Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

beloved, upon the very face of it, your condition bears the impress of a God-aye, and a kind Father too. Who-who could have sustained you under what you have been called to pass? None-none but God himself; and he will as surely again reveal himself, and confirm the sweet language he "spoke to your heart in Newgate Street many years ago, "Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee;' as surely as that you are now in existence. As to visions, see what Job passed through; and there are those since the days of Job, who if they were to attempt to tell out what their eyes have been opened to discover, would, still more than they are already, be deemed fanatics—enthusiasts—men beside themselves and fit candidates for a lunatic asylum. These things are kept back, and prudently so, as it is only here and there that even the Lord's family go into these depths. Paul was not the only one who heard and saw things, which it was "not lawful (or possible or prudent) for men to utter." "As surely as an individual has had a bright manifestation, so surely shall that bright manifestation be tested; the more conspicuous the revelation of the Lord's will, the more powerfully shall it be opposed by sin, Satan, and a carnal world. As to the rebellion which you feel, your awfully hard thoughts of God, and your dreadful temptations to blaspheme his holy name; these spring from your old Adam nature, stirred up by the Devil. By and by the Master will appear as he did for the poor man among the tombs, and glad enough will your Adversary and his Adversary betake himself to his own place. It is the Lord's work,--you can't drive him away, the Lord alone can do it; and there is the blessedness of it. If it had not been a genuine work-the Lord's own work upon your soul-Satan would have either driven or allured you into some false refuge of lies, long, long ago; but this has not been the case; and you that are saying "you have no faith -that your hope is perished from the Lord-and that you shall surely die in despair," we contend have strong faith. You have (though you see it not) a hope which is as an anchor unto the soul sure and steadfast ; and you know an anchor is only seen in fair weather; when the ship is sailing, and all going on well, then the anchor is stationed at the bows; but if a storm comes on; if the coast is dangerous, and they have not sea-room, the mariners directly seek an anchorage; and then their anchor is cast overboard; they lose sight of it, and all their anxiety is to know whether it has a good holdfast or not. So with your poor soul: she has rode the storm-you know not how―aye, blessed be God, we feel a persuasion it is now nearly over we see, or think we see, signs of the break of day-the night is far spent ; clouds begin to break, a little dawn appears on yonder sky; by and by the Sun-the glorious Sun of Righteousness shall arise, scattering the mist, dispelling the darkness, and causing you to bless and adore him for the very exercises through which you are now called to pass.

and

Do you ask us why we speak so decidedly? We give you a threefold answer. First, because your epistle reached us when we were in a state of new darkness, for which we could not account-in travail of soul for one we knew not; 2ndly, because your letter was accompained with the sealing testimony of God the Holy Ghost upon our spirit,

that you were his child, and leading us to thank him for the unaccountable exercise mentioned in the Magazine for September, 1840, and which you stated was what induced you to address us; and lastly, and most conclusively, because we have to do with an unchangeable God, and an unchangeable covenant “ordered in all things and sure."

Therefore wait upon him, poor, doubting, fearing, disconsolate sister. On no account neglect the means of his appointment; wait upon him in season and out of season; confess the power of unbelief, for that is the sin under which you labour; read, though it be in broken sentences, his most holy word; and attend his house. Oh! it is the delusion of the adversary-the work of the devil-to keep you away from the sound of the truth. You are in London, amid much Gospel truth. Therefore prize it; and the God of truth apply its healing properties to your heart; so prays yours in Gospel bonds, THE EDITOR.

A FRAGMENT.

WILT thou, Lord, let one of thy little ones perish? What! shall one whom thou hast redeemed by precious blood-unto whom thou hast, in seasons that are past, spoken pardon and peace, and said thou wouldst preserve unto the end, and Bring off more than conqueror, slip through thy fingers, as it were, and perish after all? Is thine hand shortened

[ocr errors]

that it cannot save, or is thine ear heavy that thou canst not hear thy little one groaning, moaning, sighing, crying, in the depths of difficulty and trial? Hast thou not said that no weapon formed against him shall prosper, and that every tongue rising up in judgment against him he shall condemn ? Is it not thine own free, voluntary language? And wilt thou fail him, Lord? Wilt thou let his enemies and thine enemies triumph? Is not the cause thine own? Did he not make it thine when he brought his "hard case to thee, consulted thee, and followed the leadings of thy hand? Did he not come confessing his ignorance, weakness, and proneness to go wrong, when he asked thee to be his counsellor and guide? Didst thou not attend unto the voice of his cry?— was he not favoured with a blessed audience at thy throne ?-didst thou not hold out the golden sceptre to him, and say, "I will surely do thee good?" And did he not, under the unctious power of thy love, and in the remembrance of thy great condescension, go forth and testify of thy grace, and love, and mercy? Were not thy majesty-thy greatness— thy glory, the burden of his song? But has thy poor weak and helpless servant wandered from thee into bye-paths?-has he left the strait and thorny road to tread in an easier path, and does he not now smart for it? -has he plucked forbidden fruit by the way-side, and is not the taste thereof bitter? And is it not thy prerogative, precious Lord, to pity, pardon, and save? Hast thou not said, "I will multiply pardons ?" O Lord, remember the fulness of thine own language. Thou art not disappointed in thy poor worm-thou knewest what he would be, when from all eternity thou didst set thy love upon him, and thou lovedst him because thou wouldst love him-for thine own sake, and for the display of thine own glory. Come, then, thou all-sufficient and adorable Lord, come and "turn again the captivity" of such a soul. ALFRED.

360

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE LATE YOUTHFUL H. A. HARRIS. LETTER III. TO MR. J. S.

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,

You seem to hint in your last that you were at a stand-still for want of a subject. The glorified spirits in heaven are never at a stand-still, for they are continually praising the divine Redeemer. Always echo in your letters their glorious song, "Worthy is the Lamb!" My ears, hope, may cease to hear before they tire at that blissful sound that warms the hearts, that animates the songs, of the church militant below. Travelling, in the greatness of Immanuel's strength, through a world of warfare and alarms, these feel no higher joy than that which flows from his dear name; and those who were once mourning here below, sepulchred in a body of sin and death, having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb,

"Delight to sing his lofty praise
Through every heav'nly street;
They never tire to speak his grace,
Or worship at his feet."

I believe the greatest trials of a child of God are when he does not find THAT name as ointment poured forth-when he feels such coldness and indifference respecting the things of God. You, my dear Joseph, say that your heart is like a flint; well, I keep pace. Your first wish is, to have it softened. Look to Jesus-he is King in Zion; he rules and reigns, and he has promised to take away the stony heart. Your heart possesses feelings, or you would not complain about it. I feel at times such an unconcern that I almost come to the conclusion, that I am not a child of God. I reason thus: if I am an affectionate child, why can I remain under the hidings of Jehovah's face with such carelessness? Oh! that God the Spirit would break in upon our minds, leading us to Christ as the Author and Finisher of faith, that we may receive supplies of grace out of his fulness.

If we ever get to glory, we shall see the way our Lord has led us a straight way; and, though darkness of soul may be the rod with which he is chastening, is there no balm in Gilead? is there no Physician there? Yes, there is, my dear Joseph; He is waiting to be gracious. He never said to the seeking seed of Jacob, "Seek ye my face in vain." Let us, then, come with boldness to a throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time of need. He is an all-sufficient Saviour, and

"Knows what sore temptations mean,

For he has felt the same."

Oh! that God the Spirit would shed a ray of light, love, and consolation into my soul, that I might see Christ as my Saviour and my God, as the chief among ten thousand times ten thousand, and the altogether lovely. This is, I hope and believe, the first desire of my heart, that Jesus would lift upon me the light of his countenance, and lead me from glory to glory until I arrive at the perfection of glory; when we shall see him who is the perfection of beauty, face to face, without a veil or cloud between us. May you and I, this day, and all our dear friends, realize the presence of Jesus as the God of the table. May" our hearts burn within us," while our minister is delivering from the treasury of grace things new and old. May Jehovah the Spirit, according to his covenant character, which he sustains as the Testifier of Jesus, take of the things of Christ and show them unto us. Amen, amen. "Even so; come,

Lord Jesus."

Yours in His indissoluble bonds,

And by the ties of Friendship,

11, Upper East Smithfield,

May 3, 1833.

H. A. HARRIS.

REVIEWS.

The True Church of God, as described in the Oracles of God, in her Essential Constitution, Holy Orders, and Efficient Discipline. By JOSEPH IRONS. Fourth Edition. E. Irons, 27, Redcross Street. WITHIN the limited space of forty-eight duodecimo pages, we are furnished with one of the clearest definitions of what constitutes the true Church of God-her essential constitution, holy orders, and efficient discipline, that we have ever read. We cannot refrain from quoting the following; it seems to us based upon New Testament authority, and confirmed by the history of the earliest ages of the church-marking out the narrow path of truth which lies between the blasphemous assumptions of the Romish hierachy and the unquiet anarchy of republicanism, which is too common in dissenting churches.

I contemplate with horror the assumption of priestly power by ungodly men; by which millions of precious souls are fatally deceived, under the fictitious pretension of an exclusive of apostolic succession, which is not so much as hinted at in the New Testament. The authority of fathers weighs nothing with me, because I believe that I am redeemed from vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers (1 Pet. i. 18.), and because I am convinced that the mystery of iniquity was the chairman of their councils. I must have a "thus saith the Lord," for all I receive as a matter of faith. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. viii. 20).

I have no disposition to contend about tithes and church-rates; let carnal men contend about carnal things; but I am resolved in the strength of the Lord, to 66 contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude, 3). I earnestly contend for infant baptism; but to call it regeneration is falsehood. Confirmation, is a New Testament privilege, i.e., "confirming the souls of the disciples" (Acts, xiv. 22) in the doctrines of grace and in experimental godliness; but to confirm the heads of rude and ignorant boys and girls in unregeneracy, is to rivet Satan's chains upon them.

