giving b~·. m1mnt~1·ing .. ~xc1·~e _of gifts. R'Ulefor their exercise, "According as each hath rccc1rnd a gilt, m1n1stermg 1t among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grac_e of God.". All !-hat God graciously bestows on the Church is here called gi-ace; 1•arl1cu)ar manifestations are gmces (the words being connected). The grace of God· (~ummmg up the particular manifestations, and implying their homogeneity) is mani- fold, i.e. t!1e gifts graciously bestowed on members of the Uhurch are very varied, Each bath rccet"l'"ed a gift, i.e. one or more. According to the kind of gift which each bath received we are to minister it. We are not to allow it to be unused; and the rule for its ministration is that we are to use it for the good of the Christian community. This proceeds on our being not absolute owners, but stewards of the gift.. As God has bestowed the gift, be has the right to determine the use to which it is to be put; and he intends it for the service, not of the iudividual (wliich would be division), but of the society (which preserves unity). What, then, we have to aim at is to be good stewards, i.e. to have the excellence of stewardship-fidelity to our trust. Let us see that we faithfully carry out the intention with which the gift was bestowed on us. .Application of the rule to speaking. "If any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God." It is a complaint brought against Christian teachers that we assume too much. We assume the existence of God; we assume that the Bible has come from God. We do not argue about these things iu the pulpit. We have warrant for taking this course. We proceed on the principle here laid down by the Apostle Peter. In 11peaking, we speak as it were the oracles of God, i.e. as uttering the Divine thoughts, as giving forth the truths presented to us in God's book. And it is preaching that answers to this description-is an effective uttering of the Divine thoughts, opening of the meaning of Scripture, that is fitted to produce the best results. ..dpplication of the rule to doing. "If any man ministereth, ministering as of the strength which God supplieth." We are not to think merely of official ministering. There is a ministering official and unofficial to the young, to the poor, to the sick, to the ignorant, to the erring. The rule for this ministering is here laid down. Whatever service we render to the congre- gation, or to any section of those who need to be cared for, we are to do it, not as out of our own store of strength, but out of the strength which God supplieth. It is by attention to this rule (difficult, for self will come in, even when we profess to be unselfish) that Christian service is to be purified and elevated. Let us seek, even in our ordinary services, to be filled with the thought of God supplying the strength; End contemplated in the rule. "That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory a.nd the dominion for ever a.nd ever. Amen." 'l'he speaking and the acting are both regulated so that, in all things embraced under these, God is to be glorified, and not we the speakers and actors. It is God's thoughts we utter, not· our own ; and so God has the glory for these. lt is God's strength that we employ in service ; and so it is to him that we ascribe the enabling power. It is only through Christ's agency that we can either speak or act; and so when we glorify God, it is through him. The glory and. the power we ascribe to God to the ages of ages. To this ascription let us add our hearty" Amcn."-R. F.
Vers. 12-19.-Fiery trial among the Ohristians. I. HAPPINESS CONNECTED WITH THE FIERY 1·nu.L. 1. The fiery trial not a perplexity. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you." With an affectionate address the subject is appropriately introduced. There was a fierce trial not coming on them, as the old tran8:ation bears, but already in the midst of them, as the revised translation bears. The word used (" fieriness") expresses the sharpness of the persecution to which they were subjected. They were mercilessly attacked in their dearest earthly interests. We do not know the details of the per~ecution; but it was a reality as of fire carried into the midst c,f the Christians, laying bold upon one here and upon another there, and dis- tressing tbe whole circle. By severe suffering there has often been suggestion of the way of the Divine dealing. 'l'be apostle here supposes that they might be inclined te think it strange that they bad the fire of persecution in the midst of the loved circle. 'l'he word cxpressi\·e of the feeling of stra11gencss was formerly used with regard to the miraculous change of life introduced by Christianity. l•'ormer compauious thought it 11trange that they did not continue to overleap the bounds with them. Now, the sup- aa. IV.1-10,] THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 203