48. “D. Ε. Κ,” Colchester. Procure a copy of a pamphlet entitled, “The Righteousness of God,” by W. Kelly. To be had of Mr. Morrish.
44. “E. R.,” Epsom. We heartily thank you for your kind letter, and with a full heart we commend you to the faithful care of Him who alone is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
45. “Ε. B.,” Manchester. We know of one most solemn and mysterious case in which a child of God was suffered to lose his reason, and, in that state, to commit the act you name. May the Lord keep us under the shadow of His wings!
46. “Τ. H,” Broad Hinton. God hid His face from the sin-bearer; but never was the Son more precious to the Father than in that terrible hour. It is not according to the integrity of scripture to speak of the Father as hiding His face from the Son.
47. “A Weary One,” Sligo. You are entirely too much occupied with your own state and feelings. Seek to be more simple, to rest like a child in your Father’s love, and stay your soul upon His faithful word. It is of no possible use to “try” to be this or that. The more you dwell, in calm sweet confidence, on the love of Christ—the more you think of Him and feed upon His word, the more you will grow into His likeness. “We all beholding.....are changed.” May the Lord keep you, beloved, and make you very sound in His own precious truth! To His own loving pastoral hand we commend you.
48. “J. H,” London. Thanks for the lines and accompanying note.
49. “H,” Torquay. (1.) All the Old Testament saints h ad divine life—a new nature, imparted by the power of the Holy Ghost. (2.) “Ye are not in the flesh,” refers to the actual position of believers now. They are on an entirely new footing—in the new creation—united to a risen Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost. (3.) The Holy Ghost dwells in the body of the believer. See 1 Cor. 6:19.
50. “R. C.” Stephen saw Jesus “standing.” But Heb. 1 and 10 present Him as sitting on the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. We should not think of raising any objection to those words in our beautiful hymn. We greatly dread being hypercritical. We bless God for what you say as to the little volume. Continue to wait on God for His gracious blessing.
51. “J. W.,” “J. P.,” “T. M.,” “Mrs. P.,” Bermuda. Accept our warmest thanks for your kind, interesting, and encouraging letter. The Lord be praised for all you are able to tell us of His goodness to you! May He bless you very abundantly, and lead you on, still further, in His most blessed ways. May He stablish, strengthen, and settle you on those eternal foundations which He has laid for us in Christ. To Him we do most affectionately commend you all, in spirit, soul, and body. We take it as a great kindness your writing to us.
52. “Β. Α.,” Ireland. It is, alas! possible that a Christian may find himself not in the spirit of prayer. When such is the case, he ought to judge himself, and cry to God to lead him into a right state of soul. Most surely, there is no value in form without power; but God is the abiding source of all power and freshness; and, blessed be His name, “He hath given us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Hence, therefore, when you find yourself not in a spirit of prayer, do not have recourse to a form, but to the living God.
53. “C. C. P. Α.,” London. If you will kindly forward those back numbers to our address, we can make good use of them. Address, “C. Η. M.,” 25, Portland Square, Bristol.
54. “L. D. T.,” Tipperary. No passage could more distinctly teach the two resurrections than the very one which your friend has quoted in opposition, namely, John 5:25-29. There is “the resurrection of life,” and “the resurrection of judgment.” It may be that your friend bases his objection on the fact that the word “hour” is used; but this has no force whatever, inasmuch as, in verse 25, the same word is applied to that period dining which the Son of God is quickening dead souls—a period which has already extended to 1870 years. Now if the word “hour” be applied to a period of nearly 2000 years, what difficulty can there be in applying it to a period half that length? We consider that Revelation 7:1-8 refers to the saved remnant of Israel—the nucleus of the restored nation.
55. “C. L. C.” Your lines are safely to hand.
56. “E. J. P.” Scripture is very plain as to the place of the woman. (See 1 Cor. 11:1-16.) We do not believe it to be according to nature, or according to revelation, for a woman to be prominent either in the Church or in the world. It is our deeply cherished conviction that there is no sphere in which the woman can move with such grace and dignity, as in the shade and retirement of the domestic circle. There she can prove herself the helper of the man, in all good works. Home is pre-eminently the woman’s place. The Holy Ghost has assigned her work, most distinctly, when He declares that she is to “guide the house.” There may be here and there, exceptional cases in which the christian female, having no special home duties, may devote herself to outside work with real advantage to many; but such cases are few and far between. The general rule is as plain as possible. (See 1 Tim. 5:14.) As to the question of “woman’s rights,” “female franchise,” &c, we have nothing whatever to do with politics. It is our desire to be taught exclusively by scripture; and, most certainly, we cannot find aught in the New Testament about women having a place in the legislature. In the history of Israel, it was always a proof of the nation’s low condition when the female was thrown into prominence. It was Barak’s backwardness that threw Deborah forward. According to the normal, the divine idea, the man is the head. This is seen, in perfection, in Christ and the Church. Here is the true model on which our thoughts are to be formed. So far as this poor world is concerned, it is all in confusion. The foundations are out of course. God has said, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” (Eze. 21:27.) There can be nothing right until “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.” Till then, the Christian must be content to be a pilgrim and a stranger on this earth, having his citizenship, his home, Ids portion, in heaven. May it be thus with all who belong to Christ! We do not, of course, expect that persons who are bent on carrying out their own thoughts; whose will has never been broken; who reason instead of submitting to the authority of scripture; who say, “I think,” instead of seeing what God thinks—we do not expect that any such will approve or appreciate what we have advanced in reply to your question; but we must bow down to the authority of God in this as in all beside.