is dwelt upon far more than that out of which he has been delivered. The result of occupation solely with deliverance from judgment and the forgiveness of sins is that our praise and worship is weakened and the enjoyment which should be known by all "His own" is not realized.

A friend of mine bought a lot in the State of Washington. It was covered with a second growth of trees, and rotting logs and piles of rubbish were upon the ground. Now he was desirous of building a house for himself upon that site, so it had to be cleared. This entailed a great deal of labor, much more than he had reckoned on. However, the thought of the house that was to be, was constantly in his mind, and in due course, when the site was free of all that had hindered the work, he built the house he had desired and took up his residence. Now when in the new home, do you think he is always thinking of and referring to the clearing of the lot? He does not forget the fact of its having been done, but is he not the rather occupied with the home and its rest and comforts?

Need I apply the illustration? The Christian knows that the lot has been cleared. All that which stood
against him has been answered for in the death of Christ; his sins, his many sins, have been borne by the Saviour. But should he be constantly engaged with this? Should he not go on to know something of that into which he is introduced?

Let us consider this further. We might turn to many passages of the word of our God, but four must suffice for the present.

Colossians 1:12 shows that we are MADE MEET

"to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." It is our God and Father who has done this. For this we are called to give thanks. It is an accomplished matter. We had no hand in it whatever. It is God's work, and it is perfect. He has done this. We stand now in the full blaze of the light of His throne and we are fitted to be there-fit for the presence of a holy sin-hating God. Through that which Christ suffered at the cross we are freed. His blood has made our peace.

In grace God would have us suited for His own home, the Father's house, and so, already, He has made us meet to be there that we may sing His praise eternally. It is but a little while and our Lord will come and take us to be with Him in that home of delights.

While we wait for that glad moment we are privileged to know that "to the praise of the glory of God's grace" He has made us

ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED (Eph. 1:6).

Christ is the beloved One of the Father. He is now no longer on the cross in the darkness of God's holy judgment on our behalf. That hour of His suffering is over and never to be repeated. He is risen and crowned with glory and honor. We see Him in the place of fullest acceptance before God. And that place is our place. It is God Himself who has given it to us. As one has put this truth in five simple words, "Christ's place is our place." His place of acceptance before God His Father, is our place, and His place of rejection before the world is our place also.

God's gracious purpose is revealed. He has for ever linked us with His dear Son. So we find in the second chapter of Ephesians that we have been quickened with Christ, have been raised up together with Him and have been

MADE TO SIT TOGETHER IN HIM

Soon we shall be with Him there, but already in the thought of God we are seen in Him there, His presence there securing this that we shall be there with Him. Well may we wonder as we remember that we were dead in our sins, that we were under the power of Satan, the god of this world, and that we were drifting down the stream to eternal ruin. From the depths of degradation and ruin we have been lifted into the highest glory conceivable, into association with Christ where He is.

With all these blessings before our minds we may well join the song of Revelation 1:5,6, and say, "Unto Him that loveth us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath

MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS

unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." "Made kings and priests" we are become worshipers of our God. We know Him. We love Him. We adore Him. He sought worshipers, and we have been found for this, that with glad hearts and voices we should tell out His worthiness and excellencies as we joy before Him.

May it be ours to enter more and more into what He has made us, so that we may answer more fully to His thought for us now and eternally. Inglis Fleming

AFRICA

RETURNING MISSIONARIES

"In Thy Name We Go" (2 Chr. 14:11).

Our brother Gordon Searle accompanied by Mrs. Searle and their two children, David age 6, and Thomas age 3, sailed again for Africa at midnight June 17th. They have been away from Nyankundi for just over a year and are returning, we trust, much refreshed in body and spirit. A farewell meeting was held at Elizabeth, N. J., on Thursday June 15th. A large number gathered to express their fellowship with our brother and sister and to commend them to the Lord. Many prayers were offered, the younger brethren taking part in a most encouraging way. Several brethren gave a suited word and as attention had been drawn to possible difficulties on the field through renewed activity of the enemy there was a deepened sense of our dependence upon God and assurance of victory.

Ezra-like, we could beseech our God and be assured that He would be "entreated of us" and that His hand would be upon those setting out on their journey (See Ezra, chap. 8). Reference was also made to John, chap. 11, to show that while our blessed Lord ever acted in love towards His own He also always had the glory of God in view. Should there therefore be delays, trials, opposition or persecution, His servants can be assured of His love yet, His dealings with them will be for the ultimate Glory of God.

On the night of sailing a number gathered at the pier and a further opportunity was given for prayer and fellowship with our friends before they embarked.

"For His Name sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles" (3 John 7).

"Come over into Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9).

A request for prayer comes from brother Robert Deans that God would raise up a worker for a large district just beyond Mambasa (Dr. Woodham's station). In a recent and very interesting letter telling of the work and how God has blessed them in it, he says, in closing:

But there is a sad part to be told also. Beyond Mambasa a chief with hundreds around him has been pleading for a teacher to teach his people the words of God, but sad, sad indeed!!, there is no one to go. Pray beloved brethren that our God shall raise up some one to go and fill this post before it is too late.

While on safari last week it was with deep sorrow I learned that a village where the people had been asking for a teacher but could not be supplied have now called for a Roman Catholic teacher to teach them. Beloved may we have sleepless nights over this matter!

From another part of Africa we have the following encouraging letter:

Kamapanda, Northern Rhodesia, April 17, 1933. When we were last in New York we were telling the friends of a large district which we were longing to see opened up to the Gospel. Permission to build our new mission station has now been given by the Government of Northern Rhodesia, but at the moment we are detained at our old station until the workers return from furlough.

During the dry season we were able to visit parts of the new district. In some of the villages the people assured us that never before had they had a missionary amongst them. Some of the trails were almost obliterated by elephants and this made the going very hard. For days we were in the haunts of hippos. On one of the larger rivers we were able to launch a new dugout and during our last visit we bridged some of the smaller rivers and also made a number of paths in readiness for the day when we can seriously start the erection of the new station.

Here at Kamapanda the Lord is blessing. For some weeks now men and women and young people have been coming forward making a profession of faith in Christ. Some of the cases are, to us, very wonderful, but I will not burden you with details.

The medical work for which my wife is responsible has also been much blest and in three or four cases lately God has granted recoveries where friends had gathered to mourn the dead. This is a great help to the spiritual work.

As we see the godly lives and hear the ministry of some of the older natives Christians here our hearts long for the day when God will permit us to see similar things in the new country. Please remember us very kindly to all the friends and tell them how very, very much their prayers for us will be valued. -Sydney Buckland.

Our brethren of the Westcott mission at Baka Mbule also report encouragement and blessing. We can indeed give thanks for this report for it was there our sister Mercy McCandless labored and died. It will be remembered that our sister was particularly interested in the orphan children and of one which she specially cared for we now read:"Mingo, Mercy's charge is a splendid girl, one of the best workers in the village. We all love her."

Our brother Jas. Wilson writes:

Westcott Mission, Baka Mbule, April 13, 1933. Work here continues day by day. We are encouraged as we see the seed taking root and growing. There are quite a number in towns round about asking for baptism and we are kept busy, very busy, as we seek to go to them and minister the word. We are only two here, W. Simpson and myself, and it is not easy to reach all who need us. But we thank God for health and strength so that we are able to keep going on steadily. We have, for some time, been holding monthly fellowship meetings in several places and we find these well attended and much appreciated both by Christians and enquirers.

I cannot write more now but thank you and send greetings to any and all brethren in America who are remembering us at the Throne of Grace.

CHINA
"The Name of the Lord is a strong tower (Prov. 18:10).

Brother Kautto telling of further bombing in the vicinity of his house and compound on April 12th and 15th during which a number of natives were killed, says:-

By God's grace we, and all in our compound, were marvelously preserved from even the slightest harm, though 12 ounces of shrapnel has been gathered up from over the compound.

Outside the wall, around Shunangshantze and Mutouteng districts bandits are rampant, over 300 being reported to be near the former and around 600 in the vicinity of the latter. Perhaps it was by some of these that a Japanese officer was kidnaped a few days ago (according to current report) while he with some soldiers were out getting straw."

We want to thank the saints very much for their prayers for us, for we feel that the One who heard the prayers for Peter and sent His angel to deliver him has been hearing, answering, and delivering, us from the powers of darkness. Like Peter coming to himself we can say "Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent Ms angel and hath delivered me." It also brings to our minds 2 Cor. 1:10 "Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver, in whom we trust that He will yet deliver."

Trusting that this will find you all well and happy in the Lord, and that you will continue to remember us before the throne of grace.

"In the Name of our God we will set up our banner" (Ps. 20:5)

"The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27).

Have you ever awakened in the morning feeling helpless, and shrinking from the burdens of the day, and longing for an arm of help; and then have you heard the still small voice, saying, "The Eternal God is thy refuge," and realized that His "everlasting arms" were beneath and around you? What comfort and strength it gives to the child of God!

We like to think of arms; the babe in the arms of its mother; the little child running into the arms of the father returning from his work; the sheltering, comforting arms of mother or friend for the child that has been hurt or frightened; the arms of the dear parents around the son or daughter who has been long away from home; the arms of friends about each other after a long separation. How comforting it is, and how often the lonely soul longs for the touch of loving arms, whether they be of mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband or friend.

The everlasting arms of the Eternal God are our refuge, because they have saved us. To the Israelites who were in bondage in Egypt, the Lord said, "I will redeem you with a stretched out arm" (Exod. 6:6). The Lord triumphed gloriously in that work of redemption, and later in love to His people He reminded them that it was not their own arm that saved them, but His right hand, and His arm (Ps. 44:3). And that was but a picture of the eternal salvation accomplished for us, with His blessed arms outstretched on Calvary's cross. Oh, what a refuge for the sin-sick soul! Those loving arms are ever ready to receive the repentant sinner who turns to Him, for has He not said, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." Let those who hear that voice cry:"I will flee unto Thee to hide me" (Ps. 143:9).

"Safe in the Rock of Ages,
Fearlessly we may hide;
Safe from the storms of judgment,
Safe from the swelling tide."

And again, should we wander away from the Father, like the prodigal, He is watching and waiting for us to return to Him. Yea, He, the Eternal God, will run to throw His arms of love around us. Listen to His loving words:"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." What amazing grace!

"Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make me, keep me, pure within."

Or perhaps the tempter is seeking to ensnare the child of God, and again there is that feeling of insufficiency, but "He is able to deliver." The Lord Jesus said, "Without Me ye can do nothing." How good then to be able to turn to Him and say, "Thou hast a mighty arm:strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand" (Ps. 89:13). And then hear His reply, "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isa. 41:13). The struggle is too great for me, but I may flee to the Eternal God, for He is "my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour."

Those same arms shall one day "judge the people." With His mighty arms He saved Israel, but with the same arms He overthrow Pharaoh and his host in the sea. He has said, "My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms shall judge the people." However, He did not stop there, praise His Name! "The isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust." Shall we not then seek, with confidence in Him who is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, to bring the unsaved into the shelter of "the everlasting arms," that they, as we, may find a sweet refuge in "the Eternal God?"

