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Then there is the solemn hour of death. Have we not a long journey to take-too great for any of us to take in our own strength,- -a journey at the contemplation of which the stoutest heart trembles?

"Abide with me when night is nigh,

For without Thee I dare not die."

But one glimpse of the lovely and tender face of this gentle Shepherd will hush all our fears. The most timid disciple becomes bold as a lion when encircled in the arms of his Saviour.

"Oh, for a visit from my God,

To drive my fears of death away;

And help me through this darksome road
To realms of everlasting day."

M.

LOVE IN A MIST.

Cricklewood House.

BELOVED OF GOD,-I had no more doubt, from the first letter I saw from thee, of the work, the strange work, in thee being the work of God, than I had of my own existence. When we are dead to God, alive to self and the world, sin is dead, and we secure, dreaming of a God all mercy, and of meriting His favour, the great reward, by dead works; for our works can rise no higher than the work folks. We are dead, and our works dead also; the evil day is put far from us, and, Satan searing the conscience, the sting of guilt is not felt; thus we are alive without the law, but all this time sin lies at the door. As soon as God sends the law home to the heart, attended with its binding, condemning, sin-discovering, accusing, and wrath-revealing power, then all our guilt and filth that before lay at the door rolls into the mind and conscience; then the burden is felt with all its weight, and guilt with its awful sting; the eye of justice, by the lamp of the law, presents our sins to view, and the quickening Spirit of God makes us feel their venom. This, my dear friend, is God's first soul-humbling lesson; "I search the heart, and try the reins; I make a man know what are his thoughts." "I will set your sins in order before you," &c.; and, "Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy law; that Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged up for the wicked." "Every one thus taught of the Father," saith the Saviour, "cometh unto me; and he that cometh, I will in no wise cast out." Under this lesson thou now art, and thy way is hedged in, and hedged up with thorns; and here God will keep thee, till thy strength is all gone, thy wisdom, thy righteousness, and brilliancy of all thy faculties; also thy memory, thy parts, abilities natural and acquired, and He will make thee as big a fool and idiot in the things of this world, as thou art in the things of God; and then thou wilt stand idle in the market-place, for no man will hire thee-not the worldling, for thou canst not make sport, nor those of natural religion, because thou canst not act the hypocrite, nor wear the mask. These are the persons that the great Householder hires into the vineyard; and glad enough they are to go, though but for one penny per day. Such a sinner, as above described, is a lost one; not only at a loss about the things of God, but lost and absent in himself, lost to this world and to all worldly societies, and, in his own apprehensions,

lost to all eternity, having the snares of death and pains of hell upon him; this is what the Saviour means by "a lost sheep.'

The Holy Spirit, in His work upon the soul, is the best Teacher, the best Guide, the best Interpreter, and the best Commentator. We cannot love Him while He reflects His anger from a fiery law; an earthly judge is a terror to an evildoer, no criminal can love him; but, ere long, God will shine in the face of Christ, and then thou wilt have the light of His countenance lifted up upon thee; then shalt thou shine forth, and "thy health shall spring forth speedily," yea, thou shalt be as the morning. My dear Master will make many slow advances, momentary and transient visits to thee, previous to the day of espousals; He will appear on the mountains, and many of the obstacles will lower their towering heads. Then He will show Himself through the lattice; this will make some slits, crannies, and crevices through the old veil that is upon thy heart; but it will not destroy the face of that covering, nor wholly swallow up death in the victory. Then He will stand behind the wall, and the old stronghold will begin to shake; prejudice, enmity, hardness, infidelity, and despondency will hardly hold together. But, oh! when once He puts in His hand by the hole, and rends the caul of thine heart, then unbelief flies back, faith goes in, and love, sorrow, and evangelical repentance will flow out; for thy bowels will be moved for Him more than ever Joseph's were over Benjamin, or the real mother over the son that Solomon ordered to be cut in twain. And this will be thy blessed and happy case and state, not many days hence; nor shall my words fall to the ground, for God will confirm the words of His servants, and perform the counsels of His messengers. Nor shall one soul that God by His law hath wounded, ever seek His face in vain; His delays and longsuffering is salvation. He delays, that our case may become desperate and incurable; that His wisdom, skill, power, and goodness may be seen; that our deep need may be felt, and that a lasting impression may be left on the soul, and the greater glory may redound to His dear and matchless name. Every respite, every breathing-time, every ray, every glimpse, every view, every revival, every sweet thought, every dissolving sensation-call them Gad, for there is a whole troop behind, and the banner of love with them; wonder not at the mystery.

