Nabal, had given way to lusts of the flesh, but Paul and Timothy act the Abigail part, and as their fellowworkers"beseech" them that they "receive not the grace of God in vain". "In vain," that is, as regards the service of it to others".

Nor could Paul omit the least among the saints at Corinth from the fellowship of the ministry, nor from the claim God had on them to fulfil it. True, Paul and Timothy, and other such-like gifted of the Lord to His Church, had their larger and lowlier place to fill in this ministry, whether in the gospel to the unsaved, or in edification of saints; but the "Us" of this passage (2 Cor. v. 12, vi. 2) includes the whole Church of God in its fellowship and its exhortations. No single one in God's church is to be allowed to receive "the grace of God in vain". ALL are to "minister the same," even as they have received it. (1 Pet. iv. 10.) Abigail did not simply comfort David that his soul was "bound in the bundle of life," and therefore he could rest assured of one day having the throne. Some in our time seem to content themselves with singing to themselves and to others

“Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,"

and go no further. It was far from this with Abigail. As a "worker together" with David in the service of "the God of all grace," she "hasted" and "bowed herself to the ground," if only she might strengthen him in the unchanging grace of his God, and thus save him from dishonouring that oil of anointing which, early in life, Samuel had poured on him.

Such also is Paul's earnestness with the Corinthian saints in this passage. "We beseech you," he says; and then he strengthens his exhortations to them by reminding them, from Isaiah xlix. 8, that it was in "a time accepted" God had heard them, and in "the day of salvation" He had succoured them. And to have been blessed in "a time accepted," and in "the day of salvation," implies that Now is the time and Now is the day for us to minister this same grace and this same salvation to others, which we have ourselves received. Isaiah xlix. 8 shows a similar ministry to be in reserve for Israel nationally in the next age, "Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that sit in darkness, show yourselves".

.

But if we really aim at the fellowship of all saints

together in this blessed ministry of grace, we must especially aim at bringing in the feeblest of saints with us into it. This was Abigail's way with David.

The words and ways of David just then showed him weak indeed in the grace of his gracious God, and Abigail might have been excused if she had reproached him. for it, and had met him with somewhat of the carnal spirit in which he was coming to Nabal. But no ! she seems only to see him as "bound in the bundle of life" with the Lord his God; she reminds him only of "battles of the Lord" he had fought in times past; says that "evil" had "not been found" in him all his days; and she crowns it all by reminding him of the day when he would surely be "ruler over Israel," and, in view of that day, pleads with him. Let this be " no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself". Precious pleading! and by it she gained her weakened and stumbling fellow-saint, and brought back his feet into the way of peace, for "David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me".

So also Paul with the saints at Corinth. They had already repented somewhat of their carnal boastings; but there was still among them the being " unequally yoked together with unbelievers," and as a consequence there were "strifes, back bitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults," still in their midst. (See 2 Cor. xii. 21.)

But nothing of all this wearies Paul from still seeking their blessing. Though full of a joy in God within, that would make him seem to some as one "beside himself," he becomes "sober" for their cause. "For the love of Christ," he says, "constraineth us, because we thus judge that if (or since) One died for all, then were all dead (or rather, then have all died.)

In this one expression, we see the secret of Paul's longing over the saints, and his toil on their behalf. He saw them all as having died in the fact of Christ having died for them. They had gone out of his view as men and women in the flesh, and he saw them now as alive in a living and a risen Christ. He speaks of himself and them as they which live". He finds himself "bound in the bundle of life" with them, and feels "the love of Christ" constraining him to care for even the weakest or the most crooked one in that bundle.

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Indeed, only then do any of us really "live unto Him who died" for ALL His saints and rose

again, when we do not willingly exclude from our fellowship, or from our care, any single one of His. Anything short of this is more or less a living to ourselves and not to Christ, for we choose just which of His saints we will have to do with, and thus please ourselves. David when young kept his father's sheep, and could not give up a lamb of that flock to either the lion or the bear, for the unity of that flock required that not one straying lamb of it should be lost. And the object of this owning of all saints, even the feeblest, as with us in Christ Jesus, and as part of the "new creation" in Him, is that they may ALL become active partakers in the work of the ministry, and none of them "receive the Grace of God in vain ".

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Observe also, it is a risen Christ, and not in " Christ after the flesh" (that is, as "in the days of His flesh"), that Paul thus learns about "the bundle of life," for only in and with Christ Jesus above, are we and all saints to be seen bound up for ever with Him. As "the days of His flesh" are now passed and gone, in the case of our Master, never to return, so also to the eye of faith, and to the heavenly mind, is the natural life and standing of ALL that have believed in Him. Henceforth," says Paul, "know we no man after the flesh". Oh for more eye-salve from our risen Lord (see Rev. iii. 18) to see Him and ourselves in this heavenly light! for the wine cup of earth and of man's religion, has dimmed too much and too long the vision of our souls! As Solomon says, "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness or dimness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine". (Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.)

