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putting no confidence in the flesh. Let Christ be seen and received into the heart by faith, and the sinner may challenge earth or hell to bring him in guilty; for Christ is the Lord his righteousness.

Well, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after this righteousness, for they shall be filled. Now, no one will ever hunger and thirst after this righteousness till the Holy Ghost has quickened his soul, and brought him to feel that he is a sinner before the heart-searching God; that his sins have been committed against a righteous God; that he has no righteousness of his own, nor any power to work one out; and yet, that without a righteousness perfectly adequate to the requirements of law, and the demands of justice, he must for ever perish. To describe the various workings of mind, and the feelings of such a soul, under the heart-rending tortures of the awful nature of sin, and the holiness and inflexible justice of God, as revealed in the law, would fill a volume. Suffice it, therefore, to say, that night and day he hungers and thirsts for that righteousness which justifies the ungodly. A religion which consists of creature goodness, creature duties, and creature piety, will not do for him. He proves that both dutyworks and duty-faith fail him, and leave him a lost sinner, without help and without hope. He therefore sighs, and groans, and cries for mercy, pardoning mercy, justifying mercy, in the person, blood, and obedience of Christ. Nothing short of this will satisfy his hungry soul. He can in very deed enter into the feelings described in the first part of Isa. xli. 17, "When the poor and needy seek water.' feels that he is poor, wretchedly poor, and very needy; for he needs all that is necessary to make him righteous and holy in the sight of God: and though he has sought this in a variety of ways, still he can neither see nor feel anything in himself, nor of himself, but sin and loathsomeness. With deep concern, he has earnestly sought the water of life, but cannot find it; so that his tongue faileth for thirst, and he appears times unable to speak the feelings of his heart to either God or man. Hungry and thirsty, his soul fainteth within him. Well, in this desert land, in this waste, howling wilderness, the Lord, in his own blessed time, is graciously pleased manifestatively to find him, and to lead him about, and to instruct him; yea, and he will keep him as the apple of his eye. (Deut. xxxii. 10.)

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7 Now, the Lord of the house says such souls are blessed; and indeed it is no small blessing to know their poverty, feel their need, and be sensible of their own helplessness.

There are a people who say that they are rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. These are not spoken of very favourably by the Lord of the house; but the poor and needy, who seek water and can find none, are blessed of the Lord, yea, and in the Lord; for in him they have all spiritual blessings (Eph. i. 3); and the Lord has promised them, saying, "I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." (Isa. xli. 17, 18.)

They shall be filled. Not with self-righteousness, but with Christ and his glorious righteousness. The blessed Spirit shall reveal Christ in their hearts the hope of glory; then their souls will enjoy a sweet measure of the work and effect of the righteousness of Christ, which are peace, quietness, and assurance for ever. (Isa. xxxii. 17.) Then they shall find that Christ is unto them a peaceable habitation, and here they have rest; and having thus tasted that the Lord is gracious, and feasted upon his blood, love, and obedience, they will joyfully unite with the Psalmist, and say, "Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips." (Ps. lxiii. 3-5.)

Thus they that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be abundantly satisfied with the fulness of God's house, and shall drink of the river of his pleasure; for "with the Lord is the fountain of life." (Ps. xxxvi. 8, 9.) The time'shall come when they shall say, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." (Ps. xxxiv. 3, 4.) Their mouth shall be filled with praise, and with the honour of God. (Ps. lxxi. 8.) Blessed be the name of our adorable Three-One God, he filleth the hungry with good things, while the rich he sendeth empty away (Luke i. 53); and when body and soul are transformed into the image of Christ in glory, then in very deed they will be filled with all the fulness of God (Eph. iii. 19), and eternally enjoy the blessedness of being blessed in and with Christ, and filled with his righteous..

ness.

July 13, 1835.

A SOLDIER.

THE RELIGION OF THE DAY.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE GOSPEL STANDARD.

Dear Sirs,-If you think the following extract of a letter from an affectionate friend worthy a place in your Standard for the truth as it is in Jesus, (a prospectus of which was a day or two ago placed in my hands,) please insert it; but if not, you are at full liberty to commit it to the flames. Yours sincerely,

Manchester, July 20, 1835.

A POOR SINNER.

My dear Friend,-Among the vast multitude of professors in this our day, how few there are that feel the plague of their own hearts, or that know anything of real and true religion by the teachings of the blessed Spirit of God! But we that profess to have been in any measure so taught, O that it may be our delight to search the Scriptures, and that we may be enabled to pray to the Lord to give us eyes to see, and hearts to understand his word, that it may be as a lamp to our feet, and a light unto our path; and may the Lord direct us in everything we do, or think, or say.

My dear friend, let us come to the word of God, and there we shall find what is said about the professors of our day. In Rom. x. 2, 3, Paul, or rather the Holy Ghost by Paul, 66 says, I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." And again, by Timothy, 2d, iv. 3: "For the time will come when men will not endure sound. doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." As it was in times of old, so it is now. We see many who appear to have a great zeal, and a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. We are commanded from such to turn away; for they give proof that they have never been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, that they have never been brought in guilty and condemned by the law in their own conscience before God, that they have not felt that they are vile, hell-deserving sinners; therefore, when they come to hear sound doctrine, they are offended. But let them alone, for if the blind lead the blind, will they not both fall into the ditch? Nevertheless, all this is according to the word of God, for "The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded;" "Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep;

as I said unto you, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me;" Christ is " a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also they were appointed;" "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." And here, my dear friend, we see the solemn sovereignty of God, and it is marvellous in our eyes; but what we know not now, we shall know hereafter. These people have neither spiritual ears, nor spiritual eyes, nor spiritual understanding; yet we see a many of them that make a great outward profession, and seem to go on in a very easy and comfortable way. And, indeed, well they may; for the devil does not tempt and torment them with his fiery darts, neither are their own lusts a plague to them: they have no fightings and fears within, nor persecutions without; so they go on as smoothly as possible, within and without, and therefore have a great deal to boast of about what they are doing and have done for God. But if the Lord does not stop them here, he will say to them hereafter, “ 'Depart from me, I never knew you."

My dear friend, let us apply the matter more closely.Once we were blind, but now we see; we were dead in trespasses and sins, but now we are made alive by the mighty power of God. When I am brought to meditate on these things, I feel astonished that the Lord should ever have brought such a wretch as myself out of nature's darkness, and passed by others, leaving them to perish in their sins; for I feel that there is nothing in me to recommend me to his favour. O, no; it is all of free, sovereign, unmerited, discriminating grace. I feel that I am a vile, polluted, hell-deserving sinner; and when the blessed Spirit is pleased to lead me out of self, give me a faith's view of Christ, in all his glorious characters, and enable me to see myself chosen in him before the foundation of the world, it is then I can rejoice in the Lord as my salvation; it is then I am laid low in self-abasement, and can say, "How is it, Lord, that thou manifesteth thyself unto me, and not unto the world?" it is then I can exclaim, "Not unto me, not unto me, but unto thy name, O Lord, be all the glory;" it is then Christ appears to me the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely; it is then I feel a little of the sweetness of being on the Mount with Jesus; and O, what sweet and blessed moments these are to my poor tried, tempted, harassed, and perplexed soul! But, alas! how very short they are, yes, and very seldom too! Then I again return to

my old place, and a sad place it is; for there I find nothing but sin and wickedness, evil thoughts, yea, and evil desires too. My Jesus seems to be gone; my confidence and interest in the Lord seem to be the same. Then I sigh, and cry, and pray for him to return, but seem to pray in vain. Sometimes I am so vain as to try to mend myself, and I think I will drive the world, evil imaginations, and evil desires out of my heart. But, alas! the more I strive, the more powerfully they work in me. I then endeavour to fix my thoughts and affections on things above, but cannot, for I find my evil propensities will still rise up. I then try to forget self altogether, and to read my interest in Christ, but all in vain. Then I run to my Bible, but that appears to condemn me. So that do what I will, I seem to be shut up, and unable to come forth. Then the devil comes with his suggestions, and says, Look at yourself; you are nothing but a mass of sin, and yet you profess to be a child of God. You have never had any true conviction, nor any real manifestation; it's altogether delusion. Thus I am filled with doubts and fears, and am ofttimes ready to conclude that I shall prove to be an hypocrite after all. But now and then the Lord is pleased to apply his promises to my soul, which revive and refresh me; therefore, I am not wholly destitute of hope.

May the Lord bless these few words to thy soul, for his name's sake, and he shall have the glory.

October 1, 1834.

THE MINISTRY NOT WITHOUT TRIALS.

(Extract of a Letter.)

Beloved of the Lord,-I yesterday received your kind letter, inviting me to supply for you a few Lord's Days, and take the earliest opportunity of sending you an answer. I write very reluctantly, for I know not what answer to send you: it would suit my mind better to wait and think. I wish to be guided aright by the great Head of the church. In the first place, I feel my insufficiency and ignorance so great, which makes me fear that I shall come in vain, if I do come.

I sometimes am very low in my mind about my standing in grace, and lower still about my preaching. Every thing seems to be against me. I have to tell my hearers that it is presumption in me to stand up in the blessed Lord's name. have no stones to throw at Gideon, for his unbelief. Every

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