greatest honours the gracious Master may have been pleased to confer. I will put my fear in their hearts! In the covenant of grace, whose stipulations are here recited, Jehovah hath bound himself by his own unalterable purpose, I will not turn away, or cease to do them good: and that their fall into sin, by which they turned away from him, might not prevent the certain and everlasting enjoyment of all the good he hath to bestow, he guarantees by the same unfrustrable decree, I will implant my fear within them, that they shall not depart from me!

Contemplating the nature of the principle, as bestowed on the newly regenerate soul, our thoughts are involuntary called up to the precious sayings of the wise man: "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge," Prov. i. 7. and, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," ix. 10. What an awful consideration, that the sons of men, the youth and him of years, the plebian and the polite, the learned and the unlearned, all, of all ages, kindreds, and degrees, are veiled in impenetrable ignorance-knowing nothing -nothing as they ought to know-till the only wise God vouchsafe to become their teacher! Not till then, says Solomon, does man begin to know. And so simple are all by nature, when born into the world, through the whole of their journey in this dreary land, and even on the entrance into vast eternity; yea, they are such fools, that the pains of hell can alone convince them, if him who formed them do not new-create and make them wise to salvation! Not till then, says the wise man, does man begin to be wise. But the preciousness of the instruction afforded us consists in this, that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are centered in Christ, for bestowment on those that are made sensible of their spiritual ignorance and folly.

The Lord the Spirit, in compliance with his own personal engagement, by regenerating grace sheds abroad his fear in the heart, and gives the adopted son a manifestive entrance into the family of God. It is, therefore, a filial fear of which the honoured recipient is partaker. The fear of the Lord becomes the possession of an adopted child. And when the Lord thus begins with the sinner, how does the sinner begin to act towards the Lord? let the child in nature shew. So soon as the natural faculties are brought into exercise, and the infant becomes conscious of the tender offices performed for its welfare, filial regard is visible in all its interesting actions, and fear conspicuously shines amidst the numerous attractions which gladden the heart of an affectionate parent. Shall it then be otherwise with the child in grace? Who does not know, of those that are grown to riper years in the family, that the "little children," are possessed of the self-same graces as themselves, and that they differ (though the degree is but as a shade) only in the extent of exercise? Much might be said for those favoured characters, on considering the proofs their own experiences furnish of the family to which they belong, and the spiritual possessions they now realize; but we leave these pleasing reflections, for others, which may the Lord deign to

render more profitable, as we still bear in remembrance the child in nature.

When the intellect, which has already dawned, is expanded by the increase of days, how soon the tender charge acquires a knowledge of the person whose love, from the beginning, has beamed in cheerful smiles around it. Just so is it with the child in grace. For though to the eye of sense that with which we are daily familiar may be seen, and touched and embraced; the eye of faith fixes on things that are invisible, and embraces what is incorporeal, with a clearer vision and a firmer grasp than that of which the things of time and sense can possibly be susceptible. Hence let all in whose experience the mighty promise is fulfilled," I will put my fear in their hearts," examine themselves on this ground; aud instead of giving ear to the suggestions of satan, who whispers them, "What claim have you to the possession of a principle of grace?" "Is it not presumption to suppose that you are interested in covenant blessings?" Let them again listen to the Lord's voice on the subject: "Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings!" Mal. iv. 2. And again, where he saith by the Psalmist, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." Ps. xxv. 14.

Do you, under the sense you have of nature's apostacy and ruin, behold in Christ alone all your salvation and all your desire? Behold him before you, clothed with salvation, and filled with all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, to communicate to just such a sensible sinner as you are! Are you under the pressure of various burdens, sorrowing by reason of many afflictions, and earnestly imploring a gracious deliverance? See the great burden-bearer and deliverer, crowned with honour and glory, present to hear the humble cry he hath excited, and ready to remove the source of grief, or impart strength proportioned to the burden and heat of the day! Does faith appear to fail you? and do you apprehend that the feeble hope you have, will be ere long overwhelmed by the increasing tide of doubts, slavish fears, misgivings, and the numberless difficulties you fall in with by the way? Oh! do not forget your Lord's well-known voice; for he is near you, and still cries with sweetest accents, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

By such reflections as these, if the Glorifier of Jesus inspire and carry them on in the soul, the child of grace increases in knowledge, and goes on to know the Lord. From an acquaintance with the gracious and fatherly acts of love, performed for his nurture and prosperity, he grows in grace, becomes familiar with the person of his glorious Lord, and with his stronger, though not more favoured brethren, recognises him whom his soul loveth, and rapturously exclaims, "this is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" "ABBA FATHER!"

