Handfuls of Pasture: Volume 2

The two words which form the heading of this paper, though rendered by the same word in our Authorized Version, are not at all the same. The former has respect to the person of the believer, the latter to his practical ways. That refers to his standing, this to his state. It is one thing to be accepted; it is quite another to be acceptable. The former is the fruit of God's free grace to us as sinners; the latter is the fruit of our earnest labor as saints, though, most surely, it is only by grace we can do anything.

It is well that the christian reader should thoroughly understand the distinction between these two things. It will preserve him effectually from legality, on the one hand, and laxity on the other. It remains unalterably true of all believers, that God hath made them accepted in the Beloved. Nothing can ever touch this. The very feeblest lamb in all the flock stands accepted in a risen Christ. There is no difference. The grace of God has placed them all on this high and blessed ground. We do not labor to be accepted. It is all the fruit of God's free grace. He found us all alike dead in trespasses and sins. We were morally dead—far off from God, hopeless, Godless, Christless—children of wrath, whether Jews or Gentiles. But Christ died for us, and God has co-quickened, co-raised, and co-seated us in Christ, and made us accepted in Him.

This is the inalienable, eternal, standing of all, without exception, who believe in the name of the Son of God. Christ, in His infinite grace, placed Himself judicially where we were morally, and having put away our sins, and perfectly satisfied, on our behalf, the claims of divine righteousness, God entered the scene, and raised Him from the dead, and with Him all His members, as seen in His own eternal purpose, and to be called in due time, and brought into the actual possession and enjoyment of the marvelous place of blessing and privilege, by the effectual operation of the Holy Ghost.

Well, therefore, may we take up the opening words of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" All praise to His name throughout the everlasting ages!

All believers, then, are accepted—perfectly and forever accepted—in the Beloved. God sees them in Christ, and as Christ. He thinks of them as He thinks of Him; loves them as He loves Him. They are ever before Him, in perfect acceptance in the blessed Son of His love, nor can anything, or any one, ever interfere with this their high and glorious position, which rests on the eternal stability of the grace of God, the accomplished work of His Son, and attested by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.

But are all believers acceptable in their practical ways? Are all so carrying themselves as that their dealings and doings will bear the light of the judgment-seat of Christ? Are all laboring to be agreeable to Him?

Christian reader, these are serious questions. Let us solemnly weigh them. Let us not turn away from the sharp edge of plain practical truth. The blessed apostle knew he was accepted. Did that make him lax, careless, or indolent? Far from it. " We labor" he says,;' to be acceptable to him." The sweet assurance that we are accepted in Him is the ground of our labor to be acceptable to Him. " The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. And he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again." 2 Cor. 5:14, 15.

All this is pre-eminently practical. We are called upon, by every argument which can bear sway over the heart and conscience, to labor diligently to be acceptable to our blessed and adorable Lord. Is there aught of legality in this? Not the slightest tinge. The very reverse. It is the holy superstructure of a devoted life, erected on the solid foundation of our eternal election and perfect acceptance in a risen and glorified Christ at God's right hand. How could there be the very smallest atom of legality here? Utterly impossible. It is all the pure fruit of God's free and sovereign grace from first to last.

But ought we not, beloved christian reader, to rouse ourselves to attend to the claims of Christ as to practical righteousness? Should we not zealously and lovingly aim at giving Him pleasure? Are we to content ourselves With vapidly talking about our acceptance in Christ, while at the same time there is no real earnest care as to the acceptability of our ways? God forbid! Yea, let us so dwell upon the rich grace that shines in the acceptance of our persons, that we may be led out in diligent and fervent effort to be found acceptable in our ways.

It is greatly to be feared that there is an appalling amount of antinomianism amongst us—an unhallowed traffic in the doctrines of grace, without any godly care as to the application of those doctrines to our practical conduct. How all this is to end, it would be hard to say; but, most assuredly, there is an urgent call upon all who profess to be accepted in Christ to labor fervently to be acceptable to Him.

Christian Life: What Is It? Part 1

The question which we propose to consider, in the following pages, is one of the most interesting and important that could possibly engage our attention. It is this: What is the life which, as Christians, we possess? what is its source*? what are its characteristics'? what is its issue? These great questions have only to be named to secure the attention of every thoughtful reader.

The divine word speaks of two distinct heads or sources. It speaks of a first man, and it speaks of a second. In the opening of the book of Genesis, we read these words, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.....So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Chap. 1:26, 27.) This statement is repeated in Gen. 5 " In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him." After this, we read, "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image."

But between Adam's creation in the image of God, and the birth of a son in his own image, a great change had taken place. Sin had entered. Innocence had fled. Adam had become a fallen, ruined, outcast man. This fact must be seized and pondered by the reader. It is a weighty, influential fact. It lets us into the secret of the source of that life which, as sons of Adam, we possess. That source, be it remembered, was a guilty, ruined, outcast head. It was not in innocence that Adam became the head of a race. It was not within the bounds of Paradise that Cain was brought forth, but outside, in a ruined and cursed world. It was not in the image of God that Cain was begotten, but in the image of a fallen father.

We fully believe that personally Adam was the subject of divine grace, and that he was saved by faith in the pro-raised seed of the woman. But, looking at him fed (,)'ally, that is, as the head of a race, he was a fallen, ruined, outcast man; and every one of his posterity is born into the same condition. As is the head, so are the members—all the members together, each member in particular. The son bears the image of his fallen father, and inherits his nature.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh," and, do what you will with "flesh"—educate, cultivate, sublimate it as you will, it will never yield " spirit." You may improve flesh, according to human thinking; but improved " flesh" is not " spirit." The two things are totally opposite. The former expresses all that we are as born into this world, as sprung from the first Adam. The latter expresses what we are as born again, as united to the Second Adam.

We frequently hear the expression. " Raising the masses." What does it mean? There are three questions which we should like to ask those who propose to themselves to elevate the masses. First, What is it you are going to elevate? Secondly, How are you going to elevate them? Thirdly, Where are you going to elevate them to? It is impossible that water can ever rise above its level; and so it is impossible that you can ever raise the sons of fallen Adam above the level of their fallen father. Do what you will with them, you cannot possibly elevate them higher than their ruined outcast head. Man cannot grow out of the nature in which he was born. He can grow in it, but not out of it. Trace the river of fallen humanity up to its source, and you find that source to be a fallen, ruined, outcast man. This simple truth strikes at the root of all Human pride—all pride of birth—all pride of ancestry. We are all, as men, sprung from one common stock—one head—one source. We are all begotten in one image, and that is a ruined man. The head of the race, and the race of which he is head, are all involved in one common ruin. Looked at from a legal or social standpoint, there may be differences; but looked at from a divine standpoint, there is none. If you want a true idea of the condition of each member of the human race, you must look at the condition of the head. You must go back to Gen. 3 and read these words, "He drove out the man." Here is the root of the whole matter. Here is the source of the river the streams whereof have made sad the millions of Adam's posterity for well nigh six thousand years. Sin has entered and snapped the link, defaced the image of God, corrupted the sources of life, brought in death, and given Satan the power of death. Thus it stands in reference to Adam's race—to the race as a whole, and to each member of that race in particular. All are involved in guilt and ruin—all exposed to death and judgment. There is no exception. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12.) "In Adam all die." (1 Cor. 15:22.) Here are the two sad and solemn realities, linked together—"Sin and death,"

But, thanks be to God, a Second Man has entered the scene; and this great fact, while it sets forth the marvelous grace of God towards the first man and his posterity, doth also, in the clearest and most unanswerable manner, prove that the first man has been completely set aside. If the first had been found faultless, then should no place have been sought for the Second. If there had been a single ray of hope as to the first Adam, there would have been no occasion for the Second.

But God sent His Son into this world, He was "the seed of the woman." Let this fact be seized and pondered.

Jesus Christ did not come under the federal headship of Adam. He was legally descended from David and Abraham, as we read in Matthew. £He was of the seed of David, according to the flesh." (2 Tim. 2:8.) Moreover, His genealogy is traced, by the inspired penman, in Luke's gospel, up to Adam. But here is the angelic announcement as to the mystery of His conception: "And the angel answered and said unto Mary, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35.

Here we have a real man, but One without a single taint of sin—a single seed of mortality. He was made of the woman, of the substance of the virgin, a man—in every particular, just such as we are, but wholly without sin, and entirely free from any association which could have given sin or death a claim upon Him. Had our blessed Lord come, as regards His human nature, under the headship of Adam, He could not have been called the Second Man, inasmuch as He would have been a member of the first, like any other man; and further, He would have been obnoxious to death, in His own person, winch it were blasphemy to assert or suppose.

But, adored forever be His peerless name, He was the pure, holy, spotless One of God. He was unique. He stood alone—the only pure untainted grain of human seed that earth had ever seen. He came into this world of sin and death, Himself sinless and life giving. In Him was life and nowhere else. All beside was death and darkness. There was not a single pulse of spiritual life, not one ray of divine light, apart from Him. The entire race of the first man was involved in sin, under the power of death, and exposed to eternal judgment. He could say, " I am the light of the world." Apart from Him, all was moral darkness and spiritual death. "In Adam all die; in Christ shall all be made alive." But let its see how.

δ No sooner did the Second Man appear upon the scene, than Satan appeared to dispute every inch of the ground with Him. It was a grand reality. The Man Christ Jesus had undertaken the mighty work of glorifying God on this earth; of destroying the works of the devil; and of redeeming His people. Stupendous work! Work, we may with all possible assurance say, which none but the God man could accomplish. But, as we have said, it was a real thing. Jesus had to meet all the craft and power of Satan. He had to meet Mm as the serpent and meet him as the lion. Hence, at the very opening of His blessed career, as the baptized and anointed Man, He stood in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. See Matt, iv., Luke iv.

And mark, even here, the contrast between the first man and the Second. The first man stood in the midst of a garden of delights, with everything that could possibly plead for God against the tempter. The Second Man, on the contrary, stood in the midst of a wilderness of privations with everything, apparently, to plead against God and for the tempter. Satan tried with the Second Man precisely the same weapons which he had found so effective with the first, " The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life." Comp. Gen. 3:6. Matt. 4:1-9. Luke 4:1-12. 1 John 2:16.

But the Second Man vanquished the tempter—vanquished Mm with one simple weapon, the written word. "It is written?' was the one unvarying reply of the dependent and obedient man. No reasoning, no questioning, no looking this way or that way. The word of the living God was commanding authority for the perfect Man. Blessed forever be His name! The homage of the universe be His throughout everlasting ages! Amen and amen.

But we must not allow ourselves to expatiate, and therefore we hasten on to unfold our special theme. We want the reader to see, in the light of holy scripture, how the Second Adam imparts life to His members.

By the victory in the wilderness, the strong man was "bound," not "destroyed." Hence, we find that, at the close, he is suffered once more to try Ms hand. Having "departed for a season" he returned again and that in another character, even as the one who had the power of death, by which to terrify the soul of man. Tremendous thought! This power he brought to bear, in all its terrible intensity, on the spirit of Christ, in the garden of Gethsemane. We cannot possibly contemplate the scene in that garden and not feel that the spirit of our blessed Lord was passing through something which He had 11 ever experienced before. It is evident that Satan was permitted to come before Him in a very special manner, and to put forth special power, in order, if possible, to deter Him. Thus He says, in John 14:30, " The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." So also, in Luke 22:53, we find Him saying to the chief priests, and captains of the temple, " Be ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves? When I was daily with you in the temple, ye Stretched forth no hands against me; but this is your hour and the power of darkness"

Evidently, therefore, the period from the last supper to the cross was marked by features quite distinct from every previous stage of the marvelous history of our Lord. " This is your hour." And, further, " The power of darkness." The prince of this world came against the Second Man, armed with all the power with which the first man's sin had invested Mm. He brought to bear upon His spirit all the power and all the terrors of death as the just judgment of God. Jesus met all this in its utmost force and in all its awful intensity. Hence, we hear such accents as these, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." And again, we read that, "Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

In a word, then, the One who undertook to redeem His people, to give eternal life to His members, to accomplish the will and counsels of God, had to meet all the consequences of man's condition. There was no escaping them. He passed through them all; but He passed through them alone, for who but Himself could have done it? He, the true Ark, had to go over alone into the dark and dreadful river of death, in order to make a way for His people to pass over dryshod. He was alone in the horrible pit and the miry clay, that we might be with Him on the rock. He earned the new song alone, that He might sing it in the midst of the Church.

But not only did our Lord meet all the power of Satan as the prince of this world, all the power of death as the just judgment of God, all the violence and bitter enmity of fallen man: there was something far beyond all this. When man and Satan, earth and hell, had done their very utmost, there remained a region of darkness and impenetrable gloom to be traversed by the spirit of the Blessed One, into which it is impossible for human thought to enter. We can only stand upon the confines, and with our heads bowed in the deep hush of unutterable worship, hearken to the loud and bitter cry which issues thence, accompanied by those words, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"—words which eternity itself will be insufficient to unfold.

Here we must pause, and ascribe, once more, eternal and universal praise, homage, and adoration to the One who went through all this to procure life for us. May our hearts adore Him! May our lips praise Him! May our lives glorify Him! He alone is worthy. May His love constrain us to live not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again, and gave us life in resurrection.

( To be continued, if the Lord will.)

Christian Life: What Is It? Part 2

It is not possible to overestimate the interest and value of the great truth that the source of the life which, as Christians, we possess, is a risen and victorious Christ. It is as risen from the dead that the second Man becomes the Head of a race—Head of His body the Church. The life which the believer now possesses is a life which has been tested and tried in every possible way, and, consequently, can never come into judgment. It is a life which has passed through death and judgment, and therefore it can never die—never come into judgment. Christ, our living Head, has abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel. He met death in all its reality that we might never meet it. He died, that we might never die. He has so wrought for us, in His marvelous love and grace, as to render death part of our property. See 1 Cor. 3:22.

In the old creation, man belongs to death, and hence it has been truly said that the very moment man begins to live he begins to die. Solemn fact! Man cannot escape death. "It is appointed unto men, once to die, and after this the judgment." There is not so much as a single thing which man possesses, in the old creation, that will not be wrenched from his grasp by the ruthless hand of death. Death takes everything from him and reduces his body to dust, and sends his soul to judgment. Houses, lands, wealth and distinction, fame and influence—all goes when the last grim foe approaches. The wealth of the universe, were it in a man's possession, could not purchase one moment's respite. Death strips man of all and bears him away to judgment. The king and the beggar, the peer and the peasant, the learned philosopher and the ignorant clown, the civilized and the savage, it is all alike. Death 122 seizes upon all, within the limits of the old creation. The grave is the terminus of man's earthly history, and beyond that the throne of judgment and the lake of fire.

But, on the other hand, in the new creation, death belongs to man. There is not so much as a single thing that the Christian possesses which he does not owe to death. He has life, pardon, righteousness, peace, acceptance, glory, all through death—the death of Christ. In a word, the entire aspect of death is changed. Satan can no longer bring it to bear upon the soul of the believer, as the judgment of God against sin. God can and does use it, in His governmental dealings with His people, in the way of discipline and chastening. (See Acts 5 Cor. 11:30; 1 John 5:16.) But, as the one who had the power of death, Satan has been destroyed. Our Lord Christ has wrested his power from him, and He now holds in His omnipotent hand the keys of death and the grave. Death has lost its sting—the grave its victory; and, therefore, if death does come to the believer, it comes not as a master, but as a servant. It comes, not like a policeman to drag the soul to its eternal prison house, but as a friendly hand to open the door of the cage and let the spirit fly to its native home in the skies.

All this makes a material difference. It tends, amongst other things, to take away that fear of death which was perfectly consistent with the state of believers under the law, but is wholly incompatible with the standing and privileges of those who are united to Him who is alive from the dead. Nor is this all. The entire life and character of the Christian must take its tone from the source from whence that life emanates. " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col. 3 I—4.) Water always finds its own level, and so the life of the Christian, strengthened and guided by the Holy Ghost, always springs up toward its source.

Let no one imagine that all this for which we are contending is a mere question of human opinion—an unimportant point—-an uninfluential notion. Far from it. It is a great practical truth constantly set forth and insisted upon by the apostle Paul—a truth which he preached as an evangelist, taught and unfolded as a teacher, and watched its effects as a faithful vigilant pastor. So prominent was the place which the great truth of resurrection held in the apostle's preaching, that it was said of him by some of the Athenian philosophers, " He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection." Acts 17:18.

Let the reader note this. "Jesus and the resurrection." Why was it not Jesus and the incarnation? or Jesus and the crucifixion? Was it that these profound and priceless mysteries held no place in apostolic preaching and teaching? Read 1 Timothy hi. 16 for the answer. "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Read also Gal. 4:4, 5. " But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law."

These passages settle the question as to the foundation doctrines of incarnation and crucifixion. But, be it ever remembered, that Paul preached and taught and jealously insisted upon resurrection. He himself was converted to a risen and glorified Christ. The very first glimpse he caught of Jesus of Nazareth was as a risen Man in glory. It was only thus he knew Him, as he tells us in 2 Cor. 5 " Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." Paul preached a resurrection gospel. He labored to present every man perfect in a risen glorified Christ. He did not confine himself to the mere question of forgiveness of sin and salvation from hell—precious, beyond all price, as are these fruits of the atoning death of Christ—he aimed at the glorious end of planting the soul in Christ, and of keeping it there. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." " Ye are complete in him.י י—" Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him."—" Quickened together with him." Col. 2

Such was Paul's preaching and teaching. This was his gospel. This is true Christianity, in contrast with all the forms of human religiousness and fleshly pietism under the sun. Life in a risen Christ was Paul's grand theme. It was not merely forgiveness and salvation by Christ, but union with Him. Paul's gospel planted the soul at once in a risen and glorified Christ, redemption and forgiveness of sins being the obvious and necessary consequence. This was the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to Paul's trust. 1 Tim. 1:2.

Most gladly would we dwell at greater length, on the blessed theme of the source of christian life; but we must hasten on to the remaining points of our subject, and shall therefore very briefly call the reader's attention, in the second place, to the characteristics or moral features of the life which as Christians we possess. To do anything like justice to this point we should seek to unfold the precious mystery of the life of Christ, as a man, on this earth—to trace His ways—to mark the style and spirit with which He passed through all the scenes and circumstances of His course here below. We should view Him as a child subject to His parents, growing up beneath the eye of God, increasing from day to day in wisdom and stature, exhibiting all that was lovely in the sight of God and man. We should trace His path as a servant, faithful in all things—a path marked by incessant labor and toil. We should ponder Him as the lowly, humble, and obedient man, subject and dependent in all things, emptying Himself and making Himself of no reputation, surrendering Himself perfectly, for the glory of God and the good of man; never seeking His own interest in anything. We should mark Him as the gracious, loving, sympathizing friend and companion, ever ready with the cup of consolation for every child of sorrow, ever at hand to dry the widow's tear, to hear the cry of the distressed, to feed the hungry, to cleanse the leper, to heal all manner of disease. In a word, we should point out the countless rays of moral glory that shine forth in the precious and perfect life of Him who Went about doing good.

But who is sufficient for these things? We can merely say to the christian reader, Go, study your great Exemplar. Gaze upon your Model. If a risen Christ is the source of your life, the Christ who lived down here in this world is your pattern. The features of your life are those selfsame features that shone in Him as a man here below. Through death, He has made His life to be your life. He has linked you with Himself by a bond that can never be severed, and now you are privileged to go back and study the gospel narratives in order to see how He walked, that you may, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, walk even as He walked.

It is a very blessed though a very solemn truth, that there is nothing of any value, in God's account, save the outflow of the life of Christ from His members here. All that is not the direct fruit of that life is utterly valueless in God's account. The activities of the old nature are not merely worthless but sinful. There are certain natural relationships in which we stand, and which are sanctioned by God, and in which Christ is our model. For example, " Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church."

We are recognized as parents and. children, masters and servants, and instructed as to our deportment in these holy relationships; but all this is on the new ground of risen life in Christ. (See Col. 3; Eph, v. vi.) The old man is not recognized at all. It is viewed as crucified, dead, and buried; and we are called upon to reckon it as dead, and to mortify our members which are on the earth, and to walk even as Christ walked; to live a life of self surrender, to manifest the life of Christ, to reproduce Him. This is practical Christianity. May we understand it better! May we, at least, remember that nothing is of the smallest value in God's account save the life of Christ shown out in the believer, from day to day, by the power of the Holy Ghost. The feeblest expression of this life is a sweet odor to God. The mightiest efforts of mere religious flesh—the costliest sacrifices—-the most imposing ordinances and ceremonies, are but " dead works," in the sight of God. Religiousness is one thing; Christianity is quite another.

And, now, one word, as to the issue of the Me which as Christians we possess. We may truly say " one word," and what is that? " Glory." This is the only issue of christian life. "When Christ our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Jesus is waiting for the moment of His manifestation in glory, and we wait in and with Him. He is seated and expecting, and we are seated and expecting likewise. "As he is so are we in this world." (1 John 4 IT.) Death and judgment are behind us; nothing but glory before. If we may so express it, our yesterday is the cross; our today, a risen Christ; our tomorrow, glory. Thus it stands with all true believers. It is with them as with their living and exalted Head. As is the Head so are the members. They cannot be separated for a single moment, for any object whatsoever. They are inseparably joined together in the power of a union that no influence of earth or hell can ever dissolve. The Head and the members are eternally one. The Head has passed through death and judgment; so have the members. The Head is seated in the presence of God, so are the members—co quickened, co raised, and co seated with the Head in glory. _

Reader, this is christian life. Think of it, Think deeply. Look at it in the light of the New Testament. Its source, a risen Christ. Its characteristics, the very features of the life of Christ, as seen in this world. Its issue, cloudless and eternal glory. Contrast with this the life which we possess as sons and daughters of Adam. Its source, a ruined, fallen, outcast man. Its characteristics, the ten thousand forms of selfishness in which fallen humanity clothes itself. Its issue, the lake of lire. This is the simple truth of the matter, if we are to be guided by scripture.

And let us just say, in conclusion, in reference to the life which Christians possess, that there is no such thing as " a higher christian life." It may be that persons who use this form of speech mean a right thing; but the form is incorrect. There is but the one His, and that is Christ. No doubt there are varied measures in the enjoyment and exhibition of this life; but however the measure may vary the life is one. There may be higher or lower stages in this life, but the life is but one. The most advanced saint on earth and the feeblest babe possess one and the same life, for Christ is the life of each, the life of both, the life of all.

