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From whence our liberties and laws,

We principally inherit.

Rom. xiii. 1.
But all the business passing there,
Though useful to our nation,

Is but for the concerns of time,
Th' extent of their duration.
Ps. ciii. 15, 16.

But those transactions which take place
Within Jehovah's dwelling,

Are for eternity-not time,
Thus far our own excelling.

Dan. vii. 4; Luke xvi. 9.

Go ask that active man of prayer
His secret employment?
"Tis business for eternity,

Far, far beyond the judgment.

Matt. vi. 6.
And now I'd bring the question home-
Say which of you here present,
Amidst your many cares for time,
Have thoughts beyond the judgment?
Eph. vi. 18.

Oh! enter now His temple gates,
His "house not made with hands;"
The Lord of glory, He invites-
Ah! see He waiting stands.

2 Cor. v. 1.
Then listen not as "lookers on,"
Lest you a "loose stone "
prove;
And, when the building is all done,
You with the scaffold move.

Ventnor.

Jer. viii. 20.

A. N.

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THE MYSTIC UNION.

REGARD attentively the Lord Jesus, and you will see in Him at once, God and Man, without relinquishing any part of His deity as God-without alienating any part of His humanity as Man.

At His birth, you will see a Man persecuted by Herod, and a God adored by the wise men of the east.

At His baptism, a Man in the river Jordan, and a God proclaimed from heaven as the beloved Son of the Eter

nal Father.

In the vessel, a Man who sleeps a God who calms the wind and the At the tomb of Lazarus, a Ma

weeps at the death of His friend, and a God who raises him by a word.

At the well of Sychar, a Man who thirsts, and a God who gives water, springing up into life eternal.

Upon the cross, a Man who dies, and a God who astonishes all nature so much, that the earth trembles to its centre, and the sun itself loses its light.

All these are so many indications that the Incarnate Word was equally God and Man; God eternal, and Man born in time; God omnipotent, and Man weak and infirm; God immortal, and ho Man subject to death.-Pierre Du Bosse, 1623.

nd

a.

WHAT IS COMING?

To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine.

triumphs of Jesus-Jesus' dear name, on which I build; Jesus glorified in the earth; our own Jesus carrying on His own conquest over the powers of earth and hell, causing all to give way before His onward march (Rev. i. 16, vi. 2). This is a delightful subject to the Christian. We are led to ask, Is the kingdom of Christ ever to be universal on the earth? During the past few months,

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REV. AND DEAR SIR,-In my neighbourhood it has been the custom for several years, for some of God's children, of various communions, to meet together one night in the week, for the purpose of reading the Word together. Our plan is to take a subject, which is suggested the week previous; then all come prepared to read and talk it over with a humble and teachable disposition. We earnestly seek the Holy Spirit's teach-I have been looking closely into the ing, not only when we meet, but while studying it at home. I cannot describe how it has been blessed as a means of instruction and comfort. The subjects of election, justification, sanctification, resurrection, return of the Jews, faith, &c., have all occupied our prayerful attention. The Bible is thoroughly dug into, to bring out all that bears on the subject. We are very ignorant and weak; but when we meet and pray, and then sit down and read, and talk over the precious words of divine truth, oh, it is so blessed. Light comes in upon the mind, and joy upon the soul. It was at one of these meetings that I was requested to write to you respecting the remark, "rapidly drawing to a close," in that beautiful article "Ebenezer" (May number). We thank you for kindly replying to my note. "T. A.," Islington, has noticed the subject in this month's Magazine; and we thank him, as his object is our and others' good. Your reply and his article has occasioned much prayerful thought; a considerable portion of the latter we cannot understand. It may be asked, Is this a profitable subject? Many here with different views of prophecy, have found it so. Of course, the first great question is, Are we God's children? That being humbly and sweetly settled, then all that concerns our gracious Lord is dear to us; His glory in every way becomes our anxiety and joy. The spread of His kingdom (Ps. cxlv. 10-13) is a glorious theme, not only on account of souls being gathered in by His power, and made happy in the enjoyment of His love, and to share with us that peace and joy which the saved ones only know; but the spreading abroad of the glorious

Word for an answer, as far as the Holy
Ghost has been pleased to make it plain;
and certainly there are portions very
plain indeed. In looking at the transi-
tions of Europe for the last three months,
we cannot help sighing and saying, How
long, O Lord, shall the enemy appear to
triumph? We confidently say, Not
always even on the earth. The day shall
come when the "nations now in dark-
ness shall be undeceived.
His saving
health among all nations shall cause
them to sing for joy (Ps. lxvii.). Uni-
versal dominion of Jesus follows the out-
pouring of the Spirit (Ps. lxxii. 6—8);
then all nations bless His name.
"Sav-
ing health" would seem to imply heal-
ing of soul. Blessing His name none
but saved ones understand; and yet
nations are to do it. Hail, happy day!
Oh, how it will swell up the great multi-
tude which no man can number. See
also Gen. xviii. 18, and xxii. 18; “all
nations" again. All nations to_FLOW
into the high mountain of the Lord's
house (Isa. ii. 2). Blessed peace the
result; nations will not fight then (Phil.
ii. 5). All nations to have the vail
removed (Isa. xxv. 7); (or, in other
words, to be undeceived (Rev. xii. 9):
and then follows the feasting in the
mountain (church). The mountain
(church) is to become great, and fill the
whole earth (Matt. xiii. 31-34), and
consume all other kingdoms (Dan. ii.
35 and 44, vii. 26, 27). These texts,
out of many others, point plainly to a
blessed period yet to come. How will
it be accomplished? The great deceiver
is to be cast down by our Jesus (Rev.
xx. 1-6); done officially and effectually,
Satan prompted his children to try and
keep Jesus in the grave, with watch,

and stone, and seal; but Jesus will bind |
him, lock him up, seal him up for a long
period and then the nations so much
spoken of shall be undeceived. And oh,
what results are to follow! A thousand
years, when all are to know Him (Heb.
viii. 11). At the end of this period
nations are again to be deceived; but
that will not last long, Jesus will then
soon appear on His great white throne
(Rev. xx. 11). Now, if there is to be a
seventh thousand of years as you say, in
which Jesus is to have universal domi-
nion, it does not quite agree with the
idea of "His work rapidly drawing to a
close." That all this will take place
before He comes personally is quite clear
from the Word; for when He appears

(Col. iii. 4) the second time (Heb. ix. 28) it is evident from 2 Tim. iv. 1 and 8, Acts x. 42, that it will be for judgment. At His coming He will consign to their eternal destiny every child of Adam (Matt. xxv. 31-34, 41-46); "when the Son of Man," &c., "then" (John v. 27-29; Jude 15; 2 Thess. i. 6—10) the spotless church presented (Eph. v. 27), the kingdom delivered up to the Father (1 Cor. xv. 24), the great building of lively stones complete, scaffolding no more needed, creation is destroyed (Rev. xx. 11; Heb. i. 10-12; Matt. xxiv. 35; 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10, 12; Rev. xxi. 1), then glory! glory! glory! Yours in Him,

J. E.

IS THERE NOT A CAUSE?

Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.”—

Isaiah xlv. 15.

soul.

THE truth of this text will be most | the light of His countenance, from my readily admitted by the Lord's people. Very young in the divine life must that soul be which has not experienced the hidings of God's countenance; and we are not left to guess at what may be the cause of this trial, for the Lord, by the mouth of the same prophet (Isa. liv. 8) says, "In a little wrath I hide my face from thee." When, therefore, we feel that the Lord has hid His face from us, we may well inquire, "Is there not a cause ?"

The Lord is a very jealous God; and if He sees His people living in any known or allowed sin, He will soon mark His displeasure by withdrawing from them the light of His countenance. Some persons have, I believe, asserted, that to the children of God sin is a nonentity, and cannot hurt them; and although this may be true as touching their eternal salvation, but, if I may judge from my own experience, it is not true as touching their present happiness and welfare. I have found, and God grant I may always find, that it is an evil and a bitter thing to depart from the living God. May I always fear to grieve the Spirit, and may I be enabled to shun that which would move my heavenly Father to withdraw His smile,

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David of old knew what it was to be under the hidings of God's countenance; again and again, in the Psalms, does he entreat the Lord not to hide His face from him; for instance (in Ps. xxvii.), he says, Hide not thy face far from me, put not away thy servant in anger; (Ps. xxx.) "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." (Ps. cxliii.) "Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit."

The Christian has still many trials to endure while passing through the wilderness, but I doubt if any trial is so grievous and bitter to him as to have the face of his Father turned from him. It was this that was the climax of the Saviour's sufferings. It was bad enough to be forsaken by His friends, to be mocked, and scourged, and spitted on, to be treated as a malefactor, and to die the death of the cross; but the crowning point of all, that which drew from Him the exceeding great and bitter cry, was the hiding of His Father's face, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

It is, however, our mercy to know that the Lord will not hide His face for ever; that were indeed the due

reward of our sins, and that will be the end of the wicked, to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord; but from His own people it is only for a little moment, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee; in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." So that while we must not despise the chastening of the Lord, we may not on the other hand faint when we are (thus) rebuked of Him. The hiding of His face is but for a moment; His anger endureth but the twinkling of an eye, and therefore we should "wait on the Lord that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and we should look for Him." And this thing is certain, we shall not wait in vain, "for He has not said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my face in vain ;" and He will be as good as His word: "They shall not be ashamed that wait for me;" and, therefore, if at any time we are under the hidings of our Father's face, let us not seek to regain His favour by any doings of our own, but let us return unto the Lord; let us acknowledge our iniquity that we have transgressed against the Lord our God. Let our prayer be, "Search me, O God, and try my heart; try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and

