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such a seasonable moment, do the trials, the perplexities, the difficulties in the accomplishment appear! Into what insignificance does every impediment seem to retire!

But we hasten to take another and more subordinate view of the subject to regard it in the sense in which it was more particularly laid upon our minds. If it be confined to Christ alone, the weak ones of the fold-those who cannot as yet read their title clear to mansions in the skies, and whose minds have been brought only partially to discover the union, the oneness subsisting between Christ and his church— will appear to fall short, and will be ready to conclude they have no interest in this precious portion.

Beloved, "his glory is great in thy salvation." Thou hast not a greater interest in thine own salvation than he has in it. See a confirmation of this in his own language; "I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake" (Ezek. xxxvi. 22). "The Lord did not set his love upon, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people" (Deut. vii. 7—10). The appropriation of these passages to your condition, we are aware, may be disputed; by those who are guided, or rather, misguided by human philosophy, they will be said to have reference to literal Israel alone; but this we have before contradicted, and are still resolved to oppose. Take away the sweet spiritual injunctions addressed to the primitive church, or rather, confine them only to ancient Israel, and you remove a vast portion of our blessed Bible. Beloved, if thou art exercised upon this point, ever bear in mind that Israel of old was but a type of the whole Israel of God - that the spiritual promises spoken to Israel in primitive ages, were spoken prospectively to Israel through every period of time-and that the history of Israel, from her slavery in and deliverance from Egypt, down to her entrance into the promised land, was graciously left on record as a type of the Israelites' manners in the wilderness through time, and as a pattern of the Lord's tenderness and long-suffering towards her down to the remotest period of her existence. "His glory." The Holy Ghost, by whom the psalmist spake, seems to wrap up in one expression the importance and well-being of the church; and, as the church is but one body, comprising many members (1 Cor. xii. 20), in it is included every vessel of mercy. that, reader, if thou art one of the Lord's called ones-if thou art redeemed by blood, and chosen unto "salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. ii. 13), the glory of the Lord thy God is great in thy salvation; and that glory will he never suffer to be sullied by all the powers of darkness. However thou mayst sink in thine own estimation-whatever may be the power of unbelief, or powerful the suggestions of the adversary-still the glory of God, as interested in thy salvation, shall abound and superabound over and above all.

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Into dark states we know thou sinkest; of gloomy fears we are aware thou dost become possessed; and of painful apprehensions thou art frequently the subject: nevertheless, here is a truth, which, when carried home to thy heart by the power of the Holy Ghost, will lift thee up above every fear; and, after thou hast been low sunk in the

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pit of gloom and unbelief, crying with the psalmist, "Let not the pit shut its mouth upon me," concluding the Lord has no interest in thee, nor in anything that belongs to thee; that thou hast been deceived; that thou art now the mere victim of chance - the creature of circumstances; and that after all thou shalt fall short, come to nought, and thine enemies see the fulfilment of their prophecies and their wisheswe say, after thou hast been the subject of these exercises during a season of darkness and apparent soul-desertion, thou wilt find it very precious when the blessed Spirit sets in with this expression, "His glory is great in thy salvation." It will seem to leave thee and thy circumstances out of the question-to treat them as of secondary importance; and for the time, until the next season of darkness overtakes thee, thou wilt see that thou art not thine own—that thou art bought with a price-and that thyself and all that belongs to thee are included in "His glory." And, in connexion with this consolatory truth, thou wilt discover that the very arguments which Satan and the unbelief of thine heart had brought against thee, and had, previously, been the source of thy suffering, are those which now turn up in thy favour; that thy open espousal of the truth-thy belief in the doctrines of gracethy conscientious separation from an ungodly and a mere professing world-have all been under the gracious leadings of the Holy Ghost, springing from a love to Jesus, and a holy jealousy for the honour of God and the welfare of his truth; and that now, having by his stood by him, he will manifestly stand by thee; and, after thy seasons of extreme darkness, when thou hast been most tried-most deeply exercised, and apparently nearest brought to give up all for lost-by the Spirit's light thou shalt discover that the steps which thou hast taken in timidity and doubt; the engagements into which thou hast entered apparently in the light of thine own wisdom alone-which thou art well assured is but perfect folly; and the path thou hast traversed with no abiding sense of the presence and blessing of the Lord; have all been under his wise and gracious dominion. The Lord will condescendingly again in thy view begin to work; he will afresh take all under his control; and so graciously operate in and by every circumstance, that thou shalt stand, and wonder, and admire. Ay, and this too when there has been a trio working against Him-Satan, unbelief, and thine own heart; when thy conscience bears witness against thee, and accuses thee of having gone over to the enemy's ranks-and taken up arms against thy best Friend, and when thou art expecting, as the fruit thereof, nothing but condemnation and wrath. Oh, it is an overwhelming season when the Lord thus comes in-breaks down the rebellion of the heart-in tones of anger? no, but in accents of sweetest mercy; coming in like a Father, as he is, saluting the rebel with the dear claim of relationship, "My child, my child! O Ephraim, my son, my son." How it melts the heart! how it stays the enmity! what contrition it affords! what self-loathing and abasement it communicates how quickly the trio separates! Satan flees, unbelief subsides, and the poor soul falls at the dear feet of a dear Lord, crying, when his lips afford him utterance, "Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?" (2 Sam. vii. 19).

