tion and the snare will be broken. Difficulties will arise; let us trust Christ to overcome them. Sorrows may come, but the Man of Sorrows is at hand to sympathise, and His sympathy is power."

"Will these watchful thoughts and recollections meet all difficulties? I find myself still so often giving a hasty answer, and so an unkind or unguarded word is spoken, and Christ's loved and honoured name is dishonoured."

"I do not want to lay down minute rules for any one, as this may lead into bondage; but watchfulness, though useless unless the Great Watcher who keepeth the city (Ps. cxxvii. 1) is near to our consciousness, may yet become the habit of our hearts. But it needs to be revealed day by day. The consciousness of Christ's presence is the source of our strength, for this consciousness implies the knowledge and sense of our weakness, and it is When I am weak, then am I strong' (2 Cor. xii. 10). Believe that Christ can cleanse the thoughts of your heart, and keep the door of your lips-make you gentle towards all around you-calm and trustful all the day long. Believe-and He will."

"Thanks; I have still questions to ask."
"Be it so; we will hope to meet again soon."
(To be continued.)

THE WORKS AND THE WORD. "The Works of the LORD are great."-Ps. cxi. 2. "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name."Ps. cxxxviii. 2.

We are all acquainted with the great Work of God, the glorious plan of the Redemption of the world which He has wrought out by the sacrifice of Himself in the Person of Jesus; and we all know something as one grand whole of the Word of God, inscribing as it does with the pen of Deity, the mighty history of that Redemption, its cause and its consummation. We know also a little of the Creation in the past, and less of the New Creation to be in the future, recorded in that same inspired Word. Without taking one whit from the whole, it may be worth while to pause over the detail; inasmuch as all is the conception of Divine Thought and the offspring of Divine Love.

Therefore it has come to me to consider some of the Works and the Words of JEHOVAH-JESUS. Some substances in Nature, with sentences in Revelation, bringing them side by side with one another, com

paring them together, as the silent or spoken thought of One Eternal God; seeking thereby very simply to unravel the double teaching, interwoven in their complex texture, as the Lord the Spirit shall unfold it. The purpose is to speak of these subjects naturally, spiritually, or symbolically; to touch upon them in nature, in Revelation, or as emblems,-which they often are of still deeper truth than lies on the surface, giving prominence to one or all of these points, as occasion seems to justify, and according as the Lord unveils them.

Studying Nature thus, with Revelation, we perceive how her picture galleries form an outer-court to the Temple of the Word, containing, as it were, stupendous object-lessons of the greater mysteries within. On one side the gallery we see an infinitude of vastness incalculable, on the other an equal infinitude of minuteness equally immeasurable,-illustrating even then but faintly the length and breadth, the depth and height, of the manifold riches of God in the Temple itself. Yet illustrating it! throwing light on hidden thoughts, and unfolding meaning in tiny touches, which otherwise would be unrecognized.

Behold the smallest thing in Nature, and glance at the same thing in Revelation; and we must acknowledge the Maker of it alone could have transcribed such fragments of its story as are found enshrined in the Word. Little by little as we follow this twofold search, we see that both the works and the words, so fraught with wondrous life, and so complementary one of the other, have emanated alone from the same Divine source-the great "I AM," the "To Be" of the existence of the universethe one the labour of His hand as the other is the letter of His heart; both bearing indelibly the impress and seal of Godhead. His Lesser Works never substituting, though so beautifully supplementing, His Greater Word; as picture-pages interleaving the glorious written lessons, helping at least the younger children to "understand what they read."

Will you ask that the Lord's Hand may be upon my hand as I go on; His presence, by the Holy Spirit, enlightening, empowering, purifying, every thought and word; that so He may be able to use these trembling messages of Grace, for His Glory, in blessing some of His little ones.

Thoroughly teaching what He would teach,
Line upon line;

Thoroughly doing His work in each."

DEW. 1.

Tracing this subject of Dew through the Scripture, we come suddenly to a pause at the threshold of the New Testament. Never once in Gospel or letter, in narration or prophecy, is this word brought before us within the covers of the Book. It is somewhat as though, the thing symbolised having come, the symbol were done away; as if the noontide shower had obliterated the morning's early. dew. But, be that as it may, while day succeedeth day till the great Dawn of Eternity, there is joy and praise for Dew as well as Shower, in the natural world and in the spiritual creation; for many still are the newly-born souls in the morning of their day of life.

Dew is ever a Blessing. In Isaac's benediction to Jacob (Gen. xxvii. 28), in that of Moses to the twelve tribes (Deut. xxxiii. 13, 28), dew forms a part; probably also it is referred to in the words of Israel when he speaks of the "blessing of heaven above" (Gen. xlix. 25) to descend upon the head of Joseph. It occurs also in a promise of favour after the captivity (Zech. viii. 12); and Job, speaking of the time of his prosperity, says "the dew lay all night upon my branch" (Job xxix. 19). On the other hand, its withdrawal was an evident sign of curse, or judgment for sin. During the wicked reign of Ahab the prophecy of Elijah foretold "no dew" (1 Kings xvii. 1), as well as no rain, in the land for the space of "these years." Again, " Because My house is waste, . . . therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew;" and, as a natural result, "the earth is stayed from her fruit" (Hag. i. 9, 10). We realise the force of such blessing or curse as we remember, in that land of heat and almost tropical dryness, how dependent all vegetation was upon the dew that watered it for moisture, and consequently for growth. In this light, too, we understand something of the depth of sorrow which found outlet in the curse of "no dew" upon the mountains where the slain had fallen (2 Sam. i. 21).

