the poor rebel falls to the ground, condemned and distressed, crying, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do ?" Nor is this the experience of the Lord's ministers only. The elect of God, as they are brought out of the ruins of the fall, are personally made acquainted with their awful condition. God the Spirit leads them into its height and depth, length and breadth, and opens up to their understanding the nature and demerits of their sins, which are as the hairs of their head, that cannot be numbered; and however long they may live in peace and quiet, without the law, making a profession of religion, and holding some of the most damnable sentiments, and, perhaps, as touching the righteousness of the law, blameless, creature holiness, having blinded their eyes, and made them so much in love with themselves that they are perfect in the flesh, not a word of comfort drops from their lips to any poor child of God. If they speak, it is, "Stand by, for I am holier than thou." These are awful lengths for God's elect to run, and their running to these lengths proves them to be dead in sins. But whenever God the Spirit lays trouble upon their conscience, and brings them to see where they are, and what they are doing, as well as where they have been, and what they have been doing, their language will be, with Paul, "I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." (Rom. vii. 9.) The enjoyment of a spiritual knowledge, as freely bestowed, will cause them sweetly to sing with Dr. Watts—

"No more, my God, I boast no more,

Of all the duties I have done;

I quit the hopes I held before,

To trust the merits of thy Son."

A form of godliness will no longer do for them. They want to feel the power of grace upon their hearts, making them thankful for what God has done for their souls; and as they enjoy the covenant mercy of thankfulness, under the bedewings of the Spirit, they abhor themselves, and count all things but loss for Christ. They are no longer content to be found in themselves, but to be found in him, not having on their own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is of the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Phil. iii. 9.)

Again; there are none of God's family that can experimentally understand the gospel, in its precious bearings, until they have felt the force of the law, in making known the justice and holiness of God; for the law is a schoolmaster unto Christ, in the feelings of the poor sinner; and in this

character of a schoolmaster, the law teaches him some very important lessons. First, it teaches him the holiness and justice of God, who cannot in his very nature allow sin to go unpunished. Every threatening God has denounced in his word, against sin and transgression, is but an illustration of his unchangeable holiness and unbending justice; and as these instructions are continued, in the experience of the poor sinner, he is made to possess the sins of his youth; and, while all his sins and transgressions are laid upon his conscience, he learns the omniscience of God, who spies out all his ways, and he is brought to see and to feel that darkness and light are alike with the Lord, crying out, "Where shall I flee from his presence?" He now finds that the Lord requires truth in the inward parts. Behold, this is the God with whom we have to do. Nor is the poor sinner offended with these instructions. However God's family may kick in their ignorance, they are in the end made thankful for the knowledge of their state, as poor, lost, and undone sinners, before God; and as the Holy Ghost leads them to a discovery of the same unchangeable holiness and unbending justice, displayed, in awful grandeur, upon his law-fulfilling righteousness, when God, in solemn majesty, made his soul an offering for sin, he enjoys a heavenly pleasure in his own soul, which dead formalists are strangers to. It is his happiness now to feel satisfied that Christ was wounded for his transgressions, and bruised for his iniquities, and that he bare in his own body his sins upon the tree; and as the Holy Ghost explains the gracious substitution of Christ to his understanding, as made manifest in his standing in our law-place, the poor soul admires the matchless love and grace of Jehovah. Thus humbled in the dust, before God, the language of the poet is the sentiment of his soul

"My soul looks back to see
The burdens thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursed tree,
And hopes her guilt was there."

Now he understands experimentally, what he only knew in his head before. He no longer goes out with haste, nor goes by flight; but the Lord goes before him (Isaiah lii. 12), and leads him into the precious things of the gospel. The proclamation of "liberty to the captives, and opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isa. lxi. 1), is now the joy of his soul. He knows his Redeemer when he speaks, and listens not to the voice of strangers. Strangers command him to be circumcised, and to keep the law of Moses; but his Redeemer says, "He whom the son maketh free, they are free

indeed." (John viii. 36.) His poor soul enjoys it, and casts from him with abhorrence the traditions of men. Instead of toiling at the law of works, under fears of distraction, the grace of the gospel gladdens his soul, while he follows the footsteps of his Redeemer.

