among the golden candlesticks," will take care that if the outcasts of Israel are not brought under the sound of his voice in the gospel, it shall be sent forth to them; they shall hear it in spite of men and devils to stop it, not only externally but internally. "They shall hear my voice," says he, John x. 16. “ My people shall know my name: therefore, in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak." Isa. lii. 6.

Surely amidst all the discouragements which faithful ministers meet with, in the performance of their duty, this must be as a sweet cordial to them, when preaching the gospel, that the outcasts of Israel, all the spiritual seed of Christ, shall sooner or later hear his voice in it, and be gathered unto him as their Saviour; as the Lord their righteousness; as the Mediator of the new covenant; to his blood for pardon, justification and salvation; to him as the ark where only they can find rest to their souls; and to him as their King, so as to be his willing and obedient subjects: that all shall be gathered that remain of the election of grace uncalled; the rest of those that the Father has given to Christ; the residue of those he has redeemed by his blood; such of the children of God as are yet scattered aboad; all shall be gathered in, and of as " many as are ordained to eternal life," Acts xiii. 48. not one shall be lost or left behind.

May it please the Lord, (as our church expresses it in her funeral service,) of his gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of his elect, and to hasten his kingdom; and that we with all those that are departed in the true faith of his holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in his eternal and everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Nov. 2, 1826.

ELAH.

THE GOOD PHYSICIAN.-A SONNET.

"I am the Lord that healeth thee."-Exod. xv. 26.

Thou great Physician! I am sick and faint;
Thou, only thou, canst heal my soul's complaint :
Where'er the suff'rer, whatsoe'er the grief,
Thy heavenly balm alone can yield relief.
To close to cleanse-sin's malady and wound
Thy boundless skill is never-failing found.
The good Physician stems the tide of sin-
Extracts the poison that pervades within-
And says to the glad leper, " be thou clean!"
The men of earth their art and wisdom boast;
But who 'mongst all, have sought and sav'd the lost?
Glorious Physician! who like thee hath wrought

The cure of all, who thy advice have sought?
And OUR Physician gave-behold ye, earth, heaven, hell!
He gave HIMSELF for us, that we with him might dwell.

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ORIGINAL ESSAYS.

XXII.

ON PERSEVERANCE.

"PERSEVERE!" exclaims the pharisaic professor, to one concerned to be informed on the sacred subject, "yes, you may; if in the performance of the duties of religion you to the utmost fulfil the precepts of the divine law, and fill up the station in which providence has placed you, with honesty and integrity." "This will ensure your continuance to the end and at the completion of mortal life, you will be rewarded with glory and immortality!"

:

"Persevere !" says the simple hearted, doubting christian," it is a thing impossible ;"" that I who was conceived in sin, shapen in iniquity, and have gone forth from the womb speaking lies, and to the present moment find within, a heart of unbelief prompting me to rebellion against God;-that I, whose every thought is evil, every word sinful, and every act defiled-shall persevere in the good ways of the Lord-it cannot be !" And such an one is frequently heard to say: " 'tis true I have rested on the divine faithfulness in seasons of gloom and sorrow, when, otherwise, I should have sunk into despondency; but how know I that my heart was then, and is even now, right with God, or that my hope was any other than the hope of the hypocrite which perishes?" My way seemed to be light in the Lord, but I am enveloped in darkness! surely that brightness arose only from sparks of my own kindling !” "Can it be, that these doubts and this distress would occur, if I were the subject of grace, and certain of attaining the promised inheritance ?"

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"Persevere !" responds the established believer, when the infallible certainty of the saints arrival at their Father's house is contemplated, "blessed be God, this truth is the perpetual support of my faith, the solace of my soul, and the burden of my song; it is my never-failing argument against all who seek my hurt,-my constant plea at the mercy seat,-my joy and my triumph day by day,

"Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given;
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven."

Such a catalogue of conflicting evidence as this, might be extended to a great and inconvenient length; comprising the multitudinous opinions of the various sects and parties under a profession of christianity, and the different degrees of infidelity which obtain among

the open enemies of godliness; but there is one invariable point we desire to have in view, which forbids further description: our design is the profit of the Lord's people.

The doctrine of the saints' final perseverance is established on the purposes and decrees of God: the eternal covenant and inviolable oath of God, set at defiance all the works of sin and of darkness, which have controverted and would effectually, if permitted, annihilate it. There is not a truth revealed in the word of God more clearly asserted, or more fully confirmed. The attributes of Jehovah are severally engaged and magnified in the certain salvation and glorification of each individual of the elect. Yea, the glorious Persons in the Trinity are themselves severally engaged, by covenant and by oath to perform this the work of their ownhand. The Father's choice, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's sanctifying and sealing grace, are mysteriously combined to effect the grand purpose. And it is so divinely adapted for spiritual consolation, and growth in the life of godliness, and for the production of the legitimate effects of grace reigning in the heart, that it cannot be contemplated by the renewed mind without either profound admiration, or exulting triumph. The chief question with the taught of God, who are yet weak in the faith, wavering, and perplexed, is, whether they may lay claim to an interest in this covenant security, which holds in indissoluble bonds the objects of divine love.