All this is most blessedly simple, and we desire that the reader should carefully ponder it. We are fully persuaded that there is an urgent need for the clear un-folding and faithful proclamation of this resurrection gospel. Many stop at incarnation; others go on to the crucifixion. We want a gospel that gives all, incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. This is the gospel which possesses the true moral power—the mighty leverage to lift the soul out of all earthly association, and set it tree to walk with God, in the power of risen life in Christ. May this Gospel be sent forth in living energy, far and wide, throughout the length and breadth of the protesting Church. There are hundreds and thousands of God's people who need to know it. They are afflicted with doubts and questions which would all be removed by the simple reception of the blessed truth of life in a risen Christ. There arc no doubts or fears in Christianity. Christians, alas! have them; but they do not Delong to Christianity at all. May the bright light of Paul's gospel stream in upon all the saints of God, and disperse the fogs and mists which surround them, so that they may really enter into that holy liberty wherewith Christ makes His people free!

The Christian Priesthood

We want the reader to open his bible and read 1 Pet. 2:1-9. In this lovely scripture he will find three words on which we shall ask him to dwell with us for a little. They are words of weight and power—words which indicate three great branches of practical christian truth—words conveying to our hearts a fact which we cannot too deeply ponder, namely, that Christianity is a living and divine reality. It is not a set of doctrines, however true; a system of ordinances, however imposing; a number of rules and regulations, however important. Christianity is far more than any or all of these things. It is a living, breathing, speaking, active, powerful reality—something to be seen in the every-day life—something to be felt in the scenes of personal, domestic history, from hour to hour—something formative and influential—a divine and heavenly power introduced into the scenes and circumstances through which we have to move, as men, women, and children, from Sunday morning till Saturday night. It does not consist in holding certain views, opinions, and principles, or in going to this place of worship or that.

Christianity is the life of Christ communicated to the believer—dwelling in him—and flowing out from him, in the ten thousand little details which go to make up our daily practical life. It has nothing ascetic, monastic, or sanctimonious about it. It is genial, cordial, lightsome, pure, elevated, holy, heavenly, divine. Such is the Christianity of the New Testament. It is Christ dwelling in the believer, and reproduced, by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the believer's daily practical career. This is Christianity—nothing else, nothing less, nothing different.

But let us turn to our three words; and may the Eternal Spirit expound and apply their deep and holy meaning to our souls!

And first, then, we have the word " living." " To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up."

Here we have what we may call the foundation of christian priesthood. There is evidently an allusion here to that profoundly interesting scene in Matt. 16 to which we must ask the reader to turn for a moment.

" When Jesus was come into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?. And they said, Some say thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."

There was endless speculation, simply because there was no real heart-work respecting the blessed One. Some said this, some said that; and, in result, no one cared who or what He was; and hence He turns away from all this heartless speculation, and puts the pointed question to His own, " But whom say ye that I am? " He desired to know what they thought about Him—what estimate their hearts had formed of Him. " And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Here we have the true confession. Here lies the solid foundation of the whole edifice of the Church of God and of all true practical Christianity—" Christ the Son of the living God." No more dim shadows—no more powerless forms—no more lifeless ordinances—all must be permeated by this new, this divine, this heavenly life which has come into this world, and is communicated to all who believe in the name of the Son of God.

" And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood bath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I quill build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Now, it is evidently to this magnificent passage that the apostle Peter refers in the second chapter of his first epistle, when he says, " To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones [the same words], are built up," &c. All who believe in Jesus are partakers of His risen, victorious, rock. life. The life of Christ, the Son of the living God, flows through all His members, and through each in particular. Thus we have the living God, the living Stone, and living stones. It is all life together—life flowing down from a living source, through a living channel, and imparting itself to all believers, thus making them living stones.

Now, this life having been tried and tested, in every possible way, and having come forth victorious, can never again be called to pass through any process of trial, testing, or judgment whatsoever. It has passed through death and judgment. It has gone down under all the waves and billows of divine wrath, and come forth, at the other side, in resurrection, in divine glory and power—a life victorious, heavenly, and divine, beyond the reach of all the powers of darkness. There is no power of earth or hell, men or devils, that can possibly touch the life which is possessed by the very smallest and most insignificant stone in Christ's assembly. All believers are built upon the living Stone, Christ; and are thus constituted living stones He makes them like Himself, in every respect, save of course, in His incommunicable Deity. Is he a living Stone? They are living stones. Is He a precious Stone? They are precious stones. Is he a rejected Stone? They are rejected stones—rejected, disallowed of men. They are, in every respect, identified with Him. Ineffable privilege!

Here, then, we repeat, is the solid foundation of the christian priesthood—the priesthood of all believers. Before any one can offer up a spiritual sacrifice, he must come to Christ, in simple faith, and be built in Him, as the foundation of the whole spiritual building. " Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture (Isa. 28:16), Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth in him shall not be confounded."

How precious are these words! God Himself has laid the foundation, and that foundation is Christ, and all who simply believe in Christ—all who give Him the confidence of their hearts—all who rest satisfied with Him, are made partakers of His resurrection life, and thus made living stones.

How blessedly simple is this! We are not asked to assist in laying the foundation. We are not called upon to add the weight of a feather to it. God has laid the foundation, and all we have to do is to believe and rest thereon; and He pledges His faithful word. that we shall never be confounded. The very feeblest believer in Jesus has God's own gracious assurance that he shall never be confounded—never be ashamed—never come into judgment. He is as free from all charge of guilt and every breath of condemnation as that living Rock on whom he is built.

Beloved reader, are you on this foundation? Are you built on Christ? Have you come to Him as God's living stone, and given Him the full confidence of your heart? Are you thoroughly satisfied with God's foundation? or are you seeking to add something of your own—your own works, your prayers, your ordinances, your vows and resolutions, your religious duties? If so, if you are seeking to add the smallest jot or tittle to Gods Christ, you may rest assured, you will be confounded. God will not suffer such dishonor to be offered to His tried, elect, precious chief-corner Stone. Think you that He could allow aught, no matter what, to be placed beside His beloved Son, in order to form, with Him, the foundation of His spiritual edifice? The bare thought were an impious blasphemy. No; it must be Christ alone. He is enough for God, and He may well be enough for us; and nothing is more certain than that all who reject, or neglect, turn away from, or add to, God's foundation, shall be covered with everlasting confusion.

But, having glanced at the foundation, let us look at the superstructure. This will lead us to the second of our three weighty words. " To whom coming as unto a living stone ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

All true believers are holy priests. They are made this by spiritual birth, just as Aaron's sons were priests in virtue of their natural birth. The apostle does not say, Ye ought to be living stones, and, Ye ought to be holy priests. He says ye are such. No doubt, being such, we are called upon to act accordingly; but we must be in a position before we can discharge the duties belonging to it. We must be in a relationship before we can know the affections which flow out of it. We do not become priests by offering priestly sacrifices. But being, through grace, made priests, we are called upon to present the sacrifice. If we were to live a thousand years twice told, and spend all that time working, we could not work ourselves into the position of holy priests; but the moment we believe in Jesus—the moment we come to Him in simple faith—the moment we give Him the full confidence of our hearts, we are born anew into the position of holy priests, and are then privileged to draw nigh and offer the priestly sacrifice. How could any one, of old, have constituted himself a son of Aaron? Impossible. But being born of Aaron, he was thereby made a member of the priestly house. We speak not now of capacity, but simply of the position. This latter was reached not by effort, but by birth.

And now, let us inquire as to the nature of the sacrifice which, as holy priests, we are privileged to offer. We are " to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." So also in Heb. 13:15, we read, " By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name."

Here, then, we have the true nature and character of that sacrifice which, as holy priests, we are to offer. It is praise—" praise to God continually." Blessed occupation! Hallowed exercise! Heavenly employment! And this is not to be an occasional thing. It is not merely at some peculiarly favored moment, when all looks bright and smiling around us. It is not to be merely amid the glow and fervor of some specially powerful public meeting, when the current of worship flows deep, wide, and rapid. No; the word is, " praise continually." There is no room, no time for complaining and murmuring, fretfulness and discontent, impatience and irritability, lamenting about our surroundings, whatever these may be, complaining about the weather, finding fault with those who are associated with us whether in public or in private, whether in the congregation, in the business, or in the family circle.

Holy priests should have no time for any of these things. They are brought nigh to God, in holy liberty, peace, and blessing. They breathe the atmosphere and walk in the sunlight of the divine presence, in the new creation, where there are no materials for a sour and discontented mind to feed upon. We may set it clown as a fixed principle—an axiom—that whenever we hear any one pouring out a string of complaints about circumstances and about his neighbors, such an one is not realizing the place of holy priesthood, and, as a consequence, not exhibiting its practical fruits. A holy priest is always happy, always bright, always praising God. True, he may be tried in a thousand ways; but he brings his trials to God in communion, not to his fellow-man in complaining. "Hallelujah" is the proper utterance of the very feeblest member of the christian priesthood.

But we must now look, for a moment, at the third. and last branch of our present theme. This is presented in that highly expressive word " royal." The apostle goes on to say, " But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood that ye should show forth the virtues [see margin] of him who hath called you. out of darkness into his marvelous light."

This completes the lovely picture of the christian priesthood. As holy priests, we draw nigh to God,. and present the sacrifice of praise. As royal priests we go forth among our fellow-men, in all the details of practical daily life, to show forth the virtues—the graces—the lovely moral features of Christ. Every movement of a royal priest should emit the fragrance of the grace of Christ.

Mark, again, the apostle does not say, " Ye ought to be royal priests." He says " ye are;" and as such we are to show forth the virtues of Christ. Nothing else becomes a member of the royal priesthood. To be occupied with myself; to be taking counsel for my own ease, my own interest, my own enjoyment, to be seeking my own ends, and caring about my own things, is not the act of a royal priest at all. Christ never did so;: and I am called to show forth His virtues. He, blessed be His name, grants to His people, in this the time of His absence, to anticipate the day when He shall come forth as a Royal Priest, and sit upon His throne, and send forth the benign influence of His dominion to the ends of the earth. We are called to be the present expression of the kingdom of Christ—the expression of Himself.

And let none suppose that the actings of a royal. priest are to be confined to the matter of giving. This would be a grave mistake. No doubt, a royal priest will give, and give liberally if lie has it; but to limit him to the mere matter of communicating would be to rob him of some of the most precious functions of his position. The very man who penned the words on which we are dwelling said on one occasion—and said it without shame, " Silver and gold have I none;" and yet at that very moment, he was acting as a royal priest, by bringing the precious virtue of the Name of Jesus to bear on the impotent man. (Acts 3) The blessed Master Himself, we may safely affirm, never possessed a penny; but He went about doing good, and so should we, nor do we need money to do it. Indeed it very often happens that we do mischief instead of good with our silver and gold. We may take people off the ground on which God has placed them, namely, the ground of honest industry, and make them dependent upon human alms. Moreover, we may often make hypocrites and sycophants of people by our injudicious use of money.

Hence, therefore, let no one imagine that he cannot act as a royal priest without earthly riches. What riches are required to speak a kindly word—to drop the tear of sympathy—to give the soothing genial look None whatever save the riches of God's grace—the unsearchable riches of Christ, all of which are laid open to the most obscure member of the christian priesthood. I may be in rags, without a penny in the world, and yet carry myself blessedly as a royal priest, by diffusing around me the fragrance of the grace of Christ.

But, perhaps, we cannot more suitably close these few remarks on the Christian priesthood, than by giving a very vivid illustration drawn from the inspired page—the narrative of two beloved servants of Christ who were enabled, under the most distressing circumstances, to acquit themselves as holy and royal priests.

Turn to Acts 16:19-34. Here we have Paul and Silas thrust into the innermost part of the prison at Philippi, their backs covered with stripes, and their feet fast in the stocks, in the darkness of the midnight hour. What were they doing? murmuring and complaining? Ah, no. They had something better and brighter to do. Here were two really " living stones," and nothing that earth or hell could do could hinder the life that was in them expressing itself in its proper accents.

But what, we repeat, were these living stones doing? these partakers of the rock life—the victorious—resurrection life of Christ—how did they employ themselves? Well, then, in the first place, as holy priests they offered the sacrifice of praise to God. Yes, " at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God." How precious is this! How morally glorious! How truly refreshing! What are stripes or stocks, or prison walls, or gloomy nights, to living stones and holy priests? Nothing more than a dark background to throw out into bright and beauteous relief the living grace that is in them. Talk of circumstances! Ah! it is little any of us know of trying circumstances. Poor things that we are, the petty annoyances of daily life are often more than enough to cause us to lose our mental balance. Paul and Silas were really in trying circumstances; but they were there as living stones and holy priests.

Yes, reader, and they were there as royal priests, likewise. How does this appear? Certainly not by scattering silver and gold. It is not likely the dear men had much of these to scatter. But oh! they had what was better, even " the virtues of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvelous light." And where do these virtues shine out? In those touching words addressed to the jailer, "Do thyself' no harm." These were the accents of a royal priest, just as the song of praise was the voice of a holy priest. Thank God for both! The voices of the holy priests went directly up to the throne of God and did their work there; and the words of the royal priests went directly to the jailer's hard heart and did their work there. God was glorified and the jailer saved by two men rightly discharging the functions of " the Christian priesthood."

The Forsaken One

There is an utterance, in the twenty second Psalm, of deep and marvelous import—a sentence to which there is no parallel in the volume of God. It is this, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Never, we may safely say, was there such a question asked before; never has there such an one been asked since; nor shall its like ever be asked again. It stands alone in the annals of eternity.

Reader, let us dwell upon it for a few moments. Who was it that asked this wondrous question? It was the Eternal Son of God, the One who had lain in the bosom of the Father before the foundation of the world. The object of the Father's infinite delight. Moreover, He was Himself God over all, blessed forever. The Creator of all things, the Almighty Sustainer of the wide universe. Finally, He was a man—a spotless, holy, perfect man—one who had never sinned, nor could sin, because He knew no sin. And yet, withal, a man, a real man, born of a woman, like unto us, in every possible respect, with one solitary exception—sin. " He did no sin; neither was guile found in his mouth." He did ever those things that pleased God. From the manger of Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary, His whole life was in perfect accordance with the will of God. He lived but to glorify God. His every thought, His every word, His every look, His every movement, emitted an odor of ineffable sweetness which ascended to the throne and refreshed the heart of God. Again and again, the heavens were opened upon this blessed One; and the voice of the Eternal Father bore witness to Him in such accents as these, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

This, then, was the One who asked the question. He it was who said, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And is it really true that such an One was forsaken of God? Did God, in very deed, forsake His only begotten, well-beloved Son? Did He actually hide His face from the only sinless, spotless, perfect man that ever lived in this sinful world? Did He close His ear to the cry of One who had lived but to do His will, and glorify His name? Yes; marvelous to declare, God did this. God—who withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous; whose ear is ever open to the cry of the needy; whose hand is ever stretched forth for the defense of the weak and the helpless—He, even He, turned away His face from His own beloved Son, and refused, for the moment, to hear His cry.

Here we have a profound mystery on which we cannot dwell too deeply. It contains in it the very marrow and substance of the gospel—the grand basis-truth of Christianity. The more we ponder the glories of the One who asked the question—who He was, what He was, what He was in Himself, and what He was to God, the more we see the marvelous depths of the question. And further, the more we consider the One to whom the question was put, the more we know of His character and ways, the more we shall see the force and value of the answer.

Why, then, did God forsake His Son? Oh! reader, dost thou know why? Dost thou know it in its bearing upon thyself personally? Canst thou say, from thine inmost soul, " I know why God forsook that blessed One. It was because He had taken my place, stood in my stead, and taken all my guilt upon Himself. He was made sin for me. All that I was, all that I had done, all that was due to me, was laid on Him. God dealt with me in the Person of my substitute. All the sin of my nature, and all the sins of my life—all that I am, and all I have ever done, was imputed to Him. He represented me and was treated accordingly."

Say, beloved reader, has God's Spirit taught you this? Have you received this, in simple faith, on the authority of God's word? If so, you must have solid peace—a peace which no power of earth or hell, men or devils, can ever disturb. This is the true and only foundation of the soul's peace. It is utterly impossible for any soul to have real peace with God until He knows that God Himself has settled the whole question of sin and sins, in the cross of His Son. God knew what was needed, and He provided it. He laid on Christ the full weight of our iniquities. God and sin met at the cross. There the whole question was divinely gone into and settled once and forever. Sin was judged and abolished. The sin-bearer went down under the billows and waves of divine wrath. God brought Him into the dust of death. Sin was dealt with according to the infinite claims of the nature, the character, and the throne of God; and now the One who was made sin for us, and judged in our stead, is at the right hand of God, exalted, crowned with glory and honor; and the very crown which adorns His blessed brow is the proof that sin is forever put away; so that ere ever a single sin can be laid to the believer's charge, that crown must be torn from the risen Savior's head.

But there is another element of ineffable preciousness and sweetness that enters into the answer to the mysterious "Why?" of the forsaken One. It is this, the amazing love of God toward its poor sinners—a love which led Him not only to give His Son from His bosom, but to bruise and forsake Him on the cross. Wiry did He do this? Because there was no other way possible in which we could escape. It was either a question of' an eternal hell for us, or of infinite wrath for the sin-bearer. God be praised, He chose the latter, and hence the place, which Christ now occupies is the place of all who simply believe in Him.

'Tis the treasure I've found in His love

That has made me a pilgrim below,

And 'tis there, when I reach Him above,

As I'm known, all His fullness I'll know.

The God of Peace

" Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." Heb. 13:20.

The title under which the Holy Ghost, in this passage, introduces God to our thoughts, is peculiarly expressive. He calls Him, " The God of peace." That is what He is to us, in connection with the opening grave of " The great Shepherd of the sheep," and on the foundation of "The blood of the everlasting covenant." In short, we have, in this most comprehensive passage, two persons, and two things. We have the God of peace, and the Lord Jesus; the blood of the everlasting covenant, and the resurrection from the dead. All these we have under the pen of the Holy Ghost But there is another title under which God must be seen before the soul can really enjoy Him as " The God of peace," and that is as " The God of judgment." To speak of peace, while the claims of God, in this latter character, lie unanswered, is the very height of presumptuous folly. God can have no peace with sin, In any shape or form. If sin be not put away, there can be no peace with God. There may be the peace of ignorance, the peace of carnal security, the peace of a hardened heart, the peace of a seared conscience; but there can be no peace with God, so long as sin remains unjudged. Hence, therefore, it becomes us to inquire on what ground can the inspired apostle speak of God as " The God of peace."

The ground is this—may the anxious reader understand it!—-"The God of judgment" met the Sin-Bearer, at the cross, and there went into the entire question of sin and settled it once and forever. The Divine Substitute made peace, by the cross, in order that " The God of peace" might meet us, without judgment, at the opening grave. All that the God of judgment had against my sins, He laid on the head of my substitute, on the cross, in order that I might know and enjoy Him as the God of peace. This is the grand fundamental truth of the gospel which must, when simply believed, give settled peace to the conscience. The justice of God has been perfectly satisfied about sin, by the death of Christ. Nay, more, God has been glorified about sin, by the death of Christ. Yes, dear reader, not only has God been perfectly satisfied, but eternally glorified in reference to sin, by the blood of the cross. This must give peace to every one who simply believes it.

It is truly wonderful to think of the meager view we take of the gospel, notwithstanding its moral grandeur, as it shines before us in the pages of the book of God. From the way in which one sometimes hears the gospel put, it would seem as though forgiveness of sins were the fruit of an exercise of mercy at the expense of justice, or as though justice consented to stand aside while mercy pardons and saves. How different is this from that stupendous scheme of redemption which had its origin in the bosom of God; which was laid in the eternal counsels of the Trinity, before the foundation of the world; which was ratified by the blood of the everlasting covenant; which is revealed by the Holy Ghost, in the scriptures of truth, and received by faith into the hearts of all those who, through grace, "set to their seal that God is true!" In that glorious scheme we behold mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, blessedly combined; so that the sinner is as positively saved by righteousness and truth as by mercy and peace. The latter are not more favorable to him than the former. Justice and judgment are the pillars of that blood-sprinkled throne of grace to which the saved sinner approaches in worship and adoration.

Is my reader anxious about salvation? Is he desirous of knowing the pardon of his sins? Does he sigh after the peace of the gospel? If so, let him only pause and think of this;—"The God of judgment" met Christ on the cross, and there entered into and definitively settled the great question of sin. How is this to be known? Is it by some feeling in my own mind? Is it by my passing through some mental process? Is it by aught that I can do, or say, or think, or feel? Nay. How then? " The God of peace brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus." This is the way I am to know that the question of sin has been eternally settled. If it had not been settled, we should never have heard aught of " The God of peace," or seen aught of " The great Shepherd's " opening grave, or known aught of the changeless efficacy of the blood of " The everlasting covenant." The God of peace could never have appeared on the scene, if all the claims of the God of judgment had not been divinely answered. How were they answered? By the blood of Jesus—nothing less—nothing more—nothing different. Naught else could avail. If I had all the good works that were ever performed beneath the canopy of heaven; if I had all the morality, all the fleshly pietism, all the legal righteousness that ever man could boast of; if I had all the alms that ever were distributed by the hand of benevolence; if I had all these and ten thousand times ten thousand more besides placed to my credit, it would not answer the claims of the God of judgment with respect to my sins. But the death of Christ has answered for me. That sacrifice stands before the eye of infinite holiness, in all its solitary grandeur, in all its divine sufficiency. It needs no addition. It has met all. What more do I want, as the ground of my peace? Nothing more. God is satisfied; so am I; the matter is settled forever, nor can any one or anything ever unsettle it.

Reader, are you satisfied? Is Christ sufficient for you?

Has He done enough to meet the claims of your conscience? Do you want to add something of your own doings or feelings to His all-sufficient atonement? If not, what are you waiting for? You say, " I do not feel" I reply, we are not saved by feeling, but by faith. " The just shall live," not by feeling, but " by faith." Do you not see that while you talk of not feeling, you are still on legal ground -on the ground of works. You have, it may be, abandoned the idea of manual labor, but you are still looking to your mental labor. The one is as worthless as the other. Give up both, as a ground of salvation, and take Christ. This is what you want in order to be happy. If you were to hear a person say, " I am happy, now, I have peace with God, because I have given a hundred pounds in charity," would you not pronounce him self-deceived? Doubtless; and yet you say, " If I could feel, I should be happy." Where lies the difference between " do " and " feel?" Is not the one as stable a foundation for a sinner's peace as the other? Would it not be better to let Christ supplant both? Is there not enough in Him without your feelings, as well as without your works? If your feelings or your works had been necessary, then why did " The God of peace bring again from the dead our Lord Jesus?" Is it not evident that you are seeking something more, as a ground of peace, than that which is presented to you in the gospel?

Dear friend, do think of this. My heart's desire is that you may rest, now and evermore, in a full Christ; that He may be sufficient for you, as He is sufficient for God. Then feelings and works of the right kind will be forthcoming, not as a ground of peace, but as the fragrant fruits of an enjoyed salvation—not as a title to life, but as the outflow of a life possessed through faith in Christ. May the blessing of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, rest abundantly upon you!

