THE GOSPEL AMBASSADOR; OR, Christian Pilgrim's Friend. "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for their's is the kingdom of Heaven," Mat. v.3 "The Election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded," Rom. xi. 7. No. 9. SEPTEMBER 1, 1847. Price 2d. TRIBULATION. "In the world ye shall have tribulation," John xvi. 33. "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me,-when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Who shut up the sea with doors, when I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars, and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" Job xxxviii. 3-11. Beloved, hast thou ever heard one of Jehovah's immutable shalls sound with its all-controlling power through the regions of thy soul? How does the blessed word of God teem with them, yet how little understood! "In the world ye shall have tribulation." Ah, yes, however you may strive against it-however much you may endeavour to alter your circumstances-however much you may complain or rebelhowever much you may beseech the Lord to remove your distresses-however much you may labour to extricate yourself by human prudence; yet if you are partakers of the honey at one end of the rod, you shall have continual tastes of the gall at the other end; if in Him ye have peace, "yet in the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer," says our glorious Jesus, "I have overcome the world." Oh that the Lord, the Spirit, may, by his gracious instruction, seal the immortal fact on the hearts of every tribulated believer who reads these feeble breathings, that when Jesus Christ achieved that mighty conquest, when he overcame the world, he did it as Moses divided the Red Sea, not for his own benefit, but that Israel might go over dryshod. In all he did, in all he suffered, and in all he obtained, it was, in fact thyself, poor helpless sinner, doing all, suffering all, obtaining all, as his wife (Eph. v. 23-32) in his person, as much as though thyself had been going about the earth as he did " overcoming the world," and " 'fulfilling all righteousness," so that now, although thou art nearly squeezed to death by the press through which thou art obliged to pass in thy passage through this world towards him, yet not a single thing, which is apparently obstructing thy onward progress, has a grain of power to stop thee; for thyself, helpless as thou art, even thyself, "art more than conquerer through him who loved thee," Rom. viii. 37. These are great and blessed facts, the truth of which, in their power, can be learned but in one school-that is, in the school of adversity. The Holy Spirit is the teacher, but necessity is the drill-master, who brings us into training to submit to the Spirit's tuition; therefore, of necessity, "in the world ye shall have tribulation." Many and great are the mistakes the children of God make respecting their troubles, forgetting that the declaration must be fulfilled day by day, throughout the whole of their sojourn in the "valley of Achor," and their temporary residence in the trouble valley begins when they are born again from above, and continues until the Master of the great feast comes and whispers the welcome invitation, Friend, go up higher," Luke xiv. 10. One supposes that some change in his outward circumstances would free him from such continual sorrow. Another vainly thinks that, could he attain to a certain longed-for position, which would admit of more quiet, more reading, more time for meditation and prayer, there would be a corresponding increase of "growth in grace:" while another is moodily putting down to this person or that circumstance, the effect, perhaps, of his own indiscretion, the blame of present distresses. Beloved, it is all wrongly calculated. not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground (or as good old Tyndall in his translation has it, "And none of them doth lyght on the grounde" to pick up its food) without your Father. But the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows, Matt. x. 29-31. Ye are "the Lord's jewels," or as the margin reads, "special treasures," Mal. iii. 17. Thou art in the hands of the great Lapidary. Wouldst thou go into the king's crown, rough and uncouth as thou art by nature, because the whirling of the trouble-wheel so affrights thee? Fear not. He knows thy value; he sees thee even now as thou wilt appear when reposing in his crown of gold, reflecting in radiant rainbow-hues his inexpressible glory; and every tribulation, great or small, is all dealt out to thee in daily portions Are 66 by weight and measure; and although the road be very rough and very full of thorns, still fear not; the Lord Jesus has printed LOVE upon all we meet: "and lest any hurt it," he has said, "I, the Lord, do keep it night and day" (Isa. xxvii. 3); and more, Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days so shall thy strength be," Deut. xxxiii. 25. To-day, walking for a moment in our own strength, if we may use such a phrase, we sink under an ounce-to-morrow, with a single eye fixed upon Jesus, we go joyfully on our way with a ton weight upon our shoulders, singing, "I can do all things through Christ strengthening me." Rest assured that it is our blessed Lord Jesus, in pure love and unerring wisdom, orders all-that we may know that out of Christ all is war-in him all is peace. Ah yes, we can hear the half-suppressed sigh bursting from the trouble riven heart of many an oppressed one; we know too well the language, "But if the Lord would do this, remove that, bring into such and such a position, how would I bless him for his mercy, and with what cheerful feet should I "run the way of his commandments.'" Beloved, you are forgetting the bitter feelings you experienced on account of your ingratitude some time since, when a certain great mercy was bestowed on you for which you had been pleading so long and so eagerly. Do you not remember how deeply grieved you were, that your heart should remain so unaffected by the accomplishment of that most earnest of your desires? Methinks I hear your "Truth indeed! I am an ungrateful worm;" but the mind runs over a circle of