Where there is true grace in the heart, the governing principle will appear by genuine and sincere love to God and his ways. A little heavenly affection in the bosom of a good man to the interest of the Son of God, will be a considerable advantage to him; for the provocation which he is often exposed to in the performance of his duty, will render it necessary for him to exercise it, lest his adversaries gain an advantage over him. How many are there who start in a profession of the faith of Christ, and who run well for a short season, but presently they meet with something in the road that they had never expected to encounter, and not having any holy root of life in them, they take offence at it, and return to their former associates with whom they have ever been united in heart and affection, although they withdrew for a short time from them. Every instance of this kind whets the appetite of wicked men to slander the heirs of mercy, nor do they fail to put a bitter drug into the cup of life to render it grievous. Under such trying events, love, as a grace of the Spirit, is proved to be of greater worth than the riches of the globe; for the contempt to which the religion of Christ is exposed by such false professors of it, is not viewed by a decent man with apathy. At such times, he will see it is now indispensably necessary that he observe with attention all the will of God concerning him. From the strifes and murmuring disputations of mere wranglers he will repair to his closet to unbosom his griefs to his Father who seeth in secret. Here he finds rest from the evils of an imperfect state, by faith in Christ, his Ransomer; and learned and acquired in the closet, will by grace be used in public in a harmless and blameless

manner.

Reconciliation to God is produced in the mind by a spiritual knowledge of what he is doing in the provident government of our persons and affairs, which are subordinate to the counsel of his will in Christ. Every act of his gracious power on his people causes them to be more contented with the station they are chosen to occupy in this life, and by conformity to the will of God undissembled pleasure will be enjoyed through the knowledge of truth, for the principles of revelation known spiritually minister comfort to all the sons of God. Thus, in the world, a christian stands a monument of the grace, mercy, justice, holiness, and power of God in whom his glorious perfection is displayed, and he will remain in his estate of sanctity as long as God himself will endure. The cause of true godliness is beyond the reach of men and devils; for God has based his love to his family by an act of his will, on the unity and perfection of his nature. Upheld by this impulsive cause of life, the feeble saint meets the reproaches of life with holy courage and fortitude, enduring for the sake of his Redeemer and King with cheerfulness the unprevented evils that assail him in his path to his final abode. The storm may very boisterous, every element may be waging war against him, but on the Rock of Ages founded he serenely contemplates the conflicting events of life, knowing that they are wasting their strength by their fury, and that he is travelling as fast as time can bear him

be

along to a land where he will be beyond their reach, and where the sunshine of God's favour will afford him everlasting repose. Cheer up, ye tribes redeemed to God by Jesus Christ, you are not left orphans in this unfriendly world. He has done for you what no one else besides himself could accomplish; viz. he has put away your sin for ever from the eye of divine justice, and he has sent his Holy Spirit to render you acquainted with himself, who is your everlasting Friend, and that blessed Spirit who is personally given to you, is the earnest to you of the rest that awaits you in his native kingdom. It will not be long before he will appear to dissolve your present connection with time, and when he has done that act for you, you will then be absent from flesh, and present with the Lord.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

GOSPEL LIBERTY.

"Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."—Gal. v. 1.

THE apostle has, in the preceding chapter, been treating of the condition of the heirs of promise in their unregenerate state, shewing that therein they differ in nothing from the world lying in wickedness, and that they are held captives by Satan at his will, until the appointed time of the Father arrives, when he who is stronger than the strong man armed enters the house of the human and carnal heart, and by his almighty power dethrones Satan and works in them the works of righteousness, according to the good pleasure of his own will, (ch. iv. I-7.); and in tracing up the great subject of salvation, he goes on to open up to believers the glorious mystery of sovereign love, by shewing that those who are born after the flesh, and not regenerated by the Holy Spirit, according to the decree of the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, shall not, (with those who are interested in the love of a triune Jehovah) possess the goodly land of promise, prepared by God for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth; and then, in the language of the text, he exhorts those who have believed through grace, "to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." From which, three leading particulars seem to demand our attention. First. The nature of this liberty.

Second. Through whom, and by whom it is possessed.

Third. The exhortation to stand fast therein.

First. Gospel liberty, or "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," is a freedom from sin. Sin is the sole cause of distress in the mind of the awakened sinner, because through the Holy Spirit's influence he is made to see that it is the cause of distance between Jehovah and his soul; and being made experimentally acquainted with the desperately wicked state of the human heart, and having but a partial view of the perfect righteousness of Christ as applied to his soul, much fear and distress is felt in consequence of sin, and VOL. IX.-No. 109.]

X

the guilty wretch loathes himself because he is the subject of this baneful evil, and is thereby kept in a state of spiritual bondage, until the virtue of the precious blood of Christ is applied in its cleansing efficacy, purifying his soul from the corruptions of depraved nature. And this I apprehend is the experience of all the family of God, in a greater or less degree; for Christ informs us, that the Spirit's work is "to convince of sin ;" and as "Christ is exalted to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins," there is a necessity for being made acquainted with our own sinful and depraved condition, that we may enjoy the benefits of the Saviour's blood shedding. And being thus taught by the Holy Spirit, we are led by the same Divine Operator to the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are made to come as condemned criminals (condemned by the law and our own consciences) to the footstool of eternal mercy, and falling at the foot of the cross we seek pardon through the blood of the Lamb, while the same power that brought us there, applies the virtues of the crimson stream, flowing from the side of our dear Redeemer to our souls, and we then rejoice in a full pardon through the blood of Immanuel, and are led to understand the apostle's expression, "being then made free from sin," (Rom. vi. 18.); because the guilt of the soul is experimentally washed away by the "fountain opened for sin and uncleanness." And while we are rejoicing in the manifestation of divine love in this sweet deliverance obtained, we are led into a clearer view of the way of righteousness, and see the Lord Jesus Christ "bearing our sins in his own body on the tree;" for "he who knew no sin, was made sin for us." And thus, becoming sensibly acquainted with the mystery of godliness, we behold Jehovah as a "just God and a Saviour." Oh, what a divine harmony reigns in the whole work of salvation! for while the sinner is liberated, sin does not go unpunished; but the glory of God is everlastingly displayed in satisfying the claims of justice, by charging sin upon Christ, to whom the guilt of the church is imputed, that righteousness may be imputed to the sinner without the deeds of the law, as is most blessedly described by David, Ps. xxxii. 1, 2.

And this freedom from sin is complete, because it is sovereign; for Christ having died unto sin once, that he might accomplish the work given him to do by the Father, (and in the finishing of which he hath put away the sins of his church) so now he dieth no more, but ever liveth to make intercession for the saints; and as his victory was complete, (which is manifest from his triumphing over death and the grave) and having finished transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for the people, and brought in an everlasting righteousness for all those who believe in his name, so the church obtains in and through him a full and free deliverance from sin and guilt, because that sin once put away can never return, or be seen in them who are thus divinely purified.

And this freedom from sin is not only complete, but it is also everlasting; for by that one sacrifice offered by Christ for his people, " he hath perfected for ever them who are sanctified;" so that stand

ing in the perfection of Jesus, the believer can never become any other than the image of him who hath thus made him perfect by the impartation of his own perfection. And this thought is calculated, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to comfort the minds of the Lord's family under all their weakness and infirmity, because hereby they see that what they are in themselves, as guilty, has nothing to do with the security of their salvation which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. But notwithstanding the believer is delivered from the guilt of sin, he still retains a feeling sense of it, which is designed to keep him humble before God; for it is sovereignly ordered by Jehovah, that while he is in the world, he shall carry about a body. of sin and death, in which the seeds of depravity are too deeply rooted to be eradicated; and as it is ever put in motion by its own sinful propensities, it continually rises in opposition to spiritual life and enjoyment, so that the individual is kept under a sense of creature weakness and guilt, which leads him to the treasures of strength that are laid up in the church's Head, Christ, and with holy joy receives the manifestation of that love that ensures the victory over sin; and although sin is permitted to dwell within him while in the wilderness, he can still rejoice in the precious promise recorded by Paul, "Sin shall not have the dominion over you;" and receiving this promise from him that is faithful and true, he maintains a continual opposition to and warfare with sin, mortifying the deeds of the body, and glorifies God for the fulfilment of his promises, "My strength is made perfect in weakness;" and, "as thy day thy strength shall be ;" and being arrayed in the whole armour of God, he exclaims, "when I am weak then I am strong," feeling that an enlarged sense of creature weakness, gives him the greater liberty in claiming grace strength.

Gospel liberty is also a freedom from the moral law. The law is often a source of much spiritual depression to the child of God, particularly in the first part of his pilgrimage; for, being made acquainted with the depravity of his heart, he runs under the dictates of a natural heart and legal conscience to the law for justification; and finding the voice from Sinai proclaims nothing but curses and condemnation against the man who continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them-the poor self-condemned sinner is filled with dismay, fearing mercy is not to be obtained, while he entirely overlooks the Lord Jesus Christ, who is "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Looking therefore to the law of God as his only rule, and finding himself totally unable to perform one of its precepts, he writes bitter things against himself. This is the effect of the pride and legality of the human heart; which, looking through the glass of carnal reason, sees nothing of the beauties of the gospel of Christ, and desiring to share in the glory of salvation work, would fain obtain the blessings thereof, (in part if not all) by the deeds of the law, not considering "that no flesh shall be justified thereby."

(To be concluded in our next.)

REVIEW..

Three Months in Jamaica in 1832; comprising a Residence of Seven Weeks on a Sugar Plantation. By Henry Whiteley, 8vo. p.p. 24. London, Hatchard.

THIS Tract, a cheap edition of which for distribution we understand has been published by the committee of the Anti-Slavery Society, contains a brief, lucid, and evidently true picture of Colonial Slavery as it really exists. We so entirely disapprove and abhor the system, that even were its apologists to tell us, and to prove, that the victims were as happy as angels, we should continue to assert, that it is disgraceful to a Christian country to tolerate it; how much more, then, when we learn from unquestionable evidence, that their state is misery, and their sufferings past imagination. We cherish a warm hope, that the present administration, amid their numerous alterations, will abolish this, and thereby bring upon themselves the gratitude of liberated millions. If any of our readers have an acquaintance not yet convinced of the horrors of Colonial Slavery, let him give him this tract; and if he then continue obstinate, we would only add, we do not envy that man his feelings.

Seven Degrees of Christian Faith; written by request, in a Letter to a Seeker of Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. Also, Lines to an Aged Vessel of Mercy in great Affliction. By John Foreman, Minister of Mount Zion Chapel, Hill Street, Dorset Square, 12mo. p.p. 24. London, E. Palmer.

THE metaphors which the author employs to describe the various degrees of a believer's faith, are grass, rushes, reeds, willows, myrtletrees, pine-trees, cedars. We opened the tract for perusal on the 13th page, and were much pleased with the following observations on the myrtle-tree.

"As in a figure of distinction, myrtle-tree christians are those who are not large in their understanding, nor ability; not carried to the loftiest heights of joyful communion, nor deep in heart-rending afflictions; not favoured with the firmest confidence, nor driven about with bitterest fears. But they are steady in their lowly, humble hope; ever-green in their steadfast regard of God's truth; and beautiful in their uniform observance of the order and ordinances the Lord hath commanded, 1 Thes. i. 3. Phil. iv. 1. Luke i. 6. Their situation is in the bottom of the green valley, but the Lord in the condescending associating stature and figure of a man, rides, walks, and abides there in the midst of them, Zech. i. 8, 10. Mighty to save," Zeph. iii. 17.”

t

Mr. Foreman's remarks on the other metaphors, are also in many instances very excellent; but when we turned to the beginning, for