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with their risen and ascended Head they possess the secret of perfect sanctification. Analysis. In the thanksgiving which, as usual, directly follows the opening salutation (i. 1, 2), St Paul lays stress first on the inherent fruitfulness of the gospel message (3-6); then he tells them how he came to be interested in them (7, 8), and how he prayed for their growth in the knowledge of God's will so that their lives might be worthy, fruitful, strong, and full of gratitude to the Father for transferring them to the kingdom of His Son (9-14), who is His own Image, the Author and the Goal of all creation (15, 16), preeminent not only in the old order but in the new (17, 18), because the Father willed that He should be the abiding home of all divine perfection and the reconciliation of the universe (19, 20), with a power which had already begun its work in them (21, 22), and which required from them nothing but faithful adherence to the hope of the one world-embracing gospel (23). St Paul was the appointed recipient and guardian of this new revelation of the universality of the gospel; so he passes naturally from this mention of it to explain his own relation to it in suffering for it, in working it out into all its consequences, and in striving to bring it home to the heart and mind of every man (24-29). And so they could understand how it was that he took a prayerful interest even in those who like themselves had never seen him (ii. 1-5).

After this introduction he is able, without seeming to intrude, to plead for and to enforce a fundamental truth, which some of their own teachers were forgetting, that the secret of holiness is to be found, not in cunningly-devised external regulations, but in union with Christ in all the glory of His true nature, and in the realization of our share in the fruits of His death and resurrection (6-19). The consequence of this for us is that we are free from all mechanical restrictions (20-23), and called even now to live with Christ in God (iii. 1-4). In the light of this revelation of our true state we can work out our own salvation by doing to death every evil inclination (5-8) and clothing ourselves in our divine ideal (9-11), especially cherishing all qualities that tend to union with our brethren (12-14), in constant remembrance of the peace and the power of Christ both in public worship and in every act of daily life (15-17).

Leaving the general exposition of Christian duty he describes the special duties of wives and husbands (18, 19), children and parents (20, 21), slaves and masters (22-iv. 1); and then he calls on all Christians for prayerfulness and prudence in their relations with the heathen world outside (2-6). The letter ends with a commendation of its bearers (7-9); greetings from his companions to the Colossians (10-14); a special message from himself to the Laodiceans (15-17); and the Grace (18).

The Epistle to the 'Ephesians." The thoughts which had been stirred by the danger in Colossæ had clearly an importance for a much wider and more influential circle than could be touched even if the Colossians were diligently to circulate their own Epistle among their neighbours in the little Phrygian valley of the Lycus both in Laodicea and Hierapolis. And further, there were some elements in the conception of the place which the Church, by virtue of her organic connexion with the Christ, occupies in relation to the

whole counsel of God, that could not be fully developed in the stir and stress of controversy. Accordingly St Paul sends by the same messenger a second letter, in which he expounds in detail the work which the Church has been elected to perform in the world and the relation in which the various members stand one to another in the unity of the one body. These thoughts were no doubt not entirely new to St Paul, but they must have matured and deepened as he watched from its centre at Rome the practical working of a world-embracing empire; and gave thanks for the success of his mission to Jerusalem in averting the threatened breach between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

The letter was not, according to the true text (Eph. i. 1, R.V. marg.), addressed exclusively to any particular Church. It seems to have been, like the First Epistle of St Peter and the Revelation, in some sort a circular letter, carried round by its bearer from Church to Church in Asia Minor. For instance, it is probable that this is the letter which the Colossians are to expect from Laodicea (Col. iv. 16). In any case the Church at Ephesus must have been the most important of the Churches to which it was sent, and the centre from which copies of it would be most freely circulated; and so it may not unnaturally have been regarded as in a special sense addressed to that Church. But it seems difficult to imagine that if St Paul had been in any sense concentrating his attention on them his work should shew no trace of the peculiar intimacy that existed between them (Acts xx. 17 ff.). And this at least is certain, that none of St Paul's Epistles reads so little like a private letter and so much like a theological treatise.

