MINISTER of the gospel left his home on a certain Monday morning, and was travelling by rail to a place where he was to preach in the evening. A middle-aged man of respectable appearance took a seat near him, and stated that he had spent the preceding day in the city, that he had attended the services conducted by the minister; and,' he added, 'I heard you preach strange doctrine.' 'It may have been strange to you, and yet it may have been true for all that,' said the servant of Christ. If I did not bring "Thus saith the Lord" for it, you ought not to believe it; if, however, I proved it by the Word of God, you reject it at your peril, however strange it may be in your judgment. But what is the doctrine?'

'I heard you say that a Christian ought to know he is saved.'

'First of all, let me ask if you are a Christian?'

'I can't answer that question. I have been a member of the Church for many years, and have tried to do right, but I am not good enough to say that I know I am saved; and it is my opinion that it is a great presumption in any man to say so before he dies.'

'Do you mean after he dies, or just before he dies?'

'Well, I suppose God gives grace for the dying hour, and that many when they actually come to die know they are going to heaven. At least they die happy; but I do not believe that any man in health, who knows that he sometimes does wrong, and that he is exposed every moment to temptations, has a right to say that he is already saved, or that he is certainly going to heaven.'

'Suppose I were to ask you where you are travelling, and you replied that you really did not know; that sometimes you imagined you were journeying to East, and at other times you fancied you were on the way to South, that sometimes you thought you were going East, and sometimes you felt you were going South, and all you could say about it was that you were hurrying on to an unknown destination what would I think of you?' 'You would probably think I was insane,' the man answered with a smile.

'My friend,' said the minister, there may be a broken rail on this road only a mile distant from the spot where we now are, or there may be a rotten timber in the next bridge we are to cross, and in five minutes the train may be dashed to pieces, and you may be crushed; and yet while hastening forward to eternity at the rate of thirty miles an hour, you tell me you do not know where you are going!'

'But how can we know it?' he earnestly and almost petulantly inquired.

'How do the dying Christians you mentioned a little while ago know it? By ceasing from their own efforts, and by taking God at His word. They get to the end of trusting in their prayers, and their trying to be good, and going to church, and their experiences, and rest simply and only on the promises of a faithful Saviour to believing sinners. You call it dying grace, but it ought to be living grace; and were it not for the abominable legalism in which you are wrapped up, you would see that you have at this moment precisely the same ground of assurance you would have, if you were taken out, mangled and dying, from the wreck of a shattered train. You would have nothing then but the Word of God to give you comfort, and you have that

now.'

"That is so,' said the man, thoughtfully, 'but I am a sinner.'

"The seventy were sinners to whom Jesus said, "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven "(Luke x. 20). How did they know it? They knew it by the testimony of the Son of God. Paul calls himself the chief of sinners, and yet he could write by the Holy Ghost, WE KNOW that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we HAVE a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. v. 1). How did he know it? By the Word of God. The "little children" whom the inspired Apostle John addressed were sinners; but he says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (1 John v. 13). How did they know it? By what is written.'

The man saw before the interview closed that, although the doctrine was strange, it is plainly taught in the Bible; and that it is not only a source of comfort, but a source of strength, and the very mainspring of a consecrated life. He saw also that under the guise of humility he had been thoroughly selfrighteous, depending, not upon the finished work of Christ for acceptance with God, but upon his joining the Church, and doing the best he could.

It would be strange doctrine indeed to preach a present and certain salvation to persons leading a careless, prayerless, and worldly life; for they are 'condemned already,' and although they may be 'members in good and regular standing' of the Church, the wrath of God abideth on them. But every one knows whether he expects to be saved as the reward of his own worthiness, or whether he believes that it is the blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin; and if he trusts the word of the Lord Jesus, it is no evidence of a lowly spirit to express doubt of his forgiveness

and salvation, and to be looking at his own heart for worthiness.

