heaven, the child of God-the spiritual merchant-he will have a happy new year, when, upon the examination of the balance sheet, faithfully taken from the Day-book of Life, he ascertains that Christ lives and reigns in his heart, the hope of glory; that all is right for eternity; that his soul prospers in the things which are divine and heavenly. Is it thus well with thee, my soul? Does my soul prosper? The answer satisfactory to these inquiries will be to begin the year well. Or is it a difficult question to determine, a point of doubt upon which side the balance turns? Is there an alternate hope and fear in the case?-then let us for a few moments sit down and take counsel upon this allimportant question; and in so doing, may the Eternal Spirit enable us to dismiss the perplexing affairs of the world from our mind, both the counting house and the crops, the shop and the till, the excellences of our friends, and the faults of our foes, while we are led by the Spirit faithfully to prosecute the inquiry, and ascertain the evidences of spiritual and personal prosperity.

A keen and regular appetite for food is an evidence of physical health and prosperity; so a keen and regular appetite for the bread of life, is a sure evidence of spiritual health and prosperity; an inward craving after the manifestation of mercy for further developments of covenant secrets to the soul; an intense hunger for the manna that cometh down from heaven, impelling the soul to get out of camp early in the morning, to gather the descending provisions of heaven; a discriminating appetite that can be satisfied with nothing short of an experimental knowledge of Christ formed in the soul the hope of glory, that will leave the fields of swine, the husks of this world, the unsatisfying provisions of an external religion-a mere round of formal duties, an empty theology as well, a sapless, poisonous theology-and hasten to the table of a finished salvation, where the abundant provisions of free grace are set forth for the poor and the needy in Zion; a persevering hunger that will not be put off with a 'no'; whose voice cannot be silenced by the soothing entreaties of the world, the opposing cowardice of the flesh, nor the

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| uproarious threats of the devil, but its incessant cry is, 'Give me Christ, or I die.'

Is this thy case, reader? I do not ask if thou art one of the elect. I do not ask whether thou art alive from the dead. Admitting this and what a stupendous mercy to possess ! the question is, Does thy soul prosper? Is it, my brother, in good health? Is there an emptiness felt within that nothing can fill, but a living Christ revealed by the Holy Ghost? Is the word and ordinances of God the object of thy warm desire and soul's delight? His saints thy best companions? His service thy noblest employ? His glory thy daily end and aim? Then art thou in health; a happy new year is 1857 to thee. Or is it the case, that a spirit of carelessness, lukewarmness, listlessness, and pride holds thy soul a captive. What! that demon which cometh forth from the lowest caverns of the bottomless pit, keeping in bondage to the world a soul redeemed by blood, a baptized heir of heaven; leading thee to prefer carnal riches to spiritual; the world to the church; the favor of an infidel world to the favor of God; the farthing markets of this world to the glorious merchandise of wisdom? Ah! some there are of professors, who, in spiritual things, appear always to be in a state of torpor and stupefaction, from smoking the opium of this world; that tells to all who see them their sickly state, their fearfully diseased condition; they stand up as a beacon to warn us from the shoals on which they are struck; as a light-house blazing forth to admonish spiritual mariners not to fall foul on the sands

upon which they are run. Full of vigor, frugal, diligent, and courteous in the world; but stiff, formal, proud, in the church, and as cold as a cucumber, from which I have never seen the philosopher that could extract a sunbeam; for such sickness, for such an awful disease, is there no remedy? Yes; one, and only one-blessed be God that one is sufficient. Haste, then, my friend, to the Good Physician, tell him every symptom of the raging consuming malady-your coldness, carnality, selfishness, unfeeling state tell him the whole; but leave it to him to prescribe

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the medicine; he may see it necessary for you to take some draughts of bitters, or a strong purge, or it may be a mixture of disappointment and harsh treatment, not at all acceptable to the carnal palate; but better take a thousand bitters than live in such a sickly condition; and be assured of this, that the Good Physician will not prescribe nor administer anything, but must minister to your health and prosperity.

A further evidence of health and prosperity is an easy and regular pulse. Now how does the spiritual pulse beat? Is it the sweet, free, and regular flow of Divine love in the soul, delightfully developing its fruits in a heavenly conversation, and a life of devotedness to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the glory of God? Is there a freeness felt within, in the will and affections going out after spiritual objects; a cheerful regularity in the motions of the soul's affections, warning every power, and rising with celestial vivacity to its native source; a holy flame of sacred love, burning on the altar of a sanctified heart; consuming your excuses, apologies, difficulties, trials -aye, and burning up your hay and stubble of a creature, natural religion; and in the conflagration your multitude of doubts and fears-ifs' and 'buts'? Is God all and in all to thee? Then, my friend, is thine a happy new year. How delightful a beginning of the new year, if writer and reader, minister and hearer, pastor and people, are thus found with a heavenly, healthful, pulsation; the soul animated, impelled, and absorbed in the love of God in Christ Jesus, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost.

Good health is also evidenced by a graceful and lively action of the body; all the joints moving with freedom, and the person with elegance. So it is with the soul in a state of prosperity; there is a lively, free, humble, and yet bold action of the soul, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Coming as a guilty, ruined, patient, hopeless sinner, to Jesus, and implicitly relying, by faith, upon the blood of Christ for a full and gracious pardon; upon the righteousness of Christ for a complete and eternal justification; upon the achievements of Christ for victory over the world, the flesh, the devil, sin,

death, and every foe; a faith which acts freely in the covenant settlements of the glorious Three in One; growing in an increased sense of the soul's poverty, destitution, and absolute need of salvation by grace; taking root in those eternal rocks of the covenant; I will be unto them a God, and they shall be unto me a people, restoring and appropriating to the soul the ever blessed relationships of husband, brother, friend, prophet, priest, and king, which the Lord Jesus Christ sustains unto his people.

I think I hear one say, I cannot come there. Well, now, is it your chief desire to know and possess these riches you feel living, ardent desire before God to reach them ? Is this what you mean? One thing I desire, and that will I seek after-to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever, that I,' etc. Well, desire on, the blessings are yours, and you

shall possess them. Another says, I

am enabled to rely upon Christ entirely. I can grasp his promise as revealed to me with a vigorous hand, and though I am poor in this world, yet I am rich, for I have a crust and Christ.

What a treasure, my brother! Faith is the key of the heavenly treasury; it opens the door of the banqueting house where the rich feast of fat things are prepared-fat things full of marrow; where the heavenly wines are broached. No such banquet is there as this. No such attires as those; besides its perpetuity, it is an every-day banquet; thy love is better than wine. It also unlocks the king's wardrobe, and receives the best robe, the wedding dress. Moreover, it admits to fellowship unto the king himself. Nor once received can this key ever be lost, while a frequent use of the same will keep it from rust, please the king, and enrich the possessor. Thus shall thy soul prosper, and thine shall be a happy new year.

Furthermore, if you would ascertain the state of your spiritual health; know, then, if hope be lively, active, and ascending, it is the province of this celestial grace to aspire on high, carrying with it the soul's affections to things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Yes, it forces its way beyond the stars, leaving behind the world as a gross, dark, material mass,

unworthy the affections and settlement of the soul redeemed by the precious blood of Christ; it outvies the flight of the heaven-soaring eagle, penetrates all the dark clouds of sin and affliction, and enters into that within the veil; there takes a survey of the heavenly land, inspects the dazzling crown, the immoveable kingdom, the marble mansion, the ivory throne, the exhaustless rivers, the golden streets, the enchanting music, the blissful society, the unutterable felicities; it lays its hand upon the whole, and says it is mine; communicates the fact to the soul.

'Thrice blessed bliss, inspiring hope,
It lifts the fainting spirit up,
It brings to life the dead.
Our conflicts here shall soon be past,
And you and I ascend at last,
Triumphant with our Head.'

Is this, my brother, thy state of spiritual health at the beginning of the year? Then it is well. Come life, come death, all is well. Come prosperity, come adversity, come health, come sickness, come friends, foes

come

WHILE the lamenting prophet could claim the Lord as his personal portion, he no doubt spoke for all the spiritual people of God, who are made more or less to feel a less portion than the Lord himself could not make them truly happy. To this persuasion they are brought, not by their fallen nature, which would prefer an earthly portion to God, but by the work of his grace, the witness of his Spirit, the word of his truth, the want of real worth in creatures, the woes of this world, and the wondrous wealth they find in the Lord alone. To this they gradually come, and at this blessedness arrive by

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means of much prayer, the exercise o faith, hope, and love, and practica regard for his glory, and the frequent enjoyment of his graceful presence. Thus they are enabled to claim their portion here below, but the full fruition is in heaven above.

The Lord is a rich portion, a righteous one, an incorruptible one, an inexhaustible one, a satisfying one, an everlasting one, and a preferable one.

Men may have a large portion of earthly property and yet be very poor in heavenly treasure; they may abound with temporal benefits and still be destitute of eternal blessings; they may have many false gods and yet have no spiritual part in the true one; for if we should gain the whole world and lose our own souls, it must prove an unprofitable possession, as we could not enjoy it, but should be like the man with plenty of money who is obliged to pay the forfeit of his life for crimes committed. But if the Lord be our portion, he has suffered for our sins, procured our pardon, gives us peace, makes us happy, saves us from hell, and fits us for heaven. Thus we share in all the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. iii, 8), partake of the riches of his grace and glory, become rich in faith and heirs of his kingdom, though the poor of this world (Jas. ii, 5), and he is rich unto all that call upon him.' Having him, we have all things richly to enjoy ; let this lead us to be rich in good works, and towards God.

Earthly things are often unrighteously obtained, ill-gotten, gained by theft, fraud, lies, violence; and such portions will not prosper, nor is it likely their possessors can be blessed (Jer. xvii, 11), but the Lord is a righteous portion, he is graciously given to all who have him; none can prove anything amiss in what he is or has done; he had the highest right to give himself to all he pleases; it is his good will to be the God and portion of his people in a just way, nor can they ever be deprived of their inheritance, nor shall their own unrighteousness be any hindrance to their final possession and full enjoyment, for he hath taken away all their sins with his own blood, and he has clothed them with his own righteousness, and called them to put it on by faith, planted

righteous principles within them, caused them to follow his righteous commands, conformed them to his own image, and thus they are a righteous people, evidently blessed with a righteous portion in him, and they must prosper.

Every earthly portion is corruptible, whether it consist of persons, principles, property, pleasure, or any other thing. Man was originally upright, but he soon became a sinner; the sound sentiments of sacred truth have been sadly injured by the errors of men; silver and gold and garments, etc. are subject to decay; and pleasure is either accompanied with pain or soon succeeded by sorrow. Corruptibility belongs to all the earthborn race of creatures; they form a striking contrast to the incorruptible God, whose persons are infinitely pure and unalterably perfect; and they are all equally glorious, and all unitedly engaged to love, and save, and sanctify the people who love, and trust, and truly serve him. The grace he gives them is like himself, an incorruptible seed, a treasure that can ne'er be lost, and leading to a pleasure in the paradise of his presence that will for ever last. So shall the saints in God receive an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and fading not away. (1 Pet. i, 4.)

A temporal store, unearthly funds, creature friendship, human life, and other sources of supply, are all empty and uncertain things, not to be depended on with safety, and they are soon spent. But our immortal God, whose fulness has flowed, and is flowing, and will flow for all the millions of his dependent creatures, has been, is, and will remain the same inexhaustible source as ever. This is true of his temporal supplies to all men, and of his spiritual grace to all saints. He is a well whose waters fail not. A sea without a bottom or a bound. It is as easy with him to give the largest as the least favor. He is neither weak nor weary, but infinitely able to maintain our temporal and eternal life. The former will die because he has ordained it, but the latter will live because he has declared it. Creatures are broken and empty vessels, but Christ is a fountain for ever full. In him it will be wise and well to trust for time and eternity. O Lord, thou art my portion.'

Creature comforts and earthly enjoyments, when sought and received more than they deserve, more than they ought to be, more than God, are unsubstantial, and fail to afford the satisfaction we expected from them. The Lord will be first in our hearts, or else leave us to suffer disappointment from the things we put before him. Creatures are real blessings no further than they are sanctified to us by the Creator's kindness; and when we are led to glorify him who makes them what they are unto us. Everything is poor and unsatisfying apart from God." But he has promised we shall be satisfied with his goodness and love, with the fatness of his house, and with the breasts of public ordinances, through which the sweetest consolation is conveyed. Moses wished to be satisfied with his mercy; and David declared that he should be satisfied when he should awake in the likeness of his Lord. And where is the saint that does not know that the Lord is a satisfying portion?

Another thing observable in earthly portions is their want of durability. Their existence is short, they soon end, and if they were more lasting they and their owners are quickly called to part. But the Lord is the everlasting lover, and saviour, and portion of his people. In this, therefore, as well as in every other excellence, he is unspeakably preferable to all other portions. Christian readers, you have reason to rejoice in a portion so transcendantly high. But O, the guilty sinner and the graceless professor will have cause for weeping if they die with nothing better than this world.

In our Almighty God,

The glorious Three in One, There is a portion rich and good, For all that serve the Son. Though earthly things decay, If Christ the Lord is mine, I can rejoice, and sing, and say, My portion is divine. When creature comforts fly,

Let all believers know,
The Lord with every fresh supply,
Will never cease to flow.

Though earthly joys remove,
The sacred source we sing,
To every saint shall surely prove,
An everlasting spring.

While mortal men may err,

On low delights they live God is the portion I prefer To all the earth can give.'

A NEW YEAR'S PRAYER. 'Great Comforter! descend and bring Some tokens of thy grace.'

MANY and mingled are the thoughts and feelings rising in the mind as the new year opens upon us. The busy mind glances at the past, and is reminded of much that causes the starting tear, the effect of inward pangs. The tear starting is joined by successive tears, perhaps weeping at the memory of some dear relative, or kind friend, whose face and voice no longer congratulates us at this season of the year, nor whose secret prayer ascends to God on our behalf. The imagination darts a thought into the future, but all is hidden from the view of man. What then shall we do? Seek to him who is our God, our Guide, and our Friend. But what shall be our prayer? This one has been suggested to me- Show me a token for good.' (Psa. lxxxvi, 17.)

This is the utterance of one who had often proved the privilege of prayer. Any prayer will not suit all cases, but this will suit very many; we may make it a daily prayer, a special prayer at the opening of the new year.

1. A token is a sign or evidence. Several tokens are mentioned or alluded to in the Scriptures. The rainbow was a token of providential safety; the manna, of daily supplies; the fiery cloudy pillar, of guidance and protection. And God's promises and providences are still tokens for good on these very points. The gift of Christ was a token of the Father's love; the cross of Christ, of pardon; the Comforter, of peace and joy; the gospel, of continued mercy, salvation, and hope; and the presence of God, of his manifest and immutable friendship.

2. A token for good. Any token will not suffice, a token for good is desired. 'There be many that say, Who will show us any good?' But the Christian wants a special good: Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me. Remember me with the favor thou barest

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to thy people; O, visit me with thy salvation.' Remember me, O my God, for good.' He wants the good token of grace. Grace to cheer, uphold, and bless him to quicken his affections, to put new vigor into his graces, to brighten his evidences, to chase the clouds of his prospects, to sanctify his sorrows and joys, to aid him in his duties, conflicts, and pilgrimage; to guide and guard him to his journey's end.

3. Show me a token for good. He wanted a present, plain, personal, precious token. To show us a token is of the Lord's indulgent favor, to see a token is by his illuminating spirit, to enjoy a token is the result of his love shed abroad in the heart. There are many things to hinder our clear sight of tokens, and we often misconstrue their appearance. So Jacob thought the tokens were evil, and said, 'All these things are against me.' This was gloomy unbelief. At length the wise and merciful providence of God showed him that all these things were for him. So Manoah thought when they had seen the angel that they should surely die, but his wife having the clearer and stronger faith, said, 'If the Lord had meant to destroy us, he would not have shown us these things,'

4. Show me a token for good. 'Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.' 'Remember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.' The prayer is personal, but not selfish; we have our individual and our social cases, and while our personal case is first upon our hearts, we would not forget the relative token, nor the social prayer: Do good, in thy good pleasure, unto Zion.' Blunham.

W. ABBOTT.