his activities, but only gave them a new sphere; and wherever he is seen acting, the river is seen flowing. Thus, when we find him, with a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, conducting his ransomed hosts across the sterile sand of the desert, there we see the stream flowing forth, not from Eden, but from the smitten Rock,—apt and beautiful expression of the ground on which sovereign grace ministers to the need of sinners! This was redemption, and not merely creation. "That rock was Christ," Christ smitten to meet his people's need. The smitten Rock was connected with Jehovah's place in the tabernacle; and truly there was moral beauty in the connection. God dwelling in curtains, and Israel drinking from a smitten rock, had a voice for every opened ear, and a deep lesson for every circumcised heart. (Exod. xvii. 6.)

Passing onward, in the history of God's ways, we find the river flowing in another channel. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood, and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John vii. 37, 38.) Here, then, we find the river emanating from another source, and flowing through another channel; though, in one sense, the source of the river was ever the same, being God himself; but, then, it was God, known in a new relationship and upon a new principle. Thus in the passage just quoted, the Lord Jesus was taking his place, in spirit, outside of the whole existing order of things, and presenting himself as the source of the river of living water, of which river the person of the believer was to be the channel. Eden, of old, was constituted a debtor to the whole earth, to send forth the fertilizing streams. And in the desert, the rock, when smitten, became a debtor to Israel's thirsty hosts. Just so, now, every one who believes in Jesus, is a debtor to the scene around him, to allow the streams of refreshment to flow forth from him.

The Christian should regard himself as the channel through which the manifold grace of Christ may flow out to a needy world; and the more freely he communicates, the more freely will he receive, "for there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty." This places the believer in a place of sweetest privileges, and, at the same time, of the most solemn responsibility. He is called to be the constant witness and exhibiter of the grace of him on whom he believes.

Now, the more he enters into the privilege, the more will he answer the responsibility. If he is habitually feeding upon Christ, he cannot avoid exhibiting him. The more the Holy Spirit keeps the Christian's eye fixed on Jesus, the more will his heart be occupied with his adorable Person, and his life and character bear unequivocal testimony to his grace. Faith is, at once, the power of ministry, the power of testimony, and the power of worship. If we are not living "by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for us," we shall neither be effectual servants, faithful witnesses, nor true worshippers. We may be doing a great deal; but it will not be service to Christ. We may be saying a great deal, but it will not be testimony for Christ. We may exhibit a great deal of piety and devotion; but it will not be spiritual and true worship.

Finally, we have the river of God, presented to us in the last chapter of the Apocalypse.[4] "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High." This is the last place in which we find the river. Its source can never again be touched,—its channel never again interrupted. "The throne of God" is expressive of eternal stability; and the presence of the Lamb marks it as based upon the immediate ground of accomplished redemption. It is not God's throne in creation; nor in providence: but in redemption. When I see the Lamb, I know its connection with me as a sinner. "The throne of God," as such, would but deter me; but when God reveals himself in the Person of the Lamb, the heart is attracted, and the conscience tranquillized.

The blood of the Lamb cleanses the conscience from every speck and stain of sin, and sets it, in perfect freedom, in the presence of a holiness which cannot tolerate sin. In the cross, all the claims of divine holiness were perfectly answered; so that the more I understand the latter, the more I appreciate the former. The higher our estimate of holiness, the higher will be our estimate of the work of the cross. "Grace reigns, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." Hence the Psalmist calls on the saints to give thanks at the remembrance of God's holiness. This is a precious fruit of a perfect redemption. Before ever a sinner can give thanks at the remembrance of God's holiness, he must look at it by faith, from the resurrection side of the cross.

Having thus traced the river, from Genesis to Revelation, we shall briefly look at Adam's position in Eden. We have seen him as a type of Christ; but he is not merely to be viewed typically, but personally; not merely as absolutely shadowing forth "the second man, the Lord from heaven," but also as standing in the place of personal responsibility. In the midst of the fair scene of creation, the Lord God set up a testimony, and this testimony was also a test for the creature. It spoke of death in the midst of life. "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Strange, solemn sound! Yet, it was a needed sound. Adam's life was suspended upon his strict obedience. The link which connected him with the Lord God[5] was obedience, based on implicit confidence in the One who had set him in his position of dignity—confidence in his truth—confidence in his love. He could obey only while he confided. We shall see the truth and force of this more fully when we come to examine the next chapter.

I would here suggest to my reader the remarkable contrast between the testimony set up in Eden, and that which is set up now. Then, when all around was life, God spoke of death; now, on the contrary, when all around is death, God speaks of life: then the word was, "in the day thou eatest thou shalt die;" now the word is, "believe and live." And, as in Eden, the enemy sought to make void God's testimony, as to the result of eating the fruit, so now, he seeks to make void God's testimony as to the result of believing the gospel. God had said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." But the serpent said, "Ye shall not surely die." And now, when God's word plainly declares that "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," (John iii. 36,) the same serpent seeks to persuade people that they have not everlasting life, nor should they presume to think of such a thing, until they have, first, done, felt, and experienced all manner of things.

My beloved reader, if you have not yet heartily believed the divine record, let me beseech you to allow "the voice of the Lord" to prevail above the hiss of the serpent. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on