The late Dr Jacobus, the well-known and honoured professor in the Theological Seminary of Allegheny City, frequently spoke of a visit he made to Cæsar Malan in Geneva, who said to him, 'You Americans hang your heads like a bulrush, and do not rejoice in hope.' The Doctor replied, we believe in Christ's work and word, and in Christ Himself; but

we distrust our own hearts.' 'Ah !' he said, 'it is quite the same. You do not rejoice in God.' On taking leave, the Doctor announced his purpose to visit Chamounix and Mont Blanc. I will give you a note,' Mr Malan remarked, 'to a gentleman there who will serve you on my account.' Thank you,' answered the Doctor, that is a great favour. I am very happy.' Ah!' said he, you are already very happy. Then you believe!'

Dr Moody Stuart* is doing a great service to the Church by his books, discussing the views of Reuss, Wellhausen, and their followers in this country in regard to the Old Testament. He has great acuteness, and he writes with calmness, with full acquaintness of the opinions of the new school of critics, and with a loving reverence for the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God. He is clearly a learned man in the best sense of the words, but he writes in a manner suitable to all readers. The scholar will be captivated by his mastery of the theme, and the ordinary reader by the interest and freshness that he contrives to throw around his discussions on Holy Scripture. Of the four productions he has already issued, while all are excellent, we specially admire those on 'The Fall of Babylon: its Prediction not Anonymous,' and on The Fifty-first Psalm.' It is hard to see how his reasoning, bringing out the baselessness of the theory that the latter part of Isaiah, alike so brilliant in its style and so precious in its matter, was the work of an unknown writer long after the prophet's time, can be met.

'Israel's Lawgiver' is equal in value to its predecessors. It fully sustains its thesis, 'His narrative true and his laws genuine.' It is peculiarly successful in showing the imaginative character of the theory that sacrifices were an institution first heard of late in the history of Israel. He happily shows that the Scriptures have really no meaning if they do not teach that the Church in all ages has been accepted of God only through sacrifice. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, presents a truth which was as indispensable for Abel as for the disciples of the Baptist.

"The Life of Luther't is a presentation in a single volume, by Professor Koestlin, of Halle-Wittemberg, of the biographical matter contained in his larger work, Martin Luther and his Writings.' Professor Koestlin's aim is to adapt himself to the 'wide circle which

we call that of educated German readers.' His book, however, is not a mere abridgment. It is really a large, independent work, entering fully into his theme, for it extends to 615 closely-printed pages, and is by far the best life of Luther that we have yet seen. Its fifty-nine wood engravings are of scarcely less interest than its text. They are mostly taken from pictures of the period, and have the realistie character that so marked the great painters that took the side of the Reformation, and lovingly depicted its heroes. There are no less than ten portraits of Luther, taken at different periods of his life, and all of them are interesting; and there are specimens of his handwriting, and of the quaint title-pages of some of his early works. On page 223 we have given his chapter on Luther's domestic and personal history in his later years as a sample of the deeply interesting matter the volume contains. We trust that ere long some enterprising publisher will present the whole volume, engravings as well as text, to the English reader in a translated form. If well translated, the book is sure to be a success.

Next year will be the fourth centenary of Luther's birth, and Germany is already making preparations for a worthy commemoration of the Reformer's memory. The Emperor himself has taken steps to bring out a collected edition of the Reformer's works, under the editorship of H. Knaake. No one who knows anything about what Germany owes to Luther, will marvel that his name should yet be revered by his countrymen. To a very large extent its literature received its special characteristics from the impress he gave it, and there can be no doubt that the unification that the Protestant States have succeeded in arriving at in our own time, and which has been such a blessing to Germany, has really been one of the results of the work begun by Luther. But Luther was a man for all time. His intellect was of the highest order, and, beyond all men of his age, he had the power of uttering thoughts that breathe and words that burn. In the twenty-nine years of his active life, after he had put up the ninety-five theses on the door of the castle church in Wittemberg, he poured forth pamphlets, letters, commentaries, treatises, and hymns, with a fertility and with a constancy that seems almost in