(Continued from p. 44)

6.-DOMESTIC TROUBLE

About this time Moses marries "an Ethiopian woman" (Num. 12:1). As we have not heard of Zipporah since her protest against what she knows to be God's ordinance of circumcision, and as she does not appear later, it is probable that she is dead. But the new wife is not popular with Miriam, and Aaron joins her in assailing their brother, whom they accuse of occupying a position not conferred upon him by God. They say:"Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath He not spoken also by us?"

Someone suggests that in this Moses is reaping the result of his complaining as recorded in chapter 11. Greatly pressed by the perverse ways of the people, he says:"Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me!" But who knows better than God what a servant can bear? In Henry Pickering's "Thousand Tales worth Telling" it is related that Henry Moorhouse had a lame daughter who had the joy of carrying a present upstairs to her sick mother Because her father carried her-present and all. What difference would that burden of Moses make if God was carrying him? But like ourselves, Moses gets tired when his eye turns within. And on this occasion, God hearkens to his complaint and distributes his burden upon the shoulders of seventy of the elders of Israel, but takes "of the spirit, which is upon" Moses and puts it upon the seventy. Thus a privilege is conferred upon the elders, but it lessens the privilege of Moses and the power supporting him. Manifestly the new arrangement is no improvement upon the old one. However, we find that when the spirit of prophecy manifests itself in the seventy, after the transfer to them of the spirit formerly upon Moses only, and Eldad and Medad (who went not out to the tabernacle) prophesy in the camp, he exhibits the spirit of an unjealous workman who wants to see the work done by any who can do it, saying:"Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets!" Indeed, he returns to the camp with the elders-evidently to give a hearing to the two prophets.

Nevertheless it is possible that the new arrangement supplies Miriam and Aaron with a pretext for the taunt they hurl at their brother. If so, does it not show how well it is to enquire of and patiently wait upon the Lord about burdens which seems excessive? For we may rest assured that our gracious God takes no pleasure in putting pressure upon us for its own sake. In the circumstances we are considering it seems as if Moses has only increased his difficulties.

What he has to say, if anything, in this situation, we are not told. All that we learn is that "the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth"-he leaves his trouble with God. And "the Lord heard" the comments made upon His servant and spake "suddenly" to the parties involved, saying:"Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation." Summoning Aaron and Miriam to stand forth He informs them that while He honors prophets by appearing to them in visions and dreams, He takes such pleasure in "faithful" Moses that He speaks to him "mouth to mouth." And, He asks:"Were ye not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?" Whereupon He exhibits Miriam "leprous white as snow," thus branding the gossip and interference that pursues His servant as loathsome sin.

But Aaron is repentant and pleads with Moses for his stricken sister, who cries to the Lord, "Hear her now, O God, I beseech thee!" This request is granted, but under conditions that impress upon all Israel the divine censure. For Miriam is shut out from the camp for seven days. Meanwhile every forward movement ceases while the people learn that God will not tolerate the interference of the flesh with His service. After this solemn pause the cleansed leper resumes her place, and Israel moves forward.

The evil report of the spies and its endorsement by the people does not belong to our series of subjects, neither does the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Balaam's prophecies and "error" will also be omitted, the reader who would consider these being referred to other writings. We therefore pass on to the review of the greatest tragedy in the life of Moses. R. J. Reid

(To be continued, D.V.)

A Chat with Young Christians

The first of four papers, used by permission of the author, and to be had in pamphlet form when completed, as will be announced later.

"If, to speak after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" (1 Cor. 15:32).

Was it worth while? Paul had suffered many indignities, had barely escaped many real dangers, and for years had a hard, strenuous life-all on account of that extraordinary and sudden change that had taken place within him one day on the road to Damascus, while still a comparatively young man.

From the well-stocked shelves of his memory he takes, as a sample, one of the most piquant of his experiences, when he had to stand in the blood-stained arena at Ephesus, like a common gladiator, and battle to the death – armed perhaps with unfairly inadequate weapons – against half-starved beasts of the forests, goaded to fury by inhuman treatment. And he asks, "Was all this worth while?"

He might have been having "a good time," like some of his old schoolfellows from Tarsus. He might have been "getting on," as many another with half his gifts and opportunities had done. Was it really worth while? "What advantageth it me?" he cries.

Clearly, if we cease to exist when this life has flickered out, and there is no resurrection, then it certainly was not worth while at all. "If the dead rise not," there was no object in pursuing a course that brought upon him the hatred and scorn of his fellow-men and entailed so much suffering. Why not simply enjoy life, with plenty to eat and drink, seeing that on some "to-morrow" death would put an end to everything?

Yes, IF the dead rise not. But the whole point of the Apostle's tremendous argument is that the dead DO rise, and therefore it was gloriously and triumphantly worth while! In view of the certainty of the Resurrection and the Future Life, it was, from a practical standpoint, a really profitable transaction for Paul to "fight with beasts at Ephesus." His reward is sure and will be bestowed upon him by the Righteous Judge when the appointed time comes.

And what about the beasts you have to fight with? You need not go to Ephesus to find them. There are plenty of them where you are. Join me now in a hunting expedition and we will find some of the beasts you and I have to fight with.

If the dead rise not, it is of course not worth bothering about, but seeing that there is not the slightest doubt that we shall rise again and enter upon another life, then it is more worth while to fight these beasts than to do anything else in the world. The first thing to do is to locate them, find out their habits, and wage an uncompromising warfare against them. At the beginning of His life-work our Lord had to face the wild beasts in the wilderness (Mark 1:13). We must do so too.

The first wild animal we must deal with does not look very dangerous. Nevertheless it must be unflinchingly dealt with first of all, for reasons we shall see later. It is a

WILD ASS’S COLT

In one of the oldest books ever written we read:"Vain man would be wise, though man be born a wild ass's colt" (Job 11:12).

If a man wants to express a particularly outspoken opinion of another man's foolishness, he calls him an ass. This beast is the representative of stubborn stupidity. But the old Book not only calls man an ass, but a wild ass. Added to stubborn stupidity there is the element of wildness-of being untamed and uncontrolled. When the angel spoke to Hagar concerning her son Ishmael, he told her plainly, "He will be a wild ass" (Gen. 16:12), although the polite translators have toned it down to "wild man." Then Ephraim is spoken of as a "wild ass" in Hosea 8:9.

The "wild ass" must first be caught and tamed before we may expect to have any success on our hunting expedition. If he is not first brought into subjection and service, we shall lose our fight with the other beasts.

That wild ass is-YOURSELF! I will not enlarge on the stubborn stupidity and innate wildness of the natural man. There is no need to do so, for what we have to deal with is not an unconvinced intellect, but the pride of the natural heart. Every honest man knows in his heart that he has the elements of the wild ass within him, and all the argument in the world would not convince a man of this who did not wish to be convinced, for the simple reason that he is a wild ass.

Acknowledge frankly that self is a "wild ass"; look at all the potentialities for stubbornness, stupidity and wildness that are wrapped up in your innermost nature, with frank and uncompromising self-criticism, and you have made the first step towards the taming of the beast. Possibly you have made many an effort to put an effective halter round the neck of your "wild ass," and you have been disappointed again and again. The halter has broken, or you have not had a tight enough grip, or you have fondly thought your "wild ass" was nicely tamed and let the halter go, only to find that he was away, wilder than ever!

How is he to be caught and tamed? There is only one way. Mark you, ONLY ONE. Let me tell you how.

When the Lord Jesus made His public entry into Jerusalem, one might have expected Him to ride on a white charger, or at least on a lordly camel, as befitting one entering a city to the cry, "Behold, thy King cometh!" But He deliberately chose to make His public appearance mounted on an ass that had never been ridden before, a "wild ass." Let us focus our attention on this wild ass. The remarkable thing about it is that, in spite of everything being done that might well have driven that wild ass out of its senses, it apparently gave no trouble whatever. People were waving branches of palm trees and shouting at the top of their voices all along the way, putting down branches in the path for the ass to walk over, throwing down their garments in front of it- in fact, doing things calculated to terrify any but the most carefully trained animal. It is a wonder the poor creature was not driven into a frenzy by the unwonted commotion and the extraordinary circumstances in which it found itself. But no such thing is recorded. The wild ass is transformed into a useful servant. It has the unique honor of bearing the Saviour of the world into the city where He is going to do His great work for the salvation of men. What is the secret? The secret lies in the hand that held the reins.

Standing "in a place where two ways met," the ass was taken away, with the words, "The Lord hath need of him." He was led to the Lord Jesus, and placed at His disposal and under His control.

That is just what you must do with your "wild ass." As you read these words, you are "in a place where two ways meet." Before you lies the choice of a path of joyous usefulness and victory, or one of selfishness and failure. But if submitted entirely to His control, if the reins are laid definitely and irrevocably in His hands- and remember, He "has need of you"-the problem will be solved.

The firm grasp of the Son of God will check and control the waywardness of our "wild ass" nature, whatever commotion may be going on around us, and we shall have the glorious privilege of taking Him through it all to those who need Him, of becoming a cog in God's wheel to the accomplishment of His purposes of grace and blessing in other lives. Arthur Gook

(To be continued, D.V.)

Why are Christians, good Christians, who have been Christians for years, very sad and cast down when trouble comes upon them? Do they not know that God sends it, and that He will not try them more than they are able to bear?

To give a diagnosis that would cover every case is not possible, but I offer a few suggestions. It may be that a sad and downcast frame of mind in the Christian, when he is faced with trouble, is simply the evidence of a very feeble faith. The trouble has come and found him out. He has had a false view of what the favor of God really is. As long as things were bright all was well; when they went against him doubt flooded his soul. I knew a man who when he had a good day in business, sang most heartily

"How good is the God we adore,"

but when things did not prosper he was dumb. It ought not so to be, for God is greater than every trouble; He is a refuge in every time of trouble, and the heart that knows Him will not grumble and murmur when trouble comes. For God's own glory and their testimony Christians should guard against that. The remedy is a fuller knowledge of God-of His wisdom, care and love.

It may be that the sadness is the proper feeling induced by coming under the chastening hand of God, for "No chastening for the present seemeth joyous but grievous" (Heb. 12:11). If God our Father sees it fit to chasten one of His children-and chastening is one of the great proofs of His love-He intends it to have a subduing and humbling effect. In this case, however, where there is true confidence in God, there will be an under-current of spiritual rest and even joy. I remember being greatly helped by a suffering Christian. She said to me, "I think I must be one of the Lord's favorites." "What makes you say that?" I asked, "Because I get so much chastening," was her answer, and it made me think deeply. We may be "in heaviness through manifold temptations," and at the same time "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," as Peter tells us. Every thing depends on our nearness to the Lord and our confidence in Him. The branches of the vine must be pruned and purged, often a painful process, but the branch is never nearer to the great Husbandman, and never an object of greater interest to Him than when it is in His skillful hands for pruning purposes. Wherefore, no Christian needs to droop with sadness, there is always the "afterwards" – the wonderful and eternal fruit.

