wNl,. am! rnry meuns in his power. It is the essence of religion and of eternal life, •· This is life et.crnal, to know [i.e. to be acquainted with] thee the only true God; and ,l,•sus Christ whom thou h:ist sent" (John xvii. 3). Let n~ man be content with sn_nhini:: short of this acquaintanceship with Jesus. III. 'l'HE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION. (Ver. 10.) This is a present exporience. Our hearts~ dead in. trespass~ and sins, a.s Christ'.s ~dy lay ~ead in Joseph's tomb. Ilnt the Spmt who quickened his dead body by a &milar act quickens our dead souls ~o that we experience in our spirits the power of our Lord's resurrection. Paul had passed through this experience. He had entered into "newness of life." He had risen oul of the co1Tuption of tiin and spiritual death into the power of a new nnd spiritual life. The thrill of r<'Sllrrection is first felt in this life. The dead soul hears the voice of the Son of God and starts into new life (John v. 25). Well may we say of this resur- rection, " Blessed and holy is be that bath part in this first resurrection; on such the second death can have no power." IV. FELLOWSHIP IN SUFFERING. (Ver. 10.) It seems strange that Paul should reckon pain among the advantages obtained from Christ. But we must remember that as Chri.:,t's sufferings were ,icarious, so the sufferings he sends upon his sernnts are so far vicarious also as to be for the good of others. Of course, in atonement we can have no fellowship with Christ. He was alone therein. But outside the atoning quality of Christ's suffering there is an element in which we can all share. Paul had serious suffering, but as he felt it was to make him a better workman, and so for the aood of others, he was content to share it with his Lord. And here we must observe that sy1;,patl1y is the closest fellowship between souls. What is sympathy? It is fellowship iii suffering. It is in distress, in fiery trial, that hearts come nearest to one another. The Hebrew children never knew such fellowship in Babylon before as the Son of God ga,e them in the fiery furnace. It is here that the reason of our fiery trials lies. They are to bring us nearer the hell.rt of Jesus. His sympathy is cheaply purchased by any pain. Paul's snffering life lay closer than other lives to the heart of Christ. How this should reconcile believers to trial! We may well "count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations" (Jas. i 2). V. CoKFORMITY TO CHll.lST's DEATH. (Ver.10.) To be reconciled to death is a great experience. It waa this which Jesus experienced on the cross. The amazement of Gethsemane and its sinless shrinking from the experience of death gave place to radiant welcome as the last hour came. "Father, into thine hands I commend my spirit," was the utterance of a Son fully satisfied with the Father's will in the matter of his death. Now, this brave spirit is within our reach. We, too, may look without blanching into the eye of the king of terrors. The sufferings and discipline of life are meant to bring us to this sweet conformity. YI. RESUR~CTION QF THE DEAD. (Ver. 11.) This is the crowning experience whi<:h Jesus is to give to Paul and all the faithful departed. The attainment of the resurrection is the climax of a spiritual proeo..,5s, We have risen spiritually mto new- ness of life; we have been advancir,g steadily in the knowledge of Christ's mind and Lea.rt, and largdy through life's trials; and physical resurrection will be the top-stone of tl,e great experience. The notion is broached that resurrection is an immediate experieuce at death, ro that we practically bid our bodies good-bye for evermore wheu we depart. This doctrine of Hymeneus and Philetus, however, will not ijtand investi- aation. ,ve must believe in a bodily resurrection at the last day. Then shall our full spiritual experience be reached and Christ's last great gift be oure.-R. M. E.
Vers. 12-16.-The river of forgetfulness. Paul has sketched in the p1·eceding vefhes what we may call bis spiritual programme. Much of the attainment lies before l,im still, so much, in fact, that he lives iu the future instead of in the past. His life is a rac:.: towards a goal. Now, just as in a rac-,e the runner forgets the ground gone ,,ver i11 Lis occupation with the remainder and the goal, so, in the spiritual life, there i.:, a f,,rgetfulness esi,ential to progress. '!'here is a river of Lethe in the city of God, wl,iei, the prizr,-wiD.D.er,; must drink if they are to run as giants refreshed. Let us otudy fur a IIloment or two this river of forgetfulness. 1. Tiu: l!lt:Mul::Y OF PAST SINS AJill) l'AILURES MAY ONLY REPRODUCE TIJEM, (Vers. ·1:;;, L.J :,:,,1wJry is a 1,n;ciuus gift; without it prngress would he impossible. It ii, OJI. Ill. 1-21.] nrn EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 131