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lead me in the way everlasting;" and we shall find that though heaviness may endure for a night, yet joy will come in the morning; but if it is the good pleasure of our Father's will that the night should be a long one, yet may we derive consolation from the fact, that we never should have known what the hidings of His face were, if we had not previously known what the light of His countenance was; for we can never miss what we have never had; and therefore if we miss the presence of Christ, the presence of our Father, the presence of the Spirit, it is quite clear that at one time we must have had and enjoyed that presence, but if we have had the presence of God with us, the light of His countenance lifted upon us, we shall have it again.

the

"Did Jesus once upon me shine, Then Jesus is for ever mine." And therefore wait on, hope on, trust on, and ere long Jesus will appear; Sun of Righteousness will arise upon you with healing in His wings; soon He that shall come will come, and will receive you to Himself—

Where shall see His face,

you

And never, never sin ; But from the rivers of His grace, Drink endless pleasures in."

Camberwell.

"AS HE IS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD." 1 JOHN iv. 17.

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Risen from the silent dead,
To the throne in triumph led,
Welcome there as having bled.

E. J. G.

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"As He is, so are we."

Soon He'll sit upon His throne, "Lord of all," as all shall own; But He will not reign alone.

"As He is, so are we."

In the thorny path He trod
As He journeyed home to God;
In that path, too, we must plod."
"As He is, so are we."

Branded by the worldly wise-
A mystery strange to blinded eyes;
This is where the blessing lies-
"As He is, so are we."
H. W.

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'Forget thee I will not, I cannot, thy name Engraved on my heart doth for ever remain.”

Look at His conduct to His saints in Old Testament times. Is not this the epitome of the life of each one, “He hath delivered me out of all trouble ?" trouble of conscience; trouble of mind; trouble from Satan; trouble from the plague of the heart; and from enemies of every kind?

It was worth being in affliction to get | sucking child? yea, they may forget, such a sight! a loving Saviour hastening yet will I not forget thee." to deliver His tempted disciples. And it is still worth being in a sea of trouble to see Him treading its surges, and hear Him say, "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with saphires." Christ's behaviour to His Church in distress is well worthy of notice; it is so different to what it appears to sense. "Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me;" it seemed so to sense. And Moses ventures to say to God, "Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all." "Why is it that thou hast sent me ?" And Jeremiah says, "O Lord, thou hast deceived me." He was on a stormy sea then, just ready to let go the anchor of hope, and make shipwreck of faith; but looking up again, his pole star shot brightly out from behind the dark clouds, and catching sight of it he exclaims, Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord, for He hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil doers." But the clouds passed over again, and he curses the day in which he was born (see Jer. xx.) And how many believers since, in a full tide of sorrow, have had an instant comfort, just to support them; and these moments are precious, and bring praise to God, and are tokens for good, not given to the wicked.

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Sense makes sad work in the dark. How little the disciples supposed that Jesus was on His way to them; and when at length He did appear, and they see Him walking on the sea," they were terrified; but He quickly dissipates their fears, "It is I, be not afraid." What, then, is Christ's behaviour to His afflicted ones? Oh! it is most tender, most compassionate, "In all their afflictions He was afflicted;" "For we have not an High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities." He watches His suffering ones with intensest interest. He appeals to the tenderest feelings of our nature. "Can a woman forget her

Look, again, at Christ's behaviour to His New Testament disciples, how He soothed their sorrows: "Let not your heart be troubled." How concerned for them amidst His own deep griefs! How He won their hearts by His loving demeanour! And say, all ye who know His name, what has been His behaviour towards you in affliction? Have you not many a record of His love, how He always made good His word, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be?" How sorely soever you were pressed, He did not fail; He always came or sent. He once forget? Come then to Hermon, and the little hill Mizar, and say if you have not seen the end (or purpose) of the Lord, "that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."

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Are you not, O believer, acquainted with the sea of trouble? Do you not know that Jesus saw you toiling in rowing? (Ps. cxlii. 3). Was He not all the while engaged for you? You are sure He is at the Father's right hand; with you it is a matter of experience.

Oh, how often has He come down to still the troubled sea? (Ps. lxviii. 22). May you not say, I live on this sea? I know its calms and storms; but Jesus is near, watching, coming, and He will soon say, "Peace, be still." And, when He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?

Whatever your sorrows, do not misjudge Christ. Be sure that He is kind; be sure that He is faithful; He intends your good. Oh, then, trust Him in the darkest night; the morning will surely bring Him. Does He still linger? it is

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