The Believer's Monthly Magazine: Volume 3

WHAT we learn doctrinally of the constitution of the church of God in the Epistles, we see exemplified in the historical description of its early days as given in the Acts of the Apostles. Thus its essential unity is stated in the apostolic communications to various assemblies, but at the first it was literally carried out. While we do not read in the Acts an abstract statement of the unity of the Spirit, we do read of extraordinary actions which could only be prompted by an inward consciousness of bonds far more intimate than those of nature. Paul, writing to the saints at Corinth said, “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13): this was a general statement of the truth. But at the beginning we see that “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common” (Acts 4:32). This was the unity of the Spirit displayed in practice.

And the picture of this general unselfishness prevailing in the early church is a very lovely one. Every person looked not on his own things but on those of others. By such means all the needy were cared for. “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need” (Acts 4:34, 35)

Here was the answer to the Lord’s prayer for those who should believe on Him through the apostles’ word, — the prayer which says, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:20, 21). This oneness was exhibited to the world by the company of believers at the first (Acts 2:44, 45; 4:34, 35); but alas how soon the remarkable testimony of what the grace of God could do in triumphing over the inborn selfishness of the human heart broke down and failed. But still the record of it remains in the scriptures, and remains there for our instruction and for our imitation.

With a view, therefore, to profit somewhat by this example of self-denying concern for the needs of others, let us ask what were the motives that caused these early disciples, who by birth and training, were close-fisted and stingy, to act with such lavish generosity. And among other considerations, two were of the greatest weight with the brotherhood: —

The internal conviction of each that the interests of all were one.

The equally strong conviction of each that whatever he possessed was not “his own.”

Now, in the first place we see that the believers in Jerusalem were not so many individuals each having an independent aim and a separate interest. But “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.” We read that of old, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved David as his own soul (1 Sam. 18:1). And we know how they were bound together through the most difficult circumstances, the one being a fugitive from the unjust wrath of the other’s father. But in Jerusalem in the time of which we speak there had sprung up a community numbered in thousands that was emphatically one in mutual regard and in deliberate purpose.

It was wonderful that such unity of soul should be between two men—a prince in Israel and a shepherd lad; how much more wonderful when seen among thousands, including persons of all classes. But as it was a divine not a human link between Jonathan and David, so was it in Jerusalem, and much more so.

These believers had by the baptism of the Spirit become fellow-members of Christ. Every soul was filled with a common love for Him. Every heart was bursting with loyal devotion to its absent Lord. Every one, was an object of the world’s hatred and persecution. Visions of a glorious eternal destiny in which they all shared caused their earthly plans and projects to appear very insignificant indeed. All this and vastly more, revealed in the power and unction of the Holy Spirit, caused them to think and act in harmony with the great fact that in the sight of God they were welded together into one body.

Beloved readers, it is useless to ask whether all that believe now are of one heart and of one soul. The contrary is patent to all. But is it not as true as ever that there is but one body of which Christ is head (Eph. 1:22, 23; 4:4)? Thank God; it is; that can never fail. But if so, it equally abides true that of that body we are “members in particular,” and we “should have the same care one for another” (1 Cor. 12:27, 25). If any one think that the truth of the one body is not intended to influence our practice, let him refer to Ephesians 4:25 where it is given as a reason why we should not tell lies.

Coming now to the second point with regard to these early saints, we find there was far more than a unanimity of sentiment or opinion. The love of their hearts displayed itself in an unexampled effort to relieve the wants of the needy.

Without dwelling on the details of their remarkable self-sacrifice we wish to draw attention to an important point for our own guidance. These believers no longer considered what they had as their own. “Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own” (Acts 4:32).

Now it makes a material difference as to the use of our money, our goods, our time, whether we regard them as our own, or as the Lord’s. If all we possess is the Lord’s we are only stewards or trustees, and we are bound to use what we are entrusted with for His interests. If what we have is our own, — well, we may do what we will with our own.

But the saints in Jerusalem felt they were no longer their own, but the bond-slaves of the Lord Jesus, and what was done to the least of the brethren was done to Him and would secure His approval. So whether their possessions were worth ten or ten thousand pieces of silver, such as the Lord bade to sell their goods and give to the poor obeyed. They realized the Lord’s grace to them and His authority over them (which the rich young ruler did not), and His will was enough for them.

Not however that this self-sacrifice was compulsory in any sense. Grace and love wrought in the heart, coupled with the loyal desire to be like Christ Who, though so rich, for their and our sakes became poor. Was anything they could give up comparable for a moment with what He renounced?

As long therefore as there were any among them who lacked, there were also those who shared their money with the needy. Who so careful of the poor as the Lord in the days of His flesh? And it was certainly not His will that there should be persons in their midst without the necessaries of life. This the stewards of the Lord’s money felt, and came forward accordingly to dispense of their store to those who lacked.

Although the communion of goods which was at the beginning (Acts 2:44; 4:32) did not continue in the church, the Lordship of Christ over the purses and possessions of His saints abides. This ought to be the governing principle in our care for others. Few saints were so liberal as the Macedonian; and the apostle accounts for it by the fact that they “first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:5); the rest was easy.

Beside making persons liberal, the thought of using the Lord’s money makes them careful not to waste it by giving in wrong directions. This is the danger of those who make beneficence a hobby. Let the gift be to the one who lacks, and proportioned to what is lacking.

It is good to remember that there is but one purse in the church of God; but it is neither yours nor mine; it is the Lord’s, and He apportions to each saint the amount of which he has custody and for which he is responsible. He also will see that none of His lack any good thing. Let us learn, therefore, in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content (Phil. 4:2). If there is not enough in our own pockets, there is sufficient in the “one purse” of which the Lord holds the strings.

The Epistle to the Galatians.

Chapters 1, 2.

HERE we have the vindication of Paul’s apostolate and of the gospel of grace against the Judaisers. It is a standing witness, on the one hand, how quickly the professing Christian is apt to surrender even the foundations of his blessedness to legalism; and on the other, of the Holy. Spirit’s care to raise the divine standard against the enemy, and rally men of faith around it. For God has here given us His own refutation of that early encroachment, so ruinous to the enjoyment of His grace, of Christ’s work, and of the believer’s standing and power. The Epistle is characterized by unusual severity of warning from first to last, and a total absence of those individual salutations in brotherly kindness which abound wherever it was possible. Not even the loose levity of the Corinthians troubled the apostle’s spirit so profoundly, as the fall of the Galatians from grace.

Chapter 1 opens with Paul, “apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father Who raised Him out of the dead, and all the brethren with me.” The legal party objected that he was not of the twelve, nor yet ordained by them in due succession. The apostle confronts this with the fact that the Lord Jesus and God the Father expressly called him to the apostleship in an immediate way and with resurrection associations; and that all the brethren with him joined in his words now. Even his wonted form of general salutation has the stamp of the truth the Galatians were imperiling. “Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory unto the ages of ages.” In verse 6-10 he bursts like lightning on their central error. “I wonder that ye so quickly change from him that called you in Christ’s grace unto a different gospel, which is not another: only there are some that trouble you and desire to pervert the gospel of Christ.” Such as preached aught else, were it himself or an angel or any, he anathematizes. It were but pleasing men, which would make him not Christ’s bondman as he was.

Next, he asserts direct revelation for the gospel he preached, affirmed already for his apostolic authority. It had shone on him, when devoted to the law and a persecutor of the church of God. But His grace revealed His Son in him, that he might preach Him among the Gentiles. The essential design was that he should not take counsel with flesh and blood, not even with the apostles before him. So he went elsewhere, and even when he did go up to Jerusalem, it was but for a short visit to Cephas, and, seeing only James the Lord’s brother, as he solemnly averred; afterward he went to Syria and Cilicia; so that he was only known in Judea by the report, to God’s glory by him, that the persecuting Saul now preached the faith he once ravaged.

In chapter 2, the apostle furnishes fresh light in this connection on his memorable visit with Barnabas to Jerusalem, when he took Titus with him. Assuredly it was to receive neither authority nor truth. He went up by revelation, which is nowhere else intimated, but characterizes his special place. Nor was it the apostles who laid before him the gospel, but he before the chiefs, privately, what he preached among the Gentiles. Could any say he was running or had run in vain? Nor was circumcising Titus entertained, whatever bondage false brethren might desire to impose. Add to the gospel, and its truth continues no more. It was seen by the reputed pillars that He Who energized Peter for the apostleship of the uncircumcision, energized Paul also for the Gentiles. God’s order for both and grace given to Paul being recognized, James and Cephas and John gave Paul and Barnabas right hands of fellowship, only with due remembrance of the poor, in which Paul was zealous too.

But from verse 11 he goes farther, and recounts his open resistance of Peter at Antioch, because he was condemned. What a rock for the church, if Christ had really resigned His place to His servant! Away with a pretension so blasphemous, ignorance so deplorable. Christ alone was and is the Rock. Peter shilly-shallied when certain came from James; “and the rest of the Jews dissembled likewise with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation.” How solemnly instructive for the Galatians, and all other Christians and ourselves also! “They did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel “is the unsparing censure of the apostle. What a withering rebuke of their own folly in listening to the adversaries of him and the gospel! His argument is unanswerable, and stands in abiding record. “If thou being a Jew livest Gentilely and not Jewishly, how forcest thou the Gentiles to Judaize?” It was grievous inconsistency in Peter, who on a most critical occasion, proved himself not only feeble as a reed, but false to the Lord’s charge in Acts 10 and his own faith, afraid of those he ought to have fed and guided aright. It was flinching from the common standing of justification by faith, and not by law-works, even for born Jews. But the worst of all remained; for he had left law for grace in Christ to justify him, and, in turning his back on this now, he not only made himself a transgressor, but in effect Christ a minister of sin! Paul on the contrary for the Christian says, Through law I died to the law, for all was met in Christ crucified. The sinner was in Him condemned, that he should go free, the flesh only and utterly dealt with by God for him who believes; and himself living, no longer the old I, but a new life, Christ living in me: a life in faith of the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Adding law makes void the grace of God; for if righteousness be through law, Christ in that case died gratuitously.

W.K.

Life's Praise.

FILL Thou my life, O Lord, my God,

In every part with praise,

That my whole being may proclaim

Thy being and Thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,

Nor even the praising heart,

I ask, but for a life made up

Of praise in every part.

Praise in the common things of life,

Its goings out and in;

Praise in each duty and each deed,

However small and mean.

Praise in the common words I speak,

Life’s common looks and tones,

In intercourse at hearth or board

With my beloved ones.

Not in the temple-crowd alone,

Where holy voices chime,

But in the silent paths of earth,

The quiet rooms of time.

Enduring wrong, reproach, or loss,

With sweet and steadfast will;

Loving and blessing those who hate,

Returning good for ill.

Surrendering my fondest will

In things or great or small;

Seeking the good of others still,

Nor pleasing self at all.

Fill every part of me with praise;

Let all my being speak

Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,

Poor though I be, and weak.

So shall no part of day nor night

From sacredness be free,

But all my life, in every step,

Be fellowship with Thee.

H.B.

Talebearing.

THE word of God gives a very plain testimony against talebearing or whispering.

“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people” (Lev. 19:16).

“A talebearer revealeth secrets; but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (Prov. 11:13).

“A whisperer separateth chief friends” (Prov. 16:28).

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds” (Prov. 18:8).

“He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets” (Prov. 20:19).

“Where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth” (Prov. 26:20).

“Not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not” (1 Tim. 5:13).

In connection with the above passages we commend the following to the attention of our readers.

If we exhibit a man’s vices only, and conceal the proportion which those vices bear to his virtues, we calumniate him quite as effectually as if we ascribe to him a vice he does not possess. A man may have a defective feature or features, and yet the general proportion of his person may be so good, and the general cast of his countenance so pleasing, that the ill effect of the features which are awry is either modified, or entirely carried off. It is an untrue representation of that man to say merely that he has too prominent an eye, or too thick or coarse a lip; that may be the case, but it is not a fair, because it is not a complete description of his personal appearance. And, similarly, if my neighbor has been overtaken (perhaps by surprise) in a grievous fault, and if I, for want of better matter to entertain my company withal, blaze abroad this fault of his, but am wholly silent as to his good character up to that time, and as to the prayers and struggles against that particular sin which he may have made, my witness against him becomes as certainly false in the general impression created by it, and therefore as mischievously injurious, as if I stated of him what was not matter of fact.

In a word, if fair account of a man’s faults and sins is to be given in conversation, the common rule of justice must be attended to, that evidence shall be heard for the defendant; which if it were done, a true verdict might be arrived at by the company. But such evidence never is alleged, nor does any party appear in the interests of the defendant, so that the verdict never can escape being false, and the evidence by which it is arrived at is to all intents and purposes false witness.

This consideration evidently makes it exceedingly difficult for us, and practically all but impossible, to say anything to our neighbor’s disadvantage in common conversation, which shall not be more or less false in its general effect on the minds of the hearers. If they gathered no other conclusion from our words, than that the allegation were true as an isolated fact, it might be all well and good. But this we know from our own experience they never do. With the speed of lightning we all of us proceed from adverse facts to a general unfavorable judgment on a man’s character, and the devil being in the ear of the company as well as in the tongue of the accuser, the thought rises up instantaneously in their minds, “Has such a man indeed done this or that? Then what a villain he must be! how must all confidence in him be at an end!” Extracted.

The Distinctive Character of the Church of God.

In commencing the consideration of the church of God, it is of great moment to observe its scriptural limits, and its true character as distinct from all other operations of God’s grace. For a long season these have been lost sight of by the majority of those who, through grace, have part in its wondrous calling and privileges. It has been vaguely supposed that the church of God is a general term describing all saved persons, without distinction, even where the expression has not been used even in a lower sense. But this is to obliterate all the landmarks of God’s counsels, and to confound all HIS ways, to the serious spiritual loss of those who so err.

The truth is that the church of God is a New Testament revelation. Not until Peter’s precious confession of Christ as “the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16) do we find a syllable about it in the word of God. And even then its true and distinctive character was not told out. Though God’s counsels concerning Christ and the church were formed before the foundation of the world; they were not revealed until Paul was called to grace and apostleship (Eph. 3). Two things at least were necessary to the revelation of the mystery, (1) the exaltation of Christ as man at the right hand of God, after having accomplished redemption, and (2) the presence of the Holy Ghost here on earth.

But what was God doing ere all this could be? Clearly His Spirit was working in individual souls, producing faith in the one true God, and obedience to His will and word. How else could we have had the splendid roll of Hebrews 11? This inward divine work has gone on in souls from the very beginning. But such believers knew nothing of the church of God and its calling and hope. It was “hid in God,” as the apostle speaks (Eph. 3:9).

God also has wrought outwardly. When the whole race had gone into idolatry, He revealed Himself in grace to Abraham, and called him out into a path of separation to Himself. This was intended to be a public testimony to all around. In due time God took up Abraham’s seed, giving them deliverance from Pharaoh and Egypt, and bringing them into the promised land. He skewed them His word, His statutes, and His judgments, as the Psalmist tells us (Psa. 147 19, 20). He gave them the priesthood in view of their weakness and need, and when that failed, as the link between Himself and the people, He appointed them a king, who thereafter became “His anointed” in place of the high priest as formerly (1 Sam. 2:10, 35). In the course of His governmental dealings with the nation He expelled them from the land because of their sins, using the kings of Assyria for the punishment of the ten tribes, and the king of Babylon for the chastisement of Judah. Of the latter a remnant was permitted to return after seventy years’ exile, in order that Messiah might be presented to them in accordance with the divine purpose and promise.

During all this time God was dealing with flesh, testing it in every possible way. Flesh without law had proved itself violent and corrupt, so that God had to purge the earth by the waters of the flood. Could law curb it and make it acceptable to God? Not that God had any question as to the matter, but He would demonstrate by His dealings to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear, what flesh really is in its nature and acting’s. Granted all privileges and favors, its evil only too deplorably displayed itself. The law had not reached the camp in its written form before the first vital commandment was violated by the chosen people. The sad history need not be detailed. The people, the priesthood, their kings, all failed. When prophecy was given, too often the faithful messengers were persecuted and slain. The final test was when the Son of God appeared. Man hated Him, cast Him out, and slew Him. Yet was He the Hope of Israel. For Him they had looked and longed as their Deliverer from all ill. But not corresponding with their carnal thoughts, they disowned and crucified Him. He was God manifest in flesh among them, and evil man could not tolerate this. The cross of Christ is the end of the history of the flesh as before God. Its evil is fully told. Flesh is no longer under probation, but divinely judged and set aside. No longer is the first man before God, but the Second. Sins being atoned for, and sin judged, God raised Him from among the dead, and gave Him glory at His own right hand. He is the risen Head of a new and heavenly race. God is now giving effect to His counsels concerning Christ and the church, in which flesh has no place or standing whatever. The Spirit of God is here, gathering out the chosen, and uniting them to the glorified Man on high. This was not nor could be until the trial of flesh was over, and the Second Man was established as such in heavenly glory, redemption being accomplished.

The divine purpose concerning the church was before the world and God will he glorified in it by Christ Jesus when the present world has passed away (Eph. 1:4; 3:21). This is sufficient to show that the church has no place or portion here. Its calling is above. It is a heavenly company, now being specially gathered out to share with the heavenly One on high. While this work is proceeding, the purposes of God concerning the earth, which center in the people of Israel, are in abeyance. W.W. F.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapter 2:13-22.

13 And he went out again by the sea (side); and all the crowd came unto him, and he taught them.14 And passing by he saw Levi the (son) of Alphaeus sitting at the toll-office, and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he rose and followed him. 15 And it came to pass as he reclined in his house, that [and] many tax-gatherers and sinners reclined (also) with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. 16 And the scribes and Pharisees, seeing him eating with the tax-gatherers and sinners, said to his disciples, What! doth he eat and drink with the tax-gatherers and sinners?

17And Jesus, when he heard, saith to them, They that are strong have no need of the physician, but they that are ill. I came not to call (the) righteous but sinners (to repentance).

18And the disciples of John and (of) the Pharisees were fasting; and they come and say to him, Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? 19And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bride-chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20But (the) days will come when the bridegroom shall have been taken from them, and then shall they fast in that day. 21 (And) No one seweth a patch of unmilled [cloth] on an old garment; else its new filling up taketh (away) from the old, and a worse rent is made. 22 And no one putteth new wine into old skins: else the (new) wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins (will be marred). But new wine must be put into new skins.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verse 13. — Again. He had walked by the sea before (1:16); now He taught the crowd there, as He had previously taught the more pious in the synagogue (1:21). This prepares the way for the call of tax-gatherers and sinners, which immediately follows.

Verse 14.—Levi. This tax-gatherer (Luke 5:27, 29) was also called Matthew, and was one of the twelve apostles (Matt. 9:9; 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). The latter name is always used of him as an apostle. In the First Gospel written by himself, he with rare humility, does not conceal his former offensive calling, but writes “publican” after his name in the list of the apostles (Matt. 9:9; 10:3).

Verse 15. — His house. This was Levi’s house where he had made a feast to the Lord (Luke 5:29). And a great crowd of fellow tax-gatherers and sinners, attracted by the public surrender of his office to follow the Lord, came to inquire what it meant, and were made welcome to the banquet.

Reclined. The half-sitting, half-lying posture at table was and is usual in the East. It explains the woman anointing Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:38), and John lying on Jesus’ bosom (John 13:25).

Tax-gatherers. This class of persons was particularly odious to the Jews, who regarded them with as much aversion as heathens (Matt. 18:17). They were hated because they consented to be employed by the Romans to collect the taxes which they were compelled to pay to their conquerors. It is quite probable the publicans were also very unjust and extortionate, and often exacted more than they had any right to do (Luke 3:13). But grace had come, and publicans went into the kingdom of God before the Pharisees (Matt. 21:31).

Verse 17. — The righteous. The Pharisees justified themselves, trusting they were righteous (Luke 10:29; 16:15; 18:9); but God declares there is none righteous (Rom. 3:10).

To repentance. This occurs in Luke 5:32, but is properly absent here and in Matt. 9:13.

Verse 18. — Were fasting. This was doubtless on one of the weekly fast-days; for many of the Pharisees fasted twice in the week (Luke 18:12). And the question as to the fasting was probably put at the very time the feasting was going on in Levi’s house.

Verse 19.— There is “a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Eccl. 3:4); and the Lord came to give “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isa. 61:1). They had yet to learn that He was there as the Bridegroom, and how unseasonable fasting was in His presence.

Verse 20. — Then shall they fast. Compare John 16:5-22 for the sorrow which filled the hearts of the Lord’s disciples on hearing of His approaching departure. Fasting is not commanded or forbidden for the Christian. See Acts 13:2, 3; 14:23; 2 Corinthians 6:5; 11:27. It is of most avail when by intense occupation with spiritual things we forego eating our necessary food.

Verse 21. — By the figures of the garment and the wine-skins the Lord shows that what He was introducing would not by any means coalesce with the former order of things. The new covenant was not at all to be after the manner of the old. This Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:7-13). And in this chapter we are shown the Lord (1) forgiving sins (verse 5), and (2) calling a tax-gatherer to be His disciple (verse 14), then (3) eating with a number of tax-gatherers and sinners (verse 15). These things were altogether contrary to the principles of the law.

Unmilled. After cloth is woven, it is often milled or beaten to render it more compact and durable. But this was unmilled, probably as better illustrating the feature of newness. So in Matthew 9:16. In Luke 5:36 we have a slightly different expression— “a piece of a new [i.e., in quality or character] garment on an old.”

Garment. This represents the outward forms, as the wine the inward life and power. The work of the law was the old garment, “the righteousness which is in the law” (Phil. 3:6). The fruit of the Spirit is the new cloth (Gal. 5:22, 23), which cannot be used to patch up the old garment. Not only “Ye must be born anew;” but the Spirit is now given to dwell in us, the contrast with the wine of nature (Eph. 5:18).

Verse 22. — Old wine-skins. The skins of animals were often sewn up and used as vessels to contain wine, etc. In course of time the skins became hard and cracked. They were then either bound up or discarded. See Joshua 9:4, 13. No one, therefore, would put new or unfermented wine into old skins; for the skins would be sure to burst, so losing both wine and skins. Note how the fact of the double loss is better shown in the new translation.

Serving the Lord.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, — I wish to address a few words of a practical nature to those of you who are engaged in the work of the Sunday School. I trust that any who are not so occupied will bear with the remarks made; and, should they be thereby induced to join in that work for themselves, it will, I am sure, be a result to be thankful for. Since wherever one goes, the same cry is raised of the fewness of teachers. As of old, the harvest is great but the laborers few.

If then you are happily employed in this manner, permit me to say at the outset what I believe you will agree with me in. You ought to be firmly convinced in your own soul that in this service you are serving the Lord, and that it is His will you should be doing what you are doing.

Do not think I wish to unsettle you. If you are already quite clear as to this very important point, it will in no sense injure you to be reminded of it. On the other hand, if you have not seriously considered the matter, the sooner you face the question the better. The bricklayer was angry when his master put his foot to the wall he was building and pushed it over. But he had not a word to say as to the strength of his wall; and, after all, that was far more important than his own feelings. The master was only testing his servant’s work, as I wish I could test yours. Believe me, there is no desire to knock down your wall, but only a real anxiety that your structure should prove a solid one.

Do you ask why it is so important that Sunday School teaching should be undertaken as work for the Lord? Because when we feel we are serving the Lord, the motives for our service are kept pure and constant. What was the secret of the ardour of the apostle Paul? “The love of Christ constraineth us,” he wrote (2 Cor. 5:14). Christ sent him (1 Cor. 1:17). Christ strengthened him (Phil. 4:13). And eventually the Lord would crown him (2 Tim. 4:8). He ever realized that he was not his own; he was the Lord’s bond-slave (Rom. 14:8). And the apostle was so constantly under the personal direction of Christ as to what he did or what he did not, that he could place on inspired record that remarkable expression, which is really his autobiography, “To me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).

Now just as Christ afforded the spring of the apostle’s service and life, so let it be with you. As you are engaged with your class from week to week, have it ever before your soul that you are doing it to the Lord and for the Lord. The sense of this will enable you to persevere in spite of the many opposing difficulties connected with this, and indeed with all Christian work.

There are many young teachers who feel that no one ever had such troublesome classes as they have. The dozen scholars under their particular care are the most difficult dozen to manage that ever sat before one teacher. They have tried all kinds of plans to gain attention during the lesson of instruction; but for every one heeding the teacher four others are laughing, whispering, and playing.

What is to be done? They have endeavored in many ways to preserve order, and win the ears of the children. But all is in vain. They have bought the scholars to be attentive. They have promised marks and prizes for good behavior. They have threatened great threats against the noisy ones. They have even tried the effect of telling the class a few Sunday School fables, such as, “Little Mary and her dicky-bird,” “Faithful Rover pulling naughty Sammy out of the water,” and others. But the effect was only brief. The teacher found the dozen pair of eyes upon him for a moment or so, but as soon as the tale was over the disorder began again as before.

How disheartened the teacher becomes, as week after week goes by with the same result! He feels ready to give up in despair, and teach no more. But it is in this way that teachers are tested.

If any of my young friends have known such an experience, I earnestly beseech you to consider your work as being received from the Lord. If He has given you it, He will sustain you in it; and moreover, He will honor your perseverance in face of such real, difficulties as these are, by giving you the joy of His own approval. He will be sure, in due time, to allow you to see proofs that He is working by means of you.

Do not, however, suppose that such difficulties are of necessity indications that the Lord has not sent you. The apostle did not think so. He went on with his work at Ephesus, although there was much positive opposition. He writes, “I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost; for a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:8; 9); so that adversaries did not drive Paul from his post. No; obstacles and hindrances only prove the reality of your purpose of heart and your devotion to the Lord.

They should certainly throw you in dependence upon the strength of the Lord. And He will then enable you to overcome all these discouragements that trouble you so.

“But,” it is sometimes asked, “how is one to know whether one is sent by the Lord, or not?” This question is one that properly should be settled before commencing the work. It ought to be quite clear to you yourself that it is the Lord’s will you should take a class.

But as to the special manner in which the Lord will make you know what His will is I fear I cannot say. This however you must hold fast as of the highest moment. If the Master has any service for you to perform, He Himself will send you to do it, and give you the assurance too that you are taking orders from Him. At the same time, you must of course on your part be desirous of hearing His voice. The Lord uses many ways of bringing His work before His servants; by means of the scriptures, or the advice of your elders, or the vacant class. But whatever the means, forgive me if I repeat that it is imperative that, after earnest, continued prayer, you should know that the Lord by those means is signifying to you what His will is.

Don’t have it in your mind that you have been a scholar long enough, and that it is now time to teach others, because you are too grown up to learn any more. Don’t take a class because a dear friend of yours does so. Don’t go a long way round to seek your work. If you are really anxious to serve the Lord, and it is His will you should take up any particular branch of His work, do you not believe that He will open the way for you? Most assuredly He will.

This question, however, sometimes troubles those who are actually engaged in Sunday School work. They think that if the Lord were with them they should get on better. Now allow me to say that we surely ought to have the Lord’s mind in giving up a work as much as in starting it. If it were our own work we might perhaps only consult ourselves. But if the Lord has given us a work, we must have the permission of the Master to leave it.

It is well known that teachers do sometimes forsake their classes in a huff. Something has offended them. The school is mismanaged. They are not sufficiently consulted. Away they go, turning their backs in a moment upon what they pressed to be doing for the Lord’s sake. Can there be a real sense of serving the Lord in such cases?

If you have anything to do with this service let it be begun, continued, and ended as unto the Lord. Let your hearts be in personal communion with Him about every detail of it continuously. And you will be sure to know the joy of His own blessing in your soul.

I am, Yours faithfully, “YOD.”

Correspondence.

N.H.— “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him” (Psa. 25:14). What does this mean? The Lord reveals His hidden counsels and purposes to those who walk before Him in the fear of His holy name (Prov. 3:32; Amos 3:7). He made known His ways to Moses, but only His acts to the children of Israel (Psa. 103:7). Abraham, but not Lot, He told of the coming judgment of the cities of the plain (Gen. 18:17); for he was the friend of God. See also John 15:15 for the believer now. It is true as a general principle that the more we advance in practical holiness and obedience, the more we learn what the mind of God is. In a difficulty how is one to know which is the right step? There is the very plain promise, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:6). This the Lord will always stand to. Hence it behooves us to wait patiently upon Him in prayer and supplication, also diligently searching the scripture for light. Then the voice will come, “This is the way; walk ye in it.” But we must wait, and let patience have, her perfect work. Those who act in the greatest hurry in the things of God commonly make most mistakes. You will be sure to know the Lord’s direction when you receive it. You know His voice (John 10:4).

W.T.— Does baptism wash away sins (Acts 22:16)? Certainly not; for Simon Magus was baptized, yet his sins were not washed away or forgiven (Acts 8:20, 21). Baptism is only the figure of remission of sins (Acts 2:38), as it is also of death to sin (Rom. 6:3). Is baptism a saving ordinance (1 Pet. 3:20, 21)? No; for this very passage declares as much. The baptism spoken of is “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,” that is, not a ceremonial act of washing. There is a comparison between the waters of the deluge and the waters of baptism. As the eight souls were saved through water, so baptism is a like figure and saves us, for baptism typifies our death with Christ (Rom. 6:4). But (reading without the parenthesis) we see that our salvation rests not on baptism only (Christ’s death), but on the resurrection also. “Baptism doth also now save us... by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The parenthesis chews (1) that the apostle does not mean baptism in the sense of carnal washing by water; (2) that he does mean that real deliverance from sins which every exercised conscience requires, and of which baptism is the appointed sign. For “answer” read “demand,” or “inquiry.” A man’s conscience, when “good,” always denounces him for his sins until they are forgiven. In this sense baptism is the request of a good conscience. Compare Acts 2:37, 38. This passage is somewhat difficult, as we may expect many parts of God’s word to be. We hope that with patient consideration the above may he of some service. If more is wanted please write again.

F.B.— Why was not Daniel put in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Probably because the accusers of the three Jews (Dan. 3:8) hardly dared to accuse a man recently elevated to a position of such high rank as Daniel had been. He was ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon (Dan. 2:48). Daniel had performed a great personal service to Nebuchadnezzar, which could not be said of the others. Why were these three not with Daniel in the lions’ den? This event was many years later, and after Babylon had been taken by Darius the Mede. Nothing is said of the three companions after their deliverance out of the fiery furnace. It is impossible even to say whether they were in Babylon.

Putting the Neck to the Work.

TEKOAH was a town some twelve miles south of Jerusalem. Here resided the “wise woman” who pleaded for Absalom (2 Sam. 14), and here lived the prophet Amos who herded cattle (Amos 1:1).

When the wall of Jerusalem was being restored in the days of Nehemiah, the inhabitants of Tekoah seem to have been especially zealous in co-operation. Their names are mentioned twice in the list of those engaged in this work (Neh. 3:5, 27).

But the nobles of Tekoah were dishonorable exceptions, conspicuous by their idleness. It is recorded of them that they “put not their necks to the work of their Lord.” The expression used is a significant one, and implies the idea of bowing the neck to receive the yoke of servitude. Its contrast is in the stiff neck and the hardened heart which are figures of that haughty, independent spirit which resents every call of authority outside itself. How often we see it displayed in the history of the nation of Israel! How often also it rises in our own hearts!

This proud spirit wrought in the hearts of these nobles of Tekoah. Their Exalted Mightiness’s looked down with no little scorn upon the band of stonemasons and laborers that were working so earnestly among the ruins of their beloved Zion.

Had they been bidden to do some great thing they would have done it. But really, they would be quite ashamed for their very “respectable” neighbors, Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, to have found them carrying hods of mortar and chiselling stones to patch up broken-down walls. No, they could not let themselves down to such work as that.

Ah, well; He who had His eye upon the diligence of the son of the apothecary and the daughters of Shallum (verses 8,12) did not overlook the proud disdain of these grandees. We must leave them to Him.

As to ourselves, my beloved brethren, let us not be ashamed to be seen patching up the old walls that the enemy has broken down. See what breaches he has made! But even as Jerusalem, though desolate and ruined, was still the city of the Great King, so although the church of God is laid waste, it is still His house. Give a hand in repairing the walls, my brother. “Strengthen the things that remain.”

It is instructive to note what a number of these helpers did the piece of the wall over against their own houses. So now let us be jealous for the saints among whom we are found, that they are walking in the “old paths.” Remember the words of the apostle Jude when giving us counsel for apostate days, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” Now, if ever, is the “time to build up,” the “time to gather stones together,” the “time to embrace,” the “time to keep” (Eccl. 3). And in order to do this we must keep ourselves in the love of God (Jude 20, 21), for it is love that builds up (1 Cor. 8:1).

And let us not miss the lesson of putting not only our hands, but our necks to the work. Humility is the great requisite of the Christian servant. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” (See 2 Tim. 2:24, 25).

We are too often ashamed of the work the Lord gives us to do. We are afraid lest Tobiah should see us with the trowel and the plaster, building up tumble-down walls. But if the Lord set us the task, what then?

"Love is of God."

No part of God’s Word is more precious to the believer than the first Epistle of “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” It would be difficult to say whether one is more struck by its sweetness or its solemnity, by its simplicity or its depth. It is indeed quite inexhaustible in its fullness, and each time we read it we are impressed by a divine freshness, and some new applicability undiscerned before.

And one can discover, I think, a wonderful fitness in the apostle to write the closing words of revelation, by reason of his age and his character. Of course God knew how to select the proper instrument for each book of the Bible, and to adapt the shape of the vessel, so to speak, to the particular water of life that was to flow through his lips. And in the writings of St. John, “son of thunder” though he was, and though none of the New Testament writers could be more unsparing, we find accordingly a calm and mellow maturity in keeping with the spirit of one who had leaned on Jesus’ bosom, who for many years apparently had written nothing but pondered deeply, and who at length was inspired by the Holy Ghost to write three Epistles as well as the Gospel and Apocalypse that bear his name.

Had he not had a long preparation, when at length he began his Gospel with that lofty peal of spiritual thunder (John 1:1) as Augustine of Hippo so strikingly called it? I grant that we must be careful not to attribute aught of the divineness of scripture to man, however blest and favored. All is of God, without Whom even St. John could do nothing. Yet no doubt that long period of silent preparation was not without its purpose and its result.

In the case of St. Paul how different it was. At once God set him to his appointed work of oral ministry and with no great delay to write also—witness the 1St and 2nd Epistles to the Thessalonians.

Equally blessed for both apostles to be thus chosen by the Master for their allotted service; though one was called to fervent, energetic, and at times even agitated labor; while the other was interested with the calm unfolding of the doctrine of the eternal life and all its blessed consequences. And the manner of his writing is singularly different from the closely reasoned argument of Paul, although there are in John divine links between utterances that at first sight seem diverse, if not inconsequent. No doubt it often calls for much spiritual intelligence to discover the links and to grasp the “characteristic gliding” (as the Editor of the Bible Treasury has termed it) from one aspect of the truth to another.

To apprehend all this is of the highest importance. But my task is easier and is concerned simply with the text that heads these few remarks.

“Love is of God.” We needed God to tell us this, though the truth when known proclaims itself divine, and we can appreciate its exclusive claims. We are concerned with no counterfeit, but with that blessed principle, of which pure human love is but a faint adumbration. And how infinitely love surpasses intellect, even as intellect surpasses matter, was admirably expressed by that Marvelous genius and true saint, Blaise Pascal, who has been called the greatest of Frenchmen.

“Love” then is “of God,” for “God is love.” He is equally light, and it is fatal to forget this. But God is love—this is the point of the present paper.

Never can we dwell too much on this great fact. Nay, not if we thought of nothing else for a whole week. And this divine love is the highest thing, though never to be divorced from light. Love and light indeed are the only principles (the word is inadequate) which God is declared to be. He is never called righteousness or truth even (Christ is the truth, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth). Though our Lord by His “holy Incarnation” made truth and righteousness “liable to love,” this was indeed the strongest proof of love, on God’s part that “the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” Are we not in some danger of forgetting this aspect of the faith? Impossible to make enough of the blessed Saviour, Who was and is God. But “the Father Himself loveth you” said our Lord, and we should be studious to enter into all truth. It is so easy to be one-sided; we are so by the make of our being.

Thus the apostle exhorts believers to love one another for the all-sufficient reason that “love is of God.” No danger that love will make us weak-kneed, or loose, or careless as to ourselves or as to others. The very reverse is the case. For who was so loving as the Saviour, yet who so uncompromising in His insistence on a holy walk? In truth these divine virtues go together, and he who is most jealous for God’s honor and glory will have most love both for the converted and for the unconverted. It is otherwise where self appears, for there are envy and strife and every evil work.

But I do not pursue the subject further, having wished simply to call attention to one out of a long series of blessed sayings in this sublime Epistle, where all is as searching as it is precious and divine. At one time we need correction, and its grave words of warning arrest us; at another comfort which. God graciously gives us through the written word, of which the sweetness is as pronounced as the solemnity. R. B.

One Thing Needful.

THEY only who have learned of Jesus Christ, who, sit at His feet and rest in His presence can serve Him acceptably. What a revelation of the secret of effectual service is Luke 10:42! The soul of Martha was completely occupied with her service, but Mary found her heart’s satisfaction in sitting at the feet of the Lord and receiving from Him those words of life and grace which He communicated.

Christ Himself and not service must be our heart’s object. In this path we are kept lowly and have neither time nor inclination to complain of the shortcomings of others. The enjoyment of His presence and communion with Himself destroys all self-importance.

Martha was oppressed with her service, but Mary had rest of soul in the Lord’s presence. Divine intelligence followed, so that at the right moment she came forward and served acceptably (John 12:1-8).

Some of us find it difficult to take this place and keep it. Busied with our own plans, and filled with a sense of our own importance, we miss the blessedness of that rest and peace in which He trod this weary world (Matt. 11:25-30). It was so perfectly enjoyed by Him even in times of the deepest discouragement, when such scriptures as Isaiah 49:3 found fulfillment in His experience upon earth as God’s servant, bringing the deepest sorrow to His heart (for He felt the contempt of His people profoundly).

He thus turned to the Father in true submission to His will, and found His own deep joy in all the way that led to the accomplishment of the Father’s counsels. This was natural to Him as a perfect dependent man. It often happens that we reach it by a path of discipline because of the perversity of our nature. G. S. B.

The Epistle to the Galatians.

Chapter 3, 4.

As chapter 2, ends with the great truth of Christ living in the Christian by faith in the Son of God, in contrast with the law, so chapter 3, shows that the reception of the Spirit was not by works of law but by report of faith. How senseless then to perfect in flesh, with which law deals, what they began in Spirit! Thence he turns in verse 6 to Abraham who believed and had not the law, but the promise. In thee all the nations shall be blessed, but solely by faith. For as many persons as are by works of law are under the curse for which Deuteronomy 27, is cited. There, when the two mountains were taken by six tribes on each for blessing and curse, only Ebal has the curses, and not a word of the blessings on Gerizim! Granted, that in fact the blessings were pronounced on the appointed mountain; in effect, as God knew, it must fail; and hence the silence of this inspired book. On the principle of law there is no blessing but curse for sinful man. “The just shall live by faith,” as Habakkuk 2:4 testifies when all was ruin; where in vain law held out living to him that shall have done its demands. But Christ has redeemed from out of the curse by having become a curse, as elsewhere Deuteronomy attests (21); that the blessing might come unhindered, the promise of the Spirit through faith (1-13).

Then in a deep unfolding the notion of annexing law to promise is excluded. For the promises were addressed to Abraham, and to his seed, 430 years before the law, and hence cannot be annulled by it. The promise was in grace. Law was added for the sake of transgressions till the Seed came to Whom was made the promise, which has no mediator like the law with Moses between God and man. There are two parties in law, one of them sinful; there is but one in promise, God, and therefore all is sure in the end. They are not against each other, as they must be if joined: each served its proper aim. There is no righteousness by law; but the promise by faith of Jesus Christ is given to believers. Law was but a servile child-guide; but we are all, Gentiles as well as Jews, God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus; and Him it is, not law, we put on in baptism, in Whom there can be no distinction in the flesh; and if of Christ, we are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise (14-29).

In chapter 4, the apostle points out the immense change wrought for the saints through Christ’s work and the sending of the Spirit. Previously the heir, a child or infant, did not differ from a slave under the elements of the world; but now he was redeemed by the Son and became a son. And so were the Gentile believers, sons with the Spirit in their hearts crying, Abba, Father. Such is the true relationship of the Christian (1-7). For Gentile saints, after being known of God, to turn to the weak and beggarly elements (i.e., of the law) was really a return to their idolatry in principle. “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain. Be as I [am], for I [am], as ye, brethren, I beseech you: ye have not injured me at all” (8-12). He was freed from law by Christ’s death. They as Gentiles had nothing to do with law. They inflicted no wrong in saying so of Paul. Compare Romans 7:6, and Galatians 2:19. How the new delusion had alienated them from him! Had he become their enemy by telling them the truth? Their zeal should not be only in his presence (13-18). They needed that he should travail again in birth to have Christ formed in them (19).

“Tell me, ye that desire to be under law, do ye not hear the law?” Then he speaks of Abraham’s two sons: one by a bondwoman, the other by a free woman, one born after the flesh, as the other by promise, allegorizing the two covenants, and answering respectively to Jerusalem in bondage, and to free Jerusalem which is above, our mother, entitled to rejoice after desolation. We then, as Isaac, are children of promise, and persecuted by him born after the flesh as of old. “Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free” (21-31) How convincingly the tables were turned on these retrogradists from grace to the law!

None Beside.

IN heaven I have no other;

On earth none else but Thee;

Who, knowing all, still lovest

A guilty worm like me.

Thy heart that once was broken

Upon th’ accursed tree;

The surest, purest token

Of perfect love to me;

Thy hand that once was nailed

To Calvary’s cruel cross,

And now from heaven extended

To save from shame and loss;

O heart, O hand, of Jesus;

God’s saving love and power;

My refuge and my fortress,

My everlasting tower.

I need no other friendship;

I plead no other name,

Than Thine Who died’st to save me;

Yea, Thine Who liv’st again.

How often have I grieved Thee!

As oft didst Thou respond

In faithful love, my Advocate;

In grace all thought beyond.

Oh, how I long to see Thee;

To be with Thee above;

To see Thee in Thy glory,

No more to grieve Thy love.

D.T.

The Church the Body of Christ.

It is a wonderful thought that every believer of this period is a member of the body of Christ, united to Him in the heavens by the Holy Ghost. Such a position of blessing was only possible after the accomplishment of redemption and the exaltation of Christ as man to the right hand of God. “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,” and the Spirit did not descend for this purpose until the Lord Jesus went on high.

It is highly important for every believer to hold fast the fact that union with Christ is on resurrection ground only. Many are vague as to this. Some speak of His incarnation, as though that was the beginning of this Marvelous union. That could not be, as a moment’s serious consideration will show. How could holy humanity (which that of Jesus was) link itself with fallen man? The idea must be put far away, as derogatory to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Recall His own words in John 12:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Had He continued among men, union would have been out of the question, however blessed in many other respects His personal presence might be.

This scripture makes another point plain also—there was no link with Him even in death. The fruitfulness of the true corn of wheat followed death. There he was solemnly alone. Man turned from Him, even His own beloved disciples, and Jehovah put Him to grief. None could be with Him in those unutterable depths. He and He alone could sustain what the holiness of God required, and accomplish the mighty work of redemption. It was for us, undoubtedly, but He was alone in the glorious work.

Death being passed, and its power broken, our sins being all put away, the blessed fruit is seen. As the risen One He associates with Himself all who believe in His name. In Ephesians, where we get the heavenly side of the truth of the one body, Christ is presented to us as One Who was dead, but raised up by God to sit at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Having thus highly exalted Him, He “gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:20-23).

The Holy Spirit is the living link. He has come from the glory to make known the perfection of the work of Christ, and the divine delight in it, and to bring us into eternal participation with the risen One in all that has accrued to Him through His work. Through faith and the reception of the Spirit, we are brought into all the advantages of His risen position. On the one hand, sins are all gone, judgment is past, our old man judged and set aside; on the other, we are accepted in His acceptance, loved by the Father with the love wherewith He loves the Son, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. Such is our blessed portion, in the infinite grace of God.

Such a place and portion was not known, nor could be, in Old Testament times; but it is now the portion of all believers, whether Jew or Gentile. The Jewish election according to grace, and the Gentiles who are being gathered out for His name, are now brought together into one body (Rom. 11:5; Acts 15:14). Circumcision nor uncircumcision avails nothing here; all is according to the counsels of divine grace and love. The middle wall of partition, put up originally by God Himself, is now broken down. The enmity between the two, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, was abolished in the flesh of Christ. “One new man” is the result, all being alike brought into peace and reconciliation with God. Instead of all the favors being with the Jew, as in the past dispensation, “through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2).