credible, were not his works still extant in at least a hundred and one volumes, for this is the extent of the Erlanger collected edition, and even it is said to be far from complete. But Luther was far more than a writer of books. From the quantity of his letters that remains two thousand three hundred have been published by De Wette, and considerable additions have been made to the collection since De Wette's time-hours, day by day, must have been spent in correspondence. He was professor in a university, and daily lectured to large classes of enraptured students. He preached several times a-week, and he seems always to have been ready to preach in the towns round about, and immense multitudes gathered to hear him. Professor Koestlin tells of his preaching from the front of the court-house in Zwickau to an audience of 25,000. He was a pastor of a congregation, and discharged his pastoral duties with faithfulness. He was a man of prayer, and often gave hours to communion with God. His house was open to all visitors, and yet his children were not neglected. He was passionately fond of music. In his busiest moments he would find time to play on the lute or on the harp, or to burst out in song. A year before his death he published eightynine psalms or hymns, both the words and the music of which are his own, and of such excellence as would have immortalised his memory, had nothing else done so. Amidst all his greatness and the applause of his admiring followers, he preserved unimpaired the child-like simplicity of his character. Indeed, few men that have reached or come near his eminence have ever had a larger share of the humility that is never more becoming or more attractive than when found in the mightiest of our species. And, above all, Luther was the great Reformer that had the courage to tell men of a free salvation through the grace of God, and boldly to defy the Papacy, and to make such a vigorous protest against the errors and tyrannies of the Romish See as ended in the Reformation and its countless blessings.

'Grounds and Methods of Admission to Sealing Ordinances '* is a book that discusses and illustrates matters interesting to all evangelical Churches, although the first two of its three chapters were read at the Presbyterian Council at Philadelphia, in September 1880. It is a book of value, that the author has done well to print in this separate and expanded form. Its theme is one that will never become old or uninteresting so long as the Church exists upon earth.

The Bible Educator'+ has, since its first

Grounds and Methods of Admission to Sealing Ordinances. By Rev. D. D. Bannerman, M. A. Post Svo, pp. 91. Edinburgh: A. Elliot. 1882.

The Bible Educator. Edited by the Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Dean of Wells. Royal 8vo, London: Cassell, Petter, Galpin, & Co.

PP. 64.

1882.

publication two or three years ago, taken its place among the best of our popular introductions to the study of Holy Scripture. It successfully brings together within its four volumes a highly readable account of the immense additions that have been made to our knowledge of the Bible in modern times. This first part is the first of a re-issue, to be completed in twenty-four parts. It contains papers on the Pentateuch, by the Dean of Canterbury, Dr Payne Smith; on the plants of the Bible, by Mr Carruthers of the British Museum; the history of the English Bible, by Dr Moulton; the animals of the Bible, by Mr Houghton; the music of the Bible, by Dr Stainer; illustrations of Holy Scripture from coins, medals, and inscriptions, by Canon Rawlinson, &c. Like all the many serial works of its publishers, it is copiously and beautifully illustrated; and, as a whole, it is one of the most useful and most attractive works illustrating the Bible that can be put into the hands of Sabbath-school teachers, or even still more advanced students.

THE PRAYER-MEETING.

THE prayer-meeting is an outgrowth of the principle that it is better to set ten men to work than to do ten men's work; better, because ten times as many have the joy and rewards of Christian labour; better, especially because growth of soul as well as of body requires exercise, and one man cannot take the exercise of either sort for ten. Men might as well expect to develop their bodies by hiring an athlete to walk or row for them, as to expect to develop spiritually by hiring a minister to do all their spiritual exercises of public prayer and testimony. Hence that minister makes most of the prayer-meeting who does least in it himself.

A second foundation-stone of the prayermeeting is the special promise given to those who unite in prayer-Where two of you agree,' &c. The Bible is full of intimations of the value of public united prayer, such as brought Peter out of prison and Pentecost down from heaven. Here, again, it is true that it is better for me to get ten persons to pray than to pray ten times as much myself. It is very important that Christians should become accustomed to pray aloud. What a reproach that a dying man often calls on a Christian to pray for him, and the latter has so neglected this dreaded duty at his own family altar and in the prayer-meeting that he cannot grant the dying man's request! All persons-those who are to become ministers as well as the laity-at first dread to pray aloud. And because those who do pray conquer dread by duty, a reward of strength and joy usually follows such an act of loyalty to conscience. Such strength and blessing are missed by those who do not or cannot lead in prayer.-W. F. Crafts.