amidst all the wreck of sweet feeling, and the ragings of iniquity within, and will bring me into the possession of the incorruptible inheritance, to share in all the bliss of my divinely royal Head and Husband. O glorious union! firm as the throne of Deity, lasting as the existence of God, encircled in thy blest enclosures, my soul shall outride every storm, even when the world is in flames; shall triumph, and be exceeding glad.

3. An election of my person to eternal life, is another mighty stay of my feeble hope. Originating in the predestinating sovereignty of the eternal God, it is the unalterable decree of his will, springing from his mere grace. It being an act of his infinite mind, must be eternal; being chosen in an immutable center, it must for ever remain. Eternal truth recorded my name in the book of life; nor earth, nor sin, nor hell can erase it therefrom being an object of eternal choice, and chosen to life eternal, the Holy Ghost has opened the sacred interest in effective calling; being elected to holiness, the Lord has imparted it ; being chosen to salvation, I am now openly delivered from the thraldom of iniquity; being chosen to endless life, I now possess a life that can never die; being chosen to inherit a throne of glory, I am now on the way to it, and my arrival secured, being founded in adorable sovereignty, infinite wisdom, omnipotent power, and divine immutability.

My eternal and personal election is opened in time, and God's secret choice of my person is now visible in my open vocation to serve him. God's choice of my person is the cause of my possessing God as my portion, my life, and my all; my election of God's ways, his people, truth, and cause, are the effect of his choice, and are the ways I was chosen to prefer; all the blessings I enjoy by faith, are the sovereign mercies of God's favourites.

My election-interest brings all the adorable perfections of the Three-One God on my side, and employs them for his benefit; all the other acts of Jehovah's grace are the result of this governing one. It is an act of Jehovah's mind, once and for ever done; it is irrevocable; all the convulsions of time can never interrupt it; it being the act of a God, it wants no human hand to confirm it to make it sure. Being an object of electing love, it secured my redemption, made me a partaker of the heavenly calling, forms a shield of protection through all the changes of the wilderness, and will bring me into the incorruptible inheritance I was chosen to inherit for ever; this is another formidable ground of my hope.

Another huge prop to my hope is, the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." The Eternal Trinity are always in Unity, one in will, council, promise, power, and glory; here Jehovah in Trinity, to manifest their glorious perfections, and set out their love to the objects of their divine embrace, have entered into a voluntary agreement for the salvation and blessed

ness of Zion; have arranged all the movements, circumstances, blessings, and all that is connected with the church in the plains of time, has entailed upon them all the fulness of communicable blessings, bound themselves by oath and promise for the recovery and final salvation of all the heirs of glory. All the mercies freely given, attaching to this covenant, are sure; all that concerns the covenant heirs of promise is wisely ordered, graciously arranged, and everlastingly secured. The great Swearers in this mighty compact, the accomplishment of its conditions, the ratification of it in the death of the covenant Head, the perpetual life of the administrator of all its favours, and the omnipotency of the conveyer of all its blessings, immunities, and privileges, buoy up my soul amidst all the fluctuating scenes and diversified dispensations I pass through; and I hope to recline on the word of the oath of the covenant, as I pass the swellings of Jordan, rejoicing in the eternal veracity of the sworn parties who have bound themselves in an everlasting agreement to rescue me from the jaws of perdition, and instate me in the realms of endless joy.

5. The immutable redemption of the Lord of glory, is another mighty ground of encouragement to my trembling soul, under every renewed discovery of nature's ruin, and its awful consequences. This is the key-stone of my hope as a guilty sinner; and on this rises the vast fabric of my eternal expectations. The dignity of his person, the infinite worth of his work, the transcendant glories of his death, and the perpetuity of his life of office in heaven, elevates my soul above all the wretchedness of a fallen existence. It is an ample redemption, a redemption that is a sweet-smelling savour to God, a redemption from all iniquity, from the curse of the law, a deliverance from this present evil world, from the power of the grave, from the fear of death, from the wrath to come, from the grasp of Satan, and from the lowest hell.