Nor, is it only the saints whom Paul here sees before him in the full standing of a risen Christ; he sees also an entire " new creation". The day of the new earth and new heavens shines before him, as well as the "men in glory" who shall for ever inherit it. He exclaims, "Old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new". Abigail saw David's reigning day as "ruler over Israel," and sought that his happiness, when that day came might, not be lessened by his looking back on any revenging of himself upon Nabal. And in view of the "new creation" with all its eternal realities, Paul beseeches the saints to value their present ministry, even "the ministry of reconciliation," and to lose no opportunity of speaking to others

that "word of reconciliation which," says he, God "hath put in us”. It is only by the mighty provision of the reconciling blood of Christ that God can, and will, ever bring in another earth and heavens in the place of these which are now, and are doomed to pass away. (See Col. i. 20.) Therefore, as heirs of that "new creation," and expectants of it, His already reconciled and new-created saints may well be diligent

as

"ambassadors for Christ," and beseech men to be reconciled to God ere that day comes.

One other Old Testament allusion is found at the close of this portion of 2nd Corinthians. Paul speaks in chap. vi. 7 of fighting by-ie., by means of-the armour of righteousness on the right hand and the left, and then follow such opposities in the remaining verses as show how this skilful fighting of "the good fight of faith" was to be carried out. "Honour and dishonour; evil report and good report. As deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." Such is the list of the right-hand and lefthand circumstances of his ministry as he fulfilled it, and he claims for himself, and for all of us, the skill to use either or all of these opposite circumstances as new opportunities for serving Christ, and making Him known.

Surely the allusion here may be to those "mighty men" of David; " helpers of the war," who " were armed with bows and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow". (1 Chron. xii. 1, 2.). Who knows how helpful such were to David in his Ziklag days of sorrow? It was while he yet kept himself close, because of Saul the son of Kish," that these skilled warriors came to him. God knows how to refresh his servants when most their spirits are straitened, and their service is with difficulty; just as Jonathan was brought from Saul's own court to meet David "in the wood," and to strengthen his hands in God. (1 Sam. xxiii.) And these skilful warriors of both right-hand and left-hand ability were also of the Benjamin tribe-they were "even of Saul's brethern of Benjamin”.

This was another "token for good," to David; just as the animals of wildest nature coming into the ark must have helped the faith of Noah, and cheered his spirits. So now. In a day when unbelief and pride

are blinding the minds of some of our nearest relatives, it may be, we have been led to know the heavenly David, our Lord Jesus Christ; and we are not only safe in his keeping, but as those who are ere long to reign with Christ, we would now turn all the circumstances of our life and ministry here below into fresh occasions for using "the armour of righteousness whether on the right hand or on the left.

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Paul was by birth "of the tribe of Benjamin". He mentions this in Phil. iii., not as a boast, but only as part of that "dross and dung" of his Jewish advantages, which he now cast behind him. But he was a "Jew inwardly"-(see Rom. ii. 29)-and one of "the Israel of God," and as such-(Gal. vi. 16)-he fought with a Benjamin skill of right hand and left. There were "lefthanded "ones of that same tribe in earlier days than David's, even 700 chosen men, every one of whom could sling stones at an hair's breadth and not miss (see Judges xx. 16)-and Paul would fain be like them in skill of "spiritual weapons," and would have us be the same. Such Old Testament warriors were worthy followers of that David whose pebble from the brook laid the giant low; and all Godly using of our present surroundings, whether of joy or sorrow, is but fellowship with Him who used the marriage of Cana to "manifest forth His glory," as truly as He did the sickness and the grave of Lazarus.

But let us not forget that in 2nd Cor. vi., before the Apostle speaks of thus using the armour of righteousness on the right hand and the left, he speaks of "giving no offence" (i.e., causing no stumbling) to others in anything, and of our "approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, &c., and also "by (or rather, in) pureness, in knowledge, in long suffering, in kindness".

Surely these are those inward qualities of soul and spirit which alone can enable us to use successfully for the Lord all, or any of, our outside circumstances.

2 Cor. ii. 14 to vi. 10 does indeed describe a ministry in the power and grace of the Holy Ghost, and as those whose bodies now are the temple of the Holy Ghost; it is a ministry to which all saints are called, each in his different manner.

May these Old Testament allusions be as windows to let in light for us; and thus guide and cheer us in our brief service here below, even "till He come". Amen. H. D.

THE

JORDAN AND GILGAL.

HE narrative of Israel's progress into Canaan contains for us deeper teaching than the mere record of events.

