experience stated in it, illustrated and confirmed by Old Testament saints. There are also some honest and good remarks respecting the true servants of God. In the hands of God it may be made useful to the Lord's family. He speaks very ably and cleverly about the exploits faith has done and can do; but we must say, he does not enter into that process of peculiar experience and method of divine teaching by which a soul is brought to believe. There are the peculiar operations of the Spirit of God working within the soul, bringing it UNTO faith; and then there are the peculiar shinings and light of life of the Spirit of God beaming on the word of truth, revealing its glorious mysteries To faith; and then, like magnetism, it draws out faith to itself and fixes it on itself. Then faith can do tremendous exploits and marvellous wonders. Young and perplexed Christians are like children learning to read, they not only want words roundly pronounced to them, but they want them syllabled, and syllables separated into letters. Experience must be minutely defined and simplified, or God's children cannot feed upon it. We do not admire his remarks on all-prayer, (page 15,) when in a lukewarm state. We never yet found lukewarm all-prayer to do much for us in keeping us from falling. We trust we dearly value and know something of the worth of all-supernatural prayer, but all-prayer from a lukewarm heart is but a feeble weapon.

POETRY.

A PRECIOUS CHRIST.

"Unto you which believe he is precious."-1 Peter ii. 7.

Precious Jesus, precious Saviour,
Guide my mind to think of thee;
Of thy matchless, gracious person;
O reveal thyself to me.

Precious, as my God in cov'nant,
As my surety, guide, and friend;
Precious, as the King in Zion;

Thou wilt reign when time shall end.
Precious, as the ark, the altar,

Precious, too, as mercy seat,
As the Lamb prepared for slaughter;
All the shadows in thee meet.
Precious, as the church's husband;
He espous'd her for his own;
Paid her debts, and freed from bondage;
She and Christ her Lord are one.
Precious, as a loving brother,

Born to be extremely poor,
But divine, and rich in glory,
Angels praise, and saints adore.
Precious, as the great atonement,
By his blood on Calvary,
Has redeemed countless millions,
And for ever set them free.
Precious as the law fulfiller;
He did satisfy its claims;
All his deeds were righteousness,
So the gospel sweet proclaims.

Precious, when by faith we see thee
On the cross for sinners die;
Make an end of our transgressions;
"It is finish'd!" hear the cry.
Precious, as the chief physician;

Oft I want the cure within;
Thou must heal, or I am ruin'd,

All the dreadful wounds of sin.
Precious, as the gracious prophet,
To instruct and teach the way;
Precious, in thy priestly garments,
Sin by thee was put away.
Precious, as the great deliverer

From the yoke of Sinai's law;
He fulfill'd the whole enactment,
Saved his church from every flaw.
Precious, as the mighty conquerer,
Who subdues our every foe:
Holds us up by love and mercy,
And he will not let us go.

Precious, too, as intercessor;

Doubts, and fears, and foes assail;
Faith, and hope, and love are trembling,
But thy blood, that must prevail.
Precious in thy gracious promise,
Suited to each needy case;
By the blessed Spirit sealed,
Who is true? the God of grace.

Precious, as the mighty captain;
Fits his saints to march and fight;
Shoes of brass, with sword and helmet;

Puts the enemy to flight.

Precious, as the shield to screen me

From the darts of raging hell;
Precious, from the world to save me,
Though in it I'm forced to dwell.
Precious, in a preached gospel;
'Tis a glorious, kind report;
Here the standard of salvation,
Here poor sinners will resort.
Precious, in thy institutions;

Lovely Jesus, thou didst die
For the very worst of rebels;
None, I'm sure, more blest than I.
Thou in Jordan wast baptized;

Thou wast buried in the flood;
Westham.

Thou in sorrow wast o'erwhelmed
In suffering deep, in sweat and blood.
Precious, too, when at the table,

Thou dost break the bread to us;
Giv'st the wine, the very richest ;
Blood that saves us from the curse.
Come, poor trembler, look to Jesus;
Sins are cast behind his back;
Are you needy, are you wretched?
In the Lord there is no lack.
Precious, at the verge of Jordan
May be, thou art full of fear;
When he comes in all his glory,

Death's dread sting will disappear.
O to grace, and love, and mercy,
Israel's God we will adore;
Having tasted he is gracious,
We would praise him evermore.

J. C.

UNION.

How pleasant 'tis when Christians meet Christ and his members are but one;
To speak of Jesus' love;

Their souls are bless'd with union sweet;
Their minds are raised above.
Yes, 'tis a firm, endearing band,
That kindred hearts unites,
When each is to our Jesus join'd,

And in his name delights.
And while we offer humble prayer
At our Redeemer's throne,
He kindly lends a gracious ear,

And showers his blessings down.
Though call'd, in providence, to part,
United we remain;

And trusting in his faithful word,
We hope to meet again.

And, bless his precious name,
He never will his saints disown,

Nor put their hope to shame.
In him the Father has engaged

Our helpless souls to meet;
In him, the Holy Spirit shows
We ever stand complete.

In his salvation we rejoice;

He saves from death and hell;
And soon, with one united voice,
Its wonders we shall tell.

Wash'd from our sins, in his own blood,
He'll take us home to dwell
In that immortal, bless'd abode,
Where none shall say, "Farewell."

GLEANINGS.

SARAH.

To say that the old law is in a new relation, is as absurd as saying that the new covenant is nothing but the old one in a new relation; for the language is equally strong in both cases. God says he will not deal with his people according to the old covenant, but the new; and he also says he will put a new law in their hearts. The old covenant they broke, and the old law they broke, and break, but the new covenant they cannot break, neither can they break the new law.-W. G.

I often feel no more fit for heaven than a boy is to be the king's prime minister. But I know there is such a thing as the springing well; and I have often felt as though heaven sprung out of hell; "He turneth the shadow of death into the morning."-Hardy.

If it were possible that one of God's family could be sent to hell, Christ must go there too; for where he is, there they must be; and where they are, there he must be.-W. G.

THE

GOSPEL STANDA RD,

OR,

FEEBLE CHRISTIAN'S SUPPORT.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."-Matt. v. 6.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."- 2 Tim. i. 9.

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."-Rom. xi. 7.

“If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.—And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.-In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."-Acts viii. 37, 38; Matt. xxviii. 19.

No. 38.

FEBRUARY, 1839.

TO THE SEED ROYAL.

VOL. V.

Dear Brethren, Children of the spiritual stock of Abraham, born from above,-No doubt many of you, during the last month, have been saluted with the common phrase, "A happy new year to you," and at the same time some of you have been so wretched that the entrance of the new year appeared to bring you nothing but fresh gloom and dismay; and while you saw others, each in their way, enjoying happiness, you were wishing you had never been born, and were envying almost every one you saw, for all seemed happy but you. But, my brethren, remember the greatest happiness any one can have which does not centre in and come from Christ, is no better than the sound of a wooden cuckoo in a wooden clock at best. It is all a dead sound, and no real proof of spring being come, or of solid pleasure. Nay worse; it will end in misery and ruin. Who are they that have a scriptural and spiritual right to real happiness? and who are they that enjoy real happiness? for not all the heirs of happiness enjoy it. No, no, many of them are in deep mourning, and refuse to be comforted. They are in great trouble, because of the rising up of the filth of their old nature, the dreadful temptations of Satan, the horrible workings of infidelity, the power of carnal reason, the hidings of God's countenance, and the hand of God having apparently gone out against them. Every thing, in the dispensations both of providence and grace, seems to say, "There is no happiness for you;" and their enemies, both within and without, rise up in troops, and say, "God hath forsaken them; persecute and take them, for there is none to deliver them." (Ps. lxxi. 11.) The horrible boilings up of inbred

