the Lord again and again, to beg for mercy and forgiveness: that has not yet been communicated. No, he has committed a grievous offence, and he here acknowledges it with shame and deep humility before God, and before his readers. To cherish such a feeling is to be guilty in heart of self-murder; to rely upon God for the communication of dying grace and strength under such circumstances, is the very height of presumption; and if such a soul is a child of God, he will surely be brought to smart for it, as the writer does. Oh, he has lost now what for many years he enjoyed, a sweet settled belief and assurance that dying strength would be given in a dying hour, and not till then; instead of looking forward to the hour of his dissolution with longing anticipation, and exclaiming in his almost constant language: Welcome, sweet hour of blest discharge, he now adopts the lines of another poet, with greater fervour than ever:— Oh, reader! such has been the guilt contracted upon the conscience, such the numerous fears to which the writer has been subjected, and such the gloomy apprehensions with which he has looked forward to a dying hour, that he has really been left to question even the power of Jehovah Jesus to remove those fears. When the Lord has indulged him with calmness and composure (which, thanks to his dear name, he has done); whilst, in taking a review of all the circumstances, he has been compelled to say, "Thou hast done all things well;" “I would have nothing different, Lord; ' "I have not a fault to find with thee; and though he has mercifully been kept through the whole of the closing scene of this painful dispensation, from cherishing a murmuring spirit; yet, reflecting upon his own dying hour, he has said, "But what, Lord, shall I do in the swellings of Jordan? How, oh how can I face the king of terrors? He is, Lord, to me the king of terrors; and, though I have so recently witnessed such a peaceful departure, yet this does not strengthen me, or afford me consolation; such are the dark fears by which my mind is assailed." If we Never, never, reader, did we so clearly see the import of that passage, Heb. ii. 15, “And deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage." understand the text rightly, and if our own feelings are a practical illustration of it, such are not much shaken upon the ground of their interest in Christ. They can look back, and afford a clear and satisfactory testimony of how the Lord met with them and blessed them; they can feel and express their present love to him and his cause; his name is most precious to them, sweeter than honey or the honey-comb, and their hope is dearer to them than a thousand worlds; and yet, strange as it may seem-inconsistent as it may appear-they are afraid of the article of death. These very souls, notwithstanding, are clear in the doctrine of election, and the final perseverance of the saints. They believe that not a sheep of Christ shall be lost, nor one single spiritual warrior lose the prize; that every elect vessel of mercy shall as surely be brought safe home to glory, as that Christ himself is there. Strange reasoning, some will say; we say so too; but it is, we are persuaded, a strangeness and a contradiction that some of the family of God know experimentally to be true. Take encouragement therefore, poor soul, if thou art afraid of death, and on that account art ready to conclude thou hast no love to Jesus; by and by perfect love shall cast out fear (which hath torment indeed); and even now, with all thy fears, perhaps if called upon, thy love would display itself quite as firmly (if not more so) as that of others who now rebuke thee for the inconsistency of thy fears, and at times fancy that thou art an hypocrite or a deceiver, or that some secret thing against thee needs explanation. We would say to such souls as are permitted to fall into such a snare, and left to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think, Be careful, my brother; for such a four or five days experience as we have just gone through will surely stop thy boasting, and involve thee in a darkness and distress which, if once it seizes thee, thou wilt be very glad to be delivered from. But one effect we find it has had upon our minds. Instead of dictating to the Lord as to when and how he shall take us, we are very glad to seek refuge in the language of Job, "All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come." We do not now want it to come one moment before the Lord's time; we shall not have strength to meet it before. His time is the best time; his way the best way. We have nothing to say about it, only this, "Forsake us not, Lord, in this darksome hour; we shall be sure to retreat,--certain of falling back, and casting away our confidence, if thou, the Lord our God, art not with us as our Almighty Conqueror over death, hell, and sin." Even so, come, dear Lord Jesus. ON THE TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES OF THE CITIZENS OF ZION IN TRAVELLING THROUGH A FOREIGN LAND. EVERY page of Scripture, and all the experience of the people of God,. declare that this is not our rest; here we have no abiding city, but we seek one to come, into which we now enter by blessed faith, which gives wings to the soul, and also imparts a solid and substantial reality to that which is revealed, and it is "the substance of things hoped for." Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean those who, having been chosen in him, and redeemed by him, are called by the Holy Ghost to put their whole trust and confidence in him—such persons, whatever their age, state, rank, or condition, are taught, or to be taught, to "look to Jesus" alone for everything; to his blood for pardon, his righteousness for justification, his arm and grace for strength, and to his character, covenant engagements, acts, victories, and intercession alone, for comfort. This is altogether contrary to nature; hence arise all the trials and difficulties we meet with by the way, which vanish without being removed, when the end is accomplished for which they were sent. Much is continually said of the gloomy path of the Christian; of one being tempted almost beyond what he can bear, another being harassed by temporal circumstances, another bowed down by domestic afflictions, a fourth left to the filthy corruptions of his own sinful heart; and these experiences are dwelt upon as being conducive to the comfort of others of the Lord's family, who may be similarly exercised. But this is an utter mistake; it is clear from God's word that all the family of God are in this life the subjects of trials of various kinds, and some are exercised in one way and some in another. But what are the purport, end, and design of Jehovah in thus allotting to each a season of trouble? It is that he may manifest and magnify the riches of his grace, and display to his people the all-sufficiency of Jesus; of which they can know nothing but by faith, and faith can only act as our natural powers, faculties, and reasonings, are paralyzed, prostrated, and laid low. : The word of God teaches us how "to bear one another's burdens," how to deal with the weak, the tender, the wandering, and the benighted; it is not to expatiate on the horrors of these states, but to set before them the Lord Jesus as their strength, their comforter, their restorer, and their light this alone does the Holy Ghost honour, for this alone reflects glory on Jesus, and gives the Father the crown of sovereignty. To attempt to comfort one sinner in his darkness and sorrow, by telling him of others who are similarly situated, is as if a physician, having described the case of a patient, and shown him his knowledge of the disease, in speaking of the symptoms, should say, "Your case is very bad, but I have many more patients just in the same case with yourself." Would not such a one be a miserable comforter, a "physician of no value?" On the contrary, "if there be a messenger, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness' (that is Christ's), he makes known the balm of Gilead; he tells the poor sick man, "I was as ill as you are-yea, I even now carry about with me the same deadly disease; but I am healed, and the disease is robbed of its virus: it can no more injure or harm me." Thus, too, should the minister of the Gospel, and all who write or speak with a view to the comfort of distressed characters, not try to make them satisfied with their gloom, or their lot, by pointing out the exercises of other saints or professing Christians, but direct them to the word and the testimony, endeavouring to bring before their minds the sufferings, trials, difficulties, and conquests of their glorious Saviour; which, being rested upon, do presently disperse their fears and dissipate their gloom. Perhaps some poor child of God may say, "I am sure I have derived comfort from hearing such an eminent saint or minister say, he was harassed in the same way as I am." Beloved, what sort of comfort is this? It does not come from Christ Jesus, it is not administered by the Holy Ghost, therefore it cannot last. For the argument runs thus, "I am so vile and sinful, so dark, or so rebellious (as the case may be, I fear I cannot be a child of God; but Mr. A. or B., who is a dear child of God, tells me that he is just as I am, therefore I hope I am a child of God." Now, suppose in the course of a few days Mr. A. or B. should fall into some grievous error, which creates a doubt in the mind of this exercised person that the said Mr. B. is not a child of God; why, his hope is gone, his comfort is departed, and his fears and doubts revive and return with redoubled horror. But if, on the contrary, the agitated mind argues according to the rules of scriptural logic, he says, "I am poor, but Christ is rich; I am tempted, but he is able to deliver the godly out of temptation; I am the chief of sinners, but he came into the world to save sinners; I am rebellious, but he has obtained gifts even for the rebellious.'" He says, "I will arise; Lord, have mercy upon me; Jesus, Master, help me.' He calls upon him, he waits upon him, until he (the Sun of Righteousness) breaks forth with healing on his wings, and his poor soul is stayed, comforted, and supported; and thus an Ebenezer has been raised of which the Lord reminds him in time to come, and which thus becomes a means of strength in future times of need. It does appear to me that the dear children of God are unintentionally kept in bondage by their own friends; but my hope and prayer is, that better days may be vouchsafed to our Zion; and that God's dear children may be brought into the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, is the earnest desire and aim of their unworthy brother, Astley, May, 1841. ALFRED HEWLETT. A FEW THOUGHTS ON FAITH. "said the "IT is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth,' prophet; ay, and to hoary hairs, too, beloved in the Lord! and this thou art left in a waste, howling wilderness to find out. Thy path gets neither smoother nor easier, its character is the same now as it was at the first, and that by divine appointment; "Through much tribulation ye must enter the kingdom.' Perhaps thou hast often dreamt of a soft nest and a smooth pillow; perhaps thou hast often in fancy built a castle, and said, "There I shall dwell secure ;" and perhaps the Lord may have given thee according to thy desires, but thou hast found out, by bitter experience, a thorn in thy nest, a stone in thy pillow, and a corpse in thy castle, which have blasted all thy fancied joy, and compelled thee to feel that this is not thy rest. New trials, new temptations, new perplexities arising day by day; but all to drive thee, poor dove, to take refuge in the true Ark, Christ Jesus, and to find thy present and everlasting rest in him. A fourth distinct promise we have