Young Christian: Volume 31, 1941

The last chapter of Revelation could not close without letting us know that there is, spite of all evil and woe and judgment, such a one as the Bride awaiting her heavenly Bridegroom. No sooner does He announce Himself the root and offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star, than the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” Here we have the intimate intercourse of heart between the Lord and the church.

It is impossible for anyone not born of God to say “Come,” though there may be those who are so born, and yet ignorant of their full privilege of union with Christ. And for them, I doubt not, gracious provision is made in the word, “Let him that heareth say, Come.” But in no case can the world, or an unforgiven soul, take up such a call; to such it would indeed be the madness of presumption, for to them His coming must be sure and endless destruction.

But if we are desiring something great, and of esteem among men, how can we say, “Come?” His coming would spoil all our schemes. We may talk about the Lord’s coming, and be learned about prophecy; but the Lord looks at the heart, and not at appearance. Let the profession be ever so loud or high, He sees where souls cleave to the world and do not want Him.

I Will Guide Thee

“Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path.” Psalms 27:11

“I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight.” Isaiah 45:2

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go;

I will guide thee with mine eye.” Psalms 32:8

In entering the New Year

Teach me, O Lord, Thy way,

From one day to another

Be Thou my Guide and Stay.

For “I will go before thee”

Is God’s own precious Word,

“I will direct and guide thee,”

His promises we’ve heard.

And God’s Word is sufficient,

On this we can rely,

“I will instruct and teach thee,

I’ll guide thee with Mine eye.”

A heart that’s daily seeking

For God’s own will and way,

Will certainly be guided

What step to take each day.

Then trust Him for the future,

The path He will make clear,

Directing, guarding, guiding,

Each new day of the year.

“For this God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.” Psalms 48:14

"Surely I Come Quickly"

Christ is coming! Hark! He says so

In His faithful, precious Word;

He is coming! Signs are telling

Far and wide throughout the world.

He is coming! Sinner, hear it:

Will you then be hardened still?

Haste to know Him and embrace Him

Thus fulfill His loving will.

He is coming! O the glory!

Clouds of angels throng around:

In an instant gathering to Him

All who wait the welcome sound.

He is coming! Precious Saviour,

Naught could such great joy afford;

Borne on angel wings to meet Him –

O what joy to see the Lord.

Thou art coming! Blessed Saviour,

O prepare us each for Thee;

Keep our hearts in loving waiting.

All Thy glories then to see.

Teach us all to serve Thee truly,

Suffer not our hearts to stray;

Help us – loving, working, longing,

So to hasten on that day.

Fragment: Grieving for Those who are at Home with the Lord

Why should we shed tears immoderately for those who have tears wiped from their eyes?

Why should we be swallowed up with grief for those who are swallowed up of joy?

They are not lost, but are safely at home with Him who loves them and has bought them with His precious blood; not perished, but “with Christ, which is far better,” – where there is “fullness of joy.” They have gone but a little while before us.

“For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:37

Five Words to Saints: Power

POWER

Power is my fourth word; the need of power for real profit. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians,

“I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:19, 20

A man may have a great deal in the head, and be able to speak very correctly, both “in word and doctrine,” to please the ear, and yet not reach the conscience, nor profit the soul, simply for lack of power. Nothing withers up the soul like formality; and O, how much of it there is, even among saints, in prayer, and in singing, and in preaching! We may readily tell whether a person has power or not. It is soon felt. When there is power in a meeting, it is known at once, even before a word is uttered. It is said of the Lord,

“His word was with power.” Luke 4:32. This is what we need – more power, more reality among us. It is only in God’s presence and from Him that we can have it (2 Tim. 1:7).

An Agnostic Saved

A servant of the Lord was one day traveling in a railway car and opposite to him sat a young lady. He invited her to accept a tract. She did so, and thanked him pleasantly, telling him at the same time that it had no interest for her.

“Why not?” he inquired.

“To be frank, I am an unbeliever – an agnostic,” she replied.

“I am sorry to hear it. I trust, however, you will read the little booklet, and think about it. It may be that God in His great mercy will open your eyes.”

This appeared to her like a challenge to an intellectual battle; and being well furnished both for defense and attack, she straightway took up the gauntlet. But she did not know her combatant. The weapons of his warfare were not carnal, but mighty. They were not upon a common plane of thought or of life. She was puzzled; and her heart was irresistibly warmed towards this stranger, so obviously sincere, so interested in her highest welfare, so in love with the things of God – a being whose very existence she had come to doubt – so concerned about her soul.

“I believe the Lord will yet lead you to Himself,” said the Christian. “He is seeking His wandering one, and will find you in the end.”

“I am not at all sanguine as to my conversion,” she laughingly replied. “There are so many questions I should require answers to, first.”

“Will you make me a promise?” he pleaded. “What is it?”

“That when God does convince you of sin, and lead you to Jesus, you will write to me, and let me know?”

“Of course I will promise that, if you would like me to. It will not be yet a while. To whom and where shall I send?”

“Here is my card, and I shall pray on till your letter arrives.”

That letter took eight years in coming; but it came, and was duly delivered at this Christian’s home. This lady has been for years past an earnest and prominent worker among young women; the one bitter regret of her heart being that in her past life she had been so terribly zealous in the spreading of her poisonous skeptical ideas.

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Five Words to Saints: Prayer

is indispensable for this; and here, beloved brethren, I come to my fifth and last word, which I desire to press on my own soul, as well as on yours – the necessity of prayer. A man of prayer is a man of power. Prayer takes hold of God’s strength; prayer brings God’s power down. It is weakness on our side, but, in prayer, human weakness clings to divine strength. And one who is in the presence of God can say,

“When I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10

If we are to have power with men, we must have “power with God.” David knew God in secret, and had proved his power in killing the lion and the bear; therefore he could come out in public, and meet the giant, knowing that the same God who had delivered him from the paws of the lion and the bear was able to save him from the hand of Goliath. It is in secret that we learn God’s power.

We see an instance of this in the case of Elijah also. He had been three years and six months with God in secret, and when God told him to show himself to Ahab, who was seeking his life, he goes at once. He had no fear of Ahab, because the Lord of hosts was with him, and he stood before the living God.

If we are to have power before men and with men, there must be private prayer. This is the secret of power. But this is where most of us fail.

A brother in Christ once told me that he could do most for others out of sight, in secret. He meant, by prayer for them. Now, we may depend upon it, there is far too little secret prayer.

“The closet and the Word are what are needed for a gospel meeting,” said another. And not only for a gospel meeting is the closet needed, but for all meetings. If all God’s dear children came from their closet, from the Lord’s presence, what power and blessing there would be! Then at the breaking of bread, or at the prayer meeting, there would not be the long prayers and speeches so common among us. What mockery there often is in praying! Think of a man standing up and professing to be praying to God, and all the time to be preaching to those around him! His speaking has the appearance of showing how much he knows, or else of trying to explain something to God. What a sad mistake! What a hindrance to blessing! Ah, the withering effect such prayers have on meetings! They only keep people away, or else put them to sleep. O, let me beseech you, who take part in prayer, to consider others; to be short and definite; not to weary others with your long prayers; for these, instead of bringing down God’s blessing on His word, hinder it; and instead of drawing us more closely to the Lord, and to one another, they only separate us.

It is not for our “much speaking” that we shall be heard (Matt. 6:7). We do not draw down God’s blessing by using a great number of words where a “few” would be sufficient; talking of ourselves, for instance, in prayer, as empty, frail, worthless, good for nothing, and so on; thus taking up, it may be, fifteen minutes in saying what might be expressed in five minutes.

How irreverent also it is to use the name of God so often, as many do in their prayers, making it a sort of rest for recovering their breath, or collecting their thoughts! The Lord, when asked by the disciples to instruct them how to pray, before the coming of the Holy Spirit to teach them to do so in Christ’s name, did not tell them to begin or end every sentence with “Our God,” “Our God and Father,” “Blessed God our Father,” and like phrases. The prayer which the Lord taught them is a perfect model of reverent expression and holy brevity, and was intended for the use of the disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth, and lead them to pray and praise in the name of the Lord Jesus. And now that He is come, He surely would have us as reverent and sparing of words as the disciples were taught to be when the Lord was upon earth. It is to be noticed and remembered that the name of God is only once mentioned in that wonderful prayer. And we do well to bear in mind the command to Israel,

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Exodus 22:7

Another great hindrance in the prayer meeting is for one brother to make a kind of exhaustive petition for the supply of every need of the assembly, thereby taking out of the mouths of others requests which God may have laid upon their hearts to express. If each one presented at the meeting that which he had been earnestly praying about in his closet, we should have short, fervent, and edifying prayers, in happy contrast to the long, preaching, tedious prayers which weary the body and dispirit the mind. Believers cannot say “Amen” to that which does not edify.

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” Jude 20-25.

“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24, 25

(Concluded)

Extract: Either Gathering or Scattering

We must either be gathering with Christ or scattering abroad. If we are not engaged for Christ, we are engaged against Him – to do nothing for Christ is to do something for Satan.

A Man of Faith

Abraham had been exposed to a great temptation. The king of Sodom – a man of the world – had offered to patronize him; and very few of us are above being patronized by the world. It is only the man of faith that will refuse to be patronized by the king, for the king wanted to make him rich. But Abraham says:

“I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.” Genesis 14:22, 23

He would not even take a string. What a nice state he is in! He has done with the world. He will get on. If you break with the world, you will get on.

What is, the result of this refusal of reward from the world? Let us see,

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” Genesis 15:1. What a lovely word to encourage a man!

The Lord draws near to you. You have had a great temptation, and you have resisted it. You receive a blessing. You have met some temptation – for the devil always strews the path with temptations; all along the road he drops them, and sets traps for you – and you have been able to say, “No!” you will find that the Lord will give you a blessing. He says here, “Fear not, Abram.” Beautiful words! Are you troubled? Fear not! Are you anxious? Fear not! Are you in distress of soul? God says, “Fear not.”

These two lovely words you will find strewed like diamonds throughout the pages of inspiration. You cannot go far through God’s Book without finding the Lord drawing near to some trembling, timid soul, with these words, “Fear not!” You and I were afraid of God once; we shunned Him – we feared Him. I do not mean in the right sense. We shunned Him, and got as far away from Him as we possibly could, but He comes near and says,

“Fear not: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

Did Abraham lose anything by saying “No” to the king of the world? Not he. “I am thy shield,” says God, and if you know God as your shield, the devil can throw as many of his darts as he likes, but they will have no effect. If you have God for the shield of your soul, you are very safe.

Elsewhere we are told to “take the shield of faith”; but that is not the thought here. If you have moral courage enough to say “No” to the world, God says, I will put Myself between you and what is antagonistic to you; I am thy shield, and more – I am “thy exceeding great reward.” If God is your shield, you are protected. If He is your reward, you are well off. Abraham refused the world, and got the Lord for His portion.

People sometimes think it would be a sorrowful thing to give up the world. Abraham may teach you differently. He received far more than he gave up. Young people usually think it would be a great mistake to give up the world. Abraham would not take as much as a shoe-latchet from it, and he was an immense gainer thereby. He had done with the world. It could not satisfy him; and it can never satisfy you.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 6

Chapter 6

1 Corinthians 6

As we survey these chapters of First Corinthians, we may wonder why God allowed so much that is wrong and sinful, and dishonoring to Him, to develop in the early history of His church. With the Holy Spirit present in the church, and in believers, then as He is now, but in those days on occasion acting in power beyond anything we see in these closing days; with the apostles living and going about teaching and preaching; and amid freshness and spiritual energy far more manifest among Christians then than today, how was it that evil of all sorts came out in bud, if not in full flower, so that many pages and even entire epistles of the New Testament had to be devoted to exposing and correcting these bad ways and wrong teachings?

The answer is not far off. Let us seek it in the Word of God itself. Turn to Acts 20, and read the chapter from the 17th verse to the end, noticing the important place that verse 32 has, following, as it does, the solemn prophecy of the 29th and 30th verses. Next, let us turn to 2 Timothy 3, wherein is much about the “last days” of which there is much evidence nowadays; here again, in the last four verses, the believer’s resource is seen to be the Bible:

“All Scripture... is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Other Scriptures may well be referred to in the same connection, but space here forbids. The testimony of all of them leads to the conclusion that God, who foresaw the evils that were to come, allowed all to appear in one form or another before the New Testament Scriptures were completed, in order that His children might find in the Book of books that which would afford guidance for them when the early restraints upon the natural will would be gone. Christians are never to lose sight of their constant need for full dependence upon God, and prayer and His Word are their safe resource in days such as the present.

The early part of the 6th chapter takes up the subject of the setting right of wrongs in the affairs of life. Altogether out of place would it be for a believer to go to law to seek correction of some real or supposed injustice done to himself. Other weighty reasons for not seeking redress of wrong abound in other epistles; here it was sufficient for the Holy Spirit, by the Apostle, to remind the Corinthian saints first of all that we shall judge the world and angels.

“The unjust,” verse 1, is the character of man, the character we had before we knew the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. This term is used by God with reference to man six times in the New Testament – in Matthew 5:45 and Acts 24:15, where both the present and the future are in view; in 1 Peter 3:18 and 2 Peter 2:9 where the cross of Christ, and the day of judgment to come are spoken of; and twice in this chapter (verses 1 and 9). Let him try ever so hard, man with all his philosophy, ethics and laws cannot attain to the character of being just or righteous in God’s sight; apart from receiving God’s salvation, he is still unjust.

When Christ judges the world (Acts 17:31) and angels (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Matthew 25-41; Rev. 21:10) His saints will be associated with Him in the judgments (Zech. 14:5; Jude 14-15; Rev. 19:14 and 20:4).

There is a certain obscurity of meaning in the latter part of the third verse as given in the King James translation; this is removed in J. N. Darby’s New Translation (1880):

“Do ye not know that we shall judge angels? And not then matters of this life?”

Judgments of things pertaining to this life, far from being beyond the capacity of the gathered saints, should be given to those to decide who are little esteemed in the assembly. Such matters do not require spirituality, but only ordinary intelligence and fair-mindedness.

So the Apostle continues to treat of the subject in verses 5, 6, 7, seeking to put the Corinthian believers to shame. Was there indeed not a wise man among them? Not one able to judge between his brethren? Why did they not rather suffer wrong? Why not submit to being defrauded? Those whose future involves sharing in the coming judgment of the world and of angels, ought, viewing the matter on the very lowest ground, to care little about what injury may be done to themselves, or their possessions during this life’s short term.

But the inspired penman must tell those to whom he was writing that it was not only a question of their submitting to injustice; they themselves did wrong, and defrauded their brethren (verse 8). Solemnly then he warns them:

“Do ye not know that unrighteous persons shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not err; Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who make women of themselves; nor who abuse themselves with men; nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor abusive persons, nor the rapacious, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And these things were some of you; but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (verses 9, 10, 11. JND)

From the connection it is plain that the causes of the lawsuits at Corinth were in part, at least, contained in the list of verses 9, 10. The people of that city were notorious for ways such as these, and it was not only that the Christians there had grown up in such an atmosphere, and as the Apostle says, “and such were some of you,” but there is always the tendency in our hearts to be affected by what goes on in the world around us. It takes spiritual power to combat and overcome these things.

“But ye have been washed” in verse 11 speaks of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5; 1 John 5:6; John 13:10) by which the sinner is cleansed of his sins. This is done but once, and cannot be repeated. The New Testament Scriptures tell of another needful cleansing – that of the saint – which is to be a constant thing: cleansing by the Word of God (Eph. 5:26; John 13:10 and 14).

The believer contracts defilement which hinders his growth and mars his communion with the Lord, unless and until confessed and removed through the active power of the Word of God applied to the conscience by the Holy Spirit. It is however the once-for-all cleansing by blood that is referred to in verse 11 of our chapter.

“Ye are” (or have been) “sanctified” speaks of another divine work in the bringing of a soul to Christ. It is the setting apart of the believer to God which is effected in his conversion (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; Acts 20:32 and 26:18). This is his fitness for heaven. The Father hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, as it is said in Colossians 1:12.

Progressive sanctification is abundantly referred to in the epistles, but this is a distinct thing (See John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26 (already mentioned above), 1 Thess. 5:23). One of the offices of the Word of God is to practically set His children apart from the world, to separate them from all that defiles both mind and body, to be for Him.

Are you, dear young Christian, proving daily in your own life the value of the Word of God in cleansing and sanctifying you, a chosen vessel for Christ?

“But ye are” (or have been) “justified”, is the third link of this wonderful chain of truth concerning him who trusts in Jesus. He stands acquitted of all charge before God, being put into the value of Christ’s work (Rom. 3:26; 5:1 and 9; 8:33; Acts 13:39; Titus 3:7). How marvelous is the grace of God!

Verse 12. All things are lawful to the Christian; he is free, but all things are not expedient (or, do not profit; see the marginal note in your Bible). “All things are lawful to me”, says the Apostle, “but I will not be brought under the power of any.” Thus the believer’s liberty is preserved; he is not to be under the control of anything that would be unprofitable to him. Food is given to sustain life, not to become a governing object; then it is lust. So it is said in verse 13, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats, but God will bring to nothing both it and them” (JND). Nor is the body for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

The Lord has taken up the believer’s body as well as his soul, though the body has not yet been redeemed out of its present state. (Rom. 12:1; 1 John 3:1-3; Phil. 3:17-21). And God has both raised up the Lord and will raise us up from among the dead by His power (Rom. 8:11).

Have you noticed in your reading of the Scriptures the interest God has in your body, young Christian? Here is a list of passages rich in profit to the soul (Rom. 6:12, 13, 19; 8:10; 12:1; Eph. 5:23; Phil. 1:20; 3:17-21; Col. 2:23; 1 Thess. 4:1-7; 5:23; 1 Tim. 4:3-5; James 3:6).

That our bodies (not our souls) are members of Christ is a truth brought out in the 15th verse; that he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit, following in the 17th. The Holy Spirit who dwells in me – for our bodies are His temples (verse 19) – unites me to Christ. I am not my own; I have been bought with a price; therefore I ought to glorify God in my body (verse 20). What weighty reasons are here given, that His children may be kept from sin!

Extract: The Lord is Coming

The Lord is coming. What a blessing! May God find us watching and thinking of only one thing – the One of Whom He thinks – Jesus our precious Saviour.

Standing and State

I know that Christ is in me, and I in Him; but I ought not to be satisfied without the consciousness of enjoying Him. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts” is a prayer as to state, not a declaration of standing. What we have to watch is, not to unsettle the truth of the standing, but to apply the blessedness of the standing to the judgment of the state.

Thus, if you say you have fellowship with the Father and the Son, I say, Come, let us see. I saw you laughing just now at foolishness in the street: Is not that having fellowship with a fool? Thus it is, one applies the standing to judge the state.

When the standing is known, it is but the beginning of Christian life. If I am saved, I am inside the door; but inside, I want to know something of what is within. First, let the soul be grounded in that which is the substance of the whole truth. Then, if a person is not kept in a state corresponding to the standing, he may do worse even than the unbeliever.

Correspondence: Matt. 11:29-30; Present War in Europe?

Question: What is “My yoke” in Matthew 11:29, 30?

Answer: Read from verse 25. This context tells of our Lord’s perfect submission to the Father’s will; then He reveals the Father (verse 27), and (verse 28) says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This includes the knowledge of the Father, and gives us the place of children, so that the rest He gives is the result of His finished work. He knows the weary toilers for salvation, toiling for what they can never gain in that way. He gives rest to all who come to Him.

Further blessing He promises in the words, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” His yoke is submission to the Father’s will, and He desires us to enjoy the Father’s care and love in full submission to His will – “Learn of Me.” It was His path; it is to be ours, and rest is found in it. Ye shall find rest unto your souls. Submission to His yoke makes it easy and the burden light. It is rest indeed (see Psa. 16:5, 6).

Question: Is the present war in Europe the fulfillment of the scripture? (Matt. 24:6, 7).

Answer: Matthew 24:6, 7, refers to the time when the Jews will again occupy Jerusalem; when the gospel of the kingdom will again be preached (vs. 14), and they will have their holy place or temple built again (verse 15), in the land of Judea (verse 16).

The wars, earthquakes, pestilences, and famines, that have taken place or may take place, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem, are not the fulfillment of prophecy. Prophecy centers around Israel and Palestine. God holds the nations in His hand, overruling, till the Roman beast rises again, and that cannot be till the church is gone from the earth. The beast rises from the bottomless pit (Rev. 17:8), and his power is wholly from the Dragon, or Satan (Rev. 13:4). While the church is on earth, He, the Holy Spirit, who now restrains will restrain, until He is taken out of the way, and then the lawless one can be manifested (2 Thess. 2:7, 8).

The hope of the church is the coming of the Lord to receive her to Himself (1 Thess. 4:15-18) and there are no signs given for this, it may take place at any moment. The state of the church as in 2 Timothy; 2 Peter; Jude and Revelation 2 and 3, is our sign, and the conditions mentioned in these different Scriptures are already fulfilled. He may come now. Till He comes, we preach the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel of the Kingdom comes afterward for Israel and the Gentiles.

Five Words to Saints: Introduction

Part 1

“In the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” 1 Corinthians 14:19

There are five words which I wish to bring before the saints, to stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance. My desire is to provoke them to love and to good works. We need, brethren, to have our “loins girt about with truth,” for there is a tendency with us to hold the truth loosely, and to talk about it in a light way, instead of its girding us, and our being braced up, and kept, by it. The word to us is

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord.” Luke 12:36.

Our minds, our works, ourselves, and all connected with us, should show that we look for “the coming of the Lord.” How far are we really, practically waiting and watching for Him? The day is approaching; His coming is near. (Heb. 10:25, 37; James 5:8).

With this solemn fact before us, there are five words which I want to press home to the hearts of God’s dear children, who are on the eve of being caught up to be forever with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17). May God by the Holy Spirit clothe the following remarks with power!

The Christian's Receipt

Some time ago, I was standing with a commercial man in his office, conversing with him about his eternal prospects. He was one who had manifested some anxiety as to the great question of his soul’s salvation, and I had frequently spoken to him before. On the occasion to which I refer, we were speaking about the ground of a sinner’s place in the presence of God. There were some files hanging up in a corner of the office, and pointing to them, I said, “What do you have upon those files?” “Receipts,” said he.

“Well,” I said, “are you anxious about the amount of these various bills?”

“Not in the least,” he replied, “they are all receipted and stamped.”

“Are you afraid,” I continued, “lest those persons from whom you received the bills should come down upon you for the amount?”

“By no means. They are all legally settled, and do not cost me a single thought.”

“Now then,” said I, laying my hand upon his shoulder, “will you tell me what is God’s receipt to us, that we, as sinners, ever owed to Him as a righteous Judge?”

He paused to consider, and then replied:

“I suppose it is the grace of God in the heart.”

“No; that would never do. God’s grace in my heart is no receipt for all I ever owed Him.” My friend paused again, and then said,

“It must be the knowledge of salvation.”

“No; you have not laid hold of it yet. You cannot but see the difference between your knowledge that these bills are paid, and the receipts which you have on your file. You might know they are paid, and yet, if you had no receipt, your mind would not be at ease.”

“Well,” said he, “it must be faith.”

“Not right yet,” said I. “Faith is no receipt.”

At length, feeling assured he had the true answer, he exclaimed,

“It is the blood of Christ.”

He seemed a good deal disappointed when I still demurred, and quite gave up the attempt at further reply.

“Now,” said I, “it is most blessedly true that the blood of Christ has paid the debt which I, as a guilty sinner, owed to divine Justice; yet you must admit there is a difference between the payment of a debt and the receipt. For even though you had seen the full amount paid down, yet until you were in possession of the receipt, your mind would not be at ease, inasmuch as there was no legal settlement of the transaction. You must have a receipt. What, therefore, is God’s receipt for that heavy debt which we owed Him? Blessed be His name, it is a risen Christ, at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens. The death of Christ paid my debt, His resurrection is a receipt in full, signed and sealed by the hand of Eternal Justice. Jesus "was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification.” Hence, the believer owes not a fraction to divine justice, on the score of guilt, but he owes an eternity of worship to divine love, on the score of free pardon, and complete justification. The blood of Christ has blotted out his heavy debt; and he has a risen Christ to his credit.

How marvelous that a poor, guilty creature should be able to stand as free from all charge of guilt as the risen and glorified Saviour! And yet, so it is, through the grace of God, and by the blood of Christ. Jesus has paid all our debts, discharged all our liabilities, canceled all our guilt and has become, in resurrection, our life and our righteousness. If it is true that,

“If Christ be not raised, we are yet in our sins;” it is equally true that, if He is raised, we, who believe in Him, are not in our sins.

“There is therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

Five Words to Saints: Privilege

Privilege – the privilege of being gathered to the Name of the Lord, is my first word. There is not a greater privilege on earth than this of being assembled with those who call on His Name out of a pure heart; gathered around Himself at His table on the first day of the week, to break bread for a remembrance of Him, and thus to show His death till He comes. Of all places on earth, this is the most blessed; of all privileges on earth, this is the highest. O, is it not sad to see the indifference of saints (even of those who know better) as to the Lord’s table? When a gifted brother visits a gathering, many come out to hear him, but stay at home when no such person is there. Is not this forgetfulness of Him who said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them”? (Matt. 18:20). He who said, “This do in remembrance of Me,” is forgotten. The word which tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, is unheeded by those who so act. A sad contrast to those spoken of in Malachi 3:16.

But it is not only for the breaking of bread, on the first day of the week, that the Lord would have us assembled. We should embrace every opportunity of being together, whether for prayer, teaching, or preaching. If we come to God and His Word, we shall be blessed. Those who do not come together because there is no specially gifted person to meet, lose blessing, and practically ignore the fact that we have the Spirit of truth to guide us into all truth, taking of the things of Christ, and showing them unto us (John 14:17, 26). We are to be all caught up together, to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with Him; And is it not a great privilege to be gathered here on earth in His blessed Name and presence? Let me entreat you not to miss any opportunity of being gathered with the saints. It is testimony to Christ to come together, and you are sure to get blessing, if your eye is single, your mind simple, and your heart subject to Him and His Word. Your presence also helps others, when you are going on happily with the Lord. Perhaps you are not aware how much it encourages your brethren, even though you take no audible part in the meeting, if you come in a right spirit; that is, in the spirit of self-judgment – not judging others, but self – and in the spirit of dependence upon God, and not looking to man.

Extract: Not Walking with God

Whoever is keeping on terms with the world is not walking with God; for God is not walking with you there.

Five Words to Saints: Punctuality

Punctuality in attending the meetings is the second word that I would bring before you, beloved brethren. It is recorded in Luke 22:14, “When the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.”

All things had been before prepared by the two whom the Lord sent to “make ready.” And when the hour came He was there, and the twelve also. They were not five, or ten, or twenty minutes, late, like many of the saints nowadays often are. There was an hour fixed, and the apostles were there to sit down punctually with Him. But in our day it seems a matter of very little moment with many of God’s dear children whether they are present at the hour or not; indeed, lateness seems a habit with many saints. Now, does this not manifest the state of soul such persons are in? Unless there is a good reason, something that really hinders those who always come late, they must be in a cold, careless condition. Do they not know how much they disturb the meeting by coming in after time? And then their own souls must suffer if they have come in hurriedly and disquietly. When they do so, they cannot possibly enjoy the Lord’s presence, or worship Him. It is well to be in good time at all meetings, whether it be for breaking bread, prayer, or preaching the gospel; well to have a little silent prayer for God’s own presence and blessing. But it is often the case that strangers are in the room in good time, and the saints come in after the hour, only to unsettle and hinder the meeting. O, let me entreat you, not only to come together, but to come in time! It merely needs decision. You can be in time for the train, or be punctual at your business, and why not in the room or hall at the appointed time? The word is,

“Let all things be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40

Judge before the Lord, I pray you, with His own example before you. Is it decent to make a practice of being late? Is this order? Is it according to God?

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 7:25-40

1 Corinthians 7:25-40

The Apostle returns to the subject of marriage in order to give his own opinion, as having received mercy of the Lord to be faithful, regarding those who had never entered into any relationship with the opposite sex. In the unerring wisdom of God, Paul was given no commandment of the Lord on this subject. You will note that the Apostle was careful to tell us when his own opinions are given; he was inspired to give us his spiritual judgment regarding this matter just as in the 12TH verse – “But (as) to the rest speak I, not the Lord,” and we do well to give heed to what he says, as clearly not contrary to the Lord’s mind.

Verse 26: “I think then that this is good, on account of the present necessity, that it is good for a man to remain so as he is” (JND). It is good, on account of what the world is in its opposition to Christianity, to avoid marriage since it has, after all, somewhat the character of settling down in a scene where God has made us strangers and pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11).

Verses 27, 28. There follow further instructions which throw heavenly light on the Christian’s earthly relationships. If bound to a wife, seek not to be loosed; if free from a wife, do not seek one. Marriage is not sinful for either brother or sister; “nevertheless, such shall have trouble” (or tribulation) “in the flesh”, and the Apostle wished that they should be spared this experience. It may be questioned if there ever has been a married couple who from the beginning found themselves in entire accord in all things. No other relationship in life is likely to involve so much of the disclosure of one’s inner self – self-love and self-will are in everyone by nature – and to require so much of Christian grace in one form or another. Sometimes, through in-subjection to the plain words of Scripture on the part of wife or husband (or both), these “troubles” continue through life, instead of the cause being judged, confessed and done away with. And then parenthood brings in a train of responsibility and care; some cares remaining unless or until the parents are given the joy of seeing their children grown to manhood and womanhood and walking in the light of God’s Word. “But this I say, brethren, the time is short” (or straitened, or a constrained one) “for the fashion of this world passeth...

Verses 29, 31. Believers should be expecting the Lord’s coming as an event which may occur at any time. God’s amazing grace has allowed the day of the gospel to lengthen out until nineteen hundred years have elapsed since its beginning, but the Christian who draws his instructions as to the path of life from the Word of God has learned that the coming of the Lord for His heavenly saints is always to be looked upon as an imminent prospect. That that event, which will mark the end of the day of grace, did not take place while you were a stranger to God, is a cause for deep thankfulness, is it not? How much longer have you left to stay on earth? You do not know; nor does any one, but God only. "The time is short”, even though it may sometimes in one’s thoughts seem to be long; let us live in the prospect now before us of being soon with our Saviour and Lord.

In verse 31 “as not abusing it” is really “as not disposing of it as their own” (JND), or “as not using it for themselves”. Many believers have daily contacts with the world, in working to support themselves and their loved ones; they are to remember that their part in it is to serve faithfully in the duties committed to them, – and never to take a place in it that would be out of conformity with the principles of God’s Word.

Verses 32-35. The Apostle wished that the saints should be without care or distraction that would interfere with waiting on the Lord. When married they were concerned with earthly things that in varying measure shut out occupation with and for Christ. If nature’s claims, on the other hand, were refused, they might serve Him without distraction. The wisdom of these counsels of the Apostle is apparent. Doubtless more than one servant of the Lord has been hindered in his path of service by marriage and the bringing up of a family. Happy for him in such circumstances if his wife seeks diligently to become a true “helpmeet” (Gen. 2:18) for him. Yet those Scriptures that we have been going over are surely meant for us all who are God’s children by faith in Christ Jesus. Is it not plain that He looks for you and me, dear young Christian, whether married or single, to give Himself the first place in our lives?

Verses 36-38 relate, not to a man’s daughter or ward, but to himself: “But if anyone think that he behaves unseemly to his virginity, if he be beyond the flower of his age, and so it must be, let him do what he will, he does not sin; let them marry. But he who stands firm in his heart, having no need, but has authority over his own will, and has judged this in his heart to keep his own virginity, he does well. So that he that marries, himself does well; and he that does not marry does better” (JND).