Our carnal minds are enmity, and do oppose the Lord, even in His work on our souls; but this shall not counteract God's design of grace; and thou wilt ever find, that, when thou art the most afraid, ashamed, and abashed, the farthest of all from God, and the last that can expect to be regarded, thou wilt even then feel the greatest freedom and nearest access: it is Christ's merit, not ours, that procures access to the Father. Legal pride, my daughter, always works with legal bondage; the law, in all its operations, never excludes boasting. Thou mayest not only find thy heart. drawn out to seek applause, but thou wilt find the time when thou wilt be proud of thy sufferings; it is pardoning love that works humility, and not sin-reviving wrath; and this, my girl, shows us the need of purging, fanning, and winnowing. But, when Jesus comes, His work is all before Him, and His reward is with Him; healing and health is the work of His hands, and every grace is the reward that He brings. It is no difficulty to me to make thee out. I see plain enough where thou art. God is teaching thee, wounding thee, and condemning thee by the law, that He may lead thee to His dear Son, to receive at His foot the word of life, and to be healed, justified, and saved by Him; and thou art, at this time,

learning the last lesson at that school; the work is nearly finished, and salvation is at thy doors. Hope and expectation are now in thy heart, and thou wouldst not part with thy present chastisements of God for all the world; nor wouldest thou change states with the most carnally secure, nor with the brightest hypocrite that shines in Zion: for, though He fills thy mouth with gravel, and gives thee gall to drink, yet to the hungry soul these bitter things are sweet; for the quickened soul would rather have them, than be given up to its own heart's lusts, or to be left at ease in Zion. I have no friend at hand to copy this, it comes pure from the coal-barge, and I suppose will puzzle you as bad as your scribble puzzles me. God bless thee.

Yours in the best of bonds,

WM. HUNTINGTON, S.S.

DEAR MOTHER,-Grace and peace be multiplied through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I really wish, above all things, that thou mayest prosper and be in health, as I hope by this time thy soul prospereth. I have this morning read over afresh thy little epistle, which is full of complaints; but I hope by this time that matters are mended, and thy heart a little more fixed. I have of late had some sweet thoughts upon Heb. iii. 1: "Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession." Our High Priest not only bore our sins, and made an atonement for us, or appeased the wrath of God in our behalf, and took His blood, the price of our redemption, into heaven with Him, but "He ever liveth to make intercession for us."

The high priest was to bear the names of Israel on his heart; he was likewise to bear their judgment; and, thirdly, he was to bear the iniquity of their holy things: read Exod. xxviii. God has put us into the heart of Christ's love, He has chosen us in Him, and made us His charge, and He has loved us better than His own life: "Greater love hath no man than this." He has borne our judgment, the curse of the law, and the wrath of God, for us, and appears in this His sacrifice within the veil, "where He ever liveth to make intercession for us;" and who shall separate us from His love? And, now He bears the iniquities of our holy things, even we ourselves are by the Spirit of God offered up as living sacrifices upon Christ, our Altar and Priest. "That the offering up of the Gentiles might be accepted, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Rom. xv. 16); and it is in God's beloved Son that we are accepted, and it is the Altar and Priest that sanctifies the gift; we are God's gift to Christ, and He is made sanctification to us. In Him we are wise, just, redeemed, washed, and made holy, and are complete in Him; "Clean every whit, says Christ; and there is no spot in us, for in Him we are without fault before the throne. Stick fast here, my dear mother, and let the devil move us, or alter this performance of divine wisdom and goodness, if he can.

And observe further, that there is nothing comes from God to us, but through the Mediator who has made peace, and through our High Priest who has made the atonement by His sacrifice; and, He having endured the curse, and appeased the wrath of God, we are secured from both by the covenant, the oath of God, and the blood of Christ. So that even vindictive justice itself promises to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness; so safe and secure are we in the heart and hands of the dearly-beloved and ever-blessed Son of God. And now mind what I say,

our High Priest is to bear the iniquity of our holy things, that is, sin cleaves to us and to all our services; when we would do good, evil is always present with us-deadness, unbelief, rebellion, self-seeking, hypocrisy, enmity, doubts, misgivings of heart, half-heartedness, backwardness; but nothing of all this shall ever pass through the hands of our High Priest, in whose name and for whose sake we pray God to hear us. All sin is Satan's spawn, and it shall never ascend above the stars; Satan is the prince of the power of the air, and above his realm his works shall never arise, because our Priest and His offering are in the holy place. Christ upon His golden altar offers the incense of His sweet savour, sacrifice, and much grace, which perfumes the prayers of all saints; hence it is, that all our services are accepted: Their burntofferings and their sacrifices," says God, "shall be accepted upon mine altar; and I will make them joyful in my house of prayer" (Isa. lvi. 7). Therefore we should always pray, and not faint, however dead, or else we undervalue the great High Priest of our profession. I have oft prevailed when my heart has been stiffened by the devil and unbelief; and it is this way and no other. "Whatever you ask of the Father, ask in my name, and I will do it," says Christ. He so mends, alters, perfumes, and presents our poor imperfect performances, that we should not know them again, as they cry, "Lord, when saw we Thee an hungry, thirsty, naked?" &c.; they were so astonished at their own works when He brought them forth before them. Open your mind freely to your yokefellow; the devil often pushes off when he is discovered. God bless thee. WILLIAM HUNTINGTON, S.S.

