this verse; it is not egotism, but earnestness, which we here behold. When he was a Pharisee he was really in earnest as regards religion, though quite wrong in his views. He could do nothing by halves; he would do nothing by proxy. Once he gloried in saying, I have worked; I have persecuted; I have loved the law; I have hated the Nazarenes: but now his glory is, "I have believed." He listened to the oft-repeated words of Jesus, "I am," and pondered well what came after them: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the bread of God; the light of life:" and then he said, "I have believed." He listened to what God said about Christ, and His satisfaction with Him and His work, and he set to his seal that God is true. He did many things besides, and all as the result of his faith. He could say, I have loved, I have laboured, I have suffered; but all were preceded by, and flowed from the first, I have believed, I have trusted and relied on the Saviour of sin

ners.

Christ is the great One, and faith identifies the soul with Him; without this we are all but ciphers and of no value whatever. When we believe, all the excellency of Him on whom we believe becomes ours; it is put upon us; His righteousness is put to our account; His name sets ours aside; the sweet savour of His one offering is ever before God instead of the ill savour of our sins.

Blessed is he who can really say "I have believed," which means, I have received God's testimony, and rely upon what is revealed therein. It is no use to say, "I have believed," unless it really is so; but if it is so we should be assured of it, and testify to the same; this is the privilege of all believers, though few enjoy it. The primitive Christians seem to have lived in the enjoyment of assurance, and the want of this shows that there must be a mistake somewhere among Christians Are not impulses regarded by some rather than divine testimony? and is there not too much conformity to the world among real Christians? If we would be sure that we are believers, we must live a life of faith on Christ, and a life of separation from this present evil world. A life of faith is to look to Christ to be all that to me that God has declared He is, and that He has made Him to be. It is not merely to assent to a revelation, it is also to trust in a person therein revealed.

now.

But we read also in the text, "I have committed," as well as I have believed. It is a similar act; the word believed or trusted may be rendered committed (John ii. 24). The text before us may be read, "I am not ashamed, for I know Him to whom I have committed myself, and am persuaded that He is

able to keep my deposit against that day." Thus he acted at first when God revealed Christ to him and in him; thus he acted all along, and continued it to the end. Just as Chris lived a life of faith on the Father, so did Paul on Christ. The Lord Jesus hoped in God very early (Ps. xxii. 9), and His last act was committing His spirit into His Father's hands. The promise still is to him that believeth, or continues to believe; as, when a person has insured his life, he goes on to pay his premium to the end; so faith must go on acting; and provision is made for this in the covenant of grace and by the intercession of Him who prayed that Peter's faith should not fail. We shall be saved by His life," kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

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How is Christ honoured, the gospel recommended, and the soul comforted by our unreservedly committing of all to Christ. "Just as you commit your child to a friend, your cause to an advocate, your health to a physician, your money to a bank; so commit your soul and all its concerns to Christ." No one can do this for you. It must be a personal act. If you have If not yet done it, you are invited to do so now. Christ is provided for this special purpose. Think of the value of your souls, of your own weakness, of God's love and grace in providing Jesus, and give yourselves to Him to be saved in His own way. If you have really done so there will be effects to prove it; your faith will be sanctifying faith, it will purify the heart, it will strengthen and solace you in conflict and trouble. How blessed to be able to say, I have believed; I shall be saved; I have now committed all to Christ, and am for ever one with Him; He hath borne the death which I deserved, and now He is my life!

II. Paul's religion consisted in having to do with a Person. "For me to live is Christ." "That I may know Him and be found in Him." How this thought pervades all his prayers! In them we see that he realises Christ as a real person. "You say that you know who Christ is, but do you know Him as a personal friend?" Thus to know the name of Jesus, and to know how to use it, is true wisdom and real happiness.

Many we fear fail in one of the two things we have referred to; as regards some, their religion is not strictly personal. They enjoy themselves most in a crowd. Religion is not a matter between God and the soul. This is a fatal error, and it is a serious mistake not to have continually to do with the Person of Christ, and with Christ as a PERSON. We should never be satisfied without realising religion as a spiritual fact in the soul; and having Christ as a spiritual friend for the

soul. The latter is a sure evidence of the former. If I am living upon Christ, this is a sure proof that Christ liveth in me. If the Saviour is glorious to the soul, and powerful in the soul, it is because the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, indwells in the soul, and causes it to gravitate towards Him as its centre, and then to reflect His glory as the light of life.

Observe, Paul does not say, I know in whom I have believed, but whom I have believed: that is, I know Him who is the object of my faith and foundation of my hope. I not only know that there is such a Person, but I know something about Him; only a little as yet, for He is an infinite Personthe graciousness of His character can no more be fully known, than the wonders of His Person can be comprehended.

