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same.

Some maintain errors that strike at the fundamental truths of divine revelation; others profess to believe some important truths, while they are violently opposed to other doctrines equally important: and many mingle the little truth they have, with so much human doctrine, that they mar the whole. While some rob our Redeemer of his essential glory, there are those who though contending for his real deity, advance sentiments that derogate from his honour as the only and complete Saviour of his people. How little of the glory of Christ in his person, as the word made flesh, his headship to his church, his great work of redemption, his righteousness, sacrifice and grace, is heard from the lips of many reputed teachers. How generally do we hear of man's freewill and works, and the creature's co-operation with God's grace. The prevailing opinions are opposed to the glorious character, office, and operations of the Lord the Spirit. His sovereign, efficacious grace in conversion, is either denied or lost sight of, and the unregenerate man's duty to believe spiritually is strenuously contended for: the unconverted are often addressed in language that implies that the communication of spiritual blessings depends upon the creature's exertions. Multitudes are tinctured with the notion that sentiment is of no importance, and that a person may be very pious and in a very safe state, who is ignorant of, yea, opposed to the gospel plan of salvation. But I shall tire you with this sombre description of these gloomy appearances.

F. Though your statement is not calculated to gratify, I pray you proceed, that I may have a full account of the dark images that have been floating in your mind.

J. I have also reflected with grief, that many who rank among the followers of Jesus, discover great want of spirituality of mind. little is known of feeding upon the truth, living upon and walking in Christ and many appear to be satisfied without enjoying communion with the Lord, or experiencing God's love shed abroad in their hearts. Few appear inclined to converse on spiritual subjects; and seldom do we meet with those who speak of such things in an experimental

manner.

F. Are there none of whom you hope better things?

J. There are some who appear to be partakers of spiritual life, yet, even they discover too much of the spirit of the world, and that their minds are inordinately fixed upon present things. And (without joining in the foolish clamour raised hy the enemies of my Lord against such as profess to believe that salvation is of grace) it is to be feared, that some awful characters hold the truth in unrighteousness, and that those who name the name of Christ, are not sufficiently careful to maintain good works!

F. I acknowledge, my friend Jabez, that there is too much truth in your portraiture, and I would not view it with unconcern: but as you are generally inclined to take the darkest side of a question, I think I may, while forming a just estimate of the case, introduce

some light shades. There are a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, who fall not into the errors by which multitudes are carried away, nor satisfy themselves with a mere formal profession of religion; but who know and love the gospel of the grace of God, and openly profess their attachment to it. They have been taught, not by men, but by the Spirit of God, and therefore the doctrines they believe are not merely matters of opinion, but the things of which they have had some experience, and on which they daily live. Under the influence of divine truth, these favoured characters worship the covenant God of Israel in his persons and relations, and honour the Father, Son, and Spirit, by ascribing to them the glory of their distinct manifestations of love and grace, in the salvation of the chosen. Can you deny that there are such distinguished characters to be found even in this our day?

J. I cheerfully acknowledge that there are a few rays of light shining in this darkness, though I perceived them not when meditating alone; but I feel my spirit revived by your conversation.

it

F. I am glad that your gloom is in some measure dispelled; and may tend to our edification to enquire, who made these living souls to differ from the multitude? Is it the fruit of their own wisdom, and through the exertion of their own powers, that they have escaped the delusions by which thousands are deceived? Nay, but to God must the glory be given. He is the teacher from whom they have received the knowledge of divine truth that the wise and prudent possess not. The Lord's power keeps them, and his wisdom guides them safely through the temptations that arise, and the by-ways which invite them to turn aside. The Lord's chosen are by nature as averse to the salvation which is by grace, and as much at enmity with God as any of the rest: and after the Lord has called them by his grace, they still possess a proud, self-righteous, and self-sufficient nature, that (but for preventing grace) would openly oppose the God of our salvation in all his sovereign displays of favour. The Lord who first turned his people from darkness to light, maintains in them a deep conviction of their total depravity and worthlessness, so that they cannot approve of any sentiment that gives glory to the creature, and derogates from the honour of their glorious Saviour. Nor can they possess any peace of conscience, or satisfaction of mind, but as they are living by faith upon the perfect work of Immanuel, and in communion with their covenant God. Constrained by manifested love they desire to glorify the God of their salvation; and being born from above, they are not of the world, and cannot join in league with it. They are kept by the exceeding greatness of that power by which they were translated into the kingdom of Christ.

J. The change which I feel in my mind, since you began to converse with me, convinces me that it is far better to admire the sovereign grace shining forth in those who are saved by the Lord, than to indulge in that despondency respecting others in which you found me sinking.

F. Consider, further, that in the darkest times the Lord has always kept his chosen people. Beloved from everlasting, united to Christ, and bought with his infinitely valuable blood, they are too precious in his sight for him to suffer them to be carried away by any flood which the serpent may cast out. Though false Christs and false prophets arise, and shew great signs and wonders, our Lord teaches us that it is not possible to deceive the elect. And when Paul is speaking of the deceivableness of unrighteousness with which antichrist would appear, he gives thanks to God on behalf of the chosen, knowing that though the natural man's faith may be overthrown, the foundation of God standeth sure, and the gates of hell shall never prevail against the rock on which the church is built. My dear brother, I would not wish to see you unconcerned respecting Zion's prosperity, but the Lord is more interested in the welfare of his beloved people than you and I can be. He has made all-sufficient provision for them, and will safely lead them through all the dangers, snares, and temptations of the present state, until they are all brought to adore the triune God in the heights of glory!

