The Earthen Wessel. THE EDITOR'S ADDRESS. IN commencing the tenth volume of the EARTHEN VESSEL, we must write a few lines by way of preface or introduction. Without any ceremony, we shall endeavour to throw all we, at present, wish to say, under the five following heads :-I. Our Gratitude. II. Our Confession. III. Our Consolation. IV. Our Determination. V. Our Design. I. Our Gratitude.-When we reflect upon our mean original-the heavy tide of prejudice ever beating against us- and the mass of imperfections which have attended our progress-we are no less surprised than thankful in contemplating this two-fold fact -first, that no less than three-hundred and ninety-two thousand copies of the EARTHEN VESSEL have been circulated during the last nine years; secondly, that in some humble measure, testimonies illustrative and confirmatory of "THE TRUTH," (either in doctrine, in experience, or in practice,) have, by its instrumentality, been published in all directions; and the blessing of heaven has accompanied the same. To a merciful, righteous, and compassionate Jehovah, FATHER, WORD, and SPIRIT be all the glory given. "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. He hath helped us in the bestowment of new-covenant mercies; he hath helped us in constraining thousands to aid in the circulation of this work; he hath helped us in every season of pecuniary difficulty; he hath helped us in causing us to be useful to many, and not a few to be useful to us. What, then, shall we render unto the Lord for all his goodness bestowed upon us? Not only would we most gladly "take the cup of salvation, and call upon his holy name;" but we would, the Eternal Spirit helping, take the glorious gospel of the ever-blessed God in our hearts, and by our tongue and pen would publish and proclaim the exceeding and unsearchable riches of our ever-blessed Covenant Head in every destitute crook, and every benighted corner of this triple-jointed portion of the moral creation, until it could be said England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and their dependencies, have had the gospel preached unto them, even unto the remotest Vol. X.-No. 108.-January, 1854. borders thereof. This may be termed pride and ambition. Let the jealous critic term it what he please, we write under a sense of secret gratitude, of humble adoration, of feeble thankfulness; and while we thus pen these broken sentences, our spirits are ready to burst forth in strains of gladness and triumph, while we look in a three-fold direction: first, backward, upon the dark and mysteriously trying path in which we have had to tread; yet, have neither been lost, cast away, nor destroyed: no; but spared, to prove that "the blood of JESUS CHRIST, GOD's dear SON, cleanseth (even) us, from all sin," and spared to spread abroad the precious savour of his all-glorious name. Secondly, we look downward upon the many unhappy spirits who-under satanical and carnal influencehave lifted up their powers, with a deadly aim to dash us to atoms, and for ever to extinguish both our efforts and our zeal. But the Lord reigneth. We did not run unsent: -we did not enter into the vineyard of ourselves::-we did not first choose our Master and our work:-our most righteous Lord and Master did himself choose, call, and put us into that particular sphere of labour for which he has wisely fitted us: here we stand; and upheld by his omnipotent arm, we shall neither perish nor be paralysed; but, in our small and quiet manner, hope to endure unto the end; and to finish our course with joy. Thirdly, we look forward; and sometimes earnestly anticipate the result of all our conflicts in a little harvest of real success in the dispensation of the glad tidings of pardon and peace by the finished work of the great Captain of our salvation. In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hope to grow stronger and stronger: to himself and his service, we hope to be more and more sincerely devoted; and, although the rest of our days should be spent among widowed and despised churches; amid the unevangelised localities and ruralities of our land; and in a pilgrimatic mission from east to west, and north to south; still, even in such an almost untrodden course, would we pray to be found faithful; and thereby to our sovereign King, evince the genuineness of our faith, the purity B EDITOR'S ADDRESS. of our zeal, and the depth of our GRATITUDE. 66 Blessings more numerous than the sand "A fœtus in my mother's womb, "For food, for raiment, strength and health, And though he has denied me wealth, 'Tis best, for 'tis his will. "But chiefly sing, in sweetest strains, That love which in Immanuel reigns, righteousness only for, and on behalf of, those who were given unto him in the councils of eternity. No language can be more clear or decided than is that of Isaiah, when speaking as the representative of the whole church, the prophet says, "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." To the very same end speaketh the Saviour himself "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father-(i. e., there is a perfect knowledge, agreement, oneness, harmony, intention, and design between us) and I lay down my life for the sheep." "His honour is engaged to save II. Our Confession.-The ancient fathers We also declare (because we fully believe speak largely of a two-fold confession: there in us by the Spirit of all truth; because we such declaration to be taught and wrought is a confession of, or witnessing to, the believe such declaration to be in strict acTRUTH; and there is a confession of our infirmities, weaknesses, and necessities. Speak-confirmed by the genuine Christian experi cordance with the Word of God, and to be ing of the first, William Bridge plainly says, ence of all the quickened elect), that no man "If you would witness a good confession in these days of ours', then you must be willing unto Jesus Christ, except the Father draw can believingly, heartily or savingly, come to suffer for the truth of Christ." This we him: no man can sincerely love and follow have proved to be a true axiom. While we Jesus Christ except the Holy Ghost raise up were simply seeking for Christ in the closet; his soul into a vital and experimental union while we were silently listening to the voice of Christ in the ministry, we endured but to the great Covenant Head: no man can little suffering, save that which arose from comfortably realise the benefits of redempthe two powers within, the flesh and the tion, unless the eternal Spirit give unto him Spirit. But, when a gracious Providence, a living faith, revealing unto that faith the and a constraining power, set us up on the PERSON, the OFFICES, the WORK, and the walls openly and boldly to confess Christ, with us. And, finally, with all the powers Kingdom of our exalted EMMANUEL, God and the gospel of Christ, from that moment of our souls, do we unite with Watts in suffering work began. This suffering, however, is not to be charged upon the truth; singing: nor upon the GOD OF TRUTH. No; by no means. The sources of this suffering are manifold. Satanie malice and enmity is one source of this suffering. Satan will watch and wait to see where he can catch you, so as to make your conduct in any manner to give the lie to your creed. See how effectually he did this both in David and in Peter. Another source of the suffering is the spirit of error in all anti-christian powers. We who know, and love, and honestly confess, the truth of the gospel, we declare that our holy covenant God and Father did, before all worlds, elect and choose in Christ his Son, a people for his praise-and by a predestinating decree, did separate them, and set them apart for his glory, preparing for them, and appointing unto them an everlasting kingdom of purity, perfection, and blessedness. We declare that the Messiah, the Christ of God, was perfect God and perfect man; that he was, and is, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. We declare that our precious and most adorable Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting These are simply the foundation principles. of our faith: where these blessed truths are wrought in the soul of a sinner, by the God of all grace, they will be accompanied by a tenderness of conscience, an uprightness of heart a separation from, and an utter abhorrence of, all evil; an vercoming of the world; a crucifixion of the flesh; a hungering and thirsting after righteousness; a spiritual union to the saints; an obedience to the gospel; a devotedness of heart and life to the Redeemer; an approving of all things that are excellent, and an anticipation of entering into, and enjoying, that heavenly rest which remaineth for the people of God. Opposed-bitterly, because ignorantly opposed-to all these holy and essential articles of our faith, are the legion of spirits which make up the great anti-christian body (which body takes in Mahomedanism, Romanism, Puseyism, Mormonism, Arianism, Arminianism, and a motley group of isms beside) which we stay not here to delineate, Be it remembered, then, that satan and the Perhaps we are not altogether alone in this peculiar affliction. The following paragraph at this moment comes to hand. "I was formerly well acquainted with two worthy persons in the ministry,' says a distin whole of his unsanctified legion, of whatever | mysteries of an overruling, ever-working name, or shade, or profession they be, all are providence! Who can understand, who can in warlike antagonism with the TRUTH; and comprehend, who can grasp, who can define all who dare espouse and proclaim it. them? This intellectual weakness meets us Hence comes (as well as from other sources) at every turn; thwarts us in every effort; our suffering. discourages and distresses us in every branch But when we set out to write "our con- of our work: in attempting to write; in fession," we did not purpose to touch this endeavouring to preach; as well as in the side of it: that is, a confession of our faith: exercise of a righteous judgment between it was a confession of our weaknesses we prin- things that differ; in every labour our small cipally designed; such a confession as Paul and contracted mind is made to groan out, makes in few words, when, (in 2 Cor. xiii." and who is sufficient for these things?" 4), referring to the deep humiliation of our Jesus, he says, "we also are weak in him." We know not how far other public men (either ministers or authors), may be prepared to go; but we must fully confess that we have very painfully discovered at least a four-guished divine, who were eminently and exfold weakness cleaving as tightly to all our tensively useful. I thought that if ever any efforts than doth man's skin to his mortal men in the world were faithful to the light frame. There is a physical, there is an in- God had given them, these were. And yet, in tellectual, there is an external, there is an im- their last illness, they had such a feeling sight aginary weakness, which we have to confess: of their past unfaithfulness, as almost reduced and we do it frankly that no man may hence- them, for a time, to a despair of salvation. forth expect from us what never will be One of them said, he only wished to live that he might have an opportunity of preaching the found in 66 us, a perfection of strength." We gospel in a fuller manner than he had ever yet have no doubt but that many a servant of done. The other cried out in an agony of disGod, while in this tabernacle, hath shed a tress, God hides the light of his face from tear of sympathy while adopting as their my soul, and is putting me to bed in the dark, own, in every sense, those memorable words because, out of a dastardly complaisance to of Paul to the Galatians, "Ye know how, some of my hearers, I have not dwelt enough through infirmity of the flesh, I preached the upon the doctrines of grace, in the course of gospel unto you at the first and my tempta- my public ministrations;' instancing particution which was in my flesh ye despised not, larly the doctrine of election, in which docnor rejected; but received me as an angel of trine,' added he, I now see such a glory as God, even as Christ Jesus." What that particu- men, and went off comfortably at last; though I never saw before.' Yet both were good lar weakness was to which Paul refers, we stop not until they had been led through a tedious, not to enquire: in our case, it has been a want dismal wilderness of een remorse and disof caution, of carefulness, of discernment, of tressing conflicts. Such as suppress and keep deliberation, of knowledge as regards the de- back any part of Christian doctrine, either vices of satan, and the deceitfulness of the through fear of men, or to curry the favour of human heart. Oh, brethren, how many men, and consult their own ease, advancement, hours of sorrow, how many cutting disap- or reputation, at the cost of truth and of souls, pointments, how many dark dispensations, have a tremendous valley of pain and horror hath this moral, or natural weakness brought to pass through, ere they reach the kingdom upon us. Truly, we solemnly feel the need of heaven. If saved at all, it will be as by of that holy injunction, “WATCH and PRAY, lest ye enter into temptation" We cannot dwell here: two secret friends meet us in this valley of trial; the one is, heart-felt grief for all that is contrary to God and godliness: the other is, the answer of a good conscience that with us it has been as it was with Paul, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh, the law of sin," not wilful, habitual, practical, open transgression; but, the sin of weakness working out a deficiency in more fully waiting for the mind of God; and watching against the devices of satan. Brethren, pray for us. An intellectual weakness is also found with fire." There is an external weakness. Men do not all see alike. Even the real work of grace in a sinner's heart is not so satisfactorily discovered in some cases as is necessary for a hearty reception of that poor sinner into the bosom of the church. Every minister of Jesus Christ daily proves that his powers are not powerful enough to remove the hinderances that seem to impede his progress, and put a limit to his usefulness. To what an amazing extent has this weakness without, crippled us! Prejudices and reproaches on the one hand, with the lack of means on the other, have often tied our hands, and so thrown back the fruit of our efforts as to threaten us with an overthrow and a final destruction; over which our foes would have greatly triumphed; while our friends, with ourselves, would have shed tears of bitterness LETTER FROM MR. WILLIAM BIDDER. and woe. "You that love the Lord indeed Tell us, is it thus with you?" more. Well, how are you and your dear lady, after an elapse of almost another year? To her tender my kindest love and regards; and truly do I hope that in both the outward and inner man, it is well with you, rejoicing in Though depraved in ourselves, yet complete in God our Saviour. Why should we not? him; though black, yet comely; though poor, yet rich; though polluted, yet clean; though weak, yet strong; though sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; though at times cast down, yet never cast off, nor destroyed; though lost, yet found; though fallen, yet risen, and standing upright. All hail! beloved. We have a salvation in our precious Lord, which answers all Jehovah's precious purposes; all that law or justice can require; all that the election of grace can ever need; and which, as a scheme, I call Jehovah's master-piece, surpassing all the infinite variety of his other works, yea, There is, however, a bright as well as a black chief of the ways of God, and must produce side to our history. Paul, speaking of some endless wonder and unceasing surprise through of the good old saints, says, "Out of weak- the successive ages of a boundless everlasting. ness made strong" and even Eliphaz, while, And shall we not rank among the adoring with the 12th, 13th, and 14th verses of his wonderers? O, bless his name! what can prechapter, he has almost driven us to despair, vent it? Sin, by blood divine, for ever rewith the following words he has (we hope by moved; the curse fully borne; our debts amply the Spirit's power) kept us from either sinking, and most honourably paid; our creditor better standing still, or turning back. How deeply pleased with the Surety and his payment, consoling are the words of the Holy Ghost, than if no debt had been contracted; and is when he turns from writing the sentence of the amazing stoop, (humiliation), obedience, more-infinitely more-honoured in and by death upon the wicked, to declare the good-blood, sufferings, wounds and death of our ness of the Lord to the most afflicted of his children! What an excellent oil to our lacerated and oppressed spirit, has sometimes been that "BUT,-but he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. BEHOLD, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." Yes! Yes! With the deepest humility would we record it, on our bended knees, while pleading in weakness for the Lord to appear, these words did softly lift up their voice within, and said, "How hast thou helped him that is without power? How savest thou the arm that hath no strength?" Thus, dear friends, having obtained help of the Lord, we continue to the present time; and have known those seasons when, without wilfil presumption, we carefully adopted the beautiful words of the poet who sung, "Yes! I to the end shall endure, As sure as the earnest is given; WE HAVE A SALVATION IN OUR LETTER FROM MR. W. BIDDER, TO MY DEAR FRIEND.-It seems as though it precious Lord, than he was ever injured by I have not filled in my sheet with a gloomy "All must come, and last, and end, As shall please my heavenly Friend." W. BIDDER. 1 |