who have appetites to feed upon the bread of heaven, so long he will find a free grace gospel for his ministers to preach. "Lo, I am with you always unto the end of the world," he has declared for their encouragement. We have another display of his power recorded in this chapter. After having fed so large a company, he constrains his disciples to go on board a vessel, while he goes up into a mountain to pray; but while he is thus engaged, a storm overtakes the timid disciples, the winds blow, the sea rages, and the passengers are filled with trouble. Jesus goes upon the sea to them; he knows when his dear children are dismayed, and hastens to their relief; and he can walk as well upon the sea as upon land; and he knew that satan would have rejoiced to have seen the vessel founder, and the crew sink to rise no more; but he that holds the winds in his fist, and the waters in the hollow of his hand, runs to their rescue. The disciples see him coming, and are alarmed, but he says, " Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid." And so the dear Lord says to all his saints in trouble, "Be not afraid." Peter goes to meet his Lord, but his faith failed him, and he began to sink, and cried, saying, "Lord save me!" and he did immediately, he reproves him for his little faith, comes into the ship, and the wind ceased. All these events are displays of his mighty power, and that he is God over all; and it is not to be wondered at that these persons came and told him what trouble they were in; for where should the children of God go but to this Almighty Jehovah ? We observed, that here was a noble example for us to imitate, in the conduct of these persons. All who are distressed in mind about the salvation of their souls, filled with fears lest they should be found wanting at last, may the Holy Ghost enable to go and tell Jesus. Perhaps you have applied to a minister, but can obtain no relief; you still find your wound incurable; probably you had gone to a christian friend, or wrote to them, and opened all your case; but you could get no balm for your distress; no, it is the blood of Jesus alone that can heal, cleanse, and relieve you. Go and tell this very skilful, this long tried physician, your disease, distress, and doubts; he delights to relieve beggars, and to cure all complaints. He has relieved the anxious minds of millions, their loads of guilt removed, enabled them to sing of salvation, and to shout victory, through his most precious blood. Here is an example for all who are sorely buffetted by satan, and shaken in his sieve, until they are doubtful whether they have one grain of grace left; they see nothing but chaff, they cannot look at themselves, nor at one service they present to God, but they are filled with alarm; such wandering when on their knees and in the house of God, that they feel no one can be like them, for sin is mixed with all they do, and they went and told Jesus. So did these disciples of John, and so do you; here is one who will hear, and who is mightier than all enemies; satan and sin are mighty, but this Jesus is Almighty, the all-sufficient God, the everlasting King who hath delivered, who doth deliver, and we know that he will still continue to deliver. Here is a word in season to the poor hard-working labourer, who is rich in faith, but one of the poor among men; who sometimes mourns his lot and thinks it hard; his family increases, his weekly wages decrease, but he finds it good to be tried, he is often obliged to go and tell Jesus, and here he finds help, his mind is eased, his brown bread is blessed, his barrel of meal multiplied, his little stock is lengthened out, his heart is happy; although he is meanly clad, and coarsely fed, and like his Saviour poor, he would not change his gospel bread, for all the worldling's store. The church of old prayed, "O when wilt thou come unto me:" and the Lord will come to his saints and support them in their troubles, and at the appointed time and place set them at liberty. Nor must we overlook that part of the royal family who move in a higher sphere, and who have many great and sore troubles, pressing demands beyond their income, great afflictions that the poor man is altogether unacquainted with. But my text furnishes them with a pattern to follow, "and they came and told Jesus." There is but one Jesus for the poor and the rich to go to for salvation, for succour in temptation, for a righteousness to justify, for a redemption prize to procure a discharge; and it is an everlasting truth, that Jesus receiveth all sorts of sinners; the rich and poor are both welcome here; those oppressed with sin and guilt have here found relief and an efficacious remedy those who have felt the law's curse rankling in their consciences, have found a hiding-place where it could