giving, however, two precious words to faith; first, concerning the sick- "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby ;" and, secondly, concerning the departed"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." Bereaved ones! be comforted. They must sleep, in order that the Lord may have the special glory of awakening them. How glorified, indeed, will He be, when He shall descend from heaven with a shout, and that same "loud voice," which called Lazarus forth, shall call us into His presence, (not, as in his case, "bound about with grave-clothes, and a napkin about his head," showing that the trammels of Death were still about him, and he must fall asleep again,) but we shall come forth as the Lord did, leaving the grave-clothes in the sepulchre, death having no more dominion over us. Glory for ever to the Lord! When the Lord Jesus arrived, he did not enter the town of Bethany; and we know, from 1 Thess. iv., that when the Lord comes for his Church, he will not come down to the ground, but descend into the air, and we shall be caught up, "to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Lazarus had been actually dead "four days;" this may indicate the four thousand years that Death had already reigned from Adam; and his coming forth "bound about with grave-clothes," as we have said, indicates that all the power of Death was not then actually abolished. The family at Bethany may well represent the Church of Christ on earth. The members of it are spoken of in John xi. 5 thus-"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." The Lord Jesus is emphatically said to have "loved his Church." The three loved ones are all of them believers, and they constitute a family. The Church is the "household of faith," and believers are called his brethren. They lived in Bethany (the House of Figs); where his Beloved are is a place of sweet fruit to the Lord. The three represent the Church as-by nature -dead, depraved, and "cumbered" with trifles; but-by grace-as alive again and feasting with Him, as pouring the precious ointment of worship upon Him, and as accepted servants. This is beautifully shown forth in the supper at Bethany, John xii. 2, 3. But in the meanwhile, these three of Bethany vividly represent the characteristics of the Church at the Lord's coming. Lazarus prefigures those who have fallen asleep in the Lord: Mary represents Christians who long for His arrival, who know that "He that shall come will come, and will not tarry," and are patiently waiting till He calls them. Martha seems to be a type of those Christians who do not realize themselves as already in resurrection-life, and who are putting off the resurrection of those who are asleep to an indefinitely distant day. It is pleasant to see Martha's faith in Christ as the Son of God, and how free she is to confess it, but the Lord dius that she is as much in want of teaching as sympathy, and accordingly proceeds to test her faith and knowledge, and to show that her statement "I know that he shall rise again at the resurrection of the last day," was a figment of tradition, and not founded on His own blessed teaching. This is exactly the position of many dear Christians now; they place the resurrection of the saved and the unsaved at one and the last day! The Lord does not test Mary; she fell at his feet, as a worshipping one and a listener, to quietly await what He would do. Oh, that this may be our attitude of spirit. With such Jesus weeps; and though "our light affliction is but for a moment," as with Mary, yet during that moment the Lord Jesus "weeps with them that weep," for He is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." But Martha's is a most instructive case : "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died. But I know that, even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give thee. Thy brother shall rise again. "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. "I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? "Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." we are Many Christians think that Christ is indeed the "Resurrection and the Life" because He will raise the dead at His Coming. But the fact is, He is the Resurrection and Life now, because “ new creatures in Christ Jesus." He was judged in our stead, died for us, and when He rose, we, virtually, rose with Him-our Life, our Head-and are, in the Divine view, sitting "together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. ii. 6.) "Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our Life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Those who have got no further in the faith than Martha cannot grasp this blessed fact; such Christians are looking at death as an inevitable necessity, and are continuing "all their lifetime subject to bondage"-the bondage of a shadow! the fear of something that has been abolished! for the Scripture saith, He "hath abolished Death!" The believer may fall asleep in Jesus," and the Lord may descend from heaven at any moment, and call us all, both those asleep and those awake, to himself. This rapturous event we should be looking for and patiently awaiting. If the Scriptures which teach the blessed fact that we are "passed from death unto life" are quoted and pressed upon many dear Christians, they will give an assent, because the passages referred to are from the Bible; but it will not, through the bad teaching they have received, be an intelligent assent. It will be like Martha's answer; the Lord had said, "Believest thou this?" She answers "Yea," and proceeds to say she believes in Him as the Christ! But that, though a blessed How long does the Lord perpetuate ministerial gifts? Let Scripture answer. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Eph. iv. 13.) Thus the pretence of imparting the Holy Ghost in these days by laying on of hands is fully exposed. If Christians were only true to the Lord and themselves, in refusing everything which has for its object MAN's aggrandisement down here, they would be delivered from all such delusions as we are pointing out. Moreover, when God entrusts POWER to his servants, He displays that power in them SUPERNATURALLY; this is an important rule, which may be traced throughout the Bible. We refer to Moses, to the Old Testament prophets, and to the Apostles. When the Holy Ghost was communicated by the specially chosen servants of the Lord, those who had power to impart the gift, gave PROOF of their divine commission by working miracles. Let us claim manifest proof of the possession of divine power from those who profess to impart divine gifts, and the door is immediately shut against all pretenders. And now let us look at the other delusion-that of communicated power to forgive or retain sins. The occasion on which the Lord Jesus Christ gave that extraordinary and solemn authority is stated in the Gospel by John only. "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." (John xx. 19-23.) "THE DOORS were SHUT." It was an exclusive com- J pany, the Lord's own specially called Apostles. f Then, notice, "HE BREATHED ON THEM, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose sover sins ye retain, they are retained." It is all one sentence. There was a quality which none now possess, given through that breathing on them by the Lord Jesus. Unless a man has seen the risen Jesus, and has been breathed on by Him, receiving a special commission from the lips of his Lord, it is impossible for him to remit or retain sins. But if State-bishops will pretend to give suc] power to their clergy, and the latter will pretend t exercise it, then we turn upon them, and demand t meaning of this sentence in their Litany, repeat by them every Lord's Day? giving, however, two precious words to concerning the sick- "This sickness is not unto death, but for the that the Son of God might be glorified thereby and, secondly, concerning the departe "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." Bereaved ones! be comforted. Then order that the Lord may have the awakening them. How glorified, be, when He shall descend from heave and that same "loud voice," which forth, shall call us into His presence, case, "bound about with grave-clothe about his head," showing that Death were still about him, and her again,) but we shall come forth leaving the grave-clothes in the having no more dominion over us. the Lord! When the Lord Jesus arrived, town of Bethany; and we know, that when the Lord comes for s not come down to the ground, air, and we shall be caught up " the air, and so shall we ever be Lazarus had been actually al this may indicate the four thous had already reigned from Adm forth "bound about with gra said, indicates that all the powe then actually abolished. The family at Bethany may Church of Christ on earth. Tv are spoken of in John xi. 5 loved Martha, and her sister as Lord Jesus is emphatically Church." The three loved me lievers, and they constitute a the "household of faith," and brethren. They lived in Be where his Beloved are is a Lord. The three represente -dead, depraved, and " but-by grace-as alive a Him, as pouring the pri upon Him, and as accepted tifully shown forth in the s xii. 2, 3. But in the meanwh vividly represent the chance the Lord's coming. Lazer fallen asleep in the Lord: who long for His arrival shall come will come, and patiently waiting till He to be a type of those Ch themselves as already in are putting off the res to an indefinitely Martha's faith free she is to she is as m fact, was not in question; the Lord knew she believed in Him. We, therefore, repeat the question to the Christian reader-"Believest thou this ?" - that you, living and believing in Jesus, can never die ? Carrying the analogy a step further, we see that the raising of Lazarus leads many of the Jews to believe on Jesus, and so, we think, the calling of the Church out of the world will be one of those signs which will lead to faith in the elect-remnant of Israel in the latter days. And then follows, in beautiful harmony with our previous analogy, First, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, after the raising of Lazarus, and secondly, as we know, the Lord's triumphal return to earth, as King in Zion, after he has raised the Church. DO ACCEPT FACTS. (A DIALOGUE.) Sceptic. It appears to me altogether unreasonable that people should be saved by what you call faith. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John vi. 28-29.) Again Jesus said "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine Lord Jesus Christ; afterwards, the believer learns the ways of "YE ARE DEAD." Of all the wonderful and glorious declarations of God, few, if any, are so little understood practically, as that in Col. iii. 5: "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." This is said to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, though they be yet moving about in corruptible bodies, like other men. Unbelievers have yet to die; and unless they turn, and put their trust in Jesus, the only Saviour, they will die in their sins. The true christian is, however, dead already, i.e. as respects the death pronounced upon him in conseHe died by substitute before he was Evangelist.-Let me explain to you that it is a living person, Jesus Christ, who saves. Faith, as a mere abstract principle, exists in many a soul without bringing salvation.quence of sin. Many believe in God, as Creator, yet die in their sins. Sceptic. But have I not heard you say that sinners are saved by faith? Evangelist-Yes. But it must be faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners. Sceptic. I cannot see how that can save men's souls. Evangelist.—God does not demand of you that you should see how. But He declares the FACT, and calls upon you to believe it. Though even belief of that fact will not save you. You must have faith in the Person. Sceptic.-Your argument is then, if I understand you, that unless I have faith (as you call it) in Jesus Christ, I cannot be saved. Evangelist. That is not my argument, but it is the plain declaration of God. "The Father loveth the Son, (Jesus Christ) and hath given all things into his hand. 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 iii. 35-36, Sceptic. I cannot believe that God will deal with his creatures in that way. Evangelist.-Say rather, you will not believe. The word cannot, as you use it, simply means will not. May I ask you a question? Sceptic.-I am pretty well tired of the subject; but, go on. Evangelist.-What trade do you follow? Sceptic.-That of a watch-finisher. I served my time to it. Evangelist.-Did you know how men made watches before you were apprenticed to the business? Sceptic-No. How should I? Evangelist.-Yet you believed that watches were made by men, and you had faith in the master who undertook to teach you the trade. Sceptic.-Yes, to all that. Evangelist.-You believed and trusted first, and learned all the why and wherefore of the facts afterwards. So God has ordained, that if you would be saved, you must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ first, and he will give you the knowledge and understanding afterwards. The Jews enquired of Jesus "What shall we do, that we might work the works born into the world. "Our old man is crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Rom. vi. 6.) What a paradox, cries Reason! Amazing truth, most precious to realise, exclaims Faith! But, alas! many christians persist in clinging to that old tradition, namely, that in death they have yet to pass through the waters of Jordan. If christians with such ideas are called to lay down their earthly tabernacle, they lose half the joy they would otherwise find in looking only their thoughts to the river of death, on the banks of at their glorified Redeemer, because they will turn which they have been taught to stand and shiver. But were the Israelites called upon to swim over the Jordan? Nay. The same Almighty power which brought them dryshod through the Red Sea into the wilderness, also opened a pathway through the River which separated the chosen people from the Promised Land. The truth is, many believers are but superficially acquainted with the work of the Cross. Happily, most of God's children know that in those hours of awful darkness, during which the "Holy the blood of One of God" was suspended on the accursed tree, Jesus became the shelter of all christians from the judgment of our righteous God. Just as the angel of judgment passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt-so we, who believe, are passed over, are safe, for ever safe, through the precious blood of Jesus. "Christ, our passover is slain." 66 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." But this, unspeakably joyful though it be, is not Jesus endured, for us, the wrath of God—he became, all-far from it. In those solemn moments when for us also, the conqueror of Death and Hades. The Jordan overflowed his banks indeed—but our mighty deliverer and Lord, whom all the types and shadows, given of old, are unable to pourtray, stepped into the rushing tide; himself endured, but, for us, rolled back, the waters of death, that we might follow him unscathed into the holy land. The deliverance wrought for us (believers) by our blessed Lord, includes the passage of the Red Sea, as well as that of the Jordan. As we have said-Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, does bring the efficacy of His atonement to the christian as a perfect protection against judgment. The youngest believer who