It is an eternal redemption obtained for us; but what elevates my hope, and prompts it to seize an everlasting hold here, is, that it is a redemption as righteous as it is free and gracious; not founded on the ruins of equity, nor the wrongs of justice, but on the mediatorial greatness of the infinite and unutterably glorious Redeemer; this is my anchorage-ground in every storm. Let the troubled sea within cast up all its mire and dirt, the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." While justice and judgment inhabit the throne of Deity, I feel everlastingly assured, I shall inherit all the blessings of this great salvation. From no other source whatever, do I expect an open acquittal at the divine bar; but here, I confidently rest, and venture my everlasting consciousness on the finished redemption of my God and Saviour.

6. The absolute promises of Jehovah, made to me as an heir of promise, in connection with the head of grace and glory, are

a vast pillar to my hope in the tribulated pathway to the kingdom; and a potent reason, why I shall surely arrive at my preordained inheritance: not one condition to be performed by me, apart from a gracious interest, attaches to the yea and amen promises; if it were the case, I could have no reason to hope, that I should endure to the end, but should tremble, sink, and despair. The exceeding great and precious promises, recorded in the word of unerring truth, are the free assurances of a gracious God, gathered up by the hand of faith, which substantiates in my mind the very things hoped for: they come, with all the majesty of graciousness, to my needy soul. (God's wills and shalls are the stilts upon which all his Mephibosheths go to heaven). All is promised I can need in this life, and the life to come. "I will be your God, and you shall be my people." I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

will keep thee in the way;"

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I will uphold thee;" they that trust in me shall never be ashamed;" "sin shall not have the dominion over you." Grace shall reign." Because I live, ye shall live also." "He that believeth in me, I will raise him up in the last day." That where I am, my servant shall be also." With many like unchanging assurances, which are the ground-work of my hope, amidst the surrounding ruin of nature. When all things wear a gloomy aspect, hope fastens on promises divine, rests on infallible fidelity, believing that every cloud will finally disperse. The all-sufficiency of the promiser, the neverfailing veracity of his utterances, the omnipotency of his arm to fulfil his assurances, are a glorious trinity of succour to my hope : here is the unwavering ground of my hope and confidence, as a ruined sinner.

7. Another tower of strength, upon which my hope is founded of reaching the realms of undying felicity, is, the gracious relations and unchanging offices of the God-man Redeemer. Whatever office character he sustains, he fills and acts in to perfection ; his eternal ability and fitness proclaims this; his honour and renown is concerned in the completion of every office. Here lies my eternal security; all his glory is to arise out of my salvation. Is he a Saviour?-then I shall be saved. Is he a husband-will he lose his spouse? Is he a brother-will he suffer the relation to be destroyed? Is he a shepherd-will he cease to care for his sheep? Is he a prophet--shall I perish for want of instruction? Is he a guide-will he let me miss the way to heaven? Is he a King-will he not protect me? Is he a fulness-shall I die for want? Is he an Advocate-can I be lost? Is he the fountain of life?—I can never die. Is he allcan I lack any thing? He has destroyed death-can it hurt me? He has obtained dominion over the grave-can it hold me? He has the keys of death and hell-who can turn me in? He has prepared and opened a way to the kingdom of heaven-who can

hinder my arrival? He has all power in heaven and earth-who can arise to destroy me? Is he the resurrection and the life ?— then he will raise my dead body. Will he be the final Judgewho shall condemn me? And when he comes to deliver up all rule and authority to the Father, would he not appear deficient in every official engagement, were I not among the everlastingly indebted millions of his charge? How could he deliver up his trust, or appear before God and angels, were an object of his care missing? But I feel eternal confidence in his character, when I reflect on the infinite glory and greatness of his person, the ample fitness of his twofold nature to sustain every office, every thought of doubt and fear dies away in the blaze of his majesty. Let creation rock like a cradle; let the world be all a wreck, or let the last great burning day fill the eye of my mind, I am still composed in the arms of him who made all, sustains all, orders all, and controls all; for with all my soul I believe, the Father will appear with all the family-the Shepherd, with all the sheep-the King, with all his subjects-the Redeemer, with all the redeemed-the husband and the spouse-the head and the body, &c. &c. Thus, in the immutable and all-glorious relations and offices of the mighty God, and our Saviour, my soul is for ever encompassed.

fa.