Christians also may be beset with trouble because of their devotion to the Lord. The apostle Paul was an example of this; he was troubled, perplexed, persecuted, cast down, yet not forsaken, not in despair, not destroyed. Consequently, though his troubles and the care of all the churches made him sorrowful, yet he was always rejoicing (2 Cor. 6:10).

In endeavoring to impress young Christians with the joyful nature of true faith, some have drawn a rather fictitious picture, and exuberant souls have sung,

"I feel like singing all the time," "

or,
My life flows on in endless song."

The life of Paul was not like that, all was not sunshine and flowers for him; he knew what exercise and conflict and tears were. But then he was a full-grown man in the spiritual sense, and not a babe. The fact is that trials and difficulties develop our strength if we go through them with God, feeling their weight but not sinking under them, because supported by grace from above. I knew a man who was very prominent in "Christian work." He said to me, "I can't understand when people say that they get blessing out of troubles and sorrow. I never got any." He went right down into the gutter. I was not surprised.

The secret of peace in all circumstances lies in nearness to God and confidence in Him. "Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusted in Thee." The knowledge of God, of His love and wisdom and power, makes the one who has it say, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." J. T. Mawson

(Continued from p.210)

Thus far we have seen that the Source of Love is in God. That the manifestation of that love was at the cross. That sinners, who loved not God but were dead in their sins and guilty in His sight, were the subjects of that love. Now let us ask ourselves whether we can join with the apostle and say. "We have

KNOWN AND BELIEVED THE LOVE

that God hath to us." Have we in simple faith, taking our place as unworthy of anything but the righteous judgment of God, believed on His dear Son whom He sent to be our Saviour? God would have all men to be saved, this is His desire. He "so loved the world" as we have seen. Therefore the blessing is for "whosoever believeth" on His dear Son. "The world" takes you in, so do not miss so great salvation. If you do you will have but yourself to blame.

If the love of God is known and believed in, it produces many glorious conclusions. With three of these we may engage our thoughts for a little.

RESULTS OF KNOWING AND BELIEVING THE LOVE OF GOD

We have boldness in the day of judgment. There is "the wrath to come." But the believer has learned that for him the judgment is past. He will never come into judgment. At the cross the judgment due to us who believe fell on the holy spotless Son of God, who had been given in the love of God to meet our deep, deep need. The dread cup of wrath was drained by Him there. There He cried "IT IS FINISHED." The great work was completed which was necessary if we were to be freed. Now He is risen, He is beyond the judgment and we share with Him His place before God. "As He is so are we in this world." Wonderful words are these, "As He is so are we," Not as He was in His perfect life here. Not as He was when bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, and "made sin for us, He who knew no sin." No! but as He is now, beyond death and judgment. A simple illustration may help. A shepherd and his boy were employed in burning the long rank grass on a hillside. This was in order that the tender shoots might have room to spring up for the pasture of their sheep. The boy had thrown his coat down on the hillside, but, as the flames of the lighted grass were fanned by the breeze and crept upwards, the garment became endangered. So the lad running to it threw it further up the hill. But still the fire pressed forward and again the coat was in peril. The boy ran to it, intending to throw it still further up the slope, when his father called to him, saying, "Bring the coat this side of the flames, boy." That was done and the garment was now on the side where the fire had done its work. So today the Christian stands hi Christ in the presence of God, in Christ as He now is, and he may rejoice and say, "There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." An old Christian rejoicing in the truth spoken of used to say,

"John's nine monosyllables all of a row
Are my delight and my comfort while here I'm below."

He knew where the love of God had set him and basked in the sunshine of it day by day, often saying to his fellow-believers, "Sit still now and let the Lord love you."

It is God's love and not ours which brings about this blessed result. "Herein is love with us made perfect, (as we should read it), that we should have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is so are we in this world." Let us notice that it is while "in this world" that this is true of us. It will be true of us when we are with Christ in His glory but it is true now. Let us revel in the light and warmth of this glorious truth.

Another of the results of knowing and believing the love of God is that

PERFECT LOVE CASTETH OUT FEAR

All our servile fear of God which led us to seek to flee from His presence is dismissed for ever. Instead of being like Adam, when he had sinned, trying to hide from God, we, knowing the love of God, hide in Him. He Himself has become our refuge.

"The trembling sinner feareth
That God can ne'er forget;
But one full payment cleareth
His memory from all debt.
When nought beside could ease us,
Or set our souls at large,
Thy holy work, Lord Jesus,
Secured a full discharge.

No wrath God's heart retaineth
To usward who believe;
No dread in ours remaineth
As we His love receive;
Returning sons He kisses,
And with His robe invests;
His perfect love dismisses
All terror from our breasts.

While all servile fear is gone there is formed a filial fear, a fear of doing anything displeasing to our God and Father who has so loved us. We are now His children, part of His family and as such we are called to conduct ourselves.

A third result of knowing and believing the love of God is that

"WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US."

Our love is the outcome of His love to us. He has loved us into loving Him. He has given us a new nature. He has given to us a new power, the Holy Spirit, and the "the fruit of the Spirit is love" and much else. We who once hated God and one another are taught of God to love and to love after the pattern He has set us. Thus the love of God flows through us to others.
It has flowed down from Him. It has flowed by way of Calvary to us. It has flowed into our hearts. Now it flows back to Him in that we love Him. And it flows out to all who are His and then out to the world at large as we testify that "the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." "He loved." "We love because He first loved us."

The story of the love of God may well lead us to praise and worship and devoted service while we wait for the consummation of that love in placing us before Him in His home of love for ever. Inglis Fleming

(Continued from page 264)

Companionship with Jesus, hearing His Word, receiving His ministrations of love, sympathy, power and glory in John 11, leads to His loved ones (John 12) ministering to Him, gratifying divine longings for response.

Bethany lessons unfolded in chap. 11 are all centered in verse 4; to promote "the glory of God" was the spring of all the Saviour's actions. The Spirit leads us to view all circumstances with reference to God's glory. His object in permitting sickness, death and all other trials, the "needs be" (1 Pet. 1:6), and "the end of the Lord" (James S:10, 11) will manifest, that our Father's will, our Father's glory, may be the outcome (cf. 1 Cor. 10 :31).

The Lord's love is a wise and a faithful love. His glory and our blessing are bound together. Two days' delay (ver. 6) may chafe our spirits. Our impatience would hasten relief, making the grave mistake of seeking immediate ease from pressure rather than the glory of God; and hindering our viewing, as we surely may, the bright rainbow yet to shine through clouds however dark.

Jesus looked on the progress of sickness, the sisters' grief, on death itself, yet gave no relief until every human hope had vanished, for Lazarus was four days dead. A real mercy it was. Nature says, "No," faith says "Yes," for "precious" faith emerged from the trial "unto glory" (1 Pet. 1:7). For our example, we behold as Jesus' motive the divine will, and as His object, divine glory. We witness at the grave of Lazarus heavenly glory shining out over the dreary region of death, a glory soon to be participated in by all His own, for He will deliver them from the grasp of the enemy, just as He raised Lazarus. Meanwhile faith may answer every evil suggestion as to apparent lack of sympathy or succor, by use of His Word, "Blessed are they that wait for Him" (Isa. 30:18), for His "due time," knowing that the Lord's delays are not refusals. Paying no attention to man's vaunted "common-sense," but every attention to that true wisdom of Prov. 3:5,6; welcoming every means that He employs to rid us of all hateful vain-confidence-to faith the tears and groanings of our blessed Lord call for heart appreciation of His sympathy with human misery, which was so real; and also of His sorrow, so profound, because of the unbelief and hardness of heart exhibited by careless souls, indifferent to the evil conditions that so grieved His heart; conditions akin to the distressing moral departure from God prevalent in our day. Oh, for hearts to feel, as He does, the moral corruption of our worldly surroundings!

Thanking God for the record of our Saviour's sympathy with human sorrows, and sharing the grief by which holiness regards sin's havoc, may our souls now rise to witness the Saviour's triumph. The sisters sought Jesus in their distress, and so may we. They called Him "Lord" and so honored the Nazarene. "He whom Thou lovest" as much as says, "His love, not mine, the resting-place." "Is sick" humbly owns that divine love permits illness. And all this is supplemented by the further lessons that not even natural affection, but God's glory, should impel our every action. The Spirit of God would stimulate our faith to see the glory of God displayed on the darkest background, to see the grace of our Beloved's heart revealed. Jesus waited Mary's coming (ver. 3); she, His call (ver. 28). Surely the words, "Calleth for thee," lent wings to her feet. Thus she was found "where Jesus was" to behold His face, to fall at His feet, and then only to speak her heart's burden. Happy example for us! Exposure of corruption the flesh dreads (ver. 39). Unbelief saw but a decomposing body; faith the glory of God (ver. 40). Note the order:"Believe," and then as surely, "See."

New creation we too experience (Eph. 2:10) by the same mighty "working" to "walk" in the newness of resurrection life, brought into being by His word as in vers. 43, 44. The tender touches of His ways of grace appear the sweeter as power and glory fill the scene. We are encouraged by the very mention of His dear ones:Mary named first in ver. 1 for commendation (ver. 2); Martha, first in ver. 5, for Jesus "loves" the weakest; and we shall see in John 12 the testimony of risen life that Lazarus rendered to His praise and the glory of God. E. J. Checkley

(To be concluded in next number, D.V.)

CHINA

Writing from Ping Fan, Kansu, China, our brother Foggin, says:

Visiting these parts I have found that there is a need for workers among the Tibetans on this side of the border and much more on the other side. In the vicinity of Hualung I suppose half the population is Tibetan and cannot speak the Chinese language, except that they can say prices and the names of the goods they want, but you cannot hold a conversation with them. Tibetan work is very discouraging as very rarely does anyone get saved.

There is a need for a young man who is willing to sacrifice his life for the Lord in service to these people. I do not see any reason why one should not enter Tibet if he does it in a discreet way, perhaps feel his way. When at Kweiteh I met one of the living Budhas. He came into the tent and asked us to take the lantern to the Lamasery at which he was staying. This .we did, and showed the life of Christ. He said he was quite willing that Will Simpson should have a mission station at the place where his headquarters are, about a week's journey into Tibet. You perhaps have read in the papers that Will Simpson was killed last year by bandits about twenty-five miles east of Anting on the main road. He was bringing the baggage of some new missionaries. He was one of the best Tibetan speakers on the mission field and used to go into Tibet for six months at a time.

The Tibetans that come into Kweiteh are the Nomads which live in tents and I understand that these are typical of the Tibetans in the interior. Will Simpson used to go with a train of yak and I think carried a tent with him as there are no inns such as you find in China, and it is also on a high cold plateau.

I am not telling this because I feel called to such a work, although it has its attractions, but perhaps there are some young men in our assemblies who may. I would suggest two young men at least, as I know what it means to be single-handed and we are human after all.