Note.—It is interesting to observe the three titles applied to oar blessed Lord Jesus Christ as Shepherd. In John 10 He is called " The good Shepherd," in death. In Heb. 13 He is called " The great Shepherd," in resurrection; and in 1 Pet. 5 He is called " The chief Shepherd," in glory. Each title has its own specific meaning, and its own appropriate place.

God's Way and How to Find It

(Read Job 28; Luke 11:34-30.)

" There is a path -which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it." What an unspeakable mercy for one who really desires to walk with God, to know that there is a way for him to walk in! God has prepared a pathway for His redeemed in which they may walk with all possible certainty, calmness, and fixedness. It is the privilege of every child of God, and every servant of Christ, to be as sure that he is in God's way, as that his soul is saved. This may seem a strong statement; but the question is, is it true? If it be true, it cannot be too strong. No doubt, it may, in the judgment of some, savor a little of self-confidence and dogmatism, to assert, in such a day as that in which we live, and in the midst of such a scene as that through which we are passing, that we are sure of being in God's path. But, what saith the Scripture? It declares, "There is a way," and it also tells us how to find and how to walk in that way. Yes; the selfsame voice that tells us of God's salvation for our souls, tells us also of God's pathway for our feet. The very same authority that assures us that " He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life," assures us also that there is a way so plain that, "The wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein."

This, we repeat, is a signal mercy—a mercy at all times, but especially in a day of confusion and perplexity like the present. It is deeply affecting to notice the state of uncertainty in which many of God's dear people are found at the present moment. We do not refer now to the question of salvation; of this we have spoken largely elsewhere. But that which we have now before us is the path of the Christian—what he ought to do—where he should be found—how he ought to carry himself in the midst of the professing Church. Is it not too true that multitudes of the Lord's people are at sea as to these things? Are there not many who, were they to tell out the real feelings of their hearts, would have to own themselves in a thoroughly unsettled state—to confess that they know not what to do, or where to go, or what to believe? Now, the question is, would God leave His children—would Christ leave His servants, in such darkness and confusion?

" No; my dear Lord, in following thee, And not in dark uncertainty, This foot obedient moves."

May not a child know the will of his father? May not a servant know the will of his master? And if this be so in our earthly relationships, how much more fully may we count upon it, in reference to our Father and Master in heaven. When Israel of old emerged from the Bed Sea, and stood upon the margin of that great and terrible wilderness which lay between them and the land of promise, how were they to know their way? The trackless sand of the desert lay all around them. It was in vain to look for any footprint there. It was a dreary waste in which the vulture's eye could not discern a pathway. Moses felt this when he said to Hobab, "Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes." (Numb. 10:31.) How well our poor unbelieving hearts can understand this touching appeal! How one craves a human guide in the midst of a scene of perplexity! How fondly the heart clings to one whom we deem competent to give us guidance in moments of darkness and difficulty!

And yet, we may ask, what did Moses want with Hobab's eyes? Had not Jehovah graciously undertaken to be their guide? Yes, truly, for we are told that, " On the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the -charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not, but when it was taken up they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses." Numb. 9:15-23.

Here was divine guidance—a guidance, we may surely say, quite sufficient to render them independent of their own eyes, of Hobab's eyes, and the eyes of any other mortal. It is interesting to note that in the opening of the book of Numbers, it was arranged that the ark of the covenant was to find its place in the very bosom of the congregation. But, in chapter x., we are told that when "they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey, the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them." Instead of Jehovah finding a resting place in the bosom of His redeemed people, He becomes their traveling guide, and goes before them to seek out a resting place for them. What touching grace is here! And yet, what faithfulness! If Moses will ask Hobab to be their guide, and that, too, in the very face of God's provision, even the cloud and the silver trumpet, then will Jehovah leave His place in the center of the tribes, and go before them to search them out a resting place. And did not He know the wilderness well? Would not He be better for them than ten thousand Hobabs? Might they not fully trust Him? Assuredly. He would not lead them astray. If His grace had redeemed them from Egypt's bondage, and conducted them through the Red Sea, surely they might confide in the same grace to guide them across that great and terrible wilderness, and bring them safely into the land flowing with milk and honey.

But, it must be borne in mind, that, in order to profit by divine guidance, there must be the abandonment of our own will, and of all confidence in our own reasonings, as well as all confidence in the thoughts and reasonings of others. If I have Jehovah as my guide, I do not want my own eyes or the eyes of a Hobab either. God is sufficient. I can trust Him. He knows all the way across the desert; and, hence, if I keep my eye upon Him, I shall be guided aright.

But this leads us on to the second division of our subject, namely, " Hew am I to find God's way." An all important question, surely. "Whither am I to turn to find God's pathway? If the vulture's eye—so keen, so powerful, so far-seeing, hath not seen it—if the young lion, so vigorous in movement, so majestic in mien, hath not trodden it—if man knoweth not the price of it, and if it is not to be found in the land of the living—if the depth saith, It is not in me, and the sea saith, It is not with me—if it cannot be gotten for gold, or precious stones—if the wealth of the universe cannot equal it, and no wit of man discover it,—then whither am I to turn? Where shall I find it? Shall I turn to those great standards of orthodoxy which rule the religious thought and feeling of millions, throughout the length and breadth of the professing Church? Is this wondrous pathway of wisdom to be found with them? Do they form any exception to the great, broad, sweeping rule of Job 28? Assuredly not. What then am I to do? I know there is a way. God, who cannot lie, declares this, and I believe it; but where am I to find it? " Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears." Does it not seem like a hopeless case for any poor ignorant mortal to search for this wondrous pathway? No, blessed be God, it is by no means a hopeless case, for "He understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it; yea, and searched it out. And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil is understanding."

Here, then, is the divine secret of wisdom. " The fear of the Lord." This sets the conscience directly in the presence of God, which is its only true place. The object of Satan is to keep the conscience out of this place—to bring it under the power and authority of man—to lead it into subjection to the commandments and doctrines of men,—to thrust in something between the conscience and the authority of Christ the Lord—it matters not what it is; it maybe a creed or a confession containing a quantity of truth—it may be the opinion of a man or a set of men—the judgment of some favorite teacher—anything, in short,, to come in and usurp, in the heart, the place which belongs to God's word alone. This is a terrible snare, and a stumbling-block—a most serious hindrance to our progress in the ways of the Lord. God's word must rule me—God's pure and simple word, not man's interpretation thereof. No doubt, God may use a man to unfold that word to my soul; but then it is not man's unfolding of God's word that rules me, but God's word by man unfolded. This is of all importance. We must be exclusively taught and exclusively governed by the word of the living God. Nothing else will keep us straight, or give solidity and consistency to our character and course-as Christians. There is a strong tendency within and around us to be ruled by the thoughts and opinions of men—by those great standards of doctrine which men have set up. Those standards and opinions may have a large amount of truth in them—they may be all true so far as they go; that is not the point in question now. What we want to impress upon the christian reader is, that he is not to be governed by the thoughts of his fellow man, but simply and solely by the word of God. It is of no value to hold a truth from man; I must hold it directly from God Himself. God may use a man to communicate His truth; but unless I hold it as from God, it has no divine power over my heart and conscience; it does not bring me into living contact with God, but actually hinders that contact by bringing in something between my soul and His holy authority.

We should greatly like to enlarge upon and enforce this great principle; but we must forbear, just now, in order to unfold to the reader one or two solemn and practical points set forth in the eleventh chapter of Luke—points which, if entered into, will enable us to understand a little better, how to find God's way. We shall quote the passage at length. " The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light."

Here, then, we are furnished with the true secret of discerning God's way. It may seem very difficult, in the midst of the troubled sea of Christendom, to steer one's course aright. So many conflicting voices fall on the ear. So many opposing views solicit our attention, men of God differ so in judgment, shades of opinion are so multiplied, that it seems impossible to reach a sound conclusion. We go to one man who, so far as we can judge, seems to have a single eye, and he tells us one thing; we go to another man who also seems to have a single eye, and he tells the very reverse. What then are we to think? Well, one thing is certain, that our own eye is not single when we are running, in uncertainty and perplexity, from one man to another. The single eye is fixed on Christ alone, and thus the body is filled with light. The Israelite of old had not to run hither or thither to consult with his fellow as to the right way. Each had the same divine guide, namely, the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. In a word, Jehovah Himself, was the infallible Guide of each member of the congregation. They were not left to the guidance of the most intelligent, sagacious, or experienced man in the assembly; neither were they left to follow their own way; each was to follow the Lord. The silver trumpet announced to all alike, the mind of God; and no one whose ear was open and attentive was left at any loss. The eye and the ear of each were to be directed to God alone, and not to a fellow mortal. This was the secret of guidance in the trackless desert of old, and this is the secret of guidance in the vast moral wilderness through which God's redeemed are passing now. One man may say, " Listen to me;" and another may say, " Listen to me;" and a third may say, " Let each one take his own way." The obedient heart says, in opposition to all, " I must follow my Lord."

This makes all so simple. It will not, by any means, tend to foster a spirit of haughty independence; quite the reverse. The more I am taught to lean on God alone for guidance, the more I shall distrust and look off from myself, and this, assuredly, is not independence. True, it will deliver me from servile following of any man, by giving me to feel my responsibility to Christ alone; but this is precisely what is so much needed, at the present moment. The more closely we examine the elements that are abroad in the professing Church, the more we shall be convinced of our personal need of this entire subjection to divine authority which is only another name for " the fear of the Lord," or, " a single eye." There is one brief sentence, in the opening of the Acts of the Apostles, which furnishes a perfect antidote to the self-will and the servile fear of man so rife around us, and that is, " We must obey God." What an utterance! "We must obey" This is the cure for self-will. " We must obey God." This is the cure for servile subjection to the commandments and doctrines of men. There must be obedience; but obedience to what? To God's authority, and to that alone. Thus the soul is preserved from the influence of infidelity on the one hand, and superstition on the other. Infidelity says, "Do as you like." Superstition says, " Do as man tells you." Faith says, " We must obey God."

Here is the holy balance of the soul in the midst of the conflicting and confounding influences around us, in this our day. As a servant, I am to obey my Lord; as a child, I am to hearken to my Father's commandments. Nor am I the less to do this, although my fellow-servants and my brethren may not understand me. I must remember that the immediate business of my soul is with God Himself. "He before whom the elders bow, with Him is all my business now." It is my privilege to be as sure that I have my Master's mind as to my path as that I have His word for the security of my soul. If not, where am I? Is it not my privilege to have a single eye? Yes; surely. And what then? "A body full of light." Now, if my body is full of light, can my mind be full of perplexity? Impossible. The two things are wholly incompatible, and hence, when any one is plunged " in dark uncertainty," it is very plain his eye is not single. He may seem very sincere, he may be very anxious to be guided aright; but he may rest assured there is the lack of a single eye—that indispensable prerequisite to divine guidance. The word is plain, " If thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light." God will ever guide the obedient, humble soul; but, on the other hand, if we do not walk according to the light communicated, we shall get into darkness. Light not acted upon becomes darkness, and, oh! "how great is that darkness!" Nothing is more dangerous than tampering with the light which God gives. It must, sooner or later, lead to the most disastrous consequences. " Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness." " Hear, ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness." Jer. 13:15, 16.

This is deeply solemn. What a contrast between a man having a single eye, and a man not acting on the light which God has given him! The one has his body full of light; the other has his body full of darkness; the one has no part dark; the other is plunged in gross darkness; the one is a light bearer for others; the other is a stumbling-block in the way. We know nothing more solemn than the judicial acting of God, in actually turning our light into darkness, because we have refused to act on the light which He has been pleased to impart.

Christian reader, art thou acting up to thy light? Has God sent a ray of light into thy soul? Has He shown thee something wrong in thy ways or associations? Art thou persisting in any line of action which conscience tells thee is not in full accordance with thy Master's will? Search and see. " Give glory to the Lord thy God." Act on the light. Do not hesitate. Think not of consequences. Obey, we beseech thee, the word of thy Lord. This very moment, as thine eye scans these lines, let the purpose of thy soul be to depart from iniquity wherever thou findest it. Say not, Whither shall I go? What shall I do next? There is evil everywhere. It is only escaping from one evil to plunge into another. Say not these things; do not argue or reason; do not look at results; think not of what the world or the world-church will say of thee; rise above all these things, and tread the path of light—that path which shineth more and more unto the perfect day of glory. Remember, God never gives light for two steps at a time. If He has given thee light for one step, then, in the fear and love of His Name take that one step, and thou wilt assuredly get more light—yes, " more and more." But if there be the refusal to act, the light which is in thee will become gross darkness, thy feet will stumble on the dark mountains of error which lie on either side of the straight and narrow path of obedience; and thou wilt become a stumbling-block in the path of others. Some of the most grievous stumbling-blocks that lie, at this moment, in the pathway of anxious enquirers are found in the persons of those who once seemed to possess the truth, but have turned from it. The light which was in them has become darkness, and, oh! how great and how appalling is that darkness! How sad it is to see those who ought to be light-bearers, acting as a positive hindrance to young and earnest Christians! But let not young Christians be hindered by them. The way is plain. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Let each one hear and obey for himself, the voice of his Lord. " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." The Lord be praised for this precious word! It puts each one in the place of direct responsibility to Christ Himself; it tells us plainly what is God's way, and, just as plainly, how to find it.

Note.—It is, at once, interesting and solemn to note the contrast between the end of the professing church in 2 Thess. 2 and the future of the true church—the bride of the Lamb, in Rev. 22 Of the former, we read, " For this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Of the latter, we read, " And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it." What a contrast! In the one case, light and truth rejected, issuing in darkness, delusion, and damnation; in the other case, the glory of God and the Lamb filling the city with light, and that light shining through the jasper walls, enlightening the saved nations below!

The Grace of God

(Read Titus 2:11-14.)

THIS lovely and familiar passage of holy scripture occurs in the midst of a number of exhortations adapted to various classes of people, in reference to their conduct and character. Aged men, aged women, young men, young women, and servants are to be exhorted as to their proper deportment in their respective conditions.

But lest, by any means, our hearts should be tempted to place these exhortations upon a legal basis, the inspired apostle breaks forth in one of the most magnificent, and comprehensive statements of the gospel which is anywhere to be found in the sacred volume. " The grace of God," and that alone, must be the foundation of all christian conduct and character. Legality in all its forms, and in all its workings, is most hateful to the Spirit of God. The robe of self-righteousness with which man attempts to cover his sins, is more unsightly in God's view, than the very blackest sin that could be committed. Nothing can be accepted of God but that which flows from His own grace in our hearts.

Now, in the scripture before us, the reader will find three distinct points, namely, The salvation which grace brings; the lessons which grace teaches; and the hope which grace presents. And, first, then, as to THE SALVATION WHICH GRACE BRINGS.

This is a grand cardinal point. To be uncertain or obscure as to this, must, assuredly, involve uncertainty and obscurity in everything. " The grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared." (See the marginal reading.) This is clear and conclusive enough. The very first thing that grace does for the lost sinner is to save him—save him unconditionally, save him perfectly -save him eternally. It does not ask him to be anything but what he is. It does not ask him to give anything. It brings him salvation, or the ground of his being lost. It is only as a lost one that I need salvation; and the more I feel myself to be lost, the more clearly I see my title to that full and free salvation which the grace of God brings. Salvation is intended for the lost; if, therefore, I am lost, salvation applies itself to me, just as distinctly as though I were the only lost sinner in the whole world.

And observe the immense breadth of this word " lost," It takes in all. High and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, savage and civilized, moral and immoral, religious and irreligious—all are comprehended under this one title, " lost:' It is well to see this clearly. Men make distinctions, and necessarily so. Social life has its distinctions. Law and equity maintain their distinctions which must be duly recognized by every well regulated mind. Society awards to the chaste, the sober, and the moral, a respect which it justly withholds from the profligate, the drunkard, and the unprincipled. But, directly we get into the presence of the grace of God, all these distinctions are swept away, and all are looked at on one common ground as lost. The most respectable member of society and the vilest outcast are both in the same condition, as regards themselves; they are both lost, they both need salvation; and the grace of God brings salvation to the one as well as the other; and be it well remembered that the poor broken-hearted outcast is nearer, by far, to the salvation which grace brings, than is the cold hearted self-sufficient moralist. (See Matt. 21:31.) If the law of God could bring salvation, then the case would be quite the reverse. But the law never brought salvation to any one because no one could keep it; whereas grace brings salvation to all because all need it. It is no longer confined to the Jews. The Sun has risen far above the Jewish horizon, and poured his blessed beams over " all the world," so that " every creature under heaven" may bask in the light thereof. Such is the wide aspect of " the grape of God," which, let me say, leaves wholly untouched the grand question of God's eternal counsels and God's moral government. God has His counsels; and God displays His mysterious wisdom in government. This must never be forgotten, nor does it interfere, in the smallest degree, with the precious truth that " the grace of God bringeth salvation unto all," and " the righteousness of God is unto all." The inspired apostle is speaking of the aspect of these things, not of their final result—a grave and important distinction.

Now, it must be obvious to my reader that the term "all" necessarily includes him. It could not possibly be otherwise. If he be not included, then it follows that there is some one for whom the grace of God has not brought salvation; but the Holy Ghost expressly declares that it bringeth salvation unto all. This must satisfy the most anxious soul as to the question so often raised, namely, " How am I to know that salvation is intended for me?" Is any one excluded? Is not salvation brought to all? Does not this term comprehend every anxious inquirer? Unquestionably. The declaration of the inspired writer is that " The grace of God, which bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared." This is as plain as a sunbeam. Men may reject this salvation. Alas' they do reject it; but that can never touch the question of the wide aspect of that grace which shines with undimmed luster in the gospel, and brings a full and free salvation unto all. Their guilt in rejecting it flows from the fact that it is freely offered. If they could not get it, whence their guilt in not having it? Where the righteous judgment in punishing men for not receiving what was never intended for them? (2 Thess. 1:6-10.) True, it is-divinely true, that God is sovereign; but it is equally true that man is responsible. Are we called to reconcile these things? Nay, they are reconciled already, inasmuch as both are taught in the word. All we nave t do is to believe them.

But let us inquire what is included in the salvation which the grace of God brings? The answer is, Everything. Salvation is a precious casket containing all I want for time and eternity. It includes salvation from the future consequences of sin, and from its present power. To be a divinely-saved person—a person saved by the grace of God saved by the blood of Christ, as every believer is, involves entire deliverance from wrath, from hell, from Satan, from everything that could possibly be against me. A man whom God hath saved is surely safe from all. There is nothing doubtful about God's salvation; it is all settled. There is no delay; it is all finished. We have neither to wait for it nor to add to it, but to receive it now, and enjoy it forever. The mighty tide of grace rolls down from the very throne of God, and bears upon its bosom a full salvation -salvation for me. I receive it as a free gift; I bow my head and worship, and go on my way rejoicing.

We shall now proceed, in the second place, to consider

THE LESSONS WHICH GRACE TEACHES.

Grace is a teacher as well as a Savior; but it never begins to teach me until it has saved me. It is well to see this. Before ever it asks me to hearken to its pure and holy lessons, it brings me a salvation as free as the air we breathe. It is as a divinely-saved person I enter the precincts of the school of grace, and take my place upon the form. Grace teaches only the saved. All its pupils are saved. Grace, as a Savior, seeks only the lost. Grace, as a teacher, instructs only the saved. This makes all plain, and puts everything in its right place. We must never place unsaved persons on the forms of the school of grace. Such have no capacity to learn its holy lessons. There must be a proper material—a proper capacity. This capacity is included in the salvation which grace brings me. I am a debtor to grace both for the lesson which I learn, and the capacity to learn it. I owe all to grace. Grace seeks me, and finds me in my lost estate; it saves me with an everlasting salvation, and introduces me as a saved person to the sphere in which its hallowed instructions are imparted. Grace does not teach those who are dead, it quickens them; it does not teach those who are guilty, it cleanses them; it does not teach those who are condemned, it justifies them. It is as quickened, cleansed, and justified that I become the pupil of grace. The very first thing that grace does for the lost sinner is to bring him salvation, and when he receives this salvation, it teaches him to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world."

I desire that my reader should be clear as to this. If he be, as yet, in an unsaved state, let him understand that the grace of God brings him salvation as a present thing; and, moreover, until he has accepted this free gift, he is wholly unable to understand or take in the lessons which grace teaches. If grace is to be his teacher, he must be saved in order to be a pupil. This simple fact gives the death-blow to all legality, to all human righteousness, to all man's pretensions. If none can comprehend the lessons which grace teaches save those which have accepted the salvation which grace brings, then, assuredly, our language must ever be, " Not unto us, Ο Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory."

But, let us look particularly at the lessons which grace teaches. It teaches us to deny everything unlike God, and all desires after this present world; and not only 80, but it teaches us how we are to live. The law could never do this. It tells us how we ought to live, but it does not teach us. It neither gives us the lesson to learn nor the capacity to learn it. It does not bring us salvation. The law could never have any saved pupils, because it does not save the lost, but condemns them for being lost. No doubt men ought to keep the law, and if they were right they would; but they are not right, quite the opposite, they are wrong, totally, irremediably wrong, hopelessly lost; and in this condition grace brings them salvation. Christ the Savior is our Teacher, not Moses the lawgiver. May we learn His lessons! May we sit at His feet in all docility, and drink in His hallowed instructions!

These instructions range themselves under three distinct heads, as suggested by the words, " Soberly, righteously, and godly."

I. Soberly. This refers to the inner circle of one's own heart. It simply means, with inward self-government—a most comprehensive expression. The grace that saves me teaches me to exercise a holy government over self. I am to govern my thoughts, govern my tongue, govern my temper—govern them, not in order to be saved, but because I am. The One who teaches me to exercise this government has saved me before ever He commenced His course of instruction. It is as a saved person that I submit my whole moral being to the wholesome control of my heavenly Teacher. The law could not teach me to govern my nature. It condemns me, root and branch, throws me overboard, and leaves me there. Grace follows me, saves me, and endows me with a new nature, seals me with the Holy Ghost, so that I can exercise myself in self-government.

And be it observed that this self-government is totally different from anything that human philosophy or the energy of an indomitable will could ever produce. These things might enable me to subdue some of the accessories of self, while the parent stem was left wholly untouched. But " the grace of God that bringeth salvation," gives me victory over self in all the length and breadth of that comprehensive term. Full victory over all the evil that dwells in me is as much a part of " salvation " as deliverance from hell. Alas! we fail to make use of this victory; through spiritual indolence and unbelief, we fail to possess ourselves practically of that full salvation which grace has brought us; but that, in no wise, alters the truth of the matter. If I am a saved man, I should live as a saved man, in every respect. And how is this to be done? By faith. "The just shall live by faith." (Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38.) I can only exercise inward self-government by faith.

