Four Sons A SHORT PAPER ON THE PRIVILEGES, TRIALS, AND TRIUMPHS OF THE CHAPTER II. WHAT a scene was that over which I paused in my introduction to this little paper on the trial of faith! It was Christmas-day. The good farmer (who was father to the bride referred to before) had been dining with his family, and as a little recreation, had a new horse put into his chaise to drive a fond one home. A healthier or happier looking Englishman you could seldom meet, than was this devoted Essex agriculturist. I remember well the first time I saw him enter our meeting-place; I thought he must be a minister of the Gospel. He looked exactly like one whose heart burned within him at the thought of Jesus' love, and of His great salvation; but when, subsequently, I came to converse with him, I found him to be one of the most contrite and humble souls you could possibly meet with; yet, more decided for the grand doctrines of distinguishing grace, than many you may meet with among the ranks of even the closest and choicest of the disciples of Christ. His loss to Zion is a trial; but it is his everlasting gain. To return, then, to the Christmas-day; I think it was the one before the last, or the one before that, he was driving his new horse down the lane leading from his house to the town whither he was going, when all in a moment the horse took fright-fled away-the farmer's heart received a shock-he let the reins drop from his hands—and he fell back a lifeless corpse in his own chaise, beside his own child; while others, who were walking on and around, wondered what it all could mean. Well may it be said, "Death conquers all but heaven." "O death! Stern power that conquers all; Since our first parents' fatal fall, What terror thou hast spread o'er all! Thou heedest not the mother's sigh, While thus adrift they all are cast On life's rough wave, 'mid time's rude blast, Their fragile barque seems sinking fast. Saviour! if it be Thy will, I hope of some of the orphan children it may be said, they are casting Faith's anchor over Time's narrow bound, and that they are hopefully looking for that holiest of all assemblies, where the departed father and his children shall again together meet, never to be separated by a sudden fright, but where alarming accidents never come; where there is no more boisterous sea, no more dark and dangerous night— Where sighs to joyous songs are turned, Where all is PEACE and REST; Where saints their Saviour's kingdom see, If, over the grave of this departed man of God, I had been called to give an address, it should have been founded, I think, upon Paul's words to the Hebrews "For we are made PARTAKERS OF CHRIST, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." What is Paul's meaning, "The beginning of our confidence? How is this holden steadfastly by the believer? In what sense is he thus made a "PARTAKER OF CHRIST ?" "The beginning of our confidence" means the fixedness and certainty of our faith. There are, at least, seven things of which the true believer is increasingly confident. His eye of faith, with a most decided confidence, looks at the seven following things: me (1.) At his state in the fall. His language is-" I know that in -that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." As he goes on in this life, his confidence in the total depravity and ruin of all Adam's family in the fall is increased. "I know," so firmly saith Jeremiah, "that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." How confident is the tried believer that if the Lord does not hold him up, every moment he is in danger, and may over his own head bring dishonour, and into his own soul bring the deepest distress. (2.) The confidence of the true believer looks to the law of God. How true, "The law made nothing perfect; but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God." The law is a schoolmaster. By the law is the knowledge of sin. The law is holy, just, and good; but the law never made the covenant perfect, nor the Church perfect; nor can it ever perfect a poor sinner in anything but condems him for all and every sin-" I have seen an end of all perfection; but thy commandment is exceeding broad." (3.) The confidence of the Christian looks-through grace Divine— unto Jesus Christ as the only hiding-place from the storm, and as the only Saviour which can, from every evil, and for ever, save the guilty and the needy soul. There was a time, one may say, when I had no confidence in Jesus, for I had neither seen Him, heard Him, or been experimentally blest by Him; but the happy morning came when to my soul He was revealed, when all His glory and power to save, even unto the uttermost, was realised; and when He so completely filled my soul that to doubt His Divinity, to call in question His faithfulness, His