I wander, I wander with untold joy
To feast my eyes on the orb-lit sky,
And never did Chaldee, when taught to kneel
At the shrines of your splendour, more wildly
feel

The torrent of bliss through his bosom flow
As he upward gazed from the dust below.
Eyes of the universe! gems divine!
Suns that bask in your own pure shine!
Countless guides of the awe-struck soul
As enquiring it rushes from pole to pole!
I drink, I drink at the fountain deep
While others are locked in the arms of sleep;
Till, filled with the Pythonic draught of light
My intoxicate spirit deems all things bright,
And earth and its deeds are lost to me
Eclipsed by your dazzling brilliancy.

Bound by no law, but that of sense,
In guilt's dark bonds enslaved;
It will not, cannot burst from thence,
So dark, and so depraved.

Then what can cleanse the sinner's heart,
Polluted thus by sin?

What force him from his lusts apart,
And wash his nature clean?

True, there are some who vainly strive,
By working hard indéed ;-
As soon might one of Ethiop's tribe
To change his skin succeed.

With ceaseless toil to look all fair,
They cleanse the outward stains;
Ye whited sepulchres, forbear,
The leprosy remains!

Then who can cleanse the heart of man?
Behold the leper's case;
That which alone restored him, can
Thy guilty stains efface.

The Saviour touched him; and a touch
Will heal the wounded heart;
Oh matchless grace, 't is e'en for such
His love he doth impart!

A drop of saving blood divine

Will cleanse the blackest soul;
A touch of love, of love divine,

The broken heart makes whole.
A fountain flowed from Jesus' side,
Of blood, for sinners spilt;
And all to whom this blood 's applied,
Are washed from sin and guilt.

To this pure fountain sinners fly,
For Jesus, he alone,

Can cleanse thy soul from sin's deep dye,
And break thy heart of stone.

Lord, take, my heart, and hold it fast,
Cleanse every dark recess :

Turn idols out, and round me cast
Thy robe of righteousness.
Bermondsey.

LEBANON LEAVES.

E. H.

"There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God."-Heb. iv. 9.

WHEN the wild Indian, in the place of graves, Stands o'er his fathers' bones, he cheers him. -self.

With pleasant pictures of a far-off land,
Over the summit of the distant hills,
Where forests live in fadeless green, and where
The intrusive white man comes not.
When the pale sceptic gazes on the tomb
Of his dead friend, he fain persuades himself
That when the worm hath had his fill, the soul
Doth moulder into nothingness. Vain hopes!
Equally vain, reared on the treacherous sand,
Which the realities of a future world
Will sweep into oblivion. Ah, how unlike
His hope, who views the christian's sepulchre,
Building on the same rock a lively faith.
Death has to him no terrors. Present still
He sees the moment, when his dying friend
Gaye his last smile and told him all was well.
That Jesus-death's great conqueror-stood

by him,

And shewed the long anticipated crown. He need not run away from death.

The

grave Tells him no dismal warnings. 'Tis to him The sable portal to a sparkling world— The cold dark tide which separates from heaven

The messenger which brings a glad release-
The key which opens this life's prison cage:
And musing thus upon death's character,
Conscious of victory through a Saviour's
blood,

And confident, his dart is stingless now;
His language is, Oh for the eagle wings,
The pinions which at death's approach I gain,
For then all joyful will I fly away,
And soar to home, sweet home.

REZENEB.

ZION'S

CASKET,

THE POOL OF BETHESDA.

“Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water."-John v. 2. 3.

It is the great work of the Spirit to testify of Christ in his person and glorious works-of the offices he sustains for his covenant people, and in the characters he bears: all these are of the greatest importance to the church, and to every believer; so that if we are under the teaching of the Spirit of God, we know it by seeing and feeling daily more of our sinfulness and depravity, and by having more enlarged apprehensions of the suitability, beauty, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer is led by God the Spirit to see "there is no other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby he can be saved." As for all other names in heaven or earth, they are nothing, and vanity in their best estate. In the gospel Christ is all and every thing to the church. He is the plea of petition, the spring of grace, and groun of security. What is both great and good lies in the adorable name of Jehovah Jesus-great truth, great love, November, 1840.]