II. The second grand lesson which grace teaches me, as to my practical life, is to live " righteously." This contemplates me not merely in the inner circle of my own moral being, but in the midst of the circumstances and relationships of the scene around me—that outward world in which I am called to live and move from day to day. My divine Teacher not merely instructs me as to the government of myself, but also as to the government of all my transactions with my fellow. Here, too, I am to remember that my teacher is the grace that hath saved me. I must never forget this. If the resources of philosophy, or the energy of a strong will, might enable me to exercise a kind of inward self-government, 80 also the principles of a lofty morality, or that pride which spurns a mean action, might lead me to seek the maintenance of an unblemished reputation in all my transactions with my fellow men. But all this leaves me unsaved. Philosophy cannot save me, and therefore it cannot teach me. Morality cannot save me, and therefore it cannot teach me. It is " the grace of God " that alone can save me, and it is that same grace which alone can teach me. Hence, if I see a person who professes to be saved, giving way to bad temper, indulging in passion, or enslaved by a habit, I infer that that person has not learned practically the first great lesson of his divine Teacher. And if I see a person who professes to be saved, yet not guiding his affairs with discretion, but getting in debt, and indulging in extravagance, I infer that he has not learned the second great lesson of his divine Teacher. Let us not be deceived with vain words. If the legalist is silenced by the freeness of the salvation which grace brings, the antinomian is silenced by the purity of the lessons which grace teaches. " These things are good and profitable unto men." The gospel meets everything. It meets the lost sinner with a full salvation; and it meets the saved sinner with the purest and most perfect lessons—lessons of holy self-government and practical righteousness.

III. But there is a third lesson which grace teaches its saved pupils. It teaches them to live "godly." This opens up our relations with the world above. There is great force, beauty, and completeness in these words used by the inspired apostle. They present to us three great circles in which we are called to act: the world within, the world without, and the world above. They must be all taken together to see their divine beauty. There is really nothing left out. All that we can possibly want to learn is taught in the school of grace, if we will only accept the lessons; and let us bear in mind that the surest proof of our having received the salvation which grace brings, is our learning the lessons which grace teaches—those hallowed lessons of inward self-government, practical righteousness, and true godliness. May God the Holy Ghost make us to understand the fullness and freeness of the salvation, and the purity and elevation of the lessons, so that we may more distinctly apprehend, in the third and last place,

THE HOPE WHICH GRACE PRESENTS.

The apostle speaks of it as " a blessed hope," and surely nothing can be more blessed than " The appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." This is the proper hope of the believer, and he is taught to look for it by the selfsame grace that has brought him salvation, and that teaches him how to carry himself in reference to the world within, the world without, and the world above. é The Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psalm 84.)

Now, there are three things in reference to this " blessed hope," which I desire that my reader should clearly understand, namely, title, capacity, and moral condition. Our title is furnished by the blood of the cross; the capacity is furnished by the Holy Ghost; the moral condition is founded upon our learning and exhibiting the holy lessons taught in the school of grace.

Reader, permit me to ask you if, when the subject of Christ's appearing is introduced, you ever feel a sort Of bitch, difficulty, or reserve in your mind. Would you be afraid to see Jesus? Would you rather put off the moment of His advent? Do you feel yourself not quite ready? If so, it may be you are not yet able to "read your title clear;" or, it may be, you are not cultivating a spiritual capacity; or, finally, your moral condition is not such as would naturally introduce you to that scene of glory for which we are privileged daily to look. These are points of immense importance—points to which my reader should give deep and prayerful attention. If there be cloudiness as to my title; if there be defectiveness in spiritual capacity; or if my general moral tone and character be not formed by the holy lessons of grace, I shall not be in an attitude of waiting for the glory. In other words, to speak according to the peculiar style of the passage before us, if I am doubtful as to the salvation which grace brings, or if I am backward in learning the lessons which grace teaches, then I shall assuredly fail in looking for that blessed hope which grace presents. It is well to see this, in all its clearness, point, and power. If we are the recipients of grace and the expectants of glory, should not our lives exhibit the moral power of these things? Should they not have their proper effect in the formation of our character? Unquestionably. " He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." If I expect to be with Jesus and like Jesus, by and by, I shall seek to be as much with Him, and as much like Him, now, as possible.

May the Lord work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight, and bring out in all our ways a more faithful exhibition of the divine life! The language with which our scripture closes is eminently calculated to awaken in our souls the most intense desire after these things; indeed, I cannot conclude this paper without quoting this noble passage at full length, praying the Holy Ghost to apply it in much power to the heart and conscience of both the writer and the reader.

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared, teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us (what a price! what objects!) that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people of possession, zealous of good works."

" The day of glory bearing

Its brightness far and near,

The day of Christ's appearing

We now no longer fear.

He once a spotless victim

For us on Calv'ry bled;

Jehovah did afflict Him,

And bruised Him in our stead.

To Him by grace united,

We joy in Him alone;

And now by faith delighted,

Behold Him on the throne.

Then let Him come in glory,

Who comes his saints to raise.

To perfect all the story

Of wonder, love, and praise "

Jesus, a Deliverer and Lord: Part 1

In the fifth chapter of Mark, we have three distinct cases of human need presented to our view, namely, the man with the legion; the woman with the issue; and the ruler's daughter—three distinct aspects of man's condition, all perfectly met by the gracious ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and all setting Him forth as a Deliverer and Lord. Let us meditate a little on these cases, and may the Spirit of God enable us to understand and profit by them! And, first, we shall look at The Demoniac.

Here we have man presented to us as under the direct power of Satan. This is a very solemn phase of man's condition, and one not sufficiently pondered—not understood. Hundreds might read the opening paragraph of our chapter, and not see therein portrayed the real state of man as such. They might feel disposed to pass it over as a narrative of a poor demoniac, having no possible application to them, inasmuch as they are not possessed by a legion of devils. But then it must be remembered that sin has given Satan direct power over man. This is a most weighty fact, and one most needful to have pressed upon the attention of men at a moment like the present, when there is so much confidence in human powers, so much boasting of the human will, such strong assertion as to human liberty. In the midst of all this, it is well to declare plainly that man in his natural slate is simply the slave of Satan, led captive by him at his will. This captivity may be variously exhibited, for Satan has various means, various agencies, various influences, wherewith to act upon men. He rules some by their lusts, Some by pleasure, some by ambition, some by their intellectual tastes and pursuits; but he rules all in some way or another. This cannot be disputed. Men may seek to deny it, they may succeed in forgetting it; but that in no-wise alters the fact. Man is the slave of Satan. Sin has made him such, nor can he, by aught within his range, snap the chain of his bondage. Satan may allow man to think himself free, inasmuch as he allows him to gratify his lusts, and enjoy his pleasures, and to cultivate his tastes; but he hides from his view the humiliating and melancholy fact, that these very things are the chains and fetters of his captivity.

But we may be asked for direct authority for asserting, thus boldly, that man, in his unrenewed state, is the slave of Satan—our right to regard the demoniac as a sample of all mankind may be called in question. It may, very legitimately, be asked, " Does the word of God directly teach that man is under the absolute dominion of Satan?" Most assuredly it does. Take the following passage, " And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (Eph. 2:1-3.) Here we are taught that Satan works in the children of disobedience, and that he is " the prince of the power of the air." So also, in the fourth chapter of Second Corinthians, Satan is called "the god of this world," and he is there represented as "blinding the minds of them which believe not." Many other passages of Holy Scripture might be adduced, but these are amply sufficient to prove that man, in his unregenerate state, is under the power of Satan, that he is not his own master at all; but is under the absolute control of the archenemy of God. It is of no possible use for men to speak of being free, to boast themselves in their liberty of thought, of feeling, and of action. There are but two masters; and the reader is, at this moment, under the authority of either the one or the other. Hence it follows that we are warranted in viewing the poor demoniac as a sample of man's real condition, by nature. It is, no doubt, most humiliating to those who are wont to say, " Our lips are our own: who is lord over us?" It may prove very unpalatable to those who deem them—selves as free as the air—free to think, free to speak, free to act, according to the dictates of their own will—to be told that they are slaves, that they are in bondage, that they are led captive by another. But it is true notwithstanding, and we press the truth upon the reader, whatever be his condition. If he be unconverted, we press it, in order that his eyes may be opened to see his true state; and if he be converted, we press it, in order that he may be stirred up to feel for those who are yet held in the crushing bondage of the great enemy of God and man.

But let us look, particularly, at this touching narrative of the poor demoniac, so vividly illustrative of man's condition and of Christ's delivering grace. If we fail to see these two things in the picture, we shall miss one of the finest lessons in the volume of inspiration. " And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains. Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."

Now, we must ever remember that, in reading the narratives of the New Testament, we have not merely inspired records of what actually occurred, but great principles of action, types of character, living illustrations of human nature, and of the world. Mighty moral truths, which shall have their application in all ages of man's history, and in all stages of man's condition. It is of the utmost importance that we should take this large and comprehensive view of Holy Scripture, else we shall come to regard the inspired Volume merely as the book of one age, instead of the book for all ages.

What, then, are we to learn from this account of the demoniac? Has it any voice, any lesson for us? Unquestionably. It shows us plainly what it is to be under the power of Satan—what is the state and what the occupation of all those who are led captive by that false and cruel master. It holds up to our view a glowing picture of the habits, ways, pursuits, and moral condition of all those who are yet in the grasp of that great spiritual slaveholder. It tells us where they are, and what they are doing. Their dwelling is in the place of death, and their occupation, " cutting themselves with stones." Thus it is,, beloved reader, with man, under the hand of Satan. True it is, that people do not and will not see this; it is-quite too humbling for them. But, ah! it is most salutary, and, therefore, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, we must press upon their attention the solemn fact that they are under the power of Satan—in the place of death, and bent on self-destruction. Look at the drunkard, look at the votary of fashion, look at the pleasure-seeker, look at the man of the turf and the sportsman, look at those who throng the ball-room and the theater,, and come forth, morning after morning, pale, jaded, and exhausted from those scenes of revelry and folly. What are all these doing but "cutting themselves with stones," of one kind or another? Nor need we, by any means, confine ourselves to such as we have named; but look at the money-lover, look at the aspirant after literary fame, look at the eager politician, look at the slave of ambition,, and what do we see, but so many, like the demoniac, "cutting themselves with stones?" Oh! that men would but open their eyes to see this—that they would but see flow it is with them—that they would be convinced of the truth as to their condition, as viewed in the light which the word of God throws upon it.

And, be it noted carefully, that, " No man could bind 'him, no, not with chains." The moral reformer and the philanthropist may, with the purest and loftiest intentions, and with the most benevolent designs, seek to ameliorate man's condition, to restrain his vices, to correct his evil habits. He may employ all the agencies and influences within his reach to improve, to elevate, and to polish; but, an the end, it will be found, that it is not within the compass of man's ability to rescue his fellow from the power of Satan until that power is broken by the hand of the Son of God. We desire not to be misunderstood. We would not pen a single line to detract from the value of philanthropy and moral reform, so far as they go. Still less should we think of undervaluing the motives of the philanthropist or the moral reformer. No; we only want them to take a higher stand—a wider range, and to work, with another lever altogether. We want them to see that they must make the cross of Jesus the basis of their operations, else their efforts will fail, and their labors end in disappointment. Mere moral reform, however desirable in a social point of view, will leave man still in the grasp of Satan, whereas what is really needed is full deliverance from that terrible grasp by the commanding voice of the Son of God.

But it will be said, "Must we not endeavor to prepare men for the reception of the gospel? Is not a moral preparedness necessary? How, for example, can a drunken man receive the gospel? Must we not first make him sober, and then give him the gospel?" To all this we reply very briefly and very simply: the cross is the grand and all-sufficient remedy for man in every possible condition in which he can be found, under the hand of Satan. Until that remedy is applied, man is still the slave of Satan. It is, of course, obvious—so obvious as not to need a second thought—that there is no use in preaching the gospel to a man in a state of intoxication. But is there not just as little use in preaching moral reform? Surely he can no more understand the one than the other. And let us ask, What preparedness had the wretched demoniac to come to Jesus? Had the fetters and chains prepared him? Had man's efforts to tame him fitted him, in anywise, for the ministry of the great Deliverer? The answer is. " No man could bind him......neither could any man tame him." His case was entirely beyond the reach of his fellow; but it was not beyond the reach of the Son of God; and that blessed One needed no evidences of moral reform to draw His loving heart toward the miserable victim of Satan's power. It was quite sufficient for Him that there was real need. He came down into this world, not to seek and to save those who were able to reform themselves, but those who were lost; and, further, He came not merely to reform them, but to save them. This makes a material difference. It is salvation we want and not merely moral reform; and this salvation is sent to man in the very condition in which he is. " The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles." "This day is salvation come to this house." " The grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared." In the case of the demoniac, it was when all human efforts had proved futile—when it had been made apparent that no man could either bind his body or tame his spirit—it was then the divine and gracious Deliverer entered the scene, to rescue him from the hand of his cruel master.

And, be it observed, that this wondrous deliverance had to be, as it were, forced upon the man. He did not want to have aught to do with Jesus. So completely was he under the power of Satan that, though there was the forced expression of homage, " He cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not." All this only tends to throw out into full relief the marvelous grace of Jesus. He beheld the poor demoniac under the thralldom of the great enemy of God and man, who led him captive at his will, who made him do what he would, and say what he would; and He, the " stronger man," came upon the " strong," and spoiled his goods. He delivered the prey from the hand of the mighty, and set the captive free. By His authoritative voice He dispossessed the enemy, and, without any fetters or chains, save those mysterious, mighty, moral chains of love, He bound the demoniac to Himself. Blessed, adorable, gracious Lord Jesus! Who would not love thee? Who would not adore and worship thee? Who would not confide in thee? May our hearts go forth to thee in true devotedness, as our Deliverer and our Lord!

Let us now turn, for a moment, and gaze on the picture presented to us in the delivered captive at the feet of his Deliverer. There he sat, " clothed and in his right mind," at the feet of Jesus. What a change from the fierce, wild, ungovernable victim of Satan's terrible power! What a contrast between the naked inhabitant of the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones, and the calm, subdued, happy subject of divine grace sitting at the feet of Jesus, and gazing up into the face of his divine Deliverer! Can anything be more morally lovely? And yet it is only what ought to be seen in the case of every truly converted soul. For what is conversion? It is deliverance from the power of Satan. But to what am I delivered? Am I merely delivered from the power of Satan to be my own master? Alas! that would be a poor deliverance. No; I am delivered from the bondage of Satan to be " the slave of Jesus Christ." Yes, reader, let not the word startle you or offend your moral sense. We do not like the term slave or slavery. It clashes with our modern notions of freedom. But, ah! it all depends on who is our master. There is equal truth and beauty in those words, " The service of the Lord is perfect freedom." Most true—most lovely! " Perfect freedom! " Yes, verily. The service of Satan, in all its departments, is perfect bondage—deep, dark, and degrading bondage, however varied its chains. But the blessed service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is perfect freedom—pure, enlightened, and elevated freedom.

It is very important that Christians should be instructed in the truth of the Lordship of Christ. We fear it is little understood or entered into. We ventured to touch upon it at the close of our paper on the dying thief; but it presents itself to our notice on almost every page of the New Testament. "God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ." "To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living." (Rom. 14:9.) ·' Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours." (1 Cor. 1:2.) " Ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. 3:24.

Now, dear christian reader, we are called to give our serious attention to this truth. We live in a day of widespread evangelical profession. If you look around, and examine the elements that are at work in the world, you will find three very distinct things. You will find infidelity, superstition, and evangelical profession. Infidelity is making far more rapid progress than we are at all aware of. It is secretly sapping the foundations of thought and feeling, throughout the whole civilized world. In numberless cases where there is the outward semblance of reverence for sacred things, there is, underneath, a skeptical influence at work, which only waits for the suited occasion to burst forth in overwhelming force, and carry away the feeble embankments which education and social influence have created. In many cases, it is painfully apparent, how little reverence there is for the Bible or sacred things on the part of the young people growing up around us. If we look back over the history of the last quarter of a century, we cannot but see a marked and melancholy change in this respect. There teas an outward respect, at least, for the word of God, sufficient to make men shrink with a sort of horror from any one who could dare to broach infidel or skeptical notions. Even that feeling is rapidly passing away. Thousands and tens of thousands now listen, with cold indifference, if not with a secret feeling of approval, to bold infidel attacks upon the sacred volume. All this, with much more that might be named, marks the appalling progress of infidelity. Professedly christian teachers are not ashamed or afraid to call in question the authenticity of Holy Scripture. Every new attack upon the Bible, every new assault upon Christianity, is received with a growing interest by millions of professing Christians throughout Europe and America. Every new theory which seems at all likely to furnish materials for an attack upon divine revelation, or its divine Author is swallowed with avidity.

We cannot shut our eyes to these solemn facts, and we dare not withhold them from our readers. These lines, which we are penning in England, may be read by persons in the bush in Australia and New Zealand, or in the backwoods of America; and these persons may be casting many a longing look, and sending many a deep-drawn sigh across the ocean, to this highly-favored land, and drawing a contrast between the light which shines here and the darkness that reigns there. Well, we can and do bless God for our many privileges—we praise Him for the inestimable blessing of civil and religious liberty—we praise Him for an open Bible and a free gospel—we praise Him for thousands of souls turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God—we praise Him for thousands of hearts devoted to the Name and cause of Jesus—we praise Him for the magnificent wave of blessing which has, within the last seven years, rolled over America and Europe. For all these things we heartily bless His name; but, notwithstanding all this, the solemn fact presses upon the heart, that infidelity is making rapid strides in England, on the continent of Europe, and throughout the length and breadth of the New World.

Then, as to superstition, in all its forms, can any one fail to mark its progress? What a growing confidence in ordinances! What attention to the outward forms and ceremonies of ritualism! What a clinging to human authority! What reverence for tradition! What earnest cravings after antiquity! What thirst for the attraction of music, painting, sculpture, and architecture, in the so-called service and worship of God! What do all these things indicate? In what direction are they leading souls? Of what are they the symptoms? Let the thoughtful reader answer.

But, let us inquire, what is there in the professing Church to stand against this rapidly rising tide of infidelity and superstition? A feeble, meager, shallow evangelicalism—an easy, worldly, self-indulgent evangelical profession—a kind of gospel—a gospel diluted—a gospel shorn of its strength, its majesty, and its glory—a gospel deprived of its edge, its point, and its pungency—a gospel which, in many cases, seeks to persuade the sinner that God—we speak with all reverence—will be very much obliged to him for accepting salvation—a gospel which will not suffer the word " responsibility''' to fall upon the ear of the professor, and will not admit of any such thing as the claims of the Lordship of Christ. According to the teaching of this so-called gospel, the very mention of duties, claims, and responsibilities, savors of legality. The conscience is not to be addressed. No warning voice must be heard, lest it should lead souls to question their interest in Christ—lest it should disturb their peace. Christ's interest in His people is of little moment, compared with their interest in Him!

Header, be thou well assured of it, this will never do. We want something quite different. We want a gospel which links together, by one indissoluble bond, these two words, " Savior and Lord." We want, like the rescued demoniac, to take our place at the feet of that Blessed One who is, at once, our Deliverer and our Master.

(To be continued, if the Lord will.)

Jesus, a Deliverer and Lord: Part 2

The more deeply we ponder the present condition of things, the more convinced are we that the only place of true security is at the feet of Jesus, our Deliverer and our Lord. We live in a dark and evil day. Yes; dark and evil must we call the moment in which our lot is cast; and that, too, notwithstanding the light of so-called science, the boasted progress of civilization, the noble schemes of philanthropy, the mighty achievements of religious societies, and the soul-stirring records of the leading religious journals of the day. We have no desire whatever to make little of all the good that is being done. Quite the contrary. We have in the former part of this paper given expression to our deep and heartfelt thankfulness for all that God is doing throughout the harvest-field, as well as in the midst of His Church, and in the hearts of His people individually. Yet, with the eye resting on all this and the heart in some small degree sensible of it, we cannot shake off the impression that there is, underlying the present state of society, a spirit of infidelity most appalling to contemplate. Nor does the spirit merely underlie the framework of society, but, alas! in many cases it embodies itself in fearful forms, and stalks abroad with bold and impious front in the very bosom of religious profession. Take the following from a recent writer who, we grieve to say, can set forth in glowing and eloquent language, the " broken lights" of this world, but who, if we are to judge from her work, has never felt the power of that " true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world"—that light which can never be broken—never put out—even Jesus " the Sun of Righteousness," and " The Bright and Morning Star." " Few," says this writer, "even of the recognized teachers of religion, who are most ready to denounce the 'infidelity' of the times—would be willing to acknowledge bow far the doubts of the age have actually advanced towards questioning these great truths. A few years ago it was remarked in some provincial town in England, that, on the same day on which the clergy were holding: a discussion concerning the Gorham controversy, and the mode in which baptism operated in regeneration, the working men of the place were debating in their Hall the question, ' Whether there were any proof of the existence of God?' Just in this manner are learned men writing and preaching throughout the land, arguing as if the only opinions threatened were such matters as the authenticity of certain portions of the Bible, and the bearings of modern science on some scriptural narratives. Underneath this thin ice, over which the controversialists perform their evolutions with more or less grace and vigor, there lies an abyss—the abyss cold, dark, and fathomless—of utter skepticism."

Such is the testimony of one of a class of writers who are able to see the condition of things, but who, alas! know not the true remedy—who have never taken their place at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in their right mind. Now, it is sometimes profitable to hear what such witnesses have to say. True, they have only one side of the question, if they have even that. They see much of the hollowness of what is passing around them; they see the inconsistency of professing Christians, the insufficiency and unsatisfactoriness of mere systematic religion, the coldness and dreariness of dogmatic theology, the covetousness and worldliness of many high professors. All these things, they can see with a keen enough eye: but they know not the relief, the resource, the comfort, the peace, the blessedness, the strength, the victory, the moral elevation which are to be found at the feet of a Savior and a Lord. Here is where they are all astray. They can teach men how to doubt; but they give them nothing to believe. They give no certainty to the heart, no resting place for the sole of the foot. They talk of God; but they do not tell us where He is to be found, known, and enjoyed, even in the face of Jesus Christ, and on the eternal page of inspiration. They talk of virtue; but they do not tell us where the only true source and center of all virtue must be sought, even in Jesus, our Savior God—in having Him as our life, our object, our model, our all. They talk of immortality, of a future state; but it is all mist, gloom, and uncertainty. What can immortality, or what a future state, prove to be, but immortal misery and a state of eternal woe, if there be not the saving knowledge of Jesus, the resurrection and the life?

