CORRESPONDENCE.

1. "C. B.," Great Grimsby. A prophet, in the sense of 1 Corinthians xiv. is one who gives you the mind of God on any subject, or who brings your conscience into the light of God's presence. We most surely believe that, in this sense of the term, there are prophets in the Church of God.

2. "A. O. M.," Trincomalee. We thank you, most heartily, for your kind and interesting letter; but we must beg of you to excuse our unwillingness to enter upon your question. We deem it our duty, before God, to confine ourselves, in the conducting of this Magazine, to matters bearing directly upon the salvation of perishing souls, or the edification of God's dear people. And, judging from the excellent spirit and tone of your letter, we feel assured, dear friend, that you fully sympathize with us in this matter. Controversy may have its place and its value; but we are convinced it is not our line of things. May the Lord greatly bless you!

3. E. K.," Wallingford. We believe that in Rom. vii. the apostle gives us the exercise of a quickened soul not knowing deliverance. It is, to use a figure, a man who has got out of a morass describing his feelings when he was in It. Do you think Paul was a "wretched man" crying out for deliverance, when he penned his epistle to the Romans? Most certainly not. He was a happy man rejoicing in full deliverance. But he is describing the exercises of a quickened soul still under the law, and having no power against sin. This is not proper christian experience. Can a Christian never do right? Must he always do wrong? Can a Christian say, "How to perform that which is good, I find not?" The fact is, in all this part of the chapter, you do not get the Holy Ghost in His indwelling power. There is new life: but there is no power-no sense of full deliverance-no consciousness of victory. All this you have in chapter viii. which is proper christian experience. But our space forbids our going further into this profoundly interesting, though sadly misunderstood, passage of scripture. We believe that many of God's beloved people have never got out of Romans vii.; and while we must admit that we should much prefer being honestly in chapter vii. to being falsely in chapter viii., yet we do not and cannot admit that chapter vii. is the proper place for one who ought to know

the enfranchizing power of these words, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." It is very good for the soul to pass through Romans vii.; but it is not for the glory of God that he should stay there. If it is right for all to remain in chapter vii., then for what end did the Holy Ghost pen chapter viii?

4. "J. B.," Melbourne. Your letter is most encouraging. Accept our warmest thanks. Such communications are eminently calculated to stir us up to all diligence in the preparation of our little serial. You ask for an explanation of Mark ix. 49. It is difficult to handle this great practical passage in our brief space. "Every one shall be salted with fire." This refers to the judgment of man as a sinner. 66 Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." This refers to the testing, soul-subduing exercise through which every saint must pass. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.' This is the salting with fire. "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged"-" Let_a_man examine himself"-" Mortify your members"-"I keep under my body." These and such like passages, together with the chastening, discipline, and governmental dealings of God our Father, present, as we judge, the salting with salt. If we have escaped the judgment of fire through the death of Christ, we ought to seek to be an acceptable "sacrifice" to God, and in order to this there must be the salt," that great preservative from corruption. Let your conversation be always with grace

seasoned with salt."

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5. "R. T. A.," Cork. Acts xii. may at least teach us how little the Jews entered into the true meaning of the feast of unleavened bread, when they could take pleasure in the cruel actings of the ungodly Herod. Romans i. 17 should be read, Therein is the righteousness of God, on the principle of faith, revealed to faith." Verse 18 simply refers to persons professing the truth but living in practical unrighteousness. Alas! no uncommon case.

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6. "S. H.," Blackheath. Ask your friend to read the paper on Hebrews vi. 1—10 in our fourth volume, page 25. 7. "A Sunday School Teacher." We can only praise the Lord, with a full heart, for your letter. May He be pleased to crown your interesting labours, yet more abundantly, with His blessing. We rejoice in the growing interest of the Lord's people in the blessed work of Sunday school teaching. Be assured it is a good work, and one which will be rewarded in the day of Christ. As to your

1

question, we are of opinion that it is the sweet privilege even of babes in Christ to be at the table of their Lord. It is not a question of age, but of spiritual life. Cannot the Holy Ghost give understanding to a child of eleven or fourteen years of age? Where is there any authority in scripture for excluding believing children from the Lord's table? No doubt it is well for children to know and consider what they are doing in coming to the Lord's table, and to take the step in faith and with an exercised conscience. But the same holds good in reference to adults. There may be circumstances in any given case calling for special vigilance and caution; but the Lord's table is spread upon such a basis as to embrace every member of the body of Christ.

