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THE WAR IN HEAVEN. BY THE REV. THOMAS MADGE, M.A. Curate of Kettering.

II.

FROM the passage in the book of Revelation, to which our attention has been directed in a former essay, it may further be observed, that the final result of the contest carrying on between the powers of light and of darkness is by no means doubtful.

The struggle for the supremacy between pagan superstition and Christian truth, which lasted so long in the Roman empire, terminated at length in the subversion of idolatry, and the establishment of Christianity; and so shall every act of hostility against the kingdom of Christ eventually terminate in the confusion and destruction of the powers of darkness. Whatever master-piece of power and policy the devil may contrive, and set in opposition to the interests of the Church of Christ, shall be in vain. Though Satan may for a time appear to prosper in his attempts against the people of God and the cause of righteousness; though he may, to a considerable extent, succeed in his schemes of deception and iniquity, yet his dominion shall not be universal in point of extent, or perpetual in its duration. The combined power and policy of all the hosts of darkness are limited by our Lord's sure promise to his Church, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. xvi. 18).

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are strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," we shall successfully prosecute our spiritual warfare. What though our adversary be" the old serpent," "the great dragon," the "devil, which deceiveth the whole world?" yet "the God of peace shall bruise him under our feet shortly" (Rom. xvi. 20). Divine grace will make us acquainted with "his devices," will enable us to evade his subtle arts of destruction, or to encounter the most formidable attacks of his malice. What though he be "the accuser of the brethren?" "who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" (Rom. viii. 33.) "I am persuaded," may the Christian believer triumphantly exclaim, "that neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord" (Rom. viii. 38).

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The way in which victory over Satan is achieved is particularly deserving of notice. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." The blood of the Lamb was the efficient cause of their victory, which rendered the testimony they bore to the Gospel faithful, courageous, and successful. The sacred efficacy of that precious blood procured for them the Divine strength and grace of the Holy Spirit to secure their victory; and the remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for them wrought powerfully on their souls. By faith in the blood of the Lamb that was slain, and wield

The encouragement arising from this viewing the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Satan's eventual defeat may be applied to the circumstances of individual Christians, as well as to the Church at large. Feeble and impotent as we are in ourselves, yet if we

VOL. VIII.NO. CCVI.

of Divine testimony, the primitive Christians went forth to conflict and to victory. And these are the means to which we also must resort, if we would desire to make a firm and

[London: Robson, Levey, and Franklyn, 46 St. Martin's Lane.]

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victorious resistance against Satan. The consideration that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ will be sufficient to silence every accusation, to defeat every assault of our great adversary; the blood of the Lamb is at once the warrant of the Christian's hopes, the secret of his strength, and the motive to his efforts. Let us, then, exercise faith in that blood; with simplicity, making the merits of our Redeemer our only and entire dependence; with fortitude and courage, not being ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified. Let us be faithful, even unto death; let faith in Jesus be our shield of defence, and the word of God our weapon of attack; and Satan, thus resisted and thus assailed, shall flee before us, and we shall be "more than conquerors."

The victory thus obtained over Satan calls for the congratulations of all the servants of the Lord. The angels that encircle the throne of God, and the glorified spirits of the just made perfect, unite in singing, "Salvation to our God, which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb" (Rev. vii. 10). "The kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ," form the one great theme, which employs ten thousand times ten thousand voices, both in the Church triumphant above, and in the Church still militant here below. "Now is come salvation and strength," is a song in which every Christian participates, whenever he obtains, through grace, the mastery over his own corruptions, over the evils of the world, and the temptations of Satan. In this chorus of praise the whole Church unites whenever the designs of the great enemy have been signally defeated, whenever the cause f truth prospers, and the Gospel has free co rse and is glorified. This song shall be sounded throughout the whole earth at the destined period called the millennium: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ" (Rev. xi. 15). It shall reverberate eternally throughout the mansions of glory-"Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. xix. 6). Those who have not taken part with the servants of the Lord in their contest against the powers of darkness, but yield willingly to the temptations of Satan, have great cause to tremble.

Woe to those who are enemies of the cross of Christ; worldly and ungodly persons, whose "wisdom is earthly, sensual, and devilish!" Upon them the common hater of mankind will exert his malignant power; he will hold them as his vassals in base subjection; for he ruleth in the hearts of the children of disobedience; he forms them according to his own character, employs them in his own work, and is leading them

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Let the impenitent sinner, then, be afraid; for he is associated with evil spirits in rebellion against God; he is "treasuring up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath." Pause, reflect, consider, repent; turn from "the fellowship of devils;" turn to God, through Christ, while yet there is mercy, while yet there is hope. Angels will rejoice over you; for "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

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This subject, then, suggests an important inquiry to the conscience of each one: Am I on the Lord's side," or on the side of Satan? There is a contest going on between angels and devils; a contest between light and darkness, truth and falsehood, righteousness and sin. It may be traced in the hearts of individuals, in families, in neighbourhoods, in societies, in nations, in the world at large. The great question is, What part are we ourselves taking in this contest? Are we on the side of the dragon and his angels, or on the side of Michael and his angels? Are we living to the service of the Redeemer, or to ourselves, to the world, and to sin? If living in sin, how awful our state! and if we repent not, how certain our condemnation!

The subject affords peculiar encouragement to those who are united with angels in struggling against sin. Arduous is the conflict in which you, my Christian reader, are engaged against the world, the flesh, and the devil, a formidable confederacy. Feeble are your own unaided powers, quite unequal to the strife. But there are more with you than all that are against you; and "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John, iv. 4). You have the sympathy and the care of the angels of heaven, who by God's appointment succour and defend you upon earth; you have the sympathy and the care of the Lord of angels. Nor are you without obtaining some victories over your spiritual enemies through Him that hath loved you. These are the pledges of that future and everlasting triumph reserved for you in that happy world, where you shall have your residence and communion with the angels of light, where no enemy shall molest your peace, where no sin shall enter to disturb your harmony, no sorrow intrude to diminish your joy for evermore. In the contemplation of this glorious prospect adopt the exulting language of the Psalmist, "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength; bless the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure; bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion; bless the Lord, O my soul" (Psalm civ. 21, 22).

AN ADDRESS TO PARENTS

ON THE DUTY OF ENDEAVOURING TO PREVENT
SIN IN THEIR CHILDREN.

BY THE REV. J. L. GOLDING, M.A.,
Walton, near Peterborough.

THERE are two views to be taken of the consequences of sin, both of which are recognised in the Bible; the temporal, and the eternal. The latter is generally admitted, and probably believed to a certain degree, by those who have very faint ideas and scarcely any belief of the former. There is, however, a very serious disadvantage in taking imperfect views of any practical subject; because imperfect, if not erroneous practices are the natural effects of imperfect views, that is, of knowing only a portion of the whole truth. The whole of the scriptural views of sin ought therefore to be fully taught.

We are manifestly living under certain laws with regard to the body, which must be obeyed, or the penal consequences are unavoidable. And God, who established the laws, manifestly appointed also the penal consequences of disobedience. Let me plainly illustrate this remark. It is a law of God, with regard to our temporal constitution, that life cannot be maintained but by eating and drinking; this is the law of our being. Suppose, then, a man should wilfully and determinately break this law; the dreadful sufferings from famine must be endured. All know this; but I wish to point out this cause and effect as God's own ordinance. He established the law, and attached the penalty. The idea might be still further illustrated endlessly, by what is familiar to us all. It is, for instance, a law of the Maker of the universe, that fire, if we come into contact with it, should cause the human frame acute pain, and destroy life. And if a man will thrust his hand into the fire, he must suffer this pain; he has broken the law, and the consequences are unavoidable. But man consists of mind as well as of body; and it can be shewn that the mind also is under the influence of certain laws, fixed by Him who made us, which, if broken, unavoidably bring on their proper penal consequences. We all understand it of the body. But it is not so easily understood, that a breach of the laws which govern the mind must be followed by their proper evil consequences, as surely as the laws which rule the body. This is a far more difficult subject to be illustrated, because men think so much about their bodies, and scarcely at all about their minds. We never suffer any pain of body, without at once seeking to discover the cause of it; but our minds are pained in a thousand ways without a moment's inquiry into the cause of that suffering. Yet it is true, that there is as distinct a cause for the pain of the mind as there is for the pain of the body. If we used our bodies always as God designed they should be used, it is certain they would never know pain. And equally true is it, that if the mind were used as God designed it should be, that would never know pain. If a man tells a wilful lie, because the evil effects of it are not at once felt, nothing more is thought of it; yet it appears to me to be demonstrable, that a lie inflicts as certainly a wound, so to speak, upon the mind, as a blow does upon the body, the bruise from which may not be felt

for days or months after it has been given. I think it is just as much a law of God, that the blow upon the body should inflict an injury, as it is that the lie should inflict an injury upon the mind, and so prepare it for future misery in its temporal existence; that is, the bad effects of sin upon the mind in time are, in their degree, as necessary and as sure as they will be in eternity. For, however contrary to this the conclusion may be to which we are led by our passions and our evil habits, and our naturally false notions of true happiness, reason tells us that God can be the only true judge of this question. And he declares that "godliness hath the promise of the life that now is;" that is to say, the really happy man in this life, is he who obeys the laws of God: for sin inflicts the only wound which the soul is capable of receiving; that is, sin must, according to the immutable arrangement of God, hurt the mind, as an outward injury must the body. It is on this ground that God unhesitatingly pronounces the wicked man to be temporally miserable. He says, without one "if," without one exception, "the wicked is like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt: there is no peace, says my God, to the wicked." Now peace is God's highest gift of happiness; and sin, he declares, robs a man of every fragment of it. It is thus shewn that sin necessarily begets temporal misery.

But it also begets eternal misery. That it produces temporal misery, is capable of proof from the experience of every man who has sought for it in his own mental history. But as we cannot prove that it will produce eternal misery, no soul having come back from the abodes of misery to tell the tale of its woes, we must take God's word for it. And, let me remark, in order to strengthen your views of the reasonableness of this faith in God's word, that, as his declarations concerning the effects of sin in time have been proved to be true by our own experience, this fact ought to confirm, with infinite force, your belief in his declarations of its eternal consequences. For this is only agreeable to the commonest laws of your intercourse with each other. If a man had kept his promises to you once under trying circumstances, you would unhesitatingly trust him again. But God does keep his promises with regard to sin in 'time, and therefore he will in eternity. And shall I again remind you of those eternal consequences? They are brought before us by the most terrible images. Fire is one. Thus the prophet asks, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" This is an image of the future misery of the sinner, at which nature shudders; and to give it more force in our minds, consider for whom this representation was first of all made it was to the inhabitants of Eastern countries, who pass their days under a burning, withering sun, and to whom, therefore, happiness is imaged forth by cooling waters, and "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land;" and to whom the heat of a fire is but another word for deep suffering. Your own memories will doubtless enable you to pursue this topic much further.

Now these two views of the consequences of sin ought never to be separated in your mind. It should

not be forgotten, that eternal punishment is not a more certain consequence of sin than temporal punishment, in some form or other, is. If, then, these two views are not combined, you have only half-knowledge of the effects of sin. The sinner who goes deliberately to his sin, and makes up his mind, as he thinks he can do, to the eternal punishment of it, has only admitted a part of the truth: the whole truth is, that as surely as eternal punishment will be the proper consequence of sin, so surely will temporal punishment. Nay, more surely; for the true believer in Christ will escape the eternal punishment; but it is very debateable how far the merits of Christ stand between the sinner and the temporal consequences of his sins.

It may be of use to say a few words about the mode in which sin necessarily produces temporal punishment, because the prosperity of wicked men seems to disprove it. But the height of human prosperity is familiarly known to be compatible with the deepest misery; besides, the seat of happiness and of misery is the heart, and the heart is the peculiar place of God's jurisdiction; and this is invisible to man, who, looking at the smiling countenance, falsely regards that as the index of a smiling heart; but, says Solomon, even in laughter the heart is sorrowful." I need not say more on this topic.

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is a dreadful mistake to suppose that riches and honours are the greatest blessings parents can bestow upon their children; for thousands, I fear, will meet their children in the abodes of misery, and will then discover that the riches they felt so happy in procuring for them were the direct instruments of bringing them there. Parents should labour to keep their children from sin, to "train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" and then if they fail in giving them a temporal inheritance, they may yet procure for them "an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away." I fear it is too little considered how many children's sins, that might have been prevented with ordinary diligence and watchfulness, must fairly be laid to the charge of their parents hereafter. The position in which the providence of God has placed them with regard to their children's welfare, is indeed enough to awaken the deepest emotions of fear in a parent's breast; for the sins of fathers are visited upon their children;-not, however, that children are punished merely because parents were wicked.* The truth is, the sins of the parents have taught their children to sin. Habitual sinners themselves, they could not feel the great duty imposed on them, of labouring to keep their children from sin. Thus their sins are visited upon their offspring; they sin, as a matter of course, because they saw those sinning whose example they are naturally inclined to follow.

* Ezekiel, xviii. 14, 17.

Consider that single sin, which is so fruitful a parent of other sins-a breach of the Sabbath-day. How are the sins of the Sabbath-breaking parent visited upon his children, by his children becoming Sabbathbreakers too, with all the evils of that sin! Thus he has neglected an instrument of infinite force in preventing sin in them: for whereas an idle Sunday opens wide the gates for the entrance of every sin, so does a properly occupied Sunday close the gates to many an evil that knocks for admission in vain. I can feel no hesitation in pointing out a double advantage in duly bringing children to the house of God on the Sabbath. You bring them in the way appointed by God himself for their receiving religious instruction and impressions, and the only means are adopted for preventing the concomitant sins of unoccupied hours; and in after-life, if they think at all, they will say of you, as David did of Abigail, "Blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me from evil" (1 Sam. xxv. 33). Parents cannot bestow upon their children God's grace; yet they can pave the way for its entrance into their hearts, by preventing sin in them, in a thousand ways, and thus removing the greatest obstacle to religion-the actual indulgence of unchecked sins, which have acquired the force of habit.

Parents should carry out their endeavours to prevent sin in their children likewise by keeping them, as far as circumstances will permit, from evil examples, for it is never to be forgotten, that these will do their deadly work of sapping and mining virtuous principles more effectually than any endeavours to establish them. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." "Evil communications corrupt good manners."

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Again, do you deny yourselves needless indulgences, which would remove you from your children's society, and thus expose them to temptations, which it is cruel to expect the feeble mind of youth can resist? There is more religion, far more, in the act of that father or mother who should remain at home on the Sabbath (to select one case of self-denial) purposely to watch over their children, than in that of him or her who, under the selfish pretence of seeking spiritual advantages, wanders to some distant place of worship, and leaves them at home to Satan and his wiles. I speak thus strongly and earnestly and particularly, because I must remind you that the first of all your earthly duties, after seeking to save your own souls, is to seek to save the souls of your children; and one especial part assigned to you in this all-important struggle is to prevent sin in them by your own self-denying vigilIt is a good work to pray for them; it is a good work to give them wise counsels; but your own personal acts of self-denial in the struggle to prevent sin in them may be worth them all.

ance.

Again, in their entrance into life, do you endeavour to prevent sin in them, by seeking to place them where God is feared and his Sabbaths respected? You are paying an awful price for any imagined temporal advantages for your children, if you willingly place them with such as would encourage sin in them, rather than raise the warning voice to prevent it. You are quite justified in seeking to promote, by all lawful means, their advancement in life; but recollect, that

this is useful, expedient, and desirable, yet " one thing is needful." Seek for them, first of all, so far as you can, "the kingdom of God and his righteousness," and rely on his wisdom and faithfulness to bless your arrangements for promoting their honourable success in the duties of life.

To the poor, serious-minded labourer I would affectionately give this general direction, in reference to the duty I am enforcing: send your children to the Sunday-school, and, if you can, to a week-day school, where the foundation of the knowledge taught is the Bible. Set them an example at home of reverently, not morosely, keeping holy God's most blessed gift (you have to thank him for it, for a selfish world would never have given it you) to a tired world, of the seventh day's rest. Pray with them in your families; pray for them in your own retirement. Seek to place them with employers who will fulfil your last wish, as they leave the paternal roof to encounter a world whose every influence will be adverse to their spiritual welfare, and help them to keep holy the Sabbath-day, as the rallying-point of all religion. Thus do your part towards their eternal salvation, and you will best of all fulfil your duty of preventing sin in them, by supplying them with the only armour which can be proof against its attacks.

NEW CHURCHES IN THE DIOCESE OF
CHESTER.

[Communicated to the Editors by a Correspondent.]

It was the privilege of the Bishop of Chester to consecrate, in the latter part of the autumn, eleven churches on eleven consecutive days; and as these churches were built under different circumstances, varied from each other in form, and size, and character, as they were placed in situations very dissimilar, and were all peculiarly adapted to the wants of their respective localities, it may not be without interest to your readers, both lay and clerical, to receive a slight sketch of the additions which were made on this occasion to the amount of our church-accommodation.

