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and perish, or on towards greater perfection.

Oh may one and all press onward! "Onward, Christian, onward go!" Let this be the motto of each member of the English Church; let our watchword be " Onward and upward!" and then we need not fear; holding fast the form of sound words which has been handed down to us, confounding not the unseen with the seen, not putting the form before the spirit, we shall be in a safe condition and should our Church in these perilous times in the great majority of her members fall away (which God forbid), yet we shall be safe among that remnant whom the Lord our God shall call.

But large hearted charity will never let us rest on prayers for the "whole state of Christ's Church." Ever shall we fervently pray that "every member of the same in his vocation and ministry may truly and godly serve Him." And we may surely take courage from Abraham's pleading with God for Sodom, and from the "one wise man," who, by "his wisdom saved the city," that the remnant of the faithful (small though they be) shall prevail in their prayers before God, and that a great repentance shall take place, a doing of "first works," which, in God's mercy, shall draw down his love in showers of blessing, so that the candlestick of our Church shall not be removed out of his place.

With these thoughts then, let us make our earnest prayers to God, and take for our encouragement the language of the psalmist.

"The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge."

Perhaps the most hopeful sign in these latter times is the ten days' London Mission, where we see men of all parties blended together, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, in one harmonious whole, to cope with the sin and wickedness of our great city (the army of the mighty God of Jacob going out to fight with the hosts of Satan), all agreed to sink differences -all agreed on one glorious point, all longing to bring about one glorious end, i.e., the conversion and salvation of immortal souls.

This to my mind seems an earnest, such an one as has never been vouchsafed before of the eventual fulfilment of the Saviour's prophetic prayer"That they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, and that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

May every success attend the mission, and may it lead to a greater manifestation of the missionary spirit through the length and breadth of our land, then shall not be far distant the fulfilment of another prophecy : -"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD; for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. xxxi. 34.)

May the Lord hasten this blessed consummation in His own time. Amen.

MARCUS H. LEWIS.

Reader of St. Mary's,
Speenhamland, Newbury.

"IN SIMPLICITY AND GODLY

SINCERITY."

Ir affords us much pleasure to lay before our readers some particulars of development anent to the narrative under the same heading in our last issue. The development has the advantage of having the very names of the children of Israel gathered into the fold of Israel's Shepherd plainly set forth. When we received the following communications, we asked whether we might make them known to the readers of the HEBREW CHRISTIAN WITNESS AND PROPHETIC INVESTIGATOR; with the very names of the writers attached to the letters. The answer was to the effect that the writers were neither ashamed nor afraid of their return to the God of their salvation, and saw therefore no reason for withholding their names. Let the writers now speak for themselves :

"Rev. Sir,-I enclose a letter from Mr. Blitz. We are full of joy about

Mrs. Blitz's conversion. I know that you take much interest in this people, therefore I send you it. Yesterday Blitz and his wife were here. We all went to church together. She is very earnest. I cannot tell when or where she will be baptized. We praise the Lord that it has pleased Him to make us instrumental to preach the Gospel to the family, by which means the Lord has turned their hearts to Him.

"Rev. Sir, will you mention this family in your prayer, and ask God for a blessing, spiritual and temporal, on this people, as they are really in need of it. Trusting that the Lord will comfort them and be merciful to them, I remain, yours faithfully,

"LEOPOLD LOUIS."

"Dear Mr. Louis and Mrs. Louis-I send you a glad tiding, yes, such is indeed a glad tiding, a blessing in Christ. Last night about eleven o'clock, before we retired, my wife said to me, 'Shall I tell you something?' I said, 'Yes; what is it?' I believe in Jesus Christ! blessed be His Holy Name!' was the reply! I was taken by surprise and joy at the same time, for we had been talking about Christ. As I heard that a Jew would be baptized next Sunday, I had asked her before if she would do me the favour to see the Rite, for I could never get her to enter a church yet; she said NO-I asked her now whether she would go to witness the baptism? I shall go, and I don't mind if they baptize me!' was the reply. I felt at once a shake in my heart. She kept on saying, 'Now I believe and love Christ.' We then prayed together. I was full of joy; and I said, 'I will write it to my friend at Croydon.' 'Yes,' she said, 'do.' I know you will take part in my joy; here you can plainly see the working of the Holy Spirit. I should think it was Satan who kept her back, and seeing he could not prevail he left her with a shrug.

"There she is in a pure belief, and loving Christ. I will praise the Lord for it, and you will do so with me, because I know you are my real friend. I cannot help thinking of the Hebrew Bible I had of you. I was

so obstinate and ignorant, that I would not believe in our Blessed Saviour. But the Spirit of the Lord made me read that blessed Book, and however indifferently I opened it, the word concerning HIM stared me always in the face. My eyes were opened, and I could see what I could not perceive before. Blessed be the Holy One of Israel who had pity on us: we do not deserve it; for we mocked at His Holy Son, and would take no knowledge of His kind words.

"Here is a plain proof of His great love, that even those who are most wicked He loves. Yes, we will praise Him for ever and ever.

