Though Esau was a cunning hunter, he was not cunning enough to hunt up the venison for his father, but the Lord brought it to Jacob; just so do all Esaus go hunting for their religion, but the Lord brings the blessings of grace to His Jacobs.-Mote. Heaven is a blessed and unbounded circumference, where all the saints stand round the throne, and behold Christ in the meridian blaze of His glory.-W. J. In the death of Christ we behold the debt of sin, but in His resurrection we see the receipt. His sacrifice has obtained our permanent discharge, and everlastingly brought in peace through His blood. The provisions of the Covenant of grace are irreversible blessings.-Luckin. All the intercourse between God in heaven and His Church on the earth, is carried on through blood.-A. Triggs. No one preaches so well as one who is as Paul was-"ready to depart."-Irons. Eternity in view will make a man use the things of time as he ought.-Irons. The bud of a good desire, the blossom of a good resolution, and the fruit of a good action, cometh from God.-Sibbes. Nothing so high that is above Jehovah's providence; nothing so low that is beneath it; nothing so large but is bounded by it; nothing so confused but He can order it.-Dr. Sibbes. It is the God-head of Jesus that gives efficacy and value to every act of redemption.-J. Irons. A real saint is a transformed sinner. The great magnetic chain of the gospel is God's everlasting love, and its every link is God's almighty power.-W. J. Nothing that Christ hates can deserve to be loved: nothing that He loves can deserve to be hated.-Lavater. Christ is the head and prototype of all that is worthy to be adored.-Lavater. Why did the apostles in their prefaces join grace and peace together, but that we should seek for our peace in the freegrace and favour of God, in Christ? Is the proof of espousals possess'd; Our mutual loves, His Father approves, This, plainly His will has express'd. 'Tis blissful to sit, and receive at His feet His gifts, as dispens'd from the throne: 'Tis blissful to stand, upheld by His hand, And view His vast riches our own. The winds north and south, with a kiss from His mouth Disperse all the clouds from our sky, And we from the heart, long much to depart To dwell with Him always on high. MORTALITY. Oh! what a chequer'd scene is life, Of mingled light and shade; Sometimes it looks so fair and bright, Then dark the path is made. In this thy gracious hand I view, Author of all that's good; Thou chastenest, yet thou lov'st us too, And mercy guides the rod. For were this life a scene of joy, Exempt from human woe; From whence those blessings flow. E. N. S. In presenting our subscribers with the volume of "THE POT OF MANNA for 1852," we are led to hope that its contents have fed the church of God. Did we not believe this, had we not warrant to believe this, we should be destitute of that reward for our labours, which is the only compensation we ever expected. Our Periodical does not distinguish itself as the ambassador of the ecclesiastical fame of any Sanhedrim: it is not an Omnibus, driven by a Jehu, for the conveyance of a troop of panting aspirants for a public name: it is not a Trumpet, to be hired for mortal smiles, and blown at the pleasure of the ambitious. We believe our Magazine has fed the church of God, not with that exciting intelligence which is in fellowship with the spirit of a secular newspaper, but with that wholesome meat which, when digested, produces something really beneficial. We feel that he who professes to feed the minds of others, takes upon himself an employment of the highest importance and greatest responsibility, and that the pecuniary part of the affair scarcely belongs to the responsibility, when the frightful power a Magazine exercises, either for good or evil, is a great fact; for an Editor undertakes to pay a monthly visit to the homes of his readers, for the purpose of reaching the hearts of an immortal constituency; and the lofty importance of the embassy being understood, is the best guarantee for the discharge of the great duty, with an eye single to the promotion of the divine glory, in the production of every thing that is lovely and of good report in the experience of the people. But, if a wide circulation be the goal of expected felicity, the attainment of such an end will be marked by a servitude to means unworthy of an immortal cause, while there exists no security for the thorough independence of the Periodical. The Press is, we think, an engine for evil, if its tendency is to withdraw the mind from the quiet and enriching contemplation of the God of Israel, or to direct the attention to the public movements in our Temples, rather than the proceedings in the Temple of the heart's secrecy. We think the Press is an engine for evil, if the soul is called off from the consideration of its Saviour and its self. We know, an Athenian spirit possesses the multitude, and that there is a beguiling delightfulness in wandering abroad to prove the pulses of parties,-to count the public steps of sects; but the true paradise of the soul, is in that blest quietude where the storm and dust of congregational riot obscures not the peaceful features of "The Angel of the Everlasting Covenant." The Press is, we think, an engine for good, when like an angel, it ministers to the heirs of salvation, in the communication of the mind of the Spirit, and acts the part of "a teacher come from God:" like "the good Samaritan" also, it should visit the wounded, and pour in the sweet oil of the promises, and the health-giving wine of the inspired word. Convinced of these things, we assure our readers that no effort shall be wanting on our part to render our pages highly expressive of the title,-"THE POT OF MANNA." London, November 25, 1852. THE EDITOR. |