compassion, or the completeness of His work, seemed impossible. Jesus Himself is "the beginning of our confidence" in every sense of the word; and in that fact is contained treasures and mercies, blessings and joys, more numerical and bountiful than I can attempt to unfold. My departed friend held fast his confidence in the Person and work of his Saviour unto the end. (4.) In the grace of the Holy Spirit the confidence of a real disciple resteth. What marks the Christian from all formalists, hypocrites, and outer-court worshippers? It is this, he has "the Spirit of Christ," He is led of the Spirit; confidently, he will declare, "Without God's Holy Ghost within He nothing good can do," (5.) The Gospel has been made the power of God unto his own soul's salvation, and his confidence as regards its origin being in heaven, and its design being for the unfolding of the glory of God in the Person of Jesus Christ, is unshaken. How many young men I have known wonderfully zealous for the Gospel at first. The late James Smith; that very devout man, William Lewis; that sweet-looking, J. E. Cracknell, and others. How strong and firm they appeared to be in the Gospel; and they would declare that they held fast by Jesus Christ still. So I believe, in an abstract sense, they did. But, how dreadful to such appears Paul's question, "Is Christ divided?" The Bible, the Gospel, the Holy Ghost, the prophets, the Apostles, never separated Jesus Christ from the Covenant of Grace, or from the electing love of God the Father, or from the essential and saving grace of God the Holy Ghost. And when pleasant and pious preachers say, "We preach Christ;" but they do not preach Him as the Chosen and Covenant Head of a family, elected and registered in the Lamb's Book of Life before time began; when they pretend to take God's Christ out of the grand centre of heaven's most precious covenantplan; when they will have Christ as they like and where they will,— then I am afraid of them. There are plenty of this CHRIST-DIVIDING work now-a-days, so that louder than ever I will shout, "If we HOLD the BEGINNING of our confidence steadfast unto the end, we are made partakers of Christ :" but when man's will is set up on the platform, and God's will is shut up in the study, I look and wonder; and my fears, and even angry feelings sometimes will arise. (6.) In the promise of God the Christian confides just in proportion as the Holy Ghost reveals and applies it, of which I have not time to be minute. (7.) THE FINAL JUDGMENT is a period to which the believer looks with a confidence no tongue can ever fully describe. There the conflict will for ever cease; and there the Saviour's double glory (as an Awful Judge and as a Glorious King) will by every eye be seen. If a man, like my departed friend, holds the beginning of his confidence steadfast unto the end, it is because Christ Jesus is, in heaven, his Great High Priest; and it is because the Holy Spirit sanctifies his heart by the truth, and blesses unto his soul the ordinances of prayer, preaching, and the study of the word of God. Then, in his judgment, in his best affections, and in his profession of the Gospel, he holds "the beginning of his confidence steadfast unto the end; he is made a partaker of the atoning and justifying benefits of the Saviour; he will in his royal robes at last appear; and even now is constrained to sing— "'Twas grace which kept me to the day, And will not let me go." I have abode so long over the grave of my good old friend, that I cannot this month get to the other scene, where "four sons were dead in one day." That comes on next. A Bishop in a Gayret; A PROFITABLE PICTURE FOR ALL PREACHERS. THE following original letter, addressed to the Editor of THE EARTHEN VESSEL, must both please and edify its readers. We give it verbatim :— MY DEAR BROTHER,-I am so cold in this old garret I оссиру for my study, that I hardly know how to write, having only a small shop stove in it. I am here, up on high, close to the roof of the house. Î dare say many ministers would not look into this old hole to make much of a stay; but, unsightly as it is, I am glad of it, as I never had the privilege of a study to myself before. As I am now got up, I should say higher for study than many of my brethren, I pray that I may be more, spiritual, devotional, and useful. My prayer is that here I may enjoy my Master's presence, and the teaching of the Holy Spirit; and I shall esteem this old garret, in this old-fashioned house, far beyond the palace of an earthly monarch. The You ask me my thoughts upon the Gospel. I have just read the Acts of the Apostles nearly through; and I find the Apostles preached Christ as the Gospel, entirely Christ, from first to last. There is a great deal said in the Acts