"It is plain, however, that the sprinkling of Christ's blood, mentioned by St. Peter, is not that which has for its effect the sinner's pardon and acceptance (although Leighton and most commentators have so understood it), for it is not only coupled with a personal obedience as being somewhat of the same nature, but the two together are set forth as the result of the electing and sanctifying grace of God upon the soul. The good here indicated must be something inward and personal; something not wrought for us, but wrought upon us and in us; implying our justification as a gift already received, but itself belonging to a higher and more advanced stage of our experience, to the very top and climax of our sanctification. What then is it? Nothing new certainly, or of rare occurrence in the Word of God, but one often described in the most explicit terms; while yet the idea involved in it is so spiritual and elevated, that we greatly need the aid of the Old Testament types to give strength and vividness to our conceptions of it. The blood of the sacrifices by which the covenant was ratified at the altar in the wilderness was divided into two parts, with one of which Moses sprinkled the altar, and with the other the people (Ex. xxiv. 6-8). A similar division and application of the blood was made at the consecration of Aaron to the priesthood (Ex. xxix. 20, 21); and though it does not appear to have been formally, it was yet virtually done on the day of the yearly atonement, since all the sprinklings on that day were made by the high priest for the cleansing of defilements belonging to himself, his household, and the whole congregation. 'Now,' says Steiger, on 1 Peter i. 2, if we represent to ourselves the whole work of redemption, in allusion to this rite it will be as follows:-Re-expiation of one and of all sin, the propitiation was accomplished when Christ offered His blood to God on the altar of the accursed tree. That done, He went with His blood into the most holy placewhosoever looks in faith to His blood has part in the atonement (Rom. iii. 25); that is, he is justified on account of it, receiving the full pardon of all his sins (Rom. v. 9). Thenceforth he can appear with the whole community of believers (1 John i. 7), full of boldness and confidence before the Throne of Grace (Heb. iv. 16) in order that he may be purified by Christ as, High Priest, from every evil lust!' It is this personal purifying from every lust which the Apostle describes, in ritual language, as the

'sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,' and which is also described in the Epistle to the Hebrews, with a similar reference to the blood of Christ, by having the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience,' and again by having the conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God. The sprinkling or purging spoken of in these several passages is manifestly the cleansing of the soul from all internal defilement, so as to dispose and fit it for whatever is pure and good, and the purifying effect is produced by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, or its spiritual application to the conscience of believers, because the blessed result is attained through the holy and Divine Life, represented by that blood becoming truly and personally theirs. Now this great truth is certainly taught with the utmost plainness in many passages of Scripture--as when it is written of believers that their hearts are purified by faith'; 'that they purify themselves even as Christ is pure it is said that Christ lives in them': that 'life is hid with Him in God'; that they are in Him that is true and cannot sin, because their seed, the seed of that new, spiritual nature which has been quickened by fellowship with the life of Jesus, remains in them'; and, in short, in every passage which connects with the pure and spotless life-blood of Jesus an impartation of life-giving grace and holiness to His people.

"I can understand the truth, even where thus spiritually and (if I may so say) nakedly exposed; but I feel that I can obtain a more deep and comforting impression of it when I keep my eye upon the simple and striking exhibition given of it in the visible type. For with what effect was the blood of atonement sprinkled upon the true worshippers of the old covenant? With the effect of making whatever sacredness, whatever virtue (symbolically) was in that blood pass over upon them; the life which had flowed out in holy offering to God was given to be theirs, and to be by them laid out in all pure and faithful ministrations of righteousness. Such, precisely, is the effect of Christ's blood sprinkled on the soul; it is to have His Life made our Life, or to become one with Him in the stainless purity and perfection which expressed itself in His sacrifice of sweet-smelling savour to the Father. What a sublime and elevating thought! It is much, assuredly, for us to know that by faith in His blood the crimson guilt of my sins is blotted out, Heaven

itself reconciled, and the way into the holiest of all laid freely open for my approach. But it is much more still to know that by faith in the same blood, realised and experienced through the power of the Holy Spirit, I am made a partaker of its sanctifying virtue; the very holiness of the Holy One of Israel passes into me; His life-blood becomes in my soul the well-spring of a new and deathless existence. So that to be sealed up to this fountain of life is to be raised above the defilement of nature, to dwell in the light of God, and sit as in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And amid the imperfections of our personal experience, and the clouds ever and anon raised in the soul by remaining sin, it should unquestionably be to us a matter of unfeigned thankfulness that we can repair to such a lively image of the truth as is presented in the Old Testament service, in which, as in a mirror, we can see how high in this respect is the hope of our calling, and how much it is God's purpose we should enter into the blessing."

OPPOSITE DANGERS AND THE BLESSEDNESS OF AVOIDING THEM. (MATT. XI. 6.)

BY REV. CHARLES GRAHAM.

THE public ministry of John the Baptist lasted only about a year and a half. But how fruitful in glory to God was one day of his devoted life! John was a lamp that burned with a bright and steady flame. He was the morning star which ushered in the Sun of Righteousness. For a season Israel rejoiced in his light; but from the mirror of the Gospel that light has been reflected on the people of God all down the ages to the present hour.

John was no reed shaken by the wind. Sceptical Sadducees and hypocritical Pharisees he denounced as a generation of vipers, and warned them to flee from the wrath to come. He reproved the licentious tyrant Herod, though he knew well that Herod had power to take off his head.

