have from Jesus, and we feel victory by faith in his finished work, is faith's triumph. But what a blessed thing I have often thought it is, that the promises (unconditional promises) are made to the weak, foolish, needy, destitute, ignorant, fatherless, widow, hungry, thirsty, lost, fearful, helpless, feeble, &c., so that you and I can come in in some of these things. You know that those that were with David, who were so weak that they could not go over the brook to war, still abode by the stuff; and David made it a statute, that as his part was that went to battle, so should his be that abode by the stuff-they should all partake alike. If anything spiritual is to be understood here, as I firmly believe there is, Christ is the captain of our salvation, of whom David was a type. Now, there are some valiant soldiers that are engaged in this war, but there are others that appear to be valiant, as there were in David's day-men of Belial and these, never knowing their own weakness, would wish to have degrees of grace. But no, we are chosen in one Head, all loved with one love, all bought with one price, all receive one Spirit, and shall all be glorified alike.

If any of my scribbling is suitable to you, give God the whole glory, and do not forget to pray for your servant in Christ, January 9, 1820.

J. RUSK.

"THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES."

Dear Brother, May mercy and peace be with you.

I

suppose you will think that I have but little regard for you, as I have not sent you any letter for some time. I had nearly finished a letter to you, when I heard of your keen affliction in breaking your leg; and I laid the letter by; for I thought that it was not worth sending. I did indeed feel for you, and, I hope, was enabled to pour out my soul for you at the throne of grace, that the dear Lord would be with you, to support, comfort, and bless you with quietness and submission to his sovereign will; for I am confident that it is amongst the "all things" that "work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." I am very glad to hear that you are getting better; and I hope that the dear Lord will still go on to bless you with an increase of strength, that you may again go forth on the walls of Zion, to blow the silver trumpet of the gospel. I hope that the dear Lord will spare you many years, for the benefit of his children, and his own glory.

I am still holding on in the old path of tribulation, and still proving that, notwithstanding all the cursed imaginations of my carnal heart, "the purpose of God, that shall stand;" and, bless his dear name, I have times when I can see and blessedly feel that his purposes, decrees and fixtures are right, beautiful, and glorious. At these times, I would not have one thing altered; I can then say from my heart, "Bless God that things are as they are;" I then envy no man's situation, nor covet any man's greatness, honours, or glories, but am lost

in wonder, adoration, praise, and thanksgiving for his wonderful lovingkindness to the vilest and the most unworthy of all; I can then sing, with David, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord, belong the issues from death." O what self-loathing, what God-adoring praise there is when my soul is here!

Surely it is the goodness of God that leadeth us to that repentance which needeth not to be repented of. How can a poor empty professor, that is dead in sins, enter into these blessed things, for they have never entered into him? And why have your poor soul and mine ever known and felt them? Because it was, and is, given unto us to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it is not

given: "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because they, seeing, see not; and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand." O! my poor soul, adore the sovereign, discriminating, electing love and choice, that ever he should hide these things from the wise and prudent, and reveal them to such a babe. My poor soul bows down at his blessed feet, and with humble feelings of heart I exclaim, "Lord, why hast thou revealed these things unto us, and not unto the world?" And O how soul-melting, to hear and feel the sweet answer of God drop into our hearts like rain,-"The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you!" O wonderful cause! Hypocrites may gnash at it with their teeth; Arminians may rage and rave against it; devils may roar, and hate it; but my soul loves and adores it,-"Because the Lord loved you." And I find brother John is lost in wonder how to express its glory. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." And brother Paul adores and exalts the same love and choice: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; (by grace are ye saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." It is so heart-refreshing and soul-cheering that it is all because the Lord loved us.

Empty professors of religion may tell us that this opens a door to licentiousness; but we can say with a holy indignation, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." And we can give them a blessed reason why we cannot sin that grace may abound: "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Bless God, we cannot. The grace of God teacheth us "that,

denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." These things may God help us to speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority, and never mind any man that may despise us.

But what am I about? You will be ready to smile, and say, "Where is the old snail getting to?" Why, my dear friend, I have had a holiday for a short time from working at the dung gate, and have been entertained with a little of the glories of Zion, her bulwarks and strength, our God round about us, and the glory in the midst of us. And is it not sweet to be here, to "see the King in his beauty," and "the land that is very far off," and hear his sweet voice, "I will glorify the house of my glory?" And what a sweetness there is in giving back what God gives to us!" 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake." In his temple, every one speaks of his glory: "They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power." Is it not sweeter to be here than muddling, working, and toiling up to the neck at the dung gate? O! my dear friend, if the dear Lord would but do as I would have him to do, I would be for ever praising him, loving him, honouring him, and obeying him, in thought, word, and deed. O that it were his will that I could but love him more, praise him more, thank him more, and never, O never, disbelieve him more! I have never proved him to be unfaithful to one promise yet, nor ever shall; he has ever been my present Help in trouble. He sent me out without purse or scrip, and yet I have never lacked one thing. And I see and feel what a rebel 1 have been; how my poor soul has plunged, kicked, and fought against him, till I have cried out, "My soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than life!" and yet these very things he has turned into the greatest blessings. O! for ever adore Him that has done all things well.