Formerly there were but two classed in the world; the Jews, the chosen people of God, and the Gentiles, all who were outside the Jewish circle. Now there are three classes—the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32). When a man believes the gospel and receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, he passes out of his Jewish or Gentile position and relationship, and is brought into that wonderful unity called “the church of God.” Marvelous place! Blessed relationship! The Lord grant to each of our readers to understand it better and to enjoy it more thoroughly.

W.W.F.

Seeing the Invisible.

A PARADOX to nature, surely, and an impossibility! Man does not, with his natural vision, see that which is invisible; but with the eye of faith, he can do so, even as Moses “endured as seeing him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27).

A believer in Jesus, when just about to enter into the realization of true life beyond the grave, often sees what is unseen by those who are standing round the bed, and this without suffering from delirium. The heart is melted with rapture at the sights and sounds seraphic which meet the eye and ear; and the cry is heard, “Can you not see? Can you not hear? How lovely! They are coming to fetch me!”

But it is while we are in health, while we are about our daily employment, that our hearts should be more detached from the things of this life, so that the unseen may be more real, and we may live in the constant habit of referring everything to the Lord. Moses thus endured. He “esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt,” and afterward he had a great honor and privilege conferred upon him, for “the Lord talked with Moses” (Ex. 33:9).

And we who are in the full blaze of gospel light, who have many more advantages than even Moses had, we who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, ought we not, in a deeper, truer sense, to endure, as seeing him who is invisible?” For we can say of the Lord, “whom having not seen,” we “love”; and we can rejoice in Him, with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

This sight of the Invisible One is a power in itself. “Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.” Let us believe this daily and hourly, and thus be prepared for whatever may come. In sickness, His presence gives patience; in bereavement, His presence gives consolation; in reverses of fortune, in tribulation, persecution, or distress, His presence cheers and calms, and gives the trusting soul a strength to surmount obstacles, which is far beyond natural power.

How often has it been said “If I had been told beforehand that I could pass through such a trial, I should have thought it impossible; but the Lord stood by me and helped me, and I have come through it.”

So, dear fellow-believer, roll thy burden on the Lord; trust that He will lay you on His shoulder and carry you all the way home. Cultivate a near and intimate communion with Him, sweeter and more precious than the most loving earthly tie. Tell Him all your griefs and sorrows, and you will then be enabled to “endure.” You will never feel lonely, but will bravely bear all, and face every difficulty, “seeing him who is invisible” now, but Who will be seen by-and-by in all the splendor of His glory, for which we are waiting, watching, and longing. H.L.R.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapters 2:23-28.

23 AND it came to pass that he was passing on the Sabbath (day) through the cornfields; and his disciples began, as they walked on, plucking the ears (of corn). 24And the Pharisees said to him, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath (day) that which is not lawful? 25 And he said to them, Have ye never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he and those with him? 26 How he entered into the house of God, at [the place of] Abiathar [? the] high priest, and ate the Show-bread which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him? 27 And he said to them, The Sabbath was made on account of man, and not man on account of the Sabbath: 28 so that the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath also.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verse 23. — Sabbath. This is called in Luke 6:1 The “second-first” Sabbath, and it was the first occurring after the offering of the wave-sheaf (Lev. 23:10). The Sabbath immediately after Passover was a “high day” (John 19:31), and was the first of the series of seven Sabbaths to be reckoned before the “offering of the wave-loaves (Lev. 23:15-17). The one in the text was the second of that series. The order therefore would be as follows: —

NISAN	14	Passover.

	15	Sabbath (the “high day”). Feast of unleavened bread begins.

	16	Offering of wave-sheaf.

	21	Last day of feast of unleavened bread.

	22	Second Sabbath (“second-first”).
SIVAN	5	Seventh Sabbath.

	6	Offering of wave-loaves. Day of Pentecost.

Many explanations have been given of the peculiar term (second-first); but the above seems to accord best with its known usage by Greek writers. The word is omitted in the Revised Version, but, it is believed, there is not sufficient reason for the omission, which was probably due to its difficulty.

Plucking the ears. They were permitted to pluck their neighbor’s corn with their hands, but not to use a sickle (Deut. 23:25). The act of the disciples was not objected to on the ground that they helped themselves to the property of others.

Verse 24. — Not lawful. In Luke 6:1 we read the disciples rubbed the grains of corn out of the husks in their hands. This operation the Pharisees in their eagerness to condemn the Lord denominated “work.” And as the law expressly said no work must be done on the Sabbath day (Ex. 20:10), they congratulated themselves on the smartness of their supposed capture.

Verse 25. — What David did. There was a striking similarity between the circumstances of David and those of the Lord. David was the anointed king of Israel but was obliged to fly from the wrath of Saul. And when hungry and in desperate need he applied to the high priest who gave him the shewbread. The Lord was among the Jews as the anointed of Jehovah (Mark 1:10), but disowned by them and outcast. They would exonerate David because he had need and was hungry; but were the Lord’s disciples, in a similar case, to starve because it was the Sabbath? Whose fault was it that the Lord’s disciples were obliged to seek food in the cornfields?

Verse 26. — Abiathar the high priest. There is a difficulty here, since in 1 Sam. 21. we read that Ahimelech (also called Ahiah, 1 Sam. 14:3) gave David the shewbread. Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escaped at the massacre of his relatives, and became a companion of David in his wanderings. The difficulty remains because there is nothing in the sacred history to explain why the Lord mentions Abiathar and not Ahimelech or Ahiah. Reading as the A.V. here, “the days of Abiathar,” it means in the time of Abiathar who afterward became high-priest. Or, possibly Abiathar acted for his father, as Hophni and Phinehas did for Eli. Even if quite inexplicable to us, we might be certain (1) that if we knew all the circumstances, the explanation would be simple, and (2) that the Lord made no mistake. But the explanation indicated in the above translation seems highly probable. There the phrase is taken to be a reference to that section of the inspired history relating to Abiathar. A similar instance may be seen in Romans 11:2; “Wot ye not what the scripture saith in [in the section, or history of] Elijah?” And, again, the Lord, when speaking to the Sadducees, says, “Have ye not read in the book of Moses in [the place concerning] the bush?” (Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). This mode of reference to the Old Testament scriptures is known to have been practiced by Jewish teachers; thus, they called 2 Samuel 1 “the Bow,” and Ezekiel 1 “the Chariot.”

Show-bread. Twelve unleavened loaves were placed on the table in the holy place each Sabbath, 24:5-9) representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The loaves when removed, were eaten by the priests (Aaron and his sons). Hence the bread is called “hallowed” (1 Sam. 21:4).

Verse 27. — Sabbath was made for man. The Sabbath was made for man’s benefit, and not, as the Pharisees would have it, that man was made for the rigid observance of a pitiless law.

Verse 28. — Lord of the Sabbath. In the title, “Son of man,” the Lord takes a place outside the narrow range of Judaism, of which system, the Sabbath was a distinctive mark. He was not in bondage to the legal claims of the Sabbath; and as He had power on earth to forgive sins, so He was Lord of the Sabbath also. If He is rejected (and Son of Man is His title as such) He has power even over the Sabbath.

Jonah and the Fish.

IN this case we have one authority weighing infinitely more than all the difficulties which have been mustered by unbelief. For it is plain that our Lord Jesus singles out the particular point of greatest difficulty and affixes to it His own almighty stamp of truth. Can you not receive the words of the Lord Jesus against all men that ever were? What believer would hesitate between the Second man and the first? The Lord Jesus has referred to the fact that Jonah was swallowed up by the great fish, call it what you will: I am not going to enter into a contest with naturalists whether it was a shark, a spermaceti whale, or another. This is a matter of very small account. We will leave these men of science to settle the kind; but the fact itself (the only one of importance for us to affirm), is that it was a great fish which swallowed and afterward yielded up the prophet alive. This is all one need stand to—the literal truth of the fact alleged. There is no need to imagine that a fish was created for the purpose. There are many fishes quite capable of swallowing a man whole: at any rate, such have been. If there was one then, it is enough. But the fact is not only affirmed in the Old Testament, but reaffirmed and applied in the New by our Lord Himself. Any man who disputes this must give an account of his conduct before the judgment seat of Christ ere long.

W. K.

Knowing the Scriptures.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, ―If you are occupied with a class in the Sunday School, it will be well for you to have a definite aim before you in this work. It is not enough for you to be regularly in your place in the teacher’s chair. Nor will it be sufficient for you to struggle lamely through the hour appointed for teaching. You ought to have one distinct purpose ever pressing upon you. And you should bend every energy in the direction of attaining this set purpose. Aimless teachers accomplish nothing.

Let every Sunday School teacher carefully consider (1) what is to be taught, (2) who is being taught, and (3) how they are to be taught.

In the first place then let us think of what it is your business to teach. In a few words, your business is to instruct your charges in the holy scriptures.

I am quite prepared to hear you remark that you are well aware of this already, and you suppose most others are also. And yet from the methods pursued by many, one would hardly suppose their object was scriptural instruction. When, for instance, the time is spent in the recital of various anecdotes of doubtful authenticity, or when, stranger to say, the class is invited to listen to some storybook read in their hearing, it would be hard to suppose that the teacher is impressed with a responsibility to teach the scriptures. We could not understand a shoemaker who employed his time in making wooden boxes instead of shoes: neither can we understand a person taking the place of a Sunday School teacher who puts aside the Bible for amusing or “instructive” stories.

Bear in mind, my young friends, that once you lose faith in the Bible as God’s word, your work will degenerate into mere philanthropic effort of a very poor quality indeed; and the effects of it will hardly last from one week to another. But on the other hand, if you are used of God to communicate to your scholars a knowledge of the scriptures, even though it be, comparatively speaking, only a slight knowledge, the result of your work is of incalculable value. A thread of gold is worth far more than a cartload of rubbish. And because of the divine character of what is imparted in Bible teaching, its effects abide for eternity.

Possibly you may be thinking that I should have said just now that the aim of the teacher ought rather to be the conversion of the scholars. Undoubtedly this should be very much before every one engaged in this work, so much so as to be the constant desire and prayer. But if you reflect for a moment, I think you will conclude that conversion is really included in the aim I have stated above. For what is the means by which every soul is born anew? Is it not the word of God (1 Peter 1:23)? Indeed we are expressly told that the scriptures are able to make “wise unto salvation,” though, of course, not apart from faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15). So that by instilling into children’s minds the great facts of the Bible, you are providing what may be used by the Holy Ghost at any moment for the eternal blessing of their souls.

The passage last referred to (2 Tim. 3:15) is doubtless a familiar one to you. It is certainly full not only of interest but of cheer for the teacher of the young. The apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Here you have two plain facts which will assist you to know that you have the divine sanction in your endeavors.

Timothy knew the scriptures from a child.

The scriptures have power to make wise unto salvation.

In the case of Timothy you have an example of one whose instruction in the scriptures began from his very earliest days with the most blessed results. In his childhood, Timothy’s acquaintance with the ancient oracles commenced, and by the enlightenment of the Spirit he became not only a living member of Christ, but also an active and honored servant of Christ. He was trained in the way he should go, and when he was old he did not depart from that way.

Be encouraged therefore. Maybe there is a young Timothy among your tiresome boys. At any rate be as zealous as if they were all Timothys.

In the next place, observe that the scriptures are the means of imparting that wisdom “that is from above.” This is the wisdom which is inseparably connected with eternal salvation. What Eve vainly sought in the fruit of the forbidden tree (Gen. 3:6) is promised in the word of God.

Dear fellow-workers, never forget that it is the Bible, not your weekly lessons, that God makes use of. If you are engaged in teaching passages of scripture, you are like a person planting acorns. The manner of planting is not the chief thing, but whether there is a germ of life in the seed or not. The Lord said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). So you may be sure in teaching scripture that you are teaching words of life. At any moment the Holy Spirit may use the text learned in the Sunday School to the eternal salvation of some of your scholars.

This then may be considered as the answer to the question what we must teach. The other points I may (n.5) take up another time.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

E.M.K.— Does the parable of the talents refer to believers? If so, explain as to the unprofitable servant (Matt. 25:14-30). The parable applies to all, (believers or not) who are in the place of Christian service. It will assist you in understanding the parable to recollect that the question is one of service, not of eternal life. The goods were delivered by the master to his servants (verse 14), one of whom was found “unprofitable” and cast into outer darkness (verse 30). Judas was, in a sense, such an unprofitable servant. He was one of “the twelve” even, thus occupying a distinguished place of service, and yet he was lost after all (John 6:70, 71; Acts 1:25). He served himself rather than his Master, Whom he entirely misjudged. Now those who have eternal life can never perish (John 10:28). And eternal life is given by God on account of faith in the Lord Jesus (John 3:16), not on account of faithful service. Had the.” slothful servant” possessed eternal life, he would have known the Master (John 17:3). He calls his lord a hard man (verse 24). This is false, proving his utter ignorance.

See on 1 Corinthians 9:27 in Vol. 2. B.M.M., p. 142.

F.W.R.— Sojourning of Israelites. Explain the different periods given: 400 years (Gen. 15:13; Acts 7:6), 430 years (Ex. 12:40,41; Gal. 3:17). Let us take first the passage in Galatians which states the law was given 430 years after the ratification of the covenant. Now this I say; A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul” (Gal. 3:17, R. V.). As this period begins at the confirming of the promise to Abraham, we must fix this point. Now Abraham received the promise in Ur (Acts 7:2, 3) but he stayed in Haran until Terah, his father, died. When he entered Canaan at the age of seventy-five, the first confirmation was made (Gen. 12:7). Starting here we can pursue the landmarks as follow: —

1. Birth of Isaac	25 years later	(Gen. 21:5).
2. Jacob	60 after	1. (Gen. 25:26).
3. Joseph	91	2
4. Death of Joseph	110	3. (Gen. 1:26).
5. Birth of Moses	64	4
6. The Exodus and the law given	80	5. (Ex. 7:7).
Total...	430 years after	Genesis 12:7.

It will be observed that each item except 3 and 5 is established by direct scripture. For 3 notice that Jacob was 130 years of age when he went into Egypt (Gen. 47:9). Joseph was then about 39; since he was 30 when raised to power (Gen. 41:46), and years of plenty and 2 of famine elapsed before his father came. Deducting 39 from 130, we have 91, the age of Jacob at the birth of Joseph, as stated above.

As to 5, there is nothing to enable us to speak so accurately; still it can be shown to be an approximate estimate. Levi was about ten years older than his brother Joseph, and therefore 120 at the latter’s death (Gen. 1:26). Levi died 17 years later at the age of 137 (Ex. 6:16). Jochebed, the mother of Moses, who must have been Levi’s youngest daughter, seeing she married her nephew (Ex. 6:20), could hardly have been less than 40 at her father’s death. If so, taking the above reckoning, Moses was born (64-17) 47 years after, that is, when Jochebed was 87 years old. This is not unreasonable. So that 64 years agrees with the facts recorded of this period.

Even if we commence reckoning, as some do, at Genesis 15 the small difference of five or ten years thus made can be added to 5, without altering the sum total, or affecting the above reasoning as to the time given—64 years.

Turning now to the next passage, we read, “The sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years.” Here we have the same period. The question arises whether it applies to the actual time the people were in Egypt.

If so, we must add 215 years to Jochebed’s age at the birth of Moses, making her (215 plus 87) 302 years old, which is incredible. If not, as we believe, then the 430 years covers the whole period of sojourning in Canaan (Heb. 11:9) as well as in Egypt—from Abraham’s first entry into the promised land until the Exodus. They had been sojourners 430 years and now went forth to take possession of the promised land. This text therefore agrees with Galatians 3:17.

In the third place we look at Genesis 15:13, where 400 years, not 430, is named. This however we find is spoken not of Abraham but of his seed. “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years,” In this instance we cannot start before the birth of Isaac who was Abraham’s seed, and promised in this chapter (Gen. 15). We must therefore (see above) deduct 25 years from 430, leaving 405 years. Shortly after Isaac’s birth, the persecution of the seed began by the son of Hagar the Egyptian (Gen. 21:9) mocking Mac. This will further reduce the 405; so that we can easily see how 400 years covers in round numbers the affliction of Abraham’s seed by the Egyptians.

The fourth passage (Acts 7:6) is but a quotation (Gen. 15. and hence requires no remark.

Summing up, the 430 years refers to the sojourning of the children of Israel in Canaan and Egypt, and the 400 years to the affliction of Abraham’s seed.

Against the view taken above that the children of Israel were actually in Egypt 215 years and not 430, it is alleged that the genealogy of Joshua, the son of Nun (1 Chron. 7:23-27) who was born in Egypt demands a longer time, because of the number of generations named (to or 1:1). But we must recollect that the Israelites multiplied at an exceptionally rapid rate (Ex. 1:7) to the surprise of the Egyptians. So far from this passage (1 Chron. 7:23-27) being a valid objection to the 215 years, we see in it an explanation of the vast number of the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, a fact which has puzzled some to account for. The rate of increase was of a special character, as Exodus 1 shows, and in accordance with this statement we find an unusually large number of consecutive generations, given in 1 Chronicles, as occurring between Ephraim and his descendant Joshua. This is confirmation not contradiction. Besides, if we take eleven generations in 215 years, this only gives an average of 19 years between father and son, which under the circumstances we can well understand.

Sham Grace.

THERE are lies without words; and the earliest annals of the church afford a solemn instance of such a case. The attempted deception by Ananias and Sapphira was the first great blot on the fair page of the history of God’s assembly on earth.

The assembly of saints was the dwelling-place of the Spirit of truth Who descended at Pentecost from the Father (John 15:26). But Satan who is the father of lies (John 8:14) effected an entrance among them, and two of their number were ensnared by the wiles of the wicked one.

They were tempted to deceive the Holy Ghost, and they yielded to the temptation. At that season grace was specially working in the hearts of the saints, so that a spirit of self-sacrifice and consideration for the needs of others was displayed in such a degree as has never been done since. The hearts of Ananias and his wife were filled by Satan, so that they strove to appear among men as those possessing a piety and devotion which, as a matter of fact, they did not possess.

Joses (or Joseph) Barnabas, a Cyprian Levite, gained for himself a good degree in the roll of spiritual fame at that time. He owned a field which he voluntarily disposed of for the general benefit of the poor brethren and sisters, and laid the proceeds of the sale at the feet of the apostles to be used for this purpose. The circumstances of his case were evidently such as to call for special honorable mention in the scriptures above many others who acted similarly at that time.

Then it was that Satan sought to introduce a counterfeit of this eminent saint. Ananias and Sapphira his wife were tempted by him to represent to the assembly that they had done the same as Joseph Barnabas. Like him they sold a possession; and they brought a sum of money which, like him, they laid at the apostles’ feet, leaving the saints to draw the conclusion that they had devoted the whole to the poor, as he had done.

It cannot be said that they fell suddenly, through being overtaken by surprise. There was a deliberate plot concerning which they had consulted together, and agreed as to the details (verse 9). Ananias and Sapphira probably assured themselves that no questions were likely to be asked as to the amount realized by the sale of their possession, so that they would not therefore have actually to tell the saints a falsehood.

But, as has happened so many times before and since, they who were beguiled of Satan to deceive others were themselves deceived by the prince of darkness (2 Tim. 3:13). They altogether overlooked what it is always of the utmost peril for any man, whether saint or sinner, to forget, viz., the presence of God. In this case, there was more than the general fact of the eyes of the Lord running to and fro the earth, beholding the evil and the good. In a manner not known on earth before, the saints were “an habitation of God through the Spirit.” For God the Holy Ghost descended at Pentecost to dwell in the assembly. He was there to produce the fruit of grace in the saints. And the “great grace” of Acts 4:33 was the result of His action, as well as the “great power.”

Thus Ananias and Sapphira by their gift to the apostles were simulating the work of the Holy Spirit in the souls of the brethren. For the grace they professed to have they did not possess. Their donation was the work of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit. But if they succeeded in deceiving men, they could not deceive God.

Their sin in thus denying the presence of the Holy Spirit in the assembly was brought home to them sternly and solemnly by the apostle Peter. “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?... Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” It was a “sin unto death.” Peter did not pray for him. But God, in the righteous government of His own house, took away the offender by the stroke of sudden death, so that others might be impressed with the sanctity of His presence, and “pass the time of their sojourning in fear.”

The occurrence is a striking parallel to the sin of Nadab and Abihu on the setting up of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Contrary to the word of Jehovah, they offered incense before Him, using “strange” fire. Instead of rising acceptably to the Lord, this brought down His direct judgement, and they were both slain (Lev. 10:1, 2). “I will,” said He, “be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” He would have the sons of Aaron and all the congregation of Israel learn that His presence was in the sanctuary.

The offering of Barnabas was true incense and well-pleasing to the Lord; but that of Ananias and Sapphira was not offered with “fire from off the altar.” It was but the imitation of the Spirit by the flesh. Their good work was for the eyes of men, not for the eyes of God. Barnabas thought not of himself but of others and their needs; this was the spirit of Christ. Ananias and his wife had themselves and their own credit chiefly in view; this was the spirit of the Pharisees. The Lord condemned this spirit, when on earth; and from on high He judged the first indications of it in His members here below.

Beloved, let us be warned by these solemn examples. Let us not ape a spirituality we do not possess. Let the “abundance” be in our hearts, not in our mouths. Let the best side of our actions be Godward, not man ward. Remember God does not compel any of us to sacrifice ourselves for others. “Whiles it remained was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?” said Peter to Ananias. But when he gave it away, it was offensive to God that he should pretend to give the whole sum, yet secretly reserve a part for himself.

The Epistle to the Galatians.

Chapters 5, 6.

THE beautiful use, which the apostle drew according to divine design from the story of Sarah and Isaac on the one hand, and on the other, of Hagar and Ishmael, leads into the teaching of chapters 5, the freedom with which Christ freed us. So, therefore, is the Christian to stand, and not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage—the enemy’s effort. To receive circumcision was to become debtor to do the whole law and to fall from grace: Christ would profit nothing in that case. We, believers, are justified by, faith, and by the Spirit on the same principle of faith we await, not righteousness, but its hope, even the glory into which Christ is gone. For in Him neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails aught, but faith working through love; as it ever does of God. Who stopped them, when running well, that they should not obey the truth? The persuasion was not of Him that called them. It was a corruption tainting the lump as a whole. For his part, his confidence as to them was in the Lord that they would have no other mind; and their troubler whosoever he be shall bear the judgment (or, guilt). “And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why am I yet persecuted? Then is done away the offense of the cross.” For Judaism was ever his sleepless foe. Indignantly he adds, “I would that those who unsettle you would even cut themselves off” (vers. 1-12).

“For ye,” he says emphatically, “were called for liberty”— on that condition. “Only [use] not liberty for occasion to the flesh, but through love serve one another”— the gist of the whole law. Were they fulfilling it in biting and devouring one another? To walk in the Spirit (which grace gave, not law) is to fulfill in no way flesh’s lust. No doubt the flesh opposes, but so does the Spirit, that we may not do the things which we would: a scripture perverted in the A. V. But if led by the Spirit, they are not under law: grace is the spring. “Now manifest are the works of the flesh, such as fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, enmities, strife, jealousies, angers, contentions, divisions, sects, envyings, [? murders], strikings, revels, and such like; of the which I forewarn you, as I forewarned you, they who do such things shall not inherit God’s kingdom.” Could they not recognize these sad traits of late? Law acting on flesh provoked them. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control: against such things is no law.” Did they really know this fruit familiarly? “And they that are of Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also direct our steps. Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.” What can approach these burning words which close the chapter? The Spirit is the power of good, not the law, moral any more than ceremonial.

The next (chs. 6) follows it up. Even if a man be overtaken in some fault, does the remedy lie in the law? In nothing but grace. “Ye that are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.” The general rule is, to bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of the Christ, if they desired a law. The flesh boasts, and only deceives itself while burdening others. Faith proves its own work without claiming that of another. Each shall bear his own burden. Meanwhile there is ample room for love, as for the learner in the word toward the teacher in all good things (verse 6). God holds to His order: whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap, — corruption from the flesh, from the Spirit life eternal. Let us not be faint-hearted then in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. So then as we have opportunity (season), let us work good toward all, and specially toward the household of faith.

The conclusion is touching. “Ye see in how long letters I write to you with my hand.” He habitually employed an amanuensis, as was usual in those days. To the Galatians he would write himself; and so in large uncouth letters he wrote the entire epistle. (Contrast with the aorist here the present in 2 Thessalonians 3:17). Once more he thunders against those who would revive flesh and restore law and circumcision to the denial of the cross of Christ. In that cross only would he glory which put shame on the world and accepted its shame with Christ. In Him is new creation. This is the rule for our steps; and peace be on each and mercy, and upon those of Israel who are really God’s. Let none trouble him henceforth: he bore in his body the marks of suffering for Christ, whose grace, he prays, to be with their spirit. It is controversial throughout, yet with the deepest feelings of love underneath.

Letter to a Convert.

MY DEAR SISTER IN CHRIST, — In common with many others of the Lord’s people, I was greatly rejoiced to read the story of your conversion, which I felt convinced was a real work of God in your soul, and now I am very thankful to have the privilege of addressing some few words to you, in the Lord’s name.

First, I trust that you are absolutely assured of your eternal salvation in Christ, that “none can pluck you out of his hand,” and that “neither things present nor things to come, shall be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The word of God abounds in such assurances; but I press them because I know that those through whom it has pleased God to bless His word to you do not know what the salvation of God is, although “salvation” is their watchword. Your present acceptance in Christ, and your future glory with Him, do NOT depend upon anything in you, but wholly and solely upon God’s estimate of the finished work of His beloved Son. All believers are now “accepted in the beloved,” and “complete in him.” God “has made us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.” “Our life is hid with Christ in God;” “Christ is our life,” and He has said “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Thus He gets the whole of the glory of our salvation, while we now know the peace which He has made by the blood of His cross. The Father has welcomed us with the kiss of love; the best robe (Christ) is upon us; “we stand in Him, in Him alone, gloriously complete.” And because His precious blood so perfectly cleanses, and He, the risen Christ, is our righteousness, God has sent down the Holy Spirit to dwell in every believer, uniting us to Christ Who is upon the Father’s throne, and to one another here as members of one body. “We are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.” What a glorious, divine, indissoluble union is here! “These things write we unto you that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life,” and “that your joy may be full;” knowing this, out of a full heart you will praise, and worship, and adore His blessed name.

It is quite true that, although you have a new nature, which is of God, and delights in holiness, you have also the old nature, unimproved, and unimproveable; “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” But this old evil nature God has dealt with, condemning it in the cross of Christ, so that as to all that we were by nature, “we died with Christ,” and now are called to “reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,” but alive unto God. For this, His grace alone is sufficient, our strength is in dependence upon Him, and in watchfulness over self.

Then, thank God, He has made provision for failure; the One Who died for our sins, and was raised for our justification, “ever liveth to make intercession for us” and “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Blessed be God, the need of all this will soon be over; soon we shall be “with Christ,” and “like him, for we shall see him as he is,” but till then we shall not find self improved. Paul could say “I know that in me that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.” Thus we have a treacherous foe within, and many without, but greater is He that is for us than all that can be against us. “Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And now we are “not our own,” but are “bought with a price,” and we are not to be guided by our own thoughts, or by those around us, but by the word of God. Everything that we do not find to be according to that word, we are to refuse; and everything that is written there for believers, we are to seek to follow.

The first thing for a convert, is to be baptized (Acts 2:41); and the next, obedience to that gracious word, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Acts 2:42), a most simple and blessed privilege for every child of God. We are not to settle down just where we may happen to be, nor to go where we think best, but in this, as in everything else, to say, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” And, thank God, in the midst of all the confusion, and multiplicity of sects, God has a path of simple obedience for His own, and if you seek His guidance absolutely, you shall unfailingly find it. “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Outside everything which practically denies the truth that “there is one body;” owning the sufficiency of His name, and practically acknowledging and acting upon the presence of the Holy Ghost in the assembly, and giving Him liberty to act “as he will;” coming together as those who are consciously redeemed by His precious blood, we can indeed remember Him in the breaking of bread, and worship in spirit and in truth. Here there is room for all who are His, and who are seeking to please Him, though so few, comparatively, are found in this simple and blessed place.

And now just a word as to what is before us, what is the proper hope of the Christian, i.e., His coming again to receive us unto Himself (Read John 14:1 Corinthians 15:51, etc.; 1 Thess. 1:9, 10; 4:13, etc.; Revelation 22:7, 12, 20).

Doubtless you have already proved the truth of those words, “They that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” and those others, “In the world ye shall have tribulation”— but thank God, the Lord Jesus could add, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world;” “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

Oh! get into the depths of the infinite love of God, and dwell there. Christ died, “the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” Thus God Himself is our “dwelling place,” and we are before Him in all the acceptance of Christ, and all the value of His finished work. “Made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

The Lord bless you abundantly, and lead you on into the deep things of His precious word, and ever keep your heart true to Christ, and your life fruitful to His praise, not to make your salvation more secure, but because He loved you and gave Himself for you.

G. DE M.

The Body of Christ.

WHILE it is very blessed to keep before our souls the heavenly aspect of this wonderful relationship, as it is developed in the Epistle to the Ephesians, it is highly important to understand the earthly side also as unfolded in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. In the latter, the church of God is not viewed from the standpoint of God’s eternal counsels, but in its actual working as an organization on earth. If the mind of God is desired by any as to the collective walk of the saints, it will be found fully declared in Corinthians.

Thus when the body of Christ is introduced, we read, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:12, 13). Here the apostle likens the union existing between Christ and His saints to a body with its many component parts, and speaks of Head and members as “the Christ.” Marvelous fruit of divine grace and power! This was brought about by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, of which John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus spoke, and which took place on the day of Pentecost (Matt. 3:11; Acts 1:5; 2:1-6). Since that moment, the body of Christ has ever been an existing thing on the earth.

The apostle proceeds to point out the responsibilities attaching to the relationship, adding some practical exhortations. First, he lays down that all the members have had their places assigned to them by God, and that there is to be no discontent. “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members everyone of them in the body as it hath pleased him” (verses 14-18). God is sovereign in His disposal; to each saint He has assigned a place and function as seemed good to Him. Who are we to raise questions with God? Yet how often we hear discontent among the members of Christ’s body! How frequently do we find saints contending for a place and position to which they were never called and consequently for which they were never fitted! This is a fruitful source of hindrance to the aspirants and to others, for each undoubtedly has a part to perform that no one else can do so well. Our business is to learn our place; and whatever it be, to fill it in the power of the Holy Ghost.

But not only is there to be no discontent, God will not have contempt either from the more gifted of those less favored of Him. “If they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (vers. 19-21). It is vain for the highly gifted to suppose that they are the only essential members of Christ’s body; we cannot afford to do without the least. He who wrote this Epistle led the way in grace in this respect. We always find him respecting, and going out of his way to honor brethren of smaller gifts and ability than himself. He valued all according to their grace and endowments as received from God. In speaking of head and feet, he gives us the widest extremes possible.

The “feeble” members too are not to be slighted. We find some such in Romans 14. Souls who were slow in their apprehension of their true liberty as in Christ risen, the apostle describes as “weak in the faith,” but insists on their being received and graciously helped. If all came up to the standard, what opportunity would there be for Christian forbearance, patience and love? Let us never despise the feeble, but rather let us seek to help them for the Head’s sake. The “uncomely” members also are not to be discarded. These are more trying to walk with than the feeble, as probably most of us have proved; but it is a great help to bear in mind that, however ungainly, they are Christ’s. Not only so, but they will bear the image of the heavenly presently, even as we. Let us deal with the uncomeliness in the body of Christ as we would in our natural bodies. Any deformity or blemish in our persons we should hide up as far as possible: grace should lead us to do no less with regard to the failures of our brethren. I am not now referring to positive sin; but the many little uglinesses that are too frequently to be observed in Christ’s members, through want of watchfulness and self-judgment in His presence.

All round the apostle desires godly care to be shown the one for the other. Sorrows and sufferings should be shared and helped, even as we participate in each other’s joy. Such is the order of God for His saints in their walk together below. But how little is it realized! In early Christian days when faith was fresh, and love was warm, all this was seen in large measure, but how dim has the fine gold become! Dissension and division have marred all, to the Lord’s dishonor, and the church’s loss. Let us seek grace to walk agreeably to these divine principles in the last days. The Corinthian assembly was representatively “Christ’s body.” On this ground they stood and acted. No other ground is the mind of God for today.

W.W.F.

The Backslider Restored.

It is more than thirty years ago since I first became acquainted with David D—, the subject of this account.

I had business in an iron foundry at M—d, and spent twelve months chiefly in the office.

One day two women came into the office to ask the two partners in the concern, to settle a quarrel between them. One of these was David’s wife, and the other the wife of another of the men, who were neighbors in “The Foundry Row” attached to the place.

When they had gone, I said to one of the partners (Mr. M—.), “These people seem to need some help spiritually.”

“Indeed they do,” was his reply.

“Well,” I said, “let me have the last cottage in the row joining the foundry, and I will preach the gospel to them.”

“With all my heart,” he replied. “Get the warehouseman to clear out the wooden models, and the joiner to make you some benches, and put the gas in through the foundry-wall, and I wish you success.”

In a few days the place was ready, and my wife went with me to every cottage, inviting people to the preaching. We also asked the neighbors around.

A good number came the first night, and soon the cottage was full. The Lord blessed His word to the souls of nine or ten in a few weeks. David D—and his wife were amongst these, the first-fruits at M—d.

His early history I got from himself. He was apprenticed to be an iron-moulder, but in his teens, being a “likely” young man, above six feet, he was tempted to take the “recruiting sergeant’s shilling” and went off to serve the Queen. He completed his twenty-one years’ service, and retired with a small pension, married and took to his trade again.

He had, during his service, been sent to the Crimea, and lay ill of fever in the hospital at Scutari, when Miss Florence Nightingale was there, where he made the promise that if the Lord spared him, he would lead a better life.

Alas, for man’s promises! He got well, and was sent home, but fell under his old drinking habits. At the time he came to the preaching in the cottage, he was a teetotaler but found that salvation through Christ was the best thing, and by faith was led to rejoice in Him.

He had, however, a deeper lesson to learn beyond the forgiveness of sins. It was this: that “in his flesh dwelt no good thing.” This cost him much sorrow as well as others. He took offense because his master did not send him to look after some work. He gave notice to leave, and went off with his wife to Woolwich, and got a situation there. This proved the devil’s trap into which he had fallen through his pride. He fell into his old drinking habits, lost his employment, and left his wife. She took a situation, and poor David wandered about like a vagabond. He was in Satan’s sieve, but the Lord prayed for him, and cared for him.

He was a Derby man, and drew his pension there. I heard that he was in Derby, and being there one day I felt my heart drawn to seek this poor stray sheep. I found the house of his only sister, and called, asking if David D—was there. She said “No; he is on tramp, seeking work.” I asked whether he got drunk now. “No,” she said “he has not been drinking for long.” It was singular how he got to this sister. It shows the Lord’s watchful care. He did not know where his sister lived, but going into Derby in the evening, he asked in a shop if they knew where he could get a lodging. He was told that there was a person next door who took in lodgers. He knocked at the door of the very house where his sister lived.

His sister said, “He is very downhearted, and sits here, for hours, with his head between his hands, and wishes he knew where his wife is.”

I said, “I know where she is; she is at M—d.” She asked me my name, and when I told her she said, “He often talks about you. He is sure to be here on pension-day, and as you have called, he will, I am sure, go at once to M—d.”

I left, thankful to get this clue of him. Pension-day came, and afterward David D—came to M—d. He took up his position against a dark wall opposite the meeting-room door to watch the people coming out. No one could see him, but he could see each one coming out after the preaching. His wife was there, but went home with some friends. He dared not follow, but next day found her out and they were reconciled.

He had learned the painful lesson of self-judgment, and received forgiveness from God and man. Then he got regular employment at his trade, walked more humbly with God; and lived happily together with his wife, in their comfortable cottage, for a few years. One day in summer, being hot weather, he drank very largely of some cold beverage, which made him sick unto death.

He sent for me and said, “It is all right, I am going to my Saviour. I have done many things wrong but the Lord has forgiven all. Will you kindly look after my wife?” I promised to do so, and he fell asleep in Jesus.

How needful is lowliness of heart, and self-judgment, to keep us from falling into sin, and the snares of the devil.

Should this meet the eye of a poor wanderer, may the Lord bless it to his restoration.

G.R.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapter 3:1-6.

1AND he entered again into the synagogue, and there was there a man having his hand dried up. 2And they were watching him whether he would heal him on the sabbath (day), that they might accuse him. 3And he saith to the man that had his hand dried, Rise up into the midst. 4And he saith to them, Is it lawful on the Sabbath (days) to do good or to do ill, to save life, or to kill? 5 And when he (had) looked round (about) on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart (s), he saith to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched [it] out, and his hand was restored (whole as the other). 6And the Pharisees, having gone out, immediately were deliberating with the Herodians against him how they might destroy him.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verse 1.— Again. There appear to have been seven miraculous cures wrought by the Lord on the Sabbath: —

Mark 1:21-27. Casting out a demon.

Mark 1:29-31. Healing Peter’s mother-in-law.

Mark 3:1-6. Restoring the withered hand.

Luke 13:11-17. Restoring infirm woman.

Luke 14:1-4. Healing man with dropsy.

John 5:1-16. Healing impotent man.

John 9:1-41. Opening blind man’s eyes.

There were others performed (Mark 1:34), but details of these only are recorded in the four Gospels.

Synagogue. Of the above cures, the demon was cast out (Mark 1:21-27), the withered hand restored, and the infirm woman healed (Luke 13:11-17). publicly in the synagogue.

Dried up. The hand was shrunk and wasted, so that it was quite useless. By natural means this was incurable.

Verse 2. — Were watching. They were eyeing Him with evil intent; as in Luke 14 1; 20:20. See also Acts 9:24.

On the Sabbath. Immediately before this, Mark gives a work of necessity on the Sabbath (2:23-28), here a work of mercy. Luke says it occurred upon “another” Sabbath, perhaps the week following the incident in the cornfields.

The Lord’s action on the Sabbath, which was the particular sign of Judaism, is highly significant that it was to be set aside. “One cannot but see how the old system, based on what man ought to be for God, is being set aside for what God is for man. But the former [the law] having been established by God, nothing but the words and works of Jesus would have justified the Jews in giving it up.” But they resisted both His words and His works (John 15:22, 24).

Verse 3. — Rise up into the midst. The miracle was to be performed publicly in the sight of all.

Verse 4. — Is it lawful? They had asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? “that they might accuse Him. He turns their question upon themselves, bringing the light to bear upon their crooked words, — Is it lawful to do good or ill, to save or to destroy life? This question would admit of but one honest reply; and that reply would quash every objection they might raise against the Lord’s healing the afflicted man.

Verse 5. — Anger, being grieved. Righteous and holy indignation at their willful resistance and wicked opposition to the truth. “The presence of grief and anger in the same heart at the same time is no contradiction. Indeed, with Him Who was at once perfect love and perfect holiness, grief for the sinner must ever go hand in hand with anger against the sin; and this anger—which with us is in danger of becoming a turbid thing, of passing into anger against the man who is God’s creature, instead of being anger against the sin, which is the devil’s corruption of God’s creature—with Him was perfectly pure; for it is not the agitation of the waters, but the sediment at the bottom, which troubles and defiles them; and where no sediment is, no impurity will follow on their agitation.” “Though we read of His looking round in anger, yet we soon learn, that this was not the anger of one who has taken the seat of judgment, but of Him Who was grieved at heart for the hardness and unbelief of men. It was the sensitiveness of the spirit of holiness.”

Whole as the other. This phrase is found in Matthew 12:13, but is an unwarranted addition here, and so omitted in the revised translation above.

Verse 6. — Herodians. The Herodians appear to have been a political rather than a religious party among the Jews. They are also referred to in Matthew 22:16 and Mark 12:13, and in each case they are conferred with by the Pharisees with a view to the apprehension of the Lord.

Destroy Him. Those who complained of the Lord restoring the man’s withered hand on the Sabbath had no compunction in plotting against the Lord’s life on that day. Compare the Lord’s words above, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to kill?” Though boasting of the law, they broke its spirit and dishonored God (Rom. 2:23). They could not save life, but they meant to destroy life as soon as they had opportunity.

Passi Flora.

THE flower is naught; the Man I need,

The Man with all His grief and pain,

My Lord, my Substitute indeed,

The Son, the Lamb of God once slain.

His death it is that opens heaven,

It is His blood that gives me peace;

Thrice blest, who finds his sins forgiven,

Because He died for our release.

To Him, the Holy, came the woe,

To me, the guilty, comes the bliss;

Before the fire that brought Him low,

God says: Lo, He thy Saviour is.

From ignominy glory springs,

Love springeth from His pierced heart,

Near which (to this my spirit clings)

I am to have my blessed part.

P.C.

Translated from the French by R. B.

A Long tong may slay a strong man.

Teaching the Children.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS― Following up the course indicated last month, we will briefly consider the importance of bearing in mind that those who compose the classes are children, in order that they may be suitably taught. This will to some extent cover the two points named— (1) who is being taught, and (2) how they are to be taught.

It is altogether a mistake to speak to a Sunday School class as if it consisted of adults. Do not talk in a learned strain on difficult subjects. It is useless, for instance, to select the various aspects of righteousness as the subject in a class where the ages average about ten years. On the other hand, do not fall into the mistake that silliness is simplicity. You must aim at being simple, but be careful it does not end in being foolish. You can only speak simply when you yourself understand what you say and whereof you affirm (1 Tim. 1:7). Clear water does not flow from a muddy ditch.

There is no necessity in speaking to a child to speak as a child. Possibly a child in speaking of the boyhood of Joseph might describe him as a “very dear, good, little boy who had a lot of bad, wicked, naughty brothers.” You, however, in teaching your class would certainly be in error in using such language in order to make clear to the class what you wished to bring before them. There is a manner in which you “ought to speak” (Eph. 6:20; Col. 4:4); and that manner is the one which is best suited to make the subject plain.

But this is not the place or the season to speak of rules of grammar. It is undoubtedly good to have a correct mode of speech. But it is far more important to be firmly impressed with the fact that in the person of the Lord Jesus all the truths of the Bible are embodied.

Of course, I do not now speak of geographical and historical facts, such as the settlement of the tribes of Israel in the land of Canaan, or the order of the succession of the kings of Judah. For while instruction in such points has its value, it is not the object of Sunday School teaching. Your object should be that the scholars may know Christ through the scriptures. The things hidden from the wise and prudent are revealed unto babes (Matt. 11:25). And the babes know them because they are seen in Christ.

The Old Testament is full of Christ in types and shadows, while promises and prophecies everywhere speak of Him. And the Gospel histories set forth all of the Lord’s life here that it concerns us to know, and afford an abundant supply of subjects suitable for children. How much of God’s love and power, wisdom and tenderness is exhibited in the ways of Christ. Magnify Christ in the eyes of the children. If you wish, for example, to teach humility, you can never make it plainer than by speaking of Him. Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and others are helpful, but only in so far as they were like Christ.

Christ is called “the Light.” As by means of the light a child can see its parent’s face as well as a grown-up person, so the Lord said to His disciples, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). In His words and works the truths of God are so portrayed that the youngest can understand according to its measure. Hence the great importance of setting Christ before your class. In this way only will any worthy object be attained.

I am, Yours faithfully, “You.”

Correspondence.

H.B.— Please explain “if we sin willfully” (Heb. 10:26). The sin referred to is not a mere stumble, but a course of conduct persistently pursued. The apostle is speaking of those who after knowing the truth of the sacrifice of Christ deliberately renounce it, and he is addressing particularly those among the Jews who professed faith in the Lord Jesus. “Sinning willfully “is an allusion to what is called “presumptuous” sin in the Old Testament. In such cases the offender was cut off without mercy (Num. 15:30, 31; Deut. 17:2-6). These cases were in contrast with “sins of ignorance,” for which sacrifice was provided and the transgressors forgiven (Lev. 4; Num. 15:27-29). On this score the Lord prayed for the Jews, “Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Peter alludes to this ignorance in Acts 3:17, and Saul of Tarsus was an example of a Jew who sinned ignorantly, but was forgiven (1 Tim. 1:13). Here the apostle contemplates any who abandon the sacrifice of Christ after receiving the full knowledge of the truth. He solemnly affirms, as he did before (verse 18) that no other sacrifice is or can be offered for sins. Judgment only awaits such apostates. Here we have those who despise the sacrifice of Christ, and in Hebrews 6, those who despise the presence of the Holy Ghost on earth (see B.M.M., vol. 1, p. 158). It must be borne in mind that it is to willful renunciation of Christ’s sacrifice that verse 29 refers so solemnly.

