the Father. This is that knowledge which is revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.

2. He knows Him as his Conqueror, having conquered death and the grave on behalf of His people, and is now "exalted a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."

3. He knows Him as the Captain of his salvation, who was made "perfect through sufferings," and is therefore able to bring the " given to Him in covenant love to glory.

many sons

4. He knows Him as his King, ruling his affections, and causing him to serve Christ willingly.

And thus the words, "fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not," imply, that the believer does know this spiritual Manna, that he does know Christ as revealed in him, though he knew Him not in his naturestate, as dead in trespasses and sins.

V. And, then, this manna is that, respecting which it may be said, "neither did thy fathers know." The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, greatly distinguished as they were by God, were not fed with manna. Indeed, it seems that no miracle was wrought on their behalf to sustain them; for, when there was a famine throughout the land of Canaan, Jacob, hearing that there was corn in Egypt, said unto his sons, "Why do ye look one upon another? Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get you down thither and buy for us from thence, that we may live and not die." Thus God conferred greater blessings upon the children than upon the fathers. This holds good in a spiritual sense to God's people under the New Testament. True it is, that the Old Testament saints were all saved "by grace through faith" in the blood of the Lamb slain; they were all taught by the blessed Spirit to see themselves pardoned and justified on the grounds of His sacrificial death and perfect righteousness; they were all taught to feed upon the bleeding Lamb as the living Bread from heaven; even as Abel, when "he brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof;" " and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering." But the Old Testament saints, did not know Christ just in the sense in which they under the New Testament know Him; they knew Him in a typical sense. Our fathers, under the Old Testament, looked through types to a Saviour who was promised to come; and the Holy Ghost enabled them to feed upon that promised Saviour as the hope of the Church. "Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." God the Spirit enables the saints, under the New Testament, to feed upon a Saviour that has been; so that the redemption work of the Church is under the New Testament completed. Christ has purchased His people, and they are His by gift, by purchase, and by conquest. This perfected work of Christ as the covenant Head of His people, is what the Holy Ghost calls "the hidden wisdom of God, ordained before the world unto our glory." So that, in God feeding His saints under the New Testament with that living manna, it may be said of that manna, "neither did thy fathers know." They did not know Christ with that clear light which it is given unto the saints under the New Testament to know Him. Here let me ask, Do you know what it is to be fed with the living manna? Mark! I do not ask, Will you feed upon this living manna? It is not a question of will: all through the text God acts as sovereign; and "He humbled thee, and He suffered thee to hunger, and He fed thee with manna." So that the whole work is of God; there is the bringing a man into a hungering state, and in that state it is that God

feeds him. I simply ask, therefore, Do you know what it is to feed upon Christ the living Bread? If you do, then I say, "Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together." For great is the grace, rich is the mercy, eternal is the love which He hath bestowed upon you.

VI. The purpose for which the Lord brings His people into a state of dependence. "That He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only."-The miraculous supply of manna every morning, was intended to teach the Church through all time, that to live for the bread that perisheth is not the purpose, for which God hath placed her in the world, but merely to accomplish in her His purposes of grace. The reason, therefore, why God humbles a man, which He does when he bestows upon him His quickening grace, and suffers him to hunger for the bread of spiritual life, is, that He might make him to "know that man doth not live by bread only." But you will see that this word "man" requires some qualifying in order that its spiritual application may hold good. If we take the word MAN in a universal sense, it is not true, as fact, that God brings all men into that state in which He might make them know that they do not live by bread only. We prove this first from Scripture: speaking to His disciples, the Lord saith, "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?" &c. "For after all these things do the Gentiles [unregenerated world] seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." The meaning of the Lord is, that the unregenerate world live by bread only, and only for that. They have no spiritual life brought into existence, which requires living bread to sustain it. And, then, we prove from fact that God doth not make man universally know that he doth not live by bread only. Millions there are who live for nothing else but the bread that perisheth, and pass off the stage of life as those who are carnally minded, dead in trespasses and sins, to the place prepared for them. It follows, therefore, that the man whom the Lord maketh to know that he doth not live by bread only, is the regenerated man-the man whom God has humbled by His quickening grace, and opened his eyes to his ruined, helpless condition. He it is, whom God maketh to know that he doth not live by bread only. Give to the regenerated man all the bread in the world, all the wealth of the world, all the rich dainties which the earth produces, they cannot satisfy his spiritual hunger; he can satisfy his animal hunger with these perishing things, but he cannot satisfy his spiritual appetite with such things as these. And thus, God maketh him to know, that regenerated "man doth not live by bread only." He knows this experimentally. What do those spiritual longings which he often has after Christ show, when he wants the Lord graciously to manifest Himself afresh to his soul, and to apply His precious blood with fresh power to his heart and conscience? Why, they show that he doth not live by bread only; he has another appetite, another mouth open waiting to be fed. This brings us to notice