great grace, great mercy, aud great salvation. So that he who rests here by faith of the operation of God can never perish. Many young and weak believers have been led away for a season by false teachers, men of corrupt minds, destitute of the saving knowledge of the truth, who run greedily for reward in the way of Balaam; whose heart went after its covetousness, from a free grace gospel to their own doings, and from an entire reliance upon Christ and his Spirit for pardon, wisdom, and strength, to a partial dependance at least upon the exercise of their own reason and abilities. Many such have been greatly distressed under trials by a false representation of the gospel, and by being put upon legal views and legal workings for spiritual life and salvation. These are what the prophet calls "broken cisterns which ca hold no water," to which false teachers are ever leading men, instead of the only fountain of living waters. Under pretence of guarding the gospel, they darken it, by putting a clumsy coarse veil of man's devising before the eyes of the mind, the effect of which is to hide the gospel and debase the Redeemer.

No sinner can ever be truly wise or

happy, but in beholding clearly and with open face the Sun of Righteousness, who sweetly hath healing in his wings. This is the only legitimate light and consolation for every truly convinced and broken-hearted child of God, every gracious and humbled soul. Froth and folly may be taken for fine and favourite nourishment by the unquickened and unenlightened: but the sincere or unadulterated milk of the word, is the only food that can satisfy and strengthen, in the ways of God and truth, the genuine children of God. And whenever these mistake the one for the other, they presently begin to doubt, and to distrust, and to grow cold or dark, and perhaps, if not mercifully prevented, to slip into some other egregious errors of heart or life. We must not hold forth a lie for a safe principle, nor keep back a truth to maintain such persons in a delusion. The grace which brings men for all their pardon and peace to Christ, can alone enable them to trample upon sin and falsehood, and to walk comfortably and honourably with him. All the miracles which Christ wrought were emblematical of an internal work; and among the objects and subjects calculated to shew his character, the one in the text is no small display of his Godhead.

It appears that this Bethesda was a house similar to a small hospital, and amidst its cloisters was a pool whose waters were considered medicinal; and what is remarkable, this pool was supplied from the temple (probably Ezekiel saw this in vision), and, as occasion required, was filled large enough to bathe in. This water ran east and south, to Kedron and Bethesda, and is alluded to in many texts, as the "waters which make glad, ""which wash and refresh," &c. It is remarkable that now was the feast of the tabernacles; here they drew water, and sung the 12th chap. of Isaiah, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

And in that day shall ye praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord," &c. Under these porches lay the diseased; some were able to get in, others had friends to put them in; but here was a poor man who had none to help him.' And he was the object on whom the Saviour's power was to be displayed. He came, asked him a question, healed him, and sent him away with joy in his heart and blessings on his lips.

This subject opens a glorious field: but we shall at present content ourselves with briefly noticing two things. First. The place where God's elect lay. And, Secondly. A description of their characters as diseased by sin.

So

It appears they were all anxious till cured, lying in the five porches: so are the elect, for the five porches are the five books of the law, under which we are till Jesus appears. were also the Old Testament church. These porches are also emblematic, 1. of the eternal purpose of God to save; 2. in Christ chosen and preserved; 3. protected by Almighty power until called; 4. in the promise to Christ, "And they shall be a seed to serve him;" 5. in the ordinances of the gospel. Here they are brought by prayer; here they abide, wait, and continue till the angel comes down. These being plagued by sin, convinced of their misery, and feeling their need of a Savionr, lie in these blessed wellbuilt porches, till God sends a healing balm."

:

I come now briefly to notice their state and characters. 1. They are weak not able (through sin) to du or think; tired of their state by nature, tried on every hand. 2. Blind by nature, convinced of it, cannot see where they are, to whom they belong, nor what part they have in Christ. 3. Some poor believers even feel unable to come to Christ, unable to run his ways, ready to give up, sinful, barren of all good, lifeless, hopeless,

and, as far as feelings dictate, lost. Thus they remain till the Saviour appears, and manifests himself to them as the only Physician; at his word they are healed, and go forth in his strength, shouting Glory to God who giveth us the victory.