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We are right glad of the permission to publish the above interesting correspondence, for more reasons than one. The two letters prove the constraining power of the love of Christin every truly converted man, especially so in every Hebrew Christian-to extend that knowledge of salvation, which has proved so rich a blessing to his own soul, to others. They prove that genuine Hebrew Christians are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation. They prove that the true Christian is a living epistle, read and known of all men. Would to God that the Hebrew Christians of influence and power, in the councils of the State, acted in a like spirit! The above letters prove the great difference which exists between the God-chosen instruments and the human-appointed agents. Respecting the latter, we shall have much to say at the right time and the right place. Many other are the reasons for which the publication of the foregoing correspondence makes us glad, but we have no space for enumerating them at present. We shall simply mention just now that the publication of the letters may, under God, have the effect of checking the disreputable tendency, on the part of certain professionals, to build on

other men's foundations, and take the credit due to the true Master Builder and His chosen instruments to themselves. To this gross abuse of the Lord's work we purpose, God willing, before long, to devote a leading article. We should not deserve the designation of HEBREW CHRISTIAN WITNESS, if we did not testify against every species of abuse in connection with the promotion or propagation of the Gospel amongst the Jews. To us the narratives which we have headed IN SIMPLICITY AND GODLY SINCERITY are infinitely more interesting than the voluminous reports produced by stipendiary agents.

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"GOD HATH NOT CAST AWAY HIS PEOPLE."*

We have just had another proof of the truth of the great Apostle's asseveration respecting Israel, sustained by an argument as cogent as St. Paul himself employed. Last Sunday evening we were enabled to attend the Trinity Presbyterian Church, in Kensington Park Road, when we had the privilege of witnessing the admission of another penitent Jewish brother into the Christian communion, by the sacred ordinance of Baptism. It is always a great spiritual treat to us to listen to the unctuous and impassioned addresses of our gifted and pious brother the Rev. Adolph Saphir, the minister of that Church. His exposition on the interesting occasion-of John i. 35-49-was as impressive as it was eloquent. The baptismal rite was not administered by Mr. Saphir. A missionary officiated, on a sort of raised permanent platform, situated between the nave and the chancel. On that platform were seated during all the ordinary service, consisting of hymns, prayers, reading of Scriptures, and exposition, which lasted about an hour,-to be beholden of all beholders, the candidate for the sacred rite, his friend who had first directed him to seek Him who had obtained eternal redemption for us," the "missionary," and his "assistant," and two

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* Rom. xi. 2.

other gentlemen. The newly baptized brother is a native of Holland, and has evidently lived in this country some years. It was mentioned in the course of the pre-baptismal address, that Mr. Alexander, the manager of the Bible stand at the Crystal Palace, was the Hebrew Christian who first directed the attention of Edward Hymans* to search the Scripture, if haply he might find Him of whom Moses in the law and the Prophets did write. We have seen some of the letters which Hymans addressed to his spiritual benefactor; they evince earnest gratitude, as the following extracts from those letters will show :

[Dated January 27, 1874.] "I am pleased to state that in three or four weeks, D.V., I myself will have the privilege to make a public confession of our dear Redeemer Jesus Christ.

"I recall with heart-felt gratitude that it was you who first directed my mind to Christ. The voyage to the Continent, on which I first made your acquaintance, is still fresh on my mind, and will always remain so.

"Nor shall I ever forget our subsequent meeting at the Exposition Universelle at Paris. I do not now look upon that meeting as accidental. Surely, my great desire to see the Bible stand must have been more than accidental. I recall those meetings with you there and at the "palace" with gratitude, because our conversations led me to seek the Messiah, whom I have now found.

"What a blessed privilege is yours, to be endowed with the means and mind to further the cause of Christ amongst our benighted (and also too often prejudiced) Jewish brethren ! To me, it seems the most noble purpose to which means or mind can be devoted.

"I trust that in my next I shall be able to acquaint you with the exact time when I shall be baptized. Trust

Some fussy person found fault with us for having published the name of a former Israelite who was baptized; he must have forgotten that he had himself published it in the presence of a large congregation.

ing to be honoured with your presence, the Lord sparing you, I remain, yours very truly.

"EDWARD HYMANS."

[Dated February 2nd, 1874.] "You will no doubt be pleased to hear that the time for my baptism is fixed for Sunday the 22nd inst. I look forward to that event with the greatest joy, in which I am happy to see, by your kind note, you share. Always remembering that you were the first servant of Christ who directed my mind to Him as our Blessed Messiah, I confidently look forward to your presence on that occasion.

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"As you so kindly offer your good services, I beg that you will continue to remember me in your prayers, that the Lord may continue to strengthen me in faith, and that He may enable me to show to other sons of Abraham that pearl of great price which I have found in knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Baptism will take place at Mr. Saphir's Church, Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill, at the evening service. I remain yours, faithfully,

"EDWARD HYMANS."

