He was prophesied of as such, to gather | eternal life, and they shall never perisi the lambs with his arms, and carry them neither shall any man pluck them our of in his bosom, and gently to lead those my hand." And when like the sily that are with young. And cannot many sheep they wander from their gracious a young disciple, a lamb of the flock, Shepherd, He searches for, and finds bear witness to this? Think, perhaps them; and as described in the parate, at this very time how tenderly your "lays them on his shoulders, rejoicing Shepherd is dealing with you, by plac- But how often does the child of God ing you in some sacred enclosure, away wander in heart from his Lord, the in a great degree from the snares and world creeps in, or proud seif presene trifles of the world, that lies in the arms itself, or attracted by some passing scene, of the wicked one, whilst you have been the mind is carried away from the one folded in the arms, and carried in the glorious Object; and would stil wander bosom of your Heavenly Shepherd! you on, did not the faithful Shepherd cause are the child of many prayers, and now his voice of love to be heard, and agate in the midst of privileges, and surrounded draw the wandering spirit to Him, by dear Christian friends. Oh, how who once more rejoices over them for graciously the Lord has dealt with you! they are very precious to Him. Ok, 1 but there are others, and we have known we could realize this, as it is our priv some of them, who have not had those lege to do, how much more peast we precious early privileges; the Lord has should enjoy, and glory redound to the called them from the midst of a worldly Saviour. Yes, Christ's sheep are doar circle, or from the arms of Popish super- to Him! they were a royal gift from de stition; but we have seen how the Lord hovah to Him, his co-equal bou, who has taken charge of them-shut the entered into covenant-engagemenre for lion's mouth, removed many an obstacle then, and thus became responsture for out of the way, and hid them in his each, sealing the covenant wit te v sacred bosom, "from the strife of precious blood, redeeming then from tongues." Thus we see there is a reality the hand of Satan, and from al mo in the beautiful and touching language so that they stand completen tver se the Spirit has graciously used to show venly Shepherd. forth the tenderness of our blessed Emmanuel, to the weakest and most helpless of his family. Oh, what a stupendous love there is in salvation or Marley we think of it before, orar 1 mil He is also "The Watchful Shepherd!" be a never-ending A L His eye is constantly on his sheep, night haustible theme to al extraes and day, lest any hurt them! He guards "I am the Goor Berper them from the prowling wolf, and the Saviour, "and know or ten roaring lion! in all their weakness He this divine Shepher is their Defence! in all their danger He in the midst of ter is their Deliverer! for all their strength despising his name and wisdom is derived from their hea- and wandering zur fre venly Shepherd, "who of God is made his voice, entier 1 unto them wisdom, and righteousness, judgments be and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Ghost has per Cor. i. 30). A Our Jesus is "The Faithful Shepherd!" Many waters cannot quench the love of our Beloved, neither can the floods their drown it!" He loveth even to the Hinter #a death! for He "The Good Shep-fuit 1. me out. herd giveth his life for the sheep." And famir says, also to show the equal love of the Far ther for this little flock, He adds te "Therefore doth cause I lay view this g of love the her love me be of the re Oh, what a int an . the day of redemption (Eph. i. 13, 14); when Christ shall take possession of his entire purchase; when the body as well as the soul of each of his redeemed shall be glorified with their exalted Head. And the Saviour knows his sheep by their inward breathing after Him! There is no rest to the soul, but as there is a consciousness of their Shepherd's love and presence! "Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth ?" (Cant. iii. 3)! "Oh that I knew where I might find Him" (Job. xxiii. 3). Such is the language of the renewed soul when the sensible presence of the Shepherd is withdrawn. right way, our precious Friend knew best; for under those painful circumstances He was dealing in love, though it may be unbelief, at times doubted it. But oh the patience of the Shepherd! who is his people's strength in all their weakness, and enables them to say with the apostle, "When I am weak, then am I strong!" for that word is spoken to the heart, "My grace is sufficient for thee." His people know their gracious Shepherd in the hour of temptation! for "when the enemy cometh in as a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifteth a standard against him." And oh how precious the Saviour is to his people, when the world frowns, and trials press heavy; when father and mother forsake them, then they know Him in all his endearing relationships, as Father, Brother, Husband, Friend. In the dark and cloudy day, when there is no eye to pity, or hand to help them, then the Shepherd's The Saviour knows his beloved people under all their varied and painful circumstances! He knows all their trials and conflicts with the world, the flesh, and Satan! He hears their groans, and sees their tears, and marks their sorrows, and feels Himself the pang that rends the heart, for they are dear to Him; and when on a sick bed, and in the dying hour, He is there as the Be-eye is on them, and some precious proloved of the soul, to comfort and to strengthen, and whisper peace to the departing spirit, and to give it into the charge of angels to convey it to the mansions of bliss. And the poor dust of his redeemed is precious in his sight; for He shall recognize, and gather together each atom, and fashion that once corruptible body, and make it like unto his own glorious body! and then the redeemed and glorified flock shall be for ever with their Lord. mise spoken to the heart, and the hand of love stretched out for their deliverance or support, as He sees fit to deal with them. But much as we have seen