And think ye, reader, this will afford encouragement for sin? Dost thou imagine this will give licence to unbelief? If such be thy conclusion, thou dost as yet know little or nothing of the holy privileges of childship. Be assured, that in proportion as thou realizest thine interest as a son or a daughter of the Lord God Almighty, in that proportion will thy conscience be tender, and thou wilt desire to walk in all the ordinances of the Lord, blameless. Thou wilt walk and act, not for life, but from life. The moment that eternal life was implanted, that moment was eternal enmity to Satan, sin, and self infused; a holy warfare was commenced; and thy greatest grief is that sin should ever have the dominion, unbelief prevail, or Satan ever, for the veriest moment, conquer. And yet all this is overruled for good-to bring down righteous self-to lay the sinner low-and to make Jesus and his great salvation more suitable and precious; and this is the Lord's way of bringing good out of evil.

Before we dismiss the subject, take one other view of it—that is, the absolute manner in which it is spoken, "His glory is great." This leaves no vacancy for a precarious salvation. It is an ever-present triumphant victory in and for his elect, accomplished by the Lord himself. Though like a mighty engine, the carrying out of the eternallypurposed plan of salvation is in daily operation, yet its final issue is as certain as that the Lord Jehovah now inhabits the throne of glory; and why? because it is a work worthy of a God-a work in which he, the great, the eternal Jehovah, solicits not the puny aid of mortals-a work planned in eternity and ratified on Calvary, when he who is Lord of all, cried, "It is finished"-a work ever complete in his view with whom there is no past or future, but an eternal, ever-present now. He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and the salvation of his people stood fast.

Thus shall the glory of the Lord redound in thy salvation, dear reader, if thou art one who hast been brought down, laid low, under the mighty hand of God. Thy weakness, thy unbelief and unworthiness, cannot counteract his gracious purpose of taking to himself the glory of thy redemption; for thy weakness will make room for the exercise of his mighty power; thine unbelief will be a demonstrative proof that faith is his own gift, and that thou canst not exercise it without he is pleased to bestow it; and thy sinfulness and demerit will prove the necessity of the cleansing blood and justifying righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and will prove the ground-work of thy knowledge of the immeasurable love and boundless grace of the Lord thy God towards thee.

We add no more, except the expression of our ardent wish that the Lord may speedily bring thee forth out of darkness and misery, to cast thyself, a poor, needy, ill and hell-deserving sinner, upon Jesus-an all-suitable, all-powerful, ever-compassionate Saviour; and this not merely for once, but every day, and every hour of the day; not only for one manifestation of divine favour, but for the continually-received pledges of grace, love, and mercy, all the wilderness through.

THE EDITOR.

TO THE MOURNER IN ZION.

And he called to the man clothed in linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.—Ezek. ix. 4.