W.C.— Did the Lord appear to the disciples generally, or only to the ten apostles, on the occasion referred to in John 20:19-23? The same appearance is recorded in Mark 16:14 and Luke 24:33-36; and from the latter passage we gather that others were present besides the apostles— “the eleven and them that were with them.” “The eleven” is the term used for the apostolic band, though only ten of them were actually present. In the same way, “the twelve” is used in reference to this occasion (1 Cor. 15:5). The ten present represented the whole company, and therefore received the Lord’s commission (John 20:21-23).

W.T.— Was the place where the saints came together called the church (1 Cor. 11:18, 22)? In scriptural language the word “church” is never used for a place or a building, but for the assembly of saints meeting together in one place, whether a house or a city. Please explain 1 Corinthians 11:27. The text is, “Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” The apostle is referring to the levity of the Corinthian assembly when partaking of the Lord’s supper. Instead of the Lord’s supper, it had become their own supper. They ate and drank with no more thought of the solemn character of the feast than if they were at their own tables at home (verse 21, 22). This the apostle calls eating the bread and drinking the cup unworthily, and he states solemnly that such are guilty as to, or in respect of, the body and blood of the Lord. The bread and wine are figures of truths of the most affecting and solemn import, — the bread, of the Lord’s body given for us, and the wine, of His shed blood. Forgetfulness of this constituted the apostle’s charge of eating “unworthily,” and was the cause of judicial chastening among them, some having died, and some being weak and sickly (verse 30). “He that eateth and drinketh worthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” There is no ground to suppose that the apostle is speaking of unworthy persons, such as the unconverted or backsliders. On the contrary, he refers to the saints partaking in an unworthy manner. It is an admonition that every believer does well to take to heart. See also B.M.M., vol. 2, page 190.

E.H.B.— Please explain the difference between “sins,” “iniquity,” and “transgression.” We suppose our correspondent alludes to Psalms 32:1, 2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Each term has reference to the operation of man’s own will in opposition to God’s. “Transgression” specially applied to Israel, as it means the violation of a known command. They had the law but disobeyed it (Rom. 2:27). “Where no law is, there is no transgression” (Rom. 4:15). “Sin” is the evil principle in the heart, that loves to do wrong (Rom. 7:8, 9, 11, 17, 20). “Sins” are the fruit proceeding from this root of evil. “Iniquity” includes injustice and perversion of the truth, committed against man as well as God. Thus the selling of Joseph as a slave by his brethren is owned by Judah as “iniquity” (Gen. 44:16). It may be pointed out that in 1 John 3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the law” is more correctly translated, as in the R.V., “Sin is lawlessness.” There are many varying terms in scripture denoting the multitudinous forms that evil takes; but it is an immense blessing to know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from every sin, whatever form it may assume (1 John 1:7).

The Gentleness of Christ.

WHAT would our life as believers be without the “gentleness of Christ?” We want the power of Him Who checks the foaming billows with a word. We also need that the thoughts and intents of our hearts shall be laid bare by the sharp, two-edged sword that goeth out of His mouth. But in Him, we also know the “tender mercy of our God;” and, oh, how grateful to our troubled spirits are the gracious dealings-of the love of Christ. When we are plunged into grief and sadness, and the hand of Omnipotence comes to our relief, how wondrously soft and gentle His touches are. No arm that encircles us is like His. No voice thrills with loving sympathy such as His.

It was so in the days of His flesh. Truly, power was present. Infinite power was there, that met no match. Winds and waves, traders in the temple and constables in the garden, the demons and their prince, diseases and death itself, all owned the power of the “meek and lowly” Man. But His power was not infinite in its might alone, it was also infinite in love. While it could crush the proudest, it could also raise the humblest and the frailest.

Nothing is more exquisitely sensitive than a bleeding heart. The Lord was here especially to “bind up the broken-hearted.” And what a skillful physician He was. How gently He poured in “the oil and the wine.” See that poor woman at His feet, trembling lest mayhap she has no right to the “virtue” she found at the hem of His garment. How sweetly assuring are the words that fall on her ears “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”

When His disciples were toiling on the sea that stormy night, the Lord came to them. But before He caused the wind to cease, His tender and compassionate sympathy entered into the anxieties oppressing their hearts, and He said to them, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

It was thus that the gentle, loving concern of Jesus suited itself to the frail creatures that they were, and that we are. The Psalmist of old, singing of Jehovah, said, “He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” We can see it in the Jehovah-Jesus on earth, Who did not break the “bruised reed,” nor “quench the smoking flax.” We know it is so still, for He is the same “yesterday and today and forever.” Indeed we have surely proved for ourselves how He comes to us amid our trials, how He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” and how gently He gives us the “garment of praise” in exchange for the “spirit of heaviness.”

And as we have known the “gentleness of Christ” in relieving our sorrows, so we have experienced the same when we have been thoughtless and wayward and willful. We can adopt with truthfulness the words of that hymn which says: ―

“But, gracious Lord, when we reflect

How apt to turn the eye from Thee—

Forget Thee too with sad neglect,

And listen to the enemy!

And yet we find Thee still the same―

‘Tis this that humbles us with shame.”

How beautifully the luster of this grace of the Master shone out toward His disciples on that night in which He was betrayed. When He sought the shades of Gethsemane’s garden, there to pour out His soul in supplications with “strong crying and tears,” He took apart from the rest the privileged trio, — Peter, James and John. To them He said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.” He turned to them whom He had “chosen out of the world,” and into whose ears but a few brief moments before He had poured a flood of heavenly confidences, and desired that they might watch with Him as He prayed. He looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters but found none, no, not even among His own.

Who shall tell what it was to the heart of the Lord to return and find the three asleep? Neither the ardent Peter nor the disciple whom He loved nor his brother could watch with Him for one short hour. “What!” said He to Peter, “could ye not watch with me one hour?”

It was a reproach, and deserved by them, too; for self had claimed its indulgence. But who but He could convey the reproach so gently? Indeed, He went on to soften it still more. For He Himself found an excuse for them. He knew the sorrow that filled their hearts because of His imminent departure, and the consequent heaviness of their eyes. So He added, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Beloved, it is He Who is our Advocate with the Father. It is He Who maketh intercession for us. His gentle grace engages itself with us. May we become like-minded to Him. Let us put on, “as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and for-giving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col. 3:12, 13).

To the Uttermost.

A PECULIAR Greek expression occurs twice only in the New Testament (Luke 13:11; Heb. 7:25). In each case it is intensely significant. The poor woman was unable to lift herself to the uttermost (in any wise): a picture surely of man’s natural helplessness before God. On the other hand, the Lord Jesus is able to save to the uttermost: His power can save entirely and always those who come to God by Him. W.T.H.

The Epistle to the Ephesians.

Chapter 1, 2.

IN writing to the Ephesians the apostle takes his stand on ground wholly different from the Epistle to the Galatians. There he combats return to law in every shape, ceremonial or moral, and insists on grace in Christ crucified and risen, on promise before the law and accomplished only in Christ, so that blessing should flow even to Gentiles, and the promise of the Spirit be received by faith. But to the Ephesians he shows divine and eternal counsels. The Christian is blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ (1:3), and this by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was both man and Son of His love. The same God and Father chose us in Him before the world’s foundation, far above earthly ways and beyond promise. He chose us that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love (4). If He would have us there, He could not but have us like Himself. But He was pleased to fore-ordain our relationship, even for adoption or sonship, through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (5), for the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (6). In Him (for we were evil) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace (7), which He made to abound toward us (not like Adam for the earth) in all wisdom and intelligence (8). He also made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself (9) for administration of the fullness of the fit times: to head up the universe in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth; in Him in Whom we also were given inheritance, for if sons of God, we were heirs. We were thus fore-ordained according to the purpose of Him Who works all things according to the purpose of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory. We are the believing Jews that had pre-trusted in the Christ (12). In Him ye too (Gentile saints), having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of the possession, for praise of His glory (4). Jewish and Gentile are alike thus blessed in the highest degree, far beyond the promises to the fathers.

So delicate and precious and rich is the apostle’s preamble, that one does best to give it as it is. The glory of His grace embraces the whole sweep of the purposed blessing; the riches of His grace, what more than meets all our need now; the praise of His glory, when we enter on the inheritance. But the choice of God and fore-ordaining go back into eternity before there was universe to inherit with Christ. The summing or heading up in Him of the whole heavenly and earthly, will be administered when the various seasons run out, and the kingdom, heavenly and earthly, will be displayed; and we, of all others, share Christ’s glory over all, and have the earnest as well as seal already, in the Holy Spirit given to us.

Then we have from verse 15 and at least to the end of chapter 1. the apostle’s prayer for them, founded on the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory (17), of Whom he desires the enlightenment of the eyes of their hearts to know what is the hope of His calling, what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of His power toward us that believe, according to the working of the might of His strength which He wrought in the Christ, when He raised Him out of the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above the most exalted of creatures now and ever, and subjected all under His feet, and gave Him [to be head over all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all (23).

The prayer almost imperceptibly passes into the teaching of chapter 2. To the hope of God’s calling as in chapters 1:3-6, with its accompaniments in verses 7, 8, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (for He takes it in them as in the Christ) in verses 9-11, with the way Jews and Gentiles come in, and the Holy Spirit’s relation to both blessings, he adds the wondrous power displayed in raising and exalting Christ. Now in chapter 2:1-10 he shows it to be the same power that wrought in the Ephesian saints, and so in all Christians, quickened with the Christ, raised up together, and made sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that God might display in the coming ages the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Thus were and are they saved by grace through faith, His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God before prepared that we should walk in them. All were alike dead in offenses and sins. God thus wrought to bring believers into this new estate of living association with Christ on high.

From verse 11 The apostle would have those once Gentiles remember their once far off condition, without one of Israel’s privileges. Now they were made nigh by the blood of the Christ; and in the same nearness were the believing Jews. For Christ, our peace, not only took away all obstacles, but made both one, forming the two in Himself into one new man, one body. Though, Jews had once been outwardly nigh, and Gentiles afar off, through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Strangers and foreigners the Gentile believers were, no more, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of God’s household, all alike being built on quite a new foundation—that of the apostles and prophets (of whom he speaks in chapter 4:11), Jesus Christ Himself (not Peter) being the corner-stone. In Him all the building framed together increaseth unto a holy temple in the Lord; “In whom ye also,” he says, “are builded together for God’s habitation in the Spirit.”

Thus we have the church viewed as Christ’s body, and God’s house, in which distinct respects his Epistles often regard it. The article seems necessarily wanting in verse 21, though excellent old MSS. insert it; but according to correct usage, as the building is not complete, it could not be there. Yet this does not warrant “each several,” as in the R.V. For, though as the ordinary rule, pasa without the article, requires “every,” there are known exceptions, as “all Jerusalem” (Matt. 2:3), “all the house of Israel” (Acts 2:36), “all Israel” (Rom. 11:26). It is not a proper name that really accounts for this; a whole viewed in its parts excludes the article, yet means “all.” The mistranslation is therefore not only superficial, but directly upsets the unity of the building on which the apostle here insists as everywhere else.

The Ex Clerical Cobbler and the Sea Captain.

THOMAS T—was an ex-clergyman, sprung from a good family in Ireland. He was already in consumption when he became impressed that it was his duty to go to Demerara for the work of the Lord. Some may have thought that he would have done better to have filled a decent grave in his own country, rather than to be thrown overboard on the voyage, as was confidently expected. Far from this, he lived and labored for years among those who had not long been freed from slavery. Abolition was sometimes expressed among them, more forcibly than accurately, to the effect that Queen Victoria had sent out word that they were not to work anymore. They never had worked save because they were compelled, and now they welcomed the abolition of slavery as the abolition of work. It fell to the lot of the servants of Christ to explain to those who were converted that whatever Queen Victoria might or might not have said, the word of God said plainly that they should work, for the credit of Christ.

Thomas T—felt the need of supporting precept by example. He had been well accustomed, to working at Greek and the like, but the reading of books was not the kind of work to furnish a telling example to his dark brethren.

He bethought himself that the making even of a pair of shoes was more than he could do, but that he might at any rate be able to patch and mend them. The ex-clergyman urged on by Christian devotedness, started in business in the “land of mud” as a cobbler. Carey left cobbling to study the tongues of India; Thomas T—took to it; but both to serve great gospel ends.

About this time his relatives in Ireland sent a letter to him by the hands of a sea-captain, who was strictly charged to give it into no other hands than those of Thomas T—. Picture then the sailor in search of this gentleman, standing before one of the wooden houses raised on posts above the mud. In the space beneath the house, formed by the posts on which it stood, the perplexed seaman saw a white man bending over a last, with a little book open beside him while he worked.

“Where’s the Rev. Thomas T—, my man?”

“I am Thomas T—.”

“You don’t come that over me; you want to see what I’ve got for him.”

And the sailor, much at his ease, picked up the little Greek Testament from which the brother was reading.

“Hullo! Can you read this? I can’t.”

T—said gently, “If you sit down, I will read you a little;” and turning it into simple English words as he went along, he read the gracious words of Jesus from John 4.

Soon the sea-captain forgot all about the letter that he had to deliver to the clergyman whom he could not find, for he learned that he too was such another as that woman of Samaria; and more, that the same Jesus was even then speaking to his soul the same words of grace as to her of old.

He returned to tell the Irish T—s that he had found the “Reverend Thomas” cobbling shoes in Demerara, but that he had been the means of the salvation of his soul. On one more voyage he sailed, but this time his ship was lost, and his spirit fled to Him Who had thus brought him to Himself. A.C.

The House of God.

It is truly wonderful that God should condescend to dwell with men on the earth. Well might Solomon say, at the dedication of the temple, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (1 Kings 8:27) But God’s delights are with the sons of men, and it is His pleasure to have an habitation among them.

It is of importance, however, to have clear thoughts about the matter, and to understand properly the true character of the house of God, and on what it is founded. The first mention of such a thing in scripture is in Exodus 25:8, “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Having redeemed Israel and taken them to be His own people, He desired an habitation in their midst. This was quite an advance on anything known by the saints of God before. God visited Adam in the garden before sin entered, and later held communion with Abraham at his tent door, but never did He take up His abode with them.

But redemption having come in, though as yet only in type, God was enabled to gratify the desire of His heart and dwell among men. When the tabernacle was finished, He filled it with His presence. “The cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34, 35).

God in His grace suited His dwelling-place to the circumstances of His people. While they were pilgrims, He was content to walk “in a tent and in a tabernacle” (2 Sam. 7:6, 7). When they became firmly established in the land, with all enemies put down, He gave the pattern of a house to be built by the son of David for His name (1 Chr. 28:19; 1 Kings vss. 3-5). When it was completed, He filled it with the cloud of His presence, as formerly the tabernacle in the wilderness.

But all this was suited to a people called to a portion and inheritance in the earth, and will be restored in another day, when that people are reinstated in the favor of God. Meanwhile another order prevails. Israel having proved utterly unfaithful, God has set them aside, overturning their temple and the whole system connected with it. He has no material house on earth while Israel is scattered and broken. The Lord Jesus hinted at the change that was coming in the words, “The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father” (John 4:21). Still more plain were His words in Matthew 23:38, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” This was sealed by the divine action at His death, in rending the veil of the temple in twain from the top to the bottom (Matt. 27:51). The destruction of the city and the sanctuary followed a few years later.

During this present period, God has a house on earth of another character altogether. His saints form His habitation, as we read, “Ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). “Ye, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). This order was brought in on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down from Christ glorified. The waiting saints became forthwith, not only Christ’s body, as already shown, but God’s house. A weighty truth, surely, for every Christian to duly understand! Ever since that memorable day, God has had a spiritual house on earth, in which He has dwelt by His Spirit. Not that this has always been entered into. Alas! by those who have borne the name of Christ, faith in the abiding presence of the Spirit of God soon grew feeble in the church, and as a result, human expedients were resorted to on every hand. Human leaders were set up, liberty in the assembly died out, and the whole tone of Christianity became lowered. The house of God is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). This should always have been remembered; evil would then have been allowed no place within the sacred circle.

But the Holy Spirit remains in the church, though so sadly ignored and slighted. Wherever there is faith to act upon it, He always meets the saints with blessing. He is ever present to lead and guide for Christ’s glory and our own edification. It is ours to look to Him in simplicity of faith, with the flesh in us judged practically. Many can testy to the deep blessedness of this. And beyond doubt, this is one of the great truths of Christianity to which God would have the notice of His people specially drawn in this day. If the all-sufficiency of the Spirit’s presence were pressed on every hand, many things that faithful souls frequently deplore and grieve over before God, would “drop off like autumn leaves.” There is nothing like the realized presence of the Spirit of God to keep persons and things in the places assigned to them by God.

Here and There.

ALL earth’s pleasures fade and wither,

Christ alone abides;

And the ocean of God’s favor

Knows no changing tides.

Seen in Christ, God’s Well-beloved,

One with Him are we,

Sons of glory: He, our Captain,

Won the victory.

‘Twas through suffering, death and anguish,

He that victory gained,

Bore the wrath, and Satan vanquished,

Peace for us obtained.

He Who is our Life and Leader

Keeps us to the end;

Spite of all the rage of Satan,

God will still defend.

In the sunshine of His presence,

Whose blest name is Love,

What can touch the sons of glory,

Linked with Christ above?

In the center of heaven’s glory,

See the will-less Man,

God’s delight, the Father’s treasure,

Long ere time began.

He Who for our sins once suffered,

God hath glorified,

And ere long He’ll come in triumph,

Home to take His bride.

Oh! the joy of knowing, serving,

Following Christ alone,

Him Who met the altar’s craving,

Sits on yonder throne.

Suffering passed, and conflict ended,

There we too shall rest,

In the light that knows no fading,

With Him ever blest.

There, amidst heaven’s brightest glories,

To our God brought nigh,

Naught shall stay our hallelujahs,

Filling earth and sky.

Oh, the rapture then of gazing

On the Bridegroom’s face,

God and we in sweet communion,

Through His boundless grace.

Christ the center, we reflecting

His sweet image fair,

Shining in His perfect beauty,

While His love we share.

Here a moment—then in glory,

Holy Lord, with Thee;

To Thy word still keep us cleaving,

Till Thy face we see.

S.T.

"It Is Well."

WHILE it may truly be said that faith is never dependent upon circumstances, yet they are largely used both to display God’s holy and dignified superiority to all things, and to strengthen the soul in peaceful rest and confidence at all times. Not this only, it is ever the privilege of the children of God to be assured of His love and interest in all that happens, so as to be ever unshaken as to the truth, not only that all shall be well, but that “It is well,” even though all may appear otherwise. This was clearly so when the above sentence was uttered, and it may well have its voice to souls in this day, when God and His word are so little trusted, and the influence of circumstances either pleasing or painful, is substituted for calm, unbroken confidence in God.

The “great woman” of Shunem in 2 Kings 4 may teach the saints of today many a practical lesson of love, obedience, and unmoved confidence, in the keen hour of testing. The man of God in her day was Elisha, who caught the mantle of Elijah when he was translated, and gave evidence of it in power and grace in the midst of fallen, unrepentant Israel. The woman, in the love of her heart, constrained the prophet to eat bread; during which time she perceived that his life and ways were in character with the testimony he bore. With this conviction, she proposed to her husband that a room should be set apart for this holy man of God, who, however, was little known or welcomed by Israel. The God Who gave her this perception and loving desire not only observed her action, but, as He never becomes debtor to any, gave by Elisha, an unsurpassed blessing in her home. “Thou shalt embrace a son,” exceeded her expectation, having modestly said to his previous offer, “I dwell among mine own people.” The gift bestowed, and for a time enjoyed, in due course had to be surrendered to the force of circumstances, for on a day of extreme heat, the child cried, “My head, my head,” and the received gift, the fruit of her loving hospitality, passed away on his mother’s knees.

Now it is in the hour of keen sorrow and testing, that restful confidence, in active obedience shines. The prophet’s special chamber is at once used by placing her dead son on his bed, and in chastened subjection she appeals to her husband to send an ass and young man that she may go at once to the man of God. In vain the husband pleads irregularity, being no special feast day. Her need in its present felt reality was enough, and her assurance begat the quieting response, “It shall be well,” which the sequel blessedly proved.

To the young man she said, “Drive, and go forward,” for to reach the man of God was her one absorbing object, and her faith and purpose refused all else. The One Who gave the child must be her sole resource, therefore to bring the prophet to the chamber where she had laid him was her aim. Precious indeed such a course; moving onward till in sight of Elisha, who sees her coming in the haste of her distress, though ignorant of its nature. He commands Gehazi to ask, “Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?” To which she significantly replied, “It is well.”

Soon she is at the prophet’s feet, and in the fulness and freeness of her sad, bereaved heart, she tells her tale of sorrow, reminding him that the son was a gift unasked for. The case, therefore, was touching and urgent, as Elisha manifested by hastily sending his servant; but the servant is not enough for her, it must be himself; so together they go for a new experience.

The chamber of hospitality for the prophet’s rest and refreshment, is now to be the place of power, in bringing back the dead son to life. Contact with death is the means used; the living prophet and the woman’s dead son touch each other, and the child again lives, followed soon by the proof of how truly well it was. When the son was about to be given, the woman was called into the man of God’s presence; now that he is raised, the prophet again says, “Call this Shunamite,” that she may hear from his lips, “Take up thy son.”

In lowly, joyful gratitude, she bows; receives her lost treasure, and goes out to tell her husband the wonders of the ways of God by Elisha. He whom she gladly provided for at the beginning, proved her confession, “It is well,” by a power beyond death, surpassing all her exercise and sorrow.

Such ways of hospitality in the past, followed by such dignified faith and holy fruit, may truly give us a profitable lesson for today. G. G.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapters 3:7-19.

7 AND Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea; and a great multitude from Galilee followed [him]; and from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and (from) beyond the Jordan, and those about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude having heard how great things he was doing, came unto him. 9 And he told his disciples that a boat should wait on him because of the crowd, lest they should throng him; 10 for he (had) healed many, so that they beset him that they might touch him, as many as had plagues (strokes). 11And the unclean spirits when they beheld him, fell down before him, and cried, sang, Thou art the Son of God; 12 and he rebuked them much, that they should not make him manifest. 13 And he goeth up on the mountain, and calleth up (unto him) whom he himself would; and they departed unto him. 14 And he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 and to have authority [to heal diseases, and] to cast out demons. 16And to Simon he gave Peter as surname; 17 and James, the [son] of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and to them he gave as surnames.

Boanerges, that is, (the) sons of thunder; 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the [son] of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananæan, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verse 7. — Withdrew. The Servant of Jehovah turned away from the evil plotters seeking His destruction, and went on with the work which was given Him to do. The Lord never sought persecution.

A great multitude. There are two multitudes spoken of in this and the next verse. (1) The multitude from Galilee which followed Him. (2) The multitude from surrounding and outlying districts which came unto Him.

Verse 9. — A boat to wait on Him. The reason for this circumstance is only mentioned by Mark, — lest He should be thronged by the multitude. His disciples having been fishermen of that locality, it would be an easy matter to obtain a boat to attend the Lord. From the boat He taught the people (Luke 5:3). It is noteworthy that the Lord did not countenance the neglecting of the body, which some have thought to be so acceptable to God. It surely teaches us to take reasonable precautions against accidents, etc. (1 Tim. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:13). The Lord was here chiefly to bless men spiritually, and the boat was a provision against the overpressure of a crowd wildly intent to obtain relief from physical suffering. Nevertheless He “healed them all” (Matt. 12:15); such was His grace.

Verse 11. — Unclean spirits. The Lord will not suffer them to give their unsolicited testimony to Him as the Son of God. See also Mark 1:25, 34. And yet the heinous charge of collusion with Satan was brought against Him (ch. 3:22).

Verse 12. — Appointed twelve. This was the formal selection of twelve from among the disciples to be apostles. The number is an allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28). The special characteristics of an apostle in the time of the Lord are here detailed: —

To be with the Lord;

To go forth to preach;

To heal the sick;

To cast out demons.

Verse 14. — Preach. There is a succession of preaching in this Gospel, repentance being prominent.

John the Baptist preached repentance and the coming of Christ (chs. 1:4, 7).

Jesus preached, “Repent ye and believe the gospel” (chs. 1:14, 15).

The twelve apostles preached that men should repent (ch. 6:12).

Verse 15. — Power. The power was given them when they went forth to preach (ch. 6:7). The Lord not only had the title to heal the sick and to cast out demons, but could confer it on others.

Bible Truth in Bible Words.

WE are only sure of the truth when we retain the very language of God which contains it. By grace I may speak of the truth in all liberty; I may seek to explain it, to communicate it, to urge it on the conscience, according to the measure of light and spiritual power bestowed upon me; I may endeavor to demonstrate its beauty, and the connection between its various parts. Every Christian, and especially those who have a gift from God, for the purpose, may do this.

But the truth which I explain and propose is the truth as God has given it, and [which He has given] in His own words in the revelation He has made. I hold fast the “form of sound words,” which I have received from a divine source and authority: it gives me certainty in the truth. J.N.D.

Naaman's Little Maid.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, — One occasionally hears of young believers who are possessed of such ardent aspirations to become distinguished witnesses for their Master, that they express a wish even for the revival of the good old days of Queen Mary or the Inquisition so that there might be a possibility of their being stretched on the rack and burnt at the stake. This zealous spirit, however laudable in itself, is really uncalled for; since we are taught in scripture not to court but to flee persecution (Matt. 10:23). Though if called, like Stephen, to magnify Christ by death, we are to meet it fearlessly even in its worst form.

The fact is that the great majority of Christians during the far greater portion of their lives are required to testify for the Lord amid the most ordinary circumstances. How many there are, for instance, who hardly ever step out of the routine of the family circle, or the round of relatives and friends, or the circle of business associates. In such cases are there no opportunities to testify for Christ? None, perhaps, that will bring the witness before the public gaze of man; but many the far-reaching influence of which will only be known at the judgment-seat of Christ. Who can tell the effect of the loving word and the kindly deed done and said in the name of the Master?

We have in scripture an instructive example of one whose simple and faithful testimony God owned and used and chronicled for our imitation. The person by whom Naaman the Syrian leper was directed to the prophet of Jehovah was a little maid in his household.

This girl was snatched away from her relations and her home in the land of Israel by one of the bands of Syrian marauders. She was forced to exchange her liberty for slavery in a foreign clime, and for slavery, which was inseparable from temptations and hardships that, without a secret supply of strength, were enough to quench her moral and spiritual life. Besides, this little daughter of Israel found herself in a land where the true God was unknown, and where idol worship was supreme. There was not one in Damascus who was likely to instruct Naaman’s little slave-girl in the law of Moses. Can we wonder if she was tempted sometimes to abandon her faith in Jehovah and bow herself in “the house of Rimmon” like all the other slaves in the great general’s house? But the fear of Jehovah was before her eyes, and she would have no other gods before Him; she stood firm in her faith.

It was in connection with the terrible disease of her master, that an opportunity was afforded her of declaring in that heathen court that Jehovah could do what the skilled physicians and false deities of Syria were unable to do. “Would God,” she said one day to her mistress, “my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria; for he would recover him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3).

It required some considerable degree of faith in God for her to make such an assertion as this; for leprosy was generally understood to be incurable. But she evidently believed Jehovah could, and moreover that He would cure Naaman. Doubtless she remembered what He had done for Moses (Ex. 4:6) and for Miriam (Num. 12); but how did she know that He would heal a Gentile? This was faith indeed. The little slave-girl laid hold upon the grace of God in a way little known in the Old Testament times. And what she believed she stated simply and confidently.

But I pray you not to overlook another feature of her testimony which makes it even more beautiful. The expression she made use of to Naaman’s wife was evidently prompted by a kindly concern for the man whom she might well regard as the cause of her misfortunes. For Naaman, if he did not accompany the expeditions himself, was responsible for them. But the little maid knew what it was in some degree to love her enemies and forgive them. She pitied her leprous master and owed him no grudge for the loss of her home and her country. It was his welfare alone that was before her when she made her suggestion. The spirit of Christ was in her heart; indeed we may say it is never absent from any true testimony for God.

Her words did not fall to the ground. When do they if they spring from a heart full of love and devotion? Moreover her life must have commended her words; for Naaman, shrewd man of the world, would not have started off on a long journey if he considered them no more than a child’s extravagant wish, and that child his wife’s slave. Whatever his hopes, he went to Samaria, and as we know, he was healed through the word of the prophet.

Now, some of you perhaps are wishing you could do the same as Naaman’s little maid. Why should you not? Probably you are not in exactly the same kind of circumstances as she was. But still like her you may be surrounded by godlessness.

Be sure, therefore, to let every word and action show to others that you have unbounded faith in God, and that you are animated by a sincere desire that the blessing of God may be upon them, even though they persecute you because you are Christ’s.

It is such testimony that God owns and blesses. And it is within the reach of all to speak the simple word pointing out the direction in which salvation is to be obtained, backing up the word with a faithful life. Very few are able to explain to audiences the doctrines of justification by faith and expiation by blood. But everyone can point the sinner to Christ, and say, “That is the One to save you.” Only you must give others to see that you have been to Him yourself, and that He has given you something not to be obtained anywhere else.

We see from the narrative in 2 Kings 5 that the little maid was actually of more service to the poor leper than Jehoram, king of Israel, who gave himself up to expressions of impotent despair. So, please remember that the silent influence of a Christian life, and the earnestly spoken desire for another’s salvation is more often the means of blessing than the bushels of sermons intended to make the sinner as comfortable as possible in Damascus, rather than to send him down to the waters of Jordan.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

A.M.B.— “Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:39). What does this mean? This passage is one of those that show the great difference between the principles of law and grace. Under the law an Israelite was allowed to exact due reparation for any personal injury he received. But the Lord Jesus introduced a state of things of another nature altogether. Instead of “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” He bade His own not to resist evil, but (using that example) when smitten on one cheek, to present the other in meekness. It is no question of our rights, but whether we will forego our rights when necessary to exhibit a spirit of grace. By Christ’s word and example we are bound thus to act. Alas! how we come short. Christ “gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair” (Isa. 1:6; Matt. 26:67; John 18:22, 23). Let us “learn of Him,” that we may “overcome evil with good,” and thus “heap coals of fire” on the heads of our enemies. Read carefully 1 Peter 2:19-24; 3:9,17,18; 4:12-16.

E.E.M.— Do you think sisters should have their heads covered during prayer at a meeting in a private house? The question is one of godly decorum, but it should not bring any into bondage. A covered head according to scripture is the sign of subjection (1 Cor. 11:1-16)— a relationship of the woman to the man which was established at the creation and which grace has not subverted. The apostle therefore lays down that while in private meetings at home, women may pray or prophesy (Acts 21:9; Cor. 11:5) in the presence of men, yet they should cover their heads in doing so that the principle of subjection might be maintained (1 Cor 11:13). In general meetings of the assembly they are forbidden to speak (1 Cor. 14:34, 35; 1 Tim. 2:12). In a day, like the present, when so much is done to equalize the sexes (in attire as in other matters) it seems especially laid upon the saints to hold rigidly to the order which God Himself instituted from the beginning.

E.O.— What are we to understand by being “baptized for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29)? Instead of “for the dead,” read “baptized in the place of [or in the room of] the dead,” in the sense of filling up the vacant places made in the ranks of believers through those who fell asleep in Christ. This was done, as far as testimony went, by believers at their baptism. Who is meant by “they?” “They” refers, as has been said, to the new converts, and “the dead” to departed saints whose places the fresh ones filled. (See B.M.M., vol. 1, p. 220). Has this baptism any connection with Romans 6:3, 4? No; only that Romans 6:3, 4 states the doctrinal truth of which immersion in water is the figure. Our association with Christ in His death and resurrection is, of course, quite independent of water-baptism.

Stretching Forth the Hand to Heal.

WE all no doubt have many refreshing reminiscences of occasions when we have had to face what appeared to be over-whelming odds, but in actual experience they have only proved to be suitable conditions for learning how abundantly ample are our resources in the Lord. Whatever the danger confronting us He has given “more grace.” If however we cannot cite such instances from our own experience, we can always refer to what is far more reliable—the histories of scripture. We find one, for example, in the narrative of Acts 4 and 5.

When Peter and John left the council-chamber of the chief priests and elders and went to their own company, they could hardly have been altogether oblivious of the perilous position they then occupied, taking it of course solely from a human point of view. Their immediate progress in the path of obedience to their Lord’s commands was opposed by a frowning and threatening Sanhedrin which would, if necessary, be reinforced, even in the question of putting them to death, by the military power of the Romans. And they—who were they? A feeble band of country folk, all utterly unskilled in the arts of human strife and defense. Little pigmies as they were, what could they do against such sons of Anak as now mustered in battle array against them? But if they could not resist their adversaries with swords and staves, they could with prayer. As David the stripling looked up beyond the towering crest of Goliath to Jehovah of hosts on high, so did the apostles and those with them turn their eyes upward to the sovereign Lord of all.

They had the Master’s own promise, made before His departure. He had pledged Himself and His Father that they should have whatsoever they asked. In the confidence born of this assurance of the Lord they sought that, in spite of the intimidations of the council, (1) they might speak the word with all boldness, and (2) that the word might be confirmed by signs following (Acts 4:24-30).

The first part of their petition was speedily answered, as Acts 4:31-35 proceeds to show. The company of believers were all “filled with the Holy Ghost,” and they were able to continue their testimony to the name of Jesus of Nazareth with unflinching courage and with marked effect.

And not only so, but grace wrought in the most unexampled fashion in their mutual relations. In consequence, we have an exhibition in Jerusalem of brotherly kindness, holy affection and self-sacrificing concern for the needs of one another that is absolutely without parallel among God’s saints even in the pages of holy writ.

On this point of attack therefore the enemy was distinctly-repulsed. It was sought to prevent them teaching in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18); instead of this being accomplished a more powerful testimony was sounded abroad in that name by the disciples, while the holy self-denial first seen in Christ was again manifested in Jerusalem, being reproduced by the Spirit working upon the hearts and minds of the saints there.

There remains the second portion of their prayer. We have seen how they themselves received a fresh endowment of the power of Christ upon and in them. But they sought on behalf of others also. They asked that the Lord’s hand might be stretched out in healing, and that signs and wonders might be done in the name of Jesus.

After the parenthetical account of the summary judgment which fell upon Ananias and Sapphira because of their mimicry of the fruit of the Spirit in the saints (Acts 5:1-11), we are shown the abundant effects of the Lord’s hand working by means of His servants. “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them; but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed every one” (Acts 5:12-16).

Here then were the “signs and wonders” prayed for; but they do not come first in the narrative. On the contrary they are introduced, as far as the history goes, somewhat tardily, as if to impress us who all have an innate love and generally a preference for the marvelous, with the relative importance of the word and the sign.

Miracles in scripture are always given a secondary place. They follow, not precede. Of the herald of Christ, it was said, “John did no miracle.” Miracles like tongues “are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” (John 10:41; 1 Cor. 14:22). They were given then as sure indications to the nation of the authority with which the preachers spoke (Heb. 2:4).

The “works” of the Lord Himself were of this character, corroborating His words, and removing every shadow of excuse from the unbeliever (John 14:11). And He granted His followers the power of a similar testimony, saying to them, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). And yet though He went to the Father He was none the less with them, even as we read, “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20).

In response therefore to their appeal to stretch out His hand to heal He wrought mightily in Jerusalem. But it is instructive to note that the Spirit of God in recording this fact wrote, “By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought.” This passage reminds us of seeing a tiny child holding the reins of a galloping horse. But the child was seated on its father’s knee, whose strong hands held the reins as well. The boy prattled innocently of how he was “making Dobbin go,” but we knew all the while whence came the strength and guidance for the child’s wee fingers. And while in Solomon’s porch all kinds of sick folk-were being cured by laying on of the apostles’ hands, it was, in point of fact, the hand of Jehovah’s holy Servant, Jesus, stretched out from on high to heal the diseases of Israel. And not their sicknesses only, He would “heal their backsliding” also, if they would but have faith. Indeed we do find that “believers were the more added to the Lord.” And what was true of some might have been of all; but Israel would not.

Here again we observe the defeat of the enemy. It was because one crippled man was healed that the apostles were put in prison and sternly threatened by the Jewish council. We now see that multitudes were being healed, of all kinds of diseased folk.

And the news of the marvelous power associated with the name of Jesus of Nazareth spread beyond Jerusalem out into the circumjacent towns and villages, so that there was a remarkable immigration of invalids into the city. The narrow streets were lined with sufferers prostrate on their beds, all seeking the healing virtue of Him Who not so long before was led through those very streets to Calvary. Such confidence had been inspired by the words and deeds of the apostles that they believed that even the shadow of Peter brought a blessing with it. “They were healed everyone,” we read.

We delight to ponder upon this display of miraculous power. We know that miracles have ceased; nor could we expect them in the midst of a ruined church. But it is a sample of what He can do Whose we are and Whom we serve. It was His power and His grace. And He is unchanged. Let us adore Him. Let us trust Him to work in His own way with us as He did with His servants of old.

Evil Thoughts, Unbidden and Hated.

DEAR―, I have your letter, and I am sure that the enemy is very busy, as well as the evil heart within. What you need is thorough deliverance from yourself, that is, the flesh. You speak of evil thoughts, unbidden and hated, springing up in the heart even when you seek to be occupied with the Lord, this too, when really thinking of Him. Then you stop to confess them, and the occupation for a moment in confession only provokes another evil thought. And so it is as you say, an unending, all-day work.

My feeling is that you have never yet enjoyed full deliverance from self and flesh. You are what scripture calls still “in the flesh,” though a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe if your soul were free you would find the simple yet profound truth of reckoning yourself dead” (Rom. 6:11) would so act that the thought of turning aside to confess what would spring up unsought for in your soul, would be found to be really and only allowing the flesh a triumph, in leading you to be occupied with it.

When there is no will, such thoughts will be left, turned aside from, and treated as “not I.” Of course when the soul is not free I could not say you could do so at all, but were freedom enjoyed you would not be the sufferer from such things. What I would simply say to you is, when evil thoughts are present to your soul, unsought for and hated, do not stop or cease from your measure of occupation with the Lord, to confess them. If will enters they must be confessed, but if not pass them by as you would avoid an evil person who is not yourself, and who you know is incorrigible, and with whom contact is only misery and defilement. “Avoid such, pass not by them,” but leave them there. To own them at all, is but to give the flesh the place it seeks—a recognition in some way or another. This, even when it is only to abhor its workings, will be a satisfaction to the flesh.

Oh, that you had grace to leave “the flesh” unrecognized and disowned, and to pass on conscious that it is always there and will be in you to the end. How blessed that we can by grace disown and refuse to hear its suggestions when it works, knowing through mercy that it is no more” I.” Your case is one that has been and is common to most of the Lord’s people, if not all. I refer to unsolicited, hated, and wandering thoughts. You should simply go on and take no notice of them whatever, as by doing so you only give the flesh the place it seeks. Go on as not hearing the suggestions—be as it were deaf to them. Confess to God if you find will at work, but not so as to be occupied with the analysis of the evil: rather look up to Him, the sense of weakness and impotency filling your heart, and in the attitude of dependence of soul, pass on with your eye resting on Him, out of whom strength comes whenever there is conscious weakness.

J.N.D.

Notes on Lepers and Leprosy

Law of Leprosy.

IN the law of leprosy in the “Priest’s guide-book” (Lev. 13; 14) certain signs or symptoms were to guide the priest in his diagnosis. His opinion priest in (as Jehovah’s expert) was sought in SEVEN abnormal conditions (Lev. 14:54-57): —

All manner of plague of leprosy;

Scall;

For the leprosy of a garment;

For a house;

For a rising;

For a scab;

For a bright spot.

Suppositional or representative cases of leprosy are given “to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean:”—

1. In Lev. 13:1-46	are 21 cases in	PERSONS;
2. In 13:47-59	5	GARMENTS;
3. In 14:33-48	2	HOUSES.

The signs or symptoms in the cases of leprosy in persons varied in number:—

	9 cases (Nos. 3, 6, 7, 10, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21) have 1 symptom
	4 (1, 5, 14, 17) 2
	2 (4, 13) 3
	2 (9, 12) 4
	2 (8, 11) 6
	2 (2, 15) 7

Of these twenty-one cases: —

	11 were pronounced unclean;
	10 clean.

The quality of the symptoms rather than the quantity was to be taken into account, for example: —

Case 21 had only ONE symptom, but was utterly unclean.

Cases 2 and 15 had each SEVEN symptoms, were seen THREE times by the priest, and were pronounced clean.

Actual Cases of Leprosy.

There are exactly twenty-one named or described cases of leprosy in the whole of the word of God, viz., nine in the Old Testament, and twelve in the New; corresponding with the number of hypothetical cases in Leviticus 13. They are: —

Old Testament

	Moses	Exodus 4:6.
	Miriam	Numbers 12:10.
	Naaman	2 Kings 5:1.
	Gehazi	2 Kings 5:27.
	Four lepers of Samaria	2 Kings 7:3.
	Uzziah	2 Chronicles 26:21.
		Total, NINE lepers.

New Testament.

	An unnamed leper	Mark 1:40.
	Simon	Mark 14:3.
	Ten lepers	Luke 17:12.
		Total, TWELVE lepers.

Comparing the two groups of typical and actual cases we find they varied in intensity, thus: —

Moses’ hand was temporarily leprous, but Uzziah was leprous in his forehead, and remained “a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house,” being utterly unclean (Ex. 4:5; 2 Chron. 26:20; Lev. 13:44).

Again comparing the Old and New Testaments we find an emphatic contrast:—

The law in the person of the priest pronounced ELEVEN persons unclean (Lev. 13), but “the grace that is in Christ Jesus” removed this uncleanness from ELEVEN men (Mark 1:42; Luke 17:14).

Of the New Testament lepers only one is said to have returned to give thanks for his cleansing— “and he was a SAMARITAN.”

Of the Old Testament lepers cleansed, only one is said to have given thanks—and he was Naaman the SYRIAN. J.C.M.

Hymn.

6, 6, 8, 4.

ALMIGHTY Saviour Lord,

What taunts they flung at Thee!

Thyself to save Thou didst not come;

The saved are we.

Thou spring of waters free

For thirsty souls of men,

‘Mid Calvary’s drought didst cry, “I thirst:”

No water then.

Thou bright effulgent Light,

Nailed to the cross in love,

‘Twas there the darkness closed Thee in,

Around, above.

Thou source and stay of life,

Who us from death to save,

Thyself in death’s cold grasp didst lie

Within the grave.

Thy Father and Thy God,

Thou too didst glorify;

In radiant glory now Thyself

We hail on high.

We praise Thy holy name;

We bless Thee and adore;

E’en now we worship Thee; on high

We’ll worship more.

The House of God.

THERE is a painful contrast between the First and Second Epistles of Paul to Timothy. In the one the church is viewed from God’s standpoint, as the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth; in the other we are shown man’s side of the matter, and the confusion and evil that he has brought in. It is of the highest importance to distinguish between God’s building and man’s. The one is perfect, as are all His works, and will stand forever; the other is marked by imperfection and sin.

Several passages of scripture present the house of God to us as God’s handiwork. “In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:21); “To whom coming, as unto a living stone... ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:4); “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). In all this man has no place. It is God’s house; all the stones introduced are instinct with divine life, and all the power of Satan cannot overthrow it.

But it is far otherwise with man’s work. God has employed builders, as 1 Corinthians 3 shows, and all such are responsible to Him for their work. Much that they have built is worthless, and will be disowned by the Lord in the coming day. Servants who have labored according to God, and who have built with gold, silver, and precious stones will receive a reward; those who have built with wood, hay, and stubble will suffer loss; and those who have corrupted the temple of God He will destroy. The latter are of course unconverted laborers.

In 2 Timothy 2:20 the professing church is likened to a great house, wherein are vessels off gold and of silver, also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. This is the condition of things presented to the exercised soul at the present time. Every thoughtful believer recognizes that faulty workmen and unfaithful saints have brought in a state of confusion the exact opposite of the original intention of God. It is the old sad story; everything is corrupted that is committed to the responsibility of men—a deeply humbling lesson for all our souls to learn. But what are the godly to do in such circumstances? God be praised, we are not left without divine light. Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy not only shows us the evil, but furnishes principles and directions for the path. Separation from evil at all cost is God’s principle for all who would do His will. “If a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master’s use, prepared unto every good work.” It is useless to groan over the evil, or to protest against it, while going on with it. The soul in this way gets impoverished, if not positively injured. Even if no further step be seen, evil must be abandoned; indeed, the soul generally has to cease to do evil before learning to do well. The word comes home to heart and conscience with commanding power, “Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Yet the faithful are not left without the privileges of christian fellowship in their separation for the Lord’s sake. Such are to “follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). Those who are obliged to turn away from iniquity naturally find themselves together, and it is the will of God that they should. But let us carefully observe, and earnestly cultivate the divine characteristics here laid down. It is deplorable and painful when separation from evil is taught and professed, and these are lacking. If crooked ways are seen instead of righteousness, indifference and indolence instead of faith, envying and jealousy rather than love, and strife and contention to the banishment of peace, an enormous evil is created, from which may the Lord mercifully preserve all His own. Faith can still fall back on the Lord’s own gracious promise, “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). But may we be found in this position in lowliness and grace, and with that deep-toned holiness of life and walk that correspond therewith, for His name’s sake.

