wonderful, and free! Christ saw us polluted in our blood, and said "Live." He spread His skirt over us, even His own spotless robe of righteousness, so that we are for ever comely in our Father's sight; and He hath said, "Thou art all fair my love, there is no spot in thee." All His people being in union to Him, who is the eternal life, they can never die; for He hath said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." There is therefore perpetual safety in Christ. The devil may roar, he cannot touch our life; sin may annoy, perplex, and teaze, it cannot reach our life; so that "we are more than conquerors through Him who hath loved us.' Let us then ascribe all glory to our triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit. S. C.

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THE ELECTION OF GOD.
(Continued from page 110.)

As, then, the Lord has chosen the foundation-stone, which is a living-stone, the whole of the superstructure is composed of lively stones, alike chosen of the Lord. Christ Jesus is the elected foundation-stone, corner, and topstone: the foundation to bear the others up, the corner to bind the whole together, and the top to enclose; the building is therefore eternally enclosed between the top and foundation, no stone being able to get beneath the foundation, nor above the top-stone. Let the believer in Jesus, then, sink never so low, the basis is beneath him; let him rise never so high, he cannot get above the topstone. In this elect building, Christ Jesus has the preeminence. Every stone being eternally placed in its proper position, and everlastingly cemented by the Great, Wise, Master Builder, neither time nor eternity can remove the least. Some carnal empty professors object to the size of this building, and fain would enlarge it. A word to such; it is wisdom's building, therefore, let not folly dictate. It is Wisdom's, therefore perfect; add to it, and its perfection ceases. It is a noble structure, a grand and glorious edifice; and, Oh! unspeakable mercy! I, unworthy as I am, was eternally chosen to be a stone; not to hold my peace, or the other stones would soon cry out and shame me, but rather sing to the praise of Him the mighty founder.

"The election hath obtained it." Deny election, and you deny the word of God; and may therefore close your Bibles, and turn infidels at once. Deny election, and you vacate every seat in heaven, there being none to fill them; nay, you at once declare that there are no seats; for to suppose seats without occupants is to reflect most grossly upon the wisdom of God. Deny election, and prove its nonentity, the fool is right in saying-therefore, no fool"There is no God." Upon such a supposition this ponderous globe, with its diversified inhabitants, is a mighty effect, without a cause, which is, to say the least, an extreme absurdity. Deny election, and we are at once plunged into an ocean, whose waves are at the command of none; whose billows may or may not roll us into non-existence, and we may hereby stand in jeopardy every hour.

Beware, O election denier! lest that come upon thee which is spoken in the prophets: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work in which ye shall in no-wise believe (not being elected), though a man declare it unto you;" thereby fulfilling the words

spoken by Jesus: "If they believe not Moses (in the spirituality of the law) and the prophets (in their testimony of Me), neither will they believe though one (the Son of Man, to wit,) rose from the dead;" which plainly intimates that every prophet and prophet's work was eternally fixed upon, not leaving it in the hands of men, as some vainly imagine. I as much believe that every minister of the New Testament is necessitated to preach in our day, as was Paul in his day, or, as that Christ "must needs go through Samaria." It is left at no peradventure who the preachers of the glorious gospel of the blessed God are to be, nor their individual usefulness in the work. Yea, every messenger and message is as immediately from the Lord now as in the days of David, when Nathan said unto him, "Thou art the man."

God the Father elected Christ: "Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth;" also the Church with Christ: "But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." It is very evident, then, that election is an undeniable truth.

In conclusion: my heart's desire and prayer to God is, that you, who lovə the doctrine of election by experimentally proving its reality, may grow up in Christ your living Head in all things; and to those who are longing to know their election of God, I would say, cheer up beloved, take courage, for that longing in thy soul is the breathing of life, so that you are in life-union to Christ, and have no real ground for fear. You have, indeed, much to be thankful for, seeing, "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." To you that are fearful of not being of the election of grace, and art almost desparing of ever knowing your interest in a precious Christ, meeting with so many hindrances, thereby often concluding that you have no part or lot in the matter, I would say, give the Lord no rest till He settle the matter in thy soul, by saying "I am Joseph thy Brother." "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen,"

"Till round the throne the blood-bought race

Electing love shall bring,

Let sinners saved proclaim free grace,

And Christ exalted sing."

SEEING JESUS ONLY.

