would not flee into the temple to save his life when his duty was (o build up Jeru• sakm. Shadrnch, Meshaeh, and Abcdnego would not worship the golden inrno·o at Babylon to saYe their bodie_s fr~m the furnac_e;. nor \\·oul~ Dt~niel desist from p~ayer to Jehovah to escape the lions den. Paul insisted on Ins nght of protection as a Roman citizen, but he "·onld not for a moment compromise or conceal the gospel to evade persecution. No bonds or affiictions moYed him; neither did he count ,his life cear to himself, so that he might finish his course with joy. It is true that not all the follo,wrs of C!irist have_ had such fortitu<le. In days of persecution some faltered and apostatislc'<l, excusing themselves under a plea of necessity. They could not suffer; the)· <lared not to die. But the noble army of martyrs consists of those whc felt it the supreme necessity to be true to conscience, to the truth of the gospel, an<l the Christ of Go<l. Not everything, then, must yield to necessity. lhvid thought his hunger a sufficient warrant for taking from the priest's hand the 011cred bread ; but wlwn Goliath blasphemed the God of Israel and defied his army David !,ad shown that his own life was not so dear to him as the glory of God ~nd the honour and safety of his people. II. THERE 'WAS A PROFOUND INSIGHT INTO THE TRUE MEANING OF PRIESTHOOD IN IsnAEL. No doubt the priests formed a hereditary order, wearing a distinctive dress and haring special provision rnnde by statute for their position and maintenance'. But they were ne,er intended to be a caste of holy intercessors standing between God and an unholy nation. Neither they nor the Levites, their assistants, were isolated from the common life of their countrymen, as by separate charter of privilege or vows of celibacy. They were just the concentrated expression of the truth that all Israel was called to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." The rule was that the priests only should eat the bread which was. withdrawn weekly from the table in the sanctuary; but it was no breach of the essence and spirit of the law if other Israelites, faithful to God, should on an emergency eat of this bread. David was as truly a servant of Jehovah as Ahimelech. Though all the Lord's people never were prophets, they always were, and now are, priests. Knowing this, David took and ate: not at all in a wilful mood, like Esau in his ravenous hunger eating Ja.cob's pottage, but with reverential feeling and a good conscience, under sanction of the fact that he was one of a priestly nation, and with confidence that God would not condemn him for exceeding in such a strait the letter of the law, so long as he honoured and obeyed its spirit. The leaders and rulers of the Church, according to the New Testament, are not sacerdots invested with a mystic sanctity and intrusted with a religious monopoly. They are simply the intensified expression of the holy calling of all the members of Christ, all the children of God. All these have a right to worship in the holiest; and as all of them may offer spiritual sacrifices, so all may "eat of the holy things." Order, indeed, is needful in the Church, and no man may assume a leading place or charge therein until duly called and appointed to the same. If David had for a light cause, or frequently, tnken the presence-bread, it would have been a sign of irreverence or arrogance. And in like manner if a Chribtian not intrusted with office in any constituted Church pushes forward when there is no emergency, aud assumes to lead the Divine service, or to appoint or con- duct the observance of the Lord's Supper, he steps out of his place, and may be desio-nated "unruly." But there are places and occasions which do not admit of the usu.J regulations being observed; and in such cases a private or unofficial Christian may take upon himself any religious function rather than that any soul should suffer damage and this under the general principle that all Christians form a II royal priesthdod." The teaching of this passage is against religious pedantry and ecclesi- astical hauteur. Count form subordinate to life. Value order, and reverence ordinances that are really of God. Play no II fantastic tricks " with sacred things "before high heaven·" but do not reduce religion to a question of meats and drinks, and do not count any' one a serious offender who in a strait has violated prescription or usage. One who breaks the letter of the law may keep the Ia:w itsel.f bett~r than another who knows nothing but the letter. We are ea.lied to hbert:y; not hcenc11, indeed, but order and liberty. If we are true to God and to our consciences wa ne(ld not dre.ad that for a formalitv or an informality, Christ will cast us off. The Son "f ma~ is Lord of the sabbath and of the table, "Minister of the sanctuar_y and CR, XXI. 1-15.] 'l'HE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 409
the true tabernacle," Lord of all the ordinances that are binding on his followers. And thore is a freedom-not from order, but in God's order-with which the Son of man, being Son of God, has made his people free.-F.