The breastplate had twelve stones, all the precious stones in the world. They reflected the colours. There are seven primary ones only. The breastplate was upon his heart, with all the names, to shew he has the concerns of the weakest of you under his eye, and those that cannot walk he takes and carries in his bosom, May it be given you to look to him and be saved.

Stephen fell asleep praying, and his prayer was heard and answered. Christ only hath salvation. Aaron is dead, and all the succeeding priests. Jesus ever liveth. Comparisons all fail, in all of them he must have the pre-eminence. Christ lives for ever. "Because I live, ye shall live also."

If you have fled to Jesus for refuge, the Father sees you in his Son, loves you with the same love, and has prepared the same heaven for you. God is love.

The day of Pentecost, never was there an effusion of blessings as on that day. Poor ignorant men wise in the things of God in a moment, and spoke all the languages of the known world in a moment. The gospel was carried on as far as the success with which the Lord was pleased to crown it; eight thousand were converted in two days, and the apostles carried the news of finished salvation all over the known world. This was one of the royal gifts of our loving Lord, King Jesus.

All that is done in bringing sinners to Christ, is all the Spirit's operation. His gifts bestowed on the apostles, were demonstrations to sense, that he who gave them was Lord over all for

ever.

Are you under afflictions, in sorrows, a miserable man: he will comfort you.

In sin, trouble, desertion and temptation, he alone can preserve the believer, he alone can deliver and comfort us.

What are all other comforts to a man who has looked into the other

world, and sees the emptiness of this? The believer carries about with him real pleasure, a paradise in his own heart, for Christ and he

are one.

What a miserable life is this that I live, may a believer say, what is there that is worth living for? But here we come to a centre, to a point, all comforts are in Christ Jesus.

And the disciples were called christians first at Antioch. The apostles went travelling about over the world. Probably Great Britain was favoured with the gospel from the mouth of Paul. Our's is a highly favoured land; no land in the world like it. The disciples were called christians; we rest in the name. The meaning of the name christians, is, a man in Christ; a man quickened by the Holy Ghost, and united by faith to Jesus Christ, and so living upon him that we live to him, and to the Father's glory in him.

The anointing of kings, priests, and prophets shewed forth the Spirit's influence. It was made death by the law of God, for any one to make the like sweet perfume to smell to. And this to shew that we cannot have it but from Jesus Christ. He is the anointed, and he is the anointer, what the Spirit does he does for

THE SWEETNESS OF MEDITATION.

“In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul."-Psalm xciv. 19.

JESUS, 't is sweet to bow the knee
And lift the soul in prayer to thee;
To seek communion with the Lord,
And feel the sweetness of his word.

'Tis sweet to feel the soul drawn forth
In meditatiou on thy worth;

To join the praise, to speak the prayer
By which the soul is eased of care.

To trace the dealings of thy hand,
Which leads us through this desert land,
Is sweet to all who feel thy love,
While they thy matchless goodness prove.
Though friends forsake, and foes surround,
And sorrows every where abound;
Yet midst the whole thy grace divine
In numerous ways doth richly shine.

Though we are oft with sin perplexed,
And oft with our own follies vexed,
'T is sweet to know, where'er the blame,
Thou ever dost remain the same.

The same, though earthly comforts die,
The same, though friends stand distantly,
The same, though furious foes surround;
Unchangeable thou still art found,

Unchangeable! 'T is sweet to know
Thou wilt remain for ever so;
Thy thoughts to sinners vile and base
Have been and now are thoughts of grace.

Lord, though thou dost obscure thy face
Thou canst not take away thy grace;
Canst never lessen that rich love
By which the saints thy goodness prove.

In little wrath thy face was hid,
But endless love thy saints forbid
E'er to indulge hard thoughts of thee,
Or from thy chastening hand to flee.

With everlasting kindness, Lord,
Thou lov'st thy saints, so saith thy word;
This should buoy up each fainting soul,
Although fierce tempests round him roll.

In thine own time thy power shall show
The mercies which thou canst bestow;

Help us, thy children, Lord, we pray,
To trust however dark our way.

To pray to thee, our faithful God,
Has often eased our heavy load;
And thus encouraged we draw near,
In holy love and filial fear.

Oh, be our strength from day to day,
And give continual power to pray;
Give faith like mountains to believe
Thou wilt our humble prayers receive.

Through all our journey be our guide,
Till we arrive on Canaan's side;
Then in the land of joy and rest,
May Jesus welcome us his guest.

Then will we praise in songs divine,
Then in our Saviour's image shine;
For ever praise, for ever sing,
The glorious acts of Zion's King.

Oh, glorious prospect, happy hope
This cheers our spirits when they droop,
The crowning end of all our grief;
And in the furnace gives relief.

Our faith anticipates the day
When sin and woe no more shall be;
When sitting round the Saviour's throne
He'll make his perfect glory known.

Among their number, Lord, may we
Unite in songs of harmony:
Christ be the universal theme,
And every age repeat his fame.

Grove Hill, Deptford.

FAREWELL.

J. HARDING.

Suggested on Hearing a Farewell Sermon by
Mr. P. on Thursday Evening, 1843.

POOR sinner! ask thyself to-night,
Conscience the truth will tell;
In what thine heart would most delight,
And what deem-faring well.

Say, if thy Maker shouldst ordain
Thy lot while here on earth,
To be one long unbroken chain

Of ease and carnal mirth;
If many riches were bestowed,

And health and honours given;

The rich instructions of God's word,
The dews which fall thereon;
The balm of Gilead, which has cured
Hearts cold and hard as stone?

Couldst thou dispense with the blest hours
Of converse with the Lord;
And with the soul-refreshing showers
Felt by the sons of God?

The calmness sometimes sweetly known
In tribulation's way,
When brought upon the Lord alone
To trust from day to day?

The happy hours that spirit knows

Whose time is spent with God;
The pardon, peace and life which flows
In a Redeemer's blood?

Are these all lightly prized by thee,

And earthly things preferred? Oh, sad the end of such shall be, Is told us in God's word!

The Scriptures lightly estimate
The best of portions here;

And what the world call good and great,
Mean in God's sight appear.

That soul is blest, who feels assured

Of oneness with the Lamb; By grace eternally secured

From law and sin and shame.

Such only as have heavenly peace
Vouchsafed, while travelling here,
Will finally partake heaven's bliss,

And with the Lord appear.

Earth's many pleasures, take them all,
Are poor t' eternal things;
Time's largest measure is but small,
And shallow are its springs.

But if thy soul those blessings crave,
Of which the Scriptures tell,
In time or beyond Jordan's wave
Thou wilt be-faring well!
Islington.

JOSEPHUS.

THE ETERNAL AND UNCHANGEABLE

LOVE OF GOD.

How vast and how wonderful great Is the love of Jehovah to man;

Nor can any mortal relate
The time when this love first began.

Yea, says Moses, the people he loved;
Nor could that much favoured man tell
When first God in mercy was moved,
To save his own people from hell.

Ere the day-star was fixed in its place, Or the world from dark chaos arose ; Jehovah determined by grace

His election in Jesus to choose.

He loved them ere Adam first fell,
Though knowing they rebels would prove;
And made a provision from hell
To ransom the sons of love.

In Jesus they all stood complete,

Ere time's wheels were suffered to move; Nor can any power defeat

His plans of unchangeable love.

The chosen in Jesus' hands

Are safe as when first they were given,
For love everlastingly stands,

To keep them and guide them to heaven.

They were given to Christ as his bride,
A very long time ere they fell,
And he undertook to provide
The ransom they needed from hell.

For them did he tread all alone,

The winepress of God's righteous wrath;
And, for all their sins to atone,
He poured out his soul unto death.

His love, God the Spirit makes known
In time to each child of his grace,
When he brings them subdued to his throne,
Lamenting their pitiful case.

Then he leads them to Calvary's tree,
Where by faith they view Christ crucified;
And there, as a Witness, says he,
'T was for thy sins he suffered and died!

Nought in earth or in heaven above,
Or in the dark regions below,
Can separate those from his love,
Whom Jehovah in Christ did foreknow.

AND

THE GOSPEL PULPIT.

THE CHILDREN'S INVENTORY. The Substance of a Sermon Preached at Corpus Christi Chapel, Stonehouse,

BY G. H. GODDEN.

"Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's, and ye are Chrisl's, and Christ is God's."-1 Cor. iii. 21, 23.

"

'BEWARE then, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power." Hence, the Father loved the Son, and hath given all things into his hands, as it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell. And hence said Jesus, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son but the neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Thus all things are of God, who September, 1844.

Father;

hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. So

seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." And on this ground Paul writes in the 9th verse, We are labourers together with God; ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." How great then your privileges, beloved in the Lord, to have been so built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner

stone.

Built up in his almighty person, precious blood-shedding, and everlasting righteousness, as the alone mean whereby we are washed, and sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. In a word, "" builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit," upon that immoveable Rock, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.

The revelation therefore on this glorious subject is most blessed,

CC

namely, "The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his : and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." And tell me, what can be more iniquitous, than after having so begun in the Spirit, to be seeking perfection in the flesh? Nothing, for "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Now, saith the apostle in the context, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward; but if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, yet he himself shall be saved so as by fire.” You perceive then, I trust, my friends, that there is no possibility of our falling into this fleshly error; and being taken up with the wisdom and traditions of men, more than with the power of God. So likewise in this church of Corinth, many of them were tainted with much carnality on this point, which caused great strife and divisions among them. "For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." And are we better than they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin." Wherefore, as all such partiality to, or preference of the Lord's servants, is nought but iniquity; so doth my text open with a very suitable admonition,

Let no

is sharper than a thorn hedge. Hear ye then the word of the Lord by his servant Jeremiah, Cursed is," &c. Jer. xvii. 5, 6. Look to it, therefore, ye who profess the adorable name of Jesus, that nothing short of Christ, in the glories of his person, greatness of his love, riches of his grace, and perfection of his work, can satisfy your immortal mind, all beside being but wood, hay and stubble. And ye know him who hath said, Heb. ii. 19.

man glory in men." For the best of them is a briar, and the most upright

But this is not the whole, generally speaking. Inasmuch as that a gracious reason is immediately annexed, why the elected, redeemed, and regenerated children are so exhorted, "For all things are your's." How came they so? Even as made over to us by God the Father in the person of his dear Son, from everlasting, that we should be to the praise of the glory of his grace who first trusted in Christ." All things in the everlasting covenant, ordered in every point and sure; all things in the kingdoms of creation and providence, as likewise in the departments of grace and glory, are our's, by virtue of our oneness and union with the Son of God. And not only so, but all things actually work together for good to them who love God, and who are the called according to his purpose. Oh, then," the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God; how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor ? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and to him, and through him are all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen." Words methinks cannot be more to the point in proof, that "all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of mercy redound to the glory of God." The Lord help you then continually to bear in mind, under every trouble, persecution, or