SINNER.

Thy words may sound sweet; but can it e'er be
That Jesus will smile on a sinner like me,
So filthy, polluted, unholy, and base?

I cannot, I dare not expect such free grace.

HOPE.

Your baseness but proves that its mercy you need;
From high-crying crimes you want to be freed;
And Jesus delights his free grace to bestow
On souls heavy laden with guilt, sin, and woe.
Whoe'er is made willing his grace to receive,
His mercy he freely will unto them give,

And cause them to feel that in him they must live.

SINNER.

Such a dead lump as I to have hope in the Lord!
What, Christ set me free, his grace to record!
My case is too desperate; I'm full of dismay;
A mass of confusion, unable to pray;

Nor can I believe that the Lord will appear
To bless me with peace and make me his care.

HOPE.

False reasoning, and pride, and cursed unbelief,
Are now of thine enemies some of the chief.
They try to divert thee from Christ and his blood,
And lead thee in self to see something that's good;
And so bring a price for pardon and peace,
Instead of receiving the Lamb and free grace.
God's method of saving is sovereign and free,
Without any merit or goodness in thee;
If thou canst believe, and on Jesus rely,
Thy burden of guilt will assuredly fly,

And Christ and salvation will fill thee with joy.

SINNER.

How can I believe with such a base load?

My sins are against a righteous, good God;

His law, and his goodness, and justice, must cry,
"See yonder's a wretch deserving to die."
And can he in justice give true joy and peace
To such a polluted, vile mass of disgrace?

HOPE.

Come, poor, trembling sinner, for mercy still cry,
For Jesus, the Christ, will not let thee die;
His thrice blessed heart rich grace will bestow
On broken-down sinners who feel their sad woe.
Though sick, faint, and feeble, on Jesus rely;
His grace is sufficient thy needs to supply;
A real sin-sick sinner he will not let die.

SINNER.

Whatever thou sayest, I yet tremblingly fear
My case will at last sink me into despair.

HOPE.

Of any thing short of Christ and his blood,
Thou well mayest despair, and despair is then good;
'Tis Jesus, and Jesus alone, must thee bless
With life, peace, and joy, and true righteousness;
His precious atonement brought home to thy heart
Will heal thee of all thy sin-torturing smart.

SINNER.

But if for a moment I have a small hope,
Fresh hurricanes come and break down my prop,

And leave me to sink just as low as before;

Yea, sometimes I think I've sunk down much lower:
Thus I fear to have hope, lest all should prove vain,
And plunge me still deeper and deeper in pain.

HOPE.

Let all thy props go which self can prescribe,
And bare all thy weight on Christ crucified;
Lean wholly upon him, by faith in his blood,
And thou shalt indeed have true peace with God.

SINNER.

A true peace with God I cannot obtain;

'Tis what I desire, but desire it in vain;

Such a poor, guilty, trembling, weak creature am I,
Neither worthy to live, nor yet fit to die;
No help can find, nor on Jesus rely.

HOPE.

To Jesus alone for his pardon still cry;

If thou canst not speak, for his pardon then sigh;
Believe in his name, and thou shalt have rest,
And prove that in blessing he has thy soul bless'd;
Fall down at his feet; plead his love and his blood;
For he surely will bless thee with true peace with God.

SINNER.

Believing is something I cannot obtain;

I fear it's presumption to trust in his name,
So awfully great and so deep is my stain.

HOPE.

Lay prostrate before him; there pant, groan, and sigh,
For he will appear to lift thee on high.

SINNER.

Is there any poor creature so wretched as I?
I neither can stand, fall down, nor yet fly.
Where am I? what am I? Lord Jesus, appear!
Or plunged I must be in eternal despair.

HOPE.

The blood of the Lamb can cleanse even thee;
Believe in his name, and thou shalt be free.
No sinner that e'er on the Lord casts his care,
Shall ever be plunged in eternal despair.

SINNER.

Fain would I believe; Lord, bless me with faith

In Him who has vanquish'd both sin, heil, and death;
Help me to cling to him by faith, hope, and love;
Give him my affections, and lift them above.

THE

GOSPEL STANDARD,

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. 48.

DECEMBER, 1839.

TRUE FAITH.

"All these died in faith," &c.-Heb. xi. 13-16.

VOL. V.

By this chapter we see that the Lord never intended to save any one, experimentally in the conscience, since Adam's fall, but by faith in his own Son, which at once sets aside all the works of man, of whatsoever kind, as to the obtaining of salvation. The promise of the woman's seed to destroy the works of the devil raised up our first parents from their fallen state. Spiritual faith in the truth of the promise was the substance to them, Christ the way in it, and him they embraced in heart and feeling, and felt the love of God to such poor sinners as they had rendered themselves by listening to Satan. Abel, being convinced of sin, was led by the Spirit to look to the promise, and, by faith, was persuaded of it, in which faith he brought his lamb, which, in faith of Christ to come to be a sacrifice for sin, he offered, and obtained witness that he was a righteous man in Christ's righteousness. In our present fallen state, no man can please God, except by faith in his dear Son, in whom he declares himself well pleased; and when faith lays hold of the Saviour, and feels his dying love, we then become strangers to the world and pilgrims in it, not counting it our home. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah are said to have died in faith. Their works had no hand in making their dying bed easy; but by faith in the Saviour's doings and sufferings, they surmounted all their evils, both in life and heart, although the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. This faith, whenever God is pleased to give it, conquers the world, and overcomes the devil. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in tabernacles, not in brick and mortar houses, nor cities, but wandered with their household and cattle from oue part of Canaan to another,

M

66

showing all that saw them that they were a different people from the people of the world; and when God calls his chosen ones now, they come out from among the ungodly world, and touch not the unclean thing. This call separates them from the world, and they walk with their God, and worship him in spirit and truth. The conversation of the world has become hateful to them. They seek a better country. Truly, if they had been mindful of the country whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned;" but when they know the evil of sin and the worth of Christ, they are not like the dog that returns to his vomit, for what they have vomited they hope never again to swallow. They detest the sow, that was washed and returns to wallowing in the mire. They dread the state of a way-side hearer, and thank God for a broken-up heart, in which his word has taken root, and that they have not been suffered to fall from his truth. They pray against the state of a stony-ground hearer, in whom the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things have choked the word, so that no true fruit is brought forth, no faith to purify the heart, no love to Christ to purify the affections from idols. Demas loved this present evil world, and forsook Paul. "Will ye also go away ?" said Christ to his apostles, when many of the above sort turned from him. But they that love him say, 66 To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." This is the language of God's elect. These, when in their right mind, show, both in life and conversation, that they have no desire to go back. They know the evil of their former state, by which they plainly declare they seek a better country, that is, a heavenly one. In our natural state, we know nothing about heaven, nor should we ever know, if God did not make us know our sins. A fear of the wrath to come, the sorrows of death, and the pains of hell, make us, under the teaching of the Holy Ghost, cry to God, “O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul!” and we are constrained to cry till we obtain a feeling sense of our interest in Christ, which, as Romaine says, quenches the hell within, and brings heaven into the heart. Then we know something of what heaven is, and we now seek a heavenly kingdom, a better substance; and God is not ashamed to be called our God, for he has prepared for us a city. Those for whom this city is prepared are the people of his own choice, whom he hath loved with an everlasting love, and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. This being ordained in the covenant of grace before the world began, it is to be completed in time, and all is done as ordained, or else neither you nor I would ever have been called. A new heart and a new spirit is promised; therefore this chosen people are chastened, for "What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" and under this work the heart of stone is removed, and the new spirit given. All these are brought under the Lord's teaching; "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord;" "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, and teachest out of thy law." He has promised to write his law in their hearts, which is, to give them faith in Christ, and through him to be merciful to their unrighteousnesses, and to remember their sins no more; and, says the Lord, “All shall know me, from the least to the greatest, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." They are all the work of his own hands, and he never will forsake them.

Jerusalem was called the Zion of the Holy One of Israel, and the Lord hath chosen spiritual Zion for his resting-place; "Here will I dwell, for I have desired it." Poor and needy men and women compose this city, which (Rev. xxi.) was seen by John coming down from beaven, having the glory of God, and the light was like a stone most precious,

even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, the glory of the Son of God, who is this jasper stone of life. This city has walls, great and high, which is also Christ, for he is the wall of salvation. This city has twelve gates. Among the twelve tribes of Israel was Christ revealed, and the way of life by him made known. Gates are for entrance; the twelve gates are the names of the twelve tribes; east, three; west, three; north, three; south, three; "The law of the Lord shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem into all the world." This city has twelve foundations in its walls, which may be considered the twelve apostles, for, ministerially, they laid the foundation, Christ, for every believing soul to found his hope upon. A golden reed was to measure the city. The gates and walls must be measured with God's word, and real faith paints to itself the whole. This city is in perfect measure with God's word, and by and by will be all perfection, for the length, and breadth, and height are equal. It is said to be of pure gold, like unto clear glass. Its foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones, lively stones. Precious sons of Zion ("Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints") will make up this city, of which God is the builder and maker. No literal temple will be there, for the Lord God almighty and the Lamb is the temple of it, and the saints shall walk in the light of it, and God shall be their everlasting light and glory. Eternal day will shine, for there shall be no night there, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that never will fade away.

AN IMMUTABLE FRIEND.

"A friend that loveth at all times."-Prov. xvii. 17.

To a person in real need and necessity, friendship is truly desirable and good, whether natural or spiritual that friend may be. Circumstances often occur that make us need assistance, even in the common affairs of this life. But, my dear fellow-travellers in the strait, narrow, squeezing, path of tribulation, it is to you that my thoughts are directed. If we look for immutable love and friendship amongst men, alas! we shall be sadly disappointed. Man is changeable; and although some people's friendship is more sincere than that of others, yet the most upright often prove sharper than a thorn hedge; therefore, if thou hast a friend to-day, think it not strange if he should leave thee to-morrow, turn his back on thee, and prove thy real enemy. Thou mayest meet with a friend in prosperity, that may shun thee in adversity; or, thou mayest meet with a friend who will stand by thee in times of need, as regards temporal affairs, all through life, (a rare thing indeed,) but even he must leave thee in death. But not so with this Friend in the words at the head of this paper; he loves at all times; yes, he is the Lord Jehovah, the God that changeth not; "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Think, O believer, on the awful state we were sunk into by the fall, dead, blind, sinful, devilish. Awfully wretched and miserable must have been our case, had it not been for this Friend, who delivered us from so great a death, by the quickening influence of his Holy Spirit. No arm could reach us here but Omnipotence; no friendship but that which is divine; no love but that which is infinitely free. This love is the love of a Triune God; of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity; three distinct persons in one undivided Jehovah; "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one." (1 John v. 7.) Well may