and experienced (for we write from experience, and we trust for the glory of God), of our gracious Lord's care and watchfulness, still but little of it, is as yet made manifest unto us, for in his wisdom "He hideth Himself" in the greatness of his power! for a view of his actings towards us as they really are would overwhelm us; but He tenderly reveals Himself as we are able to bear "And am known of mine." His people are brought to know Him whom to know is life eternal, through the teach-it. ing of the Holy Spirit, and that alone! no other Teacher can make known Christ to the heart as the all-sufficient Saviour, as a God, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin. And they are brought to know Him as their righteousness to justify! as the great law Fulfiller in all its strict demands! as their Divine Head, Substitute, and Representative! He who has engaged to save them, on whose shoulders the government and responsibility of the Church rests. Sometimes He condescends to come forth as it were visibly on our behalf, just to give us (if we may so speak), a specimen of what He is constantly doing for us, though we see it not; but it is ours now to walk by faith, not by sight, and ere long we shall know it all, and will then be able to bear the full develop ment of our Father's dealings. But let us rejoice that we are in his hands, and no power can pluck us thence. Behold," He says, I have graven thee His sheep know their Heavenly Shep- on the palms of my hands." And again, herd as their Guide and Protector! "I" Son, thou art ever with me, and all will guide thee with mine eye, I will com- that I have is thine." pass thee about with songs of deliverance," is the promise of Him who is the faithful God. But our Divine Guide is pleased to lead us sometimes by paths we have not known, some of them rough and thorny, crooked and dark, yet still it was the 66 In our gracious Shepherd, we have a sympathizing Friend, one "that sticketh closer than a brother!" yea, brother born for adversity!" for our gracious Saviour threw Himself into the very midst of our sorrows, afflictions, and temptations. Witness those re markable words, "Then was Jesus led Behold Him in all his sympathy, approaching the gate of Nain, and in the overflowing of his love, restoring from the silence of death, the only son of a widowed mother. Thus Scripture and experience testify that "God is love;" that his dealings! with us throughout the wilderness have been all marked by love. Many precious lessons we have had to teach us this; and yet how little do we know, though our Great Teacher is making fresh discoveries of Himself, and our own helplessness to us daily. Gracious Jesus, we will be learning of thee throughout eternity; thou thyself will be unfolding deep mysteries unto us, that will cause heaven to resound with hallelujahs. O yes,― For sin for ever will be gone, And ignorance far remov'd; How diff'rent then will they appear As marks of love, and tenderness, And proofs of cov'nant grace; And Jesus too will tell us this, And show how much he lov'd; Stood just behind a cloud, And came at once to our relief, And dried our falling tears; Dublin. M. E. L. ON FAITH AND GOOD WORKS. TO A WEAKLING. MY DEAR FRIEND,-If I can be of any use in clearing your views on some subjects which are at present painfully perplexing, I shall be truly thankful for the opportunity. I have adopted this method of replying to your queries, because I thought some other reader of the Gospel Magazine might be similarly exercised, and my lines may thus be doubly useful.. cause you to think that orchards and gardens were not necessary, that fruit and flowers can be gathered where no trees grow? Or again, you have gone through an orchard expecting to find pears, but found only damsons, did this make you believe that good trees do not bring forth good fruit? Was not the fruit which was made of wax, made merely to attract and delight the eye? It was in You think you perceive persons per-fact like the works you speak of, as being forming good works, simply to earn for themselves a good name; and this makes you think that there may be good works without faith. On the other hand, you see many who profess to believe, who produce very few if any good works; and therefore you are ready to conclude, that faith does not always bring forth good works. A great deal of this perplexity arises, my dear friend, from the want of a due consideration of what constitutes a good work. I dare say, you have seen very beautiful wax fruit and flowers, did this ever done without faith, merely superficial, had the appearance of fruit, but nothing more; and were not the damsons good fruit, though they were not pears, just so the gift of a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, is a good work, though its value may be slight, and the action itself insignificant, in the sight of men. It is necessary to understand what is a good work, in the sight of a holy God, and I should say, in a few words, it is such an act as is done in obedience to God's holy word, from a principle of love to God in Christ. Such and such only are acceptable to God, and they are ac- | goal, and his aim is for the prize; and he ceptable, though Jesus Christ, however who is engaged in a wrestling match imperfectly they may be done. In the may be often thrown, yet persevere, and twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew's finally be the conqueror. Have I made Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ when this clear to you? No work is good unspeaking of the final judgment, and the less it be done with a loving heart, there sentence pronounced on the righteous, is no loving heart which is not a believing shows that the actions mentioned there heart, and there is no believing heart as their good deeds, are all such as pro- which is not a working heart, notwithceed from love to Himself, and Paul standing all its failings and short-comsays, "The love of Christ constrainethings. Again a good work, is a work done from a right motive, a desire to glorify God, and this motive can only exist where there is true faith in the Lord Jesus. Man by nature is selfish, and does nothing but to gain his own ends; grace subdues this selfishness, and makes him act from a higher, nobler motive, namely to render somewhat unto the Lord for all his benefits. us. grace The other subject which is at present dark and mysterious to you, is the doctrine of faith, assurance, and full assurance; a great deal has been written and said on this subject, but in my opinion much of the difficulty arises from the soul looking too much at its own acts, its own possessions, and not sufficiently at Jesus Christ our Saviour, the beauty of his person, the completeness of his You may rest assured, where there is righteousness, the efficacy of his bloodno faith in the Lord Jesus, there can be shedding, the all-sufficiency of his no love, consequently no good work. On and strength. Instead of praying that God the other hand, if there be faith in the would bestow the gift of assurance, I think Lord Jesus Christ; if we believe that the we should pray that we "may know him," blessed Redeemer died an ignominious that we may 66 grow in grace, and in the death to save us from our sins; if we knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ," consider the "exceeding great love of for I am sure that we cannot walk in our Lord and Saviour Jesus in dying for daily intercourse with Him, without us," this begets love to Him again, and feeling all the blessedness of assurance. the result is, a life, the object of which On a future occasion, if the Lord will, I is to glorify Him, not by some extraor-will resume this part of my letter, which dinarily good deeds performed now and must now be brought to a close, comthen, but by one continued presenting mending you to the gracious care of him, our "bodies, a living sacrifice, holy and whom to know is life eternal, acceptable unto God:" and this, as I said before, will be accompanied by many infirmities, as he who runs a race, may frequently stumble, yet his eye is on the Believe me, Affectionately yours in the Lord Jesus, ALFRED HEWLETT. "THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FATHER'S GLORY." THERE is a glory in the green HEB. I. 3. Yea, and beyond the starry dome, ABIJAH. SUMMER GATHERINGS. As soon as I was comfortably settled in the boat, I began to look about and examine my companions. There was a When our short journey was ended, gaily dressed young woman-two cheer-we paired off with our companions; but ful looking boys-an old lady in deep I felt a secret drawing to the old lady, mourning-and an elderly person in an that made me linger near her till an humble station of life, that I guessed to be the wife of a small tradesman. The old lady recognized her immediately on entering the boat, and soon after we were all settled, the silence of our party was broken by her kindly inquiring after the health of the son of her humble friend. the opportunity of hearing any more of the conversation. "He is very ill indeed, Ma'am," was her reply; "we have no hope whatever of his recovery." "I am truly sorry to hear it," said the old lady. "But what of his soul? It is a solemn thing to meet the God that made us, and against whom we have sinned, unprepared; and there is no preparation for death but in the new birth." The mother assented, and the old lady inquired whether any minister had visited him, and talked to him about his state. 66 Yes," she said; "Mr. L. has seen him, and talked to him a good deal; and you know what a conscientious upright young man my son is; how honourable and industrious in his business; a truly good master, and faithful friend; a worthy man in every respect." And here the mother's eyes filled with tears, and she ceased to speak from emotion. opening was given me for a little offer of civility, whereby we fell into conversation as we walked together from the boat. I made some allusion to the truths she had been speaking to the poor dark woman she had just parted from. "Ah!" said she, with much feeling, "I have just come from witnessing such a different sick bed. The sister of these two youths, a child of ten years old, was put by her parents to a boarding-school at B After remaining there six months, she became seriously ill, and was taken home. She gradually became worse, and her parents, though not Christian people, wished me to come and visit my little grand-child. I did so gladly, and tried to show her faithfully her state as a sinner-her need of the new-birth-her inability to do anything for her own salvation, and the precious work of a precious Christ in doing everything for sinners, who could do nothing for themselves. I found, however, made no impression upon her, and I requested her parents to send for a minister, who I knew would set divine things rightly before her. He called, and after his first visit she became very thoughtful. God opened up to her a sight of her heart, and she began to get very troubled "Ah! my friend," said the old lady, on account of her sins. In this state "all that will go a long way upon earth, she continued for some weeks, until a but it will be of no service in heaven. few days before her death, when she All that your son has done right here called me to her bedside, and said, below, he must leave behind him; heGrand-ma', I am pardoned by Jesus; can't bring it before God. Nothing but I am quite happy to go now; I have no the new-birth will avail to enter heaven. fears of death." Oh the gladness of my A heart washed in the precious blood of heart, as I listened to the dear child, and Jesus, is the only thing God will look at heard the sweet story again and again when we appear before Him." from her lips, of Christ's love revealed to her soul. With much feeling she talked to her parents, and these two boys, of the happiness she felt, and the glorious prospect of being soon with Jesus, and in the full enjoyment of his love, she fell asleep, to awake up in his likeness for evermore." "Oh, he is quite resigned to die; he is quite submissive, I assure you," said the poor mother warmly. "But is he glad to die? is he happy in the prospect of being with God?" asked the old lady. The woman was silent, and a change in the boat's company deprived me of L. L |