Verses 39-40. The words by the law are not in the best copies of the original text; they appear to have been added from Romans 7:2. God’s Word does not recognize the easy divorce practices that have been incorporated in many human laws. “A wife is bound for whatever time her husband lives; but if the husband be fallen asleep she is free to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord” (vs. 39, JND). The Apostle is still writing about marriage for believers, and, we may have noticed, he has until this verse said nothing as, to whom a believer should marry. Aptly, this subject is reserved for the close, when it is expressly said that a Christian widow is at liberty to be married “to whom she will”, and immediately it is added, “only in the Lord.”

What is “only in the Lord”? Not far from twenty other passages in Paul’s epistles are at hand to help in the answer to this question. A few of them are: Romans 16:2, 8, 11, 12, 22; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 3:18; Philemon 1:16. “In the Lord” means more, we gather from these Scriptures, than “in Christ” (Rom. 16:7 and 10) or “in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1, Phil. 4:21). It refers not so much to all believers, we think, as to those of them whose walk is in subjection to Christ as their Lord; sadly we own that this leaves out many of the dear children of God.

Young Christians, and older ones too, should never lose sight of the truth that God is more interested in their happiness, a great deal more interested in it, than they are apt to think. He has chosen a path for every child of His that will, if there be submission to His guidance, yield the truest happiness in this world as well as in that eternity toward which everyone of us is hurrying. Just as surely as the servant of Abraham was guided by God in finding a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24:27) – “I being in the way, the Lord led me” – so surely will the Christian who truly waits for God’s direction be guided by Him in the momentous step of marriage.

Alas, many young Christians have stored up for themselves sorrow upon sorrow by entering upon marriages contrary to God’s Word, and it is saddest of all when the heart has become attached to a stranger to His grace. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” (2 Cor. 6:14-18).

Verse 40. The Apostle gives his judgment that the Christian widow is happier if she remain unmarried; and none was better qualified than he as a servant of the Lord to speak. We doubt not that in thus expressing himself he was guided by the Holy Spirit.

Five Words to Saints: Profit

Profit – the necessity, when gathered together, of seeking the profit of all – is my third word.

Not coming together to please ourselves, but, in all we say and do, seeking to profit those present. This is what we should aim at, and for this purpose God has given us His Holy Spirit.

“The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” 1 Corinthians 12:7

But how little this is sought! How little waiting on the Lord there is! The presence of the Lord seems to be forgotten by many of the saints. The way they speak and act often shows that they have not in their souls the sense of the Lord’s own presence in their midst. They seem not to know, or to have forgotten, that the Spirit is there to lead and teach. Man’s will and man’s thoughts ought to have no place where God’s Holy Spirit is the only One who can make known to us His Word, and profit our souls. It would seem that some like to hear themselves speaking, and to let others hear them speak. They will sometimes say things without meaning, like a parrot repeating the words of another, forgetting that God is listening, and that He has said, “Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2

Such a solemn truth seems not to be perceived by them. They appear only to think how they can fill up the time. When we are together, let us remember that Christ is present with us, and the Holy Spirit is there to glorify Him; and let us be sure that what we think, and what we say, is of the Lord; for none can edify except as led by Him.

(To be continued)

The Treasure We Found in His Love

Prophecy drives us out of the world; Christ in glory draws us out of the world. I have the word of prophecy as a candle, a light shining in a dark place. It is God’s candle to show me what is going on around. But I have to do with the bright and heavenly side as my own heart’s portion.

One has aptly expressed this in the following well-known lines:

This world is a wilderness wide!

We have nothing to seek, nor to choose;

We’ve no thought in the waste to abide;

We have naught to regret, nor to lose.

The Lord is Himself gone before;

He has marked out the path that we tread;

It’s as sure as the love we adore,

We have nothing to fear, nor to dread.

There is but that one in the waste,

Which His footsteps have marked as His own,

And we follow in diligent haste

To the seats where He’s put on His crown.

For the path where our Saviour is gone

Has led up to His Father and God,

To the place where He’s now on the throne,

And His strength shall be ours on the road.

And with Him shall our rest be on high,

When in holiness bright we sit down,

In the joy of His love ever nigh,

In the peace that His presence shall crown.

’Tis the treasure we’ve found in His love

That has made us now pilgrims below,

And ‘tis there, when we reach Him above,

As were known, all His fullness we’ll know.

The Secret of Christian Strength: 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

For the ones who know the Lord, the secret of a life worthy of Him, is to have their spiritual eyes fixed upon Him. It was so in Paul’s case, and it ought to be in ours also. This alone can keep our souls steady, when we have to pass through the trials and difficulties, pains and conflicts of this present time. If we had not that, we could not continue in the path to His glory. If we would look at the things that are seen only, we would be crushed and paralyzed to act.

To be hardened is impossible, and indifference is contemptible, but to be above it all, is the precious privilege of every true Christian. It is not for weak souls, occupied with their trials, and fretting under them, that faith comes out triumphant, but it is only in looking at Christ in glory, and thus reflect some rays of His moral beauty on the scene that surrounds them, that will keep them calm, and unmoved, will renew their spiritual strength to still greater victories.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10.

Remarks on Infidelity

J. N. Darby once said in answer to all these infidel reasonings as to God, something like this:

“There are too many evidences of wisdom, power, and design, for any reasonable being to suppose that things came into existence without a God; on the other hand, there are too many evidences of misery and evil for any one to imagine that a God of power and love could have created things as they now are.”

While it is perfectly true, that the mind of fallen man is naturally infidel; yet, on the other hand, man’s mind is so constituted that it cannot conceive of anything coming into existence without a cause.

Let anybody seriously consider, and he is driven to the conclusion that there must be a God. The first question that arises in the mind as we look at anything is, Who made that? Let it be a manufactured terrestrial globe, we say, Who made it? A man would be looked upon as a fool who would reply, nobody made it. If we cannot conceive of that globe coming into existence without a maker, how much less this earth of which it is but an insignificant representation!

Yes, the mind of man cannot conceive of anything in existence that has not had a maker – such a thing would be unthinkable. There must be a cause for every effect.

I ask, “Who made that table?” You reply, “The carpenter.” Then I ask, “Who made the carpenter?” Somebody must have made him and so you get back to the first original cause, and that is God. Hence the first of Genesis opens, sublime in its grandeur and simplicity – “In the beginning God created.”

This commends itself to every man’s reason; he knows there must be a God. Yet no uninspired man would have written that first chapter of Genesis as it stands.

What gropings in the dark have we in the philosophy of the ancients, and the scientific hypotheses of moderns! What voluminous treatises on cosmogony! What changing theories as fresh light breaks in, exposing the fallacy of earlier conclusions!

But God’s Word never changes. Though not intended as a handbook of science, it nevertheless alludes to scientific subjects, and in a miraculous manner is always right. Take such a chapter as Genesis 1, written between three and four thousand years ago, at a time when the science of geology was unknown, treating of a vast subject, namely: the creation, doing so in the briefest manner possible, and yet invariably correct – How could this be accounted for apart from inspiration?

I merely give this as one evidence of inspiration, not by any means the greatest, but still there it is.

Now I quite admit that honest reason must bring a person to believe that there is a God, but mere reason can teach us nothing whatever about that God. The same process of reasoning that leads me to the conclusion that there must be a God, also proves to me that I cannot understand Him, or know anything about Him unless He is pleased to give me a revelation. For I cannot conceive of anything that has not had a cause, and yet who caused God? He was the great cause of all things, but had no cause Himself.

We have reached, then, two conclusions: First, there must be a God; and second, He must reveal Himself, if I am to know anything about Him.

But the Bible is this revelation. Shakespeare does not pretend to be a revelation from God; it has no authority upon any man, nor is it a guide to conduct.

The Bible is the only book that gives me certain information as to God, as to the creation, as to how man comes to be in the state of sin and misery in which he is found today. It is the only book that makes known to me God’s remedy for sin – a remedy which no man could ever have invented or dared to propose, but which nevertheless the whole moral being recognizes as altogether worthy of God.

But what is man to say, “The only God I would accept is a God of love, and not a God of vengeance”?

Imagine a prisoner at the Old Bailey saying in open court, “The only judge I will accept,” and so on. Such a one would very soon learn that government has authority and power. And is God, the source of all supreme power, to be dictated to by His creatures? It is absurd.

“Power belongeth unto God.” Psalms 62:11

“We know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord... The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:30,31

But the fact is that God is a God of love – He is love, and has so loved the world as to give His Son. And what has man done? Spat in His face, and crucified Him, mocking Him as He died. Is this a small sin? But people today may say, We did not do that. Yet each one has taken sides either for Christ or against Him.

The proudest will must bow. It is no use to resist God.

“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal beings, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to God the Father’s glory.” Philippians 2:10-11 (JND).

No one need be lost in hell, for God has provided a Saviour for all. Only man must bow, repent, and believe the gospel. Saul of Tarsus had to yield, and own that he was the chief of sinners, though outwardly his was a blameless life.

The only place we can adequately measure sin is at the cross of Christ. By comparing ourselves with one another, we get very poor ideas of what sin is. The greatest crime that could be committed was the murder of the Son of God, and we must remember that we belong, each one of us, to a world that has cast God out of it, when He came in grace and love.

All the human reasoning as to the inconsistency between a few years of sin, and everlasting punishment, is folly. The fact is, men love sin, and hate Christ more than they fear hell.

Man’s mind is a poor and finite thing. The moment we have to do with God, we have to do with infinite. And so (1), the enormity of sin in God’s sight; (2), the infinite value of the atoning sacrifice of Christ; (3), the immortality of the soul; (4), the eternity of glory for the redeemed, and (5), of punishment for the despisers of Christ’s sacrifice, and God’s grace – these are all things which far exceed all power of man’s mind to understand.

“By faith we understand.”

Extract: Denied Daily

“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily.” “Daily” – this is the trial. A man might heroically do it once for all, and he would have plenty of people to honor him, and books written about him, but it is terribly difficult to go on every day denying oneself, and no one knowing anything about it.

Extract: Spiritual Intelligence

All intelligence of the things of God comes from His revelation, and not from the reasonings of men. Hence, the simple go farther in spiritual understanding than the wise and prudent of the earth.

Deciding for Christ

I do not mean deciding to be Christians – but decision for Christ in our every-day life, real downright, out-and-out honesty for God, everywhere and always. Do you know, I have begun to fear, that a number of Christ’s young disciples – and it may be old ones too – go back in soul, and become backsliders, from sheer dishonesty, in what may be called little things. To escape persecution, or being teased by those around them, they fall in with the world’s way of doing things, and on they go from bad to worse until the difference between them and the unconverted becomes almost imperceptible. When we open the Book of God we see that this is not what God expects from His people at all. He says,

“Walk not as other Gentiles walk” (Eph. 4:17); take no pattern from them, but “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8), uprightly, honestly, and as “before the Lord.” And this is what we read of some of God’s “mighty men” having done of old.

Look at that youth away off in the palace of Egypt! He has a splendid chance of becoming a great man among the Egyptians, if he will only hide his parentage and deny that he is a Hebrew, allowing himself to be called “the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” But no, Moses will not be a coward: he will not for fear of the “reproach of Christ,” settle down among the Egyptians. He looks forward to the end, and his eye catches sight of the “recompense of reward.” From that moment his choice was made. He cast in his lot with the people of God, and the day came, when Egypt trembled at his word.

Look again at these four royal youths in the court of Babylon. They are taken into royal favor, and are destined to become “wise men” in Babylon. They are set to study Chaldean language and literature; they find no fault with that; God has not forbidden it. But here comes Melzar with a flagon of wine, and desires them to drink. Daniel steps forward, and courteously, yet firmly declines the cup. Why? Because God had forbidden it. This was enough for Daniel.

“He purposed in his heart, that he would not defile himself” (Dan. 1:8). Was he a loser by his decision? Nay verily: God will be no man’s debtor. He, with his companions, were made rulers of the kingdom. Faithful and beloved young witnesses of God, how we revere their memory!

But some of you may be thinking,

“O yes, and if I were placed in such circumstances, I would act as they did, but no such test is ever applied to me!”

Perhaps not, and well for most of us that it is so, for I have grave doubt if many Daniels would now be found.

But the principle holds good in smaller matters. What about separation to God down in the office? How about – “Dare to be a Daniel,” when all the rest are going to a concert? What about “shining as a light” in the midst of a crooked lot of dishonest fellow-workers, who do not hesitate to pilfer their master’s goods or fritter away his time when his back is turned? Do you “dare to be a Daniel” then? Ah! here the shoe pinches: I am sure of it.

Then there is another form of trial common to some, wherein their decision is tested. Your earthly master – with whom perhaps, like Naaman, some are “great men” – bids you do some bit of work, which for a believer would be wrong, how would you do then? There is a possibility of “losing favor” by mentioning the dishonesty of the thing.

Ah! yes, dear saints, but there is a grand opportunity for finding favor with God at such a time. At all costs take sides with God, and you will never regret it. May the God of glory bless you.

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the Word of Life.” Philippians 2:15, 16

Address to Young People: Part 1

Acts 20:16-38

Part 1

“Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words, of the Lord Jesus, how He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.”

There is always something remarkably interesting about the last words of anyone who is taking his final farewell of us. We know from the account here that the Apostle Paul would never look into the faces of these dear men again so long as he lived. We sense the solemnity of it; his heart is full – he has a burden on his heart. He is hastening on to Jerusalem, and longs for his people after the flesh. He is passing so near to Ephesus that he just can’t resist that urge to once again see those dearly beloved men of God with whom he had spent not less than three years of intimate Christian ministry.

The bonds that we forge in Christ are like none other in the world. Men try to imitate these things. They have their religious groups, their fraternities and their unions, but these are poor, shallow imitations of what we Christians have in the bonds of Christ. Only those who have experienced this kind of thing can enter into it, but I know when I speak to my brethren in Christ this afternoon, that you all have tasted this; that lovely bond that grows stronger as the years go by.

It was so here. How the Apostle loved those men, and how those men loved the Apostle Paul. If we trace on down to the end, and see the closing, parting scene, how beautiful it is! Those embraces, those mutual tears, mutual love, mutual sorrow as they say their final farewell. They go as far as they can with him and see him on the ship and, I doubt not, as long as they could see him, they were waving in farewell. Many of us have experienced that waving of farewell to some beloved servant, knowing we will never see his face again here on earth.

Now when these elders from Ephesus are come to him, the first thing Paul calls to their attention is the character of his ministry and service among them (verses 18, 19). That is important. I know that there are those present here who are young, and I can’t refrain from keeping them before my mind. We know that among you young people there is a real genuine desire to serve the Lord. I am glad of that. I am sure that the Lord put that desire in your heart. I am glad that you are not waiting until you are old before you decide to do something for Christ. If you can learn at the outset that there is only one becoming attitude that is pleasing to Christ – and you have it so beautifully exemplified in the life of Paul – you have the secret of true service.

“Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.”

Oh, if we could only emulate that! It is the only way to serve Him. The most outstanding example of it in Scripture, in a servant of Christ, is found in John the Baptist. There was a man greater than whom was none born of woman. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave him that special place. He was the immediate personal forerunner of the Son of God in His advent into this world. Yet see what his estimate was of himself, and of his service in John 3:27-30,

“John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

I call your attention again to the 30th verse – “He must increase but I must decrease.” Oh, what a lovely expression! One repeats, I do not know anywhere in the Word of God, words more noble, more admirable in a servant of Christ, than those little words of John spoken here – “He must increase but I must decrease.”

What a calamity, and how sad that the service of Christ has become so profaned in professing Christendom around us, that man actually uses it deliberately as a stepping stone to his own advancement into a position of influence among his fellowmen. That is travesty! A travesty on the service of Christ.

The greatest servant the Lord Jesus Christ had, was the Apostle Paul. None ever excelled him. And he said to these Ephesian elders, “I take you to record this day.” This group of men – I do not know how many there were, but they knew him, and he could say to them: “You know what manner of man I was among you.” During those three years what did they see? They saw Christ. “Ye know after what manner I have been with you at all seasons.” Day in and day out, as he went among them, they saw Christ in him. Does the world see Christ in us?

“With all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations” (vs. 19). That is what they witnessed in that beloved Apostle.

A sister once said, “All brethren are nice; at least at conferences.” And there is a measure of truth, as well as a measure of wit in that remark, but, brethren, here is the Apostle Paul, speaking and calling attention to his ministry, and he says, “Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations.”

(To be continued)

Correspondence: Matt. 24:22 and 29-35; Forgive and Not Forgive in Matt. 11:25-26

Question: Please explain Matthew 24:22 and 29-35. Do the latter verses mean the end of the world? If so, what is the meaning of verse 34?

Answer: Verse 22 is understood to refer to the last half of the last, or seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 11:27), which is divided in two by the setting up of the image of the beast (Rev. 13). Each half consists of three-and-one-half years.

The days of “great Tribulation” (Matt. 24:21,22) extend through the latter half of Daniel’s week (see Dan. 9:27). So severe are the trials, that, had the time not been shortened to only 1260 days, no one would be able to live through them.

Verses 29 to 35 refer to the events immediately connected with the appearing of the Lord Jesus in judgment at the end of the tribulation week. They do not refer to the end of the “world”, but to the end of that “age.”

Verse 34 means that the generation of unbelieving Jews would not have ceased from the earth till all these things were fulfilled.

Question: Please explain “forgive, and not forgive” (Mark 11:25-26).

Answer: We can easily see that an unforgiving spirit is a sad hindrance to prayer. It is a remarkable thing that when we get into the presence of God, our failure begins to come up before us. In this scripture we are exhorted to deal with every unforgiving thought against any person, that our prayers be not hindered.

We also see that such forgiveness is of a governmental kind. It is not eternal forgiveness. This we have once for all (Heb. 10:14), but it is what is needed to keep us going on in happy communion with our Father. It is therefore of great importance to see that we are not harboring unforgiving thoughts toward any.

“Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

Extract: Christ's Obedience

From the manger to the cross, all in Christ was simple obedience. How unlike a Theudas (Acts 5:36), who boasted himself to be somebody!

God Loves You

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

A gay votary of fashion, a woman of the world, living for it, and giving herself up to it, was slightly indisposed and lying in bed, when her sisters came in, full of merriment and laughter.

“Have you heard,” said they, “the latest joke?”

“No, what is it?”

“O, there is a mad fellow come to town, preaching what he calls the gospel.’ It is the most ridiculous thing out. We are going to hear him.”

By and by they were gone; and as this poor girl was lying alone in her bed, there came into her unsatisfied heart – she did not exactly know why – an indescribable desire to go too. She rang the bell for her maid and said,

“I want you to dress me.” The maid looked surprised and said,

“You are not fit to get up, ma’am.”

“Never mind, I am going to get up; send for a carriage.”

The maid expostulated, but she would go. She got into the carriage and drove to the hall. There was but one vacant seat, just in front of the platform, and she was shown into it. By the time the hymn was sung and prayer offered, she was tolerably solemnized.

Then there was a dead silence as the strange preacher came to the front of the platform and looked her full in the face, as if he had been specially sent to her. He paused for a moment, and as she looked up, wondering, her eyes met his. Gazing at her, as though he would read the secrets of her heart, he suddenly exclaimed,

“Poor sinner! God loves you!”

“I do not know,” she afterward stated, “what more he said. I have no doubt he preached the gospel very fully, but I heard nothing more. I sat there sobbing as if my heart was broken. I scarcely knew why it was, I could not help it. As I sat there, it seemed as though my whole life passed before me – a loveless, godless life – I had turned my back on God, lived for the world, lived for pleasure, lived in sin. That voice kept ringing in my ears over and over again; I could hear nothing else:

“Poor Sinner! God loves you!”

How I got out of the room, I do not know. I found myself by and by kneeling by my own bedside; tears were still streaming from my eyes; still I heard that voice within my soul:

“Poor Sinner! God loves you!”

At last I looked up, conscious of my own utter unworthiness; I dared to look up and I cried out:

“O my God, if Thou dost love me, I take Thee at Thy word; I trust Thy love; I cast myself on Thy love.”

Then the world faded away from this dear soul; its attractions lost their charm; the empty gaities of life, in which she had been living, passed away like a dream of the morning; and she went on her way a new woman, born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the received Word of God.

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

Correspondence: John 15:2; Doing Good at Any Time of Year?

Question: Who is meant by the branch that is taken away (John 15:2)? Is it like one in 1 Corinthians 11:36 or is it a Judas, or a castaway? (1 Cor. 9:27). Is the man in verse 6 the same as the branch in verse 2 That is taken away? Is it final destruction there?

Answer: When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the True Vine. His disciples were the branches. Israel had proved to be a degenerate vine. This was their relationship with Him, and abiding in Him proved their reality.

In such as Judas and the disciples that walked no more with Him, we see the branches taken away by the husbandman, and it means that they were lost forever (John 6:66).

Those that were real could not go away (John 6:68-69), so they were purged to bring forth more fruit.

Now that the Lord Jesus has gone on high, there is no vine. Believers are children of God the Father, and members of the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit dwelling in them (Rom. 8:16-17; 1 Cor. 12:12-13). We learn similar lessons, and especially on fruit-bearing, by this parable, and the epistles open up our portion more fully.

We see in 1 Corinthians 9:27 how even preachers are lost forever if they have no salvation through the death of Christ. And in such verses as Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 3:6, 14, the reality of Christians is proved by their “continuing in the faith,” “holding fast the hope,” and so on. We also see in 1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 John 5:16, that the Lord sometimes takes away His own people in chastisement, and sometimes puts them on a bed of sickness. And happy it is for us all to recognize His chastening in the many things that are allowed to come to us, and ask Him to help us to profit by them (Heb. 12:5-11; Rev. 3:19), and learn the lesson, that without Him we can do nothing.

Question: Is it contrary to any principle of Scripture for Christians to do good and to communicate toward one another, or toward the world at large, at any time of the year?

Answer: We are told in Hebrews 13:16 and Galatians 6:10 that we are to do these things, and God is well pleased with our sacrifices, if we can do it in the name of the Lord and for His glory (Col. 3:17).

But I apprehend that your question has in view this custom of giving gifts on certain religious holidays – church days they are called. For light on this we might read Galatians 4:10, 11:

“Ye observe days, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.”

The Galatians had teachers trying to put them under law, from which the death of Christ delivers us. In Scripture we get no days to keep, except that we own the first day of the week as for the Lord, “The Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). We have no ordinances to fulfill, except that we have been baptized, and now we remember the Lord in His death. May we, like the Apostle, say,

“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world,” and that is both the social and the religious world (Gal. 6:14; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Col. 2:20-23; Heb. 13:13).

I Am the Lord's

I am sure you remember one place in Scripture that speaks of believers, “Whether we live, or die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:8

This is a blessed truth as it stands, and it is written, “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

A constant use of that word, “We are the Lord’s,” will keep our peace, and establish our hearts, that not only is it a truth and a fact, but it ought to be running always in our minds, “I am the Lord’s,” till it becomes the fixed habit and thought of our soul, “I am the Lord’s,” and to meditate upon it.

It will keep us free and separate in the strivings of the world or its disturbances; it will keep our eyes from its pleasures. it will keep us from its devices; it will keep us, as it runs in our hearts, lively in duty. So may it prevail more and more in our hearts and minds. We may go here and there, up and down, with this circumstance or that, yet “I am the Lord’s” going with us, will keep our paths as becomes the brightness of His coming.

Be careful about everything, that, because you are the Lord’s, you may not fail in anything; but be not anxious about anything, making known your requests, great or small, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving; and the peace of God, such peace as God has, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6,7).

The Name of Jesus

A company of men were waiting in a public hall, and to while away the time they began to sing popular songs. Among them was a Christian who would not join in the singing of his unsaved companions. Seeing this, one man leaned over and said,

“Can’t you sing?”

“O, yes,” said our friend, “but only what my mother used to teach me.” A shout of laughter went round the room, and he was asked,

“What is that?”

“Listen,” he said, and then he sang the well known words,

“How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds

And drives away his fear.”

A look of surprise was seen on the faces of the men and some of them joined in the singing. The Christian, with a face full of joy showed his delight in the theme – that peerless Name – its sweetness was very real to him.

Again, he sang –

“It makes the wounded spirit whole,

It calms the troubled breast;

‘Tis manna to the hungry soul,

And to the weary rest.”

The fire of that song seemed to stir up the emotions of those men, their voices increasing in volume, the Christian entering into all the wondrous love of Him Who “healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3.

Once more the glory and sweetness, of that Name filled the room as the words rang out –

“Blest Name! the rock on which we build,

Our shield and hiding place;

Our never-failing treasury, filled

With boundless stores of grace.”

The singer, conscious that his feet were on the Rock, and that he was hidden in the cleft of that Rock, was enjoying communion with his Lord, and praise and worship seemed to flow out as he continued to sing –

“Jesus! our Saviour, Shepherd, Friend,

Thou Prophet, Priest and King;

Our Lord, our Life, our Way, our End,

Accept the praise we bring.”

The presence of that blessed Person seemed to be very real – the Saviour who died to save us, the Shepherd who sought and found us, the Friend who never leaves us, the Prophet who unfolds all the wonders of God’s love, the Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us, the King of glory, with whom His own shall dwell forever.

The next verse was sung in a subdued voice –

“Weak is, the effort of our heart,

And cold our warmest thought;

But when we see Thee as Thou art,

We’ll praise Thee as we ought.”

This seemed almost too much for the men as they realized how fully the Christian entered into the words he, sang. The last verse rang out loud and clear –

“Till then we would Thy love proclaim

With every fleeting breath;

And triumph in Thy blessed Name

Which quells the power of death.”

The song finished; there was a tense silence for some moments. Then one, a professional singer, rose and stretched out his hand to the Christian, saying, “Shake hands, sir. I am not religious, but I do admire a man who has the courage of his convictions.”

This gave our friend a good opportunity to tell out the glad tidings of salvation.

One man present who was a Christian, said to the singer afterward, “How did you do it? I should have been terrified.”

“I do not think you would,” he replied, “if you thought of the Lord Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us; you would feel as if you must speak of Him.”

Dear fellow-believer, let us ask ourselves what we are doing with the opportunities which the Lord gives us to show to others that we belong to Him? We may not be called on to witness for Him in public, but if we are in the enjoyment of His love, we shall be constrained to speak of Him. Surely we can tell of the One Who is our Saviour, Shepherd, Friend, and point the unsaved to Him Who not only can save them from sin and its power, but can fully satisfy the longings of their hearts.

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matthew 12:34.

“Tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.” Mark 5:19.

Extract: The Forgiveness of Sins

The forgiveness of sins is variously presented to us in the gospels, in the Acts, and in the epistles. We have it preached to sinners in the Acts; we have it taught or expounded to believers in the epistles; and we have it illustrated in individuals in the gospels.

All of God

In Hebrews 10 we get the will of God (verse 7),

The work of Christ (verse 10),

The witness of the Holy Spirit (verse 17).

How simple is the gospel! God wants us to be saved, so Christ died to save us, and the Holy Spirit comes and tells us we are saved. The whole thing is of God. Man’s only part is to believe, and receive, and enjoy this wondrous outflow of divine love.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 7:1-24

1 Corinthians 7:1-24

The Christians at Corinth had written to Paul regarding a question of the rightness or wrongness of marriage. They knew that he was unmarried, and this epistle as well as 1 Thessalonians shows that the Greeks of that day were the victims of depraved habits; immorality was widely prevalent. In 1 Thessalonians 2:3 the Apostle wrote to those young Christians from whom he had not long before parted in Thessalonica.

“For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile”; and further, in the 4th chapter,

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; not in the lust of concupiscence (or passionate desire) even as the Gentiles (or nations) which know not God... for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”

Marriage is an institution of God, provided in Genesis 2; and the Apostle has quoted from that passage (verse 24) in the 6th chapter, verse 16. In Hebrews 13:4 he afterward wrote, “Let marriage be held every way in honor, and the bed be undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers will God judge” (JND).

In this day, when moral restraints are being laughed at, it is well that Christians have God’s unchanging Word to guide them.

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” Psalms 119:9

What then is the will of God in these days with regard to the relationship between man and woman? The Apostle answers in this chapter, and what he says is, of course, in fullest accord with the Lord’s words in Matthew 19:3-12. That the highest state, if one be equal to it, is to remain unmarried (verses 1, 7, 8, 32-34, 37, 38, 40) follows from what the Christian is while here on earth, as is brought out in the latter part of the 6th chapter, and summed up in the last two verses.

It is not that a greater measure of holiness (which some claim) is attained by remaining unmarried, but as another has said,

“They do well who remain outside of this relationship in order to walk with the Lord according to the Spirit, and not to yield in anything to their nature. God had instituted marriage – woe to him who should speak ill of it; but sin has come in, and all that is of nature, of the creature, is marred. God has introduced a power altogether above and outside nature – that of the Spirit. To walk according to that power is the best thing; it is to walk outside the sphere in which sin acts. But it is rare; and positive sins are for the most part the effect of standing apart from that which God has ordained according to nature.”

The divine approval of marriage is accordingly again affirmed in the 2nd verse, where the translators have somewhat weakened the force of the original text by inserting “to avoid” where the true sense is “on account of” the immorality prevalent in that day, and always a danger in this present world.

What follows is a striking example of the difference between the Old and New Testaments in the revelation of the mind of God. Nothing like the instruction given in verses 3 to 5 is found anywhere from Genesis to Malachi. But when the blood of Christ has been shed (redemption’s awful price!), and He is risen and ascended; and the Holy Spirit has come down, forming a new thing – the church which is Christ’s body, out of those who were sinners, now saved by grace, and putting His seal upon them unto the day of redemption; it is then that God communicates to His saints His purposes as never before, and reveals His thoughts concerning what they should be in both large and small details of their lives.

Accordingly, that two are become one by marriage is given in Genesis 2:24; but that in that relationship, being one, involves that each partner should render to the other what is due (“benevolence” in verse 2 appears to be an unwarranted addition); and that as to the body the husband belongs to his wife, and the wife to her husband, is blessed instruction in conduct given for Christians. Happiness comes from obedience to the Word of God, as surely every Christian knows.

Verse 6: The expression, “by permission” means “as consenting to”, or as giving permission, and not by way of command. The Apostle wished all men to be even as himself (unmarried), but acknowledges that every one has in this respect his own gift from God; one man thus, and another thus. To the unmarried and widows he says that it is good for them that they remain as he was. But if they have not control over themselves, let them marry.

Verses 10, 11: “But to the married, I enjoin, not I, but the Lord, Let not wife be separated from husband (but if also she shall have been separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband) and let not husband leave wife” (JND).

Divorce because of the trivial grounds often alleged in these days, is contrary to Scripture, as is remarriage of persons so separated. Wife is not to be separated from husband, but if she shall have been separated, she is to remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. Husband is not to leave wife.

It is good to have the mind of the Lord about these things in a day like the present when the laws of men are arranged to meet popular demand, so that what is altogether legal under state or national laws, may be sin before God. And it is His Word that is the rule for the believer.

Verses 12-14. When husband or wife is converted, and the other remains in unbelief, if the unbeliever consents to live with the believer, the union is not to be broken, the Christian partner is not to leave nor put away the unbelieving. This is the contrary of what was required of Israel; and Ezra (chapters 9 and 10), tells of what had happened through neglect of God’s law, and the anguish that it must have brought when Israelites had to put away their Gentile wives and the children they had begotten with them. Under grace the unbelieving husband is sanctified, not by, but in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband; their children are holy; family ties forbidden by the law of Moses, are allowed in the order of divine grace in which God is now dealing with man. Sanctification here, and holiness, are of course not the inward work of the Holy Spirit; God has been pleased to attach an outward sanctification to the unbelieving members of the mixed household, so that contrary to the requirement of the law, there need be no breaking of family ties when one only of the married couple is saved (But what sorrow the Christian heart must feel because of the unequal yoke!).

