this marriage were already the professed sub- | jects and servants of the king, and therefore, according to their profession, were poor and needy, and would be delighted with both the marriage and with the feast, and with the invitation thereto. Well, the king just simply puts them to the test. Now, before we go any farther, just notice two things, namely, the marriage and the feast: here you will see we have the eternal oneness of Christ and the church; for it is a life-time marriage, and his life is eternal, and because he lives the church must live also; and here is, as you see, amplitude of provision-in a word, here is eternal oneness with the Saviour and the fulness of the gospel. Hence the invitation runs "All things are ready; come unto the marriage."

Covenant designs! It is the Record of Zion's complete salvation! It is a Revelation of that GoD who is the Creator of all things-the Governor of all worlds-the SAVIOUR of all truly penitent and sincere praying souls-who is THE HEAD, and THE HUSBAND, of his church JEHOVAH JESUS, the Lord our Righteousness.

But we live still, in a Bible-despising day. In our Metropolis, large assemblies are gathered together, and men of large minds, are employed to throw contempt upon the Sacred Oracles-to endeavour to eclipse the Gospel-and to turn men to infidelity, to scepticism, and to the service of Satan. From our Metropolis, hundreds of thousands of publications are every week sent forth-full of carnal, atheistical, and seducing matter. They not only say nothing, or worse than nothing, of God's Word; but they tend to draw the minds of the people from everything that is sacred, and essential to their salvation.

In commencing another volume of THE EARTHEN VESSEL, therefore, we increasingly desire, under God, to make it a medium of conveying BIBLE FACTS of circulating GOSPEL TRUTHS-of contending for the life, the power, the existence, the evidences, the fruits, the fulness, and the almighty achievements of the sovereign, distinguishing, and soul-saving GRACE of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

In a work so solemn as this-in an employ ment so identified with the glory of God, and the good of our fellow-men:-in a labour where the very delight of our heart is foundmay God Almighty himself help and prosper us." On our bended knees would we beseech him to aid and give us strength; and in his dear and precious name would we intreat the readers of THE EARTHEN VESSEL, and the friends of our "common salvation" altogether

Thus, you see, this invitation is founded not in the free agency of man, nor even that principle of moral responsibility which all are under; but is sent to them on the ground of the profession they made-they professed to be the king's servants. Nor is this a general or indiscriminate invitation, but only to the king's own professed subjects, who had already, by virtue of their profession, been bidden to the marriage-"Call them that were bidden to the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways; one to his farm, another to his merchandize." "They made light of it." What a significant sentence! That the profane should make light of it we do not wonder; that mere moralists and freewillers should make light of it we do not wonder; but that many who profess to receive, to hold, and to preach eternal and indissoluble oneness with Christ, together with the fulness of the gospel, should, nevertheless, so far make light of it as to contend that men may live and die as safe and happy without being united to it, as in being united to it, is a matter of mystery; it looks like pulling down with one hand what has been set up by the other. Such work is a work not of order, but of confusion, and God is not the author of confusion: therefore, my good Theophilus, be not thou like unto them; but be thou valiant for the truth, that you may never make Oh, brethren-let us not this year spend our light of oneness with Jesus, nor of the ful-time, in angry and useless contentions-let us ness of the gospel, that no wife, oxen, or not be fighting with shadows-let us not be merchandize be put in the place of gospel lukewarm observers-but let us be earnest truth; and, indeed, so far from this being the case, you will be drawn to the Saviour by the very same truths which are to mere deluded professors repulsive. But I am at the end of my letter before I have hardly reached the threshold of my subject, and which subject is A LITTLE ONE.

not

THE BEAUTIES OF THE BIBLE.

THE whole of the Bible is beautiful in the eyes and in the hearts of the Lord's people, when, by his Spirit, it is lighted up-and when, by his power to their souls it is applied. Yea, it is more than beautiful-it is beyond all expression grand, essentially good-and divinely great. It is THE BOOK of all books the very best! It is the Register of Heaven's New

to unite and to co-operate with us in giving out, and spreading abroad, the words-the incorruptible words-which THE FATHER gave THE SON; which THE SON gave to his disciples-and, which, by THE SPIRIT, is still made the power of God unto the eternal salvation of all that do IN CHRIST believe.

let us be of one heart, of one mind, determined to know nothing but JESUS CHRIST, and him crucified.

We will commence (and the Lord helping, we will continue) furnishing some of the richest illustrations of Biblical lore, that a gracious Providence may cast into our lap.

A very humble specimen of the kind of matter, under this heading, which we wish to present to our readers, from time to time, is the following note of Dr. Gill's, on the

CITIES OF REFUGE.

"The cities of refuge were a type of Christ; the names of these cities were, Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Romath, and Golan; (Joshua xx. 7, 8); and the situation of them according to the Jews, was like two rows in a

THE PASCHAL

OR,

LAMB:

The Wonderful Glory of Christ hidden under the
Ashes of Jewish Types—Revealed in the Gospel
-and demonstrated in the Experience of the
True Saints.

----

vineyard. Hebron in Judah was over against death, whereas those who betake themselves
Bezer in the wilderness; Shechem in Mount to Christ are saved with an everlasting salva-
Ephraim was over against Ramoth in Gilead; tion. Now fleeing to Christ, implies danger
Kedesh in Mount Naphtali was over against in the persons that flee, as such are in danger,
Golan in Bashan; the names of these several in themselves, of the curse and condemnation
cities agree with Christ; Kedesh signifies of the law, of the wrath of God, and eternal
holy, as Christ is, both as God and man, and death; it supposes a sense of this danger,
is made sanctification to his people; Shechem which when right comes from the Spirit of
is the shoulder; and Christ has not only God; it shews guilt of conscience, and a
borne the sins of his people in his own body, consciousness of the insufficiency of other
on the tree, but he bears and carries their refuges, and a knowledge of Christ, as a suit-
persons, and has the government of them on able one; and is expressive of haste and
his shoulders, where they are safe and secure; hearty desire to be there."
Hebron may be intrepreted fellowship, and
the saints have not only fellowship with
Christ; but with the Father through him;
Bezer may be rendered a fortified place;
Christ is a Stronghold, a Tower, a Place of
Defence, whither the righteous run, and are
safe; Ramoth signifies exaltations; and may
fitly be applied to Christ, who is exalted at
God's right hand, and who will exalt those
that trust in him at due time; Golan may be
translated manifested; Christ the Son of God
has been manifest in the flesh, to destroy the
works of the devil; and he will be revealed
from heaven in a glorious manner at the last
day. These cities were known to be such;
and they were open to all Israelites and pro-
selytes, that killed any person at unawares;
and they were open at all times; and the
way to them was made plain and large;
every year care was taken to make the way
good to remove every hillock, or anything
that hindered; if there was a river in the
way, to make a bridge over it; and where
more ways met, to set up pillars with a hand
to them, and these words written on it
refuge, refuge; nor was the road to be less
in breadth than thirty-two cubits; and there
was always room in these cities; and who-
ever fled there was safe; but those that were
found without died; thus Christ is known to
be a Refuge for distressed sinners; and he is
open to all that come unto him, and at all
times; the way of life and salvation by him
is plainly pointed out in the gospel, and by
the ministers of it; who are appointed to di-
rect unto him, and to remove all impediments
and discouragements from such who are seek-
ing to him; and though so many have been
received and saved by him, still there is room
for more, and whoever betake themselves to
him are safe, but those that are without him
die and perish; so Philo the Jew makes the
Divine Word, or Logos, to be the chief and
most profitable refuge to fly unto, of all the
six which he takes notice of; and the Jews
have a notion that in the time to come, in
the days of the Messiah, three other cities of
refuge will be added. There is in some
things a difference between Christ and these
cities of refuge; there were six of these, but
there is no other than Christ; the cities of
refuge were only for such who shed blood ig-
norantly, but Christ is a Refuge for all sorts
of sinners; they were in a kind of exile who
fled to them, but in Christ is complete
liberty; it was possible that such might die
in them; but those that are in Christ never
die the second death; and at best those who
fled thither were only saved from a temporal

LAST month, we announced the fact, that
Thomas Worden's ancient volume, entitled

"The Types Unveiled; or, the Gospel Picked out of Legal Ceremonies," had been placed in our hands for republication; and knowing, as we very painfully do, that good gospel, and real experimental books cannot be sold in these days, we resolved to reprint it piece by piece in the regular numbers of THE EARTHEN VESSEL.

den's beautiful Introductory Address; and
In our last number, we gave Master Wor-
now give a small portion of his first chapter.
Our readers will find, as we advance further
into the work, that it is rich in unfolding
the holy mysteries of eternal truth, and
savory in Spirit. We can truly desire that
it may be profitable to the souls of thousands.
The Law was our Schoolmaster, to bring
us to Christ. Gal. iii. 24.
THAT which I shall do in this piece is, to
give you my conceptions of the mystery of
grace, which lies hid under the Levitical types
and shadows of the law: I shall first set down
the types as I find them in order set down in
the books of Moses, directing you to the places
of Scripture, where to find each place for your

better satisfaction.

TYPE I.

I shall begin with the paschal Lamb, which is spoken of in Exod. xii. 2, which was a great type both to them and all generations since, down all along to the coming of Christ, which was called a passover, because it did preserve the Israelites from those several plagues, which passed through the land of Egypt; the manner of it was thus, that because Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go to serve the Lord, after he had nine plagues poured out upon him and his people, the Lord sent him the tenth plague, which was, "That a destroying angel should pass through the land of Egypt in one night, and should kill all the first-born, or eldest, both of their children and cattle, which were in every house in Egypt." Now, that the Israelites which were amongst them might not be touched with this judgment, the Lord ordered

coming; for these words have relation to his next coming. I will not here undertake to determine, whether this appearing here of Christ be at, or before the general Judgmentday; as to that, I shall refer you to abler judgments, who have commented on the thing, but without doubt, the reason why our Lord, is by John in that place, set forth so dreadful to men under the metaphor of a Lamb, is because the Lamb was a type of his priestly office, which includeth the greatest of grace and of love toward mankind that can be.

them, that every family should kill a lamb the night before, and strike the door posts of their houses with the blood of the lamb, which was to be a sign to the Angel, that he was not to kill any one in that house; but that he must pass over that house to the next, where the blood of the lamb was not sprinkled on the doors. This you may read in Exod. xii. 2, and in verses 22, 23. Besides, there was another type in the passover of the lamb, for they were to eat it; and the manner of it was thus: 1st, the lamb was to be without blemish! and as to the manner of eating it, they were to roast Now for the men of the earth, be they rich it with fire. 2nd, they were to eat all the lamb or poor, yet if they shall live or die, abusing at once, they were not to leave any of it re- of, and trampling upon this freely publish ed maining till the morrow, head and legs, with grace, and richly bedewed love: this turns this all the appurtenances, were to be eaten. Exod. grace and rich love, and mercy into the fullest xii. 8, 9, 10. 3rd, the sauce with which they of judgments against men. Read Matt. ii. 21 were to eat the lamb with, was bitter herbs;-24, with chap. xii. 42, and 2 Thess. i. 8, 9. and the bread with which they were to eat it, was to be unleavened bread; verse 8, with was a type of Christ. Num. 9. 11. 4th, they were to eat it with their loins girded. 5th, with their shoes on their feet. 6th, with their staff in their hands. 7th, in haste, for it was the Lord's passover, Exod. xii. 11. And lastly, this was to be done by every particular family; every family was to choose a lamb for its self, unless the family were too few in number, if it were, then the next family were to join with them, and so they were to eat it together. Exod. xii. 4.

This Lamb typed out Jesus Christ to come, by whom alone salvation is to be had; therefore when John the Baptist, who was a forerunner of Christ, came to reveal, and to make him manifest to the world, he holds Christ forth to the people under the metaphor of a Lamb, John í. 36, "Behold the Lamb of God." To this agreeth the words of Paul, 1 Cor. v. 7, when he was pressing the Corinthians to a discharge of duty, in casting forth the incestuous person from among them, which else as leaven, would leaven the whole church (with guilt at least) he grounds his exhortation on this point, "For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;' where you see, he gives Christ the very name that was given to the Paschal Lamb. So Peter in his epistle, when he is a treating about the price of man's redemption, 1 Peter i. 18, 19, saith Peter in the 18th verse, “We were not redeemed with silver and gold from our conversations, received by traditions from our fathers:" (ver.19,) "But by the precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb slain, without spot or blemish.' For so it was required of the Jews in offering of the Paschal Lamb, that it should be a lamb without blemish. Exod. xii. 5. So read Revelation 6. This title of Lamb is given unto Jesus Christ, Rev. vi. 15, 16, 17. "The rich men and the great men, and the chief Captain, cried to the hills, fall on us, and cover us from the presence of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come."

What is the reason think you here, that Jesus Christ should be so much dreaded by the great men, as well as the poor men at his next

Thus you see, that the Lamb in Exod xii.

(To be continued)

MY HEAVENLY HOME.

THOUGH clouds they gather thick and fast,
And pelting storms descend;

I have a shelter, 'tis not far,
The house of my dear friend.
Yes, in endearing words he spake
And welcomed me to come;
Yet but a little time, he says,
Before he'll fetch me home,

To live and reign with him on high,
Where entereth not a storm;
No sighing heart, or weeping eye,
Can ever there be known.

No anxious mind, no treacherous foe,
No trouble there can come;
But all is bliss and peacefulness,
With my dear friend at home.
Well, come then courage let me take,
The journey is but short;
My life is passing fast away,
I'm hastening on to court.

To meet with all the saints above,
That's track'd this spacious earth;
Loud hallelujahs there to sing.
To him who shed his blood.
What must it be to see his face,
That's brighter than the sun?
And hear him welcome me a place
Upon his glorious throne.

This thought alone is quite enough,
To lose the sight of earth,

And take the utmost stretch of thought
Up to my home above.

SPIRITUAL THIRST.

I THIRST for communion, my Saviour, my God!
I thirst to enjoy thee my Jesus, my Lord!
To see thee in glory, and sing of thy love,
In that blest abode, the mansion above.
I long to be with thee, and like thee at home;
No more in this Meshech of sorrow to roam;
But freed from its turmoils, thy honours to sing,
And rest 'neath the covert of thy shading wing.
In robes of rich glory to walk 'neath thy smile,
And chanting the anthem of praise to thy name,
Whose love everlasting secured me from hell;
sing aloud, Alleluia to God and the Lamb!
I thirst for the day, my covenant God,
To drop this dull weight, mortality's clod;
Then, rising, arrayed in immortal attire,
To sweep o'er the strings of eternity's lyre. J.C.

MONUMENTAL MEMOIRS OF DEPARTED MINISTERS.

THE CONVERSION AND CALL TO THE MINISTRY OF
DR. SPENCER H. CONE, OF NEW YORK.

MEET with a solemn and indisputable heart, like the sound of a trumpet-THIS IS demonstration of God's grace and salvation YOUR LAST WARNING! I went home to where we may-it is cheering, and always to us, as much as possible from my wife. The day dinner, endeavouring to conceal my feelings too precious to be confined or covered up in limit-wore heavily away; I was at the Auctioned spheres. The Baptist Magazine, recently room at the hour; purchased the book that gave some choice extracts from a funeral sermon preached for Dr. Cone. Some of our readers will find the account which the Doctor has left behind, of his conversion, and call to the ministry, profitable to peruse. We only quote the most essential points. The Doctor was born in Prince-town, New Jersey, April 30, 1785; he was 71 when called home. In early life, he spent seven years as an actor on the stage; and through many scenes of darkness and distance from God did he pass. His conversion is described in a sermon which he preached

before his own church-wherein he says:

"In the month of November, 1813, after breakfast, I took up the newspaper, and saw among other things a large sale of books advertised at Wood's auction rooms, and said to myself, I will look in as I go to the office, and see what they are. I did so, and the first book I took up was a volume of the Works of John Newton. In an instant, my whole life passed before me. I remembered taking that book out of the College Library, while at Princetown, and reading Newton's Life to my mother. His dream of the lost ring, reminded me forcibly of my dream of the well, and I felt an ardent desire to own the book, and read the dream again. I left the rooms, having first requested Mr. Wood, who was a particular friend, to put it up for sale as soon as he saw me in the evening, as it was the only work I wanted. He promised to do so, and I immediately went out towards our office, which was nearly opposite; but I had scarcely reached the middle of the street, when a voice, like the sound of many waters,' cried to me, THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! I trembled like an aspen leaf-I felt myself to be in the grasp of the Almighty, and an earthquake could not have increased my dismay. Sermons heard when only eight years old, on the Balm of Gilead, and on the Lamb of God-the dream-all were painfully present, and I thought my hour of doom had come.

6

I went to the office, took down the day-book to charge the new advertisements, but my hand trembled so that I could not write, and I put the book in its place. I went out into South-street-then walked up and down Market-street in the crowd till dinner-time, to drown, if it were possible, my thoughts and feelings. But all in vain. The sound still rung, not only in my ears, but through my

seemed to be strangely connected with my diately, and read Newton's eventful life weal or woe; returned to my house immeentirely through before retiring to rest. There seemed to be some strong points of resemblance between us: he had been rescued from the wrath to come! What would become of me? I found that he read the Bible, and obtained light. I went to bed with the determination of rising early to imitate his example, and search the Scriptures. My dear young wife thought I was going mad. Oh no! no! I was not mad. He who had compassion on the poor Gadarene, was now bringing me to my right mind in a way that I

knew not.

"I commenced reading the Scriptures with deep interest, to find how a sinner could be saved; and in two months read the Psalms, and different portions of the Old Testament, and the New Testament, I think, more than twenty times through. The Psalms, John's Gospel, and the Epistle to the Romans, were particularly precious. It required great effort to attend to domestic duties and my business in the office, for I felt continually that it would profit me nothing to gain the whole world, and at last lose my own soul.' I sought out preachers, and heard Mr. Duncan frequently; but could not learn from any of them the way of salvation. One evening, after the family had all retired, I went up into a vacant garret, and walked backwards and forwards, in great agony of mind; I kneeled down; the instance of Hezekiah occurred to me; like him I turned my face to the wall and cried fo mercy. An answer seemed to be vouchsafed in an impres sion, that just as many years as I had passed in rebellion against God, so many years I must now endure, before deliverance could be granted. I clasped my hands and cried out, Yes, dear Lord, a thousand years of such anguish as I now feel, if I may only be saved at last.' I continued to read, and whenever I could steal away unobserved into the garret, there I walked the floor, when all around was hushed in sleep; there I prayed and poured out tears of bitter sorrow. While thus engaged one night, the plan of salvation was revealed to me in the figure of Noah's Ark. I saw an ungodly race swept away with the flood, but Noah and his family were saved, for God shut them in the ark. I felt that, as a sinner, I was condemned, and justly exposed to immediate and everlasting destruction. I saw distinctly that in Christ alone I must be saved,