IN our last issue we considered the provisions God has made for us, and which are essential to our holiness, as well as our usefulness and happiness in this life. We now proceed to consider the results of a personal appropriation of these provisions. What change takes place in our experience when these blessings become present realities? This brings us at once to the gist of the whole question-What is the "Second blessing?" It is not so much the reception of a new doctrine as the beginning of a new experience. The life of strain is exchanged for a life of spiritual liberty and ease. The soul has changed its strength. Instead of being driven by the force of duty it is now drawn by the power of love. Difficulty, we know, is a relative term. Things are difficult of accomplishment if the amount of strength at our command is limited, and perfectly easy if there is a full supply. That which would be difficult or impossible for a paralytic to perform may be done easily by the same man when restored to vigorous health. [No. 43. His power-the manifestation of His life in us -may be sadly hindered through unbelief. 'He did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." The life of inward rest begins when Christ is glorified within, when the soul submits to Him. as the Controller of every thought and desire. Then it is that sin's power is met, not by our own strength, but by the power of the Lord Himself. Then it is that the strain of every conflict is borne, not by the believer, but by Him who goes before and fights the battle (Deut. i. 30). Conflict is then followed by victory, and the whole character of our experience is changed. But the moment we cease to yield wholly, and trust implicitly to Him, that moment we lose the blessings of an overcoming life. We cease to abide in Him when we take the battle into our own hands, or endeavour to carry out our own plans, or seek our own will. Momentary deliverance is to be known only as momentary trust and consecration are main tained. Again, another change produced in the experience is a sense of plenty instead of scarcity. Those words in Isa. lviii. 11 come to such a one with peculiar force and sweetness, "Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like So a life of constant friction and incessant a spring of water whose waters fail not." The strain, because of insufficient spiritual power, believer fulfils the description here given when becomes at once transformed into a life of ease he overflows with God's love. He is a spring and joyous action, when Christ has unhindered only when he overflows. And, as it has often possession of the soul. Christ is in the heart been said, it is the overflow that does other of the weak believer, as He is in the heart of people good. the vigorous saint. But the putting forth of To be "filled unto all the fulness of God" is The words are a promise. You know that word, if not the longer one; but I want you to remember it, and to recall it for your comfort again and again, whenever you think of the text. It is not a peradventure, but a promise; it is not a problem, but a promise; it is not a prayer even, but a promise; a two-fold promise, founded on the two-fold nature of God in Christ. The first part of the promise is, "THE LORD SHALL STABLISH YOU." Stablish is but a broken word, a fragment of a word. It means establish. The same thing is said here of the Church which was said of old of Zion-"The most Highest shall establish her." But what does it mean? To stablish is to make stable. Such is the root of the word, and the root of the matter too. An established Christian is a Christian made fast to Christ, confirmed in the Spirit, "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might"; and every Christian should be this. Stable in Opinion." I have changed my views greatly," said a man to me the other day: "I do not think any longer that when God pardons a man He puts him where he was before." "What of justification then?" "Well, I cannot say; but I think it very important that men should know the inherent consequences of sin." And so it is; but important, surely, also to know that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Now, this is an illustration of the shifting, shiftless way, some act as to their opinions. I would rather have the way of a gray-haired friend of mine, who, when I asked him about some deep thing, said, "That's on the shelf; asked, and answered, long ago." Try to master momentous questions, not closing your eyes and ears to truth, new or old; but so to grasp the great verities of Christian doctrine that you shall not be soon shaken in mind (as these Thessalonians were), not carried about as that friend of mine was, but established in the and the object of faith are united, "Built up in present truth. Him, established in the faith (Col. ii. 7). But besides trusting, thinking will do something. "Ponder thy paths, and let thy ways be established (Prov. iv. 26); and again, "Every purpose is established by counsel" (Prov. xxii. 18). Stable in Character.-There are some people that you can trust as you would the Bank of England, and, though now and then God allows us to be disappointed even in such, that we may not put our trust in princes, and that they may not trust in their own righteousness, yet it is a great thing to see these grand, granitic souls, on which you can build with confidence; you can always count upon them, always calculate upon them, can tell just where to find them, and know that you shall find them always good. Our thinking, however, must all turn upon God and His doings, not upon self and ceremony; "Established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein " (Heb. xiii. 2); and so our ultimate thought about the matter leads to Thee, O God; for it is Thy prerogative: "Establish Thou the work of our hands." "Now He that establisheth us with you is Christ" (2 Cor. i. 21). "Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work" (2 Thess. ii. 17). That we should have the stability, the maturity we sigh for, is all impossible with man, but always possible with God. "If He could only be got to take it in hand, if He could only be got to take me in hand, a'that would be glory to me.' And that is just what