(To be continued.)

POETRY.

A REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."-Heb. iv. 9.

O, gracious Father! God of love!

On us thine Holy influence shed,
To imitate the bless'd above,

To praise and bless our glorious Head.

Thou hast a people, dearest Lord,
In this poor, giddy vale of tears,
To whom thou dost thy grace afford,
To dissipate their gloomy fears.
Thine, O God, in destination,

Thine ere the starry sky was spread;

Thine they were in first creation;

Thine-thine by grace, through Christ, their Head.

Thine they are by new creation;

Thine they are by Spirit's teaching;

Thine they are by dedication,
Thine they are by preservation.

There is a rest remains above,

A rest from toil, and pain, and strife,
For those the God of gods doth love ;-
A rest from all the cares of life.

A rest that is to faith revealed;
A rest that far excels our thought;
A rest where Deity's unveiled;
A rest for saints, by Jesus bought.
A glorious Sabbatism of joy,
Where weary saints for ever rest;
Where the wicked cease to annoy
The pilgrim's soul in Abraham's breast.
A rest that's full of highest love;
No more of sorrow they'll complain:
They'll soar on wings of faith above,
To walk with joy the heavenly plain.
That rest eternal, and on high,
O may we reach, great God of love;
That we on wings of love may fly,
And praise with all the blest above.
August 11, 1835.

MINIMUS.

PRAYER FOR THE GOSPEL STANDARD.

Amidst the bustle of our monthly scene,
Lo! forward steps a little magazinë,

The Gospel Standard named:

Great God! protect it with thy watchful eye,
And for uplifting Jesus Christ on high,
Long be its pages famed.

May no malignant pens its leaves misuse,
To pour on good men's' heads their vile abuse,
And grieve the saints of God;

But, like refreshing cordial, may it cheer,
Make light the load of many a pilgrim dear,
Oppress'd on Zion's road.

Errors abound, and infidels grow bold,
And love, that should be warm, is waxing cold;
Yet in these chilling days,

Our hearts are cheer'd, another little band
Of faithful men, agree, throughout the land,
The Gospel Flag to raise.

We greet you, friends beloved! and may success
Attend your labours; may the Spirit bless,
And your Dictator be:

Let us hear much of Christ, our risen Lord;
And what you've seen and tasted in his word,
That glory we would see.

Exalt the riches of the Saviour's grace,
And tell us of his love and faithfulness,
Whose blood did once atone :

And while you dwell thereon with sweet delight,
Remind us also it is meet and right,

That saints his sceptre own.

O, Holy Spirit! with thy rays inspire!
Each writer's heart retouch with heavenly fire,

And may the sacred flame

Proceed, and reach, and warm, each reader's soul,
Till one and all beneath thy sweet control,
Give glory to the Lamb.

Dear Jesus! on the Standard deign to smile,
And let its pages oftentimes beguile

The weary pilgrim's hours:

Make it an eminence, from whence to spy,
With eager heart, and with delighted eye,
Fair Canaan's peaceful bowers.

Where Jesus reigns all-glorious on his throne,
With mansions ready, waiting for his own,
And soon he'll fetch them home.

Many we loved have reach'd that land of light,
And soon our willing souls will take their flight!

Jesus will quickly come!

August, 1835.

ANN.

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. 4.

NOVEMBER, 1835.

BAPTISM.

2d.

"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.

This, Messrs. Editors of the Gospel Standard, is the last passage of Scripture with which, as a declaration of your principles, you head your valuable little work; but implying, as it does, the personal manifestation of the glorious truths contained in the others, connected with the approbation, nay, the absolute presence, of the adorable Trinity, I think you will agree with me that, though last, it is by no means least. In the first, you have the heart-soothing, soul-supporting fact, that "they that hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed, and shall be filled;" in the second, that those very same persons are "saved, and called with an holy calling, not according to their works, but according to God's own purpose and grace, which was given them in Christ Jesus before the world began;" in the third, their name, or character—“ the election," in contradistinction to the rest, who are “ blinded;" and here, you have their confession of personally experiencing

D