The Table of Shewbread:

OR, A PORTION FOR EVERY

BY GIDEON.

SABBATH.

SUNDAY, FEB. 5TH.-SPIRITUAL FOOD.

"Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually."-Leviticus xxiv. 8. Is thy soul quickened by the power of the Holy Ghost? If so, thou canst not do without spiritual food. But thou art not left to cater for thyself. God is thy Father, and provides for the life he hath given. His table is never empty: "Blessed are they who hunger, THEY SHALL BE FILLED."

The shewbread points to Jesus. It preached Him to the Jews. In that it was bread-"the staff of life"-it shewed that the soul must find its sustenance in Him; and in being set out every Sabbath is shown that the ministers of the Gospel are always to preach Him. See then how this Table of Shewbread teaches us,

1. What an abiding fulness there is in Him. A cake for every tribe, and a supply every Sabbath. Dost thou sometimes unbelievingly ask, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?"-Psalm lxxviii. 19. See what He did for forty years. Though Israel neither ploughed, sowed, nor reaped, the table was spread every day with manna, and every Sabbath with shewbread. While Jesus lives we cannot want.

II. See here the abiding FRESHNESS of Christ; always the same yet ever new. He is as old as eternity, but to the really hungry soul He is as new as the morning. We preach the same Christ every Sabbath; but there is no need for a sameness in our preaching. In Him is an infinite variety; an ever opening freshness of beauty. Men never get tired of bread, although they eat it every day. And if, reader, you are a real Christian, you will never get tired of Christ. When many are turning away from the truth and forsaking Jesus, if He say to you, "Will ye also go away?" would you not reply, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life ;" and therein He is "the Bread of Life." see,

But

III. In this type the sweetness of Christ. "Fine flour," no bran. Beware of creature doings, and free-will mixtures. Alas! how few there are, comparatively, who do not mingle some leaven of the Pharisees in what they give. And that is not all, they omit the "pure frankincense," that is the perfect merit, the all-sufficiency of His blood. Go then, hungry soul, where a full Christ is preached. And may the Holy Ghost shew thee thy welcome to Him.

Amen.

SUNDAY, FEB. 12TH.-THE TRUE LIGHT.
"His going forth is prepared as the morning."-Hosea vi. 3.

ALL is night till Jesus appear, but when He arises the people who sat in darkness see a great light. "His going forth is prepared as the morning."

I. Because He is "the True Light." Mark you, not only light, but

the true (John i. 9): We never see clearly what sin is till we know Christ. Hast thou, poor sinner, discovered thy vileness, clothed thee in sackcloth, covered thy lip, and, like the leper, dost thou cry, "Unclean, unclean;" or, like Job, "I abhor myself?" Whence came these con

victions? Why, Jesus the glorious Sun of Righteousness has arisen upon thee: "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in thy heart."-2 Cor. iv. 6. The light did not make all the sin and filth thou now seest, but revealed it: this is the property of light, to make objects visible. And blessed are they who see.

II. "His going forth is ordained as the morning," because He alone shews the way of escape from all the penal consequences of sin, and thereby He leads the poor sinner into joy. Poor soul! art thou mourning thy sad state? Well, as sure as thou hast seen what a guilty and helpless wretch thou art, so sure shall the Day Spring from on high visit thee, and the Day Star arise in thy heart. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Yes! take heart, and thou shalt say unto the Lord, "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing, thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness."Psalm xxx. 5, 11. For,

III. His going forth is ordained as the morning, because of the punctuality with which He fulfils the DECREES of grace. The morning is never before nor after the time. The decree is fixed! We cannot bring it, and, bless God, our foes cannot stay it. Poor soul, art thou as they "that watch for the morning?" (Psalm cxxx. vi.) thou shalt not watch in vain. The night may be long, dark, and cold, but "the morning cometh." And by and bye thou shalt see a morning never to be followed by night; for at best it is dark here, but the Holy Ghost saith (Romans xiii. 12), "The night is far spent, the day is at hand;" then "Thy sun shall no more go down" (Isaiah lx. 20), and thou shalt dwell in the inheritance of the saints in light." 'Hope to the end." Amen.