Verses 15-17. What if the unbelieving husband or wife separates, refusing to continue in a union with the Christian partner which has become distasteful? In such a case the believer is not to try to force the other to return. But God has called us in peace; the Christian is not to seek such a release; it might indeed be that through the godly life and testimony of the believing wife or husband the unbelieving one would be saved. What a joy that would be! However,

“As the Lord has divided to each, as God has called each, so let him walk; and thus I ordain in all the assemblies.” verse 17, (JND). Thus we are to go on in subjection to God, owning Him in the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Verses 18-24. In these verses Christians are instructed further on the subject with which the 6th chapter closed:

“All things are lawful unto me; but all things are not profitable; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any... Now the body is... for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?... What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith He, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit... What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:12-20, omitting the last words of the chapter which are not in the best copies).

In view of these weighty words, present advantage is seen to be of little account; I am to seek instead to have God before my soul. He who was a Jew when God had called him, and he who was a Gentile when called, need give their former state no consideration; what is important is the keeping of God’s commandments.

“Servant,” in verses 21, 22, 23, is really “bondman,” in substance a slave. The Christian slave need not worry about his condition, but if there was a way whereby he might gain his freedom, become a freeman, he should take advantage of it. For he that is called in the Lord, being a bondman, is the Lord’s freeman; likewise, he that is called, being a freeman, is Christ’s bondman.

We are bought with a price; so are we again reminded; we belong to the Lord; let us not become the bondmen of men; such we shall be if led away from simple dependence in the path of obedience into following leaders who serve not God but their own selves.

The subject is closed with a needed guard against indifference as to what Christians go on with. We are to abide in our line of things with God.

Talking Business

A Christian was passing a large department store, and followed a sudden impulse to go in and talk to the proprietor on the subject of his salvation. Finding him, he said,

“Mr. T., I’ve talked beds and carpets, and bookcases with you, but I’ve never talked my business with you. Would you give me a few minutes to do so?”

Being led to the private office, the minister took out his New Testament and showed him passage after passage which brought before that business man his duty to accept Jesus Christ. Finally the tears began to roll down his cheeks, and he said to the pastor:

“I’m seventy years of age. I was born in this city, and more than a hundred ministers, and more than five hundred church officers have known me as you have, to do business with, but in all these years, you are the only man who ever spoke to me about my soul.”

“I looked on my right hand, and behold there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto Thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” Psalms 143:4-5

Not in Vain

“Be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Cheer up, despondent mission worker, disconsolate Sunday school teacher, discouraged gospel preacher, weary hospital worker, sorely tried tract distributor! Do you not know that however black things look, how little results you see, how many disappointments you meet in seeking to serve your Lord, everything done with a single eye, under the constraint of His love, will receive His “Well done” in a coming day?

A farmer plows, harrows, and sows, often in adverse weather conditions, and without immediate results, but he waits in patience. In due season you shall reap, if you faint not. We must also remember that the work of some is to sow, that of others to reap, but both shall rejoice together when the harvest is garnered. If we cannot all be successful servants, we can all be faithful ones.

To all outward appearance there never was a more unsuccessful servant than our blessed Lord. After arduous days, and weary nights, spent in going about doing good, laboring, toiling incessantly, apparently He had spent His strength for naught. But was that so? His judgment was with His God; and in the day of glory soon to dawn, innumerable hosts, blessed in heaven and on earth, will witness that His labor was not in vain.

Let us labor on, cheered and encouraged that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. His eye discerns all done to please Him. In every good work we are to do His will. If we cannot do what we would, may it be true that we have done what we could.

“Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 8

Verse 1. “But concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know, (for we all have knowledge; knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” JND). There is a parenthesis, beginning in the first verse and ending with the third, which is not marked in the Authorized version.

This chapter establishes principles of wide application for the government of the children of God, and we shall do well to give earnest heed to what it contains. How admirable is the Word of God! Within its pages, the sacred volume holds the fullest instruction for the saints in their relations one with another, as well as for themselves individually in all the varied circumstances of life. Yet it is sadly true that almost all of the errors into which they fall, and have fallen with loss to themselves and dishonor to Christ, are very plainly the subjects of instruction in the Word of God that even a young child may understand. But when the conscience is not in due exercise before God, a believer, though he may be ever so familiar with the Scriptures, may allow the old nature to act as though it and all its doings were not condemned at the cross of Christ.

Dear young Christian, cultivate the habit of a clear conscience, as Paul could say of himself in Acts 24:16, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always (or, in everything) a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.”

The Apostle is going to say that we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is no other God save one, but first he must point out that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (edifies). How true! Let us not only remember this brief word from God’s Book, but also practice what it teaches.

Verse 2. In the first chapter we learned that the natural man, no matter what his qualifications may be, of wisdom, power, or high birth, cannot boast before God. No flesh may glory in His presence. This verse deals another blow to the pride and self-sufficiency that are innate in us.

“If any man think that he knoweth” (has inward conscious knowledge of) “anything, he knoweth” (here a different word is used in the original, carrying the meaning of an acquaintance with; objective knowledge; knowledge in the ordinary sense) “nothing yet as he ought to know.”

But if any man love God, the same is known of Him (verse 3). This is precious knowledge indeed, and a happy conclusion of the discussion of knowledge which in us, apart from love, as we see from the first verse of our chapter, is worth nothing.

The Christian knows that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is but one God. The heathen have many gods, and many intermediate beings or lords, in their superstitions, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we for (not “in”) Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." (verse 6).

There are three divine Persons, equally God, as other Scriptures tell: Matthew 28:19; Philippians 2:11 (the Father); Romans 9:5 and Hebrews 1:8 (the Son); 1 Corinthians 2:11; Acts 5:3,4 (the Holy Spirit); and other passages, among which chapter 12 of this epistle may be referred to.

There, as here, it is not a question of nature, as to Who is God; but a setting forth of position. The Father remains in absolute deity; the Son took Manhood, and in that, has taken the place of Lord; the Holy Spirit, not named in our chapter, but in the 12th, has also a special place in the work of God, as every Christian knows, and the four gospels (and particularly John 14, 15 and 16), the Acts, and the epistles and Revelation display.

Verses 7-13. To find and study all the passages of Scripture which deal with the weak, the “slow of heart” and the “lame”, the fainthearted and the poor, would be a lengthy though happy occupation. We may, however, compare, in this connection, the latter part of our chapter with Romans 14 and the opening verse of the 15th chapter of that epistle; or turn to Luke 24:13-35, and marvel at the Lord’s way of recovery for two spiritually sick saints. How tender His care is for His discouraged ones, we may see from Isaiah 40:27-31, among many passages.

All the children of God should be growing in intelligence, in knowledge and in grace, through giving place to the desires of the new nature, which needs, daily food from the Word of God, and exercise too. But from one cause or another, some believers seems to grow very little, or very, very slowly; yet they may be quite conscientious. There were such at Corinth, where idolatry was almost, if not quite universal before the light of Christianity entered. They ought to have realized that an idol is nothing in the world, for there is but one God, the living and true one; but they are looked at here (verses 7-13) just as they were; and the approved course of the better taught, or more intelligent believers toward them is set out in divine wisdom.

“With conscience of the idol” and “their conscience being weak is defiled” (verse 7) mean that these believers, not being fully delivered from former things, were influenced to some extent by the thought of a real and powerful being, once an object of worship; and so they had a conscience about eating food that had been offered to an idol; to them it was evil. They must follow their consciences, or else defile them.

Meat does not commend us to God; neither if we should not eat do we come short, nor if we should eat have we an advantage; and we who have no conscience concerning the matter are enjoined to see that this liberty, or right to eat, shall not be in any way a stumbling block to the weak.

Better far would it be for the brother of superior knowledge to forego his right to eat meat in an idol house, knowing that the idol is nothing, than that a weak one should be injured through seeing him there. Would not his conscience, as a consequence, be emboldened to eat of the meat as an idol-offering, and thus he be estranged from God? Thus, as far as the act of the “strong” brother is concerned, the weak one – the brother for whose sake Christ died – will perish through the former’s knowledge. It is not that God will not interfere so that he shall not perish; from other Scriptures we are assured that He will; but what is pressed is the tendency of my conduct, using my liberty to the detriment of one for whom Christ died.

Thus sinning against the brethren and wounding their weak conscience, I sin against Christ. Injury to one of His weak ones is an injury to Himself, as Saul of Tarsus learned to his amazement near Damascus in Acts 9:4, 5.

“Therefore,” says he, now, Paul the Apostle of Christ Jesus, “if meat be a fall-trap to my brother, I will eat no flesh forever, that I may not be a fall-trap to my brother.”

Dear young Christian, here is a lesson to learn, concerning the desire in us all to please ourselves, perhaps in what is right in itself; we ought to consider the effect of it on others who are also Christ’s.

The World's Esteem

There is a great difference between giving up the world, and the world giving us up. We may do the one with comparative ease; but when we feel the world despises us as Christ was despised, we shall discover unless He fills and satisfies the heart, that we had a value for its esteem that we were not aware of. When obedience is as important to us in our measure, as obeying was to Christ, we shall go right on whatever is before us, without regarding the world; not that we shall be insensible, but when Christ is the object, we shall only be occupied with Him.

Fragment: Full Provision

God undertook to bring the Israelites into Canaan; and He took such ample care of them that their shoes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

And He has undertaken to bring many sons to glory. Think you that He takes less care of these? No, He has made full provision to bring them home in a manner worthy of Himself.

Nothing Too Hard

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Genesis 18:14

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; Is there anything too hard for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27

“Ah! Lord God! Behold Thou hast made the heaven and earth by Thy great power, and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” Jeremiah 32:17

Do you feel that your prayers and petitions

Which daily you bring to the Lord,

Are beyond His great power of fulfillment,

That you’re asking that which is too hard?

Then list to His own Word of promise,

Creator of heaven and all,

“There is Nothing Too Hard” for thy Maker –

His ear is awaiting your call.

“The world He established by wisdom”.

“He stretched forth the heavens above”,

“The dust of the earth He has measured”,

But nothing can measure His love.

“He hangeth the earth upon nothing”

“He gave to the sea His decree”,

“The mountains are weighed in a balance”,

“He numbers the sands of the sea.”

“He telleth the stars all by number”,

“He notes every sparrow that falls”,

“The hairs of thy head are all numbered”,

And thou art more precious than all.

“His wisdom is past understanding”,

“His ways are beyond finding out”,

With mercy and grace that’s unbounded,

Thy pathway is compassed about.

Then call on His Name in dependence,

And cast on the Lord every care,

He promises ever to answer,

His joy is to hear His child’s prayer.

Whatever the burden or problem,

With confidence, trust in the Lord,

Omnipotence never will fail thee,

And for Him, “there is nothing too hard.”

“With God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26.

“According to your faith be it unto you.” Matthew 9:29.

True Greatness

Learn to grapple with souls. Aim at the conscience. Exalt Christ. Use a sharp knife with yourself. Say little, serve all, pass on.

This is true greatness – to serve unnoticed and work unseen.

O, the joy of having nothing, and being nothing, seeing nothing but a living Christ in glory, and being careful for nothing, but His interests down here.

Address to Young People: Part 2

Acts 20:16-38

Part 2

Is there ever a time or place to lay aside what is becoming to Christ? Are we to be one thing when we are out on the street corners preaching the gospel, a group of young men raising their voices in testimony to the salvation they now enjoy? Are we to be one thing there, and another as soon as the conference is over? When we find ourselves no longer under close surveillance, what kind of lives are we leading?

Paul says, “at all seasons.” That does not mean just at conference time. Another thing one has observed, and we speak that we may be helpful, not to be critical, saints will make a great effort and sacrifice to go to a big meeting such as we have here, and I thank God for everyone that is here. They seem to enjoy it, but when they get back to the little meeting, we may see them once a week at the Breaking of Bread. The ministry of Christ at home often isn’t worth coming a few blocks for, but at a general meeting it is worth driving many miles. Is that consistent? There is no such thing as “seasons” when it comes to personal faithfulness and godliness.

Verse 20. “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.”

The Apostle was a faithful servant because he kept back nothing from the saints that was profitable. Do you think they always enjoyed hearing all he had to tell them? He says if he had pleased men he should not be the servant of Christ. A faithful servant is going to tell us what we do not like to hear, as well as the things we do like to hear. He kept back nothing from them. “I kept back nothing that was profitable.” Is that the kind of servants we want to be? Is that the kind of hearers that we want to be? Do we want those who minister, to tell us all the truth; Or do we want them to trim their ministry?

In Timothy we read that a time was coming when those who professed to be saints of God would not endure sound doctrine, but would heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears (2 Tim. 4:3). I believe we are living in that time now. I believe we see it all around us, and that very spirit can creep into our little meetings, until we want the brother who ministers the Word to minister only that which will not cut too deep, and will not plow the conscience. Do you wish him to betray his trust, and shade his ministry because it cuts into your life? It is a solemn thing to quench the Spirit. You sit in the meeting, and there is welling up in your soul resentment because some brother is ministering truth to you that makes you uncomfortable.

Ah, yes, we like to hear about salvation. That is good. And we like to see people saved. That is lovely. Perhaps we like to hear about the Lord’s coming – that blessed hope. Yes, we like to hear these things, but when the Apostle Paul was ministering, he did not stop there, but talked about things that pertained to the every-day life and walk of his hearers. We know that, for he has left his record here. We know the character of his ministry. He talked about lying, stealing, about covetousness, drunkenness; about worldliness, fornication and other sins. About those sins that he found had crept in among those professing to be children of God.

He was faithful in proclaiming the whole counsel of God. Do we want to emulate him? Is that the ministry we want to hear? Or have we got to the stage where we have itching ears? Some say all that is necessary is the ministry of Christ. And in a certain sense that is true. But part of the ministry of Christ is the calling of your attention, the attention of the saints, to those things that are contrary to the life and calling of Christ. The epistles abound in it. There is not one to which we can turn, but we find that the Apostle is calling their attention to gross inconsistencies in their lives and ways. That is part of the ministry of Christ.

We can recall the incident of Ahab’s 400 prophets. It reminds one of a worldly saying which might be said thus, “Surely 400 can’t be wrong” (1 Kings 22:6-8, 9, 14, 23, 26-28; 2 Chron. 18:4-8, 16, 22, 25-27).

The 400 all prophesied alike. They prophesied what the king wanted to hear. But there was another prophet there – just one man. After the 400 had given their prophecies, Jehosaphat says there must still be another prophet, and Ahab confesses that there is, but that they do not like to hear him. He tells them the truth, and he suffers for it (2 Chron. 18:16, 22, 25, 26). Four hundred were wrong, and only one was right, because the one man got his message from above, and the 400 got their message from expediency.

We are living in days when we want to be flattered. We are in the last days. If we are to be faithful, we must hearken to the Word in order to know the mind of Christ. Do we want a sort of 50-50 life, or do we want the whole counsel of God? If we say, “so far and no farther,” the Spirit may take us at our word, but we may suffer for it the rest of our lives.

“Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”

“None of these things move me.” How far is that true of us? Dear young Christian, do you have a grasp of it down in your soul in such a way that you are not going to be moved? Have you sat down and counted the cost? Are you willing to pay the price, and go on for God, and walk the path of separation to Him? There will be rich compensation, if you do, but there is a price to pay. The Lord isn’t going to be your debtor. He will more than compensate you. The happiest Christian here today is the one living in the closest communion with Christ; the one who is walking closest to Christ.

The Apostle says he wants to finish his course with joy. Let us examine that expression. “Finish the course.” That meant that he was on a set course. He couldn’t finish something he wasn’t on. Evidently the course that he was on, was one that he felt could stand the test of that “All-Seeing Eye.” He wants to finish the course with joy. The course that I, as an individual believer, am on at the present time, if I go on in that course where will it land me? You are on a course, when will you finish it? No one knows. There is no age limit to this finishing process. How often we find young Christians taken out of this scene.

I know a young Christian woman who today is lying with death on her forehead.

For her, the course will soon be finished. You know not how soon you, too, may finish your course. If you finish the course that you are on at the present time, is it going to be a joyful finish, or one of sorrow? If you knew that you were going to finish up this month, if that could be revealed to you in some way, would it necessitate a radical change in your course? In your associations? In your pleasures? In your fellowships? In your personal secret life? In your spiritual life? If you knew that this month was the month the course finished for you, would it require a lot of sudden, hasty adjustments in your life?

(To be continued)

Honoring God and His Word

“The Lord saith... Them that honor Me, I will honor.” 1 Samuel 2:30.

The ambition of every child of God should be to honor every word of the living God, and to be content with that honor that comes from God only. To such a one, the crowns and scepters of earth, its glories, dignities and riches are esteemed as toys, not worth grasping after. Our Lord says,

“If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.” John 12:26.

Here is found the true clue to honor. Not that which comes from man, but that which comes new in measure to the faithful servant from the living God.

A Sound of Abundance of Rain

These words were spoken by Elijah the prophet, to Ahab King of Israel (1 Kings 18:41). No refreshing shower had fallen during a period of three years and six months, and not a cloud was rising from the horizon when this man of faith and prayer gave utterance to this hopeful sentiment.

Some of us can look back twenty years, and thirty years or even fifty years ago. What seasons of blessing in the gospel! What times of conversion amid all classes of society! The Spirit of God was moving in mighty power through the land. But of late it has not been so. A widespread apathy and indifference has pervaded the borders of Christendom. There has been an abundance of work – hard work, too; there has been much preaching – earnest preaching, faithful preaching; but the results have not been such as to encourage with the thought that many were being led to the Lord. This has been the universal and widely expressed feeling of all who have labored in the gospel field.

Brethren, has there been that spirit of prayer which at one time prevailed?

“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” James 5:17, 18.

We write these few lines to stir up every Christian who may be a reader of our magazine to earnest, believing, and continued prayer – definite prayer, too, for definite results.

We believe the coming of the Lord is drawing nigh, and we trust that a great gathering of souls will take place e’er He comes.

Why are we writing? That both writer and reader may have the joy, the privilege, and the honor of having a little share in this God-honoring, Christ-exalting, glorious work of bringing others to the Saviour.

We would affectionately and earnestly suggest meetings for special prayer in every locality where this little magazine circulates, that God will come in and work mightily for the honor of His great Name, for the glory of Christ, for the blessing of His people, and for the salvation of souls.

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My House may be filled.” Luke 14:23

The Eye on Christ, Not on Events

However high the waves may rise, there is no drowning Christ’s love and thoughts towards us. The test is to our faith. The question is, Have we that faith which so realizes Christ’s presence as to keep us as calm and composed in the rough sea as the smooth? It was not really a question of the rough or the smooth sea, when Peter was sinking in the water, for he would have sunk without Christ, just as much in the smooth as in the rough sea. The fact was, the eye was off Jesus on the wave, and that made him sink.

If we go on with Christ, we shall get into all kinds of difficulty, many a boisterous sea; but being one with Him, His safety is ours. The eye should be off events, although they be ever so solemn, and I feel them to be so; but I know all is as settled and secure as if the whole world were favorable.

I quite dread the way many dear saints are looking at events, and not looking at Christ and for Christ. The Lord Himself is the security of His people, and let the world go on as it may, no events can touch Christ. We are safe on the sea, if only we have the eye off the waves, with the heart concentrated on Christ and on the interests of Christ. Then the devil himself cannot touch us.

Extract: Living to Christ

Living to Christ inwardly is the only possible means of living to Him outwardly... I dread great activity without great communion; but I believe that where the heart is with Christ, it will live to Him.

Correspondence: Attitude Towards Door Knockers?

Question: What should be our attitude towards those who go from door to door and seek to introduce into our homes false teaching, such as Millenial Dawnism, Seventh Day Adventism, and others?

Answer: In the Second Epistle of John, where he writes as an elder to the elect lady and her children, we are furnished with the necessary instructions for our method of dealing with those who teach and propagate false doctrine.

“For many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist... Whosoever transgresseth (or, "goes forward,” that is, seeks to make advances on the truth of God by way of improvement), and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine (that is, the doctrine of Christ – confessing Jesus Christ coming in flesh), receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." 2 John 7, 9-11.

A very simple way of detecting whether those who approach us are to be received or rejected, is found in 1 John 4:1-3.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (or, "prove”) the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (or, more accurately, “Jesus Christ come in flesh”, see New Trans.) is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus Christ come in flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." Apply this test:

“What think ye of Christ”, and the simplest believer can readily detect what is true and what is false, and then can act accordingly – the most advanced Christian can do no more.

We should not resort to argument with any of these teachers of “systematized error” (Eph. 4:14-New Trans.), or we may be made to feel that we are no match for the enemy on that ground. These men resist the truth and we should shun them.

“For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts... Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” 2 Timothy 3:6, 8.

It is needless to say, we must make a distinction between those who are the crafty and deliberate leaders and propagators of these evil doctrines, and those who may be simple souls, ignorantly ensnared by them, and whom we might long to help, should God enable us.

“And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” Jude 22, 23.

We ever need to look to God for wisdom in dealing with individual souls, even as to the Word we might leave with them.

“The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at (or "for”) his will." 2 Timothy 2:24-26.

Sundown

The day had run its course, and was fading into that hour of decline, which those that do business in deep waters call “Sundown,” when two sailors sat conversing on general topics.

One, Thomas E-, was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ; and the other, John C-, was as yet unconverted, but not regardless of his soul and its eternal concerns.

The scene before them was a fair one; sinking to rest in the west, flooding the landscape with such glories of red, purple, and golden light as is only to be seen in the tropics- the setting sun was gradually disappearing beneath the distant outline of horizon. Thomas said suddenly to his companion,

“Is not that grand beyond description; if it is so beautiful this side of heaven, what must it be on the other side?”

John started, and appeared much surprised at the remark; he hardly knew what to say; at last replied,

“I have no idea!”

“No more can I approach it in idea,” replied his friend.

“What made you ask me that question then?” queried John.

“Ah!” replied the other, “I have been thinking much about it myself, and I shall know one day, perhaps very shortly.”

John said he did not think anyone could know anything about such subjects until after death.

“Of a verity they can, for we find the account of new heavens and a new earth in the Scriptures,” gently responded Thomas, and then he spoke earnestly to the listener about his soul, and asked him if he was a Christian.

“Of course I am, we are all that,” came the evasive answer.

“No!” firmly repeated Thomas, “No! not unless we have had our sins washed away in the precious blood of Christ; not unless we are believers and followers of the Lord Jesus – we are not Christians except we belong to Christ – we are eternally lost.” He then went on to speak of the love of God in giving His only Son to die for us, so that all who believe in Him, “should not perish, but have everlasting life;” be saved, and that at once, then and there eternally saved. But John could not comprehend it, he thought he must do something to pave his way to Christ; something to reconcile God, and win His forgiveness, for he was, and had been such a great sinner.

Thomas told him, No! that was an error, it was he, himself, a wretched, hard-hearted, ignorant sinner that had to be reconciled to God, for God was a God of love and pity, yearning to save him – it was for such as he, that Christ had died, yea, rose again – His death had met God’s, justice, for He had died in his stead; His resurrection was God’s acknowledgment that the debt was paid, and the work of substitution accepted and well pleasing in the Father’s eyes: it was a finished work; Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and died to make peace by the blood of His cross – and if John were lost it was himself alone who was responsible.

For some time both sat silent, and Thomas lifted up his heart in earnest pleading to his Father for his friend, that He would draw this precious soul to Himself. The Holy Spirit was pleased to apply the Word affectionately spoken, with power to John’s conscience, who still remained silent; while the other poured out his soul in prayer to the Lord that He would open his eyes; and a speedy answer was vouchsafed, for John suddenly exclaimed,

“I think I see it all now! Christ died that I might live! and I can have eternal life now, for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin!” he turned his countenance, lively with emotion, towards his friend, who could scarcely speak for joy, and at first found no words to express his delight and happiness at witnessing the dawn of a new birth in his shipmate’s heart.

Then with earnest words, Thomas still spoke on, of the freeness of that salvation, and the beseeching tenderness of God coming down to meet the sinner’s need, and deliver him from the power of sin, judgment and the law – which could only condemn, not heal; how Christ by one offering of Himself to God, had forever perfected them that are sanctified (Heb. 10:12-14): and how the believer is sanctified, or set apart at once when he takes his place as helpless and lost, and accepts Christ. Finally they rejoiced together; and the two shipmates became close friends, spending every spare moment talking over the Word of God.

Since that hour, the Lord has been graciously pleased to sustain John in bearing a testimony for Him amid the taunts and scoffings of some of his former companions; but his consolation in Christ has been greater than Satan’s malice.

When Thomas told me this anecdote, he informed me, that when he was drafted, he left behind him a loving wife who was also a fellow pilgrim to the better land, and the separation had been a bitter pang to them; but both Mary and he, could now see the Lord’s hand in sending him to the West Indies, as He had John’s precious soul to be won, and Thomas was to be the instrument to do it.

That prayerful conversation at Sundown, on the distant waters of the tropics, witnessed the entrance of the light of God’s salvation into a soul, which will rejoice with us in the presence of the Lord.

“In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalms 16:11.

Confidence in God

“But,” said a child of God, some time since, “my trials and difficulties are very real.”

“Just so,” replied the servant of Christ to whom she was speaking; “but are not the power and grace of Christ real things too? And is not the faith that makes us use them real also?”

O! for more real and simple confidence in our gracious God, such as will enable us to rely most implicitly and unshakingly upon His infinite goodness and might, without the shadow of a doubt as to their willing activity on our behalf. And what rest this will give, what peace within, however much the storm may rage without and around.

“Happy is the man who trusteth in the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7.

And it is a very real thing; may both the reader and writer know more of it.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 9

When Christians grow careless about the things of God, they become the easy prey of Satan, who, we may be sure, is ever quick to detect any deficiency in their armor (Eph. 6:10-18). A really bad state had developed among the believers at Corinth, as we have before noticed in our study of this epistle. It is not likely that it came about suddenly; rather would it be a gradual thing, for the children of God are not weaned away in a moment from the heavenly food given them in His Word. O, let us all profit by the failure and sin of others, and be careful to keep close to God and His Word!

The low spiritual state of the Corinthian saints, and lack of watchfulness on their part, had been the occasion for the coming in among them of some false professors who were really servants of the devil, but posed as apostles of Christ and acquired much influence in the local assembly (2 Cor. 11:12-15). Thus it was that the Apostle Paul came to be spoken against in Corinth where, through his preaching, the gospel was received into thousands of hearts and consciences theretofore without knowledge of the true God.

An apostle, we gather from the first verse, together with Acts 1:21-26, must of necessity have seen the Lord. It does not appear from the Scriptures which tell of Paul’s early life as an enemy of the Lord (Acts 22 and 26) that he ever saw Him in life on earth. Because his calling and ministry were derived from Christ in glory, we conclude that it was when as Saul of Tarsus he was, struck down in his wicked course (Acts 9), or afterward that he was privileged to see Him.

Paul’s apostleship was not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from among the dead, as he records in the first chapter of Galatians; and the Corinthian saints were his work in the Lord, as they surely knew. If not an Apostle to others, Paul certainly was to the Christians at Corinth, as he tells them: “for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.” He had gone alone to Corinth (Acts 18) after Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and Athens; there Silas and Timothy came presently and he remained a year and six months teaching the Word of God; evidently leaving only when he believed that for the present his work there was finished. Nowhere else in his missionary travels, up to this time, does the Apostle appear to have remained so long, and if the Corinthian believers were not well established in the Word, it was because of their own allowance of self; they were yet carnal (chapter 3). None the less they were the seal of Paul’s apostleship.

Verses 3-14: Without a shadow of rancor, Paul takes up the challenge of his opponents. Had he not a right to eat and to drink? Had he not a right to take round a sister as wife, as also the other apostles and the brethren (or kinsman) of the Lord, and Cephas (Peter)? Or he alone and Barnabas, had they not a right not to work?

Illustrating his position and that of the other servants of the Lord by reference to things common in the world, the Apostle asks, Who ever carries on war at his own charges? who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? or who herds a flock and does not eat of the milk of the flock? But a far higher authority than man had laid down the principle of compensation, even for the ox when he treads out the corn (Deut. 25:4. This passage is also cited in 1 Tim. 5:18).

Is God then occupied about the oxen, or does He in this communicate His mind as to His own servants? asks Paul. For our sakes it has been written, he continues, that the plower should plow in hope, and he that treads out corn, in hope of partaking of it.

Then (verse 11) it is asked, If we have sown to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? Here is a matter regarding which there is much failure on the part of God’s people. Absorbed in their own circumstances, many lose sight of the duty and privilege of providing for the support of the Lord’s servants. Can it be well with us when those who labor in the gospel and among the saints to the Lord’s glory are but sparsely provided for, are at times almost, if not actually, in want?

Paul had not used the right to support from the saints, choosing instead to pay his own expenses, that he might put no hindrance in the way of the gospel of Christ. Did those to whom he wrote, not know that they who labor at sacred things (or perform the sacred rites) eat of the offerings offered in the temple? they that attend at the altar partake with the altar? Such was the divine provision in the system of sacrifices ordained for Israel, and so also the Lord has ordained to those that announce the gospel, to live of the gospel. Yet Paul had used none of these things, nor did he write about them in order that the saints should support him by their means. It were good for him rather to die, than that any one should make vain his boast (verse 15).

If Paul, or any other saint of God should preach the gospel, he has nothing to boast of, for it is a duty owed to the Lord. Necessity, says the Apostle, is laid upon me, for it is woe to me if I should not preach the gospel. It is the Lord who calls to His service, and gives to His servants fitness for the work to which He has called them; they are not, in the Scriptures, appointed by men at all.

Verse 17. If one preached voluntarily, without the Lord’s sending him into the work, then of course he has a reward; but if it is not of his own will, an administration or stewardship (not, in the present meaning of the word, a dispensation) is entrusted to him. And God looks for faithfulness in stewards, as we noted in the fourth chapter.

What then is Paul’s reward? that in making known the glad tidings of God’s grace he made it costless to others, so as not to have made use, as belonging to him, of his right in announcing it. Abuse, in verse 18, like abusing in verse 31 of the 7th chapter, means not using what is referred to as something to which you have title of possession.

For, being free from all (as he said at the beginning of the chapter), the Apostle had made himself servant (bondman) to all, that he might gain the most possible. To the Jews he became as a Jew, in order that he might gain the Jews; to those under the law, as under law, not being himself under law, in order that he might gain those under law; to those without law, as without law (not as without law to God, but as legitimately subject to Christ) in order that he might gain those without law. To the weak he became as weak, in order that he might gain the weak. To all he had become all things, in order that by all means he might save some. And he did all things for the sake of the glad tidings, that he might be fellow-partaker with them (not, “with you”). What is meant is partaking in the joy of salvation, in seeing souls saved. Truly the Apostle Paul was the pattern servant of the Lord – so like his Master!

Verses 24-27 present an aspect of the truth of God to which the Corinthian Christians had paid little heed. The subject is considered in the early verses of the 10th chapter, also, and it is a searching word for both believers and unbelievers.

“Know ye not that they who run in the race-course run all, but one receives the prize. Thus run in order that ye may obtain. But everyone that contends for a prize is temperate in all things; they then indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore thus run, as not uncertainly; so I combat, as not beating the air. But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should be myself rejected.” (JND).

Christians are apt to be occupied with the cares and burdens of life, if not with its pleasures; and we have to be reminded three times in the epistles in terms that suggest the Athenian athletic competitions of many centuries ago, that present things must not be allowed to have an undue place in our lives (2 Tim. 2; Heb. 12:1). All the athletes participating in a race run, but only one receives the winner’s prize; so run that ye may obtain, is the word addressed to each of us in 1 Corinthians 9:24. And, too, we are to be “temperate,” not at ease, pleasing ourselves in this world, but subjecting ourselves in everything to the call of God.

And what of the unsaved professor? No believer will be lost, but some professors, even preachers of the gospel, will be rejected.

Tract Distribution: What One Tract Did

The importance of having good reading cannot be overestimated. As one goes from place to place the lack of this is felt. Few Christians are without a weekly or daily newspaper, yet again and again one finds not one good helpful Christian paper in such homes, and the prophet’s word might be used,

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6.

It is true, the Word of God must have first place in a Christian home. We believe where the Book of books is valued and studied as it should be by us, anything that helps to further understanding its precious contents will be hailed with great delight.

Eternity alone will fully reveal the loss to many who now heap up riches upon the earth and fail to lay up treasures in heaven. O, how many a child of God we have heard bless the Lord for the written ministry. It goes where the voice cannot go, and will speak when we are gone. Many have been brought to God through reading some gospel incident recording the conversion of others. Upon no subject should we be more awake. What a field we have in the home and among our neighbors to serve the Lord Jesus. These fields lay open everywhere. What are we doing in this respect?

What one tract did!

A woman whose name has been forgotten, dropped a tract in the way of a very wicked man. He picked up the tract and read it, and it was the means of his conversion, and through Him, multitudes were brought to Christ.

Who can measure the influence of one little tract put into the hands of an unconverted person?

An aged Christian came into a Tract Depot and bought a few dollars worth of tracts, and said, with tears coursing down his cheeks, that a neighbor living nearby for nine years had just died, and that he had never so much as given him a tract or paper setting forth the gospel before him, or warning him of his danger, and now he had died suddenly and he feared he was lost.

Oh, beloved, what are we doing? What a thought for us? One soul gone into eternity – lost forever – whom we knew on earth!

Often there are difficulties in the way of speaking to people about eternal realities, when one gospel tract, of but one or few pages, handed on with a kind word, or silently, or sent through the mail, could do the work. It can reach the mansion, it will enter the jail and prison, the home of the poor, and stay for weeks, months and years, and turn up in time, and deliver its message true and faithful just the same as it could the day it left the kind and thoughtful hand that passed it on.

Thousands upon thousands can rise up and testify that a tract was the means of their conversion. Thousands will tell us they have been restored from paths of sin and vice, to that of peace and righteousness by the truth carried by these silent messengers of God.

Others have been cherished, comforted and stimulated in their Christian lives by them: and, again, what light and truth they have carried to people and homes, making the Bible a new book to them.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Danger for Christians

We are in more danger when the world smiles than frowns;

when it praises than reproaches;

when it gives than takes;

when it knows than when it does not;

when it loves than when it hates.

“The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” 1 John 3:1.

“Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” 1 John 3:13.

“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 12:19.

“The friendship with the world is enmity with God.” James 4:4.

Address to Young People: Part 3

Acts 20:16-38

Part 3

The Apostle Paul says, “I know nothing against myself.” There was a man that could say before the eyes of God, “I know nothing against myself.” What did that mean? It meant that he wasn’t allowing anything in his life that wouldn’t stand the test of the judgment seat of Christ. He wanted to finish his course with joy, and beloved saints of God, he did! He did finish with joy. There never was a more triumphant finish to a course than the Apostle Paul’s. We would all like to finish that way, wouldn’t we? We can, for there is a way to see to it, that we can finish our course that way.

There is a recipe for that kind of a finish. What is it? He had Christ before him always! Morning, noon and night it was Christ before him always. More and more of Christ before his soul, until that final moment when he was absent from the body and present with his Lord.

Dear fellow Christian, the Spirit of God longs this afternoon that you and I might finish our course with joy, too. We can’t afford to take chances; there is no time to waste. Let us see to it that we are on the right course, and that Christ is the object of our life.

“Nothing but Christ, as on we tread.”

“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”

“I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Paul says he is free from the blood of all men. Could we say the same? Paul started this address by reminding them “After what manner I have been with you.” He pointed to his life among them. Preaching (declaring the counsel of God) was half, and living was the other half, and at the end he could say, “I am pure from the blood of all men.”

Are we pure from the blood of all men? Our lives speak loudly day after day, and everyone has his influence on the rest of us. There are no exceptions. That is absolutely, universally true. Every one of us influences in some way the rest of us. And what you allow in your life, what your brethren can see in your life – “After what manner I have been with you at all seasons” – that has its positive influence upon your brethren. Are we free from the blood of all men, if we are allowing in our lives a wrong attitude, a wrong spirit, wrong associations, indulging in wrong things that grieve and dishonor our blessed Lord? If we are, we can’t say that we are free from the blood of all men.

Perhaps the deep sorrow that came into that Christian’s life, was because he copied my example, and he wasn’t able to stop where I did, so he came to that awful breakdown and sorrow. We are here in this world, and mingling with our fellowmen, saved and lost, all those that we meet day after day – are our lives telling for Christ? Do they see Christ in us?

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with the blood of His own” (JND).

In the few minutes that remain to us, we want to speak of the church of God. We want to speak of the body of Christ. We want to speak of the house of God. Not that these are synonymous terms. But when the Word of God speaks of the church of God, what does it mean? It means that God has down here on earth a company of people that He calls His church. They are comprised of all the saved of all the world. Everyone that belongs to Christ forms a part of that church – the people of God. He has only one church. There is only one that interests Him. Men have made many churches, but God had only one. And He speaks only of one, and is interested only in one. Beloved, you and I have no right to recognize any other than one. The moment we do, we are making allowances for what God disallows. He has only one church, and it is very precious to Him. How do we know it is precious? Because of the price He paid for it. What does this verse say?

“The church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.” The blood of His own Son. It is as precious to God as He is precious to Him. It should be precious to us.

When you meet another Christian and have opportunity to speak to him, do you have to examine him and find out what his “tag” is before your heart can go out to him? What denomination he is in? If so, you are not in communion with the mind of the Spirit of God. For God isn’t any respecter of persons. He loves every child of God, and he loves them because they are children of God. He is just as interested in that man, just as much as any other saint. Every saint of God should be of interest to us. Everyone that calls upon that blessed Name out of a sincere heart, we should seek to minister to them because they belong to Christ. That was the commission that Paul gave to these men here in verse 28, “Feed the church of God.”

What Christ desires is that the people of God shall be fed. Now this isn’t preaching the gospel. That isn’t the way the Lord feeds His people. Don’t misunderstand me, one is not disparaging or belittling the preaching of the gospel, but feeding the people of God is a very different thing. It is nourishing and cherishing them. It is pasturing the sheep of Christ, and every sheep of Christ can stand a bit of pasture. When we meet a child of God, can’t we speak to him about Christ, and minister to him of what we ourselves have received from Him?

In Mark’s Gospel, He speaks of giving just a cup of cold water, and the reason we do it, is because the recipient belongs to Christ. When you meet another member of the body of Christ, do you value him or discount him? “O,” you say, “he doesn’t walk with us” and perhaps you discount him. Do you think the Lord discounts him? Everyone that belongs to Christ is precious to Him.

Some of you may be getting a bit nervous for fear the speaker is widening out too broad a ground. I trust that before we get through we won’t feel that way. But there is a great danger of becoming shriveled in our affections to those who are Christ’s.

(To be continued)

Jesus Came

The Son of God who dwelt in light

Unreached by mortal eye,

Came forth as man the foe to fight,

And won the victory.

Jesus, the Father’s sent One, came,

While one with Him above,

To glorify His holy name,

To tell that “God is love.”

And where His enemy and ours

Had dared that love deny,

The cross defeated hell’s dark powers,

For Jesus came to die.

O! Wondrous way of grace divine,

Unfathomed and untold:

Still while eternal ages shine,

Its glories shall unfold.

In perfect light was sin laid bare,

And met its utmost due;

While perfect love in triumph there

Revealed salvation too.

Who but the sinless One could be

Sin-offering meet for God?

And who in heaven or earth but He

Could cleanse me with His blood?

To save the sinner Jesus came,

To set the captive free:

And now my willing lips proclaim

What He has done for me.

His finished work is all my trust,

And now He lives above,

Eternal proof that God is just

In all this way of love.

Delivered from the wrath to come,

I soon shall see His face;

And praise in God’s eternal home

The riches of His grace.

Children of Light

In Matthew 18 we see the spirit of childlike lowliness, and gracious consideration for the welfare of others is brought before us as that which should characterize us. In Ephesians 4:2 The exhortation is, “with all lowliness and meekness with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

It is said of a blind man that, when asked why he always carried a lantern at night, he replied that, being himself unable to see, the light was therefore not to preserve his own feet, but to prevent others from stumbling over him.

May the Lord keep us each walking “as children of light”, and then not only will our own feet be kept from stumbling, but we shall be no occasion of stumbling to others! On the contrary, may our care for each other in the sight of God be more and more apparent (2 Cor. 7:12; 1 Cor. 12:25); remembering that He who was the “Merciful”, was also the “Faithful” (Heb. 2:17), and that He who was perfectly “holy,” was equally “harmless” (Heb. 7:26). Let us never seek to show mercy at the expense of divine principle and practical holiness, nor mistake hardness and harshness for firmness and faithfulness.

Intimacy With Christ

Someone has said (it is most preciously true in every sense) that the knowledge of Jesus is the most excellent of all sciences. And it is the real secret of knowing all divine science; all true, divine knowledge is reached by that road. If I know Him, I know what is suitable to Him; I know what becomes Him. It is vain to attempt to produce it, you, cannot; it is not as a matter of fact possible to produce. Suitability to Christ is only learned by intimacy with Christ, and in the company of Christ. We never can be suitable to Christ, if we do not know Him and enjoy His company. We never can know what becomes His mind, unless we are intimate with Him.

It is even so on earth, and among men. Intimacy with a person gives you a knowledge of the ways, and of the mind, and of the desires of that person. You must be intimate with a person to know what he desires; to know what would please him, you must know him, you must be in intimacy with him. So it is as to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

Correspondence: 1 Tim. 6:16; Infants Raptured; Col. 1:20; Gospel to Every Creature

Question: In eternity will God the Father be invisible to the saved? (1 Tim. 6:16).

Answer: We believe that 1 Timothy 6:16 shows that God in His essential Deity will never be visible to the creature. Whatever manifestation He may be pleased to give us that shall answer to His relationship to us as our Father we must leave with Him.

Question: Will infants and children of irresponsible age be taken at the Lord’s coming?

Answer: In our judgment, No. The whole bearing of Scripture supports the theory that God acts consistently with that truth, “Thou and thy house” (see Gen. 7:1). We see no reason why God should invade the home of the unsaved to take from it their little children. If they pass through the tribulation one of two fates will be theirs: they will be slain and thus inherit glory; or they will, on reaching the age of responsibility, have the opportunity of accepting the Kingdom gospel and entering Millennial blessing. But we do well to remember that in questions of this nature we must speak guardedly and without dogmatism.

Question: What do “things in heaven” refer to? (Col. 1:20).

Answer: As the result of the advent of sin into creation even the heavens have become defiled. (See Job 15:15). The work of Christ on the cross has laid the foundation for the removal of all this defilement.

Question: How was the gospel preached to every creature under heaven?

Answer: “Creature” here would better be rendered, “creation.” See J. N. D.’s translation, “been proclaimed in the whole creation.” That is, it is not to each individual as such but of everything comprehended in the expression “creation”. There is perhaps reference to the contrast between the narrow confines of Judaism, and the large inclusiveness of the gospel of the grace of God and the glory of Christ.

And Yet Be Lost?

“What! do you mean to say that I may be respectable, and obliging, And yet be lost?”

“Yes; and yet be lost.”

“What! religious, amiable, courteous, And yet be lost?”

“Yes; and yet be lost.”

“What! be devoted to my church, the cause, and subscribe well; And yet be lost?”

“Yes; and yet be lost.”

“What! be a preacher, eloquent, successful; And yet be lost?”

“Yes; and yet be lost.”

“What! fast, deny myself, do penance; And yet be lost?”

“Yes; and yet be eternally lost; shut out from God forever.”

“But what more can I do than I have done?”

“Listen! You can stop making God a liar; for who has required these things at your hand?”

“Making God a liar! I do not intend doing that.”

“That may be very true, but you are, nevertheless. Again, I ask, who has required these things at your hand? Who?”

“But does not God require us to be good, and do good, before He will save us.?”

“Where does God say in the gospel (which is His message to you) that you have to be good, and do good, before He will save you? Where?”

“But – God won’t take us into heaven – He won’t receive us just as we are.”

“Pray, dear friend, what book have you been studying on this most important question?”

“Why, of course, the Bible, for there is no other to turn to.”

“I grant you there is no other book that can enlighten a poor sinner on this important subject but the Bible; but where does it say that God won’t receive a sinner just as he is?”

“Well, I don’t know just where it is, but I have always been under the impression that we must be good, and do good, before God will receive us.”

“My dear friend, all that I can say is, you never got it from the Bible, and I am bold to say, all this time you have been contradicting God, and therefore making Him a liar. He says one thing, and you say another. But let us turn to the Scriptures.

“In the first place, for whom did Christ die? Was it good people? What answer do the Scriptures give to this important question? They say, He died for the ungodly, for sinners, for the guilty, yea, for His enemies, and that He came ‘to seek and to save that which was lost.’ Are you such?”

“Yes.”

“Then He died for you.”

“But, then have I not to do something to help save myself?”

“Yes; you have got to cease acting the hypocrite, and own to God just what you are, and in heart and conscience take your place before Him accordingly.”

“But, will He accept me just as I am, in all my sins and vileness?”

“If He does not, He will never accept you; for how can you remove the moral stains from your soul, when it is written,

“‘Without shedding of blood, there is no remission,’ and, again,

“‘It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul’?” (Heb. 9:22; Lev. 17:11).

“But what says the Scripture on this subject, as to how a poor unclean sinner (and we are all that, for there is no difference) is received by God?

“Look at the glorious 15th of Luke, and what do we find there? Why Christ’s enemies are charging Him with what was His glory, and what He left heaven for to do. They were saying, ‘This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.’ See whom the blessed Jesus, the Son of God, received – sinners. Is that your name?”

“Why yes: to be sure I am a sinner; I feel that to be so.”

“Then He will receive you, if you will only be warned against the ‘leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy’; that is, pretending to be what you are not. Repentance is the full recognition, and confession of the fact, that you are a sinner, and that to God, who knows all – the judgment, too, of yourself, not merely of what you have done.

“But to proceed with Luke 15. It was the ‘lost sheep’ that the shepherd went after. It was not the sheep seeking the shepherd, but the shepherd seeking the lost sheep. And how glad and happy he was to get it back to his bosom! Jesus is the Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep; and what joy it gives His heart to find and save a lost sheep – a lost sinner.

“Again, the woman with the light seeking the piece of silver, but represents the Holy Spirit with the Word detecting, convicting, and quickening the poor lost, dead sinner. And what joy it gives Him thus to do!

“Lastly, we have the prodigal in his rags, degradation, filth and misery, (solemn picture of the sinner) received by the father with a heart of overflowing love and compassion; who as he embraced him, kissed him, and pressed him to his bosom, said to his servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found; and they began to be merry.’ And when will the joy stop? Never!

“Thus, we have in this wondrous chapter, the united joy of the ever-blessed Trinity, in receiving and saving completely and eternally a poor, lost, hell-deserving sinner. We have also in what condition he was received. True, it was as a repentant one, (for that God demands, Acts 17:30), but in all his misery, degradation, and helplessness.

“Thus, we see from the Word of God, that He receives sinners, just as they are, simply because they cannot better their condition, and He is bent upon saving them. And it is easily to be seen, how the reversing of this order, is simply making God a liar, and in many, many instances, it is ‘the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy’” (Luke 12:1-3).

May God bless these few lines to the reader, is the writer’s earnest prayer. Read Luke 7:36-50. Works follow as a consequence of salvation, but never precede it.

Resource in Sorrow

How helpful and instructive it is to retrace the ways of God with us. When we are at last “settled in Him,” as our sure resource, if we were more careful to observe the manner and links of God’s dealings with us, we should find that, though there may be a suspension in sorrow, and often a long interval of repose, yet that trials are continued very much in the same line, until the desired effect is produced, discipline having done its work, we find that fullness of joy is our portion according to the heart of God for us.

God is the only true rest, and resource in sorrow. The heart alone and near God knows that He is its strength and its portion forever.

Hold Fast

“Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:11.

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.” Hebrews 10:23.

“Hold fast the form of sound words.” 2 Timothy. 1:13.

“Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain.” Revelation 3:2.

“That which thou hast, hold fast,

Until I come again:”

Hold fast God’s precious Word,

It will not be in vain.

Darker will be the days,

Coldness to Christ at heart,

Hold fast to faith in God,

Nor from His Word depart.

Jesus, the Son of God,

Treated with scorn and shame;

Honor God’s blessed Son,

Do not deny His Name.

Cleave to God’s precious Word,

Joy, then will be thy lot,

Peace, in this ruined scene,

Peace, that the world knows not.

“Thou hast a little strength,”

“Strengthen things that remain:”

Midnight will soon be past,

Soon “I will come again.”

The truth thou hast, hold fast,

That no man take thy crown;

“Lo, I will quickly come,”

Burdens will be laid down.

“That which thou hast, hold fast,”

This word is from the Lord;

“Soon I will come again,

Bringing a sure reward.”

“Behold I come quickly, and My reward is with Me.” Revelation 22:12.

“Hold fast till I come.” Revelation 2:25.

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His Name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels.” Malachi 3:16-17.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 10, Part 1

The ninth chapter, as we have seen, is much more than an answer to the earthly-minded Corinthians in their challenge of the Apostle Paul regarding his apostleship. From first to last it is designed to reach the conscience, and when this part of the epistle was read at Corinth the accusers could not but feel that God had a controversy with them, while justifying His servant. The course of Paul is seen to have his Master’s approval, and it is the pattern for the true-hearted servant to follow in the measure in which grace is given him.

Heaven’s realities were before the Apostle, and he sought to bring them home to the consciences and hearts of the Corinthians. Using as illustration the Olympian games, he speaks of himself as running the race set before him with one aim: to win the prize.

“I therefore so run, as not uncertainly.”

In combat (for there is that too) he did not beat the air; the power of the devil is arrayed against the Christian, and must be resisted unceasingly with the end in view. Finally, as a contender for a prize in the games is necessarily temperate in all things, so Paul kept his body under –

“I buffet my body and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should be myself rejected.”

There were others beside himself who preached; some were false, as undoubtedly in our own times.

“Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22-23.

Need it be repeated that not one that is Christ’s can ever be lost? This is abundantly shown on many pages of Scripture; among the passages being John 3:15-16; 5:24; 10:27-30; Romans 8. With equal plainness God’s Word reveals what lies before those who profess but do not possess Christ (Matt. 24:48-51; 25:11-12). Profession without reality will be worthless in that day.

The tenth chapter continues the subject with which the ninth closed, beginning rightly with

“For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers were under the cloud. . .”

There were professors in those days, just as now, without the true knowledge of God. Outwardly they were on the same footing as the believers in Israel. All, whether of faith or marked by unbelief, were “under the cloud” of Jehovah’s presence (Ex. 13:21-22); all were associated with Moses in the cloud and in the Red Sea; “baptized unto Moses”, as it is said here. All ate the same spiritual meat (Ex. 16:4-5, 14-36), and drank the same spiritual drink (Ex. 17:1-6). But none of these privileges was of any value as touching the soul’s eternal destiny.

Just so in God’s present dealings with man, baptism and partaking of the Lord’s supper give no security for heaven. One might go on all one’s life in an outward observance of Christianity, and be lost. “Ye must be born again.”

A lip service of God, in which heart and conscience are not joined, is estimated by Him at its true worth; so we are told in verse 5,

“Yet God was not pleased with the most of them, for they were strewed in the desert” (JND) (See Num. 14).

Verse 6. “But these things happened as types of us, that we should not be lusters after evil things, as they also lusted” (JND).

How good of God it is to provide in His Word, out of the history of His earthly people Israel, types or figures to serve as patterns for us! Every incident in their history that the Old Testament records, has a purpose of blessing to Christians, if they will receive it.

Have you, young Christian, in your reading of the Bible, found occasion to thank God for the instruction you have received from the history recorded in Genesis and Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, Joshua, and so on? It was written for you.

Verses 7 to 10 deal with things as to which the Corinthians were particularly in danger. The seventh verse takes us to Exodus 32, when in the absence of Moses, a calf was made out of gold and worshiped. Idolaters some of them had been; but how quickly they now turned away from the living and true God to idols!

The eighth verse is connected with the sorrowful incidents of Numbers 25. It is interesting to note that while verse 9 in that chapter gives the number that died in the plague as twenty-four thousand, 1 Corinthians 10:8 tells how many died in one day – all but a thousand!

In the ninth verse the reference is to Numbers 21:4-9; while in the tenth verse. Numbers 11:4-34 and 16:41-50 appear to be referred to.

Idolatry was all around in Corinth; it was part of the life of the place, and of the whole Gentile world of that day. We need not wonder, then, that the believers at Corinth had to be warned against the danger of their becoming idolaters. The world has changed since then, but for Christians the warning still stands in God’s Word, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols”: the last verse in John’s First Epistle. The reason is that anything in the heart which takes the place of Christ is an idol. In that sense the world is full of idolatry today, for God and Christ are not in the thoughts of the men of today.

Is self, or any other object in your heart, taking the place there which Christ should have, young Christian? It marks the beginning of decline in the believer’s walk.

Along with idol worship in the world of nineteen hundred years ago, was gross immorality; there is much reason to believe that this sin is increasing rapidly in the world today; and Christians need to be very careful indeed to maintain personal purity (1 Tim. 5:22; 1 Thess. 4:3-7). God’s standards of right and wrong do not change.

Only four times in the New Testament is the Greek word found which is translated in the ninth verse of our chapter tempt. The other passages are in the Lord’s words to Satan in the temptations in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry in Israel’s land,

“It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matt. 4:7; Luke 4:12).

The reference there is to Deuteronomy 6:16, and thus to Exodus 17. Whether we look at Exodus 17 or Numbers 21, what is seen, is at heart rebellion against God. Let us beware that there be no such spirit in us!

(To be Continued, D. V.)

The Same Architect

For Special Attention of High School and College Students

If some bright sunny afternoon you take a walk and see a newly built house open for inspection, you might very likely go in. On entering you would carefully note the arrangement of the rooms, color and type of finishing, lighting facilities, and many other things. You would also consider all the unique features, and the little handy built-in conveniences here and there. After making mental note of all, you would probably leave and continue your walk.

Further on you see another new house; and you are, of course, interested to see and compare it with the one so recently surveyed. As you begin your inspection tour, you are impressed with certain similarities in general design with the first house. Continuing your observations, you find many of the details are strikingly similar to those in the house previously visited.

Now I want to ask you a question: Do you suppose that you or anyone else would for a passing moment think that the second house had evolved from the first one? Would certain resemblances bring anyone to the conclusion that the latter was an outgrowth, a development, or an offshoot of the former? Of course not! The only sensible or logical conclusion would be that the same architect had designed both houses.

All this is very simple. Yet how sad to see the utter folly of poor vain man, who, when he sees certain anatomical resemblances between man and some animals, reasons that man has evolved from an ape, and is not a creature direct from the hand of God. How much more really intelligent he would be if he were to acknowledge the finger of God, and his own responsibility to his Creator. Many who are high in the ranks of those who have great stores of this world’s wisdom and knowledge have gone completely astray. Back of it all is the desire to do away with the thought of having to meet the God who created them. Unconverted man is still like Adam when he sinned in the Garden of Eden – he ran to hide himself from God. Natural man today still desires to hide from God, and will grasp at the smallest straw in the vain attempt to lull his conscience to sleep. He wants to forget that he must give account to God, and does not seem to care how senseless, or even ridiculous, he may appear, if he can but succeed in any small measure.

Dear young reader, remember that “if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20.

They may be your teachers, and in many things may be highly intelligent men or women; but if they deny that man is a creature direct from God, they are totally and willfully blind. The time will come when it can be said of them, “The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the Word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” Jeremiah 8:9.

Such people are but blind leaders of the blind, and together they will fall into the pit. It might be said of them,

“To whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” Jude 13.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 1:26.

Extract: Grief and Difficulty

Do you not hunger and thirst after righteousness? And, I pray you, saith not He who cannot lie, that such are happy? (Matt. 5:6). How in heaven should God wipe away all tears from your eyes, if on earth you shed no tears? How could heaven be a place of rest for you, if you find rest on earth? How could you desire to be at home there, if in your journey here you find no difficulty, distress or grief?

Address to Young People: Part 4

Acts 20:16-38

Part 4

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.” “Grievous wolves.” Be on your guard, they are still going about, and they are still spoiling the flock. Grievous wolves are not really converted people at all. They have that profession; they have rallied under the banner of Christ, but they are strangers to the grace of God. There never was a day, I believe, in the history of the church of God when that kind of thing was so rampant as, at the present time. And none of us are exempt. Let us not say, “O, I am gathered to the Lord’s Name, and there is no danger of my being taken in by these things.”

Everyone is in danger from these kind of men. I have heard of one just this week who has fallen. He was breaking bread with us a year ago, but he has been taken in, deceived and led astray. I suppose if someone had talked to him several years ago, he wouldn’t have thought it possible. He is one of the flock who has been spoiled. These things are increasing in number, in intensity and cleverness. We cannot afford to tamper with this kind of thing for a moment.

The Lord told us something about these things in Matthew 13:24-30, in the parable of the tares and the wheat. There is no question in my mind but what the increasing multiplicity of these things – these corruptions of Christianity – is the binding into bundles for judgment at the end of this age. There was a time when we could name the groups of those who had thrown over all orthodoxy. We couldn’t do that now. We are living in days when these things are permeating the whole of professing, Christendom. Don’t tamper with anything that doesn’t bear the imprint of the truth of God. Don’t look into it. Don’t give it five minutes of your time. If you have a doubt about anything that is put into your hand, or that you have heard, go to an older brother or sister and tell them, but don’t tamper with these things. They are poison to your soul.

And if you are here this afternoon and unsaved, and have heard repeated pleas, and have consistently rejected the gospel, don’t blame God if He allows you to receive and commit yourself to another gospel, which is not the true gospel. Don’t trifle with the truth of God!

“Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (verse 30).

The Apostle is not telling them what might happen. He is telling them what would happen, and there is quite a difference. “Of your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” That is division, schism. These men with ambition, regardless of what character of ambition it is, arising and teaching that which will attract to themselves, and draw away disciples after themselves. It says they “draw away.” If you are going to draw someone away, you have to have a point from which to draw them. There has to be a gathering point, and I believe that gathering point is Matthew 18:20. Christ in the midst of the two or three gathered to His Name.

But here come these men. Now these are not wolves. They are sheep—willful sheep. It doesn’t say they speak wicked things, but perverse things. Truth taken out of its proper connection. You can take truth to pry saints out of the path of obedience, if you pervert it. They teach things that tend to draw weak saints from the simplicity that is in Christ. And the result is, that they gather a following. Now when Paul got to that point in his address, that was a climax, and he immediately says:

“Therefore watch, and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (verse 31).

There was a terrible burden on the Apostle’s heart. He felt what a serious thing division was in the church of God. He wept about it, and says, “O, brethren, I know it is coming, but, I beseech you to watch.” Someone says, “It is coming, but we don’t need to be told that now: it has come.” What a witness Christendom is to the truth of those words! But instead of discouraging us, and causing us to doubt our Bibles, it should make us believe them.

Suppose we had all gone on together in that lovely outward unity that was found on the day of Pentecost? That would be lovely, wouldn’t it? But if we had, our Bible wouldn’t be true. "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (verse 30.) And it has happened, and it has been happening all down through the ages of the church’s history.

Now a question arises, that if that is true, is it necessary that I personally be guilty of schism? Is there no avenue to escape being in a divided church? Yes, there is a path, and there is a way, and it is marked out right here in verse 32,

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”

“God and His Word!” The only two things to which the Apostle could commend them that he knew couldn’t change. If he had commended them to the elders, that wouldn’t do. If he had commended them to the church, that certainly wouldn’t do. But he commended them to God. Has God changed His thoughts about His church? Has God ever altered the constitution of the church? Is it any the less precious to His heart than it ever was? Then if not, He must have a path in which our feet can walk, that acknowledges all the truth that pertains to the church of God. “I commend you to God and to the Word.” O, brethren, we have the Word, and the Word of God hasn’t changed. It is the very same Word the Apostle Paul gave to the Ephesian elders. It is as fresh, as precious, as operative as it ever was. It searches 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).

It is that precious Word that will guide us midst the confusion that is upon us. We cannot escape the fact that division has come, and that this process of drawing away disciples is going to continue, but we can cling to the Word of God. There is a path, and God wants us, to find it, and to walk in it. God would have been mocking us if He had warned us that all this was going to come, and had not given us a path to walk in.

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”

Sanctified means set apart. Every believer here this afternoon has been set apart for God. And with Him we can find a path for our feet. With God and His Word. God never separates Himself from His Word. It is by the Word that He guides, that He leads, that He preserves. If we place ourselves under His guidance and His preserving power, the time will come when we, too, can finish our course with joy. Let us pray.

(Concluded)

Correspondence: Earthly Kingdom Post Rapture; Manifested at "Bema"?

Question: After the Lord comes and has taken up His saints – changed the living and raised the dead saints, and they are caught up to Him, to be forever with the Lord, as in 1 Thessalonians 4 – who are to be saved and go into the kingdom that is to be set up on earth?

Answer: There will be three classes of people on earth after the Lord has taken away His heavenly saints; Jews or Israel: Gentiles or nations or heathen; and the apostate church, the tares of Matthew 13, or the foolish virgins of Matthew 25.

The Jews, that is the two tribes, and the ten tribes afterward, will be brought to know Jehovah, and He will make His new covenant with them (Heb. 8:8-12). The nations will be brought to own and fear Jehovah also (Ezek. 36:36; 37:28; 38:23; and many other passages.)

But the Lord will gather out of both, Jew and Gentile, all things that offend, and them that do iniquity (Matt. 13:41-42).

There is nothing but judgment for the apostate church, and for those who have not obeyed the gospel. When the Lord comes with His saints, He will judge all such (Jude 14, 15 Rev. 2:21-23; 3:3-16; 2 Thess. 1:8; 2:10-12).

The judgment of the great white throne is at the end, and is for the dead only (Rev. 20:12). The Jew will be judged by the law; the Gentile will perish without law (Rom. 2:12); and the Christless professor, because he has not put on the wedding garment (Matt. 22:11-13).

Question: At the “Bema” or judgment seat of Christ for the saints, is it before others, or to ourselves alone, that we are manifested? (2 Cor. 5:10).

Answer: The judgment seat of Christ is to show to each of us the true character of our walk and ways as it appears in the sight of the Lord. Thoughts of what others may think of us, cannot come in there. Each one will be filled with praise and thanksgiving for the grace that bore with us through all our wandering and changeful ways, and led us on. God’s grace will be realized as never before, and the Lord will speak to us approvingly of all that He can, and disapprovingly of what was contrary to His mind and will. The thought of this was meant to exercise the saints at Corinth to walk in His ways. May it exercise us, too.

Hoisting His Colors

A young officer was invited to visit some friends. The invitation was accepted and the officer had what he called a “jolly time” shooting and hunting, with amusements of various kinds. An earnest and devoted Christian, Lady L., was also on a visit to the castle. One day while she and Captain – were taking a walk in the beautiful grounds, she looked into his face and said:

“Are you a Christian, Captain?”

Startled and surprised beyond measure at the question, he replied: “What do you take me for? Of course I am a Christian. I have been baptized, confirmed, go to church, and sometimes read my Bible. Of course I am a Christian.”

“I wish you were a real Christian, Captain,” said the lady.

After talking together a little longer, the Captain said to Lady L.,

“It must be very dull for you here, spending your time visiting and reading the Bible to these poor, old, deaf women. Would you not like to go for a week, just for a week – and again enter fashionable society, and enjoy yourself at balls, parties, and concerts?”

“When I was a little girl I was very fond of my doll, and if anyone took it from me I shed tears. When I entered society I thought nothing of my doll. When the Lord Jesus, saved my soul and made me His own, the painted baubles of this world lost their attractions for me. No, I have not the slightest desire to return to the world’s vanities and frivolities not even for a week,” was her reply.

This is the way worldlings talk to the children of God. They think that it must be a very dull life attending prayer meetings and gospel services, visiting the sick, distributing tracts, and reading the Bible and good books. They call such a life “humdrum,” and pity the “poor, long-faced, religious people” who spend their days “moping and groaning.”

