thy salvation. Thou tremblest at the word of God, and art "a terror to thyself;" but blessed are such, for the Lord has promised to dwell with such ; "To this man will I look, saith the Lord, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite heart, and trembleth at my word."

Doubtless, dear mourner, there are many other things that are bitter ingredients in thy cup of woe; but sin-sin-sin without, and sin within, is the chief, for this is the very bane of thy life, peace, and comfort; and this thou abhorrest, and abhorrest thyself on account of it. And such, perhaps, is the strength of the sin of thy unbelief, that even now thou regardest us as liars, especially if we tell thee that the Lord hath his eye upon thee for good; but he has, and he saith, "I know the thoughts I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." And couldst thou believe this, thy harp would be taken from the willow, and invigorating hope would strike a note or two, as a prelude to the full chorus of the new song that thou shalt sing in union with the church of the First-born. But thou canst not believe when thou wouldst; for faith is not in the power of the human will, but is the gift of God, and it comes by hearing; for faith is credit given to some report. If, then, the Lord, who hath his eye upon thee for good, should open thy ear to receive the ingrafted word, thy faith would be strengthened, and being strengthened it would still receive, and so still grow till thou becamest like a young eagle, able to mount up with wings, and leave the scene of thy captivity far beneath thee.

Now the words on which we meditate, contain " a good report" to the poor captive, even glad tidings to the mourner. For we find that the Man clothed in linen is to pass through this great city of Luciferthis "golden city," and set a mark on all that sigh and cry. Then say, poor captive, say, art thou one? Dost thou indeed sigh and cry? Dost thou mourn? If so, then as we pass thee by, we are warranted to tell thee that the sound of our Master's feet is behind us; and it is but a little that we pass from thee: but thou wilt find Him, whom thy soul loveth, the Man clothed in linen; for he will find thee. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has found every sheep that he seeks, every sheep that the Father hath given him, and every sheep that bleats for him; and when he hath found thee, he will, in the gladness of his heart, set a mark on thee, even on thy forehead; and this is the mark of the Lamb, and "the seal of the living God." And, oh! who can fully understand the purport of this? who can tell of all the fine leaves, glorious flowers, and heavenly fruit, that are contained in this germ of a gracious experience? What riches, what blessings, what honours, what glories, and what pleasures, shall this opening bud unfold! While it swelled in wintry bondage, it was bitter indeed; but now at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, the appearing of the Man clothed in linen, the great God and our Saviour, the bitter bud begins to open and develop all its hidden sweets and beauties to the glory of that God who has wrought them in secret when as yet there were none of them. Divine and heavenly principles have been "curiously wrought" in the womb of the new covenant, while the soul was taught by terrible things

in righteousness; and they appeared not till the blessed Omega had, by a touch of his pen, finished the work that the Alpha had begun. For this Man clothed in linen is the Author and the Finisher of the work of grace. He begins in the character of an Archer, shooting the arrows of conviction into sinners' hearts, so that from that moment commences the true sensibility of bondage, and the groaning of captivity; and when the work has been carried on so as to waste the legal strength of the captive spirit, and there is none shut up nor left; then he comes and finishes it, by extracting the arrows, and pouring in the balm of Gilead, with oil and wine; and taking the poor wounded soul on his own breast, he carries it, by his own power, to the place where it would be. He comes clad in the linen of everlasting righteousness, and sets the gracious mark on the sinner's forehead, who suddenly finds his captivity turned as streams to the south.

While in captivity, we, in our feelings, often resemble Aaron's rod; neither sap, bud, blossom, leaves, nor fruit, are to be seen, and we say we are eunuchs-that is, fruitless persons, having none of the first-fruits of the Spirit. We call ourselves "dry trees," fit fuel for that anger which burns to the lowest hell; and under this conviction, we write the most bitter things against ourselves. But no sooner does the true Aaron, clothed in linen, bring the dry rod through "the door," the new and living way (that is to say, the veil of his flesh now seen, crucified for us) into the holiest of all, than we are suddenly made willing and fruitful in the day of his power, and we begin to blossom and bud, and bid fair to fill the face of the world with fruit; for our first-fruits of love, joy, and peace, now become so plentiful that we cry, "Stay thy hand; it is enough;" or as beloved Hart has taught us to sing,