I am planning to leave here in September for Peiping and will likely go on to our brother Kautto's. It looks as though the Japs will occupy Taitowying.

I have requested a brother to order a tent for me from Shanghai.

May I ask the prayers of the Lord's people on behalf of these two large needy places?

In connection with our brother's mention of the work on the border of Kansu, the following are a few incidents in connection with the beginning of Protestant missionary work in that part of China. Until the year 1866 practically no Protestant missionary work was done in the interior of China and not until about the year 1875 were the Western provinces of Shanshi and Kansu entered. At that time Mr. Easton and Doctor Parker of the China Inland Mission made a pioneer journey into these provinces. Of their first journey they say, "fifty-six days were spent, in cart and inns, passing from city to city through the southern part of the provinces, where roads were roughest and accommodation poorest, and where little food was obtainable beyond steamed bread and rice, or coarse home-made vermicelli. Starting at earliest dawn, we often traveled on till dark, preaching by the wayside or in crowded streets, everywhere telling the glad tidings of Redeeming Love."

Later, when definite work was established at Kansu, a terrible war broke out between Mohammedans and Chinese on the border.

Almost two years the fearful struggle lasted, 80,000 people being massacred, not to speak of soldiers killed in battle or frozen on the mountains, but through it all the missionaries stayed at their posts, proving themselves the friends of Chinese and Mohammedans alike and winning love and confidence that brought wonderful opportunities for the Gospel. We read in Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission* *To be had of the Publishers. Price, $2.* "After a preparatory stage of several months, the Mohammedan Rebellion had swept down upon the city of Si-ning on the borders of Tibet, where Mr. and Mrs. Ridley, their infant child, and Mr. Hall were the only foreigners. Ten thousand Mohammedans lived in the suburbs round the city, and it was a terrible night (July 24) when, contrary to vows and protestations, they turned upon their Chinese neighbors, and amid scenes of fearful carnage threw in their lot with the rebels. Already the city was filled with refugees, and the missionaries were working night and day to care for the wounded. Led by a beggar who knew the healing virtues of their medicines, they had found in the Confucian Temple hundreds of women and children who had made their escape from burning villages and the horrors perpetrated by their enemies. Groans and wailing were heard on every hand, and in the twilight of that summer evening they saw a mass of human suffering that was appalling. Burned from head to foot and gashed with fearful sword-cuts, scores of these poor creatures lay dying with not a hand to help them, for no one would go near even with food and water.

Then the missionaries understood why they had felt so definitely that they ought to stay on in the city, when they might have made good their escape. This was the work for which they were needed, the work that was to open hearts to the Gospel as years of preaching had not done. With heroic courage they gave themselves to the task, and throughout all that followed never ceased their ministrations. Amid scenes passing conception they cared for the wounded of both sides-first in the seven months of Mohammedan frenzy, when the Chinese were falling before them in thousands, then in still more awful months of Chinese retaliation. With no surgical instrument but a pen-knife and hardly any appliances but such as could be obtained on the spot, they performed hundreds of operations, and treated over a thousand cases of diphtheria, not to speak of the dressing of wounds that occupied them from early morning till late at night."

BRAZIL

Our brother Penna writes as follows:-

Your letter of April 4th was duly received, and there was thankfulness on our part to God our Father and to His Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour for this token of your fellowship in our labors for the Lord here in the Amazon valley. Our unworthiness and God's grace are a full contrast and we are touched by the Lord's faithfulness toward us. We realize how difficult things are these hard times but the Lord stands the same, always taking care of His servants and ministering to them through His distressed people. To our Blessed Lord and Saviour be all glory for ever.
I told you I was contemplating moving out of Parintins and, after seeking the Lord as to this, am now living in Aicurapa River where we have a good beginning in the work. Last Sunday we broke bread with eleven at the Lord's table, with about twenty visitors. Some of the latter are believers who have not taken their place as yet.

At Mirity Lake we are having encouragement and God is working there. I go there every other Sunday and hope for some fruit soon.

It is in my heart to make an intensive Gospel trip beginning July 4th. For this purpose the Lord is providing a canoe. Out of the ministry I received since January, the Lord has graciously enabled me to put aside $40 and with this amount we have started work on the canoe. The canoe will cost about $80 but we know the Lord will give us the other half of this sum. This is a needy field, one in which we can move only by water. We have need too of a brother, a servant of the Lord to help us. Will the saints please pray for both these needs.

I am glad to say the Lord has been gracious to me as to my health. I am feeling well now though I was almost overcome with lung trouble. Am indeed thankful to Him for having spared my body.

ARGENTINA, S. A.

Our brother Montllau writes as follows:

We have been cheered by the good attendance at the Gospel meetings and Sunday School during the last weeks. There are several who seem to have received the message and they profess faith in the Lord Jesus. In other halls where we held united prayer meetings there has been some awakening and after a series of special meetings many have confessed the Lord as their Saviour. We began meetings on Saturday night in a section called Pompeo and there is quite an' interest and fine attendance. We expect to see much fruit there. We crave your prayers on behalf of several young people who desire baptism.

AFRICA

Announcement was made in our last issue of the marriage of our brother William Deans to Miss Dora Winsor of Wheaton, Illinois. So that our sister might be better Known, we take the liberty of mentioning the following few details concerning her work for the Lord:

Several years ago Miss Winsor followed her two sisters and her brother to the mission field and commenced service for the Lord at a point near the Northeastern tip of the Belgian Congo. There at Aba she found opportunities for witnessing among women. Conducting a women's school daily, she instructed them in the way of the Cross. Supplementing the daily school, heathen women were visited in their huts. Many turned to the Lord and thus the hearts and affections of the women, both pagan and Christian were gained. Miss Winsor also took a part in caring for orphans and other unfortunate children.

May the Lord richly bless our brother and his wife in their new united service for Himself.
Of the work at Nyangkundi our brother writes:

Since my last letter much has transpired here at Nyangkundi. Over thirty have come to Christ. Some of the older Christians have been led into full time Gospel work, being not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, having felt its power in their lives and seen that it is in truth the power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes.

"After the Gospel meeting we four will go to preach to the Balendu," Kamesu and his fellows said to me one Lord's Day morning as the first fingers of light from the blazing sun shot upward from the eastern hills. Kamesu and Nzunde, converts of several years, had spent many a Sunday afternoon among the Balendu villages preaching Christ. The other two, recently converted, found such joy in 'the Lord that they had a longing desire to impart it to others too, to share with the Balendu that satisfying peace made through the blood of the Cross.

Two villages had requested that he and Nzunde come to live and teach in their compounds. Realizing that Romanist teachers rush to enter in competition wherever the Gospel is brought, the villages asked us to get special permission from the Government authorizing them to come. So to the chief, the territorial agent and administrator, the letter went and Kamesu returned to make plans for a removal of house and home. The second day back he brought his eldest daughter, about seven years old, and asked for medicine. She, coughing up sections of a milk worm, aroused our sympathies and not having the proper remedy, a letter was sent to Doctor Woodhams, but before the medicine arrived Kamesu had laid away his daughter. Calm and resigned, he praised the Lord that she was with Him, which is "far better."

Then plans were interrupted this week by the sudden illness of Kamesu's youngest and last night she, too, was laid beside her sister. The two graves, dug but a week apart, contain the crowning earthly ties of our dear brother. Today word comes to us from Kamesu, "Tell Bwana that all this does not move me from my purpose to preach the love of Jesus to the Balendu. It only gives me less of the world to think about. I care nothing for the world, but all for Christ."

Continued, systematic, persistent Romanist opposition vies with heathen trickery to bring the Gospel of Salvation by grace to naught. Despite this, however, fruit is being continually seen, particularly in the Bahema and Balenda tribes.

After Belinyama, Mubira king, died, Bwana Muzuri, his eldest son, ascended to the place of authority. But how unlike Hezekiah of old he has proven to be. We have been blessed by the reading of the revival under Hezekiah. His good influence encouraged the people to return to the Lord Jehovah. Bwana Muzuri, on the other hand, is urging Satan worship and deification of ancestors, which has caught even some of the weak village Christians in its wake. The chief, angry that so many have left pagan ranks to serve the living and true God, encourages free persecution of our people. Women cutting wood in the grass are molested, men are threatened, captured, beaten and forced to work for a season, under the chief. Cases brought to the chief's court are either shelved or speedily decided in the favor of the pagan, seldom if ever for the Christian."

Our love and sympathy surely go out to our brother Kamesu in the loss of his two children. The beautiful spirit manifested reminds one of another missionary who years ago after losing husband and child within a few days of each other could write:

"It is just possible that you may have heard of the honor that my God and Father has put upon me. Yes, He has trusted me to live without my darling husband and child and they 'are not for God has taken them.'- My treasures are gone and I am left alone-He has taken my all. Now I can only give Him what remains of life. He has indeed emptied me. May it be only to feel His love, compassion and power." HARBOR WORK-New York

Through the faithfulness of God we have been enabled to keep on in this work among the seafarers on the many ships which constantly ply to and fro between New York and other ports. We are thankful to report His unchanging goodness to us and His support of the work. Particularly has this been true of literature, which is still at low ebb, yet there is enough for our work from day by day.

We received genuine cheer in talking to an American seaman who told us he had been definitely cleared up as the result of a Gospel tract we had left with him some few months earlier. Not only this, but he constantly reads our booklets and stands for the Lord. He has asked me for a larger type Bible than the one I gave him in January, expressing at the same time the great joy he has reading the Book every day. This, naturally, is something so different from the usual response of American seamen that we can give God alone the praise. We may not realize it, but there are ever so many seamen who are true Christians and their lot is a difficult one if they seek to stand true to Christ. Again and again we have been stirred at meeting these "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" and it would do the heart good to be able to tell something of each of them. Just last month one such came across our path and what a joy it was, not only to meet him, but take him home for tea, then to the Assembly, where fellowship with God's people means so much to the weary traveler. May the Lord's people remember in prayer those of "His own" "who go down to the sea in ships," for truly "these see the work of the Lord and His wonders in the deep." -R.A. West.

In John 7:37-39 is revealed a secret which was then for the first time made known, though Joel 2:28, 29 had foretold of a work of the Spirit of God which he calls a "pouring out of the Spirit." But that outpouring is to "upon all flesh," and belongs to a yet future time. Christ's words were for "those who believe on Him," an entirely different company and time.

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, 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." "But," adds John, "this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified."

Scripture had foretold this outpouring in veiled types, as when Moses was bidden to smite the rock, when the water poured forth; and in such passages as Isa. 35:6, 7:"Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water."

But there is a new note in the words of Christ, rivers of living water were to come forth from believers on Him. This was a new way of God's acting. He had spoken through prophets, and such words as we find in Isaiah 53 showed, at least, what God had in His purpose for His people. But aside from this, the giving out of the gospel could only be in its fulness after Christ had finished His work and gone back to heaven, His work accepted. And this needed the coming of the Holy Spirit to speak out the gospel through the believer on Christ.

