WHY ART THOU CAST DOWN, O MY SOUL?"

OH! why my soul cast down, And why does grief oppress? Does Jesus seem to frown,

Or slight thy deep distress? Where is his former kindness, His love in days of yore? He made thee feel thy blindness, And will he teach no more.

Is

mercy gone for ever?

Hast thou no ground for hope,
That God will yet deliver,
And cheer thy spirit up?
Thus far he's brought thee safely,
And matchless grace hath shewn ;
Will he who guided lately.

Now leave thee quite alone?

Oh! never entertain

Such an unworthy thought,
Of Him who on earth's plain
Thy ransom dearly bought :
But tell him of past favours,-
A never-failing plea;
And when thy spirit wavers,
Oh! look to Calvary's tree.

Remember Jesus died

For thy guilt to atone ;

Now ever glorified

He reigns upon his throne: And in his tender heart

Through which the spear was driven,
Though vile, thou hast a part,
A rest laid up in heaven!

T was He who made thee willing
To cast on him thine all;
He

came, with rapture filling,
Yea, hearkened to thy call:
Oh, then no more despairing,
Rise up on joyous wings;
Though hid, his face is wearing
The smile that comfort brings.

Trust him, he will return

And soothe thine aching breast,
And bid thee cease to mourn,
And lean on him for rest:
Oh, then hope still in God,

Thy hopes shall not prove vain;
He sends his chastening rod,
But ever loves the same.

EMMELINE,

Chosen in him e'er time began,
Preserved, and called in grace to stand;
Brought out of nature's wide domain,
Made meet with thee in heaven to reign.

We bless the Lord for grace so free,
Its richest fulness may we see ;
And join with all thy saints above,
T' extol thy boundless, matchless love.
Oh teach our hearts to love thy name,
Almighty Father, still the same,
Whose watchful care preserves our ways,
And makes us monuments of praise.

Jesus assist us with thy grace
In patience still to run our race;
To lean on thee our righteousness,
While journeying through the wilderness.

Direct and guide our wandering feet,
And lead us to thy mercy seat
To seek thy face-for this we know,
All needful blessings thou 'lt bestow.
Wareham.

ELECTION.

J. JENKINS.

Jehovah reigns! let us rejoice,

Since we have heard his sovereign voice. What makes us objects of his choice?

Election.

Before he formed the earth or sea,
He made secure our destiny,
By this immutable decree,

Election.

In time, he by his grace does bring Us to his feet, and makes us sing, Of love that gave an interest in, Election.

He saves our souls from condemnation,
And gives a full and free salvation :
We trace it to the great foundation,
Election.

To me who am less than the least,
This grace in free love is applied ;-
To lead my Lord's guests to the feast,
And talk of that Jesus who died,
His riches! in love to unfold,
To all who through grace shall believe;
Which shines more refulgent than gold,
And answers abundant their need.
His wisdom! aloud to proclaim,
To all whom their folly perceive;
Which sweetly develops his fame,
Imparting true knowledge indeed.
His justice and power! to make known,
To sinners as well as to saints;
For equity reigns on his throne,
To silence all creature complaints.
His mercy! in truth to reveal,
To all the dear children of God;
Whose hearts once as hardened as steel,
Are now softened by infinite love.
His faithfulness! loud to declare,
To those who are tried by the way;,
Who from his rich bounty shall share,

Sufficient supplies for each day.

His love! though immense, to make known,
To all who believe on his name;
Which brought him from glory's high throne,
To bleed and to die for the same.
His grace of its freedom to tell,
To those who their wretchedness see;
For they are redeemed from hell,
By him who once bled on the tree.
St. Ives, Hunts.
w. c......1.

THOUGHTS ON AN ETERNAL HOME.

The sinner in his natural state,
Thinks never of his lost estate;
From nature good can never come,
Nor thoughts of an eternal home.

But when the law of God's applied,
The soul convinced, arraigned, and tried;
Billows of sorrow quickly come,
With dread of an accursed home.

Then is the heart drawn out in prayer,
And love is mingled with his care;
His language is, Let mercy come,
Oh may I reach that heavenly home.
Sometimes a cheerful beam of hope
Will bear his fainting spirits up,
Trusting through sovereign grace to come
To that transcendant, blissful home.