The fact is, dear christian reader, what we want is reality—deep-toned, thorough-going, out-and-out reality—reality in leaning on, looking to, and living for Christ. Nothing less than this will do for the present moment. Things are in rapid progress. Society seems to move forward with the speed of a railway and the electric wire. " Go ahead" is the motto of the day in everything, in science, in commerce, in politics, and religion. The world is rushing along, like an express train, to the dark tunnel of universal skepticism, and the still darker abyss of eternal perdition. This is a deeply solemn reflection, and one eminently calculated to produce seriousness and gravity in the tone and character of all true Christians. There is a demand for devotedness of heart on the part of all who have experienced the saving power of the Name of Jesus. The skeptic and the infidel can pick holes in the dogmas of systematic divinity. They can, with eagle eye, discern the flaws in the great ecclesiastical systems that bear sway throughout the civilized world. Mere official piety, mechanical religion, and superstitious routine cannot stand before the lash of infidelity and rationalism. But, oh! there is a power, a weight, a dignity, about a truly devoted christian life which not one of the shafts of the infidel can ever touch. There is little use in printing and publishing truth in the pages of our books, our pamphlets, and our periodicals, if that truth does not shine in our practical life. Of what avail is it to preach, to write, and to talk of the heavenly calling, if our conduct and character are marked by intense selfishness and worldliness. And so of every other truth in circulation amongst us. It must shine in the life or it is valueless, so far as we are concerned.

Is it that we do not value truth as put forth by the pen or the living voice? By no means. We value it more than words can express. But then if this truth does not act on the conscience, affect the heart, and govern the life, it becomes worse than valueless, it becomes positive darkness in the soul. There is nothing so darkening or so deadening as truth professed and not practiced. Intellectual familiarity with doctrines where the heart is not subject to Christ,, or the conscience governed by His commandments, will assuredly issue in a hideous Antinomianism. In point of fact, we are persuaded that we know only just so much truth as-really acts upon us. We do not and cannot believe that people know truth if that truth has no weight or influence in the life. There is nothing more dangerous than to traffic in unfelt truth; and it is this that adds such deep seriousness to the thought of the vast amount of truth in circulation amongst us, in one form or another. There is a. melancholy disproportion between our ethics and our theology—between our religious creed and our moral character—between our profession and our practice.

Now, we do not write thus for the purpose of depressing-the heart of the christian reader. Nothing is further from our thoughts. We would fain cheer and encourage all whose desire is to follow the Lord with purpose of heart.. But then we do greatly dread the strong Antinomian tendency of the present day, and we feel called upon to warn our readers strongly against it, and also to present to them the only divine antidote against it, namely, being found in all humility of mind, at the feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is our only safe retreat. Here we are safe from self, safe from the world, safe from all the wiles and snares of Satan. It is as we find our place, from day to day, at our Masters feet, and there drink in His holy doctrine from the pages of His word—it is as we gaze upon Him and deeply ponder His commands in our hearts, that we shall be able to pursue a course of true devotedness to Him and to His cause in this world, and to bring forth, in daily life, the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. We are free to own that what we long for in ourselves and in all our brethren, is genuine devotedness to the Person and Cause of Christ. We believe that where this exists, everything will come right; but where it does not exist, there will be nothing right. If the hands of a watch are astray it will not suffice to set them right, you must touch the regulator. If you merely move the hands backward or forward upon the dial, it is labor lost. The only way to effect any permanent change, is to get at once to that which regulates the motion of the whole machine. So it is with ourselves. If the heart be right toward Jesus, we shall not go far astray as to character and conduct. Hence the force of the word, "Keep thine heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Oh! that we may have grace so to do, in these days of self-will and self-indulgence!

It may, perhaps, be thought that we have wandered far from our direct theme; but it is not so in reality, for it must be remembered that our subject has two sides, namely, our salvation in Christ, and Christ's authority over us. This, it will be admitted, affords a very wide field indeed. The demoniac was rescued from the power of Satan and brought under the authority of Christ Blessed exchange! He could, as he sat at the feet of his gracious Deliverer, look back at those tombs where he had spent his nights and days; he could think of the stones with which he used to cut himself; and it may be that his body bore the-traces of the chains and fetters with which his fellows had vainly sought to bind him. But now he was delivered he was safe, calm, and happy: and as he beheld the herd of swine rushing violently down into the abyss, he could say, "That would have been my fate—I too had gone down into that dreadful abyss, but for the grace of Him at whose feet I now sit in perfect peace. 'Oh! to grace bow great a debtor.'"

Thus it is with every saved soul. We can look back at the past, and see what we were; we can look forward into the future, and see what we might be; we can look at the present, and see what we are; and we can take another look into the future, and see what we shall be. And what then? Why then we have simply to gaze in the face of Jesus our loving Savior, who pitied us in our lost and miserable condition; who beheld us, with an eye of deep and tender compassion, as we lay in the iron grasp of the enemy; who came down into all the depths of our wretchedness, and wrought out a full deliverance for us from all that was against us, clothed us with a robe of spotless righteousness, endowed us with His own mind, and has given us the holy privilege of sitting ever at His feet to drink in his pure and heavenly doctrine, and prove the moral security of His presence and influence.

But here let us inquire as to the effect produced upon the Gadarenes by all that Jesus had wrought for and in the poor demoniac. Were they glad to see that so perfectly accomplished which they had tried in vain to effect? They had sought to bind him, but could not; and now they saw him bound, not indeed with fetters of iron, but with chains of love. They had sought to tame him, but could not; and now he was tame—tame as a lamb, reposing at his Shepherd's feet. Did they rejoice? Quite the reverse. How was this? Ah! they had lost their swine, and they thought far more of them than of Jesus. The Son of God, in all His grace and majesty, was a poor substitute, to the heart of a Gadarene, for a herd of swine. True, the devils were gone; but the swine were gone also, and the Gadarenes would far rather have had the devils and the swine, than Jesus and the might}' triumphs of His grace, and hence " they besought him to depart out of their coasts." They connected the loss of their swine with the presence of Jesus, whereas the demoniac could only connect with that same blessed presence his full deliverance from the terrible legion of devils. This made all the difference. They did not want His presence; he could not be happy in His absence. They besought him to depart; he prayed that he might be with Him.

It is interesting to notice the three requests that were made of Jesus in this narrative. The devils besought him to send them into the swine, and He did so. The Gadarenes besought Him to depart out of their coast, and He did so. But when the rescued one, the subject of His delivering grace and power, besought Him that he might be with Him, He refused. Why was this? Why grant the request of devils and of Gadarenes, and refuse the one who had proved His saving power? The answer only illustrates yet more forcibly the grace of Jesus. "And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapods how great things Jesus had done for him; and all men did marvel." What grace shines out here! It is as though He had said, " These people will not have me. They have cast me out. Go thou back to them, and bear witness to the grace that has met your need. Go and declare what the Lord has done for thee."

Header, hast thou found mercy? Has thy desperate case been fully met by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? Art thou delivered from the grasp of Satan? Have the chains of thy bondage been broken by His powerful hand? Art thou clothed and in thy right mind? Then remember, thy place is at the feet of Jesus—thy work to testify for Him. He has been down here in this world. He came, in per-feet grace, to deliver thee from the terrible power of Satan, and from everlasting perdition, to make thee happy with Himself, forever, in that glorious world above. But the world cast Him out. It would not have Him; and now He says to thee, " Go, witness for me." This is the grand object of Christian life. We are called to live as witnesses for an absent, a rejected Christ, to exhibit Him in all the scenes and circumstances of daily life.

" Go home to thy friends and tell them." How much is involved in these words! It is in the very bosom of our families we are called to testify, not merely in words, but in spirit, manner, temper, style, and deportment. It is one thing to be a saint on the benches of a meeting-room, and another thing to live the saint in the bosom of the domestic circle, before the wife, or the husband, the children, the servants, the master, the mistress, or the fellow-servants. There are few things more depressing and discouraging to one who really longs for the prosperity of souls and the integrity of the testimony, than to hear such words as these: " Oh, such an one talks very beautifully, but. did you ever see him at home? Do you know how he treats his wife, his children, or his servants? Had you ever any dealings with him?" So also of the wife, the child, the servant. It is most sad, most humiliating, to find that those who know us best, and have the best opportunity of judging, see the least evidence of genuine, practical Christianity in our ways. But, oh! what joy and comfort fill the soul when one hears such testimony as this: " If you would know such an one, you have only to see him in the bosom of his family, to witness him in the details of his business, or know him. in the deep intimacies of daily life." This, truly, is a cordial to the spirit. Would there were more of it I Would that we all knew more of what it is to take our place, morning by morning, in spirit, at the feet of Jesus, our Deliverer and our Lord, and from thence to go forth in testimony for Him in the very midst of that sphere in which our lot is cast. " Go home to thy friends, and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." Thus may it be, blessed Lord, with all who profess thy name! (To be continued, if the Lord will)

Jesus, a Deliverer and Lord: Part 3

Our last paper on this subject closed with the commission given by our blessed Lord to the rescued demoniac; " Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion ON thee." Such was the commission, but mark how it was executed. " And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis, how great things Jesus had done for him." This is a very fine moral lesson for each one who knows Jesus, a Deliverer. This man knew Jesus as his Lord, and hence, when called to tell what the Lord had done for him, he could own no other Lord but Jesus. He associated with that most precious and honored name all that had been done for him, and all the deep compassion that had flowed down to him in his misery. To him there was but one Lord, Jesus Christ, who had delivered him from the power of Satan, and translated him from amongst the tombs, to make him the happy subject of His delivering grace, and the honored witness thereof to all around.

Now, this is precisely what we want to see in ourselves, and in all who profess to know the saving power of the Name of Jesus. We want to see plain decision for the Lord Christ, the positive owning of Him in all things, the linking on of everything to Him who is oar Savior and Lord, so that He may be glorified, and all men constrained to see that there is, after all, unmistakable reality in having to do with the Name of Jesus. We have little idea of the effect which would he produced on the minds of men, were all Christians only led to connect all they do, and all they do not do, with the Name of Jesus, and with His authority as Lord. Generally speaking, people will resolve all questions of religious associations, social habits, and domestic concerns, into a simple matter of opinion, taste, prejudice, or predilection. Hence the importance of being able to refer all to a " Thus saith the Lord." We have no right to have an opinion or a will of our own. The word of the Lord is to be our opinion, His authority our will, His will our rule. A man may say, "You have your opinion, and I have mine." We answer, " Ν0;" but the grand question is, " What saith the Scripture?" We ought to be able to refer all our ways, oar habits, and our associations to Jesus as Lord—to His authority—and to His example.

Yes, christian reader, we repeat the word "all." It is not merely the weighty matters connected with our religious associations, but all our little matters should be regulated by the sense—the deep, abiding, influential sense of the Lordship of our Savior Christ. If we but gather up a shovelful of cinders from the hearth, or lift a crumb of bread from the floor, we should give as our reason for so doing, the blessed Masters words, " Let nothing be lost." " Thus saith the Lord" should be the great regulating and governing motto in everything, be it great or small. We should not go on, for one hour, in anything, no matter how attractive, how plausible, or how expedient it may be, for which we have not authority in the revealed will of God. Alas! alas! in many things we fail; again and again, we prove forgetful and unfaithful; our lusts, our tempers, and our vanities betray us, at unguarded moments, and cut out sad work for the heart and conscience; but for one who has tasted the delivering grace of Jesus, to go, deliberately into, or deliberately on in, a thing that denies the authority 01' Jesus as Lord, argues a very hardened and dangerous condition of soul, from which may the good Lord deliver all who call themselves by His Holy Name.

We may, if the Lord will, have occasion to dwell at more length upon this great practical theme, and shall now proceed with the other cases presented to our notice in this fifth chapter of Mark. We have considered the demoniac, let us now look at

THE DISEASED ONE.

This case rather presents the Lord as a Healer, than as a Deliverer; but it is a hallowed and edifying exercise to trace Him in all His ways down here; and happy, too, to remember that He is everything to us. We have all we want in Him. Are we held in the terrible grasp of Satan? He is a Deliverer. Are we burdened with a sense of guilt upon the conscience? He is a Justifier. Are we conscious of having backslidden and fallen? He is a Restorer. Are we bowed down under the weight of disease and infirmity? He is a Healer.

" Jesus, my all in all thou art:

My rest in toil, my ease in pain;

The medicine of my broken heart;

'Mid storms, my peace; in loss, my gain;

My smile beneath the tyrant's frown;

In shame, my glory and my crown."

" And when Jesus was passed over again, by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him; and he was nigh unto the sea. And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him and thronged him. And a certain woman which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse; when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment: for she said, If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole."

Here, then, we have another, and a distinct phase of the sinner's condition illustrated. We see him here, not as in the giant grasp of Satan, led captive by him at his will, but as one having in himself the spring and source of a weakening and a defiling malady. Here, too, human efforts are in vain. This poor woman had tried human physicians; she had spent all her living in searching for health, but instead of any improvement, she grew worse and worse. How like this case is to the case of many of us, we need hardly say. We felt the sad disease of sin working in us; and not only working in us, but sending forth a defiling influence from us. We tried to better ourselves. We went from physician to physician, from remedy to remedy, from scheme to scheme; but all in vain. Year after year rolled on, and still we fondly hoped that some relief would come, some improvement show itself; but no, " worse and worse" was the sad and disappointing experience, day after day, year after year. Thus it was with this poor diseased one j her case was beyond all human aid.

But, then, a report reached her ears. She heard of Jesus. When all her living was gone, and her malady had increased as her means diminished, the testimony concerning Jesus of Nazareth was brought home to her weary and disappointed heart. No doubt the selfsame record had fallen upon the ears of thousands needing it just as much as she; but ah é reader, remember this, there is such a thing as " The hearing of faith." It is one thing to hear with the ear, and quite another thing to hear with the heart. It is "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." Now our poor diseased one heard with the heart—she heard and believed. Believed what? She believed that Jesus was able and willing to do the part of a healer to her. She said, " If I may touch but his clothes I shall be whole." In a word, she believed that contact with Jesus-was the only thing for her, and hence she might have been seen, notwithstanding all her weakness and disease, making her way through the crowd to get to Jesus. Unbelief would suggest difficulties, but faith surmounts all difficulties, it can take the roofs off houses, and force its way through the greatest crowd that ever surrounded its object.

Now nothing can be more interesting or instructive than to mark the course of this woman from first to last She stands out in striking contrast with the whole multitude that thronged around our blessed Lord. Many in that crowd, no doubt, touched Him—could not help touching Him because of the crush; but, in the midst of all, there was one touch of faith, and that mysterious touch, as is ever the case, drew forth divine virtue from Jesus, the Healer of His people's diseases. It is impossible to touch Jesus, by faith, and not get blessing. The moment the poor diseased one came in contact with the Divine Healer, she was healed. How could it be otherwise? The two were fitted for one another, and when they met, all was settled. " Straightway, the fountain was dried." This is the way in which Jesus ever does His work. He reaches the very source of the malady, and that "immediately." There was nothing to wait for, nothing to be added, no need for a finishing touch from a human hand, no occasion for any further application to human physicians; contact with Jesus settled everything.

Header, have you ever felt the power of contact with the Divine Healer? Have you ever touched Jesus by faith? Have you ever felt yourself to be a poor diseased one, having within you a sore malady from which no human hand can deliver you? Have you been seeking relief in the various appliances of formal religiousness? Have you proved them all to be physicians of no value? Do you find yourself no better, but rather worse? Do you feel yourself, at this moment, sick at heart, weary of yourself and of all around you? If so, let us entreat you, at once, to follow the example of the diseased one—come to Jesus. Nothing can ever avail you but contact with Him. One touch, one look of faith, is all you want to meet the deep source of your malady—a source far too deep to be reached by any human hand.

Do you reply, " I cannot come of myself; I cannot believe, I cannot give that touch, that look of faith, until get power. I long to do so, but I must wait until the Holy Spirit enables me." Do you mean, then, to say that you are in no wise responsible to receive the record of God?' Are you, so far as the truth of God is concerned, wholly irresponsible? Will there be no guilt attaching to you for your refusal to accept God's proffered mercy, Christ's free salvation, and the Spirit's faithful record? If you should die in your sins, think you that you will be able, before the judgment-seat of Christ, to cast upon God the blame of your not having believed the gracious message of salvation? What mean these words, " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe, in that day—because our testimony among you was believed?" And again, " In all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because-they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness?"

We faithfully urge upon your attention these solemn and. weighty words. Be assured of it, you cannot, by any possibility, get rid of your responsibility before God, nor can any system of divinity be wholly correct, or sound, which so presents God's sovereignty as to do away with man's responsibility. We must ever remember that there are two sides to every question, and it is of all importance to take both sides into consideration, and turn each side in. the right direction. This is exactly what human systems of divinity fail to do. But the word of God puts everything into its right place. Throughout the Gospels and the Acts, we hearken to such words as these, " Ye will not come to me that ye might have life." " How often would / have gathered your children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not," " Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out." " Seeing ye put it from you, and deem yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo! we turn to the Gentiles." " God commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent." " Your blood be upon your own heads: I am clean."

Here we have one side of this great question, and moreover, the side which is turned toward the sinner as he approaches the sacred volume. It is well to see this clearly. If I, as a poor, helpless, guilty sinner, take up the New Testament and read it throughout, what do I find? Am I seared away by discouraging statements as to my total inability to come to Jesus, my utter incompetency to receive His precious message? Am I taught that it is of no use my trying to come to Jesus? That all my efforts are in vain? That I must only wait, no one knows how long, until the divine influence comes upon me? Nothing of the sort. What then? I find God revealed in the Person of Christ, as one come down into this world, in perfect grace, to seek and save the lost; and when I track the footsteps of that blessed One, when I mark His ways and His works, I find Him meeting man, in all his varied need and misery, with the varied resources of grace that were in His overflowing heart. I do not find Him repulsing any needy applicant. " Come unto me, and I will give" was ever the motto of Him who came into the world " to serve and to give"

But, we may be asked, " What do you make of John 6:44: No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him?" Well, it is not our business to make anything of this or of any other passage of Holy Scripture, but simply to take it as it stands. But what is it? Is it Christ's word to anxious enquirers? Ah! no; it is His silencing reply to murmuring Jews—to caviling religionists. Let this be duly weighed. And let the reader also note, carefully, the contrast between our Lord's answer to the murmuring Jews, and His answer to those who said, " Lord, evermore give us this bread." To these latter He said, " I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me: and him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out:' The use that is frequently made of John 6:44 is directly opposed to the spirit of the whole context, as well as to the spirit and character of our Lord's ministry from first to last.

Do we then deny God's sovereignty on the one hand, or man's utter impotency on the other. By no means; we believe both, because Scripture teaches both. The epistles give us the other side of this question; but this is the side which is turned toward the believer, for the epistles, as we know, are addressed to those who have believed through grace. The fact is this, we are not called to frame systems of divinity. The Holy Spirit in Scripture is not so occupied. His object is to unfold Christ, as Christ's object was to unfold the Father; and we look in vain from cover to cover of the New Testament, for a single instance in which an anxious enquirer was ever discouraged or repulsed by the one-sided dogmas of theology, or in which the moral responsibility of the sinner is ever ignored. Each truth gets its proper place, because Christ is the center of all truth. He is the central Sun from whence the rays of light emanate in all directions. Nothing can be more disastrous, both to the integrity of divine truth on the one hand, or the interest of souls on the other, than the framing of one-sided theological systems. So, also, when the evangelist abandons his proper line and intrudes upon the domain of the teacher—when, instead of preaching Christ, and beseeching sinners, he commences to unfold doctrine, he will find himself cramped and hindered, and the souls of his hearers stumbled and perplexed. The evangelist has to do with the love of God to a lost world, with the wide aspect of the work of Christ, as the expression of that love, and the glad tidings of full and free salvation as the fruit of both. The teacher has to do with the counsels of God, with the love of Christ to His Church, the operations of the Spirit of God, and all the varied results of accomplished redemption, in heaven and on earth, here and hereafter. Would that these distinctions were more faithfully attended to!

But we must return to our immediate theme, and, in so doing, we call attention to a very important fact. No sooner had the diseased one given the touch of simple, artless, unquestioning faith, than " she felt in her body that she was healed." She was not hoping about it; she felt she was healed. There was no question about it. True, there was "fearing and trembling;" but it was not the fearing of one not knowing what was done in her. Quite the reverse. She knew what was done for her and in her, but trembled at the thought of having to come forward in confession or testimony. " And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?éé How wonderful! The very moment the mysterious link of faith was formed, between the diseased one and the Divine Healer, the former felt that virtue had entered into her, and the latter that virtue had gone out. Thus it is always. The moment a lost sinner comes in contact with the Divine Savior, he is saved—saved forever—" Saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation."

And should not this be felt? Yes, assuredly, felt and owned. " And Jesus looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her (not doubting it) came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." Here then we have confession made unto salvation. Had this woman walked away, as soon as she got the blessing—had she refused to come forward in testimony, what would have been the consequence? Why she would have lost the immense privilege of hearing these words of comfort and consolation from the lips of Jesus, " Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace." It is of the utmost importance for the saved sinner to be able to make a full confession unto salvation. It leads to an enlargement of the soul's knowledge, and a strengthening of the foundations of faith. Perhaps if any one had asked this woman, when on her way to Jesus, " Have you faith?"—she might have been staggered by the question, and have begun to look in at herself, and to raise all manner of questions. But if asked, " Do you believe that Jesus is able and willing to heal you?" her answer would have been clear and decided enough. True faith is never occupied with itself, but with its object, Christ, Thus it grows. This woman's faith was strengthened and her range of intelligence greatly enlarged by her full and clear confession of all that Jesus had done for her.

It is a great thing to make a bold confession. Many, we are aware, are deterred from so doing, by various reasons. Some are afraid to confess, lest they should lose caste. This is very poor indeed. If I have found Christ, I may well afford to lose caste. For what is caste? It is a certain standing, position, or rank in the world, and in nature. But the world is under judgment, and nature has been set aside by the death of Christ. Why, therefore, think of caste? My salvation rests upon that which has swept away forever all the pillars upon which caste, position, or rank can possibly repose. The death of Christ has not only' put away my sins, but it has also removed the whole foundation of my standing as a man of the world. Hence, therefore, for me to talk about my position in the world, my standing in nature, my rank as a man, is to ignore the fact on which my salvation rests I am not merely dead to sin, but dead to all that pertained to my condition as a descendant from Adam the first. If ί belong to the Second Man for one thing, I belong to Him for everything. I cannot go to the last Adam for life and righteousness, and come back to the first Adam for standing and position in the world. It is wholly cut of the question.