To this period of Christ's teaching belongs Luke 11:11-13, especially verse 13:"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." This is the only place in the New Testament where any one is taught to ask for the Holy Spirit, and it was entirely in accordance with Scripture teaching that at that time men should pray for ,the Holy Spirit. Christ was to pray for the coming of the Spirit, as He told His people in John 14:16:"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not neither knoweth Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." Then in verse 26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

In John 16:7-15 Christ gave more instruction as to the coming of the Spirit:"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come," etc. "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth:for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak:and He shall show you things to come."

Thus Christ announced the coming of the Spirit. After Christ's resurrection He gave His disciples a command:"Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you:but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). Then in Acts 1:1-8 is additional instruction, in which Christ said, "John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days hence." "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me…unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Acts 2 narrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the waiting disciples; then His reception by the saved Samaritans; the saved Gentile, Cornelius; then by some of John's disciples (Acts 8:14-20; 10:44-47; 19:1-7). AH these are so many steps in the coming of the Spirit after the ascension of Christ. By God's dealings with Cornelius the Jewish believers were taught a lesson they had to learn. So the giving of the Spirit to the Samaritans through the laying on of the apostles' hands taught that proud people, as well as the Jews, a needed lesson. There is no other example given in Scripture of any person receiving this, "baptism of the Spirit" after being saved, nor is any person told to seek this experience. But we do read that, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. . . and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13). Thus if any one is a member of the body of Christ, he has been baptized by the Spirit. Sealing with the Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 4:30) is another of God's acts for every believer, never repeated.

There is one part of the believer's dealings with the Spirit with a command attached to the revelation of it:"Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). This is to be sought, prayed for; but not the baptism or the sealing, for they are the portion of every real believer. Then there are two commands we all should carefully heed:"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God" (Eph. 4:30); and "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thess. 5:19). Many temptations come to every believer to do these things, which are to be carefully guarded against. He will teach every member of the body of Christ concerning this. Read Heb. 12:1-3; Eph. 4:31,32.

Thus simple is the Bible doctrine of the Holy Spirit. J. W. Newton

(Heb. 12:3)

The Holy Spirit is here in the world to glorify Christ; as it is written, "He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you" (John 16:14).

By His power it is that we are being established in and firmly attached to Christ, so that He becomes more and more to our hearts.

This is particularly the case in Hebrews. All else, and every one else, is set aside that Christ Himself may be prominently before our hearts and minds. He is the Center of all God's plans and purposes, as He is the Object of the Father's delight, and the Holy Spirit works with us that He may be our delight and our all.

Hebrews perpetuates for us "the holy Mount" of Transfiguration. There "Jesus only" remained to fill the vision of the disciples (Mark 9:8). In the previous chapter we find the healing of the blind man (Mark 8:23-26). He was led by the Lord out of the town. Taking the afflicted one by the hand the Lord, the Son of God (oh, the tender grace He showed thus!) conducted him away from the business and the bustle of the haunts of men into a place of retirement with Himself. There He identifies Himself with him, spitting upon his eyes, and putting His hands upon him. Asked then if he beheld anything the man said, "I see men as trees walking." He saw; but only indistinctly. Men seemed as trees in their greatness and movement. The Lord then places His hands again upon his eyes. And now the blind man sees all distinctly. Is it not thus in our Christian course? At the beginning, when first the light dawns for us, men in their activities appear before our eyes in an exaggerated form. Though man in his best estate is altogether vanity-empty, transitory, unsatisfactory-yet he fills the vision. It may be that even the Lord's servants who have been instrumental in our conversion may have an unwarranted importance in our view. But in the power of the Holy Spirit the entrance of God's Word gives light and understanding. Then one is led on to view man as he is in his sinful state, both in others and in ourselves, and more and more we turn from him.

"Who knows thee well will loathe thee with disgust,
Degraded mass of animated dust,"

it has been said of man in his fallen, corrupt condition. And little by little we learn that the severe language is just and right, and learn too that degraded man who has cast out and crucified Christ has been set aside in the death of Christ." "Our aid man has been crucified," (brought to an end in judgment) with Christ, so that we have died with Him. More than that, we discover that He is not only our Saviour but that He is our Life (Col. 3:4). Then we take up the language of the apostle Paul and say, "I am crucified with Christ:nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:and 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" (Gal. 2:20). "For to me to live is Christ," exclaims the same apostle. Christ Himself in His glory filled his gaze, and became the power of his life and service here.

So it is in Mark 9. The three disciples, Peter, John and James, are taken up into a mountain, away from the world at large and from their fellow-disciples. There in that solitude the Lord is transfigured before them. His glory, usually screened from mortal eyes, was radiated forth in its excellency. Elias and Moses appear talking with Jesus. Peter delighting in the vision cried, "Master, it is good for us to be here:and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."He places the Son of God upon a level with the servants of God. The glory was affronted. A cloud overshadows them all, and a voice came out of the cloud-it was the Father's voice (2 Pet. 1:17), "This is My beloved Son; hear Him." Suddenly the scene is changed."Having looked round about," as though they searched for the others, they saw no man any more, save JESUS only with themselves." The Son of God filled their gaze in something of the majesty and glory in which He will be manifested at His appearing.

It is this to which we are conducted in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Heaven is opened for us. The Son of God is there. Not now, as from the Transfiguration Mount, soon to descend to death and judgment for God's glory and for our good. No, that work has been done! The one all-availing sacrifice has been offered. The cross is vacant, the sepulcher is empty, the throne is filled. At the right hand of God Jesus sits "crowned with glory and honor." It is there we are introduced to Him by the Spirit of God. He is there as the Purger of sins. He is there as the Pioneer of His people. He is there as the Priest for their succor on the road to the rest of God. He is there as the One who has trodden all the path of faith and has become the Pattern for them in their journey. Thus we hear the exclamation,

"Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (Heb. 3:1).

"No man any more." Jesus, once crucified, now glorified, is to be our subject of contemplation. We are to observe Him intently in the various glories in which He is presented before us by the Holy Spirit. He eclipses all. Men and things as types and shadows come before us, but only to be superseded by Him. Angels, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, are brought into evidence, to be dismissed. "A glory that excelleth" shines, and by reason of it they have no glory now, whatever their office or faithfulness may have been.

And what grace is this! We are called aside to commune with our God and Father as to His beloved Son. It is in Him, as we have observed, that all the Father's delight is found. And He lets us into this secret of His bosom. As another has said, He does not say, "This is My beloved Son in whom you should be well-pleased," but He tells us of His own full appreciation of Him so that our hearts may be led to see in Him the beauties, the graces, the glories in which the Father Himself finds His delight. The peace (or, rather, the communion) offering of Leviticus 3 is here. We are brought to have part with God-to have fellowship with Him, to feed upon the food of the offerings of Jehovah. We find common joy in the Lord Jesus.

And this is a foretaste of heaven's joys. There amid all that tells of the things which God has prepared for them that love Him,

"In the midst of all Thou only,
O Lord, wilt fix the eye."

If the veil could be removed from our eyes as it was in the case of Stephen, and if we, like him, were full of the Holy Ghost looking up steadfastly into heaven, we should see the glory of God and Jesus on the right hand of God.

"The glory of God." All that God is in fullest expression. "Jesus" in the center of that glory. Seeing Him there resulted in Stephen becoming like what He had been here as he prayed for his enemies. And so it will be with us; beholding the glory of the Lord we shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory. It is to produce this moral effect that the truth is brought before us.

"Consider Him" again is the cry, in chapter 12. Now the eye is directed to Him as the One who has run the whole course in the race of faith. The believer is seen as a runner in that race. He has to overcome difficulties in a world which is opposed to his progress. He is exhorted to lay aside every weight and sin which so easily besets us, and to look off, to look away from all else, and to fix his eyes upon Jesus, considering well how He has endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself. Otherwise there is danger of becoming weary, and of fainting and falling out of the running, instead of resisting the forces of evil unto blood. This had been done by many of the worthies spoken of in chapter 11. And our Lord Himself has been raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God. Our goal is to be with Himself. As Forerunner He has entered heaven and it is but a little while and He the Coming One will come and will not delay.

Blessed are we in having Himself before us thus in His varied and unchanging glories. We are in a world where everything shakes and totters to its fall. We receive a kingdom which cannot shake.

Let us have (hold fast) grace, and serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear as we await the return of our Lord. Inglis Fleming

I

We learn portions of the Gospels when children; we read large parts of them until we know them by heart; but often as we grow old the Spirit of God gives us new views of Christ as revealed in them. The sending of His Son to live here as a Man among men was God's great Gift to mankind. He was always perfectly doing the things that pleased the Father. But even this was not enough. That wonderful life must be recorded, and one record would not meet the need, nor would two or even three. There had to be four records of this God-Man, four views of His life and work on earth. One of the wonders of the four Gospel records is that they always present Christ. Men and women are there in every variety of character, people with whom Christ had to do, but always, and in every part, and in every circumstance, Christ stands out by Himself as unique.

Everywhere He is Creator; they, His creatures. He is God; they are men. The attacks of His enemies are like the slinging of pebbles against a mighty mountain. The mask of hypocrisy is torn off; the evil heart in man is brought into the light; men and women are pictured as they really are. None other ever knew them perfectly; none other ever dared speak out the whole truth. You can see sinners cringing, as they are lashed by those piercing words.

Had they accepted His judgment of themselves, had they followed in the steps of the prodigal son, of the woman of Samaria, or of Nicodemus, what eternal blessing would have come to them. He offered them eternal life, eternal salvation, but in how many cases was it rejected. Yet we have always to remember that Christ was sowing, and that the great multitude of hundredfold fruit-bearers did not appear until after Pentecost. It was not until then that thousands believed; that a "great company of the priests were obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7). There were also thousands of the Jews who believed (Acts 21:20). The most of these were forced out of Jerusalem by the persecution that arose about Stephen.

But while Christ was teaching, preaching, and healing, of the great crowds gathering to Him. only a few truly believed on Him, His words were written down for all after-time; they will never pass away, they are for us to read and learn the messages which Christ brought to man. He was speaking the words of God, doing the works of God. Christ was always making God known to man. Not to the Jews in Palestine alone, but to all the world, for all time, Christ was bringing to mankind the revelation of the goodness and the severity of God.

Hence the four Gospels are four narratives of God dealing in grace and love with man. Yet Scripture is almost silent about thirty years of that life which to His neighbors was only the life of a carpenter (Mark 6:3), and His life there for thirty years seemed only to hinder their believing on Him (Mark 6:5, 6). But how different is God's view from man's. "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." The thirty years at Nazareth pleased the Father. A few words at the end of Luke 2 give all that mankind needed to know of those thirty years. The wisdom shown in the selection of what to write of that marvelous life is not of man but of God. Each of the four narratives is a Gospel according to the Holy Spirit, given through the four actual writers. Thus all shadow of doubt as to whether the Gospels are accounts of what Christ really said and did are gone for faith. Satan has no more effective way of spoiling the record than the insinuation that its words are not really the words of Christ. It is the blindness of unbelief that fails to see that no four men ever lived who could write four such Gospels unless they were led, as the four writers were, by the Spirit of God.

