trust our souls, our bodies, our families, our business, our all, with this prayeranswering God. Now let us look to the only instance recorded in the Bible of prayer being offered to a saint, and we shall see that it affords but very faint encouragement to those who pray to St. Nicolas, or St. Peter, or the blessed Virgin Mary. "The rich man died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom; and he cried, and said, father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." Here we see he first prayed about his tongue; but it is useless: then he goes on. "I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." But it wont do. No, no. The saints cannot answer prayer. There are three things in this prayer which demand our consideration. was not then invented; but beautiful copies of the Psalms, Moses, and the Prophets were written by the scribes ; and though it cost a good deal, yet they had a copy. Rich men often go to great expense for a beautiful library, as an ornament to their mansions; but that does not imply that they read the books. Many men will be condemned by their own neglected Bibles another day. There were five of the rich man's brethren still living; and he knew their character. Oh, send Lazarus to my five brethren! Why, what is the matter? They wear purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day. They keep dogs, too, which are very kind, and lick the afflicted man's sores. What is the matter? Oh, they are all going to hell. I know, by bitter experience, where their conduct will lead. One out of six is quite enough to become the companion of the devil and his angels. Five sons going to hell! Oh, what a wretched man must their father be! We think so. But perhaps the father was not alarmed about it; perhaps he enjoyed "the pleasures of sin" as much as his sons; perhaps he First. The place where it was offered. had trained them to it. But the son, It was in hell. By the light of the flames of the bottomless pit, he began to see that what the Bible says is true: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." By the torment of that flame he began to feel that what the Bible said is true: "There the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." "The smoke of their torments ascendeth up for ever and ever?" Oh, "who can dwell with devouring flames? who can dwell with everlasting burnings!" This was a fearful discovery, when it was too late. Secondly. The nature of this prayer. It looks benevolent. Send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment. What a house this was! Think! There was a copy of the Old Testament, perfectly disregarded. The art of printing who is in hell, is alarmed. Oh, send Lazarus to my brethren, to warn them. This looks benevolent; but some have thought there is no benevolent feeling in hell; and therefore his prayer was selfish. He was alarmed at their coming to hell, lest they might add to his misery. The apostle Paul anticipated an increase of joy in heaven, by meeting with his converts there. "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. For ye are our glory and joy." And does not every godly minister look forward to the same pure delight? Does not every devout Sunday-school teacher anticipate the same joy? It seems to me that half the joys of heaven will arise from meeting those there who first led us to Christ, or from seeing those there whom we have helped to glory. Surely every Christian should be animated to seek the conversion of sinners, if it were only for the increase of felicity which it will bring to their glorified spirits in heaven. On the same ground, it is reasonable to suppose that every drunkard, every sabbath-breaker, every swearer, every fornicator, every sinner, who has corrupted and ruined the souls of his fellowcreatures, will feel fresh anguish at every new arrival in the bottomless pit of those whom they helped thither. Oh, it must be tremendous to meet those in hell whom they have dragged down! Each of them will prove an additional sting in the worm that never dies. What dreadful foreboding for ungodly men! Thirdly. To whom this prayer was addressed? To father Abraham.-This holy patriarch was considered just such a patron for wicked and superstitious Jews, as St. Nicolas for the Greeks, and St. Peter for the Roman Catholics. But Abraham rejected the prayer altogether. A drop of water you shall not have. Your brethren shall have no messenger from the other world sent unto them. No! Let them read their Bible; let them study the Bible; let them pray over the Bible; let them believe the Bible: for, if they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe though one rose from the dead. This is one proof among many, that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is sufficient for all the purposes of Divine mercy. It has everything enlightening in it: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." : It has everything sharp and pointed in it for the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It has everything awful and alarming in it: "Is not my word like a fire, saith the Lord; and a hammer which breaketh the rock in pieces," Seeing, then, that prayer to the saints is useless, and the Bible is sufficient for all the purposes of Divine mercy, what shall we say to these things? Why— 1. We fear that, notwithstanding all the warnings that Protestants have on these subjects, there are many who will not begin to pray until it is too late;too late, not merely to pray to angels, but to God himself. "Now is the time he bends his ear, And waits for your request." Yes! the time may come, even in this world, when it will be in vain to pray. Reader! think of the words of the Bible: "Because I called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh: when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind: when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." Dear reader, what does this mean? O consider, and seek the Lord while he may be found-call upon him while he is near. 2. How deplorable is the state of those countries where the people are religiously taught to worship saints and angels, instead of applying directly to the only mediator, Christ Jesus. By far the larger part of Christendom are trained in this soul-destroying heresy. The image of the Virgin with a babe in her arms, is stuck up in all public places of concourse, to catch the eye of the poor priest-ridden people, to draw out their money. A box is usually placed close to the image, for offerings. This, in plain English, is, "A highway robbery box." The priests say it is right, and the blinded people love to have it so. Poor creatures! they are glad to get to heaven by any means, though it be through the lid of the highway robbery box? 3. What an amount of guilt must rest upon those persons who attempt to stop the circulation of God's book! "They have Moses and the prophets," | rious Redeemer; and the British and says Abraham, "let them hear them." Foreign Bible Society, listening to his "Search the Scriptures," says the Lord voice, stood up and said, "We will preJesus Christ, "for they testify of me." pare thy book, O Lord, in every language -"No," said the Russian clergy, "you under heaven, and put a copy of it into shall not have the book-come to us;" every man's hand;"-"No you shall and they stopped the Russian Bible Sonot," said men of great ecclesiastical ciety. Yes-in one fatal day came out renown, and they opposed it with all the decree, to stop the printers-to stop their might. But, blessed be God, they the binders-to stop the translators-to are converted, or dead, or ashamed, or stop the Bible! and hundreds of thou- silenced, or powerless, for the work is sands of copies, or parts of copies of going on-never were there such faciliGod's book, were shut up in warehouses, ties for its circulation-never so many for the damp to rot some, and the moth tokens of the approbation of God! to devour others! "Search the Scriptures," says the Lord Jesus Christ," for they testify of me." No," says the Pope, "you shall not. If you have a New Testament, deliver it up to your priest, that he may destroy it -but if you refuse, you shall be cursed from off the altar, by bell, book, and candle-light." A pitiful threat, indeed, to an enlightened and established Christian; but a fearful curse to an ignorant man, who thinks that a fellow-worm in priest's garments can regenerate his children, pardon his sins, and send him either to heaven or to hell. "Search the Scriptures," says the glo 4. What immense multitudes of saintworshipping Christians are at this moment appealing to the compassion of those who worship the living and prayer-hearing God! There, misery cries, "Come over to Ireland and help us"-"Come over to Russia, and help us". "Come over to France and Portugal and Italy to help us; for image worship is a delusion, and prayers for the dead are deceiving the living; and the vain expectations of heaven are exchanged for the torments of hell! O, COME OVER AND HELP US. Amen. RICHARD KNILL. Tabernacle, Wootton-under-edge. THE SABBATH. ONE of the greatest blessings God has conferred on man is the sabbath. It may be considered 1. As a cessation from labour. What a slavery would life be without the sabbath. There would be no rest for either man or beast; no intermission in the duties and avocations of life; life itself would be one continued round of toil from the cradle to the grave. But there is a day of rest given in mercy to man; and how delightful is the repose of the sabbath on this day. The din of business is no longer heard in the city; the plough lies motionless in the field; the tired horse, released from the yoke, roams at large; and the peasant, who has been separated from his family dur ing the week, on this day joins them around his homely fire. Such is the effect of association, that the very aspect of nature seems hallowed on this day; a sacred tinge seems to rest on every flower, on every leaf, on every blade of grass. 2. The sabbath may also be considered as a season of peculiar privileges. "This is the day the Lord hath made; He calls the hours his own." But with what different feelings do men hail the approach of this sacred day. To some it only presents a day of worldly pleasure; to others a day of business, who, though their shops or offices may be closed, devote the day to travelling or correspondence; and to many it is a day of weariness. They long for the tedious hours to be gone; but with what different feelings does the Christian hail the approach of this day. No sooner do its sacred hours dawn upon him, than he exclaims "Welcome, sweet day of rest, That saw the Lord arise; Welcome to this reviving breast, And these rejoicing eyes. "The king himself comes near, And feasts his saints to-day; This day frees him from a vain world, and calls him to the house of prayer, the scene of his dearest associations, his highest enjoyments, and his holiest desires. The sanctuary is open; the word of life is expounded; Jehovah comes down, and communes with his people from off the mercy seat, and they are made glad. Here he spreads the banquet of his love, and says, "Eat, O friends! Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved!" And they do eat and drink, and exclaim with the church of old, "I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to his banquetting house, and his banner over me was love." And with the patriarch, "Surely this is none other than the house of God, it is the gate of heaven." 