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something to be accepted suddenly, by one act were at an end; as if "Fight the good fight of of faith? Is it not a process to be carried on faith" were a superfluous exhortation, with no throughout the whole course of my life?" Is real meaning for the believer. Now here let that your objection? Well, first of all let us us not confound two distinct things. There is distinguish between two things that differ. We conflict and there is rebellion. Do you call that must all admit that no argument is needed to conflict when your will is in a state of resisprove that the true Christian life is a life of tance against God's will? Surely not. Do endless progress, of continual advancement. you call that conflict when you are struggling But do not confuse the two things-growth, in your own strength against some evil deand that which is the condition of growth. Look at a tree in its normal condition; we see three things-life, health, and growth. So in every believer there ought to be three things. There is life-that is regeneration; there is growth-that is the development of life. But there is health-that is life in its vigour-that which is essential to growth. As life and health are essential to the growth of the tree, so fulness of blessing or fulness of life, which is spiritual health, is essential to spiritual growth.

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But again, "I am come that ye might have it more abundantly." And how long will it take you to receive that gift?

Your little child is sick and ceases to grow. You do not expect it is going to spend all its days in gradually getting well. The sooner it is restored to health the better, for the sooner it will begin to grow. If the Lord Jesus were visibly present on earth you would bring that little sick child to His feet; and with this expectation, that by His touch your little one would be instantaneously healed. You would not object to the cure because it came suddenly.

Just so, what Christ did for the bodies of men, He can and will do for their souls. There is such a thing as instantaneous spiritual healing -getting your whole inner being so adjusted that you begin to grow with a vigour you never knew before. This is the blessing multitudes of God's children need. This is to have life in its fulness.

But again, another objection: "Is there to be no conflict?" Some speak as if all warfare

sire? It may be the conflict of a Christian,
but it is not, properly speaking, Christian
conflict. To fight the good fight of faith
we must fulfil certain preliminary condi-
tions. And what are these? We must stand
on the right ground. We must occupy the
victorious position. We fight not in order to
gain the victory but by faith taking the posi-
tion of victory already gained by Christ for us,
we fight from it, and not for it. The good fight
of faith consists in retaining the position we
thus take by faith. "Stand fast therefore in
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free." "Take unto you the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all to stand." Satan's
great aim is to get the Christian to doubt, for by
getting him to doubt he succeeds in dislodging
him from his victorious position.
tinue trusting is to fight in faith.
liever take this true position.
Lord and in the power of His might," and the
evil within will be kept under by the power of
God, so that instead of battling with self, he is
now free to fight against the enemy without.
This is conflict, but it is not rebellion-it is the
good fight of faith.

But to con

Let the be"Strong in the

Lastly, it may be urged, is there not a danger here of spiritual pride? Danger certainly there is; there are dangers all along the line of spiritual blessing. In proportion to the amount of privilege enjoyed there is danger. Let us be on our guard; never forget that our true place is down in the dust at the Master's feet; never let us forget we ourselves are nothing; let us recognise the danger, and trust our blessed Master to keep us from falling into it. And one thing to keep us from falling, is seeing the

true ground of our glorying. This is not in self THE FULNESS OF THE BLESSING: HOW in any sense but in the Lord alone.

M. Theodore Monod made use of an illustration at the last Dublin Convention, which may help us here. If a piece of iron could speak what could it say of itself? I am black, I am cold, I am hard. But put it in the furnace, and what a change takes place. The blackness is gone, the coldness is gone, and the hardness is gone! It has entered into a new experience. And yet the fire which brings about the change is a distinct thing from the iron. And if the iron could speak it could glory not in itself but in the fire that makes and keeps it a bright and glowing mass.

So Christ is the sole object of our glorying. The moment we begin to boast even in the effects of Christ's indwelling we get away from the ground of all true glorying.

NOT MY OWN.

Mr Saviour and my Lord, to Thee I give

TO APPROPRIATE IT.*

BY REV. WILLIAM ARTHUR.

THE title of the subject this morning is very simple-how to appropriate, how to make our own, that which is not in us, but that which is in another. This means that it is in the other, and it equally means that we need it, and that we are desiring to make it our own. You have heard where the fulness is, you know in whom it dwells; and we are here asking that the fulness may be made our own, that God may supply all our need, not according to our ideas, or our merits, but according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We are referred to many portions of the word of God, and first of all to one in 2 Kings iii. 9-17.