W.W.F.

STROKES by the Saviour’s hand are very sweet.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapter 3:19-30.

19 AND they come to a house [or, home]; 20and again the crowd cometh together, so that they can not even eat bread. 21And his relatives when they heard (of it) went out to lay hold of him; for they said, He is beside himself. 22And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebul, and, By the prince of the demons he casteth out the demons. 23And he called them to [him] and said in parables to them, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26Ancl if Satan rose up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27 But no one can enter into the house of the strong one, and plunder his goods, unless he (will) first bind the strong one, and then he will plunder his house. 28Verily I say to you, that all sins shall be forgiven to the sons of men, and their blasphemies how much soever they may blaspheme; 29but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath no forgiveness for eternity, but is guilty of everlasting sin; 30because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verse 19. — Into a house. It is instructive to note that there are many references to the indoor life of the Lord. The testimony of Jehovah’s Servant was not by the seaside nor in the streets only, but also at home. In this Gospel alone we find the following passages: —

Text.	House.	Event.
1:29	Peter’s	Mother-in-law healed.
2:01	Own	Crowd gathers.
2:15	Levi’s	Eats with Publicans.
3:19	Own	Crowd gathers.
5:38	Jairus’	Damsel raised.
7:17	Own	Explains parable.
7:24	Near Tyre and Sidon	Demon cast out in another house, 7:30.
9:28	?	Disciples question Lord.
9:33	Own	Lord questions disciples
10:10	Beyond Jordan	Disciples question Lord.
14:03	Simon the leper’s	Jesus anointed.

There appears to have been a particular house in Capernaum specially used by the Lord. It is referred 10 in the above table as His “own,” only in this sense.

Some of those who were healed were expressly directed to go to their own houses. See the cases of the

Palsied man (2:11).

Demoniac (5:19).

Blind man (8:26).

Verse 20. — Cannot even eat bread. How diligent was this Servant! If the crowd prevented Him eating for Himself, He was none the less ready to “fill the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53). He saw in the people who had followed Him an occasion to do His Father’s will; and that was His meat (John 4:34).

Verse 21. — His relatives. What a world the Lord came to! He was here as an absolute Stranger. Even “His brethren did not believe in Him” (John 7:5). As it was said in the Psalms, “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children” (Psa. 69:8). They could not understand the Lord’s zeal. They said, “He is deranged;” His enemies went farther and said, “He is mad” (John 10:20). But both “friends” and enemies were one in opposing Him.

Verse 22. — Scribes from Jerusalem. No doubt the local scribes, having been baffled (2:6-12) sought the assistance of experts from the metropolis that they might prove Him wrong. These were more violent than the first; while the one said that He blasphemed, the others said, “He hath Beelzebub.”

Beelzebub. What an awful expression from representatives of a divinely established religion! They did not say, “He hath a demon,” or even, “He hath a legion of demons,” but, “He hath Beelzebub,” the prince of all the demons.

The more correct form of the name is Beelzebul; for it is not quite the same as Baalzebub, the god of Ekron (2 Kings 1).

Prince of the demons. He is also prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) and the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2).

Verses 23-27. The Lord shows the utter folly of their hateful charge. How could Satan take up arms against himself? The divided kingdom or divided house cannot stand. Did not their own fall as a kingdom date from its division in the days of Rehoboam and Jeroboam? And their restoration cannot be until the “whole house of Israel” is no longer “divided into two kingdoms” (Ezek. 37). The truth was, not that “the strong man’s house” was divided, but that it was entered by a stronger than he, who would bind him and spoil his goods (Heb. 2:14,15; 1 John 3:8).

Verse 29.―Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Many fear lest they have committed what they term “the unpardonable sin.” Observe that it is not sin against, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost that is spoken of here. In saying, “He hath Beelzebub,” they were speaking against the “Spirit of holiness” by Whom He was anointed and sealed (Mark 1:10, 12; Matt. 12:28). “What the Lord denounces is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Keeping that distinctly in view would save many souls a great deal of needless trouble. How many have groaned in terror through fear of being guilty of sin against the Holy Ghost! That phrase admits of vague notions and general reasoning about its nature. But our Lord spoke definitely of blasphemous unforgivable sin against Him... (not that vague sense of evil which troubled souls dread as ‘sin against the Holy Ghost,’ but blasphemy against Him). What is this evil never to be forgiven? It is attributing God’s power that wrought in Jesus to the devil. How many troubled souls would he instantly relieved, if they laid hold of that simple truth! It would dissipate what really is a delusion of the devil, who strives hard to plunge them into anxiety, and drive them into despair, if possible ... What our Lord referred to was neither a sin, nor the sin, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. It was that which the Jewish nation was then rapidly falling into and for which they were neither forgiven then, nor will ever be forgiven. There will be a new stock, so to speak; another generation will be raised up who will receive the Christ Whom their fathers blasphemed; but as far as that generation was concerned they were guilty of this sin, and they could not be forgiven. They began it in the lifetime of Jesus. They consummated it when the Holy Ghost was sent down and despised.”

FALSE messengers of peace, who bear the olive branch, yet join the fray.

Yod's Dream.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,—I will relate to you a kind of dream that I had recently. While of course it is not in itself true, it, at the same time, appears to be founded on a truth regarding scripture which it is well for you to be reminded of.

As I was sitting alone one evening, I fancied myself in a large library. The room was a very long one and narrow, with windows at each end. I thought I took a hook to one corner of it, and ensconced myself in a comfortable chair with my back to the window, having an intention of passing a quiet and profitable half-hour. Whether it was the comfort of the chair or the dullness of the book I cannot say; but I fell asleep.

I must have dozed soundly for some time; because when I awoke I found myself in darkness, except that the moon was shining brightly through the windows at the farther end of the room;

I leaned forward to pick up the book which had fallen from my hand while I was asleep. As I did so I was arrested midway by a movement which caught my eyes, on a large table somewhat near the opposite window. I forgot the volume I was seeking; for as my eyes became more accustomed to the pale moonlight, I saw that several large books were moving about, apparently of their own accord.

Dreamers are never surprised; neither was I. However I was curious to see more; so I stole silently to the shadow of a large armchair near the center of the room. There I was able to observe some very strange proceedings indeed.

Upon the table, at the end nearest to me, lay a large open Bible. Around it stood eight or nine portly volumes, one of which had a quill pen stuck between its pages. With this I found it was making furious little dabs at the Bible prostrate before it.

I was at a loss to imagine what was the meaning of this curious performance. But after peering more intently towards this lively book I discovered it was busily employed in scoring out verses from the Bible, while a brother volume assisted by turning the pages.

I was so indignant at the impiety of this book, that I shouted at the top of my voice, “What are you doing, you impertinent volume?” But my voice was soundless; and the scratching and scoring went on rapidly as before. I then observed that in addition to blotting out a verse here and there a word was sometimes scrawled in large ugly letters across a whole passage; such as “ancient myth,” “discrepancy,” “unscientific,” etc.

As soon as I had recovered a little from the agitation into which I was thrown at the sight of such irreverent dealing with God’s holy word, and had realized how powerless I was to interfere, I became anxious to know the titles of these audacious books. There was of course a title on the back of each volume, but though some of the backs were turned towards me they were in the shade, and I was unable to discern the lettering.

At last one of the number more zealous than the rest when making an unusually vigorous assault upon the Bible overreached itself, and as it fell forwards the quill pen it held forced open the pages, so that it lay upon the table back upwards. Then I was able to read its title very clearly— “MODERN CRITICAL COMMENTARY!”

My attention was then diverted by a sound of paper being torn which fell on my ears. I discovered that this sound proceeded from another part of the table. There I saw that a tall and somewhat slim volume bound in peacock blue and gold had seized a Bagster’s Bible and was hard at work pulling out some leaves which it very disdainfully tossed into the waste paper basket. It was evident that the use of the quill pen was too tedious an operation for this fine gentleman. He believed in more stringent remedies.

I may say that I had an opportunity subsequently of examining the waste paper basket; and I found there the Song of Solomon, the book of Jonah, half of the prophecies of Isaiah, the epistle by Jude, the second epistle of Peter’s, and large portions of nearly every book of scripture. I cannot describe to you how utterly shocked I was at this wholesale destruction of the sacred Book which is God’s veritable message to man.

The last daring act of this malicious volume was to hurl what remained of the mutilated Bible into the fireplace where there were still a few smoldering embers. After contemplating its work for a moment with a good deal of evident self-satisfaction it turned to resume its place on the shelves and I was able to read the highly ornamented title on its back— “THE LATEST ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGHER CRITICISM.”

I was about to give vent to some angry exclamation, when I seemed to hear a voice reverberating like distant thunder, and saying, “Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away.” “The word of our God shall stand forever.” “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” At the same instant, a flash as of lightning seemed to pass up and down the rows of books on the shelves.

In the momentary illumination my eye fell upon the volumes of the “Modern Critical Commentary” standing quietly together with all the innocence imaginable. I felt curious to inspect them more closely. I advanced for this purpose and took down the first volume to ascertain the name of the author or editor. Strange to say, I could not discover the title-page. I turned over leaf after leaf only to find them all blank, save that on some of the pages a few words were to be seen. These words I soon made out to be invariably quotations from scripture. It then occurred to me that after all I might have known it was only the words of God that had any real permanence. Then the voice I had heard came back to me, and the flash of light. Was it possible that all these skeptical writings had been suddenly blotted out? I hastily took down the dandy in blue and gold, and looked within, only to find its pages were also blank. Page after page I turned; but while I observed the paper was stout and of the finest quality, not a printed word was to be seen anywhere. All the fine reasonings and critical arguments had completely vanished, and as the author had utterly ignored the words of the sacred volume he was seeking to demolish, there was not a single text to be seen in the book from beginning to end. So that this fine book was after all hardly worth the paper and binding. And it came to me as a very excellent idea to present it to a Sunday School teacher I know for use as a note book when studying his lesson.

I tested several other theological works near me, and they all had been subjected to the same purifying process. The vain thoughts and imaginations of man were all eliminated, and nothing but the pure word of God could be read. The greater proportion, by far, of the volumes I examined consisted of so many pages all but quite blank. Occasionally however there was one with a good many passages on each page.

At last I took down a small red cloth volume which seemed rather familiar to me. It proved to be “The Believer’s Monthly Magazine for 1897.” I was at once anxious to find how this had fared. And all of a tremble I was about to open it, to examine its pages for this purpose, when I awoke—I expect my young friends know that this is a day of warfare against the Bible. Infidelity seeks to destroy it entirely, while Romanism adds to the word of God, and Rationalism takes away from it; and all will receive the judgment of God on that account. But I do hope that you will bear in mind that for yourselves you can afford to disregard all attacks upon the scripture, because IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR IT TO BE OVERTHROWN. Let your trust therefore be in the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

W.T.— Please explain “For as in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). The apostle is sheaving in the context that mankind is divided into two families—Adam being the head of one, and Christ of the other. And as Adam brought in death for all his family, so Christ brought in resurrection from among the dead for those who are His. Hence we have this contrast stated, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” What is the meaning of 1 John 2:28? The little children (meaning, in this verse, the whole family of God) are exhorted to abide in Christ. The reason given is that at His appearing or public manifestation with His saints (Col. 3:4) “We” (that is, the apostles) “may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” Thus the apostle was anxious that the saints who were the fruits of his labor might continue in the ways of godliness, love, and truth, so that he might have no reason to be ashamed of his own work in the day of Christ. He was the workman; they his work; he wished they might then be his “glory and joy” (1 Thess. 2:19, 20) rather than his shame.

M.N.— Please explain the difference between “raised up Jesus” and “raised up Christ” (Rom. 8:11). The difference appears to be that in the former part the Lord’s own resurrection as a Man is referred to, “Jesus” being His personal name (Matt. 1:21), while in the latter part His resurrection is looked at as virtually embracing our own, “Christ” or “Christ Jesus” being the official title used of the Lord when our association with Him is named (See Eph. 1 and the epistles generally). “In Jesus” is an unscriptural expression, but “in Christ” is a term used in regard of every believer. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies. Compare the phrase “dead in Christ” (1 Thess. 4:16).

T.A.— Who or what does Christ allude to in Psalms 22:20 as “my darling”? It is difficult to speak positively; but the expression seems a figurative refence to His life which He laid down. Some, however, from comparison of Psalms 35:17, where a similar expression occurs, see a reference in it to the faithful Jewish remnant with whom Christ identifies Himself. We shall be glad of further tight on this passage. Is there any reference in John 1:51 to Matthew 4:11? We hardly think there is any connection. The angelic ministry to the Lord after His temptation in the wilderness was of the nature of personal attendance upon Him during the days of His flesh (Matt. 4:11; Luke 22:43). But in John 1:51 The angels are witnesses given to a reverential world of the glory of the Son of man, fulfilled particularly of course in the millennium. The angels will then be seen attending the Son of man. Not only earth below but heaven above will serve the Son of man. Is He not worthy? “When he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Heb. 1:6). That sight will be the “greater thing” of which the Lord spake to Nathanael.

J.D.— Kindly explain the expression “grace for grace” (John 1:16). Is there adequate ground for the translation “grace upon grace”? The sense appears to be that of grace succeeding grace being given to us, as upon the sea-coast we might speak of the sea coming in rapidly— “wave upon wave.” Understood thus, it is a beautiful expression of the interminable succession of superabundant supplies of grace which is every believer’s portion. “Of his fullness have all we received, and grace upon grace.” The accuracy of this translation can only be, judged by those who are familiar with the Greek tongue. The phrase in itself is certainly a peculiar one, but similar constructions having this superlative sense occur in secular authors who wrote in the same language. There is therefore nothing arbitrary in the rendering. If required, a fuller communication on this point will be made privately to the querist.

W.R.K.— Are all who are chastened exercised by the chastening, or can one be chastened without being exercised? If “exercised” means (as it surely does) feeling we deserve the chastisement and determining to amend our ways, surely we are sometimes chastened when we see no reason for it, as a boy is slow to admit that he deserves his flogging. The passage is this: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:11). Chastening is the action of God our Father in bringing us into some circumstances of sorrow in order to correct some fault in us, or to remove some blemish in our ways. It is, in fact, the pruning of the branches of the Vine by the Husbandman that more fruit may be borne. His object is that we may become partakers of His holiness (ver. 10). Our part is to be duly “exercised thereby”— to inquire earnestly what folly in our hearts is the cause of this correcting sorrow. Paul was “exercised” as to his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12), for he besought the Lord thrice for its removal. But he learned (1) that he was liable to be “exalted above measure,” and (2) the sufficiency of Christ’s grace. These were “peaceable fruits.” Are the “fruits” the general result of a course of chastening, or should we expect a present blessing from each chastening? The degree of chastening would depend upon the obstinacy of the child, or the gravity of the fault. If the chastening is despised (see verse 5) we may expect a “course,” but the God of love will not chasten when the object of His chastisement is accomplished in us. We are not sure whether this will meet your difficulty or not.

M.W.— Please explain the Lord’s words as to buying a sword (Luke 22:36, 38 and Matt. 26:52). The Lord was speaking figuratively of the increased difficulties that were before them when He should have departed to the Father. The verse you refer to in Matthew shows that the words are not to be understood literally. For a fuller explanation see B.M.M., vol. 1, page 40.

Enquirer. — Is the Holy Spirit quenched in a meeting when the word “Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40) is not attended to? The apostolic command is that everything in the assembly must be done “decently and in order.” The question then arises what “order” is referred to. Clearly it is not the “order” of man, but that which results from the sovereign action of the Holy Spirit in the assembly according to the principles laid down in this chapter (1 Cor. 14). For only where He is allowed to work as He will can there be an order and comeliness well-pleasing to the Lord. God’s order cannot be confusion (1 Cor. 14:33), any more than man’s order can be God’s. Humanly-conceived plans and arrangements obstruct or quench the Spirit’s working; and equally, if not more so, does human disorder. The assembly, above all, is the sphere for the free operation of the will of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11), but never for the will of man. If the flesh works there, what room remains for the Spirit?

F.F.— Will you kindly explain “Him shall God destroys” (1 Cor. 3:17)? Is there any reference to 1 Corinthians 11:30? The reference is to false teachers rather than to erring saints (such as in Cor. 11:30). Any who taught in the church false doctrine which would destroy (or corrupt) the temple of God would be visited by the direct judgment of God, bringing them to naught (2 Peter 2:1) Compare the case of Hymenæus (1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 2:17,18).

F.B.— Please explain 1 John 4:20. The plain meaning of the text is that love to God and hatred of the children of God cannot co-exist in the same heart. A person pretending to love God, and yet disliking those who are His, the apostle calls “a liar.” It is a solemn test: the apostle John is always sweet, but always solemn.

A.M.W.— Dear Sir, Please explain Matthew 8:11. Those that come from “the east and the west” to sit down in the kingdom are Gentiles who would accept the mercy and grace that Israel was rejecting. Compare, for example, Acts 13:46. The same fact is shown in another way in Romans 11. by the figure of branches broken off from the olive tree of promise (Israel), and a wild olive (Gentiles) grafted in (Rom. 11:17).

The Lord's Bequest of Peace.

THE announcement the Lord made to His disciples of His immediate departure fell like a bombshell in their midst, exploding all their many notions of the kingdom which they thought Christ was about to establish on earth. But there was more felt by them than the loss of the good things of the kingdom. For it is an unquestionable fact, shown in the Gospel histories, that the hearts of the disciples were filled with a real love for the person of the Lord Himself. And when they learned that He Was about to leave them, they suddenly realized what a complete blank the world would become without Christ.

These men had given up all to follow the Lord. Their “all” may not have been great as men count things great; but at any rate they could give up no more than they did. Moreover they had continued with the Lord in His “temptations,” even when some turned back and walked no more with Him. But now they were brought face to face with the fact that He to Whom they turned in every trouble and on Whom they relied in every difficulty was going away, and they would see His face no more. Oh, what pangs of sorrow seized them!

They felt somewhat as did the weeping Magdalene, when she sobbed out, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” Without Him they would be absolutely helpless; and their hearts were torn with dark apprehensions and gloomy forebodings for the future.

But this oppressive cloud the Lord lifts from their hearts by His words of solace and promise which we have in John 14:1-27. They open and close with those expressions of consolation we know and love so well: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

The Lord, however, gave his disciples much more than a vague exhortation, such as this might be supposed to be had it been His sole utterance. But He Who said “Be of good cheer” to the storm-tossed disciples, also caused the wind and waves to subside, and there was peace. He Who said “Weep not” to the widow of Nain, also raised the dead son to life and delivered him to his mother. And He Who said to the sorrowing disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” also gave them assurances that His departure would be to their undoubted advantage.

The Lord was going away, but it was to prepare a place for them, and He would come again to receive them unto Himself. In His absence they might ask anything in His name and He would do it. The Spirit of truth should come to remain with them permanently. Moreover He and His Father would come to them and manifest themselves to them as they did not to the world. As a concluding word He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you,” repeating then, in view of all the substantial provisions for them that He had just enumerated, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Evidently there are two kinds of peace alluded to by the Lord: ―

The peace He would leave;

The peace He would give.

And these two kinds provide exactly for the two directions from which they might expect to be disturbed, namely, (1) from above, and (2) from around them.

Let us consider the two points separately. First, there is nothing more disquieting than a guilty conscience apprehensive of the judgment of God. And supposing after the Lord’s departure Peter or John or any of them were to sin, what a terrible state of anxiety they would be in, if left to the accusations of their own consciences? They would feel they had incurred the displeasure of God, and as they looked above, their feelings would be those of dread rather than those of peace.

Now, the Lord provided against such feelings by the peace He was about to leave them. This peace, by the very phrase used, is associated with His death. It was in fact the peace He made “through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20), and which is the undoubted possession of every justified one (Rom. 5:1). This state of peace is in distinct contrast with the former state of enmity, and directly results from the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, blessed provision for weak and erring saints! He Who had warned Simon Peter but a few moments previously that before cockcrowing he would have denied Him thrice, knew also the failings of them all and of us all. He was therefore about to be “delivered for our offenses,” and to sprinkle His blood on and before the mercy-throne, thus establishing for us an unchangeable standing of peace with God.

Has then the believer who has sinned peace with God? Assuredly, for it is the effect of Christ’s work here below; and it was the legacy to His own when He went on high. But does the believer who has sinned enjoy peace with God? Surely not, for that is a different matter. Even a person with a legacy of a thousand pounds may get but little comfort out of it though it be his own. When the sun is shining in the heavens, shedding warmth and radiance all around, a person may go into a dark cellar; but the sun shines all the same, and it is his own fault if he does not enjoy it. Similarly, the believer may through his own fault lose the joy of salvation; but peace with God is unaffected, that is Christ’s own imperishable bequest.

“Tis everlasting peace,

Sure as Jehovah’s name;

‘Tis stable as His steadfast throne,

For evermore the same.

My love is oft-times low,

My joy still ebbs and flows;

But peace with Him remains the same;

No change Jehovah knows.”

Let it therefore be clearly understood that we are brought into the unclouded sunshine of God’s face as our permanent standing before Him; and the Lord meant that the knowledge of this should preserve us from having troubled and terror-stricken hearts. “Peace I leave with you.”

But while this secures for us a cloudless sky above, the second secures us against disturbing elements around us. It was the Lord’s peace when here below as a man. All the forms and powers of evil in man and devil sought to the utmost to break in upon His peace without avail. “My peace,” said He, “I give unto you.

It was a part of that grace of His, which delighted to bring His own into the most intimate association with Himself. In these valedictory words we have: —

	My peace	(14:27)
	My love	(15:9)
	My joy	(15:11; 17:13)
	My glory	(17:22, 24)

We see this peace to which the Lord now refers, pictured in that scene on the lake of Gennesaret. While the furious billows were threatening every moment to engulf the little boat, and the disciples were trembling in fear of a watery grave, the Lord was asleep. We see it also on that occasion when after contemplating the fruitlessness of His abundant labors in Capernaum and Chorazin and Bethsaida, He turned in the holy calm of His spirit to His Father, saying, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” etc. And when He departed, He said to His disciples—and to us, “My peace I give unto you.”

Beloved of God, what do we know of this? Do we walk in the enjoyment of it? It is given to us. That is certain. But what is the secret of realizing it? See that high mountain peak; while fierce storms rage around its base, bright sunshine bathes its brow. See the inmates of that Philippian prison; the feet of Paul and Silas are fast in the dungeon-stocks, but their hearts and their heads are in the peaceful precincts of the sanctuary on high. As a consequence, they carol forth their hymns of praise, the joy of heaven triumphing over the pain of earth.

Oh, that the peace of Christ might thus rule in our hearts. He could defy every external power to mar His peace. He has given us to share this privilege. But to enjoy it we must grasp it by faith, knowing that “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

NEVER preach without praying, but always pray without preaching.

Emptying Himself.

As a person, He emptied Himself (Phil. 2:7). He could not have done so save as God. A creature who leaves his first estate sins therein. The sovereign Lord can descend in grace. In Him it is love. Then, as in that position, He receives all. All the words He has are given to Him. He is, though unchangeable in nature as God, yet in His path a dependent man. He lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, is sealed by the Father; the glory He had before the world is now given Him of the Father.

Now, in this state of obedient servant with a revelation which God gave to Him, the day and hour of His judicial action was not revealed (Mark 13:32). “It is not for you,” He says to His disciples, “to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own power” (Acts 1:7). And to this exactly Psalms 110. answers, as has been observed by another: “Sit on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” When? Sit there in this place of divine glory till—no more is said. Now I do not pretend to explain—God forbid I should! — how this is. I see in scripture the full (not theiotees only, but) theotees of Christ maintained by the truth, that none can know the Son but the Father; the Father we do. He is simply the adorable God. “No man knows the Son but the Father, and no man knows the Father but the Son, and He to whom the Son shall reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). The Son’s divine nature seemed, so to speak, exposed to danger by His blessed humiliation—not so the Father. It is secured (I mean, of course, as to [man’s] thought) by His being thereby absolutely unfathomable. Such I believe He is. I know He is the Son; I know He is a true, proper man. I know he is “I Am,” “the true God.” How to put this together I do not know; though I see and know they are together, I am glad I do not as a creature. Did I know, I should have lost that divine fullness which, if capable of being fathomed when in manhood, was not truly then divine. God, through grace, I know; man, too, I know, in a certain sense; but God become a man is beyond all, even my spiritual thoughts. Be it so. It is infinite grace, and I can adore. I am sure for my soul’s blessing He is both; and the Son of the Father too—for the persons are as distinct as the nature is clear.

J.N.D.

The Epistle to the Ephesians.

Chapter 3, 4.

Chapter 1 revealed the counsels of God in Christ risen and seated on high, followed up by the apostle’s prayer to the God of our Lord Jesus; and chapter 2 showed us how grace has brought us in, not only as individuals, but collectively, and the temporary setting aside of Israel, believing Jews and Gentiles alike, to be Christ’s body and God’s habitation in the Spirit. Chapter 3 connects with the subject Paul’s special administration of this mystery or secret.

Therefore are the Gentiles the objects of grace in a way wholly unheard of in other generations, as now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit—the same power which builds all the saints together for God’s dwelling. It was by revelation made known that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which Paul was become minister according to the gift of His grace given him according to the working of His power. This of course could not be, nor be revealed, till the cross had closed the Jewish system and opened the door in Christ ascended for the Creator of all things to make known heavenly counsels and ways in Him to any and everybody that believed. Equally clear is it that when Christ comes for His own to be with Him in the Father’s house, and subsequently appears to execute judgment on Babylon and the Beast, on the Antichrist and all other enemies, He will restore Israel specially and bless the Gentiles in general under His blissful reign over the universe.

Meanwhile the gospel where these distinctions are obliterated and unknown goes forth, and the unsearchable riches of the Christ announced, as Paul did pre-eminently and far beyond all prophecy. This was in order that now to the principalities and the authorities in the heavenlies might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God according to a purpose of the ages (or, eternal) which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and access in confidence through the faith in Him. The apostle would not have them discouraged at his tribulations for them, it was their glory, which roused the enemy (verses 1-13).

“For this cause” (repeating the phrase which opens the chapter, and carrying out the parenthesis into a new prayer founded on its wondrous intimations) he bows his knees to the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ, an addition favored by many MSS., Vv., etc.] of Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. Here, however, it is not as in chapter 1 That a spirit of wisdom and revelation might be given to the saints to know the hope of His calling and the glory of His inheritance and the greatness of His power in Christ risen and exalted, but to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ might dwell in their hearts through faith, rooted and grounded in love, that they might be able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height (he does not say of what, but evidently of the mystery), and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge; that they might be filled unto all the fullness of God. It is not for spiritual intelligence of God’s counsels and of what God had wrought in Christ to give them effect, but for present power of the Spirit in realizing Christ dwelling in their hearts, and thus entering in fellowship with all the saints into the boundless glory, and His love deeper than the glory which will display it another day. Now to Him that is able to do far exceeding above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (and not only for us), to Him be the glory in the church in Christ unto all generations forever and ever. Amen (vss. 14-21).

Paul, the prisoner in the Lord, beseeches the saints on the ground of all he has made known, to walk worthily of the calling wherewith they were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the joint bond of peace. This leads him to set forth unity fully: “one body and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in you [or, us] all” (vers. 1-6). The relationship determines the duty: what then must be ours, so blessed of God? It is easy to see that verse 4 sets out the vital, as verse 5 the professing, unity; while verse 6 is universal in its early clauses, yet the most intimate grace in the last. We are exhorted to be faithful in every case.

Next, the various workings in each for the blessing of all to Christ’s glory are shown in verse 7-16. All is founded on Him ascended on high, as this depended on His descending into the lower parts of the earth, and also ascending to the highest, that He might fill all things. He it is gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, unto work of ministry, unto edifying of the body of Christ. What is the term of this? Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of stature of the fullness of Christ. For His gracious aim is that we be no longer babes, tossed and carried about by every wind of the teaching [that is] in the sleight of men for the witness of error; but, holding truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, Who is the head, the Christ; from Whom the whole body, fitted and compacted together by every joint of supply, according to the effectual working in measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body unto its own edifying in love.

It is not here, as in 1 Corinthians 12, the Holy Spirit testifying in this creation (and hence by tongues, healings, etc.) to God’s glory in Christ, Who has defeated Satan before the universe. It is Christ in His love to His own sending down from His heavenly seat the gifts of His grace to His body and every several member. Thus here only we have the assurance that, while His members are on earth, His supplies of grace cannot fail. The foundation has been laid so well that it were folly to expect it re-laid; but all that perpetuates and edifies, it were unbelief to doubt till He come. With this goes the promise of the other Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, to abide Forever in and with us (John 14), Who guides into all the truth. Hence the very babes in Christ are said (1 John 2:20) to have unction from the Holy One. No Christian need distrust.

Thereon the general exhortations proceed. They are warned against any allowance of their former walk as Gentiles, alienated from the life in every way, inward and outward. Not so did they learn the Christ, if albeit they heard Him and were taught in Him according as truth is in Jesus. What is this? Their having put away as to their former behavior the old man corrupt as to its lusts of deceit, and their being renewed in the spirit of their mind, and their having put on the new man which according to God was created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore putting away falsehood (this goes beyond lying) they were to speak truth, as being members one of another. They were not to allow continued anger. Instead of stealing they were to give, and to speak what was good for edifying, and not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God by Whom they were sealed for redemption’s day. So all bitterness and heat, wrath, clamour, and abusive language, with all malice, was to be put away from them; and they were to be kind one to another, compassionate, forgiving each other, even as God also showed them grace (verses 17-32).

“HE has always been sweet to my soul, but since I suffered for Him, His name has a sweeter fragrance than before. Oh, that every hair of my head and every member and bone of my body were a man, to witness a fair confession for Him.”

Assurance.

O SOUL, bring forth thy sacrifice of praise!

O lips, ope wide my joyous hymn to raise

Toward highest heaven, where, seated on His throne,

My Lord accepteth worship from His own.

Bells of my heart, ring out in joyous peal

For Christ, my Saviour, ‘neath unarmed heel,

Hath trodden into dust mine enemy;

And from my chafing chains hath set me free.

Sing out my soul; yet cease awhile to tell

Of God’s vast wrath which in its fullness fell

On His own Son; of judgment’s roaring flood

Checked and hurled back from man by Jesus’ blood.

Erstwhile what gloom, what misery were mine;

Fettered I walked, and fettered did recline

Where Satan bade me: yet I thought him God,

And deemed my feet in paths that saints had trod.

My life was fogged with doubts; in doubt loomed death;

My sun was mist-enclosed, until a breath

Breathed of God’s lips, blew mists and doubts away,

And I first saw the radiance of God’s day.

And now I have the assurance of my Lord,

Proclaimed to all in His undying word,

I doubt no more; for Christ would have me Show

That, now assured, I tell of things I know.

And this I know: my Saviour’s boundless grace,

Which gives the vilest vagabond a place

That angels covet; and I know still more—

How, Jordan passed, I dwell on yonder shore.

Sing out, my soul! and tell of Jesus’ love

Which wide has oped the gates of heaven-trove;

And bid man think, ere yet his sands be run,

How Christ for man once fought alone and won.

L.L.

“THE love of Christ is a love which is above all our wretchednesses, and which is not repelled nor chilled by any of these wretchednesses.”

A Word to Young Believers.

DO not be troubled by the mazes of theology. Get your theology from the Bible, and the Bible alone. Take first the simple passages, and pin your faith to, and rest your soul upon them; the more difficult ones will gradually be unfolded to you by the Spirit’s teaching; though there must always be in the infinite that which is beyond the comprehension of a finite mind. We are not called upon to comprehend, but to apprehend, to lay hold of, what God has said, and believe Him.

Let scripture be its own interpreter; read the difficult passages in the light of the simple ones, and ever maintain that no passage of the word of God can either contradict or qualify another. All is absolute truth, and as such, perfectly consistent, though certain truths may be like two parallel lines which never meet within the radius of our vision.

Get to know God, and pillow your soul upon the bosom of His infinite love. You can find Him only in Christ, and then you are entitled to know perfect rest.

The teaching and interpretation of men have created all the difficulties over which the different schools of doctrine have wrangled for centuries.

Accept with thankfulness whatever help the Lord may give through any, but judge everything, Berean-like, by the word of God.

Divine sovereignty is absolute; human responsibility so great that it can only be measured by the fact that God has spoken, and men will not hear; that Christ has died, and men will not believe.

Man by nature is at enmity against God, and nothing but divine grace can turn him round.

If anyone is saved, it is by grace, and grace alone; if another is lost, it is because he “would not” be saved in God’s way. The heathen, God will deal with. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? We have to do with the responsibility of those who have heard, or who have at least the opportunity of doing so.

See that you “rightly divide the word of truth.” Do not apply to believers what is intended for mere professors, nor to the latter what is applicable only to the former. Be sure of this, that no word in the Bible is intended to unsettle the faith, or to disturb the peace, of any true child of God. A clear apprehension of fundamental gospel truth will greatly help in this. God’s righteousness—man’s guilt and ruin—the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus—the believer’s justification—and Christ Himself the measure of his acceptance.

Get familiar, at least in some measure, with dispensational truth. Distinguish between law and grace—between Judaism and Christianity—Israel and the church—earthly prophecy and heavenly truth. Observe the mighty difference resulting from the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus, His being now exalted at God’s right hand, and the presence here of the Holy Ghost.

Remember that for the believer judgment is past, sin put away, God having been glorified as to it, in the cross.

Lay hold of the blessed meaning of the rent veil, and rejoice in having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, whether for prayer or worship.

Depend upon a living Saviour for daily grace and guidance;” and seek to walk “worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.” Confess the Lord Jesus in baptism, and heed His word, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” until He come.

G. DE M.

Working Together for Good.

IT is an unmistakable fact, that the soul knowing God in this day, has higher and faller privileges known to faith, than the woman of Shunem (2 Kings 4), though perhaps they take another form; nevertheless trusting the living God is ever one and the same act, bringing peaceful repose in Him Who loves to be known and counted upon in His holy superiority to all circumstances.

Not this only, but He would have His people intelligent in His present ways, which are in character with the testimony now being given to His own beloved Son.

Elisha has had his antitype in the man Christ Jesus, Who was not only Jehovah in grace and power in the midst of sinful, ruined Israel, but also the Son of man in grace among men. He was present in a far worse state of things than in the days of Elisha. His perfect ways, words and works of love and grace, infinitely beyond anything in the past, aroused in the mass of the Jews only hatred and opposition.

Notwithstanding, many bright examples of faith are recorded of those who gladly owned and received Him, whose hearts were touched and homes opened, with not a few women mentioned that ministered to Him of their substance. All manner of diseases were cured by Him, and defiling leprosy cleansed by His touch, and, not least, death in a threefold stage met the compassion of His heart and the power of His word. The precious God-man, Jesus, could answer to the appeal of an anxious father, enter the chamber of death where Jairus’ daughter lay and restore to life, giving back the child to pursue the home course again. At the gate of Nain He stayed the cortege on the way to burial, and gave back to the weeping, desolate widow her only son. At the hospitable home, so to speak, infinitely beyond Shunem’s privilege, the sisters of Bethany were honored in entertaining their rejected Messiah, and ultimately proved His power in raising their dead brother, who was, as they stated, on the way to corruption.

Such were some of the precious samples of grace and power manifested by the man Christ Jesus, varied surely in the ways of faith and purpose, in character with those knowing and owning Him when on earth. His presence to their faith would meet all manner of disease, as well as shut out death, as the bereaved sisters declared, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”

These amazing privileges however are now passed only to be excelled by the greater wonders which the end of His course brought about. Then the Lord had not only to meet death at the hands of wicked man, when Jew and Gentile willfully and openly condemned Him, but to come in contact with death, by suffering the holy and righteous judgment due to sin. Not as Elisha, to go into the chamber of death and raise a dead son, but to die Himself; and by His death to vindicate the holiness and majesty of God. This He did, and is now “the resurrection and the life,” so that all who believe in Him may live and never die. Thus it is faith’s privilege to-day to have life beyond death in Him in Whom it is everlastingly secure; yea, to know present living association with Him Who lives to die no more.

The apostle Peter declares that God has not only raised Him from the dead, but given Him glory, that the believer’s faith and hope might be in God. He Who in love gave the Lamb, that redemption by His precious blood might be known in its present blessedness, has in righteousness also set Him on high, thereby ensuring not only abiding peace to the believer, but an engaging object to know and to love. He is the man of God’s purpose for universal rule and glory, already seen by faith, “crowned with glory and honor,” in heaven; though still, the rejected One on earth.

What vantage ground therefore for the believer today, to know the man Christ Jesus where He is, in life and peace, crowned with the blessed fact that it is from heaven He is coming to take His redeemed on high, to share glory with Himself. Being saved to await His coming, the present circumstances of loss or gain, together with any given morsel of suffering, either for righteousness or, higher still, for His name’s sake, may well in grace be accepted by us, desiring that our faith and hope may be unshaken.

He Who in matchless love died is not only on high, but is ever living to intercede for His needy saints, acting in unison with the indwelling Spirit as to all the sorrows and trials of this groaning Christless scene. If tribulation and promised suffering be realized, faith is assured that all shall be and is well. It is not only to rest in what love has done and is now doing, but to go forward to our heavenly Elisha, not in view of our deliverance from the appointed circumstances in this suffering scene, but for translation out of it. Then at His descending shout, accompanied by the archangel’s voice and the trump of God, the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible, and the living changed, and together go up to meet Him, and thus be like and with Him eternally. In view of this may the hour of waiting be more fully spent for Him, Whose we are, ever kept in faith’s peaceful assurance that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” G.G.

Fragments.

F AITH.

L OVE.

O BEDIENCE.

W ISDOM.

E ARNESTNESS.

R ESIGNATION.

S PIRITUALITY.

“Lord Jesus, be it mine to know

More of Thy fullness day by day;

Learning in Thy companionship,

The sweetness of the narrow way,”

“From every snare of vain deceit,

Within my heart, around my feet,

Past my discovery, my control,

Lord Jesus, ever keep my soul.

From all the flesh calls liberty,

But to my spirit slavery;

From all that keeps away from Thee,

Lord Jesus, ever keep me free.”

“THE tomb in which our sins are buried is the monument of the eternal favor of our God.”

FELLOWSHIP with the fulness of Christ most of all helps us to fellowship with others. The gushing fountain-springs of mighty rivers come not originally from the basin where they are first visible; they have a secret connection, unseen but constant.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapters 3:31-35.

31 AND his brethren and his mother come, and standing outside, sent unto him, calling him. 32And a crowd sat around him; and they say to him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren outside seek (for) thee. 33And he answering them, saith, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34And he looked round (about) on those sitting about him, and saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren; 35for whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and (my) sister and (my) mother.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verses 31-35. — These verses form a kind of appendix to this chapter, which so clearly shows how the nation of Israel was rejecting the Lord and His ministry. After the record of the terrible blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, we have the Lord formally disowning natural relationships. His mother and His brethren after the flesh no longer had any claim upon Him; and in like manner it was useless for any to plead their natural descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Henceforth the divine relationship was to be spiritual, not natural.

Brethren. James, Joses, Judas and Simon (Mark 6:3). In Matthew and Luke the phrase used is, “his mother and his brethren” (Matt. 12:46; Luke 8:19). In this Gospel that order is reversed, viz., “his brethren and his mother.” There is probably some reason for this difference. For similar instances of departure from the usual order, see Genesis 31:14; Numbers 12:1; 32:6.

Verse 35. — Do the will of God. This is the great criterion of relationship to the Lord Jesus. Are you doing God’s will? There must be (1) the sitting down to hear the word (verse 34; compare Deut. 33:3), and (2) the doing of the same. Observe the following facts: ―

1. The Lord’s example.

“Lo, I come to do thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:7, g; Psa. 40:8).

“My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

“I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38).

“O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matt. 26:42).

2. True of His followers.

“As the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6).

“The world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17).

“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

“Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Heb. 10:36).

“The God of peace... make you perfect in every good work to do his will” (Heb. 13:20, 21).

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

3. How to know God’s will.

“Teach me to do thy will” (Psa. 143:10).

“If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17).

4. Man’s will.

“He [Pilate] delivered Jesus to their will” (Luke 23:25).

“Ye will not come to me that ye might have life” (John 5:40).

Another Hint for Sunday School Teachers.

WHEN seeking instruction in principles and methods of Sunday-school teaching, the names of many men might occur to us before we should think of Absalom. Yet David’s crafty son can perhaps give us a useful hint if we really want to win the hearts of the children to Christ. If you will read the first part of 2 Samuel 15 you will see what I mean.

The lesson that he gives us is none the worse because unconscious on his part: actions speak louder than words. Absalom, then, in dealing with the men who came to have audience with the king, showed interest in them; his ears were wide open. What if in his case the sympathy was only feigned; we may profit by the lesson none the less. He came down to their level, he took them by the hand, he kissed them. Then mark the result, the very object for which he was scheming, “So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” We want to steal the hearts of the children, not for ourselves, as did Absalom, but for Christ their Saviour; and surely, with such an end in view, we should surpass even the cleverness of Absalom. For we deal with children, and children’s hearts are not hard to unlock—with the key of sympathy.

The story is an instructive one, and as pitiful as it is amusing, of the little boy who, in all the pride of owning a baby brother, came jubilantly to tell the news to his teacher in the preparatory class of a boys’ school, fully expecting her to be as delighted as he was himself. But he met with no sympathy, no happy smile and listening ear, only a chilling, “Go to your seat.” So different was this reception from the ways of his much-loved teacher in the kindergarten he had left; the little fellow could scarcely understand it. Almost bursting with mortification, and with feelings hurt beyond control, he blurted out as he turned away, “I won’t tell her again—if we have fifty babies.” Verb. sap.

A little fellow has a pair of new boots, perhaps. It is a great event to him; are you interested? Or, maybe, Dick told you last Sunday that mother was ill. “How is mother today?” Did you ask?

In blasting rock, a deep hole is first drilled; the dynamite cartridge is put down the hole, and fired by electric current. We want to get the holy scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation, lodged as dynamite in the children’s hearts. God will explode it. But the drill we must use is sympathy. God grant this to us, and teach us to use it for Christ and the children.

T.B.

Personal Communion.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, — I wish to remind you of a privilege that is yours, and of which you should make frequent use. I refer to the title you have of lifting your heart to the Lord at all times. I do not at all mean on such occasions as you are compelled to do so, by reason of the great difficulties that surround you. Then you instinctively look above. Even the heathen call upon their gods in the day of trouble, as we find the storm-tossed mariners did in Jonah’s day. But it is art excellent Christian habit to “seek the face of the Lord” as much as possible, being moved to do so because of the joy you experience in so doing.

I think I can hear some of you saying that you do not often experience any such joy. But surely the reason for this lies with yourself. Perhaps you content yourself with just a bare enumeration of a few of your more general needs in a formal way; and then you wonder why your heart has not swollen with emotion.

There are those who kneel down at night, for instance, and say in a very perfunctory way, something like this: “O Lord, I thank Thee for all Thy love to me this day; for Thy goodness which has followed me all the days of my life; for Thy grace which saved me and Thy mercy which keeps me. Now, O Lord, help me to live as I ought. Bless me in everything. Give me strength for everything. Save all my friends, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.”

Please do not suppose that I am about to find fault with this prayer, its brevity, its wording, or its subjects of petition. There is the most perfect liberty of access to the throne of grace, and the most perfect freedom to ask “what we will.” Neither are we heard for our much speaking, nor for our fine speaking. At the same time it is much to be deplored if persons continue month after month and year after year, never getting beyond just asking for a small portion of the things they require. Communion means far more than that.

Can you imagine sons or daughters never speaking to their parents except for the purpose of asking for what they want? Because of their very relationship they are entitled to converse on family, affairs, and to find a certain pleasure in so doing. What concerns the father concerns them. What he is going to do commands their interest and their attention.

You may see this spirit illustrated in Mary of Bethany, who “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.” We are not told she was asking favours, but she grasped the opportunity when the Lord was in the house to place herself in the attitude of a disciple before Him, and to listen to His word. This was pleasing to the Lord. He told her she had chosen the good part; and though He Himself would depart as to bodily presence, the part she chose of waiting before Him should not be taken from her. After the Lord’s ascent and the Spirit’s descent she might prove this in a way still more beneficial to her soul.

And so may we. Depend upon it, it is an excellent thing to cultivate the practice of getting away to be alone, so that the Lord may speak to you from His word, and your heart may be turned upward to Him with regard to the things you find in that word. This takes you away from being altogether engaged with what you yourself need in your own life and your own circumstances. Self is forgotten for a time; and divine things fill your heart. In this way the new spiritual life grows and develops heavenward as it should do. For the things of self, even the good things of self, should never be allowed to become the center of any Christian’s life. “Not I, but Christ liveth in me,” the apostle wrote (Gal. 2:20). Christ therefore is the central’ object for each heart.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

The Second Arrest of the Apostles.

