Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

or extent.

The

It is a mercy that thou art led by the Holy Ghost (who alone convinces of sin) to see thyself a sinner; and a still further mercy to discover in Christ the very Saviour that thou needest―one that is mighty to save, and able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Another mercy awaits thee-and give the Lord no rest until that mercy is revealednamely, that Christ is thine-thy Saviour, thy Lord and thy God. Wrestle -entreat-implore. Give Him no rest. Don't take No for an answer, any more than that poor Gentile " dog" whose faith and patience Jesus tried to the very last degree, on purpose that He might the more fully and blessedly declare the love and the grace and the mercy that were pent up in His heart, and longing to burst forth towards her. Oh, fear not, nor faint not. love of Jesus-the mercy of Jesus-the sympathy of Jesus-the power of Jesus-is deeper far than the depths of ocean, and broader ten thousand-fold than the very heavens. So vast are the resources of His love-so immense the treasuries of His grace-so infinite His power-and such virtue and efficacy are there in the blessings He bestows, that though thou wast the vilest sinner under the sun, one tiny drop of the precious blood of Immanuel were sufficient to make thy sins, "though they were as scarlet, white as snow; though red like crimson, as wool." Oh, then, go-go-go again, and again, and again, to that precious fountain opened (on purpose) for sin and uncleanness, and cry, "Lord, wash, and cleanse, and save me-even Thou who saidst, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,' receive me—even me ;

me.

6

66 6 'For I can no denial take,

Whilst I plead for Jesu's sake.'

Oh, reader, it seems at times to us, that if it were possible for us to be ten thousand times greater sinners than we are, we should not be discouraged nor deterred from going to Jesus, when we think who He is what He is what He has done and what He has promised. There are some things (we speak it with reverence) which even the Lord (omnipotent as He is) cannot do; that is, He could not have done more to save poor sinners; He gave Himself-He could not do more; nor could He make a poor sinner more welcome to His footstool. He hath "sworn by Himself, because He could swear by no greater, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us in the gospel."

It is said of Simeon, that he was "waiting for the consolation of Israel;" that is, he was waiting for Christ to come in the flesh. He waited to be an eye-witness of the fact. His faith rested on the person of Jesus; Christ was emphatically "all his salvation, and all his desire:" He was justified in Him and by Him; he had the faith of Old Testament saints, which centred in Jesus only;" but withal he had a certain longing wish-an intense desire― that he might be permitted and privileged to behold Christ in the flesh. He knew that he should see Him in the upper and better world. He knew that the moment his eyes closed upon this world, he should

"Behold the Lamb in the midst of the throne;"

but still, he would sooner, so to speak, postpone his own personal bliss and enjoyment in eternity, if he could but be allowed to see Jesus come in the flesh. Without doubt, if not in so many words, yet in substance, Simeon had expressed these his desires; yes, in those simple heart-breathings which the

Lord can well understand-aye, and appreciate too, inasmuch as he was the gracious begetter and enkindler of the same.

Now, we can well understand these desires upon the part of Simeon. We can conceive that he had a holy and all-absorbing interest in the great gospel scheme -the glorious plan of salvation-that he longed to behold its opening out in the midst of a God-dishonouring and gainsaying world. He wanted his God, whilst he was yet a sojourner upon earth, to develop still more fully, the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh." He wished to see it; he would cheerfully tarry for it, if so be he could but be thus indulged.

[ocr errors]

We believe there are many of the children of God in our own day under a similar influence. Certain great things are revealed in the Word, which must come to pass; and until those things be accomplished, the name, the veracity, the power of our God cannot be honoured, and ratified, and confirmed, before angels, and devils, and men, as when those things shall come to pass, His name and His Word shall be magnified. Now there are multitudes of His own dear children wish to see this; and therefore they are contented to wait. They are willing to forego personal privileges, and the consummation of their own salvation in glory above, if so be they can but be permitted personally to behold the Lord's wondrous doings on this our earth. They want to see antichrist destroyed; they would delight here on earth to see that blaspheming usurper, the Pope of Rome, hurled from his throne; they would rejoice in beholding the masks stripped off from the faces of his accursed retinue, the cardinals, the priests, the jesuits, the monks, the nuns; and the whole of that vile delusion-that master-piece of the bottomless pit -to be exploded. The thing to be seen as it really is. Popery to be allowed to deceive the nations no longer. Souls no more to be allured into the embraces of the whore of Babylon, and by her fatal spell, and once within her grasp, to be led on and on till they are plunged into the abyss of eternal perdition. Oh, readers, eye-witnesses as we were for so many years of the dreadful doings of Romanism, in her fearful intrigues with the souls of our fellow-men, we can have-and God helping us-we never will have-any sympathies with a system the most destructive to the souls of men that Satan ever devised.

Personally we long for the day when, Babylon being destroyed, it shall be said, "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her;" when the "voice of much people in heaven shall be heard, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand."

Again, the Jews are to be called in with the fulness of the Gentiles. Moreover, Christ Himself is to come again; when-where-we know not, but this we know, and rejoice in the prospect, that "unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

It is a sweet position, beloved, to be found in; "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." We make no pretensions to any particular light unto prophecy. It is but little we can see into it; we are satisfied as a child with its hand in that of its father, ignorant of the path before us, and not knowing what the next step may open. Still there are some things so revealed that there There is no

can be no calling them in question-no, not for a moment.

doubting the fact of Christ's coming, nor of the object of His return. "I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also" (John xiv. 3). Then the manner of the Lord's coming is likewise clear, "And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts i. 10, 11). Moreover, the glory with which the Lord shall come is also declared, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day" (2 Thess. i. 7-10). Once more, the position of a portion of the Lord's people at the time of His coming is asserted by the apostle, both in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, and in his first epistle to the Corinthians. In the 4th chapter of the former epistle, from the 13th to the 17th verse, he says, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And in the 51st and 52nd verses of the 15th chapter of the latter epistle, the apostle writes, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.".

Now, beloved, without attempting to go beyond these plain and simple declarations of Scripture, we cannot but say, How glorious is the prospect that awaits the redeemed! Whether in the ordinary way the summons come, declaring that "the Master is come and calleth" for this one or that one; or, whether His purposes being so far accomplished that He shall " appear in the clouds of heaven," how glorious! Apart from any idea of wishing to escape the mere article of so-called death, we can conceive that multitudes of the redeemed would love to tarry here, and be the subjects of that momentous "change" in the "twinkling of an eye," when they shall "be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall they ever be with the Lord." Well may the apostle add, "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."

Beloved, here for the present we leave the subject, and are yours to serve in the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 1, Devonshire Buildings, Bedminster,

November 16th, 1859.

THE EDITOR.

A WORD FOR THE MAGAZINE.

TO OUR READERS.

DEAR READERS,—It is usual at this season to say a word on behalf of our work. Of its nature we need not speak. You have long been familiar with the character of these pages. Whatever short-sightedness and infirmity may have been betrayed in conducting the work (and in what human enterprize or occupation shall we not find infirmity ?) we trust we have had grace from on high to keep the great object the Gospel Magazine had in view prominently before us. The glory of God and the good of immortal souls has been our aim. The Lord has been pleased to own our humble labours to an extent we could not have conceived. To Him-to Him alone-be the praise for His condescending grace and mercy in being pleased to make use of such a feeble instrumentality. We thank Him for His encouraging word upon which He has led us oftentimes to hope, namely, "He hath hid the treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

But now, readers, as instruments likewise in the Lord's hands for carrying on His work as far as this Magazine is concerned, we want your kind co-operation. In many respects you can do what we cannot. You each have your distinct and separate spheres. You live here and there. You come in contact with this one and that one. You have it, therefore, in your power to recommend the Gospel Magazine. You can each bring it before your fellow-men-your neighbour, your friend, your relation. Have you been blessed by its perusal yourself? Has the Lord sometimes met you in these pages? Have you here found the refreshing and the cheering word? Do you wish to eat your morsel alone? Would you in this sense "hide your talent in a napkin?" Had you heard some Gospel minister well; had he, under God, spoken peace and comfort to your heart, would not the first promptings of that heart be to lead others to the same source, with the hope that similar results might follow? Would not the same motive and the same effort become you, in reference to

In

spreading the Gospel Magazine ? these days of rebuke and blasphemy; in these times so momentous, when error, and false doctrine, and the most treacherous and soul-destructive systems are so rife, is it not, to say the least, a duty and should it not be esteemed a holy privilege-to endeavour to promote the circulation of a work which contends for the absolute necessity of the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost, and a walk and conversation corresponding therewith? Oh, now that poison is infused into so many a cup, and served up in such a treacherous and insidious way, it does behove us to contend for the life, the power, the reality of the inner and distinctive life in the souls of the redeemed. Never, never did it behove men more to contend for that glorious and indispensable truth, "Ye must_be BORN AGAIN," than it does now. the infusion and the daily development of this life, the Gospel Magazine contends. It is not bigoted nor sectarian. It confines itself to no mere human distinction or denominational badge; but it holds out the right hand of fellowship to all who really "love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Its motto is

For

and uniformly has been-differing and agreeing to differ where non-essentials are concerned. Its watchword is LIFE; true, spiritual, imperishable LIFE; life emanating from Christ the great fountain, spring-head, and source of life, and running to Him, as the spring, and streamlet, and river return to the ocean.

These being our principles, beloved readers-and you know them to be sowe feel justified in asking you to aid us in our work. Help on in our distribution. Let each subscriber resolve to get at least a second. How soon might this be done, if so be a little effort on your part were used; and who knows what good might accrue therefrom? To say the least, you would have done what you could; and, if nothing more, would thereby have greatly encouraged the heart and strengthened the hands of Your willing Servant,

THE EDITOR. Bedminster, Nov. 16, 1859.

"HE HATH DONE ALL THINGS WELL." To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine.

[ocr errors]

MY DEAR BROTHER IN JESUS,- Being particularly struck with the adaptation of your correspondent "Ruth's" letter to existing circumstances, I cannot forbear writing to acknowledge my gratitude to Him who led her to write, and to His Spirit who indited it; for I was much melted under it, and can truly say that I unite in her language, that "however dark and mysterious may be the Lord's leadings in the wilderness, He knows what He is doing; His ways are all right ways." Yes, it may be a leading contrary to the flesh and our unrenewed nature; but His own word is, I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way thou shouldest go." Therefore, though it may be rough and crooked to our finite capacity, yet His omniscient eye sees the end from the beginning; and it is wonderful that with all our untowardness, He should deign to regard us with such tender love, and condescend to manage all our affairs-the meanest are not beneath His notice. And I am sure I sometimes-yea, very often-stand in amazement that He does look upon and regulate for one so unworthy as myself of the least of His mercies; but truly of others I can say, "Not one thing hath failed of all the good He has promised," but He has supplied every need. And I am forcibly reminded of that precious passage, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ?" As He hath given His greatest gift, can He withhold His

lesser? Oh no!

[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

in a very peculiar manner presses and urges on to deep wrestling; and we are constrained to say with Jacob, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me," feeling the force of his own precious promise, "Whatsoever ye ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive." Ah! does not our God sometimes seem to put it all in our own power, when it has been His act and tender love from first to last? He says, "Ask what thou wilt;"

"He

Ask, and ye shall receive;" "Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Surely we have encouragement to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Yes, but we are so slow of heart to believe; and I believe it is on that account we receive so little. God grant more fervour in spirit, and more watching unto prayer. But I must not forbear to testify to His long-suffering and tender compassion in answering prayer, and appearing in a most wonderful and marked way of late. Had I been told that I should have been brought into the path that I now am, I could not have credited it; but will work, and none shall let or hinder." The devil may try to frustrate His purposes, but He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." He works mysteriously. Oh for grace to stand still in all circumstances, and see His salvation, convinced that He doeth all well, and is leading by the right way to that heavenly home where nothing of earth shall molest, but_all will be joy, peace, bliss, and praise. Yes, my dear brother, it is, as you state in your leading article, He thus leads His children to know more of themselves and of His abounding mercy in Christ. I do bless Him that He so leads you into the exercises of the family, and thereby enables you to speak of that comfort and consolation which is alone to be found in Himself. May He be pleased to spare you many years to labour in your present sphere, strengthen you to go in and out amongst your flock, leading them to the heavenly Shepherd, and proclaiming boldly among them the unsearchable riches and fulness of Jesus.

[ocr errors]
« AnteriorContinuar »