How else could four such men write the four greatest books in the world? Two narrow-minded, uneducated Jewish fishermen, a Jewish business man (probably), one of the best educated Greek physicians, and a custom house official of note, were the men back of the Gospels. For Peter was, according to the best evidence, Mark's informant in writing. Peter was a man of action, and Mark's Gospel records Christ's doings, the word "straightway" being found in it about 40 times. "Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him," is Peter's summary of Christ's ministry (Acts 10:38).

The more faith studies the Gospels, the more the fact that they are the words of God impresses one. Unbelief tangles itself up in imaginary objections to keep out the precious truth. How rash, how futile are the puny objections of unbelief to God's wonderful words. You see Christ all through the whole, the one great Center. You see the great multitudes with their sick, infirm, and demon-possessed. You hear the Voice making God's truth known to man; records which have brought salvation and life to millions of souls. None but God could speak words which would bring joy, peace, and deliverance from the power and guilt of sin to myriads of hearers and readers. All over the world multitudes are living by these precious words. It may be a single Gospel, perhaps only a leaf, or it may be a Testament, or a Bible, but souls are feeding upon this Word, the words of the living God.

It is the bread that cometh down from heaven and giveth life to all who receive it. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." It was the Man Christ Jesus who spoke God's living words, words that live and that bring life to dead souls. Christ's wonderful words of life brought healing, deliverance, salvation, as He went about for the years of His public ministry, pleasing the Father. He was a perfect revelation of God in a Man. They saw His form, heard Him speak the words which brought life to dead souls; the men of that generation saw wonders wrought which only the power of God could bring to pass, yet with all this, all His miracles of healing, they delivered Him to the Romans to be crucified. No part of Scripture brings out the wickedness in the hearts of men like the crucifixion chapters. No wonder Pilate asked, "Why what evil hath He done?" Christ was guiltless in the eyes of the idolater; again and again Pilate declared Christ's innocence, but His own people would have Him crucified.

The hearts of men were never revealed as at the trial of Christ. There they were allowed to show out their enmity to God without restraint. Throughout His public ministry up to His arrest, they were restrained by the power of God from their desire to destroy Christ. The leaders hated Him and plotted against Him, but the multitudes in Galilee who were benefitted by His miracles were for Him. Even in Jerusalem a very great multitude welcomed Him and shouted His praise (Matt. 21:1-10). But when He rebuked sin in the temple, spoke against the sins of the leaders, and made God's hatred of sin known to them by parables and acts (Matt. 21:12,13, 45), then the leaders succeeded in turning the multitude against Him, or at least enough to impress Pilate with the strength of the demand for His death. God was permitting man to fully manifest his hatred of God. In Christ they had the Son of God in the guise of a man so that they could show their hatred of God and His beloved Son. Striking at Christ they could strike against God, and for once man could fully manifest his hatred.
Isaiah fifty-three was fulfilled; men were given free rein; afterwards their sin was brought home to their consciences by men speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. Hear those accusing words of Stephen:

"Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers; who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it" (Acts 7:51-53). J. W. Newton

(Concluded in next number, D.V.) p. 155

The moral beauty of Daniel's prayer, recorded in ch. 9:1-19 of the book that bears his name, begets admiration and spiritual pleasure in the heart of every lover of God and His Word. But this article concerns itself only with what he prayed for and the answer thereto.

In verses 2, 7, 12, 16, 18 and 19, the burden of his prayer is unfolded to us, while verses 24-27 give the answer of God to his burdened soul. His prayer concerned the sanctuary (vers. 17), the city, and the people of God (vers. 18,19). The answer (vers. 24-27) gives assurance that the sanctuary, the city and the people will be blessed of God. That answer was:Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to:

1. Finish transgressions,
2. Make an end of sins,
3. Make reconciliation for iniquity,
4. Bring in everlasting righteousness,
5. Seal up vision and prophecy,
6. Anoint the most Holy.

Have all or any of these things taken place? All of them are in immediate and distinct relation to the Jew and Jerusalem. Has the transgression of Daniel's people and city been finished? Has an end been brought to the sins of that people and city? Has reconciliation been made for their iniquity? Has everlasting righteousness been brought in for them?

It is not the work of- Christ on the cross that is here before us, but the application of that work to Daniel's people and city. When this takes place then vision and prophecy will cease and the sanctuary will be anointed. When we realize that there is no blessing for a Jew, as a Jew, today-for when a Jew today believes on the Lord Jesus he becomes a member of the Body of Christ in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile-and when we place this truth alongside of the fact that the blessings enumerated in Daniel 9:24 in answer to his prayer are emphatically and distinctly for the Jew, as a Jew, and for his Holy City-Jerusalem (Christians have no holy city), we cannot escape the conclusion that their fulfilment is future to this present age. Alas! The awful prayer of the Jew:"His blood be on us and on our children" (Matt. 27:25), is that which finds its answer in the predicted destruction of city and sanctuary, in wars and desolations, which shall continue to the end – of the seventy weeks. That the destruction of the city and the sanctuary took place after the sixty-ninth week, and that the decreed wars and desolations run through not only the intervening time between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks but through the seventieth week also, is clear from the reading of verses 26 and 27. If, then, the blessings decreed upon Daniel's people and city take place after the seventieth week has run to its close, it is again evident, with the plainly indicated break between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week before us, that these blessings for that people and city are still future.

We are not now concerned with the chronological details of the prophecy. For our present purpose we need not consider the date when the seventy weeks began. The statement is plain that seventy weeks must run their course before the promised blessings could come to Daniel's people and city (ver. 24). It is equally plain that it is after the sixty-ninth week that Messiah would be cut off and have nothing. We are thus brought, at the close of the sixty-ninth week, to the death of Christ (vers. 24, 25, and first part of ver. 26). From the second part of verse 26 to the end of verse 27 we read:"And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary:and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war, the desolations determined" (See Isa. 10:22,23). "And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and because of the protection of abominations (idols) there shall be a desolator, even until the consumption and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolate" (J. N. D.). Why the people of the prince that shall come? Why not the "prince that shall come" if Titus were in view? Does not the language used, "the prince that shall come," indicate one previously spoken of?

In chap. 7 one is brought before us whose kingdom is taken away in order to the setting up of the kingdom of the Son of Man (vers. 14,26,27), of whom it is said:"And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change seasons (appointed times) and the law, and they shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time" (J. N. D.). (For the meaning of the expression, "Time and times and half a time," compare Rev. 11:2, 3; 12:6,14; 13:5, and there will be no doubt as to it denoting three years and a half.). Have we not here that which answers to what takes place during the last half of the seventieth week? "The prince that shall come" breaks the covenant with the mass of the Jews, forbidding further sacrifice and oblation (9:27. In chap. 7:25 the Jewish appointed times and the law are given into the hand of the head of the revived Roman Empire for a time similar in duration to half a week. It seems, therefore, a right deduction that "the prince that shall come" of Dan. 9:26 and the head of the revived Roman Empire (7:25) are one and the same person.

That the fourth, or Roman, Empire will be in existence when the Son of Man comes to set up His kingdom is most certainly taught in Dan., chs. 2 and 7. Then will the head of that empire, the "prince that shall come," receive his judgment at the hand of the Son of Man (Dan. 2:40-45; 7:11,26,27; Rev. 19:11-21). We therefore look for the re-appearance of the Roman Empire in the future.

But why was the seven-year covenant entered into by the many-the mass of the Jews? Why this compact with the "prince that shall come," the "Beast," or head of the revived Roman Empire? Does not Isa. 28:14, 15 supply the answer? "Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem, Because ye have said:We have made a covenant with death and with Sheol we are at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." Jehovah's answer to this is:"Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand:when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden by it" (ver. 18). Fear of the "overflowing scourge" or "king of the north" is evidently what induces the mass of the Jews to enter into this covenant. The "overflowing scourge" or "king of the north" is set before us in Dan. 11:40-45, as entering, on his career of conquest, into the "glorious land."

Where in history do we find that which answers to the terms of the prophecy of the seventy weeks, Dan. 9:24-27? Where in history do we find that which answers to Dan. 2:40-45; 7:11,26,27? How far wide of the mark it is to make the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus the fulfilment of Jewish blessing (9:24), or the setting up of the kingdom of the Son of Man (Dan. 2:40-45; 7:11,26,27; Matt. 25:31-46).

The Jew and Jerusalem await the coming of the Son of Man to bring to an end both the glory (Dan. 2) and the brute power (Dan. 7) of Gentile empire (see Rev. 19:11-21).Then, and not until then, will Daniel's people and city come into their promised blessings. As it is written:"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications:and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. 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" (Zech. 12:9, 10; 13:1). "And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." That the present age was not made known in past times is clearly taught in the New Testament Scriptures. See Rom.16:25,26; Eph.3:1-11; Col. 1:24-27.Moreover in Dan. 12:1 there is predicted a time of trouble "such as had never been since there was a nation." In verse 7 the duration of this time of trouble, is specified as a time, times, and half a time, that is, three and a half years, or twelve hundred and sixty days. In vers. 11 and 12 we read:"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15) there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." The setting up of the "abomination that maketh desolate" marks the beginning of the great tribulation (Dan. 11:2; 12:13,14; 13:5-7). To this there are thirty days added (Dan. 12:11), and again forty-five days more are added. At the end of this last period, thirteen hundred and thirty-five days after the abomination that maketh. desolate is set up the blessing comes (Dan. 12:12). By what method of reckoning time, by literal days or otherwise, can it be shown that the Jew came into blessing thirteen hundred and thirty-five days after Titus destroyed Jerusalem?

"To make known the riches of His glory in the vessels of mercy-prepared unto glory" (Rom. 9:23).

The child of God has been convicted as having "come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Into the heart there has "shined the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6) bringing meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light and redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:12-14), entitling the believing soul to step heavenward having peace to begin with, grace to go on with, and glory to end with (Rom. 5:1, 2).

Meanwhile the glory's brightness shines on every daily experience of the soul, disclosing Satan's power, the enormity of the world's pollution, and the desperate wickedness of the natural heart. Notwithstanding such a corrupt scene and condition of heart, God is preparing vessels of mercy destined to enter His kingdom and glory (1 Thess. 2:12) by attracting the soul to Christ in glory (2 Cor. 3:18) and by the exercise of Fatherly discipline, putting faith to the proof by heart-searching trials, testings, sorrows, siftings, etc., which the soul is helpless to cope with, deriving no power whatever from within or from any earthly source. Poor indeed and utterly bereft are heaven-born souls, but for God's "riches in glory" made known as sufficing for victory over every hostile power and as ministering from the glory the joy and comfort of identification with the mighty Victor, who is able to subdue all things unto Himself (Phil. 3:21).