(To be concluded in our next.)

LETTER TO THE EDITORS.

YES, Mr. Editor, another officer will now bear his testimony to the usefulness of your Magazine. It hath indeed, (as expressed in your preface to the December Number) proved a treasury to ONE at least; and from what others have expressed to that One, I can state for your encouragement, that it has been (and no question will be again) blessed to them.

The One who now writes, rejoices to see you openly declaring yourself to be no party man; therefore it is, and will be a pledge, that your Magazine will be divested of a contrary principle. Continue to manifest that principle, and your labour cannot be in vain. May the brilliancy of the light of gospel truth, be ever reflected from the pages of your miscellany, upon the hearts and understandings of its readers; and whilst it may ever be your aim to exhibit the glories of Christ, may you, as hitherto, be anxious to discountenance any and every sentiment, which may in the leastwise tend to detract from the perfection of the attributes of Jehovah: whether the same emanates from professed advocates of the doctrines of grace, or from such as maintain anti-gospel views. May you be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; so shall you be encouraged, as Joshua was, for God shall go with you; therefore fear not. What, if you do not publish your thousands! Is the character or subject

matter of the work less valuable? Oh no; believe it, Sir, that although the Spiritual Magazine has not the circulation that others have, yet remember, Sir, it is of infinitely more value to the royal progeny of the King of kings, than are all the trusty productions of the present day, (religious as they may be termed) which merely tend to foster up the God-dishonouring tenets of moral integrity and capacity, to deserve the invaluable favour of an infinitely holy and just God.

But, Sir, another point in your preface strikes my attention; and which is adduced as an objection stated against the accuracy of the style and composition of your work. Who is the ob

jector? and where is he? Now, Sir, although I profess not to be an academician or a collegian, yet I will venture to assert, that the Spiritual Magazine is got up in every point of view, as complete as any other magazine of the same order now, extant. Had the charge been levelled at a magazine now publishing, and professing to maintain and circulate the same glorious truths as yourself, it would not have been surprising; but the charge made against your publication, bears the same mark of infirmity, as, it is much to be feared, the author of that charge labours under, namely, mental infirmity, or in other words, weakness.

I now, Sir, take my leave for the present, wishing you may long enjoy the capacity, both temporal and spiritual, to carry on the publication, called the "Saints' Treasury:" and that He who rules over all, may be pleased so to overrule the circulation of your valuable miscellany, that thousands may feel constrained to say of your work, as the disciples of Emmaus, of their blessed Lord, "Did not our hearts burn within us, while (he) it talked with us by the way, and while (he) it opened to us the scriptures?" Your's, Mr. Editor, in best bonds,

ONE.

Ardwick, Dec. 26, 1836.

ON THE RENEWINGS OF THE HOLY GHOST. Dear Sister in Christ Jesus,

GRACE, mercy, and peace be with you, from Gol our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ; I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, and that thy soul also may prosper. Knowing that you are like myself the subject of unbelief, and frequently assailed with fits of incredulity; and as fathers are to lay up for the children, and not children for the fathers; and as you have thus far acknowledged me in part, I have thought good to send thee one portion above thy brethren. What I intend to bestow upon my daughter at this time is, a few of my own private thoughts, agreeable to scripture and christian experience: and my earnest prayer to my God is, that he may condescend to own and bless it to your soul, that it may be a VOL. XIII. No. 157.] C