not reach them, in Jesus; many who have long travelled in great darkness and have had no light upon their path, no light into the blessed bible, no sweet soul-saving discoveries of a precious Christ, no assurance of their life, and the heavy sentence of death in themselves, have been led at last to this great Apostle and High Priest of their profession, and have found all, yea, more than they needed. "No heart can think, nor tongue can tell, What grace does in our Jesus dwell!" And the daily life of the real believer does consist in renouncing self and all creature dependance, and going to and telling Jesus. The precious promises are given forth to encourage the poor and needy to draw near to God; likewise the Spirit helps the infirmities of all Zion's ransomed, and they shall return and come to the great head of the church, and receive their supply. We will draw to a close by observing, that no long standing in the church, nor a long personal acquaintance with Jesus, nor any remarkable conversions, or extraordinary manifestations of divine mercy, will exempt one of the children of God from this daily use-making of Jesus. No, the old experienced christian finds that he has as much need of Christ as ever; he discovers his ignorance daily, and goes to Jesus as his wonderful counsellor to direct him in all things as a minister of the gospel, as a officer in the church, as the head of a family, as a believer in Christ, as engaged in the concerns of trade; in every thing he wants divine direction, and he finds it a great privilege in all his ways to acknowledge the Lord.-As a sinner, made sensible of it, by the teachings of the Lord the Spirit, he feels an increasing necessity for going to Jesus; for while he believes in that precious truth revealed in the gospel, that Christ has for ever put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, yet he wants a repeated manifestation of it to his own soul, in all its pardoning, purifying effects; he longs to be washed thoroughly from his wickedness and cleansed from his sin. So it is with the great doctrine of justification; the true christian has no doubt of its truth, he rejoices in the belief of it, but he daily sees so much nakedness in his person, prayers, praises, thoughts, and in the exercise of every grace, that he knows it is utterly impossible that he can be accepted in every thing; so that he is necessitated to go and tell Jesus how naked and bare he is, and prays that he would spread his skirt over him, that he may be found in him having on the righteousness of God by faith. And he sings Jesus thy righteousness divine, Though ragged to my shame, or bare, A robe, 'tis Jesus' righteousness! May God the Holy Ghost lead all the followers of the Lamb to tell him all their concerns, to cast their every care and burden upon him. Temptations and trials we must have in this world, but in Jesus peace, a firm friend, a wise prophet to teach, a merciful sovereign to govern, and a feeling High Priest to plead our cause, ready to receive us at all times; and we cannot honour him in any way so much, as by doing what John's disciples did: " and they came and told Jesus !” JAMES. Hampstead, August 21, 1827. (For the Spiritual Magazine.) A BATTLE BETWEEN FAITH AND UNBELIEF. FAITH is a persuasion of the power and delight of Christ to save sinners; a receiving Christ into the soul in all his three offices, with a committing the soul into Christ's hands, to be saved by him in his own way. The author of it is the Spirit of God, working it as a living principle in the soul. Its distinguishing property is to work by love. Unbelief is a dissent of the understanding from the testimony of God, speaking truth in the scripture: it is a dissent of the will to the goodness of God's testimony concerning Christ: it is a dissent of the affections to the beauty of God's declarations: and when unbelief is risen to the highest degree of malignity, it issues in a total rejection of Christ, and a resolution to perish a thousand times, rather than trust to Christ for salvation. In an unregenerate heart, unbelief is the predominant principle, and carries the heart entirely one way. In a regenerate man, the two principles are in the same heart: these two principles of Faith and Unbelief influence the same faculties, and prevail alternately over the man. Thus it did in Abraham; when he denied his wife, unbelief prevailed; when he offered up his son Isaac, faith prevailed. Thus it worked in Jacob; faith wrought powerfully in his heart, when he said, "I will not let thee go:" which was very different from that peevish frame, when he said "all these things are against me." Faith worked powerfully in Moses, when he feared not the wrath of the king; but unbelief produced a passionate expression at the rock. We have a striking instance of the power of unbelief in David, when he cried out, "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul." And we have as noble an instance of faith, when at the burning of Ziklag, his own people talked of stoning him, but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. But the largest account of the battle between faith and unbelief, we have in the case of Asaph, Psalm lxxvii. Here you have unbelief asking six peevish questions; and in other parts of scripture, God our Saviour hath furnished faith with six powerful answers. 1. Unbelief says, "Will the Lord cast off for ever?" Faith boldly answers, "No." "Hath God cast away his people? God forbid; for I am an Israelite." "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew," Rom. xi. 1, 2. “For the Lord will not cast off for ever,” Lam. iii. 31. "He will not always chide," Ps. ciii. 9. "For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth," Isaiah lvii. 16. "He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy," Micah vii. 19. 2. Unbelief says, "Will he be favourable no more?" Faith replies, "Yes, he will." "For the time to favour her, yea, the set time is come," Ps. cii. 13. " Lord, thou hast been favourable; thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob, Ps. lxxxv. 1. He delivered me, because he delighted in me, Ps. xviii. 19. Because thou hadst a favour to them, Ps. xliv. 3. Thou art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head, Ps. iii. 3. Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest thy people," Ps. cvi. 4. 66 Pray unto God, and he will be favourable, and he shall see his face with joy," Job xxx. iii. 26. for ever" Faith 3. Unbelief says, "Is his mercy clean gone replies, "No ;" and asserts twenty-six times over, that "his mercy endureth for ever," Ps. cxxxvi. "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting," Ps. ciii. 17. "But my mercy shall not depart from him," 2 Sam. vii. 15. "Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life," Ps. xxiii. 6. VOL. IV.-No. 42. X 4. Unbelief says, "Doth his promise fail for evermore ?" Faith replies, "No." In the language of Balaam the wizard, "God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Numb. xxiii. 19. Faith answers out of the mouth of an hero, " Ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake," Joshua xxiii. 14. To which we add another word of Joshua," there failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken, all came to pass," Josh. xxi. 45. "Nor Faith replies out of the mouth of a wise king, "There hath not failed one word of all his good promise," 1 Kings viii. 56. will I suffer my faithfulness to fail," Psalm lxxxix. 33. prayed for thee that thy faith fail not," Luke xxii. 32. "I have 5. Unbelief peevishly asks, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" Faith boldly replies, "No." "O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me,” Isaiah xliv. 21. If unbelief, says my Lord, hath forgotten me. Faith answers, "Can a woman forget her sucking child; yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee," Isaiah xlix. 14, 15. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble, Psalm ix. 12. God is not unrighteous to forget, Heb. vi. 10. A book of remembrance was written before him for those that thought on his name, Mal. iii. 16. 66 6. Unbelief saith, “ Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? Faith replies, " No;" for God says, my bowels are troubled (or sound) for him: I will surely have mercy upon him, Jer. xxxi. 20. How shall I give thee up Ephraim? How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned within me; my repentings are kindled together, Hosea xi. 8. He retaineth not his anger for ever," Micah vii. 18. At these answers of faith, base unbelief becomes like the queen of Sheba, when she had heard the consummate wisdom, and seen the illustrious glory of king Solomon," there remained no more spirit in her." So unbelief drooped, staggered, and fell. "Thus let all thine enemies perish, O Lord, but let them that love him, be as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength," Judges v. 31. N. B. Faith is a resolute claimer, a bold beggar, a nervous reasoner, and a powerful wrestler; for as a prince, it hath power with God, and prevails, Gen. xxxii. 28. and Hosea xii. 3, 4. A FRAGMENT. IT is no wonder that the world care not for saints, for the saint is a man of another world in this; were he of the world, the world would love its own and it is no wonder that the saints care not for this world, for what should strangers, sojourners, and pilgrims load themselves with bag and baggage for? No, they declare plainly that they seek a country, and would not always stay in the world, for all the world. The world is crucified to them, and they unto the world. |