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ner; but the change of state which has been effected, has qualified him to appear in the house of his Father God; and the influence which is shed upon him through Christ, his Redeemer, upholds and cheers him in the performance of the duties which are binding on him, according to the relationship in which he stands to God. In this way we are sanctified by partaking of the fulness of Christ, and all our powers are employed in giving praise to his name. The enlightening influence of the eternal Spirit shed upon the saints according to the word of God, reveals the glory of the person and work of the great Immanuel; faith receives and apprehends with pleasure the testimony of truth concerning Christ, and the love that he bears for his ransomed brethren; and this engenders in them most sincere, simple, and unalienable affection to him. By such influence we are borne as upon the wing of an eagle above the things of earth, time, and sense; and we have a delightful prospect of entering the paradise above to dwell for ever in the presence of God.

Our conformity to Christ will be manifested by likemindedness with him. Whosoever is in possession of the mind of Christ will affectionately cherish and exhibit some degree of that temper which he breathed when he was on earth. Indeed it is not in the nature of things possible that any man can be vitally united to the person and conformed to the image of Christ, but he will evidence it by seeking for the things which are prepared for him." But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." The child of want who is conscious of his spiritual malady, poverty, disgrace, and helplessness, will humbly tell his woeful tale to God his Father, who is ever attentive to the cries of his needy offspring, and Jesus who ever feels all the pains which are endured by his brethren, will elicit the tenderness of his heart towards them, by healing their wounds, and banishing their fears. How near and dear is that connection which exists by the will of God between Christ and his seed-and how mysterious is the plan of wisdom, by which the household of faith is comprehended in his person, and sustained by his bounty. We are dependent upon him for those supplies of grace promised to us, and which are necessary to preserve us in the path of life.

It is an expression of the sovereignty and freedom of grace, that we are commanded, encouraged, and invited to approach the throne of mercy to make known our requests to God; and as we apply to God as pensioners upon his bounty, and suppliants for favour in the name of Christ, we shall never be sent empty away, because we are so utterly unworthy of his notice; but as the disposition of mind which is cherished by us was produced in us according to the appointment of God our Father, he will convey in that degree which will really benefit us the good things which he promised us in Christ Jesus his Son. Nothing is more certain than this, viz. that God respects the principle of action which his people cherish, and deli

peate in their approaches to him. Whatever is repugnant to his revealed will, he rejects it with holy disgust; but whatever is the fruit of the Spirit, and it is done by us in the way which he has prescribed it should be done, he marks it with special approbation as an act of homage and allegiance offered to him. The temper possessed by the true christian, is a thing of such value and importance, that it cannot be purchased by him, nor can it be superseded. Considering as we do that the perfection of truth fills every part of it, and the sanctity peculiar to it consecrates the heir of mercy for God, we are persuaded that if the temper of the heavenly dispensation is not daily cultivated, that the principle of it cannot reside in that man's bosom. Without attempting to give a formal description of it, we affirm that the closing parts of the various epistles written by Paul to the different churches, is a striking and demonstrative proof of the holy quality of the doctrinal principles that he had laid down at the commencement of them; and the practice of the things commanded by him was the way that the people whom he addressed were led to prove that they were partakers of the life and liberty which he had before asserted to be essentially necessary to constitute any man a real christian.

The holy actions of a spiritual man publicly set him apart from the world for the Master's use. By them it is seen that he is really what he professes to be. We have considered him as set apart by God in the decree of election-by the sacrifice of Christ-by the renewing of the Holy Ghost-and under the influence of divine truth in the possession of the mind of Christ. We will now endeavour to ascertain that our views on this subject are scriptural. We must not forget that the access of the Holy Spirit to the heart renders it certain that the conduct of the man of God is under his control, and it is directed by him according to the equitable establishment of righteousness, by which Christ as the King of saints prescribes what shall be done by his servants, and what they shall leave undone. Truth in its several parts is inseparably united in the person of Christ, and it is best known and exhibited, when men who were before they were evangelized averse to every thing which God approves, they do afterwards make choice by faith and practice those things which crucify the flesh, and by which the recipient of mercy is in the performance of his duty carried along the rugged path of life, with hope that he shall attain the prize for which he contends. In the home and family of such a man, it will be seen that all his affairs are regulated by the word of God, and his approbation is to him of more importance than the possession of the whole world. Follow him into the various walks of life where he is called to obtain his daily bread, and you will see that he is the same man there that he is when he is in his closet communing with God. What he obtains

there in secret, he finds he wants it in public life, to maintain unspotted his christian character, and to preserve unsullied his reputation. The sanctification of our persons for God is a most important VOL. VIII.-No. 102.]

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reality, and is very comprehensive in all its branches. To confirm this, the word of God enjoins," let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.-If a man, therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Not only is the true christian set apart for God in life, but his death is blessed, forasmuch as by it his connection with this world is dissolved, and he finds an admission through it into the kingdom of heaven. Union to the person of Christ as the head of the election of grace, and the Redeemer of his body, the church, is the principle on which the death of a believer is safe and honorable. Eternal love bound Christ and his seed together as one mystical body before the world began, and it held the church fast in him for God, when she departed from Jehovah her Lawgiver and King, and by sin lost her purity, liberty, and perfection; but the covenant of grace and redemption bound Christ, her husband, to appear in our world to remove her crimes in an equitable manner, and thereby to become her everlasting Saviour. This great work he has accomplished, and the Spirit is given to his ransomed seed as the earnest of future glory; and therefore the fruition of bliss is secured to the whole household of faith. Death can never dissolve our compound nature without the authority of Christ; for he is Lord both of the dead and the living. Every heir of mercy is comprehended in the person, and sheltered beneath the cross of Christ; therefore when God will command the ransomed sanctified soul to leave the clay cottage in which it now resides, seeing that there is no unatoned sin which can be laid to the charge of the dying saint, and there is an imperishable righteousness imputed to him, and he is cleansed in the blood of Christ from sin and all its consequences; the moment the soul leaves the body it will be with its great Creator and Redeemer. "This honour have all his saints." They are alike favoured to die in the Lord, although there are many circumstantial differences seen in the death of true saints. Some of them are favoured to die as Moses the man of God is represented to have done, viz. on the mount of God, while others are subject to much anxiety almost to the last moment of life. Well, our salvation does not consist in triumphs of joy, but it is a gracious and righteous deliverance from sin, and all pertaining to it into a state of heavenly life and endless freedom. Whensoever our moments will have run their race, the Lord will by death open a passage for us out of this unfriendly world, and receive us in the name and rights of Christ into the purity of his native kingdom.

But the church of the living God will be sanctified for himself through her resurrection from the dead. For her union to the person of her Husband and Redeemer secures by agreement to her a right to arise and reign with him for ever. Omnipotence will exert itself in

the name and redeeming worth of Christ upon the dead bodies of the saints; and they will arise from the dead without sin; yea, more, the energy employed will change their properties, and they will be conformed to the glorious body of Christ. This last transformation will consummate the sanctity of the whole church of God; for all the heirs of grace will then be exactly like to Christ in virtue, knowledge, and impeccable holiness. On that solemn morning when the great God our Redeemer, will appear to be glorified in all them who believe, he will enter upon that sabbatism of rest with his church of which so much is said in the word of God. No doubt but the glory of the millennial state will as far exceed the present state of the church, as the brightness of the sun does the glimmering light of the glow-worm. This sabbath will terminate, and all beyond it is boundless duration; and because it will be an everlasting existence with Christ in his kingdom, to know God in the person of Christ, according to the order of that world, the saints are often praying for the day to come when they shall know even as they are also known. May it be given to the reader, who shall cast his eye upon this paper, to be of the happy number of those who will go in with the Lord into his kingdom and glory; and may the writer also be there to join his note in the one grand chorus of the church of God, to sing the praises of the worthy Redeemer for ever and ever. Amen.

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"THE grace of God which bringeth salvation, teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." But behold, a greater than Paul is here! Our blessed Lord when he propounded the parable of the creditor and the two debtors (who were both "frankly forgiven") to Simon the Pharisee, concluding the conversation with saying, that "to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much; but, to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." From scripture let us proceed to matter of fact both among clergy and laity. Where is licentiousness curbed? where is pure practical religion to be found? In the pulpits and congregations where works are insisted on as meritorious or conditional to justification? Or where we are told that " by grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast; for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Alas! Is it not evident that multitudes of moral sermons produce nothing but multitudes of moral actions! But where the glad tidings of salvation by grace, through faith alone in Christ Jesus are sounded, there the effects of that grace, and the fruits of that faith are to be seen in sinners' hearts being changed, and their lives and conversations being regulated according to God's holy word.

REVIEW.

The Chief Musician; or, the Christian Singer clothed in his Beautiful Ornaments, and Defended by the Invincible Power of the whole Armour of God against the United Attacks of Ignorance, Prejudice, and Tyranny. No. 1, 12mo. pp. 12. Second Edition. London, Perrin.

WE cannot gather from this first number the line of conduct which the author may wish gospel ministers to pursue "to ensure good singing." We cordially agree with him, in singing being a part in the worship of God; and when it is with the heart and with the understanding also, there is not a more delightful employ: but we rather anticipate being at issue with him on the means to attain it. We attach little value, nay, we will candidly own that a feeling very like disgust predominates when we behold the exhibition of musical instruments, and the other frivolities which disgrace the table pews of some chapels, for whose pastors we entertain a good opinion; and we musingly say to ourselves, it is sad that among this, perhaps, numerous congregation, there is not one who can come forward unbribed, unpurchased, having tasted of God's love, and having a talent to do so, to lead the praises of the congregation; and when, as is sometimes the case, we behold the grey hairs of a deacon occupied in such a service, we can forgive it, even should there happen to be an occasional stumbling in the performance. The singer is a christian singer, and is arrayed in his most becoming ornaments, when with reverend awe he recollects that he is in the presence of the Omniscient Jehovah, and when filial fear and love dictates solemnity to his joy. Should the continuing numbers of this work reach us, we may probably return to the subject.

A Selection of Hymns from various Authors, compiled especially for Children of Sunday Schools; by William Nunn, M. A. Minister of St. Clements, Manchester, 12mo.

"For the promotion of Sunday School singing, the editor has compiled this selection of hymns, and for important reasons, which he trusts will prove a sufficient cause for adding to the list of Sunday school hymn books already published. In all the selections which have come under the notice of the editor, there are many hymns which are very objectionable—some containing the erroneous sentiment of the eternal redemption of the whole human race; others asserting the capability of man, in a natural state, to perform spiritual actions; and a great many comprising language of christian experience not at all adapted for the use of instructed but unenlightened youth. The editor has endeavoured to avoid these inconsistencies, and trusts that many of the people of God will be thankful that this selection has been published, especially such of them.

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