the text says says He will. It is a promise as we reminded you, and the promise is that the Lord will stablish you. "I can never be like that," you say; "I can never be like 'the stones of a crown,' or even the stones of the city, the city of God. Why, I am by nature shifty and unsettled, and unreliable. I am more like the crumbling freestone that will bear no exposure to the air, but is sure to wear away under its abrasion; or if a tree, then not an oak, but a willow." My brother, God is able to graft on to the willow, the oak. "If any man be in Christ he is new creature;" the old corrupt elements of character, all that disfigure and deform and weaken, are to be removed, and a new man formed within you. So that to be established is possible to you; yet I must add that very many Christians live as if it were not, and leave us, still lacking strength and grace. The Blessing begins with Conversion." Thou hast set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings" (Ps. xl. 2.) Have you got that blessing? Have you got on that rock? For not only the views and the character, but the affections of the soul must partake of this quality, if there is to be stability. You cannot get a vessel that will stand the Atlantic rollers simply because its planks are well put together, and closely caulked; the timbers themselves must be heart of oak. And unless your soul be full of Christ, full of the Spirit, it is in vain to sigh and pray for this type of maturity, so needed, and so longed for; that you may be one of whom "His heart is established he shall not we can say, be afraid (Ps. cxii. 8). If this is ever to be the case, there must be faith, so we read in the Old Testament, "Believe in the Lord, so shall ye be established" (2 Chron. xx. 20): and in the New, "The Churches were established in the faith" (Acts xvi. 5); and again, where faith And this is glory, you say, glory begun below; but glory, like gold, will make to itself wings if we do not watch. Glory itself will become gloom if we do not watch; upon the glory there must be a defence, or it and we shall perish. Hence it were little use for God to promise to establish if He left us there; but He will never leave, He will not forsake. So having engaged to establish, He goes on to engage to keep; AND WILL KEEP YOU FROM EVIL," or the evil one (so Bishop Ellicott). Whether it be mischief in the abstract, or the being that stirs it up, in each case it is infinitely precious to be promised to be kept from it. "He will keep." I am not going to trouble you to turn to passages about this as about "establish." You remember the prayer of Jabez. It has often helped you. You have prayed it yourself many times -"that Thou wouldest keep me from evil," (so the chronicler, 1 Chron. iv. 10). Here is the answer to it: "And keep you from evil," so St. Paul. Is it not sweet?-the prayer and the promise fit into each other like a cloven tally. You remember the prayer of Jesus, too, the intercessory prayer in St. John xvii., and the petition in it, " Keep them from the evil.” There Jesus prays, and here Jehovah answers, and "By two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie;" by the prayer of the Gospel and the promise of the Epistle we have strong consolation. "He will keep you from evil." Yea, beloved, He will keep you. Are you sad, solitary, as a sheep having no shepherd?"The Lord is " thy" shepherd," you "shall not want." Are you weak, weary, as a soldier in the battle? "The Lord is thy shield," thy shade. Are you fainting, falling, or, at least, ready to halt? "The Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." Can you doubt it? Can you doubt Him? When Jochebed sent Miriam to watch the ark of bulrushes, do you think she slept at her post? You know she did not, and yet you appear to think Jesus will. When Miriam ran for Jochebed, and Moses was given her, and she brought him up, do you think she neglected her charge? You know she did not. Do you think the Father will? You do not know God if you think so. Keeping is a habit with Him. He has been keeping Israel ever since the cradle of the world wanted rocking. Keeping is a second nature with Him. He loves the work, yes, just loves it, and lives for it. Keeping is His nature, "For the Lord is thy keeper." "Well," but you say, "I am so hard to keep, I slip away so sadly, and fall so frequently." Perhaps you would slip less if you leant on the Beloved more. It is just that you may fall less we would have you repose in His keeping fully. No doubt it requires constancy of care, but "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." It demands delicacy of attention, but " He will keep thee as the apple of the eye." Well," you say, "I wish God would-may I say it ?—just keep my temper for me, I would believe in His keeping then; or my tongue, which does flash out such dreadful things sometimes; or grosser appetites, only too ready to rise; I wish He would keep these." Well, have you ever let Him, or asked Him, or thought of asking Him? Have you not too often been living as if no keeping were needed; or, if there has been any keeping at all, have you not been trying to do it yourself? Now, honestly, is it not so? Come tell me, when the temptation came, what did you do: parleyed, considered, and then consented? Of course you did to consider is to consent. But if when it came, you just looked right away to Jesus, and with a touch of faith drew round you His wings of love, methinks Satan would have stayed a good way off. He does not like to get 66 within reach of those wings, I can tell you. Next time try and trust, and see if you are not kept. Or when temper rose, what did you do? Spoke what you felt, brooded over your wrongs, let the envy, the jealousy, burn in your heart, and then burst from your lips? That is not the way; the way is to lift up the heart, and pray, "Set a watch over my mouth, and keep the door of my lips." Try it, say it, pray it, and you will be kept. For the Lord is faithful." The Lord, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ (Ellicott). So that, as I said, the double promise is based on the double nature of God in Christ. His Godhead is a guarantee of strength; His manhood, of sympathy-both of faithfulness. Faithfulness as contrasted with Fickleness.