calculated to crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts; but why repine at this, seeing the inward man is renewed day by day? It is well to bear in mind our precious Christ hath also said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world;" so that the world cannot overcome Him, nor us as we stand in Him. "Be of good cheer," as the head has overcome-and not in any separatedness from His body; you, every member in particular, overcame in Him, and must eventually by Him.

"We shall be conquerors all ere long,

And more than conquerors too."

Trouble we must have, and also consolation, both being promised by a faithful God. But, notwithstanding the former, can we not testify to the

following:

"Though trouble like a gloomy cloud,

Has gathered thick, and thundered loud;
He near my soul has always stood;

His loving kindness, O how good!"

Is He not concerned in all our affairs? Is He not an anxious watcher, as well as the disposer of all events? Can we be brought into any circumstance, whether trifling or trying, and Himself merely an observer-simply a lookeron, void of heart interest and fellow-feeling? No; that were impossible.

Sooner could we have a member of our natural body suffering pain and our head unconscious.

"Ye children of God and the Lamb,
Remember, when sorrows press sore,
Your Jesus did once feel the same,
When trials and conflicts He bore!

"And still His redeemed should know, He's Jesus the same in His love: The foot can't be crushed below,

And the Head be unconscious above!"

The oneness existing between Christ and His Church is a grand and glorious truth few appear to be led into. Most have some idea of the future oneness, when the Lord shall have rolled this world together as a scroll, and folded it up as a vesture; yet few, comparatively very few, understand so as to live in the enjoyment of it-the present oneness; that oneness which could in no way be altered; that oneness which ever did and ever must exist; that grace-relationship by which the living Head and members ever stood one perfect mystic man. So closely are we allied to Christ that He is not ashamed to be called our God, nor to call us His brethren. Oh! beloved, what love! what superlative goodness! How near and dear the tie !

What grace to choose us in the Son!

What grace to view us ever there!
What grace to teach us we are one!

And shall in one full glory share!

Good cause have each of the quickened family to say, "It is well," despite all and every opposition. Things will perpetually cross us during our probation here. But what of that? Has He not promised strength for the day? If He has promised it, who can prevent its being granted? Do not make a mistake, dear reader, it is not creature strength. No, our strength must be proved to be weakness, and then we shall be able to say, "When I am weak, then am I strong." The children have to be contented to become fools for Christ's sake, for He is their wisdom at all times; they must be satisfied with becoming heathens before the following portion is fulfilled in their experience: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." This is too mortifying for proud professors;

"We are not heathens," say they. Poor creatures! their very words condemn them. Surely our readers do not object to the name; but, on the contrary, bless and praise the Lord that Christ has been exalted in them, and desire Him to be glorified in their bodies, and in their spirits, whether it be by life or death, saying with the apostle, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;" "for to me to live is Christ." "It is well," then, beloved, in every state and condition, for,

"Though storms and tempests rise,

Or sins your peace assail;
Your hope in Jesus never dies,

'Tis cast within the vale."

Remember, believer, your hope is beyond the wilderness. Some-in fact, most—are satisfied with casting their anchor in this world, it being at all times visible; but this will not do for the family, for "hope that is seen is not hope;" and "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable." Well, then, as the hope is within the vale,

"Here let the weary rest,

Who love the Saviour's name;

Though with no sweet enjoyment blest,

The covenant stands the same."

Yes, the covenant of peace cannot be removed, for it stands fast with Him in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning, Jesus Christ being the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

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No change in the creature can alter His love;

O, no! 'tis for ever, and in God above;

Not all their transgressions can slacken the fire,

It still is a burning to grant their desire :

No state or condition His people are in,

Will cause Him to leave them or them to leave Him:

O, no they must hold on through thick and through thin,

And prove Him Almighty to save from all sin.

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God

of love and peace shall be with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

Amen."

Your's in the bond of love,

A subject of eternal grace,
Selected from the fallen race,
Is taught to feel his guilt and sin,
And mourn the leprosy within;
But, notwithstanding, let me tell,
To such a soul" It shall be well."

A sinner taught the Lord to fear,
Is to the Saviour near and dear;
That grace within will ne'er depart,
But rather deepen in the heart;
Though gloom surround 'twill soon dispel,
When Jesus says,
"It shall be well."

A child of heaven will feel within,
A heart replete with ev'ry sin;
Will groan, and often wonder why
It can do nought but mourn and sigh;
But yet, although 'tis strange to tell,
With such a soul" It shall be well."

A child of God, when call'd by grace,
Will often find it hard to trace
One feature of his heavenly birth,
For all within will seem of earth;
And yet his hope he cannot sell,

But longs to say, "It shall be well."

A child of heaven, a child of light,
Must walk by faith, and not by sight:
Trust in the Lord, when clouds arise,
And darkness covers all the skies;
His faith will then all faiths excel,
And with his soul "It shall be well."

A child of grace will find below,
All out of Christ is death and woe;
The pleasing things which men esteem,
Will be entirely lost on him;
Since Jesus Christ doth all excel,
He feels within "It shall be well."

A child of God-a favoured son,
Must fight until the battle's won;
And then he'll lay his armour down,
Take up the laurel, wear the crown,
And everlasting praises swell

To Him who hath done all things well."

A soul that's not renew'd within,
Will never feel the guilt of sin;
Therefore a Saviour cannot need,
Nor is he of the Jewish seed;
But hastens on the road to hell;
So that with him IT IS NOT WELL.

A man who 's void of saving grace,
Thinks God has not a chosen race;
But all may enter heaven, if they
Will love the Lord, and watch and pray:
To such an one the truth I'll tell,
You're wholly wrong-IT IS NOT WELL.

