that he may purge his house of corruptions and offences, especially when this is neglected by those clothed with authority secular or spiritual for that end. But then again,

Another reason why God goes this way to work in building up his own tabernacle is, because there is something god-like, greatlike, and majestic in this manner of procedure. There is an awful and terrible majesty in God's way of working, particularly in his way of repairing and building up his house: "Clouds and darkkness are round about him, and yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne; the heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory." There is something very admirable in this way of working.

In respect of God himself. It is seen that the excellency of the power is of him, and not of any instrument whatsoever. Is it not for the glory of God, to open a way for himself that seems altogether impassable? Isai. xlii. 15, 16. "I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs, and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools." What follows?" I will lead the blind by a way they know not, and in paths they have not known: I will make darkness a light before them, and crooked things straight." It is good for the Lord's people to be aiming at the restoration of his house, though they know not a step before them; for though they be in a mist, yet the Lord leads them, and he makes crooked things straight. But then,

There is something in this way admirable in respect of religion itself. All false religions have been propagated by an arm of flesh; Mahometanism by force, Popery by fire and faggot; but the true religion of Jesus, by ways and means that would rather seem to crush it. These bloody persecutions would rather seem to smother the cause of Christ, than any other thing; and yet the Lord advanced his interest by the blood of his saints. Who would ever have thought, that by a handful of poor illiterate fishermen the whole world should be made to subject themselves to a crucified Christ, a contemned Jesus of Nazareth?

It is admirable likewise in respect of the people of God, and the effect that this way of working has upon them; for hereby God purges away their dross: "By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin." "These things do not indeed purge away sin meritoriously, but they do it instrumentally, by sending them to the right point, even to the blood of Christ; and whenever they are washed here, they begin to cry with Ephraim, "What have I any more to do with idols?" Hereby he tries them what metal they are of; not that he is ignorant of it, but to let them know their own weakness, that they have no strength in themselves, but must trust in the living God. Hereby he improves their graces; by these cloudy and dark dispensations he polishes their graces, and rubs off their rust: "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and

hope maketh not ashamed." You know the lopping of the tree contributes to the fertility and growth of the branches. By these trials, God, as the Lord of his vineyard, prunes the luxurious branches of his planting, whereby they are made more prolific in the way of godliness. And hereby the Lord weans their hearts from this vain and transitory world: "Their light affliction worketh for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory:" therefore they "look not at things which are seen, but at things are not seen: for the things that are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal."

ONESIMUS.

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THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.

AND hath the gospel of peace a preparation? yes! so the apostle informs us in his 6th chapter of Ephesians, and 15th verse; and indeed it is a most glorious preparation too. Eye hath not seen, neither the ear heard, nor hath the heart of man conceived what God hath prepared for them that love Him," yet as far as the Lord hath revealed to us portions of the great mystery, we gladly embrace every opportunity afforded us to acquaint others of the royal household of faith of the same. Such is the object of the writer of this essay: to his elders in the faith he would quote the words of John, "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it;" but for his little brothers and sisters, he prays an unction from the Holy One, to impart with greatest freedom and affection that of which himself has "handled, tasted, and felt of the Word of Life."

"The

Looking up to the Lord for his Divine leadings, the poor bruised reed would entreat that the family of God may in spirit enter with him into the sublime mysteries of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, and if his request be agreeable to, and answered by the Lord, we shall soon mount as on eagle's wings into the glorious paradise of God. We shall leave these lower skies, and climb the heights of Pisgah; and looking from the sacred eminence, we shall behold the things that are freely given us of God. preparation of the Gospel of Peace" will rise in sweet succession to our view, and we shall certainly want to build as many tabernacles as we are persons, and leave the men who consult to cast us down from our excellency, at an immeasurable distance from The Lord accompany us in our walks about Zion, that we may mark well her bulwarks, count her towers, consider her palaces, and tell it to the generation following, that this God is our God for ever and ever.

us.

The preparation or preparing of the Gospel of Peace, was the glorious work of God our Father from everlasting. It arose from his eternal love branching itself out by degrees and purposes, every one of which redound to his eternal praise, and bring forth

endless happiness to the whole church. Where, or at what point
shall I begin the great subject. Shall I, or can I be wrong, if I
say this preparation commenced in the Father's setting up his
dear and ever-blessed Son to be the head elect over all things to
the church? Does not the Lord Jesus himself say, "Jehovah
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old ?"
Is he not the first-born of every creature or thing created? Then
most assuredly we must speak of him as the chief of the works of
God, and look for the preparation of the Gospel of Peace in God's
raising up this righteous man from the East, calling him to his foot
and giving the nations before him, even as driven stubble to his bow.
And who does not see wherefore the Father did all the mighty
acts in him that the word relates? Surely it was that the glorious
Christ of God" might be exalted, extolled, and be made very
high." This blessed One, chosen from out of the people, was and
is God's first born, and is made higher than the kings of the earth.
He is higher than all his people, for these are the spiritual kings:
he has an everlasting name on his vesture and his thigh, KING OF
KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Oh my dear brothers in the faith,
depend upon it God would never have ordained a church and
loved and blessed them in him but for this his eternal purpose of
raising up his Son Jesus, and crowning him with glory and honor.
"All things for His sake did Jehovah prepare,

For of him, and through him, and to him they are!
All systems and worlds, all in earth or the sky,
Were made for the lifting of Jesus on high."

Every relative and official character the Lord Jesus bears, is to minister to this one end; they would not otherwise be sustained by him. As Head he has the glorious pre-eminence in all things,-as Husband he is reverenced by his beloved spouse.-As Prophet she sets at his feet and receives the law from his mouth.-As Priest she acknowledges her everlasting indebtedness unto him for atoning and putting away her sin.-As King she puts the crown on his glorious head, bows to his sceptre, and feels her honor and happiness in the high station of standing before him in gold of Ophir, his acknowledged Queen. This is what I call the first glorious part of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.

And the second is like unto it, having its rise also from the everlasting love of God, and opened to us in the revelation of his eternal decrees and purposes, as it regards the choice of the church in the Lord Jesus. They were also set up from everlasting, and had given unto them both name and place within the Lord's house and the Lord's walls, better than that of sons and daughters, even an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. They were eternally constituted the body of Christ, and members in particular." The Saviour himself refers this to the Father, and says, thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when

as yet there was none of them. And those sweet words of Christ, although generally referred (and very properly to) to his humanity, hold equally good, and are very precious in reference to the mystical flesh of our Lord Jesus; a body hast thou prepared me,— Heb. x. 5. Here was our great and good Father giving us both being and membership in Christ, than which there can be no higher honor. In this sacred sense are we the fulness of him that filleth all in all, and we are said to grow up (to form what we were originally and eternally constituted in the sacred mind of our God.) the perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Oh most glorious were these eternal enactments, these love settlements, shewing us the Father's determination of us to the greatest honours, and most exalted privilege he could bestow upon us! Hence our future blessedness is called "the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world." The vessels of mercy were a-fore-prepared unto glory; and "the holy city of our God is prepared, as a bride adorned for her husband." In this inexpressible but most true state she stands continually before God. No alteration whatever hath been or can be made in it; for ever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven: "this matter is by the decree of the watchers, and their demand by the word of the Holy Ones," all of whom are pledged to keep and maintain the church, what tney were decreed to be from eternity, that is, per. fect in Christ Jesus.

Here then is our most glorious Lord Jesus divinely prepared of the Father for his dear people, the glorious God-man raised up on high, and here are the church prepared for him, made one with him, given to him, his body, substance and fulness. He made both one, and that there should be no difference in the Father's mighty view of him and them, they are loved with the same love; have all things equally bestowed, being heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. And as David twice said to Mephibosheth" Thou and Ziba divide the land:" so the immense property of our good father is equally shared by the head and members, for while one scripture tells us that the "Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand; another assures us "God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ."

There is another view of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, and that consists in God's divine ordinations concerning the salvation of his people, and we may say this had for its object the exaltation of Jesus as the sinner's surety and Saviour, or most certainly the church never would have been permitted to fall from her upright condition, and standing in the first Adam. Christ suffered these things, and has entered into his glory; this was the darling theme of the prophets, yea, of the Holy Spirit in the prophets, who testified before hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow :

"His cross a sure foundation laid, for glory and renown."

Now this preparation was in this wise, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them," but laying all their guilt and sin to the account of Christ, imputing all to him. He was made the surety of the better testament. God provided the Holy Lamb for sacrifice; and the glory of this part of the preparation of the Gospel lies in these two things, that is, Christ's ability to put away sin, and the Father's high approbation of him as our surety for his work's sake. The book of God declares the Lord Jesus was chosen by the Father because he was mighty to save, and it also tells us he was well pleased for his righteousness sake. He made his Christ sin for us, or he never could have come under the sentence of the law; then he made him a curse for us, by which act we are finally and fully delivered therefrom.

I pray the church of God to go yet a little further with me in these things, till they read as in plainest letters and most blessed sense, the sweet words of the apostle "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son the propitiation for our sins." The Father prepared, and gave, and sent the ransomer, and Tophet, (even the hell of all his wrath,) was ordained of old, yea for the king (even Jesus) it was prepared, the pile thereof was fire and much wood, the breath of the Lord, as a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." He prepared for him the instruments of death. Zephaniah says, the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice and bidden his guests. And in pursuance of the great preparation of Christ, the sword of vengeance awoke against and smote him. His soul was made an offering for sin; and it was, and is, and ever will be a sweet smelling savour, acceptable unto God. And sure I am that the debt of sin is honorably and to the last fathing paid. When the sword of the Lord was bathed in heaven, even the heaven of the Redeemer's soul, it was returned to its scabbard made fat with fatness. Justice, unyielding, unbending justice said, "I have enough, I ask, I want no more," and oh, what must follow, but eternal honors to the redeemer, and everlasting joy to the redeemed.

Now will not this be called the glorious Gospel of the ever blessed God, and is it not the gospel of Peace to every poor sinner to whom God the Holy Ghost reveals it. I should say it is, yea, I know assuredly that nothing less or else is the Gospel. This only can lift the soul up from sin and satan, death and hell. It is called the peace of God, which passeth all understanding-it is peace made by the blood of the cross, and when Jesus Christ is revealed to the soul, he preaches peace to those who are afar off, and them that are nigh. Where this precious Gospel comes in the power of it, it stops the war of the conscience against God; the soul is severally reconciled to be saved by grace alone, and to discard these high and wicked pretensions of justification in the sight of God by the works of the law. The Vol. IV.-No. VII.

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