NOTES OF A LECTURE ON SONG I. 1.

"The song of songs, which is Solomon's."

THIS verse contains the preface to the book-a book but little read, seldom expounded, and rarely understood; the reason of which, as it appears to me, is not merely the allegorical expressions, but the depth of feeling, the ardour and warmth of those raptures which enchant and attract the Bridegroom and the bride, with the humble acknowledgment of her real state and condition expressed by the bride; all these are so foreign to the present sickly state of religion, that its very earnestness. seals the book to a great many persons. It is doubtless an allegorical book, abounding in such figurative expressions, representing the relationship of Christ to His Church, under the figure of Bridegroom and bride, Husband and wife. The glorious Bridegroom is set forth in His infinite fulness, as contrasted with the coldness, dulness, deadness, faintings, and wanderings of His bride; she laments her emptiness, but rejoices in HIM, and, tasting of His grace and love, praises Him. Expressions used in ordinary life are here used by the Holy Ghost to show forth the greatness of the love of Christ for His Church, and the greatness of her love to Him when feeling, as the poet so sweetly sings

"Loved of my God, for Him again

With love intense I'd burn;

Chosen of Him ere time began,
I choose Him in return."

To read this book profitably I conceive that four things are necessary: first, an acquaintance with God, and in some degree with the whole of the sacred Scriptures; secondly, an acquaintance with the experience of the people of God; thirdly, a measure of watchfulness over the heart and spirit; fourthly, very frequent intercourse and communion with the heavenly Bridegroom. You must carry all cares and joys to Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords; "a greater than Solomon is here."

Many people take some parts of Scripture, those particularly that are, or seem to be, suited to their own state and case, and do not seek to understand "all Scripture." Many are satisfied with a mere formal religion; if they come to church, they have satisfied their consciences, and, whatever the preaching may be, all is to them equally good. Socinianism, Arminianism, Ritualism, or undisguised Romanism, is received or listened to without the slightest difficulty or objection. If a man speak with a tongue like "the pen of a ready writer," they are delighted to hear him, without weighing his words in the balances of the sanctuary: they lack sound judgment, and cannot therefore enjoy the word of God. But "Doth not the ear discern words even as the palate doth meat?" Again, how little acquaintance is there with the experience of others! how prone Christians are to try each other by their own puny standard; but, if it were asked, Do they know the business of other Christians? are they busybodies in other men's matters? how ready would the answer be! How prone are men to magnify the faults of their brethren, to impute an evil motive to an indifferent action, making it sinful, to be jealous of others' success-yea, even of God's goodness to some of His people. How do we act in the time of temptation? Do we swallow it down as a fish does the first bait that is presented to it? Or do we look to God to preserve and keep us, and pray that He may give us a spirit of watchfulness? Do we cry to Him: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts?" It is commonly said, "All men think all men mortal but themselves." So we may assuredly say, All men think all men should be perfect but themselves; they speak of their own imperfections, but speak as if they thought their brethren should be perfect.

This book is sometimes called Canticles, and sometimes the Song of Solomon. Canticles means songs, for it is, as it were, a cluster of small songs composing a larger one, all written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. There are three things to be noticed in this verse: first, it is a song; secondly, the song of songs; and, thirdly, whose it is-Solomon's. There are various parts of Scripture that are songs; that is, were written or composed in order that they might be sung, with or without the accompaniment of a musical instrument. In Ephesians v. 19, and in Col. iii. 16, we are exhorted to sing and make melody in the heart in "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs." It was customary to sing songs after gaining a victory-thus Moses and Aaron and Miriam sang after the destruction of the Egyptians (Exod. xv.), and Deborah and Barak after their triumph over Sisera (Judges v.).

David's psalms are written in the same manner, in the same spirit, and with the same intent. Gladness of heart has always been expressed by singing, and will be through all eternity. In the 96th Psalm, we read of singing a new song, which does not imply that the psalm contains something new or unheard of, but some new effusion or pouring out the soul in praise, for some new deliverance vouchsafed, or mercy granted. All

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