John preached repentance to a degenerate and guilty nation, and he took the position which accorded with his ministry. Unlike those heathen philosophers who taught men to despise wealth and luxury, while they themselves lived like princes and heaped up wealth like the sand, John endured hardness and practised what he taught. As the son of a priest he might have worn the rich robes of his order, and lived in Jerusalem on the fat of the

sacrifices; but to be alone with God and meditate in His law he took to the desert, clothed himself in raiment of camel's hair, and lived on locusts and wild honey.

But though John had no earthly possessions, no lordly mansion, no epicure's table, no gorgeous apparel, no obsequious attendants; yet was he greater than the princes of the earth, greater than any born of woman up to his own day. He was himself the subject of prophecy, and by the Holy Spirit, which filled and inspired him, he could point to Israel's long-expected Messiah and say, "Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

But the best of men are but men at the best. In the hour of adversity, like his type Elijah, we find this great servant of God betraying the weakness of humanity. Shut up by the tyrant whom he reproved, in the dungeon of Machærus, on the eastern side of the Jordan, he sends two of his disciples to Jesus to propose the question, "Art thou He that should come, or look we for another?"

CHRIST'S ANSWER AND THE COUNSEL BASED ON IT.

To John's question Jesus gives the answer which not only meets John's difficulties but which suits all time, and is sufficient to remove the doubts of every honest inquirer. He was at that moment giving the highest authentication of His mission; and, pointing to His mighty works, He says, "Go and show John again the things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them." And then, sounding a gentle. note of reproof and warning, He adds, "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me."

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Discouragement in John's circumstances was natural. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." He might with apparent reason ask, "If He to whom I have borne witness be indeed the Christ, why does He permit His servant to lie in a dungeon exposed to the sword of Herod? Why does He not take the kingdom, convert and restore Israel, and fulfil the prophecies of the Word? Why does He not break the arm of the oppressor, scatter their darkness, and bless the nations?"

The appeal of Jesus to His works established the Divinity of His mission, and suggested the counsel, "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God" (Lam. iii. 26). We

THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT BEING OFFENDED IN
CHRIST.

The grace of John the Baptist was tested, and by its testing it was matured. The wilderness and his communion with God there prepared him for that ministry which awakened the conscience of his nation and brought whole regions to his baptism, confessing their sins. But God meant that John, like his Blessed Master, should be made perfect through suffering. The wilderness and its privations and communings were necessary to prepare him for a ministry grander than that of any prophet who went before him; but the dungeon of Machærus was needful to mature his faith, and fit him for that high position intended for him in the kingdom of God. It is only the grace which is exercised that God can reward; tried by the fire, it shall be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

If I am going to build a ship to cross the ocean I do not want a man to bring for the purpose a quantity of cones or acorns. He may tell me the trees lie in embryo in the seeds. I do not call in question his statement; but it is only the full grown trees which will answer my purpose.

In our present state the discipline of trial is a necessity. It is the moulding of the clay for a vessel unto honour. To despise our chastisements, or to faint when we are rebuked of the Lord, is to become a vessel marred in the Potter's hand.

In patiently bearing the burdens which God is pleased to lay upon us, His grace is both manifested and magnified. If He so pleased He could avert from us every trial; He could have prevented the viper coming out of the heat and fastening on Paul's hand; but it was more for His own glory, and more for the advantage of Paul and his ministry among the Maltese, that he should be bitten by it and should shake it off without injury. There is similar double blessing when human vipers and every other form of trial assail the people of God, and they are brought off unhurt.

In the dealings of God with men the rule is that where hope ends deliverance begins. The persecution and distress of Israel increase in Egypt. There is not on earth a hand to help nor an eye to pity. Despair drives them to the God of their fathers. They cry, but they hear no voice responding to their prayer. Their burdens are not lighter, nor their stripes fewer. They may well ask with David,

"Why standest Thou afar off, O God? Why hidest Thou Thyself in time of trouble?" But God's hiding is only the concealing of His preparation for their deliverance. He has heard their cry, and for forty years has been preparing Moses in the wilderness of Midian to break the power of their oppressor.

The work of preparation is now complete; and, in the emblem of the burning bush, He is showing Moses how in the fierce fires of persecution His unseen power is preserving Israel; and, in the emblem of that rod turned into a serpent, He is showing him how He is preparing the instrument of Pharaoh's destruction.

Thus is He still wont to hide His preparations for the deliverance of His suffering people. But blessed are they who are not offended by sharing the cup of their Lord. "It is a faithful saying, If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer we shall also reign with Him." Blessed are all they who cheerfully bear the cross, looking onward to the crown: for "To them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin" not as a sin offering-" unto salvation."

THE POWER OF GRACE,

MRS. L. F. BAKER.

"My grace shall be sufficient for thee."
YEA, Lord! sufficient hath it proved
In every trying hour,
And Thou, unto Thy well-beloved,
Hast been a rock and tower;
When clouds were darkest o'er my head,

Thou gavest light divine;
And sweetest blessings Thou hast shed
When earthly woes were mine.
Thy wondrous grace hath never failed
Thro' all the changing years,
Mighty, when strongest foes assailed,
To conquer all my fears;
I've felt how truly Thou wert uigh,

When heaviest pressed by care,
And seen the hosts of darkness fly
Before the breath of prayer.

Oh! grace that cares, oh! grace that keeps,
My song is still of thee!

My heavenly Keeper never sleeps,
Then, soul, exultant be!

Be patient yet a "little while,"

And thee that grace shall crown A victor, 'neath the Master's smile, With every cross laid down.