strong, O Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts. According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not," (Hag. ii. 4, 5.) What a word of encouragement is this to us! Let us consider our absolute need of and entire dependence on Him, and seek grace more to "walk in the Spirit."

2. We do not abide in Jesus. It is believers whom He seals, (Eph. i. 13.) It is believers who become rivers of living water, (John vii. 39,) and on whom the blessing of Abraham comes, even the promise of the Spirit by faith, (Gal. iii. 10–14.) If we would realise the Spirit, and be filled with the Spirit, we must "abide in Jesus;" then the sap from Him, the true vine, will flow to us, (John xv. 1, 7.) There must be a "looking,” a constant, steadfast looking away from all beside "unto JESUS." In Him all fulness dwells. He hath "the seven spirits of God," and "the love of God" is in Him. What a sweet thought it is that the most gracious and loving Being in the universe, one who has done so much for us, and said so much to us, has now in His possession that blessing which we so much need! "This is he who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." If we have tasted that the Lord is gracious, let us be ever coming to Him, the living Stone, (1 Pet. ii. 4, 5.) We must not put even the Holy Spirit in His place. His death, His intercession, must ever stand as our only hope of salvation. In the consecration of the priests, as set forth in Lev. viii., the blood is put very prominent, and then came the anointing. "Thus," Mr Newton observes, "their office, and all its various functions, were placed not only under the protection, but under the acceptableness of the blood. The holy character of their services as priests, as well as the bestowment of a power adequate to the fulfilment of these services, was indicated by the holy anointing oil, which, after they had assumed their garments, was sprinkled on them. He who gives the office, gives also the needed power, that thus again it might be said, all THINGS ARE OF GOD."

Surely, if we believingly thought more of Jesus, as an historical, living, loving, dying, rising, interceding Saviour, we should have more of the unction. All our blessings grow out of the FACTS which relate to Him; and the more believingly familiar we are with the facts, the more fully shall we realise the blessing.

3. We do not ask so constantly and so importunately as we ought. We need not, as before stated, ask, as the disciples did, for the mission of the Spirit; but we should ask for His

presence and power. Surely "we have not because we ask not, or because we ask amiss." But still there stand the glorious words,-let us ponder them,-" If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them who ask him?" (Luke xi. 13.) And again, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son," (John xiv. 13.)

4. We grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Then, though we are sealed and shall be saved, we do not enjoy the assurance thereof by the way. We grieve Him by worldliness, forgetfulness, pride, levity, unbelief, and want of brotherly love. Let us study the whole passage where the words, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God," are found. Let us read carefully Eph. iv., v., with all the loving and wise cautions and counsels therein contained, and we shall see in how many ways we have grieved the Comforter of our souls by our sins of omission and commission. The Lord Jesus said respecting the world, that it "could not receive the Comforter, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." Here there is a total want of sympathy. Holiness," it has been said, "only can understand holiness." "The natural" or animal "man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." In proportion as even true saints are worldly, will they also be out of sympathy with the Spirit. What we want now in the Church, far more than even knowledge and gifts, is sympathy with the Spirit, or grace to feel and act in some measure up to our light, and in agreement with what is committed to us. If we only felt and acted up to what we already know, (John xiii. 17,) what a marvellous change would take place! and then more light and larger gifts would be bestowed. But, alas! even in the saints there are found many moral disqualifications for this higher fellowship, which require to be diligently searched out and penitently confessed. We should also seek the mighty power of the Spirit to expel them, removing all obstructions between the Lord and the heart, bringing God's truth and the soul's affections together. No doubt in many of us there must be more watchfulness, more separateness from the world, more diligence in the use of means, more self-denial and self-sacrifice, if we would be "filled with the Spirit." Such passages as 1 Cor. iii. 1-3, Heb. v. 12, 13, 2 Pet. i. 9, Gal. v. 16, together with several parts of the Lord's epistles to the seven churches in Rev. ii., iii., seem clearly to teach that there may be a weakening of the spiritual instinct by not walking in the Spirit and having fellowship with Him in the truth. How needful, then, to "watch and pray always." It is a solemn

and very practical consideration that the saints' participation with Christ, both here and hereafter, in "the oil of gladness," will bear proportion to their conformity to Him in "loving righteousness and hating iniquity." Should not this make us more watchful against evil, and lead us to give all diligence, by the help of the Spirit, to make those blessed additions to our faith concerning which it is said, "For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Pet. i. 8, 11.)

In conclusion, we shall do well while inquiring why we do not realise more of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to ask, With what has God associated this blessed unction? The answer must be, with the work of Christ, (John xvi. 7)— with the intercession of Christ, (John xiv. 15)-also, with faith, (John vii. 37)-with prayer, (Luke xi. 13)-and with obedience, (Acts v. 32.) Now, while there is failure in the three last, and in all that relates to us, there has been no failure in the two first. Christ's death and intercession remain the same, though we fail in faith, prayer, and obedience. Let us glory in the former, let us grieve over the latter. Let us cast ourselves in simple faith on Christ, and aim to make Him that to us which God has given Him to be. For this also we need the gracious aid of the Spirit. This He delights to do; and having done this, He will do everything else that we need, and bring us into the possession of all that God hath promised,

"Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire.