God is forming a people for His (not their own) praise and glory (Isa. 43:7, 21). Our depraved, fallen natures, the blight of the curse on earth's fairest attractions, the sinful taint of all human attainments as seen in the glory light, strip the soul of all self praise or personal credit, but display amazing grace which transforms gross material into "partakers of His holiness" (Heb. 12-10), and "profiters" by "exercise" (Heb. 12:11), regarding all manner of training, sifting, or refining which the glorious Lord employs to produce self-loathing and soul-sickening abhorrence of all that is in the world "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16), so that the honest conclusion is reached that

"All below lies dark and shadowed,
Nothing here to claim the heart,
But the lonely track of sorrow,
Where of old He walked apart."

Exercises that bring about the soul's decided "refusal of evil" lead to it as definitely "choosing the good" (Isa. 7:IS) and opens to faith's apprehension the satisfying and formative delights which the glory reveals. The power "that worketh in us God's good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13) is directed by the eternal love that lifts "beggars from the dunghill to inherit the throne of glory" (1 Sam. 2:8), and by constant persistence, prepares the soul for its future "likeness to Christ" (1 John 3:2) and participation in the everlasting glories that await the "many sons the Captain of our salvation is leading to glory" (Heb. 2:10).

Divinely-implanted faith distinguished Abraham as a subject for severest trial (Heb. 11-17), while unbelieving nations were not visited with such discipline. The children of God (not unbelieving worldlings) are prepared for glory by such treatment as materials receive at the hands of the blacksmith who discards metal that will not take temper, while heating, chilling, hammering, rasping the iron he forms into useful implements. Or the painstaking efforts the potter expends on the clay from which he produces worthwhile products. Or that which the gardener employs to secure fruitful results by the sharp pruning knife. Or the husbandman who sifts and grinds the grain from which bread is made. Or the "Refiner" mentioned in Proverbs 25:4, revealing the Blessed Lord's desire to possess vessels freed from dross by the needful process of refining. We read the furnace is for gold (Prov. 17:3). He who refines, appraises the believer's value by the ransom price paid at Calvary. Stones are not cast in the furnace nor brambles pruned, and only the true child of God, "bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:20), costing the Divine Buyer "all that he had" (Matt. 13:46), is worth painstaking preparation for glory.

How blessed to contemplate the preciousness of the blood-bought soul:

"Master most holy,
My woes Thou hast borne;
Thy wages I am
For anguish and scorn,
No value myself,
Yet ransomed by Thee,
Thy blood puts a worth
Untold upon me."

Admixture such as described in Ezekiel 22:18 the Refiner abhors, and Lamentations 4:1,2 discloses His wounded feelings, but in tender love remedial measures, such as described in Psalm 66:10,12 or Mal. 3:3, He undertakes Himself to apply. The believing heart may be well assured that:

"The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design
Thy dross to remove and thy gold to refine."

To His ministry of love we may attribute the "trial" and "affliction," even the extreme of passing through fire and water, yet how welcome the blessed "but," "Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place," causing the soul to learn with Job, after reciting the dealings he could not trace, that another blessed "but" entitles us to trust where we cannot trace and be assured that "He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).

Secret soul exercises, exposure of the "heart's intents," conduct us to God and disclose His secret loving thoughts. It is well to connect the "sharp," "piercing," "power" of Heb. 4:12 with "Him with whom we have to do" (ver. 13); finding instead of the action of the word proving desperately overwhelming, that a "Great High Priest" is ours (vers. 14), to succor and sustain all who "come for seasonable help in time of need."

In Hebrews 12, we have not only discipline that "for the present seemeth grievous" but also blest attraction absorbing the soul that "looks off unto Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame" and, "considering Him," does not faint because of the way.

The Refiner is the Lover of our souls, who seeks the welfare of the objects of His tender affections. His voice saying "It is I, be not afraid" and the assurance, "He will perfect that which concerneth me" (Psalm 138:8), and that "all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28), warrant our heartily committing ourselves in humble submission to all training and perfecting processes He adopts, whose perfect love, wisdom, patience, knowledge, skill, and purpose, will consummate the achievement for which His blood was shed, for which His life was given-"the presentation of His redeemed in glory" without spot or wrinkle or any such thing," (Eph. 5; 27) His heart's delight gratified by that same presentation "faultless in the presence of His glory" of those He died to win (Jude 2:4). Meanwhile such response to love "so amazing, so divine" is induced, that devotion to His loved person may afford the refreshment of heart He has asked of befriended souls, "give me to drink," and the craving of our new natures for divine joys will be satisfied, while all the world presents will possess no charm, for discipline that subdues (not improves) the old nature, ministers heavenly gladness to the new, as encouragement, sustainment, and rejoicing, are constantly reaped in the realized apprehension of the voice, the hand, and light of God.

May that glorious presentation for which the love of Jesus sought, bought, bears, and molds us, inspire such devotion to His glorious Person that will, in full accord with His mind and gratifying both His and our longings, be expressed in daily life by the glowing words of our Lord, which, by His grace, we may adopt, "I delight to do Thy will O God."

Not to do my own will,
But Thine who knowest best
How to gain Thy purpose
And souls be fully blest.

E. J. Checkley

"That the trial of your faith.. .might be found.. .at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:7).

There are two words in the original language of the New Testament for which the word "appearing" has to do service in our Authorized Version, viz.:epiphaneia, literally, "outshining," and apokalupsis, literally, "unveiling."

In the old dispensation, the people of God were made well aware of the outshining of God's glory. Even a beast coming near to Mount Sinai was destroyed. But there was never an unveiling of glory until God came forth fully declared in Christ.

The "appearing" is spoken of in the above passage in the sense of revelation or "unveiling," and immediately the apostle puts in contrast the fact that his readers had not yet seen objectively the One they loved. That is opposed to all human experience. We cannot be permanently in love with an ideal; we must have in the mind a concrete impression of the object we love. In the first instance all human affection springs from sight. But the key to participation in the circle of divine affections is supplied in the succeeding sentence, "In whom.. .believing." Then follows rejoicing "with joy unspeakable" and "glory-tinged."

In our present condition we cannot bear the full outshining of glory. When a medicinal preparation is too strong for assimilation by the human organism it is diluted with water, but the essential virtues of the medicinal qualities are unimpaired. In the same way, our joy in the Lord is glory diluted. It does not differ in quality from the fulness of joy which we shall experience in the glory with the Lord Jesus Christ. The present foretaste has but a scintillation of the glory in which we shall dwell for ever. T. Oliver (Galashiels)

Calendar:August 16th to Sept. 15th

DAILY BIBLE READING:……August 16th, Heb. 5; August 31st, 1 Peter 2; Sept. 15th, Rev. 1.

Man delights in exhibition. The testimony is simply to go along as meek and lowly in heart. This is not a natural habit of the mind. In seeking to avoid display one may easily make an idol of apparent humility. It is well to bear in mind that there is the humility of flesh as well as the pride of flesh, and they come both under the category of pride. To make an exertion to appear humble is to be proud. God hates pride, because it gives man the place that belongs to the Lord. Pride cuts off communion. God resists the proud (Jas. 4:6); He knows them afar off (Ps. 138:6). In His sight, a proud heart is sin (Prov. 21:4). The proud heart never gets near to His sanctuary, for God has respect only to the lowly. Moreover from the other side pride of countenance, or life, is a hindrance to seeking after God (Ps. 10:4). "The pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:16). The world is passing; even so must the pride of life, as a constituent element of the world, be passing. Its consummation will meet its end in the day of the Lord (Isa. 2:12).

One of the great writers of Christian literature in the nineteenth century once said that, "Pride is the greatest of all evils which beset us, and of all our enemies it is that which dies the slowest and hardest."

May God preserve us from either of the extremes, and from the "in-between" of the pride of life! T. Oliver (Galashiels)

The book of Revelation is an outline of events which "must shortly come to pass" (Rev. 1:1). The addresses to the seven churches (chs. 2,3) are a well known prophetic outline of the Church's history from Pentecost to the second coming of the Lord. Chapter four marks the beginning of the "things which shall be hereafter," which is the last great division of this prophetic book (see ch.1:19).

The first verse of this fourth chapter is full of significance. John hears a voice as of a trumpet which summons him away from earth. "Come up hither," says the voice, "and I will show thee things which must be hereafter." It indicates to us the time of the removal of the Church to heaven, when, with the "voice of the archangel and the trump of God," the Lord Himself shall descend to raise the dead in Christ and to change the living, that together we may be caught up to be forever with the Lord.

Recalling the Lord's words concerning John, "If I will that he tarry till I come" (John 21:21,22) it becomes evident that John is a figure of those saints who are "alive and remain" unto the coming of the Lord, and who will be caught up at that time. He represents the redeemed people of God who are translated from earth to heaven, and the wonderful scenes related in this and the following chapters until then await fulfilment.

It has been apparent for some years that the professing Church has arrived at that period in its history which is described in the last church message-that to Laodicea- and that we are rapidly approaching the moment of the Lord's return from heaven to take out His own people. So here we are introduced to new scenes and surroundings. We view a throne set in heaven and One sitting upon the throne encompassed with indescribable glory. We see the activities round about the throne, and our souls are enraptured as we hear the four living creatures saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." And there, sitting upon four and twenty seats, or thrones, are seen "four and twenty elders," who prostrate themselves before Him who sits upon the central throne, and cast their crowns before Him, proclaiming His worthiness.

He who occupies the throne holds a book sealed with seven seals, and a challenge rings out to all the universe, "Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?" There is at first, no response, as there is none other worthy even to look upon that book but the Son, to whom all judgment has been committed (John 5:22), and He, the "Lion of the tribe of Judah," appears as "a Lamb as it had been slain." Spontaneously there arises from the lips of the vast redeemed throng assembled in heaven, that new song, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."

"Hark! ten thousand voices crying,
'Lamb of God!' with one accord;
Thousand thousand saints replying,
Wake at once the echoing chord.

'Praise the Lamb,' the chorus waking,
All in heaven together throng;
Loud and far each tongue partaking,
Rolls around the endless song.

Grateful incense this, ascending
Ever to the Father's throne;
Every knee to Jesus bending,
All the mind in heaven is one.

All the Father's counsels claiming
Equal honors to the Son,
All the Son's effulgence beaming,
Makes the Father's glory known.

By the Spirit all pervading,
Hosts unnumbered round the Lamb,
Crowned with light and joy unfading,
Hail Him as the great 'I AM.'"

The throne then resounds with the mingled voices of angels, living creatures and elders, in myriad hosts, saying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."

Soon the moment arrives for the

Seven-sealed Book

to begin to be opened. The Lamb opens the first seal, and with a voice of thunder, one of the living creatures says, "Come!" and upon the stage of this world appears one who is likened to a rider upon a white horse.

The nations hope for a "super-man" to arise who shall be capable of leading them out of the present morass of suspicion and jealousy and strife, one who can banish fear and successfully arbitrate their differences, cementing them together in a union of peace and prosperity. Our Bibles teach us that such a leader as the world vaguely hopes for will arise. There will appear upon the scene one who will be able to bring about that confederacy of the nations in a powerful political union such as diplomats envision but are unable to produce. There is a realization of incompetency in the present leaders to handle the gigantic tasks which confront them. At Geneva the diplomats of all the nations who are members of the League of Nations struggle in vain to accomplish their objectives. There is a deadlock which cannot be broken. Something must happen. Some hindrance or restraint must be removed.

