command of the Lord, it would appear that some believers would not eat meat. Does the Spirit of God insist upon the fact that the mind of the Lord had been made known (Acts x.), and that no forbearance is to be shown to those who are not clear upon the point? On the contrary, the apostle enlarges upon the subject, and shows their liberty in the matter, but yet inculcates forbearance one with another.

Has not the Lord in much grace caused these subjects of contention and division in the early church to be recorded for our instruction? His desire surely is, that we may gather from the Scriptures which refer to them, rules and principles for our guidance amidst the difficulties and perplexities of the present day. He would teach us that although truth on certain points may be quite clear to us, we must not insist on others seeing at once exactly as we do.

While we bear with children of God who from early training, &c., fail to apprehend certain truths fully, we are not by any means thereby condoning their ignorance. or failure, but are acting as our Lord Himself acted, when He taught His disciples as they were able to bear it. (Mark iv. 33.) While taking every opportunity of teaching the truth to those less instructed than ourselves, we need to use much patience lest we hinder their growth by exciting opposition and causing contention. (2 Tim. ii. 24, 25.)

To this effect, surely, is the teaching of the Scriptures upon which we have been dwelling. What long forbearance was exercised by the Lord even towards His apostles! And what patience with one another are we exhorted to! Does not experience also show that this, after all, is the most successful way? Many of us who are now firmly convinced of the correctness of our church principles were

but slow learners in the school of God. Had we been dealt with as we are sometimes inclined to deal with others, we should probably have remained in our unscriptural positions. But patience having been exercised towards us, our prejudices and opposition gradually gave way, and we now, by the grace of God, hold firmly to the truth.

The difficulties in arriving at a clear conclusion from Scripture on the subject of church government are considerable, and they are increased by faulty translations in the Authorized Version; and we need to bear this in mind in our judgment regarding many children of God. But while we say this, let no one think that we make light of church order, baptism and kindred subjects, or that we would encourage laxity as to teaching the whole counsel of God. Such is far from our intention; but we wish to bring into notice another side of truth, namely, that while we firmly hold to what God has taught us, we are not to cease bearing and forbearing in love with fellow-members of Christ who see not yet as we now do. (Eph. iv. 2.)

Let us take warning by the Corinthian church, which was very scrupulous about meats and drinks, and yet was so low in morals as to allow in its membership one guilty of a sin which even the heathen would not have tolerated. This has been the experience of every period in the Church's history. The lower the Church's spirituality, and the more its allowance of worldliness or evil, the more particular and exacting it becomes regarding forms and ceremonies; the shell is everything, the kernel nothing; much is made of the clothing, while the body is neglected. It is very desirable to have good clothing, it is more desirable to have a healthy body; it is best of all to have both.

W. J. S.

THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE.

NOTES OF A BIBLE READING ON COL. ii. 1-3.

THE "conflict” which the apostle had for the Colossian and Laodicean saints was the conflict of prayer. The same word is used of our Lord in Luke xxii. 44," And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly." In Col. iv. 12 the corresponding verb is used, where Epaphras is spoken of as “labouring fervently" in his prayers for the Colossians. It is a solemn thing to think of Paul's earnest conflict for the Laodiceans, and then to remember the Lord's description of them in Rev. iii., thirty years afterwards They must have failed to watch and pray for themselves.

Verse 1 also teaches us that we should pray not only for those we know, but for those we have not seen. Paul's heart was large enough to take in all the saints he had met, and to remember the thousands who had not seen his face in the flesh. The special longing of the apostle's heart was to present "every man perfect in Christ Jesus;" that is, as full-grown, healthy, comely men, and not starvelings; they would then be perfectly well-pleasing to the Lord. This should be our standard for ourselves and for one another.

In chap. i. 28, the repetition of "every man" is marked; "warning every man, and teaching every man . . . . that we may present every man perfect." The apostle uses similar words in 1 Thess. ii. 11, "As ye know we exhorted and charged each one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God." Paul cared for his spiritual children after the pattern put before earthly

parents, to train up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." He dealt with them individually, not in a lump.

Prayer for the salvation of souls is much more common than for the growth of souls. The souls' growth, however, should not be the chief thought in our minds, but God's being pleased in His children; otherwise our affections and behaviour to them are marred. We fail in fully representing Christ, if we do not begin and end with God.

The aim of Col. ii. is to lead us up into Christ the heavenly wisdom, and to turn us away from all worldly wisdom. The word "wisdom" occurs six times in the epistle, and in one case, chap. ii. 23, it is Satan's counterfeit, “a show of wisdom." This epistle corresponds with the book of Proverbs in the use of the words "wisdom,” "knowledge," and "understanding;" it is intended to warn and make us wise according to New Testament teaching.

In these days the deadliest enemy in the human heart is the pride of wisdom; it is the chief weapon in the hand of Satan for marring the communion of saints with God, with Christ, and with one another. There are gross and base sins as drunkenness, brutishnesss, love of money, love of power, but that which the Church of God needs to watch most against, is man's wisdom. We are only safe from it when we see that all the fulness of the Godhead, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, are laid up for us in Christ, and when we deal with them accordingly. Then we see man's wisdom to be foolishness. We are in danger if we admire it, and only safe when we despise it, as we are taught to do in 1 Cor. i. "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise" is the apostle's quotation from the prophet. What a unity there is between Isaiah and Paul!

HIDDEN TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE.

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We know that there is a human wisdom, which can properly be called such, in relation to the things of time; and in this the world excels more than ever. But Satan takes occasion by man's wisdom in things temporal to puff him up, and to make him think he has a right to judge in God's eternal matters. His very wisdom in earthly things is used to make him a fool in divine things. But "the world by wisdom knew not God;" and we only escape this snare as with largeness of heart we seek to comprehend the breadth and length, and depth and height of God's love.

If we think we must get some of the world's wisdom to understand the things of God, we place ourselves under the power of Satan. Man's wisdom uses "enticing words" (1 Cor. ii. 4), and the apostle's warning is "lest any man beguile you with enticing words." This reminds us of how Eve was deceived.

The expression used in Gen. iii. 6, "to make wise," rather means "to give good success: it was this that tempted Eve. The same word is often used of David, as a man of understanding, who successfully brought to an end what he had in view. It also occurs in Josh. i. 8, "then thou shalt have good success." To Eve, the devil offered good success through disobedience. God tells Joshua that He gives it through obedience. In 2 Cor. xi. 3, Paul says he fears lest the minds of the Corinthians" should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ," or rather "from singleness towards Christ" through the serpent's subtilty. Having Christ as the one object before the eye is our safeguard.

As the treasures of Egypt were all under Joseph's hand, and Pharaoh's word was, "Go to Joseph," so God's treasures are in the hand of Christ for us. The supplies that Joseph had could not be reckoned, and Ps. cxxxix. teaches