If the reader has such ideas of the Christian life, he is entirely mistaken. The lady, when a little girl, loved her doll, but when she reached womanhood she had no desire for such playthings. So with the child of God.

“If any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

When a man is “born again” of the Holy Spirit he can honestly say:

“The things I once hated, now I love; and the things I once loved, now I hate.”

He has peace with God, joy in the Lord, sins forgiven, eternal life, and is blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

A war was raging. Thousands of soldiers had been slain in battle. Captain— was one of the combatants. He had never forgotten the word spoken to him at that castle by Lady L. The Holy Spirit had been dealing with him, revealing to him his guilt and danger. Amid the groans of wounded soldiers and the thundering of cannon, Captain— by faith saw the Lord Jesus bleeding and dying for him on Calvary’s Cross, and he found rest and peace in believing.

When the war was over he “hoisted his colors,” and confessed Christ as his Saviour. Eventually he settled down, laboring among the poor and destitute.

One day a meeting was held in a house in the west end of the city, the officer in question being present. Lady L. was delighted to meet her old acquaintance after the lapse of years, and to find him seeking to live and work for Him who shed His blood to save him and her from unending woe.

The unsaved reader fears that if he became a real Christian, he would require to give up a great many things he now loves. It is not necessary to give up anything in order to be saved. God wishes you to receive ere He calls upon you to renounce. When you receive Christ as your Saviour and Lord then you will think little of the world’s toys and gew-gaws and give up whatever He desires you to renounce.

As you read these lines stretch out the empty hand of faith, and accept of God’s “unspeakable gift” – the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 9:15) – then you will become a son of God, for to “as many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons, of God, even to them that believe on His Name.” John 1:12.

Believe and be saved, then hoist your colors.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith; who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2.

Savor of Christ in a Busy Life

The Christianity of the closet, and the Christianity of busy life, are not, as is often thought, conflicting things. The man who has fellowship with Jesus in his solitude, knows how to carry the savor of the fellowship even into the most common affairs. There is need of prayer in this matter. For though we be convinced that there is but one thing needful, we are easily led away, like Martha, to busy and trouble ourselves about “many things.”

Many things we must do and care about, while we are in the body; but the work to which Christ calls us is to do and care about these things in such a spirit as to make them part and parcel of our great work – the work of keeping close to Jesus, and of following Him whithersoever He goes.

If only willing to leave all and follow Christ, He would make the cross not heavy to be borne, but a delight; more pleasant than to the miser is his load of gold, or to the earthly monarch are his insignia of power.

“My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:30.

Every Day Life

“Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Colossians 3:17.

Here I get the whole course of every day life. There are constantly difficulties that I find in passing through this world. I say, Ought I to do this thing or that, or not? I am uncertain as to the right course, or I may find great hindrances to doing what I think to be right. Now if ever I find myself in doubt, my eye is not single; my whole body is not full of light, therefore my eye is not single. God brings me into certain circumstances of difficulty until I detect this. It may be something that I never suspected in myself before, which hinders me from seeing aright; but it is something between me and Christ; and until that is put away, I shall never have certainty as to my path. Therefore He says, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

This would settle 999 cases of difficulty out of 1000. If you are questioning whether you shall do a thing or not, just ask yourself, Am I going to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus? It will settle it at once.

Thus if a person says, What harm is there in my doing such-and-such a thing? I ask, Are you going to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus? Perhaps it will be something of which you will answer at once, Of course not. Then it is settled at once. It is the test of the state of the heart. If my eye is single, if the purpose of my heart is right, I get here what settles every question; it tests my heart. I wanted to know the right path, and it is as simple as A B C. If my heart is not upon Christ, I shall endeavor to do my own will; and that is not God’s will. There is the constant uniform rule which clearly judges every path and circumstance: Am I simply doing it in the name of the Lord Jesus?

But what do I find with it?

“Giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” In another place it is said, “In everything give thanks.”

Where my heart can take Christ with me, my mind is on God, and I can say, He is with me, even if it is tribulation. I have the path of God, I have Christ with me in my path; and I would rather be there, than in what is apparently the fairest and pleasantest thing in the world; as it is said in Psalms 84,

“In whose heart are the ways of them.”

Extract: Walk Wisely

If I have not God before me, I never can, with a natural mind, and in a world of evil, walk wisely; for God is the fountain of wisdom. Therefore, mere knowledge in itself, is nothing, that is, it never leads a man to walk with God.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 10, Part 2

1 Corinthians 10

Verse 10. If in the ninth verse there is a solemn warning with regard to turning against God as in Numbers 21, in this verse is an equally needed word on the subject of murmuring, pointing to the flagrant case of this kind among the children of Israel which is recorded in Numbers 16:41. The believer who habitually walks with God, is not likely to be found finding fault with what He does.

The 11TH verse is, like the 6th, an important one, throwing a flood of light on much of Old Testament history as recorded therein by the divine Penman:

“Now all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (JND). Another has said of this verse:

“There cannot be a more important canon for our intelligent and profitable reading of these Old Testament oracles. The facts happened to them, but they were divinely cast in systematical figures or forms of truth for admonishing us, who find ourselves at so critical a juncture of the world’s history. They contain therefore far more than moral lessons, however weighty. They do disclose man’s heart, and let out God’s mind and affections, but they have the larger and deeper instruction of events which illustrate immense principles such as sovereign grace on the one hand, and pure law on the other, with a mingled system of government on legal ground, while mercy and goodness, availed through a mediator, which came in when the people worshiped a calf at Horeb. There is thus an orderly, as well as prophetic, character in the mode these incidents are presented, which, when lit up with the light of Christ, and His redemption and the truth now revealed, prove their inspiration in a self-evident way to him who has the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Israel only witnessed the facts, and the writer was enabled by the Spirit of God to record them in an order which was far beyond his own thoughts, or the intelligence of any before redemption; but now that this mighty work of God is accomplished, their figurative meaning stands out in the fullness of a wide system, and with a depth which reveals God, not man, as the true Author. Be it our happiness not only to know, but to do the truth! The scriptural history of Israel is thus exceedingly solemn as well as instructive. It was so recounted by the Spirit as to be typical of us.” (W. Kelly: “Notes on 1 Corinthians”).

Let him then that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. God has made abundant provision for the guidance of His children through the world, but let them avail themselves of it! It is all ready for them, plainly written in His Word.

Another verse for the saint of God who may be passing through trial is that which follows (verse 13):

“No temptation has taken you but such as is according to man’s nature; and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able (to bear), but will with the temptation make the issue also, so that (ye) should be able to bear it” (JND).

No load ever too great to be borne; and the issue of the trial, made with the trial itself; this the gracious and kind provision of our God.

The Apostle now returns to the subject of idolatry, a great danger, as we have seen, to the Corinthian believers. At the outset he enjoins them to flee from it; that is not to temporize with it in the least. The believer is on dangerous ground when he thinks to compromise in the smallest degree with anything God has not sanctioned. Flee from it! Flee from it!

He speaks as to wise, or rather intelligent persons; they are to judge what he says,

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The loaf which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Because we (being) many are one loaf (or bread), one body; for we all partake of that one loaf (or bread).”

The Apostle is speaking of the Lord’s supper, the moral center and object of the assembly, as it has been called, and the token of association of all who are linked together in church fellowship; is this not, at least in symbol, fellowship with the blood and body of Christ? The blood is mentioned first, as that which speaks most powerfully to the Christian heart; the loaf is mentioned last, because it expresses both the body of Christ offered in death, and the fellowship of the saints with Christ as one loaf, one body. In the comparative case, brought out in the 18th verse, of Israel according to flesh, they who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar. How holily we should guard in personal life, and in our associations, what is committed to our trust!

In the eighth chapter it is brought out (verse 4) that an idol is nothing; there is none other God but one. Does the Apostle then say now that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? No;

“But that what the nations sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. Now I do not wish you to be in communion with demons. Ye cannot drink the Lord’s cup, and the cup of demons; ye cannot partake of the Lord’s table, and of the table of demons. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?” (1 Cor. 10:20-22, JND).

That idol sacrifices were sacrifices to demons, is stated at least twice in the Old Testament (Deut. 32:17; Psa. 106:37). And some of the Corinthian believers, as was pointed out in the eighth chapter, puffed up with their knowledge (knowledge puffs up, but love edifies), sat down to eat in an idol house. How wrong it was! And doubly so, because of the truth brought now to bear upon their consciences in these two highly instructive chapters. He who partook of what was offered to an idol, had fellowship with the idol, no matter how little (if at all) he was aware of it.

“All things are lawful, but all are not profitable; all things are lawful, but all do not edify” (1 Cor. 10:23 JnD).

“Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth” – or advantage (verse 24).

Here are general rules which God has provided for the guidance of His children in their path through life in many circumstances such as those discussed in the verses which follow.

It was the custom to sell carcases for food in the common way, after the animals had been offered in an idol’s temple.

“Everything sold in the shambles” – the market – “eat, making no inquiry for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness. But if any one of the unbelievers invite you, and you are minded to go, all that is set before you eat, making no inquiry for conscience sake. But if anyone say to you, This is offered to holy purposes (or, to a god), do not eat, for his sake that pointed it out, and conscience sake; but conscience, I mean, not thine own, but that of the other; for why is my liberty judged by another conscience? If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I spoken evil of, for what I give thanks for?” (1 Cor. 10:25-30 JND).

Since the earth is the Lord’s, I may eat all food that is sold in the market, and what is on an unbeliever’s table, if I should be there for a meal. But the circumstances are altered for the Christian, if there were present one who had just come out of idolatry, whose conscience is not free; for his sake I am not to eat, though to me all is common meat. By this self-denial, I do not expose my liberty to be judged by another, or bring about evil speaking for a thing for which I give thanks; and the scruples of the weakest saint are respected.

And now the subject is drawn to a close with the laying down of a golden rule for Christian conduct (verse 31). How far reaching it is, and no room is left for the natural will, so prone to assert itself!

May you and I, dear young Christian, know more and more of this verse in the practice of our own lives! No occasion of stumbling should be, given to any – to Jew, or Gentile, or to the church of God, the Apostle presenting himself as an example in godly walk with the qualification,

“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (verses 32, 33, and 1 of the following chapter).

(Continued)

The Final Word

“Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.” Psalms 76:10.

God makes the wrath of man to praise Him. He turns everything to His own glory and purpose, and then stops all the rest. Where faith is in exercise, it counts on God through all, sure that God will have the last and final word in the matter.

Demas

It is highly interesting and instructive to follow the divine commentary on Demas. He was no doubt a true child of God, and his history furnishes us with needed warnings. Very little is said about him, but the three verses that mention him speak volumes. Let us turn first to Philemon, verse 24:

“Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers.”

Here Demas is mentioned in the Apostle Paul’s salutation in company with himself and three others. He is called a fellow laborer with that beloved and faithful servant of Christ. What a privilege was his to serve the Lord in such company!

“There was also Luke, the beloved physician and writer of "The Acts of the Apostles,” and of the Gospel bearing his name.

Mark, the writer of another Gospel, is in the company; of him the same Apostle could write later and say, “he is profitable to me.”

Then there was Aristarchus, whose faithfulness soon caused him to be a “fellow prisoner” with Paul.

There had been a bright day in Demas’s history when he started out to serve his Lord. How long he continued in this path we do not know, but it was a bright beginning. Many other young Christians have started out well and have sought in their measure and sphere to follow and serve the Lord.

Young Christian, it is well for you when you reach a decision to “wholly follow the Lord,” and to let your light shine in this dark world. This requires real “purpose of heart,” and grace and strength from the Lord. To attempt it in your own strength would only end in failure.

The next account of Demas is in Colossians 4:14, where the same Apostle in closing his letter to the saints at Colosse gives the salutations. See how touchingly he speaks of Luke the beloved physician, and then only says “and Demas.” It must have grieved the Apostle to be unable to say more of Demas. Evidently something was wrong. It was what he did not say that expressed his feeling. Demas was still with Paul, and outwardly all may have looked well; but this now aged servant of the Lord felt and knew that all was not well, and could only say “and Demas.” This was unprofitable for Demas, and it is unprofitable for any of us when an aged and faithful servant of Christ giving account of his labors to the Lord, has to mention any of us with grief (See Heb. 13:17).

Dear young Christian, if a faithful and wise servant of the Lord were writing a letter today and mentioning various ones by name, would he only refer to you as “and”? Would your name be there without comment? Would one walking with the Lord discern that your heart had grown cold? Remember that when the heart grows cold towards the Lord, and other objects have taken His place in your affections, the next steps will surely follow as we next read of Demas.

“Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” 2 Timothy 4:10.

Now what had secretly pained the Apostle has come to light and borne fruit. Demas has now given up the path of service and faithfulness to the Lord which in brighter days he had chosen. First, he had grown cold in heart; now his feet too have gone back. How sad! Yet, this is but the history of many dear young Christians who allowed something, probably very small at first, to come between their hearts and the Lord. For a time all may seem to go on well, and their brethren may think so; but if the heart goes after any other object, the feet will some day follow the heart.

We also learn from this verse the secret of what drew away the heart of Demas: he loved this present world. What a sad exchange! He had forsaken the fountain of living waters and hewn out a broken cistern that could not hold water (see Jer. 2:13). This poor world had come between his soul and the Lord – this world of which we read,

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:15-17.

This world is too small to satisfy our hearts here, and the love of it now is a great loss for eternity.

“Should we to gain the world’s applause,

Or to escape its harmless frown,

Refuse to countenance Thy cause,

And make Thy people’s lot our own?

What shame would fill us in that day,

When Thou Thy glory wilt display.”

The name Demas means “popular”. Perhaps that gives a clue as to his declension. Popularity in this world is a deadly snare. Often the world has smiled on a young Christian, and granted him a measure of popularity, to his spiritual ruin. What is popularity but the “friendship of the world”?

“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4.

May we seek rather to walk with God, and seek His testimony that we please Him, than all the smiles of the world. The world did not know the Lord Jesus when He was here; and if we walk more as He walked, it will know us less, too.

If something has already dimmed the glory, and supplanted Christ in your heart, go and tell Him all about it. Make a full confession, and put away whatever it is, and you will know the joy of finding Him just the same.

“Still sweet ‘tis to discover,

If clouds have dimmed my sight,

When passed, Eternal Lover,

Towards me, as e’er, Thou’rt bright.

O keep my soul, then, Jesus,

Abiding still with Thee,

And if I wander, teach me

Soon back to Thee to flee.”

The Judgment-Seat of Christ

“We must all appear (be manifested) before the judgment seat of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.

What is the effect upon Paul of the thought of the judgment seat? He says, “We persuade men.” He does not think of himself at all. He is full of confidence, and pleased to think of being present with the Lord (ver. 8). He has no time to think of self, but he persuades others.

How shall we appear at the judgment seat of Christ? Why, we shall be there in bodies of glory, like the Judge, Himself.

The One before Whom we are manifested, is the One Who has put away all our sin. He is our righteousness. How can we be afraid to come before Him!

He will show us how we have performed our duties. Duties flow from the place He gave us. Being a child of God, I must behave like a child of God. What did God do to me, when I was an enemy? Did He not forgive me? Then, I ought to go and forgive my enemies. At the judgment seat, I shall see just what I did, and why I did it.

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good, or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Africans

Recently a Christian missionary worker who came home from the Transvaal, told of how when the natives are given to understand God’s way of Salvation, and accept Him through His Son, Christ Jesus, that it is not long before they see, that as a “new creature” they must rid themselves of the ornaments which indicate their former religious belief. So they begin to remove the rings from their ears and noses, to pull off their bracelets, and have someone take the heavy metal rings from their legs. Usually they have difficulty in walking for a time until they become accustomed to being relieved of the cumbersome load which has been associated with the old life. They clearly see that as long as they bedeck themselves, as unbelievers, they cannot testify for their newfound Saviour. So they discard the old things. Usually this means that they must suffer great persecution from others, who tell them that they are fools to believe in the Christians’ God, which cannot be seen; but all this they gladly bear for their Lord’s sake.

Dear fellow Christian, are you ready to unload from your heart and life those things which are of the world? The words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself concerning us are these,

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:16.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The newly converted people of South Africa lay aside that which betokens the old life. Should not we follow their example in our lives? There is nothing to lose and much to gain by coming out and out for Christ. May we so live, that others may be attracted to Him through us.

“Happy are we

If others can see

Jesus in your life and mine.”

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11.

“Laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies and evil speakings.” 1 Peter 2:1.

You may be left out by “society”, perhaps even scorned and ridiculed, but it cannot be for long. Soon, our work here will be finished, and we will be called to the Father’s house, to be glorified with His Son.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18.

The Lord Knows All About It

Yes, the Lord knows all about it –

All about the path I tread:

All about the path I’ve journeyed,

All about the path ahead.

All my footsteps He has ordered,

And what greater joy can be

Than to know that, smooth or rugged,

All the way He walks with me.

Yes, the Lord knows all about it –

All about the pain we bear;

Not a pang, in mind or body

That He does not fully share.

Who can tell how much He suffered?

But He suffered not in vain!

And if we are called to suffer,

With Him also, we shall reign.

Yes, the Lord knows all about it –

All about thy conflict sore:

With the all too many failures,

But the issue ever sure;

For we’ve this undimmed assurance,

Based on His unerring Word –

Though Satanic hosts assail us,

We shall triumph in the Lord!

Yes, the Lord knows all about it –

Whatsoe’er the “It” may be

Burdens, sorrows, losses, weakness –

Each are ordered ministry.

Hush then, O impatient spirit,

Though the billows o’er me roll;

‘Tis His loved ones whom He chastens –

Love is fashioning the soul.

Correspondence: Matt. 16:28; Children of Wrath/Disobedience/Devil; Rom. 8:9

Question: Who is the Lord referring to when He says, “There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom?” (Matt. 16:28).

Answer: The Lord speaks of Peter, James, and John, whom He selected to accompany Him into an high mountain apart, where He was transfigured before them. This scene is a sample of the Son of Man coming in His kingdom, or as in Mark 9:1, “The kingdom of God come with power.”

In it we see the heavenly saints represented by Moses who died and was buried; and Elias who was raptured to heaven without dying. And there we see the Lord Jesus in His glory. In Peter, James, and John, we see the earthly saints represented. This gave the disciples to know who was there manifested in His glory. 2 Peter 1:16 reads, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, ‘This is, My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.’ And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him on the holy mount.” This to their minds made the prophetic word surer.

It was but a foreshadowing of the kingdom, but the King was there in! His real personal glory.

Question: What is the difference of the children of wrath, the children of disobedience, and the children of the devil?

Answer: They are the same persons viewed from different standpoints.

Children of “wrath” indicates what is before them.

Children of “disobedience” refers to their unbelieving character.

Children of “the devil” contrasts with children of God.

Believers are redeemed, are brought to God, and are the children of God. Man, since the fall, is under wrath, is disobedient to God, and under the power of Satan.

Question: Why are the terms “Spirit of God” and “Spirit of Christ” used in Romans 8:9?

Answer: “The Spirit of God” is God’s mark put upon every believer. The Spirit of God dwells in him. He is called the “Spirit of Christ,” because by Him the life of Christ is produced and seen in the believer. The same blessed person is spoken of in different ways in this chapter.

Just Give Me Earth

My first employer, Mr. C., was a thorough man of this world, well known in the industry, well liked by his company, and much feared by his competitors. He was a very successful manager of one of the company’s largest branches. Much could be said of his business acumen, but he was totally without God. All of his energies were spent for this world.

I was only a boy then, but knew the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, and desired to witness for Him. God gave me grace and courage to speak a word for Him, and hand out a tract now and then. Mr. C. often ridiculed me, and would take advantage of the opportunity of having a group of salesmen around to have some fun at my expense.

One morning Mr. C. and I met in the elevator going to work, and I felt that I should hand him a gospel tract. He glanced at it, and handed it back with a remark that made a lasting impression on me.

“Boy, you can have all the heaven you want, but just give me earth.”

That statement fully expressed his whole aim, object, and desire. I have since learned that he was only one of millions who feel the same way. All are not so outspoken about it. Some will even say that they want to go to heaven when they die. They realize that they cannot always remain here, and having heard a little of the horrors of hell, think they would prefer heaven to hell; but of course, earth is decidedly their preference.

A few years later God spoke loudly to Mr. C. His sister died very suddenly, and within a few weeks his brother was taken without warning by a stroke of apoplexy. However, nothing seemed to change him.

One Wednesday Mr. C. spent the day at his office as usual and was feeling perfectly well. That evening after dinner, he and his wife went out; and on returning home about 2 a.m., he complained of being ill. A doctor was called who pronounced his trouble “influenza,” but the following day he was unconscious. He remained unconscious most of the time, and by 3 a.m. on Sunday he had forever left this world which he loved so dearly. Poor man! he died as he lived – without God and without Christ.

He was like the man the Lord Jesus spoke of in the 12TH chapter of Luke who had all his treasures on this earth. That man planned to build larger barns and increase his wealth;

“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” Luke 12:20.

Mr. C. would not be guilty of business folly, but in the most important transaction of his life, he was a fool. What if he had gained the whole world and lost his soul? He would still have been a great loser, and guilty of extreme folly.

God speaks of this class in the book of Revelation as “those that dwell on the earth.” It is also translated “earth dwellers” which expresses the choice of millions. God reveals the judgments that are to fall on such.

Dear friend, are you guilty of such folly? Are you spending all for this world which you must leave? Remember,

“Death has passed upon all men for all have sinned.” Romans 5:12.

God has also warned you that after death comes the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Don’t wait any longer to come to God, and confess that you are a sinner, accept the Saviour He has provided. Don’t wait for a more favorable opportunity, for it may never come.

This night your soul may be required of You.

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Hebrews 2:3.

Behold, I Come Quickly

O! Lord, our hearts are listening,

That joyous shout to hear,

Which wakes the saints now sleeping,

(That shout so very near) –

When we, with them, ascending,

Shall meet Thee in the air,

To gaze upon Thy glory,

And all Thy likeness bear.

O! hour, for which in patience,

Thou’st longed through all the night,

Whilst we Thy saints, being gathered,

Were brought into the light;

And now, the church completed,

Thou canst no more delay –

O! Lord, with shouts of triumph,

We pass into the day.

O! hour, of richest blessing –

We, brought to Thee so nigh,

To be Thy joy forever,

And share Thy throne on high;

To rest, in all that brightness,

And ever there abide;

To find Thy heart delighting,

In us, Thy chosen bride.

O! blessed, coming, Saviour,

Then speak the joyous word,

To which our hearts responding,

“Forever with the Lord” –

Forever with Thee, Saviour –

For evermore to be,

In deepest, fullest blessing –

Forever, one with Thee.

Christ Is All: Colossians 3:11

One great thing here practically put before us is this: Christ is all. He is all; but this is the great thing we have to look to, Is He practically all? Can you honestly say, Though a poor weak creature, notwithstanding I am not conscious of having a single other object in the world but Christ? You find many difficulties – you are not watchful enough your faith is feeble you know your shortcomings; But can you, notwithstanding all this, honestly say, I have no object in the world but Christ?

First, the root of all is Christ as the life. Then, we pass over to the outward conduct in the man’s walk. And let me remark that, while a person may be walking outwardly uprightly and blamelessly, it may be very feebly as a Christian, and without spirituality. You will find many a true Christian, who has Christ as his life, yet has no spirituality whatever. If you talk to him about Christ, there is nothing that answers. There is, between the life that is at the bottom, and the blamelessness that is at the top, between him and Christ, a whole host of affections and objects that are not Christ at all. How much of the day, or of the practice of your soul, is filled up with Christ? How far is He the one object of your heart? When you come to pray to God, do you never get to a point where you shut the door against Him? where there is some reserve, some single thing in your heart, that you keep back from Him? If we pray for blessing up to a certain point only, there is reserve; Christ is not all practically to us.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 11:1-16

Part 1

The first verse is by its subject linked with the chapter just closed, rather than with the eleventh,

“Be ye followers of me” (or my imitators) “even as I also am of Christ”, should be read with verses 31, 32 and 33.

In the second verse, practically alone in the epistle, the Holy Spirit in the Apostle Paul could commend something in the ways of the believers at Corinth, “Now I praise you, that in all things ye are mindful of me, and that, as I have directed you, ye keep the directions” (JND).

They had not then, as we have, the complete written Word of God, but the instructions they had received from Paul they had kept.

Fitly at this point the Holy Spirit introduces the subject of divine order in the conduct of believers. God has been pleased to make His Word full of instruction for the Christian; indeed He has left nothing to the activities of the human mind, though that has not kept back men, and believers too, from substituting their own ideas for what is written. As far as verse 16, the instructions set forth the divine order with regard to men and to women; after that, the church or assembly of God is in view through succeeding chapters.

In our day, there is not a little disregard of what the Scriptures set out as the place for women to occupy, but let us give close heed to the infallible Word of God; better far to have God’s Word to lean upon, than all the opinions of human kind.

Verse 3. Christ or “the Christ”, as it is in the original – viewing Him not as what He ever was, God over all, blessed for evermore, but in the place He took as the Anointed – Christ is the head of every man, but woman’s head is the man; and the Christ’s head is God. Later verses make plain the wisdom of the divine ordering in so setting the positions of Christian women and men here on earth. This is not for eternity, not in new creation; for there, as we read in Galatians 3:28-29,

“There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

“Every man praying or prophesying, having anything on his head, puts his head to shame; but every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered, puts her own head to shame, for it is one and the same as a shaved woman. For if a woman be not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it be shameful to a woman to have her hair cut off, or to be shaved, let her be covered. For man indeed ought not to have his head covered, being God’s image and glory; but woman is man’s glory. For man is not of woman, but woman of man. For also man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man” (verses 4-9 JND).

Here we are led back to what God instituted in the beginning. See Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7-8, 18-23. “Image” is in Scripture not likeness but representation. Adam was to represent God in the earth; he fell, and the race fell in him, but as another has said, however man may have fallen, divine order in creation never loses its value as the expression of the mind of God. And man keeps the place, though he has fallen in it – the same place in which God put him.

The first man was the image of Him that was to come (Rom. 5:14), the Second Man (1 Cor. 15:47). And Eve, the companion and help meet of Adam, is very plainly a type of the bride of Christ, the church for whom He gave Himself. It is striking how the angels are brought in, in the consideration of the subject of woman’s place. In Hebrews 1:14 they are seen as ministering spirits sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation; and in 1 Peter 1:12 we learn that they desire to look into the present dealing of God in grace with man but here in verse 10 they are spectators of the effect of those dealings in Christians. The Christian woman therefore should have authority on her head – should wear a covering – on account of the angels.

Man is not of woman, but woman of man; man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. However (verses 11-12) neither is woman without man, nor man without woman, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, so also is the man by the woman, but all things of God.

The subject believer, delights in these unfoldings of the mind of God, and seeks to walk in the light of them, but how contrary to what we have read, is the behavior of many women in this age!

In verse 13 comeliness calls for the covering of a woman’s head while praying (verses 14-15). Even nature itself teaches that man, if he have long hair, it is a dishonor to him; but woman, if she have long hair, it is glory to her, for the long hair is given to her in lieu of a veil. The twentieth century has brought in many innovations, among them, in extreme cases, the cutting of women’s hair similar to man’s. In view of what we have in the Scriptures now before us, this cannot be of God.

Verse 16. At Corinth, it is evident, some Christian women were not following what is here revealed as of God for them; and it may be that some Christian men were at fault similarly.

“But if any one think to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God” (verse 16, JND). The Corinthian “custom” was an innovation, and neither the Apostle sanctioned it, nor did the assemblies elsewhere.

Before leaving this section of the epistle, it may be well to point out that the praying and prophesying of women referred to in this chapter was and is of necessity outside of the meetings of the church (or assembly). It could not have been in a public way, for in chapter 14, silence is called for in the assemblies (verses 34-35), and in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 further instruction is given regarding the place of women. Nothing in Scripture closes the door to service for them; an important work (among many) is teaching the young, or their own sex, in or out of Sunday Schools.

Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8-9).

Three women at Rome whom the Apostle names in Romans 16:12 – Tryphena and Tryphosa, and the beloved Persis, labored in the Lord. What they did, the Holy Spirit has not recorded in the Scriptures.

Priscilla, the wife, is always mentioned with her husband, Aquila, and on occasion, before him (Acts 18; Rom. 16:3-5).

Prophesying, in the Scriptures, is by no means limited to the foretelling of what is to come; it is literally “speaking forth” a communication received from God.

(To be continued)

Extract From a Letter

Very many of our older and stable brethren have gone home, and in just a few more years, if the Lord does not come, the reins will be in new hands. O, that our young people would realize it more, and make it their business to make real spiritual progress now.

If we are left here much longer, all who have neglected doing so, will see their failure and loss. It will not only be loss to themselves, but to the whole church of God. They sometimes think that what they do, is their own business, and only affects themselves.

“None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.” Romans 14:7.

A Young Christian's Regret

When we first knew a young lady whom we will call Mary, she was a bright Christian who spoke of the Lord and signed her letters “saved by grace.” She found the Lord Jesus a truly satisfying Object, and disdained worldly amusements. Being a bright witness for the Lord, she was at once a special target of Satan. When Jesus was on earth the devil opposed Him, but today he seeks to ensnare those that belong to the Lord Jesus. Though he cannot rob them of their salvation, he wants them to give an un-Christian testimony and false report of their Saviour before the world. This enemy of Christ used some old friends of Mary’s to seek to persuade her that she was missing something since she had given up the world’s pleasures. They urged her time after time to go with them to the picture show, and often referred to other Christians who went to shows as a reason for her going.

Under this pressure, Mary finally consented to go with them “just once”, and true to her promise was found that evening at the picture show. That was the most miserable evening Mary had ever spent up to that time, and she longed to get out. For a while she thought of getting up and leaving her companions in the show; but the wily foe reminded her of the laughs and jeers which would surely come, so he won the battle. The following week Mary was again urged to go with the crowd. This time she was more easily persuaded, but again spent the entire evening in regrets for having been there.

As time went on Mary would go with a little more ease, but still her conscience would smite her, and she lost many good nights’ sleep. It annoyed her that she could not have as good a time as the other girls with whom she went. She did not heed her conscience, nor the warnings of the Word of God. Finally conscience stopped its prickings, and Mary could now enjoy the pleasures with which Satan leads men and women to hell. The enemy had won his point, and he could now use her as an example for other Christians to follow. He always has some he can use for this purpose, but he never tells the sequel.

Dear young Christian, has the devil suggested to you that you are missing something by not indulging in the pleasures of this world? Has he told you that the shows, dances, and other worldly amusements are truly worth having? If so, let me warn you that he lies to you, and is hiding his sting. By all means read the sequel in Mary’s case.

Today, this once happy Christian is a most miserable person. The subtle enemy that led her on step by step to dishonor her Lord, is now mocking her with taunts of what she has done. He now says,

“You couldn’t be a true Christian, and do what you have.”

Poor Mary is now in deep, deep distress of soul, and wonders if she were ever saved. She has proved that the devil lied to her, and that what he promised as happiness was all a delusion.

O beware of Satan’s wiles! Beware of displeasing the Lord “just once.” If you have done so, by all means confess it at once to God your Father, who “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Your heart is too large for the vanities of this evil world to satisfy. Satan controls men today by means of the “lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life.” The Christian cannot indulge in these things without loss to his soul, and eventual dishonor to the Lord. What the world calls pleasure is only for “a season” (Heb. 11:25). The Christian who lives for the Lord has true pleasures which will be enjoyed throughout eternity – they are “forever more” (Psa. 16:11).

May God enable you to sing from the heart those precious lines:

Naught, naught I court as pleasure,

Compared, O Christ, with Thee!

Thy sorrow, without measure,

Earned peace and joy for me!

I love to own, Lord Jesus,

Thy claims o’er me divine,

Bought with Thy blood most precious,

Whose can I be but Thine!

