VOL. I. ZION'S WITNESS. OCTOBER, 1858. No. 1 BELOVED IN THE LORD, An Address. "For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever (2 John ii. 2), I address you, and say, "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love" (2 John. ii. 3). Beloved, it has been in my heart to come unto you in this way for some time; but opportunity was lacking. The time having now arrived, I salute and greet you in the name of Him, our glorious and precious Lord Jesus, who hath "loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Rev. i. 5, 6). What love to secure us! What blood to wash us! What fatherly kindness to take care of us! And what a blessed Spirit to witness the Christ-exalting and God-glorifying fact to our spirits that we are the favoured recipients of His bounty! That we are bound in the bundle of life, with the Lord of life and glory, and shall never come into condemnation, but are passed from death unto life (John v. 24). Being, then, in union-oneness with Him, we enjoy union-blessedness by Him; growing up in Him our living Head in all things; knowing no man after the flesh; looking up and viewing "Jesus وو દઃ To all satisfied with Jesus, knowing Him to be "the true God and eternal life (1 John v. 20), I now write, wishing you every blessing your covenant God and Father seeth you need; fulfilling His own word in your heart, namely: “But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. iv. 19); thereby enabling you to abound in the knowledge of Him, which will kill you to the perishing vanities of the world, and constrain you to say, "Nothing but Jesus I esteem, My soul is then sincere ; And everything that's dear to Him, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee." O to know more of Him! as saith the Apostle, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection" (Phill. 3, 10); “whom to know is life eternal." (John xvii. 3.) An increasing knowledge of Christ by the unctuous teaching of the blessed Spirit will sink you lower and lower in self-estimation. The revelation of Christ in the heart fills every vacuum of the soul, leaving no room for the creature to boast or glory, save in its own infirmities, finding it better "to be absent from the body (by faith), and present with the Lord (2 Cor. v. 6). ,, وو It is unspeakably blessed to have right views of the Lord, and to see light in His light. To see we are altogether undone in the first Adam, but safe in the Second, is the Lord's own work. Such knowledge is too wonderful for poor, proud, fallen nature; it cannot attain unto it. The wall enclosing nature's garden is far too high for those within to see over. Unless raised to the rock higher than self it is impossible to get a glimpse of the King in His beauty, or a hope of ever enjoying the distant land of bliss and blessedness. When the Lord takes a man in hand to instruct him, he is taught agreeably to the promise made by a precious Christ, namely: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth (John xvi. 13); and, "the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John xv. 26). So that we are left at no uncertainty about the great matter of teaching, as to who shall be the teacher; as we read in another place, "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isaiah liv. 13); and, they shall no more teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least even unto the greatest" (Jeremiah xxxi. 34); the effect of which is, we are well satisfied with our heavenly teacher's teaching; for Ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (1 John ii. 27). Well, then, as children of God it becomes us to fall in with scripture testimony, and not make our loving Father a liar by our unbelief (1 John, v. 10). The scriptures declare respecting the family, "Though we believe not, he abideth faithful; He cannot deny himself" (2 Tim. ii. 13); for, "Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David" (Psalm lxxxix. 35); my covenant shall stand fast with Him;" (Psalm lxxxix. 25). My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psalm lxxxix. 34). The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent (Psalm cx. 4); He is not a man that He should lie; nor the son of man that He should repent; hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good ?" (Numbers xxiii. 19). Surely the foregoing scripture statements are enough to satisfy us that God will perform all the good pleasure of His goodness in us, of working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, carrying on His own work in spite of sin, devil, and the unbelieving heart, and bringing all things in subjection and subservience to His will; for "He doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." r 66 66 I well know that there are thousands of professing Christians, and amongst them many of the Lord's own, who suppose the creature is not altogether powerless in soul matters, but can do something to meet the Lord's approbation-something to move a smile upon His face-to raise the light of His countenance upon them. If any such should read this, I would in love invite them to consider the consequence of such a dogma. It at once brings you under the old covenant of works, and plainly declares, you have not yet been divorced from the law, but are "Moses's disciples." "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. iii. 20). "But ye are not under the law, but under grace (Rom. vi. 14); "and if grace, it is no more of works" (Rom. xi. 6), which clearly shows there is no glory in the first, by reason of the superlative glory of the