with the awful and almost closing declaration of the Gospel, "He that is unjust let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still!" (Rev. xxii. 11.) and how assured, therefore, is our belief that every soul of man will be "gathered to his own people," at the close of its earthly probation! The gulf which separates the good from the evil is "fixed"—"they which would pass it cannot." Well, then, may our Church, in her twenty-second Article, declare that the Romish doctrine of purgatory "is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God!" And, how strikingly opposed to the Romish custom of buying masses and prayers for the dead, are the declarations of the Psalmist: "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever!") (Ps. xlix. 6-8.)

He who alone is able to redeem our souls from the dreadful doom of "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," (2 Thess. i. 9) was Himself "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners;" (Heb. vii. 26) and surely, if this important truth were more fully impressed upon our minds, we should be scrupulously careful in the choice of our intimate associates, that we be not led away from the people of the Lord in this life, nor forfeit the blessed hope of being "numbered with his saints in glory everlasting." To those among us who have wept for the departure of pious parents, relatives, or friends, the lesson must recommend itself most forcibly; since, if in death all are gathered to their people, then can we have no hope of associating with those beloved ones in the world of

spirits, unless we follow, as they also followed, in the steps of our Great Exemplar.

Q. Verses 29-34.-How does St. Paul allude to this transaction?

A. He refers to Esau as a "profane person, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright;" (Heb. xii. 16) and this may help us to understand the predestinating decree of the Lord recorded in verse 23, in which it is said, "The elder shall serve the younger." In reading chap. xviii. we compared Rom. viii. 29 with 1 Pet. i. 2, and we have therefore already seen how the Scriptures speak of predestination, as proceeding from the foreknowledge of God. In reading chap. xxvi. we shall find that Esau took wives of the daughters of the idolatrous Hittites, "which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah." God, having this foreknowledge of Esau's character, could not therefore, consistently with his own perfection, predestinate him to the inheritance of the especial blessing promised to Abraham and to his seed after him.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Q. Verses 1-12.-Of what other passage of Scripture may these and similar incidents in the lives of the patriarchs remind us?

A. The providential care of the Lord for Isaac during the famine; his gracious renewal to him of the promise made to Abraham; his merciful interposition in causing Abimelech to restore Rebekah to her erring husband; and his blessing the husbandry of Isaac so that he "sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold;" these, and similar incidents in the lives of the patriarchs, may well remind us of the thankful acknowledgment of the Psalmist con

cerning the faithfulness of God's promises: "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: when there were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; he suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." (Ps. cv. 8-15.)

Q. Verses 13-31.-What precepts and promises are in strict accordance with the example and experience of Isaac as it is here recorded?

A. Harmonizing together, as all the several por tions of Holy Writ certainly do, there is, perhaps, no concordance more strikingly beautiful than that which is to be found between the general history of the patriarchs, "of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came," (Rom. ix. 5) and the precepts and promises promulgated by Christ Himself and his Apostles. The meekness of Isaac, in at once yielding to Abimelech's abrupt command, to depart from Gerar, and his forbearance and disinterestedness in relinquishing, one after another, the wells which his servants had digged, until the herdmen of Gerar ceased to strive, are proofs that he possessed the very spirit inculcated by our blessed Lord, in his sermon on the mount, "I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. v. 39.) The effect which this conduct of Isaac produced in the heart of Abimelech may remind us of the ground upon which St. Peter exhorts the Christian converts to have their "conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good

works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.' (1 Pet. ii. 11–16.)

Humanly speaking, Isaac was well able to resist evil in the instance before us. The words of Abimelech prove this: "Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we." The very reason thus assigned for the mandate would have incited a worldly-minded man to dispute it: but Isaac meekly obeyed; and his example, in this respect, agrees with the apostle's declaration, "the servant of the Lord must not strive." (2 Tim. ii. 24.) Even the very names which Isaac gave to the wells which he relinquished, when he called the one Ezek (that is, contention,) and the other, Situah (that is, hatred,) may serve to remind us, that the Lord's pilgrims and sojourners must neither journey, nor dwell with "hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife.” (Gal. v. 20, and context.)

CHAPTER XXVII.

Q. Verse 2.-How may we all profitably apply to ourselves these words of Isaac ?

A. Isaac's words are, "Behold now I am old, I know not the day of my death." And the succeeding narrative of the chapter will show that this consideration prompted him at once to prepare for its coming. But it is not to the old alone that these words apply. Our daily experience teaches us that, in every period and circumstance of our lives, there may be "but a step between us and death." (1 Sam. xx. 3.) Many dear companions, who commenced the journey of life with us, have been (according to our fallible judgment) prematurely withdrawn from it. "Their sun has gone down while it was yet day." (Jer. xv. 9.)

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And, amidst the gloom which has thus been cast upon our own path, we have perhaps been led to forget that "their sun shall no more go down; neither shall their moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be their everlasting light, and the days of their mourning are ended." (Isa. lx. 20.) We have already partially considered this subject, in reading chapter v., and have drawn consolation from the conviction, that death is only premature, when it calls the unprepared to meet their God. Let us here seek the application of that parable of our blessed Lord by which He admonishes us to be always prepared for his coming: "Take ye heed, watch and pray for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockerowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark xiii. 33-37.)

No parable of our Saviour is more explicitly addressed unto all than this; and it may be applied either collectively to "the whole body of the church," or individually to " every member of the same in his vocation and ministry." Its collective application may be gathered from many portions of the New Testament; (more especially from 1 Cor. xii.) and it is applied individually by St. Paul, when he asks, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Cor. vi. 19.) If, then, we regard our body as "an habitation of God through the Spirit," (Eph. ii. 22) our animal and intellectual faculties as servants to whom He has given authority, "and to every man his work," and our spiritual gifts and privileges as having the office and responsibility of the porter who was commanded to watch for his lord's