THE threats of the Jewish Sanhedrin did not, in the slightest degree, have the effect of overawing the apostles into the submissive silence that those august sages vainly hoped would ensue. On the contrary, the immediately succeeding events in Jerusalem indicated with perfect plainness that more than ever the power-clad message of the servants of Christ was swaying the people of that city as some storm-swept forest is swayed.

The bold and telling words of the preachers of the gospel as they spread the news of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; the unquestionable confirmation of their verbal testimony by a gracious and holy deportment, showing that they themselves lived in the power of what they urged on others; the unwonted spectacle of possessors of houses and lands deliberately divesting themselves of their goods in order to relieve their poor brethren; the crowds of sick folk that were publicly healed in the streets of Jerusalem before the gaze of every passer-by; all these things cried aloud that the gospel instead of being retarded by the intimidations of the council was spreading more rapidly than before. And this news reached the ears of those who sat in Moses’ seat.

Annas and his party could endure no more. They were filled with wrath—with the spirit of him who when he shall be cast out of the heavens will come down to the earth with great fury knowing that his time is short (Rev. 12). They apprehended the apostles, as they had done before in the case of Peter and John, placing them in gaol for the night.

But of what avail are the combined forces of man, whether religious or political, mental or physical, when pitted against the “determinate counsel” of God? These servants of Christ knew in Whom they were trusting. Every man felt “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear; what can man do unto me?” Unresistingly they submitted to be led to prison. Had they been “of this world” they might have fought for their liberty. But the eyes of their faith were open, and they saw that God and His invisible agencies were marshalled on their behalf. Whether anything or nothing was about to be done by Him for their deliverance, they knew the battle was His, and the glory would be His too.

But the prison doors that were closed upon the apostles by the instructions of the high priest’s party were opened by an angel of the Lord, and when the men were led out they were commanded to go back to their work.

On the previous occasion, Peter and John were not so delivered, though the circumstances were so similar. God’s ways are full of variety, but are always those best suited to display His own glory in the fullness of His resources to meet the need of His own.

It is to be remembered that the bitterest opponents of the apostles were the Sadducees (Acts 4:1, 2; verse 17). This is readily accounted for by the fact that the preachers gave such prominence to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They as a party had gained for themselves a certain distinction in the age in which they lived by denying that there is any resurrection (Matthew 22: 23). And when they found that at their very doors there was being circulated most unimpeachable evidence that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead, they were roused. For nothing perhaps rouses men to a higher pitch of fury than to see their pet religious theory threatened. At any rate the Sadducees are seen to be the particular antagonists of the apostles, as the Pharisees were of their Master.

Another article of Sadducean belief, or, to speak more correctly, of their disbelief, was the existence of angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). They were prepared to believe in anything that could be seen or heard or felt; but as for spiritual beings they classed them as only the phantasms of a disordered intellect. On this account we cannot believe it to be a mere accident that when these unbelievers in angels shut up the apostles in prison, the Lord sent an angel to lead His servants out. And without doubt the most erudite of these skeptical rabbis was somewhat nonplussed on the following morning at the news that in spite of locked doors and vigilant guards Peter and the rest were at their old posts in the temple courts, preaching the “words of this life.” How did this square with the Sadducean theory? How could the fact be accounted for without allowing for supernatural agency—for the power of God working on behalf of the apostles?

The high priest and his party appear to have had their misgivings. We read that when they heard these things “they doubted whereunto they would grow.” But like Pharaoh of old, it was only immediately upon the manifestation of the power of God that they suffered themselves to be momentarily impressed. Then they went on again in their mad course of fighting against God—a course of ruin, as it must ever be.

The Daysman.

It is a fact fully attested by travelers in the East that even at the present time no business can be transacted, or disputes settled without the intervention of a third person. Thus it was also when the Lord Jesus was here. Hence we find one appealing to Him and saying, “Speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance between us” (Luke 12:13). Earlier still, even in Job’s day, the same custom prevailed. He says, “For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both” (Job 9:32, 33). Job was not at ease in God’s presence, for he knew He could hold him guilty if He chose. He had also discovered that all his efforts at cleansing himself would not avail. For God was not a man as he was that they could meet on the ground of equality. Therefore his need of a “daysman,” or mediator, who could put his hand upon both. One, in a word, who was both God and man in one person. Such an one was really needed to work out the plan of man’s salvation.

Man, made in God’s image, after His likeness, made to rule the earth, became the object of Satan’s malice, who soon succeeded in ruining him. And so complete was the ruin, that man was separated so far from God that he could never return by any effort of his own. Neither could God have him again on the former conditions. Must then that being, in respect of whose creation the Trinity sat in solemn conclave, become the prey of God’s bitterest enemy without a remedy? Never. But man had by his disobedience forfeited life; for it is written, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” And this involved more than the mere death of the body. It entailed separation from God forever and ever. How then could man escape the penalty that his sin had incurred? Only by another dying in his stead, and paying off the score that was against him. But would that satisfy God’s righteous demands? Could the judgment be shifted to other shoulders? Yea, truly, provided the shoulders were strong enough to bear the load. Further, the one to stand in the breach between God and man must be capable of laying a hand upon both at the same time, thus bringing them together.

Now where is such a one to be found? Angels will not do; they are but created beings, and only a little higher in the scale of being than man. Could the archangel Michael fill this place? Could he, though perhaps the highest of created beings, go to God as on equal terms with himself? Or, on the other hand, could he come down to man’s estate? Surely not. He is but an angel and such he must remain.

Who then can change his position and assume another nature if he chooses? None but God. And will He Who is God the Son stand in the breach? Will He undertake the stupendous work of man’s redemption? Listen to His words.

In Psalms 40 the Lord Jesus is the speaker throughout. In the opening verses He anticipates His resurrection by God’s almighty power. He would not raise Himself, but wait upon God. And, as assuring His heart, He reminds Himself of God’s wonderful works and thoughts towards us. Then He shows His perfect obedience to God’s will and desire. His will was in perfect unison with God’s. “They went both of them together.”

In Him God found One Who entered into all His plans respecting man’s redemption, and would carry them out at all cost. In order to do this He laid aside His glory, or “emptied himself,” and descended from the highest to the lowest rung of that ladder of humiliation which reached from the glory to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:5-8). And there at the cross in obedience to God and in love to His own He took our sins upon Himself. And so perfectly did He become the sin-bearer that He is found at the end of the psalm confessing them as His own. As we sing, “Our sins, our guilt, in love divine, Confessed and borne by Thee.” Hence we read, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body,” etc. (1 Peter 2:24); again, God “made him sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21).

His substitution was perfect therefore, and His propitiation was complete. And the positive proof of it all is that God has raised Him from the dead, and set Him in the place of honor in the glory. Now the sinner has nothing to say to this but to believe it. Such then was the daysman Job needed in his time, and that we have now. “For there is one God, one mediator also of God and men, Christ Jesus, a man, who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5, 6. New Trans.). W.T.H.

Better Than Gold.

THE run of the world is unquestionably after wealth after that which proves a burden if acquired, while comparatively few succeed in the race. At the same time there is offered to men that which is better than gold; and yet how few close with the offer, who take God at His word, accept His free gift, and know the consequent happiness and peace. For gold men crave and scheme and work, while that which is better than even fine gold, is neglected, rejected and despised.

Solomon’s Wealth.

King Solomon had gold in abundance. Six hundred and sixty six talents of gold (more than three-and-a-half millions of our money) came to him in one year, besides what came to him through merchants, governors and kings. What details of his regal glory are given us in 1 Kings 4 and 10! How great even was his household establishment. His daily provision was close upon one thousand pecks of fine flour and two thousand pecks of meal. One hundred sheep, twenty oxen from the pastures, and ten fat oxen, besides harts, roebucks, fallow deer and fatted fowl were also provided every day. Did these things, with all the superabundance of everything else that he had, satisfy his heart? Did all his great wealth, his high honor, profound wisdom, his dominant position, prove of lasting satisfaction to him?

No Satisfaction Under the Sun.

Not so. What did he himself say only a few short years later? Although he had not kept his heart from any joy, and his wisdom still remained with him, yet he would fain admit that “all is vanity and vexation of spirit;” and in Ecclesiastes 2:12 he asks, “What can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been done already.” What we see about us every day proves that the old truth still holds good. It is still true that the acquisition and possession of wealth and knowledge, do not bring rest and peace to the weary heart and mind. “Oh dear, dear!” said one whose great weight of gold lately proved too heavy a burden for him to carry, “it is awful work being a millionaire. You can envy me if you like, but you don’t know what it is being hunted about from morning till night, never to have a moment to yourself, to feel that you must go on; you can’t stop; other people won’t let you stop—it’s weary work—weary work,” What then is “better than gold,” or all that gold can command?

The Precious Blood, of Christ.

The apostle Peter reminds the scattered strangers that they “were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold... but with They were redeemed with gold. the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” It was a great price that this nation paid for the freedom of all slaves within its dominions. But sinners are called by grace to know redemption without gold, even by His precious blood, the forgiveness of their sins. Do you know this redemption? It is worth knowing, a possession worth having; there is nothing like it, for it is even “better than gold.” But do you know your need of this saving grace?

Romans 3 teaches us that there is none righteous, that all are guilty before God; that there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judgment. But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16, 17). To have all our sins forgiven, and to have eternal life in Christ; to know that we shall not come into judgment, but have passed from death unto life; to have rest of conscience, and peace with a holy, righteous God about our sins, through the precious blood of Christ—surely to have and know all this is as the fruit and revenue of Christ, better than fine gold or choice silver.

Taking Stock.

One whom the writer knew often used to relate how once he took stock. He was about fifteen years of age, and had been to London for a few days. A Christian lad, with perhaps five shillings as the whole amount of his possessions, he was one day working in the field and thinking of his newly acquired possession—life in Christ. Standing, he placed this, as it were, in one hand, and London with all its riches, in the other. Balancing one against the other there in the open field before his Lord, he concluded that he would not exchange all that London was worth, for what he had obtained by faith—redemption through the blood of the Lamb. Forty years afterward he was still of the same opinion, that there was nothing at all comparable to the knowledge of salvation. Yes, the fruit of Christ is assuredly “BETTER THAN GOLD.” May you prove its truth for yourself by faith in Him, that durable riches and substance may be your own; then your treasury shall be filled. The helpless man at the gate “Beautiful” in Acts 3 found something better than gold by Peter’s visit. “Silver and gold have I none” said the apostle: and he who asked an alms, received divine riches by the power of the name of Jesus, even ability to enter into the temple to praise and worship God.

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich.

“Rich in glory, Thou didst stoop:

Thence is all Thy people’s hope;

Thou wast poor that we might be

Rich in glory, Lord, with Thee.”

H.W.P.

Counsel for the Day of Small Things.

THE active ways of God, in all times of blessing, consist in reproducing the glories of the work of the Lord Jesus. The darker the long night of apostacy becomes, the more distinctly the light of life shines. The word of the remnant is, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” He is the only gathering point. Men make among themselves confederations, having many things in view; but the communion of saints cannot be known unless every line converge on this living center. The Holy Spirit does not gather the saints around simple views, true as they may be, on what the church is, on what it has been, or on what it may be on the earth. He gathers them always around this blessed person, Who is the same yesterday and today, and Forever. “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). We are certain that Satan and the flesh will seek to resist this work and this way of the Lord, or to overthrow them. We have need to be guarded from boasting as is the case in these days; we need to be kept peaceful in the presence of God: there is so much independence and self-will almost everywhere.

“We shall do great things” is the most unbecoming cry that can be heard at this time, when the light has made evident how little has been done. God has made us know His truth as that which delivers us. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” This liberty is not that of the flesh, because it penetrates our hearts with all the reality of a separation well known to God Who is holy. Thus one gets straight into his position with one’s heart broken and humbled. If any one talks of separation from evil without being humbled about it, let him bare lest his position be simply that which at all times has formed sects, and has also produced heterodoxy in doctrine.

As to our service, we have seen our precious Lord and Master in profound abasement wash the feet of His disciples, giving Himself as an example, — to whom? To us assuredly. Now I know no service at the present time which is worthy of Him and agreeable to Him, if not done in humiliation. This is not the time to speak of a place for ourselves. If the church of God, so dear to Christ, is in this world dishonored, dispersed, ignorant and afflicted, he who has the mind of Christ will always take the lowest place. The true servile of love will seek to give according to the wants of, and will never think to put shame on, the objects of the Master’s love because of their necessity.

The men taught of God for His service come forth from a place of strength where they have learned their own weakness and their own nothingness. They find that Jesus is everything in the presence of God; and Jesus is everything for them in all and through all. Such persons in the hand of the Holy Spirit are real helps for the children of God; they will not contend for a place of distinction, or authority among the scattered flock. Communion of man with God with respect to the church is shown by a frank disposition to be nothing in it, and thus one will be happy in one’s heart in spending and being spent. In our personal remembrances we have lessons to learn with fear and trembling. May the thoughts of power never occupy our hearts too much. “Power belongeth unto God.”

For about twenty years there has been a time of excitement, men seeking power everywhere and crossing seas to find it. Many thought of the church; but it was rather the church in power. They have felt and said that the power was lost; how regain it? From that time they became occupied anew with earthly things, as if they could work deliverance here below.

Many recollect how at that time Satan could put man forward, and the result has been the same everywhere. Whatever the form that such efforts adopted in those days of confusion and excitement they were invariably agreed to let all go on perceiving their deception (for all failed in their objects, and the results were only sects). There were moral marks of hostility against the Lord Jesus; or if His name were left untarnished, they prepared nevertheless the way for the terrible result of annulling the presence of the Holy Spirit Who alone can glorify Jesus.

The Great Shepherd will not forget the labor done in His name with a happy heart for His dear sheep, poor and necessitous. An unfading crown of glory and abundant praise in the day of His appearing will be the portion of those who meanwhile act thus. God will own all that He can own, and none will lose His recompense. I am not surprised at the disappointments which have followed all the efforts men have made in the church to introduce some formal system of ministry, authority or government.

God cannot allow men to come and arrange the ground on which in these days He, is pleased to find and bless His saints. We know very well what is the path of the flesh, which is completely indifferent about the fall of the church; it is to occupy a place among men where God has not granted it. J.N.D.

Heart Breathings.

Tune— “Christ receiveth sinful men.”

IN the glory lives the Man,

Who redeemed me by His blood,

Whom I serve, and whose I am,

Who has brought me home to God.

King of Glory, Prince of Peace,

Gladly at Thy feet I fall;

Everything art Thou to me,

Son of God, and Lord of all.

Calvary’s cross can never change,

Nor the love that held Thee there;

Grace has saved my guilty soul,

Brought me peace when in despair.

Many crowns adorn Thy brow,

Mighty Conqueror o’er the grave;

Seated on Thy Father’s throne,

Thou delightest now to save.

Oh! the fragrance of Thy name,

Sweeter far than living wine,

Filling yonder courts above,

With a rapture all divine.

Ere another morn shall break,

I may hear Thy welcome voice

Bid me rise and come away,

And in all Thy love rejoice.

Bridegroom of my waiting soul,

“Altogether lovely” One,

How I long Thy face to see,

And to know as I am known.

Yes, the bride Thy throne shall share,

Robed in linen clean and white,

Shining in Thy beauty fair,

Spotless in that heavenly light.

Then Thou “Faithful One” and True,

In Thy glory Thee I’ll see,

Leading all the hosts of heaven,

On to certain victory.

Through one long, eternal day,

All created things shall own

None but Thou, the Nazarene,

Wert entitled to the throne.

S.T.

Pharisaical Courtesy.

THE Lord did not judge of persons in relation to Himself, — a common fault with us all. We naturally judge of others according as they treat ourselves; and we make our interest in them the measure of their character and worth. But this was not [so with] the Lord.

God is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. He understands every action fully. In all its moral meaning He understands it, and according to that [meaning] He weighs it. And, as the image of the God of knowledge, we see our Lord Jesus Christ, in the days of His ministry here, again and again.

I may refer to Luke 11. There was the air of courtesy and good feeling towards Him in the Pharisee that invited Him to dine. But the Lord was “the God of knowledge,” and, as such [He] weighed this action in its full moral character.

The honey of courtesy, which is the best ingredient in social life in this world, should not pervert His taste or judgment. He approved “things that are excellent.” The civility which invited Him to dinner was not to determine the judgment of Him Who carried the weights and measures of the sanctuary of God. It is the God of knowledge [Whom] this civility on this occasion has to confront, and it does not stand; it will not do.

Oh, how the tracing of this may rebuke us! The invitation covered a purpose. As soon as the Lord entered the house the host acts the Pharisee, and not the host.

He marvels that his guest had not washed before dinner. And the character he thus assumes at the beginning shows itself in full force at the end. And the Lord deals with the whole scene accordingly; for He weighed it as the God of knowledge. Some may say, that the courtesy He had received might have kept Him silent. But He could not look on this man simply as in relation to Himself. He was not to be flattered out of a just judgment. He exposes and rebukes, and the end of the scene justifies Him. “And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things, laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him.”

Very different, however, was His way in the house of another Pharisee, who, in like manner, had asked Him to dine (Luke 7). For Simon had no covered purpose in the invitation. Quite otherwise. He seemed to act the Pharisee too, silently accusing the poor sinner of the city, and his guest for admitting her approach. But appearances are not the ground of righteous judgements. Often the very same words, on different lips, have a very different mind in them. And therefore the Lord, the perfect weigh-master, according to God, though He may rebuke Simon, and expose him to himself, knows him by name, and leaves his house as a guest should leave it. He distinguished the Pharisee of Luke 7 from the Pharisee of Luke 11, though He dined with both of them. J.G.B.

The Gifts of the Head of the Church.

THE church of God is still in the world, and its members are exposed to many difficulties and dangers, and have many needs. The thought is full of comfort and blessedness that the exalted Head takes cognizance of this and provides for all the requirements of His own. Consequently we shall now consider the gifts which He has given for the perfecting of His saints, and for the edification of His body.

In Ephesians 4 these are brought before us. Our attention is drawn to Christ’s present exalted position in glory. The apostle quotes from Psalms 68 “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.” He does not add, “yea, and to the rebellious also,” because those words refer to Israel by-and-bye rather than to the body of Christ now. The point is, that Christ having broken the power of the enemy, and ascended to the throne of God, He is able to bestow gifts on His own that are in the world. Perhaps but few Christians view evangelists, teachers, etc., in this way. Too often, when these are considered, man is before the mind rather than Christ. Here we learn that they are the fruit of the victory of Jesus, a grand proof that He has spoiled the kingdom of Satan.

It is important to see that the church has no place in this, save as receiver of all the blessing. The church does not appoint the servants of Christ, but merely accepts them as gracious tokens of the continuous affection and care of her heavenly Lord and Head. To the Lord alone they are responsible in the discharge of their duties; to Him they must render their account at His judgment seat. It is understood of course that the gifts of Christ fall under the discipline of the assembly, if their ways or teaching are evil; but in the exercise of their gifts the church is not permitted to come between them and the Lord in heaven.

Gifts for ministry must never be confounded with priesthood. Some people have an idea that “minister” and “priest” are practically synonymous, but it is seriously incorrect. Since the accomplishment of redemption by the Lord Jesus, every believer is both a “holy” and “royal” priest, according to the teaching of 1 Peter 2, but it is evident that all are not evangelists, pastors and teachers. Such gifts have been entrusted to comparatively few of Christ’s members.

The gifts are enumerated in Ephesians 4:11: “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers.” The work of the first two was of a foundation character. The apostles founded and ordered the church at the beginning; prophets in conjunction with apostles were given for the communication of the thoughts and purposes of God concerning the new order of things that was being brought in. The results of their labors we have in a permanent form in the New Testament scriptures; but the men have ceased, and no fresh supply of apostles and prophets is promised to the church.

The other gifts remain. Evangelists are in the front rank of these, as their work comes first in the order of God’s operations in souls. Theirs is the blessed work of seeking out the lost, that they may present to them Christ and His accomplished work as the true rest of their souls. This service is very dear to the heart of God. He yearns over the perishing and would have them all brought under the sound of the Saviour’s name.

Then follow the pastors and teachers. These are divinely linked together, and sometimes the gifts are found together in the same persons. Pastors are to the body of Christ what the father is to the family, or the shepherd to the flock. They watch with anxious care over all the plants of the Father’s planting, that they may grow in grace and in conformity to Christ. Teachers are their instructors, acting among them as a schoolmaster among his scholars. They love to open out to the saints the grand truths and principles of the word of God, that they may have fellowship with His revealed mind and will, and that they may walk conformably to it. For what is the value of teaching, if our lives are not brought under its power?

The prime object of the gifts is the perfecting of the saints. God would not have His saints stunted in growth and ignorant of their place and portion in Christ risen. He would have them go on unto perfection, as Paul wrote to the Hebrews (Heb. 6:1). In this way the work of the ministry is carried forward, and the body of Christ is edified. How good is the Lord thus to be mindful of the needs of His own that are in the world! Though the church has deeply failed in her testimony, He has not ceased to bestow His gifts. These He will continue to furnish “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” This cannot be true of all the saints until the coming of the Lord. W.W.F.

Last Words.

SOME years ago a book was published entitled “Last words of five hundred remarkable persons.” They were collected by one who has since gone to be “with the Lord.” The last words of the great of this world, and also of many others in humbler stations, who had distinguished themselves, more or less, by acts of heroism.

But if we turn from man and what he has said, to the contemplation of the Lord’s own parting words to His disciples, what can be more sublime.

There are the solemn utterances on the cross, and the closing words, “It is finished,” but let us now turn for a moment to the scene recorded in John 14, 15, and 16. Let us listen to the words that fell from those divine lips. They were not uninterrupted, for three of the disciples broke in upon what the Lord was saying (John 14), Thomas and Judas each asking a question which savoured very much of doubt, while Philip’s remark seems to imply caviling or questioning. In chapter 15 there is no voice heard but the Lord’s; but further on the disciples began to whisper and reason among themselves (John 16:17,18). It is tenderly said, “Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him,” and He Who read their inmost thoughts graciously gave an explanation. Therefore His disciples said unto Him, “Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb, now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee; by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do ye now believe?” How searching!

He knew all that was before them—that Peter would deny Him three times, and that all the disciples would forsake Him (Matt. 26:56); and yet throughout these three chapters there is scarcely an allusion to the depth of suffering that was before Himself.

We are struck with the love that says, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Although He knew that their ambition would be disappointed, and that they would grieve in consequence of it, yet He touchingly tells them that as they had believed in God they were also to believe in Him. Hundreds of years have passed, but still to the believer’s heart these words come down to us with a sublime pathos that is unequaled. Never has anything been spoken or written more tenderly pathetic.

Let us read these chapters over and over again, and even if we can repeat them as a lesson, let us still weigh and ponder their words. They will never lose their power to our souls if the Lord is before us as the one object of our affections, but will always contain a freshness that will link our hearts with Him.

The following chapter has a place that is unique. We are there permitted, as it were, to listen to our Lord’s own last words to His Father, the last words given in detailed length. There are the ejaculatory words that He uttered to God on the cross, but in this chapter (17) we cannot fail to notice the burning love for His people that filled His heart, His earnest prayer for their blessing, and the love that led Him on to die for their sins. Who can read these chapters unmoved? Who can do so without exclaiming, “We love him, because he first loved us?” H.L.R.

The Lord's Day.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, ―It is easy to get into loose and slipshod ways; and especially when the practices of others by whom you are surrounded are loose and slipshod. The only corrective in such circumstances is to accept the guidance afforded by scripture. You will never be set right by observing the conduct generally displayed by others. And this is especially true as to the manner in which the first day of the week is usually spent.

I am not about to give you a dissertation upon the distinctions between the Lord’s day and the Jewish Sabbath. But I do desire to impress upon you at least one fact with regard to this day; and that fact is that the first day of the week is the LORD’S day. And because it is the Lord’s day it possesses a character entirely different from the other six. In a broad, general sense, of course all the days are His, as well as all the weeks and all the years. But only one of the days of the week is called the “Lord’s,” and therefore it is such in a peculiar sense. Just as, though everything in a certain house belongs to the head of it, the father may say, This is my room, or my chair, or my book; and we quite understand that the room or chair or book is in virtue of that claim set apart for the father’s particular use. And in this manner the Lord has spoken of the first of the week.

Now if the question is looked at from this standpoint, many practical difficulties that present themselves to those anxious to please the Lord will disappear. For the facts of the case are that the Lord your Master has signified that the day is His, and without giving you a catalog of what you may and what you may not do, He has left you to gather from His word what will be most pleasing to Him. This is not difficult. It may be difficult to decide what is right and what is wrong, but it is never difficult to please the Lord. And the latter should ever be the object before you.

Now if you are desirous of pleasing the Lord on His day, you will never be led to self-indulgence. It is a very common and erroneous notion that the day of which I speak is one specially ordained by a gracious Providence that man should spend in idleness, which he calls rest, or in the pursuit of pleasure, which he calls recreation. That there are physical benefits derived from the weekly cessation from ordinary duties one would not deny, and in the institution of the Sabbath as in Old Testament days this feature is made prominent, and suitably so to that dispensation. But I do hope that none of my young friends will descend so far below the Christian standard as to reckon the Lord’s day to be one designed for self-ease and enjoyment. Supposing you have had a busy week, do you think you are a mere machine just to stop “running” until you are wanted again on Monday morning? Is there nothing you owe to the Lord on His day? Beside you ought to remember that “Absence of occupation is not rest; A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.” Let the time be profitably spent for the Lord and not for self.

It can hardly be supposed that any person would seriously recommend as a proper mode of procedure on the Lord’s day to shorten it as much as possible by rising later and retiring earlier than usual, thus cutting off a little from each end of the day. If you are inclined to do so, be sure to have good reason, for it is the Lord’s time you are so using. We have heard of persons securing to themselves full twenty-four waking hours on a Bank Holiday; but then that was for self-enjoyment.

The apostle John in the isle of Patmos says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). This expression, “in the Spirit,” denotes the normal Christian state, as Rom. 8 shows. It implies that the holy Spirit of God given to dwell in John as in all believers was leading the heart into happy exercise concerning divine things. And so should you seek that it might be with you.

What a suitable time for special study of God’s word, and particularly for quiet meditation upon it. (I am speaking now of your own private reading). It is on such occasions that the Lord makes known the preciousness of His love. And indeed I think we may well expect that this will always be the case. For what more honoring to the Lord on His day than to be sitting at His feet to learn of Him? Those that honor Him He will be sure to honor.

Ministry to others in the things of the Lord is surely acceptable, and with young persons this may most suitably take the form of conversation. If your topics of talk one with another on the Lord’s day are restricted to sacred subjects you will be a help one to another.

Even those necessary duties, domestic or otherwise, which must be performed, may be ennobled by being done with a special sense of the Lord’s presence. Why may you not in these things have Him before you, and do them unto Him? By such means you will surely catch the intention of the Lord as to the Manner of observing His day.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

W.T.— Please explain, “This is he that came by water and blood” (1 John 5:6). It is helpful to observe that verse 6 to 11 deal with the record (witness) that “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” This witness is rendered by three—the Spirit, the water, and the blood (verses 7,8. Note that the words in these verses from “in heaven “to “in earth,” both inclusive, should be omitted, as in the Revised Version). These three unite to bear testimony that we have eternal life in the Son. The phrase— “water and blood”— refers plainly enough to the fact recorded in the Gospel by the writer of this Epistle (John 19:34). That fact was that when the soldier pierced the side of Jesus, there came forth blood and water—not only the “blood to save” as the hymn says, but also the water to cleanse. The evangelist who was an eyewitness speaks of himself as bearing witness (John 19:35); but in the Epistle he speaks of the Spirit, as the witness-bearer. The blood shed therefore became the great witness that propitiation for sin was accomplished on the cross; while the water spoke with equal clearness of purification from sins made at the same time. Blood satisfied the demands of God’s justice; while the water purified the sinner. Hence in the Gospel, looking at the work of Christ from a Godward aspect, the order is “blood and water,” God’s claims preceding; in the Epistle this order is reversed, for there man’s need is first contemplated (1 Cor. 6: 11). Even then it is added, “Not by water only, but by water and blood;” not only man’s requirements, but God’s glory as well. Speaking broadly, therefore, Jesus Christ came to cleanse the sinner and to expiate his sin, both of which objects were accomplished at His death.

W.T.— What is the meaning of the last clause of Titus 3:5, “By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost?” “Regeneration” in scripture does not exactly mean the “new birth,” though doubtless it comprehends it. It occurs in one other passage only (Matt. 19:28), and there refers to the time when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory and the twelve apostles with Him. This is the millennium, or the new state of things that God will introduce in the earth (Isa. 65:17). There is a new order of things now, — a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17); and this new condition appears to be what is here (Tit: 3:5) called the “regeneration.” The entrance to this new state is attended by moral cleansing or “washing” (see answer to former query). Sin’s defilement is removed through the death of Christ by means of the agency of the word. Baptism is the sign of this fact (Acts 22:16), the rite being useless apart from a divine work in the soul. Figuratively, it is the passage through death to a new footing before God. While “regeneration” signifies the new place into which we are brought, the “renewing of the Holy Ghost” points to the operation of the Spirit in suiting us to the place. “Behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). We also are born anew, and made new men in Christ Jesus (John 3:7; Rom. 6:4; Col. 3:10).

The Trumpet and the Torch.

RATHER less than one per cent is a small proportion, comparatively speaking; but, as a matter of fact, only three hundred men remained with Gideon on only eve of the battle, although thirty-two thousand mustered at his first call to arms. Of this number of volunteers twenty-two thousand viewed the host of the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east spread along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and promptly accepted the permission to depart to their homes with feelings of profound gratitude.

Ten thousand remained; but ninety-seven out of every hundred of these, when put to Jehovah’s test, thought more of an effective means of satisfying their own thirst than of the necessity of guarding against being taken unawares by the enemy. These were also dismissed, for self-denial and vigilance were, above all things, essential to Jehovah’s men-of-war at such a crisis.

The little band now numbered no more than three hundred, — a mere handful; but then they were faithful men, men who had counted the cost of the undertaking to themselves, men who knew the overwhelming power of the enemy, men who watched ninety-nine out of every hundred of their brethren strike their tents and go home to their wives and families, leaving the battle to take care of itself. Such men could be depended upon to obey the word of Jehovah through their leader under any circumstances. They knew why they had answered to the blast of Gideon’s trumpet. They could be relied on to stand exactly where they were told, and to do exactly what they were told, though it were in the darkness of the night and upon the confines of the enemy’s camp. And implicit obedience was specially requisite to carry out the peculiar mode of attack that Jehovah designed them to make upon the host of the invaders.

The remarkable stratagem by which the huge host as routed is well known. Every man was furnished with a trumpet and a torch and an empty pitcher. In the darkness of the night, at the word of their leader, they were to surround the vast encampment of their foes. At the beginning of the middle watch this was done. The three hundred men stood “every man in his place round about the camp,” waiting for the signal from Gideon.

It was a time for contemplation as each man eagerly listened for the sound of the trumpet. When men engaged in perilous enterprises find themselves alone in intervals of inaction they often become a prey to misgivings and doubts. We say not that these brave men entertained such thoughts; but they certainly had more reason for doing so than many who have taken advantage of such moments of solitude to flee from their posts. It was true that dangers were thick about them; but Jehovah had called them there; and we may well suppose that they encouraged their hearts with His promise to their fathers that He would fight for them, and that one of them should chase a thousand of their enemies (Lev. 26:8; Josh. 23:10).

Suddenly the brooding stillness of the midnight was riven by the blast of Gideon’s trumpet and by the ringing battlecry of the Hebrews. In response, from every quarter of the camp, three hundred trumpet-calls rang out upon the quivering air; and three hundred torches flamed forth upon the darkness. The sleeping host leaped to its feet. In every direction were trumpets and lights. Fear took hold upon them; and “all the host ran and cried and fled.”

The equipment of these Hebrew heroes may serve as an illustration of spiritual truths which we do well to have before us in these days. We refer especially to the trumpet and the torch with which each man was provided as the weapons for this particular warfare.

The saints of God are today confronted with devastating hosts of evil men and evil manners. It has been so since the church began, then less but now more. Still the path of faith has always been one of stern and uncompromising resistance against such invading forces. And the mode of resistance is not in a carnal fashion, but by a faithful witness in word and deed to the revealed will of God as contained in the scripture.

Now let us take the trumpet as a figure (we do not say a type) of the testimony of the lip, and the torch as a figure of the testimony of the life. And both these kinds of witness are necessary to fight the “good fight” of faith.

There is of course a witness to give for Christ always and everywhere. Confession of Jesus as Lord with the mouth is an indispensable mark of true faith (Rom. 10:9)., But there is also testimony under special circumstances. We now speak of blowing the trumpet in the very ears of the foe who seeks to rob you of your wheat and your wine and your oil—the fatness of the land that God has given you.

Do you ask what this means in New Testament language? Let us take but one example from many. The Lord enjoins us to remember Him in His death by eating bread and drinking wine (Luke 22:19, 20), laying it upon our love to do it as often as possible till He come again (1 Cor. 11:25, 26). But it is found that by arrangements of purely human origin, this either cannot be done at all, or only at stated times with considerable intervals. Do you not see here the tents of the Amalekites? Is not this a device of the enemy to keep you out of your own vineyard? Is it not an attempt to rob you of a season of holy worship and joy, the fruit of obedience to the word “received of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:23)?

Perhaps you admit the truth of this. You see that the Lord says, Remember Me; but man says, No, you shall do so only as often as I please to arrange it. Are you going to be one of those who just look at the armies of these brigands encamped in the valley of Christendom, whose very presence means that you cannot enjoy the spiritual freedom and blessing in Christ which is your inalienable heritage, and then slink home to their firesides Tike beaten curs? Or, are you prepared to “stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong? “Will you take the trumpet, face the foe, let the craven-hearted turncoats go, and brave the dangers, the darkness, the isolation, ready to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ?

It will not be difficult to discover that there are many, many other ways in which the enemy is seeking to plunder from us what God has given us richly to enjoy. In every case bring the exact truth of God to bear upon the artifice, and testify against it. Let feebleness be no excuse. After all what are trumpet-blasts? Only small volumes of air forced through narrow orifices, causing sound. Nevertheless by God’s help they blew down the walls of Jericho, and blew the host of Midian over Jordan. Perhaps you have only an old battered ram’s horn. Never mind; blow in faith; the glory to God will be the greater. If you but believe, you have a title to speak (2 Cor. 4:13).

But along with the trumpet went the torch, which was concealed in an empty pitcher, forming a kind of dark lantern until the critical moment came. Then there was a crash of falling potsherds; and the torch, now held aloft, shed its light far and near athwart the darkness.

We must not forget the torch, my brethren, nor the broken pitchers either. We sometimes get both hands to the trumpet, and think of nothing else except of blowing a loud blast. The truth is that the potsherds suggest a truth weighty but not welcome. As the pitchers were to be smashed ere the torch was displayed, so must death work in us before the life of Jesus can be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4:11).

Christ is the light. He must be seen in us, and to this end the wretched life of self must be shattered. All that we were as men in the flesh was concluded judicially at the cross (Rom. 6). Oh, that the power of this truth might practically smash to atoms the vanity and pride and self-will of our old Adam, so that the new life—the life of Christ—might be displayed by us.

Is not this, beloved saints, oftentimes, the point of our failure? We work well at the trumpets; there are volumes of sound, much to be heard, but, alas! nothing to be seen. There are no torches; because they are hidden in the earthen vessels. We want therefore more of the practical destruction of the flesh. Then the beautiful God-pleasing life of Jesus would be reflected out upon the darkness and evil and sin of this world. Then the heartless selfishness of unsaved men and carnal believers would be met by a testimony of meekness and gentleness, of humility of mind and self-denial—a testimony always acknowledged by God and man, because it is peculiarly of Christ. For only one absolutely unselfish man has ever been seen in the world’s history by either God or man—the man Christ Jesus.

Much more might be said; but no more now than to repeat that if we speak for Christ let us live “Christ.” If we stand for the truth against the encroachments of the foe, let us be content to have all self-aggrandizement shattered to pieces. What matters if I am counted but a worthless and despicable potsherd in the eyes of the world and the worldly church, so long as Christ is the more clearly displayed in me on account of such a fracture!

The Old Corn of the Land.

GOD gave the Israelites (Josh. 5:11) a food which had been unknown to them in Egypt, the old corn of the land of Canaan, a heavenly, glorified Christ, but Christ as a man Who had been through this sin-stained world in a spotless humanity (the unleavened bread), and Who, in this same humanity, had passed through the fire of judgment like the parched corn, and Who, having entered the glory in resurrection, sits as man at the right hand of God.

Moreover He is there for us, not only as our Advocate with the Father, but as introducing us in His person as man into the glory. The place is prepared for man in the third heavens; he is brought in Christ into the full enjoyment of heavenly blessing. I behold this man and say: There is my place; I am in Him, a man in Christ, possessing already the same life as He, life eternal, the life of a man risen from among the dead; I am united to Him, seated in Him in the heavenly places, enjoying this infinite blessing by the Holy Spirit Who leads me into it. Blessed Saviour! for me Thou camest down, for me Thou didst hang on the cross; Thou art gone into the glory, and Thou hast brought me into it already in Thine own person, previous to being with Thee and like Thee forever.

What wondrous joy and what power there is in occupation with such a Christ! “We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:18, New Trans.). In this passage we see the result of being nourished with the old corn of the land. The soul, formed by a heavenly Christ, is able to reproduce the traits of this blessed object. Such is our portion.

Such also was that of Stephen, the faithful martyr. In him, a man on the earth, full of the Holy Spirit, as fruit of the perfect work of Christ, we see a believer in his normal character, answering perfectly to the end for which God had placed him in this world, in the midst of circumstances that were the most calculated to make him lose that character. The Spirit in him unhindered (his heart having no object on the earth, and the Holy Ghost not having to contend within him to bring him to the level of a heavenly Christ) links him with an object in heaven so as to form him here into its image. The traits of the glorified man in heaven become in him those of a perfect man on earth: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Here it is an example of what it is “to be changed into the same image from glory to glory.” It is not anything mystical, nor a vague product of human imagination; it is in our daily life, our ways, our words, by love, intercession, patience, and dependence, that we may, through grace, show forth the likeness of a glorified Christ on Whom we gazed. Is it so with us Christians in these days? Are our hearts so fed by Him that the world can see it in our lives? Can those around us catch the rays of the glory of Christ on our countenances, as with Stephen or Moses? It would not be for us to know it, for in such a case we should have lost sight of the heavenly object, and turned our eyes upon ourselves. Moses alone in the camp of Israel wist not that his countenance shone. Extracted.

Alone.

ALONE He came from Thee; the, only One

Who could Thyself and Thy full name declare;

Came to this scene of woe, — “the Son of man

Strong for Thyself,” Himself Thine arm made bare.

He came to conquer—to thy Name to win

The glory sullied by the blight of sin.

Alone He came, alone He walked below,

Apart from sinners, undefiled and pure,

To magnify Thy law, meet all its claims,

Then bear the judgment, in time’s darkest hour.

Alone He trod the earth, the only One

In Whom was Thy delight, — Thy well-loved Son.

Alone in all His life; alone in death,

There on the cross the spotless victim slain,

Shrouded in darkness from the eye of man,

The sacrifice to meet sin’s foulest stain.

Alone upon the tree, for Thou didst hide

Thy face from Him, when He for sinners died.

Alone in all the judgment. Who that woe

In its enormity could ever share?

He drained the cup Thy justice meted out,

And overcame, in love beyond compare.

He died alone, the corn of wheat from heaven,

To bring to glory sons whom Thou hadst given.

Alone; and still alone. The first-fruit sheaf

In its excelling beauty waved on high,

Risen, ascended, filling with delight

Thy heart, O God! and all to Thee brought nigh.

Alone a little while, gone on before,

The pledge of that which Thou hast kept in store.

No more alone on that bright, joyful day,

When He the “travail of His soul” shall see,

When “many sons” (the fruit of all His woe)

He shall present in Thine own house to Thee,

Accepted in His worth, and one with Him;

Made like Him too, in glory naught can dim.

In spirit now that blessed place is ours;

Through Him e’en here we are to Thee made nigh

But then more fully shall we prove His power,

Conformed completely to Himself on high,

To share His joy, Thy joy, Thy home above,

Forever one in that abode of love!

H.C.R.

The Brazen Altar.

THE tabernacle in the wilderness is said, by the Holy Ghost, to have been “the pattern of things in the heavens” (Heb. 8:5; Ex. 25:40; 39:43). And Psalms 29:9 bears witness to the fact that everything in it spoke of glory. The structure itself, the vessels of service, the loops and taches, the pins and cords, each and all proclaimed the same wondrous truth—the glory of God, especially as displayed in the man Christ Jesus. Hence in the New Testament the mercy-seat and veil are presented by the Holy Ghost as prefiguring Him, in the one case as the propitiation for sin, in the other as the believer’s way into God’s presence (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 10:19, 20). Having such examples we may safely conclude that the brazen altar, in its structure, situation and service, is an adumbration of the same glorious person.

Its structure. The altar was made of boards of shittim wood, which were covered with plates of brass.

It was foursquare, and had a brass grate within which held the fire, and at the same time gave strength to the whole structure to which it was joined.

Shittim wood is called by the Septuagint translators “the incorruptible wood.” It seems to typify the great truth that He “partook of flesh and blood,” He was “the seed of the woman,” “the second man,” “the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47); the Son of David and the Son of the Highest at the same time (Luke 1:32). Born of the virgin, the man Christ Jesus, “He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh;” “though unlike any other man that ever lived upon the earth, incorrupt and incorruptible; having a body prepared for Him by God in in order that He might die; but without taint of mortality or death in it.” It follows therefore that the manhood of the Lord did not detract from His deity (as some dare to affirm) nor His deity from His manhood. He was perfect God and perfect man in one person.

Its situation. The altar was placed at the “door of the tabernacle,” i.e, the entrance to the court. To it every Israelite had the right of approach, and this was the only vessel to which the same liberty attached. Of course none but priests could officiate, but the worshipper was privileged to bring his offering to the brazen altar. It was therefore in a position that could be reached by all. So we read of the Lord Jesus that He became flesh and dwelt among us. And “among us” He gave Himself to death, in order that we might have life. To obtain it man need not ascend into heaven to bring Christ down, nor descend into the deep to bring Him up from the dead. As it saith, “The word is nigh thee,” etc. (Rom. 10:6-8). He, God’s Son, came down from the glory into the dust of death; and now He is risen again, having brought salvation to man where he is.

Its service. It was not only that the victim was brought to the altar. It was there that its blood was shed. The life is in the blood, and it must be given upon the altar to make atonement for the soul (Lev. 17:11). The fire of the altar must feed upon the victim. It must be subjected to judgement in order that God’s righteous character might be fully vindicated and He go out in mercy to the offerer. There must be in fact the judgement of sin according to man’s responsibility. Such seems to be the import of the plates of brass.

And was it not upon the cross that God judged sin? It was He Who laid upon His Son the iniquities of His people (Isa. 53:6). It was by God’s counsel He was delivered to death (Acts 2:23). God’s hand was bruising Him (Isa. 53). He endured God’s wrath (Psa. 102:10). Under the curse of God’s violated law He bowed His head and died (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:10). The sword of the Lord of hosts smote the man that was Jehovah’s fellow (Zech. 13:7). God’s holiness ordered the stroke, and His justice inflicted the blow. Therefore the word of the Lord Jesus is the result of His bearing sin’s judgment. “He that believeth.... shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

Again, in the Mosaic ritual the altar and the sacrifice were closely connected. The word used for the former is derived from a root meaning “to slay” and “to offer sacrifice.” And the Lord Jesus is the sacrifice as well as the altar. “He hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savor” (Eph. 5:2). And we are accepted in Him (Eph. 1:6; Lev. 1:4). God sees us now in Christ. He values us according to the value of that offering. If He is pleased with Christ, so is He pleased with us; for we are in Him, members of His body, and loved as He is loved (John 17:23). Thus we are the objects of God’s love and of Christ’s, Who loved us unto death. And His love to us is to be the measure and standard of our love to one another (John 13:34). W.T.H.

Maranatha.

What heard ye not the midnight cry,

“Behold! the Bridegroom cometh?”

Awake! Awake! thou blessed blood-bought Bride!

The twinkling of an eye shall place thee

Forever on the bosom of thy Husband-Lord.

G. DE M.

Memorabilia.

