good! and if the Lord's family rightly consider how they are situated in this sinful time state, they will find enough within and without to be constantly approaching the throne of grace for wisdom how to act, that God in all things may be glorified. And what can we better meditate upon than the finished work of the cross, the triumph of Christ over death, who has told us, "because I live ye shall live also." Passing through this evil world we seek a kingdom whose builder and maker is God,-and are now, as our fathers were, pilgrims and strangers here below.

Farewell, fellow travellers! the Lord bless you and keep you near to himself, help you to live upon his fulness, and may his Spirit light up upon you the light of his countenance, and give you a sweet entrance by faith into the glories of his person, as God-man Mediator, blessed for evermore, amen.

Mr. Editor,

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

CHRIST PRECIOUS TO BELIEVERS.

IT is an awful truth, that we live in a cloudy and dark day, notwithstanding all that is said about the spread of the gospel, both at home and abroad; and I fear there is more said upon that subject than is really done; for when we look around us, at home, we see persons of different sentiments united together for the purpose of holding up and defending a gospel which is opposed to the gospel of Christ, and never very backward in crying out against those persons who dare show a dislike to a yea and nay gospel, and declare without fear of future consequences, the gospel of our Triune Jehovah, in all its fulness and freeness, as men unfit for society, enemies to good works, &c. Nevertheless, God has a few people in Sardis still, who are not ashamed of old-fashioned truths, who glory in the cross of Christ, are determined not to know any thing among men, as essential to salvation, but Jesu's blood and righteousness, and to whom he is precious, as is stated in the following passage: "Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious." 1 Peter ii. 7.

I will, as the Lord shall be pleased to assist, notice first, the persons addressed; secondly, their faith; and, thirdly, the preciousness of Christ unto them.

First, the persons addressed are the objects of the everlasting love of God, the Father, Word, and Spirit, for they each, as with one voice, declare to poor afflicted Zion," I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Jer. xxxi. 3. God, the Father, as the effect of his love, chose his people before the foundation of the world, blessed them with all time and eternal blessings in Jesus, gave them to him, predestinated them to the adoption of children, and contrived a way to

raise them out of that state of sin and wretchedness into which he eternally foresaw they would fall. God, the Word, as the effect of his love, accepted of them as the gift of the Father to him, took them into union with himself, in bonds which neither sin, satan, death, nor any enemy can break, engaged to pay their debts, and bring them to their Father's house, (upon the ground of which engagement, the old testament saints went to heaven) and in the fulness of time he took upon him their nature, was made flesh, and dwelt upon the earth; fulfilled the divine law, bore all their sins in his own body, waded through the sea of merited wrath, shed his blood to make the payment good, and restored that which he took not away. Psalm lxix. 4. So that there is not a single sin committed by any of the Lord's people, either before or after conversion, which Jesus did not make satisfaction for when he bowed his head and died. And his resurrection is a blessed proof of the perfection of that satisfaction, for had it been imperfect in any respect, he and all the members of his body, the church, would have remained under the arrest of law and justice for ever, and never been permitted to see the glory of God. But he has risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that sleep, and entered heaven amidst shouts of loud applause, "God is gone up with a shout." Psalm xlvii. 5. In consequence of which, all his seed shall be delivered, and presented by him to the Father as the objects of his love, as it is written, "Father, here am I; and of the children whom thou hast given me, I have lost none." And the Spirit engaged with the Father and the Word, as the effect of his love, to communicate life and light to the minds of the elect, to convince them of their sinful, helpless, unrighteous, and lost condition, to reveal Jesus to them in his blood, righteousness, promise, ability, and willingness to save, to help them to believe, to pray and rejoice with joy unspeakable, to bear witness to their spirits that they are the children of God, and cause them to see, that as they are children, they are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Yea, whatever is done for them in time, it is but the effect of the joint engagements of the eternal Three; and, as they are the objects of the love of the said eternal Three, they are their mutual property, and the objects of their mutual care. As such, they are commanded to cast all their cares upon the Lord; and it is their privilege to worship and hold communion with each person in the Godhead, and not feel any shackles in praying to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, but give equal honour to each divine person, and at the same time, maintain the unity of the divine essence. "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one." 1 John v. 7.

Secondly. They are the redeemed of the Lord. Though the elect were loved with an everlasting love, they fell in Adam into a state of sin and rebellion, in common with all his offspring, and from which they had no power to deliver themselves. Therefore, Jesus came into the world, according to his eternal engagements, and by

his life and death, redeemed them from all iniquity. Titus ii. 14. the curse of the law, Gal. iii. 13, and the powers of death, Hosea xiii. 14. In consequence of which, they are sent out of the pit wherein there is no water, and return to the Most High, from whom they have departed. "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion." Though they are scattered upon the face of the whole earth, the Lord has said, "I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." Isa. xliii. 6. Yea, though they dwell in very dark and obscure parts, where the word of life is not preached, God will either bring them to it, or send it to them; for the word of the Lord is gone forth, "they shall return;" and as the Lord has said it, who or what can prevent it? for the assertion swallows up every objection that can be brought against their return, and surmounts every obstacle which may lie in the way. They were purchased, and the purchase price was paid down on Calvary, therefore they must, yea, they shall come.

