be saved; without being told what to believe, or in whom they must believe, or why it is possible for them to be saved if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not surprising to find that, if any apparent good results from such preaching, a great falling away takes place among those who have professed to believe. Let, however, God's purpose of mercy towards man be declared, as well as the manner in which it has been manifested, in the person and work of Christ Jesus, different results will be seen to follow. If it is declared that, in consequence of Christ's vicarious sufferings and substitutionary death, God can be, and is, both just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus, good, and permanent good, will be accomplished.

The gospel of love seems to be on the lips of many in the present day, who fail to anchor the love they preach where God has anchored it, namely, in the cross of Christ. God has there fixed the estimate of the guilt of sin and transgression, and it behoves all those who stand up professedly to proclaim the whole counsel of God, to set forth His measure of human guilt, and also the full measure of His love, in the person, life, and death of Jesus Christ. The knowledge of Christ as God's sent One, and the knowledge of God in Him as Father, are the greatest blessings and privileges which it is possible for man to enjoy. "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His

Son Jesus Christ" (1 John i. 3). "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day" (2 Tim. i. 12). "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death" (Phil. iii. 10).

The next important truth brought under notice is that it is to Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in His name, to whom we are indebted for whatever knowledge we may possess respecting God and our relation to Him: "I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me." "On the truth of this saying stands the whole fabric of creeds and doctrines. It is the ground of authority to the preacher, of assurance to the believer, of existence to the Church. It is the source from which the perpetual stream of Christian teaching flows. All our testimonies, instructions, exhortations, derive their first origin and continuous power from the fact that the Father has given to the Son, the Son has given to His servants, the words of truth and life."

Alas that so many people should be continually seeking God where it is impossible for Him to be found! They search their own hearts, to see if they can find Him there. They seek Him through so-called priests and sacraments, through Churches and services, through self-inflicted tortures and almsgiving, instead of receiving Jesus, who came from heaven for the

express purpose of making God known unto the children of men.

To exercise an intelligent faith in Christ as the sent One of the Father, something must be known about Him: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

The Holy Spirit only can give eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand spiritual things; but these things, we have reason to believe, He is ever willing to do, whenever and wherever a desire is manifested to know God and His Son Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER VII.

MUTUAL OWNERSHIP.

"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them."—JOHN xvii. 9, 10.

In these verses we have the Lord Jesus Christ brought under notice in His exalted dignity as Intercessor― "I pray for them," the word used meaning more than ask simply. It implies that the person who uses it stands on an equality with Him from whom the blessing is desired.

In 1 John v. 16 we read: "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." It is worthy of notice that in this verse there is a change of the verb from aitein, ask, to erōtan, pray, which serves to mark the request, which is based upon fellowship, upon a likeness of position. The latter is the word invariably used by the Saviour in making known His requests to the Father. He had previously urged as pleas, "I know that Thou hearest

Me always"; "the hour is come"; "Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him"; "I have glorified Thee on the earth"; "I have manifested Thy name"; "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do" but in these verses He asks as one who has a right to do so, and who, in consequence of such being the case, may expect answers to be vouchsafed.

The prayer has been answered so far, that God "raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that our faith and hope might be in God" (1 Pet. i. 21). He hath "set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. i. 20–23). If at times, where the word erōtan is used, there does not appear to be equality implied, it will, on further examination, be found to recognise the fact that there is such a footing of familiarity as lends authority to the requests. The words employed throughout the New Testament, when the petitions of the creature are presented to the Creator, are of a different signification. Aitein, for the sake of illustration, expresses simply the wish to have something. It is a desire expressed, according