THERE exists a kind of “Heavenly Alchemy” which “gilds the pale streams,” “kisses with golden face the meadows green,” and “flatters the mountain-tops with sovereign eye.” As it touches everything beneath, it adorns all that it touches, and invests objects even humble and repulsive with a new and celestial light. Even so did the divine life of our Lord, in illumining all, shine upon many things which had seemed gloomy and repugnant to us, and touched their sadness with a fringe of iridescent beauty, as when the sun throws the rainbows athwart the weeping clouds. By contact with them He glorified poverty and labor; He ennobled defeat and dishonor; He consecrated suffering and persecution, and He crowned even the ghastly brow of Death itself with a halo of immortal hope.

In the presence of that august humiliation and voluntary poverty the greedy ambitions of men shrivel and wither into despicable insignificance: and the hearts of myriads who suffer the manifold miseries of privations and necessity are comforted by the knowledge that for their sakes He became poor that they through His poverty might be rich. He was called the carpenter’s son, the carpenter and his wife being too poor to offer the customary lamb in the purification ordinance, — not being able to afford more than the two young pigeons (albeit both Joseph and Mary came of ancient and royal lineage). He frequently hungered and had not where to lay His head, His clothing was not worth dividing amongst the executioners, and when He was required to pay taxes He had to perform a miracle to obtain the money needed. The little community which labored with Him was so poor that their treasurer, who had unlimited opportunities of robbing them, sold his Master and sacrificed his post for a few pieces of silver. After His resurrection He was mistaken for a gardener. His chief apostle had no money to give a beggar: he said, “Silver and gold have I none.”

Thus has He cast in His lot with the poor and lowly of the earth and proved that poverty need be no insurmountable barrier either to happiness or to achievement. — “Canst thou not remember Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus? For I esteem these names of men so poor Who could do mighty deeds and could contemn Riches, though offered from the hands of kings.”

The following is new to me and, I think, well worth quoting. (I saw it in an Italian paper into which it had been translated from the English of an American preacher. Not knowing where to find the original, I translate it back into English. That will account for any slight verbal differences which may be observed between the original and this reproduction).

‘And they had the likeness of the hands of a man under their wings.’ This Ezekiel (10:21) said of the Cherubim. What is the significance of coining in this way these two symbols: a hand and a wing? The wing suggests thoughts of the heavens, the hand of the earth; the two symbols united signify that often the celestial and the terrestrial come together, that frequently that abyss which yawns between the natural and the supernatural is bridged and that the one and the other are mysteriously combined in a single individual, in a single deed. There is such a union in the scriptures. The wing of Inspiration is in every chapter: Isaiah and John are two eagles that fly in regions never explored by the human mind. Moses the legislator is distinct from Luke the physician, and Amos the herdman from Peter the fisherman. At the side of the prophet you see the man; under the wing again you find the hand. Such union as in the scripture should be in every believer. O Christian, who prays and who in the rapture of adoration soars even to the throne of the Father, thou hast the wing! May it carry thee higher and ever higher! But under the wing hast thou the hand? Dost thou, having descended from that ethereal sphere, hold out the succoring hand to the lost who suffer and cry for aid? The wing alone is not sufficient: if thou hast not the hand the day will reveal it.

“Such union culminated in Jesus above all others. It was the wing that carried Him to the summits of Tabor and Olivet, where for long hours He abode in the presence of the Father, and then returned and touched with His sympathetic hand the blind, the sick, the leprous, the paralytic, sending them away cured. Christian, fold again thy wings; go and do likewise.”

The seraphim touched Isaiah’s lips with fire from the altar, declaring him clean, — and, being messengers of Mercy, they had six wings; whereas the cherubim, being symbols of judgment, have only four; for mercy is swifter, thank God, than judgment. In Revelation 4 the two symbols are combined in the four living beings which have the six wings of the seraphim and the four faces of the cherubim. That is symbolic of the two great attributes of divine government, the two bases of God’s throne, the two pillars of the universe, — Justice and Mercy. And combined they proclaim the glory of the Most Hight day and night Forever and ever.

J.C.B.

Put Christ First.

IN John’s Gospel we have a blessed example of Christ having the first place. Jesus Who had visited Bethany (John 11), and accomplished what He declared (John 5:21), again visits Bethany six days before the Passover (John 12). He is in company with Lazarus whom He raised from the dead, and his two sisters, Martha and Mary.

At the close of His testimony to the world, being rejected by His own (John 1:11; 8:59), and outside all the pride and religion of Jerusalem, He is with a few whose hearts have been touched by Him, graciously receiving from them the love that His own love had won (1 John 4:19). “They made him a supper.” All is in perfect harmony, the Lord having the first place in each of their hearts. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him. We see united love in their actions toward the Lord, and His grace in receiving the service of Martha. Lazarus, being raised from the dead, having had the graveclothes taken off, in life and liberty is now feasting with the Lord. This is the blessed privilege of each one who has life in Christ. What rest and peace Lazarus and the others experienced in His presence, finding all their joy and comfort in the Lord Who was “as a root out of a dry ground” to the Jews.

“Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment” (verse 3). She who previously sat at His feet and heard His word (Luke 10:39), is now pouring out her heart’s affection upon the person of Jesus anointing His feet and wiping them with her hair, casting herself and her glory down at His blessed feet. How real was the person of Christ to them, at home as they were in His presence.

Such a portion is ours, saved reader, in Christ; He Who has conquered death and delivered us from its cruel bondage (Heb. 2:15) and brought us into liberty through the knowledge of the truth (John 8:32) in which we are exhorted to stand fast (Gal. 5:1)— He is our life; He has made us free; He is our food; He has brought us home to the Father, fitted for His presence, to feast with Him upon the fatted calf. Nothing short of what gives the greatest delight to the Father, is our portion at His own table.

The characteristics of the three at Bethany are true of saved individuals. Martha is named first in service: not “cumbered” about it, as in Luke 10. In Lazarus we have life; and in Mary, communion. True service for Him is the outcome of the life we have in Him and of communion by the Holy Ghost, Who leads out in worship to God the Father, and in true service, to His own praise and glory.

Is He not worthy of the first place in our hearts? We notice the enemy was not silent then any more than he is at the present time. That which the Lord values is accounted waste by him. What a contrast between the heart of Mary and the heart of Judas! Has this state of things improved? No; the enemy still has a professed love for the poor, but it is always at the expense of the Lord. “This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag” (verse 6). He aimed at what was being done to the Lord. Mary said nothing of what the cost was to her. It would be nothing to her when compared with the object of her heart. But Judas valued it at three hundred pence. Nothing is too great for love to give Him, but anything is too great for self. If the enemy can only turn the eye away from Christ, he will allow us to be occupied with great things in the world, which gain the admiration of men, but which rob Christ of His glory, and ourselves of much blessing. Though he can never touch the life we have in Christ, he ever seeks to hinder our enjoyment of our blessings.

To be faithful to the Lord will bring suffering as we learn from verse To. The silent testimony of Lazarus brought out the enemy in his true colors. The hatred of the chief priests against the Lord is now manifested against Lazarus, who was a standing witness for the Lord. “Because that by reason of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus” (ver. 11). So the apostle Paul wrote, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Phil. 1:29).

Dear young believer, let Christ always have the first place in your heart, that your life may speak of Him and for Him, Who is your life, your food, your all. W.J. F.

The Flesh in the Believer.

To the Editor of the B.M.M.

DEAR SIR, —.... At the present time I am somewhat perplexed about the flesh. As the apostle says, when I would do good evil is present with me. Also my mind is subject to wandering thoughts, etc. I read last month’s Believer’s Monthly Magazine on that subject [May last, page 101], but am not altogether sure of its meaning. Also I cannot understand fully Romans 6:2, 7, and some of the verses on being dead to sin.... Truly I am learning what the flesh is, and I do trust that the Lord may teach me more of the truth regarding it ...

I am,

Your weak brother in Christ, R.B.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND,— I am glad you have written on the subject of the very practical difficulty you have, though I am sorry at the same time to hear of the distress of mind in which you find yourself. I trust the Lord will give you a speedy deliverance by His word.

It was a comfort to me to gather from your letter that you still realize that you are, through grace, the Lord’s. This is a great foundation truth which you must ever hold fast in the soul, resting as it does upon nothing short of the word of the Lord Himself, “I give unto them [His sheep] eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

But while you thus know yourself to be a child of God, you are evidently conscious that you do not always think and speak and act like one. Evil arises in your heart, in spite of all your efforts to subdue it. This inability to conquer the workings of sin within you, you do not understand; because, perhaps, you did not expect that after your conversion you would sin at all.

But, my dear brother, God would have you learn that the flesh within you is still unchanged as to its nature, and that it is still the source of evil as much as ever it was. The truth, which scripture makes plain, is that you have within you that “which is born of the flesh,” and also that “which is born of the Spirit;” the one is flesh, the other is spirit (John 3:6). Now it is definitely stated that what is born of God cannot commit sin (1 John 3:9). Still you find you do sin. Indeed, as the same apostle says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8; 5:18). It is clear therefore that there is another source of action in the believer, and from that source (the flesh) evil springs. Hence another apostle writes, showing the character of the flesh, “The mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7).

The Spirit of God operates upon the new nature which is begotten by Himself (See Rom. 8:16); but the flesh He opposes (Gal. 5:17), and the fruits of the Spirit and the flesh are in every case contrary the one to the other, as you may also see from the respective lists enumerated (Gal. 5:19-23)

Without saying more now upon this point, I hope it is clear to you that in every person born anew there are two springs of action which are totally opposed—flesh and spirit. Sin characterizes the flesh and its workings, and love and righteousness those of the spirit.

The next point is that you find yourself unable to check the workings of the flesh. You own this when you say that in spite of your wishes to the contrary, “evil is present” with you. Such an experience as this shows you that you have no power to control your sinful self. And this is just the plain truth you must seize upon, — not only that in your flesh dwells no good thing, but also that in yourself dwells no power to overcome the evil propensities of your flesh. You are, so to speak, bound in fetters, from which you seek in vain to liberate yourself (Rom. 7:23).

At the same time I am sure you do not think that it is God’s will you should continue in such a wretched condition. And certainly it is not His will. Still you ask, How am I to be delivered? The reply is a simple one, and is found in Romans 7:25—Jesus Christ our Lord. You own you are yourself strengthless. Look no longer therefore to yourself. Trust no longer to your own force of will. Look rather to Jesus Christ the Lord; for He is as much the deliverer from the power of sin, as He is from the guilt of sin.

You may perhaps be helped to understand this distinction by a reference to the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5). The special character of this man’s trouble was the utter helplessness from which he suffered. So much was this so, that his extreme weakness prevented him from taking advantage of a means of healing before his eyes, by being the first to reach the waters when the pool was troubled. Now the Lord in healing this poor man by His word not only dismisses his disease, but endows him with strength so that he rises, he takes up his bed, and he walks. The contrast is very marked, inasmuch as while the bed formerly carried him, he himself now carries his bed. And it is so spiritually with every believer. The apostle says emphatically, “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Rom. 6:14).

But now, my dear brother, you, in effect, say in your letter that sin has dominion over you; for when you wish to do good evil is present with you. How is it you have thus brought yourself into opposition with the scripture? Because you have been looking within yourself for the strength instead of looking to Christ. Very much such a condition as yours is described in Romans 7. And the close of that chapter shows that there is no way out of such a difficulty except through Christ Jesus the Lord.

Now Romans 6 gives a doctrinal explanation of how you obtain this victory. And this I may ask you to look at in a subsequent letter (D.V.). There you are taught how the death of Christ has affected your relationship to sin as well as to your sins.

But, meanwhile, should evil thoughts arise (say) during your private meditation and prayer, own to the Lord at once your own inability to suppress them. Ask Him to intervene, and at the same time be sure to believe that He answers prayer.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

S.— Please explain, “Have salt in yourselves” (Mark 9:50). Two well-known properties of salt are alluded to in scripture, viz., its (1) seasoning and (2) preserving properties. Both are applied to the believer in a figurative manner, referring to the inward workings of grace, flavoring even the conversation (Col. 4:6) and preserving it from any corrupt word or sentiment (Eph. 4:29). The saints therefore as the repositories of grace check the spread of evil in the earth, and in this sense are its salt (Matt. 5:13). Here we are enjoined to have salt in ourselves, individually and collectively as saints. For evil is as likely to corrupt here as in the world; hence the need for the preservative principle of grace in us that we may be at peace with one another.

“Salted with fire” alludes to judgment, for salt has also a destructive character (Deut. 29:23; Jer. 17:6; Ezek. 47:11).

G.— In what way was Christ David’s son and David’s Lord? The Lord Jesus as man was of the house and lineage of David, and so son of David (Matt. 1:1). Joseph was also so called (Matt. 1:20; Luke 2:4). Hence the genealogy of Matthew 1. But the Lord Jesus was God (John 1:1), and so David’s Lord as well.

S.— Explain 1 Corinthians 15:28. Read from verse 24, and you will see that the time referred to is “the end,” not the end of this age but the end of time. For it is said to be after the kingdom, i.e., the millennium, when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom, every one of His enemies being destroyed. The last enemy will be death, which will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). Thus will all things absolutely have been put in subjection to the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, according to the prophecy (Psa. 8:6). Then in the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:1-8) the Son of man will deliver back all things vested in Him to God from Whom He received them, perfect as when He received them. Every other failed and dishonored God in everything entrusted to him; the Son alone glorified Him in all. But in the eternal state the Son of man as Man will Himself be subject to God, that God (Father, Son, and Spirit) may be all in all.

S.— What is the meaning of “Buy the truth and sell it not” (Prov. 23:23)? The meaning is that the truth is so precious that any price, however great, is not too dear to give for it; but any price though ten-thousand fold greater is too small to take for it. It does not at all refer to salvation which you can neither buy nor sell. But the enjoyment of the truths of scripture is not realized without the sacrifice of self and worldly advantage. For instance, you, may see the price Paul paid for his sense of the excellency of Christ (Phil. 3:4-8). Ask him if he would sell the truth he had gained, supposing he could have his money back. He tells you with scorn it is dross and dung compared with the preciousness of Christ. On the other hand Demas sold his testimony to the truth for some worldly profit (2 Tim. 4:10).

H.— Christ sprinkling His blood. Be assured there was no intention of implying that Christ did so de facto, but rather of referring to the truth which this figure foreshadowed of the blood of Christ meeting every claim of God.

M.E.E.K.— Will you please explain John 12:25? The context brings out the momentous fact that before the Lord gets His place as the glorified Son of man, the Blesser of the ends of the earth, Gentiles, as well as Jews, He must be rejected of men and die. He says, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Then He intimates the similarity of the character of the path of His disciples through this world. The result of association with Christ must be separation from the very essence of the world and its ways. This is the general meaning of the text concerning which you inquire. “He that loveth his life [soul], shall lose it; and he that hateth his life [soul] in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” Hating one’s life in this world implies a total disregard of self-ease and of self-interest in order to serve Christ and do God’s will. There are examples of this in the apostles and others (Acts 15:26; 20:24; Phil. 2:30; 1 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 12:11). But while martyrdom is an extreme form of the carrying out of this principle, every act of self-denial and suffering for Christ’s sake we endure is covered by its terms. The self-seeking, self-loving professor whatever may be gained in this world will know no felicity in the next.

W.T.— Does 1 John 1:9 apply to those who are born of God? Certainly. When the apostle says “we,” he refers to what is true of the whole family of God; except, of course, where the reference (as in 1:4; 2:28; 4:6) is to the apostles as the givers of the truth. But there is never the confusion between converted and unconverted that some modern preachers of the gospel make. It is not after the apostolic models for the evangelist to say, “We ought to repent; we should believe the gospel; let us all flee from the wrath to come.” The apostles used to say, “Repent every one of you; be it known unto you; through this man is preached unto you.” But by the language of many a nineteenth century man you are left quite in doubt whether or no he has tried himself what he urges on others.

If so, please explain 1 John 3:9; verse 18. John gives the absolute character of the divine life possessed by the family of God. Hence this general truth stamped upon every child of God. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit [practice] sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not.” It does not imply that the Christian never sins at all, but that he does not sin as a practice. How could that which is born of God sin? The believer however may be “overtaken in a fault.” Such slips are provided for in the verse first referred to, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” This is a necessary provision because we have what is born of the flesh as well as what is born of God.

W.T.— What is meant by “life more abundantly” (John 10:10)? It was the fuller measure of life that souls received after the Lord’s death and resurrection. Life Old Testament saints possessed, but “life more abundantly” the Lord bestowed upon the New Testament saints—the same life, but in a higher character.

T.H.— Is baptism by water in the name of the Trinity essential to a child of God? Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is enjoined by the Lord Himself (Matt. 28:19,20). It is a mode of confessing the discipleship of Christ. The doctrinal truth of which it is a figure is given in Romans 6 The point for you to consider is whether you have confessed the Lord publicly or not. Compare B.M.M., vol. 2, pp. 41,72.

N.M.— Is it the order for a hymn to follow directly after the breaking of bread? The Spirit of God is bound by no rules save those of His own making. If He guides to a hymn after the breaking of the bread, it is well; but if it be the result of following mere routine, it will not be harmony but discord. The hymn sung by the Lord and His disciples (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26) was in connection with the paschal supper and not with His own supper then instituted. Sisters starting hymns. Exceptional circumstances may excuse such a thing, but never unless done in that modest and retiring spirit which is, perhaps, woman’s chief adornment.

Obedience to God or Men: Which?

THE question at issue between the Sanhedrin and the apostles was not founded upon mere differences of opinion in religious matters, as in the case of the Pharisees in their opposition to the Sadducees. In such instances, while there is the slight probability of one party being in the right, there is always the very likely possibility of both being in the wrong. The position of the apostles, however, was not one taken by them for the purpose of spreading their own particular views upon spiritual subjects. If their defiance of the Jewish council was only based upon a dogged determination to promulgate their own convictions of the resurrection of Jesus, we should find it a difficult task to justify their conduct. On the contrary, it was their simple effort to obey the divine commands to preach the gospel that brought them as prisoners before the tribunal of the high priest; and in their defense they enunciated a noble and beautiful principle, the abstract truth of which none can deny. They said, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). The effect of this unsophisticated remark was to Show that the character of this struggle was altogether of a higher nature than that of the fierce bickerings and brawls not infrequent in those days, rising as they often did from discussion upon such ‘trivial questions as to whether the hands should be washed above the elbow or only above the wrist before eating.

The apostles had received a definite command to preach the gospel; as Peter declared to Cornelius and those assembled in his house, “He [the Lord Jesus] commanded us to preach unto the people.” And there were abundant tokens that this command was in no sense imaginary on the apostles’ part. There was the gift of tongues at Pentecost, the multitude of conversions, the cripple healed with a word, the crowd of sick folk cured in the streets, these things all showed that the Lord was confirming the word of His servants by “signs following.” They were all so many assurances of the Lord’s presence with them in their work of testimony. So that by these means they were strengthened to resist the council when they “commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18).

Nothing but the direct command of the Lord could authorize them to disobey the rulers; because the “powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13:1). Plainly however He Who placed the “higher powers” in their positions of responsibility to Himself could also set their authority aside when they failed, and arrayed themselves in opposition to the spread of His truth.

And this was the ground taken by the apostles. The Lord had spoken and confirmed His word to them, and none could dispute that they were bound to obey God rather than men. But we doubt whether all who have since sought the support of these words have had the reason to do so that the apostles had. The words do not mean as they have been thought to do. We ought to obey what we believe God has enjoined upon us, rather than men. This is quite a different position.

Silhouette: Jephthah's Daughter.

THE persistent misfortune of Jephthah descended to his daughter. She had shared his wanderings, dishonor and poverty, and now when at last the tide was turned, and her father returning triumphant from the great battle against the Ammonites, as she goes forth to meet him she must have been appalled at his horror-stricken appearance. “He rent his garments and said, Alas, my daughter thou hast brought me very low.” Then she hears of his rash vow and his terrible purpose.

The effort to tone down the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter to meaning mere seclusion has quite failed. It was based upon an alternative reading in the margin of the old Translation which never had the slightest ground for acceptance. If only her seclusion were meant, that would not account for Jephthah’s horror and despair. It is quite beside the question to say that God does approve of human sacrifices. Of course He does not, and of course equally there is no word in the Scripture that gives the slightest sanction to Jephthah’s action. The Scripture does indeed commend a man who keeps a vow to his own hurt but not one who keeps a vow to the hurt of another. Nor can any vow justify an action unlawful or morally wrong. However, Jephthah was neither the first nor the last man whom the inscrutable wisdom of the Omniscient has allowed to form and carry out a rash and disastrous purpose, impelled by good—even the best—motives.

His daughter accepts and submits to the position at once. She wastes no word in trying to turn him from his purpose; she knows he is not the kind of man for that. She only says, “My father, since thou has opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.” If any should think that the last clause sounds harsh, from such a maiden’s lips let them consider that the light of Christianity had not shone upon her and consider how frightful in vile and fiendish cruelty the conduct of the Ammonites had been, as afterward described in Amos 1:13. Since her country is delivered she is willing to perish, like that fair daughter of Agamemnon, who says to her mother, “Thou baredst me not for thyself but for all the Greeks.” She only asks to be allowed to go for two months on the mountains before the blow falls. Her father says “Go.” Had he a lingering hope that she might take the occasion to flee and evade the horror that awaited? One could not blame him if he had, but in truth the grave strength with which both father and daughter deal with the matter seems to preclude the idea. At any rate she, whilst having plenty of opportunity to do so, did not escape, but returned with exactly the same heroism which has made the name of Regulus age-honored, but which has never, that I remember, been noticed in her case. At the appointed time, Jephthah fulfils his disastrous vow and then we know what he lost: not only his daughter; not merely his only child; but such a daughter as this.

It is nothing strange that a woman should suffer; suffering is her portion: nor that a maiden of beautiful character in the midst of triumph and the efflorescence of hope should be stricken down by calamity and death; that is too frequent for more than passing mention. But what is worthy of our contemplation— though it, also, is too common to excite much special interest—is the spirit of calm and perfect heroism in which this maiden accepted her terrible destiny. It is common enough to see some gentle and fragile woman bearing day after day without a murmur the most appalling sufferings; common enough to see one voluntarily enter into some hideous danger of noisome pestilence or endure uncomplainingly “the weariest and most loathed earthly life that age, ache, penury and imprisonment can lay on nature,” because of her love or sense of duty or loyalty. When the “Black Death” raged in Europe in 1348 and slew twenty millions of people, there never was (says Prof. H. Morley) any difficulty in filling the places of the nurses as they died in the hospitals. In those ages, too, when the church provided a ritual for the sequestration of lepers like a burial service, the lepers were usually followed into their horrible exile by their faithful wives. When the Count Alberti was doomed for life to those mines where corruption commences its dreadful disfigurement at once, corroding the joints and poisoning the blood, he was followed into that charnal house by his young, beautiful and delicately nurtured betrothed. How many millions of Hindoo wives have voluntarily ascended the funeral pyres and let the flames devour them!

The characteristic of woman’s heroism is patient submission to suffering, whereas that of men is necessarily of a more aggressive nature—chiefly active whilst hers is passive. I do not say that one is better than the other, but that each is best for the exigencies of the kind of life for which it is designed. The valor of Jephthah and the power of his arm are called for in the trampling throngs of the marshalled hosts at the van of the army. His daughter’s fortitude is called for elsewhere to skew that “Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance is God-like.” Common enough too. Yet though it be as common as the sunshine, even so shall it not cease to be as beautiful. The story of Alcetis going down into death for Admetus is a very old one, and a very new one too—new every day.

So she lived, and died; in whom filial love and obedience, lofty devotion, heroism and patriotism mingled in a harmony that seemed more in chord with heaven than with earth; yet we in our blindness are prone to think that such a life is more needed here than there, and to wonder that such as she are so often taken early from us, since we so sorely need them. Well may the maidens of Gilead bewail her and the shepherds sing, ―

“Waft her, angels, through the skies

Far above yon azure plain!”

J.C.B.

Sleepyheads.

THERE are some persons of a dull and languid turn. They do nothing with that healthy alacrity, that gleesome energy which bespeaks a sound mind even more than a vigorous body; but they drag themselves to the inevitable task with remonstrating reluctance, as if every joint were set in a socket of torture, or as if they expected the quick flesh to cleave to the next implement of industry they handled. Having no wholesome love of work, no joyous delight in duty, they do everything grudgingly, in the most superficial manner, and at the latest moment.

Others there are, who, if you find them at their post, you will find them dozing at it. They are a sort of perpetual somnambulists, walking through their sleep; moving in a constant mystery; looking for their faculties, and forgetting what they are looking for; not able to find their work, and when they have found their work not able to find their hands; doing everything dreamily, and therefore everything confusedly and incompletely; their work a dream, their sleep a dream, not repose, not refreshment, but a slumberous vision of rest, a dreamy query concerning sleep; too late for everything, taking their passage when the ship has sailed, insuring their property when the house is burned, locking the door when the goods are stolen—men whose bodies seem to have started in the race of existence before their minds were ready, and who are always gazing out vacantly as if they expected their wits were coming up by the next arrival.

But, besides the sloths and the somnambulists, there is a third class—the day dreamers. These are a very mournful, because a self-deceiving generation. Like a man who had his windows glazed with yellow glass, and who can fancy a golden sunshine or a mellow autumn on the fields, even when a wintry sleet is sweeping over them, the day-dreamer lives in an elysium of his own creating. With a foot on either side of the fire—with his chin on his bosom, and the wrong end of the book turned towards him, he can pursue his self-complacent musings till he imagines himself a traveler in unknown lands—the explorer of Central Africa—the solver of all the unsolved problems in science—the author of some unprecedented poem at which the wide world is wondering—or something so stupendous that he even begins to quail at his own glory. The misery is, that whilst nothing is done towards attaining the greatness, his luxurious imagination takes its possession for granted, and with his feet on the fender he fancies himself already on the highest pinnacle of fame; and a still greater misery is, that the time thus wasted in unprofitable musings, if spent in honest application and downright working, would go very far to carry him where his sublime imagination fain would be.

Extracted.

The Epistle to the Ephesians.

Chapters 5, 6.

GRACE toward faultiness, however, is not all. Chapter 5 opens with the more positive call to be imitators of God as children beloved, and to walk in love; as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for an odor of sweet smell. It was perfection in Him—for us, but to God; and it is our express pattern of love. But the danger of unclean sin is as carefully urged as from violence just before; and this in the levity of speech as in lust. Thanksgiving is a great antidote; as is our sense that those who so indulge are incompatible with the kingdom of Christ and God. Grace to believers in no way precludes God’s wrath on the sons of disobedience. We who were once darkness, but now light in the Lord, should be far from such partnership, but walk as children of light, the fruit of which is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. The Spirit comes in, not in verse 9 but later in verse 19 as power, after love and light have been fully treated as the source, principle, and character of the walk for the new creation, proving what is agreeable to the Lord. The Christian is disposed to sleep, and is therefore to awake and rise up from among the dead, and Christ shall shine upon him: an evident allusion to Israel’s portion by-and-by. Hence the need of walking carefully as wise, bung up the fit time, intelligent in the Lord’s will, and filled with the Spirit in songs of praise of a Christian sort, certainly not with the world’s dissolute excitement. Entitled as we are always and in all things to give thanks to Him Who is God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us not fail in doing thus, submitting ourselves to one another in Christ’s fear (verses 1-21).

This leads to the application of the same principle in our relationships; where the subject one is regularly first exhorted in each pair, wives to husbands, children to parents, and slaves to masters (verse 22—6:9). The wife and husband give occasion to a grand unfolding of Christ’s love for the church or assembly as the model. He “loved the church and gave himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of the water in virtue of the word, that he himself might present to himself the church glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any of such things; but that it might be holy and blameless.” Christ thus loved the church before He gave Himself up for it; and not content with that infinite self-surrender to sanctify it, He purifies after a divine fashion, as He will consummate His love in the glorious issue. His love sees to it all, and He uses the word now, as He will personally at length present it to Himself according to His own perfectness. So is the husband to love his own wife, and the wife to fear the husband. Children are not only to submit but to “obey” their parents in the Lord. If the law bade them pay honor, how much more the gospel? But fathers are not to irritate their children, but bring them up in the Lord’s discipline and admonition. So were slaves to obey their masters according to flesh, but “as to Christ.” What a privilege, and beyond all other emancipation Masters were to do the same things, in the equity they expected, forbearing threat, and knowing they had a common Master in the heavens.

Then follows (verses 10-20), after the call to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, the whole armor of God we are to put on. It is not the righteousness we become in Christ, but practical as against the enemy. The sword of the Spirit, being God’s word, is our one offensive weapon. That panoply we need that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. “For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenlies.” We are contrasted with Israel arrayed against the Canaanites. Wherefore he bids us to take up the whole armor of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, as it is now till the Lord take His great power and reign. First, we are to be girt about our loins with truth, the inward movements thus braced before God; then to put on the breastplate of righteousness, the confidence of an irreproachably right course; next, the walk animated by the gospel’s peaceful spirit; besides (or, in) all, we must take the unwavering faith in God which is the shield to quench all the inflamed darts of the wicked one; and receive the helmet of salvation in the assurance of what God wrought for us.

But even God’s word will not avail against the foe unless the Spirit guide us in wielding it. Thus all demands simple and constant dependence on God. Hence “praying at all seasons with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and for me,” added the blessed apostle, “that utterance may be given me in the opening of my mouth with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am ambassador in a chain, that I may be bold in it as I ought to speak.” In what a place of nearness to God stand the faithful, in common interests with Him, and hence with the greatest of apostles as with the weakest of saints, for Christ’s glory! Hence as the apostle shared Christ’s love to them all, so he was assured they in their love would delight to hear all particulars of him; he sent Tychicus therefore to comfort their hearts, as a joint and band in the body. The salutation is in keeping: “Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace with all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptness.” Without the Father and the Lord, what is anything else? Without incorruptness, even the love, or what is called love, were vain.

W.K.

The Laver of Brass.

THE laver occupied an important place in the service of the sanctuary of Jehovah. It was situated between the brazen altar at the entrance of the court, to which all Israel had access, and the entrance to the holy place where only priests could approach.

The material of which it was made was the looking-glasses of the women who were in the habit of attending the tent that had been temporarily set up for worship. That therefore which had been used for adorning the flesh was formed into a vessel to be used in cleansing it.

The laver was probably filled with water from the smitten rock, the water being figurative of the cleansing power of the word. There the priests washed their hands and feet before entering the holy place to minister in the presence of God. Omission to do so meant death. So jealous was God of His holy character that no priest could worship before Him with the tiniest spot of defilement upon his person (Ex. 30:18-21).

In the laver, then, we see God’s provision for cleansing the priests of old from defilement, and in this respect it is a type of what the Lord Jesus is now doing on high for every Christian.

When He hung upon the cross a soldier pierced His side and forthwith came there out blood and water (John 19:34). The blood was to justify and the water to sanctify the soul. The priests of Israel were first washed at the door of the tabernacle to consecrate them to God’s service (Ex. 29:1-5). After that they needed only to wash their hands and feet at the laver, in order to maintain their fitness for worship and service. To His disciples the Lord Jesus said, “Now [or, already] ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). Again, “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet but is clean every whit” (John 13:10).

The first washing of the priests is evidently a figure therefore of the complete cleansing through which the sinner passes when he is saved. The blood of Christ is applied to the person by the Lord Himself, through the word, and by the instrumentality of the Holy Ghost. Hence we have in Rev. 1:5, “Unto him that loves us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” This washing is never repeated, because the efficacy of the blood ever remaineth the same (Heb. 9:12, 28).

Further, the priests of old were constantly defiling their hands and feet with the sacrifices in the court, and with the dust of the desert. Therefore their need of cleansing for the work of the sanctuary. Having washed at the laver, however, they were admitted to all the joy and blessing of the holy place; for the food, light, and communion were the portion of the priests only.

The Christian is in an analogous position to-day. In his pilgrimage down here he is called to pass through a scene where all is directly opposed to God, and everything that is of God in himself. The world is his enemy. The old nature is still within him. Satan is as busy as ever he was. He and the world act upon the old nature, with the result that the mind and conscience become defiled; for it is a solemn fact that an unhallowed aspiration, a covetous desire, a self-willed action, will interrupt communion, obscure the glory to which we are called (1 Thess. 2:12) and spoil our joy.

Thus the need is seen of our feet being continually washed by Christ. This He does by the application of the word. “When we sin the Lord undertakes our cause with the Father. He thereon exercises the office of the advocate (1 John 2:1). The result to us ward is that the Spirit of God bins, in God’s clue time, to deal with us about it—to bring the sin to our remembrance, to apply the word to our consciences, to produce thereby in us self-judgment, leading us on to confession of our sin, God is then faithful and just to forgive us our sins, etc. (1 John 1:9). Thus we are restored” to a sense of complete pardon, we are brought back again into fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and the enjoyment of all its blessedness. He brings to our apprehension by the Holy Ghost what we are as seen in Him, and enables us to rejoice in it. Thus does He ever continue to wash our feet. Let us remember, however, that perfect as is the provision made in case of failure, it gives no license to sin; on the contrary, an apostle reminds us that he wrote in order that we should not sin (1 John 2:1).

Again, the priests themselves washed their hands and feet. And it is well to remember that the Christian is responsible to diligently maintain personal holiness, because it is written, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). This holiness however can only flow from the action of the word of God on our works and ways. “By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer,” and by that same word our practical sanctification is carried on. The apostle calls on the saints to cleanse themselves (2 Cor. 7:1), and this can only be done by taking heed or watching according to God’s word (Psa. 119:9). Let us, then, seek to have the dividing and discriminating power of the word brought to bear upon our lives and conduct, so that what is not of it may be discovered and removed (Heb. 4:12). Thus shall we be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).

W.T.H.

Offices in the Church.

It is of great importance, in inquiring as to divine order in the church, to carefully distinguish between gifts and offices. It has been well remarked that, while Romanists on the one hand confound ministry and priesthood, Protestants on the other fail to distinguish between the gifts of the Head, and local offices in the church. It should be our aim to rightly divide the word of truth, as the apostle counselled Timothy.

Priesthood is the privilege of all believers since Christ died and rose (Rev. 1:5, 6; 1 Peter 2:5, 9), but every believer is not necessarily a minister. The latter requires special gift from above, and a divine call. Gift, when entrusted to any, is not for the exclusive benefit of any local assembly, but is designed for the perfecting of the saints at large, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. Offices on the contrary are expressly local. Thus, bishops and deacons, wherever placed apostolically, were responsible for the well-being of the saints in their own towns, but had no responsibility beyond those limits. These distinctions the ordinary arrangements of Christendom fail to recognize. We frequently find an evangelist or teacher tied to a local charge, and expected to discharge the functions of an overseer, in addition to the duties attaching to the gift with which the Lord has entrusted him. This is injurious and wrong, and accounts, at least to some extent, for the stunted growth of many of Christ’s members. God’s order cannot be meddled with, or set aside with impunity. Spiritual loss and barrenness is the inevitable result.

It is undeniable that there were bishops (or elders) in the church in apostolic days. These were but different titles for the same persons; “elders” being the title of dignity, and “bishops” descriptive of their work (oversight). If Titus 1:5, 7 and Acts 20:17, 28 are carefully examined, this will be clearly seen. These were selected by the apostles or their delegates (as Timothy and Titus), in cases where assemblies had been some time established, and some had had opportunity to develop themselves. They were formally appointed by the apostles to watch over the souls of the saints, and to care for the work of God in the places where they lived. Instances of this may be found in Acts 14:21-23. There we have Paul and Barnabas visiting some scenes of former labor, confirming and exhorting the saints, “and when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”

The qualifications for eldership are given (Titus 1:5, 9; 1 Tim. 3:1). They are of a moral, not ministerial character. Of course, if such happened to be possessed of special gifts, they would find them of great use in their service, but they had nothing to do with their eldership. Their gifts they received from the Lord in heaven, apart altogether from human agency; their office they received by apostolic appointment, under the direction of the Holy Ghost (Eph. 4:8-11; Acts 20:28). Philip and Stephen, are cases of this kind. They were deacons, but they also possessed gifts; the one being expressly termed an evangelist, the other being apparently both evangelist and teacher (Acts 6:5, 10; 8:5; 21:8). We read also that elders who labored in word and doctrine were to have double honor (1 Tim. 5:17).

The Spirit of God is very strict in His moral requirements from those who desire the work of oversight. Such must be blameless, humble, and well conducted both at home and abroad. Their appetites and their tongues must be well under control, and their households must be ordered according to God. Every person of spiritual discernment will recognize the importance of this. What more incongruous than to see men endeavoring to maintain God’s order in the assembly, if that order is not carried out in themselves and in their own homes! They must also have had experience in the ways of God, as a novice, if appointed, would be in danger of being puffed up with pride, and thus falling into the same fault as the devil (1 Tim. 3:6).

Eldership was thus a serious charge. Those who were thus qualified and apostolically appointed were to “take care of the church of God” in their locality. This would involve visiting the sick, counselling the saints, and strengthening and helping them generally. We never read of but one elder or bishop in an assembly; scripture always speaks of them in the plural. If but one were set apart here or there, there might be a tendency to regard the assembly as his, whereas it is the assembly of God, in which such are but servants, privileged to shepherd and feed His saints.

Here a very important question naturally arises. If elders or bishops require apostolic appointment, where do we stand with regard to them now, apostles having ceased? For local care is assuredly as greatly needed today as when the apostles were present on earth. 1 Corinthians 16:15, 16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13 will answer the difficulty. Through some cause or another, elders had not been formally instituted either in Corinth or Thessalonica, yet the need for spiritual care existed in these places as elsewhere. What do we find therefore? Godly men observing the need, voluntarily took upon themselves the labor and service. Such, though not entitled to be designated elders, were nevertheless to be honored, and their authority was to be recognized by all. This is our resource today. Apostolic appointment cannot be obtained, and we earnestly eschew any imitation of it in the present ruined condition of the church, but it is our privilege and duty to recognize them wherever godly men burden themselves with the local care of the assemblies of God. This is far different from the assumption of ordaining power, than which nothing is more pretentious. On the contrary, it is a lowly recognition of the low state in which the church is found, in which faith can turn alone to the living God.

Deaconship was also a local charge, for which substantially the same qualifications were required as for the office of a bishop. Deacons must themselves be blameless men, and their wives and children must be well-behaved (1 Tim. 3:8-13). They served the assembly in temporal things, as, for example, in the distribution of its bounty to the sick and the needy. This office, not involving any public functions necessarily, might be held by women. Thus we read of Phœbe, servant (or deaconess) of the church at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1). The modern deacon, appointed to read prayers and homilies “in church” as a kind of preparation for priesthood, is an officer unknown to the word of God. This is but one instance among many in Christendom, where names have been retained, the meaning of which has entirely faded away.

Deacons, unlike elders, were chosen by the assembly before being appointed by the apostles. Thus the seven who served in Jerusalem were chosen by the multitude of the saints (Acts 6:3-5), and later, when certain Gentile assemblies made special collections for their suffering brethren in Judaea, they chose their own messenger to accompany Paul with their offerings (2 Cor. 8:19). The propriety of this is easily understood. What the church gives, it is entitled to have a voice in the disposal of; what the Lord gives, as the ministry of the word, He alone is entitled to control.

W.W.F.

The Old Master and the New.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND, — The only means of exercising any effectual power over indwelling sin is by taking exactly the place with regard to it that God assigns to you in His word. You confess that you have proved your own helplessness to prevent evil thoughts from rising and intruding themselves at the most solemn moments. When for example you bow your knees in prayer, you sometimes find yourself confronted and conquered by thoughts which are positively sinful. Now can this be helped? If so, in what way?

Much help may be gained from Rom. 6. This chapter teaches the true relationship of the believer to sin, that is, to the root of evil within.

You will observe that in this part of the epistle “sin” does not mean a sin, but the cause of sin. This distinction is an important one in the consideration of this subject. If you tell a lie, you commit a sin; but it is sin—the evil nature—that prompts you to utter the untruth. And in this scripture sin is viewed in the latter aspect, and is spoken of as dwelling in a person as in a house, and of reigning over a person as a master. Observe how the word is used in the following passages: —

	Sin entered into the world	(5:12).
	Sin hath reigned unto death	(5:21).
	Henceforth we should not serve sin	(6:6).
	Let not sin reign in your body	(6:12).
	Sin shall not have dominion over you	(6:14).
	Ye were the slaves of sin	(6:17).
	Sin deceived me and slew me	(7:11).
	Sin that dwelleth in me	(7:17).

Now two things at least are very apparent from these texts, and will strike you at once in glancing down the list:—

Sin once ruled over us like a tyrannical slave-master.

But sin is not to reign over us any longer: we are not its slaves now.

I am sure you will admit the truth of (1), because you not only believe it since God says so, but in your letter you own that you have proved it in your own experience. And indeed none but converted persons really find out what it is to be a slave to sin, for an unsaved man is used to the service of sin and loves it. He is like a person floating down a rapid river, who does not realize the force of the stream till he tries to swim against it.

And as to the second point (2) I am equally sure that you are anxious to prove its truth in your own case, and that you are not content to go on doing what you do not wish to do. Let us therefore seek to learn what is God’s way of deliverance. As we look again at these verses we find further facts stated with regard to our relationship to sin.

	We are dead to sin	(6:2).
	We are made free from sin	(6:18, 22).

There can be no more perfect deliverance from a slave-owner than death; because while a slave is alive he is the property of his master. Thus the runaway slave Onesimus was sent back to Philemon by the apostle Paul. The claim of the master was recognized by Paul and Onesimus, whatever grace might work in Philemon’s heart. But obviously if Onesimus had died Philemon could make no claim whatever; the bonds of slavery would have been broken Forever.

This figure is used as to our liberty from the bondage of sin. We have died, and that death makes us free from the power of sin as a master over us. But perhaps you say, I do not feel myself to be dead; on the other hand I feel myself to be alive to sin. And this may be the state of your feelings; but your feelings do not alter the truth of God’s word. God says you are dead, and that death delivers you out of the very difficulty as to which you are troubled.

How did this death come about? Let the chapter answer again.

	We are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ	(6:3).
	We have been planted together in the likeness of His death	(6:5).
	Our old man is crucified with Him	(6:6).
	We are dead with Christ	(6:8)

These passages make it plain that our death (in the sense of the word as it is used in this connection) took place simultaneously with the death of Christ. When He was crucified, we were crucified with Him. When He died, we died. When He was buried, we were buried with Him. So that it is of no use consulting one’s feelings and saying, I do not feel dead. The question is, Did Christ die or not? If He died (and who can deny it?) then we died too.

Now for the practical application of this truth. Paul not only instructed the Roman believers that they were dead to sin, but he exhorted them to make full use of the fact in their daily lives. He wrote:—

Reckon ye also yourselves to be indeed dead unto sin (6:11).

If they did not take this position they would be utterly powerless. If a letter signed by Her Majesty came to a convict in Dartmoor prison, stating that he was free to leave at once, what warder or governor could resist him when acting upon it? If, however, the man put the letter in his pocket, and continued to obey his warders as before, who was to blame? So it is with you, my young friend. God has made you free through associating you with the death of His Son. If you allow sin to exercise lordship over you, whose fault is it?

Should evil thoughts arise, treat them as though you were dead. This is the counsel given by the author of the extract you refer to (page 102, May last). If you entertain them, even though you give them battle, you leave the ground of Rom. 6, viz.— that you are dead to sin but alive to God, and if you leave divine ground you are sure to fall under the power of the old master again. You have a new master, for you have become a servant of God (6:22). And now Christ and His word are the subjects for the thoughts of the new life. May the Lord help you to yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness under your new Master.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

W.M.— How should we understand 1 Peter 3:18-20? Who were the spirits in prison? Did Christ Himself preach to them? And when? The text itself affords its own interpretation, if the connection of the phrases is carefully attended to. The passage runs: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins.... being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” The following verse explains who these spirits are, viz., the spirits of those who perished in the days of Noah through the overflowing of the world that then was by water. They are reserved in prison unto the day of judgement, when they will receive their punishment (2 Peter 2:9). The antediluvians did not perish without warning, for Christ Himself preached to them by the Spirit (Gen. 6:3). Noah of course was the preacher (Heb. 11:7; 2 Peter 2:5), but he preached by the Spirit of Christ Who was in him (1 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 1:21). verse 20 helps to make it clear when the preaching was. For it states that they were “disobedient.... while the ark was a preparing.” In other words, they rejected the word of righteousness spoken to them by Noah while they were yet alive. Compare this use of disobedient or disbelieving (Acts 19:9; 26:19; Rom. 2:8; 10:21; Heb. 11:31; 1 Peter 2:7, 8; 3:1; 4:17). Carefully examine the passages referred to; and see a similar expression of Christ preaching, but not in bodily presence (Eph. 2:17). He preached peace to the Gentiles who were far off. This of course was by the Holy Spirit through His servants after His resurrection.

