place one. We do not know anything about his intellectual
capacity. He may have had very narrow limitations and very few powers,
or he may have been a man of large faculty and acquirements. But these
things drop out of sight; and this remains--that he was _faithful_. I
suppose the eulogium is meant in both senses of the word. The one of
these is the root of the other; for a man that is full of faith is a man
who may be trusted, is reliable, and will be sure to fulfil all the
obligations of his position, and to do all the duties that are laid upon
him.

You and I, whether we are wise or not, whether we are learned or not,
whether we have large faculties or not, whether we have great
opportunities or very small ones, can all equally earn that name if we
like. If the perfect judgment, the clear eye, of Jesus Christ beholds in
us qualities which will permit Him to call us by that name, what can we
want better? 'A faithful brother.' Trust in Christ; let that be the
animating principle of all that we do, the controlling power that
restrains and limits and stimulates and impels. And then men will know
where to have us, and will be sure, and rightly sure, that we shall not
shirk our obligations, nor scamp our work, nor neglect our duties. And
being thus full of faith, and counted faithful by Him, we need care
little what men's judgments of us may be, and need desire no better
epitaph than this--a faithful brother.

AN APOSTOLIC TESTIMONY AND EXHORTATION

'... I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is
the true grace of God wherein ye stand.'--1 Peter v. 12.

'I have written briefly,' says Peter. But his letter, in comparison with
the other epistles of the New Testament, is not remarkably short; in
fact, is longer than many of them. He regards it as short when measured
by the greatness of its theme. For all words which are devoted to
witnessing to the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ, must be narrow
and insufficient as compared with that, and after every utterance the
speaker must feel how inadequate his utterance has been. So in that word
'briefly' we get a glimpse of the Apostle's conception of the
transcendent greatness of the Gospel which he had to proclaim. This
verse seems to be a summary of the contents of the Epistle. And if we
observe the altered translation of the latter portion of my text which
is given in the Revised Version, we shall see that the verse is itself
an exa