A Touching Incident

A pastor was talking to a young mother about her maternal responsibilities, and urged the duty of constant and believing prayer for the early conversion of her children. She assured him that it was her daily practice to carry her little ones in supplication to the throne of grace, and yet complained of a want of faith and of definiteness in asking for them the special blessing she so desired for them.

“Do you pray for each child separately and by name?” inquired the pastor.

“No, that has never been my habit,” was the reply.

“I think it of much importance, Mrs. H., especially as a help to our faith, and to the clearness and intensity of our desires on their behalf. You pray with them, I trust, as well as for them?”

“Sometimes I do, but not often. They seem a little restless and inclined to whisper together while my eyes are closed; and so I have felt less embarrassment and more freedom in supplication to be alone at such seasons.”

“Let me persuade you, dear Mrs. H., to try a different plan. Take your little son and daughter each separately to the place of prayer, and, kneeling with them before the Lord, tell Him the name, the daily history, the special want of each, and see if your heart is not opened to plead for them as you have never done before.”

Tears were in the eyes of the young mother, as she said with trembling lips,

“I’ll try.”

When the evening came she had not forgotten her promise, but as she saw that Sarah, her daughter, was unusually peevish, she thought best to take her little son first to her bedroom. Willie was a bright and pleasant boy of five years; and when his mother whispered her wish to pray with him, he gladly put his hand in hers and knelt by her side. As he heard his name mentioned before the Lord, a tender hush fell upon his young spirit, and he clasped his mother’s fingers more tightly as each petition for his special need was breathed into the ear of his Father in heaven. And did not the clinging of that little hand warm her heart to new and more fervent desire as she poured forth her supplication to the Hearer and Answerer of prayer?

When the mother and child rose from their knees, Willie’s face was like a rainbow, smiling through tears.

“Mamma, mamma,” said he, “I’m glad you told Jesus my name; now He’ll know me when I get to heaven. And when the kind angels that carry little children to the Saviour take me and lay me in His arms, Jesus will look at me so pleasant, and say,

`Why, this is Willie H.: his mother told Me about him: how happy I am to see you, Willie!’ Won’t that be nice, mamma?”

Mrs. H. never forgot that scene. And when she was permitted to see, not only her dear Willie and Sarah, but the children afterward added to her family circle, each successively confessing the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, she did indeed feel that the pastor’s way was the right way. So she resolved to recommend it to praying mothers, by telling them this touching incident.

“Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:3

“Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deuteronomy 6:7

“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.” 2 Timothy 3:15.

What Is It to Follow Christ?

What is it to follow Christ? One often forms a vague idea of what it is. It is to walk after a Person whom we acknowledge as the Guide we need. The one who has confidence in himself does not want a guide. Moreover, following the Lord implies not merely confidence in Him, but humble dependence on Him. Again, if I follow someone, my eyes are fixed on him, so as to imitate him. Now imitating the Lord is seeking to reproduce Him, to be like Him; and in whatever position God sets me, His object is that I should reproduce Christ in that position. We read of Caleb that he wholly followed the Lord his God.

Lesson From Elijah

1 Kings 17-19

Though Elijah was a remarkable servant of God, it is clear that his life inwardly was not sustained in proportion to his outward testimony. With him the fire, wind and earthquake were everything; and when outward testimony excited the malignity of the enemy, as is usual, his faith was not equal to the pressure. But mark the blessed, tender way of Jehovah with His poor servant.

1st. He is called to go and stand before the Lord, thus proving that solitude is useless unless it be with God. We may be even as he was, under a juniper tree, or in a cave (1 Kings 19:4-9), but that is only the solitude of disappointed nature; there is neither liberty, nor rest, nor listening in that. O, no, it must be with God. “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.”

2nd. The demands of nature must not be yielded to. This is typified by the prophet’s fasting forty days and forty nights; that which had been supplied to him was the providing of Jehovah’s hand – even a “cake baken” and “a cruse of water,” supplies outside nature, in the strength of which all its claims can be set aside.

3rd. The consequence of the two former, the prophet listens – he hears “a still small voice;” and thus receives communications and commissions which previously would have been unintelligible to him.

Witnesses for Christ

The Lord delivered Paul from the people and from the Gentiles, associating him with Christ in glory. He sent him forth into the world which is without God, as dark as pitch, to carry this testimony – to deliver them. What he was an eye witness of, was what he preached.

That same world is where you are sent. You are not apostles, but each one is to be a witness in his own little sphere. If you call yourselves Christians, you are set in the world to be the epistle of Christ before men.

What I see is that the vessels of testimony are those who are closest to the Lord. Mary Magdalene was not an Apostle, but she was able to tell the disciples of that which was their highest privilege; for her heart clung to Christ, and she found the world an empty sepulcher. If you want true knowledge, you must be near Christ in affection.

Distinguishing Between Things That Differ

“That ye may approve things that are excellent.” Philippians 1:10.

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15.

There is a temptation in the time of confusion to cast up all as hopeless and gone, and to say, it is endless and needless to be still distinguishing. All is disorder and apostasy, why then attempt to distinguish?

But this was not the Lord. He was in the confusion, but not of it, as He was in the world, but not of it. The condition of things, as well as the character of persons, exercised Him; the coin of Caesar circulating in Immanuel’s land; partition walls all but in ruins, Jew and Gentile, clean and unclean, confounded, save as religious arrogancy might still retain them after its own manner. But His one golden rule expressed the perfectness of His passage through all,

“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

The remnant, in the day of captivity, a like day of confusion, carried themselves beautifully, distinguishing things that differed, and not hopelessly casting all up.

Daniel would advise the king, but not eat his meat.

Nehemiah would serve in the palace, but not suffer the Moabite or the Ammonite in the house of the Lord.

Mordecai would guard the king’s life, but would not bow to the Amalekite.

Ezra and Zerubbabel would accept favors from the Persian, but not Samaritan help, nor Gentile marriages: and the captives would pray for the peace of Babylon, but would not sing Zion’s songs there.

All this was beautiful; and the Lord, in His day was perfect in this remnant character. And all this has a voice for us, for ours is a day, in its character and confusion, not inferior to these days of the captives, nor of Jesus. And we, like them, are not to act on the hopelessness of the scene, but know still how to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Extract: Sorrow

The Lord allows His children to find by sorrowful experience the fruit of His own plans, and though the purpose of His love remains the same, they must be reached in circumstances which declare that He Who blesses, and addeth no sorrow to it, has had to deal with the will of the one whom He blesses.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10.

Go in Peace

What could ever disturb a heart that could fall back and say “I know the One my heart is bound to, I know His love, and the sort of a person He is; and I can go in peace in a world where there is no peace”?

Correspondence: Error Corrected (118644); Dan .3:25; Rev. 2:9, 3:9; Jude 21

Note: We regret the error in the correspondence column for May. The Question should have read, “Will children of irresponsible age whose parents are unsaved be taken at the Lord’s coming?”

Question: Please explain Daniel 3:25.

Answer: In the Old Testament the Lord appeared at times in different forms. In Genesis 18, He is a way faring man communing with Abraham the pilgrim. In Joshua 5, He appears as Captain of the Lord’s host, giving instructions how to take Jericho. In this chapter He is a companion in tribulation, and a deliverer, while in it, from its power. The fire killed the men that put these three men into it, but over them it had no power. It took the cords off their limbs, and put them in the company of one like to the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar did not know the Son of God. (It is literally “a son of the gods.) But how happy a place it was to be in. Was it not? They might be afraid before they were thrown in, but it was delightful to be in the presence of the Lord Himself (Nah. 1:7).

Question: What is taught by the Seven churches? What is the "Synagogue of Satan?” (Rev. 2:9; 3:9).

Answer: Seven is the number of spiritual completeness. Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation give us a complete picture of the spiritual state or condition of the church as the Lord’s witness here on earth from the time John wrote, till its end when Christ comes to claim His own out of it. The chief mark of each we might say: Ephesus, declension; Smyrna, persecution or suffering for Christ; Pergamos, worldliness; Thyatira, seeking worldly power; Sardis, formal religion; Philadelphia, revival of the truth of Christ’s person and coming; Laodicea, indifference to the claims of Christ. The last four run on concurrently till the end. May the Lord keep our hearts true to Himself.

“The Synagogue of Satan” is spoken of in the two phases of the assembly where no fault is found with them. It is there traditional religion opposes the truth, they “say they are Jews” – the people of God – but “they do lie.” They try to improve the flesh and to keep the law, and this recognizes good in man, whereas the truth is “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” Compare for the word Jew, which means praise (Rom. 2:21, 22; Gen. 29:35), those that say they are Jews, praise themselves; they are good in their own eyes.

Question: What does “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” mean? (Jude 21.)

Answer: “Eternal life” is seen here at the end of our journey. “Mercy” is needed in such dark days as Jude pictures, to keep us true and faithful to the Lord, when so many who once seemed bright and happy, have turned aside. When we are with the Lord, there will be no danger then of going astray. We shall eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God, and shall be perpetually in the enjoyment of the Eternal life.

The Best and the Worst

God is determined that no excuse will be left to any. Lest any man should think that he needs no repentance – that he is too good for that, Job’s case stares him in the face. There was a man of whom God could say that there was “none like him in the earth.” When compared with other men, He who knew all men could put Job at the top and say, That’s the very best one of them all. As long as it was only a question of Job and his neighbors, he could hold up his head and be self-satisfied; but when it became a question of Job and God, it was quite another thing. Struggle after struggle may be gone through before he is ready to take the only attitude which becomes a man there, but he must come to it. Hear him:

“I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

What a confession for the best man on earth!

What about you and me, dear reader? Were we the best of our day, yet must we too come to Job’s conclusion, when it is with God we have to do. And we must have to do with Him sooner or later.

But lest any repenting man should despair at the sight of his great sinfulness and guilt, God has put another character in His Word. It is Saul of Tarsus. Hear him speak of himself:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15.

He commends the blessed Saviour to all, showing His readiness and ability to save any and every one, inasmuch as He had saved him, the chief of all sinners – a man who had dared lift a murderous hand upon the sheep of Christ.

Dear reader, if you are the best man among men, you are a lost sinner nevertheless, before God. If you feel as though you were too bad to be saved, hear again the word you need, and which will do you good:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15.

It is a salvation which changes a guilty conscience into a rejoicing heart; which makes sin loathsome, and holiness more desired than gold; which sets one’s soul at home with God, binds the heart to Christ, makes His return the bright prospect of tomorrow, and finally introduces us where He has prepared us a place to share His glory with Him forever and ever.

Hark! the Saviour’s voice from heaven

Speaks a pardon, full and free:

“Come, and thou shalt be forgiven;

Boundless mercy flows for thee –

Even thee.”

See the healing fountain springing

From the Saviour on the Tree;

Pardon, peace and cleansing bringing;

Lost one, loved one, ‘tis for thee –

Even thee.

Hear His voice and mercy speaking:

“All thy sins were laid on Me:

Though thy heart for guilt be breaking,

I have rest and peace for thee –

Even thee.”

Come, then, now – to Jesus flying,

From thy sin and woe be free;

Burdened, guilty, wounded, dying,

Gladly will He welcome thee –

Even thee.

Every sin shall be forgiven,

Thou, through grace, a child shalt be;

Child of God and heir of heaven,

Yes, a mansion waits for thee –

Even thee.

Extract: All Our Circumstances

John 15 gives us the necessary way in which life is seen in believers – abiding in Christ. All the trials and sorrows in this life are allowed for this end. We need to judge all in the light of God’s presence.

Never look at second causes. Never look at the men who block your course. We should take all our circumstances from the Lord, and our difficulties to the Lord, whether they are a worm, a gourd or a caterpillar.

If you will read your Bible, you will find that God is behind the scenes, and moves all the scenes He is behind.

A Lesson on the Child

The Lord Jesus “took a child and set him by Him.” This shows us our place: we ought to seek the lowest place.

We never can have it because Christ has taken it. He went down under sin, wrath, death. He took the lowest place, because the servant of all. This is the truly happy place for us, but how it judges self. This is what the cross does.

Not only the idols are judged, but self is judged. It is a blessed thing to have done with self. When there is room for God, we can be full of joy and happiness.

We are not humble, even when we are occupied with our own nothingness, or how bad we are, but we are humble when we do not think of ourselves at all.

When we have to learn our nothingness and badness, that is being humbled. If we get away from the Lord, we have to be brought back, and that is a humbling process.

We want to judge the flesh in ourselves. It is quite easy to judge it in another, but it is in ourselves we miss it.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 11:17-34

Part 2

We now turn to that part of the epistle which takes up order in the assembly.

Verse 17. In the second verse, the Apostle could praise; but as to the subject upon which he now enters, he did not praise, because the Corinthian saints came together not for the better, but for the worse. For, first, when they came together in assembly, Paul tells them that he hears there exist divisions among them. This was party making, which at first, as it seems, drew a line between the rich and the poor, but easily led into other distinctions, forming the basis of sects. The Apostle tells the Corinthians that he partly believes, gives credit to, what he has heard.

“For there must also be sects” (schools or parties after a man’s own opinion) “among you, that the approved may become manifest among you” (verse 19 JND).

It is painful to the spiritual Christian to consider how widespread is, sectarianism today.

In Luke 22, the Lord, on the night of His betrayal by Judas Iscariot, laid before the apostles His desire that He should be remembered in the time of His absence in the loaf and cup – memorials of His body and His shed blood. The second chapter of Acts, verse 42, shows that at the church’s beginning the breaking of bread (the Lord’s supper) had a prominent place; and in Acts 20:7, the central purpose of gathering is briefly stated: “And the first day of the week, we being assembled to break bread, Paul,” (JND).

The believers at Corinth had lost sight of the spiritual character of the Lord’s supper, and the Apostle tells them that their coming together into one place was not to eat it, but for each to eat his own supper. Instead of occupation of mind and heart with the Lord in His death, there was a disgraceful and dishonorable display of greediness as each of them tried to satisfy his hunger and thirst in disregard of the rest of the company. One was hungry, and another drank to excess.

Though they were, as appears likely, in the habit of coming together, first to partake of what was called a love feast – a meal eaten together socially – and afterward, to break the bread in remembrance of Christ in death, they were wrong in combining a social time with that solemn memorial. But, beside this grave error, there was the shameful misconduct of verse 21, with the rich seeking their own gain at the expense of the poor. Did the well-to-do not have houses for eating and drinking, asks the Apostle in the 22nd verse, Or did they despise the assembly of God, and put to shame those who had not such accommodations? What should he say to them? Should he praise them in this as he had praised them at the beginning of this chapter? “I praise you not”, is the Apostle’s word, and then he proceeds to tell of the revelation the Lord had given him concerning the breaking of bread in remembrance of Him.

How important this is in the eyes of the Lord may be judged by the fact that only twice in the epistles does the Apostle speak as he does here of a special revelation made to himself to be delivered to the saints: here and in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; the one passage referring to the Lord’s supper, and the other to the manner of His coming for His heavenly people, and their going to be with Him forever.

Paul, of course, was not present at that meeting in the upper room on the night of the betrayal; no follower of Christ was he then, and when his name first appears in the Scriptures (Acts 7:58; 8:1,3), he is an open enemy of Him in whom alone is salvation. Turned about from his mad course, he learns in time that he is the once hated Christ’s Apostle to the Gentiles, while the twelve continue to minister among the Jews. Is it not then particularly fitting that the revelation of the Lord here spoken of should be made to that Apostle through whom was made known the truth of the church, the one body composed of those who had been Jews and Gentiles, and the heavenly calling?

And what communication could the heavenly saints – those of the children of men who have been brought to own the risen Christ as Saviour, and to wait for His promised return to bring them to their heavenly home – have been given that could bring before them as this does His unchanged and unchangeable tender love for them, His desire for their love, His knowledge of their needs, as exposed to the rude blasts of this world? For nothing short of communion with Him can sustain the Christian here below.

How quickly the Corinthians had forgotten, or let slip what the Apostle had taught them only a few years before! Now, however, they were given it in writing; the very words that you and I have to direct us at the end of the day of grace, were sent to them nearly nineteen hundred years ago. And they produced an effect in those Christians at Corinth, as the 2nd Epistle, Chapter 7, indicates at its close.

What then of yourself, young Christian? What is your response to the Lord’s, “This do in remembrance of Me”? Can you say, I do Lord?

There is a divine object in view in the different names that are used in the Scriptures for Him; at the beginning of the chapter we had “Christ”, but in the eleventh verse, and afterward, it is “the Lord”. He is both, and “the Lord Jesus”, and “Christ Jesus”, and on occasion simply “Jesus”; to the spiritual mind it is generally plain why one of these names and not another is used.

“I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed,” brings before our minds Himself as the One who having died for us, now has authority over us.

Perhaps you have compared Luke 22 with 1 Corinthians 11, noticing that these are the fullest accounts of the institution of the Lord’s supper, Matthew’s and Mark’s being shorter. All of course, were penned under the inspiration of God, but only one of the four writers (Matthew) was present on the occasion of which they wrote; and Paul expressly says that he received his account from the Lord.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in their accounts of what took place in the upper room that night, all show that the thought of His betrayal was before our blessed Lord there; in none is this more marked than in John 13:21-30 where the Lord’s supper is not mentioned. A deep sorrow it must have been to Him, though far deeper and more intense was the soul agony that lay just beyond, on the morrow. But the Lord would have His people recall the particular circumstance in connection with the institution of the supper of remembrance, that it was “the same night in which He was betrayed.”

“He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said,... This is My body which is... for you; this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament (or covenant) in My blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink its in remembrance of Me.”

How simple is the account, and how touching to the believer’s heart! We remember Him in death, recalling to our hearts what brought Him there – our sins, our guilt; His love, His grace, obedience as the sent One; the depth of His sufferings as the Sinbearer; His sufferings too at the hands of His creature, man. Of that scene a Christian poet has written,

“O, what a load was Thine to bear

Alone in that dark hour;

Our sins in all their terror there;

God’s wrath, and Satan’s power.”

“Broken” for you in verse 24 is not correct; the word seems to have crept in through an early copyist’s or translator’s assumption that the breaking of the loaf referred to a “breaking” of the Lord’s body. John 19:36 is explicit that a bone of His was not broken, and in our chapter the verse should be read “... My body which is for you.”

“New testament” in verse 25 is really new covenant, referring to the promise in Jeremiah 31:31-34, quoted in Hebrews 8:6-13. It will be made with Israel in the coming day, but we who believe are in the good of it without being under it.

“As oft as ye drink it” (verse 25): At the beginning, the Lord’s supper was evidently partaken of daily (Acts 2:46), but Acts 20:7 points to the Lord’s day as the weekly day of remembrance; no word of Scripture warrants a less frequent observance of the memorial supper. Should we who have been won to Christ, who are united to Him in the glory, ever avoidably miss this most privileged remembrance of Him?

“For as often as ye shall eat the bread and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until He come” (JND). We show His death until He, rejected here, shall return to receive us to Himself; and in so doing we in substance declare that the blood of the new covenant has been shed.

Verses 7 to 32 solemnly state that the exercise of the high and holy privilege we have been considering, involves self-judgment, or we shall come under God’s hand in discipline. To treat with disrespect this ordinance, to partake unworthily, is to be guilty in respect of the body and blood of the Lord.

“But let a man prove himself, and thus eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For the eater and drinker eats and drinks judgment to himself, not distinguishing the body. On this account many among you are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, so were we not judged. But being judged, we are disciplined of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (verses 28-32 JnD).

The Bible

“O, what a Bible reading have we here,

Not barren theory – musty, dry and drear –

But Christ, the ‘altogether lovely,’ full in view,

Himself the preacher, text and sermon too.”

And thus we learn that if our souls are to be kept healthy, vigorous, and strong; that if our work for God is to be of an enduring character; that if we are to combat successfully the principalities and powers which are arrayed against us and which are determined to resist every advance in the knowledge of God – we must read and study the Word of God.

“House of treasure! here I find

Food and medicine for the mind,

Sword to wield against the foe,

Helm and shield to ward his blow,

Garments for the heavenly born,

Gems the spirit to adorn,

Songs of praise in sunny hours,

Dirges when the tempest lowers –

But I need not thus go on

Naming treasures one by one;

Why should I the rest recall,

Christ is here, and Christ is all.”

Let me just add, on the other hand, that to the neglect of that Word can be traced joylessness, powerlessness, sin, failure, spiritual disaster. On one of the pages of the Bible belonging to a young friend, these words are written, “This Book will keep me from sin, or sin will keep me from this Book.”

The statement is profoundly true. Love for both can no more co-exist than ice under a tropical sun, or darkness with light.

He From Within: Luke 11:7

The Word of God judges, with perfect accuracy, the human heart, and discloses all its most secret springs of thought and action. Indeed, this is one special way in which we may know that it is the Word of God. The poor Samaritan woman could say,

“Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did: Is not this the Christ?” John 4:29.

She judged that a man that could lay bare before her the deep secrets of her heart and of her life, must needs be the long-expected Messiah; and she judged rightly. In like manner, we may say,

“Come, see a book that told me all things that ever I did: Is not this the Word of God?”

No one can read the heart but God. No book can disclose the human heart but God’s Book; wherefore, inasmuch as the Bible does perfectly disclose the human heart, we may know, even had we no other mode of judging, that the Bible is the Word of God.

Such an argument may be utterly condemned by an infidel, a skeptic, or a rationalist, who must, therefore, be met on other grounds; but it is impossible for any upright mind to ponder the simple fact that the Bible perfectly unfolds man’s very nature, his thoughts, his feelings, his desires, his affections, his imaginations, the most secret chambers of his moral being, and not be convinced that the Bible is nothing less than the very Word of God.

“The Word of God is quick, 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.” Hebrews 4:12.

Nor is it, merely, in the Word of God, as a whole, that we observe this intense power of “discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart,” but also in detached passages, in brief sentences, in a verse or clause of a verse.

Look, for instance, at the three words which appear at the head of this article. What a revelation of the selfishness of the human heart do these words contain! What an expression of the narrow enclosure within which it retires! What a brief, pointed, pithy commentary upon man’s reluctance to be intruded upon, when he has made arrangements for his personal ease! Who can read them, and not see in them a perfect mirror in which the very pulsations of his own heart are reflected? We do not like to be intruded upon, when we have retired from the scene around us, into the narrow circle of our personal or domestic enjoyment. When we have drawn the curtains, made ready the fire, opened the desk or the book, we do not like to have to respond to a call from without. It is at such times, we can enter into the words, “He from within.” They really contain a volume of profound truth. They graphically and vividly set forth an attitude of heart in which we are all far too frequently to be found. We are all too ready, when a call comes, to send forth our answer “from within.” We are too prone to say, “Dear me! this is a most untoward moment for that person to call, just when I am so particularly engaged.” All this is precisely the attitude of heart set forth in the words – the selfish words, “He from within.”

And, let us inquire, what answer is sure to be returned from the one who speaks “from within”? Just what might be expected. “Trouble me not.” The man who has retired into the narrow circle of his own personal ease and enjoyment, closed his door, and drawn his curtains around him, does not like to be “troubled” by anyone. Such a one is sure to say, even though appealed to as a “friend,” “I cannot rise.” And why could he not “rise”? Because “The door was shut, and his children were with him in bed.” In a word, his reasons for not rising were all selfish, and when he did rise, it was only from a selfish desire to avoid further trouble. “Importunity” prevailed over a selfishness which was proof against the appeals of friendship.

How unlike all this was the blessed Lord Jesus Christ His door was never shut. He never answered “from within.” He ever had a ready response to every needy applicant. He had not time to eat bread, or take rest, so occupied was He with human need. He could say, “I forget to eat My meat,” so entirely was He given up to the service of others. He never murmured on account of the ceaseless intrusion of needy humanity.

He kept no record of all He had to do, nor did He ever complain of it. “He went about doing good.” “His meat and His drink were to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work.” To Him the poor and the needy, the heavy-laden and the heartbroken, the outcast and the wretched, the homeless and the stranger, the widow and the orphan, the diseased and the desolate, might all flock, in the full assurance of finding in Him a fountain ever flowing over, and sending forth, in all directions, the copious streams of living sympathy, toward every possible form of human need. The door of His heart was always wide open. He never said to any son of want, or child of sorrow, “I cannot rise and give thee.” He was ready to “arise” and go with every needy applicant, and His gracious word ever was, “Give.”

Such was Jesus when down here; and He is still “the very same, whose glory fills all heaven above.” His door stands open, so that the vilest, the guiltiest, and the neediest of sinners are welcome. They can have their crimson and scarlet sins washed away in His atoning blood. They can have pardon and peace, life and righteousness, heaven and its eternal weight of glory, all as the free gift of grace divine; and, while on their way from grace to glory, they can have all the love of His heart and the strength of His shoulder – that heart which told forth its deathless affection on the cross, and that shoulder which shall bear up the pillars of divine government forever.

And, now, dear Christian reader, suffer the word of exhortation. Remember that Christ is your life, and that Christianity is nothing less than the living exhibition of Christ in your daily walk. Christianity is not a set of opinions to be defended, or a set of ordinances to be observed. It is far more than these. It expresses itself thus,

“To me to live is Christ.”

This is Christianity. May we know and manifest its power! May we be more occupied with Him who is our life! Then we too shall keep the door of the heart open to the sorrows, the miseries, the wants, and the woes of fallen and suffering humanity. We shall be ready to “rise and give” to every case of real need. If we cannot give “three loaves” or the price of them, we can at least, give the look of love, the word of kindness, the tear of sympathy, the accents of fervent intercession; and, in no case, shall we suffer ourselves to get into the attitude of intense selfishness expressed in the words, “He from within.”

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9.

I Am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valleys

Songs of Solomon 2:1

Mark well, my soul, that the speaker (Israel in that future day) says, “I am the lily of the valleys” – not of the cities. In the quiet vale she finds her native soil, and breathes her native air. There she blooms, for the eye of her Beloved, and sheds her fragrance for His refreshment. “He feedeth among the lilies.” It was in the city she lost the joys of His presence; and there she was insulted and unveiled by the watchmen. These were her wandering, backsliding moments. O! how much better for her, had she never left her native valleys! My soul, here, pause a little. Meditate on these things. At a distance – far from the stream and spirit of this world – in heart far from its attractions, study that which will be pleasing to the eye of Jesus, and refreshing to His heart.

O! wondrous truth! that He who is seated on the throne of God in heaven, and surrounded with its glory, should yet think at all of such good-for-nothing ones as we are, and, most of all, to be pleased and delighted, or grieved and wounded, by the character of our ways! Alas! that He should be so frequently wounded in the house of His friends!

O! is there one thing under the sun, that should give thee such unfeigned pleasure, as to please Him? Canst thou think of anything more unworthy of a Christian, than his seeking to please himself, and to find pleasure in the things of the world? Especially when he knows, as men speak, that it is to grieve the heart of One whom only he should find his supreme delight in pleasing – the One who died for him on Calvary.

Having well judged thy heart and ways on this solemn subject, let thy care, love, and sympathy go out after others; especially the young of the flock, for the Lord’s glory. How beautiful to the eye of Jesus now, and how refreshing to His heart, to see those for whom He died, walking happily and steadfastly in the footsteps of the flock, and feeding beside the shepherd’s tents. There the tender budding grass is found, and the quiet waters flow. But O! how grieving both to the chief and to the under shepherds to witness, it may be, a dear young disciple, who seemed for awhile to be all heart for the Lord, yielding to the arguments, of unconverted friends, and to the attractions of the world, and, by and by, making excuses for a measure of conformity to the fashion of the world. Must I give up this – and must I give up that? such will sometimes say. Rather think, my brother, my sister, on what you gave up in order to enjoy these things. Most solemn thought! For these follies and vanities you gave up Christ. I mean as to your experimental enjoyment of Him. You know that you cannot enjoy the Lord, and these things at the same time. And now, you must give up these for Christ. But do you hesitate for a moment? Look to the cross! “O, how He loves” – how He dies and dies for thee – and for these very sins! O! cast thyself at His blessed feet with true godly sorrow. Thou hast offended His eye, thou hast grieved His heart, thou hast dishonored His name; confess all to Him; and thy restoration shall be perfect, and all thy past sins shall be forgiven and forgotten forever.

But until this is done, spirituality of mind, earnestness of heart, and communion with the Lord are interrupted. It is a solemn case of backsliding. And unless the Lord clogs the wheels of the chariot, who can tell how fast and how far it may run down the hill? Sometimes an accident will happen and stop it suddenly, but with much damage, the scars of which may remain forever.

O Lord, let Thy grace shine forth; and allure many into the wilderness, who keep too near the world’s borders, and too often cast a wishful glance over the line of separation. Wean them from this present evil world. Let them be arrayed in the meek and lowly beauties of the lily, for Thee alone. Suffer them not to appear adorned for the eye of the world. Surely, most blessed Lord, to hear Thee saying,

“As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters,” would infinitely more than recompense for all our self-denial.

Prayer

Prayer is indeed a most important way of serving one another as long as we are here below, “Helping together by prayer for us.” 2 Corinthians 1:11.

If we draw near to the throne of grace, we see in spirit all saints, and can pray for them; for our Father is rich, and through His love in our hearts, we think not of our need alone, but also of that of our brethren, who are members of the one body, and children of the same Father.

The desire to give our children what they need is often hampered by our inability to provide what our hearts would delight to give. It is not so with our Father. Who can hinder His delight? for He is ever rich, “He is rich unto all that call upon Him.”

“A rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

“He is able to give good things to them that ask Him.”

O! that we were always in the state described by Asaph of old, saying,

“It is good for me to draw near to God.” Psalms 73:28.

Extract: The Attacks of the Enemy

With regard to fresh attacks of the enemy in opposing the truth, it is needful for us to remember God’s dealings in the past, that we may thus take courage for the present and the future. When David had to meet Goliath, he said,

“The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”

It is of the same living God that the Apostle speaks when he says,

“Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust, that He will yet deliver us.” 2 Corinthians 1:10.

Correspondence: Eph. 2:10; Language in Dan. 5:25; Unbeliever in Eternity

Question: Please explain the meaning of, “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, etc.,” Ephesians 2:10.

Answer: The passage shows that we are created by God for His glory. It is a wonderful thing when the soul really grasps this. That we have not even to choose the good works that are to occupy us, for all things are of God, and He has prepared our path before us, and those works for which we are most suited. We trust many of our readers are found walking in this simple and God-honoring path.

Question: What language are the four words in Daniel 5:25? Could the astrologers understand any of them? Why is Upharsin changed to Peres in the interpretation?

Answer: In the old Chaldee, Mene, Mene, meaning in Hebrew and Chaldee “he hath numbered and finished.” Tekel (Chaldee) “thou are weighed,” or (Hebrew) “thou art too light.” Upharsin, pharsin, or Peres; Pharsin in Hebrew means “the Persians;” Paresin in Chaldee signifies “dividing.” Possibly the astrologers would not, as well as could not interpret such a fearful message to King Belshazzar.

Question: Kindly say what kind of life the unbeliever will have throughout eternity, and what kind of body he will have?

Answer: We do not know anything more than that he will have a perpetuity of existence in unutterable misery, and that the body will be immortal. Eternal life, properly speaking, belongs to the Christian alone, and means much more than existing forever, which is equally true of the unbeliever. Only those who are in Christ have eternal life; the others, although existing forever, shall not see life. (John 3:36.)

The Precious Bible

A beautiful woman lay sick on her bed.

“Read me something new,” she said impatiently to her friends who were trying to divert her with interesting books.

While her sister went out to search for “something new,” the nurse took out her pocket Bible, and began to read the sermon on the mount. The dear woman paid close attention to the end.

“Beautiful,” she said. “That will create quite a sensation. Who wrote it?”

“Why,” replied the astonished nurse, “that is the sermon on the mount, in the Bible, you know.”

“The Bible! Anything so good and beautiful as that in the Bible?”

“Surely; What else but good did you think could be in it?”

“O! I don’t know, I have never looked into a Bible in my life. My father wouldn’t have one in the house.”