Such, beloved mourner, are some of the happy results of being marked in the forehead by the Man clothed in linen; but we have one result in particular now to notice. The curse of God is swelling awfully over the head of professing Zion, and judgment to the uttermost is coming upon nominal Israel; but the Judge of all the earth can do nothing till his Lots-that is, hidden ones (which Lot signifies), be gathered into Zoar, the "little sanctuary, which the Lord the Lamb is to all his people that are sealed. The impatient agents of vengeance can do nothing till the servants of God have been sealed on their foreheads. The men with slaughter-weapons cannot go through, till those that sigh and cry are set apart for safety and peace, as the beasts and birds were set apart in the ark from the deluge; the Israelites, by the mark of blood, from the destruction of the first-born of Egypt, and Rahab, by the scarlet thread, from the ruin of Jericho. When we are marked, we are brought into Christ Jesus, in whom there is no condemnation-into our chamber, where there is no danger-into the top of the rock, where there is no evil-into our refuge, where there is no

U

avenger-into our rest, where there is no trouble--and into our hidingplace, where there is no storm: and being thus brought we are happily delivered, and shall be safely preserved, from the raging fury of the curse; for it may touch none on whom is the mark, but those only who have not the seal of God on their foreheads. The hypocrite and the empty professor, being the special objects of its aim, shall be grievously tormented; but those that are passed into Christ, and hidden in the royal pavilion from the strife of tongues, shall be kept from the general "falling away," which will fully reveal the son of perdition they shall be "kept by the power of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time;" as it is written, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Now to be in Christ, is to be in the secret or hidden place of the Most High; for, in him, our life is hid from the eye of every destroyer; and being thus hidden, we may smile at our most searching and vigilant pursuers. Being covered with his feathers, like the chickens under their parent's wing, we feel sure that the snare of the fowler shall not catch us, the pestilence shall not touch us, the terror of the night shall not alarm us, the arrow that flyeth by day shall not pierce us, and the wasting destruction shall not affect us. A thousand may fall beside us to Popery, and ten thousand at our right hand to infidelity; but it shall not come nigh us. We shall stand like pillars amidst the wrecks of the faith of myriads, who now have a fair form of godliness, but deny its power; and we shall be like rocks, "immoveable" amid all the terrible billows that wash away the wicked of the earth. When Abaddon, the scatterer of the power of the holy people, shall demand worship to the golden image that he shall set up, we shall answer, "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king; but if not, be it known unto thee, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." And then, though he be full of fury and rage, yet we fear him not, but laugh him to scorn; knowing that "no weapon," not even the weapon of fire, "shall prosper against us; the fire shall forget its own nature, and consume only our bonds; allowing us full liberty to tread upon the lion and the adder, and to trample the young lion and the dragon-the great red dragonunder our feet; for God shall bruise Satan under our feet, and he shall not have the least power over us. Being perfectly invincible, we shall walk unhurt amidst "fire-brands, arrows, and death," and feel no harm; for our "little sanctuary is our coat of mail, and our coat of mail is "the whole armour of God; " and when we have on this armour, and have skill and courage to use it, we are quite sure of being than conquerors, through him that hath loved us, and given himself for us."

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more

And one particular point from whence our safety springs, is our discernment; for if we cannot discern the signs of the times, we must be in confusion of mind, and not know what to do. But when we are

marked by the dear Saviour, and, like Jacob's spotted cattle, set apart as his own hire and peculiar property, he anoints our eyes with eyesalve, that we may see. When he seals us, our hearts turn to the Lord, as clay to the seal, and then the veil is taken away, and we begin to behold a new world filled with new wonders. And one thing we see, is the fearful position of the professing church, which is indeed "low, in a low place,” and all her people are walking in a vain show of will worship, hypocrisy, and formality, having a name to live while dead. This we discern, and know that darkness, in the garb of false light, covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. And we learn that this church is the "hypocritical nation" on which vengeance must be executed. In addition to this we find that Abaddon, "the destroyer of the Gentiles, is on his way" against this hypocritical nation, in order to lay it in ruins, by bringing it to the valley of Armageddon, in a direct hostility to the Lamb of God. And we now behold the footsteps of the destroyer, we see iniquity abounding, love of many waxing cold, seducers growing worse and worse, truth falling in the streets, and the power of the holy people (of a civil nature) getting less and less.

