the heart, I will. So it is in conversion. The man first says in his heart, I will, I will forsake my former course of life and be a Christian, I will obey God, I will do his will. And nothing short of doing the will of God as it is addressed to him in the Gospel will carry out the action of the will, and meet the demands of the statement, I will. "Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely." So the "tree is known by its fruits." "He that saith I know him, acknowledge him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 Jno. ii, 4.

As regards the instrumentalities employed in persuading men, I have only to say, that men were always free as moral agents, to convert—turn, under the weakest instrumentality, or refuse under the most powerful. The Lord himself "strove with the ancient Jews by his Spirit in his prophets, and they would not hear but resisted the Spirit." Stephen, after he had made one grand effort to instruct his hearers, said, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did so do ye." Acts vii, 51. Was the condition of those fellows unavoidable? If it was, they were not to blame. But there was nothing in their condition that was not in their power. If there was, why should we find these words in their law, "circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked." Deut. x, 16. The Lord has made the salvation of all men possible, otherwise those remaining in an unconverted state, and dying in their sins, are unavoidably lost. And who is to blame? The Father "so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to die for every man. He sent him to be the Savior of the world. The Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit. The Apostles preached it with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. They received grace and Apostleship, for the obedience of faith among all nations, for Christ's name." Rom. i, 5. A great and grand law governed them. In obeying it they did all that they ever did for the world or for the church. There were just three duties prescribed in that law. The first is in the word "teach," or, the better rendering, disciple. The second is in the word "baptizing;" and the third is in the phrase "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The whole is beautifully rendered thus, "Going therefore, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And the whole is rested upon a declaration of kingly authority, viz: "All power in heaven and upon earth is given into my hands," going therefore,—you see the connection.

Go to the Acts of the Apostles and read for yourselves and see how they turned men to God. Paul says, "That he showed first to them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn, convert, to God, and do works meet for repentance." Some disobeyed under the preaching and teaching of the Apostles. Some under the teachings of Christ. And many "rejected the council of God against themselves in not being baptized of John's baptism." Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." Paul was preaching at Corinth; many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized, and Jesus appeared unto him in a vision by night, and said, "Speak boldly and hold not thy peace, and I will let no man set on thee to hurt thee."

Christ gave the commission and Paul was carrying it out. The Savior's visit to Corinth, in vision, was to encourage Paul to go on. Would all the preachers in this country encourage such a work by speaking well of it? Would they say, Go on? If I was preaching in a great city under the same circumstances that surrounded Paul in Corinth, and the days of miracles were not past, I might rationally conclude that Jesus would encourage me in the same manner. Be that as it may, one thing is doubtless true, viz., the same work is the Lord's work yet, and his visit to Corinth to encourage Paul is a great source of encouragement to us. The primitive Christians were all baptized believers; all converted to the service of God; none of them on probation, but all in the fellowship. All were "sanctified unto obedience," all had "purified their souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." Many reverse the order thus: "Get your souls purified and then obey the truth." But Christ has become the "Author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey him." Heb. v, 9. Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Whatever this language may mean it is accomplished when the sinner is begotten in Christ Jesus through the gospel and baptized into Christ.

Paul said of the Corinthians: "In Christ Jesus have I begotten you through the Gospel." And they, "Hearing, believed and were baptized." And James said: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth." Consequently, the entire meaning is in the power of all sinners who have access to the Gospel of Christ. Otherwise, the sinner is unavoidably lost for his unavoidable unbelief. But we are told in John's Record, i, 12, "That as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." So the power of the sinner to become a son of God depends upon his belief on the name of the Son of God, and if he can not believe it is no fault of his. Poor fellow! Is he thus doomed? If he can believe on the name of Christ he is able to reach the relation of a son. For the divine law grants the privilege, liberty or power to as many as believe on the name of Christ. The primitive Christians were the "children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, for as many as were baptized into Christ put on Christ." Gal. iii, 26, 27. John said: "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." 1 John iii, 7. "If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doth righteousness is born of him." 1 John ii, 29. The great appeal to man as a moral agent is in these words: "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." Rom. vi, 16. Do you not know this? Do you not know that you will receive, in the great day, according to that which you have done, whether it be good or bad? Then why not obey the Gospel and enjoy its promises?

OUR INDEBTEDNESS TO REVELATION—No. VI.

BY P.T. RUSSELL.

THE NATURE OF MAN NECESSITATED REVELATION.

The above proposition rests upon and is in harmony with all the relations existing between natural wants and supplies, being itself a supply. Does the power of vision make light a necessity? Yes; without it the eye would be useless. Could man create his own light? It has taken ages upon ages to invent the limited artificial light which we now have. Man is endowed with the powers of locomotion. Could he create an earth to move upon? Could he create the air for breathing? Were these and all such matters necessities? And was man entirely unable to provide for his own natural wants? The faculties with which man is endowed call for these supplies, and they are necessities on account of the existence of these faculties. Think of a being, if you can, with the powers of vision in the entire absence of light, with no air to breathe nor earth to move upon. Do you say such would be a grand failure? So it would. But the Creator has not given powers to