And where is this voice heard? "In the word of the truth of the gospel." The soul that believes on the name of the Son of God has received new life. What life? The resurrection life of Christ. The simple word of the gospel is the seed by which this new life is produced. And what does this gospel, this message of glad tidings, declare? That Christ died and rose again-that He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself—that He is gone into heaven-that He has, by Himself, purged our sins-that He has met every claim, every demand, every objector-that Justice is satisfied-conscience tranquillized-the enemy confounded. This gives life and liberty-new life-divine liberty. It carries the soul entirely out of the old creation and all its belongings, and introduces it into the new creation and all its privileges, joys and glories. The death of Christ delivers the believer from the old Adam condition in which he was born; and His resurrection introduces him into the new Adam condition in which he is born again. Now, all this is by the word of God-the voice of Christ -the operation of the Holy Ghost. There is no human effort in the matter. The dead body of Lazarus was acted upon by the voice of Christ; and the soul, "dead in trespasses and sins," is acted upon by the voice of Christ. The one is as independent of man as the other. The quickening power for both soul and body is in "the voice of the Son of God." (See John v. 25, comp. with verses 28, 29.) This takes all the glory out of man's hand, and places it where it ought to be, even in the hand of the Son of God. He must bear all the glory, for ever, blessed be His name! Oh! how ardently I long that those precious souls for whom I write may fully enter into what I have written. I write for quickened souls who are not yet emancipatedwho have life, but not liberty-who have "come forth," but are not yet "loosed and let go." There are many such. There are many in the condition of the prodigal when he arose from the far country, but had not yet reached the father's arms-many in the seventh of Romans. I earnestly long for their full emancipation. I would affectionately remind them that the whole work is done--the sacrifice completed the ransom paid. They have not to read another syllable in order to get settled peace. Christ has made peace. God is well pleased. The Holy Ghost bears witness. The word of God is plain. Where, then, is the foundation for a doubt? The reader may exclaim, “ Alas! it is in myself." Yes; but, my dear friend, you have nothing to do in a matter which has already been done for you. The righteousness of God is "to him that worketh NOT." If you had to do aught in order to get righteousness, then Rom. iv. 5 would not be true. Remember-oh, remember, and delight in that most glorious "NOT." It will not suffer the weight of a feather of human doings, human feelings, or human anything, to be thrown into the scales, in order to make Christ's sacrifice available for you. Christ has done all for your present, personal, and perfect salvation. May the Lord, the Spirit, emancipate precious souls from the grave-clothes in which they are entangled. May many hear and understand those thrilling accents, "LooSE HIM AND LET HIM GO." THE PERFECT MAN. THE Lord Jesus Christ was the only perfect man that ever trod this earth. He was all perfect-perfect in thought, perfect in word, perfect in action. In Him every moral quality met in divine, and, therefore, perfect proportion. No one feature preponderated. In Him were exquisitely blended a majesty which overawed, and a gentleness which gave perfect ease, in His presence. The scribes and the pharisees met His withering rebuke, while the poor Samaritan and "the woman that was a sinner" found themselves unaccountably, yet irresistibly, attracted to Him. No one feature displaced another, for all was in fair and comely proportion. This may be traced in every scene of His perfect life. He could say, in reference to five thousand hungry people, "Give ye them to eat;" and, when they were filled, He could say, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." The benevolence and the economy are both perfect, and neither interferes with the other. Each shines in its own proper sphere. He could not send unsatisfied hunger away; neither could he suffer a single fragment of God's creatures to be wasted. He would meet, with a full and liberal hand, the need of the human family, and, when that was done, He would carefully treasure up every atom. The self-same hand that was widely open to every form of human need, was firmly closed against all prodigality. There was nothing niggardly nor yet extravagant in the character of the perfect, the heavenly man. What a lesson for us! How often with us does benevolence resolve itself into an unwarrantable profusion! And, on the other hand, how often is our economy marred by the exhibition of a miserly spirit! At times, too, our niggard hearts refuse to open themselves to the full extent of the need which presents itself before us; while, at other times, we squander, through a wanton extravagance, that which might satisfy many a needy fellow creature. Oh, my reader, let us carefully study the divine picture set before us in "the life of the man Christ Jesus." How refreshing and strengthening to "the inward man" to be occupied with Him who was perfect in all His ways, and who "in all things must have the pre-eminence." MS. of "Notes on Leviticus." "THE VISION OF THE ALMIGHTY." (Read Numbers xxiii. and xxiv.) In these remarkable chapters, we are called, as it were, to pause and hearken, while Jehovah tells out, in the ear of the enemy, what He thinks about His people. Balak, the King of Moab, terrified by the sight of "all that Israel had done to the Amorites," hires Balaam to curse them, but the Lord makes use of the tongue of the covetous prophet, in order to tell out His thoughts about Israel. He will not allow any one to curse His people. He may have to deal with them, in secret, about many things; but He will not suffer another to move his tongue against them. This is a grand point. It matters not what the enemy may think about God's people, or what they may think about themselves, or what they may think about one another; the real question is, what does God think about them? He knows exactly all that concerns them, all that they are, all that they have done, all that is in them. Everything stands clearly revealed to His all-penetrating eye. The deepest secrets of the heart, of the nature, and of the life, are all known to Him. Neither angels, men, nor devils, know us as God knows us. Hence, it is not with "the vision" of angels, or "the vision" of men, or "the vision" of devils, we have to do, but with "the vision of the Almighty." This gives sweet peace to the heart. God sees us, thinks of us, speaks of us, and acts towards us, according to what He Himself has made us, and wrought for us, according to the perfection of His own work. Thus it is we appear "in the vision of the Almighty"-thus are we seen" from the top of the rocks." When God looks at His people, He* beholds in them His own workmanship; and it is to the glory of His holy name, and to the praise of His salvation, |