be imagined. In immediate connexion with the foregoing is the solemn injunction, "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein (Jer. vi. 16).

St. Luke's, Bedminster, April 14th, 1874.

(To be continued.)

THE EDITOR.

''

CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AT LEICESTER.

THE third of these Christian conferences, as convened by our old friend, the Rev. G. W. Straton, was held in the Temperance Hall, Leicester, on Thursday and Friday, the 16th and 17th of April. There was a goodly gathering of ministers as well as laymen. Among them were the Revs. B. Aldwell, Portsea; J. Battersby, Sheffield; Bullinger, London; Dr. Hewlett, Astley; J. Ormiston, London; -Redknap, Ryde; -Whitney, Marsden; C. W. Banks, London; E. Wilkinson, Ashford; E. Davys, Leicester; A. A. Isaacs, Leicester; T. Smith, Leicester; S. Adams, Thornton; G. W. Straton, Aylestone; W. Rolleston, Scraptoft; R. Walker, Wymeswold; R. Hollings, Newport; Hoair, Derby; Dr. Gregg, Birmingham; Fisher, Leamington; Bradbury, Stanley; Messrs. Benbow, Crowley, Slater, Dickenson, Cair, Parks, Brietzlen, Cree, Godson.

The subjects chosen for discussion were 2 Cor. iv. 11, "For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesu's sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh," and Isaiah xiii. 1—5, "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Lift ye

up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land."

The late date of the month and space forbid our giving even the substance of the addresses (except that at page 272), glad as we should be to do so. More sound, spiritual, and experimental we never

heard.

After dining at the rectory, to which the clergy and many of the layfriends adjourned at the close of the morning meeting, a short service, followed by the administration of the Lord's Supper, was held in Aylestone Church, endeared to some of us by many years' long and sacred memories. Hymn 635, from "Hymns for the Church of God," was sung. After prayer, hymn 745 in the appendix followed. Then a clear, sound, and precious address was given by the Rev. J. Battersby, of Sheffield, from "He shall glorify me.'

Having stated that these words were spoken by the Lord Jesus, just before He left His disciples, for their special comfort, and in connexion with the promise, that, "if He went away, He would send the Comforter to them," he directed the attention of his hearers,

I. To the Person speaking, "Me."

II. To the Person spoken of, "He."

In

I. "Me."-It was the language of the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking, not as God merely, but as man-as the Lord Jesus Christ. Testifying of Him, John said, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not; "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; He was the God-Man; "God manifest in the flesh." Him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt: in power, in knowledge, in wisdom. A fulness of the human nature was in this wonderful Person. He was not only "the mighty God," but man, "bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh”. -a High Priest that can be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." The Prophet Micah testifies of Him, "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

The preacher enlarged upon "the covenant work of the Lord Jesus Christ." He was glorified in that covenant; in the going forth in the garden of Paradise; in the going forth in all the promises of the Old Testament; in all the types and shadows of the Old Testament; in the fulness of time going forth, under the law, to redeem them that were under the law; in the sending forth of the Spirit in the hearts of His people, crying, "Abba, Father."

II. The Person spoken of, "He."

In the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John, the Holy Ghost is spoken of as the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Guide; in the Old Testament He is called the Good Spirit; the Spirit of Truth; the Spirit of the Father; the Spirit of Christ; the Holy Spirit. Never lose sight of His Godhead- very and eternal God." In the 5th of the Acts we read of having "lied to the Holy Ghost." The Holy Ghost is God. The Holy Ghost is a Person. The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all." "Go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." "There are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost." He is the Spirit of God as a Regenerater; He is the Spirit that quickens. It is by the Spirit that we are "renewed day by day." God has put His mark on His people as well as life in them.

"Glorify me." How?

