y expecting to be redeemed and adopted--'waiting for
our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.' He thus retains the
intensely Jewish language of what we may call Christ's own Apocalypse,
when He bids His disciples, as the Day of the Lord approaches, to 'look
up and lift up their heads: because their redemption draweth nigh.'

The uses of the words 'saved' and 'salvation' are still more
remarkable. If we are {311} contemplating the finished work of Christ,
we are led to say, 'By grace have we been saved[10].' If we are
considering our own individual entrances into this great salvation at
the time of our believing or becoming Christians in baptism, we say,
'It was upon a basis of hope that we were saved[11].' If we are
considering the progressive life of the believer, we say, 'He is being
saved[12].' If we are looking to the great and final hope, we say, 'We
shall be saved.' 'Our salvation is nearer than when we became
believers[13].' This simple set of facts about New Testament language
throws a great light on the popular revivalist question--'Are you
saved?'

iii.

Our Lord once asked one who came to Him to be healed--'What wilt thou
that I should do unto thee?' and a very devout modern writer[14] builds
upon this an argument that we ought to learn continually to pray with
more definiteness and detail. Probably it is true to say {312} that
the advanced Christian learns to pray more definitely for spiritual
things, as he grows in spiritual discernment and sees more distinctly
what God's moral will is for himself and others. But there is no
similar growth to be expected in the knowledge of what outward gifts
will really help or hinder us and others. And it is with his eye
chiefly on the outward conditions of the Christian's life that St. Paul
here says--'We know not what we should pray for as we ought'; and
teaches us that 'The Spirit makes intercession for the saints according
to God.' We must be content to recognize, even while we
half-ignorantly pray for what we think we need, that '_all_ (outward)
things work together for good to them that love God.' St. Paul had
learnt that lesson when he himself 'besought the Lord thrice' that his
great physical trouble might be removed from him, and was refused[15].
The Son of Man Himself prayed only 'Father, _if it be possible_, let
this cup pass from me,' and learned in experience that it was not
possible. These lessons may suffice to humble any one who