Analysis. After the salutation (i. 1, 2) the Epistle begins with a solemn ascription of blessing to God for the blessings bestowed on His chosen in Christ (3-7), especially in opening their eyes to see the goal of His eternal purpose (8-10) and in gathering Jew and Gentile into a present share in His inheritance (11-14). Then, still standing as it were at the head of his people, with his face turned towards God, he pours out his thanksgiving for their faith, and prays that their eyes may be opened to the full grandeur of their true position (15-18) and to the power which had been operative in the enthronement of their Head (19-23), and in their own deliverance from the death of sin (ii. 1-4) to a new life of active obedience to the will of God (5-10).

After this he turns to his readers and, in what we may call the first section of the Epistle proper (ii. 11-iii. 21), pleads with them to bear in mind these facts of their true position (1122), first reminding them of the gulf which had in times past shut them off both from their fellow-men and from God (11, 12); then shewing them how this gulf had been bridged by the Incarnation and the Passion (13-15), the Resurrection and the Ascension of Christ Jesus (16-18), and finally working out under the figure of a spiritual temple their present living union with their brothers and with God (19— 22). His exhortation is on the point of culminating in intercession when he pauses for a moment to explain to them the special relation in which he stood both to them and to this grand new revelation which God had granted to their age and generation as a step towards the working out of His eternal pur

pose (iii. 1-12). This delay is due to a fear fest the fact of his imprisonment might prove a stumblingblock in the way of their faith in his gospel. This once removed (13), he can turn once more to the Father and pray Him to strengthen them to enter into and be transfigured by this revelation of His love (14-19). The section closes with a doxology (20, 21).

In the second section of the Epistle (iv. 1vi. 9) he works out in detail the practical consequences of the truths developed in the first. The first claim which the recognition of our unity makes upon us is for humility and meekness (iv. 1-6). But while each is thus bound to keep himself in check for the sake of the rest, each has his own gift to contribute towards the perfect development of the whole organism (7-16). In order to fulfil these claims cach man is called upon to break decisively with his evil past (17-19), and to put on the new man (20-24). He then illustrates what is meant by this general direction in certain definite points of character and conduct (25-v. 5), and enforces the necessity for Christian consistency by the thought of the power of the Christian example (6-14). Christians must therefore be watchful and zealous in the evil days, sensible and sober even in the midst of spiritual joy (15-21). In fulfilling the natural relationships of a home they must bear in mind the divine source of all authority; so the husband will find a perfect pattern of devotion, and the wife of submission, in the interchange of surrender and obedience between Christ and His Church (22-33). Children will learn the secret of obedience and parents the secret of discipline in the Lord (vi. 1-4); servants will render a perfect service and masters learn to respect their subordinates in the constant recognition of His presence (5-9).

The last section of the Epistle contains a description of the armour which is provided in Christ for the Christian for the great spiritual battle which he is called upon to fight in carrying on his Master's work in the world (10-20). A few words commending the bearer of the letter follow (21, 22), and then the Epistle closes with a blessing and the Grace (23, 24).

The Epistle to Philemon. It is characteristic of St Paul that the little letter to Philemon should take its place side by side with these two great dogmatic Epistles. His contemplation of the deepest truths finds its natural fruit in the fulfilment of the homeliest duties.

Onesimus, a runaway slave, had been won for Christ in Rome, and was now returning to Colossæ, to the duty he had left. St Paul sends this letter with him to his old master, who chanced to be also one of St Paul's spiritual children.

Analysis. After the salutation (1-3), St Paul gives thanks for the good fruits of Philemon's faith (4-7), and then pleads with all the power of his personal influence for Onesimus, who had run away from his master to find a new master in Christ, and was now coming back to his duty (8-20). He then holds out the prospect of a visit from himself (21, 22), and adds a few greetings from his friends (23, 24) before he closes with the Grace (25).

Characteristics of the Third Group. The characteristic doctrine of the first group, as we have seen, is the Second Advent; that of the second is the Cross and the Resurrection.