VII. By what it is that the Lord's people live. "By every wORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man [regenerated] live."The term "WORD" is in italics, and is not in the original; but WORD is understood, as we learn from Matt. iv. 4, where Christ answered to the devil, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every wORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Every word of God centres itself in Christ, for He is the eternal Word. Hence the Holy Ghost saith, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

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God." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we [apostles] beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." So that the reason, why regenerated man liveth by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord is, because every word of promise, teaching, and exhortation has its meaning in Christ. It centres in Him; and, since the whole regenerated family, as living members of His body, are united to Christ their living Head, therefore it is, that regenerated man "liveth by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord." He liveth by Christ living in him; he feeds, he lives upon a crucified, suffering, bleeding Christ, as God incarnate. Is his attention drawn to some promise, which, by the silent workings of grace within, he finds most sweet and precious? What makes it so? The simple reason is, that all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus yea, and in Him Amen." That is, they are all unconditionally fulfilled in the experience of the regenerated family who are in Christ. The promises of God to His Church are not "yea and nay;" that is, "YEA" if a certain condition be fulfilled by the creature, then the promise shall be fulfilled; and if it be not fulfilled, "NAY," that is, the promise shall_not then be fulfilled. But the promises of God are in Christ "yea, and in Him Amen." And thus every word of God is made precious to regenerated man, simply because it proceeds from, and centres in, our precious Christ. We cannot separate Christ from the Old Testament, nor can we read the Old Testament without Christ. He is the Eternal Word upon which the patriarchs lived from day to day, when they "endured, as seeing Him that is invisible." He was the substance of all the types and shadows under the Old Testament; it was His word which the prophets spake; for they "searched what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." Thus we see, that when the Spirit of God causes the regenerated man to feed upon Christ for salvation, and he finds Him to be precious to his soul, then it is, that he feeds upon every word of God, and is enabled to say experimentally, "Thy words were found of me, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." And therefore to every regenerated man, in respect to all God's dealings with him in the wilderness, it may be said, "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."

"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."—JAMES i. 8. THIS verse seems to be explained by the preceding ones: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." But it is only the carnal professor that is here spoken of, who is not merely unstable in matters of religion, but also in all his dealings with his fellow-men, and double-minded in that he is aware of the importance of the things which concern his soul, yet too much engrossed with the things of this life to give that attention to those of eternity which the importance of them demands.

THE INNER LIFE; OR, THE OPERATIONS OF DIVINE GRACE IN THE SOUL;

BEING EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATE MRS. D. A. DOUDNEY.

(Concluded from page 198.)

Sunday, May 20th, 1866.-Again I am at home; only one servant; Sarah gone for her holiday; and I cut my finger somewhat badly. I hope to go out this evening. I love a quiet Sabbath-emblem of eternal rest! Many wonderful things have occurred since last I wrote. Mercies beyond number to us and to our children, and to many of our dear friends. God's judgments are still abroad in the land, and will be yet, until "He come whose right it is to reign." Sometimes I have been greatly cast down, fearing I have never known God only as a God of providence, and not as a God of grace. Last night my heart was heavy within me, fearing this; and this morning the load followed me. But is it so, Lord -dear Lord? Then, let me never have one moment's rest or peace until Thou art all and in all to me. Lord, I love Thee above all things, and Thou hast made me willing to bow to Thy will. Lord, Thou art dearer to me than ALL beside. I can say and feel, "None but Christ, none but Christ." Yet I fear I am so unlike what I ought to be, yea, or desire to be, that many stand in doubt of me, and think I have a name to live while I am dead. Indeed, I do not wonder; for, when I desire to speak of Jesus, I am tongue-tied, and when I feel the most say the least; and sometimes I do not feel, and cannot speak. I am naturally very reserved about my own feelings; and then I cannot speak calmly; if I speak I am sure to weep. This keeps me back. I fear, I dread, the tears which I know will come, and, alas! I am silent. I could not speak what I have written in this book; I could not. I should shed torrents of tears, and therefore many doubt; and also there is much outwardly to make them doubt, and I am accounted cold. Ah, they know not me. But yet I blame them not, for I hate myself and my doings; and long to fly from my horrid sin and cold-heartedness, idleness, lukewarmness, selfishness, worldliness, to Jesus -to dwell with Him in purity and peace. Lord, I would not justify self; I acknowledge I am vile-altogether vile-no good left. Lord, I desire to ascribe all glory to Thee and shame to myself, for my many, many shortcomings. Lord, forgive! Five children yet, Lord, without the bonds of the covenant manifestively; and unbelief says, "Can their worldly minds be changed, and their enmity to God be subdued ?" Yes, Lord, Thou alone canst do this. In Thy hands, Lord, we leave them. Lord, bless them all. In Thy time it shall be done. Bless the Lord for their present merciful circumstances. Thanks-thanks we owe, O God.