1. Convince of sin; 2, of righteousness; 3, of judgment.

Upon each of these points the preacher dwelt briefly, but with great force, proving that the sense of sin which the Holy Ghost had implanted was not simply nominal or educational, but deep and penetrating. Upon the same principle, that the righteousness which He revealed and applied, was in all respects complete and comely, in striking contrast to the "filthy rags" of nature's righteousness.

Christ was glorified as the Sin-bearer, the Righteousness, the Holiness, the All in all of His people.

Christ was glorified in the leading of His people as little children; in their adoption, and that holy freedom in which they were enabled to call Him, "Abba, Father," and, "if children, then heirs; yea, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ."

"Glorify me." In supporting His people under all their trials. The Spirit reveals Christ as the arm upon which they rest, the staff upon which they lean. "When thou passest through the waters," &c. though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," &c.

"Yea, "Thou

leadest us through fire and water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." What a wealthy place is the Lord Jesus Christ. All we need for time and eternity we have in Christ. Mark the 73rd Psalm: "Nevertheless, I am continually with Thee. Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."

"He shall glorify me."

The address was followed by the singing of hymn 621 of "Hymns for the Church of God," which, touching upon the Lord's Supper, contains the following:

"Here conscience ends its strife,
And faith delights to prove

The sweetness of the Bread of Life,
The fulness of Thy love.

"That blood that flowed for sin,

The symbol here we see,

And feel the blessed pledge within,
That we are loved by Thee.

66

'And, if this glimpse of love
Is so divinely sweet,

What will it be, O Lord, above, That gladdening smile to meet ? "To see Thee face to face,

Thy perfect likeness wear,
And all Thy ways of wondrous grace
Through endless years declare ?"

The spiritual reader may in some degree imagine the special sweetness, after the foregoing address (of which but an imperfect outline is here given), and the singing of so precious a hymn, what it was for a number of brethren and sisters in their one common and all-glorious Lord, from remote and very varied places, to meet together and unite in partaking of the emblem of His dying love. As a rule, it is a most rare thing for us personally to enjoy this service; but this season was specially hallowed. So many of the Lord's dear servants were present. Some having attained their threescore years and ten, and even beyond that, it was not at all improbable that our next meeting would be before the throne, in the immediate presence of God and the Lamb.

One most marked feature of this Conference was, the exceedingly precious hymns which were sung. They were most of them new to us. We would advise our readers to possess them for themselves. They are entitled, "Hymns for the Leicester Conference, being an Appendix to 'Hymns for the Church of God,"" and are published by James Vice, Market Place, Leicester, if we mistake not, at a penny.

THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 16th.

(2 CORINTHIANS iv. 11.)

The Rev. GEORGE W. STRATON (Secretary) opened the subject. He said:-Those were very remarkable words of our Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly Master, Luke xix. 41, 42, "And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." A knowledge of dispensational truth, that is, the things revealed by God's Word connected with our dispensation, is most important and necessary. Sad consequences must result from neglect of such revelations. St. Peter, having given much information as to the close of this dispensation (2 Peter iii. 17, 18), says, “Seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in

grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Paul says, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse (2 Tim. iii. 13), deceiving others and being themselves deceived. Our blessed Lord Himself asks, "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith upon the earth?" Hence the prevalence of seducers, ministers of Satan transformed into angels of light, destroyers of the faith of God's elect, is revealed for our warning, as characteristic of the close of our dispensation. Now, one of the most subtle forms of delusion which has appeared of late, calculated to dismay and depress the true people of God, is that which teaches with much plausible subtlety the doctrine of sinless perfection. Our subject for consideration to-day is admirably calculated to meet and refute this error, by which many are led astray. It is often well, in order to simplify and explain a subject thoroughly, to state, at the commencement of our endeavour to open up the meaning thereof, what we consider, in the first place, it does not mean. Men's minds are thus diverted from error and directed to truth. Therefore, I now say, first, I do not think that "the delivering to death" here spoken of means persecution to martyrdom, or death in its common signification; but rather that it has to do with the experience of God's children, their education, their being made truly acquainted with themselves, as preparatory and necessary for the kingdom and glory that shall by-and-bye be revealed. "We who live," or more correctly, we the living ones,' are always delivered to death; we who have a true, eternal, divine life, bestowed by the grace of God. "I," says Jesus of His sheep, "give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." We are now being prepared, as God's chosen, elect people, for Himself, a people made ready and prepared for the Lord; and in this process are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sakeall thus dealt with for the sake of Jesus, our Head and Surety. Instead of being left to run into every imaginable excess of riot, and perish in our own corruption, made to know ourselves to be what God leads us to be, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh; not merely on peculiar and extraordinary occasions, but always, as a common, regular process or method of procedure on the part of God with His children, in order that we may learn our own true condition and character, each one for himself, which we otherwise would never know or believe were it not for divine teaching. Our language would be in our hearts, and probably on our lips, like that one of old, "Is Thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" When warned of our evil tendencies, but divinely taught, we learn what is in our hearts; and then, and not till then, can we comprehend the length, depth, breadth, and height of the love of God, which passeth all human understanding, through an experimental acquaintance with our own nothingness and corruption. From having the sentence of death written upon all our own fancied righteousness, boasted powers, plans, devices, and expectations from ourselves or other creatures, we thus understand the wisdom of God, as well as the love and power of God, in the eternal purpose purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began. Yet here we only "see through a glass darkly, but, by-and-bye, "we shall know, even as we are known." When, seeing eye to eye, we look back upon all the way by which the Lord our God hath led us so many years in this world's wilderness, "to humble us, and to prove us," and show us what was in our hearts, that He might do us good in our latter end, how different then is such experience as this, the true experience of the children of God, to the boasted sinless perfection we

hear of in this our day, mixed up with so much other error of consequence. Let us refer a little to the experience of God's saints in past times to illustrate our view of the matter. Take Job, for instance. He says, 9th chapter, 30th verse, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt Thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me." Paul says, "The good that I would, I do not; but the evil that I would not, that do I. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Again, "I die daily," "In deaths oft." Yet deaths from which He revived, and was delivered, as in 2 Cor. i. 9: "We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us." Now, having thrown out a few hints as to my own apprehension of this passage, I leave it to our beloved brethren who have come together to enlarge upon the subject; and may God the Holy Ghost reveal to us the deep things of God, more and more of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, in the ways and dealings of our heavenly Father with His loved and blood-bought children, in educating and preparing them for the kingdom and glory of His dear Son Christ Jesus, "the First-born among many brethren," to whose glorious image He has predestined all His people to be conformed; so that, knowing the truth, the truth may make us free, and our hearts be not dismayed or perplexed, whilst feeling our own corruption, and often crying out, "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips; I know it, for mine eye hath seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." For, “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

RAILWAY PENCILLINGS.

Saturday forenoon, April 18th.—Just returning from one of the most refreshing gatherings we ever attended. The Lord be praised for the oneness of heart and blessed harmony of soul that pervaded the meetings of the last two days. To say the least, from the subject chosen for yesterday's discussion, we were afraid that it might lead to speculation, and, consequently, to a diversity of opinion, and, perhaps, to unpleasant and unprofitable controversy. Our dear brother Straton, however, had no sooner opened the subject than we saw at once-and that most thankfully, too-that there was every prospect of a united and profitable testimony being given. Nor were we disappointed. The same concord and unanimity which characterized the previous day's proceedings, again stamped the tone of the meeting. There was but one discordant note, and that, we believe, to have consisted more in the manner of putting it than in the doctrine really held. The general testimony of that one particular speaker was too clear, too Scriptural, too experimental to be entertained in common with the delusive anti-scriptural idea of creature-perfection, the much-talked of "higher life." The closing remark of the speaker in question completely oversets such a vain theory, when he contended for the thorough "abandonment of self." A theory not so easily done, but in which consists, in one feature and phase, the victory of faith. But this is