The characteristic doctrine of the third group is the Ascension and the present sovereignty of Jesus Christ over the world and over His Church. This is seen to involve an eternal dignity. The ascent corresponds to a previous descent (Eph. iv. 9), and carries with it the motive power of a complete consecration for all whose eyes are opened to realize the true grandeur of their position as risen and ascended with their Lord. The Epistles belong to a period of quiet settled life in communities that were at least beginning to be consolidated. Problems of thought began to press for solution as well as problems of action. The gospel is shewn to be the guide to a true philosophy, as well as to possess the power to produce right conduct, and to satisfy the social as well as the individual needs of men.

THE FOURTH GROUP.

Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy.

The fourth group of St Paul's Epistles be longs to the period which elapsed between the last mention of him in the Acts and his martyrdom at Rome. Our knowledge of his movements during this period depends entirely on these Epistles, except that an early tradition declares that he fulfilled the intention expressed in Rom. xv. 28 and visited Spain. Assuming, as on the whole we are justified in assuming, that these letters are genuine, it is clear that he must have been set free from his first Roman imprisonment, and have spent at least some part of his time in revisiting his old friends in Greece and Asia Minor. To this interval of freedom we must assign the Epistle to Titus and the First Epistle to Timothy.

The Epistle to Titus. At some time during these travels he must have visited Crete with Titus in his company. Seeing the dangers to which the faith was exposed in the island from the lack of organization in the Church there, and being unable to stay long enough himself to do all that was required, he had left Titus behind 'to remedy defects and appoint presbyters in the several cities' (i. 5). St Paul, however, had no intention of setting Titus to work there permanently, and suitable messengers being to be had (iii. 13), he sent this letter by them partly to give his true son' some hints for his guidance in the difficult. task that had been laid upon him, and partly to bid him come to Nicopolis as soon as Artemas or Tychicus came to relieve him (iii. 12).

Analysis. After a salutation, expanded to contain a full description of the faith which it was St Paul's glory to serve (i. 1-4), he reminds Titus of his commission to ordain elders (5-9) and to correct refractory members in the Cretan Church (10-16). He then describes the character which he should aim at producing in the various members of his flock, whether freemen (ii. 1-8) or slaves (9, 10), remembering the educational value of the gospel message (11-14). In fulfilling his own office he must be firm (15), insisting on submission to authority, and meekness (iii. 1, 2); teaching meekness by the memory of our natural state, apart from the new life of the gospel (3-7), and deriving firmness from confidence in his message as a matter for practical application to life, and not for quibbling subtilty or self-willed speculation (8-11). The Epistle closes with a brief notice of the apostle's plans, parting injunctions, greetings, and the Grace (12-15).

The First Epistle to Timothy. In the course of these later journeyings St Paul must also at some time or other have reached Ephesus, and on his departure have felt it necessary to leave Timothy behind him to check the growth of certain unprofitable forms of speculation. He did not anticipate a long absence from the city (iii. 14). Still, as a delay might occur, he writes to him, perhaps from Macedonia (i. 3), to give him counsel and encouragement in the fulfilment of his duty. The special tendency he was required to check was due certainly in part, and perhaps altogether, to Jewish influence. Traces of it were to be found even in Crete (Tit. i. 14, iii. 9). It may perhaps be simply a later stage of the same error which St Paul had combated in the germ at Colossa. It contained two elements; one purely fanciful, busied with endless genealogies' and 'old-wives' fables'; the other pretentiously practical, even while it wasted all its strength in the effort to define the minutest details of legal obligation (1 Tim. i. 7, vi. 4, 20; 2 Tim. ii. 14; Tit. i. 14). There was nothing solid or healthy in such stuff, and if it led to any neglect of the simplest moral obligations it was fraught with serious danger to the faith. This was the danger immediately pressing (i. 3). There was a more serious danger looming in the future. Men would soon be found to brand as evil various parts even of God's own creation (iv. 1-5), and Timothy's bias towards asceticism (iv. 8, v. 23) might give this false doctrine a spurious attractiveness.