J.B.P.— Are the “sons” in Job 1:6 and Galatians 4:5, 6 the same persons? No. The “sons of God” spoken of in Job are said to have shouted for joy when the world was created (Job 38:7). Hence none of the human race can be referred to, and without doubt they are the angels (compare Luke 20:36). In Galatians 4:5, 6 the sons of God are those who have faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26). You must not allow yourself to be misled by the common fallacy of supposing that the same term always means the same thing wherever used. You must examine the context. Thus a person may speak of his “boys,” and he may mean either (1) his own family, or (2) his Sunday School class, or (3) his office boys, as the case may be. Please explain how eternal life can be a reward (Rom. 2:7) as well as a gift (Rom. 6:23). Both texts are of course true. And Romans 2:7 does not state that life is given as a reward, but that it is rendered in connection with “patient continuance in well-doing.” A boy who receives a shilling may have it as a donation or as wages. The former text does not say whether eternal life is rendered as wages or as a gift; but Romans 6:23 shows it is given freely, not earned. It may be added that eternal life is sometimes regarded in its future fullness, which of course cannot yet be known (Rom. 2:7; 1 Tim. 6:12; Titus 1:2; 3:7; Jude 21). Those who will enter into it by-and-by are these who walk in holiness (Rom. 6:16-22) and do good (John 5:29). But eternal life being a present possession (see John’s writings) as well as a future prospect, such good works are the fruit of the eternal lite we already have. So that while well-doing results in eternal life, well-doing is also the result of eternal life. Show whether the Old Testament saints belong to the body of Christ. Such general questions as these can hardly receive sufficient reply in the limited space at our disposal. Notice that the body of Christ is formed by the baptism of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 12:13), Who descended at Pentecost according to the Lord’s promise (Acts 1:5). This body is called a “new man” (Eph. 2:15), so that it did not exist before that date, and therefore not in Old Testament times. The distinction between Jew and Gentile was rigidly kept up of old; but there is no such distinction now (Gal. 3:28), showing there has been an entire change. The Lord showed there would be a marked distinction between John the Baptist and the least in the kingdom of heaven (Luke 7:28). John speaks of himself as the friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29), and as such will probably be one of those (distinct from the bride) called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).

G.K.— Are the general assembly and the church of the firstborn two companies (Heb. 12:22, 23)? Yes: the angels and the members of the body of Christ. The different companies are introduced by the word “and.” Thus: Ye are come

	-1	unto mount Zion,

and	-2	unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,

and	-3	to an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly,

and	-4	[to the] church of the firstborn,

and	-5	to God, the judge of all,

and	-6	to the spirits of just men made perfect,

and	-7	to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,

and	-8	to the blood of sprinkling.

J.— Is it reverent or honoring to address the Lord Jesus Christ as, Dear Lord, Dear Master, etc.? “Dear” as an epithet does not imply honor or reverence; it is sometimes intended to imply affection for the Lord on the part of the speaker. “Lord” is itself a title of reverence which the Spirit teaches us to apply to Jesus (1 Cor. 12:3). In addressing the Lord it is of the greatest moment to take care that we mean what we say. It is possible to be very free in the use of endearing terms, such as, “dear Lord, beloved Lord,” and the like, while the heart remains cold and indifferent.

W.T.— I should like a little help on what is meant by the “great house” (2 Tim. 2:20). The great house is Christendom, including all who take the place of being Christians. It therefore contains vessels both to honor and dishonor, in distinction from the house of God, the church of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15), which contains no foreign element. The obedient man is called to purge himself from the vessels to dishonor, i.e., those who have “erred from the faith.” Also on John 1:9. “That was the true light-which coming into the world, lighteth every man.” This rendering is reckoned by competent scholars to be more correct. Christ came into the world as the “light of men” and of every man, just as the sun in the heavens shines for all. He is not said to be the life of every man. Do not mistake light and life.

Seeing Him as He Is.

It was written of old, “The eye is not satisfied with seeing” (Eccl. 1:8). But then the “preacher” was writing only of what is “under the sun.” We are waiting to see what is above the sun; and when we see Him “as He is,” shall we not then be satisfied?

Well is it for us to foster the growth of those heaven-born longings within us to be in the presence of the Christ of God. As we concentrate the vision of our souls upon the glorified Man on high, our aspirations to be with Him where He is are intensified. And proportionately every lesser aim and object dwindles into comparative insignificance.

If we probe our hearts we find truly enough that the desire to behold the face of our Beloved is there. But is not that desire often almost buried by the mass of our daily engagements and occupations? And yet it is a fact, warranted by the revelation of God itself, that in a moment, perhaps, of this very hour on which we have entered, the sight may be ours. A twinkling of an eye—and we shall be “Forever with the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17).

Think what it will be, when in a moment, we are taken from the Babel of the crowded street to the hush of His presence, from the pain and shadow of the sick chamber to the sunlit peace of the Father’s house, from the sight of this world’s sin and shame to behold Him as He is.

“Oh, bright and blessed hope!

When shall it be,

That we His face, long loved,

Revealed shall see.

Oh! when, without a cloud,

His features trace,

Whose faithful love so long

We’ve known in grace: —

That love itself enjoy,

Which, ever true,

Did, in our feeble path,

Its work pursue?

O Jesus, not unknown—

Thy love shall fill

The heart in which Thou dwell’st,

And shalt dwell still.

Still, Lord! to see Thy face, —

Thy voice to hear, —

To know Thy present love

Forever near, —

To gaze upon Thyself

(So faithful known)

Long proved in secret help

With Thee alone.”

We have known and believed His love even here. “‘Tis the treasure I’ve found in His love that has made me a pilgrim below.” But what will it be when that love streams upon us there in a flood of heavenly radiance from His own blessed person? And let us remember, beloved, we shall not be overpowered by the display of that living fullness. For it will be displayed in Jesus, — in Whom we have learned all we already know of the Father’s love, and Who has never yet overwhelmed us by anything He has shown us.

Faith and hope serve us well in the wilderness; but the love of the Father is our eternal home. And that love will be known to us then, even as it is known to us now, in Christ. Only then we shall “see him as he is,”— Him Whom “having not seen we love.” Does not the very contemplation of such a prospect set our souls leaping for joy? Do we not sing, “How great our joy to see Thee shine?”

But some will condemn this as extravagant sentiment. Yet I know not why. We are permitted to read the palpitating desires of the psalmist, “As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psa. 42:1, 2). And Paul is not behindhand in intensity of longing when he writes of himself as “having a (consuming] desire to depart, and to be with Christ” (Phil.1:23). Let us then cultivate spiritual ardour. Remember that assembly which was “neither cold nor hot.” May we not be of its spirit! Let us rather be able to appropriate to ourselves the sentiments expressed with such, beautiful but forceful simplicity in the following lines: —

“The traits of that face, Lord,

Once marred, through Thy grace, Lord,

Our joy’ll be to trace

At Thy coming again;

With Thee evermore, Lord,

Our hearts will adore, Lord;

Our sorrow’ll be o’er

At Thy coming again.

“But better than all, Lord,

To rise at Thy call, Lord,

Adoring to fall

At Thy coming again;

With Thee, clothed in white, Lord,

To walk in the light, Lord,

Where all will be bright

At Thy coming again.

“Forever with Thee, Lord,

And like Thee to be, Lord,

Forever with Thee

At Thy coming again;

I’ll live in Thy grace, Lord,

I’ll gaze on Thy face, Lord,

When finished my race

At Thy coming again.”

The Two Natures.

AN unsaved person has only one nature. He is in the flesh. So the apostle affirms “When we were in the flesh” (Rom. 7:5). Afterwards he speaks of believers, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit” (Rom. 8:9).

This being so, there arises a conflict between the two natures, because they are contrary the one to the other. This is what the apostle says, “For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:17). The Holy Spirit, of course, acts upon the spirit, which is born of Himself (John 3:6).

The existence and opposition of the two natures in the believer is here clearly stated; but the word rendered “cannot” in the Authorized Version is too strong. As it stands it implies that it is an impossibility for the saint to do what the Spirit would lead him to do.

Thank God it is not so. The correct rendering is, “That ye may not do the things that ye would.” The flesh will hinder, or try to hinder; but we are not under its power. “But now being made free from sin [this is not forgiveness of sins, but deliverance from the sinful nature which is in us], and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness” (Rom. 6:22).

The apostle says, “Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). Walking in the Spirit gives power over the flesh. The flesh is never changed or eradicated: but by the power of the Spirit dwelling in the believer, it is set aside, overcome, and not allowed to act. Such persons are called the “spiritual,” of whom the apostle speaks, “Ye which are spiritual” (Gal. 6:1). They are fit instruments to be used of the Lord in helping those who have been overtaken in a fault. And how are such overtaken in a fault, but by listening to the flesh and yielding to its suggestions or to Satan’s temptations through the flesh? “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:14).

Some profess to be in a sinless state, through the old nature being destroyed and rooted out of their hearts. And when evil thoughts arise they blame the devil for them; whereas the Spirit of God blames the evil nature in them (James 1:14).

The spiritual believer is he in whose heart dwells love, joy, peace; long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These are the fruit of the Spirit. Happy and blessed is such an one, being a vessel ready to be used of the Lord (Gal. 5:22).

The doctrine of the apostle is the same in Romans 7, 8. But there he gives deliverance, through Christ, from the evil nature, or sin in the flesh. He cries out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (7:24). He gets deliverance through Christ, not by the destruction of “this body of death,” which is in him still, as he states in the end of verse 25 “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God: but with the flesh the law of sin.” His state is unaltered; but he is delivered, and has found his place to be in Christ, and not in the flesh; declaring in triumph, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Yet the flesh is still in him.

This is what the apostle then enlarges upon; giving us to know that the sinful nature in us has been condemned in Christ on the cross. Sins are forgiven, but the wicked nature which commits them is not forgiven, but condemned in Him Who bore all on the cross. Blessed liberty, in which to bring forth fruit unto God. “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom. 6:22).

And again, we read, “Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away [annulled] that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin ... Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin (6:5-11. R.V.). It is not that the evil nature in us is changed (I would again remark) or destroyed; but set aside, and the believer is to reckon himself as having died with Christ, but now risen with Him, and hence to walk in newness of life.

Here is a solemn question for the conscience. Can a saved person be in an unspiritual state of soul? We find it is possible. He may have life in the Spirit, and not walk in the Spirit. Let us not lose sight of this. A believer may “sow to the flesh and reap corruption.” He may grieve that Holy Spirit, by Whom he is sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). He may quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). The Spirit is grieved by our listening to the flesh or the devil, and doing something we ought not to do. He is quenched by our not doing what He would lead us to do.

Further, the gifted may not be spiritual. The Corinthians “came behind in no gift,” but they were carnal and walked as men. Only watchfulness, prayer, and obedience can keep us walking in the Spirit. Then will He fill our hearts with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Such was Barnabas. “A good man; full of the Holy Ghost and of faith.” May we be such.

Guernsey. G.R.

Testimony of the Scriptures Concerning Themselves.

WE may, by a little consideration, observe the value which God has set on the revelation He has from time to time been making of Himself and His will, and also our own title to the direct personal use of that revelation. And such truths are of serious and happy importance to our souls at all times, but, in some sense, especially now.

When the Lord God planted and furnished the garden, and set Adam in it, He made all to depend on His word or revelation; “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” This was the revelation then, and man’s history, as we know, was to hang entirely upon it. And thus at the very outset we see what a place of value the word which had gone out from the mouth of the Lord holds; and it became the direct object of the serpent’s assault and enmity.

So, when the character of things had been changed through man’s disobedience to this first word of God, all is made to depend on another word: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Man’s return to God now depended on his belief of this word, as his departure from God had afore hung on his disobedience to the first word. For all now rested on faith, or obedience to this revelation.

Thus we find that Abel, by faith, offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. All service from man now rested on faith, or obedience to the word or revelation of God (Heb. 11). So high was the value which the Lord put on His word, making it, as before, the standard and the test of obedience, and the hinge on which man’s history was to turn. And Cain’s offering was in unbelief, or in despite of God’s word about the seed of the woman. He despised God’s word, as the serpent had before assailed it. And so, in process of time, in like manner Noah and Abraham (to instance no others) are called forth from a revolted world by revelations from God, and their acceptance of such revelations determine their path in present peace onward to glory.

But when we reach a larger scene for the energies and acts of God, as in the nation of Israel, we still find that all was made to turn upon the revelation He was giving His people. We read that they were neither to add to it, nor diminish from it (Deut. 4:2). So carefully did He hedge round it, so jealously did He watch over it, that it might not be entangled with the thorns of the wilderness of worldly wisdom, or disturbed by the admixtures of man’s thoughts. And having thus protected it, and provided for its purity, Jehovah ordered that His people should bind it round their heart and soul, and fix it under their eye continually, inscribing it on their gates and doors, making it their morning and evening meditation, and the theme of their family intercourse (Deut. 6:6-9), so that they should let it in, that it might mingle itself with all their personal and social life, and shed its light on every path, however ordinary, of their daily journey. And if any of them were put at a distance from the more immediate place of the nation and of their religious observances, still the word was to be their rule there (Josh. 22:4, 5). And if any of them were called into circumstances which might be extraordinary or unlooked for, the same word of God should follow them there; for if there were to be a king in days to come, the law of his God should go up to the throne with him, and be there before him as fully as he was before the people (Deut. 17). And the history of Israel as a nation, like that of Adam in Eden and out of Eden, was to be determined by their use of God’s word (Deut. 28).

What an expression of the value which the Lord set upon His word all this gives us! And with what jealousy does He watch it, that He may maintain it in its purity! And how immediately would He have it bound round the heart and soul of each of His people!

It is blessed to see the Lord thus esteeming His own revelation, and commending it to our esteem; and, as we go on in His ways, it is His word we still find the Lord using and esteeming. Israel was disobedient to the word of His law, and what He does, is to send them the word of His prophets. If they refuse one testimony, it is only another they must get. God will still use His word, and still make their history to rest on their use or abuse of it. And, therefore, we find that their final dispersion and bondage in Babylon came of this, that when the Lord had even risen up early to send them His prophets, they did but despise those prophets, and the words which they brought; so that wrath came on them to the uttermost, and there was now no remedy (2 Chron. 36).

There is, however, a return to Jerusalem out of Babylon; and return to God then is marked very clearly by a return to His word. The captives are obedient to the word. Ezra, for instance, makes it his meditation, the theme of his intercourse with the people, and the rule of his ways and acts in the midst of them (chs. 7). So Nehemiah and his companions; they read it, they own the power of it over their consciences, and they set themselves to walk and act in the light of it (ch. 8:13). As long, or as far, as those returned Jews were obedient to God, so long, and so far, were they attentive to the voice of His truth, both trembling at, and rejoicing in, His word, according to its spirit in addressing them. They had returned to God, and must therefore return to His word; and while this was so, blessing was theirs, and latter day blessing is made to depend on this also (Mal. 4:4-6).

When we open the New Testament after all this, we find the word, or revelation of God, in this accustomed place of honor and value. It is put into the lips of the Baptist; no power lies in his hand, but the word of the Lord breaks from his lips. “John did no miracle,” but his was a “voice” from God, acceptance of which was again to determine the history of Israel. So the Lord’s own ministry, which this of John introduced, was not only a fresh ministry of God’s word (on the value of which I will not speak), but it did itself greatly honor the precious word; and this still shews us what value in God’s esteem His word holds. Thus, in His acts the Lord Jesus was ever fulfilling that word, as the evangelists are careful to tell us; in His conflicts with the devil He uses that word, as the Gospels again tell us; and in His teachings He is ever referring to that word, rebuking the Jews for their value for anything else, for their use of traditions, and their neglect of it, and giving them to know that not a jot or tittle of it can in any wise fail, that the scripture cannot be broken; and that if Moses and the Prophets be not heard, even one risen from the dead would not avail to lead to repentance.

This is much to be observed—that thus did the Son in His day honor the word. The Holy Ghost, in like manner, is a Spirit of revelation in the apostles, and fills up by them the word of God. And not only so, but in them He does continually, clearly, and fully express His divine sense of the value of the scriptures. If man dare not add to it, God need not. It is perfect, able, as the apostle tells us, thoroughly to furnish the saint to all good works. And no authority stands, or can possibly stand, on equal ground with it, so that even if an angel were to gainsay it, he must be cursed. It matters not who it may be, all must sink below the voice and authority of that gospel, or revelation of God, which had been delivered.

Thus do we see, from the beginning to the end, the Lord’s value for His own word—how He has made a hedge about it, that no rude hand may guiltlessly touch it, and also has appointed it to be the great standard at all times, on which the history of His people, either for blessing or for curse, was to turn; and has bound it round the heart and soul, before the eyes, and on the palms of His people, and given it an authority which nothing is to be allowed to gainsay or to rival. God of old, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, each in His day, attests this. And all this is precious to the soul. God and His word are joined together. To give up His word is to give up Himself. For He can be known only by His own revelation. But if we thus see the divine estimate of the word, we may, with equal clearness and sureness, see our title to that word, and how the Lord has joined us and the word together also, and that no man, therefore, can put such asunder.

Extracted.

The Lord's Supper.

BEFORE quitting the world for the Father’s house, the Lord Jesus gave to His own this touching proof of His changeless love. On that evening, when all was darkening around Him, and the shadow of the cross was before His holy mind, He gathered around Him His beloved disciples, that He might eat the Passover with them before He suffered, and that He might institute the simple feast that henceforward should take the place of the Passover in their minds.

Who can enter adequately into the feelings of His tender heart as He thought of His approaching betrayal by one of the favored band, of His desertion by all the rest, of the rage and malice of men and Satan, and, beyond all, of His impending abandonment by God Himself because of sin? These were the thoughts that were passing through His mind, overwhelming it with deepest sorrow, as He sat at the paschal table on that memorable night. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26). It is needless, perhaps, to add that He did not bless the loaf, but God, as when He fed the hungry multitudes (John 6:11). The loaf speaks of His body given—offered up. This was especially solemn and strange in the ears of Jewish disciples, who counted on Messiah’s bodily presence here. The multitude fully expressed Jewish sentiments when they said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?” (John 12:34).

There was a deeper work in hand just then than the mere expulsion of the Romans and the establishment of an earthly kingdom; man’s sinful and alienated condition called for a sacrifice, and who was able to offer this but the Lord Jesus? Hence the loaf is the token of His body offered, as the cup speaks to us of His blood shed. On this all blessing is founded, whether in the kingdom by-and-by, or in Christianity now. “And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament [covenant] which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:27, 28). After all the failure of man under the old covenant, how blessed it is to hear the Lord speak of the new! Compare Jeremiah 31:31-34. God made a covenant with Israel when He took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; but they violated that covenant, though Jehovah was a husband unto them. But in the latter days, a new covenant shall be made with them on the principle of sovereign grace, and under it they shall be fully blessed. The basis of this is before us in the words of the Lord Jesus.

It is important to observe that scripture never speaks of Christians as standing in covenant-relationship with God. The covenants, both old and new, pertain to Israel, not to the church of God (Rom. 9:4). The Epistle to the Hebrews shows that the blessings of the new covenant are ours, but not the covenant itself. That will be made by God with Israel at a later day.

But the precious blood of Christ goes far beyond Israel in its efficacy and power. It was “shed for many for the remission of sins.” “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28).

This includes the “other sheep,” who, though not belonging to the Jewish fold, were to hear the Shepherd’s voice in blessing (John 10:16). Here we Gentiles come in. We look back adoringly at the cross of Jesus, and there see the righteous ground on which all our sins are divinely remitted. The blood has answered every question, and settled every claim. The foe is silenced forever, and our souls are happy and free.

In 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 we see the place given to the Lord’s supper in the service and worship of the church of God. There we read twice, “This do in remembrance of me.” It is thus an abiding memorial of the One Who was slain in this world—Whose precious blood was shed. Dull and cold must be the heart that cannot respond to the Lord’s request, and carry out this simple feast in His own appointed way. The Lord prizes it highly. It is a proof of the affection of His own, a mark of appreciation of His wondrous grace.

We thus testify to His death. This presents the world to us in a very solemn light. It is responsible for the murder of the One Who is everything to us; how can we love it or walk with it? The cross is an impassable barrier between us and the world. The world is crucified to us and we to it; our boast is in the cross alone (Gal. 6:14).

“Till he come” is the word of the Holy Spirit. We are thus reminded of what is in store for us in a brighter sphere. We belong to heaven, and are at present away from home, passing through a wilderness. We are reminded of this every time we “break bread” in remembrance of our Lord Jesus.

Oh, that these things had greater power in our souls! Let us meditate much upon them, that we may learn the deep secrets of the heart of Jesus, with the result that our devotedness to 4-iis name may be increased, and our separation from the world may be more complete.

W.W.F.

"The Lord Knoweth How to Deliver."

HE knoweth how. The tangled skein of life

Baffles our efforts, wearies us with strife.

Each cord seems stubborn, knotted; and in vain

Is the exertion, energy and pain.

Not so when He the shapeless mass unfolds:

Straightened the tangles, loosed the knotty holds,

Gone ev’ry hindrance, smooth, and calm and clear!

How soon within His hand all tangles disappear!

H.C.R.

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapter 4:1-9.

1AND again he began to teach by the sea (side). And there was gathered unto him a great crowd so that he went on board ship and sat in the sea; and all the crowd were by the sea on the land. 2And he was teaching them many things in parables, and said to them in his doctrine, 3 Hear: behold, the sower went forth to sow.

4And it came to pass as he sowed, some fell beside the way (side), and the birds (of the air) came and devoured it (up). 5And other fell on the rocky [ground], where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprung up because it had no depth of earth; 6 and when the sun arose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered (away).

7And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

8And other fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing, and bore one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred. 9 And he said (unto them), He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Notes and Suggestions.

The parable given in this section is closely connected with the moral import of the incident which immediately precedes (3:31-35).

There it is taught that Israel’s relationship with the Lord after the flesh is broken, and only those who do God’s will are recognized, and this on account of the nation’s blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

We may trace the growth of this opposition as given in the former chapters: ―

	2:06	Scribes inwardly object to the Lord forgiving sins.

	2:16	Scribes and Pharisees object to His eating with publicans and sinners.

	2:24	Pharisees complain of disciples plucking corn on the sabbath.

	3:06	Pharisees and Herodians plot to destroy Him.
	3:21	His kindred say He is beside Himself.

	3:22	Scribes from Jerusalem declare that He casteth out demons by Beelzebub.

	3:29	This, the Lord said, could not be forgiven, being blasphemy against the Spirit.

Then the Lord immediately explains the new ground of relationship with Himself (3:31-35); and by the parable of the sower teaches the role He undertakes on that account.

This parable then skews the new character that the ministry of Jehovah’s Servant would assume in consequence of the nation’s rejection of Himself. It was of no avail to come to Israel as the Fruit-gatherer; an entirely new work must be begun. He presents Himself therefore as the Seed-sower. This parable is thus a descriptive sketch of the Lord’s own ministry. Being delivered in parabolic form, and interpreted only to His own disciples (4:10), opportunity remained for reiterated calls to the nation to repent. This mode of teaching was greatly used by the Lord, even with the disciples to a modified extent (John 16:25), suiting especially, as it did, the time of the Gospels.

Verse 1. — Again. Compare Mark 1:16; 2:13; 3:7-9.

On board ship. The ship or boat was probably the one set apart for the Lord’s use (3:9). Hence the parables then spoken are sometimes known as the “boat-parables.” In Matthew 13. we have seven, in Mark 4:26-29, an eighth, and from Mark 4:33 we gather that many were spoken.

All the crowd. As the Lord’s words fell upon the ears of the many classes of hearers in the great multitude, an instance was then afforded of the sower sowing the good seed.

Verse 3. — Hearken. Observe the recurrence of this word in verses 15,16,18,20. Everything hinged upon hearing the new teaching (verse 9).

The sower. The parable of the “sower and the soils,” and that of the wicked husbandmen (Mark 12:1-12) are the only ones that occur in all three of the synoptic Gospels.

The act of sowing indicated that the Lord was introducing what was new, and what also was capable in itself of bearing fruit, provided the soil was congenial.

Verse 4. — The wayside. Hard beaten paths ran across the fields, on which some of the grain would fall as it was being scattered over the face of the ground. There it could not penetrate the soil, but would lie exposed to the numerous birds which are never very far away from the sower.

Verse 5. — The rocky ground. A thin layer of soil upon the rocks received some seed. The tiny rootlets were thus absolutely prevented from growing downwards, so that all the life of the seed was directed to the growth of the stalk upwards. All appeared to be going well till the fierce heat of an Eastern sun beat upon it. Then it quickly withered, for the roots could reach no stores of moisture from beneath. Contrast the “tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psa. 1:3).

Verse 7. — Among the thorns. Thorns were used to form hedges between fields (Mic. 7:4; Ex. 22:6), from whence they would be likely to spread into the cultivated soil. This does not appear to have been an uncommon occurrence (Jer. 4:3; Job 5:5). From the parable it is clear that the thorns were not grown at the time of the sowing, but the roots were there. The thorns, growing more quickly than the corn, robbed the latter of its nutriment. The corn was therefore practically strangled and became unfruitful.

Verse 8. — Good ground. This was soil that had been well tilled and prepared for the seed.

There is a gradation observable in the fourfold division of this parable. With regard to the seed: —.

1	On the wayside.	Does not grow at all, being stolen.

2	On the rocky soil.	Springs up, but soon withers.

3	On the thorny soil.	Grows up, but bears no fruit.

4	On the good ground.	Springs up, grows up, bears fruit abundantly.

Then with regard to the soils: —

1	The path.	Totally unsuitable.

2	The rocky soil.
		Slightly suitable.
3	The thorny soil.
		Suitable, but full of thorns.
4	The good ground.
		Exactly suitable.

Brought forth. A hundredfold was not unprecedented, for Palestine is extremely fertile. Isaac’s crops yielded at this rate (Gen. 26:12).

The order here (thirty, sixty, a hundred) is the reverse of Matthew’s (a hundred, sixty, thirty), while Luke only mentions the greatest rate of increase.

There are three classes of fruitless hearers (way, stony, thorny); and three of fruitful ones (thirty, sixty, a hundred).

Verse 9. — Ears to hear. Some had ears to hear, but did not hear (Jer. 5:21; Ezek. 12:2). But any who were really desirous to learn would be taught of God (John 7:17). Compare Ezekiel 3:27.

The Thoughts of the Heart.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, ―I have been just wondering and wondering whatever I should say to you on this occasion. And as I was pondering over one subject and another, I suddenly found a landscape unfolding itself to my gaze, just as perhaps you have seen a gray mist rolling back from some hillside, revealing the green pastures and yellow cornfields and waving woodlands. So now a wide vista of fields and trees and homesteads is stretching away for miles before me, while upon the far horizon a streak as of, burnished silver proclaims the wondrous sea.

No doubt you are whispering to yourself that there is nothing particularly striking in my landscape. Nor should I be surprised if you still failed to think so were I to spend some time in describing what appear to me to be its beauties. I only mention the circumstance here because it is a great puzzle to me how this scene came up before me just now. It is years since I really looked at the place, and I am at this moment almost twenty score miles away. And while I am trying to think of some suitable theme for my letter to you, up starts this view—a mental snap-shot come to light out of hundreds of others automatically taken long ago by that most marvelous duplex photographic apparatus which I (and you) received gratis, but which we cannot renew for millions of money. But why should this picture come to light at this particular moment?

I was with some friends the other evening, and the subject of our thoughts was engrossing, and as far removed as the poles from s. d. But suddenly without warning, like the lightning’s flash, some columns of accounts which I had to do with during the day, but which had completely vanished from my memory for some hours, appeared vividly before my mind’s eye. It was but a moment before they disappeared, yet in that brief interval I discovered that I had placed a figure in the right column instead of in the left, thus producing a wrong result. Do you wish me to explain this phenomenon? I am not ashamed to confess myself an ignoramus again. I certainly have read that those who profess to know have decided that such automatic actions of the mental organization are to be designated as “unconscious cerebration.” This high-sounding phrase, however, like many another of its kind, has not helped me very much. Still, had I wished to conceal my ignorance on the point, I might have used it. I should then have written with all the dignity that self-satisfaction and pride could muster, “Here we have another instance of what is known as unconscious cerebration.” This would have made you about as wise on the point as I am myself, — not a very lofty attainment truly.

No, my young friends; the truth is we are all very ignorant of the movement of our own thoughts. And this is the very point I have been aiming at all the while; so that I hope you will not consider that what has gone before has been altogether of the nature of idle gossip. And at this juncture I cannot avoid raising the question, Is there anyone who understands thoughts. The subject has been before us of late, and I hope profitably so: And as our thoughts have the unhappy tendency to dart in all sorts of directions unexpectedly and inexplicably, it would be a great comfort to know that someone understands them. Have you ever been left alone a few moments with a great steam engine of (say) a hundred horse-power? And have you not felt how powerless you would be to stop the mighty monster in the event of an accident? There were the levers and steamcocks before you, but you were utterly ignorant how to use them. A person caught in the machinery might be torn to pieces before you could shut off steam. But if the engine-driver is there, a shout from you is sufficient. In a moment the ponderous wheels are at rest. He understands the machine, though you do not. Thank God, I know a Man Who understands our thoughts (don’t you?); and a call from us to Him is enough. When the machinery goes wrong, He can control it though we cannot.

The Lord Jesus when upon the earth displayed His knowledge of the thoughts of men’s hearts (Matt. 9:4; 12:25; Luke 5:22; 6:8; 9:47; 11:17); for He is the One Who “searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts” (1 Chron. 28:9; Psa. 94:11; Isa. 66:18; 1 Cor. 3:20). And the psalmist in the sense of this knowledge throws open his heart for divine inspection, saying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa. 139:23, 24).

But while the Lord always answers the cry to Him for help, and will give you the victory over your fitful self, a responsibility rests on your own shoulders. If you treat the matter lightly and make no efforts of your own, you will find that evil thoughts are more frequently present with you, and that their presence is not so distasteful to you. If I had encouraged my day-dreams you might have had no letter this month. If I had given my accounts a hearty welcome, I should have had little or no fellowship with what was then far more profitable. The apostle Paul speaks of “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). He no doubt refers to the thoughts of the Corinthian saints, and he seeks to restrain their fleshly imagination by presenting to them the pure truth of God.

This supplies us with the secret of success. For it is just in proportion as the mind is filled with the holy instruction of God’s word, that our thoughts are trained to flow in proper channels and to be engaged upon wholesome subjects. The apostle makes this point a subject of exhortation in writing to the Philippians, saying, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). Again, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2). The very words of the apostle imply an effort on your part. You are to provide good subjects for your thoughts. If you do not, the devil will soon provide you with evil ones.

We may alter the old lines a little to suit the present topic—

Satan finds some silly thoughts

For idle minds to think.

I hope my young friends will not forget what is their duty in this matter of their thoughts. Encourage the mind to dwell upon what is good. “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” And thus cultivate a pure and holy mind. Learn to say with the psalmist, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.”

By constant intercourse too with the word of God a tone of sanctity and spirituality is imparted to the thoughts; for the truth acts at once as a guide and a check. As we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). In the scriptures you will find the workings of your minds anticipated and displayed in their true character so that you may not be deceived.

I have received the following simple lines from C.G.H., which you may like to read as from one of yourselves:

It’s a pleasure to serve Jesus

In this dark and dreary scene,

Which has cast Him out, forsaken,

Though He came it to redeem.

It’s a pleasure to serve Jesus!

He has loved us unto death;

And the most we can do for Him

While we draw this fleeting breath,

Is to tell His love to others,

How for them He bled, He died;

That for them He was reviled,

Spit upon and crucified.

It’s a pleasure to serve Jesus,

E’en a little day by day,

“Till He come,” and call us to Him,

And our sorrow take away.

It’s a pleasure to serve Jesus!

He is coming soon to take

All His own redeemed with Him,

Of His glory to partake.

Yes, He’s coming! coming quickly;

But the hour He did not state.

In the meantime we must serve Him,

We must watch and we must wait.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

THE great purpose of God, in all His dealings in grace, is to bring us—and to bring us individually too―into fellowship with Himself. “Truly our fellowship is with the Father.” Thus we have the full knowledge of God as far as it can be known, and that in full communion with Himself.

Gamaliel's Advice.

WHEN Pilate took his seat upon the “bema,” before which stood the “Holy and the Just,” a message arrived from his wife: “Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.” An extraordinary message truly, and from an unlikely quarter. We know absolutely nothing more than this of the Roman governor’s wife; but we cannot conceal our surprise that such a message should have been received from her.

Many portentous events accompanied the death of the Lord Jesus. “The earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened.” The centurion commissioned to carry out the crucifixion of Jesus, when he witnessed these things, exclaimed with awe, “Truly this was the Son of God.” We are surprised that such a true testimony should have been rendered by this Roman officer.

The apostles were again before the Jewish council (Acts 5), charged with disobeying its commands not to speak at all, nor preach in the name of Jesus. Maddened by this disregard of their authority, and by the undisturbed demeanor of men who knew they were obeying God though disobeying the high priest, the judges confer instantly with each other to put them to death.

At this juncture one of their number stands forth and checks the rising tide of excitement and passion by his words of caution and prudence, advising that the apostles should be let alone. We are surprised that such sound advice should have been given under such circumstances by a man occupying the very eminent place in the Sanhedrin that Gamaliel did.

Indeed the fact has occasioned such surprise to some persons that they have displayed considerable ingenuity in their efforts to account for it. As perhaps the readiest means of doing so, it has been assumed that Gamaliel was a Christian in disguise, a sort of Hushai opposing the counsels of Ahithophel. And the case of Nicodemus is alleged as being a parallel one (John 7:50, 51). But we have evidence with regard to Nicodemus that leaves no doubt as to His discipleship of Jesus. He came forth at a crisis when even the apostles had vanished (John 19:39). Of Gamaliel, hover, nothing more definite or trustworthy can be said as to his conversion to Christianity than of the conversion either of Pilate’s wife or of the Roman centurion. In short, there is no evidence whatever that any one of these three was a believer in the Lord.

The true significance of the several incidents appears to be that God can use any, — “whomsoever He will”— to testify for Him. The Roman governor’s wife witnessed that Jesus was a “just man;” the soldier, that the nation had crucified the Son of God; while Gamaliel rebuked the folly of attempting to overthrow the work of the apostles, if it were of God. We thus learn that the same One Who sent His angel to open the doors of the prison-house where the apostles were confined, raised up this famous law-teacher to protest against any extreme measures of the senate of Israel against the servants of Christ. Nor need we be surprised at this. If the fury and hate of Jew and Gentile concentrating and culminating in the crucifixion of Jesus, did but accomplish the “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,” as we are expressly told was the case (Acts 2:23; 4:25-28), we can well understand Him using the mild temperament and moderate spirit of a highly influential Jewish rabbi to prevent the outbreak of persecution unto death before its due time. He Who makes the wrath of man to praise Him (Psa. 76:10), can certainly utilize the reason of man in the accomplishment of His own designs.

“Rabban” Gamaliel was a celebrated law-teacher whose name is famous in Jewish records apart from scripture. Luke tells us he was a Pharisee (and thus not of the particularly enraged Sadducean party) and that he was “in reputation among all the people.”

He appears to have remained cool and collected, while the majority of the council was carried away by the heat and excitement of the moment, and, forgetful of all judicial decorum and even of coon decency, were clamoring one against another for the blood of the accused in their very presence. Gamaliel asked that the apostles might be removed fora while. He then brought before the Sanhedrin his sober, cautious words of counsel.

He submitted that they should beware of the rash judgment upon the apostles which they contemplated. Let them remember that humanly-devised schemes of self-aggrandizement, such as they feared, carried their own eventual destruction with them, and needed not that brute force under the guise of religious zeal should be brought to bear upon them.

He quoted two recent examples of this very thing.

Theudas was possessed with very inflated notions of his own vast importance to the world generally, which notions he distributed gratuitously with an ardour only equaled by his conceit. He gathered around him four hundred dupes who believed him to be the “somebody” he said he was. Theudas was slain; and it was a matter of history that his band of followers came to naught. Again: Judas of Galilee gathered a crowd about him in the days of the census. But, upon his death, those who had flocked to his banner were dispersed.

The natural prudence of Gamaliel probably withheld him from carrying on the analogy, and declaring that, as the deaths of Theudas and Judas resulted in the break-up of their respective supporters, so the death of Jesus must inevitably result, sooner or later, in the dispersion of His disciples. He did however point out, with a logic which was irresistible, that the apostles’ preaching was either of men or of God. If it were of men, it must assuredly come to naught without such interference of the Jewish Sanhedrin. On that hypothesis, therefore, his advice was, “Refrain from these men.” If, on the contrary, their preaching was of God, the council, by opposing it, were fighting against God: and all their efforts would fail to overthrow it. On this hypothesis, also, his advice was “Let them alone.” In brief, they had better wait and see how matters would shape themselves.

This advice of Gamaliel’s was “the form of toleration which a grave Jew might feel, impressed with recent facts, the character of the accused, and the state of public opinion. But there is far more reference to the issue under God than in the modern doctrine of toleration, which is in general a mere homage to the rights of man, ignoring God and the truth. He may have felt that persecution is a sorry means of subverting error or maintaining truth. Whatever the value or the motives of his judgment, it commended itself to the council, and saved the apostles from a death that seemed imminent.”

The Epistle to the Philippians.

Chapters 1, 2.

In saluting the Philippian saints the apostle associates Timothy with himself as “bondmen of Christ Jesus,” to them “all,” with overseers and deacons (1:1, 2). For the assembly there was not immature like that in Corinth; it possessed those local charges for which experience provided these that apostolic authority set over them in due time. But the absence of the apostle, a prisoner in Rome and object of their loving remembrance, gave occasion to much that is characteristic in it for the Christian soon to lack that care altogether. No Epistle breathes so distinctively of confidence in God and joy in all his remembrance of them; and this, not founded on the enriching powers of the Spirit as to the Corinthians, nor on the heavenly counsels of God as to the Ephesians, nor on the fullness of the Head as to the Colossians, nor yet on the broad and deep foundations of the gospel as to the Romans. This surveys and reciprocates what Christ is for every day’s communion, conduct, worship, and service. It is therefore in reality, and in all forms, and in the highest sense, christian experience from first to last. Their state warranted, as it called forth, the full opening of his heart to them.

In verses 3-11 he thanks his God because of their uninterrupted fellowship with the gospel, assured that He Who began a good work in them will complete it till Jesus Christ’s day. It was right for him to think thus as to them all because they had him in their hearts. Both in his bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, were they not all partakers in his grace? For God was his witness how he longed after them all in the bowels of Christ Jesus. And he prayed that their love might abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, unto their proving the things that are excellent, that they might be pure and without a stumble for Christ’s day, being filled with fruit of righteousness that is through Jesus Christ unto God’s glory and praise. He looked, for the due result of Christ and His work in them, not merely that they should be kept from inconsistency and failure.

Then from verse 12 to the end of the chapter he speaks of his bonds and how God had thereon wrought in His good way, as man in his evil. He would have them know that his matters, sad as they looked, had come rather for furtherance of the gospel; so that his bonds became manifest in Christ in the whole prætorium and to all the rest. Nor was this all. For the most of the brethren trusting in the Lord by his bonds, dared more abundantly to speak the word without fear. It was not without alloy. Some indeed also preached Christ for envy and strife, and some too for goodwill: these of love, knowing that he was set for the defense of the gospel, but those out of faction announced the Christ, not purely, thinking to arouse affliction for his bonds. But grace prevailed.

“What then? Notwithstanding [or, Only that], in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is announced, and in this I rejoice, yea and will rejoice. For I know that this will turn to me for salvation through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but in all boldness, as always, now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live [is] Christ, and to die gain; but if to live in flesh [is mine], this [is] to me worthwhile. And what I shall choose I know not. But I am pressed by the two, having a desire for departure and being with Christ, for [it is] very much better; but to remain in the flesh [is] more necessary for your sake. And having this confidence I know that I shall, abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence again with you” (vers. 18-26).

How clearly faith by grace made him, bondman though he was, master of the situation! His desire drew him away to Christ; the need of the saints detained him. God gave him, as it were, the decision for their sake. “Only behave worthily of the gospel of Christ, that, whether coming and seeing you or absent, I may hear of your affairs that ye stand in one spirit, with one soul striving together with the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by the adversaries; which is to them evidence of destruction but to you of salvation, and this from God, because to you was granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him, having the same conflict as ye saw in me and now hear of in me.” Living the gospel, living worthily of it, was his earnest desire for them, yea, suffering for Christ.

Chapter 2 Zeal was not wanting in Philippi, but does it not endanger difference, lowliness and love? Where is the corrective but in Christ? “If then any comfort [be] in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye have the same mind, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking one thing, nothing in faction or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind esteeming one another better than themselves, regarding not each his own things, but each those of others” (vers. 1-4) This brings in the image of Christ. “For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who subsisting in God’s form did not count it an object for seizing to be on equality with God, but emptied himself, taking a bondman’s form, having come in likeness of men, and, when found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him and granted him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow of heavenly [beings] and earthly and infernal, and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord to God the Father’s glory” (vers. 5-11).

But the Philippians were in contrast to the Galatians (Gal. 4:18), and obeyed not as in his presence only, but now much more in his absence. They are exhorted accordingly to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, now that they had not the apostle’s care; for it is God that was working in them both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. What source of confidence so great, along with distrust of self! Murmurs and disputes were to be far from them that they might be blameless and simple, God’s children irreproachable in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom they appeared as lights in the world, holding forth life’s word for a boast to the apostle against Christ’s day that he ran not nor labored in vain. Again he refers to death before him, but here as a libation poured on the sacrifice and ministration of their faith to his joy, and theirs also. Yet he hoped in the Lord to send Timothy to them, as he graciously felt for his refreshment by knowing how they got on; for only he shared Paul’s care genuinely. Alas! even then all were seeking their own things, not those of Jesus Christ. They knew Timothy’s service with Paul in the gospel work. Whatever the cost to himself, he would send one so dear to him and them, when he could report matters. Meanwhile he sent Epaphroditus, his tried fellow-worker and fellow-soldier (what links of honor!), but their messenger and minister to his need (what counion O, not only as longing after them all, but distressed at their hearing of his sickness. So he was, adds the apostle, nigh to death; but God had mercy not on him only, but on Paul also, that he might not have sorrow on sorrow. Yet him he had sent, that they seeing him might rejoice, and himself be the less sorrowful. What unselfish love all round, the mind that was in Christ Jesus! Him therefore they were to receive in the Lord with all joy, and to hold such in honor; because for the work’s sake (whether Christ, Lord, or God, being in question) he came nigh to death, risking his life to supply what lacked in their service toward Paul (vers. 12-30). Truly this is Christian experience!

Christian Discipline.

ON looking somewhat into this subject, one cannot fail to be struck with the largeness and breadth of the word of God—so much beyond the narrow and contracted thoughts of man. With many believers the word “discipline” at once suggests to the mind exclusion from God’s assembly—their thoughts about the matter scarcely rise above that one idea. But the truth is, there are several distinct aspects of Christian discipline in the scriptures, and it should be our aim to understand them all, and to carry them out in faith and love. For clearness’ sake, we will look at the matter in the following order: —

Self Discipline.

Divine Discipline.

Assembly Discipline.

Self-discipline is of the first and highest importance, and if rightly and habitually exercised by the saints of God would obviate the necessity of anything further, either from God or the assembly. The neglect of it leads to shame and disgrace. Self-discipline was painfully lacking at Corinth when Paul wrote his first Epistle, hence his words, “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31). Flesh was running riot there, to the apostle’s sorrow and the assembly’s public shame. Every believer should examine himself constantly and searchingly in the light of the divine presence, that he may judge and put away every working of the flesh within. If this were done more frequently and thoroughly, how much everybody would be spared! Things that, when developed, cause pain and confusion would thus be nipped in the bud and never allowed to become full-blown. All evil begins in the heart. “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). The heart goes wrong before the hands and the feet, as doubtless we have all painfully proved in our christian experience.

Flesh in the believer is no more to be trusted than in the man of the world. It is incorrigibly evil and deceitful, and is ever ready to assert itself and lead our souls astray. Let us be watchful and prayerful. Let us not shun to use the sharp knife of circumcision upon ourselves, thus mortifying our members that are upon the earth. Where this is the habit of the soul, the Christian goes on humbly and peacefully with God, and grows in conformity to Christ in glory. But where self-discipline is lacking, God has to come in and take the case in hand Himself, for its spiritual welfare and His own glory.

Divine discipline, however, has two distinct phases. (1) The Father’s dealing with His children as such; and (2) the Lord’s action as Son over God’s house. The first we find in 1 Peter 1:17 “If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear,” etc. The Father is holy, and will have all His own to be partakers of His holiness. Where there is crookedness and waywardness, His hand is seen. He brings down His rod upon the backs of those that bear His name, but who fail to walk in His ways. This is often very bitter to the soul, but afterward it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness, if indeed the soul is exercised thereby. This is, of course, confined to our walk in this world—it is during the time of our sojourning here. We are subject to the Father’s government on the road, for which we shall praise Him through all eternity when we are with Him above. But for His hand, evil that we fail to judge might grow to alarming proportions, and plunge us into a sea of sorrow and disaster. When under the Father’s mighty hand, let us not chafe therefore, but rather humble ourselves. Love applies the rod, and holiness is its aim and object.