As some tall cliff that rears its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;

Though round its brow the rolling clouds are spread,

Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

O believer, the doctrines of grace, and the heart-felt experience of their reality and power, wrought in thee by the Holy Ghost, who first led thee to Christ, and taught thee to build thy whole confidence upon his atonement and righteousness, will appear to be fixed upon a rock absolutely firm and impregnable. Thou wilt also

find the sweetest honey from this rock, and a reviving cordial indeed: a cordial, which shall gladden thy heart amidst all the pangs of death, and exhilarate thy spirit in the nearest prospect of the grave. This it hath I done to numberless multitudes of the brethren before thee, and he is still "faithful who hath promised." Then shall the vastness of eternity lose its former sad and tremendous gloom. The charming beams of the Sun of Righteousness shall shine through its darkest recesses, shall dispel the clouds of sin and blackness of sorrow, shall render the whole unbounded expanse beautiful, bright, and cheering before thee for ever.-

Then shall we sing, and never tire,
In that blest house above;
Where sin, and fear, and pain expire,
Cast out by perfect love.

Then not the sun shall, more than I,
His Maker's will perform;

Nor shine with brighter purity,
Nor burn with zeal so warm.

W. C.

"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."-Rev. iii. 5, 6.

We have taken already a general view of the state of Christ's church as represented by these epistles, and we may learn from it to cry out with David, "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock: and let the God of my salvation be exalted." Though the church of Christ may be brought low, yet it cannot become extinct. Our great High Priest is always watching over his people for good, and though, for wise reasons, it may be his sovereign pleasure to cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

We are presented with a view of this in the church which this letter is sent unto. For here we have before us, the church of Christ delivered from pagan persecution, and delivered the light of Christ the morning star, from popish darkness, and through reformed in doctrine and worship.

This church of Sardis is acknow

ledged, by our greatest and most reformed church, or the church as approved divines, to represent the delivered from the darkness of po pery. This reformation was brought about by the Lord, by means of several whom he stirred up in many nations in christendom, among whom John Wickliff, our own countryman, was a principal one. Who by attempting to set forth the Holy Scriptures, and to explain the blessed doctrines contained in them, the pope was hereby discovered to be antichrist, and popery, idolatrous worship.

And the church of Sardis repre

sents the state of Christ's church from the time of the reformation down to the Philadelphian church state; in which there is expected to be enjoyed a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Ghost, which will produce a numerous increase of converts unto the church, and in which state the church will enjoy great tranquility both spiritual and temporal.

It is the Sardian church state which we are in at the present day, and therefore we have the greater reason to attend unto what Christ has to say in this epistle unto us. "And unto the angel of the church of Sardis write, These things, saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." By the angel, we are to understand all the ministers of Christ. And all the letters are directed unto them, because they are to be in spiritual matters the guides, leaders, and teachers of the church of Christ. And they are, or ought to be, the eyes of the church, to be observing the state, case, and circumstances of it, and to represent it before the Lord in prayer. And they ought to be continually looking unto the Lord to be instructed into the knowledge of his most holy mind and will, and to give a true, and clear, and faithful account of it unto the people. What Christ has to say to ministers, and by them to the churches, is ordered to be written. our Lord would not have his people imposed upon. His ministers, the greatest and best of them, are fallible men, and very liable to err. But Christ has given them an infallible direction in the word of the gospel, to which they do well to take heed. And it is truly becoming the church of Christ to see, and be well assured, that their ministers preach and declare unto them, no other truths and doctrines, than what are contained in the scriptures of truth; and when they do, they are then to be opposed,

For

"For if any

resisted, and deposed. man speak, (as sustaining the office of a pastor, or minister of God's word,) let him speak as the oracles of God." And he is not to be attended unto any further than he has God's word as the ground and foundation for what he delivers. The letter being directed in a particular manner to the minister of Christ's church, shews how their whole care and concern ought to be employed about the good, and for the spiritual profit of the Lord's chosen ones. And it points out how Christ most diligently marks and takes notice of their love, care, tenderness, and affection towards his people. He sees and diligently observes what their love is to him, his person, truths, cause, and interest; and hereby puts them in remembrance of it.

The person who ordered this epistle to be wrote, and sent to the angel of the church of Sardis, described himself, in the following manner: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars." Jesus Christ the Head of the church, and also her great Prophet, Priest, and King, is pleased to express and to represent himself thus, to let us know that he is the fountain of all grace, and of all spiritual gifts. He is the great Prophet over the house-the church of God, to teach and enlighten it. He, as the exalted High Priest, and minister of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man, has received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, and he is pleased to give faith, and impart his Spirit, for to gift, fit, and qualify his ministers for the use and benefit of his church, to the end that they may edify his mystic body. And these titles of Christ, of his having the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, serve for a twofold use and purpose. By the seven Spirits of God, we are to understand the holy, blessed, and eternal Spirit, who is in the Godhead distinct, as to his per