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SUNDAY, FEB. 17TH.-FAITHFULNESS.

"Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt." Daniel iii. 25.

WHAT a sight! Moses thought he saw a wonder when the fire was in the bush and consumed it not (Exodus iii. 1, 2); but here are men in the fire and have no hurt! Come, Christian, then, and look and learn,

1. To be faithful to thy principles. Here is an example for thee! The world-what is called the "Christian World"—the most dangerous of any, they will call upon thee to fall down and worship the image which they have set up. Yes, if thou wilt not worship the "spirit of the age," or bow down before false charity, or join the popular cry of hosanna to modern "Liberality," then thou shalt be cast into the burning fiery furnace of popular disfavour. They will heat it as hot as they can with the fuel of "HARD SPEECHES (Jude 15). Their "coals of fire" are plentiful and cheap, and so they shall come upon thee burning-hot, "Hyper-Bigot-Antinomian," and a thousand other fiery words shall be heaped upon thee. What then? Why go into it all rather than deny the Lord who bought thee. And He shall walk with thee there; thou shalt have no hurt. Here were three men who stood alone, but stood

firm. If thou be tempted to dishonour the Lord, think of them. And, II. Learn how fidelity is rewarded. Who would not go into the hottest fire to be with Jesus? God may suffer us to be sorely tempted, but it is to prove the reality and power of our principles; and all that the enemy is permitted to do unto us, shall be for good. You see the fire burnt their "fetters." The King saw them "loose" and "walking," and they came forth the living monuments of Jehovah's faithfulness. He had said, "When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned (Isaiah xliii. 2), and He is as good as His word. The Babylon ians might have thought, What poor, silly things these men are to trust to the God of Israel, who hath allowed Jerusalem to be laid waste, and sent their captives here! Ah, our God may allow us to be trampled on for a while, but He will arise and have mercy in the set time. "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Amen.

SUNDAY, FEB. 26TH.-UNEQUALLED LOVE.

"As one whom his mother comforteth."-Isaiah lxvi. 13.

READER, art thou a mother? Then I need not attempt to tell thee what are the feelings of a mother's heart. Is not the little helpless creature on thy lap the most beautiful in thine eyes? And wouldst thou not at any moment throw thyself between the babe and the foe? die to save it? starve to feed it? toil to provide for it? and wakefully watch through dreary nights to procure its repose? Its feeble cry goes to the heart like a knife, and its smile kindles joy which only mothers are blest to taste. Are thou not only a mother but a child of God? Then how canst thou doubt His love when there is such a text as this in the Bibie? Every really penitent soul is born again, and belongs to the family of God; and if He take more care of one than another it is the weakest-just as the attention of the parent is directed most toward the infant who cannot help itself. Our Jesus takes up the babes in His arms, puts His hands upon them, and blesses them. Oh for faith to see thyself in the bosom of love Divine, for what can harm thee there?

May be thou art not a mother; but thou hast had one. No love was like hers; it never changed; it always manifested itself in seasons of sorrow and difficulty, and was blind to a thousand faults, and forgave as many sins. What a God is ours to compare himself to a tender mother! But do not forget His power combined with love. An earthly parent sometimes cannot comfort. Not so our Jesus; He has a balm for every wound, a cordial for every disease. Again, He is wise as well as loving; He will not give His children edge-tools, or fire arms to play with because they cry to have them, nor poison to drink though it taste sweet. "No good will He withhold ;" but He does keep back much that we THINK GOOD, and gives much which appears to us evil; yet all is in love; and what thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter, and join in the confession, that "Hehath done all things well." "As one whom his mother comforteth so will He comfort thee." believe. Amen.

Only

The Surrey Tabernacle Expositor.

EXPOSITION OF REVELATION XI. 4-11: BY MR. JAMES WELLS, OF THE SURREY TABERNACLE, BOROUGH ROAD.