The Lord's supper is the standing privilege of those who have faith to discern the Lord's body through the emblems; but to administer it knowingly to unrenewed persons, is to be accessary to their damnation (1 Cor. ii. 29).

The forgiveness of sin is a doctrine of the Gospel, most cheering to be preached; but for one poor worm to pretend to impart it to another, saying, "I ABSOLVE THEE FROM ALL THY SINS," is blasphemy (Mark, ii. 7).

The doctrine of "the resurrection to eternal life" is full of comfort to believers? but to call a departed worldling who never felt the power of grace upon his heart, a "dear brother "to thank God for his departure, and proclaim a 66 sure and certain hope" of him, is most appalling deception.

Here I take my stand; claiming as my brother in the Lord, and fellow-labourer in the Gospel, every herald of truth whom God has taught to enjoy and proclaim covenant love, precious blood, and invincible grace, as the unalienable portion of the redeemed and sanctified church of Jehovah.

"the

The only scriptural sense in which the word CHURCH can be understood, in its most extensive application (says the author, p. 10), is, the whole election of grace, whole family in heaven and earth" (Eph. iii. 15), whom God the Father loved and adopted from eternity, whom God the Son covenanted to redeem, and whose names God the Holy Ghost registered in the book of life to be sanctified in the fulness of time as heirs of salvation.

We quote the following from page 26, as highly important; it states the principle which pervades the whole of this interesting little tract, and we think that if this paragraph only were understood and acted upon, by all the churches in Christendom, we should hear but little

more of those angry contentions which have disgraced the name of some religious assemblies.

The visible constitution of the church on earth has passed through several dispensations, and varied in many external things; its priesthood and its ordinances have changed; but its essential verities are, and must be, unchanged and unchangeable: there are, also, some points of its external government which have always preserved a sacred harmony, particularly the seat of rule or authority, of which there are seven remarkable instances in seven distinct dispensations left on record in the inspired volume; to which I request my reader's prayerful attention, that his mind may be established in discipline as well as in doctrine.

The seven dispensations to which I refer, may be thus distinguished-the Patriarchal ministry, the Mosaic ministry, the Sacerdotal ministry, the Prophetic minis"try, the Personal ministry of Christ, the Apostolic ministry, and the Pastoral ministry. Now these are so distinct from each other, that there are many things in each which are inapplicable to the others, and quite impracticable in many, so that they may be safely called separate dispensations of the visible church of God; but they are all characterized by a ruling head under God; and republican discipline in the church of God is nowhere to be found in scripture, except in such cases as Korah and his company, of whom God himself took vengeance (Numb. xvi.).

Again, speaking of the necessity of mutual love, and the scrupulously avoiding needless interference and unprofitable contentions, Mr. Irons says:

It would have been ridiculous and false for the tribe of Reuben to have said to the tribe of Simeon," You are not Israelites because you are not of OUR tribe ;" and is it not equally ridiculous and false, for the Episcopalian to say to the Independent, "You are not of the church of God, because you are not of our church?" might one family in a city insist upon governing every domestic circle in that city, or else deny them their citizenship.

*

*

*

*

As well

For Ephraim to vex Judah, and Judah to vex Ephraim, was for both to assist the Philistines against Israel, and give their strength to Ammon and Moab (Isa. xi. 13). So, for the Presbyterian to envy the Episcopalian, and the Episcopalian to vex the Prebyterian, is for both to assist the world's opposition, and become the allies of Satan in the war which he maintains against the kingdom of Christ. Let Judah erect the standard of his tribe, and Ephraim unfurl his banner; but let them not fight against each other-let every family look well to the order and happiness of its own circle, obeying the injunctions of its legitimate head, and let such an head rule well his own house (1 Tim. ii. 4); but let him not set fire to his neighbour's house, because the same discipline is not maintained there, lest the raging element consume his own house also, and the conflagration spread itself far and wide.

For our own views of a Gospel church, we refer the reader to page 33. A Gospel church is a voluntary association of believers, who have mutually agreed to worship God together, "with one accord in one place," enjoying the preached word and ordinances of God, and pledging themselves to one another, in the fellowship of saints, to promote by all possible means their mutual edification and comfort.

Passing over some very important particulars relating to the conduct becoming the pastor, the deacons, and the members of a Christian church, we cannot forbear quoting the following judicious observations. We see eye to eye with the author in them, and have heard with pleasure that he has fed and governed a large church upon the principles laid down, for nearly two-and-twenty years.

The soul which is much engaged with God, has neither time nor inclination for the loose conversation and vain amusements which engage the attention of fashionable religionists-he has business at court, and must not be detained in vanity fairhe has eternal realities to enjoy, and refuses to be charmed with bubbles, and amused with the toys which beguile the children of this world. * * * Look not at each

« VorigeDoorgaan »