The effects of filial fear in the life and conversation are conspicuous to all men. Where grace reigns its preponderating power and influ

ence are attested by the conduct and habits of the man in every pursuit and undertaking in which his Lord's providence calls him to engage. In the various relations of life; in his connexions with the world that lieth in the wicked one; in his fellowship with the saints and household of God; under crosses and afflictions; in the enjoyment of mercies, whether temporal or spiritual; in his going out and in his coming in; in the prospect of death and on the approach of that last-conquered enemy; his whole deportment testifies the true grace of God wherein he stands. But woe, woe, to him who, professing to be the possessor of divine grace, knows not the fear of the Lord! For, saith the Lord, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and who chargeth his angels with folly, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth do I hate!

(To the Editor of the Spiritual Magazine.)

ON DISCRIMINATING GRACE.

"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."-Matt. xxiv. 40.

Dear Sir,

IN the course of my earthly pilgrimage through this vale of tears, how often have I seen these words of Jesus, taking them in their spiritual and all important meaning, fulfilled! To a believer in Jesus, one who has passed from death unto life, and who being a new creature in Christ Jesus, old things have passed away, and all things become new; to such a character, what a vast field is there for contemplation in these words, which form a part of the Redeemer's discourse to his enquiring disciples.-I see the divine sovereignty of Jehovah shining with refulgent rays: who then shall stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?

The field here spoken of I conceive to mean the world, out of which Jehovah in due time, and according to unalterable eternal appointment, calls his people. Hence the apostle says, "who hath called us with an holy calling;" and Jude, " preserved in Jesus Christ and called." Thus it is often seen. Companions in sin, however strong may be the bonds that unite them, one shall be taken and the other left; left to go on in the mad career of sin till death closes the scene, and the individual before asleep now awakes in unutterable dismay. It has been my lot to be placed in peculiar circumstances, which have enabled me to recognise the divine hand of a covenant God and Father through the various storms and tempests that have assailed me on the troubled ocean of life. It is, indeed, painfully pleasing to me to cast a retrospective review on the years that are past, and to trace back the steps by which I have been led on up to the present moment.-One, indeed, has been taken, but the other has been left. I often wonder, admire, and adore the patience, the goodness of the Lord: his faithfulness to his promise, "I will lead the blind by a way that they know not."

66

(To be concluded in our next.)

REVIEW.

Sermons delivered at Beresford Chapel, Walworth, by the Rev. Edward Andrews, L. L. D. Author of " Lectures on the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity." Part the First. Palmer.

THERE is a species of writing on spiritual subjects-whose supply very far exceeds the demand-conceived in terms and conducted in a manner so opposed to the rules of composition and taste, that the enemies of truth obtain good ground on which to establish their arguments, both against the writers themselves, and the mode in which they defend the principles they profess to hold. Not unfrequently those who are hostile to the doctrine according to godliness, with some degree of plausibility oppose the principles advocated, though from an unfounded conviction that they are exclusively the origin of the unhappy and highly objectionable method adopted for their promulgation. And hence the rebuke and the sarcasm deservedly cast at those who darken counsel by words without knowledge, have often been directed against others with unmerited vengeance; and many of weak judgment in the things of God have mistaken the just reproofs of an antagonist, for the expression of unallayed enmity to the truth: yea, frequently, he who is found bold enough to attack an unbecoming style and phraseology has been considered a libeller of our holy religion!