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8. A. E.," Ealing. 1 Corinthians v. 5 does not apply to your case at all. It is the case of one who had not judged his thoughts or judged himself, and therefore the assembly was called to judge him. We trust you seek grace to judge your thoughts. There is a vast difference between treating such thoughts as vile intruders, and providing them with furnished lodgings. Philippians iv. 8, 9 is a fine antidote against evil thoughts.

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Communications have come to hand from "E. C.," London. "A. R. B.," Islington. "A. Z.," London. “T. S.," Crewe. "G. F. H.," Faversham. "B. A.," Mile-end. Constant Reader," Brighton. "W. M.," Dumfries. "W.K.," Belfast. "F. J. K.," Stratford-on-Avon. "F. G. S.," Brixton Road. "T. W.," Bristol. "M. D." Weston-superMare. "J. C.," near Stonehouse. “T. W. B." "Enquirer," Bradford. "E. S.," Ramsgate. "B. B. B," Barnstaple. G. H.," Ramsgate. "X. T. M." Brixham.

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A SUGGESTION.

DEAR READER,-In many parts of the earth there are those who would be thankful to have the tract you hold in your hand, and others of a similar nature, after you have done with them.

Will you send me any old numbers that are lying idle, and I will forward them to the proper quarters, and if possible tell you from time to time how your labour of love is progressing.

15, Barrett's Grove, Stoke Newington, N.,

London.

W.R. H.

THE NAZARITE.

(Numbers vi.)

"AND the Lord spake unto Moses, saying Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes r dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernel even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because the consecration of his God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord." Ver. 1-8.

The ordinance of Nazariteship is full of interest and practical instruction. In it we see the case of one setting himself apart, in a very special manner, from things which, though not absolutely sinful in themselves, were, nevertheless, calculated to interfere with that intense consecration of heart which is set forth in true Nazariteship.

In the first place, the Nazarite was not to drink wine. The fruit of the vine, in every shape and form, was to him a forbidden thing. Now wine, as we know, is the apt symbol of earthly joy—the expression of that social enjoyment which the human heart is so fully capable of entering into. From this the Nazarite was sedulously to keep himself. With him it was a literal thing. He was not to

excite nature by the use of strong drink. All the days of his separation he was called to exercise the strictest abstinence from wine.

Such was the type, and it is written for our learning— written, too, in this marvellous book of Numbers, so rich in its wilderness lessons. This is only what we might expect. The impressive institution of the Nazarite finds its appropriate place in the book of Numbers. It is in perfect keeping with the character of the book, which, as has been already remarked, contains all that specially belongs to life in the wilderness.

Let us, then, enquire into the nature of the lesson taught us in the Nazarite's abstinence from everything of the vine, from the kernel even to the husk.

There has been but one true and perfect Nazarite in this world-but one who maintained, from first to last, the most complete separation from all mere earthly joy. From the moment He entered upon His public work, He kept Himself apart from all that was of this world. His heart was fixed upon God and His work, with a devotion that nothing could shake. No claims of earth or nature were allowed, for a single moment, to come in between His heart and that work which He came to do. "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" And again, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?" With such words did the true Nazarite seek to adjust the claims of nature. He had one thing to do, and to that He separated Himself perfectly. His eye was single and His heart undivided. This is apparent from first to last. He could say to His disciples "I have meat to eat that ye know not of;" and when they, not knowing the deep significance of His words, said, "Hath any man brought him aught to eat?" He replied, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and finish his work." (John iv.) So also, at the close of His course here below, we hear Him giving utterance to such words as these, as He took into His hand the paschal cup, "Take