Thirdly. They are called by grace. Called from death to life, so as to feel what sinful, rebellious, hard-hearted, unworthy creatures they are, and to groan under a feeling sense of their daily wretchedness as Paul did. Rom. vii. 24. They are called from darkness to light, to see the imperfection of their best performances, the emptiness and insufficiency of created good to satisfy the immortal mind of man; the suitability of Jesus as having pardon for the guilty, clothing for the naked, strength for the weak, wisdom for the ignorant, holiness for the unholy, help for the helpless, riches for the poor, bread for the hungry, water for the thirsty, and healing for the wounded. They think on him, desire to enjoy him, and can say that they see themselves, Jesus, and the scriptures of truth, in quite a different light to what they ever did before. They are called from bondage to liberty. "Ye have been called into liberty," says the apostle; and again," stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free." Gal. v. Liberty from the charge, guilt, dominion, love and practice of sin, the bondage of the law, and the power of death, and of access to God; to plead with him upon the ground of his own promise in Christ, to trust in him at all times, and in all circumstances to expect all needful mercies, to claim him as their friend, portion, rock, and high tower, and to look for heaven at last, to enjoy all the effects of unceasing love for ever. The persons who are thus called, are interested in the redemption of Jesus; and those who are thus manifestively interested in Christ, are the objects of eternal, free, sovereign, and unchangeable love; which love was the first cause of their deliverance, and as the effect of it, and the blood by which that deliverance was accomplished, they are manifested in time to be what they ever were in the view of the Most High. And though they may be, and often are deprived of the enjoyment of divine things, walk in darkness, question the reality of all their past experience, and are ready to conclude that they are nothing but stony ground

hearers, Jehovah says to them," for a small moment have 1 forfaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee: in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Isa. liv. 7, 8. The foundation of their security can never be undermined, their title to heaven can never be lost; therefore, they, as the spouse of Christ, shall be for ever with him to behold his unveiled glories, tell of the wonders of his love, and shout eternal victory over sin, satan, death, and the grave, through his blood.

As the beloved, redeemed, and called of God, they are exhorted to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things, to be followers of God as dear children; not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, to do good to all, but especially to the household of faith, to acknowledge God in all their ways, to search his word and pray to him for a blessing upon it, to abstain from the appearance of evil, and love each other with a pure heart fervently. They are not exhorted to do those things with an idea of meriting any thing at the hand of the Lord, but to manifest their gratitude to him for what he has done for them. "Ye are my friends (says Jesus) if ye do whatsoever I command you." John xv. 14. Indeed, all that a believer does in a way of real obedience is but the effect of what the Lord has done for him and in him. Therefore he does not work for life, but from life implanted in his soul; he does not obey in order to save himself, but because the Lord has saved him and made him acquainted with it; he does not serve the Lord to get a title to heaven, but because he has an unalterable one, founded in his eternal union to Jesus. So that while the believer denies ungodliness, and practices holiness in the fear of the Lord, he does not expect to be received either in this world or that which is to come for his denying ungodliness and practice of holiness; but acknowledges after he has done all, he is an unprofitable servant, and must be saved by grace through faith, and that not of himself, but as the gift of God. He acknowledgeshimself a sinner, but trusts in Christ erucified.

Birmingham, 1828.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.) REDEMPTION BY CHRIST. "My meditation of Him shall be sweet."

JACOB.

"SING, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth, break forth into singing, O forest, and every tree therein, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." Thus sang the seraphic Isaiah, when taking a prophetic view of the deliverance of God's spiritual Israel, from worse than Egyptian bondage, or Babylonian thraldom, by the deliverer which came out of Zion, for to t turn away VOL. IV. No. 49.

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ungodliness from Jacob;-thus sings the messenger of mercy, commissioned from the court of heaven, when expatiating on the transcendant glories of Him of whom the morning stars sang together, when all the sons of God shouted for joy, "ere the worlds were made, or Adam's dust was fashioned to a man ;”—and thus sings the redeemed sinner, when in the vision of faith, he views the amazing price paid down for Israel's ransom on Calvary's hallowed summit, by the precious blood-shedding of the man of God's right hand.

O my soul, contemplate with holy wonder this scene of covenant love and unequalled mercy! what theme so delightful as incarnate love? what name so sweet and precious as the name of Jesus, on which for the immortal mind to expand its sacred powers, and satiate its capacious desires? His eternal power and Godhead, his mysterious incarnation, his finished salvation, his immaculate righteousness, his atoning blood, his rising power, his glorious ascension and cession at the right hand of God the Father, are themes ever new and ever full. What stupendous mysteries and infinite condescension opens up to the contemplation of the awakened sinner, when under the sacred tuition of the Lord the Spirit; he who has been long enveloped in dense darkness, of far deeper gloom then ten-fold night, without one twinkling star to guide his wandering feet to the abodes of peace and eternal day, at length is favoured with an experience of the riches of distinguishing grace, and hears the life-giving voice of the Holy Ghost, "Arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." By the communication of this light, the happy recipient is made acquainted with " the brightness of the Father's glory," and with admiring wonder learns the reason, that he who was the fulness of joy should become a man of sorrow; that he who had heaven and earth at his command, should be so far reduced as to have no where to lay his head;-that he who was worshipped by the glittering hierarchy before the throne, should be subject to the rule and authority of mortals: and this for man and his salvation.

Thus (by virtue of covenant engagement) it behoved him to lay his glory by, and take upon him the form of a servant, and to tabernacle in this lower world, that by his holy life he should work out a complete righteousness, magnify and make honourable the violated law, and by his dolorous sufferings and vicarious death for ever blot out the hand-writing which was against his bride-pay the debt she had contracted, satisfy the rigid demands of divine justice,—make an atonement for her sins,-finish transgression, and thus emancipate and deliver her from the infernal grasp of him by whom she was held captive. And as a demonstrative proof he had thus delivered her, and accomplished the work the Father had given him to do, we behold him at the appointed moment bursting the barriers of the tomb, breaking the bars of iron in sunder, and arising as a mighty victor, with terrific majesty and invincible power, giving death his death's wound," spoiling principalities and powers, leading captivity captive, and withdrawing the glorious rays of his bodily presence

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