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LETTER ON THE DECEASE OF A

SISTER.

Dear Sir,

It pleased the Lord in infifinite wisdom and in great mercy to remove our dear sister last night about half past eleven; may it please the Lord to make it a sanctified bereavement, that if it be his heavenly will, her temporal death may be the spiritual life of other branches in our family circle, "What the Lord doeth we know not now," but there is the promise," that we shall know hereafter,"

'His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour,

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.'

It was said to her :

• How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, In a believer's ear.'

Yes, she said,

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.'

She was asked, if she feared the valley? No, no, Jesus is there, how precious Jesus is. She told her mother, not to weep for her, saying I am so happy, whose countenance as you witnessed manifested the same. Her younger sister went to the bed-side to whom she said, I wish you many happy returns of your birth-day, (which is next Sunday); seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him, while he is near.

It was heart-comforting to hear, with what child-like simplicity, and godly sincerity, these words dropped from her lips; it was something like a child in a natural sense when beginning to talk, and may we not be left to despise the day of small things. The Lord has graciously answered prayer on her behalf. His grace was sufficient for her, and his strength was made perfect in her weakness, an easy dismissal was granted her herefrom,

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I am glad to hear that you have an earnest desire after the Lord Jesus Christ, who is despised and rejected of men and abhorred of nations; the Lord increase it more and more. appears to me that what you found under the word preached was from God, because it humbled you, and because you felt an appetite for Christ, the bread of life. There is nothing wanting on our part but spiritual poverty. Our sins are not so great a let in our way as our supposed goodness. It is no easy thing to bring us to poverty of spirit; and in order to this, you will find deeper and deeper discoveries of the deceit, hypocrisy, pride, covetousness, &c., with a thousand other things, vile and abominable, in your own heart: it is a cage of unclean and every hateful bird, and will very often terrify you, that you will say with Mr. Hart, I can ever God dwell here;" and the more you know experimentally of these things, the more you will prize the Lord Jesus Christ; you will separate more and more from worldly company, and like to be alone, to acknowledge and confess to the Lord; which in time you will be brought to, I humbly hope; and when you have a full persuasion in your soul, that

rom the sole of the foot to the crown

of the head you are full of wounds, bruises, and putrifying sores. You are just the character that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save; and that is sensible sinners: such as are sick, and need the great physician; and to such his commis. sion reaches. There are four or five things that will break a sinner's heart 1st. God's word cutting and condemning them at times, read where they will, is not thy word like a hammer, to break the rock in pieces ;" and it often comes under the word, as you found it at that night at P. C., when Mr. B. preached from, "But the hypocrite in heart treasures up wrath," &c. 2nd. Such are bound down with grief and sorrow on account of their sins, and the burden gets heavier and heavier; they feel they are subjects of every abomination, and no power to help themselves; for when the Ethiopian can change his skin, and the leopard his spots, (which is impossible) then may ye that are accustomed to do evil learn to do well: and such, like Job, are afraid of all their sorrows, fearing that God will not hold them iunocent; sometimes they fear it is only the sorrow of the world, which worketh death; and at other times they fear that their end will be "a day of grief and of desperate sorrow :" nevertheless, it is by sorrow of heart that the spirit is broken." 3rd. Such at at times are much reproved; and it is because they are separate from the world, and having the fear of God, they cannot be in heartfelt union with them; they are reproached also from conscience, and from hypocrites. Hence David says, reproach hath broken my heart. 4th. Satan is suffered to tempt, wrong, accuse, and condemn them; he is called the accuser of the brethren; he tempts us to sin, telling us there is no harm in it; and when committed, he tempts us to believe there is no mercy, for our sins are too great, and that we have sinned beyond the reach of November, 1845.

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mercy, he ternpts us to believe that our convictions will end in madness, that they are such as Cain, Saul, and others had; but let me tell you, that Cain, Saul, Judas, and others, never confessed their sins to God, only to men, neither were their convictions any more than of outward sins, but not heart sins, neither did they ever cry to the Lord for mercy, and feel an appetite for Christ crucified; no, they were far enough from all this; whereas God's family come after him in chains. with supplications and bitter weepings he leads them, and they dread the thoughts of being left to themselves, for at times they feel careless of every thing, and this appears worse to them than all the rest, and they secretly wish to feel burdened and distressed again, for to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Now various temptations help to break the heart, hence David says, Sore broken in the place of dragons (or devils), and covered with the shadow of death."

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But, lastly, the poor sinner is now brought to venture upon Christ Jesus, to sink or swim, and he is then completely broken, for he that falleth, saith Christ, upon this stone, that is himself, the corner stone, shall be broken. Now this teaching is from God, and here is work for the Lord Jesus Christ, to bind up the brokenhearted. This is the new bottle that the wine must be put in. A new bottle is a broken heart, and the wine is the love of Christ: Thy love is better than wine." And this wine is the blood of Christ: " Drink ye all of this, for it is the cup of the new testament in my blood that was shed for you," This Mary had at our Lord's feet, hence she was humbled and broken all to pieces, and Christ discovered his love to her, saying, "Thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee." There was the blood of Jesus, the new wine brought into her heart, and it is said, "She loved much." Here was Christ's love in her that was better than wine. Now

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all the time you are hearing these lessons, the Lord Jesus will often give you a lift under the word, reading a good book, or conversing with his people, and this is called his looking through the lattice, and it is to keep us from despair, to prop up our hearts, and to raise us to hope of better days. But after these soul melting times, you will sink more and more, as Mr. Hart says,

"When lower and lower we every day fell."

Now may the Lord help you to take my advice, I know it will be for your good: be singular and separate from all worldly people except what your business calls you to: this is lawful. 2. Encourage every conviction for sin, and entreat the Lord to search you, and make you honest, for the charge brought against Jerusalem is, that she obeyed not the voice. God's rod has a voice, "hear the rod and him that hath appointed it." She received not correction. 3. Do not try to excuse yourself before God, but confess and plead guilty, for he justifies the ungodly by faith. Lastly, Pray in secret to the Lord, for a manifestation of Christ to your soul, and which your mother has obtained after waiting nineteen years. Read God's word, and beg the Saviour to open your understanding. God bless you with a teachable spirit. Sow to the Spirit, and you shall reap life everlasting. I hope to keep calling upon God in your behalf. I add no more,

than my
kind love from

Your affectionate Father,

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opens, because of the cross, for go where we will, if we belong to God, we shall have a cross, and woe be to us if we are without one.

COPY OF A LETTER FROM MR. N. MAR.
RINER TO A FRIEND.

Dear G

One

I have no doubt you have been expecting to hear from me long ere this, but if I must tell the truth, the want of matter having prevented me. Mr. S. arrived here the 29th of September, and preached four times and left October 4th, the people in general heard him to real profit, and to the glory of God. I have a very comfortable time with him, and heard to much settlement and establishment. I have been amazing dull, dark and stupid of late; my mind has been kept down much under legal fears and bondage, peevish, fretful, obstinate, and rebellious as an ass. What a mercy that there is treasured up in the fulness of the covenant head, gifts for the rebellious, on purpose that the Lord God might dwell among them. day last week, the Lord having hid his face, the devil came in with the most horrid and fearful temptations, the worst I ever passed through, his his workings and the corruption of my own heart together, drove me into confusion, hastiness and deep distress, so that I could hardly hold my head up, or go about my daily calling. This set me to fall into that easy pit, self-pity, till it was worse than the devil. Oh, what a mercy, G- for you and me, that salvation is of the Lord, and secured to us by an unalterable covenant, were it not so, I should be as sure of damnation, as I am this moment writing, for I must say, of all cases I ever heard, at times my own seems the most perilous, and was it not for the unchangeable mercy and goodness of the Lord, I should never hold up my head, even to a distant expectation of mercy, my naked,

lost and perishing soul can heartily I hope your dear partner is well.

cry,

'Other refuge have I none,

Hangs my helpless soul on thee.'

How sweet is a free, full, and an everlasting salvation, to such a needy helpless soul as mine, my soul proclaims, none but Christ, none but Christ. I often look back, to when God in his tender mercy, first opened my eyes, which was, about four or five years before you knew me, and you have known in some measure, the things God has done for my soul, but was I this moment on my death-bed, I do honestly and humbly declare in the presence of an heart-searching God (forgetting all I ever passed through, in comforts or distress) I declare that my helpless soul in all her filth and misery, rests her eternal all, both for grace and glory, on the person, work, blood, and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ: upon this rock, hangs my eternal all, I have no other hope or rest, nor do I want any; any one is welcome to profession, or possession, let me have a precious Christ and all the rest may go, for sure I am,

'None but Jesns,

Can do helpless sinners good.'

I was glad to hear that matters are going on well with some of you. Mr. S's testimony refreshed my heart. May the dear Lord in much mercy be a spirit of wisdom and revelation unto you, to keep you from false ways and evil works, and work in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, and reveal unto your precious souls, the abundance of grace and truth, which is in Christ, over and above our every folly and every fault. Give my love to P. and T. and all the friends. I really long at times, to be with you, knowing in my very soul, I shall spend an eternity with many of you, to sing," Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us

May the dear Lord open her eyes
more and more to a keen sense of her
lost undone estate by nature, give
her a heart to seek his dear face, and
make himself precious in her sight,
and never suffer her to rest in any
thing short of himself alone. I shall
write soon to some of the friends,
accept my kind unfeigned regards,
and believe me to remain, your's in
truth and love,
Wallingford.

N. MARRINER.

THE LORD WHO BLOTTETH OUT OUR TRANSGRESSIONS.

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' I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will

not remember thy sins," Isaiah xliii. 25.

My very dear christian brother and sister, in union bond with our glorious Jesus, who is the great speaker in the words just referred to, who is properly and truly God, and I shall, dear reader, if so be you are one who loves Jesus on account of what he hath done for thee, and in thee, just speak a little of him, as known and realized in my heart, and when the Lord was pleased to reveal himself, and where, is still precious to my soul, and I do believe, my dear Lord will never let me forget it; the first portion of his dear word, which broke in on my soul was, that in Isaiah ix. 5. For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of peace." Prior to this from

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my dim-sightedness, I entertained many imperfect views of the person of Jesus Christ, and was constantly wrangling with the language of Watts, where he saith,

"Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut its glories in ;

When God the mighty maker died,
For man, the creature's sin."

unto God, by his own precious blood.". And I went on fighting against it,

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till the Lord was well pleased to speak out his word, with power to my heart, and my heart melted under his word; the child born, and Son given, much arrested my mind, and then followed the remaining part of the portion, which assured my heart, that the child born, and Son given, is properly and truly, the Mighty God; aud then my dear Lord still confirmed it more in the language of the Holy Ghost, by Zechariah xiii. 7. Awake O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts ;" who himself in his one glorious person, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and also wept at the grave of Lazarus; and even then he was Jesus Christ underived, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. The divine nature in union with the nature of the church, the eternal word, which was made flesh, God manifest in the flesh; he was found in fashion as a man, yet saith the Holy Ghost, the God of the whole earth shall he be called, in oneness, and equal with Jehovah the Father, and eternal Spirit; how king Solomon was led into the sweet secret for himself, Prov, viii. 30. where our head Christ saith, "Then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;" this proves to us the eternity of the person of our glorious Christ, in oneness of existence with the Father, do mark this word, "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;" and then consider in connection with the whole, Matthew i. 23. " Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us," and he is the second Adam, not the man, but the Lord from heaven, properly and truly man, and properly and truly God, Jehovah Jesus, who told Moses, that he was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the I

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AM, THAI I AM; and how solemn
the declaration of our glorious Jesus,
if ye believe not that I am he, ye
shall die in your sins;" dear brother
and sister, to know Christ experimen-
tally in the heart by faith, is to have
eternal life, and to be destitute of him,
is to be destitute of that life, Jesus
gives his dear sheep, for, saith Jesus, I
know my sheep, and am known of
mine, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand; and if you just turn to
John xvii. 2, 3, verses, you will find
what that eternal life is, for there our
dear Christ, in addressing his di-
vine Father saith, as thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many
as thou has given him; and this is
life eternal, that they might know
thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent;"" and
this same Jesus whom with wicked
hands, they have taken, crucified, and
slain, according to the determinate
counsel, and foreknowledge of God,
is my God, Jehovah, Jesus Christ in
whom dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily, my rock, my salva-
tion, and eternal life; who though he
was found in fashion as a man, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God.
and by him I have the knowledge of
the forgiveness of sins. And be it
remembered, that Jehovah hath not
merely drawn a cross over them, but
blotted them out. Here is a most
blessed testimony of the Lord him-
self, I, even I am he who blotteth
out their sins, or transgressions for
mine own sake." Now just carry the
idea for a moment to the act of blot-
ting out, for when this is done it can-
not be brought forward again.
man when he has settled an account,
blots it out,he can never more see what
it was, be there ever so great a will-
ingness in him to do so, and Jehovah
declares that he will not; so that the
iniquities of God's elect family are all
blotted out by himself, Jehovah hath

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