J. These are the truths on which my hopes rest, yet I sometimes feel what Elijah felt, when he said, “ I only am lett."

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The Lord

F. My brother, you walk by sense, and not by faith. has many living and lively souls that you never heard of, and who are hidden from others of the same family. Many a precious jewel is secreted in some dark corner of the earth. Many of the plants of righteousness grow and flourish in the wilderness unobserved. You know not how many souls the Lord feeds in secret: neither can you understand how many souls the Holy Ghost quickens and keeps alive, where suited means of nourishment and edification are not granted. When Elijah thought he was the only true worshipper of Jehovah, there were seven thousand reserved by the Lord; and who can tell but they may now as far exceed your estimate as they then did his? As we cannot decide what degree of darkness and want of judgment may consist with the life of God in the soul, we are not rashly to conclude, that all who listen to an uncertain sound are alienated from the life of God. There are some who appear as the smoaking flax; our compassionate Saviour will not despise them, nor should we, but rather attempt to encourage and edify them. But as after all our enquiries, it is the Lord that knoweth them that are his, we must leave them to his care. And be it your happiness and mine to adore the sovereign grace that has separated us from others, and that still keeps us distinct. And while our affections go forth to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, may we be enabled to manifest that we belong to the people who dwell alone, and are not reckoned with the nations. My brother, adieu: the Lord be with thee!

J. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with thy spirit.

Saffron Walden.

J. D. P.

(To the Editor of the Spiritual Magazine.)

THE HAPPY RESULTS OF THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST.

Dear Sir,

HAVING seen some interesting remarks in your "Saints' Treasury," on the finished work of Christ, I was forcibly impressed with the importance of that subject, and led into a train of reflections on the privileges of those who, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, realize their personal interest therein. It has been my happiness, through a long life of severe exercises, very frequently to enjoy that blessing, and I still find it the joy and rejoicing of my heart. If allowed a page in your valuable work, I will express a little of what I have known and enjoyed of this truth, with some of the effects it has produced: but, Mr. Editor, do not think me an egotist, for I will say no more than every one may say, who know our precious Christ as his own.

Every view which the believer takes by the eye of faith, whether it be of the cause of the Redeemer's finished work, the perfection of that work, or the blessings which result from it, is sure to inspire the renewed mind with delight; and more, it is sure to press the soul down in humble prostration before God, and at the same moment to replume the wings of love for a higher flight into the sublime regions of spiritual felicity. As I contemplate the cause of what my blessed Redeemer has done, my soul is fired at the thought of Jehovah's eternal love; love to me, a wretch deserving the lowest hell! love which made me an heir of glory, and has made me meet for it. This love alone I consider as the only cause of the redemption, the regeneration, and the glorification of the church; the ground on which she stands eternally safe, and the source whence she will draw all her supplies for ever.

The sacred scriptures clearly shew that redemption's mighty work is the effect of love," herein is the love of God made manifest;" and prove the almighty acts of the Spirit to proceed from the same cause, "for his great love wherewith he loved us, when we were dead in sin, he quickened us." But while the scriptures prove Jehovah's love to his people to be the sole cause of the Saviour's perfect work for them, and while every spiritual eye with rapture

sees

Love shine through all our glorious Christ has done,
With beams more brilliant than the mid-day sun;

Yet, though redemption be the effect of an eternal cause, it is itself the cause (the meritorious cause) of all the blessedness the church can ever enjoy; for God's chosen were so beloved that they could not be finally lost, though, so far lost, as that they could only be saved by the finished work of the God-man. Hence redemption becomes the

channel through which the God of grace pours, from the rich fountain of love, all the streams of his goodness. And Oh! how multiform and precious are those streams, flowing incessantly in every direction, possessing every power to comfort and enrich the church in her wilderness state! And, who can describe the joys of those into whose hearts these precious streams roll their sacred flood! Their feelings are not to be told, for their joys are "unspeakable." But the blessings they partake of are set forth in scripture, and shall be enjoyed by such as God the Spirit brings to the knowledge of the truth as it

is in Jesus.

Some of those blessings are as follow. Through the finished work of Christ, the dead sinner rises into spiritual life; the justly condemned criminal is acquitted by the eternal Judge; the bankrupt is discharged from all demands; the prisoner goes forth from his gloomy dungeon; the slave of satan obtains his release; the rebel is disarmed of his hostile weapons; the wandering prodigal returns home to his father's house; and those who before were darkness are made light. And all this is but a small part of the blessedness resulting from the redemption of Christ for the sinner who before was dead in trespasses and sins, rises into the enjoyment of spiritual and eternal life in his living head; the criminal is not merely acquitted, but fully justified from every charge; the bankrupt is not only freed from his ten thousand talent debt, but is invested with incalculable riches; the prisoner is not only set at liberty, but is "free indeed," and shall never more come into bondage; he is no longer under the curse of the law, his surety having been made a curse for him, and being a son he participates in the honours of his family; from wretchedness and disgrace the prodigal is brought to banquet at his father's table; he exchanges the impure delights of sensuality for the refined cordials of spiritual pleasure, the filthy rags which before marked him as an outcast, are replaced by that spotless robe, the everlasting ornament of every son; his society which before was the rebellious multitude, is now the excellent of the earth, such as abhor sin, even the saints and household of God.

So abundant are the happy results of the finished work of our Lord, that by the teaching of the Holy Ghost in the redeemed, old things pass away and all things become new. New affections rule

within them; new objects delight their eyes; new sounds charm their ears; new principles regulate their will, and new motives guide their actions. And all this is far from being the amount of good to be known by the church, as the consequence of the finished work of Christ. For as the Lord the Spirit expands the spiritual mind it feeds on the fruits of the Redeemer's labour, and feels enriched by the spoils of his victory; and is encouraged thereby to trust in a finished salvation, and to plead only the precious blood and perfect righteousness of Christ before God. Nor does the privileged soul stop here, but arrives at an assurance that redemption was wrought for him, and

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