Do we not see from this that believing is necessary to all right knowledge of Christ? No one rightly knows Christ till he has really trusted in Him. We come to Him with all our needs, and He fully meets our cases. Thus, by believing we learn how suited He is, how faithful, how tender, and gracious. If the first real act of faith brings a knowledge of Christ such as was not known before, then a life of faith on Christ will introduce to an ever-increasing acquaintance with His excellencies. Paul could say, as soon as he believed, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord;" but, as years rolled on, and as faith more and more familiarised his soul with Christ, he could say so with increasing emphasis and more abounding joy. Faith draws out the virtues of Christ, and thus we know what excellencies are in Him, and how glorious He is. There are two ways of obtaining knowledge; the one is by testimony, and the other by experience. Paul knew the value of both, and was never satisfied without the latter. Nor must we be; for this kind of knowledge alone satisfies. It satisfies as regards the past. To know Christ who died as the risen One (see 10th verse); shows that the great sin question is settled by God for all who believe. Without this, some one says, "I am like a sear-leaf dangling over the dark waters of eternity;" but as one with Him who died and rose again, my past history is set aside, and I know Christ for remission as God knows Him for satisfaction. Also, as regards the present, with all its trials and temptations, weakness and wrong tendencies, I am satisfied as I hear Christ say, "My sheep shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." And then as regards the future, both of time and eternity, there is complete satisfaction also, which brings us to notice

III. The Apostle's sublime anticipation. Concerning that

Person whom he trusted, to whom he had committed all, and with whom he had such a blessed acquaintance, he cherished the most comfortable persuasion. Think of the period to which he looked forward: "THAT DAY"-the day of light, of joy, of glory; the day of Christ; the day of God; the day of revelation, of resurrection, of restitution. There is no reference to that day in the preceding part of the chapter, and the manner in which he introduces it shows how much it occupied his mind, and how dear it was to his heart. How delightful it is to contemplate the two advents of the Lord, and to study them together, as Paul does in Titus ii. 10, 13,—the one the completion of God's purposes of grace, and the other the consummation of His purposes concerning glory. How can those dread the one who really depend on the other? should they not rather ardently desire "that day" than think of it with dread?

How cheering was Paul's persuasion! "I am persuaded that He is able." Precious thought, HE IS ABLE. To how many things may we apply this: "Able to save them to the uttermost (or, for ever) who come unto God by Him" (Heb. vii. 25); "Able to keep them from falling and to present them faultless, &c. ;' ;" "Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think;" "Able to build us up and to give us an inheritance among them that are sanctified;" "Able to keep the deposit safe against that day." It is intelligent ability. He will not overlook one of His own. Every horn of the Lamb hath an eye in it; wisdom and power are combined in Him. It is a loving ability. He who hath all power in heaven and earth is full of sympathy, is meek and gentle. The enthroned ONE is a "Lamb as it had been slain." It is faithful ability—“faithfulness is the girdle of His loins." He is girt about the breast (the seat of love) with a golden girdle. Such was Christ to Paul, and such is He to all from whom He has ever received a deposit.

This knowledge of Christ and persuasion concerning Him yielded Paul much comfort; the great point of all was fully settled; His mind was now at rest. The safety of a deposit depends upon the goodness of the character of him you leave it with; your satisfaction and comfort on the knowledge of the same. As soon as you commit a valuable treasure to any person, you become interested in his character. This knowledge of Christ feeds faith, and makes it strong; and faith that grows out of a deep acquaintance with Christ will produce abounding consolation and steadfast courage. Thus we find Paul full of courage and joy even in the prospect of

martyrdom; concerning his own future he had no fears. All that belonged to him was in Christ's hands, and he knew that "the day" would declare the Master's faithfulness and the servant's blessedness. Thus his hope was nourished, and he looked forward to "the day" as the consummation of all his desires, and as "the day" which should prove the wisdom of the course he had taken in depositing all with Christ, and being willing to do or suffer everything for Him.

It is indeed beautiful to notice in Paul's last letter, and the closing words thereof, how tenderly anxious he was about the cause he loved so truly, and the dear friends whom he was leaving behind. Thus it ever will be; in proportion as we trust in Christ, commit all to Him, and acquaint ourselves with Him, we shall be concerned for the triumph of His cause, the salvation of the souls of sinners, and the edification of believers.

What a sad disappointment awaits many in that day! It will come as sure as this day ever has arisen; and many who have heard about it, and sung about it, will find to their sorrow and dismay that they have no treasure in heaven, that they have no deposit in Christ's hands. They have committed nothing to Him. He was not after all their Lord, nor did they worship Him. They said, "Lord! Lord!" but did not do what He said. Their treasures were on earth, and they will then be eternal bankrupts. You that have not yet gone, go at once, while the office-door of mercy is still open, and get insured for eternity. But bear in mind that you cannot serve God and mammon; you cannot leave your soul in Christ's hands while your tastes and affections find appropriate objects in an evil world, and His beauty is not desired. "Who (says one) would trust a jewel to a stranger, who would walk over an abyss without inquiring whether the plank was sound or rotten." Where is your jewel, your one precious soul? On what are you treading on your way to eternity? "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death."

What delight will the true believer (between whom and Christ there has been a real soul transaction) have in that day! He will then find all perfectly safe, even as he was told, "he will see HIM whom he hath trusted as He is ;" and will indeed have to say, "the half, yea, the thousandth part, was not told." And while living in the hope of that joy and glory, what diligence should the believer give to "make his calling and election sure," and to " serve his own generation by the will of God." Then shall he sing in the ways of the Lord, and