How can we be sufficiently humble for it? How acute should our penitential sorrow be! Surely for such an evil, "all the fountains of the great deep" of our nature should be broken up, and floods of godly sorrow overwhelm our souls. We should say, with the prophet Jeremiah, "Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night" for the sin of our nature, the transgressions of our lives, the rebellion of our world, and for what they have done in dishonouring God, and injuring his intelligent creation.

2. By stronger faith.-What can wash that stain of guilt away? What can procure its pardon from the eternal throne? What can repair the mischief it has done? Nothing but the blood of Christ. Then "To the dear fountain of thy blood, Incarnate God, I fly;

There let me wash my spotted soul

From crimes of deepest dye."

Where else shall I look? To whom besides can I go? Not rivers of oil, nor seas of blood, nor cattle of a thousand hills, nor works of future obedience-no, nor the merit of all the saints in heaven, could expiate my guilt, or take my crimes away. But Thou, O precious and immaculate Jesus, Thou canst, Thou hast done it, by the one offering of thyself upon the accursed tree, and for ever perfected, as to pardon and justification, all them that are sanctified. "O for a strong and lasting faith,' -a more simple, full, confidential reliance on thy atoning blood! This is all my salvation, this is all my desire. There is no other name given under heaven whereby I can be saved. No other will I seek. No other receive. Surely shall one say, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." "In him shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." Here is Jehovah's method for the pardon and salvation of a sinner, and however deep the stain of sin may be, and however long it may have stood, the blood of the "Lamb of God" can take it away. Do we not want a stronger faith? Should we not exercise it? Should we not be ever coming, ever applying,

VOL. XXVI.

In proportion

ever "looking to Jesus?" to our faith will be the enjoyment of our pardon; and in the same proportion shall we honour the Saviour, and glorify God. Not in vain did he say to each applicant in the days of this flesh, "According to thy faith so be it unto thee," for agreeably to the measure of faith is the abundance of the mercy bestowed. Weak faith dishonours Christ, and robs us of the blessing; strong faith lays hold of his strength, triumphs in his merit, receives from his fulness, and glories in his salvation.

3. More eminent holiness.-For what were we "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father," and chosen in Christ Jesus "from the beginning," but that we should be " holy and without blame before him in love?" With what were we called but "with an holy calling;" and what is the "will of God concerning us" but "our sanctification?" This is the beginning, middle, and end, the all-in-all, of the Christian state, experience, and character. We are the

saints" and the "children of God," and have the evidence of that high and near relation just in proportion as we are holy. The work of the Spirit in regeneration must be developed by this; and 'every one that is born of God" will partake of the holiness of his Father in heaven. There will be in our new nature a resemblance to his, and a character formed, the moral lineaments of which will correspond to the revealed character of the Most High. O, then, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness! How spiritual in our thoughts; how heavenly in our affections; how circumspect in our behaviour! How careful to avoid sin, even the very appearance of evil; how conscientious in the discharge of duty; and how diligent in the pursuit of every good word and work! Surely, "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report," on these things should

L

we think, and these learn and do. Growth in these will be growth in holiness. Eminence in these will reflect the praises of Him "who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light." To this let us aspire, and, by greater spirituality of mind, greater command over our thoughts, words, and actions, greater abhorrence of sin, and more diligent cultivation of all that is holy, amiable, and divine, approve ourselves the "children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse world."

4. By nearer resemblance to the Saviour.-In this very largely, and, obviously to all, will eminent piety consist, and a higher degree of religious principle and character be displayed. "If any man," says the apostle, "have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Let none assume his name without his spirit, or follow in his steps, and give manifest occasion for the rebuke, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of!" The spirit of Christ was the noblest model of the heavenly and divine ever presented to our world: it was one of holiness, devotion, benevolence, zeal, compassion for a dying world, and solicitude for the honour of his Father in heaven. Is ours like it? Ought it not to be? We are Christians, and shall have the happy evidence of it, just in proportion as we have the Spirit of our Lord. It is this that

will enable us most scripturally to decide that all-important inquiry, "Am I his, or am I not?" By this will all men know that we are his, and by this shall we do most for the advancement of his cause, the spread of his gospel, and the triumphs of his kingdom. Our disordered world will never be rectified but by the prevalence of the spirit of Christ; and the church will never be united, strong, or triumphant, till she embodies and displays the spirit of her Lord. Then will she "awake, and put on her beautiful garments." Then will she "look forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners," and go to the conquest and regaining of a lost world. Spirit of the Lord Christ, descend, O descend upon us, and upon all thy followers! Let every one that "nameth the name of Christ" put on Christ, and cultivate and display his spirit before the world. Let us not be contented with so faint a resemblance as we have hitherto borne to our blessed Master; let us remember whose we are and whom we serve, and display the spirit of our Leader and Example. Let the same mind be in us which was also in Him, and thus let us have, and give evidence, that we are the Lord's. The spirit of Christ will sanctify each individual, elevate the church, exemplify the gospel, and bless the world! M. C.

INFLUENCE OF FAMILY THE simple fact that parents and offspring meet together every morning and evening for reading the word of God and prayer, is a great fact in household annals. It is the inscribing of God's name over the lintel of the door. It is the setting up of God's altar. The dwelling is marked as a house of prayer. Religion is thus made a substantive and prominent part of the domestic plan. The day is opened and closed in the name of the Lord. From the very dawn of reason, each little one grows up with a feeling that God must be honoured in

WORSHIP ON CHILDREN. everything; that no business of life can proceed without him; and that the day's work or study would be unsheltered, disorderly, and in a manner profane, but for this consecration. When such a child comes, in later years, to mingle with families where there is no worship, there is an unavoidable shudder, as if among heathen or infidel companions. In Greenland, when a stranger knocks at the door, he asks, "Is God in this house?" and if they answer "Yes," he enters.

As prayer is the main part of all family worship, so the chief benefit to children

is, that they are the subjects of such prayer. As the great topic of the parent's heart is his offspring, so they will be his great burden at the throne of grace. And what is there which the father and mother can ever do for their beloved ones, that may be compared with their bearing them to God in daily supplication? And when are they so likely to do this with melting affection, as when kneeling amidst a group of

sons and daughters? And what prayers are more likely to be answered, than those which are offered thus? The direct influence of family prayer is then to bring down the benediction of Almighty God upon the children of the house. Divine authority, the example of all the godly in every age, and the practical benefits which are ever accruing from it, commend it to the adoption of every Christian household.

THE BELIEVER'S SANCTIFICATION

IMPERFECT.

SANCTIFICATION is never perfect while the believer is in the body. The conflict between the flesh and the spirit continues to the end with various success; but upon the whole, the actings of corruption get weaker, and the habit of grace strengthens in the soul. Still the spark of evil is not extinguished. Satan lives; and, if permitted, can easily enkindle it into a flame. This he is ever seeking to dofanning it by the temptations of the world and the flesh, or by spiritual wickedness. Knowledge is imperfect, and therefore holiness must needs be so too. A state of sinless perfection is thus wholly unattainable by the Christian in this world. "In many things we offend all." "If we (even the apostles,) say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Thus the Scriptures plainly declare such profession to be a delusion. It is a dream that can only consist with low notions of the spirituality and perfect holiness of the Divine law. It is contradicted by the experience and recorded confessions of the most eminent saints of God in all ages, and is further in opposition to all the characters under which Christian experience is described in Scripture, as a race, a warfare, a

certainly are not slain but at the last, -a crucifixion, which, though it surely terminates in death, is lingering. In some sense, indeed, the Christian is a perfect character-he is perfectly justified in Christ; in him he has a complete righteousness to trust in before GodChrist is his law-fulfiller, the ark of his refuge, the depositary of the law for him. He is also perfect as regards the purpose of God to complete his own holy image, the graving of the law upon the soul. Of this the believer has an earnest, in that nothing less than the perfect sway of that principle of holiness which God has already implanted there will ever satisfy him. He is struggling to maturity

"not as though he had already attained, either were already perfect; but this one thing he does, forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, he presses toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." This is Christian perfection, as attainable below.-F. Goode.

THE BELIEVER'S SECURITY.

THE notion of the believer's falling from grace-received into final perdition, may consist with the belief of some native power in him, at first to procure it; to do more towards its acquisition than simply to receive it of God's free mercy looking