Ere long the Father's love is shewn,
And gospel mysteries made known;
He sees that God's redeemed shall come
All safely to their heavenly home.

But what if I am not a sheep,
For only those the Lord will keep ;
Others as aliens still must roam,
Never to reach that heavenly home.

Besides my sins how deep their stain;
For such a wretch was Jesus slain ?
Tell me can one so vile e'er come,
Unto that pure and tranquil home.

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COUNTERFEIT GRACE; OR, THE HYPOCRITICAL PROFESSOR EXPOSED IN ALL HIS FALSE REFUGES.

SELF-EXAMINATION is at all times profitable, and the true believer, although it may be often with fear and trembling, will turn the apostle's injunction into a prayer, and addressing his heavenly Father say, "Prove me, O Lord, whether I be in the faith."

The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. We are too apt to bless ourselves that Christ is our's when it is not so; like the church of Laodicea, who thought herself rich and increased in goods, and wanting nothing, when at the same time she was wretched and miserable; and like the Pharisee, who blessed God he was not as other men, when in fact he was at an infinitely greater distance from God than the poor Publican whom he despised. SoloThere is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, whose hearts are not washed from their filthiness." If a man think himself something," saith the apostle, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." And Paul confesseth of himself "I was alive without the law, but when the commandment came, (which discovered to him his condiApril, 1841.]

mon says,

"

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tion,) then sin revived and I died." That is to say, he saw himself in a lost and perishing condition.

The reason why men are thus deceived is, because they rest upon their own opinions of themselves, considering they know themselves best; not reflecting how great an imposter the heart is, how willing to deceive itself, how full of pride, selflove, blind and ignorant, and how often deluded also by satanical inspirations and the opinions of others. They deceive themselves likewise by resting upon false grounds, as because they grow rich and prosper, which is rather a mark a man is not beloved of God than that he is; or because Christ died for sinners, not considering, that though all men are sinners, they only are sinners suitable for a Saviour who are sensible of their lost and guilty condition; or lastly, and which is worst of all, they deceive themselves with counterfeit grace, which because it may have some resemblance, yea seem sometimes very like it, they fain persuade themselves to be that saving grace which alone is the production of the Holy Spirit in the heart.

Weeds in the corn-fields look like garden flowers, but they are nevertheless hurtful weeds. Copper may

L

sometimes look like gold, but it is still copper. Chalk may look like sugar, and painted grapes like the fruit. So counterfeit grace may seem like saving grace; yea it may show well for a time and deceive many; it may, like the virgins' lamps seem as if it had the oil within; it may carry us to Kadesh-barnea, yet it will never bring us to Canaan; it may sustain us in a profession, but never bring us a whit nearer to salvation.

Do you ask me how saving grace can be distinguished from its counterfeit? I answer,-1. In its plantation; saving grace is like a tree deeply rooted, or like a cloth dyed in the grain, or like a mark made with a hot iron which cannot be blotted out. The law of God is written in the heart; the seed of God remaineth and abideth in him. But the other is only transient motions not habitual dispositions; they want a root, they have no deepness of earth; they are like a mark made with chalk, that is easily wiped off; like a tree not rooted, like a house built on the sand, they are quickly overthrown. 2. In its operations: the one restrains and curbs and binds up corruption as a wolf or a lion may be chained and bound up, but still they keep their wolfish and lion-like natures; but saving grace works a mighty change in the heart, and enables a man not only to restrain but to hate corruption.

It strengthens a man to overcome the world, Satan, and his strongest lusts, and to forgive his enemies. 3. Counterfeit grace, although it may prompt men to the performance of spiritual actions, yet it is not with the heart; they find no sweetness in prayer, or in hearing the word, or in sanctifying the sabbath : they are ready to cry out, What a weariness is it? Saving grace, on the contrary, causes a man to regard spiritual things with pleasure and delight they are sweeter to him than honey and the honey-comb.

Alas, how many thousands are

thus deluded; rocked asleep by the enemy of souls in the easy chair of an empty profession: trusting to a formal round of naked duties instead of the Lord the Saviour; willing lis teners to the cry of Peace, peace!' while their souls are rapidly hastening onward to eternal perdition.

