in the bitterness of his soul, "I have sinned against the Lord :" the Holy Comforter replies, "The Lord also hath putaway thy sin "(2 Sam. xii. 13). The feeble believer has in himself no power to meet the numberless charges which the enemies of truth are ever ready to bring against him; they lie in wait for his soul; they watch for an opportunity to "shoot out their arrows, even bitter words " (Ps. lxiv. 3); they seek occasion to slay him; but their malice and their rage are perfectly known to that Almighty Being whose eyes are "in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov. xv, 3), and at the very moment that "the wicked bend their bow, and make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart" (Ps. xi. 2), the Lord inter. poses as the shield of his people, and receives the envenomed shaft in his own person. Not only so, but as a mighty Conqueror, "he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors (Ps. vii. 13), and he never draws a bow at a venture, nor ever misses his aim. The arrow of death cut down the persecuting Herod after he had "killed James the brother of John with the sword," and would have proceeded further to take Peter also (Acts xii. 2, 3). An arrow of sharp conviction arrested Saul of Tarsus in his course, and conveyed to his inmost soul the cutting reproof, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Acts xi. 4). When Peter had unfeelingly added to the weight of his dear Lord's sufferings, by positively denying that he knew him, the arrow of love, shot by one glance of the Redeemer, penetrated to his heart's core, and no powers of earth or hell could ever extract it. Well might he afterwards appeal to him who "looketh on the heart," Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee" (John xxi. 17).

66

In vain does frail mortality attempt to balance accounts with the Mighty Maker of all things. To what quarter soever the mental energies are directed, they are sure to be foiled. Many such efforts have been made, but failure has been the inevitable consequence. How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God," said David; "how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand" (Ps. cxxxix. 17, 18). Paul could compare his afflictions with those of any other Christian, and find them to exceed; but when weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, they appeared to be scarcely worth mentioning. "I reckon," said he, "that the sufferings of this present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us (Rom. viii. 18). On the other hand, when the love of God in Christ Jesus was placed in the scale, the same apostle might search the heavens above, and the earth beneath, time past, present, and future, the whole range of creation, and find nothing to counterbalance it. The wisest of mortal preachers "applied his heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things "(Ec. vii, 25); and he succeeded so far as to find "one man among a thousand;' but with all his diligence, " counting one by one to find out the account," he could by no means succeed in finding a woman—a perfect churcha suitable companion for Him who is altogether lovely," and "the

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As therefore the person of God's eternal Son sanctified his assumed humanity, so, from hence, was derived all its efficacy, and made it availing to the putting away of sin for evermore. And, moreover, his person bare his body and soul, when offered as the sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour, and not the cross whereon it was stretched, and from which suspended. The creation of his hands (such was the cross whereon he was crucified), could add or supply no aid to its Creator -such was Jesus! His strength to do, suffer, and die, was wholly his own. This was therefore the expression of his own personal strength, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (John x. 17, 18). The greatness and virtue of this one great sacrifice are displayed by God the Holy Ghost, not only on account of its super-excellency over all the other sacrifices, under the law, in effecting, by one oblation, the perfection of all that are sanctified; but, moreover, as corresponding with the type-in that part of the burnt offerings was to be eaten by the priests, as their portion, and theirs only, with their families, as is evident from what is written, "Do ye not know, that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? (I Cor. ix. 13). And again, Jehovah said to Aaron, “Behold, I have also given thee the charge of mine heave-offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them, by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire every oblation of theirs, every meat-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons (Numbers xviii. 8, 9). This we learn also from the text, 66 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve in the tabernacle. They who served in the tabernacle had a right to eat what was theirs by prescription; but such had no right, as Levites, and after their immunities, to eat at the New Testament altar-Christ. Opposed to such, our Apostle says, "We have," &c., -i. e., we have Christ-he is the gospel altar and gospel sacrifice; and, as he was food for Jehovah's wrath-his devouring fire-so he is rich and sumptuous food for them that are sanctified by himself, according to the Scripture record, "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate" (Heb. xiii. 12). Of the sacrifices, under the law, those who might eat had only part of the sacrifices allotted to them; and of the sacrifice, on the great day of atonement, none could eat; for, as the whole was anathematized devoted, so was it entirely consumed by fire.

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The privilege of the redeemed, under the Gospel, in their use of Christ is unlimited. That which alone could satisfy Jehovah can give satisfaction to the enlightened and convinced sinner-even a whole Christ. Neither the

soul nor conscience can be satisfied with less. As all that Christ is, as the Christ of God, he is of God the Father, so he is designed by the same God, to be for the use and benefit of the elect-not only generally, but distributively or individually. Not oniy, therefore, shall the whole Church of Christ, whose names are written in heaven, possess a whole Christ as their inalienable portion, but the same boon is the common privilege of every believer, whatever the degree of his faith. It is his privilege to live and feed on all that Christ is. Of such our Apostle says, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. v. 7, 8). This is what is announced here- for surely of believers he speaks-those that believe by grace, whose faith is God's work and gift, springing from the love of God shed abroad in the heart by God the Holy Ghost. And all who thus believe are alike qualified to use Christ; we do not say, all as extensively use Christ; we speak simply of the interesting fact-their unconditional privilege, from union to their great Head. All do not enjoy-nor use to the same extent-the light of the sun, still the sun itself is no less; and the whole habitable world, with every individual inhabitant, from man, the highest part of God's fair creation, to the meanest and most diminutive creature that crawls the earth, has this sun to shine for his benefit. So is a full and a whole Christ the portion and food of all his members. All he is, he is for them; and all he has, is for them. All he does is for their good. And, as in all his relations, he is theirs, both by grace and faith, so inter multa alia, he is not only the altar, but sacrifice of that altar, and sacrificial and spiritual food for their sanctified souls.

Believers under the Gospel stand for the priests and Levites under the law: and, as of the latter, the Apostle asks, “Do ye not know, that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?" (1 Cor. ix. 13); so it comprehends the privilege of believers (who are all priests, as said Peter, "But ye are a chosen generatiou, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light"-(1 Peter, ii. 9), that as they wait upon, they partake of Christ as their ordained support; that, whereby the life-spiritual communicated to them, is perpetually maintained, through faith in the Beloved. Speaking of this, Jesus declares, "As the living Father," &c. As Christ here speaks of his union and communion with the Father, so also of both these, which his members have with him, as their glorious and blessed Head," and gave him to be the head over all things to his body the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Epb. i. 22, 23). The apostle evidently designs to exhibit Christ, as made use of by his people, as spiritual food for their souls, or in any other way that is profitable for them. As what he denies is, any Levitical liberty to eat at the New Testament altar-for that qualification was but outward and temporal

chiefest among ten thousand." No, Solomon, this secreted virgin, this betrothed bride is not to be found amidst the splendours of royalty, and the honours of an earthly court; although you have her likeness pourtrayed upon the fleshy tables of your heart, and are gifted with the pen of a ready writer, to describe her features, yet the sight of her person is a favour reserved for another; and the beloved John must wait long, and forego every earthly comfort, before he is permitted to behold that beauteous object "coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. xxi. 2).

Who then is this "fair," this "choice one," whom the Lord God hath formed for himself," and of whom he hath said, "My delight is in her?" (Is. lxii. 4, margin). This illustrious personage is none other than a poor broken-down, law-condemned sinner-a disconsolate outcast -a deeply-humbled penitent-a mourner in Zion-a destitute prodigal unable to feed upon the husks of a worldly religion-a pilgrim asking the way to Zion with his face thitherwards-a good soldier of Jesus Christ" earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints" -a babe desiring the sincere milk of the word-a young man "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus -a father rich in that faith which "the king delighteth to honour"-a mother in Israel tenderly watching over the buds of grace, even as a nurse cherisheth her children " servaut to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things,” and to show forth his praise-yea, and a misguided wanderer upon the mountains of Israel, unable to recover himself out of the snare of the devil, is yet comprehended in the bride of Christ. The mysterious transformation is effected by the mighty power of God, who first convinces a sinner of his lost, ruined, and destitute state, and then opens the eyes of his understanding to discern, that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, that by faith those treasures are his portion, for he is an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ; that thus from being an entire bankrupt, he becomes possessed of "unsearchable riches," and of those riches the Lord Jesus Christ himself is "the sum (Heb. viii. 1).

Brighton,

E. S.

No. I.

PRAYER-ITS NATURE, AUTHOR, AND POWER.

PRAYER is the expression of want-the unaffected cry of the renewed soul for felt intercourse with its God-the voice of the Spirit itself making intercession for the faithful to the Father of mercies, according

to his revealed will (Luke xviii. 13; Matt. xv. 22, 25; Ps. li. ; Ps. xlii. and Ixiii.; Rom. viii. 26). According to the teaching of Paul, in his Epistle to the saints at Rome, the Spirit is given to the faithful to help their infirmities, and to teach them what to pray for, and how to pray, so as to secure the ear and sympathies of their God and Father in Christ. The will of Jehovah being the sole rule according to which He worketh all things in creation, providence, and grace; so every petition which accords not with that will, must necessarily be rejected (Eph. i. 11; Dan. iv. 35; Is. xlvi. 10; Eph. iii. 9, 10, 11). Delightful truth! the saints are not left to themselves to speak to God in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but the Spirit itself, which searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God, is communicated to them, that they might know the things freely given to them of God (1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, 12). For these things they are moved to ask with the fullest conviction of their preciousness and utility. Accordingly they have this confidence in their Heavenly Father, that, as they ask in the all-prevailing name of Jesus for such things as he hath promised and given to them, so he heareth them (1 Cor. ii. 15; 1 John, v. 14, 15; John xiv. 13, 14).

Genuine prayer may be knowu from counterfeit by this circumstance -viz., it seeks nothing more nor less than the full accomplishment of Jehovah's purpose, as the greatest good to be coveted by the saints. Hence, it has absolute power with God and with men, and cannot but prevail.

Harewood.

JOSHUA LAYCOCK.

No. II.

THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS.

WHO despises the day of small things? God does not, nor does the man of intelligence. The greatest events may arise from the most insignificant causes; the grandest results from the most unpromising beginnings. The fall of an apple to the ground revealed to the inquisitive Newton the great laws of attraction and gravitation, on which the order and harmony of the universe depend; the look of Jesus recalled to Peter's recollection the touching prophecy of his foul apostacy, and caused his heart, to melt like snow; and the taking of a little Israelitish maid captive laid the foundation of Naaman's cure (Luke xxii. 61; 2 Kings, v. 2, 3, 4, 14). The feeblest gracious desires are not to be despised. They are the immediate offspring of the sanctifying Spirit, and the prelude to the reception of the choicest gifts. Christ is peculiarly mindful of them, and cherishes them with the tenderest care, and they finally become so potent as to give birth to fervent prayer that can brook neither denial nor delay (Is. xlii. 3).

Harewood.

JOSHUA LAYCOCK.