The white horse rider of this opened

First Seal

will be hailed by the world as the man of their expectations. He will hold the world's military power in his hand as a "bow," and by this means will intimidate all other powers not under his direct leadership. He will wield this power with such ability that it will appear the long-desired era of peace and prosperity has arrived, and the nations will rejoice, believing that they have finally achieved the wished-for goal of their ambitions.

This union of powers, we believe, is none other than the ten-horned Beast of chapter 13:1, who is the crowned head of the League of Nations in its prophetic form. This at present cannot be brought into being. God's time has not yet come so long as the Church is here. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church prevents the rise of both the political and ecclesiastical leaders of the end-times (see 2 Thess. 2:6-8). The translation of the Church to heaven will clear the field for the activities of this great leader who will continue for a short space only (see ch. 17:12).

He is identical with the "Prince that shall come" of Daniel (ch. 9:26,27), who will make a covenant with the Jews, and the affairs of the nations will be so arbitrated that further war will be thought to be impossible. The world's great ones will exult in believing that they have arrived at the Utopia of their dreams and that the conditions which guarantee world peace have been attained.

"And when he had opened the

Second Seal

I heard the second living creature say, 'Come!' And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and there was given unto him a great sword."

With what consternation and distress the world's great men will be seized when the peace they thought so secure is broken! Under this second seal the world will be plunged into a war of such magnitude that its resources in both money and man-power will be terribly crippled. Then will be fulfilled the Lord's words to His disciples, "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:7,8).

This will be followed by the opening of the

Third and Fourth Seals

Under the third seal the black horse rider comes forth, and there is a time of dire distress and famine, the aftermath of war, which, in its turn will give place to the opened fourth seal, that of the "pale horse" of death and hell. The sword too, still unsheathed in some parts, and the wild beasts increasing in sections depopulated by war and famine, will cause further desolation.

When the

Fifth Seal

is opened it is manifest that during the course of the previous seals there has been persecution directed against the godly remnant of the Jews, and these call for vengeance on their enemies. Referring again to the Lord's words to His disciples as to the character of the end of the age, we read, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake" (Matt. 24:9). Hatred is seen blazing out against the Jews in some countries at the present time, but with this important difference that in the future time here contemplated they will be a godly remnant who will suffer martyrdom for "His Name's sake." This cannot be said of unbelieving Jews who are persecuted or slain to-day because of racial hatred. Then the

Sixth Seal

is opened, and there is depicted a great earthquake, with signs in the sun and moon and stars. All this seems to suggest the collapse of those institutions in the world-system which men have regarded as secure and stable. It would appear that the whole fabric of the social, political and commercial world comes down as with a crash. It is the logical sequence of events following a world-upheaval and universal war. Everything in which men have trusted will fail them, and the ruin will be such that it will be thought the end of the world has come. The rulers and great men of the world will begin to realize that it is indeed the hand of God that has afflicted them, and they cry out in fear and seek to escape from His wrath.

Judgments more severe and terrible are yet to follow as the Lord proceeds to deal more directly with an apostate and guilty world. Roger B. Eames

Doubtless the leaders of the so-called "Oxford Movement" or "The First Century Christian Fellowship" would be shocked to be told that their teaching is no nearer a comprehending of Christianity than is Christian Science. Small indeed, are the outward "talking points" in either system, whether it be physical healing, in the one case, or bold assumptions of the first century experimental religion in the other, compared to the fact that each system, behind its outward claims, offers the most violent contradictions to pure first century Christianity. But two of these contradictions need be mentioned here:

1. The first error is, that any person can go directly to God whether for salvation, prayer, or fellowship, without the mediation of the Son of God. In harmony with Modernism generally, the Oxford Movement does not deny Christ as to His character, teachings, or example even to a "martyr's death." Of course the Bible is not denied though woefully neglected as to its full-orbed teaching. But the fact that no individual from this fallen human race can approach God's holy presence or find favor in His sight apart from the redemption that is in Christ, is simply not included in the "testimony," whether it be Christian Science or the Oxford Movement. Over against the age-long orthodox preaching of the Cross as the necessity both for the protection and vindication of outraged holiness, on the one hand, and the imperative demand that there can be no remission of sin apart from the shed blood of God's Lamb, on the other hand, the socially fit are, in each of these systems alike, directed to God without so much as a hint that such access to God, whether it be saint or sinner, can only be on the alone merit of the crucified risen Saviour. Where is the offense of the Cross when the mediation of Christ is thus excluded? The truth uttered by Christ, "No man cometh to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6), is one of the most fundamental doctrines of the New Testament, and one which, of necessity, Satan must omit from each and every one of his counterfeits of Christianity.

2. The other error to be named here is that of supposing that the present divine objective in dealing with humanity is to secure an improved manner of daily life, or the age-long fallacy of reformation in place of regeneration. What is desired more today than a "life-changing" religion? Could God really ask for more than this? Yes, indeed; for with Him, "Neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation," and God's "workmanship" in salvation is no less than a new creation in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:10). Doubtless in the purity and devotion of his life, Nicodemus surpassed the majority of Christian professors to-day; yet to him, with all his religious completeness and sufficient standing, Christ said, "Ye must be born again."

If these criticisms are felt by the leaders of the Oxford Movement to be too severe, let them make one uncompromised statement that sustains the whole doctrine of divine mediation, and that places salvation by faith alone above its mere by-product of human rectitude. When these leaders come clear on these two great essentials they will merit the confidence of the instructed Christian.

The spiritual tragedy of the hundreds of preachers confessing that they are now finding out what Christianity is through such a Christ-neglecting system as the so-called "First Century Fellowship" indicates the sad state into which the Christian ministry has drifted in its understanding and defense of sound doctrine.
-LEWIS SPERRY chafer in "Serving and Waiting."

The challenge is thrown out by the apostle Paul, "If God be for us, who shall be against us?"

In the presence of God the foe is powerless. Clearly this is demonstrated in the case of Balaam's attempt to curse Israel-the earthly people of God. Hired by Balak, the king of Moab, that he might denounce the nation, Balaam loving the wages of unrighteousness is willing to curse. Turning to God as to his going he is forbidden to go. Then making request again, he is permitted under certain circumstances to do so, and finally he is bidden to go. But God will work good in the presence of attempted evil; the cursing will be turned into blessing. For here is divine alchemy, the basest metal is changed into the finest gold, that which is apparent evil is altered to evident good. And so it is that in the false prophet's fourfold prophecies blessing upon blessing is pronounced upon those instead of the maledictions he was hired to declare.

We may now look at these prophecies in connection with their application to us as Christians today. If we turn to Numbers 22:7-10, we shall find that there is presented the

SANCTIFICATION

of the nation-Israel-from all others. They had been chosen as a vessel to fulfil the purpose of God. They were to witness to Him as the only true God. "The people shall dwell alone; they shall not be reckoned among the nations," states Balaam. And for us Christians, this may speak of our not being "of the world, even as" Christ is "not of the world" (John 17:14,16). We are chosen out of the world and sent into it as 'witnesses. There is danger of this being forgotten. The thought of being saved from coming judgment fills the awakened sinner with joy. Then hearing and believing the gospel he passes into peace with God. This is his side, and blessed it is, but he should now take knowledge of himself as being sanctified to God-set apart for His pleasure as a vessel in which He is to be glorified. This is the point of view of the Epistle to the Hebrews. There Christians are seen as sanctified for priestly service after the pattern of Aaron's sons who were to be sanctified "to minister to" Jehovah in the priest's office (Exodus 28:1). They were to be for His service. This is our place today. i Failing to curse the people from the position where he saw but the utmost, the extremity, of them, Balaam was taken to another point where more of them might be observed, in order that he might curse them from thence. But again blessing flows. This time the

JUSTIFICATION

of Israel is declared. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel" (Num. 23:21), he proclaims. The people were regarded in the light of that atoning work of the Lord Jesus, pictured by the sacrifice offered upon the altar of burnt offering. In view of that offering Jehovah would not regard their evil. And happy are we who believe, we who know our sins are forgiven, our sin is covered, and the Lord refuses to impute iniquity to us (Rom. 4:7,8). It is God that justifies us from every charge, on the ground of the blood of Christ having been shed at Calvary. Thus we stand clear of all that we had done, and of all that we were in our sinful selves. We are "justified in Christ" from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Read Acts 13:38, 39; Rom. 5:9; 8:33.)
Balak tries a third time, in hope that his desire may be accomplished, and Balaam is taken to yet another point of observation. But now the blessing is more pronounced still. The Spirit of God comes upon him and he declares the

BEAUTY

of Israel. "How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel. As the valleys are they spread abroad, as gardens by the river's side, as trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters" (Num. 24:6). He sees them as made lovely in the sight of the Lord and unfolds their beauties in detail.

And so it is with us who believe the gospel. We are not only set apart to God, and justified from every charge, but we are seen comely with the comeliness God puts upon us, and we are "accepted in the beloved." We are before God "in Christ." "As He is, so are we in this world." And as our Lord Jesus says of His own, we are among "the excellent of the earth in whom is all" His "delight." In ourselves, black; in Christ, comely. He can declare, "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." But all this is what He has made us, so that His is the glory and His is the praise eternally. He will not behold iniquity and perverseness. He will not regard us in what we naturally were as in the flesh. He chooses to behold us in all that which He Himself has made us to be. He has "translated us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love." There He ever regards us, and in this we may rejoice.

Finally disregarding Balak altogether, Balaam is taken up to declare the

GLORIFICATION

of Israel in that from their midst shall come the long-promised, long-looked-for Messiah. "There shall come a Star of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Num. 24:17). This is Israel's chief glory. "Of whom 'as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever" (Rom. 9:5).

Yes! Christ who came in lowliness is coming in glory. Coming to put down all opposing authority and power. Coming to purge out from His kingdom all things that offend. Coming to make the sighs and sobs and sorrows of a groaning creation to cease. Coming to make the earth sing and shout for joy as the trees of the field clap their hands, and the little hills rejoice together, while the desert blossoms as a rose before Him.

And we are to be with Him then. "When Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). Suffering in spirit with Him now, we shall be glorified together with Him then.

In order for this He comes to receive us unto Himself, that where He is there we may be also. For the Man, the Man of God's counsels, the Man Christ Jesus, "will not be in rest until He has finished the thing" which He has undertaken.

Thus we see pictured the blessing of Israel, and also 'for us today the believer's sanctification, justification, beauty and glorification, and learn that all these and all things are of God, of whom we are "in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor. 2:30).

Blessed indeed our portion now as we wait to see Israel blessed under the beneficent reign of the Messiah, and hear the praise that awaits for God in Zion. Well may we exult and cry, "What hath God wrought?" (Num. 23:23). Inglis Fleming