the brethren and sisters whom the Lord seems to have placed in positions far more pleasant than yours, you think they are going by a much smoother road than yourself. Ah, beloved, how great the mistake! "If children, then heirs," heirs to all the promises, not to the exclusion of that hourly fulfilling one, "In the world ye shall have tribulation." What! doubt whether all have such acute sufferings as you are called to pass through? Come, then, let us enquire of each individually you will find every one with his sorrow-cup full; and although the ingredients which form the mixture may totally differ in each, yet taste and see, the bitterness is alike complete in all. Come with us, first, then, into yonder union workhouse, where I will show you a scene, and, if the dear saint's harp is in tune to-day, let us hear some strains, which none ever reach but those who have done business in deep waters," Psa. cvii. 23: and here you may learn the design the Lord has in causing his children to pass through so many fires and floods, while it will appear also, that the deeper they sink the higher they rise. The Lord never gives great faith to sustain the soul in little troubles; 6 therefore beware, if your heart is set on becoming great in faith, expect a seven times heated furnace, or a descent to the bottom of the mountains, with the weeds wrapped about the head, Jonah ii. 5. But come in quietly-stoop down-listen; her voice is too weak to enable her to speak loudly. She begins, “Ah my friend, you were right. He came again last night, and gave me songs in the night.' I was low when you lift me, yet still at the bottom of my heart I knew all was right. But my precious Lord Jesus has indulged me so much of late, that he has almost spoiled me. If he stays away long, I begin to feel a little jealous, although I know that he loves me as much when he is hiding himself as when he is telling me of his love and faithfulness, and counting over to me the riches he has in store for me, and showing me his hands and his feet, and my name engraved on the palm of his hands. Oh, my friend, what a precious word he whispered into my ear in the night. When he came, I began to tell him about the vile suggestions my wicked heart had been listening to respecting his dear self, and how I had been trying to baffle the enemy by telling him of the blood of Jesus Christ, and the unchangeable nature of his love, and the effect of the mention of his name, how Satan staggered, and was unable to stand his ground, and how I saw him slink away the moment the savour of the presence of the Lord was manifested on my feeble frame; but he stopped me in the midst of my tale by saying, " Rejoice not that the Spirits are subjected unto you, but rather rejoice that your name is written in heaven." How did my heart burn as he told over the words! Oh, my friend, the freedom a poor sinner can use with the glorious King of Glory, at such seasons, no language can ever express; and could it be heard by a stranger to the secret, they would call it madness or presumption; but he renders himself so unutterably precious during such seasons, that did he not withdraw himself now and then we should not want-indeed, we could not have a better heaven. However, he did not tarry much longer, but when he went away, he left that golden nail fastened in a sure place by the Master of assemblies-Isa. xxiii. 24-I mean, the precious word he spoke to me. I have been hanging on it, like a little cup full of bliss, ever since. "But rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Oh, my friend, who wrote my worthless name there? God the Father. And when was it written? Before all worlds. Then add to this glorious truth what our Lord Jesus says, "The Father who gave them me is greater than all, and none can pluck them out of my Father's hands. I and my Father are one (Jno. x. 29); and then we must go on another step. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;' so that the glorious, holy Trinity is Unity, and the poor, little, insignificant worm, Jacob, is now, and has ever been, in mysterious but perfect oneness. My dear friend, the thought is too mighty to be held by mortal hearts; but, marvellous circumstance! not too great to be true. Oh, dwell upon it-you cannot do so too much. "That worms of earth should ever be Mention "Wonder, oh, heavens!" The speaker pauses. her afflictions to her. "Affliction, Sir! What are they compared to these glories I am feeding on-these light afflictions, which are but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, 2 Cor. iv 17, 18. Take particular notice, Sir, of the key-stone of this triumphal arch, while we look,' 'looking unto Jesus,' whom having not seen we love, and though we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. My dear friend, is it not so? If we leave off looking unto Him who is invsible,' that moment the flesh prevails, as in the days of Moses; the moment his hands fell, Israel turned before the face of Amalek; and when we find our eyes begin to waver, and become unstable, oh, let us call to our blessed Aaron to come to our help, and fear not you will find him a God at hand, and not far off.' Affliction, Sir! Could I have all I once had, and lose one single ray of his glory, it would be bartering diamonds for sand. Indeed, if I had them now I know not what I should do with them. My record is on high-my witness is in heaven, and there my conversation too. I can take no pleasure here. "There's no such thing as pleasure here; My Jesus is my all; As he doth shine or disappear, My pleasures rise or fall. "Come, shed thy sa Vour o'er my frame, Till I get up to sing thy name,, Where all thy singers meet." She pauses again, exhausted. Now bid her adieu. This was once a wealthy lady, ruined by the extravagance of an abandoned husband who is now dead, and her few remaining relations totally discard her on account of her singular religious notions. Say, could she have arrived at the blessed position she now occupies in the spiritual race, if she had not had the flesh literally crushed beneath afflictions of all kinds? Now, how stands the case? are your tribulations equal to |