When When

lem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness." Oh for faith to credit what the Almighty saith. faith is in exercise, all is well. poor Peter believed, he could walk on the sea, but, ah, when he feared and disbelieved, he began to sink; so even the father of the faithful, Abraham himself, when his faith was up, he could go up Mount Moriah to offer up his beloved son; but we see him before Abimeleck, afraid to own his wife-Say thou art my sister. O my dear friend, I have need to pray every hour of my life, Lord increase my faith!

I have once more paid a visit to my friends in Lincolnshire, where I think I had the happiest month I ever enjoyed in my life. I have been there nine times, and I trust I always found the Lord with me; and that which the Lord directed me to speak, I spoke, and no more. Oh, what a mercy it is that there are a few witnesses for the truth in all directions, but, alas, how very few that profess the truth that ever felt the power of it. How many there are, go where you will, who, like the fig-tree, that never bare any thing but leaves, for it stood in the highway, and was only a hedge-row tree, and never planted in the vineyard. Just so it is, every one who is not born of the Spirit, like the barren fig-tree, will wither away. Oh what a mercy if you and I, my dear friend, under the teaching of God the Holy Ghost, are led to distinguish between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent-between the righteous and the wicked-between the saint and the sinner-between the son and the slave-the sheep and the goats-the chaff and the wheat; and to know in whom we have believed. I fear I have tired you with my long epistle and that you will be hardly able to read it. I have been very unwell since I came from Lincolnshire, the journey being rather to long for my old tabernacle. You will

please to remember me, with christian affection, to the few blood-bought of your little society, and very particularly to Mr. S. H-, jun., and the citizens of Zion who favoured me with such a proof of christian love that will never be forgotten by me; and I hope my dear friends will recollect that my dear Lord Jesus will address them by and by, saying "Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." I would finish my long jargon, by saying to you, what Aaron was commissioned to say, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and give thee peace." So prays your poor brother, in covenant bonds,

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DANIEL HERBERT.

EXTRACT FROM A SERMON PREACHED BY REV. J. VINALL, OF LEWES.

(No. 9.-To be continued.) "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me," Psalm 1. 15.

As I am often led to speak of the evidences of a child of God, I shall not at this time attempt to enter on that subject, only observe that my text applies to every regenerate child of God, to the weak as well as those who are sweetly established. I know some of you will be ready to say, I have called upon God, month after month and year after year, and yet seem to obtain no answer, and faint at ever obtaining the promised blessing. I would ask you, Can you give up and say I will call no more on this name? Oh, no, you will say, no more than I can give up eating food for the support of the body. Go on, then, poor soul, thou shalt reap in due time; the longer thou hast to wait the greater will be thy harvest: read the parable of the importunate widow, and the man going to his friend at midnight. I have known the time, many years ago, when I had only to ask and

have, and continually had to prove the substance of this text, Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear." But alas, my dear friends, I have found since then far otherwise; and my language often is, in my heavy and long affliction, "How long, O Lord, how long? wilt thou forget me for ever?" But I must also say my dear Lord often pays me a visit, and assures me he still loves me; and never did I more than now, enjoy at times such sweet communion. I spend much of my time alone, and very profitable do I find it. But I must forbear saying any more of myself, I want to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified more and more.

Now a little for the first part of my text. We find that sometimes the Almighty long tries his children, at other times not so; how long Abraham had to wait, so had Isaac, so had Jacob and Joseph; and how long the children of Israel had to wait in Egypt, upwards of four hundred years: but what does God say, "I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people, and am come down to deliver them.' At the time of Jacob's trouble with Esau it was short, perhaps not many hours, but it was very severe. We find also, with Hezekiah, it was very sharp, but it was not a long trial; I mean in reference to the invasion of

the Assyrian army. But whatever our trials are, whether long or short, the promise will be fulfilled, 'I will deliver thee."

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Secondly. But when, how, and by what means? This is very often our enquiry, but with this we have nothing to do; the Almighty is infinite in wisdom, and will work in his own way, his own time, and by what means he pleases: we have to do with the promise; and here I desire more and more to rest, and desire, my dear friends, to lead your minds to the stability of the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things well, and sure to all the seed. What peace is felt when we

"What Christ has said must be fulfilled,
On this firm rock believers build;
His word shall stand, his truth prevail,
And not one jot or tittle fail."

Then we glorify God by grateful acknowledgements of his goodness when we are delivered, as it is said, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me," &c. We also glorify God by telling his children what we have proved of his Christ said to divine faithfulness

one, Go home to thy friends, and tell them what great things he hath done for thee. We also find, with the poor leper, how he returned and glorified God. But some will say, When I am delivered out of any particular trial, I sometimes find a want of that sweet This is a gratitude that I desire. most painful feeling; I have often known it, and many a grief it causes the poor soul; but here is our comfort, where there is first a willing mind it is accepted. Perhaps, my dear friends, we are not always to be trusted with what we want, for we might make more of it than we ought, and

"Spiritual pride would soon creep in, And turn the very grace to sin."

Oh, what lessons we have to learn whilst here below. But the time is fast coming when we can serve him as we want to serve him, without interruption, for ever and ever. I often long to be dissolved, to lay down my poor afflicted tabernacle and be for ever at rest; but yet would I desire to wait my dear Lord's time, and to do what he has yet in reserve.

If any poor soul has received a blessing from these few broken unconnected hints, may the Lord have all the praise, and thus I shall leave the subject. Amen.

A WAY-SIDE SALUTATION.

My very Dear Brother,

I HALL you in the Lord's dear name as one of the blood royal, whose destiny is the heaven of heavens after you have suffered awhile, a few more surges, and you will enter the haven of endless rest. I often look in upon you in my thoughts, and often call to mind the many sweet seasons of heavenly fellowship we have enjoyed together, which will never be wholly forgotten. You complain of Mr. F's ministry as not being of a piece: this is always the case where the Holy Ghost is not the teacher, A wolf may appear in a sheep's clothing, but the sharp scented of the family will smell them, and a eircumcised ear trieth words, and a sound judgment weighs the subject. I know you possess some of these qualifications, therefore take care what you hear and how; try the spi rits, all are not of God, and the sheep will not, cannot hear them. I do feel for you, my brother, and the few straggling sheep around you: the Lord will most assuredly take care of you. But you will say No gospel ministry, no refreshing sabbaths, can this work for good?' yea it must, for He hath spoken it, and in his own time He will either send you the gospel or you to it. Fear not, thou worm Jacob." Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" Christ's death was the death of death and sin's destruction. Our God and Father ever beholds us in his Son without spot and blameless, amid all the corruption we are the subjects of in ourselves. The Holy Ghost leads the poor sinner out of himself to Jesus for every thing.

My dear brother, I am still preaching no other gospel than you have heard from my lips. I know no other. God has revealed no other. My soul desires no other. Say you not sọ?

Oh how glad should I be to see

you again! I can never forget you so long as life and memory remain. Tender my love to Mrs. P. I believe she is a lively stone ordained to shine in that stupendous fabric-the temple of God-founded on the incarnate Son of the eternal Father. Every predestinated soul is a part of that noble building of exquisite workmanship. Every stone washed in blood divine-hewn, polished, and fitted for its place-shall shine in the same. A building not made with hands: that is, not human. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord."

Every blessing needful be with you and your's, and all the Lord's redeemed. So prays your unworthy brother in the Lord,

W. BIDDER.

THE TRUE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL BLESSINGS.

LEARN to value spiritual blessings and temporal likewise, not by the things themselves, but by the love of God from which they came. A small blessing may be out of abundance of love: God may abound in love to thee in bestowing it, when the blessing in the matter of it is but little. What is the reason that many good souls, who have true grace wrought in their hearts, are so very unthankful? They look to the grace wrought in them, and see there is but little of that; and they value all by what they find in themselves, by the blesing wrought; I find but little in me, if any at all and while they thus value the blessing by what they find in themselves, they prove unthankful unto God. Whereas that little grace thou hast, that little faith, be it but as a grain of mustard seed, it proceeds out of abundance of grace in God. God abounds infinitely in his love to thee, when thou hast but the least beginning of grace in thee, as small at first as Nicodemus had. Eph. i. 8; ii. 4; iii. 11.

Dialogues on the Apocalypse; shewing that the whole tenour of Prophecy relates to Events which are yet to Come. By Henry Erskine Head, A. M,. Rector of Feniton, Devon. 12mo. pp. 138. London, Palmer and Son.

BEFORE entering upon the contents of this volume, we feel it right to advert to the splenetic review of a Series of Tracts by this same author, which appeared in last month's number of the Gospel Standard,' caused we presume by their bitter hostility to the Establishment in which Mr. Head continues to officiate as a minister. We had hoped that the wholesome and necessary reproof which we had administered to this juvenile reviewer, would have taught him some little prudence; but alas, as the wise king of Israel found it to be in his day so it is now," Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar, among wheat in a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him," Prov. xxvii. 22. Without noticing the coxcomb language in which it is concocted, we assert that it is most unjustifiable for any man-when in his capacity of editor he is pretending to inform his readers as to the character of the book before him-to assume the position of Jehovah, and to determine the spiritual condition and eternal destiny of an author. God hath said "I am he that searcheth the heart, and tryeth the reins of the children of men;" and no authentic intelligence has yet reached us that this high prerogative hath been transferred to the censorious self-opinioned pedant who hath of late officiated as editor of the 'Gospel Standard.' This young man doth not seem to understand the office of a reviewer. His business is September, 1841.]

