THE Spiritual Magazine ; OR, SAINTS' TREASURY. 1 John v. 7. "There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One." "Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" Jude 3. APRIL, 1833. "FEED THE FLOCK OF GOD." THE apostle Peter never forgot the solemn charge given him by the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls: "Feed my lambs;" Feed my sheep;" and this injunction is repeated, "Feed my sheep." And previous to Paul taking an affectionate leave of the elders of Ephesus, he charges them to "Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." This flock is a precious flock to Christ, for he purchased it at a precious price, even at the price of his own most precious blood. 66 For this flock his soul travailed in inconceivable agony, bloody sweat, groans, strong crying and tears, and, at last, poured out his soul unto death, to ransom it from the power of the grave. Verily, verily," said Jesus unto the cavilling Jews, "except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you; whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in Him: as the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." John vi. 53, 57. All the just (or justified) live by faith on the divine atonement. From Christ's death, believers derive their life, their peace, their joy. "Feed the flock of God." The Great Shepherd and Bishop of the flock appoints underVOL. IX.-No. 108.] shepherds for this purpose, men who have themselves tasted that the Lord is gracious, and none but such are fit for the sacred and responsible employment. Many, very many, thrust themselves into the priest's office for a morsel of bread, seeking the fleece and not the flock, whom Christ never knew; blind leaders of the blind, who fall into the ditch together, and perish. 1st, Let us briefly consider with what the flock of God is to be fed; and, 2nd, For what purpose it is to be fed. 1st, The flock of God must be fed with truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: the truth as it is in Jesus; the sincere pure milk of the word, without the least adulteration of man's wisdom. The flock of God must be fed with the doctrines, promises, and precepts of the gospel. These the Lord has joined together, and let no man put them asunder. The fall by sin, and salvation of the church by grace-full, free, sovereign distinguishing grace. Justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, without works which are entirely excluded in the matter of a sinner's justification before God. This cardinal doctrine is set forth through the whole arrangement of divine truth, but more particularly and clearly declared in the epistles of Paul. It is much to be lamented that ministers in this day, in order, as they affirm, to guard this doctrine from abuse, so mix up grace and works together, that the lambs and sheep of Christ's flock are often kept in starvation and bondage, not being able to discern by this style of preaching the way of salvation. The flock of God must be fed with the soul comforting doctrine of Jehovah's electing, everlasting, and unchangeable love; and with this glorious Bible doctrine stands connected the secu rity and final perseverance of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom their life is hid. The flock of God must be fed with the promises of the gospel, for to this flock all the promises of God are made in Christ, and, consequently, are sure in Him. The promises of God are sweet and precious morsels for his lambs and sheep to feed upon. The flock of God must also be fed with the holy precepts of the gospel. By attention and obedience to the precepts of their heavenly shepherd, the flock of God is distinguished from the world. The honour of their Lord, and the harmony, peace, and happiness of the flock, require that it should be so fed; and I am not afraid to affirm, that in proportion as attention and obedience are paid to the precepts and commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, Zion's glorious King, so will the church shine as a light in the world, or beautifully resemble "a flock of sheep which go up from the washing." Sol. Song vi. 6. With this food, prophets and apostles fed the flock of God. With the doctrines, promises, and precepts of the gospel, they fed the lambs and sheep of Christ as they were able to bear them, for the flock of God must be fed with tenderness as well as faithfulness; and in this way the Shepherd of Israel fed his flock when on earth, and his servants must do so likewise. Tenderness is an important and delightful feature in the character of a shepherd; he must feed and lead the flock kindly and tenderly, as did Jesus. We shall now notice, in the second place, For what purpose the flock of God is to be fed; and it must be remarked, that the design of feeding is to nourish and strengthen. The lambs and sheep of Christ's flock are in themselves weak and faint, have many enemies, and are exposed to many dangers; and the purpose for which they are to be fed is, to strengthen them, and inspire them with fortitude to resist and overcome their enemies; and this (being fed and strengthened by divine truth) they are enabled to do. Truth strengthens; truth establishes the believer's mind. Truth makes the christian soldier, who is nothing but weakness in himself, strong; it is by truth that he waxeth valiant in fight, and putteth to flight the armies of the aliens. In this lower world the flock of God is often disturbed, worried, and filled with fears; sometimes the sheep of Christ go mourning without the sun, and heave many a heart-rending sigh, exclaiming, as they seek the beloved of their soul's sorrowing, "O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat." Souls in this condition require particular attention of the shepherds, and should be led into the sweetest pastures of gospel truth. Though Satan cannot destroy, yet he frequently, with his infernal pack, terrifies the timid sheep and lambs of Christ. He alarms them with sore and grievous temptations, and would lead them to conclude that the Lord had in anger shut up his tender mercies and would be favourable no more. Zion of old made a painful mistake in this matter, and exclaimed, "The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me;" but hear how Zion's God rectifies her mistake, and asks, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? She