in Gen. xvii. 4, and following, given to Abraham; and more minute than the former, being accompanied by another to Sarah; thus giving Abraham, through this additional assurance, a kind rebuke for his hasty grasp of the unripe promise. Just as he has often reproved thee, believer, with a kiss, when thou wast tremblingly expecting the rod; "We looked for judgment, but behold mercy!" But is this the manner of man? No; this is the manner of a God of all grace, who deals with his children according to the everlasting mercy he has treasured up for them in Christ Jesus. And thus Sarah, the church in type, shall be made to laugh through the abundance of the riches of the grace of God, who has said of all his elect, "Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." But a fifth promise we have recorded in Gen. xviii., given to Abraham, and that after death had overtaken it. Reader, see and admire the various manifestations of God's sovereignty throughout his word; not only in doctrines, but in dealings-" things which are not" must "bring to nought things that are.' And wherefore? "that no flesh should glory in his presence." To carnal reason, the promise was dead; but what of that, says faith, so long as the God of the promise lives? As well could the great I AM cease to be, as one jot or tittle of his word fail; but to exalt and make manifest his own sovereignty, as also to exercise and thereby strengthen the faith of his elect, death must oftentimes overtake the promise. At such a crisis, carnal reason says, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven might such a thing be; but faith lays hold of the word, and sees no impossibilities, for "to him that believeth all things are possible.' Thus Israel goes down into Egypt, and becomes the bond-slave of the Egyptians; but the Lord promises deliverance before the captivity takes place; and as accomplishment draws near, death seems to come upon the promise, so that even Moses, the promised and declared deliverer, says, "Wherefore hast thou so evil intreated this people? neither hast thou delivered thy people at all." Israel must wring the last drop of suffering out of the trial, before deliverance arrives; and this to magnify the mercy, to exalt the sovereignty of God, and to make manifest that he is as "wonderful in counsel" as he is "excellent in working." At a later period in Israel's history, the same divine principle in the actings of God is recognised. "Thou shalt go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field; thou shalt go even to Babylon, there thou shalt be delivered" (Mic. iv. 10). Thus, in order that spiritual Israel may testify to the same truth, they must see death oftentimes overtake the promise; yea, be brought to the very brink of despair, to the verge of the bottomless pit, that they may realize the wonder-working power of an omnipotent God, and the stretching forth of an Almighty arm for their rescue and deliverance. They thus find "rivers" opened "in high places," where they are never found; "fountains in the valleys," where they are never expected; "the wilderness" turned into "a pool of water," and "the dry land" abounding with "springs of water." Carnal reason is ready to say of the promise as Job inquired, "If a man die, shall he be born again?" Unbelief says, "Thy daughter is dead, why troublest thou the Master any farther?" Thy prayers are unanswered, thy tears disregarded, the promise was never meant for thee; thy fitful gleams of hope were a false light, which shall expire in darkness; so says reason, natural conclusion, human wisdom: but faith clings to the word, views the promise as made to Christ, receives it through him, takes it from him by the Spirit, and thus puts aside all appearances, however opposed to the accomplishment of the promise, "Ye shall not see wind or rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water." Faith has nothing to do with appearance, a THUS SAITH THE LORD is enough for faith; and blessed are they that believe, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told them from the Lord. : Believer, if thou art walking through this vale of tears, carrying a dead promise (to all appearance) in the arms of thy faith; fear not but that thou shalt come again with rejoicing; thou shalt have an Isaac given thee, and thou too shalt laugh. If Christ, the promised seed, be the one object of thy heart's desire; if, to have him revealed in thee by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, be the wish of thy soul, then remember "The vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it shall speak, and not lie though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry." The promise will end in a blessed accomplishment, even as it did literally with Sarah; for "The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken" (Gen. xxi. 1). In the meantime, thou must pass the waters of trial, even Ezekiel's river; at first, perhaps, it reached only to thine ankles; then it got to thy knees (and a blessed trial it has been if it brings thee often on them); then it may have risen to thy loins, and many a doubt thou hast entertained about the issue; and now, perhaps, it has reached the highest point "One wave more," say you, "and I am lost. I am now in 'waters that cannot be passed over.' But read in the prophet's typical deliverance thine own, and may the Lord apply it; "Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river." Thy God will have all the glory, therefore all the work shall be his; thou mayst look on, but he will "do wondrously." It would not be for God's glory thou shouldst perish; his heart is set on thy deliverance, and if thy trial of faith be at its worst, then is deliverance at hand. The darkest part of the night is before day dawn; and "when he hath tried thee thou shalt come forth as gold," that thou mayst know "that the Lord he is God, and there is none else beside him." So thou shalt |