The Great Family of Believers.—EPH. 3. 14. God is our father, the Church our mother; all the faithful are our brethren. The many millions of angels in heaven are comprehended within this family as well as the saints upon earth. As faithful people are our brethren, it must be our duty to love them, and to bear in mind that wise advice of Joseph to his brethren, see that ye fall not out by the way, Gen. 45. 24. In our journey through life, we are under so many trials and afflictions, that it is both foolish and wicked for the faithful to add to one another's troubles by strife and envying, by quarrellings and disputings. Proud people are ashamed of their poor relations; but we must not be ashamed to own the poorest child in the family of God, who, perhaps after a laborious life of faith and patience, will be our superior in the kingdom of heaven. A family is a resting-place from worldly cares, so is the family whose father is God; Christ the elder brother or head, Col. I. 17; the Holy Spirit the guide; and all true believers members. Russian-Away from our native country even a crow is dear. Basque.-Blood boils without fire-i.e., injury done to one's relations. China.-A powerful man regards no burden; a tradesman no distance; to a learned man no country is foreign, and a fine speaker finds no enemy, Eph. 2. 19. Malay.-Will a man put out his salt in the rain ?—i.e., a man exposing the faults of his family. Basque. The big fish lives on the little ones. Satan the Father of Lies.-JOHN 8. 44. Jesus Christ is the true light; but the devil is the prince of darkness, the god of this world, who blinds men's eyes that they may not see the truth, 2 Cor. 4. 4. The Saviour is a shepherd who gives his life for the sheep; but the devil is a lion who goes about seeking what he may devour, 1 Pet. 5. 5. The one is a lamb, meek and harmless; the other a serpent, full of devices and more subtle than any beast of the field. The one raises men to life; the other was a murderer from the beginning. The one is our advocate with the Father, suffering and pleading for the pardon of our sins; the other is the accuser of the brethren; first tempting them to fall into sin, and then accusing them that they may fall under the judgment of God. Jesus Christ is the truth and the devil is the father of lies. And lastly, Jesus Christ is the true God worshipped by all believers, and the devil is the false god worshipped under a variety of names. The children of the devil are like the devil, as the young viper is like the old one. Judas, the traitor, was hence called a devil, John 6. 70, as God is called the father of mercies, so is the devil of lies; he was first an angel of light, and then by his lies. induced one-third of the angels to rebel against God; he told lies to Eve in the garden, Gen. 3. 6, and to Christ in the desert. The devils are also compared to birds of prey for their piercing eye, sudden pouncing, residence in the air, Eph. 2. 2, yet Satan was once called the son of the morning, Is. 14. 12. The Danes call lies the devil's daughters. Spanish. When the devil says his prayers he is about to cheat-i.e., an angel of light. Afghan. She herself commits the sin and curses Satan for it. Arab. He gives advice such as the cat gave to the mouse or the devil to men. Keep the Feet in God's House.-Ecc. 5. I. This text means take heed to your ways in God's house. See that ye walk circumspectly. As in walking we take as much care as we can to keep our feet from stumbling; so, in going to the house of God, we must take care about the state of our minds. When Moses saw the Angel of the Lord in the burning-bush, the voice of God said to him, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground," Ex. 3. 5; and when Joshua saw the same Angel, he said, "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy," Josh. 5. 15. In both these instances it is believed that the Lord Jesus Christ took human form in appearance, before he really took our nature, and died to redeem us, and, by commanding the removal of the shoe from the foot, he showed that nothing which was defiled could acceptably appear in his presence. So Jacob in the desert, Gen. 28. 17. Look before you leap. He that hastens with his feet sinneth, Prov. 19. 2; John 18. 10. Chanak says, "A prudent man moves with one foot, but does not move the other till he considers where he goes to." The Philistines were punished for touching the ark, 1 Sam. 6. 19; a beast that touched Sinai was to be killed, Heb. 12. 