PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 26, 1896.

JEREMIAH X. 23.

in that they do not exercise it, but it ex-because of the entrance of grace, the deercises them. Forbearance is a fruit of sire for holiness now fills our soul, the the Spirit; and when it exercises the sub-tongue that uttered curses now sings ject of gracious promises he does not praises. We are no more the rich Pharihave to study how to forbear, but, like see with bold attitude presenting his the stream of water making its exit from good works to the Lord for reward, and the mountain side, it goes on and on, un-uttering hypocritical thanks that he is aided by mortal hands, until it reaches not like other men; but as the poor puband mingles with the great ocean of lican, not so much as lifting his eyes to waters. So the forbearance of the saints heaven, saying, "Lord, be merciful to me one to another is a part of the spiritual a sinner." May the merciful God of all life, and flows out from the creature of grace keep us humble and forbearing, divine mercies, never ceasing until it is that we may be enabled to deny self, and swallowed up in the ocean of God's exalt and extol the name of Jesus. boundless love. Their forbearance B. F. COULTER. each other is not from necessity, but because they love each other. One of the first emotions even in natural love is to behold the object as higher, better and "O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself: purer than ourself. I do not think we it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." could love an object that we had to look "The old man is corrupt, according to down upon. The spiritual love of our the deceitful lusts." "I have said to corFather's family takes the same upward ruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, tendency. We look up to our brethren, Thou art my mother, and my sister." esteeming them better than ourselves."The heart is deceitful above all things, This is why we are exercised to forbear- and desperately wicked. Who can know ance. We see them adorned with the it?" "The carnal mind is enmity against beauty of the Lord. They are lovely be- God; for it is not subject to the law of cause they manifest the characteristics of God, neither indeed can be." "We are Jesus, who is "the chiefest among ten without strength." "There is none doeth thousand and the one altogether lovely." good, no, not one." The fruit of the Spirit is the outgrowth These, and many other assertions in holy of Jesus in them, their hope of glory. writ, seem to aflirm that it is not in man Their frailties and infirmities are man- that walketh to direct his steps; yet we ifest also, but not to the extent that we hear from every side, in the world, the see them in ourselves; therefore it is not denial of this truth. It is true, say they, a matter of hardship to bear with them. that "from the sole of the foot even unto As man by his God-given powers has sub- the head there is no soundness in it; but dued the earth, so the power of the Spirit wounds, and bruises, and putrefying of Jesus has subdued our earnal passions sores;" but, nevertheless, (they say) all and lusts. We no more fondle and nurse depravity is voluntary, and if we overthe fleshly passions within us, but we whelm ourselves in ruin it is our own dohate and loathe ourselves because of ing; we are not compelled to. Such them. Where the man of sin did once reasoning as this implies that we are not reign over us, he having lost his power totally depraved by nature. Indeed,

popular religion emphatically asserts this bility to be removed by the Spirit to endoctrine, for it tells us that "Humanable man to love and serve God, then it is nature, as it exists in the infant, is noth-not true that he opens our understanding ing else but capability-capability of good as well as evil; but more likely from association in the world to be more evil than good."

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and renews a right spirit within us. If there is just one step we can walk in obedience before God, then it is not true that all our works are wrought in us, and Men of old, as they were moved by the it is true that we are sufficient of ourHoly Ghost, bare record that total de-selves to do something, and our sufficiency pravity is transmitted by generation: "I is not entirely of God.—2 Cor. iii. 5. But was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my the everlasting gospel of our Lord is mother conceive me:" "that which is born Spirit and is life. It assumes that the of flesh, is flesh." Yet the world denies sinner is dead in trespasses and sins; utthe natural disability of men to serve terly and hopelessly ruined. The dead God. Let them choose their own gods, are already dead, the sick are already past but as for us we will continue to rejoice cure, and whatever attempt is made to in the hope that salvation is nigh us; yea, weaken this assumption, likewise assails even in our mouth, while we contend that the remedy itself. The whole need not a it is the sovereign power of God which physician, but they that are sick. The redeems us from a hopelessly depraved voice of the Son of God is the power that condition; "for when we were yet without ends the reign of this death; "the dead strength, in due time Christ died for the hear it, and they that hear live." To ungodly while we were yet sinners Christ know his salvation we must know our died for us." Our God is sovereign; he helplessness; we must be dead, in order divides not his glory with another. to be brought to life; we must be lost, or If there were natural ability in us to we cannot be found; we must be sick, to repent and believe, there would be no be healed; for there is no balm of Gilead, necessity for the power of God in that nor a physician there for those who can heal respect; no other ability could reasonably themselves: there shall none glory in his be prayed for or expected. If there is inpresence. In the general assembly of the herent ability to repent and believe to the first-born there shall be no faltering voice saving of the soul it would be a display in that song of praise ascribing all power, of power unbecoming God's infinite wis-and glory, and dominion, to him who hath dom to do that which nature could do saved us, for none shall be there who without him. And it is an extravagant found any way in himself to appear there; supposition that he wills and does any-"there shall in no wise enter into it anything for, or in, man which man can do thing that defileth, neither whatsoever himself. The denial of man's depravity worketh abomination, or maketh a lie" and disability denies the work of God's against the glory of that grace which Spirit, by denying the existence of the began, continued and finished our salvavery thing which is to be removed by tion. him. If human disability is mere theory, Some say this doctrine of total and then the Holy Ghost's work in removing absolute inability of man to in the least it is mere theory also; for if a man can degree do any good thing, is a hard docchoose and serve God; if there is no disa-trine, and they hate it. They want to ex

clude the necessity and power of the "We count not ourselves to have appreSpirit in regeneration, or in other words, hended; but this one thing we do, forgetthey want to beget themselves. They ting those things which are behind, and will not admit that the sinner is wholly reaching forth unto those things which passive in regeneration; that he performs are before, we press toward the mark for no act, but receives an action. But we the prize of the high calling of God in know that there is a taking away the Christ Jesus." We dare not say in any stony heart out of our flesh, and giving us one thing, This is the way, and we shall a heart of flesh; and of being born of the walk in it; but we go forward in weakSpirit, "not of blood, nor of the will of ness, serving the Lord in fear, and rethe flesh, nor of the will of man, but of joicing with trembling, and trusting in God." If we are his workmanship, cre- the Lord to withhold no good thing from ated in Christ Jesus unto good works, us. The same anointing of the Spirit, then it cannot be that we have any hand which makes manifest the things that are in this work and creation. reproved, is the same unction from the Now if we rightly understand our posi- holy One which teaches us the wisdom tion in this matter, how are we affected? and the way of the just. When in the Shall we say as some do, Well, if I cannot Spirit we walk softly and humbly before do or think one righteous act or thought, the Lord, fearing all things, hoping all and am wholly passive, then the responsi-things. In judging others we consider bility of my eternal welfare rests with ourselves, lest we be in bondage to the God; and as it will make no difference to flesh, and not in the liberty of the chilme ultimately whether I do good, or dren of light. We are subjects in a kingwhether I do evil in this world, I will fol-dom of love. Love reigns to the utter low after the things I delight in extinction of envy, boasting, selfishness, No, that is not the effect upon a child of anger, malice, evil and iniquity; and they God. An assurance of strength in our-that love the doctrine of God's sovereignselves is invariably accompanied with a ty dwell here together in that city, the feeling of security'; but when that feeling name of which is, "The Lord is there." of security is taken from us, and our ruin It is not in the nature of man to adis seen and felt to be complete, when we mit that he is utterly incapable of directfind ourselves lost, and in a horrible pit-ing his steps. He will concede that he the grave of all our righteousness and is not perfect, but he will reserve some strength, then do we know what is the way, some special path in which he thinks exceeding greatness of his power to us-he can walk righteously. He reads the ward, and the song that is put into our Scriptures carefully, perhaps, and conmouth is, “In the Lord have I righteous-cludes from the letter what is a right ness and strength." The same power way; but the letter killeth. In discernwhich wrought in Christ when he raised ing or making a way for himself he is him from the dead, works in us, abides condemned, "because he eateth not of with us, and guides us into all truth. faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is And while in this Spirit it is the Lord's sin." But he who has the fear of the day with us. We pass the time of our Lord before his eyes stands still until the sojourning here in fear. In all things we command comes, "Go forward;" and try the spirits, whether they be of God. with the Word there is power, and he

goes, fearfully and tremblingly, but not alone, "For the Lord will go before him; and the God of Israel will be his reward, to give him according as his work shall be. God never called any one to a work without opening the way as it pleaseth him. With his command he provides the work, he supplies the gift, he gives the strength, and the work is finished in righteousness.

No man hath seen God's face at any time. He goes before, and his backparts are revealed to us. us, not before us.

be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness." And Isaiah says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations. shall flow unto it." The last days here mentioned by the prophet most evidently were the closing of the legal dispensation, while the mountain of the Lord's It is a word behind house represents the kingdom which was This is the way, walk set up at the close of that dispensation ye in it. In traversing the way we have in which a king reigns in righteousness, come, has it always been with a present and princes rule in judgment. sense of walking in the way of holiness? Thus the ushering in of the gospel disWe did not know it was the way of holi-pensation was declared from on high, ness, but when the mercy and goodness and the glorious effulgence that shone of God is proclaimed in our experience, forth from the great King revealed the we then know that the Lord was there brightness and glory of that day which and we knew it not. We know that John appropriately called the Lord's day. we have been brought in a way we knew Not one of the seven days of the week, not: we know that it is not in man that but one continuous day, the dawning of walketh to direct his steps. Therefore which lighted up the gospel heaven when have we hope, for help hath been laid the Sun of righteousness arose with healupon one that is mighty, and his faithful-ing in his wings from the darkness of the ness and mercy shall know no end.

J. M.

GHENT, Ky., Dec. 14, 1896.

tomb.

John was in the Spirit on that day, as are all God's dear people who worship him in Spirit and in truth, both now and DEAR SISTER SARAH FARRAND:-Your always must be when they are led by the very welcome and interesting letter of Spirit. The setting up of that kingdom the 8th instant is before me, and has been and the sound of the great gospel trumpet read with deep interest, and, I fondly had preceded the banishment of John to trust, with profit to me. In that letter the isle of Patmos. Consequently he you asked me to write to you on the sub-heard that great voice behind him. It ject presented in the tenth verse of the was as the voice of a trumpet. It gave first chapter of Revelations: "I was in forth no uncertain sound, but said, "I the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard am Alpha and Omega, the first and the behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." last." The psalmist says, "Before the It occurs to me very forcibly that the mountains were brought forth, or ever "Lord's day" spoken of by John was thou hadst formed the earth and world, used of the gospel dispensation. The even from everlasting to everlasting thou prophet says, "In his days Judah shallart God. Then evidently he is the first

and the last; and when he is preached in power is given unto me in heaven and in his great and wonderful fullness that earth. John saw him in the midst of the glorious gospel trumpet is heard. golden candlesticks, which represented But if the trumpet gave an uncertain the seven churches. Thus he saw him sound, who should prepare himself for in the midst of these candlesticks, clothed the battle is a pertinent question. Johm with all power in heaven and on earth, had preached to the church at Ephesus; and he was there to put forth that power Peter had preached at the house of Cor-in all things needful for those churches; nelius; Paul had preached to the Gen-yea, for all the redeemed in all ages, lands tiles; and all the other apostles had and climes. He was there in the majesty preached the unsearchable riches of of heaven, and is to-day occupying that Christ before John received this commis- exalted place among his redeemed; and sion to write to the seven churches of he will remain there until time shall be Asia; and John knew that they all had no more, and then throughout eternity. preached Jesus as the Alpha and Omega. While here below they are kept by the They had preached Christ and him cruci-power of God unto salvation, ready to be fied, and he knew that many believed on revealed in the last time. Then "happy him; that is, before John had given to him the commission to reveal to those seven churches.

art thou, O Israel. Who is like unto thee, O people saved of the Lord?" But John saw him girt about the paps with a golden girdle. That girdle encircled his

is the seat of affection, of love; and it was a golden girdle. Gold alone is pure when found in its pristine state. That girdle was golden, and is emblematic of the purity of his love for his redeemed, and it inclosed the garment of his power. Thus his power which was made manifest in the great work of redemption, and his love for his people was beheld by John when he saw him in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which represented the seven churches to which John was commissioned to write.

But John said, "And I turned to see the voice that spake with me; and in the heavenly power, about the breast, which midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. You connected this quotation with your inquiry, and it presents a train of thought, the depth of which the natural mind cannot fathom. But it will be remembered that John said he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day; therefore what he saw was not beheld by his natural powers of vision, but by the Spirit's power. In represent all true churches in all ages of other words, it was a spiritual vision.

As the number seven was used in the Scriptures to represent a perfect number, so those churches to which John wrote

the gospel dispensation. Not the churches

In that vision he beheld the Son of as they are presented in seven periods of man clothed with a garment down to the the history of the world, for the church is foot. That garment presented him in the same in all periods of time. "On his great and wonderful power, his om- this rock will I build my church," was the nipotence. He said to his disciples, All language of our great Redeemer; and