Dew as blessing is also one symbol of the God in whom all blessing is enfolded and from whom alone it flows. It brings before us, in beautiful figure, the Third Person of the Trinity, Himself and His work. In two almost parallel passages in the New Testament we read "good things" in one place (Matt. vii. 9), and in the cther "the Holy Spirit"

(Luke xi. 13), as though the Master would teach that with Him, the greater good, all lesser good were included in this the dispensation of the Spirit.

I. WHAT THEN IS THIS DEW? It is vapour of air condensed by coming in contact with bodies colder than itself. As this vapour concealed in the atmosphere touches the colder earth in the night-season, wondrously it is converted into visible form, and becomes a means of revival and strength to the weary ground. Spiritually I scarcely know how to express in words this blessed truth, yet surely it has its counterpart in grace, when the Mighty Breath (Gr. VEUμa, lit. breath, wind: sce John iii. 8, R. V. marg., &c.) of God can fall as dew upon hearts as cold as ours: even as the "Dew of Heaven" (Dan. iv. 15, 25, 33), and thus become in man a thing so visible that the Christ would speak of the work of the Spirit as an "earthly thing," because in a measure so recognisable in comparison of "heavenly things" which were yet unrevealed (John iii. 12). Yet God's Dew is ever "dew of Heaven." We never read of a dew of earth! He Himself in all His divinity "will be as dew" unto His people.

Strictly speaking, dew cannot be said to fall as rain falls; it is rather gently deposited; its condensation being made so near the earth's surface; though the vapour condensed reaches the ground from the atmosphere and thus descends upon it. This, it may be, is alluded to in the various places where we read of the heavens dropping dew, e.g., Deut. xxxiii. 28; Prov. iii. 20: or, dew falling (2 Sam. xvii. 12). And I think it is also to show how essentially dew was a blessing from above, in which we have a side-proof of its divine symbolism. Job distinguishes clearly and beautifully between rain and dew, when he says, "the clouds drop and distil upon man abundantly (Job xxxvi. 28).

II. WHERE IS THIS DEW most abundantly to be found? In most exposed places, where radiation is not arrested by trees, houses, or other things; in valleys and low places, where the repose of air is undisturbed; on cultivated land, being loose and porous, it radiates the heat freely by night, which it absorbs by day; on grass, wood, the leaves of plants (these in gradation, according to their need), &c., every place and everything which needs dew to nourish it is adapted to collect it. He who

plenteous on young plants. As if to be behind in no blessing the Lord adds, "Thou hast the dew of thy youth" (Ps. cx. 3).

And the dew received distils into the ground, and is the strength of life to many substances, who yield back its beauty a thousandfold varied in form and freshness. Thus in Nature, also in Revelation we get a glimpse of this truth, that we are enriched by the Dew of Heaven for a purpose; to bring glory to the Giver-a good to all around. And further, we learn that what the dew is to us, we may be in our scant measure to others. Dew is often passed from shrub to plant, and thence falls to the earth; and "The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord" (Micah V. 7).

One thought more. After the Sun's rising all Dew vanishes. The air waxing warmer absorbs it; how quickly we know by its comparison with Ephraim's goodness; "as early dew it goeth away" (Hos. vi. 4). And now is the night season of this world, therefore is there the Dew of God; presently the "Sun of Righteousness shall arise" (Mal. iv. 2), and shall subdue all things unto Himself; and when all things have been subjected unto Him, then shall God be ALL in ALL.

B. G. L. H.

"THOU WINNOWEST MY PATH." (Ps. CXXXIX. 3)

BY SOPHIA M. NUGENT.

MANY are allowed to sow, anyone may reap, but there is only One who winnows. The Lord of the Harvest uses child-hands to drop in the seeds; He turns many a rough labourer into the ripe fields to gather the sheaves, but He trusts no one else to winnow. That is the work which the Master keeps for Himself. The grain He had sown in soil prepared by His blood, and for which Heaven had been opened that the rain of His Spirit might fall upon it, is too precious to be entrusted to the winnowing of any but Himself, so it is "THOU winnowest my path!"