Thou the anointing Spirit art,

Who dost Thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Thy blessed Unction from above
Is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perpetual light
The dulness of our blinded sight.

Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of Thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home;
Where Thou art guide, no ill can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And Thee of both to be but one;
That, through the ages all along,
This may be our endless song:

Praise to Thine eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.'

Notes on Scripture.

LEVITICUS XIV. 1-7.

Type of the dead and living bird.

Two birds were to be brought for the cleansing of the leper. The one was to be killed in an earthen vessel over running water; the other was to be dipped along with cedar-wood and scarlet and hyssop in the blood of its slain fellow, was to be used along with these for the sprinkling of the leper, and was then to be let loose into the open field. All this accomplished, the leper was pronounced clean.

This is one of the most beautiful of all the Old Testament types. It resembles that of the scape (escape) goat, so called because while its fellow was slain, it was allowed to escape. The bird of the text may, in like manner, be called the escape-bird.

There can be no doubt that both types set forth the Saviour-dying and living again. One goat and bird did not escape, but died. So Christ did not escape, He died. The other goat and bird went forth unharmed, the goat into the wilderness, the bird into the open field. In like manner Christ escaped. His people shall sing in the glorious resurrection morning, “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and we are escaped." It was His own song on that morning of joy and blessedness when He was brought again from the dead by the glory of the Father." Had we seen the glad bird skimming the air, we should have seen the most expressive of types-the glad Saviour leaving death and the devil and an evil world behind Him, and ascending to His Father's presence.

From this we see the necessity of two goats and two birds, the one to die, the other to live. Death and life meet in Christ; one type could not have represented both. If we had asked the cleansed leper, Where is your leprosy? he would have answered, The bird now dead has been killed for it, and the living bird has flown away with it; see him as he rises, the blood of his fellow on his wing! If we had asked Israel on the day of atonement, Where are your sins? they would have answered, The goat of sacrifice has died for them, and the live goat has carried them off; they are not here. Let us pass to the antitype, let us ask the believer, Where are your sins? He that was dead, will be his answer, shed His blood for them; and alive now, He has carried them away, entering with that blood into the holy place, my Mediator, High Priest, and Advocate. They are not here, they, trouble my conscience no more.

The greatest crime ever committed on earth was the murder of the Son of God. And yet those who on Pentecost were solemnly charged with that crime, were found immediately after, in perfect peace, eating their meat" with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God." They had received His testimony of a slain and living Saviour, and their consciences were at rest.

This peace of conscience through the sprinkling of Christ's blood, is the cleansing of the leper. Leprosy, the most loathsome and defiling of bodily diseases, is the type of sin, "that abominable thing which I hate." It prevented a man from approaching God's tabernacle, it shut him out from acceptable worship. And sin on the conscience, in like manner, will not allow us to draw near to God as a Father, and is an effectual hindrance to all acceptable worship and service. But when we know that the Son of God has died for our sins, when we know also that He has carried them away with Him, and that we shall hear of them no more, the conscience is relieved of its load. We rise up into liberty, "the glorious liberty of the children of God," and call on His name as a Father with true and thankful hearts. Lord, evermore grant us such cleansing!

2 CORINTHIANS III. 18.

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

66

THE point of this text is in the words, "from glory to glory." The context speaks of Moses who put a veil upon his face. In like manner, says St Paul, the veil is upon the hearts of our unbelieving brethren that they cannot discern the glory of God. Our "face," on the other hand, is open," i. e., unveiled, and we see that glory. Not directly, no flesh may gaze on absolute Deity, but "in a glass." That glass is the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus living and dying, reflects the glory of God. 66 And we, beholding that reflection of Divine loveliness, are changed into the same image." Man always becomes like the object of his worship. The goddess Kali is the patroness of murder; her worshippers are murderers. The worshippers of Astarte, the Latin Venus, were impure; she was the patroness of lust. Our Saxon forefathers were savage, they worshipped the cruel Woden, whose name is still preserved in our Wednesday. We Christians worship the AllMerciful, and are changed into His image of love.

We see thus the meaning of the words "from glory to glory." They do not mean from one degree of glory to another, denoting the Christian's gradual advance in holiness. They mean glory producing glory, the glory of God looked at, producing the same glory in the looker; the creature gazing into the Creator's face, and as he gazes, becoming like Him. We are told that Moses was the meekest of the sons of men. He became so by contemplating the meekness of God. He was face to face with Him for forty years. He was an amazed witness of the unheard-of provocations of the desert. He heard the Most High accused to His face, of falsehood, of cruelty, of dishonourable and murderous intentions. Man would not bear such language from his fellow-creatures, but God took it patiently. Moses saw Him "many times turn His anger away and not stir up all His wrath; " he heard Him say, they are "but fading flesh, a wind that passeth away and returneth not again." And gazing into that countenance of everlasting