But, again, some are deterred from making a bold confession of Christ by the fear of breaking down. They have seen so much inconsistency and failure on the part, of many high professors, that, lest they, too, should fail and prove inconsistent, they deem it better to keep quiet. This is a mistake. True, it is a mistake which we can well understand; but it is a mistake all the while, and it robs the soul of a large amount of spiritual privilege. Where there has been contact with Christ, there ought to be the hold confession of Christ, and then there will, assuredly, be enlarged consolation from. Christ. We have only to confide in Jesus, and boldly tell out all the truth, then abounding peace and liberty will be the sure results.

But we must now, for a moment, accompany our blessed Lord and Savior into

THE CHAMBER OF DEATH

It is at once interesting and instructive to mark, that at the very moment in which the Lord was dismissing the poor woman with words of peace and consolation, a messenger arrived from the ruler's house, saying, "Thy daughter is dead; why troublest thou the Master any further?" This was in reality, a fiery dart from the wicked one to shake the ruler's confidence. He had come to Jesus in the confidence of His ability and readiness to heal the sick, but could he trust Him to raise the dead? Could his faith carry him into the dreary domain of death and there enable him to gaze upon the Son of God acting in His glorious capacity as the Quickener of the dead?

We arc not told what passed through the ruler's mind at the moment in which the depressing tidings of death fell upon his ear; but we can easily imagine a dark cloud passing over his spirit. But, ah! the tender, loving heart of Jesus was thinking of the poor, tried, and tempted one. His eye was upon him. He caught the earliest symptom of the gathering cloud: " And as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe." The Lord took no notice of the messenger. He thought only of the effect of the message upon the ruler's heart, and in His infinite grace, He immediately covered him with the shield of faith. "Be not afraid, only believe." Precious words! Words which can carry the soul through every difficulty and every danger—words for a sick bed or a chamber of death—words for all circumstances, all places, and all conditions—words of comfort and consolation for the poor sinking, fainting, tottering heart. " Be not afraid, only believe."

Dear christian reader, are you assaulted by dark thoughts of unbelief? Have you arrived at a point in your earthly path at which you see graver difficulties before you than you ever anticipated? Do you feel the dark waters of sorrow, trial, and temptation deepening around you, and the heavy clouds of unbelief and despondency gathering more thickly above you? Then, remember, the loving heart of Jesus is occupied about you. His eye is resting solicitously upon you. He knows what you are feeling. He sees every fiery dart that the tempter is leveling at you, and He says to you, as He said to the ruler, " Be not afraid, only believe"—" Hold fast the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end"—" Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward"—" Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." What we want is confidence in God, come what may. Simple faith can lift the head above the deepest waters, and pierce through the thickest gloom that ever enwrapped the soul. It assures the heart that Jesus can as easily raise the dead as heal the sick; all is alike to Him. He can deliver from Satan's grasp, He can chase away disease, and He can gild the chamber of death with the bright and blessed beams of resurrection. He is a Deliverer, a Healer, and a Quickener, and surely He ought to be Lord. " Be not afraid, only believe." May these words fall with power on every doubting, trembling heart!

The closing lines of our chapter display to us the moral glories of Christ as the Quickener of the dead. Death, disease, and Satan all flee before the Majesty of His presence. We can track His marvelous path from scene to scene of this sin-stricken world, and, in every act, in every word, in every look, we see divine perfection. " He hath done all things well" must ever be the adoring language of our hearts. Nothing is beyond His power. Nothing escapes His tender care. " Talitha cumi," is the display of His Majesty; "Give her to eat," exhibits His tender, thoughtful care. The former bows the soul in worship j the latter melts the heart in grateful love.

Landmarks and Stumblingblocks: Part 1

" Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance." Deut. 19:14.

" Take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people." Isa. 57:14.

What tender care, what gracious considerateness, breathe in the above passages! The ancient landmarks were not to be removed; but the stumblingblocks were to be taken up. The inheritance of God's people was to stand forth in all its length and breadth, while the stumblingblocks were to be sedulously removed out of their pathway. Such was the grace of Israel's God! Such His care for His people! The portion which God had given to each was to be enjoyed, while, at the same time, the path in which each was called to walk should be kept free from every occasion of stumbling.

Now, if we are to judge from the tone and character of several recent communications, we believe we are called upon to give attention to the spirit of those ancient enactments. Some of our friends have, in their letters to us, opened their minds, very freely, as to their spiritual condition. They have told us of their doubts and fears, their difficulties and dangers, their conflicts and exercises. We must say we feel truly grateful for such confidence; and it is our earnest desire to be used of God in the interesting work of helping our readers by pointing out the landmarks which He, by His Spirit, has set up, and removing the stumblingblocks, which the enemy has so diligently flung in their path. It never was our object merely to conduct a Magazine—to bring out a monthly number—to fill so many pages. But we have desired, and that most earnestly, that "Things New and Old" should be a direct agent in the hands of the Holy Ghost, in the great work of quickening, liberating, and edifying souls. The day will declare how far our desire has been answered. We have abundant reason to bless God for the fruit which He has allowed us to gather; and our earnest prayer is that when our little serial ceases to be useful, it may cease to exist—that its issue may cease with its interest—that it may never outlive its freshness. For this we count on God; and to Him we look for grace to say the right thing in the right way, and at the right time.

In pondering the cases which have lately been submitted to us, we have found some in which the enemy was most manifestly using as a stumblingblock the doctrine of election misplaced. We have reason to believe that thousands have stumbled over this stumblingblock, and we are most anxious to see it taken up. The doctrine of election, in its right place, instead of being a stumblingblock in the pathway of anxious enquirers, will be found to be a landmark set by them of old time, even by the inspired apostles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the inheritance of God's spiritual Israel. But we all know that misplaced truth is more dangerous, by far, than positive error. If a man were to stand up, and boldly declare that the doctrine of election is false, we should, without hesitation, reject his words. But we might not be quite so well prepared to meet one who, while admitting the doctrine to be true and important, puts it out of its divinely appointed place. And yet this latter is the very thing which is so constantly done, to the damaging of the truth of God, and the darkening of the souls of men.

What, then, is the true place of the doctrine of election? Its true, its divinely appointed place, is in the inside of the house, in the hands of the teacher, for the establishment of true believers. Instead of this, the enemy has put it outside the house, in the hands of the evangelist, for the stumbling of anxious enquirers. Hearken to the following language of a deeply exercised soul. " If I only knew that I was one of the elect I should be quite happy, inasmuch as I could then confidently apply to myself the benefits of the death of Christ."

Doubtless, this would be the language of many, were they only to tell out the feelings of their hearts. They are making a wrong use of the doctrine of election—a doctrine blessedly true in itself—a most valuable " landmark," but a most dangerous " stumblingblock." It is very needful for the anxious enquirer to bear in mind that it is as a lost sinner, and not as " one of the elect," that he can apply to himself the benefits of the death of Christ. The proper stand-point from which to get a saving view of the death of Christ is not election but conscious ruin. This is an unspeakable mercy, inasmuch as I know I am a lost sinner; but I do not know that I am one of the elect until I have received, through the Spirit's testimony and teaching, the glad tidings of salvation through the blood of the Lamb. Salvation—free as the sunbeams, full as the ocean, permanent as the throne of the eternal God—is preached to me, not as one of the elect, but as one utterly lost, guilty, and undone; and when I have received this salvation there is conclusive evidence of my election. " Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God; for (οτι) our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." (1 Thess. 1:4, 5.) Election is not my warrant for accepting salvation; but the reception of salvation is the proof of election. For how is any sinner to know that he is one of the elect? Where is he to find it? It must be a matter of divine revelation, else it cannot be a matter of faith. But where is it revealed? Where is the knowledge of election made an indispensable prerequisite, an essential preliminary, to the acceptance of salvation? Nowhere, in the word of God. My only title to salvation is that I am a poor good-for-nothing, guilty, hell-deserving sinner. If I wait for any other title, I am only removing a most valuable landmark from its proper place, and flinging it as a stumblingblock in my way. This, to say the least of it, is very unwise.

But it is more than unwise. It is positive opposition to the word of God, not only to the quotations which stand at the head of this paper, but to the spirit and teaching of the entire volume. Hearken to the risen Savior's commission to His first heralds: " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15.) Is there so much as a single hair's breadth of ground, in these words, on which to base a question about election? Is any one, to whom this glorious gospel is preached, called to settle a prior question about his election? Assuredly not. "All the world" and " Every creature" are expressions which set aside every difficulty, and render salvation as free as the air, and as wide as the human family. It is not said, " Go ye into a given section of the world, and preach the gospel to a certain number." No; this would not be in keeping with that grace which was to be proclaimed to the wide, wide world. "When the law was in question it was addressed to a certain number, in a given section; but when the gospel was to be proclaimed, its mighty range was to be, " All the world," and its object, " Every creature."

Again, hear what the Holy Ghost saith, by the apostle Paul: " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Tim. 1:15.) Is there any room here for raising a question as to one's title to salvation? None whatever. If Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that I am a sinner, then I am entitled to apply to my own soul the benefits of His precious sacrifice. Ere I can possibly exclude myself there from I must be something else than a sinner. No doubt, if it were anywhere declared in scripture that Christ Jesus came to save only the elect, then clearly, I Should, in some way or another prove myself one of that number, ere I could make my own of the benefits of His death. But, thanks be to God, there is nothing the least like this in the whole gospel scheme. " The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10.) And is not that just what I am? Truly so. Well then is it not from the standpoint of a lost one that I can look at the death of Christ? Doubtless. And can I not, while contemplating that precious mystery from thence, adopt the language of faith and say, " He loved me, and gave himself for me?" Yes, as unreservedly and unconditionally as though I were the only sinner on the surface of the globe.

Nothing can be more soothing and tranquilizing to the spirit of an anxious enquirer than to mark the way in which salvation is brought to him in the very condition in which he is, and on the very ground which he occupies. There is not so much as a single stumblingblock along the entire path leading to the glorious inheritance of the saints—an inheritance settled by landmarks which neither men nor devils can ever remove. The God of all grace has left nothing undone, nothing unsaid, which could possibly give rest, assurance, and perfect satisfaction to the soul. He has set forth the very condition and character of those for whom Christ died, in such terms as to leave no room for any demur or hesitation. Listen to the following glowing words: " For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." " But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." " For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son," &c. Rom. 5:6, 8, 10.

Can aught be plainer or more pointed than these passages? Is there a single term made use of which could possibly raise a question in the heart of any sinner as to his full and undisputed title to the benefits of the death of Christ? Not one. Am I " ungodly? " It was for such Christ died. Am I a sinner? " It is to such that God commendeth His love. Am I " an enemy? " It is such God reconciles by the death of His Son. Thus all is made as plain as a sunbeam, and as for the theological stumblingblock caused by misplacing the doctrine of election, it is entirely removed. It is as a sinner I get the benefit of Christ's death. It is as a lost one I get a salvation which is as free as it is permanent, and as permanent as it is free. All I want, in order to apply to myself the value of the blood of Jesus, is to know myself a guilty sinner. It would not help me, the least, in this matter, to be told that I am one of the elect, inasmuch as it is not in that character God addresses me in the gospel, but in another character altogether, even as a lost sinner.

But then, some may feel disposed to ask, " Do you want to set aside the doctrine of election? " God forbid. We only want to see it in its right place. We want it as a landmark, not as a stumblingblock. We believe the evangelist has no business to preach election. Paul never preached election. He taught election, but He preached Christ. This makes all the difference. We believe that no one can be a proper evangelist who is, in any wise, hampered by the doctrine of election misplaced. We have seen serious damage done to two classes of people by preaching election instead of preaching Christ. Careless sinners are made more careless still, while anxious souls have had their anxiety intensified.

These, surely, are sad results, and they ought to be sufficient to awaken very serious thoughts in the minds of all who desire to be successful preachers of that free and full salvation which shines in the gospel of Christ, and leaves all who hear it without a shadow of an excuse. The grand business of the evangelist is to set forth, in his preaching, the perfect love of God, the efficacy of the blood of Christ, and the faithful record of the Holy Ghost. His spirit should be entirely untrammeled, and his gospel unclouded. He should preach a present salvation, free to all, and stable as the pillars which support the throne of God. The gospel is nothing more nor less than the unfolding of the heart of God as it expresses itself in the death of His Son, and in the deathless record of His Spirit.

Were this more carefully attended to there would be more power in replying to the oft-repeated objection of the careless, as well as in hushing the deep anxieties of exercised and burdened souls. The former would have no just ground of objection; the latter, no reason to fear. When persons reject the gospel on the ground of God's eternal decrees, they are rejecting what is revealed on the ground of what is hidden. "What can they possibly know about God's decrees? Just nothing. How then can that which is secret be urged as a reason for rejecting what is revealed? Why refuse what can be known, on the ground of what cannot? It is obvious that men do not act thus in cases where they wish to believe a matter. Only let a man be willing to believe a tiling, and you will not find him anxiously looking for a ground of objection. But alas! men do not want to believe God. They reject His precious testimony which is clear as the sun's meridian brightness, and urge as their plea for so doing His decrees which are wrapped in impenetrable darkness. What folly! What blindness! What guilt!

And then as to anxious souls who harass themselves with questions about election, we long to show them that it is not in accordance with the divine mind, that they should raise any such difficulty. God addresses them in the exact state in which He sees them and in which they can see themselves. He addresses them as sinners, and this is exactly what they are. There is nothing but salvation for any sinner, the moment he takes his true place as a sinner. This is simple enough for any simple soul. To raise questions about election is sheer unbelief. It is, in another way, to reject what is revealed on the ground of what is hidden; it is to refuse what I can know, on the ground of what I cannot. God has revealed Himself in the face of Jesus Christ, so that we may know Him and trust Him. Moreover, He has made full provision in the atonement of the cross, for all our need and all our guilt. Hence, therefore, instead of perplexing myself with the question, " Am I one of the elect?" it is my happy privilege to rest in the perfect love of God, the all-sufficiency of Christ, and the faithful record of the Holy Ghost.

We must here close, though there are other stumbling-blocks which we long to see removed out of the way of God's people, as well as landmarks which are sadly lost sight of.

Landmarks and Stumblingblocks: Part 2

We should, just like to add a line or two to our leading article for August, in order to remove one or two more of those stumblingblocks which so sadly block up the path of anxious enquirers.

We find, in many cases, that appropriation is used as a great stumblingblock to souls; and although we have devoted a paper to this very subject, in one of our earlier volumes, we deem, it right to touch upon it briefly in this article for the purpose of. showing the reader that instead of being a stumblingblock in his way, it is, in reality, a landmark in his spiritual inheritance.

To judge from the way in which many put the subject of appropriation, it would seem as though they looked upon it as something which they have to do ere the benefits of Christ's death can be made available for them. This is a great mistake. The death of Christ, in all its atoning efficacy, applies itself to the sinner the moment he takes his place as a sinner. So far from there being any difficulty in making the application, the difficulty, nay the impossibility, is to refuse it. The blood of Jesus is for the guilty sinner as such. Every one, therefore, who knows and feels himself to be a guilty sinner, is privileged to rest simply in that precious blood. The atoning work is. done. Sin is put away. All is finished—yes, finished by God's own hand. Have I to wait for anything further? Have I got something else to do—something to add to the finished work of Christ? Assuredly not. I am simply called to rest, by faith, in what Christ has done for me, and know that all my sins are divinely put away, and that my conscience is as clean as the blood of Jesus can make it.

This is appropriation. It is taking God at His word—setting to my seal that God is true. It is not a certain indescribable work of mine, but a resting in the work of Christ. It is not waiting for something that is to be done by me, but a confiding in what has been done by Christ. This makes all the difference. Appropriation is really a landmark, not a stumblingblock. It is only because people mistake what it is that they stumble over it. It not un-frequently happens that while they are vaguely looking for it, they actually possess it. If I heartily believe that Jesus died and rose again, I am privileged to take up those precious accents of the apostle, and say, " He loved me and gave himself for me." This, truly, is the language of appropriation. But it is appropriation in its right place—as a landmark, not as a stumblingblock. Appropriation, as a stumblingblock, speaketh on this wise," I know that Christ died for me, but I cannot appropriate the benefits of His death." This is a very serious error indeed. It is, in reality, to imply that the death of Christ is of no avail without a certain work on the sinners part; whereas scripture teacheth us that the moment a sinner takes his true place, as utterly lost, the death of Christ applies to him as fully and as truly as though he were the only sinner in the universe, and, moreover, that he is justified by faith and not by works of any kind.

It is truly wonderful to mark, the various methods in which the enemy tries to harass and stumble souls. If he cannot succeed in causing them to look to, and lean upon, legal efforts and ceremonial observances, be will perplex them with questions respecting election, appropriation, realization, feelings, frames, and experiences. Anything, in short, but simply resting in a full Christ. It is not that we undervalue these things; far from it; we value them as landmarks, but we dread them as stumblingblocks. The true ground of a believer's peace is not election, appropriation, or realization, but Christ. He rests on the eternal truth that God dealt with Christ on the cross about all his sins—that the entire question was gone into and settled there, once and forever. To believe this is appropriation. To abide in the faith of it is realization.

May the Spirit of God lead the anxious reader to understand these things! It is our heart's desire and prayer to God continually that burdened souls may be set at liberty, by the knowledge of a full and free salvation—a salvation unencumbered by any of those perplexing questions which are so frequently raised to the damage of God's truth and the darkening of the souls of men. Election is a truth; appropriation is a fact; realization is a reality but let us, once for all, declare, and let the reader fully understand and constantly remember, that these things are not to be laid as stumblingblocks along the pathway of the sinner, but set up as precious landmarks in the inheritance of the saints.

The Risen One

John 20

Deep and varied as are the necessities of the soul, they are all met by the death and resurrection of Christ. If it be a question of sin that affects the soul, the resurrection is the glorious proof of the complete putting away of it. The moment I see Jesus at the right hand of God, I see an end of sin; for I know He could not be there if sin was not fully atoned for. He "was delivered for our offenses"; He stood as our representative; He took upon Him our iniquities and went down into the grave under the weight thereof. But God "raised Him from the dead," and by so doing expressed His full approbation of the work of redemption. Hence we read, He "was raised again for our justification." Resurrection, therefore, meets the need of the soul as it regards the question of sin.

Then, again, when we proceed further, and enter upon the trying and difficult path of Christian testimony, we find that Jesus risen is a sovereign remedy for all the ills of life. This is happily exemplified for us in John 20. Mary repairs to the sepulcher early in the morning. And, as we learn from the parallel passage in Mark, her heart was not only sad at the loss of her gracious Friend, but also tried by the difficulty of removing the stone from the mouth of the cave. The resurrection removed at once her sorrow and her burden. Jesus risen filled the blank in her desolated affections, and removed from her shoulders the load which she was unable to sustain. She found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and she found also her beloved Lord whom death had, for a season, snatched from her view. Such mighty things could resurrection accomplish on behalf of a poor needy mortal!

Nor is it otherwise with us now. Have our hearts been broken and bereaved by the stern, rude hand of death? Has his cold breath chilled our affections? What is the remedy? Resurrection. Yes; resurrection, that great restorer, not merely of "tired" but of ruined nature, fills up all blanks, repairs all breaches, remedies all ills. If the conscience be affected by a sense of sin, resurrection sets it at rest by the assurance that the Surety's work has been fully accepted. If the heart be bowed down with sorrow and torn by the ravages of death, resurrection heals, soothe s, and binds it up by securing the restoration and reunion of all who have gone before; it tells us to "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." 1 Thess. 4:13, 14. It is commonly thought that time fills up all the blanks which death has made in the affections; but the spiritual mind could never regard time, with its sorrowful vicissitudes, as a substitute for resurrection and its immortal joys. The poor worldling may perhaps find in passing circumstances something to fill up the void which death makes, but not so the Christian; to him resurrection is the grand object; to that he looks as the only instrumentality by which all his losses can be retrieved and all his evils remedied.

So also in the matter of burden and pressure from present circumstances; the only relief is in resurrection. Till then we have but to toil on from day to day, bearing the burden and enduring the travail of the present sorrowful scene. We may, like Mary, feel disposed to cry out, "Who shall roll us away the stone?" Who? The risen Jesus. Apprehend resurrection, and you are raised above the influence of every burden. It is not that we may not have many a burden to carry—no doubt we may—but our burdens shall not sink us into the dust, because our hearts are buoyed up by the blessed truth that our Head is risen from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God, and, moreover, that our place is there with Him. Faith leads the soul upward, even into the holy serenity of the divine presence; it enables us to cast our burden on the Lord, and to rest assured that He will sustain us.

How often have we shrunk from the thought of some trial or burden which appeared in the distance like a dark cloud upon the horizon; and yet, when we approached it, we found "the stone taken away from the sepulcher." The risen Jesus had rolled it away. He had removed the dark cloud and filled up the scene with the light of his own gracious countenance. Mary had come to the sepulcher expecting to find a great stone between her and the Object of her affections, but instead of that she found Jesus risen between her and the dreaded difficulty. She had come to anoint a dead body, but arrived to be blessed and made happy by a risen Savior. Such is God's way, such the power and value of resurrection. Sin, sorrows, and burdens all vanish when we find ourselves in the presence of a living Lord.

When John, in the island of Patmos, had fallen to the dust as one dead, what was it that raised him up? Resurrection, the living Jesus; "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." This set him on his feet. Communion with Him who had wrested life from the very grasp of death removed his fears and infused divine strength into his soul.

In the case of Peter and John too we find another instance of the power of resurrection. In them it is not so much a question of sin, or sorrow and burden, as of difficulty. Their minds were evidently puzzled by all that met their view at the sepulcher.

To see grave clothes so carefully arranged in the very tomb was unaccountable. But they were only puzzled because "as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." Nothing but resurrection could solve their difficulty. Had they known that, they would have been at no loss to account for the arrangement of the grave clothes; they would have known that the Destroyer of death had been there doing His mighty work, and had left behind Him the traces of His triumph.

Such was the meaning of the scene at the tomb; at least it was calculated to teach that lesson. The Lord Jesus had calmly and deliberately passed through the conflict. He had taken time to set in order His grave clothes and His tomb; He showed that it required no strained effort on His part to vanquish the power of death. However, Peter and John knew not this, and therefore they went away to their own home. The strength of Mary's affection made her linger still; love was more influential than knowledge, and though her heart was breaking she remained at the sepulcher. She would rather weep near the spot where her Lord was laid than go anywhere else. But resurrection settled everything. It filled up the blank in Mary's broken heart, and solved the difficulty in the minds of Peter and John. It dried up her tears and put a stop to their amazement. Jesus risen is, in good truth, the sovereign remedy for all evils; and nothing is needed but faith to use Him.

In chapter 20:19 we have a fresh illustration of the principle on which we are dwelling. "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." Here the closed door evidenced the fear of the disciples. They were afraid of the Jews. And what could remedy their fear? Nothing but communion with their risen Lord. Nor did He (blessed be His name) leave them destitute of that remedy; He appeared among them; He pronounced His benediction upon them. "Peace be unto you," said He. "Peace," not because their door was secured, but because Jesus was risen. Who could harm them while they had in their midst the mighty Vanquisher of death and hell?

