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light; a truth which in this sense God may be said to have revealed unto us by his Spirit.

Mrs. H. More, whose admirable Essay on the Writings of St. Paul (independently of other circumstances) entitles her judgment on such a subject to respectful consideration, in her short but excellent treatise on the Spirit of Prayer (p. 215), without discussing the point in question, favours the application contended for. She says: "It is a glorious part of the promised bliss, that the Book of Prophecy shall be realised; the Book of Providence displayed; every mysterious dispensation unfolded, not by conjecture but by vision. In the grand general view of Revelation, minute description would be below our ideas; circumstantial details would be disparaging; they would debase what they pretended to exalt. Those sublime negatives, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,' fill the soul with loftier conceptions of eternal joys than all the elaborate but degrading delineations which have been sometimes attempted. We cannot conceive the blessings prepared for us, until he who has prepared reveal them."

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A. B.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer.

THE religious public are now much divided in their sentiments on the subject of the second advent of our Saviour. I perceive, that the be, lievers in a personal advent before the commencement of the Millennium, regard those who, like my... self, doubt, whether the personal advent of our Lord is to precede the dissolution of the world, and the final adjudication of the righ teous and the wicked to their respective destinations, as persons who are manifestly ignorant of the first principles of the interpretation

of prophecy. I am far from insinuating, that we are not justly so regarded; and it is only with a view of enabling myself to understand those principles better, that I beg leave to submit to any of your correspondents, who are learned in this controversy, two questions for my own instruction and that of any other of your readers who may be in the same predicament with myself.

I am told, that the expectation of a personal advent at the approaching crisis, is rested by its advocates on the following maxims as its foundation; namely, that, wherever a future advent or presence, mapovoía, of our Lord is foretold in Scripture, the same advent is uniformly intended, and that consequently, if in any one place the advent intended be plainly a personal advent, the same construction must be put upon all. I shall therefore be much gratified, if any of your correspondents will take the trouble to inform me, whether this be indeed the basis of the whole scheme of interpretation alluded to; and if so, on what proofs the rule of construction laid down in it is asserted and applied.

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D. D.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. In the earnest desire and hope that an attention to the inquiries of your correspondent in reference to the number of the beast (Rev. xiii. 18), may induce some of your learned readers to cast the light of their knowledge and research upon the important subject; I venture to offer a few remarks for insertion in your valued publication.

The Prophet Daniel informs us, that "the time, times, and an half” begin to elapse, when "the saints are delivered up into the hand of the little horn" (chap. vii. 25), and

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from the time that the daily sa crifite shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation" (or

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"which astonisheth," margin)" set
up" (chap. xii. 11); clearly inti-
mating, as appears to me, that it
was on the full development and
establishment of the power and
abominations of the papal anti-
Christ, that the 1260 years were
to begin their course.

Now history, I believe, informs
us, that it was in the year 666 that
the daily service was taken away,
to give place to the Latin service.
History also tells us, that image
worship was revived and fully esta-
blished by Pope Vitalian in the
same year: and, that the doctrine
of transubstantiation was intro-
duced between the years 654 and

666.

Are not, then, these circum. stances in the papal history sufficiently striking and important to be regarded as marking the time, in the view of prophecy, of the establishment of the power and authority of the little horn, or, in other words, of the rise of the Apocalyptic Beast (Rev. xiii. 1); and as, in a peculiar manner, answering to the prophet's characteristic signs of the time when the prophetic years begin their course? For what could be a more complete surrender of the mind and conscience of the saints into the hands of the "little horn; " what a more entire removal from the churches of the daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, than the universal establishment, in the ten western kingdoms, of the Latin service, and the sealing up of the Bible in the Latin language? And do not the introduction of the strangely irrational doctrine of transubstantiation, and the revival and establishment of image-worship, fully and strikingly answer to the setting up of the abomination which astonisheth?" Milner, in his History of the Church, is decidedly of opinion, and shews from the state of things in the western world, that Popery was not fully established before the year 666, if even so early as that period. The "man of sin" indeed began his

course very long before this time : for even in the days of St. Paul he was in existence (2 Thess. ii. 7); but, I believe, he was not "revealed" in the plenitude of his abominations, nor rose as the beast of the Apoca lypse, the ten kings having unitedly given their power and strength to him (Rev. xvii. 13, the true era, I believe, of the forty-two months), until the year which the letters of his name Xareivos import. I will only add, that if the number of the beast be also the symbol of its rise, and this be taken as the era of the commencement of the prophetical years, the Prophet Daniel's last number brings us into the first year of the seventh or sabbatical millenary. "And blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." (Dan. xii. 12.) R. G.

FAMILY SERMONS.-No. CCXXIII. Psalm cxix. 57.-Thou art my portion, O Lord.

THE inspired Psalmist speaks, in these words, the sentiment of every true servant of God. This world is not his portion; and he does not wish it to be so it could not satisfy his desires if he possessed it; and when the hour arrived that he must quit it for ever, it would prove but a worthless exchange for those eternal glories which he must have sacrificed to gain it. For to unite the service of the world with that of God, is impossible: we may make our choice between them, but we cannot devote ourselves to both.

Now it is a most important object of the word of God to shew us on which side our true interest lies, and to urge us to pursue it. For this purpose it sets before us the portion of the wicked, and that of the righteous. The former, attractive as it may appear for a time, is shewn to be, even in the midst of enjoyment, full of bitterness: and the end of it is the way of death.

the Almighty that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?" But the same inspired book shews the end of their unhappy choice:

above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?" And what this destruction and punishment are, we also find from various parts of the same book; where, after the most fearful descriptions of misery, both of body and soul, after being told that, " even in the fulness of his sufficiency, the wicked shall be in straits," and that "God will not hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him," it is added, "This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God." Well then might the Psalmist Asaph, after being for a time tempted to envy the portion of the ungodly, come to a more just conclusion, when he had gone into the sanctuary and understood their end; and well might he rejoice that he himself had been led to choose a better portion. The wicked, he says, prosperous as they may appear for a time," are brought into desolation as in a moment;" but he adds, “I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by thy right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee; my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

The prodigal son, before his penitential return to his father, sought his portion in this life: he wished to follow his own devices, removed from the presence of paternal authority and revelling in every evil" What portion is there from God work. But he obtained no true repose; his giddy mirth was soon extinguished: he was reduced to a state of poverty, wretchedness, and famine; and had he not discerned in time his guilt and folly, and returned to his father to seek forgiveness, and a shelter, however humble, beneath his roof, he had perished for ever in his transgression. The rich man also mentioned in our Lord's parables, who sought his portion in worldly affluence and gratifications; who was building barns and storehouses to contain his treasures, and determining to eat, drink, and be merry, found, when that night his soul was required of him, that he had made a fatally wrong choice: he had sacrificed eternity to time, and the enjoyments of heaven to the gratification of his covetousness, his vanity, and his corrupt appetites. So also, to another rich man spoken of in the Gospel, when "in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments," it was said, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." The Psalmist David in like manner had seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree; in possession of the portion he had chosen, and appearing perhaps for a time satisfied with it; but, adds the inspired writer," He passed away, and, lo, he was not : "the transgressors shall be destroyed together, and the end of the wicked shall be cut off." In the Book of Job we find the men who make this world their portion, described as deliberately rejecting the only truly valuable inheritance of the soul: "They say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways What is

These mournful considerations on the bitterness of the portion of those who seek for nothing beyond what the present world can give, should lead us to inquire respecting that better portion which is the lot of those who are willing to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And happy

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for us is it, considering our sin and frailty, and the temptations which surround us, that in making this inshem quiry we shall find at every step the most ample cause to choose God for our portion. It is only the darkness of our understandings, the depravity of our hearts, and the corrupt state of our affections, combining with the allurements of the world, the flesh, and the devil, that can make us for one moment prefer the things that are seen, but which are only temporal, to the things which are unseen but are eternal. We have but to open our eyes to the truth; we have but to listen to the word of God, and to seek the guidance of his Holy Spirit, in order to come to an infinitely more just, and safe, and holy determination; the determination of those who in the language of your text can truly say, "Thou art my portion, O Lord."

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And

It will be the object of the re-
mainder of this discourse, first, to
shew the blessedness of making
God our portion; and, secondly,
to apply the subject practically to
several classes of persons.
may He who alone can order the
wills and affections of mep lead
each one of us to form, and, by
his grace enabling us, to keep, the
resolution of making his glory our
aim, his favour our happiness, his
eternal presence our highest object
of expectation and desire.

First, we are to shew the blessedness of making God our portion. This will appear if we reflect upon his character, and the relationship which we bear to him. Did he create us? In whom then can we be really happy, but in him in whom we live, and move, and have our being? Have we offended him by our sins? How can we be safe, if he be not propitiated to us? Has he promised the pardon of those sins, upon our returning to him in virtue of the meritorious sacrifice of his blessed Son; and has he invited and commanded us to give him our hearts, and made it our

highest privilege to do so? Where then is our hope, and what are our expectations of spiritual and eternal enjoyment, if we despise his offers of mercy, and obstinately keep at a distance from him?

But perhaps we have hitherto viewed religion only as it involves, self-denial; as it enjoins taking up our cross, and following our Redeemer, whether through good or evil report. We have thought of it only as commanding us to cut off the right hand, and to pluck out the right eye. We have viewed it exclusively in its prohibitions and its threatenings to the impenitent and unbelieving. We have regarded our Creator only as a consuming fire, and not as a merciful Father in Christ Jesus, and the rewarder of all that diligently seek him. But when we really make him our portion, we shall find that we were utterly deceived in thinking his ways to be rugged, or his commands burdensome. No-his yoke is easy, and his burden is light; the ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

Even the privations and conflicts of the Christian life bring with them their own reward. We enter a service which, harsh as it may appear to those whose hearts have not been renewed to embrace it, is perfect freedom. It is not a service of terror, but of affection. We love God because he first loved us; and this love casteth out the fear which has torment, and substitutes in its place a fear of holy reverence; so that to enjoy his presence and to walk in the way of his commandments, even when the path lies through humility and self-denial, is found practically to be the only source of true happiness upon earth, as it is a necessary preparative for the enjoyment of heaven.

In every aspect in which we can contrast the portion of the true believer with that of the man who makes this world the supreme object of his desires, we shall see the

infinite superiority of the former. "The Lord's portion," said Moses, is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about; he instructed him; he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up hernest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord above did lead him, and there was no strange God with him." Therefore, adds he, with reference to those who choose other refuges, "Their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." Are we in the depths of affliction? The world may not know of our distress, but God knows it; or the world may forsake us under it, but God will not. "The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble." "Thou "Thou hast known my soul in adversity." "In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me." He is also every where present; so that, when no other aid can penetrate, his arm is still the defence of his people. He was with Daniel in the den of lions; with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace; and with Jonah in the depths of the sea. In spiritual distresses, in particular, he alone can prove a refuge to the soul; for who can pardon sin but God alone? who can speak peace to the guilty conscience, or cleanse the heart from the dominion of sin, or blot out the terrors of futurity, but he who gave his Son to die for our transgressions, and has promised his Holy Spirit to create us to newness of life? In the hour of pain and sickness, and, above all, at the approach of death, what other portion can be of any avail; for who can sustain our fainting spirit, when all that this world has to give is melting away from our grasp? Yet, even in this extremity, God is still a present help: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me." Of what other portion can we say that it is unmixed; that it has no alloy of bitterness; that it has no frailty, no imperfection? Of what other portion can we say that it is sufficient for every want, and suitable to the necessities of every heart? Of what other portion can we say, not only that it is thus satisfying and applicable to every case, but that it never changes, never fails? Of what other portion can we say, that nothing can tear it from our embrace? "But who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And, above all, of what other portion can we say that it is eternal in its duration; that when heaven and earth and all created blessings shall fade away, it shall remain for ever unshaken and unimpaired? But he who has chosen this good part, has "the Eternal for his refuge, and underneath him are the everlasting arms." He has in prospect" an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away," reserved for him in the kingdom of God, and secured to him by the promise of Him who "changeth not,' "but is the same " yesterday, to-day, and for ever."

Having thus endeavoured to shew the wisdom and blessedness of choosing God for our portion, we proceed to apply the subject practically to several classes of persons.

1. And first, we must address those who do not even wish to make God their portion. For, alas! many such there are; many there are who say, "Who will shew us any good?" that is, any temporal good; any increase

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