They saw no man, save Jesus only."-MAT. xvii. 8.

As the Apostles were thus highly favoured with an extatic sight of the glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the presence of Moses and Elias, well might they have been delighted with such a peculiar privilege. Peter exclaimed, "Lord, it is good for us to be here;" and, whilst in that sweet frame of mind, said unto Jesus, "If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. How often we find some of the Lord's Spirittaught children carried away in a similar manner, when by faith they have been

favoured to see "Jesus only," who arranged the whole of their salvation, entered into a covenant to secure it, and finished the work the Father gave Him to do, by making an end of sin, dying in their law-place and stead, and imparting and implanting the grace of that salvation in their heart. O, how delighted have they been under such a sermon, reading such a book, or having some precious portion dropped into their heart from the lips of their Beloved, who knoweth how to speak a word in season to His own loved family. The children of God, under the preached word, are sometimes so overcome with joyful feelings, that, like the disciples, they are ready to give of their substance, literally, build tabernacles for the Lord, and do any thing within their power to glorify His holy name. But, how soon the scene changes! How short and transient are these delightful feelings! As in the case of the disciples, so has it been with the family generally; for, "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them." But this cloud was an emblem of the Divine presence and glory. Far different to the tremendous display at Mount Sinai, or the thick darkness by which the Lord took possession of the temple; for this was a bright cloud, which indicated a clearer manifestation of the Divine glory by the Gospel, when the cloud should have passed away. Hence, believers, take courage by remembering that the cloud is only sent to overshadow you, and to prevent you from rushing headlong into evil. No cloud, however dark, can conceal you from the watchful eye of Jesus, who will watch over you night and day, lest any hurt you. But to return: "and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." The voice, therefore, of the great I AM, directed their attention at once to Him, of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote; even Him, who was to be the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth in Jesus. When the disciples heard the voice, they fell on their face, deeply humbled under a feeling sense of their inability to build tabernacles or do anything of themselves that could be pleasing or acceptable to God. O, no! poor believers can do nothing unless Christ strengthens them. They are like the disciples, when they heard the voice out of the cloud, afraid, terrified, and distressed, for fear they had incurred the Lord's displeasure in desiring to secure a perpetual dwelling-place here, when they had learned from Jesus that this was not their rest, it being polluted. In this fearful state they would have remained, had not Jesus come and touched them, and said, "Arise, and be not afraid." For this glorious vision terrified the apostles as much as the preceding display of their Lord's glory had delighted them. When they had lifted up their eyes, the glorified forms of both law-giver and prophet had vanished, while their ever-living, ever-loving, and gracious Lord, was still with them. At the sound of His voice all other sights faded from their vision; all other impressions resolved themselves into this, and yielded to the Lord, giving way to Him their gentle and royal Master; for, "they saw no man, save Jesus only." Ah! beloved, highly favoured indeed are the people thus brought to His footstool; to such He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;" and sure I am, that the believer can never be in safer keeping or in better society than when alone with Jesus. It is not for strangers and pilgrims, as we are, to expect to find in this world any solid peace or continuing city. Our tabernacle is moveable, and will soon be taken down. Every afflicting visitation, storm of persecution, cloud that covers the mind, painful foreboding through fear of being overcome by

Satan, make the tabernacle shake and tremble, reminding us that it is getting weaker, and must dissolve, returning to its original element of dust; for "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." But, "we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." If in our wanderings through this waste howling wilderness we see Jesus only, as our God and Guide, and hold converse with Him by the way, we may surely say, "Blessed are the people who are in such a case, yea, blessed are the people, whose God is the Lord." All will be well with this chosen people, both for time and eternity. May we often be privileged-though broken hearted by sorrow and sin-to look up, through the mist of falling tears, and the darkness of the moral landscape, and mark the benignant form of Him only, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Be it ours to be favoured again and again to watch the loving eye of Him who never slumbers nor sleeps, but is ever watching over us, and lest any hurt us, keeping us night and day.

(To be continued.)

"THE BURDEN OF THE WORD OF THE LORD." THE ancient prophets used to open their sermons or messages, by announcing "The burden of the WORD of the Lord which CAME to them," or, "The word of the Lord came to me again, saying;" and sometimes they said, "As I sat in my house, the word of the Lord God fell there upon me." This has always seemed to me to answer to the burden or coming in of a spiritual ministry to the modern prophet or minister of Christ, which comes in at the heart, feelingly, and not by the head, through the labour or burden of the intellect. How this burden contrasts with that of those ministers who naturally labour for their sermons, and boast, too, of their industry, and which, when produced, is only preaching with "the wisdom of words," and is not preaching" the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven;" so that in the absence of the help of the Holy Spirit the Remembrancer, they have to commit their sermons to memory; and instances are not wanting of their preaching them over to the chairs and tables of their study, and some to their wives, who are requested to decide if they will do for the pulpit. This sort of labour or burden has nothing to do with what prophets from the Lord, sent with His messages, have always had and do have to this day. Their laboured divisions is "not rightly dividing the word of truth," however scientifically pretty it may divide the sentences of the text. God's labourers soon look through the flimsy cover of this labour, and detect the absence, generally, of that essential division always prominent in a true witness, occasioned by the Spirit of Jehovah dividing betwixt vile and precious, soul and sins. However, it is a mistake to suppose the true minister does not labour and carry a burden, or that he does not meditate and study; his messages come through his heart, which experience, instruct, and inform his head. Under this dispensation, all who rightly preach, and all who rightly believe, have it written with the finger of God on the heart or mind. Herein our covenant God gives a sweet guarantee to both believer and minister. The one shall not need that his brother shall say to him, "Know the Lord;" and

the other shall not need to take thought, for it shall be given him in that hour what he shall say. The Holy Spirit shall bring it out of the book of the heart, where the Spirit of Life with God's finger has written it in his experience what is to be brought out; and God the Spirit brings all up to his remembrance just as it is wanted for those to whom he is at the time sent to preach. "How shall they preach except they be sent ?" Why, it shall be to please themselves with well-turned sentences, or witty and amusing embellishments, blended with incoherent and ill-divided references to parts of God's solemn truth! No right spirit's order; no rightly dividing the word of truth.

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Luther said, "Meditation, temptation, and prayer, made a minister." Paul said, this revelation, or burden of the word of the Lord, was death in us and life in you;" and if I may, speak from my own feelings, it is indeed death in us. Thus our study or meditation is of necessity. Paul also said, if he did this thing willingly he had a reward, which, I think, means a Pharissee's reward in his self-laudation, praise, and satisfaction; but he adds, " if of necessity, then a dispensation of the Gospel is committed to my trust," showing clearly, that preaching without manifestation or revelation, was only handling the word of God deceitfully. That necessity (not voluntarily studying) was how the grace-taught preacher commended himself to the conscience of the grace-taught hearer; just like our prayer, not at any fixed times,-not always when we are shut up in a closet or are unassociated with the world or business occupations; but often in the midst of it, and all through it! Both the spirit of prayer in a member of Christ's Body, and the ministry of a true minister of Jesus Christ comes to them, or rather is brought to them, like Jacob's blessing, not by the bow of an Esau, but by the Lord God of Jacob, and then they can pray, study, or meditate, because the temptation, tribulation, or oppression which makes the burden, so bows them down in Spirit that they cannot disentangle themselves from it. Necessity therefore is laid upon them, which is always the case where a dispensation of the Gospel is committed to the servant of God.

These thoughts arose from being last week sunk so low in depression, fear, unbelief, and anguish (proving that flesh is just the same as ever), that I was obliged to cry, sigh, and groan before the Lord. I tried to cast my burden upon Him! tried to commit my way to Him! resorted to the Bible, and exclaimed in bitter anguish, "If thou canst do any thing, come and have mercy upon me," instead of, "If thou wilt thou canst," which brought from the Lord the ever-memorable, "I will, be thou clean." Darkness gathered thicker, the intollerable feeling of despair seemed to seize me, when the cry in this extremity turned from asking for deliverance from the oppression to a cry for support and patience to submit to the appointed lot of tribulation,— to acquiesce and say, "Thy will be done," which I felt a desire to submit to, and said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."

All at once a thought arose, as I was pondering Peter's words, "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, as though some strange thing had happened unto you"--for it felt strange, even like a fire in my bones,-when I asked myself, can this be temptation of the adversary? Is this the messenger of Satan sent to buffet me? Is it thus that he is allowed to torment us whilst in this world? I think it is Ralph Erskine who says, the "children of God go by the gates of hell on their road to heaven, and the children of the wicked