THE

GOSPEL STANDARD,

OR,

FEEBLE CHRISTIAN'S SUPPORT.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."-Matt. v. 6.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."-2 Tim. i. 9.

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."-Rom. xi. 7.

"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.-And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.—In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."-Acts viii. 37, 38; Matt. xxviii. 19.

No. 104.

AUGUST, 1844.

VOL. X.

AN ORIGINAL LETTER FROM JAMES OSBOURN.

(Concluded from page 197.)

Ever since I have been in the ministry, I have more or less testified against the spurious religion of our times, and, by the help of God, still testify against it, and will to my dying day; for I believe this testimony to be part of the ministry which the Lord has been pleased to commit to my charge, and which testimony I consider to be of vast importance in the day in which we live-a day in which the soul of religion is rarely taken into view, or thought of, or talked about, or sought after; and yet, at the same time, men are so far from being inactive, that they are all alive to such things as come within the reach of human power, such as missionary concerns, tract societies, Sunday schools, &c. &c. These things, and many others of a similar nature, constitute all the religion that thousands of florid professors possess or know anything about in this day of general profession. And as these things, to make the best of them, only go to compose the shell of religion, being merely superficial matters; so we conclude, and so indeed we find it to be, that the religion of our times is a superficial religion. It is admirably adapted to the pride of blind mortals, who are proud and lifted up with the shell of religion; and we may say of them as was said of some of old, "They rejoice in a thing of nought." (Amos vi. 13.) The pulpit, however, exhibits a worse picture yet; for there precious truth is exposed to contempt, another gospel brought to view in lieu of the gospel of Christ, men taught to build their hopes of salvation on the sand, carnal professors nurtured and buoyed up in a false peace, Christ mocked with lip service, and the souls of men completely deceived in

H

matters of the highest importance; and, hence, what is called a place of worship, is often "a den of thieves."

And shall we not, then, be safe in concluding that the state of things in the temple at Jerusalem, at the time that the Saviour entered it with a scourge of small cords, is a pretty fit representation of the corrupt state of things in religion at the present period? And as it was necessary then for our Lord to drive many things out of the temple with a scourge, surely our Saviour will by and by find it necessary also to take his fan in his hand, and thoroughly to purge the floor on which we stand. Perhaps the fan or scourge made use of to purge, purify, and cleanse the church, will be hot persecution from the antichristian party, which party is now mixing in outward things with the true church, the Lord's hidden ones, or, as the Scriptures say, "They cleave to them with flatteries." (Dan. xi. 34.) As the antichristian party, (or, which is the same thing, false professors,) in cleaving to and mixing with the Lord's hidden ones, act in a fawning and hypocritical manner, there is but just here and there a saint that suspects whom he is surrounded by. I have seen much of this fawning and hypocritical conduct since I have been in the ministry; and, from what I have seen, and do still see, of these abominations under a garb of religion, I am disposed to think that if the perilous times of which Paul speaks are not at hand, we may conclude that they never will come; for the very prominent traits which Paul gives us to understand shall characterize the last days and perilous times, are now before our eyes. Among these traits, are a departure from the faith, a giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, not enduring sound doctrine, heaping up teachers having itching ears, turning away from the truth, and turning unto fables. All these things now exist among us, and are the chief traits of the religion of this day; and not a few who once seemed to hold the truth are now departed from the same, and are giving heed to doctrine which is repugnant to the word of God, and satisfying themselves with a mere form of religion, paying no regard to, and knowing nothing about the power of divine grace, or the gospel, in the love and power of it; all which things Paul places under the head of the "mystery of iniquity," which began to work in his day, and which now powerfully works among us with signs and wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. And work these things will, until the iniquity of the mystical Amorites is full; and when this is the case, antichrist (or the Amorites in a mystery) will be ripe for ruin, and God's judgments ready for execution, and the time will be at hand when the church will be delivered from her present Sardis state. At this time, God will appear in his glory; and it shall go well with his church, for the Lord will be as the dew of the morning unto her, and she shall spring up as among the grass, and her leaf shall be green, and shall not cease from yielding fruit. "When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." (Ps. cii. 16) But this will not be yet; for while "the mystery of iniquity" is working, Zion will have to contend with the antichristian party, (or the tribe of Ishmaelites of the present age,) who will be sure to deride

and scoff at all the legal heirs of promise. So it was of old, and so it will be for some time yet to come.

But what is so vastly mysterious to many true Israelites, is, that these scoffers and mockers of the heirs of promise, and deriders of "the truth as it is in Jesus," should assume a religious form, and carry on a war against God and truth, under a show of what is called. piety and ardent zeal for the welfare of the church of God on earth. But thus it is; and it will be found, in the end, that the principal opponents of Zion and of divine truth, in the love and power of it, are men under a garb of religion, and who appear to be doing much in the cause of God, while there is a secret enmity in their hearts against those very things which go to constitute real religion. "If the light that is in them be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. vi. 23.)

These are serious things, Sir, and they are facts; but whether your mind is in a state to receive them or not, I am not prepared to say. This much, however, I do know, and this much I can say, namely, there are but few people of God, even among the saints of God, that see and understand anything about the signs of the times; and the few that do know about these things, know but very little; whereas, the Lord knows all about these serious and important points, all about his church and the state she is now in, when and by what means she will be delivered from her present dark and corrupt state, and what her appearance will be when brought forth; for he "declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."

