There are three thoughts here ~uggested concerning the revelation of this promi10 of eternal life. 1. It was manife,ted at a proper time. "In doe times [in his own seasonsl mauifested his Word." God has a season for everything, everything in the material and the moral. Nothing but sin appears in his universe that does not corn~ "according to his time." Oceans ebb and flow, planets perform their revolutions, kingdoms rise and fall, generations come and go "according to his time." He had a time for the revelation of his redemptive truth, and when the time dawned it beamed on the world. 2. It was manifested by apostolic preaching. "Through preaching.' Redemptive truth came into the world through man, and it is Heaven's design that it should be propagated through the worl<l by man. It is to be preached, not only with the lips, but by the life. The true preacher must incarnate it. His life must illustrate and confirm the doctrine that his lips declare. It was before the gospel came to men in written documents that it won its greatest victories. Some think that too much importance is attached to the Bible in this work, and that it is vain to expect that the circulation of the Scriptures will answer the end. History shows it has not done so, and the philosophy of the work explains the reason ; hence it must be revealed in the voice and the life. 3. It was manifested by tM Divine command. " Which was com- mitted unto me [wherewith I was entrusted) accordiug to the commandment of God our Saviour." 'l'hc Divine command came to the apostle to preach the g"s[Jel at various times-came to him on the road to Damascus, came to him in the temple at Jerusalem, came to him in the ship on the Adriatic. Yes; the Divine command comes to all: "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel." Not only was it by command that Paul preached to mankind, but now to Titus. IV. Al! A LO'vE-etGETTI!IG POWEB. "To Titns, mine own son [my true child) a.fte1 the common faith." •• Mine own son." What an endearing expression 1 The gospel converter becomes the father in the highest and divinest sense of the converted. No relation so close, vital, and tender as the spiritual relation of souls. Paul's desire is, for Titus, "Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour." Here is the wish of heavenly philanthropy. a philanthropy that embraces the complete aud everlasting well-being of its object. Having the "grace, peace, and mercy" of God, we have everything we require; we have" all and abound." CoNoLUSION. Prize this redemptive truth, practi...,e this redemptive truth, preach this redemptive truth. It is the "power of God unto salvation."-D. T.
Vera. 5-9.-0hurch urder: "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thon shouldPst set in order the things that are wanting," etc. Titus was now at Crete. "Crete, over whose Christian population Titus had been placed by Paul, was a well-known, large, and populous island in the Mediterranean. It lies geographically further south than any of the European islands, and, roughly speaking, almost at an equal distance from each of the three Old World continents, Europe, Asia, Africa. We identify it with the Caphtor of the Old Testament (Deat. ii. 23 ; J er. xlvii. 4; Amos ix. 7). In modern times it is known by us as Candia. Very early it was the scene of an advanced civilization. In the 'Odyssey' it is mentioned as possessing ninety cities; in the 'Iliad' as many as one hundred. Metullus added it, e.o. 69, to the Roman dominion. ln the days of Augustus it was united into one province with Cyrene. It ahuunded with Jews of wealth and influence; this we learn from the testimony of Philo and of Josephus. It probably received the gospel from some of those of Crete who, we are expressly told, were present when the Spirit was poured on the apostles on the first Penl-ecost after the Resurrection (Acts ii. 11). The apparently flourishing state of Christianity on the island at this time was in great measure, no doubt, owing to the residence and labours 1mong them of the Apostle St. Paul, whose work appears to have been mainly directed to preaching the gospel, anrl to increasing the number of the converts, which, from the wording of ver. 5, was evirlently very great, elders being required in every city." The following thoughts are deducible from these words. l. 'l'HAT IN EVERY lJHBIBTlA.N COllllllUNITY THERE SHOULD BE THE MAINTENANCE OF OBDER. "'l'hou shouldest set in order the things that are want.i:ig." "The words," Dean Spence, "explain the cause of Titus's appointment in Crete. The 'things IIILYS that are wanting' were what Paul meant, no doubt, to have lluuc: himself, but was preventttd by being hurried away ; for him the end was nigh a, baud. These ' things' 20 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. [OH, I, 1-16.