will not,

My friend I know the truth of this and so do you also. It is because we do, we prize and esteem Christ; of all the blessings the Lord God can possibly bless us with, whilst we remain in this time state, there is no greater, than to have a true scriptural knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only way of our access to God. To know Christ, is life eternal; To know the love of Christ, this is that knowledge which alone can lift up our hearts in love to Jesus: and this in return to him, for his great love to us. The true knowledge of his most complete, and all divine and glorious righteousness, is the mean of bringing us to a total renunciation of all righteousness of our own. The true knowledge of the virtue of the blood of Christ, is the only means of removing the guilt and condemnation of sin from our minds. I do most sincerely delight to dwell on these subjects, as I really have had the inward apprehension of them in my own heart, And, because I have found the efficacy of these important truths in my own soul, therefore I would willingly be one of Christ's witnesses to the very last moment of my continuance in this present state of existence. Nor do I expect any existence in glory, but that the blessedness and comfort of which, will be contained in the enjoyment of the same,

The salvation of Jesus is the subject which I contemplate with holy pleasure and delight. I love to be engaged in deep and spiritual meditations on the same. I love to have my faith drawn forth into spiritual exercises on the same. I esteem it real blessedness to have communion with Christ, in the true knowledge and enjoyment of the same. I love to apprehend Christ as he is set forth in the everlasting gospel; and from the same, to apprehend that, for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. I conceive it to be a matter of vast importance, to know the

virtue and efficacy of the most precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in our own consciences. It is hereby we are delivered from guilt, and are enabled to serve the Lord our God, and to walk before him unto all pleasing. It is our present and our continual blessedness, to be looking off ourselves and from every other object and subject to Christ alone. All heaven is in him: so is all our salvation and every blessing of everlasting life. Oh! that our precious Lord Jesus Christ may be every day more precious to us; and higher in our hearts and esteem, There is no one thing in this present world worth living for: nor is there any one thing worth our living in it, except it be to have our spiritual faculties more and more exercised on him, and his great salvation, so as that we may thereby enjoy greater, and more close and intimate communion with him. To me to live is Christ; but no one can live on Christ, but in proportion to what he knows of him. Therefore an increasing knowledge of Christ is most truly desirable; because it is the means of quickening our desires, and drawing forth our minds and affections after the Lord Jesus Christ. And our true estimation of the person, work, and excellency of him, is hereby manifestatively discovered. For my own part, I would desire to attend unto, and be as an old man, all contained in these words of our most divine Lord who says, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord; when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately." I would most sincerely

pray this might be my case. So that whilst I am advancing in life, being now past my seventy-third year, yet would I continue my testimony for Jesus, and shew my good will to his cause and interest.

My dear friend, if you choose

to write me immediately, then you must direct for me, at Mrs. Pitt's, Chard, and the post will convey it, so as I may have it, on Lord's day evening; otherwise I shall be at Lopen, and there by some means or other, you will let me know your will and I will endeavour to attend unto the same. You will be pleased to act as it will be most agreeable unto yourself. I shall not be disobliged if you set aside my coming. By which I mean no sort of disrespect. I only mean that you are to act as prudence and grace shall direct. My love in Christ to all your friends in Christ. The Lord be with you and them. I am your friend and brother in Christ Jesus,

THAT must have been a sweet revival to Jeremiah, when in the midst of his bitter lamentations, "Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. Then I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord!" It must, I say, have been a sweet revival to him, after he had been humbled, so as to exclaim, "that it was of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed;" hope revived in the midst of the gloom, he was enabled to sing of the Lord's faithfulness, and exclaim, The Lord will not cast off for ever."

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What thinkest thou, poor weeping soul, whoever thou art, dost thou think thou shalt see his face again? dost thou think thou shalt say again in the fulness of thy heart, my Lord, and my God? It is his promise, in whose mouth was found no guile, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice."

To a lover of Jesus there is nothing so calculated to depress the mind, to

darken the understanding, to becloud the hopes, and the prospects of hapiness everlasting, as the withdrawment of his manifested favour, or in other words the hiding of his face. "Thou hidest thy face," cried one, "and I was troubled." There are three things seem connected with this passage of scripture, which I would notice. First, the certainty of tribulation and conflict. Secondly, the merciful design thereof. And thirdly,

the happy deliverance therefrom.

First. I observe that it is a certainty the lover of Jesus will here meet with conflict; even if there had been no express declaration to this effect, the experience of all the Lord's people would go far to prove it: but when we read expressly, " Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth:" when we hear him, saying,

I will bring the third part through the fire" and more such passages, we must conclude that tribulation is the ordained way the Lord takes to instruct us, and bring us nearer to himself, at least in faith and experience. And while faith takes such a view of the subject, our feelings will hardly coincide, and we are constrained to acknowledge that God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. Carnal reason in the believer will ever rebel against conflicting dispensations, and various are the surmises, and the questionings, the why's and the wherefore's such and such things should be allowed to assail us. If he loves me, says one, why permit me thus to wander in darkness; if he loves me, why remove the sweet beams of his love; the sweet smiles of his face. Why, if he has bought me with his blood, does he not grant me his presence here, or take me to dwell with him at home! Does it seem consistent, with what I have been led to believe of his loving kindness and tender mercy, that I should be thus harassed in my mind, thus tried in my circumstances, or

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left to wander in a world of perplexity and doubt! My dear friend, bear with me while I would attempt to shew the merciful design of the Lord toward you in your trial: he says expressly, "I will bring the third part through the fire; and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God." Now were I to quote no other passage than this(Zech. xiii. 9.), what a fulness of blessedness does it contain. Here is first a reserved people; secondly, their pollution is inferred, from the fact that they must pass through the fire; thirdly, we might consider the object of bringing them through the fire, to refine them; fourthly, reflect on the interest expressed, and this is most beautiful. What does then affliction cause! prayerfulness: "They shall call on my name." What, in their affliction! yes. And what benefit will that be to call upon him who is chastising them; does he not chastise them in anger ! Oh no; David says, Thou dost not afflict willingly; at least this I am persuaded, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." It is, dear friends, a manifestation of mercy that he corrects us for our folly, that we should not be condemned with the world. He is ever mindful of his covenant, and here he speaks in mercy," I will say it is my people." What, now Lord! Oh, surely we had thought that thy mercy was clean gone for ever, and that thou hadst forgotten to be gracious; but it is not so, thou hast again caused our hearts to rejoice with thy favour, and we would now exclaim with delight, This is our God, we have waited for him;" "This God is our God for ever and ever, and he will be our guide even unto death." Paul says, I know that this light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex

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ceeding and eternal weight of glory; and his afflictions, imprisonment, shipwreck, mocking, persecution, and a long train of evils, were not light in the abstract! oh! no, but in comparison with the glory that should hereafter be revealed! The trials of the children of Israel were not light, while they were called to traverse a barren wilderness for forty years; but gracious was the Lord's design in thus dealing with them, and Moses says (Deut. viii.), “ Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years, to humble thee," &c.; "thou shall also consider in thine heart, that as a Father chasteneth his own son, SO the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." Thus we see, dear friends, that mercy has to do with all the Lord's dispensations towards his poor children. They may be tried with sorrow upon sorrow, but while their Father lives, they shall never suffer loss. Such may be confused and wonder where the scene will end, but faith lays hold of the Lord's promises, godly fear acknowledges that the Lord is just in all he lays upon them, and would be were they utterly consumed; but love inspires them still to seek him who is the altogether lovely. Faith says, hast thou not said, Lord, thou will never leave nor forsake us! Hope revives, she says, I see the defilement that clings to me; but my shepherd knoweth the way that I take “when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Besides, says hope, the Lord will not cast off for ever" but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his tender mercies."

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Truly," saith the Lord" for a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee: in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." But I might multiply expressions of mercy and unchanging affection, until I had

exhausted my little stock of time, and perhaps my reader's patience. What thinkest thou, dear friend, who art tossed with tempests and not comforted, dost thou think thou hast any ground to despair? I pray that God may bless you, shew you his precious person and work, reveal to you your interest therein, and enable you and me to walk in the lowland of time to his praise, till called to meet him in the mansions above. Amen

GG.

LETTER FROM AN OLD PILGRIM TO A BROTHER DISCIPLE.

My Dear Friend.

I HAVE no doubt but the old serpent has suggested to your mind, that I had totally forgotten the poor old cripple in Gill Street, and that I had not only neglected to visit you, but was turned from a friend into an enemy and moreover, I should not at all wonder if he had not insolence enough to say, that God himself had forgotten to be gracious, and in anger

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shut up his tender mercies." But you must know long before this, that Satan isa liar,and the father of lies; therefore you must be simple to give credit to such a notorious dealer in falshoods. However, the truth is I have been let and hindered in various ways, and my absence has not arisen from want of good will, no, but I have been often very unwell, which many times throws me back in my little concerns, and a long walk now knocks me up for the rest of the day. When at Mr. F

-'s on Thursday I felt a desire to call upon you, but was so oppressed with heat in only walking there that I gave it up; and another discouraging consideration was, that I had nothing under my hand to leave with the poor and needy one, that I thought, if I go empty handed, it will be a disappointment to the poor creature, and only add grief unto his sorrow, instead of comforting his heart. With these feelings I returned home but mark, I had not been November, 1839.] .

home ten minutes, before a certain man, whose name is H. P. rode up to the door: when after the usual salutations, while conversing with him, I told him I had been to White Horse Street, and had a desire to have gone to Limehouse to see my cripple friend, but as I had nothing to carry him my mind was discouraged; and therefore gave it up. He replied, You should have gone nevertheless, though you had nothing to carry; however in order to make you an errand, I will give you a trifle;' and then put half a sovereign into my hand, for which I thanked him, and he rode a way. Now what a chain of circumstances there was to bring this piece of gold to its destined spot, and in what away the Lord fulfilled the desire of my heart. Had I gone to Limehouse instead of returning home, I should have missed the half sovereign, and so would my friend: but this is not all, for going the next morning with some goods to Mr C's, I was telling him and his sister of the matter, and how in this cross-handed providence the piece of gold came into my possession; and after rehearsing the story, they also gave me a half-a-crown each, towards the supply of the prisoner of hope!

I have been the more particular in mentioning these things, in order to impress your mind with a sense of the Lord's goodness, thus manifested towards his poor pensioner. Again, it may be the Lord hath for a season closed up his blessed and bountiful hand, in order to try your faith and patience, whether you could trust him when you could not trace him; and to shew you more plainly, how entirely dependant you are upon him for all things: and also to teach you more perfectly to pray, Give us this day our daily bread." Little children, you know, run to their father for every thing they want; and so must you and I, if we are in any need. If God be indeed our Father, our supplies are sure enough; but for all" all

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these things will I be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them." If we are in trouble, "Call upon me," saith the Almighty; and what follows? "I will deliver thee." Well, are these his delivering mercies to be forgotten? Oh no!" Thou shalt glorify me." And how can a poor believer glorify God, for the manifestation of his goodness, but by blessing and praising his dear name, and by declaring to those who fear him, what he hath done for him both in providence and grace! "Praise (you know) is comely for the upright:" and the Most High hath declared, "Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I shew the salvation of God." Another encouragement to this delightful employ, we have in the close of Psalm cvii: Whoso is wise, and will observe these things; even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." I have been as it were insensibly moved on in writing thus, and paradventure it may be in order to stir up your pure mind by way of remembrance; be this as it may, it is very evident that our Lord Jesus Christ took more pleasure in the Samaritan leper, who returned to give thanks than he did in all the other nine.

I must now conclude this long in and out scrap, with wishing you renewed strength both in body and soul, and assure you it would be a pleasure to me, to meet you once more in the courts of the Lord's house. I remain, Affectionately thine,

J KEYT.

ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL ENCAMPMENT IN MYSTICAL JERICHO.

“And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in thep lains of Jericho,"-Josh. v. 10. WHEN I am led to contemplate any particular portion of the truth of God, and to make known my thoughts upon

the same to the church militant, I consider it is not mine to plead my ignorance and inability before God; for however sensibly I may feel it, and blessed be his dear name he has not left me altogether ignorant of myself in this respect, yet I am also aware he knows it much better than ever I can possibly know it myself. Mine is to obey, not to dictate, with secret prayer to him that he may be mercifully pleased to guide my thoughts and my pen for the furtherance of his divine glory, and the consolation of Zion's many travellers through this wilderness, in their journey home to heaven and God. For he is often pleased to pass by, however good it may be in and of itself (and we bless God it is to be found in the church), sublime eloquence, polite literature, brightness of intellect, and quaint ideas, to stoop to weak and feeble things, to make them his own almighty power to accomplish his eternal purposes, to prove to a demonstration the excellency of the power to be of himself, and to exclude for ever creature boasting. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts," Zech. iv. 6.

And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal." Not the Egyptians, nor yet any of the surrounding nations; but a special blessing conferred upon a particular people by a sovereign act of royal favour, most honourably bestowed on the part of the Giver, most unworthily on the part of them that received the same: but mercy triumphed over their ingratitude and rebellion, Jehovah fulfilled that endearing trait which so much adorns his sacred character-his faithfulness. The land was given them, I humbly conceive in a threefold sense: first, in the decretive will of God; secondly, in the revelation of his mind and will to Abraham, that to him and to his seed after him he would give it for an everlasting possession (Gen. xvii. 8), and when he made this pro