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WHEN he, who is spiritual and discerneth all things, doth but take his stand on some one of "the high places of the earth on which he is made to ride, and cast his eyes over the land of nominal Israel, his heart must be pained in beholding the numerous prison-houses and various holes in which are hid and snared "the excellent of the earth." He must be grieved at the discovery, that the heirs of glory are hid in darkness, the children of liberty are groaning in bondage, and the saints of the Most High, the mighty and the holy people, are sighing under the rod of the cruel oppressor. His heart must ache when he beholds how common it is for servants to ride upon horses, with all the display of honour and royalty, while princes of the blood royal are walking as servants on the earth, and made to stoop to all the drudgery that cruel task-masters and lords over God's heritage may demand of them ; and his love must be cold, indeed, if he be not fired with holy zeal and truest patriotism for the welfare of those who are of his flesh and of his bone; and if he be not willing to lay down his life for the benefit of those who groan in misery, being "shut up and cannot come forth." By the voice, which sounds from the text above, we are directed to look upon "Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage with her children," even upon the professional church of the day-that great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where, also, our Lord was crucified; and there we behold a few, like Lot of old, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked; a family, like ancient Israel, groaning under Egyptian tyranny, and a small portion of elect Jews sighing and crying for all the abominations with which they are surrounded: and, like Jonah, we would take our journey through this great city, and carefully observe every poor soul whose harp is hung upon the willows, and she mourning in the midst of "the city of confusion," the house of Zion's bondage. And observing, we would say to each of the dear captives, "Unto you is the word of this salvation sent.. Look on us.

and gold have we none, but such as we have we give unto thee."

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Then, beloved reader, we suppose thee a mourner in earthly Zion. But why dost thou mourn? Why are thy heart and thy countenance so sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart. It may be thou sighest as if thy heart would break, and inquirest, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger?" Yes, dear captive, thy sorrow is something to us as we pass by; for we are "grieved for the afflictions of Joseph; we 'weep with them that weep," and hang our joyful harp on the willows while we sit down by thy side, and, with much sympathy, inquire into the cause of thy woe: and our bowels yearn with loving grief when we see thee lift thy head

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and look around on the sad admixture of characters, all bearing the Christian name, while yet their hearts are set upon their iniquity; and their tongues, their hands, and their feet, are all engaged in open rebellion against thy Lord. Thou beholdest abominations of every kind, and thou abhorrest the evils that are committed round about thee; thy "righteous soul," thy conscientious spirit, is vexed at the filthy conversation of those spiritual Sodomites who deride and laugh at thy calamities. Thou seest "the place of judgment, that wickedness is there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity is there ;" and thou mournest because truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter. Thou canst not bear them that are evil, that say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; and thou contemnest the vile person, but honourest them that fear the Lord. Thou lookest for the upright, but cannot see them; for the holy, but cannot find them; then with swelling heart thou criest, "The good man is perished out of the land: there is none upright among men; they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

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For these things, dear captive, thou art sorrowful; but this is not all. Surrounding abominations are very fearful, and call for mourning and lamentations; but thou hast found that the fountain source of all this is in thy own bosom. Thy heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; so that streams of iniquity flow forth in evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies, with every other corrupt and unclean thing, which hath so defiled the whole man, that from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, there is no place clean. All thy duties, whether of prayer, or reading, or hearing, or what else, are contaminated and defiled; so that when thou dost remember true Zion, thou mournest because thou art utterly unfit to join in her holy assemblies. Her happy citizens are viewed as a multitude of holy and spotless beings, all "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners; " but thou art spotted as the leopard, and black as the Ethiopian; and, looking at thyself, thou sighest and criest for sorrow and grief of heart. Thou mournest for thy own iniquity, and thy eyes pour out tears unto God. But blessed are they that thus mourn, for they shall be comforted; and God hath promised to "gather the sorrowful for the solemn assembly."

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Again, another cause of weeping is this, thou hast no assurance of thy life; thy life hangs in doubt," and thou art anxious to know if thou art one of the elect of God, if thy name be written in heaven, and if thou wert predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son. Inquiries on these things often rack thy mind and torture thy spirit; for in looking for an answer in thyself, thou findest some reason to conclude that thou art reprobate—that is, good for nothing, like the dross of silver, or like a broken useless stone in the quarry; and thou art afraid thou art a hypocrite and not a saint, a professor and not a possessor, and a foolish virgin and not a wise one. Thus, in dreadful suspense and uncertainty, thy spirit is disconsolate and refuses to be comforted. But know, dear captive, whosoever thou art, that this is the fear and trembling with which alone thou canst work out, or sue out,

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