The great love wherewith the church, in all its members, is loved by Jehovah, is blessedly told by himself through the prophet Jeremiah, xxxi. 3. “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Here appears the utmost expression of that love; all that can be communicated to finite minds; and infinitely more than mortals may comprehend. But he that is taught of the Spirit may clearly discover, that it assures him of safe guidance through the whole of his difficult journey, and of sure entrance into the rest he seeks and pants after. For if the attraction, by cords of loving kindness, be the act of everlasting love; who shall gainsay, or effectually resist the conclusion, as revealed by the Lord's own mouth, therefore with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer ?" Spirit of all truth! teach thy people to understand what is comprehended in these gracious words thou hast indited; and let them learn (especially those that labour and are heavy laden) the peaceful, the holy effects, of a persuasion of interest in that love, whose perpetuity is the assurance of their holding out unto the end.

Again; the truth is eminently confirmed by our Lord's personal ministry in the days of his flesh, both in his discourses to the multitude and with his disciples privately: but in no instance more expressly than when in reproof of the sceptical questionings of the Jews, Jesus said, John x. 27, 28. " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life;

and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." Oh! what superabundant grace is manifest here. Jesus thinks it not enough to make the gracious declaration, “ I know my sheep," which, alone, implies all that is said in continuation; but, "I give unto them eternal life:" proving the kind of knowledge he has of them, the intimate connection they stand in to himself, and the security ensured by that vital union, in the gifts of life, grace, and glory everlasting. And in the short sentence there are also expressed four distinct and blissful consequences, arising from Christ's knowledge of them, and his gift of eternal life: they hear his voice-they follow him-none of their enemies shall prevail to pluck them out of his hand—they shall never perish! Oh! that, for such abounding grace, abundant displays of gratitude might appear in the hearts and lives of the Lord's people; and that they might be more habitually assured, that this is life eternal, to know the one only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.

And the apostle, in his epistle to the Romans, when discoursing on the privileges of the adopted family of God, concludes a long and inimitable argument, thus, "whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate: moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Rom. viii. 29, 30. The beautiful chain of salvation is here described in true gospel order; each intervening link corresponding with unnumbered testimonies to the process of divine manifestations, and admirably connected, in their several departments, in accordance with the first-the foreknowledge of God, and the last-the glorification of the saint.

Thus, we have, first, the testimony of Jehovah in covenant; secondly, of Jesus, the messenger and revealer of the covenant; and thirdly, of an apostle, as delivered to him by the Holy Ghost, in proof and in elucidation of the final perseverance of the saints. And it must be borne in grateful remembrance, that these indubitable assurances are but a specimen of the evidence with which the scriptures are amply stored.

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It cannot, then, be for want of a clearer external revelation of the mind of God in this matter, that many err from the truth, and give place to distressing fears and gloomy doubts. But why is it that among the humble followers of Christ, so many are, as were the Corinthian believers, "weak and sickly, and many sleep?" doubtedly a brighter internal manifestation of the truth would dispel the clouds of unbelief, and absorb the mists of ignorance, which overspread the understanding: but is there not a cause, a fatal cause, in the prevailing conduct and practice of the subjects of grace? In comparison with the aggregate number of the Lord's people, how few there seem to be who, in the exercise of faith of his own gift and operation, are living on his fulness! How rarely does the believer, in the enjoyment of sweet communion with Christ, meet with brethren who also live the life of faith on the Son of God! The church

abounds with talkers on spiritual subjects-the volubility of some deceiving the sober-minded, and inducing affliction and dismay in the simple-hearted: the painful consequences endured by the latter often being self-condemnation at their, comparatively, small attainments, and slow progress in the knowledge of divine things. And others. with little judgment in the things of God, and giving full rein to their fruitful imagination, run desperate riot in the excesses of misguided zeal. But the heart sickens in the contemplation.

Let the reader," whose heart is set to the word of the Lord," return to the consideration of the gracious declarations, promises, and manifold encouragements, here brought before him and may he be led by the Lord the Spirit to a simple reliance on what Jehovah saith in his word, and revealeth, in correspondence therewith, to his enlightened conscience: then he need not fear what man shall say unto him! He will then proceed in his sacred course from grace to grace, and from strength to strength, and he will assuredly go on even unto the end, and receive an abundant entrance into the joy of his Lord.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

PROVISION FOR AGED MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. Mr. Editor,

As your monthly publication appears to be open for the discussion of subjects calculated for general good, I have taken the liberty to send you a few remarks on one, that I conceive every true lover of Jesus must feel an interest in: a provision for the aged and worn out ministers of the gospel. Some readers will reply to this, by saying, there are many funds provided, societies formed, and monthly meetings held, for the express purpose of relieving poor and aged ministers. All this is true: and I am informed that our beloved sovereign allows two thousand pounds, annually, out of his privy purse, to be given to poor dissenting ministers!

But although there is a baptist board, which has a fund under its controul, and the independents the same, and the presbyterians, unitarians, &c. have large funds left expressly for poor preachers of Christ's gospel, by Lady Hewly, Dr. Williams, and others; yet it is almost an impossibility for a faithful minister of Jesus to obtain any assistance from any of those sources. For such are the sad signs of the times, that if a godly man is determined to preach Christ and him crucified; to bring forth in his ministry, from time to time, all the precious and peculiar doctrines of grace; not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God; to insist upon the necessity of being born again, of having experimental communion with God, of being justified by the perfect righteousness of Christ alone, of being all fair and without spot in Jesus, of God looking upon his church at all times in the dear Son of his love, of his loving the church as he loves Christ; and insisting upon the fruits and effects of these delightful truths in the daily walk: such men will be most vilely slandered, cruelly mocked, and constantly shunned. And, I am fearful,