It is customary to speak of "the historical books of the Bible" as of comparatively little spiritual import, as though there were not a mystery enshrined in the history-a rich vein of truth underlying the surface, to which the mere intelligence of nature finds no clue. "The letter," or outward form, may be set at the bar and criticised-by the pride of man,-but "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned". (1 Cor. ii. 14).

Canaan was the land of inheritance promised to Israel in covenant with Abraham, Isaac, aud Jacob. The good land on which the purpose of God had rested long before for the chosen people, and in which in due time He choose a place for His redeemed to dwell. It was Israel's hope when [called to go forth from Egypt. Unbelief might mar their hope and discourage their hearts with an evil report, but faith would eye the grapes of Eschol, and gird itself for the journey anew.

It was a long and painful journey and many were the lessons that God designed to teach them in its various stages. But all that is recorded of them has its voice for us. "These things happened unto them for ensamples, and are written for our admonition." (1. Cor. x. 11.)

At the outset stands the Passover-or deliverance from the wrath of God-through judgment executed upon the Substitute. In all the previous plagues upon Egypt, Israel had been exempted; but this last blow upon Egypt is the wages of sin, and Israel must own that grace alone has put the difference between them and the Egyptians. Sin had forfeited the life of Israel's first-born as well as Egypt's, and redemption through blood is their only sure resource.

This deliverance being accomplished, they are next called to witness judgment upon the enemy. They stand upon the wilderness bank of the Red Sea, and celebrate in joyful songs their deliverance from the power of him that hated them.

Thus far many have been led in blessed experience. We have witnessed the judgment of God upon our sins in the person of the Lord Jesus our Substitute;

for "even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." Moreover, we have seen how through death He destroyed him that had the power of death-that is, the devil-and delivered those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. We have seen how in His own person the Lord Jesus has "spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly." We have known what it is to be delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son; to have passed as through the Red Sea of Divine wrath in the person of Jesus -dry shod, from death to life eternal. As we saw our standing through grace in this liberty wherewith Christ had made us free, did we not rejoice, and sing the praises of the Captain of our salvation?

But another deliverance through another judgment has yet to be known, and this is what we are specially taught in the passage of the Jordan: deliverance from the old corrupt nature-our natural self-the old man -the flesh.

In the cross of Jesus, Paul verily saw his Substitute die for him-"He loved me, and gave Himself for me".

He saw also the dominion of Satan broken, and a perfect deliverance effected from his power.

He saw

But he saw more than that in the cross. himself-crucified there-"I am crucified with Christ". "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed." And again, Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him". Seeing this, he exults in the knowledge of the fact that he is no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit; God no longer reckons that he is a natural man-subject to judgment-under the curse of the law-but a man who has been judged, condemned, and executed in the person of Jesus, and for whom there is now no condemnation, seeing he is in Christ and passed out of death into life.

A more beautiful figure of this could not be than the one we have in Joshua iv. :—

Twelve men, one from every tribe, are directed to take out of the midst of Jordan every man a stonetwelve stones. They are representative men, and also representative stones. Their number indicates that God's people Israel in their completeness are here figured. They are a people taken up like the twelve stones out of the midst of the river of death-taken from the place where the priest's feet stood who bore

the ark-meet picture of the cross and grave of Jesus -where the flood of Divine judgment rose up in a mighty heap and passed over Him for us, opening a path through death to an inheritance in the heavens. "Risen with Christ" is the voice of these twelve stones, as we see them each one lifted from the bed of the river that never before had thus been visited. Others may have perished in its swellings, but now a mightier power has possession, and Jordan must for a time roll back its mighty torrent, grace must have its way, and nought can hinder.

The stones being taken up, are carried to Canaans's side of the flood. There they are set down in the land of promise given in covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And so the people of God are more than risen with Christ-they are "seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus". Not now called to a possession on earth, God's redeemed by faith can see their inheritance to be above, where Christ has gone. Already in spirit we follow Him there, and draw on the store of spiritual blessings wherewith we are blessed in Him.

The twelve stones being thus brought up and placed on what might be called resurrection-ground, other twelve stones are taken and set up in the bed of the river. And thus we have figured the twofold aspect of God's people—as to the new man, risen with Christ, and seated in heavenly places in Him-as to the old man, buried in His grave, done with for ever, left under the flood, in the very spot whence the others had been taken.

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But now the people of God are called to a further stage of experience. That righteous verdict upon the flesh, which was carried into execution on the cross of Christ, has to be known in practical power in our own souls. If God judged "sin in the flesh" in the cross of Christ, he also calls us to judge it in ourselves. "At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time (ver. 2). Circumcision, as originally instituted, was the token of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his seed (Gen. xvii. 11). It was given to Abraham as a sign, and was a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had, yet being uncircumcised" (Rom. iv. 11). Moreover, it was not given unto him until he had cast out the bondwoman and her son. (See Gen. xvi, and compare Gal. iv. 21-31.) Every male child of the