Analysis. After greeting his true son (i. 1, 2), St Paul reminds him of his commission to keep in check the frivolous speculations and foolish legalism of some teachers (3-11) who endangered the simple truth of the grace of God which was illustrated so clearly by St Paul's own experience (12-17); and exhorts him to watchfulness by the memory of his ordination and by two warning examples of failure (18-20). After this introduction he begins by giving special directions (ii., iii.) for the ordering of public worship and for the character and conduct of ministers. He exhorts the Church to pray for every member of the human race in the light of the universal purpose of God and the all-inclusive ransom (ii. 1-7). He bids women be modest in dress, and silent in the public teaching of the congregation (8-15). He details the special qualities required of those who fill official positions in the Church (iii. 1-13), and shews the peculiar sacredness which belongs to each congregation as a Pillar in the Spiritual Temple of the Truth (14—16).

In the next section (iv.) he warns him of the approach of a dangerous form of false teaching (1-5), and bids him meet the danger in himself and others by spiritual rather than bodily discipline (6-10), and by special attention to his own growth and teaching (11-16).

Then follows a section (v.-vi. 2) containing a series of hints to guide him in his relations with the old and young of both sexes (v. 1, 2), with special reference to widows (3-16), to elders (17-20), to the administration of discipline (21-25), and to the relation of Christian slaves to their masters, heathen or Christian (vi. 1, 2).

The last section of the Epistle (3-21) contains a description of the dangers to which believers, and especially teachers, were exposed from the love of money (3-10); an earn

est exhortation to Timothy to keep clear of this and other dangers, based on the great facts of the Christian faith and hope (11-16); a message to the rich (17-19); then yet one more appeal to Timothy (20, 21); and the Grace. The Second Epistle to Timothy. The circumstances under which the Second Epistle to Timothy was composed confer on it a peculiar pathos, and stamp the mark of heroic grandeur on its indomitable trust. It was written from Rome after the first stage of a new trial (iv. 16). St Paul was in serious danger, and some even of his trusted friends had deserted him (iv. 10). In the bitterness of his isolation he longs for the presence of his 'darling son' (i. 2) and writes to bid him come at once and bring Mark with him (iv. 11). This is his immediate object in writing, but the contents of his letter are mainly determined by another consideration. As he writes the sword of the executioner is hanging over his head, and the blow may fall at any moment. So he takes this opportunity, which may so well be his last, to give full expression to all the affectionate solicitude of his loving heart for one who had been for many years his faithful companion. Words written under such conditions, especially if they were sealed with the blood of the writer, must have had a peculiar power to nerve one who was still young for the work he had to do, and who perhaps was constitutionally disinclined to stand alone, to take up and wear the mantle that was now falling from the shoulders of his aged, deserted, and yet still triumphant, master.

Analysis. After greeting his beloved child (i. 1, 2), he gives thanks for the memory of his faith inherited, like St Paul's, from his forefathers (3-5); bids him stir up his gift and bear witness bravely (6-11); and tells him the secret of faithful guardianship (12-14). Then after a short notice of desertions, and of the loyalty of Onesiphorus (15-18), he appeals to Timothy to be diligent in teaching (i. 1, 2), in self-discipline (3-7), in enforcing the full Christian creed for which he himself was suffering (8-13). He calls on him to keep strictly to what is solid and profitable in teaching, as in the presence of God (14-19), and since He can find a use for any vessel in His House if only it be clean (20, 21), he bids him aim at purity of heart, avoiding contentions that he might win souls (22-26). He then tells him of dangers ahead (iii. 1-9) from false teachers who will win temporary success. He reminds him of the sufferings that they had shared in early days (10-13), and bids him be faithful to the lessons of his childhood, the Scriptures that were given to fit God's people for their work (14-17). Then with the utmost solemnity he adjures him to be diligent in proclaiming his message, even though truth should be less popular than fiction (iv. 1-5), and all the more because his own work is done (6-8).