We frankly own that we prefer the solemn simplicity of the Church of England service on such important occasions. The baptismal service was somewhat stagy; the shaking of hands on the raised platform, before a large congregation, with the newly baptized brother, struck us as painfully out of harmony with the solemn service and Mr. Saphir's heart-searching address. The Baptizer's addresses, both before the baptism and after it, were notwithstanding the sensational little episode introduced -heavy and dull. The questions addressed to the candidate were but a poor substitute for the beautiful Baptismal service as prescribed in the Liturgy of the Church of England. The post-Baptismal address was not only tedious, but in bad taste, if not something worse; since it was persisted in after the Minister of the Church gave out the last hymn.

It occurred to us, whether it would not be worth while for the United Presbyterian church to re-consider

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THE Bible Readings at Mr. Grantham's of Croydon, of which we gave a short sketch in our last number, were continued on the 9th ult. On the previous occasion the first division of the subject, How will He come?" occupied the whole of the evening; the division now to be considered being, "When will He come?"

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The passage read was from 1 Cor. XV. 20-28; these in a few words seemed to sketch out the leading features of the amazing transactions which were to mark the Lord's dealings with His people, and His own personal participation in them. First, the Resurrection, "Christ the firstfruits;" then, "every man in his own order;" "afterwards, they that are Christ's at His coming." Here we arrive at the period now to be considered.

It was of the greatest importance not to approach this subject with our own preconceived views; we must refer everything to the test of the written word. It was always more difficult to eradicate error than to inculcate truth.

A few simple definitions would much assist in clearing away difficulties; for instance, the day of judgment, the day of Christ, the last day, evidently did not mean a literal day of twenty-four hours; it meant a period longer or shorter as the events or the context seemed to indicate. See Gen. ii. 4; John viii. 56; Zech. xii. 8, xiv. 1; Psalm xc. 4, or 2 Peter iii. 8. An hour also was so used, John v. 25; in this, an hour signifies the periods when dead souls would hear the voice of the Son of God and live; compared with the hour, as in verse 18, when at the

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resurrection, men would hear that voice, and would come forth with their bodies from their graves.

Again, we are not to look for the exact time of His coming, but we are earnestly exhorted to watch for signs. Many of these were relative in point of time with other events, the principal of these being the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem and their own land. See Luke xxi. 24-27.

Our Lord and the apostles, though often referring to His coming as the strongest motive for Christian service and watchfulness, warn disciples that many events must happen first; to show this, passages from Matt. xxiv., 3, 11, 23, were referred to; also 2 Thess. ii. 3; 1 Tim. iv. 1: 2 Tim. iii. 1; and again, our Lord's parable, Matt. xxv. 14-19. "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travellling into a far country;" and again, "after a long time the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them."

The restoration of the Jews in connection with this subject was briefly alluded to, but considered too wide to be then taken up, and it was understood that a special and separate evening would be devoted to it.

An animated discussion followed, in which post-millennial views were brought forward in opposition to those which had been advocated, and which were now generally received, viz., a literal interpretation of those passages which indicate that our Lord will come when the world is not expecting Him, and precede the one thousand years, or reign of peace, that period of glory which is referred to in Rev. xx. 6.

The allotted time of the meeting having expired, it was thought well to postpone the full exposition of the post-millennial view till the next month, when one gentleman undertook to bring forward the arguments in support of it.

SCRIPTURE EMENDATIONS.
JOHN IV. 1-8.

THERE is a little amendment to be made in the translation.

The words 66 purgeth," "taketh away," and "clean" have all the

same root meaning.* The main idea is removal. Hence the second verse may be, "Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away. and every branch that beareth fruit, He taketh from it that it may bring forth more fruit." Ver. 3: "Ye are already clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." Ver. 4: "Abide in Me, and I will abide in you." Ver. 5: For apart from Me, ye can do nothing."

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The meaning "clean" seems very different from the renderings of the other words which have the same or allied root; but in reality, it is a very legitimate sense. The fact is stated and not the act; the result, not the process. This is the true and prescribed office of adjectives: verbs even have this force, frequently with no idea of time whatever. Whilst "clean" would not be congruously applied to vines after pruning, it very aptly describes the condition of branches of the heavenly vine after this care of the vinedresser, because this taking away benefits the part remaining. The vine, like all other types, is insufficient to set forth in severe conformity the conditions of that which it prefigures.

There are two opposite parties here; that is, in one respect they are opposite; but more strictly the same under different conditions: these are, 1st, those who are taken away; 2nd, those who have something taken from them. These are likewise set before us as those which abide in the vine and those which do not.

But, before proceeding to expound these conditions, let us consider the nature of the vine. All may observe, "when its branch is yet tender, and it putteth forth leaves," that at the same insertion there are a bud and a branch; this branch is called in gardening phrase "a lateral shoot." This lateral shoot is a non-fruit-bearing branch, and is taken away for two reasons: 1st, because it bears no fruit; 2nd, because it would injure

*This is fairly open to adverse criticism. It is assumed here that αίρει, καθαίρει, and καθαροί have the same root αἴρω οι aipéw and karà. Authorities differ.

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