By whatever means God is pleased to make known his love to his offspring, it imparts an elevated tone of holy feeling to the mind. God will bring his own people into a state of intercourse with himself, so as to keep them dependant upon his favour alone. The manner of our communion with God is diversified, but it is ever spiritual. Sometimes we are favoured to have fellowship with Christ in some of those precious acts which he wrought for us when he was incarnate, and appeared in a very humble character as the representative of his people under the law. The result of which is, that we are made conformable to his death. To behold Christ as the Redeemer and High Priest of the church in his suffering state, will fill the mind with adoring gratitude and praise to him for his unequalled love to sinners. The divinity and dignity of the person we behold as suffering for us, and the great love which moved him to do so, will melt our hearts into compunction for sin, and by it we obtain victory over it. This the apostle called fellowship with him in his suffering. Never does sin appear so odious as when we view it in the suffering Saviour, in the garden at Gethsemane, or upon Mount Calvary. By the spirituality of the gospel we are raised to God, and the wondrous grace which he displays to us, leads us poor sinners to his throne to seek his favour, and it keeps us there hoping for mercy to be revealed to us for Jesus' sake. By this means, our persons and all we have are devoted to his service. On this sovereign principle, God acts towards us through Christ; and he makes us willing to live to his glory, as much so as though our admission to the heavenly world depended upon the sanctity of our lives. Let us, then, admire the plan of wisdom, and adore the living God who has devised it, and has revealed himself by it, to be the just God, and the justifier of the ungodly.

The movements of the christian are in conformity with the plan of wisdom, that God may be glorified, "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world, hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." The bounds of our habitations are fixed, so that we cannot pass them; and the stations which we are to fill in life, are chosen for us. The Great Ruler of the world not only chooses for his creatures the situations which they are to fill, but he also qualifies them to discharge the duties peculiarly binding upon them to perform in the sphere where they move. We often see that at the commencement of life that we are liable to err in the choice of our station, and it becomes necessary for us to resign it, and select another in which we may act more for the honour and glory of God. When Moses resided in the palace of Pharaoh, and enjoyed all the luxuries of the court, all the pleasures and refined joys of that elevated station, we find, that he afterwards, under heavenly influence, resigned them all, and adopted the simple manners and life of a shepherd. When he was lawfully employed in his pastoral duties, God was pleased to call him in a special manner to fill the station for which he had qualified him, and sent him to perform an embassy of great importance to the children

of Israel. We do not now expect the same miraculous appearance of God to explain his plan concerning of us, as that of his appearing in a burning bush to Moses; the counsel of eternity is opening to us by the providences and works of God; and as we pursue the journey of life heavenly influence is shed upon us, by which we are sanctified to follow where he desires us to go; "in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy path." When the providence of God conspires to prove to us that we are in the path of duty, and we have evidence that we have received from him those qualifications which are indispensably necessary for us to perform with fidelity the services peculiar to it; we, complying with the direction afforded, confiding in divine veracity to perform the promises that are given to us, although many difficulties will arise in the performance of the duties of our office, yet, we being where God has placed us, he will never forsake us, but he will constantly guide us by his counsel, and strengthen us to do all that he has commanded.

In whomsoever God is pleased to dwell in a spiritual manner, that man is enriched by him beyond description. True reconciliation is effected between them upon the most honourable terms, viz. the atonement of Christ; and the real believer longs and prays for the presence of his heavenly Father. Those moments which are spent in communion with God, and in his holy service, are truly precious. Spiritual knowledge of God in the person of his Son is the door of fellowship. The religion of the gospel is supernatural, and the experience of it is productive of holy feeling and action. To know God, and his Son Jesus Christ, is eternal life. When in the light of God's countenance we learn something of his being and perfection, we have settled fellowship with him that is not easily disturbed, and we are cleansed from the impurity which we contracted by the commission of sin. We do well to distinguish between the motions of the flesh and of the spirit; the former always confine a man within himself, but the latter are aspirations of a sanctified mind, ascending to God the source of all good. It is far more profitable to spend a few moments in meditation of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, than a whole life in contention and wickedness. By such exercises we are preparing for the fellowship of the saints in the heavenly world. Truth is precious; and the Holy Spirit sheds through the cross a holy influence upon the saints which attracts them to it, and conforms them to him who died upon it, and who opened the channels of mercy for the guilty and undeserving. To be favoured by God, to rest here contentedly, is the privilege of all those who are chosen to reign in life with Christ Jesus.

Since it has pleased Almighty God to gather his election from every quarter of the globe into one fold, under the guardian care of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, they also are united together in an indissoluble and everlasting interest. As the sensibilities of the sanctified mind are kept alive by the truth, and the perceptive faculty of the mind is brightened by the rays of heavenly light which shine upon it, so the

holy affinities of grace will be felt, and the benevolent feeling of the heart will be as extensive as the spiritual reign of Immanuel. He who is not disposed to embrace any more of the family of heaven than those with whom he exactly agrees, he will find but very few spiritual persons with whom he can associate in this wicked world. If I require every believer to subscribe to every article of my creedby so doing I attempt to conceal the lines of sovereignty that are visibly displayed in the formation of the minds of the people of God. The whole of revealed truth is found in the whole church of God, and not exclusively in a solitary member of it. The benefits arising out of a state of grace are exceedingly great; and if it were better understood by the saints, there is no doubt but their spirit and conduct would be considerably improved. Inattention to these will involve us in great difficulties, yea, such as may follow us to the mouth of the grave. A cautious prudent christian, who steers his course by the unbending rule of equity, and who performs his duty to God and man upon evangelical principles, is repected by all upright men, and is approved by God. The saving worth of the perfect work of Christ is practically demonstrated in the formation of the christian character. We admire the grace of God which has made the interest of the saints one in Christ, and vitally connected them together in him. It is upon the foundation of grace in him that they are carried through the streets of life in an honourable manner, and are preserved in the fear of the Lord to the end of their journey.

The hopes of a christian are not built upon a sandy foundation, but upon the rock of ages. This world, with all its concerns, is rapidly passing away, but his expectation rises above every thing which is perishable. This is a rich gift of grace that arose in his bosom on that glad day when he was led by faith to Calvary to receive his release from captivity and death, through the sacrifice by which he is for ever perfected, is nurtured by the same Almighty Agent who produced it at first. He waits in hope that the Lord Jesus will come the second time without sin unto salvation. Whatever God has promised to his people in Christ Jesus, that we may expect from him; but he has promised eternal life, therefore, we are assured that God will one day take us to the full possession of it in the world of eternal peace. We are now favoured to realize the truth of it, and we are patiently waiting for the possession of it. The conceptions of a disordered imagination, and the flights of an airy mind, are altogether in their nature different from the grace of hope. By the former, a man of warm passions may conceive a thousand things which will never exist, and with his visionary thoughts he may fill himself with transporting joys; but the latter is looking for the tokens of God's kindness to him, and as he obtains them, they nourish his hope-he is confirmed by the truth, and he waits with patience for that day to come when he will be delivered for ever from the toils of this life.

The hour and the manner of our departure out of life, are wisely determined. It is a very solemn thing to die, but it is also cheering VOL. VII.-No. 84. 2 Y

to think that God loves us, and that we shall not die separated from the Lord. He has under his controul, death, and him that has the power of death, that is, the devil. To be favoured by God to see that the last enemy is destroyed for us by Christ, and a victory given to us over it, although we fall under its dominions for a little while, this will more effectually reconcile us to death than any thing else can do. I never wish to disturb myself with the circumstances that may attend me in my dying hour, I mean such as are of a physical nature, viz. whether the pain of my body will be great, and reason preserved in full vigour in that moment; for that would render life burdensome, and frequently embarrass me when I need to be calm and collected to perform the duties of my station. When I say that I do not wish to disturb myself about these things, I wish it to be understood that I am not carnally indifferent about them-no, but I am daily committing to God the concerns of that moment when I must go out of time into eternity; and I am hoping in him for every supernatural good to be imparted to me in the hour of nature's dissolution. The government of God over every believer extends from the cradle to the grave. We shall not have to meet our last enemy, death, without being strengthened by our great Redeemer. He will be kindly and graciously present with us when we die. Should the pains of nature be acute, and our consolation not be strong, yet our end will be peaceful and honourable. We shall never be freed from sin in this life, but the moment the body and soul are separated for a little while, the soul will immediately be freed from every stain and from every wrinkle of deformity; it will be clothed with those garments of light and immortality, which Christ is exalted to raise his brethren to wear in his native kingdom. This is friendship unexampled, and love that has no limit nor bound.

FRAGMENT.

There are those who think they ought never to pray, but when they find their hearts drawn out by the Spirit of grace and supplication, inviting them as it were to that holy exercise. This notion appears to have no foundation in scripture; yea, it seems directly contrary to scripture, and if given way to, may in the end, leave the soul totally prayerless. I would rather follow the example of Luther, who always hastened to the throne of grace, when he found the greatest indispotion to go thither; and by that means often warmed a cold heart at the fire of God's altar. Under the law, if the sacrifice would not go willingly, it was to be dragged. And under the gospel, kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

REVIEW.

A Sermon on 1 Corinthians ii. 12. preached before the University of Oxford, at St. Mary's, on Sunday, Feb. 6, 1831, by the Rev. H. B. Bulteel, M. A. late Fellow of Exeter College, and Curate of St. Ebbe's, Oxford. Oxford, W. Baxter. London, Hatchard and Son.

Within little more than a month this Sermon hath reached a third edition; our readers may perhaps be inclined to say, this, though an evidence of the preacher's popularity, argues nothing of the soundness of the discourse; but in this instance the call of the public has been judicious. It is a faithful and honest testimony against the corruptions which have gradually crept into the national church, and which evince how lamentably she hath departed, both in doctrine and practice, from that standard of divine truth which shone so conspicuously in the early period of the reformation. We are constrained, however, to add, that many of the remarks which the preacher has applied to the members of his own church, apply with equal force to most of the churches which have dissented from her communion.

In making these observations, far be it from us to detract from the honesty and zeal of any minister; for while these remarks apply generally, we can recollect many faithful champions for the truth as it is in Jesus, both in and out of the establishment: we would earnestly pray that THEIR number be greatly increased.

But we will not add more; we would not delay from our readers the pleasure they will experience in perusing the extracts which we subjoin.

"First-Let us observe the simple word, given; a word so simple that one would think it impossible to be mistaken; nevertheless, what by one man's perversion, and another man's comment, it has at length, among large bodies of professing christians, come either to signify just nothing at all, or else the very reverse of its ordinary meaning. To give, then, means to give, in opposition to every other word which may be put in its place, to the obscuring of the lustre and glory of God's free grace. We shall best see the force of the word by comparing it with others which are sometimes used in its stead. First, let it stand by the side of the word offer. For there are some that say, God merely offers grace and salvation in the gospel; but God says, that he gives grace and salvation. There is a mighty difference betwixt the two: an offer is a good thing, but a gift is a better; for a thing offered either may become the property of him to whom it is offered, or it may not; but a gift, in order to constitute it a gift, must pass from the hands of the giver into those of the receiver. It cannot be truly called a gift till it is actually given. The offer only comes half way, and there stops, but the gift comes home. So it is in the things of God. When God intends grace for any poor soul, he does not stop half way, and wait for our closing with