What does this indicate to us as the first thing

that we are to do in order that fulness may come out of emptiness, and abundance out of emptiness? "Make this valley full of ditches." What? make a dry valley in the land of Moab full of ditches, and turn your eye towards the place where rain did not come from, and where streams did not come from, and where any surplus supply did not come

This heart of mine, to be henceforth Thine own. from? Yes "make the valley full of ditches".

No worthiness have I to make my plea,

No right of gift save Thy command alone.
But this I have, and marvelling at Thy grace,
I hesitate no more-Thou lovest me!

I recognise Thy right to this poor heart,
Thy right supreme, and yield it unto Thee.
Oh! reign therein, and keep it wholly Thine;
Make every pulse unto Thy blessed will
To beat so full, so true, that evermore
My spirit Thou mayst sanctify and fill.
JEAN SOPHIA PIGOTT.

KESWICK CONVENTION REPORT.

FULL reports of Addresses delivered at this Conference we hope to give in our next issue. Orders should be sent early to avoid disappointment.-ED.

GOD is as faithful to cleanse as He is to forgive, and He is as much pledged to the one as to the other. He must eminently desire His people to be clean, for whilst forgiveness restores the sinner to God's favour, purity restores Him to God's image.

When

for what reason? For none upon earth that any
man could assign. The only reason asked for in
heaven was one "Thus saith the Lord."
that comes, reasons, and means, and probabilities,
and measures proportionate, and ordinary calculation,
all come to an end. Thus saith the Lord, "Make
this valley full of ditches "-capacity, capacity,
capacity, consisting not in ability, but simply in
emptiness.

So in the next chapter, when the prophet stood face to face, not with the wants of kings, and of great hosts, and of a multitude of cattle, but with the wants of one lonely widow; still it was the same law, "Borrow vessels of thy neighbours-empty vessels, not full vessels-borrow not a few." What was again wanted was emptiness-capacity, as I have said, not consisting in power, but consisting solely in want, obvious want, recognised want, and confessed want; above all, in accepting and believing want; for these ditches were not made there, and these vessels were not brought there, except upon The the faith of this—“Thus saith the Lord."

This and the following Addresses were delivered at the recent Mildmay Conference.

emptiness was according to the fulness. The want much better, but at all events men of flesh and was according to the supply.

Is not this valley full of ditches? Has not the preparing power of the grace of God been making the valley full of ditches? Is there not here and there a pining, yearning, longing, praying heart, a heart that does know the gift of God, and who it is that speaketh to us, a heart that does say, "Lord, give me the living water, give me of Thy fulness," and wherever there are these ditches we may expect to see the power of God come into the midst of us. The prophet said, "Ye shall not see rain or wind." There will be no external sign, but there will come the water, and the ditches will be filled, and the proof will be that the men will drink, and the cattle will drink, and the work will be done. So will it be this day. The Lord is in the midst of us. All fulness dwells in Him. Our prayer is, "Enlarge our faith's capacity wider and yet wider still, and then the fulness that is in Thee will fill our souls." He will fill them.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. He was full, and "out of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." We do not receive His fulness in the absolute sense. In that sense we never can make it our own. Our fulness can never be more than the fulness that He speaks of: "The water that I shall give you shall be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life." It springs up not from me, but from the Lord, the Head, the Fountain. A fountain we can never be, any one of us. We can only be a receptacle. He will not magnify the receptacle against the fountain, and say that the receptacle is so large that the fountain does not suffice to fill it. The fountain does suffice to fill it and make it overflow. Out of His fulness have all we received, and how? "He came unto His own and His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name." Receive Him and you receive fulness; receive Him and you receive power; receive Him and you receive wisdom, and might, and all things, for "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." In Him who is the Head of all principalities and powers are ye made full.

Then ask to be made full, and ask it now. The Apostle, speaking for people just like us, people certainly not worse than we are and perhaps not

blood, and with just the same temptations, and dangers and weaknesses as we have, prayed that the Lord would grant to them according to His riches in glory. It is not according to their deserts, but according to what He is, according to His riches in glory, "that ye, being strengthened with all might by His Spirit in the inner man, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." You say; " I cannot know what passeth knowledge. That is a paradox." No, it is not a paradox; and when you say, "I cannot know what passeth knowledge," you say what is not correct. You don't know what passeth knowledge! The eye knows the sun, but the sun passes the knowledge of the eye; and the eye, by a fulness of light, can never make a day; but the eye can be so filled with the fulness of the sun that the whole body shall be full of light. And so the sailor knows the sea, but the sea passes his knowledge; and the botanist knows the plants, but the plants pass his knowledge; and every baptised child of God, upon whom has come the Spirit of the Saviour, knows the love of Christ; but the love of Christ passes his knowledge-passes all knowledge. So may we comprehend this love of Christ which passes knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God-filled out of His fulness, filled by His power, filled so full that God should pronounce us full.

But remember, mechanical fulness is one thing, vital fulness is another. Fill a pitcher with milk this evening, and to-morrow morning the pitcher will be full. Fill a babe quite full with milk this morning, and before to-morrow morning the babe will want more. All vital fulness demands a constant supply. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; not sap enough only for the roots and the trunk, but for the bark, the twig, the branch, and the topmost bud or leaf. So with us. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; but to be full of sap they must draw every day from the heaven above and from the earth beneath, and they must never interrupt the drawing. There must be a dependence that is perpetual-never interrupted. The moment the cedar of Lebanon felt it was so strong it could do without the air, the rain, the sun, and the soilthat it could live upon its own power and glory—it would soon cease to be full of sap. Do not wait

upon nature. We are at the feet of Him who is above nature, above sin, above inability, above all our ill deserts.

Now His fulness is present in the midst of us. If we but touch the hem of His garment power will proceed out of Him. You shall see no tongues of flames. You shall hear no rushing mighty wind; but the water will come and fill all the trenches that are in this valley, and the water that He shall give you shall not only be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life; but he that believeth in Him, as the Scriptures hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Filled to overflowing you will prove the glory of the picture in the text-"My God shall supply all your need"- the glory of the Scripture that saith, "He is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.”

ADDRESS BY REV. C. A. FOX ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

MANY of us during this sacred time of conference may have been uttering the words which King David uttered of old, "I am this day weak though anointed king" (2 Sam. iii. 29). Many hearts here, perhaps, have realised what the greatness of the possession is in our blessed Lord Jesus; have heard, indeed, with holy joy of the fulness of blessing; and yet they say this very evening, "I am weak though I am indeed anointed a king." It was when King David had lost his great friend Abner that he uttered these words. It is often when an idol is removed from us that we find how weak we are. May God grant us to-night His power and His blessing, and enable us to stand in His strength, and to go forth in the power of His might.

Our blessed Lord spoke very plainly when He said, "I am come that ye may have life, and that ye may have it more abundantly." Yes, it is the coming of Jesus that brings us this life. It is the entering of Christ into the heart that fills the heart with this life. It is the opening of the whole being to this Lord Jesus that is the fulness of this wondrous blessing. Brethren, are we doing it this evening? Has it not too often been death without Jesus? Has it not been coldness and darkness without Jesus? 'Why, then, art Thou gone up, blessed Jesus?" "I am gone that thou mightest have life, and have it more abidingly." Yes, and it is abiding

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now. The Spirit in-dwells, and Christ in-dwells us by the power of the Holy Ghost.

You must have noticed that the Old Testament Scriptures are those which reveal the strong men to be weak, and the New Testament Scriptures are those which reveal the weak men to be strong by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Old Testament is the book of the broken law, and, therefore, the curse; the New Testament is the book of the fulfilled law, and therefore the blessing-the fulness of the blessing. And it is because weakness is the chosen workshop of our Divine Master that He calls the weak things of the world to be His chosen followers. The army of Christ is of five ranks, and those ranks consist of five deeper degrees of weakness. God has chosen the fools-foolish things of the worldto confound the things that are wise. He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things, and despised things, and things that are not, to bring to nought thing that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. And that means this, that in the midst of the five ranked armies of the King of kings there is the eternal presence.