It must, however, be premised, that five churches had been previously consecrated in the month of June; and the ecclesiastical record of the year would be imperfect, if these were not included on the list; as well as one which has been consecrated since. The first of the above was a church built at Rain Hill, in the parish of Prescot, near to the line of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway. It is built and endowed under the last acts, those of Will. IV. and Victoria; and presents a neat simple exterior, of the style now called Romanesque, but more properly Byzantine, with round-headed windows, and a truncated spire. The cost has been about S007., and the present number of sittings 375; but the architect, Mr. Welsh, has reserved means of enlarging the accommodation, by throwing out transepts. The church at present has no gallery. The external arrangement is as usual; and the pulpit and reading-desk are in front of the communion-table. The church was built by subscription, 5001. being the gift of Mrs. Sherborne; and has been since endowed under the act of Victoria by a gentleman, whose son was appointed to it as curate, and who has thus secured the patronage to himself.

A church was consecrated the same day at Halewood, in the parish of Childwall. It is a chapel of ease to the parish church, but is endowed with a portion of the tithes. The style of architecture is what is commonly called Gothic; and considering the very moderate sum which it has cost, the architect,

Mr. A. Williams of Liverpool, has succeeded in producing a building of extraordinary elegance. The expenses were 9007., and the number of sittings 350. The internal arrangement is peculiar. The east end is hexagonal, and the pulpit and reading-desk are placed at the opposite extremities of the communionrails. There is a gallery at the west end.

It is already necessary to consider the means of enlarging this church; and the only plan of doing this appears to be by increasing its length. It is fortunate that the height of the roof will admit of this mode of enlargement, without any deduction from the symmetry of the interior.

The next day a chapel of ease was consecrated at Bolton, calculated to hold 650, and built for 2,2001.: the money was raised by local subscription, the list being headed by the sum of 500l., which, originally subscribed by the parishioners of Bolton for the purchase of a service of plate, as a memorial of their gratitude and affection for their respected vicar, the Rev. J. Slade, was by him applied to this purpose. Mr. Welsh was the architect: the style, early English; with a spire and west gallery.

A parochial chapel at Adlington, in the parish of Standish, was consecrated the same day, built nearly in the same style, and by the same architect. The number of sittings in this case was 600, and the cost of building 1,400. Of this sum, 450l. was supplied by the Church-commissioners; 3001. was a grant from the Diocesan Society; and the rest was raised by local subscriptions. Since the consecration, a further sum of 3007. has been given by Sir Robert Clayton, to clear off some outstanding accounts.

St. Thomas's Church, Preston, was consecrated next, and it is a church which deserves a more detailed notice than is consistent with the limits of this report, from the peculiarity of the interior arrangements and the beauty of the general appearance. The style is Norman; and the material, the fine white stone of the country, is favourable to architectural effect. The chancel is long and deep, and approached by an avenue of massive Norman columns. The pulpit and reading-desk are on the sides of the opening, and a large gallery in the west places a considerable part of the congregation immediately in front of the minister. The church is calculated to hold 1050, and it cost 3,500, of which 8007. was drawn from the Diocesan Society. It was built from the plans and under the sole direction of the vicar, the Rev. R. C. Wilson.

The consecrations in the autumn commenced with a chapel at Holme, in the parish of Burton in Kendal, in Westmorland. The establishment of a large cotton manufactory had here introduced a population of not less than 1500 souls into a valley among the Fells, which before had been tenanted by a few scattered farms alone and their appendant cottages. The managers of the works belong to the Society of Friends, and rendered no assistance; but through the efforts of the Rev. W. C. Wilson of Casterton Hall, funds have been raised for the erection of a plain substantial edifice, built of the stone of the country undressed, having a tower resembling those which are generally met with in the country parishes of the north. The whole plan of the church, both in style and measurements, nearly approaches that at Casterton; the particulars of which were given by Mr. Wilson in his useful publication on Church-building. This church has sittings for 500, and has been completed for 7501.; and though plain both in its internal fittings and exterior, it has a decided ecclesiastical character, and forms a good object at a distance. It is placed near a stream of water backed by hills; and land immediately contiguous has been given by the Hon. Col. Howard for the site of a school and parsonage. The erection of these buildings will complete the plan, and form a groupe on which the eye may rest with hope, and where faith may anticipate the fulfil

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