The letter closes with an urgent summons to Timothy to come to Rome, giving him various commissions to fulfil by the way (9-13), warning him against an enemy, and announcing the issue of the first stage of his trial (14-18). The last verses (19-22) contain messages to and from various friends, and the Grace.

Characteristics of the Fourth Group. The Pastoral Epistles are by the nature of their destination occupied mainly with questions re

The Epistle to the Hebrews. The title of this Epistle suggests that it was written to Christian Jews in Palestine. The contents confirm the accuracy of the title. The persons addressed are of Jewish birth, feeling the fascination of their national creed and the ritual in which it was embodied. They have long been Christians, having received the Gospel from its first witnesses (ii. 3). But the first generation of their leaders has passed away (xiii. 7), and under the influence of renewed persecution at the hands of their own countrymen, coupled with disappointment because the Lord is not yet come, they are in danger of renouncing their faith in Jesus and returning to Judaisin. These conditions would most naturally arise in Palestine, e.g. after the martyrdom of James the Just, A.D. 62.

The author of the Epistle has withheld his name, and neither the voice of tradition (cf. Limits and Growth, pp. 16, 17) nor of criticism enables us to fill up the blank left by his silence. The phraseology of the Epistle, no less than its elaborate symmetry and polished rhetoric, distinguishes it from the Epistles of St Paul.

lating to the internal discipline and organiza-ing out of personal experience of human weaktion of the Christian body, and with the ideal ness (v. 1-3), and divine appointment (4)-are of the Pastoral Office. The development and found in the Risen Christ, as appears from the training of the life of godliness have taken the words of God in the Psalms, and from the place of instruction in the faith. At the same record of the Agony in the Garden (5-10). The time it is striking to notice the earnest reitera- more special characteristics of His High-Priesttion with which St Paul in these Epistles em hood belong to an advanced stage in Christian phasizes the universality of God's saving pur- education, for which you ought by this time to be pose (1 Tim. ii. 4, iv. 10; Tit. ii. 11, iii. 4), and more ready than you are (11-14). Still let us the bounty which shines out in every part of leave the rudiments and press on (vi. 1-3), for His creation (1 Tim. iv. 4, vi. 13, 17). though God's blessings misused issue in a curse (4-8), we have confidence on your behalf, only we would that hope were as active among you in appropriating your inheritance, as love is in your ministry to your brethren (9-12). You have in the oath of God to Abraham a most solid ground for clinging to the hope which like an anchor links you to your unseen champion (13-20), the High Priest after the order of Melchisedek. What, then, are the characteristics of this High-Priesthood? It is royal, and it is abiding (vii. 1-3); it is superior to the Levitical (4-10), for that is in itself transitory (11-14), belonging to an imperfect dispensation (15-22), and composed of constantly shifting elements (23-25), while this is free from all imperfection of sin or infirmity; it is the eternal office of the divine Son (26-28). It is exercised in heaven in the archetypal tabernacle (viii. 15), and is based on the nobler, that is, the new covenant, of which Jeremiah spoke (6-13). The ordinances and the instruments of worship under the first covenant belonged entirely to this world. The Tabernacle and its furniture were material (ix. 1-5); the very arrangement of the Tabernacle declared the imperfection of the revelation, and the sacrifices and ordinances themselves were powerless to effect any but a material cleansing (6-10). Christ, on the other hand, by the blood of His sacrifice can cleanse the conscience itself (11-14). The new covenant is established in His death (15-17), even as the old was ratified, and all that belonged to it cleansed, with the blood of victims (1822). The scene of His work is the actual presence of God, and His sacrifice needs no repetition (23-28). The impotence of the former sacrifices is revealed by the fact of their repetition (x. 1-4) and by the substitution of spiritual obedience for them in the Psalmist's prophecy (5-10). Christ's sacrifice, however, is single (11-14), and perfectly effectual (15-18). In the strength of it let us draw nigh to God ourselves and stir up one another to faithfulness (19-25); for our responsibility grows with our privileges (26-31); and you have shewn some capacity for endurance (32-34); you will not surely lose heart, with the deliverance promised to faith almost in sight (35-59). Faith has been the mark of the saints in every age (xi. 1, 2). Abel's sacrifice, Enoch's walk with God, Noah's obedience, Abraham's wanderings, and the birth of Isaac, all shew the working of faith (3-12) and their longing for a heavenly country (13-16). By faith Abraham offered Isaac, and the patriarchs blessed their children, and Moses was preserved, and the people redeemed from Egypt, and established in Pales tine (17-31). In short, God's heroes in every age have been heroes of Faith (32-38), even though they had to wait for us for their perfecting (39, 40).