It is my purpose in the present paper, to demonstrate how it is that so many are thus deluded and deceived by counterfeit grace, which Satan tempts them to believe is indeed and in truth the faith of God's elect.

I. Some are deceived by mistaking natural faith for a saving belief. They say, He that believeth on Christ shall be saved: I believe on Christ, consequently I shall be saved. I answer, He that believeth shall verily be saved, but a man may have a natural faith and yet perish. The stonyground hearer for awhile believed, and yet in time of temptation fell away. Simon Magus believed and was baptized, and yet remained in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. Christ saith many believed on his name, and yet he would not commit himself unto them; others believed on him, who yet loved the praise of men more than of God.

You will say, Wherein did these fail? I answer, Their hearts were never humbled for their sins. The brazen serpent was lifted up to cure those who were stung by the fiery serpents; in like manner Christ came to cure the heavy-laden and bind up the broken-hearted. Their hearts

were never changed: "Except a man be born again, (though he may outwardly believe,) he shall never see the kingdom of God.”

There are degrees of faith, but I cannot conceive the weakest real faith to consist only of bare desires after Christ. There is some apprehending of the promise, though darkly; some relying upon Jesus, though he is scarcely discerned; yea the soul resolves to hang upon Christ

and die at the horns of the altar. Faith is wrapt up in the heart as the leaf and blossom are wrapped up in the bud, and faith lives and moves in him as the child lives and moves in the womb; for though bare desires of faith be not faith, yet they may be signs of a hidden faith.

Take these four marks of the weakest faith. 1. The weakest believer though he cannot believe as he thinks, yet he earnestly desires to believe, and grieves because he cannot; he says, Lord, help my unbelief. 2. He desires the Saviour just as the scriptures exhibit him, and is willing to part with all for him: the Spirit fills him with sighs and groans, that he smokes with desire though he cannot flame with comfort; such smoking flax hath some fire though earthly matters may keep it from flaming. 3. He mourns under sin as his greatest burthen: the weakest faith is always joined with a broken heart. 4. The weakest faith hath so much strength as to enable him to make conscience of all his ways: though he cannot believe he fears to sin against God: the weakest faith purifies the heart. Now take heed that thou art not deceived with the want of faith instead of the weakness of faith. Counterfeit grace doth not hunger after Christ and lament the want of faith; it doth not desire the Christ of God, it would fain have a Christ to save but not a Christ to sanctify; it would still have its own will, and walk in the stubbornness of its own heart. It is no bruised reed, but some tall oak or cedar-not broken and bleeding for sin, but proud and hardened, it hath not obtained the least virtue from Christ to dry up the issues of lusts, and therefore certainly hath never yet touched even the hem of his garment with the least measure of faith.

II. Some are deceived with natural instead of evangelical repentance. They say, Whosoever repent of their sins shall be saved." I have

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Nay,

wept and mourned over my sins. I have confessed them to God and man, and prayed God to forgive me and others to forgive me. I have made strong resolutions and vows to leave my sins. When tempted to my old sins again, I have resisted them, though through weakness I have been overcome. I have made restitution of ill got goods. more, I have left and forsaken some outward sins, though I cannot yet get the victory over some. Therefore I doubtless have truly repented and am in a state of salvation. I answer, Thou mayest verily do all this, and yet have but natural repentance, which a reprobate may have. Did not Judas weep and mourn because he betrayed Christ, yea so much that he went out and hanged himself. Did not Saul confess his sin to David-"I have sinned, thou art more righteous than I." Did not Pharaoh resolve to leave his sin, promising many times "I will let the people go." Did not Pilate seem to strive and resist against his sin, and what a combat had Herod within himself before he cut off the head of John the Baptist. Judas made restitution of the thirty pieces of silver, and Micha of the eleven hundred shekels of silver which he stole from his mother, and Herod reformed many things at John's preaching though he kept his Herodias. Repentance that is unto salvation is a godly sorrow for sin, and may be distinguished from natural repentance, in that while the one laments the smart, the other mourns over the corruption-while the one mourns over the rod, the other laments the transgression. Natural repentance

is a worldly sorrow that causeth death: they repent of their sins only for fear of the punishment, and much as they dread hell they still have the love of their sins in their hearts.

III. Some are deceived by mistaking head-knowledge for an experimental acquaintance with the truth.