apprehends this, knows also, in measure, that it brings him into separation from the world, as the Israelites, were separated from Egypt. The world is, however, loth to give up its former votary, and pursues after the escaped one, fain to overwhelm, or bring him back again. Many a timorous child of God has found himself in like case with that of the Israelites who marched out of Egypt-hemmed in with dangers. The surging billows before, relentless foes behind, and no way of escape on the right hand or the left. And what has he done in such a case? He has cried to the Lord. Then the answer has been given, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," Exod. xiv. 13.) Afterwards some servant of God has spoken the word of encouragement, "Go forward," (Exod. xiv. 15;) and the child of faith has gone forward and has found all that which seemed dark and fearful before him, like the waters of the Red Sea, "as a wall on the right hand and on the left”— and all through that work of grace, wrought by the Son of God on Calvary. The death of the cross has, in the purpose of God, cut us off from the world for ever. Much of this is understood, though perhaps but dimly, by the followers of Jesus. Then comes the journey across the wilderness, and the heavenly country. The joys of the beavenly Canaan may be entered upon as soon as seen, by faith. There are, however, many enemies in "the land," great and mighty ones. [See Numbers xiii.] Yet there it is-and God offers it to the children of faith. It is a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a fruitful land. Those who have tested it show you the fruits of it; they display before you the Grapes of Eshcol (Num. xiii. 24.) But then there are enemies there, even giants. Have you faith to go forward? Have you faith to overcome? Caleb and Joshua, having full trust in the Lord, are ready to take possession as soon as they behold the land. Caleb says: "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it," (Numbers xiii. 30.) "If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey," (Numbers xiv. 8.) But the multitude who came up out of Egypt, who had witnessed the mighty power of God, and had experienced many a deliverance at His hand, though they came in sight of Canaan, "could not enter in, because of UNBELIEF," (Heb. iii. 19.) The Jordan offered no impediment; for the succeeding generation found, by faith, a passage through it waters, as on dry land. Christian! Jesus has passed through death for you. The finish of Calvary's work was death. The Jordan offers no obstacle now-will you enter the promised land? The Lord Jesus is your leader, He is the true Joshua. When the Israelites were driven back, to waste their carcases in the wilderness-the Jordan was not their hindrance, but unbelief was. The unfaithful christian has a like portion on earth, see Romans viii. 6. How is it with you? In the consciousness of death passed, and in the power of the new life, which is Christ in you, you may experience now, much of the happiness of the heavenly country. Yet our spiritual enemies are still in the land ; "For we wrestle [or contend] not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. vi. 12.) This same scripture, however, furnishes us with the whole armour of God. Fear not, then, the spiritual foe; neither in heart go back to the world, (Egypt). These were the snares of the Israelites. Be a Caleb. Have entire trust in God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Then shall you know, indeed, that the Jordan is not before you, but behind. "Our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”—2 Tim. i. 10.) It may be, that the coming of the Lord is so near, you will be translated, as was Enoch. Otherwise, you will sleep in Jesus until the resurrection morn. Whichever way you may be called from this world the fact remains, that death is passed already. “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES. W. C., Ashburton, writes,- "SIR,-May I beg the favour of your giving an explanation of the latter part of Rev. i. 20,- The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.' I am aware that there is an extensively prevailing thought that the clergy or' ministry' are the angels, but I do not think the passage is confined to that, breaking bread and edification without a 'minister.' In such as there are numerous assemblies of Christians which meet for cases where can the angel be with them?" We need to ponder prayerfully the entire verse. Our Lord's expression is "The MYSTERY of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks." It is a mystery still, notwithstanding the enlightenment given in the succeeding sentence, which you have quoted. We may say, however, that it seems to us a very poor and unwarranted thought to suppose any individual minister is intended by the expression Angel. It is altogether contrary to the tenor of the various epistles given to the churches, to recognise a paramount position in any one person, in any christian assembly. We cannot find an instance of a christian, however gifted, (not even the Apostle Paul,) being recognised as THE minister (exclusively) of any particular place or church. The Head of the |