may forget, yet will I not forget thee. I have graven thee on the palms of my hands, and thy walls are continually before me." And sometimes, when not harassed by temptations from without, inward corruptions will break out, and the "plague of the heart" fill the soul with terror and dismay. Now this is a disease peculiar to God's flock, and may be termed sin-sickness. Sheep or lambs in this state are restless, rambling with sorrowful countenances over the sweetest pastures, instead of feeding and lying down. It is one part, and a most important part, of a shepherd's duty to know the state of the flock; and when a shepherd discovers the sickness of his flock by their restlessness and roving, and that they have no appetite, he must prepare some comforting cordials. O that is a sweet cordial (among many others) for the cure of sin-sickness, and may always be readily obtained by turning to the 1st Epistle of John i. 7: "And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." It requires a shepherd of considerable experience to know how to manage and feed the souls of God's sheep under this sin-sickness; a soul in such a state generally concludes that it must perish, and for a long time refuseth to be comforted; but I have sometimes known a poor sin-sick soul cured in a moment when a tender, kind-hearted shepherd, with a tear of sympathy rolling down his cheek, has spoken a word in season, and the Holy Spirit has applied a sweet and gracious promise to the heart; it has recovered, took to feeding in the pasture of truth again, and gone on its way rejoicing. The flock of God must be fed with truth, in order that it may resist and stand out against error, which so much abounds. The flock of God must be fed with the doctrines, promises, and precepts of the gospel, in order to turn them off from the beggarly elements of the world, and to make them long more and more after the full fruition of eternal blessedness. Here they taste from time to time of Eshcol's delicious grapes, and this sets them a longing more and more to pluck with their own hands the full ripe fruit in the heavenly Canaan. Yes, here the flock of God is fed for the purpose of being nourished up unto everlasting life. Here they are fed with truth, that they may grow in grace and knowledge, and thus be prepared to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the whole elect family, in the kingdom of heaven. Waltham Abbey. CHRIST THE FOUNDATION. R. G. Ir very clearly appears from the scriptures of truth, that long before time began Jehovah came to a determination to display his wisdom, power, and goodness, in an infinite variety of ways. The platform of a mighty globe was laid, and in time executed; creatures innumerable created. Out of the mighty mass of human beings a church was to be collected that should continue through endless day. This church would pass through a variety of changes, be exposed to innumerable enemies, be the subject of many evils, meet with much hostility and opposition, and sometimes apparently left without the protection of the great builder; God was determined that it should have a strong, a secure, a rich, a safe, a durable, an everlasting foundation, and that he himself would condescend to become the builder, and that his own co-equal Son should be the foundation stone. We may pause here, and admire the great love of God to man in laying Christ for a basis to build his lively stones upon; and as in all buildings the foundation is the first that is laid, so it was with the church of God. Christ was the lamb slain from, or fore-ordained before, the foundation of the world-1 Peter i. 20. Laid in the will, love, council, covenant, thoughts, intentions, decrees, and purposes of Jehovah, and blessedly manifested in time in the promises: to Adam, as the woman's seed; to Noah, as the accepted sacrifice; to Abraham, as the slain lamb; to Jacob, as the only way to heaven; to Moses, as the great preserver of his church in the wilderness, in the midst of all their burning trials; to Joshua, as the captain of all the hosts that fight for or against his Israel; to Job, as the umpire to stand between God and man, and unite both together; to Isaiah, as the child-born, and yet the mighty God, in whom the church are saved, by whom they are justified, to whom they are eternally united; Jeremiah saw him as the Lord, the righteousness of his people; and Ezekiel as the Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there; he is laid as the foundation of the gospel; and every servant the Lord selects, and sends forth, endeavours to lay him as the only foundation to build a hope of heaven upon. Every sincere seeker of interest in the Lord pleads the person and merits of Jesus as the only foundation of their acceptance with God. But the foundation is not only first laid in all structures, but the foundation is to bear the weight of the whole building; and this remark is particularly applicable to our exalted Redeemer: he bears up the weight of the world without difficulty, he being the ever-blessed God; all his children being upon him as the nail fastened in a sure place, he bears them up and all their burdens. Cast thy burdens upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. He bore up under burdens of all his people's transgressions; and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all: all their curse, merited punishment, and deserved hell, he endured. He bears up the saints in heaven, and the drooping graces of his people in this world. He curbs the rage and malice of hell, so that they cannot prevail against it. How sweetly the prophet sets the subject forth: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom-Isaiah xl. 11. Christ is the only sure foundation, all others are sandy and unsafe; a man's moral righteousness will avail him nothing on the Judgment Day; a strict conscientious conduct will not remove the sting of death; the most sincere obedience and the greatest punctuality in the observance of every religious ordinance will not atone for one crime, nor procure the justification of one immortal soul. It is the Godhead of Christ that makes his obedience, sufferings, death, and intercession, of infinite and everlasting efficacy, and all who deny the Deity and Godhead of our Jesus, deny the only foundation. But Jehovah the |