-Do not let me libel a world in which I have found so much love. I have not to complain of the fickleness of parents, or children, or friends; but compared with His, -the fixed stars twinkle: give me the sun. I know that I have tried the faithfulness of many, but never as I have tried the faithfulness of the One. I have tried Him by coldness, but He is kind; by carelessness, but He is gentle; by lovelessness, but He is love. If we turn to Him, He is faithful to forgive; if we trust Him, He is faithful to fold and enfold in love's embrace; and "if we believe not, He abideth | faithful." He is unalterably kind-immutably tender. His love has no moods; and its tense is an eternal tense-an eternal now. Faithfulness as contrasted with Unfaithfulness.—— It is required of stewards that they be found faithful. Well, we are stewards, stewards all; but which of us is always and absolutely faithful? Who is faithful to his opportunities; to his capabilities; to the claims of all relationships? I know only One, that is God. God is never absent, never wanting, never indolent or indifferent. God is love to-day, and He was love yesterday, and He will be love to-morrow. God keeps His word about forgiving sin, about sanctifying the soul, about providing for our need, about everything. I am a father, and try to be faithful to my children; but my conscience tells me that the only faithful Father is my God. I am a pastor, and try to be faithful to my flock; but my conscience tells me that the only faithful Shepherd is my God; and when I think of the Lord as my Beloved, how all thoughts of friendship, of betrothal, of bridal, of wedded love, fail! "The Lord is faithful." It is the song of the THE HEALING OF THE DIVIDED TONGUE. stars "Forever singing as they shine, The Hand that made us is Divine." It is the song of the sea, that Glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form It is the song of the seasons :— "These, as they change, Almighty Father, these It is the song of the sky. Angels sing it, saints sing it; and shall we be silent? Nay; many a poor man, in the midst of his poverty, provided for, exclaims, "The Lord is faithful." Many a tried soul, in the midst of his trial, comforted, exclaims, "The Lord is faithful." Many a dying soul, in the midst of death living, exclaims, "The Lord is faithful." It rings down the narrow alleys of time; it reverberates above the everlasting hills of eternity. "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." "The Lord is faithful." We can all proclaim this truth, and wax warm in proclaiming it; but God wants something more than this. God wants, not our flattery, but our faith. That, methinks, is the best acknowledgment of faithfulness. If the Lord be faithful, then believe His word, believe this word, that He will stablish you and keep you from evil. Nothing else will be so fond to His faithful heart as that. And believe it, not only now, but always; not only here, but everywhere. Things are quiet here and now, perhaps; but when they are unquiet, believe that the Lord will stablish you then. When the waves are high, when the demons are desperate, when temptations are strong, believe it then, believe Him rather, for "faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it." "THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH."The heart filled with gloom cannot be strong. As the sunshine is needed to bring about the fruitful harvest, so joy in God is needed to effectual distinguished service in His cause. He who is whipped to duty will never accomplish great things. The volunteer is ever more brave, and daring, and successful than the conscript. But of all duties, the service of God is the noblest in which man can engage, and if gladness should fill the heart in any service, it should be the service of the Lord of hosts. THREE SCENES IN JUDGMENT, GRACE, AND GLORY. (ACTS 11.) BY REV. C. H. HAMILTON, RECTOR OF HORNE, SURREY. THE Day of Pentecost unfolded a memorable epoch in the history of the Church and of the world. Many a one, who three years before had stood on the banks of Jordan, and heard the strange preacher of the wilderness speak of the One coming after him, who should baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, now instinctively called these words to remembrance. As they beheld the tongues of flame which crowned the meek brows of Christ's disciples, they could not fail to be reminded of the Baptist's prophetic utterance. It was a memorable day in the life history of the Apostles. They had seen the risen Jesus, and He had breathed within them the spirit of His own risen life. They had received His commission to preach the Gospel to every creature; and the keys of the spiritual kingdom had been entrusted to their keeping. Yet still its gates of blessing were closed; they were powerless to speak one of the words of life, until they were endued with power from on high. The gift of the Faithful Promiser had not yet been bestowed: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom." This was what they wanted-a mouth, to speak of Jesus-wisdom, to witness for Him persuasively and willingly. And that was why the spirit of blessing appeared in the guise of tongues, divided, not in judgment, but in manifold gifts of grace and utterance. The fiery symbol indicated the zeal and power in which they should speak words that should burn down to the depths of the sinner's heart, and kindle there a heavenly fire that should consume the power of sin and cleanse from guilt. This was the power of the personal Spirit, bringing down the fire of God's holiness to the polluted altar of man's heart, and transforming it into a shrine-a holy temple, consecrated to the service of Jehovah. Pentecost, with its divided tongues, its splendid gifts of grace, its ministry of glory to God in the highest, carries us back in thought to the scene pictured in Gen. xi. There we behold the builders of Babel-man's building-seeking to rear up an enduring monument of man's power, in opposition to the power and sovereignty of God. Man wanted to be independent of God, to make himself a fame in the earth, in place of ministering to the glory of God. This tower was to be the centre, the rallying |