That the opposers of sound doctrine take an unjustifiable advantage of such means for spreading the truth, is evident; and the spiritual mind may prove the fact from the writings of those who indulge chiefly in language of derision and contempt when commenting on the labours of unlettered, godly men. Yet, doubtless, heaven-born truth has received many an assassin-thrust from the hand that was raised professedly to defend her honour, or to rescue her from the uncouth freedom of her lovers. But the reflections which multiply on us are too numerous to justify their continuance; and we are anxious to revert rather to the cause of their production.

On taking up the Sermons before us we are presented with a perfect contrast to the model just drawn. In our ruminations we were transported to the cheerless centre of a wide-bounded desart, whose barren surface and heated atmosphere are relieved by no rippling stream, or cooling retreat, for the tired traveller: but here we resume our wonted enjoyments; our willing feet retrace the sacred walks, and are conducted to the unutterable delights, that are known only in the garden of God. The attractive ornament of these discourses is, superiority of style, and the masterly management of the works of nature, science, and art, in elucidation of the realities of real religion: but their ruling principle, the grand basis on which they are founded,the perfections of the triune Jehovah, the mysteries of "the holy covenant," and the wonders of the cross!

We cannot longer detain the reader from the subjects discussed; they are six in number, without titles, which probably will be given when the volume is completed, and are thus arranged: first, Acts xxi. 16. second, Job xix. 25, 26. third, Isaiah lx. 1. fourth, Isaiah xxx. 29-32. fifth, Daniel xii. 9—13. sixth, Psalm xxx. 5. And we first call attention to a passage in the fourth Sermon, regretting that we can allot space for but one or two items of its excellencies. The author having proposed to consider the several particulars connected with the sublime topic of discourse, “ Ye shall have a song as in the night," &c. the first of which is "the song," he proceeds under the second head to contemplate the period spoken of—" as in the night." The saint's entrance into glory, together with an allusion to the varied exercises he has had to experience on his journey thither, furnish a theme for the following admirable thoughts.

"All that we know here, is as but the night compared with the day; for heaven only is perfect light. "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face;" there is no night in heaven; it is therefore called in scripture the day-break, and the fleeing away of shadows; and the psalmist, alluding to this, says, " I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness."

"Wonders will burst upon the separated soul in glory! The child cannot recollect now to tell his mother what he felt, when first drawing breath and beholding the light; and perhaps, indeed, such is the weakness of nature, he felt but little; but it shall not be so at death, which to the saint is second life. What is the rising sun on the ocean's disk, when it flames on the sea, and associates sky and ocean in friendly unseparated red? What is sudden nobility to some emancipated slave, discovered to be heir of princes? What is the widest prospect from the tower's top, to him who was but a moment before immured in a dungeon?

Is

"Infinity lies before us, whether for the christian, or for the man of science. Humiliating thought for the boasted powers of man! astronomy, then, comparatively nothing—a feeble wandering among the scattered gems that lie at the outside of heaven's gate? Is the discovery of continents and islands but as the exposure of sand-grains hidden before? Is all the pomp of science reduced to nothing and vanity when compared to what lies beyond? And still more amazing! is the christian himself but in the beginning of being, in the pupillage of divine knowledge, and only as yet performing the rehearsal of his praises! What can he know more than that Christ is glorious, that God is love, that the Holy Spirit is almighty, and that the covenant of grace is written in lines of blood? What can be more glorious than to subdue sin; to call down heaven to our aid by prayer; to mingle souls with the saints, and to take up even against the last enemy, that taunting strain, "O death, where is thy sting?" and over the countless sepulchres of the righteous, "O grave, where is thy victory?" Can knowledge herself unroll an ampler chart, cau heaven disclose a wider field? Yes, in degree, if not in kind; our knowledge and joys will there be unspeakably enlarged. Here we are made acquainted with the attributes and gracious purposes of deity; but there the same subjects shall be illustrated, not only by clearer lights, but to stronger faculties, where God shall be all and in all the radiant cloud which before concealed the throne, shall become less dense, and man's feeble yet inquisitive eyes, accustomed to the twilight of a first existence, shall triumph in heaven's unclouded, unutterable

noon.

66