“But you have certainly heard the Bible read in church.”

“I have never been in church. Sunday was always our holiday. We went to all the places of amusement but never went to church. I have never thought much about the Bible. I have never supposed it contained such beautiful things. I wish I had known it before.”

She begged the nurse to read more of that precious Bible, it was so new to her. She said,

“I wish I had known it before.”

“Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.” Psalms 119:89.

This book contains: the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise. Believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.

It contains light to direct you; good to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler’s, map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter.

Here, heaven is opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

Christ is its grand subject.

Our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.

Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully.

It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.

It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever.

It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the smallest labor, and condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:”

“And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11,12.

Dear readers, can you imagine a man dying slowly from starvation, weaker and weaker every day, anguishing for what he knows would give him renewed strength and keep him from death, while beside him lies a casket hiding a costly diamond worth thousands of dollars, and which would bring him more than enough sustenance and all else for his necessities for life? No, not if that man was in his right mind.

Can you imagine a man shivering in the winter cold at midnight, while a few steps before him is a home he may call his own, and warmth and light and rest?

Or a person tossing in a fever and anguish week after week, while close at hand lies the remedy which would cool his veins and soothe his pains?

Nay, nay, and yet! and yet! That precious Word of God has wondrous food for starving hearts. There is love and light and pardon there for you.

There is a home in the sheltering heart of God revealed there for you. No storms can shake it, no earthquake destroy it, no stranger chill its rest and radiance.

There is healing told of there. If your disease is described – the disease of sin – and you shudder and shiver as you realize its power shown by the physician, there is the perfect remedy before you.

“The Lamb as it had been slain" (Rev. 6) in the glory for you. Substitute for you, the Justifier for you in heaven.

O, take that Bible, look at the pictures there of yourself, of your Saviour, of your need of His love, of the joy and light and the peace for you, of the feasting and the dancing and gladness over you, of the welcome and the robe and the ring for you.

Look at Calvary. Hear His piercing cry, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me.” Look around and within and hear the answer:

“Because of your many sins.”

See your heart and God’s; gaze into heaven and hell, and take His letter, His message,

His revelation; take Himself, and read and believe, and rejoice, and follow Him.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35.

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” John 10:27-28.

Extract: Mountains of Difficulty

Whatever mountains of difficulty may appear, God can remove them, or make a way round about them, as He sees good and fitting. We need more simple and child-like faith. In Zechariah 4:7 we read:

“Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.”

Our true Zerubbabel can and will meet all our difficulties. In trusting Him we can be at rest.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 12:1-11

Chapter 12:1-11

Part 1

“Now concerning spiritual gifts” (it is rather spiritual manifestations, or spiritual things or spirituals; for the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church is dealt with in this chapter, as well as the spiritual gifts which are connected with His presence), “brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (verse 1).

Another has said, “Nothing more important, more distinctive, more marvelous than the presence of the Holy Spirit here below in the midst of Christians; the fruit to us of the perfect work of Christ, but in itself the manifestation of the presence of God among men on the earth. The providence of God manifests His power in the works of creation, and His government which directs all things; but the Holy Spirit is His presence in this world, the testimony that He bears of Himself, of His character. He is among men to display Himself, not yet in glory, but in power and in testimony of what He is.

“Christ having accomplished redemption, and having presented the efficacy of His work to God, Sovereign and Judge, the assembly, being ransomed and cleansed by his blood, and united to Him as His body, became also the vessel of the power which acts in His members. Thus she ought to display this power in holiness – she is responsible to do so. But in this way, as to its exercise, man becomes in fact individually the vessel of this spiritual energy. It is a treasure committed to him.

“Now the Spirit is, in the first place, the link between the assembly and Christ, as well as between the Christian and Christ. It is by the Spirit that communion is realized and maintained; it is the primary function of the Spirit, and man must be in communion in order to realize the character, and discern the will of God, and that, according to the testimony intended to be borne by the Spirit come down to earth.

“But if the assembly does not maintain this communion, she loses her strength as the responsible witness of God on earth, and in fact her joy and her spiritual intelligence also. God is ever sovereign to act as He chooses, and Christ can not fail in His faithfulness to His body; but the testimony committed to the Assembly is no longer so rendered as to make it felt that God is present on the earth.” (Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: 1 Corinthians, J. N. Darby.)

The quoted words were written some eighty or ninety years ago; the great decline in spiritual strength that has taken place since then gives added solemnity to the last paragraph. May it speak to many of the children of God in this day of small things!

The Apostle begins by reminding the Corinthian believers of what they had been before their conversion: “Ye know that when ye were of the nations, ye were led away to dumb idols in whatever way ye might be led. I give you therefore to know that no one speaking in the power of the Spirit of God, says Curse on Jesus; and no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit” (verses 2, 3, JND)

Both in the gospels and in the Acts, the presence in the world, and the power, too, of evil spirits are disclosed. Matthew 8:16, 28-34; Mark 1:23-27; Luke 9:37-42; Acts 8:7 and 16:16-18, are examples, but it is evident that these unseen beings are under Satan’s authority who hid behind the idols the Corinthian believers had worshipped before their conversion endeavored to get in among them now that they were delivered from that enemy, and gathered to the Lord’s name. Nor was this done at Corinth only (1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 7). They would speak or act, pretending to be the Spirit of God.

The writer already quoted, referring to this demonstration of Satan’s power, said, “Christians of the present day hardly believe in such efforts of the enemy as these. Spiritual manifestations are no doubt less striking now than at the time of which the Apostle speaks, but the enemy adapts his means of deception to the circumstances in which man and the work of God are found. As Peter says in a similar case, "As there were false prophets among the people, so shall there be false teachers among you.” The enemy does not cease to act. ‘Forbidding to marry’, (1 Tim. 4:15) was the doctrine of devils. In the last days his power will be manifested still more. God can restrain him by the energy of His Spirit, and by the power of the truth; but if he is not bridled, he still acts, deceiving men, and that by such things as one would suppose it impossible (if not deceived oneself) that a man of sober sense could believe. But it is surprising what a man can believe when he is left to himself, without being kept by God, when the power of the enemy is there. We talk of common sense, of reason (very precious they are); but history tells us that God alone gives them, or preserves them to us.

“Here the Spirit of God manifested Himself by the effects of His power, which broke forth in the midst of the assembly, attracting the attention even of the world. The enemy imitated them. The greater part of the Christians at Corinth having been poor Gentiles without discernment, and stupidly led by the delusions of the enemy, they were the more in danger of being again deceived by this means.

“Strange to say, this demoniac power exercised such an influence that they forgot the importance even of the name of Jesus, or at least forgot that His name was not acknowledged by it. The enemy transforms himself into an angel of light, but he never really owns Jesus Christ as Lord. He will speak of Paul and Silvanus, and would have his part with Christians, but Christ is not acknowledged; and at last it is the breaking up and ruin of those who follow him. An unclean spirit would not say, Lord Jesus, and the Spirit of God could not say, Anathema to Jesus. But it is a question here of spirits, and not of conversion, nor of the necessity of grace working in the heart for the true confession of the name of Jesus – a very true thing, as we know, but not the subject here.”

Verses 4-64 Referring now to what is of God, we are told of distinctions of “gifts”, of “administrations” (or services) and of “operations”; of the Spirit, of the Lord, and of God. In Satan’s realm there might be a legion of evil spirits (Mark 5:9), or seven demons in one person (Luke 8:2), but here is one Spirit, “that one and the selfsame Spirit”, who distributes gifts among men that through them He may manifest His presence. In the exercise of these gifts they who receive them are administrators or servants of Christ, under whom and for whose glory they should ever act. Yet it is God who works effectually in the gifts.

Verse 7 is rightly read, “But to each the manifestation of the Spirit is given for profit.” It does not follow that every believer is given a gift by the Holy Spirit, but that those who receive them are to exercise them for the profit of souls, not for display.

Verses 8-10: Several of the gifts are mentioned – the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, operations of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.

Wisdom, it has been said, is the application of divine light to right and wrong, and to all the circumstances through which we pass. The Holy Spirit furnishes some in a peculiar way with this wisdom – a perception of the true nature of things, and of their relationship to each other, and of conduct with regard to both, which, coming from God, guides us through the difficulties of the way.

Knowledge is intelligence in the mind of God as it is revealed to us in the Scriptures.

Faith is not here simple faith in the gospel, but the energy given by God which overcomes difficulties, rises above dangers.

The discerning of spirits is the knowing how to discern the actings of evil spirits, and to bring them to light, if necessary.

Verse 11. “But all these things operates the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each in particular according as He pleases” (JND).

What a picture these verses afford us of the assembly of God as it was in the beginning, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit! Nothing was left in the hands of man to plan and direct.

Extract: Pressure and Sorrow

We are frequently anxious to get away from present pressure; but if the pressure were removed, the longing would cease. If we longed for the coming of Jesus, and the glory of His blessed presence, circumstances would make no difference; we should then long as ardently to get away from circumstances of ease and sunshine, as from those of pressure and sorrow.

The Lost Crown

“So run that ye may obtain... Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.

Among my early acquaintances in my Christian course was a young man, who was very zealous for the honor of God upon earth, and also for the salvation of souls. But after a time, the interest of a young family, and his success in the world as a man of business, gradually drew his attention from eternal things to the cares of this life: and often, when those with whom he usually met in Christian fellowship were assembled together for worship, and speaking to each other of the things of God, he was to be found at home with his ledger, attending to his accounts, and arranging what must be done on the morrow.

This went on for several years, not, however, without many warnings from the Lord, and admonitions from his brethren, till consumption set in, and gradually he was reduced to almost a skeleton. Still his business absorbed his attention as long as he was able to be about. But the time came when he was laid aside entirely, and then he saw his sin and folly; and more than once when I have been with him in his last hours he has spoken to me in language as follows:

“O, how unwise and wicked I have been to do as I have done, to neglect the things of God for the cares of this life, and to prefer what I thought was my duty to my family, to the society and communion of His people. Although my conduct before men has been blameless, yet the last twelve years of my life are lost, quite lost. It would have been better for me had they never been given me, because I have used them for myself, and not for the Lord. I have been careful about my own things, and not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. I shall blush when I see His face (1 John 2:28). I shall hold down my head as I go into His presence, for I have deprived Him of the joy He would have had in saying to me,
‘Well done, good and faithful servant;’ For how can He do so, when I have been so unfaithful?

“I know He has forgiven me, but O, what a loser I have been in my own soul! and I shall also be a greater loser, in that day of glory when the Lord Jesus will give to every one according to his works (Rev. 22:12). I shall see others come forward in that happy day and take their crowns of reward, and their positions in the glory, for faithful service done to Him while they were upon earth; but I shall have none to receive, because I have allowed this present world to rob me of them. I shall rejoice to see others receive that which I have forever lost through my unfaithfulness (Rev. 3:11; 1 Cor. 3:15; 2 John 8).

“I am thankful that I know I am saved through His death. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin, and I know I shall form a part of that favored company which will surround His throne in the glory, and join in singing that happy song, saying,
`Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.’ But where will be my honors of reward for faithful service done to the Lord in this world? (John 12:26; 1 Thess. 2:19) I shall have none; I have lost my crown.”

The reader will be careful to distinguish between the prize crown, or garland, given by the Lord Jesus to His people, for service done to Him while He is away (1 Peter 5:2-4; Rev. 2:23), and the crown which all believers will have as kings and priests unto God; this crown is as sure and unalterable as eternal life.

“O, how foolish I have been to make such an exchange, to neglect that which is eternal for the things of this world, which are perishing with the using, and which I must now leave forever.

“How I have dishonored Him who bought me with His own blood; and made me His forever. How unlike in my walk have I been to the Apostle Paul, who, when speaking of the things which were gain to him, those he counted loss for Christ, said,

`Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.’ Philippians 3:7, 8.

“But how very different to this have I been, and because I have been so unlike him in my walk through life, I am unlike him now in my last moments. When he was about to leave this world, he could say, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous. Judge, shall give me in that day.’ 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

"But with me, it has been just the opposite to this: for instead of my having fought the good fight, I have been gathering of this world’s goods, and seeking to enrich my family, and make myself comfortable and at home in this scene, which has crucified my Lord and Master. And therefore instead of finishing my course with joy, I am cut off in the midst of my days, and am full of sorrow and regret. Neither have I kept the faith, for I have been very unfaithful, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord Jesus, when He said, ‘If any man serve Me, let him follow Me.’ John 12:26.

“This I have not done; I have not followed Christ through this world, therefore, I know there is no crown of righteousness laid up for me, as there was for Paul. I have not loved His appearing; and the time for service which was given me is past, it is gone forever. The Lord in His great mercy is now taking me away from the earth, because He knows the longer I am left here the more I shall be taken up with the things of this world. I own His goodness and love, and bow with thankfulness because it is His own hand which is doing it.

"O, dear Mr.–, let my loss be your gain, and let me entreat you to use faithfully every moment of time which is given you in this world, and everything you possess, for Christ, and I shall have the delight of seeing you in that day, have an ‘abundant entrance in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ It will please me very much to see you receive from His hands your crown and place of honor in the glory, while I shall take a much lower position, because I have lived to myself and not to Him who died for me and rose again.”

To this I could make no reply, because I knew he had lived to himself; he had attended the meetings of God’s people on the Lord’s day, but in a cold, formal way, with but little enjoyment in his own soul, or help to others; and I was glad to hear him make such a full and beautiful confession before he left the world; and it has not been without its good effect upon my own soul; for when I have felt disposed to absent myself from the meetings of those who love and follow Christ, or to turn aside from the path of separation from the world, I have remembered the lost crown, and it has helped me to break the snare.

We are told over and over again in God’s Word, that the Lord Jesus will give to those that are saved, different positions in the glory, according to their works (Rev. 22:12).

They who have sown sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and they who have sown bountifully shall reap also bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6).

We read of some having that which they have been building, burnt up, but they themselves saved, yet so as by fire (2 Cor. 3:15).

Others again will have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11).

The white stone, the new name, the hidden manna, are all marks of special favor for those who have been faithful to the Lord Jesus upon earth during His rejection.

And O, how solemn the thought, that we who are linked up there with Him at God’s right hand, should seek to please ourselves down here in this world where He is still despised and rejected; knowing too that He is coming soon, coming in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and before another twinkle we may see His face, and hear His voice, and be with Him forever. How very important therefore it is, that God’s people should ever remember that beautiful exhortation,

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

The Precious Blood of Christ

“It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Leviticus 17:11.

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Romans 5:8, 9.

What preserved Israel on the night of the slaying of the first-born in Egypt?

Blood.

“When I see the blood I will pass over you.” Exodus 12:13.

What maintained Israel in relationship with Jehovah on the great day of atonement?

Blood.

“Not all the blood of beasts,

On Jewish altars slain,

Could give the guilty conscience peace,

Or wash away its stain.

But believers can add,

"But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,

Took all our guilt away;

A sacrifice of nobler name,

And richer blood, than they.”

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18,19.

“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.

Are you cleansed by His blood?

“Believing, we rejoice

To see the curse removed:

And bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,

And sing redeeming love.”

Seed on Good Ground

“That on good ground are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15.

There may seem to the world to be fruits bright and blessed, but if people do not have Christ, they tire. There will be no enduring unless Christ has possession of the soul; but if He has, there will be abiding motive, and people will go on, and “bring forth fruit with patience.”

They that hear, keep going steadily on, having their motive for action in the Lord. Trouble may come into the church, disappointment may arise, even from brethren; but they go on just the same, because they have Christ before them. For the Word they have heard and keep, connects them with Christ, and He is more than anything else.

Strength Made Perfect in Weakness

How hard it is to believe that the work of God and of His Christ is always in weakness! The rulers of the people saw in Peter and John unlearned and ignorant men. Paul’s weakness at Corinth was the trial of his friends, the taunt of his enemies, the boast of himself. The Lord’s strength is made perfect in weakness. The thorn in the flesh made Paul despised, and he conceived it would be better if that were gone. He had need of the lesson, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

It is God’s rule of action, if we may so say, to choose the weak things. Everything must rest on God’s power, otherwise God’s work cannot be done according to His mind. One can hardly believe that one must be feeble to do the work of God; but Christ was crucified in weakness, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For the work of God, we must be weak, that the strength may be of God; and that work will last when all the earth shall be moved away.

Onward

The whole deportment of a Christian should declare him a pilgrim and a stranger here. “Onward” must be his motto – ever and only onward. Let his locality and his circumstances be what they may, he is to have his eye fixed on a home beyond this perishing, passing world. He is furnished, by grace, with spiritual ability to go forward – to penetrate, energetically, through all, and carry out the earnest aspirations of his heaven-born spirit. And while thus vigorously pushing his way onward – while “forcing his passage to the skies,” he is to keep his inward man fenced round about, and fast closed up against all external influences.

O! for more of the onward bent – the upward tendency! For more holy fixedness of soul, and profound retirement from this vain world!

Correspondence: Matt. 13:44 and Psa. 135:4; Matt. 20:1-16

Question: Is not the treasure in Matthew 13:44 Israel? Is the church hid in the field, or was it hid in God? Does Psalm 135:4 point on the treasure in Matthew 13:44?

Answer: “The kingdom of heaven” in its mysterious form (that is, when the King is absent, only called so in Matthew’s Gospel), applies to this present time. It does not apply to Israel in the past, nor in the future – that is, after the church is caught up.

Israel was to be a peculiar treasure, if they had obeyed Jehovah (Ex. 19.5); and they will be it in the reign of Christ, the center for His earthly glory (Psa. 135:4). It will be the Kingdom in power then. Israel was never hid in the field. They were well known, not hidden.

In Matthew 13:44 the Man found it, and hid it, then sold all that He had, and bought the field for the treasure that was in it. The field is the purchased thing there. In verses 45, 46 we find the great object of His delight, the pearl of great price (Eph. 5:25-27). This is what was hid in God, and was only revealed (Eph. 3:9) after Paul was converted.

It is important to notice that all the parables of the kingdom of heaven apply to the church period.

Question: Please explain about the householder and those hired (Matt. 20:1-16).

Answer: In this parable is shown the sovereignty of the Lord in calling and rewarding the laborers in His vineyard. It is not a question of obtaining salvation, for we do not labor for salvation. It is to teach us that the Lord is our Master. Peter had said “What shall we have therefore?” Here is the answer even to those who begin late in the day, “Go ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.” Laboring for Christ because we love Him, and trust Him, is better than laboring for reward. It is grace, not law. We love to do it because of His grace to us. He made us His.

Reward is encouragement to those who are serving Him with His approval. It is not the motive to lead us to serve. Those who bargained for the penny, received it. “What is right I will give you.” They trusted Him. The assurance of reward is given when the Lord is the motive for the labor. If we get the reward as the motive for laboring, it falsifies the character of true service for Him. Then Peter and the disciples must learn that it is His to do with as He pleases, and therefore, many that are last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen, It is the sovereign grace of God that is the source of true blessing.

Peter was called, and a place given him by the Lord. Paul came in later on, as last, but he was a chosen vessel to unfold the heavenly mystery of Christ and the church as a stronger testimony to grace, so the last was first, and the first last. Each has his place to fill as given by the Lord (Eph. 4:8). Again, notice, this is not salvation, but service after we are saved.

The Story of Ethel

While at work one Tuesday about noon, I received a telephone call requesting me to see a dying girl. Feeling the urgency of such a call, I dropped my work, and in a very short time was being ushered into a humble home in the south side of the city. There for the first time, I met Ethel F., yet a young girl, but whose wasted form gave sad evidence that she was not to be long in this world. My heart went out to that poor girl as I saw her struggling hard for each breath – too weak to speak much, and then only with greatest difficulty.

After quietly looking to God that I might have wisdom to know what to say, I drew closer and asked her to listen while I read a few verses from God’s Word. This proposal terrified her so that she screamed, and became so unsettled that it was some time before I could begin to read. At last I read,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

I spoke to her of the love of God that sent His only Son to save sinners. She knew she had to leave this world very soon, and dreaded the thought of the judgment of God after death. I sought to show her that if she put her trust in the Lord Jesus who died on the cross, she would never come into judgment. To all this she listened quietly, and her few comments showed the deep anguish of soul through which she was passing. Seeing her strength was giving out, I kneeled down beside her, and prayed that God would open her eyes to see Jesus as her own Saviour. I then left, fearing never again to see her on earth.

About 11 o’clock that same night a brother of Ethel’s knocked on our door. He was much agitated and asked me to hurry with him to see his sister again. At 7 o’clock she had called her father to tell him that she was not ready to die, and asked if he thought I would come back to see her. Mr. F. was reluctant to trouble me, but as her strength permitted, she continued to ask until he agreed to send across the city to get me.

I hurriedly dressed, and together we started for the south side. We arrived shortly after midnight, and were met at the door by Ethel’s folks who reported that she was still living, but in deepest despair. She would cling to her father’s hand saying,

“O, I am dying! Hold me! Don’t let me go! I’m not ready!” She begged them to pray that she might be alive when I arrived, crying, “I’m afraid he’ll be too late!”

As I stood beside her bed this time, she was more composed than before, and asked her folks to get a chair for me. When I began to speak to her, she cried out with all the strength she could muster,

“O, I do want to get my soul saved!”

Since it was too dark in the room to read well, I quoted Matthew 11:28,

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” telling her how Jesus wanted her to come, and was inviting her to come and trust in Him. Then quoting

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief,” 1 Timothy 1:15, I called her attention to the fact that the very chief of sinners was saved by believing in Jesus; and if the chief could get saved, then surely anyone else could. She assented to this and then cried out, “O, Lord Jesus take me just as I am!”

Soon after that, as the glorious truth dawned upon her soul, she exclaimed, “I see; He paid the debt. I’m saved.”

In answer to a question, she said that it was nothing she had done, but Jesus who did it all, and she was now ready to go whenever He called her.

We then retired to another room and Ethel rested quietly. Now that she had found that peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, she did not call her mother every few minutes as on previous nights.

Some time after daylight, I spoke to Ethel once more before leaving, and found her happy in soul, though quite evidently fast slipping away. With a heart filled with thankfulness to God for having led that lost sheep to Himself, I said,

“Ethel, if we never meet again on this earth, we shall meet above.” A faint smile lighted her face; and with her failing strength she replied, “Yes.”

Wednesday evening I again called at the house, but she was too weak to talk. She had told her father during the day that she was saved and happy and ready to go.

Thursday afternoon Ethel called her folks and putting her arms around her father’s neck said, “I have but a very little while to be here, but it’s all right. I’m ready to go – I’m going to heaven.”

With the words, “great joy” on her lips, her soul left that suffering body to be “with Christ which is far better.” It was indeed a scene that should never be forgotten by that family: less than two days before, she had been in terrible anguish of soul, and then having found peace, and in the midst of much suffering, she had left this world with the words, “great joy.”

Reader, how is it with your soul? Should God call you, would you be ready? You may not be very old, and may be apparently in good health, but you do not know what the morrow may bring. Ethel was only eighteen years old when she died. Only five weeks before, she was in good health. Influenza, complications, and rapid tuberculosis did their deadly work. Please do not wait any longer to go to God about your soul’s salvation. You may not have five weeks of illness, nor even five minutes.

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.

“Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14.

Extract: Lacking Love

We have never known a single instance of anyone complaining of the want of love in others, who was not failing in love himself. The best way to get water out of a dry pump is to pour a little in.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 12:12-31

We cannot read this epistle and carefully note its contents without the fact being brought home to us that much of what it teaches is sadly neglected in our day by Christians generally. Did not God design this matchless book for His children’s guidance at all times and in all seasons, and Has He not sent down the Holy Spirit to take charge of them, leaving them without the slightest need to resort to making rules and establishing systems of man’s devising? And are not these human substitutes an affront to God?

We come now to the “one body,” spoken of in Romans 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:13-16; 4:4-16; 5:30; Colossians 1:18, 24. “There is one body,” and it still exists on earth, though the truth of it is ignored in practice by the Christian profession in general.

Here as in Romans 12:4, the natural body is used to illustrate the “one body”. Our natural body has many members, but all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is the mystical body of Christ; or using the precise language of the Scriptures, “so also is (the) Christ.” When Saul of Tarsus was struck down while seeking to rid the world of the followers of the Lord (Acts 9:4), he heard a voice speaking to him, and saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” And he said, “Who art Thou, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest...” He and His people are one; the church is His body (Eph. 1:22-23).

This new body was formed on the day of Pentecost in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; 2:1-4), but it is quite plain that neither Peter nor John, nor James, nor the other apostles realized at first, except in a very limited way, what had then taken place.

They knew that “that same Jesus” whom the house of Israel had crucified, God had made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), and that the Holy Spirit had come down as promised; that Israel’s blessing now depended on their acknowledging Christ.

Very interesting it is to note in the book of Acts the gradual unfolding of the truth of God as the saints were able to receive it. A special line of things was given to the converted Saul of Tarsus, when as the Apostle Paul he was directed to make known the truth of the church, Christ’s body, with much more than is contained in his epistles, that, to the Ephesians notably.

“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 (or of) one Spirit” (verse 13).

This, the only body of believers that God recognizes on earth, is, entirely the work of the Holy Spirit; Christians do not “join” it; they are brought into it when they receive Christ as Saviour; water baptism is not in view here, as is plain from Acts 1:5, and 11:15-16. Indeed in Mark 10:38-39, and Luke 12:49-50 the Lord speaks of His suffering and death as His “baptism”, and in the former passage also He refers to the cup of which He was to drink; this brings before us the scene in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42).

Verse 14. God’s thoughts and ways are always far higher than our own. In the body are many members, and each has his (or its) own place to fill; there variety is seen in unity, for all the members together constitute one body, and if in a healthy, normal state, all of them are altogether subject to the head.

Should any of the members of Christ’s mystical body be discontented with their lot, as it is said, If a foot shall say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body; or if an ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body? The hand is more useful than a foot, truly, and an eye would be more difficult to have to do without than an ear, but each is exactly needful for the body. So, rather than being discontented because your place, or mine, in the body of Christ seems inferior to that of another, let us see that we are, each of us, fulfilling our little individual part as members of that one body. And we must not forget that God has set us as members, every one of us, in the body, as it has pleased Him; if this be realized, there is contentment in the heart.

If all were one member, there would be no body, after all; but now are there many members, yet but one body. To this point (verse 20) the Holy Spirit has been occupied with the feebler or less important members of Christ’s body. What tender regard God has for those that are His own, even the feeblest!

Verse 21. But the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. This supposes a more important member, conscious of his importance, looking with disdain on a less useful member. Let him remember, that, much rather, the members of the body which seem to be weaker, are necessary, and those members of the body which we esteem to be the more void of honor, these we clothe with more abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness; but our comely parts have not need (verses 22-24). So we drape, or clothe our bodies and limbs and feet, but not our faces.

But God has tempered (or blended) the body together, having given more abundant honor to the part that lacked, that there might be no division in the body, but that the members might have the same care one for another. So there would be some without outward honor put on them who may be very useful in the assembly; others like Epaphras in Colossians 4:12, who “labored fervently” in prayers, for the saints he knew; such are far more important in the body of Christ than were some at Corinth who displayed themselves in miracles or tongues, for God uses and honors what we are apt to think little of. It is well to have His thoughts about those that are His own; then we shall have a loving interest in all of them.

Verse 26. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; and if one member be glorified, all the members rejoice with it. This is noticeable as to our human bodies; how quickly an injury to one part, however slight, is felt all over the body! And when it is healed, the whole man feels better.

Now in the present divided state of the church of God, there is great hindrance to the practical exposition of verse 26, but it is certain from the language of the verse that if saints unknown to us and far away, even on the opposite side of the world, are suffering, are worldly, or are blessed in their souls, we are affected by it, because we are one body in Christ.

Verse 27 states an important principle. The local assembly stands as the body of Christ, of which it is the local expression. The writer already quoted, says in this connection,

“The general expression shows that in the walk of the assembly, and in its general interests, a local assembly can not be separated from the whole body of Christians on earth; and the language employed here shows that as to their position before God, the Christians of one town were considered as representing the whole assembly as far as regarded that locality; not as independent of the rest, but on the contrary as inseparably united to the others, living and acting with respect to that locality as members of the body of Christ, and looked upon as such in it, because every Christian formed a part of that body, and they formed a part of it likewise. From the verses that follow we see that the Apostle, while looking upon the Christians there as the body of Christ, the members of which they were, has in his mind the whole assembly as the assembly of God.”

Verse 28. We have traced the forming of the assembly, or church, and the distribution of gifts, the Holy Spirit dividing to each severally as He wills; we have seen the assembly as the body of Christ, the members every one set in the body as it hath pleased Him.

Now we come to the provision which in the saints God has made for the care and upbuilding of the assembly. “God hath set some in the church, first apostles; secondarily prophets; thirdly teachers; after that miracles. . .” Apostles and prophets were provided for the assembly’s beginning. Strictly speaking, they are not found today, but the apostles’ inspired writings form a most important part of revealed truth; in that sense, too, apostles and prophets are at the head of the list of Christ’s gifts to the assembly in Ephesians 4:11, which are to continue until we reach the glory.

Some of the provisions God made, as given in 1 Corinthians 12:28, have been called sign-gifts, because it is said that they were a sign to unbelievers. They were, no doubt, and needed for the beginning of Christianity, but there is no intimation that they were to continue, and they are not found in the list in Ephesians 4.

In Mark 16:20, we are told of the beginning, “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following.”

Moses, it has been remarked, wrought miracles, and Elijah too, but the later prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others did not. The “tongues” and other alleged tokens of the Holy Spirit which some are building much upon at the present time do not bear the marks of divine approval.

Verses 29-31. In these God-given provisions for the carrying on of His work, all could not hold office, but all may, and should, covet earnestly the best gifts, that is, those by which the assembly should be built up. And yet, says the Apostle to the power-seeking Corinthians, show I unto you a more excellent way – which is given in Chapter 13.

Meditation

“My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Psalms 104:34.

I journey through a desert drear and wild,

Yet is my heart by such sweet thoughts beguiled

Of Him, on whom I lean, my strength, my stay,

That I forget the sorrows of the way.

Thoughts of His love, the root of every grace

Which finds in this poor heart a dwelling place,

The sunshine of my soul, than day more bright,

And my calm pillow of repose by night.

Thoughts of His sojourn in this vale of tears!

The tale of love unfolded in those years

Of sinless sufferings, and patient grace

I love again and yet again to trace.

Thoughts of His glory; on the cross I gaze,

And there behold its sad, yet healing rays

Beacon of hope, which lifted up on high,

Illumines with heavenly light the tear dimmed eye.

Thoughts of His coming, for that joyful day

In patient hope, I watch, and wait and pray,

The dawn draws nigh, the midnight shadows flee;

O, what a sunrise will that advent be!

Thus while I journey on, my Lord to meet,

My thoughts and meditations are so sweet

Of Him, on Whom I lean, my strength, my stay,

That I forget the sorrows of the way.

God in Everything

Nothing so helps the Christian to endure the trials of his path as the habit of seeing God in everything.

There is no circumstance, be it ever so trivial or ever so commonplace, which may not be regarded as a messenger from God, if only the ear be circumcised to hear, and the mind spiritual to understand the message.

If we lose sight of this valuable truth, life, in many instances at least, will be but a dull monotony, presenting nothing beyond the most ordinary circumstances. On the other hand, if we could but remember, as we start each day on our course, that the hand of our Father can be traced in every scene; if we could see, in the smallest as well as in the most weighty circumstances, traces of the divine presence, how full of deep interest would each day’s history be found!

Who could have thought that “a worm” and “a vehement east wind” could be joint agents in doing a work of God? If we turn to Jonah 4:7 and 8, we will find them used of God together. Great and small are only terms in use among men, and cannot apply to Him “who humbled Himself to behold the things that are in heaven,” as well as “the things that are on the earth.” Jehovah can tell the number of the stars, and while He does so, He can take knowledge of the falling sparrow. He can make the clouds His chariot, and a broken heart His dwelling place. Nothing is great or small with God.

The believer, therefore, must not look upon anything as ordinary; for God is in everything. True, he may have to pass through the same circumstances, to meet the same trials, to encounter the same reverses as other men; but he must not meet them in the same way, nor interpret them on the same principle; nor do they convey the same report to his ear. He should hear the voice of God, and heed His message in the most trifling, as well as the most momentous occurrence of the day. The disobedience of a child, or the loss of an estate; the obliquity of a servant, or the death of a friend, should all be regarded as divine messengers to his soul.

So, also, when we look around us in the world, God is in everything. The overturning of thrones, the crashing of empires, the famine, the pestilence, and every event that occurs amongst the nations, exhibit traces of the hand of God, and utter a voice for the ear of man. The devil will seek to rob the Christian of the real sweetness of this thought; he will tempt him to think that, at least, the commonplace circumstances of everyday life exhibit nothing extraordinary, but only such as happens to other men. But we must not yield to him in this. We must start on our course every morning with this truth vividly impressed on our minds: God is in everything. The sun that rolls along the heavens in splendid brilliancy, and the worm that crawls along the ground, have both alike been prepared of God, and, moreover, could both alike cooperate in the development of His unsearchable designs.

I would observe, in conclusion, that the only one who walked in the abiding remembrance of the above precious and important truth was our blessed Lord. He saw the Father’s hand, and heard the Father’s voice, in everything. This appears preeminently in the season of the deepest sorrow. He came forth from the garden of Gethsemane with those memorable words,

“The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11.

He recognized in the fullest manner that God is in everything.

The Lord Jesus Christ - Son Before All Worlds

It was the Son that created in Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1. And so to being Son in the eternal state, He says: I came forth from the Father and am come into the world: again, I leave the world and go to the Father: you have no Father if you have no Son. If I do not know Him as Son when He came into the world, I have no mission from God at all. And you get too, “The Father sent the Son,” “the Son of the Father,” and the “Son of God” are the same essentially, only one is personal relationship, the other nature.

But there are persons who take that Christ was only Son when He came into the world. The positive answer is given to this in Hebrews and Colossians, that by Him – the Son – the world was made. He is also called Son as born into this world. There is, “This day have I begotten Thee” in Psalms 2. That is not quite the same thing, though the same Person of course. He was begotten in time, that is true, as to His human estate.

It is of immense import, because I have not the Father’s love sending the Son out of Heaven, if I have Him not as Son before born into the world. The Son gives up the kingdom in 1 Corinthians 15. I lose all that the Son is, if He is only so as incarnate, and you have lost all the love of the Father in sending the Son as well. I have declared unto them Thy Name, and will declare it. “Will declare” is now. He did it on earth, and He does it still, and I believe He will do it to all eternity, if you take the general statement of Scripture.

The All-Sufficient Guidebook

On all hands, the divine sufficiency of Holy Scripture is called in question. In some cases, this is openly and deliberately done; in others, it is with less frankness hinted, insinuated, inferred, and implied.

The Christian mariner is told, directly or indirectly, that the divine chart is insufficient for all the intricate details of his voyage – that such changes have taken place in the ocean of life since that chart was made that in many cases it is entirely deficient for the purposes of modern navigation. He is told that the currents, tides, coasts, strands, and shores of that ocean are quite different now from what they were some centuries ago, and that, as a necessary consequence, he must have recourse to the aids which modern navigation supplies, in order to make up for the deficiencies in the old chart, which is, as a matter of course, admitted to have been perfect at the time it was made.

Now, I earnestly desire that the Christian reader should be able, with clearness and decision, to meet this grievous dishonor done to the precious volume of inspiration, every line of which comes to him fresh from his Father’s bosom, through the pen of God, the Holy Spirit. I desire that he should meet it, whether it comes before him in the shape of a bold and blasphemous statement, or a learned and plausible inference. Whatever garb it wears, it owes its origin to the enemy of Christ, the enemy of the Bible, the enemy of the soul.

If, indeed, the Word of God be not sufficient, then where are we? Or whither shall we turn? To whom shall we betake ourselves for aid, if our Father’s book be in any respect defective? God says that His book can “furnish us thoroughly to all good works” (2 Tim. 3:17). Man says, No; there are many things about which the Bible is silent, which, nevertheless, we need to know. Whom am I to believe? God, or man? Our reply to anyone who questions the divine sufficiency of Scripture is just this: Either you are not a “man of God”; or else that for which you want a warrant is not “a good work.” This is plain. No one can possibly think otherwise with his eye resting on 2 Timothy 3:17.

O for a deeper sense of the fullness, majesty and authority of the Word of God! We very much need to be braced up on this point. We want such a deep, bold, vigorous, influential, and abiding sense of the supreme authority of the divine canon, and of its absolute completeness for every age, every clime, every position, every department – personal, social, and ecclesiastical, as shall enable us to withstand every attempt of the enemy to depreciate the value of that inestimable treasure. May our hearts enter more into the spirit of those words of the Psalmist,

“Thy Word is true from the beginning; and every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” Psalms 119:160.

Extract: Leanness in the Soul

We often see the advertisement, “Beware of Imitations!” How true this is in a spiritual sense. The Israelites gathered the manna as it came from heaven.

To repeat the old, old story of Him, to sing of Him, to have heart’s intercourse with Him, is good and nourishing food; but we know that many have been misled through food which is much vaunted, as promising excellent health and strength, and those who have given up the old food for the new, have found leanness in their souls. Some have been upright in confessing the fact, and have given up the new, returning to the old, good and nourishing food; others through pride of heart, say still,

“I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Such are ignorant of their real state.

Two Marks of a Christian

In the First Epistle of John, the Apostle furnishes us with the two marks whereby we may know those that are of God,

“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” 1 John 3:10.

Here we have the two grand characteristics of the eternal life of which all true believers are possessed, namely, “righteousness” and “love” – the outward and the inward. Both must be combined.

Some professing Christians are all for love, so called, and some for righteousness. Neither can exist, in a divine way, without the other. If that which is called love exist without practical righteousness, it will, in reality, be but a lax, soft, easy-going habit of mind, which will tolerate all manner of error and evil.

If that which is called righteousness exists without love, it will be a stern, proud, pharisaic, self-sufficient temper of soul, resting upon the miserable basis of personal reputation. But where the divine life is in energy, there will ever be the inward charity, combined with genuine practical righteousness. The two elements are essential in the formation of true Christian character.

Extract: Christ Coming Soon

The coming of the Lord is near, the precious opportunity of honoring the Lord with all we have, and are, will soon be gone.

“Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of thine increase.” Proverbs 3:9.

Correspondence: Will Christians go Through the Tribulation?; James 2:17, 20

Question: Will Christians go through the great tribulation? (Matt. 24:21)

Answer: Perhaps no erroneous doctrine has been more detrimental to the souls of God’s children, than that those who compose the church of God will have to pass through “the great tribulation.” Such a statement subverts God’s revelation of the church as the body and bride of Christ, reduces the heavenly people to Jewish associations, and robs them of the watching and waiting attitude for Christ to come at any time. Such, more or less, merge into a political view of the Lord’s coming by looking for events instead of Himself; in short, for antichrist instead of Christ. Thus, the affections, conscience, and hope of the soul become seriously damaged by it.

Nothing can be clearer in the Lord’s farewell address to His disciples before going to the Father, than that He left them by giving them the blessed expectation of soon seeing Him again. Between the coming of the Holy Spirit, and His return from heaven, He did not put a series of events to be fulfilled; so that we are told that the early Christians waited for God’s Son from heaven.

The part of Scripture that has been perverted to give a color to the doctrine is Matthew 24. But a brief glance at it will suffice to show that the “coming” referred to by the disciples in their questions to the Lord, was not His coming for us; but His coming to Jerusalem when we come with Him, and every eye shall see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (See Matt. 23:39; 24:3). That those there mentioned who will go through the tribulation are “his elect,” is true enough, and a term applied by Isaiah to the blest remnant of the Jews: but the reference to “the sabbath day,” “Judea,” “fleeing to the mountains,” “flesh” saved, “the abomination spoken of by Daniel the prophet,” the “great tribulation such as was not... no, nor ever shall be,” also spoken of by the same prophet, its being preceded by the preaching of “the gospel of the kingdom of God,” not of the grace of God as now preached, and other points, clearly mark it out as the time of “Jacob’s trouble,” he will have to pass through and be brought out of; and “the hour of temptation,” coming upon all the world, from which the Lord promises to save us.

“Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from (or out of) the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Revelation 3:10.

It is interesting to observe that when our Lord referred to His rejection by the Jews – Judah and Benjamin – He said, “I am come in My Father’s name and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name (the antichrist) him ye will receive.” John 5:43.

This we know from other scriptures is how the unparalleled tribulation will be brought about, and in retributive justice, the very tribes which rejected the Messiah will go through it. The ten tribes will not be gathered together till after this, when the Lord actually comes out of heaven (Matt. 24:31).

Question: Please explain “Faith if it hath not works is dead being alone.” James 2:17, 20.

Answer: If faith is real, God can see the desire in the believer’s heart to do His will. This comes from the new life he has in Christ, and produces good works.

In Ephesians 2:8, 9, we see that the sinner who truly comes to the Lord to find a Saviour, gets the faith from God, and his works come from God, also. Notice that Paul stops the sinner from working for his salvation (Rom. 4:5). James starts the believer to work, because he is saved. Both are right. Good works accompany salvation (Heb. 6:9, 10), they are the fruit of it.

How a Troubled Soul Found Peace

I was greatly interested in the case of ____. He had been for some weeks in deep soul trouble, and I longed for tidings of his salvation.

The wife had recently been brought to the Lord, and felt the immense responsibility of setting a Christian example before her husband and children.

But the husband remained undecided. True, he was awakened, convicted of sin, struggling vainly for peace, but only the more wretched as he discovered the utter fruitlessness of his struggles. Accordingly I took the opportunity of calling upon him. After a few preliminaries, we fell into a conversation on the most important personal question that can be raised.

“Where are you now looking?” I asked my friend.

He made no reply, but from his woeful expression I saw that he had not acted like those in Psallms 34:5, who “looked unto Him, and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed.”

No light beamed in his eyes, nor joy in his countenance. O! the darkening, clouding effect of self-examination. What can be seen within but an evil heart of unbelief – a seething mass of moral corruption, a soul-sickening sight that can only produce despair.

Nay, but one look at Christ, and all is bright. What a contrast!

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6.

O! what love, what grace! How the soul can adore Him!

In the hope that the moment had come when God would grant light to this troubled one, I turned to Romans 10:9, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Here are two conditions, and on the fulfillment of them, I said, “God assures salvation.”

1St. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.” “Now, are you ashamed of the blessed Lord who died for us – afraid to confess that He is Lord?”

“No,” he said, “I am not.”

2nd. “‘If thou shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead.’ Do you believe this well-known truth of Christianity, that after Jesus died, and by His blood, laid the foundation of peace with God, He was raised again the third day?”

“I do,” said he. “Truly?”

“Yes, truly.”

“Then you fulfill the two conditions of the verse, and let me read the blessed assurance,
“Thou shalt be saved.”

“Who says that?”

“God.”

“Thou mayest be saved?” I asked him.

“No; thou shalt be saved.”

“Thou shalt be damned, as though God would fail to keep His promise?”

“No; thou shalt be saved.”

“Certainly, certainly; and the promise of God is as sure as the fulfillment. They are part and parcel of the same thing.”

“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:17, 18. All is divinely safe.

“Many a troubled soul has found peace through Romans 10:9, and you need not be afraid to plead humbly and reverently, but faithfully and confidently the terms that God has so graciously made. He binds Himself to the fulfillment of them, and allows you to do the same. He values the faith that takes Him at His word, and acts boldly upon it. His Word shall never pass away. Do you take Him at His word?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Now, I hope to see a friend of yours” (one who, like myself, was interested in the case); “may I tell him that you trust in the Lord?”

“Yes,” said he.

This was his first confession with his mouth, of the Lord Jesus. After the lapse of three weeks, I received from that friend the following cheering lines,

“I saw ____ last night. You will be thankful to hear that he told me, after all his struggling and trying, he saw the truth just in a moment, and that it was so simple.”

Thank God, so it is. May more see the simplicity, and know the power of the gospel!

Hence, you see, dear reader, he had now, like those in Psalms 34:5, “looked unto Him and was lightened, and his face was not ashamed!” He had confessed, he had believed, and he now rested happily on the Word of God,

“Thou shalt be saved.”

And if you, like him, are “struggling and trying” vainly, uselessly, O, turn to Romans 10:9, and see that God attaches salvation, not to these, but to confession and faith.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36.

This Is the Time for Service

Our time for service and testimony will soon be over. When we get into the Master’s presence, we shall admire and worship; but, now, in “the little while,” in the night of His absence, it is our holy and happy privilege to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

We are responsible to let the light shine forth, in every possible way – to circulate the truth of God, by all means, by word of mouth, “by paper and ink,” in public and private, “in the morning and in the evening,” “in season and out of season;” we should “sow beside all waters.” In a word, whether we consider the importance of divine truth, the value of immortal souls, or the fearful progress of error and evil, we are imperatively called upon to be up and doing, in the name of the Lord, under the guidance of His Word, and by the grace of His Spirit.

Watching for the Morning

Bright, bright home! beyond the skies,

Where Jesus is enthroned in glory,

Thy beauty gleams before mine eyes,

Thy portals glisten now before me,

Bright, bright, home!

Dark, dark world! I would not stay

Amid thy painted scenes of splendor:

I hasten toward the golden day,

Thy tinsel treasure I surrender,

Dark, dark world!

Sweet, sweet dawn! so fair and near!

Before the eastern skies are glowing,

I see the Morning Star appear,

The mountain – tops in silver showing

Sweet, sweet dawn!

Come, Lord, come! we wait for Thee,

We listen still for Thy returning;

Thy loveliness we long to see,

For Thee the lamp of hope is burning!

Come, Lord, come!

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 13

More excellent than all the gifts with which the twelfth chapter deals, is love. “Charity” is a translator’s mistake which crept into the first complete Bible in the English language, before the invention of printing.

It has been said that the gifts were manifestations of the power and wisdom of God, while love is the manifestation of His nature. Surely every young Christian knows John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Not so well known is 1 John 3:16,

“Hereby perceive we the love” (or, Hereby we have known love) “because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

You have believed the first passage to the salvation of your soul; What is your answer to the second?

Turning back in our Bibles to John’s inspired account of the night of the betrayal, what Christian heart can fail to be deeply impressed with almost the first words spoken by the Lord after the traitor left the upper room (chapter 13:34, 35), “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

It is evident that the believers at Corinth had entered but little into this, as in general they fell short of a normal Christian state (chapter 3:1-3). To the infant assembly at Thessalonica, all of them recently emerged from idolatry and associated evil works, the Apostle could however write (1 Thess. 4:9),

“But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.”

This, then, is true in principle of all the children of God. In 1 John 3:14, indeed is this word, a means of assurance to every one who is a possessor of God’s gift of eternal life,

“We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.”

Much more on the subject of divine love in the believer, and its exercise, is found in John’s first epistle, and a search of all the epistles from Romans to Jude in the same connection will be very profitable to the young Christian.

The special needs of the believers at Corinth were, of course, before the mind of the Apostle as he wrote, under inspiration, the thirteenth chapter; but as

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”, (2 Tim. 3:16,17), the chapter was written for us too, for our blessing.

Verse 1. “Though” (or, if) “I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal.”

The Corinthians were vain over their gifts. In everything they were enriched by God in Christ, in all utterance and all knowledge, so that they came behind in no gift (chapter 1:5-7); but without love, he who spoke, though possessing the tongue even of an angel, was only comparable to an inferior musical instrument, producing sounds without effect, except momentarily upon the ears of the hearers.

Verse 2. Without love, too, he who has prophecy, and knows all mysteries and all knowledge; who has all faith so as to remove mountains, is nothing. Further yet (verse 3) if one should dole out all his goods in food, and should deliver up his body that he may be burned, but has not love, he profits nothing. To the Corinthians, fond of display, verses 1-3 must have been humbling indeed; but they are intended for the consciences of the saints of God, irrespective of time or place. They teach us that, apart from the action of divine love in the soul, nothing one may say or do is of value in God’s reckoning, no matter how devoted he may appear to be.

This love is not in us by birth, but by new birth. It has its source in our being made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), but it is only active in us as we are in communion with God.

Young Christian, jealously guard with constant watchfulness your communion with Him; Satan will seek to destroy it; self, (the old enemy within your breast) is ever ready to assert itself, robbing you of communion.

Verses 4 to 8 set out sixteen qualities of divine love which should characterize the Christian; almost all of them are negative – the true opposites of the selfishness in us by nature. Love suffereth long (or has long patience); it is kind; it is not looking with envious or jealous eye at others; it does not boast, and it is not puffed up with pride. It does not behave in an unseemly manner; does not seek what is its own; is not quickly provoked; does not impute evil, and does not rejoice at iniquity.

Love rejoices with the truth; it bears (or covers) all things; it believes all things, it hopes all things; it endures all things; and, it never fails. These are positive showing the energy of love sustained in communion with God through all the difficulties of the pathway that leads to glory with Christ.

Now if we would bring joy to the heart of God, and be in our individual measures channels of blessing for Him here below, these qualities of divine love must be in exercise.

Will you not, dear Christian reader, resolve at this moment that with God’s help, you will henceforth live out, not just one or half a dozen, but all sixteen, looking to Him for divinely given strength for each need?

Verse 8: Though we often have failed in showing it out, love never fails; the supply is inexhaustible, and God is its source (1 John 4:7). In 1 John 4:17 love with us looks on without fear to the day of judgment, but in Ephesians 1:4, and 2: 4-7, His love is foreseen as active toward us in the endless ages of eternity.

Prophecies are for time; they will be done away; tongues, we are told in the 8th verse shall cease, and they have. Knowledge shall be done away, because we know only in part. Although the whole truth of God has been revealed to us in His Word, our minds are not equal to taking it all in at one time. We now lay hold of it in detail, and bless Him for the knowledge we gain, but in eternity we shall understand the truth as a whole in its unity.

So the Apostle gives the example of a child, with a child’s apprehension, but manhood being reached, the things of a child no longer suffice. Now, he continues, we see through a dim window; but then face to face; now, I know in part; then, shall I know even as also I am known.

Verse 13 presents three provisions God has made for His people on earth; faith that centers in Christ; hope to cheer them on the way, the hope of His coming; and love. And the greatest of these is love; faith and hope will presently have performed their office; the journey to glory with Christ is now nearing its end; then love alone will remain.

May we not say with the Psalmist in Psalm 23,

“My cup runneth over”?

The Reality of Faith: Profitless Profession

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?” James 2:14.

Will either God or man be satisfied with a powerless and profitless profession? Surely not. God looks for reality, and honors it where He sees it; and as for man, he can understand nothing save the living and intelligible utterance of a faith that shows itself in acts.

We are surrounded by the profession of religion – the phraseology of faith is on every lip; but faith itself is as rare a gem as ever.

Year-End Inventory

Another year has almost come to its close. 1941 will soon have passed into history. At this time of year most business firms and many individuals are getting ready to take an inventory. By careful tabulation of all stock on hand, and audits of the year’s business, they will know how much they have gained or lost during the past year. A careful analysis of the reports will discover to them errors in business practice, and will also show what has been truly profitable. No business man wants to lose money or business; nor does he want to continue in any course that is not profitable. For this reason a thorough, systematic audit and review is of great value in the business of this life.

May it not be profitable and wholesome at this time to review the past year in regard to our Christian lives? Every Christian, no matter how young he may be in the truth, should have made some spiritual progress in the year just drawing to a close. We can well understand that a babe who was only a day old last year at this time, will have grown considerably, unless he be most unusual. Thus, even the one who was saved only a year ago, should have grown in his soul correspondingly. Spiritual progress should continue as long as we are left in this world. Now, let us ask ourselves the question,

Have we grown in our souls during the past year? Have we increased in the “knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” in that time? If we do not know more of Him and of His Word, there is something wrong with us. Something has stunted us and hindered our growth. If a baby has not grown, the parents will most certainly consult a doctor to ascertain what is wrong, and what can be done to remedy the condition. If the business man discovers that he has not operated a profitable business, he will seek to correct the wrong, so that such a failure will not occur the next year.

Dear young Christian, be truthful with yourself. Have you really grown in your soul in 1941? It is not well to be continually occupied with yourself, for introspection in itself will not bring progress. But if at this time you realize that you have not made growth, you should be able to discern what has been the hindering factor. Surely there is something wrong.

If a baby does not grow, its lack of growth may be found to be the result of deficient diet. So it may be in your case. Perhaps you have not been feeding enough on the Word of God. Remember that you cannot grow without it. Just how much reading of the Word have you been doing? Has it been your daily food? Do you read it because you like it and want to know more of it, or as a mere formal duty? If you have failed in this, I urge you to confess it to your Father, and ask Him to help you read and meditate in it daily from henceforth. If you really meditate on the Scriptures, you will make such progress that your profiting will appear to others as well as to yourself (See 1 Tim. 4:15).

In the case of underdevelopment of a child, the physicians sometimes diagnose that the food he has been taking has been of the wrong kind. So it may be in the matter of our spiritual growth. Christians often use all of their available reading time in reading the things of this world – its fiction, its digests, its sports, or even its news. In some instances, malnutrition may be traced to the radio. Frequently we suggest the reading of Scripture, or some valuable tract or book, only to hear in reply that they have no time to read. Now, this may be true in some cases, but more often an honest investigation will disclose that there would have been time if the reading matter of this world had been dropped. We all have only a limited amount of time for quietness and reading, and our Christian progress will be determined largely by what we do with that time. May we remember the example of that dear saint of whom we read:

“Mary... sat at Jesus feet and heard His word... Mary hath chosen that good part.” Luke 10:39, 42.

Very much of what we learn and know of the world today is old tomorrow; and we should have been just as well off today if we had not known its topics of yesterday. How different with the things of God! Those things which we read and enjoy today, help to build us up for tomorrow and the day after. It is truly the wise choice to drop the reading of worldly and even earthly things to make room for that which will abide when all around is destroyed. Many have learned that they had to discontinue receiving magazines and newspapers so as to have the temptation out of the way. When we have time to sit down, it is all too easy to pick up and read that which will not profit. God charged His people of Israel with such a sad choice when He said,

“My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” A little later He gave the unhappy result,

“My people have forgotten me days without number.” Jeremiah 2:11, 32.

May God give both writer and reader grace to drop the things that do not profit, and to choose wisely those things that will minister proper food for our souls. Then we shall grow and make real progress which will be evident, and also helpful to others. The time is short – soon our blessed Lord who died for us will call us home to be with Him. May the few intervening days find us living for Him, and to His glory.

Contentment

“Be content with such things as ye have.” Hebrews 13:5.

Why? Is it because you are so well off in the world? – Because you have all that your poor rambling hearts would seek after? – Because there is not so much as a single chink in your circumstances through which a vain desire might make its escape? Is this to be the ground of our contentment? By no means. What then?

“For He hath said, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’” Blessed portion!

Where Is the World Going?

We need not vacantly stare on passing events, as those who know not where they are and whither they are going. We should accurately know our bearings. We should fully understand the direct tendency of all the principles now at work. We should be well aware of the vortex toward which all the tributary streams are rapidly flowing on. The dams by which man sedulously seeks to stem the torrent of human wretchedness, must soon give way before the overwhelming force thereof.

Men dream of a golden age; they promise themselves a millennium of the arts and sciences but, O! how utterly vain are all those thoughts, dreams and promises. Faith can see the clouds gathering thickly around the world’s horizon. Judgment is coming – the day of wrath is at hand. The door of salvation will soon be shut. The “strong delusion” will soon set in, with terrible intensity. How needful, then, it is to raise a warning voice – to seek, by faithful testimony, to counteract man’s pitiable self-complacency. True, in so doing, we shall be exposed to the charge which Ahab brought against Micaiah, of always prophesying evil; but no matter for that. Let us prophesy what the Word of God prophesies, and let us do this simply for the purpose of “persuading men.”

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” 2 Corinthians 5:11.

As we see that dreadful day of judgment almost upon this poor world, may we be more faithful in warning men to flee from the wrath to come. We who are Christians will be taken home to be with the Lord first, But does not the doom of the lost arouse us? Can we be satisfied to be saved, and never utter a warning to “them that are lost?” Christians awake!

Extract: Communion with the Lord

A servant of the Lord once said,

“Towards the end of last year I was so overwhelmed with work, that I scarcely gave myself time for reading the Word; then the Lord laid me aside for about a month, in order to enjoy His blessed communion, and to show that He has no pleasure in service, while communion with Him is neglected.”

Serve and Hold Fast to the End

In spite of the tendency to allow discouragement to take the place of power, we are called to stand in the evil day, and to serve the Lord and His people to the end. When He was here, things were dark enough. Infidelity, hypocrisy, and dead formalism characterized the leaders, and there was but a feeble remnant that feared the Lord. Yet those who composed this remnant knew one another, and spoke with one another.

Aged Anna seemed to know them all at Jerusalem. She “spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem”; and instead of growing weary in well-doing, she “served with fasting and prayers night and day.” Thus there were faithful ones, but the mass, alas, far from God in heart, however they might draw near with their mouth, and however much they might honor Him with their lips.

In this state of things was cast the lot of our blessed Lord Jesus in His path of service. But what unwearying, patient, faithful service was His! He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and more than that, to lay down His life, to give it a ransom for many. And when He reached the end, He could address the Father, and say,

“I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” Instead of growing weary in the path of service, the evil state of men seemed only to draw out His heart the more in compassion and in service to meet their need.

One can see it in a marked way in the Apostle Paul. It comes out especially in his second letter to Timothy, in which he exhorts his son in the faith to stir up the gift that was in him, and not to fear nor be ashamed, because evil was apparently in the ascendency. He himself had stood alone – no man stood with him – yet not alone: there was One with him, and that One was more than all that were against him, and he was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion. His was the spirit of the Master he knew and loved so well.

O, that there were more of this amongst ourselves today! Surely the moment calls for it. What a precious deposit has been committed to us! And His word to us is,

“Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

And this just on the eve of His coming. A struggle is indicated, but a short one: “Behold, I come quickly.”

Soon all will be over. Shall we hold fast, and have the crown; or lose all?

Confess Christ

“Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.” Luke 12:8-9.

Nothing can more plainly show us, that it is not religious things or opinions to which we are called upon to give testimony, but to Christ – Christ, in the infinite perfections of His person, work, worth, and coming.

Paul and others, through grace, kept so close to Christ, that the savor of His knowledge was made manifest by them in every place. If he wrote a letter, it was full of Christ; his inspired epistles show this. The Apostle John also tells us that he was banished to the isle of Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Conqueror

The everlasting Son of God

In time a babe was born;

The lowly Jesus, Son of Man,

In woe, in want and scorn.

What works of love, what words of grace,

He heralded afar;

And then he bled for sinful men,

A dying Conqueror.

Exalted on the throne of God,

In majesty and might;

His name the sinner’s joyful plea,

The Father’s full delight.

Messiah, Lord, a Saviour God,

The Bright and Morning Star;

O, tell His triumph and His fame,

The risen Conqueror.

O, sing His praise, the sinner’s Friend,

The church’s glorious Head;

Who burst the bands of death and hell

A Victor from the dead.

The Light of life, the Joy of men,

The mighty Man of war;

He’s coming soon, o’er all to reign

A glorious Conqueror.

Ten myriad voices, loud and clear,

Ring from the ages past,

And ransomed souls of every clime

Proclaim their Lord at last;

Through all the darkened lands of earth

His servants shout afar,

That Jesus Christ is Lord alone,

Eternal Conqueror.

Extract: The Contrast Between Earth and Heaven

Earth and heaven were at issue in reference to Christ, and they are at issue still. Man crucified Him; but God raised Him from the dead. Man placed Him on a cross between two thieves; God set Him at His own right hand in the heavens. Man gave Him the very lowest place on earth; God gave Him the very highest place in heaven, in brightest majesty.

Correspondence: Temple of God Individual or Collective?; Matt. 16:28

Question: Does the “Temple of God” spoken of in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, refer to us individually or collectively?

Answer: In this chapter the gifts are looked at as ministers who are building the House of God. They are laborers together under God. Paul laid the foundation, and every one is to take heed how he builds thereupon – this shows man’s responsibility. The foundation is Jesus Christ, but even on this foundation, those who are not real Christians may be built into it. In the day of manifestation, all will be tried with fire; The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. Wood, hay and stubble will not stand the fire. Gold, silver, precious stones will remain (verse 12).

We have three samples of builders.

In verse 15 the builder does not build according to Architect’s plan, and is so rewarded.

In verse 15 the builder does not build according the plan of the Great Architect, and though himself a saved man, he suffers loss, for the Lord cannot reward any of us for disobedience to His Word.

In verse 17 we find an unconverted servant who, along with his work, is destroyed. We see in all this how men are responsible for their work in the professing church of God. Thus we see that verses 16, 17 speak of the church in responsibility.

1 Corinthians 6:19 speaks of each individual child of God as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Question: Please explain Matthew 16:28.

Answer: In Chapter 17:1-9, we have the coming of the Son of Man illustrated in the transfiguration scene. Moses pictured the dead saints raised. Elias pictures the living saints caught up. Peter, James and John picture the earthly saints in the reign of Christ. 2 Peter 1:16 says, “We made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ... were eye-witness of His majesty.” This is what Chapter 16:28 refers to.

Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to: [email protected].

Young Christian: Volume 31, 1941

Table of Contents

The Spirit and the Bride Say, Come

I Will Guide Thee

"Surely I Come Quickly"

Fragment: Grieving for Those who are at Home with the Lord

Five Words to Saints: Power

An Agnostic Saved

Five Words to Saints: Prayer

Extract: Either Gathering or Scattering

A Man of Faith

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 6

Extract: The Lord is Coming

Standing and State

Correspondence: Matt. 11:29-30; Present War in Europe?

Five Words to Saints: Introduction

The Christian's Receipt

Five Words to Saints: Privilege

Extract: Not Walking with God

Five Words to Saints: Punctuality

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 7:25-40

Five Words to Saints: Profit

The Treasure We Found in His Love

The Secret of Christian Strength: 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Remarks on Infidelity

Extract: Denied Daily

Extract: Spiritual Intelligence

Deciding for Christ

Address to Young People: Part 1

Correspondence: Matt. 24:22 and 29-35; Forgive and Not Forgive in Matt. 11:25-26

Extract: Christ's Obedience

God Loves You

Correspondence: John 15:2; Doing Good at Any Time of Year?

I Am the Lord's

The Name of Jesus

Extract: The Forgiveness of Sins

All of God

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 7:1-24

Talking Business

Not in Vain

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 8

The World's Esteem

Fragment: Full Provision

Nothing Too Hard

True Greatness

Address to Young People: Part 2

Honoring God and His Word

A Sound of Abundance of Rain

The Eye on Christ, Not on Events

Extract: Living to Christ

Correspondence: Attitude Towards Door Knockers?

Sundown

Confidence in God

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 9

Tract Distribution: What One Tract Did

Danger for Christians

Address to Young People: Part 3

Jesus Came

Children of Light

Intimacy With Christ

Correspondence: 1 Tim. 6:16; Infants Raptured; Col. 1:20; Gospel to Every Creature

And Yet Be Lost?

Resource in Sorrow

Hold Fast

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 10, Part 1

The Same Architect

Extract: Grief and Difficulty

Address to Young People: Part 4

Correspondence: Earthly Kingdom Post Rapture; Manifested at "Bema"?

Hoisting His Colors

Savor of Christ in a Busy Life

Every Day Life

Extract: Walk Wisely

The First Epistle to the Corinthians: 10, Part 2

The Final Word

Demas

The Judgment-Seat of Christ

Africans

The Lord Knows All About It

Correspondence: Matt. 16:28; Children of Wrath/Disobedience/Devil; Rom. 8:9