20; Nebuchadnezzar was chastised for using at a feast the vessels of the temple, Dan. 5. 23. The sacrifice of fools is an offering without obedience. Christ flogged those that bought and sold in the temple, John 2. 15. Chinese.-Destroy all passion when you light Buddha's lamp. Malabar.-Sport not with a king, nor with fire, water and elephants. Veman.-Observances void of purity of heart! to what end are they? to what is the preparation of food without cleansing the vessel? Mat. 15. 8. Malabar.-Elephants will fall down if the feet slide. Russian-Set a fool to worship and he will break his neck. Persian.-What has a dog to do in a temple? Tamul.-A cat that lives in the temple fears not the gods -i.e., familiarity breeds contempt. God's Name on the Believer's Forehead.—REV. 22. 4, 5. The Vishnuvites have the tiluk, or forehead mark, a longitudinal line marked in vermilion; the Sivites a parallel line of a turmeric colour. The Athenians marked an owl on their captives' forehead; idolaters put on such the mark of their god as Jupiter's thunderbolt, Neptune's trident. The forehead is the most conspicuous part; the countenance being the index of the mind, and implies an open confession, as Paul was a chosen vessel to bear Christ's name before the Gentiles, Acts 9. 15, 16. was a custom of ancient date in Asia to mark servants on the forehead; hence in Ezek. 9. 4, the Angel sets a mark on the foreheads of the men who cry for the abominations of the time. The Jews were forbidden to brand the forehead, Lev. 19. 28. Only the High Priest bore on it a plate of gold, on which the name of God was written. It Paul said, I bear on my body the marks of the Lord Jesus-i.e., the scars of the stripes he received, Gal. 6. 17. Believers have God's mark in regeneration, and sanctification impressed on them, I Pet. 2.9; the name is Jehovah, Zech. 14. 20; written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, 2 Cor. 3. 3. Christ the sure Foundation.-Is. 28. 16; 1 PET. 2. 6–8. God's Church is compared to a building, as the temple was the visible residence of God. "Ye are the temple of God," I Cor. 3. 16. A good building must 1. Be erected on a solid foundation: all rests on the foundation. Christ is the "rock of ages," "the foundation of Apostles and prophets, Christ being the chief cornerstone," Eph. 2. 20, as well as the foundation. Some build on the sand of self-righteousness, but "God lays in Sion a tried stone, a precious corner-stone," Is. 28. 16. The foundation is out of sight, so Christ must be strong to bear the superstructure; earthquakes cannot destroy it. 2. Have a regular and orderly erection, the rule of architecture applied to its building, so Israel's Church was "according to the pattern shown in the mount," Heb. 8. 5. Sin breaks up the harmony of society, grace unites in a church, "God is not the author of confusion." "That he might gather together in one all things." On the regularity of a building depends much of its strength, so "the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," how symmetrical was Solomon's temple, so the spiritual one, "the whole building fitly framed." 3. Be composed of many stones. Every stone has its place, though there be many; some are polished, as James, Cephas, John "pillars," some of these are hidden, some form the coping, yet all are on the foundation. Some houses are of turf, or layers of brick, or sandstone, or marble, but God's houses are of lively stone, I Pet. 2. 4; pictures, statues, sometimes seem alive, but here the stones are living—i.e., active. 4. Undergo a great transformation. Polished statuary and fine buildings are originally from the quarry, so believers were encrusted with fleshly lusts, sunk in the mire of spiritual corruption; so Paul the blasphemer preached the faith he once destroyed, "Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn." 5. Have a skilful architect in their transformation, Christ is such, Heb. 3. 4. Stones are inactive to raise themselves from the quarry; scaffolding and masons are required; so in Solomon's temple, Jews, Canaanites, Tyrians, were employed; Cyrus was subsequently God's servant for its rebuilding, Ez. 5. 13; in the scaffolding of Solomon's temple no noise of axe or hammer was heard. 6. Be cemented in the strongest way. Their position unites stones, but the best union is cement, the whole body composed of that which every joint supplieth, Eph. 4. 6; love is the bond of perfectness, Col. 3. 14. Earthquakes may P |