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to review the book, and not to act as judge of the man. But this precocious youth, mounted upon the stilts of editorship, and inflated with a pride which, if he be a partaker of divine grace, will one day undoubtedly cause him grief, struts about, fixing the destinies of his brother mortals, by smelling, feeling, and touching the publication which may happen to be sent him for review. Poor greenheaded lad! he feels the pulse of the tract that he may know if the author is a believer he smells the tract that he may ascertain if the author is spiritually taught: he touches it and looks at it, under and over and on both sides, to determine if the author is sound in the faith. Would you ever think that a man would acknowledge himself such a simpleton! Really instead of playing these mountebank juggleries, instead of practising these spiritual sorceries, if he had quietly sat himself down in his arm-chair and soberly read the tract, comparing its contents, as the Bereans did, with the pages of inspiration, he would we submit have been better qualified to give his opinion to those who may consider his opinion of any value.

Having said thus much on the unscripturalness of a reviewer reviewing the author instead of reviewing the book, we proceed to notice the volume before us.

It is written dialoguewise, and divided into nine chapters, having at the close a large folded sheet of the import of the Apocalyptic seals, drawn up on the principle that they are all unfulfilled. This in fact is the substance of the entire work; Mr. Head's object being to prove that the trumpets and vials announce

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judgments still in futurity-that the slaying of the witnesses has not at present taken place-that the beast with seven heads, &c. is a man yet to appear-that the Babylon of the Apocalypse is an actual city yet to be built-and that the conversion and restoration of the Jews to their own land, with the rebuilding of the city and temple, wherein sacrifices shall be again offered, is the leading feature of the Apocalypse.

So much has been written on this mysterious portion of God's word, and opinions so opposite to each other have been maintained with so much pertinacity by their respective authors, that we frankly acknowledge we take up with but little interest any new work upon the subject. We have nevertheless read this volume throughout: there are many judicious observations contained in it, and in some parts undoubtedly these afford considerable insight into dark passages of scripture: but we can by no means give in our concurrence with the general tenour of the author's sentiments. Our space here will not allow of our entering into detail upon the whole subject, nor is it necessary, While we are completely at issue with those who scoff at the idea of a millenial period, wherein shall be experienced a more abundant outpouring of the influences of the Holy Ghost, and when shall be blissfully realized those delightful scenes which the prophets have in figure adumbra ted—while we believe that God's word positively predicts a time yet to arrive, when in the exuberance of spiritual mercies Immanuel may be said to reign manifestly King in Zion: we at the same time repudiate, as unscriptural and degrading, all those carnal views which represent the Saviour as visible monarch of a visible earthly kingdom, and imagine terrestial dignities for the saints of the Most High. These things may be pleasing to the flesh; to the eye of eense it may be rapturous to sketch,

in panoramic outline, the gorgeous features of a stone-built Jerusalem, and to fancy the splendours of another temple-to represent Christ holding an earthly court, and to be one of the attendants at his royal pavilion: but to the spiritually awakened eye all these things sink into insignifi cance. The believer remembers that Christ hath said My kingdom is not of this world:" he reflects that while Christ once humbled himself and came in the form of a servant to work out and bring in an everlasting salvation, nowhere is he spoken of as humbling himself a second time. He is now seated on his high and glorious throne in the heavens, and every view which represents him as descending into the position of an earthly king, is a second humiliation, which no scripture can be found to justify.

Again, we do believe, notwith. standing all that this talented author has advanced to oppose it, and notwithstanding that we remember our dear friend Dr. Hawker differed from us likewise, that the papacy is specifically alluded to in the book of the Apocalypse. We cannot with this writer, and doubtless many other great and good men, deem the bishop of Rome as the head of a systemtoo mean and too little to engage the Spirit's notice. He who is repre

sented as preserving in a bottle the tears of his saints, regards not without observation that mystery of ini quity which hath caused the outflowing of rivers of their blood! To our view the picture is complete, and most confidently do we believe that upon Popery as a system will yet be poured out the vials of God's indignation. She may arise from her present enfeebled state: yea she is arising: she is gathering together her strength for one concentrated effort to regain her latent despotism; and it may be that our God for wise purposes will permit her to do so successfully. God's Zion may again