There is unspeakable value in this word "peace," used by such a One at such a time. The peace that flows from fellowship with the risen Son of God cannot be ruffled by the vicissitudes and storms of this world; it is the peace of the inner sanctuary, the peace of God which passeth all understanding. Why are we so much troubled at times by the condition of things around us? Why do we betake ourselves, if not to the closed door, at least to some other human resource? Surely because we are not walking with our eye steadily fixed on Him who was dead but who is alive for evermore, who has all power in heaven and on earth. Did we but realize that our portion is in Him, yea, that He Himself is our portion, we should be far less affected by the prospects of this poor world. The politics, the agriculture, the commerce of earth would find their proper place in our hearts if we could remember that we "are dead," and our "life is hid with Christ in God."

It is commonly said that while we are here we must take an interest in the circumstances, the prospects, the destinies of earth. But then "our citizenship is in heaven." We are not of earth at all. Those who are risen with Christ are no longer of earth. All that in us ( I mean believers) which could have any affinity with earth—all that which can be called nature-is dead, and should be reckoned as dead; and our life is in heaven, where we are now in spirit and principle. No doubt if we only see ourselves as earthly men, we shall be occupied with earthly things; but if we see ourselves as heavenly men, we shall as a consequence be occupied about heavenly things. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." This is simple. "Things... above" are those which we are commanded to seek, and that because we are risen with Christ.

The difference between Abraham in his day and a believer now may be thus stated: Abraham was going from earth to heaven; the believer has come from heaven to earth; that is, in spirit and by faith. Abraham was a pilgrim on earth because he sought a heavenly country; the believer is a pilgrim because he has gotten a heavenly country. The Christian should regard himself as one who has come from heaven to go through the scenes and engagements of earth. This would impart a high and heavenly tone to his character and walk here. The Lord grant that it may be more so with all who name the name of Jesus.

It may be remarked in conclusion that the Lord Jesus remedied the fear of His poor disciples by coming into their midst and associating Himself with them in all their circumstances. It was not so much a question of actual deliverance from the matter that caused the fear, but rather raising their souls above it by fellowship with Himself. They forgot the Jews, they forgot their fear, they forgot everything, because their souls were occupied with their risen Lord.

The Lord's way is often to leave His people in trial, and to be with them therein. Paul might desire to get rid of the thorn, but the answer was, "My grace is sufficient for thee." It is a far richer mercy to have the grace and presence of Jesus in the trial, than to be delivered from it. The Lord allowed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be cast into the furnace; but if He did, He came down and talked with them therein. This was infinitely more gracious of Him, and more honorable to them, than if He had interposed on their behalf before they were cast in.

May it be our heart's desire to find ourselves in company with the risen Lord as we pass through this trying scene; and whether it be the furnace of affliction, or the storm of persecution, we shall have peace; whether it be the bereavement of the heart, the burden of the shoulder, the difficulty of the mind, the fear or unbelief of the heart-all will be remedied by fellowship with Him who was raised from the dead.

C. H. M.

The Salvation of God: Part 1

'Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it." (Acts 28:28.)

What glorious words for us, sinners of the Gentiles! What solemn words for the house of Israel! They form the close of Paul's address to his brethren, according to the flesh, whom he had invited to meet him in his lodging at Rome. It is now eighteen hundred years since these words were uttered by the blessed apostle—that true lover of Israel; but they have lost none of their freshness, none of their living depth, none of their heavenly power, by the lapse of ages. They fall upon our ears with the same force of application as if we had been standing outside the apostle's door at the moment in which he uttered them, " The salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles."

It may be well for the reader to glance at the circumstances under which those precious words were spoken. The apostle Paul, having arrived as a prisoner at Rome—the grand center and scat of Gentile power—the fourth of Daniel's great empires—calls his much loved and longed for brethren together; and when they assembled at Ms lodging, according to appointment, "he expounded unto them, and testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive; for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

Then follows the remarkable clause with which this paper opens—a clause pregnant with the most momentous results to us Gentiles; and these results are all the more precious to us when we are assured that they flow not from the final rejection, hut only from the temporary setting aside of the nation of Israel. Such is the distinct teaching of the apostle, in Romans xi., "I say then, Have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them he the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. [How deeply touching!] For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?.... For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits (the very thing winch Christendom has become); that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Romans xi. 11-27.

Having said thus much to show the true dispensational position of our subject, we shall proceed, in dependence upon divine guidance, to unfold and apply it, in an entirely evangelistic way, to the souls of our readers, In so doing, we shall notice three distinct questions arising out of our brief but comprehensive text, namely, first, What is sent? Secondly, Who sends it? Thirdly, To whom is it sent? And first, then,

WHAT IS SENT?

Salvation! Precious word! Well may we call upon the reader to consider it. Looked at in its full, broad, evangelical sense, as presented by the apostle, in the passage before us, it comprehends all the rich blessings secured to us, sinners of the Gentiles, in the gospel of the grace of God. It reaches from the very heart of God down to the lowest point in our condition; and it lifts us completely out of our guilt and ruin, and places us before God, in the full results of Christ's accomplished redemption. It secures to us, at the very outset, the full and final remission of all our sins; the perfect obliteration of all our guilt; entire deliverance from all wrath and judgment to come; and it introduces us into the unclouded favor of God. It secures to us, not only deliverance from the just consequences of our sins, but from the present dominion of sin, as a ruling principle. It secures to us " wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." In short," The salvation of God" includes, within its blessed compass, all we can possibly want for time and eternity; and not only so, but all that was in the heart of God to bestow.

A passage or two of scripture will serve to illustrate the force of the expression, " salvation of God." In Exod. 14 we find Israel in great pressure. They were surrounded on all sides by difficulties, to them perfectly insuperable. The sea was before them; the mountains around them; Pharaoh's hosts behind them. They were " shut up," in every way. It was a hopeless case so far as they were concerned. But this was just the fitting occasion in the which to enter into the full meaning of " The salvation of God." If there were a single ray—the faintest glimmer of human hope, that ray—that glimmer could only be, so far, a hindrance to the shining forth, in undimmed luster, of God's salvation. But the case was desperate, and hence they were in a position to understand and appreciate those precious words of Moses, " Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord."

Thus it is ever. "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." It is when all is lost that we can really understand the meaning of salvation. If we have the weight of a feather or the breadth of a hair to lean on or cling to, in the shape of creature confidence, human hope, or earthly expectation, we have only just so much in the way of hindrance to our seeing the clear light of God's salvation.

But let us take another case. Turn, for a moment, to 2 Chron. 20 Here we see Jehoshaphat surrounded with overwhelming difficulties, in the presence of which he is constrained to own that he had no might. What was the word to him? Just the same as it had been to Israel, Μ Exod. 14 " Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." It needed no might, no knowledge, to " stand still, and see." When a Savior God is moving before us, our proper attitude is to stand still—our suited action, to gaze and worship. All we really want is to come to the end of self and its busy doings, in order that God may fill the vision of the soul, and the beams of His salvation gladden and light up the heart.

This is the deep and precious secret of peace and blessing, at all times, and in all conditions. Would we be truly happy in God's salvation? Then let us cease from our own restless efforts and rest in what He has done for us. It is when we are really brought to cry out, from the very depths of the soul, "no might," that the divine response falls with clearness and power on the ear, " stand still, and see the salvation of God."

Take one more case. Look at Jonah. See him with the weeds wrapped about Ms head—see him in the very belly of hell: all hope gone; no human hand to reach him; and all this, be it remembered, the fruit of his disobedience. Yet what does he say? What are the accents that reach us from those profound and awful depths? " Salvation is of the Lord!" Precious words! It matters not what the difficulties may be, or how far gone we may be in our ruin and wretchedness, it still holds good that " salvation is of the Lord." Jonah's history furnishes a vivid illustration of this. He brought all the trouble and sorrow on himself. If he had not been willful, if he had yielded himself to the will of his Lord, if he had run in the way of His commandments, he never would have found himself in the whale's belly. But alas! as we so often do, he chose his own way, and he found himself in consequence plunged in the very depths of distress. Still God will be God, spite of all our willfulness and folly; and the very moment Jonah gave utterance to that brief sentence, " Salvation is of the Lord," we are told that "The Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."

The foregoing examples, drawn from the pages of Old Testament scripture, will suffice to illustrate to the reader, in some degree, the true force of the word " salvation." It is God's intervention, in grace and mercy, in man's behalf; it is deliverance wrought by God's own hand when all hope is gone. It is a word of marvelous fullness and completeness. It is, as we know, used in various ways, in scripture. For instance, the apostle exhorts the Philippians to " Work out their own salvation." Here the word is used in an inferior sense, and applies to the difficulties and dangers which surrounded those beloved saints. It cannot be taken in its high and broad sense, as applying to the eternal salvation of their souls, inasmuch as they were saved already, But there was much trial and pressure—they were surrounded by snares and temptations, and passing through a scene in which all was hostile; and, while the apostle was with them, they would naturally lean on him—on his wisdom and spiritual energy; but now, in his absence, he exhorts them to work out their own deliverance, assuring them, however, that it was God who worked in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

We have noticed the passage in Phil. 2:12, because many find difficulty in it; but our present theme is salvation in the fullest, highest, and broadest sense in which it is presented in the word of God—salvation as in-eluding everything which a lost sinner can need—salvation stretching like a golden chain, from everlasting to everlasting, and every link in that chain is Christ—salvation overlapping the whole of our history, from first to last, meeting every exigency of our earthly path and conducting us safe to glory. In one word, it is " the salvation of God." This is enough. It is not merely a salvation in every way suited to us, but a salvation in every way worthy of God. It is not only that we are perfectly saved, but God is perfectly glorified.

And be it further noted, that when once the soul has laid hold of this salvation, it can never lose it—no, never. All the rage of hell, all the powers of earth, all the crafty malice of Satan, all the hostile influences that could be brought to bear, could not rob the saved soul of God's Salvation. Oh! no, reader, let no one persuade you to think that a divinely saved soul can ever be lost. This would be a gross dishonor to God. It would tarnish His glory if one whom he has saved could ever perish. Could we admit, for a moment, the horrible thought, that God would, or could, send a defective salvation to the Gentiles? Impossible! Grant me but this, that God has sent me salvation, and I argue, with holy boldness, that it must be a perfect and an everlasting salvation.

(To be concluded in our next, if the Lord will.)

The Salvation of God: Part 2

Having, in our leading article for last month, dwelt a little on the meaning, force, and value of the word " salvation," we shall now proceed to the question which forms the second part of our subject, namely,

WHO SENDS it?

The answer to this question presents God in that character which, above all others, suits a lost shiner, and that is as a Savior-God. Moreover, it assumes that man has been proved a total ruin—a hopeless wreck; that he has been weighed in the balance and found wanting; and that God is no longer looking to man to produce aught in the shape of righteousness—no longer proving and testing him in order to see if anything good could be got from him. In a word, the very fact of God's sending salvation to men proves, beyond all question, that men are in an utterly undone condition. If man be not lost, he does not need salvation. He might need help; but this latter is not what is sent, nor is it what we want. It is quite a mistake to say, as people sometimes do, " With the help of God, I hope to be saved, and get to heaven." If God be only a helper in the work of salvation, then it follows that man can cooperate with God in that great work, which were not only a fatal error, but a blasphemous presumption. What! God and the sinner on the same platform, both working together to the same grand end—man's salvation? Far away be the monstrous thought! No, no; God is alone in the work. Man is the material to be wrought upon—man in the condition of a lost one—needing not merely help, as though he could do a little; but needing full salvation, as one who can do absolutely nothing.

Is this weighty point fully seen? Does the reader see it? Does he see it in its application to himself? The volume of God teems with evidence in reference to it. Every age of the world's history, every stage of man's history, from Paradise to Calvary, every dispensation of God, every economy under which He has ever dealt with man—all goes to prove, with overwhelming power of evidence, that if God was to do anything at all for the sinner, He must save, and not merely help him. Help might do for those who are weak and defective, or astray; nothing but salvation could avail for those who are hopelessly lost.

Blessed forever be the God of all grace, this is exactly what He has sent. " The salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles." What divine power, what infinite fullness, what exhaustless depths are in these few words! They present a margin sufficiently broad for the insertion of all that God was pleased to do for us poor lost sinners. That blessed word salvation embraces in its mighty compass, not only all that we are saved from, but all that we are saved to, and what we are saved by. For, let it never be forgotten, that the glory of God is bound up in the salvation which He sends to us. This could not possibly be if man had to contribute the weight of a feather, or co-operate to the extent of the movement of an eye-lash, in the matter of salvation.

This is a point of immense interest and value, and one eminently calculated to strengthen the foundations of the Christian's faith, and to lift him beyond the reach of every doubt and every fear. God's glory is at stake in the salvation which He has wrought out for us and sent to us. What strength is here! What comfort and consolation! What peace and liberty! What courage and confidence! Nothing can exceed it. If a single flaw could be detected in the salvation of God—a single thing defective—a single point unprovided for—the slightest possibility of failure, from first to last—from the moment when the soul first tastes the sweetness of divine grace, until it bathes itself in the very fullness of divine glory—if it were possible that a saved soul could be lost—if a single want of that saved soul were not perfectly provided for, whether in the way of " wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, or redemption"—if, in short, there were a single missing link in the golden chain of salvation, then verily would the luster of the divine glory be tarnished, and the enemy of God might triumph.

But no, reader, it cannot possibly be. " Salvation is of the Lord;" and tins holds good whether it be a question of deliverance from the smallest difficulty lying in our daily path, or of the full, final, and everlasting salvation of our souls, actualized in the very presence of God and of the Lamb. It is all of God, from beginning to end. It wears the stamp of His omnipotent hand upon it, in its every stage. It flows like a shining river from His loving heart; and His glory is involved in the integrity of its every aspect and its every branch. It comes to us as free as the very air we breathe; and, when we get it—or rather when it lays hold of us—it is as permanent as the throne of God Himself. It is the fruit of the will of God, as accomplished in the perfect work of Christ, and attested by the record of the Holy Ghost in the scriptures of truth. See Heb. 10

Such is the salvation which God sends to the Gentiles. And may we not triumphantly inquire, " What else could it be as coming from the hand and the heart of such a God?" Surely nothing else, nothing less, nothing different. God must be God in all His actings and in all His ways. His glory shines in everything to which He puts His hand. If He saves, He saves like Himself. Can any one, with a single ray of the true knowledge of God, imagine that He could send us a salvation with a flaw of any sort whatsoever? Or can we suppose that when God speaks of sending us salvation He would think of fencing that salvation round about with certain legal conditions? Can we suppose that when God set about saving lost sinners through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, He would do so with a "Yea" in one place, and a "Nay" in another? Impossible—utterly impossible. We can understand God putting men under conditions—giving them laws and statutes—putting them to the test, and raising the question of righteousness, and causing the offense to abound. He did all this at Mount Sinai. But this was not " sending salvation." Giving a law, by the disposition of angels, in order to put man to the test, is one thing; and sending a full and free salvation to lost sinners, on the ground of the death and resurrection of Christ, is another thing. Salvation is absolute, eternal, divine. It is as perfect as the One who sends it, and man has nothing to do but to receive it, and walk in the light and power of it all his days upon earth, and then go home to bask in the beams of it in that bright and blessed world above.

And, let it never be forgotten, that in this salvation whereof we speak, there is most blessedly included and secured holiness of life—yes, beloved reader, remember this. True holiness is wrapped up in the comprehensive folds of that salvation which our gracious God has sent to the Gentiles. It includes victory over lusts, tempers, habits, influences, circumstances—victory over self and its surroundings—victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. True it is—alas! how true, we fail to make good, in our souls' experience, from day to day, what God's salvation secures to us. We fail to plant the foot of faith upon the full extent of that fair inheritance which sovereign grace has, most surely, made ours in a risen Christ. How few of us really enter into the divine fullness of salvation! How many are groping about in darkness or dim twilight, hardly knowing where they are or whither they are going. They have life. Their very groping proves that; but then it is life in a fog, when it ought to be life in the clear sunlight. The condition of many of God's dear people may be fitly compared to people moving about in one of those thick London fogs. They have no certainty in their movements, and they are in constant danger of coming in collision with one another or with the various objects which he in the way.

But does all this darkness and uncertainty, this poverty of apprehension and shallowness hi experience, on our part, touch the integrity and fullness of the salvation which is ours in Christ? Not in the smallest degree. There it is for us in all its blessedness and glory; and all we want is faith to take it in and make our own of it. God, in His infinite grace, has sent it to us; and, most assuredly, He means that we should have it and enjoy it, just as He meant that Adam should enjoy the fruits and flowers of paradise, and Israel, the milk and honey of the promised land. God has given us a full salvation, and it is for us to walk in the light, joy, and strength of it, all the day long. Faith appropriates what love provides; and love is never more gratified than when faith most simply appropriates its rich provision. May we ever bear this in mind. May we ever remember that, as God is glorified in the salvation which He sends, so He is gratified by the faith of those to whom He sends it. We need not imagine that it is in the least according to the mind and heart of God that we should refuse to enjoy the things which He so freely gives to us in Christ. What He gives, He gives " with his whole heart and with his whole soul." (Jer. 32:41.) He gives like Himself, and He loves an artless, childlike faith. If He bestows with His whole heart, He means us to enjoy with a whole heart.

However, gladly as we would expatiate upon this precious branch of our subject, we must close this paper by a brief reference, in the third place, to the question

TO WHOM IS IT SENT?

" The salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles." This surely is broad enough for any one who knows himself to be a Gentile. At the first, as we know, salvation was confined to the Jews. They, in the dispensational wisdom of God, were to have the first offer. The Lord Jesus, in sending out His messengers, in the days of His flesh, expressly told them not to go " in the way of the Gentiles." But now all barriers are gone—swept away by the rising tide of God's salvation. We dwell not now upon the fact that Israel is, for the moment, set aside; but upon the fact that God's salvation is sent to us Gentiles, as such. There is no condition, no limitation whatsoever. Every Gentile, from pole to pole, and from the river to the ends of the earth, to whose ears the sweet story is wafted, may possess this priceless treasure of full, free, and everlasting salvation. If a letter or parcel is sent to any one, through the post, he receives it, reads his name on the back, and, without a question, proceeds to open it, and appropriate the contents.

We all understand this. It is simple enough if only we are willing to be simple likewise. God sends salvation to the Gentiles. I am a Gentile; therefore God sends salvation to me—yes, to me. How do I know? Because I am a Gentile. It is impossible to refuse the application. Ere I can question the fact that salvation is for me, I must deny the fact that I am a Gentile. I may reject the offer, and have to answer to God for that rejection; but I cannot possibly deny the application. God has sent salvation to the Gentiles, and, if I am a Gentile, He has sent salvation to me, as distinctly and as absolutely as though I were the only Gentile on the face of the earth.

But some will say, " What about election?" We reply, it is a most precious truth of God; but there is not a syllable about it in that glorious charter winch now lies open before us. If it had been said, " The salvation of God is sent to the elect Gentiles," then, most surely, we should seek to ascertain whether we belong to such a class, and if not, of course there is no salvation for us. But, thanks be to God, nothing of the kind appears. There is no hindrance, no difficulty, no question. We are simply told that " The salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles." Alas! alas! men refuse it—will not have it—their hearts are full of other things. Nevertheless, there stands the precious casket of God's salvation ready for their acceptance, and if they will not have it, their blood shall rest eternally upon their own guilty heads. Let no one shelter himself under the plea of God's hidden purposes and counsels, for no such plea will stand for a moment. Man is not held responsible on the ground of secret decrees, but on the ground of a salvation which is sent to him from the very heart of God, through the precious blood of Christ, and on the authority of the Holy Ghost.

Beloved reader, have you accepted this salvation? Mark what the apostle saith, " The salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and they will"—what? " They will hear it." Have you heard it? Have you bowed your heart to it? Have you believed in the love that sent it—in the blood that sealed it—in the record that brings it to you? Turn not away from these questions we beseech thee. Time is running on. The year 1869 is closing upon us. Are you saved? If not, why not? If not, what then? Oh! think of thy precious immortal soul! Think of a never ending eternity! Think of the untold joys of heaven—of the unutterable horrors of hell! Why wilt thou die? Why perish eternally when there is actually nothing to hinder thy being, at this moment, the happy possessor of "The salvation of God?"

Lo! to thyself I left mire eye,

Thy promised aid I claim;

Father of mercies, glorify

The risen Jesu's name.

Salvation in that Name is found,

Cure for my grief and care;

A healing balm for every wound,

All, all I want is there.

Self-Surrender: Part 1

It is perfectly delightful to contemplate the moral triumphs of Christianity—the victories which it gains over self and the world, and the marvelous way in which such victories are obtained. The law said, "Thou shalt do this; and thou shalt not do that," But Christianity speaks a totally different language. In it, we see life bestowed as a free gift—life flowing down from a risen and glorified Christ. This is something entirely beyond the range of the law. The language of the law was, " The man that doeth these things shall live in them." Long life in the land was all the law proposed to the man who could keep it. Eternal life in a risen Christ was something utterly unknown and unthought of under the legal system.

But Christianity not only gives eternal life; it gives also an object with which that life can be occupied a center round which the affections of that life can circulate—a model on which that life can be formed. Thus it gains its mighty moral triumphs. Thus it gains its conquests over a selfish nature and a selfish world. It gives divine life and a divine center; and as the life moves round that center we are taken out of self.

This is the secret of self surrender. It cannot be reached in any other way. The unconverted man finds his center in self; and, hence, to tell him not to be selfish is to tell him not to be at all. This holds good even in the matter of mere religiousness. A man will attend to his religion in order, as he thinks, to promote his eternal interest: but this is quite a different thing from finding an object and a center outside himself. Christianity alone can supply these. The gospel of the grace of God is the only thing that can effectually meet man's need and deliver him from the selfishness which belongs to him. The unrenewed man lives/or himself. He has no higher object. The life which he possesses is alienated from the life of God. He is away from God. He moves round another center altogether, and until he is born again, until he is renewed, regenerated, born of the word and Spirit of God, it cannot be otherwise. Self is his object, his center, in all things. He may be moral, amiable, religious, benevolent, but until he is converted, he has not got done with himself, as to the ground of his being, or as to the center round which that being revolves.

The foregoing train of thought naturally introduces us to the striking and beautiful illustration of our theme afforded in Phil. 2 In it we have a series of examples of self-surrender, commencing with a divinely perfect One, the Lord Himself.