A soul that ne'er its darkness knew,
Is void of light, if God be true:
If death should come, while in that state,
It cannot enter heaven's gate;
Therefore, in honesty must tell,
To such an one IT IS NOT WELL.

A man, though chang'd, but not in heart,
Will never feel his sin to smart;
His outward walk may seem to be
Quite right, as far as eyes can see;
Although in walk he may excel,
With such a man IT IS NOT WELL.

A stranger to the Adam fall
Cannot be taught by God at all;
For God is light, and light would show
His state was one of deathless woe;
All such are on the road to hell,
Therefore with them IT IS NOT WELL.

A man who thinks Christ died for all,
And grants to each a saving call-
But many will not Him obey,
Prefering much the broader way,-
Such hold a lie which is from hell,
The consequence,-IT IS NOT WELL.

A man who thinks he merits grace,
Is mocking God, e'en to His face;
For grace 's a gift instead of pay,
In shalls and wills, not yea and nay;
Such doctrine is, I know, from hell;
So that with him IT IS NOT WELL.

If we trust God for our heavenly inheritance, we may well trust Him for our daily maintenance, which He vouchsafeth to the birds of the air, to the beasts of the field, and even to His enemies. He that feedeth a kite, will He not feed a child? He that supplies His enemies, will He not take care of His family? You would think that person monstrously cruel who would feed his dogs and starve his children: this cannot, without blasphemy, be imagined of our heavenly Father.-Manton.

How willingly Jesus came to do the will of His Father! His heart language was, "I delight to do thy will, O God." What a manifestation of the Father's love was His appearing in our nature; when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; when He lay contracted to a span, and, as Hart sweetly writes:

"The Lord that made both heaven and earth,

And was Himself made man;

Lay in the womb, before His birth,
Contracted to a span.

Behold, from what beginnings small,

Our great salvation rose;

The strength of God is own'd by all,

But who His weakness knows?

No less almighty at His birth,

Than on His throne supreme;

His shoulders held up heaven and earth,
When Mary held up Him."

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How true it is, that great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. How He witnessed of the Father's love when as a servant He obeyed Him, saying, "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds (Psa. cxvi. 16). "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John xvii. 24); and, O marvelous mercy! He also saith concerning His people, " and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me " (John xvii. 23). No difference, you see, but head and members all loved alike; all cared for alike, being eternally one body, according to the scriptures; "So we, being many, are one body in Christ and every one members one of another" (Romans xii. 5). What a union! How indissoluble! For, "what God hath joined together let no man put assunder" (Matt xix. 6); and, as Paul beautifully and preciously writes: " For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom viii. 38, 39). “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31). Christ sweetly witnessed of His Father's love in John xvii. 26: “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” May we not then, as many as have a good hope through grace, say with the poet, notwithstanding all the tossings about we are the subjects of :

"His love in times past forbids me to think,
He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink;

Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review

Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through."

Dear reader, is not the language of your heart expressed in the apostle's words, "That I may know him?" Do you not at times, when some of His eternal glories are being opened up to the eye of your faith by the blessed

Spirit, stand astonished at love so superlative-at grace so rich and free-at favour so unexampled? and are you not constrained to sing:

"O love of unexampled kind,

Which leaves all thought so far behind?"

How poor are all our attempts to testify of Him: it is as impossible to speak or write of His worth, as it is of our own unworthiness. May the language of both reader and writer be, "He alone is worthy." May each bless and praise the Lord with joyful lips for so great a witness of the love of our covenant God and Father.

We now come to notice Christ as a witness of the holiness of God-a feeling witness of His righteous Father's holiness. The word of God informs us, that "without holiness no man can see the Lord." Upon what, then, can the sons of Adam found a hope of ever seeing His face, seeing that all flesh is polluted, without one particle of holiness; so much so, that in our first-Adam standing every breathing, from the womb to the grave, is a sinful breath? It is true that many, in every age, fancy they are doing many wonderful works in the name of the Lord (Matt. vii. 22), and think they are thereby paving their way to heaven. We would invite all such to read Rom. iii. 10-12, and remember that bitter fountain cannot send forth sweet water. The tree must be made good before the fruit can be so; and this degenerate plant (our old nature) will never yield grapes possessing pure blood; nor so prickly a thistle figs. No; there is but one tree containing fruit that will produce wine to cheer the heart of God and man.

The heart of God and man is cheered, we read,
By wine. From what can grapes so rich proceed,
As thus to cheer His heart? Could Eden yield
A fruit so sweet, when 'twas the fairest field
In nature?-when the Lord was satisfied
With all His work?-when man wished not to hide
From God, his Maker, but could boldly stand
Admiring that produc'd by His own hand?
No! Paradise could never yield so choice
A vine, producing fruit that would rejoice
The heart of God and man; O no! it sprang
From better soil, and on its branches hang
The choicest clusters of the richest fruit,

Which only will the sinner's palate suit.

"Where can such fruit be found? O tell me where!"

The sinner cries, "that I may have a share

"In its rich wine, to cheer my fainting heart;
"To drive away my sorrow, and impart

A heav'nly joy, a nearness to my God,
"And fellowship with Him who for me trod
"This wilderness, to bear my guilt and shame,
"That I might stand for ever, without blame."
It can be found but in one place, alone,
By those for whom the Saviour did atone;
For whom He offer'd up strong cries and tears,
Unto His righteous Father, who ever hears
His well-beloved Son-his chosen man,

Who executed His eternal plan.

The place such fruit is found 's in Jesus Christ,

That everlasting, loved, and chosen Vine,

On which the Father ever did design

Pure grapes should grow, containing such rich blood

As should in one eternal sweeping flood