Monday, June 11th.-During the last three weeks I have been kept leaning upon my God. The constant language of my heart has been, "Lord, lead me; Lord, lead all that are around and about me. As a little child, lead us, O our God." I have been so happy. But I have nearly always found that this peace comes before a storm. It is only a little rest to prepare one for the next battle. Thank God for even this short season. And now my dear husband is gone to London, and I could not bear to see him go, I felt so oppressed in my spirit. But, Lord, I take it to Thee; I know all Thy dealings are love and mercy. ALL love. Thou shouldst take them all away, still by Thy grace I would not repine; but seek enduring happiness in Thee, and Thee alone. I leave all with Thee. Thy will be done.

X

If

July 22nd.-The storm has come. The battle has truly followed the Oh for that eternal rest and everlasting peace!

Tuesday, July 24th.-The children of the schools are having their treat. Since I began writing my feelings, my hopes, and my fears in this book, I have never been in despair. Many have been my trials, but there was something to cheer and comfort me. But now the pains of hell have got hold upon me, I have found trouble and sorrow. My heart is bursting, for the boy-the son-for whom I have so earnestly pleaded, so fondly hoped, has cast off all restraint, and is swallowing down iniquity like water. O my God, what shall I do? I cannot even pray for him. But this boy, this one who has caused so much sorrow, so many wakeful nights, so many bitter tears, I feel as to this world there is no hope; and I feel, Lord, as if Thou wouldst not convert-that all my prayers have been lost, all my faith presumption. Surely, Lord, in this black year of trouble, for our sins and iniquities Thou art afflicting us very sore. Lord, we bow. Thou art good and just; Thy will be done. Wherever we look, trouble is everywhere. Heard bad news from Southampton -sad news almost everywhere. And it will soon be worse; more trouble is coming to us all. The Lord will judge even His own people; but I fear I am fainting in the day of adversity, for so painful is my position. My dear husband looks to me for strength, and I have none. I cannot ask for any; all I can cry is, "Thy will, O Lord, be done." Even if E- is lost, "Thy will, O Lord, be done." Still, in my saddest hours a something secret whispers, "God can help when creatures fail." Lord, do help. Thou must help, for man cannot. Lord, do. May my next entry be one of praise and thanksgiving. Lord, grant this for Christ's sake and help our relatives, too. Lord, help them; for we shall yet praise Thee.

Sunday, October 14th.-The last entry was written under severe depression, caused by an attack of the heart disease, from which I suffer. It was brought on by our thoughtless extravagant E-, by his foolish conduct but disease magnified troubles; all was not as recorded above, and I trust there is yet hope of our son. God's will be done concerning him, body and soul. We have much to thank our God for as regards all our children, praise Him! As regards ourselves, much-much, praise Him! I have been reading all I have written hitherto. What ups and downs has the child of God to record! and so it shall be unto the end. Times of sorrow, times of joy; all are according to His will-all is right -all is well. A grandson born unto my dear husband. Another tie to earth, another errand to the throne. Five children yet unconverted as far as we know. Lord, when shall we have to record, "Only three now left?" when "Only two?" when "Not any-all are the Lord's?" Perhaps never on earth, but the angels shall record it. Lord, we are willing, Thou hast made us so, to wait THY time. Be it so, O Lord. Amen.

December 9th, Sabbath eve.-Very wet. What shall I record? "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Is not this enough? Yes, as far as I am concerned, Lord; and I desire day by day to rejoice in this assurance, "The Lord is my portion." Is this presumption? No; for He has declared it. Jesus, Thou precious Saviour, the "altogether lovely," the "chief among ten thousand," has died for such as me; lost, undeserving, the vilest, the most forgetful, the most ungrateful, yet a saved sinner!