But, ere we proceed to gaze upon this exquisite picture, it may be well to inquire what it was that rendered it needful to present such a picture before the Philippian saints. The attentive reader will, doubtless, observe, in the course of this most charming epistle, certain delicate touches from the inspired pen, leading to the conclusion that the keen and vigilant eye of the apostle detected a certain root of evil in the bosom of the beloved and cherished assembly gathered at Philippi. To this he addresses himself, not with a sledgehammer or a long whip, but with a refinement and delicacy far more powerful than either the one or the other. The mightiest moral results are reached by those delicate touches from the hand of God the Holy Ghost.

But what was the root to which we have referred? It % was not a splitting into sects and parties, as at Corinth. It was not a return to law and ritualism, as at Galatia, It was not a hankering after philosophy and the rudiments of the world, as at Colosse. What was it then? It was a root of envy and strife. The sprouting of this root is seen very distinctly in the collision between those two sisters, " Euodias and Syntyche" (chap. iv. 2), but it is glanced at in earlier portions of the epistle, and a divine remedy supplied.

It is a great point with a medical man not only to understand what is wrong with his patient, but also to understand the true remedy. Some physicians are clever in discovering the root of disease; but they do not so well know what remedy to apply. Others, again, are skilled in the knowledge of medicine, the powers of various drugs; but they do not know how to apply them to individual cases. The Divine Physician knows both the disease and its remedy. He knows exactly what is the matter with us, and He knows what will do us good. He sees the root of the matter, and He applies a radical cure. He does not treat cases superficially. He is perfect in diagnosis. He does not guess at our disease from mere surface symptoms. His keen eye penetrates, at once, to the very bottom of the case, and His skilful hand applies the true remedy.

Thus it is in the epistle to the Philippians. These saints held a very large place in the large heart of the apostle. He loved them much, and they loved him. Again and again he speaks, in grateful accents, of their fellowship with him in the gospel from the very first. But all this did not and could 1101 shut his eyes to what was wrong among them. It is said that "Love is blind" In one sense, we look upon this saying as a libel upon love. If it were said that "Love is superior to faults," it would be nearer the truth. What should any one give for blind love? of what use would it be to be loved by one who only loved us because he was ignorant of our blots and blemishes? If it be meant that love will not see our blots, it is blessedly true (Numb, xxiii. 21); but no one would care for a love that was not at once aware of, and superior to, our failures and infirmities.

Paul loved the saints at Philippi, and rejoiced in their love to him, and tasted the fragrant fruit of that love again and again. But then he saw that it was one thing to love and be kind to a distant apostle, and quite another thing to agree among themselves. Doubtless, Euodias and Syntyche both contributed to send a present to Paul, though they were not pulling harmoniously together in the wear and tear of daily life and service. This is, alas! no uncommon case. Many sisters and brothers too are ready to contribute of their substance to help some distant servant of Christ, and yet they do not walk pleasantly together. How is this? There is a lack of self surrender. This, we may rest assured, is the real secret of much of the " strife and vainglory" so painfully manifest in the very midst of the people of God. It is one thing to walk alone, and it is another thing to walk in company with our brethren, in the practical recognition of that great truth of the unity of the body, and in the remembrance that " we are members one of another." Christians are not to regard themselves as mere individuals, as isolated atoms, as independent persons. This cannot be, seeing that scripture declares " There is one body," and we are members thereof. This is a divine truth—a grand fact—a positive reality. "We are not to be like the hairs of an electrified broom, each standing out in lonely individuality. We are living members of a living body, each one having to do with other members, with whom we are connected by a bond which no power of earth or hell can sever. In a word, there is a relationship formed by the presence of the Holy Ghost, who, not only dwells in each individual member, but is the power of the unity of the one body. It is the presence of God the Spirit, in the Church, that constitutes that Church, the one living body of the living Head.

Now, it is when we are called to walk in the actual acknowledgment of this great truth that there is a demand for self surrender. If we were merely solitary individuals, treading each in his own self chosen path, carrying out his own peculiar thoughts, walking in the sparks of his own kindling, pursuing his own peculiar line of things, indulging his own will, thin indeed a quantity of self might be retained. If "Euodias and Syntyche" could have walked alone, there would have been no collision—no strife. But they were called to walk together, and here was the demand for self surrender.

And, be it ever remembered, that Christians are not members of a club, of a sect, or of an association; they are members of a body, each connected with all, and all connected, by the fact of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, with the risen and glorified Head in heaven.

This is an immense truth, and the practical carrying out of it will cost us not only all we have, but all we are. There is no place in all the universe where self will be so pulled to pieces, as in the assembly of God. And is it not well? Is it not a powerful proof of the divine ground on which that assembly is gathered? Are we not—should we not be—-glad to have our hateful self thus pulled to pieces? Shall we—ought we to—run away from those who do it for us? Are we not glad—do we not often pray, to get rid of self? And shall we quarrel with those who are God's instruments in answering our prayers? True, they may do the work roughly and clumsily; but no matter for that. Whoever helps me to crush and sink self does me a kind turn, however awkwardly he may do it. One thing is certain, no man can ever rob us of that which, after all, is the only thing worth having, namely, Christ. This is a precious consolation. Let self go; we shall have the more of Christ. Euodias might lay the blame on Syntyche, and Syntyche on Euodias; the apostle does not raise the question of which was right or of which was wrong, but he beseeches both to be “of the same mind in the Lord."

Here lies the divine secret. It is self surrender. But tins must be a real thing. There is no use in talking about sinking self, while, at the same time, self is fed and patted on the back. We sometimes pray with marvelous fervor to be enabled to trample self in the dust, and the very next moment, if any one seems to cross our path, self is like a porcupine with all its quills up. This will never do. God will have us real, and surely we can say, with all our weakness and folly, we want to be real—real in everything, and therefore real when we pray for the power of self-surrender. But, most assuredly, there is no place where there is a more urgent demand for this lovely grace than in the bosom of the assembly of God.

(To be continued, if the Lord will.)

Self-Surrender: Part 2

We may range through the wide domain of inspiration and not find a more exquisite model of self surrender than that which is presented to us in the opening lines of Phil. 2 It is, we may safely say, impossible for anyone to breathe the holy atmosphere of such a scripture, and not be cured of the sore evils of envy and jealousy, strife and vain glory. Let us approach the marvelous picture, and, gazing intently upon it, seek to catch its inspiration.

" If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on Ids own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Ver. 1-8.

Here, then, is the divine remedy for envy and jealousy, strife and vain glory—for self occupation, in short, ha all its hideous forms. The inspired penman introduces to our hearts the self emptied, humble, obedient Man, Christ Jesus. Here was One who possessed all power in heaven and earth. Divine majesty and glory belonged to Him. He was God over all, blessed forever. By Him all things were made, and by Him they subsist. And yet He appeared in this world as a poor man—a servant—one who had not where to lay His head. The foxes and the fowls, 124 the creatures of His formation, were better provided for than He, their Maker. They had a place to rest in. He had none. " He made Himself of no reputation." He never thought of Himself at all. He thought of others, cared for them, labored for them, wept with them, ministered to them; but He never did a thing for Himself. We never find Him taking care to supply Himself with aught. His was a life of perfect self-surrender. He who was everything, made Himself nothing. He stood in perfect contrast with the first Adam, who being but a man, thought to make himself like God, and became the serpent's slave. The Lord Jesus, who was the Most High God, took the very lowest place amongst men. It is utterly impossible that any man can ever take so low a place as Jesus. The word is, " He made himself of no reputation." He went so low that no one could possibly put Him lower. "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

And, be it observed, that the cross is here viewed as the consummation of a life of obedience—the completion of a work of self-surrender. It is what we may call, to use a Levitical term, the burnt-offering aspect of the death of Christ, rather than the sin offering. True it is, most blessedly true, that the selfsame act which consummated a life of obedience, did also put away sin; but in the passage now before us, sin-bearing is not so much the thought as self-surrender. Jesus gave up all. He laid aside His glory, and came down into this poor world; and when He came, He eschewed all human pomp and grandeur, and became a poor man. His parents were poor. They were only able to procure the lowest grade of sacrifice which the law admitted for the poor; not a bullock, not a lamb, but a pair of turtle doves. (Compare Lev. 15:29, Luke 3:24.) He Himself worked, and was known as a carpenter. Nor are we to miss the moral force of this fact, by saying that every Jew was brought up to some trade. Our Lord Jesus Christ did really take a low place. The very town where He was brought up was a proverb of reproach. He was called " The Nazarene." And it was asked, with a sneer of contempt, "Is not this the carpenter?" He was a root out of a dry ground. He had no form nor comeliness, no beauty in man's eye. He was the despised, neglected, self-emptied, meek, and lowly man, from first to last. He gave up all, even to life itself. In a word, His self-surrender was complete.

And, now, mark the result. " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The blessed Lord Jesus took the very lowest place; but God has given Him the very highest. He made Himself nothing; but God has made Him everything. He said, "I am a worm and no man;" but God has set Him as Head over all. He went into the very dust of death; but God has placed Him on the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.

What does all this teach us? It teaches us that the way to get up is to go down. This is a grand lesson, and one which we very much need to learn. It would effectually deliver us from envy and jealousy, from strife and vain glory, from self-importance and self-occupation. God will assuredly exalt those who, in the spirit and mind of Christ, take the low place; and, on the other hand, He will, as assuredly, abase those who seek to be somebody.

Oh! to be nothing! This is true liberty—true happiness—true moral elevation. And then what intense power of attraction in one who makes nothing of himself! And, on the other hand, how repulsive is a pushing, forward, elbowing, self-exalting spirit! How utterly unworthy of one bearing the name of Him who made Himself of no reputation! May we not!#§t it clown as a fixed truth that ambition cannot possibly live in the presence of One who emptied Himself? No doubt. An ambitious Christian is a flagrant contradiction.

But there are other samples of self-surrender presented to us in this exquisite Phil. 2; inferior no doubt to the divine model at which we have been gazing, for in this as in all things else, Jesus must have the preeminence. Still, though inferior and imperfect, they are deeply interesting and valuable to us. Look at Paul. See how deeply he had drunk into his Master's spirit of self-surrender. Hearken to the following accents from one who, naturally, would have allowed none to outstrip Mm in his career of ambition. " Yea," he says, " and if I be poured forth [as a drink offering] upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all." Verse IT.

This is uncommonly fine. Paul was ready to be nothing—to be spent—to be poured forth as a libation upon the Philippians' sacrifice. It mattered not to him who presented the sacrifice, or who performed the service, provided the thing was done. Does not this put some of us to the blush? How little do we know of this excellent spirit! How prone we are to attach importance to work if we ourselves have aught to do with it! How little able to joy and rejoice with others in their sacrifice and service! Our work, our preaching, our writings, have an interest in our view quite different from those of any one else. In a word, self self, detestable self, creeps in even in that which seems to be the service of Christ. We are drawn to those who think well of us and of our work, and retire from those who think otherwise. All this needs to be judged. It is unlike Christ, and unworthy of those who bear His holy Name. Paul had so learned Christ as to be able to rejoice in the work and service of others as well as in his own; and even where Christ was preached of contention, he could rejoice.

Then, again, look at Paul's son, Timothy. Hearken to the glowing testimony borne to him by the pen of inspiration. " But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel." Verse 19-22.

Here was self-surrender. Timothy naturally cared for the saints; and that, too, at a moment when all sought their own things. And yet, dear as Timothy was to Paul's heart—valuable as such a self-denying servant must have been to him in the work of the gospel, he was walling to part with him for the sake of the Church. Timothy, likewise, was willing to be separated from his invaluable friend and father in the faith, in order to ease his anxious mind in reference to the state of the Philippians. This was indeed giving "proof" of real devotedness and self-surrender. Timothy did not talk of these things; he practiced them. He did not make a parade of his doings; but Paul, by the Holy Ghost, engraved them on a tablet from which they can never be erased. This was infinitely better. Let another praise thee, and not thyself. Timothy made nothing of himself, but Paul made a great deal of him. This is divine. The sure way to get up is to go down. Such is the law of the heavenly road. A man who makes much of himself saves others the trouble of doing so. There is no possible use in two persons doing the same thing. Self-importance is a noxious weed nowhere to be found in the entire range of the new creation. It is, alas! often found in the ways of those who profess to belong to that blessed and holy creation; but it is not of heavenly growth. It is of fallen nature—a weed that grows luxuriantly in the soil of this world. The men of this age think it laudable to push and make way for themselves. A bustling, self-important, pretentious style takes with the children of this generation. But our heavenly Master was the direct opposite of all this. He who made the worlds, stooped to wash a disciple's feet (John 13); and if we are like Him, we shall do the same. There is nothing more foreign to the thoughts of God, the mind of heaven, the spirit of Jesus, than self-importance and self-occupation. And, on the other hand, there is nothing that savors so of God, of heaven, and of Jesus, as self-surrender.

Look, once more, reader, at our picture in Phil. 2 Examine, with special care, that figure which occupies a very prominent place. It is Epaphroditus. Who was he? Was lie a great preacher—a very eloquent speaker—a preeminently gifted brother? We are not told. But this we are told—and told right powerfully and touchingly; he was one who exhibited a lovely spirit of self-surrender. This is better than all the gifts and eloquence, power and learning, that could possibly be concentrated in any single individual. Epaphroditus was one of that illustrious class who seek to make nothing of themselves; and, as a consequence, the inspired apostle spares no pains to exalt him. Hear how he expatiates upon the actings of this singularly attractive personage. " Yet I supposed it necessary to send unto you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants."

What a cluster of dignities! What a brilliant array of titles! How little did this dear and unpretending servant of Christ imagine that he was to have such a monument erected to his memory! But the Lord will never suffer the fruits of self-sacrifice to wither, nor the name of the self-emptied to sink into oblivion. Hence it is that the name of one who, otherwise, might never have been heard of, shines on the page of inspiration, as the brother, companion, and fellow soldier of the great apostle of the Gentiles.

But what did this remarkable man do? Did he spend a princely fortune in the cause of Christ? We are not told; hut we are told what is far better—lie spent himself. This is the grand point for us to seize and ponder. It was not the surrender of his fortune, merely, but the surrender of himself. Let us hearken to the record concerning 0110 of the true David's mighty men. " He longed after you all, and was full of heaviness." Why? Was it because he was sick? because of his pains, and aches, and privations? Nothing of the sort. Epaphroditus did not belong to the generation of winners and complainers. He was thinking of others. " He was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick." How lovely! He was occupied about the Philippians and their sorrow about him. The only thing that affected him in his illness was the thought of how it would affect them. Perfectly exquisite! This honored servant of Christ had brought himself to death's door to serve others, and when there, in place of being occupied about himself and his ailments, he was thinking of the sorrow of others. " He was sick and nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow."

Can aught be more morally beautiful than this? It is one of the rarest pictures ever presented to the human eye. There is Epaphroditus, nigh unto death for the sake Of others; but he is full of sorrow about the Philippians; and the Philippians are full of sorrow about him; Paul is full of sorrow about both, and God comes and mingles Himself with the scene, and, in mercy to all, raises up the loved one from the bed of death.

And then mark the tender solicitude of the blessed apostle. It is like some tender mother sending her darling son away, and committing him, with fond earnestness, to the care of some friend. " I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation." Why? Was it because of his gifts, his rank, or his wealth? No; but because of his self-surrender. "Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me." Oh! dear christian reader, let us think on these things. We have introduced you to a picture, and we leave you to gaze upon it. The grouping is divine. There is a moral line running through the entire scene, and linking the figures into one striking group. It is like the anointing of the true Aaron, and the oil flowing down to the skirts of his garments. We have the blessed Lord, perfect in His self-surrender, as in all beside; and then we have Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, each, in his measure, exhibiting the rare and lovely grace of self-surrender.

A Worshipper and a Workman

(2 Tim. 2)

VERY serious damage is done to souls by displacing truth and confounding things which God has made to differ. If a man teaches plain and positive error, we may be on our guard against him; hut if he comes with misplaced truth, we are far more likely to be ensnared.

Thus, for example, there are terms made use of in the chapter before us, which only apply to one who "has passed from death unto life;" as " a workman," " a good soldier," "a sanctified vessel." If these be applied to one who has not yet rested his burdened conscience on the all-sufficient sacrifice of the cross, he will assuredly be plunged in hopeless confusion and perplexity. If a helpless sinner casts his eye toward the door of the Father's house, and finds it garrisoned by the " ifs" and " buts" and conditions of a cold and dark legality, he must retire in despair. And yet how often is this done! How often are the responsibilities which devolve only upon the true believer, pressed upon the conscience of the unregenerate. The effect of this unskillful division and application of the word is most deplorable. Anxious spirits are driven back—burdened consciences have their grievous yoke made more grievous still—hearts that have long sighed for peace and struggled hard to find it, anywhere and everywhere but in Jesus and His precious blood, are bowed down in hopeless sorrow—all by the system of confounding the worshipper and the workman.

How important, then, to distinguish them! How important to show the conscience-smitten sinner that the work which is to make him a worshipper was finished, over eighteen hundred years ago, on the cross! How needful to lead such an one entirely out of Himself, to fix the earnest and believing gaze of his soul upon " the one offering of Jesus Christ, once!" It is utterly impossible that true, solid, eternal peace can be enjoyed, or true spiritual worship presented, until the conscience is purged by the blood of the cross. I must know, not only that all the claims of my conscience, but that all the claims of God's throne have been perfectly answered by One who died in my stead, ere I can breathe freely, walk at ease, or worship within the veil. There is no if, no but, no condition. The door is thrown open as wide as the sinner's heart could desire. His nature his condition, and all his heavy liabilities have been divinely met in the cross. God can say, " Deliver him from going down to the pit," not because he has kept all my commandments, nor even because he has earnestly tried but reluctantly failed to keep them, nor yet because he has sincerely repented and purposes to lead a new life; no; but because "I HAVE FOUND A RANSOM." Here is true peace. God knew the exact amount of ransom required, and He has Himself found it—found it all—found it for me.

Reader, rest here! See the full amount of ransom told out beneath the eye of infinite holiness in the life-blood of Jesus! See it! hear it! believe it! rest in it! You are not asked to throw the weight of a feather into the balance to make up the full amount. Jesus has paid all; and as the eternal Father raised Him from the dead and enthroned Him at the right hand of the Majesty in the highest heavens, He, as it were, declared in the audience of all created intelligence-He sounded abroad through the entire universe, " I have found a ransom" It is needless for you to say, " I can find no rest, I am so terribly bad. I try to live better, but it is all the same. The more I try the worse I am; I try to keep the commandments; I attend the public ordinances of religion; I sometimes hear as many as three sermons on the Lord's day. I do all I can, but yet I have not got peace; I am not happy, I do not know that my sins are forgiven." Dear friend, all this is " I." You must look away from this poor, miserable, guilty, hell-deserving " I" altogether. God says, " I have found a ransom." Has He found it in you, or out of you? Has He said, " 1 have found ninety-nine parts of the ransom, and you must find the hundredth?" Ah! no; He has found it ALL. He has done all that He knew to be necessary, and He tells you " the glad tidings" in order that you may " hear and live."

Do not, therefore, read another line of this article until your weary heart has found sweet repose in God's ransom. He does not ask you to pay a farthing; but He tells you He has paid all. Take Him at His word—confide in His love—lean on His ransom. May God the Holy Ghost open your eyes to see and your heart to understand and believe the things that make for your eternal peace. Then, but not until then, you will be a worshipper—a purged worshipper; and, moreover, it is only when you are a purged worshipper that you can be a purged workman. To attempt to be a workman before you are a worshipper is to reverse God's order, and to make shipwreck of everything. You must put things where God puts them, and leave them there. It was when the leper was pronounced clean that he began to wash his clothes. (See Lev. 14:8.) Had he attempted to do so before, he would have polluted the water instead of cleansing himself. " Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Cor. 7:1.)

This is the way to be a purged workman—a sanctified vessel—an approved servant. " If," says the apostle to his son Timothy, " a man purge himself from these, (i. e., the dishonorable vessels in the great house,) he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." (2 Tim. 2:21.) To be purged, as to my conscience, by the blood of Jesus, is one thing; to purge myself, by the powerful activities of the divine life within, from the defilement of the scene around me, is quite another. These things must be kept distinct. To confound them is to derange the entire Christian character—to rob the soul of peace and destroy the testimony.

The Christian is called to carry on a constant struggle. The moment his soul has found peace in Jesus, this struggle begins. It is when the shout of victory falls fully and clearly on the ear of faith that the battle begins. This may puzzle nature, but faith understands it perfectly. The believer is at once a conqueror and a combatant. He plants his foot upon " the foundation of God," which "standeth sure"—so sure that all the enemy's power cannot shake it- and in the enjoyment of the peace which that sure foundation yields, and not in a spirit of bondage, doubt, or fear, he " departs from iniquity." And what is his object in thus departing—thus purging himself? Is it that he may be a worshipper? By no means. He must be that ere ever the struggle begins. What then? That he may be a purged workman—a meet vessel—an instrument which " the Master" can take up and use. This is simple enough; and it is as practical as it is simple.

Christian reader, you have tasted the reality of a purged conscience, are you calling on the Lord " out of a purged heart?' Are you struggling to " flee youthful lusts, and follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a purged heart?" You may, perhaps, feel disposed to say, " I see such hopeless confusion and division all around me, that I know not with whom to follow or where to find a path for my feet." Well, that may be; but remember this, if the professing church were broken up into ten thousand times as many more fragments- if controversy, division, and confusion, were to roll like a desolating tide over the entire of Christendom, yet is each Christian man solemnly responsible to depart from iniquity the moment he sees it. He is called to " purge himself" from dishonorable vessels. And, moreover, it is in proportion as he so departs—so purges himself, that he will be “meet for the Master's use.”

Remember, the question here is not as to peculiar views or opinions in reference to matters ecclesiastical. So; it is far deeper, far more personal, far more practical. Wherever you are, you are called to this mighty struggle—this noble work of purging yourself, in order that Christ may use you. How are you responding to this call? Are you sighing after greater nearness and likeness to Jesus? Are you sick of the cold and heartless profession of the day—the withering formalism that seems to be settling down upon the professing church? If so, press on! press on! Let "upward and onward" be the motto distinctly inscribed upon your whole course and character. Be not satisfied with anything short of AN ENJOYED CHRIST. This is your privilege; see that you live up to it. Do not ask, " What harm is there in this or that?" But ask, " How can I enjoy most of Christ?" Seek to breathe the atmosphere of His presence—to drink into His Spirit—to walk in His footsteps -to grow in His likeness.

Finally, let us all remember that it is the energy of attaining, and not the measure of attainment, which leads to communion. If an apostle met a babe in whom he perceived the energy of attaining, he could have communion with the babe; but if the apostle were to make his measure of attainment the ground of fellowship, the babe would be shut out. The question is not, Do you agree with me? but, Are you following hard after Christ?

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