Connected with this, but distinct from it, is the discipline of the Lord as Son over the house of God. This takes cognizance of unjudged evil in the assembly, and was being experienced by the Corinthians when Paul wrote to them, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep ... But when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:30-32). It is very solemn when the Lord has to intervene in this way. This happens when saints utterly break down in their responsibility to resent and purge out evil from their midst. If in them, conscience becomes blunted, so that they fail to act for His honor, He never forgets what is due to His name, and He acts and judges accordingly. Of course this in no way touches the question of the salvation of the soul, it is earthly governmental discipline. Sickness may be sent, or even death, as John speaks, but the soul is secure. It is unspeakably blessed to be near the Lord, but it is also deeply solemn, for judgment always begins with that which is nearest to God. Let us walk softly and carefully in consequence.

(To be continued).

The Sinlessness of Christ.

IT is of the last importance that every Christian should be clear and settled in his faith as to the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus. God (Who has His glory before Him, cannot disallow the truth, and knows the needs of His people in all their variety) has not failed to furnish the amplest testimony for them, causing His word to shine with abundant light to guide them on this vital subject. He knew how the enemy would seek to lower men’s thoughts about the holy person of His Son, and how disposed they would be to read into the life of the Lord Jesus sinful propensities like their own. But He has graciously made provision to meet the evil, and to deliver His saints from so blasphemous a snare. He knew, too, that those who looked adoringly at the person of the Lord would search His word for language to express their heart’s satisfaction; and He has prided words suited to their heaven-born affection, expressive of what they have found in the person of Him Who is the true God and eternal life.

As the Old Testament is full of the coming, character, work, and kingdom of Christ, so is it full of light as to the absolute spotlessness of “Him which was, and is, and is to come.” When Jehovah would set forth in type the redemption of His people, He said, “Let them take to them every man a lamb;” but an indispensable requisite was, “your lamb shall be without blemish.” Any deformity or disease, any defect or superfluity, would disqualify the offering for the purpose intended. Who does not see in this the immaculateness of Christ as plainly written as when the Father spoke from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased?”

Whenever any among God’s people would approach Him, as in Leviticus 1, it must be by bringing a burnt offering. It might be of the flocks or of the herd; but in either case it must be without blemish, because it was a type of the holy and righteous Servant thereafter to come. God’s teaching for us on this subject is not to be disposed of in general expressions, or by a text or two. It is not a subject for a sermon or an essay to slur over in vague platitudes. It is a fundamental truth. It is essential to the Saviour’s person and God’s honor. It permeates scripture.

In order that we may think and feel that we may worship and walk aright, God would have the untainted humanity and the supreme deity of Christ before us at every turn. Thus when we reach Leviticus 2 The meat offering is to be of fine flour, mixed and anointed with oil, and with frankincense also. It might be a cake, or it might be a wafer, but it must be unleavened, with salt, and without honey. Thus in burnt offering and in meat offering God skews us that what represents Christ in death as in life, truly a “sweet savor” to Him, must exclude the least evil.

Such was Christ always, and never more peremptorily demanded than in the type that set forth His human life down here. It seems very wonderful that into a world where every human being was defiled God’s own Son should come, and be the only undefiled One. Yet so it was, and this is what God teaches us in His word, drawing out our hearts in adoration of Him that knew no sin; so that while “beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord.” We behold Him thus on high.

Is it not this unblemishedness of Christ which, as it alarmed the demons beyond measure, becomes the heart’s joy of all that are saved by His grace? When despairing of finding purity in themselves, after striving it may be for years to remove defects, blemishes, superfluities, and deformities in themselves, after agonizing for a riddance of the leaven of sin, which they ultimately find to be in their very nature, at length their eyes are opened, and they see in the Lord the perfect expression of what they have vainly looked for in themselves. How then do these scriptures which unfold Christ’s moral glory beam for them with a cheering and beautiful meaning Then it is that in an infinitely higher sense than David ever saw, the blessed Lord is “much set by.” Then do they rejoice in His word “as one that findeth great spoil;” and none can cry out with such deep soul joy as they, “Who among the sons of the mighty can be compared to the Lord?” “My beloved is white;” “Thou art fairer than the sons of men;” “Unto you therefore which believe is the preciousness;” but He it is that is the secret and the power by the Holy Spirit.

(To be continued).

The Gospel of Mark.

Chapters 4:10-20.

10AND when he was alone those about him with the twelve asked (of) him the parables. 11And he said to them, To you (it) is given (to know) the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those (that are) without all (these) things are done in parables; 12That seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest perhaps they should be converted and they should be forgiven (their sins). 13And he saith to them, Know ye not this parable? and how (then) will ye be acquainted with all the parables? 14The sower soweth the word. 15And these are they beside the way (side) where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately cometh Satan and taketh away the word that hath been sown in them (their hearts). 16And these are they likewise which are sown on the rocky [places]; who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, 17and have no root in themselves, but are temporary; then tribulation coming or persecution on account of the word, immediately they are stumbled. 18And others are they that are sown among the thorns; these are they that hear the word, 19and the cares of the age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20And these are they that were sown on the good ground, such as hear the word and receive [it], and bear fruit, one thirty (fold), one sixty, and one a hundred.

Notes and Suggestions.

Verse 10. — Alone. The sense is that the Lord was not at that moment engaged in public service. So Luke 9:18.

Verse 11. — The mystery of the kingdom of God. A “mystery” in Biblical phraseology is a secret that cannot be discovered unless it be revealed. Many truths concealed through the Old Testament times are revealed in the New (See Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9; 3:3, 9; 6:19; Colossians 1:26; and other passages). Here the “mystery” was the special truth regarding the effect of Christ’s teaching. Being delivered in a parabolic form, it could not be understood until the Lord revealed the explanation. Its meaning He proceeded to make known to the disciples, but not to the multitude, because He was still offering Himself to them as their Messiah. Compare the dreams of Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, which were unintelligible without the divine interpretation.

Without. Perhaps referring to the outside of the house where He was. But “without” also has the moral significance of being outside the pale of favor (1 Cor. 5:12,13; Col. 4:5; 1 Thess. 4:12; 1 Tim. 3:7; Rev. 22:15).

Verse 12. — See and not perceive; hear and not understand. The reference here is to the prophecy in Isaiah 6. of the judicial blinding of the nation upon the rejection of Christ (That Isaiah then saw the glory of Christ, see John 12:41). The solemn judgment warned of by the prophet and by the Lord Himself did not fall upon Israel until the utmost limit of patient grace was reached (Acts 28:25-28). It may help to observe that the verse applies exclusively to those who reject Christ. Such are “without.” They hear the word in parables. They hear of the sower, of the seed, and of the soils, but they fail to understand because they are not among those who receive the Lord and consequently get His own interpretation.

Lest they should be forgiven. See note on Mark 3:29. “The Lord does not mean to say here that a soul might not believe in Jesus individually, and thus be forgiven; but that the nation, having rejected the testimony of Jesus, was now deserted of God, left outside, and exposed to His judgment.”

Verse 13. — Know ye not this parable? The parable of the sower was an introductory one; and if the disciples were unable to grasp that, how much less would they be able to enter fully into the instruction still to follow in a similar form. Plainly, not at all, save as the Lord might unfold the meaning to them. This He proceeded to do.

Verse 14. — The sower soweth the word. The Lord was the Sower or the Preacher, His word being the word of life, as He says, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). He sowed the incorruptible seed, “the word of God which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). John the Baptist was not a sower. “He stood in the desert and cried in the desert; for desert the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts had become. But he did not go forth to sow; he came in the way of righteousness, and pointed onward; but sowing is an act of fresh grace, introducing a new seed, by which life not there is to spring up.”

Verse 15. — Wayside hearers. Such are they who hear the word, but have not the slightest interest in what they hear. There is no effort whatever to retain the good seed. Their hearts are but a highway; earnest, loving, life-giving words pass through, but never stay. The solemn discourse goes “in one ear and out of the other.”

Satan. We might have supposed that the birds of the air would have answered to the emissaries of the evil one; but the Lord points us to the prime instigator of these thefts—Satan, or the wicked one (Matt. 13:19). The seed “never entered; it was but on the wayside: civil conversation or speculation on the discourse, perhaps admiring it, was the devil taking the seed away; for He is not speaking of opposition here.”

Verse 16. — Stony-ground hearers. These are the victims of feelings which are easily and quickly swayed. On hearing the word they receive it at once; but on affliction or persecution arising on account of it, they abandon it with the same readiness. They

Immediately receive it with joy (verse 16);

Immediately are stumbled (verse 17).

Their hearts are touched, but not their consciences. “The doctrine is received for the joy that the message brings; and when the word brings sufferings instead of joy the heart wishes no more of it.”

Verse 17. — No root in themselves. Simon Peter had (John 6:68); but there were many who showed on that occasion that they had not (John 6:66). Compare the Lord’s words to the rash scribe who said to the Lord, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest” (Matt. 8:19, 20). He had not counted the cost.

Verse 18. — Thorny-ground hearers. These are they who seek to serve God and mammon. They lack the single eye and the undivided heart, being double-minded. The world and its things engross the heart’s attention. Business occupations, not having the “evil look of gross sin” enchain the soul; and, in result, the word is choked and there is no fruit. Such a person, though not dead, sleeps, and “does not understand spiritual things; he does not see or even enjoy them. Unhappy in the presence of spiritual Christians, he enjoys not the things they enjoy, and suffers even from reproofs of his own conscience. And if he goes with the world he suffers also in reflecting on it, his conscience reproaching him for want of faithfulness; like a sick man who suffers, he is not dead; otherwise he would not suffer; but it is a sad means of knowing that life is there.”

Verse 19. — Cares of the age. The anxieties after the necessaries of this life, to which the poor are specially subject, crush the growth and development and fruition of the spiritual life. We are to be anxious for nothing (Phil. 4:6).

The deceitfulness of riches. This is a word for the rich; for riches entwine themselves insensibly around the motives and affections, choking the word. “The more money we get, the more good we can do,” folks say. But Mammon is deceitful.

The lusts of other things. This comprehends every other worldly snare, and applies to poor and rich.

Verse 20. — Good ground. The saints at Thessalonica and Colosse are examples of those in whom the word bore fruit (Col. 1:6; 1 Thess. 1:5-10; 2:13).

THE capacity to love God is that which we get by being partakers of the divine nature.

Seizing the Lion's Beard.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, — The stripling David in the valley of Elah confronting the gigantic champion of the Philistines is an instance of the immeasurable superiority which faith in God gives a man above those who lack such faith. Masses of armed men covered the hill tops on each side of the valley—Israelite and Philistine respectively; but God was in the thoughts of neither the one nor the other. The invaders regarded their opponents with the utmost disdain and contempt; while the chosen people of God shivered with fear and dismay at the sight of their foes. The one trembled, the other vaunted, for the same reason: both forgot Jehovah of hosts.

But David did not forget Him. Indeed it was the insult to Jehovah’s name implied in Goliath’s defiance that roused the pious shepherd lad, and forced him out to stand in the breach. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” This expressed David’s view of the situation; for he was not at all misled by the words of the giant of Gath who stood and cried, “I defy the armies of Israel” (1 Sam. 17:10, 26). Nay, nay, whatever the enemy might allege as to the nation’s weakness and degeneracy, the armies of Israel were still the armies of the living God. And upon the irrevocable promise and changeless purpose of Jehovah the man of faith took his courageous stand; what power could overthrow him?

Such a position, too, was the nobler in its strong contrast with thousands of his countrymen cowering in craven-hearted unbelief before the menaces of their foe.

But while we admire and long to emulate the faith of this dauntless youth, we ought to recollect that this faith had been exercised by him before. David had already proved for himself what it is to put faith in God. When he went down single-handed into the valley of Elah to encounter this Philistine colossus, he was fortified by the remembrance of his own past experience of Jehovah’s delivering power.

The young man spoke of this experience to the incredulous Saul who doubted the result of the combat. He told the king that while he kept his father’s sheep in the wild solitudes of the mountains of Judea, a lion came and took a lamb out of the flock. “And,” he says, with all the artlessness of the truthteller, “I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.” And the faith that won the victory in the wilderness of Judea would not fail him in the valley of Elah. So David believed; and in the strength of his faith he went forth and conquered. The smooth stone from the brook sped unerringly to its mark in the defiant brow of Goliath. The giant toppled and fell prone to the earth; and with him fell the boastful hopes of the Philistine army. They fled; and the “ruddy” youth from Bethlehem-Judah was the victor that day.

The lesson lying upon the surface in this incident is an important one to lay hold of. Private victories must precede public ones. It is in the privacy of your own personal life and experience that you have to learn to overcome the wicked one through faith. Indeed one of the marks of having advanced from spiritual infancy to spiritual youth is the defeat of the foe. The apostle John describes the young men as those who are strong, having the word of God abiding in them and having overcome the wicked one (1 John 2:14).

But this conquest is first of all an unseen one. In the secrecy of your own heart the battle must be waged. There you must face the tempter when he seeks to rob you of what is committed to you. Seize him “boldly by the beard,” and he will flee from you (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). The victory then is yours, though no human eye behold it.

Observe that the occasion on which David so signally proved how sufficient Jehovah’s power was to deliver him from the foe occurred in the ordinary performance of his humdrum duties as a shepherd lad. And we too, in our daily lives, must learn how to “resist the devil.” You have the more need to be wary, because you have a traitor within you. Self always inclines to yield to the temptation. Faith only enables you to withstand in a courage which comes from above.

You seek to exhibit a spirit of kindness towards those around you, but your efforts are received with un-thankfulness and regarded with suspicion. Are you offended? You find yourself the butt of scorn and ridicule, the subject of biting sarcasm, the object of incessant leering and scoffing. On which side is the victory? You possess a propensity to fits of violent temper and sulkiness; you are self-willed and dislike to be interfered with by the advice and experience of others. Do you not see the paw of the lion? You are inclined to vanity; you have persuaded yourself that your personal appearance is highly prepossessing, or that your mental abilities are phenomenal for one of your years, and that consequently you are rapidly becoming the center of a wide circle of admirers. Do not be deceived; the robber is making a raid upon you—he who comes to kill and to destroy. Retire to your chamber; there seek the power of God. Pray for more vigilance, more resoluteness of purpose, more sense of the importance of keeping back the powers of evil that seek to invade your life, as well as of reckoning yourself “dead” to that which is within you. Seek earnestly to be conformed to Christ in all you do and are.

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

"I Think."

A SMALL boy of four years old was standing, flattening his little nose against the window pane and evidently thinking deeply. At last he turned to his mother who was preparing to go out with him, and said, “Mamma, what color will the cloud be that the Lord Jesus will come on?”

“I do not know, darling,” was the reply, “the Bible does not tell us.”

“That’s what grandma said when I asked her,” he replied, “but I think it will be a white one, and He will let it down and take papa and you and us up. I do not know how other people will get on, but I think it will be a black cloud for the rest.”

This was many years ago, and the little boy is now a man and a father, and I can add with pleasure he desires to think only God’s thoughts and to follow Him by His word. But is it not the same today as of old, — man putting his own thoughts first instead of the precious word of God?

The color of a cloud may seem to be a very small matter; but how deep is the need for guarding against our own thoughts where no revelation is given! Do we not find all around us today man’s” I think” instead of God’s “It is written?” Man by wisdom knew not God, we read, and yet man presumes to put his “I think” before the word of Him Who could say, “Let there be light: and there was light,” and to the raging billows, “Peace, be still,” and immediately there was a very great calm.

C.K.T.

1898 (now asleep in Christ).

Correspondence.

W.T.— Deliverance from the fear of death (Heb. 2:15). What does this mean? The effect of the death of Christ was to extract the sting of death which is sin; so that the believer can say, “O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55, 56). No Christian need dread death; for he does not die (if he die at all) as a sinner, but is put to sleep by Jesus as a believer Thess. 4:14). Old Testament saints however being under the bondage of the law, which is the “strength of sin,” feared death, as we see in the case of a pious man like Hezekiah who wept sorely at the prospect (Isa. 38). Fear of death arose from sin being on the conscience and from the apprehension of the judgment of that sin which follows death. The Lord Jesus, by Himself submitting to death and thus receiving the “wages of sin,” destroyed the power of the devil to terrify the soul with forebodings of the consequences of sin unatoned for. The believer knows that He became the propitiation for his sins (1 John 4:10). There is therefore nothing to fear in death itself, because there is nothing to fear after death. The completeness of the victory over death obtained by the Lord for us is shown by the apostle’s word, “We shall not all sleep” (1 Cor. 15:51). The fact that some believers will be “present with the Lord” without the dissolution of the “earthly house of this tabernacle” (2 Cor. 5 1-8) shows how great is the deliverance. While there is the possibility of the believer dying, there is no necessity for it. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

The Anxieties of the Age.

WE live in an age of high pressure. Competitive examinations are the rule for the schoolboy, and competitive businesses for the man. The spirit animating the world is a keen ambition to exceed every former record. Man’s very vitality is consumed by the gnawing unrest to be first, and to keep first in every race. Every faculty he possesses is strained to its highest tension in order to accomplish his purpose; and he is necessarily haunted by a perpetual fear, lest through some unexpected circumstance or the other his efforts may fail after all. The moralists of this age condemn this state of things, and the man most overwhelmed by his cares and forebodings acknowledges it is wrong. But he goes on fretting and fuming all the same, for he says he must, or else go to the wall.

Beloved, are we not in danger of allowing this spirit of intense pre-occupation with contingencies to steal insensibly into our lives and damage our souls? Undoubtedly, whether we realize it or not, there is such a danger; else we should not have such an exhortation as, “Be careful [anxious] for nothing” (Phil. 4:6). It is possible for a believer to allow the cankerworm of care to prey continually upon his inner man, and to worry himself into a state of absolute dejection as to sorrows which after all are only anticipated and which may never be realized. This is possible, but oh! how needless, and moreover, how dishonoring to the man of faith.

The Lord Jesus, in the parable of the sower, warned that these needless anxieties concerning the things of this age choke the word, preventing its fruitfulness (Mark 4:19). Indeed, how can there be the display of the Christlike virtues, such as joy, peace, patience, gentleness, and care for others, when the spirit is overcast by gloom and fretfulness?

So strongly did the Lord condemn this frame of mind that He connected His exhortation with two of the commonest objects of daily concern. Nothing is more necessary for temporal life than food and raiment; having these we ought to be content (1 Tim. 6:8). Nevertheless the teaching of Christ was, “Take no thought [be not anxious] for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matt. 6:25). Omnipotent Wisdom openeth His hand and gives the birds of the air their food in due season, and that same hand clothes the lilies of the field with a beauty proving it divine. What then shall Omnipotent Love do for His children, “O ye of little faith?” Be not anxious for the morrow, your Father knows your need. He Who has given great things—the greatest, His Son—will He forget the small things—the loaf and the cloak?

But if we suspect doubt creeping into the soul, what shall we do? Let the apostle answer, “Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6, 7).

The Father's House.

THY Father’s house, where Thou, O Lord,

Eternally didst dwell;

The Firstborn and the Only Son,

The Doer Thou of all there done;

Who shall its pleasures tell?

Thy Father’s house, — our Father too,

For Thou hast made us know

The depths of love that fill His heart,

And in that love we have a part:

What thanks to Thee we owe!

Thy Father’s house! Oh, place of calm,

Forever undisturbed!

Where never toil shall wear the rest,

Nor sorrow’s pang intrude the breast

So often now perturbed!

Thy Father’s house, where, all prepared,

Abodes full many are;

A dwelling place for every child,

“Made meet” by Thee, cleansed, undefiled,

Thy glory there to share!

Thy Father’s house, where Thou wilt soon

Thy blood-bought bride receive,

Presenting her with joy untold,

In that bright place of purest gold,

Which heart can ne’er conceive.

Thy Father’s house, for aye our home,

Our place of endless joy;

Perfect in all that place of bliss,

Resplendent in Thy comeliness,

Its pleasures we’ll enjoy.

Thy Father’s house! Soon shall we taste

Its endless joy with Thee.

The nearest place to us is given,

The dearest place on earth, in heaven,

For we are one with Thee!

H.C.R.

The Epistle to the Philippians.

Chapters 3, 4.

CHAPTER 3 presents our Lord in a way quite different from that of chapters 2. It is not the uttermost humiliation in obedience of the Son’s Person become man, emptying Himself and humbling Himself to the death of the cross: that service of love beyond compare, which creates, fashions, and maintains Christian devotedness in the saints. Here the central truth is Christ gloried, as the object set before the believer to detach him from every idol, to shine on the path with sure and heavenly light, to fill the heart with His own excellency, and to keep the glorious goal before him, whatever the trials of the way.

The apostle exhorts his brethren for the rest to rejoice in the Lord. He deserves and desires it; and well may we. Did any complain of sameness? To write so was not irksome to this wondrously endowed soul; for them it was safe. Yet he finds room with energetic contempt to denounce the Judaizers, as the dogs, the evil workers, and the concision, of whom they had to beware. He declares that the circumcision are we who worship by the Spirit of God, and who boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though if any had such ground of confidence, the apostle had more. It is of fleshly religion he speaks here and throughout, not fleshly license (verses 1-4).

Next, he states his own case. Was he not circumcised the eighth day, of Israel’s race, of Benjamin’s tribe, Hebrew of Hebrews; as to law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness that is in law, found irreproachable? But the Christ he had seen in glory made him regard this gain as a loss. Nor was it a hasty estimate, but so he counted all things because of the excellence of the knowledge of Him, his Lord, for Whom he suffered the loss of all things. He was still counting them dung, that he might win Christ and be found in Him, not having his own righteousness which is of law, but that which is by faith in Christ, the righteousness of God on condition of faith. The same Paul in Romans 9 would have the Jews know that, far from disparaging, he exalted the privileges of Israel beyond their estimate; here he shows that the Christian has in Christ far better things than Israel’s hopes (verses 5-9). And so he continues, “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformed to His death, if by any means I might attain to the resurrection from out of the dead” (verses 10, 11).

Nothing then satisfied him short of that portion. Flesh and earth are quite left behind. Therefore he adds, “Not that I have already attained, or were already perfect, but I pursue, if I may apprehend (or, get possession of) that for which also I have been apprehended by Christ.” We shall then be like Him and in the same glory. Yet he carefully tells his brethren that, as this was not true of him yet, “one thing” (he does); “forgetting the things behind [not past evils, but present progress], and stretching forth toward those before, I press unto the mark for the prize of the calling upward of God in Christ Jesus” (12-14). All the full-grown should have this mind, and, if in anything they were otherwise minded, God would reveal this also to them; but whereto they were arrived, let them walk alike. How wholesome even for saints in good estate! Nor does the apostle hesitate to bid them imitate him and mark those that followed his example. Others, alas did very differently, enemies of Christ’s cross, and earthly-minded, whose god is the belly, whose glory is in their shame. For our citizenship subsists in the heavens, whence also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, Who shall change the body of our humiliation and conform it to the body of His glory, according to the working of the power He has to subject even all things to Himself (vers. 15-21). Salvation here looks on to that final change.

Chapters 4 opens with strongly expressed affection, and the call to stand fast in the Lord. Two sisters he exhorts severally by name to the same mind in Him; and he beseeches his true yoke-fellow, Epaphroditus probably, to help those women in that they shared his own conflicts in the gospel, with Clement too and the rest of his fellow-workers whose names are in the book of life. How sad their lot whose names were not there! They did not love the Lord, whatever their labors (vers. 1-3).

The saints in general here again he calls on to rejoice in the Lord “always,” and again would say, “Rejoice.” How blessed from Paul the prisoner in Rome under Nero to saints at Philippi suffering in Christ’s behalf! Yet he would have their gentleness known to all (in view of the Lord at hand), their anxiety in nothing, their requests to God in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving; and he assures them that the peace of God (and it is constant), which surpasses all understanding, should guard their hearts and their thoughts in Christ Jesus (vers. 4-7). For the rest, he urges brethren to think, not on the dark side, but on whatsoever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, if any virtue or any praise: what they both learned and received and heard and saw in him, let them do; and the God of peace, which is yet more than the peace of God, blessed though it be, should be with them. This indeed would be Christian experience—to live Christ (8:9).

Then as we easily see from verse 10 to 20 he speaks of his joy in the Lord at their renewed thought for him, though he spoke not of want, having learned to be content in whatsoever state he was; and he knew both to abound and to be in want, and declares he can do all things through Him that empowers him. But he appreciated their fellowship with his affliction, which they only had shown him thus in the early days of the gospel: not that he sought the gift, but the fruit that increased to their account. He could say that he had all things, and abounded, that he was filled, having received from Epaphroditus their things, which he does not hesitate to call “an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” On their part or on his, it was to live Christ. “And my God,” he adds, “shall fulfill your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father the glory unto the ages of the ages. Amen.” Then he salutes “every saint” in Christ Jesus, as he unites with it that of the brethren who were with him, and indeed of all the saints there, specially those of Cæsar’s household; for so did Christ work in His own. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” is the suited close.

W.K.

"Be of Good Cheer."

THESE words fell from the gracious lips of the Lord Jesus on three different occasions while He was on earth, and undoubtedly brought comfort to those to whom they were addressed. Many, many years have rolled away, but we hear the same voice speaking to us today. It says to you, dear reader, if you are burdened with your sins, “Be of good cheer.” Just as surely as the Saviour said to the poor, palsied man lying at His feet, “Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matt. 9:2), so He says to you, if you believe that He bore the punishment that was your due. Make this your own and you will know true joy in your soul.

If you know this joy, perhaps you may find your case depicted in Matthew 14:24-27. Here we find a little company of believers tossed on the heaving billows of a tempestuous sea. Perchance you are passing through adverse circumstances, sickness or bereavement. The waves of sorrow look threatening and you are at your wits’ end.

“Be of good cheer.” The disciples did not recognize Jesus, nor realize that He was actually walking on that which was causing them such dire distress. “Be of good cheer,” He says, “it is I; be not afraid.”

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,

For I will be with thee thy trial to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

Finally, someone may be cast down at the world’s opposition to a Christlike walk. Temptation has come and you have given way to it. Well, turn to John 16:33. The disciples were cast down—and well they might be—at the prospect of losing One upon Whom they had relied. What does the Master say? “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but, be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Cheer up then, my brother, my sister; remember you can do all things through Christ Who strengtheneth you (Phil. 4:13). C.M.

Christian Discipline.

DISCIPLINE by the assembly has also a two-fold character, which may be described as internal and external. In the ordering of our families, we chasten the offender inside before resorting to the extreme measure of expelling him, and a similar order is laid down for the saints in the word of God.

Turn to 2 Thess. 3:6-15. Here we have the apostle commanding the brethren to withdraw themselves from every brother walking disorderly, contrary to instructions received. This does not at all mean exclusion from the fellowship of the assembly, for their careless walk had not yet led them into open sin, but the persons were to be disciplined within. Their company was not to be cultivated, that they might become ashamed of their ways. Such were not to be treated as enemies, but admonished in a brotherly manner, for the good of their souls. To deal rightly in such cases as these calls for much spiritual wisdom and discernment. Flesh is apt to take advantage of what is holy and of God for the furtherance of its own prejudices and dislikes. This must be guarded against. In dealing with erring saints, we are acting for God, not for ourselves, and everything must be carried out in a manner conducive to His glory. If this character of discipline were better understood and exercised in faith, it would probably spare us the sorrow and shame of the more extreme act of putting away.

Rom. 16:17-18, and Titus 3:10-11, also refer to internal discipline, though dealing with a wholly different matter. Here it is no question of disorderly walk, but of party making amongst the saints of God. The apostle commands Titus to admonish such twice, and failing godly repentance, to avoid them. The brethren at large are to mark them and shun them. Paul acts upon the principle that if there were no followers, there would soon be no leaders. Flattery and hero worship are fatal to the fellowship of the church of God. They lead to the undue exaltation of particular servants of Christ, to the disparagement of others, equally, if not more truly, sent of God. Paul suffered much from this in his day, and many a faithful man has groaned over the same evil since. Let us earnestly heed the exhortations of the apostle in this matter. Wherever it is evident that the aim is to make a party, and to constitute one or more servants of Christ a kind of center, let us show our hearty disapproval of their evil by a complete avoidance of them. This is at once good for their souls, and for the saints at large, and for the divine glory.

External discipline has to be resorted to sometimes. 1 Cor. 5 is a solemn instance. There was a fornicator in the assembly. So bad was the condition of the saints in general that they were not even mourning about the matter. The apostle pressed upon the assembly its responsibility to act for God with regard to the evil. The assembly is an unleavened lump in the sight of God, and this character it is responsible to maintain in the world. Leaven must be purged out, or it will impart a character to the whole, as we read, “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” The saints cannot well avoid having dealings with evil men in the world, but in the holy circle of God’s assembly they must not be allowed a place. God is the judge of those without, but those within, the assembly is bound to judge when evil manifests itself in them. This must be the united act of the assembly— “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together.” Leading men, however wise and spiritual, must not act for the whole company in this, as it is of the highest importance that all consciences should be exercised, and that all should reject with holy abhorrence the sin which has intruded itself among them.

The exhortation is, “Put away from among yourselves the wicked person.” This goes far beyond putting away from the Lord’s table (though it involves it); it means exclusion from the Christian circle in every way. If a person is dealt with ecclesiastically and yet admitted to social intercourse, of what value is the discipline, and what power is it likely to have upon the conscience of the transgressor? We must be thorough in all that concerns the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a further act spoken of in 1 Cor. 5, which seems to require apostolic power— “to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (See also 1 Tim. 1:20.) In the absence of apostles, no company of saints may pretend to this, but the responsibility to put away evil ever abides, in consistency with the holiness of the One after Whom the church is called.

Evil of a doctrinal character is dealt with in 2 John and Rev. 2:14, and its working is described in Gal. 5:9. The assembly of God is not only to guard holiness in all its individual members, but the glory of Christ’s person and work must be maintained unsullied. A deceiver and antichrist is not eligible for a place at the table of a Christian lady and her children, how much less at the table of the Lord! In the epistles to the seven churches we have to listen to the Lord’s solemn rebuke of those who tolerated false and corrupt teachers in their midst. How lightly is this regarded today! How few comparatively care for the Lord’s honor in this respect! The indifferent spirit of Laodicea is spreading itself in every direction, and will soon bring down upon itself the Lord’s solemn judgment. May He give grace to us to be faithful to His name and word until the end! W.W.F.

The Sinlessness of Christ.

WHAT enhances the blessedness of Christ’s moral glory to the saint is, that it is not something to be seen alone in solitary grandeur, as we behold a distant star, but He is mine in the nearness of His love; not only what He is for me, but to me, and in me. For what He is I am in Him. Am I not as a Christian one spirit with the Lord? Then again, if I see Him to be glorious, God sees Him to be infinitely more so; and what God sees Him to be, is the measure, if it can be measured, of what I am to God in Him. The most distant star is comparatively a small light in the heavens to the clearest eyes amongst us; but if we could get close to it, conquering the millions of miles of space that lie between, what a different object would be seen! Would not we ultimately gaze upon a great and glorious sun, shining in warmth and splendor? This helps but feebly to illustrate the difference between what Christ is to us and what He is to God; and what He is to God whether, in view of His blessed person or in His stupendous work. It remains that as we approach Christ, His glory and beauty and blessedness rise on our view, and will increase, until all distance is lost in the full sunlight of His and our resurrection glory. It is well that we should see that God has undertaken to express to us the moral glory of His Son, and where He is liberal in expressing the Blessed One’s worth, we are safe and blessed in plenteously enjoying all He is.

The very contrast of what self is ought to give the more prominence to His glory. We have blemishes, nay, in our nature we are ruined. “I am carnal, sold under sin,” bankrupt by nature as to all good. But how different Christ! He is the exact contrary of my nothingness, evil, and failure; and He is God’s provision not only for my every need, but for His blessing me in full. How painful then when Christian teachers or teachings stop short as to this—when a saint’s words and thoughts fail on the very point where they ought to be firm—when men fancy flaws in Christ where they ought to know perfection! We may be sure that “an enemy hath done this.” Alas! that which constitutes His unique glory among men is the very place where they discover a blemish. But the blindness is always in themselves. In Him is no sin, the Christ of God.

To the believer the aim of the Spirit of God throughout scripture is manifest. On the one hand, He would lay bare before man his own ruin, his corrupt and sinful state; on the other, He would present to him, and keep before him, the Lord Jesus, holy and undefiled, and separate from sinners. The aim of Satan is equally distinct; he would blind man as to his own corruption and folly, puffing him up with lofty views of himself, and hiding from him that which is distinctive of the Lord Jesus. Alas! it is of man’s fallen nature to side with the enemy against Christ as the Son and Holy One of God.

No one was ever so full of tender sympathy for poor sinners as Christ, yet no one was ever less like them in their intrinsic condition than He. We may doubtless learn many lessons from the transfiguration of Christ, but nothing is taught more prominently in that wondrous fore view of coming glory than His pure and unblemished nature. Even the mount of transfiguration is called “the holy” mount. “His raiment was white as the light.” What do we see there but a temporary manifestation of His abiding purity and glory? He is there presented to us openly and outwardly for the moment as He eternally is in Himself. For the glory of Christ manifested in His transfiguration was not something that rested on Him from without, but a passing visible expression of His eternal invisible worth, of Whom the Father said, “This is my beloved Son.”

Who but Christ could say, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” Who but He could say, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me?” Satan could see something of himself in every human being but Christ; but in Christ was no taint nor trace, no stain nor breath of the enemy. Of course this question goes deeper than the acts of Christ’s life. There are saints around us who are godly and gracious, humble, good, and faithful. There have been many such, blessed be God! But in the hidden or discovered depths of their being there was a natural fountain of evil. There was a nature which loved its own will; and what is this but rebellion against God? In the saint sin does not get the dominion, because he died with Christ to sin, and he is not under law but under grace. But could any passage of scripture write my natural sinfulness (though now by grace a saint) more plainly than this? Such language could not be addressed to any except on the ground of their assumed sinfulness. But how different Christ! He was “made under the law,” though divinely above it, and full of grace as He was, He could never be under grace, as He had no sin or ruin that needed the mercy of God. Yet, being truly man, “Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor [or, grace] with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

Scripture speaks of our bodies as “mortal bodies.” Speaking of resurrection for the saint the apostle says, “This mortal shall put on immortality, this corruptible shall put on incorruption.” But scripture shows that the mortality and corruptibility of man are because of sin. But seeing He had no sin, such words as “mortality” or “corruptibility” can never be used of Christ. He was neither mortal (save in the distinct sense of capable of dying), nor corruptible. For our sins He died, but God raised Him from the dead. He was God’s Holy One, and saw no corruption. We must never read into the reality of His manhood the necessity of His sinfulness, as though He could not be a real man without having a sinful nature. Alas! Christ excepted, sinner ship is as wide as the race, “for all have sinned;” but it is a strange conclusion from the fall of man that man cannot be man without being fallen. Even the first man, Adam, was made innocent; and we know that the Second is man in perfection, — the Man of God’s delight.

According to his own state man judges of the necessity of sin and failure in his race. But God’s thought is the absence of that for which man seems to see a necessity; and this He presents to us in the Lord Jesus, Who was “as a lamb without blemish and without spot.” No trial or temptation through which He passed could discover sin in Him, because there was none to discover, while man has only to be tempted when sin follows and ruin. The gold of Christ’s holy nature left the fire of temptation the same in weight and value as it entered, thus proving that in His case there was no dross to consume; but His nature ever was as the most fine gold. On the other hand the quiet and sure assumption of man’s sinfulness is evident in the words of Christ. Many scriptures are forthcoming to show that Christ assumed the fact of man being evil, — teaching on the ground of it rather than stopping to prove that it was so. But nowhere is the blindly wicked condition of man more manifest than in the treatment meted out by him to the blessed Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is “fairer than the sons of men;” He is “the chiefest among ten thousand” and “altogether lovely,” and yet to men in the flesh there is no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. What should we say to the judgment of men who would pronounce the sun to be a dark blot in the heavens that must be removed at all cost? Yet when the glorious Lord, Who was and is surpassing fair, came into the world, the world’s men said, “Away with him, crucify him!”

Could anyone ever conceive greater moral evil than the hardhearted rejection of infinite love, whether as manifested in the person of Christ when down here, or in the gospel of His grace announced consequent upon His resurrection, and preached today? For man is not naturally a whit more kindly disposed to God’s Son now than he was two thousand years ago. Philosophers reason about man possessing naturally the idea of the beautiful. This may be true esthetically, but alas I for man’s conception of moral loveliness when there is no beauty in Christ that he should desire Him! There are those who sing:

“O Lord, in Thee our eyes behold

A thousand glories more

Than the rich gems of polished gold

The sons of Aaron wore.”

But such singers are not of the world; they are in Christ, and a new creation.

Hun Hwa, Chinkiang. T.H.

"If the Lord Will."

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, — It is the mark of a comely and pious spirit to own the will of the Lord in all your purposes and plans. As surely as you belong to Him, so surely ought you to obey Him. “Ye are my friends,” He says, “if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). And I am sure you are anxious to be obedient to all that the Lord has spoken. This is a simple matter where the Lord has definitely expressed His command; but in other cases you need to wait directly upon Him for His guidance. To illustrate my meaning, I may refer to the breaking of bread. “This do in remembrance of me,” is a distinct and unmistakeable expression of the Lord’s will on that particular point; and you may have it on your heart to obey His word in eating His supper next Lord’s day. Illness, however, may intervene to prevent you carrying out your intention. In that case you would not doubt that the will of the Lord would be done, even though you were unable to conform to His written command.

In view of this possibility it becomes you to say, “If the Lord will, I mean to break bread next. Lord’s day.” And James shows that exactly the same principle applies in business affairs (James 4:13-15). You make a plan of where you will go and what you will do, which may not at all correspond with what the Lord’s will is concerning you. As He looks down upon you, He knows what is the best place for you to visit, and what is the best thing for you to do. And what is more, He will guide you aright, if only, when you see your plan is wrong, you are prepared to abandon it. Now when you qualify your intentions by the phrase, “If the Lord will,” you practically express your readiness to do so.

I draw attention to this very simple point because I fear that we sometimes mean, “If I can,” when we say “If the Lord will.” This is a different spirit, and not at all a proper one. Let us examine it and see. You tell me, or anyone else, “I want to learn to play chess, if I can.” This means that if you have time and opportunity, and if you also find you have the ability to master the intricacies of the game, you will do so. If you fail, well—many others have done the same before you. Observe that in this case there is no reference whatever to the will of the Lord on such a question; you consider it entirely from your own point of view. If you can do it, you will. But supposing you had said, and meant,” If the Lord will, I want to learn to play chess,” how different the significance would be. This implies that whatever your desires may be, and even though you know you are quite competent to become, with practice, a skillful player, directly you see that such a pursuit is not consonant with your heavenly calling, and that there are many far more useful occupations to engage your time and attention, you will forsake the idea at once. Your desire to please the Lord far surpasses any desire you have to learn the game of chess.

The expression we are now considering is a beautiful one, and you would find it a profitable, exercise to study its occurrences in scripture. But I do desire for you that you should not fall into a slovenly habit of using this phrase in a canting way. By “canting” I mean using words of sacred meaning without bearing in mind their solemn significance. If the Israelite was commanded not to take the name of Jehovah his God in vain, you may be sure that the Christian ought not to be less reverent than he.

Do, my dear young friends, habitually commit all your ways to the Lord. Remember the word of promise, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:6).

I am, Yours faithfully, “Yod.”

Correspondence.

“Counsel for the day of small things.” A correspondent has been good enough to point out that the initials subscribed to this article (B.M.M., July last, p. 154) should have been J.J.P., and not J.N. D. Will our readers kindly make the necessary correction?

W.D.— We have sent you an answer to your question. It is an important one, but hardly of a kind to discuss in these pages.

Enquirer. — “Jesus unites believers to God.” Is this statement scripturally correct? There is no scripture to confirm it as far as we know. On the contrary, the thought is opposed to the teaching of the word which continually speaks of the believer as being “in Christ,” but not “in Jesus” or “in God” (Rom. 6:3; 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:3; and many other passages). “We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 5:20). But the Spirit ever avoids saying we are “in God.” So the members of the body are said to be the members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15; 12:27). It is true our “life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3), but this is quite a different thing from the statement in question.

J.— Please explain the difference between the mercy and the grace of God. To make a brief distinction, God in His grace acts towards sinners in accordance with the love which He is. Hence the contrast between law and grace (see Galatians). Grace was therefore unknown till Jesus Christ, by Whom it came (John 1:17). Mercy hover was displayed in O. T. times, for God acted even then in accordance with what man was in his need and sin. Thus, mercy flows from compassion towards a destitute condition, but grace is the exercise of a love which is infinite and uncaused. The father (Luke 15) in mercy would supply the needs of his prodigal son, but in grace he gave the best robe, the ring, the sandals, the seat at the banquet.

W.C.— Kindly explain the meaning of the middle clause of Luke 16:9 “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” “Mammon” is a word taken from the Chaldee, which means riches. Beside being used three times in this context, it also occurs in Matthew 6:24. The lesson that the Lord was enforcing in connection with the preceding parable is that the children of God should use this world’s riches in such a way as to secure to themselves a future reward. To serve mammon while serving God is incompatible (verse 13); but to make friends with it is to ensure an eternal advantage to be realized in the habitations on high. This method of using money in view of a heavenly reward is shown in other places. “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not” (Luke 12:33). See 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

W.R.W.— We were thankful to receive your letter, and to hear you make a practice of reading the B.M.M. “in conjunction with the word of God.” We wish every one of its readers were like you in this respect. We have read with care your criticism upon C.G.H.’s verses (B.M.M. October last, p. 240); and we are quite at one with you as to the propriety of addressing the Lord with reverence. In this respect there is surely need for us all to grow. But we would not be hard upon the author of the lines. After all, in saying “It’s a pleasure to serve Jesus,” he is not speaking to Him but of Him. This does not justify the expression as strictly correct (Rom. 12:11; 14:18; 16:18; Col. 3:24); but we did not consider it a sufficient blemish to disqualify it for insertion.

W.T.— Would those who were without the knowledge of God be unsaved (1 Cor. 15:34)? Ignorance of God is generally the mark of an unsaved condition (Eph. 4:18; 1 Thess. 4:5; 2 Thess. 1:8). Here it implies the want of knowing the power of God in resurrection (Matt. 22:29); and, no doubt, refers to some among them who had crept in, teaching this false doctrine. In that case they would be such as are mentioned in 2 Peter 2:1.

The Believer's Monthly Magazine: Volume 3

Table of Contents

One Heart, One Purse.

The Epistle to the Galatians.

Life's Praise.

Talebearing.

The Distinctive Character of the Church of God.

The Gospel of Mark.

Notes and Suggestions.

Serving the Lord.

Correspondence.

Putting the Neck to the Work.

"Love is of God."

One Thing Needful.

The Epistle to the Galatians.

None Beside.

The Church the Body of Christ.

Seeing the Invisible.

The Gospel of Mark.

Jonah and the Fish.

Knowing the Scriptures.

Correspondence.

Sham Grace.

The Epistle to the Galatians.

Letter to a Convert.

The Body of Christ.

The Backslider Restored.

The Gospel of Mark.

Passi Flora.

Teaching the Children.

Correspondence.

The Gentleness of Christ.

To the Uttermost.

The Epistle to the Ephesians.

The Ex Clerical Cobbler and the Sea Captain.

The House of God.

Here and There.

"It Is Well."

The Gospel of Mark.

Bible Truth in Bible Words.

Naaman's Little Maid.

Correspondence.

Stretching Forth the Hand to Heal.

Evil Thoughts, Unbidden and Hated.

Notes on Lepers and Leprosy

Hymn.

The House of God.

The Gospel of Mark.

Yod's Dream.

Correspondence.

The Lord's Bequest of Peace.

Emptying Himself.

The Epistle to the Ephesians.

Assurance.

A Word to Young Believers.

Working Together for Good.

Fragments.

The Gospel of Mark.

Another Hint for Sunday School Teachers.

Personal Communion.

The Second Arrest of the Apostles.

The Daysman.

Better Than Gold.

Counsel for the Day of Small Things.

Heart Breathings.

Pharisaical Courtesy.

The Gifts of the Head of the Church.

Last Words.

The Lord's Day.

Correspondence.

The Trumpet and the Torch.

The Old Corn of the Land.

Alone.

The Brazen Altar.

Maranatha.

Memorabilia.

Put Christ First.

The Flesh in the Believer.

Correspondence.

Obedience to God or Men: Which?