It is our consolation that the Lord, with all his adorable perfections and everything that is near and dear to him, stands responsible for the preservation and eternal salvation of his church, for whose best interest, while here on earth, everything in providence must become subservient. Happy, therefore, and greatly blessed, is that man who has been, by an act of grace, brought to Zion weeping, and led into her courts with supplications, as no teaching is equal to the inward teaching of God the Spirit, nor any wisdom like that which cometh down from God the Father, nor any gift half so important as the gift of eternal life, which life is in God the Son; nor is any light in this world to be compared to that divine light that shines into the soul when it is delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of Christ, the Lord of life and glory.

And now for a few best wishes, and I shall have done. I wish that the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, may dwell richly in your heart; I wish that you may be enabled to say, And truly my fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ;" I wish you may be blessed with the gospel preached in the spirit, life, love, and power of it, and that, under the same, you may "spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses;" I wish you may walk worthy of the Lord, and in all things adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour; I wish you would write to me, if you think me worthy of writing to; I wish you and I, and my

much-beloved G— A—, and a few more dear Christian friends that I could hunt up, could spend an afternoon together in my never-tobe-forgotten Patmos; I wish you would remember me before God; and I wish you may stand fast in the Lord, my dearly-beloved." Amen.

Baltimore, 1827.

166

JAMES OSBOURN.

PS. As I find that I cannot comprise my communications to you in a single letter, I will proceed to lay a few more things before you, which things you may view as fragments.

1. I meet with many difficulties in the divine life; but I know that this is nothing new or strange, as it is a thorny road that leads to a better world than this; and through the thorns strewed on this road every spiritual Israelite has to pass; some, however, are much harder put to it than others.

2. My conflicts of mind, at times, are so extremely piercing and cutting, that my soul is greatly bowed down within me; and Satan tries hard, to take every possible advantage of me that he can, in order to sink me in eternal despair, and to plunder my mind of everything that is good and desirable.

3. At times, I am violently tempted to give up that marked regard for truth and the good old way which I have all along maintained, and to fall in with the popular religion of the day and with the general mode of preaching, as such a course, says the tempter, would be much to my advantage, ease, peace, and comfort. I find this to be very trying indeed; so much so, that I cannot describe my feelings, nor can a person enter into them without being in circumstances like or similar to mine. I bless God, however, that I have not been suffered as yet to yield to this vile temptation, but have been enabled, in the midst of opposition, frowns, scoffs, and scorn, to abide by the truth as it is in Jesus, and to oppose a false religion, a false confidence, a false faith, a false peace, and a fallacious hope. And, indeed, my zeal for divine truth, and opposition to error, greatly increase upon me, notwithstanding my great temptation to the contrary.

4. I almost generally am much aided in the pulpit, so that I neither fear the horse nor his rider; but when I am out of the pulpit and alone, I often suffer a sort of a martyrdom in my mind, which compels me to cry aloud to God in secret. I do not say that I always suffer thus; for, at times, it is far otherwise with me.

5. Hardness of heart also, and a want of love to God and of a going out of soul after him, are things which, at times, trouble me most amazingly indeed; and I think, "Surely the true ministers of Christ cannot, and do not, feel as I do." I suffer much from this quarter.

6: I stand pretty much alone in the ministry; and yet am not alone, I trust; for the Lord is with my spirit, and his name is most sweet, yea, Christ the Lord is altogether lovely.

7. I am 200 miles from sister F, and have not seen her since her return from L-; but, by a letter which I have lately received from G-A-, I find she is under great indisposition of body, and strongly impressed with an idea that she is not long for this world.

She is a most gracious woman, and has a large fund of spiritual knowledge and a rich store of experience, is very watchful of God's dealings with her in providence and grace, and ranks with the first grade of female Christians. My friend G-A- improves mightily in divine things, bless God for it, for his improvement is from that quarter, I believe.

8. I once heard Mr. Huntington preach in Mr. Blaker's barn, at Bolney, from Phil. i. 6, and have frequently heard him in the old Providence Chapel; but I was young in years at that time, and younger still in the divine life. I have also been at Cricklewood House. I am acquainted slightly with Sunbury, where Mr. H. was brought forth. I was once in company with Ann Webb, and I asked if she was the person that Mr. H. called his eldest daughter in the faith, and she said, "Yes." This was at Woking, where Mr. H. used to preach. I twice heard Mr. Jenkins preach in his meeting-house at Lewes. The last two sermons I heard Mr. Huntington preach were in Providence Chapel, a few days before I left England, June, 1805, from Ps. lxxv. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 8. My own native country, and the county of Surry, is still dear to me, as there I spent my juvenile days, and there I first enjoyed my God, though I sadly departed from him after my arrival in this country. But the happy days I enjoyed in my Patmos were when the Lord delivered me from a dreadful backsliding state.

"O to grace how great a debtor!"

9. Methinks it is unnecessary for me to make any apology for troubling you with this long letter, since it must be admitted that my trouble in writing it will exceed your trouble in reading it through I, however, would prevent your being at any expense of postage for it, if I knew how; but as I do not, you must try and bear with it; and, in company with this letter, accept of my love.

J. O.

SERMON BY THE LATE MR. GADSBY, PREACHED AT THE BAPTIST CHAPEL, BEDWORTH, ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 24TH, 1842.

I am about to read a portion of God's word, which I thought I could find very easily; indeed, I thought it was in the 40th chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah; but I cannot find it; so I must leave you to find it when you get home. I am entirely unable to preach. If the Lord is not pleased to make me a little better, I shall be very short. The passage of Scripture I thought to read, runs thus: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." (Isa. xxvi. 20.)

Through the kind providence of God, I have enjoyed better health since I was here last than I have done for some years. But to-day a bad cold has laid hold of me, and quite upset my mortal frame. Should it be the will of God that it should end in my death, O how blessed to look forward, under the sweet teaching of God the Spirit, to this hiding-place: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers,