these; and if one more point in the true | culiar views and shall we (we mean the ministry of the gospel might be named, it is an effort to raise up the thoughts of the church more fully to the present and the future glory of Immanuel, our beloved Christ, our glorious King. There is truth in this quotation :

"Christ found refuge on the throne of God when rejected and cast out from the earth. And there in patient mercy he sits-permitting the throne of iniquity to be raised by man. But HE will come forth- and the pride of man shall be laid low in that day.

"He will come! And what will he FIRST do? Can you tell? Think of Jesus, and think of all at that time on the earth, and can you not tell what he will first do? It will be that which the love of his own heart has so long yearned for. Long has he yearned to claim, and deliver, and fully bless his own-to make manifest his Father's love for them by glorifying them together with himself. And therefore the first thing Jesus will do, will be to raise and change his saints. This will be done in the twinkling of an eye-the instant consequence of his appearing. Wherever throughout the whole earth there is one who has touched the hem of his garment by faith, there will that one be instantly changed into the likeness of Jesus. Thus will the living saints be changed. And the dead saints will arise also. The graves will open - and wherever a saint has died and been laid in dust, there also will a glorified saint arise!

whole family of true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ) who have on our side everything that is eternal; everything that is vital; everything that is profitable; shall we, who have a salvation originating in, and secured to us by, an everlasting covenant,

a salvation procured by an all-sufficient, atoning sacrifice,-a salvation wrought in us by the Third Glorious Person in the everblessed Trinity, THE HOLY GHOST, THE COMFORTER; a salvation written out, and read to us again, and again, and again, in a glorious gospel; a salvation that will preserve us in all the perishing scenes of this life; that will support us in the mysterious sunderings of a dying hour, and introduce us to all the imperishable beauties, and inconceivable blessings of the heavenly kingdom-shall we tie our hearts and our hands to time-things, or sink down into a stoical indifference? God forbid! Knowing the time-that now it is high time to awake out of sleep-knowing that the night is far spent, that the day is at hand; knowing that now is our salvation nearer than when we believed-may we have grace given us to cast off the works of darkness, to put on the armour of light; and in everything to seek to glorify the God

of all our mercies.

Help us, brethren, still to spread abroad the rich testimonies of a free-grace salvation! Our labors are great-our trials are manybut our faithful Friend is JEHOVAH JIREH C. W. B.

EPISTOLARY

EPISTLES TO THEOPHILUS.

"This marvellous event is before us-this scene of indescribable glory is nigh at hand. Think what a scene this will be! The Lord still. and his angels above in glory; from the earth glorified saints arising, and caught up in clouds to meet him in the air! This is the sight that will burst suddenly upon the astonished world-for when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape.' But the saints shall be made like him, and they shall be with him on that day. He will not inflict any of the judgments he comes to administer-nor stand upon Mount Olivet nor tread the wine press of wrath-until all his saints are with him. They must be glorified together. When this has taken place the Lord will utterly cast down the throne of iniquity, and bring in the reign of righteousness and blessing."

Finally.-How can we most efficiently use the little talent entrusted to us? This is a question every faithful servant of Christ, and every real Christian, may find profitable to consider; and truly happy should we be to know that such consideration had produced, under God, a more active and energetic course of action among our churches. These are certainly not times when christians should be either lukewarm or lazy. No; no. Large fields are opening for the diffusion of pure gospel principles, and for the exercise of benevolence and charity. Every section of the intelligent portion of the people are at work advocating their own pe

LETTER VI.

IN my last I set before you the testimony of God concerning being born again, together with some of the experiences connected therewith, as well as the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit manifested therein.

In this letter, I shall show, first, that this being born from above, is as much a doctrine of the Old as of the New Testament, and secondly fulfil my promise, to shew the reasons, that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven we must be born again.

doctrine of the Old Testament, we set out upon Now, in order to shew regeneration to be a this one proposition, that without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb. xi. 6.

Now just look back again at the 3rd of John, and you will see that the believing spoken of in the after parts of that chapter must originate in the regenerating power of God, spoken of in the first part of that chapter; saith the Saviour, (John xi. 26,) "Whosoever liveth, lievest thou this? I know that thou believest." and believeth in me, shall never die. BeWhat, then, was the faith of Abel? was it of God, or of men? Did it originate in the wisdom of men, or in the power of God? Did his faith bring him into the kingdom of God, or did it not? Is righteousness, divine righteous

EPISTLES TO THEOPHILUS.

ness, the first feature of the kingdom of God vitally, or is it not? Rom. xiv. 17. Did Abel know, and was he made righteous by the righteousness of Christ, or was he not? Heb. xi. 4. Did the Holy Spirit of God shew to Abel the meaning of his sacrifice being accepted, or did he not? Had Abel any testimony direct from heaven that he was righteous, or had he not?

Is it not written, that it is impossible for those sacrifices to take away sin? Heb. x. 4. And also, that those sacrifices could not make the comers thereunto perfect? (ix. 9.) and yet Abel obtained witness that he was righteous. Abel thus saw and entered into the kingdom of God; he knew the King and Mediator of that kingdom. He saw the promised seed. This is that which Cain did not see. Cain was not born of God; therefore did not enter into the kingdom of God.

"If the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, neither can he know them,' and yet Abel did both know and receive the things of the spirit of God; then Abel was not merely a natural man but a spiritual man -having by a spiritual and living faith spiritual and eternal life. I will not at present trouble you with what is said of Cain, as this will more properly belong to the subject of a future letter.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was a regenerated man he walked with God, and

therefore must have been where God could be walked with. And this could have been nowhere but in newness of life. "In the beginning was the WORD; and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." This DIVINE Word was and is that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.

Now, this manifestation of the blessed God in the new covenant, is in direct contrast to the law, which is the ministration of death. It must therefore have been by the blood of the new covenant that Enoch walked with God. (Zech. ix 11). And so it was not by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ, that he both walked with God, and was translated to that kingdom of glory, for which regeneration had fitted him.

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order and form. As he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.

Taking, then, the above as examples of the essential character of all Old Testament believers, it follows, that regeneration by the Spirit and power of God, was a truth known to them, and experienced by them.

The language, also, of the Old Testament, and its figurative representations, are as strong as in the New Testament. Hence, in the Old as well as in the New Testament, it is called being born. "They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this." Psa. xxii. 31. Here, being born of God is inseparably connected with the revelation to the soul of eternal righteousness; that righteousness being brought in by all that suffering of the Saviour spoken of in the preceding part of the Psalm.

Again: It is placed in close connection with that Zion where the Lord hath commanded

his blessing-even life for evermore. "And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her. And the Highest himself shall establish her." Psa. lxxxvii. 5. Here the two testimonies, "life for evermore," and "the Highest himself shall establish her," sort well together; so that Old Testament believers knew the truth, not of regeneration only, but also of that everlasting life and final settlement in the promised rest, inseparably one therewith.

Again: It is very beautifully united with that solemn sense of destitution to which every one must be brought, in order rightly to appreciate the gospel. It is such, and such only, that can truly praise the Lord for the gospel; and so saith the Word-" He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the (spiritual) generation to come; and the people which shall be created (in Christ Jesus) shall praise the Lord." Psa. cii. 17, 18.

Now, in answer to this, the New Testament says "Ye are a chosen generation—a royal priesthood—a holy nation—a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Peter ii. 9. The light spoken of by the apostle, is contained in the Let us now, to avoid multiplying examples preceding part of the verse-namely, eternal unnecessarily, take Abraham. He was called election: "Ye are a chosen generation;" oneof God, and saw the day of Christ, and re- ness with the Great High Priest of our projoiced;" he saw it, and was glad." Now, if fession-Christ Jesus; "a royal priesthood;" Abraham was the father of the faithful, and if the sanctification that is by him; a holy they that be of faith are blessed with faithful nation; the everlasting distinction from others, Abraham-and if this state of things be by which is by him; "a peculiar people;" and the law of faith-and which law is the law of these are the praises they are to shew forth. life-"for he that believeth hath everlasting And so in Psalm cii.; the praise wherewith life"-and if the law of faith be the law of they are to praise the Lord is to go on to that love, and the law of liberty, and of final salva-eternity spoken of at the close of the Psalmtion-which it certainly is; for true faith loves what it believes-and if the Son make us by faith in him free, then are we free indeed, and the end of our faith is the salvation of our soul. Then Abraham, as the father of the faithful, had all these, and was therefore a spiritual man; and to whom was clearly revealed the new covenant of God in Christ Jesus, and that in all the stability of its sworn

"Thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end: the (spiritual) children of thy (ministering) servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee."

Again: It is called a formation: "This people have I formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise." Isa. xliii. 21. The people thus formed for God are, in the preceding verse, thus described: "The beasts of

the field shall honor me: the dragons and the | to whom the new birth is altogether a strange owls, because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people-my chosen." Here we have, in substance, the same as in Acts 10th, where the apostle Peter saw the Gentiles as wild beasts, fowls of the air, and creeping things; and yet in eternal election they stood sanctified and ordained to eternal life. And so here, in Isaiah, they are in their unregenerate state as wild beasts, dragons and owls. But then they are, saith the Word, my chosen. And of this chosen people it is said, "I have formed them for myself: they shall shew forth my praise."

The Pastors of our Churches; the Preachers

of our Day.

A BRIEF AND IMPARTIAL

REVIEW OF MR. SPURGEON'S MINISTRY.

[As we have nearly come to the close of another year, we are striking out a new line of mental labour-it is a glance at Ministers as they are. It is not an easy task: but then, we go to this work with a two-fold determination-first, knowing that there is some good thing in all good men, we will try to find out, and to shew, how that good thing is developed in different ways in different men. Secondly, knowing that there are imperfections in all men, we are determined, by help divine, to have no hand in exhibiting them: "We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."]

"God has wonderfully gifted this stripling, he has a powerful voice, an easy and abundant flow of matter. In fact, from the impression I was under, upon the whole, I could not help the Lord, to be a very useful and laborious concluding, that this young man is destined of servant of Christ. He speaks as one having authority, and not as do the Scribes and Pharisees of our day. There are some of my friends, who regard his youth as an obstacle to their well receiving him; but surely, God is able to work by means of a David or a Timothy, as effectually, as by more aged and experienced instruments; and a very few years time will remove this objection. To all appearance, laid out for this youthful champion; and if he however, a course of very great usefulness is does somewhat closely, (but not too closely,) insist upon fruits corresponding with a profession of the gospel, we must not call this legality, when we know him to be sound in the main; indeed, I think this is what the acknowledged ministers of truth, in our time, have long neglected to enforce.

MR. C. H. SPURGEON is the present pastor satisfaction, that if but one of his elect body, of New Park Street Chapel, in the borough the church, could possibly be missing at last, of Southwark. He is a young man of very he could not be satisfied. considerable ministerial talent, and his labours have been amazingly successful in raising up the before drooping cause at Park Street to a state of prosperity almost unequalled. We know of no Baptist minister in all the metropolis-(with the exception of our highly-favoured and long-tried brother James Wells, of the Surrey Tabernacle,) who has such crowded auditories and continued overflowing congregations, as Mr. Spurgeon has. But, then, very solemn questions arise-"WHAT IS HE DOING?". "WHOSE SERVANT IS HE?"- "What proof does he give, that,-instrumentally,-his is a heart searching, a Christ exalting, a truthunfolding, a sinner-converting, a churchfeeding, a soul-saving ministry ?"-This is the point at issue with many whom we know-a point which we should rejoice to see clearly settled-in the best sense-and demonstrated beyond a doubt in the confidence of all the true churches of Christ in Christendom. In introducing this subject to the notice of our readers, we have no object in view, further than a desire to furnish all the material which has been thrown into our hands a careful and discriminating examination of which may, to some extent, be edifying and profitable. At the moment of writing, the following note came to hand. It expresses the silent conviction of a large multitude of Gospel hearers at this moment; and we therefore give it verbatim.

"Dear Mr. Editor,—I went last night to hear Mr. Spurgeon at Park Street-and after much squeezing got into a seat. It appeared to me that a very great number, after ineffectual attempts to gain ingress, went away again, without being able to hear him. He preached from these words :-"He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." And much to my satisfaction, he delivered a short, pithy, and, to me, powerful discourse; giving us an epitome of the grand and fundamental doctrines of the Bible; powerfully proving, under the head concerning Christ's

"Wishing you every success in the proclamation of pure truth, I am dear sir, yours truly,

JOHN."

We wish our present remarks to be considered merely introductory, not conclusive; but seeing that the minds of so many are aroused to enquiry as to what may be considered the real position of this young Samuel in the professing church, we are disposed to search the records now before us-and from thence fetch out all the evi

dence we can find expressive of a real work of grace in the soul-and a Divine call to publish the tidings of salvation, the mysteries of the cross, and the work of the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of the living in Jerusalem.

Before we extract any sentence as uttered by Mr. Spurgeon himself - let us deliberately consider one question-" Does the Bible, the Word of God,-(the only test and standard by which everything connected with salvation matters must be tried,)—

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REVIEW OF MR. SPURGEON'S MINISTRY.

demand, or call for, any special or particular qualification to prove that the Great Head of the Church has himself sent such and such a man into the work of the ministry?"

acquired sense, be what it may if by that ministry God himself give not the command-" Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain ;"-unless this essential blessing be there, we believe there can be NO GENUINE CONVERSION OF SINNERS most holy faith. Where there is a sanctified TO GOD-no building up the saints in their and well-balanced knowledge of satan's devices, and of the perpetual warfare between the old and the new Adam-between the flesh and the spirit-in the experience of every quickened believer-the ministry will be increasingly valuable, and very highly the deeply trying waters of temptation, prized by those whose path-way lays through tribulation, conflict, and anxious care.

The foregoing briefly described elements are as essential to the discovery of a man's Divine call to the ministry, as the beating of the pulse, the circulation of the blood, and the reception of nourishment, is essential to man's natural existence. But for the full developement of these elements, time, and other things, are requisite. "Who"-that is wise, prudent, and fearful of rash conclusions Who, hath despised the day of small things?" How fully these vital evidences of a divinely authorised ministry are found in the present pastor of New Park Street, the following testimonies may help our discerning readers to judge. Unlike many of the faithful servants of Christ, he was not left to run, for a course of years, into the open paths of practical iniquity and transgression. We have good reason to hope that in very early life the Lord laid his hand upon him for good; put holy fear into his heart, and quickened his soul with life, spiritual and divine. We have been in company and in

The Scriptures most certainly do insist upon the existence of some qualifications essential to such a work. It is absolutely and essentially necessary that a minister of the gospel should have a deep, and an increasing knowledge of himself, as a fallen, ruined, helpless, and miserable sinner in the sight of a holy God. [We cannot here give Scripture confirmation: that may come another time.] Also, it is essential that such a man have an internal knowledge of GOD, as teaching and chastening a sinner out of His holy law-for "every one that hath heard and learned of the FATHER, cometh unto CHRIST" and only such. If a man, there fore, has not been instructed, convicted, humbled, and emptied, under Divine chastisement, he has never truly come to Jesus Christ; consequently he can never trace out the way of life-he can never cast up the high way he can never really help the poor law-condemned sinner To HOPE IN THE LORD-nor can he confirm the faint and feeble saint in the hour of sharp temptation. Furthermore, a knowledge of CHRIST in his Person, work, and offices:-in his delivering power; in his pardoning and peace-speaking blood; in his prevalent intercession; and in his ultimate gathering together of all things in himself, is as absolutely necessary in the experience of a minister of the gospel, as the rising of the natural sun is essential to the making our natural day. Some men in the ministry are always gloomy; tending to melancholy; obscure; full of awful threatenings; and encouraging unbelief, despondency, and dreadful fears. But why is this?Simply, because, as yet, the Sun of Righteousness has not arisen in their souls with healing and life-giving power; and whether such men have any Divine authority for Mr. C. H. Spurgeon is the son of Mr. J. standing in the ministry at all, is a very Spurgeon, an Independent minister, at Tolserious question. Another branch of know-lesbury, in Essex; and the grandson of the ledge essential to the ministry, is that of THE venerable J Spurgeon, of Stambourne, in PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. the same county. Long before he was fifteen Without this, there is no living breath in the years of age, it is a known fact, that he ministry: it may be eloquent; it may be suffered intense agonies of mind, with retheoretically instructive; it may be beauti-ference to the possibility of his soul's salvafully attractive to the natural, the moral, and the inquiring mind: it may burn with a vehement circumstantial zeal; it may be influential in producing external reformation; but, unless the Eternal Spirit be known, acknowledged, and honored, there will be no breath; no holy unction; no glorious discoveries of the mysteries of grace; no laying sinners down in the dust of self-abasement; no raising saints up into. sweet communion; no bringing the prisoners out of prison, and letting them into the banquetting house. Let the ministry-in a natural, or in an

converse with those who have known the subject of these remarks from his earliest days; what evidence we give, therefore, may be relied on.

tion. We should be glad to read or hear his own version of those days and nights of secret grief, of mental anguish, and of earnest crying to God, through which he passed in those early days. What an unspeakable mercy, to be thus early brought down with a contrite spirit to the mercyseat! Plucked as a brand from the burning; and preserved! We cannot but be thankful to the God of all grace, for such displays of Divine sovereignty. What a contrast-between the parentage, uprising, conversion, and call of William Huntington,