"These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth."

THESE two olive trees represent in the first place, evidently so, ministers of the Gospel; and then secondly they represent all the people of God. They are said to stand before the Lord, and so the people of God abide by the Lord, because the Lord abides by them; called olive trees because they are children of peace, and because, also, they are evergreens; they have a life that can never die. Hence, saith David, "I am like a green olive in the house of God; because I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever."

"And the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."

Another characteristic of the Church; the seven churches are spoken of as the seven golden candlesticks. While the Lord Jesus Christ is the great representative of all His people, yet He hath given us many other representations descriptive of the character and privileges of His people. "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed."

Now this belongs to all the people of God; that all those that are their enemies must be dealt with in this way. But what are we to understand by fire proceeding out of their mouth? This fire proceeding out of the mouth of the people of God means the testimony they bear against error; and when they bear testimony against that error which the natural mind advocates, and thereby bear testimony against the conduct of those that would injure the cause or the people of God, this their testimony is that fire that God will give vitality to, to the destruction of their enemies, and to their own defence. The meaning is the same in substance as where the Lord saith He will be a wall of fire round about His people, and the glory in the midst. Think not, then, that this description here given belongs to any one class of Christians; to ministers any more than to private Christians, or to private Christians any more than to ministers; for what are ministers but Christians that the people of God choose to speak unto them in the name of the Lord? We must therefore take this imagery to represent the people of God, and the fire proceeding out of their mouth the solemn testimony they bear for God, and for His truth, against everything that is contrary to that truth; and those that will be their enemies must thereby be subjected to the judgments of God. Let us, then, the Lord enabling us, bless His holy name, that while we are in no wise better than others by nature, He hath by the death of His dear Son brought us out of that enmity, and brought us into reconciliation unto his blessed self, and made us love His name, His truth, His people, and His ways:

"These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy;"

Take prophecy here to mean testimony,-bearing testimony; "And have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”

So, then, according to this, the people of God govern the world; not by meddling with politics, not by interfering with civil laws, not by trying to rob any of their liberty; but they do govern the world by their decision for the truth, and by solemn prayer to God. And when it is here said that they shut up the heaven, and that they smite the earth with plagues, the meaning is just the same as where the Saviour saith, "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. Ask what ye will, and it shall be given unto you." Of course, we are to understand that their will here in bringing these plagues about, is to be in submission to the will of God; but it does shew the high vantage ground upon which the people of God stand. And thus, then, they shut heaven testimonially; you bear testimony that heaven is shut against that man that does not feel his state as a sinner, but is in a state of enmity against God; if you testimonially shut heaven, and you also bear testimony that that carnal, ungodly man's pleasures, must by and bye be turned into plagues, and that his prospects and hopes must all die, here indicated by being turned into blood. And thus then the Lord governs the world in a way that is most conducive to the good and the welfare of His people. No wonder the saints should be thus privileged, even in governing the world, without meddling with it, yet in this sense of the word they govern; no wonder, I say, that it should be so, for they are at last to judge the world; "this honour have all His saints." Now remember, this then is a description, not of something that is to take place in one age of the Church, and not in another; it is a description, not of one class of Christians, but a description of all the people of God and of their privileges:

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit;"

Or out of the abyss:

"Shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."

He does that a great many times. You finish your testimony up to a certain point, and then the enemy ascends-slays you; that is, brings you into a dead, dark, cold, miserable state, and there you lie like a dead thing. Now you that are Christians cannot be at a loss to know what this is; you know that much of your time is spent in this way; and what is this but the man of sin slaying you? not fatally, not in the bodily sense, but slaying you as to your feelings, and making you as dead, and as dark, and as indifferent to eternal things, as though they were hardly worth looking after. The beast, therefore, means a wild beast, and it includes sin, or the enemy, or Popery, or whatever the adverse power may be ;-the beast that ascendeth out of the pit.

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."

Dead bodies-they are compared to dead bodies, characteristic of the dead state they are in: