220 GOD'S COMFORTS FOR GOD'S CHILDREN. 6 why the enemy is suffered to prevail to | parsonic authority. These are held up as I make but little remark on your think-room, though Christ Jesus himself be But, my dear brother, I will now go no further, only you intend taking the Earthen Vessel, at Cottingham, &c., do so, you will find some valuables in her hold; she replenishes monthly at a good port of supplies; and should she go to any other market than that of FREE GRACE, I should beg for my discharge from her service; may the great Captain of Salvation attend to order, steer, and bless. I commend both you and yours to Him who loveth at all times, and sticketh closer than a brother, and subscribe myself your's in the gospel of the grace of God. THOMAS POOCK. God's Comforts for God's Children. "And so it came to pass, that they escaped THE church is the spiritual ship that sails on · fections of God are the bulwarks; the ever- | let thine eyelids look straight before thee,* lasting love of God is the cable, and the im- (Prov. iv. 25) even to Jesus, who is the mutability and faithfulness of God are the author and finisher of our faith. He alone anchors. Now this vessel is of God's making is the way, and therefore ever remember the and God's preserving, and notwithstanding exhortation of the apostle: As ye have it has been out at sea for near six thousand therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so years, not one of her crew has been lost. walk ye in him.' Col. ii. 6. Lord give us Many storms she has endured, and by nume- more faith, more humility, and more love, rous enemies been attacked, who have en- that we may evince to all around us, that we deavoured by all the stratagem and policy of are of the true circumcision, who worship the infernal monarch of the bottomless pit to God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, sink her; but she still swims, and will so and have no confidence in the flesh. (Philip long as God has appointed her destiny upon iii. 3.) earth; and then will it come to pass spiritually, as it did literally, that all the mariners (or the children of God) will escape safe to land; be landed safe on Canaan (heaven's) happy shore-none shall be lost-no, not one; for all are beloved of God, redeemed by Christ, and quickened by the Spirit, and shall, therefore, be received safe into the kingdom of glory above; hence the promise of the Captain to all the crew is, 'I give unto you eternal life, and you shall never perish, neither shall any pluck you out of my hand.' John x. 28. 'This is the way, walk ye in it.' Isaiah xxx. 21. 6 To a traveller by land, nothing is more useful than guide posts and maps; and to a mariner on the ocean, nothing is more useful than the compass and charts; even so to the Christian, how useful is the Word of God, and the Spirit of God! for by the former he is informed, and by the latter led and guided in the right way to the heavenly Jerusalem; and the language of his heavenly guide, the Holy Spirit is, This is the way, walk ye in it. Now Christ is the way in which all God's regenerated children walk. He is the way of access to, and communion with the Father, (John xiv. 6; Rom. v. 2; Eph. ii. 18; and iii. 12.) He is the way to the possession of all spiritual blessings. (Eph. i. 3; Phil. i. 19.) He is the way to the enjoyment of pardon, peace, atonement, justification, and sanctification, (Eph. i. 7; Rom. v. 1; Eph. ii. 14; Heb. ix. 28; 1 Cor. i. 30; 2 Cor. v. 21) and he is the way to the admission and possession of ultimate and eternal bliss in the realms of glory above. Christ is the Old Way, the Right Way, the safe way, and the only way; and to walk in this way is, to trust in and depend upon the person, fulness, blood, righteousness, and Spirit of Christ alone, for all that we need in time, at death, and through all eternity; and therefore, my soul, listen not to false guides who would fain lead thee into other paths, but pray to thy Father to lead thee by his Spirit, and guide thee into all truth, so that you turn not to the right hand of self-righteousness, nor to the left hand of licentiousness, but let thine eyes look right on, and "For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." Rom. xiii. 11. To the believer, the hour of dissolution is a happy one, for to him alone it will indeed be a salvation; hence he will then be saved, or eternally delivered from all the corruptions of his wicked and deceitful heart, from all bodily pain and infirmities, from all worldly cares, from all ungodly persons, and from all the temptations and vile suggestions of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Yes, from all these he will be saved, and what is the best of all, he will be for ever with the Lord, (1 Thess. iv. 17) enjoy the society of angels, and the company of those who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, (Rev. vii. 9, 10, &c.) and he will be eternally employed in praising the Trinity in unity, even a God in Christ, for his unparalleled, yea, unspeakable, and everlasting love. Now, believer, that expected time and looked-for period is nearer than when you was at first brought to believe. Every day, every hour, and every moment, brings you nearer to the end of your troubles, trials, and afflictions, both temporal and spiritual; nearer to the end of your warfare; nearer to the end of your race; nearer to the end of your pilgrimage; and nearer to your Father's home. Your trials, troubles, and afflictions may be great now, but they are light compared to the blessednesss which awaits you; and in a very little time, perhaps, before another day, you may bid adieu to all things here below; therefore be not discouraged nor fainthearted, for He who shall come, will come, and will not tarry.' (Heb. x. 37.) Every day some of God's children are called home, and who knows but he may call you next, and then you will be abundantly re-compensed for all your sufferings and trouble here; but if you are spared awhile longer in this wilderness below; remember every day that your salvation is nearer, and that it will most surely come; and therefore, may God give us patience and then with Job we shall say, All the days of our appointed time will we wait, until our change come.' (Job. xiv. 14.) · Hull. NUMERIST. The Recognition of Mr. John Corbitt, AT BETHESDA CHAPEL, MANCHESTER. (From a Correspondent.) "WE had a most glorious time last Thursday and Friday (September the 21st and 22nd) when Mr. John Corbitt was recognized as the Minister of our Chapel. There was a good attendance; most able discourses were delivered and general satisfaction appeared to be found. I never witnessed such a solemn scene in my life before. verily believe that the Lord was at this wedding, and turned the water into wine. I 66 "At our tea meeting on Friday, all things were done decently and in order, and it would have cheered the heart of any real christian to see the glorious difference in the countenances of those present. This people have indeed 'sown in tears," and yesterday they did "reap in joy." Gloominess, seclusion, bigotry, and self-importance, was gone; and cheerfulness, sociality, union, and affection have taken their place. We have now only to pray "good Lord, continue thy mercies." "Mr. J. Freeman, presided. Mr. Beard, of Charlsmouth, Derbyshire; Mr. Goodfellow, and Mr. Matthews, deacons; Mr. Corbitt, Minister; and Mr. Wells (of London), addressed the meeting in very appropriate and profitable discourses. It shall be ours, however, to praise the Lord that so faithful, useful, laborious, and truly able a servant has been raised up; that he is still in the vineyard; and that the Lord is going on to make use of him both in the pulpit, and from the press. of THE BUILDING OF MERCY; and to make To produce a cheap and handsome copy it extensively known, has been our aim. We have laboured hard: and by the help of God, we will go on to labour, earnestly desiring that THE STRIKING AND DISCRIMINATING CONTRAST Which is here made between the real sheep of Christ, and and rendered useful to, thousands of our wolves in sheep's clothing, may be read by, British professors of Christianity. We have not laboured in vain : several hundreds of the work were ordered before it was issued ; and we have faith to believe that another large edition will be soon required. In the exertions we have made, great expences have been incurred, but we trust the Lord will bring us safely through the arduous task; and greatly own our labours, and this is all we desire. A short extract from the work itself must close our present notice of it. "Mr. Wells, in a most noble, affectionate, and christian manner, referred to the late Mr. Gadsby; to his first coming to Man-One is speaking thus:chester eight years ago; and in an honorable manner stated the whole matter connected with his visit to Manchester, in the presence of a large number who have watched Mr. Wells in all his movements, with many others who have been swayed by prejudices. Many went away declaring their surprise and satisfaction; and we are as a body fully persuaded that if certain persons preaching at other places had not been listened to, there would not have been so many false reports; or so much shyness manifested; but the people begin to see through these things; and are, very kind and I pray the Lord of life and glory may be with them, and bless them, and increase them with all the increase of God." The Mystical Body of Christ: the BUILDING OF MERCY itself, we come Passing by the lengthened description of into the House of Mourning,' and there we find a group of souls in trouble, all giving vent to the different experiences of soultrouble through which they have passed. DISTINGUISHED AND DESCRIBED, We have now before us a new edition of Mr. James Osbourn's work, entitled, 'A Glimpse of the Building of Mercy,' &c., &c.; and if any thing was wanted to prove him to be a scribe well instructed in the mysteries of the kingdom of grace, that proof is here furnished. We know very well, that it matters not how sound a man's preaching may be; nor how powerful his writings; nor how deep and blessed his experience; nor how consistent his life; there will be jealousies, envyings, slanderings, and insinuations against him by some; it is no marvel, therefore, that our author has fallen in for his share. "It is a painful thing for a child of light to walk on in darkness, and a child of light would fain hope I am; for methinks if I had never seen and felt the true light, the but little, if any inconvenience to me; but present darkness could not have yielded as it is, my condition is a perplexed one, bles of my heart are enlarged. But still I for I am desolate and afflicted, and the trouknow that the return of the Lord's grace and presence to my soul would produce an the better, and make up (with more than astonishing revolution in my condition for double interest) for all that I have lost, and But as hinted am now suffering from. above, as things now are with me, I of course must abide with you in this House of Mourning; and how long my stay here is to be, the Lord only knoweth. "Bad however as things now are with me, I can say that my afflicted soul followeth hard after the Lord, and I want to get near to his feet and to feel as I used to feel when he stood at my right hand. To me sin has no sweetness; and as to this wide world, with all its vast concerns and paltry show, they possess nothing cheery to me. Indeed, the world hangs as a dead weight on my mind, for I clearly see that it is filled to overflowing with villany, artifice, fraud, deceit, pride, ambition, roguery, and lies; and the generality of religionists, as well as mere worldly men, are of this class, for they are but legal workers, or bond servants; and under the yoke of bondage they are, but know it not. They toil at law and think it is the gospel. They have been under some alarm of conscience and uneasiness of mind, and from the same they have met with a small degree of mitigation, and by ministers under a cloud they have been made to believe that they have met with a full release; and here in this mistake they stick, and under the old covenant they are, and so are their leaders, and the whole concern is Levitical instead of Evangelical.-In the letter, sound,-in the mystery, legal,-in notion, new covenant men, but in spirit they are under the old veil. In this condition I view them, and by them my soul has often been brought into bondage and darkness. "But of a truth it gladdens my heart to find you here under these weeping willows. I've often read of the brook of the willows, Isa. xv. 7. And strikingly emblematical I deem them to be of the state and condition we at this time are in. This is the House of Mourning, and such it has been to my soul, and no doubt to yours also; and hope I do that the same will be sanctified to the good of our souls. God knows best; yes, he well knows what will be for our good and his own declarative glory; and to these points he willing his little despised cause at Guildford. make all things subserve, for everything is Our late dear brother Combs once called it, under his control and at his sovereign dis-Moon-light Guildford." Little did I think My people (says God) shall be willing in the day of my power." He has undertaken to teach thein, and declares that "great shall be their peace," nay, further, that he himself will extend peace unto them like a river, and righteousness as the waves of the sea. Everlasting honours to the name of our adorable Redeemer, he is still carrying on and increas posal." when that dear man of God baptized me, that God had designed me for Guildford, as a mouth piece for himself; but the promise to Guildford" is, that "the light of the moon God's living Zion in the midst of" Moon-light shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold as the light of seven days." Oh, that God's true Zion at large may enjoy more and more of his sacred light until taken up to enjoy it, to bask in its seven-fold perfections and glories for ever and ever. The Cause of God at Guildford. "Pricking thorns through all the ground, And mortal poisons grow." which I had at this time taken my pen in 66 "" Israel have been brought by infinite wisdom Five of the lost sheep of the house of and almighty mercy from off the dark mountains; made to hear the voice of the good Christ as the true door into the sheep-fold. Shepherd; turn to his fold and enter in by After a profession of their repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, on Friday, the second of June, they put on the Lord Jesus Christ publicly, and openly; thus, by God's grace, shewing to whom they belonged, by being baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Truly it was a good time; the Lord was in our midst of a truth, and his dear children went on their way rejoicing. It is not the first, but the second fruits, we are enabled to hope of a glorious harvest; four having been baptized some time previous to these, and are still living and walking as the humble to live soberly, and righteously in this pre-his name who hath not despised the day of followers of the Lord, the Lainb, thanks to THE dear Lord has said in his word, "set thee up way marks, cast thee up high heaps,' which things can only be done by the sensible sinner, as God works in him to will and to do of his own good pleasure; and at the present time I believe there are many, very many, belonging to the church of Christ, that are really his, rightly his, graciously his, and yet not brought at present by the grace of God to confess that they ever cast up an high heap; but when put to the test, are compelled to acknowledge that in the wilderness they have their way marks, their hill