upon him in his ruin; then, indeed, if it be native power by which he acquires this grace, he may finally lose it by his natural folly and waywardness. But if it be all of God's goodness, predestinating him to be conformed to the image of his Son, that is to holiness, and therefore making the soul willing in the day of his power, then it is, surely, as contrary to reason as to the express testimony of Scripture to believe that he whose "gifts and callings" are without repentance, who seeth the end from the beginning, should ever forsake what is so entirely the work of his own hands. No; beloved, he who is the author, is also the finisher of faith; though earth shall combine against the believer-though his inward foes be ever ready to betray his soul that word shall surely have its accomplishment, "They shall be my people, and I will be their God." The confidence of this truth is, however, perfectly consistent with holy fear. We are of ourselves ever prone to depart from the ways of God, and hence the caution is needful—“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." David, an eminent saint of God, fell in a moment into the slough of sin, after a long and near fellowship with God, and he felt the sad and shameful consequences of his fall to the end of his days. Hence arises the use of those warnings which are pressed so repeatedly in the word of God upon the consciences of all the professed people of God. They answer a double purpose; they admonish the unsound professor of his danger of final perdition, and forfeiture of Christian privileges; and, at the same time, they serve to keep from these the true people of God, by inspiring them with a holy, salutary fear, lest, peradventure, they, through the deceitfulness of sin, should be led away with the errors of the wicked, and fall from their own stedfastness; so that proImise of God has its fulfilment: "I will not depart from them to do them good, and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."-F. Goode.

THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF FINAL PERSEVERANCE A CORDIAL TO THE FAINT

ING BELIEVER.

Nor as a vain presumption that I am one of the saints because of some dream, or feeling, or past experience, whatever may be the tenor of my life. No; the privilege and the character to which it belongs cannot be separated. The perseverance of God's people is a perseverance in holiness, and they, therefore, are sure of eternal life; because He who has called them to holiness, and pledges himself to keep them in holiness, as the way to life, he ordains them to the means, as well as to the end. The assurance that I am a child of God, and therefore I shall never fail of salvation, cannot exist for a moment, but as the Spirit of God witnesses with my spirit-not that he once began-but that he is carrying on a work of grace, a sanctifying work in my heart. Any habitually-indulged sin at once demonstrates that my confidence of interest in God, because of some former convictions and religious feelings, has been a delusion, and the sinful propensities of God's people, in the same proportion that they grieve and banish the Comforter from their souls, take away all enjoyment of this truth of final perseverance; not because the truth itself is doubted, but their agreement with the character of those in whom alone it is verified. will never permit his children to comfort themselves under circumstances like these, by any such abuse of his grace; they know and feel that the doctrine of perseverance is one with which they have nothing to do, but as they are turning from their evil ways; whereas this doctrine is a precious cordial for the fainting soldier in the day of battle: it strengthens his weak hands, confirms his feeble knees, animates him under all the terribleness of conflict. He remembers that God is faithful, who has promised, "They shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand." Tell him this sweet truth, then, if he be wavering, ready to give up in despair, as, but for this hope of salvation, he well may. Tell

God

him of it, if he be even fallen, so as he be but struggling and grappling with the enemy, though it be in the dust. But if he be parleying with Satan, tampering with sin, ceasing the warfare, this precious truth of God becomes as poison to the soul.-F. Goode.

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHAT IS IN THE HEART.

GOD left Hezekiah to himself, that by this trial, and his weakness in it, what was in his heart might be known-that he was not so perfect in grace as he thought he was. It is good for us to know ourselves and our own weakness and sinfulness, that we may not be conceited or self-confident, but may always live in dependence on Divine grace. We know not the corruption of our own hearts, nor what we shall do if God leave us to ourselves. His sin was, that he was lifted up. What need have great men, and good men, and useful men, to study their own infirmities and follies, and their obligations to free grace!that they may never think highly of themselves, but beg earnestly of God that he will always keep them humble. Hezekiah made a bad return to God for his favours, by making even those favours food and fuel of his pride. Let us then shun the occasions of sin. Let us avoid

the company, the amusements, the books, yea, the very lights that may administer to sin. Let us commit ourselves constantly to God's care and protection, and beg of him never to leave us nor forsake us. Blessed be God, death will soon end the believer's conflict; then pride and every sin will be abolished, and he will no more be tempted to withhold the praise which belongs to the God of his salvation.-M. Henry.

ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE WORK OF GOD.

WHATEVER is done towards rendering the word of God generally known and attended to, is like bringing a stone or an ingot of gold towards erecting the Temple. This should encourage us, when we grieve that we do not see more fruit of our labours. Much good may appear after our death, which we never thought of. Let us not, then, be weary in welldoing. The work is in the hands of this Prince of Peace. As he, the author and finisher of the work, is pleased to employ us as his instruments, let us arise and be doing, encouraging and helping one another, working by his rule, after his example, in dependence on his grace,

assured that he will be with us, and that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.-Ib.