It does not look like it always. All the contrary winds which blow about us, the little gusts which meet us on our daily path, the disturbing things which unsettle and make our way uneven, seem as if they were caused by very human hands. But whatever seems, the blessed, sure truth is, that "the fan is in His Hand." Other people and

He

How glad and restful this thought, fully grasped, will make our entrance into the New Year. For if I am His true grain-and what is worthless is never winnowed-and brought into "His garner," under His own eye, and secured as His property, then for His own glory He must winnow me. must have His gain after His toil next, the "travail of His soul" must be "satisfied" now in me. He must have the full value of His labour, and the "good work which He hath begun in me must be performed," so He uses His fan now, that He may "throughly purge His floor." We can trust Him for that; it would not be to His own honour that any chaff should be left. And we know enough of Him to make us very grateful that the fan is in His hand, and that He is pledged to purge "throughly." If the fan were in any hand but His we could never be sure of being "throughly purged." If it were in the hand of our closest and dearest friend his tenderness might make him work it so gently that much chaff would be left. Or else in his over-zeal he might be so rough that the precious grain would be scattered. The Lord knows both dangers, and so it is His hand which waves the fan which raises the purifying wind. From the best, grandest wind of all, the mighty, rushing wind of the Holy Ghost, down to the daily winds of breezes of circumstances or words (which may prove to be the Holy Spirit Himself in their disguise)—all the "winds are in His treasuries," under His control, let out in measured, recognised force. With the motion of the fan in His hands He lets out upon you to-day a very strong, upsetting, almost overwhelming wind of warring words or untoward circumstances, clearing the close air, and scattering the chaff; and He sends a very gentle little breeze on me. we wonder why He does not treat us alike. But though we cry out in great pressure, "Oh! that I knew," as Job did, we fall back restedly on this, "But He knoweth" (Job xxiii. 2-10), and we "learn to lean where we cannot find." To-morrow we may find that He has quite reversed His way, and you have the gentle breeze, and I have the rough blast.

And

But whichever way it is He will do His work throughly." He is both tender and true. He is so true that His hand "will not fail nor he

discouraged" until the whole of His property is cleansed from its chaff, and the heap of wheat in "His garner" is "purely purged." But He is so tender as well, that He fans with such care, "that not the least grain shall fall to the ground" (Amos ix. 9). So His wheat is both secure and pure. Is there any one else we can trust so well? He has had long experience, and He "stays His rough wind in the day of the east wind" (Isa. xxvii. 8.), and yet will not shrink from sending a vigorous breeze if there is any sign of chaff or mould in the good grain.

In the Scriptures "chaff" is generally used of those who are not His people (Ps. i. 4; Jer. xxiii. 28; Dan. ii. 35, &c.). But when David speaks of his path being "winnowed," I think we may take the chaff which the Lord is separating from us, as not necessarily representing evil things. Chaff has been the support and the sheaf of the good grain, but it is useless when the grain is ripe. And as we ripen there are things about us which have to be dropped, even though not sinful in themselves. These are just the things which are sometimes so difficult to decide about, the childish things which have to be put away, the "weights" (distinct from "the sin ") which have to be laid aside. It is specially from them that we need the wind of the Spirit to clear us, and as we trust Him fully, and leave the waving of the fan entirely in His hands, things will drop off which we could not have torn off. He knows how to separate things from us which diminish the value of the grain, things | which make our service less efficient. And we do want to be of the utmost possible worth to Him.

Then, as for the things which we and anyone else can plainly see to be sinful about us, the winnowing is very likely to come through others. It may be gently, and with loving purpose; and it may be roughly, and unkindly. But even such will work His will in freeing us from chaff if we accept it as from Him. Then we shall not try to "hasten our escape from the windy storm and tempest" because we know that even the stormy wind is fulfilling His Word" of complete cleansing. Let us accept this New Year the blessed fact, that He is winnowing His precious grain, and will winnow until He has throughly purged His floor. When a blast of sharp words meets us, or an unpleasant gust in home cares, or a very difficult breeze of someone's unkind temper stirs us, let us

look up to Him with, "Thou winnowest my path! I take this as Thy way of purifying me from the chaff about me!"

There are three things we want to know. (1) A winnowed way: a daily path made so clear of daily chaff that He shall be glorified; that "those which observe me" (Ps. xxvii. 11 margin) "shall find no occasion" against me. (2) This is a visible result, but we want to go deeper, and have a winnowed will: a will in entire sympathy with His, a will alongside of His, freed from the chaff of self, and of choice independently of Him; a will like His who said, "I delight to do Thy will;" "not My will, but Thine, be done;" then (3) the result in winnowed work; less perhaps in amount, but more pure; work without mixture of motive, but done alone for Him; careful, thorough soul-work with others, and no mere superficial talk; words written solely as given by Him and with no desire of credit; all and everything done as seeing "Jesus only."

He will and can do all this, so let us from now henceforth "rear an altar to Him in the threshingfloor" (2 Sam. xxiv. 18); let the place of winnowing be the place of worship; may the place where He separates become the consecrated place, and the very threshing-floor become His temple: the very spot once filled with the cleansing wind shall become the one filled by His consecrating glory. Say now, "Lord Jesus, I see Thee alone as my winnower; keep me looking beyond the fretting fan up to the Hand that holds it when my purposes are scattered, enable me to trust Thee that it is only the chaff which is being loosened and lost: and though in my Hand until Thou hast Thy full gain in the grain ignorance I may ask Thee to cease, NEVER stay Thy being throughly purged!”