Christ is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. We have all in Him. Brethren, shall we not be strong? "When I am feeble," saith the Apostle, "then am I able." Blessed word! God hath appointed that the way of strength should be by the bread of heaven. Those only are strong who eat of this blessed bread. If you eat little you have little strength-the Word of God is the bread. If you keep your faith down, half-starved, you have no strength, no power; everything becomes impossible with you. Faith eats deeply; faith hath a great appetite, and demands continual supplies of God's Word, so that you may grow your own faith. I know some people say that faith is only to be had of God. I acknowledge it fully; faith indeed is the gift of God in every sense. But God hath appointed that we should grow our own faith. How? "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." You may grow your faith by feeding it on the Word of the living God. Oh, brethren, let this evening be a grand occasion for faith feeding on the living Word, believing every single word that God speaks, no matter what we think of it—just believing, only believing, and then the victory is sure.

You remember, when the poor woman came to

the Lord Jesus and asked Him to cast the devil out of her daughter, He answered her, "It is not meet to take the children's bread and give it to dogs." You know what the children's bread means. She asked this simple question, that He should cast the devil out of her daughter. The Lord said, "It is not meet to take the children's bread and give it to you, a dog." Why the children's bread is to cast the devil out of the soul of man. Brethren, it is God's intention that we should eat that bread. Every child of His by right divine hath this household bread. Oh, how Jesus must yearn that we should all eat this bread and suffer no more defeat! Shall we not believe the Lord Jesus? Shall we not eat this bread and live? Shall we not have the power of the bread of heaven within us, and, empowered by His strength, shall we not go forward?

But, you ask, How is this strength to be obtained of God? What is the process of it? In brief words it seems to me this: God the Father is the source of blessing and of power; God the Son is the channel of this power; God the Holy Ghost is the supplier of this power; the cross of Christ is the flood-gate of this power; and it is through the window of the Holy Word of God that we see this wonderful vision of power. As the Lord Himself said, "Thou mayest be rich;" "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; and eye salve that thou mayest see." All spiritual cataract shall be removed, all colour-blindness shall be removed, and we shall be able to see, even as God Himself desires us to see. No man can see God's face and live. Yea, Lord; but see Thee we must, and die then we will. Shall we not see God to-night see Him with the child's eye of faith? I do believe that God wants more children about Him. He wants men and women of simple, child-like faith. He set a little child in the midst, and taught the grown doctors. Often He teaches grown men and learned men by the simplicity of the faith of a new-born converted child.

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wounded Christ, and absorbed into Himself. Sweat and thorn, and sorrow and death-all the curse has been drawn up into Jesus Christ, and He hath become a curse for us. What is the result? That He hath restored us again into the presence of God, That is the meaning of the Ascension. Man is gone up to God again; man is in the presence of God again. "I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

This is a blessed truth, that Christ hath delivered us from the curse, and now we are free. He hath not only restored unto us this wonderful position in the presence of God, but He hath actually installed us in His own position in the presence of God. He actually gives us His own place. There was no place for us in heaven; justly we had forfeited our place. The dear Lord Jesus saith, as He goes forth to die, "Give them my place, Father!" And the Church of Christ has taken, by Divine leave, the place of Jesus Christ, and the Church is with Jesus, even on the very throne of God.

In the next place, God hath restored unto us our lost powers. We had lost four powers. The first was this power over sin. Christ hath restored us this wondrous power. "Sin shall not have dominion over you." What do you think of that? Sin shall not reign over you. "Thou shalt not serve sin henceforth," saith God. "By the abundance of grace you shall reign in life." I quote God's words, my brethren. Oh! let there be no dispute over plain truths. Do not let anything interfere with your blessed acceptance of the simplest words of God. They are intended for us. Christ hath broken the bondage and set us free. What else? He hath given us a power over the law. The law of God was in all ages what at creation we should have wished and intended; but sin hath broken the law. Now God hath restored us power over that law, "that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Again, the Lord Jesus hath given us this third power: power over the devil. "Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you." "He is your servant. I have conquered him. He is a conquered foe. Resist him, and he shall flee from you." Your faith in this doth not destroy the power and truth of God's word. He hath Himself shown us how to resist the devil. When the devil came to Him, He only said just a

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