of the Apostles about preaching, teaching, exhorting, persuading, convincing, reasoning, and disputing; but not one word about offers, proffers, tenders, and such like things. No, my brother, these belong to another gospel. The Gospel is Christ in His Person, work, offices, and characters; Christ as our complete salvation, full redemption, righteousness, sanctification, and eternal felicity. Gospel is the grace, mercy, and love of God, designed for the elect of God, to quicken, call, separate, and distinguish them from all others of every nation, clime, and people; and the fruits and effects of this Gospel, as wrought by the Holy Spirit, are repentance, faith, hope, love, godly zeal, sincerity, humility, and spiritual-mindedness. In preaching this Gospel we have no authority from it either to offer Christ to the people or the Holy Spirit; nor are we to offer them justification, sanctification, or the new birth; but we are to preach these things as being all of them the effectual work of the Spirit in the soul. Neither Christ nor His apostles, I find, ever begged of sinners to close in with any conditions, or to let God save them. Nor can I find one instance in which Christ begged and beseeched His creatures to accept an offered salvation. No, all such things as these belong to another gospel, and not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How clearly can I see what the first Gospel churches were, in their nature and principles, in reading the aforesaid book. How clearly can I see that the baptised households spoken of consisted of believers in Christ. nelius, with all his house, feared God; and after the Holy Ghost was fallen upon these, which made them confess their sins, and express their hope and confidence in Christ, we find Peter ordered them at once to be baptised in that glorious name which they had openly confessed. Lydia's household consisted of believers, who after they were baptised were comforted by Paul as brethren. The jailor's household, I find, consisted of baptised believers, and were such as were capable of hearing Cor from Paul and Silas the word of the Lord. I find, also, that Crispus, and his household, believed on the Lord, and that all there, with many Corinthians, were baptised accordingly. In a word, I find by the Acts of the Apostles the first churches were not of a mixed kind, but were of one faith and practice; and, with the help of God, I mean to keep as near the apostolical practice of the Gospel, as declared in the Acts, as I possibly can. The sum is, the Christians of the Acts of the Apostles believed, were baptised, and communed together as strict distinguished bodies from all others. Now, just a little upon the peculiar words used in the Acts of the Apostles, which describe the way and manner of preaching the Gospel. To preach and teach is to declare things just as they are laid down in the Scriptures, and open and explain them as they harmonise with one another, according to their true spirit and analogy. To exhort and persuade is to warn and caution, and admonish against the sins of the people and their idolatrous practices, and labour to draw their attention to the preaching or explanation of the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel. To reason and convince is to compare Scripture with Scripture, and by the force of plain naked truth, exemplified in plain language, to upset error, and so show the difference between Christ and Dagon. Lastly, to dispute is to contend, by words and arguments, all deduced from plain Scripture, against the heresies of men, untaught of the Spirit, who seek to deceive the simple, and cause disciples to swerve from the faith once delivered to the saints. These are a few of my thoughts from yesterday's reading in the Acts of the Apostles; and my object in stating them is simply to let you know that with you I still stand, as I hope, by the grace of God, in the old beaten paths, from which many in the present day are turning aside, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.-I am, my dear brother, yours affectionately, B. TAYLOR. Pulham St. Mary, January 5, 1867. WINTER IN THE SOUL. THE CRY OF ONE SHUT UP IN COLDNESS O Sun of Righteousness, arise Scatter the clouds of doubt and fear Let spring tide breathe, let flowers unfold, Shine on with steadfast light, shed down Till springtide's flowers shall sweetly change If Thou, O Christ, wilt thus arise, But after death, in fairer climes, O Sun of Righteousness, shine forth And then this wintry gloom and woe From Mr. Bertram's Sermon in "The Independent." THOU SHALT KNOW HEREAFTER. Much from me is kept concealed: Know I well 'tis not revealed. Forward could I dare to go! What thou knowest not as yet, With the robes the ransomed wear,- I shall know that all was well; |