It was written in the company of some Italian Christians (xiii. 24), but there is no certain indication of the place of its composition. It begins without any formal salutation. Analysis. God has in our day crowned all His former utterances by speaking to us in a Son who is higher than the angels; for they, as the references to them in the Psalms prove, are subordinate beings attending on the heirs of salvation, and bidden to do homage to the Firstborn; while He is clothed with divine prerogatives and is called to a throne at His Father's right hand (i. 1-14). This utterance then demands stricter attention from us who have heard it than even the utterance made through angels on Sinai (ii. 1-4). For the whole universe is by divine decree subjected not to angels but to man, and the glorification of Jesus is the visible first stage in the working out of that subjection (5-9), even His Passion finding a place in the development as the means of our deliverance from the fear of death and of His own perfecting for His present function as the High Priest of His brethren (10-18). Consider then carefully the position of Jesus as our High Priest. He is the Son set over the household of God in which Moses was but a servant (iii. 1-6). We as members of His household shall do well to take warning from the history of Israel in the wilderness, lest we miss our entrance into rest, as they did, through unbelief (7-iv. 2). For the promised rest is still before us (3-11), and we live under the eye of an all-seeing Judge (12, 13). So let us cling to our creed and boldly claim the help which our High Priest is able and willing to give (14-16). For both of the qualifications for a high-priesthood among men-sympathy aris

With their example before you, and with your eyes fixed on the Cross of Jesus, you cannot faint (xii. 1-3). As sons, you must expect to be chastened by your Father (4-13). Only

guard against evil in yourselves (14-17). For
the Christian Sion is at once more blessed and
more awful than Sinai (18-24); and the final
shaking of both heaven and earth is at hand
(25-29). So do not despise simple duties (xiii.
1-6). Imitate your first teachers (7-9). Be-
ware of being drawn away by strange teaching
from union with Jesus in His sacrifice (10-16);
submit to your present leaders (17). Pray for
us (18, 19); and may God bless you (20, 21).
A few brief notes of news and greeting bring
the letter to an end (22-25).

INTRODUCTION TO THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. The Catholic (i.e. Universal) Epistles are so called because the most important among them are not expressly directed in their superscriptions, as St Paul's are, to particular Churches or individuals. It seemed natural, though it is not correct, to assume, on the strength of this fact, that they were meant from the first to be read by all Christians wherever they might be. The collection contains letters from each of the three pillars of the Church in Jerusalem, James, Cephas, John (Gal. ii. 9), together with one from a writer of whom we should otherwise have possessed no memorial, Jude, the brother of James. St James writes expressly to Jewish Christians. Both St Peter and St Jude are writing, in all probability, to converts from heathenism. Before St John wrote, the old distinctions had passed away. He writes to men who had been born and bred in the common brotherhood of the Christian Church.

The Epistle of St James. This Epistle is addressed to the faithful Israelites scattered throughout the world, who are regarded as symbolically representing the whole nation. It was written, as the imagery employed in it shews, from Jerusalem, or at least from Palestine.

Himself the Judge standing before the door (v. 9), deepened, defined, but did not disturb this simple Jewish faith. He seems to have had little interest in theological speculation. At any rate the object of his letter is to enforce in the spirit, and often in the language, of the Lord, with the earnestness and fire of a prophet of the olden time, the moral and practical consequences of his creed.

