"He shall save His people from their sins." The third particular, namely That it is an evil and bitter thing to sin against God, I need not inform you is true; for you are now proving it by painful experience. O what presumption, then, there is in that state, which imagines that it will acquire greater benefits, and escape more evils, by wandering from God, than by a patient, though, sometimes, suffering adherence to Him. "If we suffer, we shall reign with Him." 2 Tim. iii. 12. We had better suffer by sin, than suffer for sin. It is better to be dead with a living Christ, than be alive with a dead world. God's word is true, my sister, "there is no peace to the wicked." Isa. lvii. 21. And, blessed be God, that other scripture is true also, "righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Thus, while there is an eternal enmity between the one party, there is an eternal embrace between the other. Seek righteousness, then, my dear afflicted penitent, and, becoming one with her, peace, in embracing her, will embrace you likewise. Now, Christ is "the Lord our righteousness," both imputed and imparted. As He is imputed, His people have a vicarial embrace of peace in Him: and as He is imparted, they have an experimental embrace of peace in themselves. Where Christ, the divinely anointed one, prevails not, sin will, and, of course, wretchedness. If the crown flourish not upon the head of the second Adam within us, it will flourish upon the head of the first; and, of course, thorns and thistles will flourish also; for "cursed is the ground for thy sake, thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Gen. iii. 17, 18. The fourth particular, namely-That the Lord will not suffer any to pluck His people out of His hand, you believe, as respects such as are interested in Him; but the question with you now is, whether you are a subject of that interest. This is, indeed, a source of painful conflict! but it is not uncommon with the saints, nevertheless. No man can preserve himself with respect to this branch of experience, any more than in any other and God causes His people to know this, and that, sometimes, by the loss of it. This, indeed, is a severe affliction, which a natural religion

is totally ignorant of; because natural religion lives not by a spiritual faith, which can be had only from God; but by a carnal faith, which it can have from itself. The truly spiritual children of God live only by this spiritual faith, for they have no other mean whereby to live; if this fail them, therefore, their livelihood fails them-as respects experience and this will produce great distress. I have been favoured ever since my effectual calling, now seventeen years, with a constant stability, as to my interest in Christ; but I am fully aware that my faith, in that, as well as in every other respect, hangs entirely upon the breath of God. No creature-reasoning whatever could preserve me, if He were to withdraw His Spirit; for this alone, within me, is the Spirit of faith. "When He hideth His face, who then can behold Him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only." I must add the former part of this decisive passage, however; for we should faint entirely, if we could only see God's sovereignty as it can operate against us: "Where He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble ?" Job xxxiv. 29. But to come to the point in my fourth particular-The Lord will not permit any to pluck His people out of His hand. The passage from which these words are immediately derived is John x. 27, 28, which you will do well to consult in spirit, and in the presence of God, with respect both to your calling, and your security in Christ. It reads as follows:-"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." Now, the security of God's people you will admit, but the question again returns-Am I one of them? Let me assist you in contemplating this interesting portion, in reference to this point. "My sheep hear my voice." Now there are various voices uttered from heaven, as we read in the Revelation to John, and in other places of Scripture, but Christ is the living word from which they all emanate"His name shall be called the Word of God." Rev. xix. 13. Take a view of one passage, for all that variety of voice

having once set you right, and that you having requited Him evil for good, in wandering from Him, He will now leave you to perish in your own ways. This brings me to the fifth particular of the passage in Hosea, to four of which I have already called your attention, namely— That He will not fail to rescue His people from the grasp of their spiritual enemies, though it should be through much tribulation. This rescue, I trust, you are now proving, as well as the tribulation. See also Ezekiel xx. 32-38, upon the same point "that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, we will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out from the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretchedout arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." You will understand the spiritual signification of this striking portion, I think. The heathen, and the countries, and the people, from which the Lord engages to rescue His children, are (spiritually considered) the various courses of sin and backsliding into which they go and the wilderness, into which He says He will bring them, is called, "the wilderness of the people;" that is, sin's wilderness—a place of thorns and briers-a land of drought and pits-where you now are. And the Lord's pleading with them face to face, is that state of conviction, confusion, and rebuke, which you now feel. But you will observe, that after all, He

brings them into the "bond of the covenant;" that is, into an experimental possession of the things contained in the covenant of grace. I give you these hints as a key, merely, to the passage, in reference to your own case. The sixth, and last particular deducible from the passage in Hosea is, that the Lord's people are very dear to Him, notwithstanding all their backslidings, insomuch, that they are to be brought into a consciousness of the highest love-relationship in the universe" thou shalt call me Ishi."MY HUSBAND! To bring this to pass, the Lord ardently and affectionately calls after the wandering objects of His still unchanged, and unchangeable love"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and bring you to Zion." Jer. iii. 14. Again, in verse 22, of the same chapter, it is written," return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." The reply which immediately follows this tender invitation of the Holy One of Israel, is, I believe, the language of your present state, and it is written in the spiritual directory, to be a way-mark to the returning bride, whereby she is informed, that when she is possessed of the penitent affections towards God, involved in this reply, she may rest assured that God is possessed of the gracious affections, towards her, involved in the invitation. "Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and the multitude of mountains: truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." Jer. iii. 23. You have been much upon my spiritual sympathies before God since I received your letter. O my infinitely tender-hearted High Priest, how much, then, must thy mourning penitent dwell upon thy perfect sympathies! Let this weeping Mary find gracious access to thee. "We have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. iv. 15, 16.

That He, who in His love and in His pity redeemed His people, may speedily cause you to realize a like deliverance in your experience, is the ardent prayer of yours, in the sympathies of Jesus Christ. S. B. H.

CHAMBER PENCILLINGS. THE MAN OF JEHOVAH'S CHOICE. "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple."-Ps. Ixv. 4.

"And their nobles (noble one) shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for, who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord."-Jeremiah Xxx. 21.

THE Psalm from which the above passage has been selected, forms part of an address presented by the church to Jehovah the Father, and it contains an ascription of blessedness to the man of His choice. To avoid the possibility of mistake with regard to the beloved object of that choice, the prophet Jeremiah was directed by the Holy Ghost, to announce the promise that God would cause His dear Son to draw near and approach unto Him.

The learned and elegant "Witsius" has so beautifully paraphrased the latter passage that we cannot do better than give the explanation in his own words:

"None but Christ could undertake to be the Surety for the church, for God Himself says, who is this that engaged His heart, or appeased His heart by His suretyship, or sweetened His heart by a voluntary and suicidal engagement; or, in fine, pledged His very heart, giving His soul both as the matter and price of the suretyship (for all these things are comprised in the emphasis of the Hebrew language) to approach unto me, that He may expiate sin."-Witsius on the Economy of the Covenants-Ch. ii. sect. 5.

To return to the Psalm, we are informed in the succeeding clause of the result consequent on God's choosing and causing Christ to approach unto Him, viz." that He might dwell in His Father's courts:"- This is strikingly corroborated by various notices scattered

over the pages of Scripture which it will be both pleasing and profitable to collect and examine. Take, for example, the promise and prophecy recorded by Ezekiel, where God says, "My tabernacle” (unquestionably the human nature of His Son) shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people."-Chap. xxxvii. 27. That this has been remarkably fulfilled in the first Advent of the Messiah, is most accurately affirmed by St. John in chap. xxi. of the Apocalypse,"behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Zechariah, also, in his prophecy, represented the Mediator as saying of Himself, “Lo! I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee;" and many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of them, and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me."-Zech. ii. 10, 11. Again, Isaiah prophecies," and in mercy shalt the throne be established; and He shall sit upon it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness."-Ch. xvi. 5. The same beautiful promise is also recorded by Moses, "and I will set my tabernacle among you; and my soul shall not abhor you; and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.”—Lev. xxvi. 11, 12. Many centuries afterwards, the great apostle of the Gentiles, in writing his second letter to the believers in Corinth, reminds the church there, that they are "the temple of God," and he confirms his assertion, by a reference to this very passage from the Pentateuch, for he goes on to say, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them."-2 Cor. vi. 16. Abundance of instances of similar import might be adduced;-let the foregoing suffice to shew the identity of the person characterized as 66 blessed" "with that of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the faithfulness of God to His promises, in not only causing Him to draw near and approach unto Him, but also, by appointing Him to dwell in His courts; viz., in the very midst of His beloved, chosen, and re

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deemed people; for the Prophet Isaiah was directed to announce the consolatory fact, that Jerusalem should be a quiet habitation," a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken."-Chap. xxxiii. 20. Let us proceed to examine the concluding portion, in which the church is represented as saying, shall be satisfied with the goodness of thine house." This reminds us of a beautiful promise," my people shall be satisfied with my goodness," the verse continues, even of thy holy temple." -Jer. xxxi. 14. Two things are prominently noticed in this expression, viz., the house, and the temple. In regarding them separately, we will enquire first, what is intended by the temple.

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The peculiar phraseology "thy temple" seems to have special reference to the human nature of our Lord, and it is analogous with His own description of that nature, when He said to the Jews,

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destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," alluding to His crucifixion by the hands of wicked men, and His own act of omnipotence about to be displayed in raising Himself from the dead. In the succeeding verses we are informed that "He spake of the temple of His body."-John ii. 19, 21. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Colossians asserts that "in Christ dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Ch. ii. 9; in the preceding chapter it is said that, "it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." This "fulness" there treasured up in Christ for the use of the church, constitutes that "goodness" which flows out of this inexhaustible fountain, God's holy temple, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the express use, solace, and delight of His body the church, as St. Paul tells us in another place that," the fulness of Him filleth all in all."-Eph. i. 23. Christ then, is God's holy temple, and the church is His house. We may wind up these brief remarks by the apostle's appropriate description of both temple and house,

I. The argument of the apostle relating to Christ's priesthood: - - The priesthood of Christ, is very glorious in its absolute necessity: it was so really needed, that nothing else could be substituted for it: the people could not do without such a priest: their sinful condition required Him, and no other could take His place, and perform His atoning work:-The priesthood of Christ is very glorious in its ancient origin: He was before the institution of the Levitical œconomy, before Solomon's temple was built, or the priests had shed any blood therein, before Abel brought his lamb, or ever blood was spilt upon this earth, Christ was: after the order of Melchisedec, having neither beginning of days nor end of life:-The priesthood of Christ is very glorious in the manner of its ratification: it was not without an oath He was made a priest; and He performed His vow, enduring the cross and despising the shame: He has sealed His salvation with His own blood, and thus made it sure to all His seed: He has confirmed all the promises of God,-has made an end of controversy,-that God is love, and has established forgiveness and remission of sins, on the warrant of His own life, death, and resurrection; glorious ratification!-The priesthood of Christ is very glorious, in its grand foundation,— His own sacrifice: He has done the great deed Himself: He has absolved His people from every guilty charge by His own self bearing their sins on the tree; thus, more than the whole wealth of creation has been sacrificed, even,-Creation's Lord, King of kings, and Lord of lords: the priesthood of Christ is very glorious, as conveying every spiritual benefit: all that sinful man receives is for Christ's sake: He has opened the wide channel of mercy, and all the various mercies