When my soul is here, how wonderful it is to look back upon all the Lord has led me through, during about forty years, in this dreary wilderness! My soul exclaims, "Mercy and truth have followed me all my life long; not one thing out' of its place." And how soulstrengthening, melting, and encouraging, to look forward! All the way completely cleared; devils conquered; sins all swallowed up in "the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness;" death destroyed, and "he that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" heaven opened, and a sweet view of the glorious inheritance that nothing can cheat us of. How can my soul, at such times as these, help exclaiming with humility, confidence, and joy, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to

be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations?"

My dear friend and brother in Jesus our beloved Lord, my soul prays that you may have abundance of peace and love multiplied in your soul daily and hourly, if it be his blessed will. My soul loves you dearly for the truth's sake; and I cannot desire greater blessings for you than the presence of the Lord, the smiles of Him that is "the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely;" who is "the Lord our Righteousness;" our adorable, great High Priest, that has atoned for all our cursed sins; our blessed Bondsman, that has discharged the whole debt, and blotted it out of the book, so that not one farthing can be found; our glorious Captain, that has conquered and silenced every foe; our beloved Sun, that warms, revives and cheers us, drives all the beasts of the forests into their dens, and brings out and enables our poor souls to go forth to the work of praise and love until the evening; our kind, indulgent, tender, affectionate, faithful and ever-loving Father, that bears with all our manifold infirmities; nay, the All in all; for it is of him, and to him, and through him, that all things are; to whom be glory for ever and ever. and Amen. My soul begs that you and poor worthless I may sit with him, talk with him, walk with him, preach with him, live with him, die with him, and reign with him.

Amen

My dear friend, think not that I have forgotten you; you are in my heart to live and die with you. And if you ask why I have such love for you, I answer, it is for the power of the truth that has dropped into my soul, like rain upon the new-mown grass, from your lips. Can I ever forget my many journeys from Besses-o'-th'-Barn, when I came loaded with burdens and miseries of all descriptions, to such a degree that both body and soul have been so weighed down that I could expect nothing but to sink, never to rise again? But the blessings and presence of the Lord have come so powerfully that all the mountains have crumbled down before me, and I have returned home with joy and gladness, my soul being as full of the blessings of the Lord as ever it could hold; and it has exclaimed, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters; he restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Nay, my soul many times, in returning home from hearing the precious truth from your lips, has cried out, "My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

Dear friend, my union of soul to you did not originate from any fleshly union; that always ends in the flesh. I should not wonder that you have observed, as well as I, many that would have pulled out their eyes and given them you; but in a little time have cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" But, bless the Lord, we have not so learned Christ; we have felt a little what it is to drink into the same spirit, so as to be of one heart and of one mind in the things of God and truth.

I hope that you will send me a letter, to let me know how you are going on. And that the dear Lord may be with you, and bless you with every new covenant blessing for time and eternity, is the heart's desire of your unworthy, but affectionate brother in Christ Jesus, Trowbridge, Nov. 6, 1840.

WHAT IT IS TO BE A CHRISTIAN.

J. W.

My dear Friend,-Grace, mercy, and peace, by the power of the Holy Ghost, be in thy soul feelingly multiplied..

Fellow-traveller in Zion, the city of our God, I feel my spirit somewhat stirred to write once more to you, concerning what has been, what is now, and what is yet to come; and the Lord draw out that faith which he has implanted in thy soul and in mine into lively act and exercise, that we, in the consideration and reflection thereof, may be enabled to weep and rejoice together..

In considering what has been, first, with respect to ourselves, we were dead in trespasses and sins." This was once our state by nature. Well may it be termed "dead in trespasses and sins." As the natural body lies in death inactive, unconscious, unfeeling, and lifeless as a lump of clay; so it is spiritually with every soul on earth, till quickened by God the Holy Ghost. Dead to God and divine things, it no more can perform living, spiritual acts than the dead body can act naturally; but alive in sin and to sin, in open rebellion against God and his Christ, drinking down sin as the greedy ox drinketh down water, drunk with sin and the love of sin, (hence sin hath made the nations mad,) willingly blind and foolish, ignorant and vain, high-minded, proud, presumptuous, and self-willed despisers of God, his Christ, and his saints; persecutors of Jesus and his followers; haters of holiness, of praying souls, and praying breath; shunning the place where God's dear people resort; without hope, and without God in the world; sporting on the brink of misery; professing "godliness, but denying the power thereof;" professing to be the followers of Christ, while their conduct and actions prove that they have not his Spirit, and are none of his,-carnal men hope to get safe at last, and are at the same time secretly expecting to be saved partly by works and partly by grace, contrary to the way by which Divine Wisdom has appointed to save the elect family. And thus will they perish in their own deceivings, unless God undeceive them in the sovereign riches of his mercy and compassion.

In this state, the greater part of the human race is now: in this state we once were; but it is written, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Does this blessed assertion belong to us? Ah! my dear friend, here is the turning point. Many hope without a good ground or cause of hope; such will hope in vain. Not so the quickened soul; he shall not hope in vain, and his expectation shall not be cut off. Are we, then, made to differ from the general bulk? Grace, then, must have made the difference, for I am sure that we could not; therefore, Zion's God shall have all the glory. "But how do we know that we are quickened?" say