Mizars, their Ebenezers, their “hithertoos," And one solemn, sacred, spiritual, and internal way mark that every sinner has, (where that grace takes possession of the heart which does reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord), is, SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD; betwixt him and the world there is a gulf fixed; and fixed by in finite wisdom; he cannot walk as he once walked; he cannot sit down where he once sat; the seat that he once compared to a bed of roses is now become pricking thorns; the company he once loved, he now hates; the grace of God which bringeth salvation is teaching this poor sinner this lesson, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, he is sent evil world; this world that was once his element, once his home, once his resting place, he now finds what dear Watts says to be true; small things. Your Brother in the Vineyard, What Death is: AND HOW THE BELIEVER IS SUPPORTED BOTH OF MIND AND BODY MAY BECOME A UNDER IT: ALTHOUGH ALL THE POWERS O what a fight I have had! but I now pos- 66 6 Alas! and did my Saviour bleed?' He then quoted another: "'Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.' He said he felt as if he must sing, and he repeated, WHEN they told me that my poor brother Imeson was gone, I felt gratitude to God for having released him from that trembling house of clay in which he had suffered so much. That a dear vessel of mercy may, (in passing through the swellings of Jordan, and in other seasons of affliction) completely lose all the sensible and reasoning powers of the mind, is evident, from the case of our departed brother Imeson, as well as in the case of other dear souls whom I have known in the flesh. Nevertheless, if the Lord lay the foundation of divine grace in an elect sinner's soul, that foundation standeth sure; rough winds may blow upon it; heavy waves may, for a time, wash over and cover it; but the christian's life is hid WITH CHRIST IN GOD. Whatever wreck, then the natural mind, or earthly tabernacle may suffer, the divine life never can be injured. For the consolation of such friends as were distressed at brother Imesons' affliction, I give the following, as written by his son : "A few weeks before my father died, and the day before his derangement, he thus expressed himself. The words were taken down by me: "On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, And cast a wishful eye.' Then he uttered these ejaculations-'Blessed God! blessed Jesus! blessed Saviour and Redeemer! Lamb of God! It seems as if the enemy would come in if he could; but he cannot. Where is your mother, William? let her see the last of me. A few more struggles, Mary, and all will be over; do not leave the room, dear; it is a hard struggle.' 66 Mention was made of seeking further advice, and he instantly replied, 'No doctor can do me good; Jesus is my physician; he hath healed me; he hath done all things well; his rod and his staff comfort me.' O to believe that Christ will bring me to his heavenly home: I know that my Redeemer liveth, &c. I saw the cross of Christ last night, and the two thieves, as if it were in reality before me. "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed?' 'Solicitude for his children then for a moment took possession of his mind, and he said, 'May the Lord be with you my dear children, and with the children he has given you.' The late Mr. Imeson ever shewed the greatest anxiety and care for his children, his mind, however, was again directed from his children to higher and more important things, and he said, "I have had one or two struggles with death. "O death, where is thy sting? "Pilgrims shall hold on their way.' After a few minutes' silence, he began again: The path that a christian takes is full of briars and thorns, he must go barefooted there. Where is the man that will not murmur? if God does not keep him, he will murmur. Jesus says, lay thy burden Our stubborn nature carries its upon me, burden as long as it can, but we must go at last to the burden bearer.' "Asking how a friend was, who was expected to die, and receiving for answer that he was better, he said, What ebbs and flows there are; what is life? a shadow; a vain show. O that man could see what he is, how vain his life, like a tale that is told. O that he would consider his end! What a mercy to be preserved from sin, to be preserved in Christ! O if it should be deception, self deception; the enemy of souls is trying to come in. I should like the church of God to profit by my experience. Let Mr. Banks tell them how the enemy has assailed me. I want to declare the mercy of God to all that love Christ. I dreamed last night that satan (as Goliah) came to destroy me, but our spiritual David cast him to the ground. I trembled, for I thought he was not quite dead, and that he might yet revive and destroy my soul, but the spiritual David turned and smiled upon me, and I felt that he was my security, although I only stood by and took no part in the fight. The Lord says, I will be with thee, why should I doubt now? Oh, no! O the love I feel in my heart this morning. I am enjoying the foretaste of heaven, I never had such delight before; it |
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