It does not seem to have been called forth by any special crisis. The difficulties it deals with are just those which would be sure to assail Jewish-Christian circles as soon as the faith in the Messiahship of Jesus had begun to crystallize into a dogma. They are just the national besetting sins reappearing in a slightly altered form. At the same time it is hard not to sup pose that he is aiming directly in ii. 20-24 at some Jewish-Christian misinterpretation of St Paul's language in Rom. iii. 24. In that case the Epistle must have been written not long before his death. It would naturally be disseminated by means of the crowds who gathered at Jerusalem at feast times (Acts ii. 5 ff.). According to the account in Josephus, with which the account in Hegesippus is not necessarily inconsistent, James fell a victim to the intrigues of Annas the high priest between the death of Festus and the coming of Albinus (A.D. 62).

Analysis. He begins his Epistle (i. 1) with the regular Greek form of salutation (cj. Acts XV. 23, xxiii. 26). He then passes at once to illustrate the power of the truth to transfigure our common estimate of things to be desired or shunned, and so to regulate our attitude to wards them (2-18). He shews how trials may minister to joy (2-4), how a felt need may become a link uniting us to God (5-8), and how the absence or the presence of this world's goods may alike afford ground for exultation The author, who writes as a Christian (i. 1) to (9-11). Trial, for all its potency of blessing Christians (ii. 1), describes himself simply as (12), has a darker side-it may pass into temptJames. There can be no reasonable doubt that ation; but this is not owing to God's willing, tradition is right in identifying him with the but to man's lusting (14, 15). So he comes to Lord's brother' who occupies so prominent a the expression of the fundamental truth which position in the Church at Jerusalem after the underlies the whole paragraph, the flawless death of James, the son of Zebedee (Acts xii. and unchanging beneficence of Him to whose 17; Gal. ii. 9). The brethren of the Lord, ac- pure will we owe our being (16-18). He then cording to the common tradition in Palestine passes to consider the special developments in in the second century, were really what we character and conduct which will follow naturshould call half-brothers, children of Joseph ally from faith in such a Creator (19-27). by an earlier marriage. They were not (Acts These are first an ear open to receive His i. 14) of the original Twelve, but James, by Word (19-21), then a will steadily set on emvirtue of his official position, clearly ranks as bodying the revealed purpose of His creation an apostle (Gal. i. 19). He seems to have re- (22-25), and then, as the true ritual of outward mained to the end of his life a strict observer devotion, watchful self-restraint and active of the Mosaic law, and to have been regarded charity (26, 27). with veneration even by his unbelieving fellow- He then proceeds to warn them against countrymen. Trained as he must have been various dangers to which as Jews they were among those who were looking for the redemp- naturally predisposed (ii. 1-iv. 12). They were tion of Jerusalem (Luke ii. 38), three truths tempted, in flagrant contradiction to their faith would naturally lie at the root of his religious in Jesus Christ, to pay court to a man simply life. First he would learn to believe in one on the ground of his outward possessions (ii. 1 God, Creator of heaven and earth, who had-4), in spite of the preference which God had made man in His own image (i. 18, 23, iii. 9, iv. shewn for the poor (5), and in spite of the vio5). Then he would learn of the favour which lence and impenitence of the rich (6, 7). The God had in time past shewn to His people, consideration of this subtle form of mammonpoor and weak though they might seem to worship leads him to explain how we may test men (ii. 5). Thirdly he would learn to look for- the rightness of our actions (8-13) and the ward to a coming day of judgement and de- vitality of our faith (14-26). He shews first. liverance (v. 3, 7, 8). His faith in our Lord that the royal law of love is the one test of Jesus Christ (ii. 1), in whom the glory that right conduct (8). Anything which, however marked God's presence with His people had slightly, violates that law is actual transgresfound permanent embodiment, who had shared sion (9) and brings absolute guilt (10, 11). So as Messiah the lot of the poor, and who was we must bear in mind the conditions of our

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