3. The sabbath may also be considered as a type and emblem of heaven. "Day of all the seven the best; Yes, there remaineth a rest (or a sabbatism), the keeping of a sabbath to the people of God; but how different is the heavenly sabbath from the sabbath on earth! The heavenly sabbath is perfect in its nature, and eternal in its duration. It is perfect in its nature. What imperfections attend the believer in the performance of his most sacred duties here. Often when he enters the sanctuary, he exclaims, VOL. XXV. "Far from my thoughts, vain world, begone; Let my religious hours alone." But the world will not be gone; worldly thoughts intrude themselves into his mind. He may charge them to stay at the foot of the mount, while he ascends to hold communion with his heavenly Father, but they will not stay; so that he is compelled to exclaim, "When I would do good, evil is present with me.' But no sin or imperfection shall ever tarnish the duties of the heavenly sabbath. "There shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts." "Nothing shall enter that defileth, or that worketh abomination, or that maketh a lie." There will be no body of sin to clog, no world to allure, no enemy to annoy, no coldness, no barrenness, no spiritual desertion, no wandering thoughts, no doubts or fears. No, the Christian will have laid aside his armour, and have entered into the joy of his Lord. "O glorious hour! O blest abode ! I shall be near and like my God; And flesh and sin no more control The sacred pleasures of the soul." The heavenly sabbath is eternal in its duration; here the sabbath is soon over. The Christian may exclaim, with Peter, "Lord, it is good to be here;" but he must again descend the mount, and have to combat with the things of time and sense. But it will not be so there: there" they serve God day and night in his temple;" there "Congregations ne'er break up, 418 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. GENUINE religion, "the life of God in the soul," originates in its possessors an elevated spirit, with the purest and the most enlarged good will to all mankind. It produces in the renewed heart, regarding others, that " charity to the soul which is the soul of charity." The apostle John, therefore, with heavenborn charity, for which he was so preeminently distinguished, calls attention to the spirit and privileges of the gospel : "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his son Jesus Christ," 1 John i. 3. These significant words, exhibit the genius of Christianity, and show it to be infinitely superior to every form of heathen or infidel morality. They indicate a largeness of heart peculiar to the possessor of Divine grace. Fellowship here means common interest, or participation, regarding the blessedness and enjoyment of the grace of God, with life eternal and immortal glory. From this, it is evident that the privileges of Christians, enjoying friendship with God, through Christ, are the most precious; that their honours, as the adopted children of the Most High, "sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty," are most ennobling; and that their prospects, as heirs of eternal salvation, are most encouraging. It was with rapture, therefore, that the apostle John burst forth with the exclamition, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be! but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is," 1 John iii. 1, 2. CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP is with God the Father. It consists in free and delightful access to him, in his new covenant character as our God, taking us, by a sovereign act of grace, into his blessed family, through Jesus Christ. This high privilege is enjoyed, by means of the influence of the Holy Spirit, in acts of devotion, by intercourse with God. Thus it was, also, that, among the antediluvian patriarchs, "by faith Enoch walked with God ;" and that, "before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God," Heb. xi. 5. In this way pious men desire constant supplies of heavenly wisdom, to understand "the things of salvation," and "search the deep things of God." Thus, also, "the Spirit seals them to the day of redemption;" "the Spirit itself bearing witness with their spirit, that they are the children of God," Rom. viii. 16. From this exercise of mind, and this influence upon their hearts, poor mortal creatures, enjoy the unspeakable felicity of fellowship with God. CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP is "with his Son Jesus Christ." This high privilege is experienced in the ways of holiness, by all the children of God, through heartfelt reliance on the perfect atonement and righteousness of the Redeemer. While conscious of personal unworthiness, and of inability to do the will of God, by faith in the promises of salvation, they enjoy satisfaction of heart, and are prepared, each to say with the apostle, "Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. Reflecting on the covenant engagements of the Son of God, "before the foundation of the world," and on his meritorious work in human nature, as our mediator and high priest; and, contemplating his exalted state at the right hand of the Father, appearing as our advocate and intercessor, believers rejoice in his blessed name and offices: because that through Him they enjoy pardon, adoption, sanctification, and life eternal, they look up to Him as "Head over all things to the church," for all needful supplies of grace, in every period of trial; because they learn, that "it hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness |