"His precious blood was shed, REMEMBERING THIS we break the bread Or again we sing— "Here conscience ends its strife; And faith delights to prove The sweetness of the bread of life, And as the hunger of conscience is satisfied and ends, the sweet and happy hungering and thirsting of love only grows within us. We inwardly long after Him who has so truly lifted off us "sin's accursed load." "Here we forget our griefs and pains; We drink, but still our thirst remains : Only the Fountain-head above Can satisfy the thirst of love." This is a blessed hunger and a precious thirst, and it shall one day be satisfied. (See Matt. v. 6.) Hence it is that hungering and thirsting saints would fain prolong the Lord's Supper, instead of stinting either its frequency or its length, did other service to Christ but allow of it. Hence, too, the precious frequency with which the Pentecost saints kept it (see Acts ii. 46), daily finding in it some fresh supply for their conscience and some new joy to their hearts. Hence, lastly, the joy it would be to really spiritually-minded partakers of the Lord's Supper if, ere they left the meeting and the table, the moment had come for the Lord's descending into the air, and shouting us to meet Him at the everlasting and for ever relished marriage supper of the Lamb! Thus linked together are the feast below and the feast above, as were the foot and the top of Jacob's ladder of old. As Paul says, when writing against all shallowness, all levity, and all self-pleasing of saints at the Lord's Supper, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come." Blessed be God for the many assemblies of His children that in our time do each week celebrate redeeming love at the Lord's Supper. May HE give all of us grace that it may always be to our souls a "supper" indeed, and a feast. of fat things! H. D. MEATS CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. THIS subject is one well worthy of careful study, first, because it opens up to our view one of the great sources of trouble in the early church, and enables us to understand the immense difficulties in the way of breaking down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, and of gathering them around one table, there to commemorate the dying love of the Lord; secondly, because the principles which guided the early Christians in their perplexities on this point are applicable in many matters which now perplex us. The difference between clean and unclean animals was known and evidently acted upon in Noah's days (see Gen. vii. 2); but not until the time of Moses (see Lev. xi.) were full and particular instructions given on this subject. A Jew, strictly trained to observe the law, would look with absolute horror upon those who ate "unclean" meat, such as we are accustomed to see upon our tables. So much was this the case that he would not even enter the house of a Gentile (John iv. 9; Acts x. 28); and the gathered from the fact strength of this conviction may be that even a revelation from heaven scarcely convinced the apostle Peter that by the death and resurrection of Christ he was freed from this ordinance. The vision required to be repeated three times in order to accomplish this, though about eight years had elapsed since the Lord's ascension. So close a watch was kept against any association with Gentiles that when Peter came to Jerusalem, where the other apostles were, he was called to account for eating with Gentiles in the house of Cornelius. But on his relating the vision and attendant circumstances the objectors were satisfied, and only then did the apostles themselves appear to apprehend the Lord's plain command, that the gospel was to be preached to "every creature," and not merely to Jews and proselytes, as they had thought. No doubt the news of Peter's vision would spread far and wide, and he would himself inculcate its teaching wherever he went; yet in Acts xv., twelve years later, we are told that certain men came down to Antioch from Judæa, and troubled the disciples by telling them they could not be saved unless they were circumcised and kept the law of Moses, observing, of course, among other things the distinction between meats clean and unclean. It was probably on this occasion that Peter, notwithstanding his thrice-repeated vision, dissembled, as recorded in Gal. ii. He had held fellowship and broken bread with the church at Antioch, in which were both Jews and Gentiles; but when certain of the Pharisees who believed came from Jerusalem, fear again overcame him, and he withdrew and separated himself from the Gentiles. The spirit which these Judaizers manifested may be inferred (Gal. ii. 4), and it is no wonder that dissension and disputation took the place of godly edifying. They evidently denounced, as an unholy act, the bringing of the uncircumcised into the church, and doubtless pleaded that they alone were carrying out the word of God. If they had been told that the Gentiles had been visibly baptized with the Holy Ghost they would, perhaps, have pointed to Leviticus xi., and refused to move therefrom. To these Judaizers Peter yielded, and then Barnabas, Paul's own fellow-labourer, was carried away with their dissimulation. They may have argued that it was well to give way to these men who came from Jerusalem, where the apostles were; but they were not walking uprightly, and were giving up a vital principle, which would result in rending the church of God in twain and in nullifying the gospel. We cannot but admire the boldness and wisdom of Paul in withstanding and rebuking Peter to the face before them all. It was no time for vacillation, and Paul's firmness saved the church from wellnigh shipwreck. But if we admire Paul's courage we cannot withhold our admiration from Peter, who, though he was the elder, received the rebuke, and bore no grudge in after days to him who administered it. (2 Pet. iii. 15.) Would that we all had more of this spirit! The result of this contention at Antioch was the sending of Paul, Barnabas, and other brethren to Jerusalem, to have the question authoritatively decided by the apostles and elders. (Acts xv. 2.) Is there not here an example for us? Instead of contending for our varied opinions when a matter of difference arises, likely to cause strife and confusion, would it not be better that those who are elders should come together to seek the mind of the Lord by prayer and searching of the Word? After careful enquiry and consideration, the apostles and elders, inspired by the Holy Ghost, write an epistle to the Gentile believers, telling them that those who had gone from Jerusalem and troubled them on the subject of circumcision and the law, had no authority from them, and they enjoined upon them to abstain from meats offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, &c.; but nothing was said as to abstaining from unclean meats. Surely now, we would say, this can no longer be a point of contention or dispute; Peter's vision twelve years previously, and now the apostolic letter, would place the matter beyond question. But alas! our prejudices are often proof against even the clearest word of the Lord. Seven years later (accepting the dates given in the margin of our Bibles) we find that the apostle Paul had to write on this subject to the saints at Rome, evidently to meet fresh difficulties on the question. (See Rom. xiv.) Some would eat certain meats, and others would not eat; one judged his brother, and his brother despised him; and this, of course, would lead to a breach of fellowship. In these circumstances what does the Spirit of God enjoin? Does the apostle say, Refuse fellowship to those who will not eat for they are disobedient to God's word, and make the gospel of Christ of no effect? No; it is evident that the Lord makes allowance for the strength of prejudices imbibed from early childhood. Prejudice, some may say, ought not for a moment to be allowed to stand in the way when we have a "Thus saith the Lord." True, but the Lord, who knows us altogether, in matchless grace causes Paul to write thus, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations." And again, knowing well how much patience would be required, the apostle adds, "Now the God of patience grant you to be like-minded one toward another after the example of Christ Jesus [margin] wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us"—that is, in all our ignorance and with all our prejudices—“to the glory of God." (Rom. xv. 5, 7.) This teaching is the more striking when we remember the immense importance of the real subject of difference, viz., circumcision. In the first epistle to the Corinthians, written about eight years after the decision of the Holy Ghost by the apostles as to the abstaining from things offered to idols, we find Paul dealing with this question at some length in chapter viii. So common was the sale of meat offered to idols, that to avoid partaking of it, and so disobeying the |