But looking on all these things, with the eye of our discernment, we also look on our mark, our new name, our white stone, our evidence, the witness of the Spirit, and feel that our mourning is turned into joy : and we sing," My heart is fixed, I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Surely I shall not be moved, I shall not be afraid of evil tidings, for my heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord."

JAZER.

PUBLIUS LENTULUS,

TO THE SENATE OF ROME.

CONSCRIPT FATHERS,

He

There appeared in these our days a man of great virtue, named Jesus Christ, who is yet living among us, and of the Gentiles is accepted for a prophet of truth, but his own disciples called him the Son of God. raiseth the dead and cureth all manner of diseases; a man of stature, somewhat tall and comely, and in proportion of body well shaped; his hands and arms delectable to behold, with a reverend countenance, such as the beholders may both love and fear. His hair is of the colour of a filbert, full ripe to his ears, whence downward is of a more orient colour, somewhat curling or waving about his shoulders. In the midst of his head is a seam or partition of his hair, after the manner of the Nazarites. His forehead is plain and delicate; his face without spot or wrinkle, beautified with a comely red; his nose and mouth exactly formed; his beard is thick, the colour of his hair, not of any great length, but forked; his look innohis eyes grey, clear, and quick. In reproving he is awful; in admonishing courteous and friendly; in speaking very temperate, modest, and wise. It cannot be remembered that any have seen him laugh, but many have seen him weep. A man of singular beauty, surpassing the

cent and mature;

children of men.

OUR PORTRAIT.-MR. JAMES FRANCIS.

As "iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." [James Francis is an elder brother of George Francis, of Snow's Fields, Borough. He is now in his seventy-seventh year, and is employed in the Lord's vineyard as an itinerant preacher.]

OUTLINES OF A SERMON PREACHED AT FOOT'S CRAY, SUNDAY EVENING, OCT. 11, 1840.

I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of Hosts.-Isai. xlv. 13.

"His

WHAT has been your motive for coming here this evening? Is it that God might meet with you and bless you? Methinks, if this be the leading motive of your conscience, you would not come away without putting up a petition that the Lord might meet with you and bless you, and that his servant might preach Christ, and him crucified-and nothing else. If that is your prayer, you will not be disappointed. Israel, at this time, was in a long captivity; but now the Lord was pleased to deliver them, that saith of Cyrus, "This is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure-even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." Israel being so long in captivity, according to human reason, there was no prospect of deliverance. The Lord is not at a loss for means. hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that he cannot hear." "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut." He was anointed for the work. The very self-same day that the Lord had appointed, came Israel out of Egypt. Why, God forced them out. Neither did he let them go empty; the Lord brought them out with abundance of riches. My brethren, however sore and heavy your trials may be, yet the Lord will bring you out. "The vision is for an appointed time: it surely will come; it will not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it." "I will loose the loins of kings." According to nature, when the loins are loosened, man has no strength. "I will loose the loins of kings." Now you find the Lord was obliged to do it. When the Lord is pleased to bring his people into difficulties, and hedge them up, what is it for? It is to make his riches know", that neither earth nor hell can stop it. When God is pleased to open a door-whether it be to a family or a nation-he will bring them through the furnace; they shall lose nothing but sin itself. The three Hebrew children were cast, bound, into the fiery furnace seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated. It slew all those that cast them in, and the heathen king was forced to confess, "Did not we cast three men, bound, into the fire? Lo! I see four men walking, loose, in the fire; and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son of God." He was obliged to confess that they walked, loosed, in the fire, and had no hurt. However heavy your trials may be though they may be seven times hotter than before-yet the Lord will not fail