B

corruption, by night and by day, are indescribable; so that the soul can in very deed say, "My sore ran in the night and ceased not; my soul refused to be comforted;" (Ps. lxxvii. 2;) and at the same time an honest conscience, made and kept tender by the Spirit and grace of God, tells them that they have brought the whole upon themselves by their carelessness, cursed pride, and ungodly proceedings, either in thoughts, words, or deeds, or all together. And though these things. have been hid from others, (in fact, if others had seen them with their natural eyes, they would not have thought them very wrong,) yet the poor child of God sees them in God's light, and feels them in God's life, and believes himself to be one of the most ungrateful, base, vile wretches in the world, and whatever misery he has, he feels that he deserves more; and, indeed, he expects to have it. Perhaps one says to him, "O what is your sin compared with the grace of God? You should simply believe, and take comfort." True enough, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; but God's precious truth and grace are not to be trifled with, much less sported with. "When God with rebukes correcteth man for iniquity, he maketh his beauty to consume away like a moth;" (Ps. xxxix. 11;) and when these solemn rebukes are seen and felt both outwardly and inwardly, the poor soul cannot sport with grace. Nothing short of grace seen and felt by the divine anointing and unctuous manifestation of God the Holy Ghost can give such a poor soul real comfort; nor will Satan give up his resistance, or stir one inch from his post, till the Lord rebukes him. (Zech. iii. 1, 2.) And though such a poor tempest-tossed soul can truly say, "Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, shut up as in a prison, and surrounded both within and without with those that hate peace," (Ps. cxx. 5,) yet such a soul is a real heir to peace and comfort, and in the end he shall sing, "O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." (Ps. lxvi. 8-16.) Then in very deed the soul will have real happiness. Let the season of the year be what it may, when the dear Lord is graciously pleased to give a real vital faith in Christ, and enables us by faith and feeling to look unto, rest upon, confide in, derive life from, and live and walk in and with Christ; when in very deed we eat his flesh and drink his blood by faith, and feel the rich flowings of his love in our hearts, by the glorious power of God the Holy Ghost; then we have a happy new year, yea, a jubilee. All legal debts are paid, and legal servitude for the present is ended, and we are brought

into the rich vineyards and fields of gospel free grace, and faith plucks and eats with sweet and solid satisfaction; and the dear Lord of the house comes with a divine smile, and sweetly says, "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.". (Song v. 1.) Here we have communion with the Lord, and the world drops its charms.

0 my dear brethren, what an indescribable fund of glory, comfort, happiness, and blessedness has our God treasured up in Christ for all the seed-royal! All the beauties and glories of the gospel of God's grace recorded in the word of God are theirs. Yea, God himself, Father, Son, and Spirit, is their God for ever and ever, and he will be their guide even unto death, and be their glory after death. (Isa. lx. 19.) While in this vale of tears, they must have their share of troubles; for this is not their rest; it is polluted; and indeed troubles are so managed by the dear Lord as in the end to prove real blessings. By these things men live, and there is no such a thing as a child of God living long together without troubles. Troubles are sometimes used by our dear Lord as rubbing-stones, to rub off the rust of a lukewarm frame of mind. God, in the riches of his grace, stamps his own image upon the soul of his dear child; but, by reason of the pride of our old man, we often gather together such a detestable bundle of hay, wood, and stubble, that the image of God is hid from view. Then a trying day comes, to try our works by fire. (1 Cor. iii. 13.) The hay, wood, and stubble are fuel for this fire, and sometimes the flame is so furious that the poor soul thinks he shall be wholly consumed, and he feels quite horror-struck; for he both sees and feels that a great deal of what he once admired and thought to look beautiful, only proves a stock of trimmed-up rubbish, and the fire consumes it. Where it will end, he cannot tell; but our God works wisely and graciously, though powerfully, nor does he make any mistake, even in the fire; so that at last it shall be seen that the poor tried child of God is saved, though he has suffered the loss of his trimmed-up stacks of hay, wood, and stubble. Thus the image of God will shine more bright and conspicuously. Self will be abased, and Christ exalted, and, after a sharp and long fiery trial, the glorious discriminating truth of God will appear more sacred; as the secret of the Lord is only given to them that fear him.

Well, brethren, a few more storms and we shall be out of the reach of pride and infidelity, those master-pieces of the devil and the carnal heart, and shall be ever with the Lord, never, never again employed in picking up, nor trimming up stubble. No, no; all will be unsullied holiness and glory, and God be all in all. Then indeed it will be one eternal new year of light, life, and glory.

The God of peace be with you, and in a solemn manifestative way, grant you strength, and wisdom, and grace according to your day, and enable you daily to carry all your burdens and grievances to the Lord; yea, and all your joys too; and thus cause you to unbosom your whole soul unto him. And that his gracious Majesty may now