second; for, "if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. viii. 10), so that we live in holy liberty and precious freedom in the righteousness of God, knowing we have no other acceptance before God; nay, wishing for none other; perfectly satisfied with His being "made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. i. 30); that no man should glory in man, but, as it is written, "him that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (2 Cor. x. 17). If you think the Lord smiles according to your behaviour, you are a servant, and not a son; and art saying with the man with one talent, “I knew thou wert an austere man, &c." But Christ said, "I have called you friends; for a servant knoweth not what His Lord doeth." If the Lord frowns when you commit a sin, He has been frowning ever since you were born; yea, from all eternity; for He knew from the beginning what a wretch you would prove, and, as the Apostle Paul declared, "In me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. vii. 18). The Lord does not expect grapes from such a thorn, or figs from such a thistle; nor sweet water from so bitter a fountain. No, beloved, Ye have not so learned Christ." He who was wisdom itself well knew what we should prove; how corrupted we should be. But O, the wonder of wonders! love was above, beneath, and far, very far, beyond the fall, so as to secure in a precious Christ everything needful to meet us in our low estate, so that we are constrained to sing with the poet : دو "He saw us ruined in the fall, But lov'd us notwithstanding all; It is very clear, that many of the Lord's people are suffering under legal bondage, and the mis-called Gospel ministers would fain keep them there, urging "it is the safest place." Those ministers I would warn, and ask them to read Ezekiel xiii. 22; and to those thus bound and oppressed by a legal spirit, to ponder over Isaiah xl. 1, 2. For, bear in mind, Christ is the only place of safety; He is the only city of refuge, shadowy rock, high tower, place of defence; in a word, all your acceptance with God; as saith the Apostle, "Ye are complete in Him." Again, "if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor. v. 17); and, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," not bondage. Some will call this presumption; but it moves me not; for I have it still in remembrance how often the devil made me believe the same thing; so that I know where it comes from, and am well aware at what he aims. Satan has two things especially in view one is, to undermine and undervalue the work of Christ; the other, to deprive the Lord's own children of their privileges; picturing God, who is their loving Father, in the colours of a tyrant, instead of what He truly is, “A friend who loveth at all times," whose love and faithfulness rises infinitely higher than all their cursed unbelief. The Lord declares, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Mal. iii. 16). "He hateth putting away." (Mal. ii. 16). He is of one mind, and who (mark that!) can turn him ?" (Job xxiii. 13); and "having loved his own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John xiii. 1); for, Thou hast loved them as (equally) thou hast loved me" (John, xvii. 23). How dare men say, in the face of scripture, that there are any stipulations or conditions in the new covenant! The Father declares to all who have ears to hear, "My covenant shall stand fast with Him" (Psalm lxxxix. 28). To question this is to make God a liar; but, "Let God be true, and every man a liar (Rom. iii. 4). To you, then, that love the Lord in sincerity and in truth, I say, all hail! knowing you will be one with me in these glorious realities, and will respond, "Upon His own head let His crown flourish." But to those who have not yet believed and entered into rest, nor ceased from their own works as God did from His, I would say, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psalm xxvii. 14). Now, a few words to my readers generally. I have but one thing in view, I trust, in publishing a monthly magazine, namely, the Glory of God. As He, in love and mercy, hath given me to taste, handle, and feel the good word of life, I feel constrained to obey the scriptural injunction, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest" (Ecc. ix. 10). I trust the honors belonging to the great and glorious Emmanuel, God with us, will be ever maintained; that the love, blood and righteousness of our Incarnate God may be uppermost in the minds of all contributors to the pages of the "Witness ;" and that God in all things may be glorified, whilst our souls are richly fed. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Eph., 3, 20, 21.) 15, Leverton-street, Kentish-town, London, N.W. Yours to serve, in the Gospel, THE TRUE WITNESS. How important it is to have a true witness; but how rare to find one! Since the fall of our first parents it may truly be said of man, "They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Psalms, xiv. 3). "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions" (Eccs. vii. 29.) False witnesses have abounded in all ages, as saith the Psalmist (or, Christ by him), "False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not (Psal. xxxv. 11), thereby causing the innocent to suffer. "A faithful witness will not lie; but a false witness will utter lies (Prov. xiv. 5). Our most glorious Christ knew what it was to suffer (immediately) from them, as we read, "Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; but found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came |